TROPICAL HANNA AND IKE ROARS IN USA

VIDEO - STATIONS KEEP UP ON THE HURRICANES.

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EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

4.0 quake shakes San Francisco and East Bay Mercury News
Article Launched: 09/05/2008 09:42:15 PM PDT

A 4.0 earthquake centered in Alamo near the Calaveras Fault shook the San Francisco Bay Area Friday night. The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake at 9 p.m., four miles northwest of Danville and seven miles south of Concord in Contra Costa County. It was felt as a sharp rumble that lasted about seven seconds. Two aftershocks, measuring 1.3, struck shortly after. The light quake halted BART trains for about five minutes. According to the USGS., the quake had a depth of 10.1 miles, and residents as far away as San Jose and Stockton reported feeling a jolt.Wow! I was surprised that was only a 4.0. I felt the jerk sitting on my chair, said a woman who lives in Oakley. She said the power went out for a second, but there were no other noticeable effects.We have not received any reports of injuries or property damage, Contra Costa Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said. We all felt it, though.USGS seismologist David Oppenheimer said the quake originated on a nameless fault, which is perpendicular to the Calaveras Fault, that was last active in 1990. In April 1990 it (was active) for three weeks, he said.It had hundreds of earthquakes and caused structural damage.Local police agencies said they received no reports of injuries or damage caused by Friday's temblor. This is a good reminder that we are in an earthquake country, Contra Costa sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said. People should have an emergency kit and plan.

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.

Remnants of Hanna expected to deliver wet punch to Maritime provinces
By The Canadian Press SEPT 06,08

HALIFAX - Tropical storm Hanna was racing up the east coast of the United States on Saturday, making its way toward the Maritimes and threatening to drench a region already saturated from a summer of heavy rain. The storm, which left 137 people dead in Haiti, came ashore Saturday near the boundary between North and South Carolina and was losing steam as it began churning toward New England. The Canadian Hurricane Centre in Dartmouth, N.S., said very wet remnants of the storm are expected to deluge the Maritimes on Sunday. Prince Edward Island, northern Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick will be hit the hardest, with between 60 and 80 millimetres of rain predicted. With Hanna, there's quite likely going to be some local, heavier amounts, said meteorologist Mike Campbell. We're even talking about possible local amounts...up to 100 millimetres.Another system that expected to bring up to 15 millimetres of rain kick-started the stormy weather Saturday in some areas of the Maritimes. Campbell said rain associated with Hanna would mostly be an inconvenience to residents in southern New Brunswick and western P.E.I., while it could cause major headaches for other regions in the Maritimes. The big concern would be places like eastern P.E.I., and up into Cape Breton (because) the ground is fairly saturated; they've had about two to three times the normal rainfall for August, he said. This additional amount could cause a fair bit of overflowing on road systems and so forth.Transportation Department officials in Nova Scotia are still surveying the damage after several roads were washed out by flash floods last weekend.

During that storm, heavy rains flooded ditches and culverts in Pictou County, while rising waters in New Glasgow overwhelmed the town's sewer system and flooded the basements of several downtown businesses. Prince Edward Island, meanwhile, officially recorded its wettest month ever in August, after a total of 238.8 millimetres of rain fell on the province. Normal rainfall for August is about 87 millimetres. Campbell said rain on Sunday could fall for about six consecutive hours, making driving treacherous, especially along busy highways or areas that are known to flood. It's a matter of avoiding travel more than anything else, especially areas that are prone to being waterlogged,he said. While the storm will mostly be a rain event, winds gusting up to 70 kilometres an hour are expected in parts of Nova Scotia. Hanna is expected to move out of the Maritimes on Sunday night before arriving in southeastern Newfoundland in a weakened state. There were no weather warnings issued for Newfoundland on Saturday. Meanwhile, forecasters were keeping a close eye on hurricane Ike. The powerful storm was downgraded Saturday to a Category 2 storm, but it was expected to intensify again as it approaches Cuba and southern Florida by Monday. Campbell said it was unlikely that Ike would impact the Maritimes. It will definitely will be an American issue, but it's not going to affect Canadian territory at all, he said.

WOW HANNA JUST PULVERISED HAITI SAD.

Nearly 500 dead in flooded Haitian town: police SEPT 5,08

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - Haitian police found 495 corpses when muddy floodwaters began to recede on Friday from the port city of Gonaives following days of heavy rain from Tropical Storm Hanna, the town's police commissioner said on Friday.The weather is calm now and we are discovering more bodies. We have found 495 bodies so far and there are 13 people missing, commissioner Ernst Dorfeuille told Reuters.The smell of the dead is very unpleasant in Gonaives. The death toll could be even higher.(Reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva, Editing by Michael Christie and Todd Eastham)

Hurricane Ike targets Gulf, Hanna's toll rises By Gene Cherry SEPT 05,08

SALVO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Fierce Hurricane Ike weakened as it charged across the Atlantic on Friday and took aim at south Florida and the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico, while Tropical Storm Hanna buffeted the Carolinas after killing at least 529 people in Haiti. Hanna was expected to be just short of Category 1 hurricane strength when it crosses the U.S. East Coast near the North Carolina and South Carolina border early on Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Nevertheless, authorities declared states of emergency, several North Carolina beach communities were under evacuation orders, campgrounds were shut and storm alerts were issued from Georgia to New Jersey, including for Washington, D.C., as the eighth tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season pulled away from the 700 far-flung islands of the Bahamas.Ike was far more threatening.An extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir Simpson scale on Thursday, it weakened a notch to a Category 3 with top sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph), the Miami-based hurricane center said.By 8 p.m. (0000 GMT Saturday), it was spinning 315 miles

north-northeast of Puerto Rico and was expected to sweep westward over the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southern Bahamas by Sunday.The Bahamian government sent soldiers and emergency supplies to Mayaguana and San Salvador, southern islands left short of food and water by an overdue mail boat.If we have heavy flooding and lose power, we could be in an uncomfortable situation, said chief councilor Earnel Brown of the island of Mayaguana.Some further weakening was possible but the hurricane center said Ike was expected to remain a major storm of Category 3 or higher.Ike's track was riddled with uncertainty.The hurricane center's official forecast took it through the Florida Keys island chain as a ferociously destructive Category 4 hurricane into the Gulf of Mexico, where around 4,000 offshore platforms produce a quarter of U.S. crude oil and 15 percent of the energy-hungry country's natural gas.

Visitors were ordered to evacuate the Keys on Saturday and residents were ordered out beginning on Sunday.Some computer models took Ike near the heavily populated Miami area in southeast Florida, where up to 1.3 million people could be ordered to leave the coast.It's a lot coming at us. But we must remain vigilant, focused and calm, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said.A Category 4 hurricane strike on Miami would be a huge disaster because of the billions of dollars of vulnerable real estate in low-lying islands like Miami Beach and along the coast of the Florida peninsula. Power would be out for millions of people for an extended time.

TRIO OF THREATS

Tropical Storm Josephine churned weakly in Ike's wake across the Atlantic, with 40-mph (65-kph) winds as it spun about 725 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. The trio of Atlantic storms followed Hurricane Gustav's rampage through the Caribbean to Louisiana, where it came ashore on Monday west of New Orleans, largely sparing the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina three years ago. The flurry underscored predictions for an unusually busy six-month hurricane season. An average season has 10 tropical storms, of which six strengthen into hurricanes with top sustained winds of at least 74 mph (119 kph). Josephine was already this year's 10th, and the statistical September 10 peak of the storm season still lies ahead. While Hanna did little damage in the Bahamas and posed only a moderate threat to the U.S. East Coast, the death toll in Haiti was rising steadily as the floods unleashed by its torrential rains began to recede. Police Commissioner Ernst Dorfeuille said 495 bodies had been found in the mud-heaped port city of Gonaives, where thousands survived by climbing on rooftops. That brought the toll for all of Haiti to at least 529. Ships and planes had begun to arrive with desperately needed aid for Haiti, which has been hit by three deadly storms in less than a month. By 8 p.m. (0000 Saturday GMT), Hanna was 200 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina. It was racing north at 20 mph (32 kph) with top winds of 70 mph (115 kph). Hanna roiled the ocean off North and South Carolina with 18-foot (5.5-metre) waves. Sunny skies gave way to showers and breezy conditions on North Carolina's Outer Banks where residents tested power generators and tied down trash cans and beach chairs. It's a little breezy but not any more than a normal rainy day, said Lisa Bell, a manager at Howard's Pub and Restaurant on Ocracoke Island, where the pirate Blackbeard once sailed. The storm was expected to strike at high tide, bringing a 5-foot (1.5-metre) storm surge likely to cause moderate coastal flooding, and heavy rains were expected far inland. (Additional reporting by John Marquis in Nassau; Writing by Jane Sutton and Michael Christie)

Speedy Tropical Storm Hanna charges for Carolinas By JEFFREY COLLINS and MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer SEPT 05,08

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Tropical Storm Hanna cruised toward the Carolinas on Friday, forecast to hit land overnight and promising to deliver gusty winds and heavy rain during a dash up the Eastern Seaboard that could wash out the weekend for millions of people. Not far behind was a much bigger worry: a ferocious-looking Hurricane Ike, on a path similar to the one taken by Andrew, the Category 5 monster that devastated South Florida in 1992. Ike could hit Florida by the middle of next week.

Emergency officials urged evacuations in only a few spots in the Carolinas and about 400 people went to shelters in both states. Forecasters said there was only a small chance Hanna could become a hurricane, and most people simply planned to stay off the roads until the storm passed.My vacation lasts through Sunday, said Jesse King of Asheboro, N.C., who hid under a Myrtle Beach pier as winds picked up and bursts of blinding rain fell Friday evening. They are going to have to tell me I have to leave if they want me to go before Sunday.Rain started falling early Friday on the Carolina coast, with streets in some spots flooding by late afternoon and wind gusts hitting 45 mph as the leading edges of the storm approached land, making people gathered on beaches shout to be heard.Hanna was expected to blow ashore early Saturday morning between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington, N.C., then race up the Atlantic Coast, reaching New England by Sunday morning. Tropical storm watches or warnings ran from Georgia to Massachusetts, and included all of Chesapeake Bay, the Washington, D.C., area and Long Island.Terry Hash arrived in Myrtle Beach on Thursday, ready to celebrate her 50th birthday with college friends from Colgate University at the Raiders football game against Coastal Carolina.I'm not worried because it's not a Category 4, Hash said. I just love the beach when it's stormy. It really shows the power the ocean has.As night fell and clouds gathered, residents and visitors flocked to the main beach at Atlantic Beach, N.C.I'm glad it's not as bad as they were predicting, said 84-year-old May Craig Kernodle of Burlington as she held her walker.Several inches of rain were expected in the Carolinas, as well as central Virginia, Maryland and southeastern Pennsylvania. Some spots could see up to 10 inches, and forecasters warned of the potential for flash flooding in the northern mid-Atlantic states and southern New England.South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said people in low-lying areas, mobile homes, camping trailers or places susceptible to wind damage should consider leaving: Now is the time to look at taking shelter.In Wilmington, Kirby King, a 50-year-old Army veteran, arrived at a shelter in an elementary school housing about 140 other people, but said he didn't think the storm would be bad.I've been married twice and been in the service 15 years. This storm doesn't scare me, he said.Federal Emergency Management Agency officials expected Hanna to move quickly but said they had supplies in place and emergency crews ready to respond if needed.

Utilities as far north as New Hampshire put electric and natural gas crews on notice that they might have to work long hours to repair any damage. At the Ocean Edge Resort and Club on Cape Cod in Brewster, Mass., staff members braced for rain as they prepared for an outdoor wedding Saturday.Hopefully it will blow out to sea and it won't even bother them, said Bryan Webb, director of sales and marketing. Everyone's going to be dressed so impeccably. You don't want to have someone ruin a dress or a purse.At 8 p.m. EDT, Hanna had maximum sustained winds near 70 mph and was centered about 200 miles south of Wilmington, N.C. The storm, blamed for disastrous flooding and more than 100 deaths in Haiti, was moving near 20 mph. A hurricane watch was in effect for Edisto Beach, S.C., to the Outer Banks of North Carolina near the Virginia line. In Washington, officials prepared for the possibility of flooding in low-lying neighborhoods by removing debris from catch basins, stockpiling sandbags and lining up portable pumps and generators. In New Jersey, 300 dump trucks hauled in sand to fortify a beach in the Strathmere section of Upper Township. These shipments of sand are a good thing, but if they don't work out, the people down here could lose their houses, said Tim Buckland, whose family has owned an oceanfront house in Strathmere for 50 years. He was at the beach Friday, playing in bigger-than-normal waves with his family. Amtrak canceled some Saturday service in preparation for Hanna. Ten trains, including the Silver Meteor between New York and Miami, and the Auto Train between Lorton, Va., and Sanford, Fla., were halted. Organizers of the U.S. Open in New York said they may have to reschedule some of the tennis matches after seeing forecasts calling for about 12 hours of rain and wind up to 35 mph. For all the talk of Hanna, there was more about Ike, which could become the fiercest storm to strike South Florida since Andrew. Andrew was blamed for 65 deaths and more than $35 billion in damage. FEMA officials said they were positioning supplies, search and rescue crews, communications equipment and medical teams in Florida and along the Gulf Coast — a task complicated by Ike's changing path. Tourists in the Keys were ordered to leave beginning Saturday morning. In Morehead City, N.C., charter captain Bobby Ballou sat on a bench and spliced lines to tie up his boat at the dock before Hanna arrived. I'm not too worried about this one, the 74-year-old Ballou said. That Ike, I don't like him.
Mike Baker reported from Nags Head, N.C. Associated Press writers Estes Thompson in Atlantic Beach, N.C., Kevin Maurer in Wilmington, N.C., Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, N.C., Ben Evans in Washington, Bruce Smith in Charleston and Jim Davenport in Columbia contributed to this report.

US east coast braces for deadly Hanna, Hurricane Ike nears SEPT 05,08

MIAMI (AFP) - Tropical Storm Hanna closed in on the US east coast on the verge of hurricane strength after leaving 163 dead in Haiti, as a more powerful Hurricane Ike threatened Caribbean islands and the United States. A major rain-generator, Hanna churned through the Bahamas en route to the US Atlantic coast, prompting emergency preparations along more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) of coastline, after unleashing flooding and landslides in Haiti that displaced thousands and left as many as 200,000 with little or no food or water.The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasts the storm will crash ashore in North or South Carolina overnight Friday and race up the US east coast over the weekend, potentially affecting tens of millions of Americans.Heavy rain, wind and high surf began to lash the southeastern coast late Friday hours after the governors of North Carolina and Virginia declared states of emergency. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford called for voluntary evacuations in two counties threatened by the storm.Packing sustained winds near 110 kilometers (70 miles) per hour at 0000 GMT Saturday, the center of the storm was about 165 kilometers (100 miles) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and moving north at around 32 kph (20 mph), the NHC said.Although no significant change in strength is forecast before landfall, it would take only a small increase in wind speed for Hanna to become a hurricane, it added.

But amid signs of storm fatigue -- several southern US states have endured a barrage in recent weeks from Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricane Gustav -- officials expressed concern that people along the coast were not taking Hanna seriously.The response is not what we would want it to be, Sam Hodge, emergency manager for Georgetown, South Carolina, told CBS News.We feel there should be more people evacuating.A hurricane watch remained in effect for parts of the North and South Carolina coast and tropical storm watches extended as far north as Massachusetts as authorities kept a wary eye on a more formidable storm, Hurricane Ike, out in the Atlantic.Ike was forecast to spare Haiti as it plowed across the Atlantic while the Caribbean nation struggled to recover from devastating flooding from Hanna which killed 136 and stranded hundreds of thousands.At least for now Haiti looks likely to be spared yet another hit, NHC spokeswoman Karina Castillo said.But the poorest country in the Americas is still reeling from the devastation inflicted by a succession of three storms in as many weeks that killed more than 280 people in total.The country's third largest city Gonaives remained largely under water following Hanna, and Senator Yuri Latortue who represents the city called the situation catastrophic.

I know perfectly well that the hurricane season has hit our entire country, but the situation in Gonaives is truly special, because now some 200,000 people there haven't eaten in three days, Latortue said.A lifeline was extended to thousands of people in and around Gonaives Friday when a boat carrying tons of World Food Program relief supplies docked at the port, the WFP said.Haiti's government pleaded for international aid, and the United Nations was in the process of launching an emergency appeal. Switzerland, France, the United States, the European Union and the Red Cross were among the countries and bodies to commit emergency relief.While it may spare Haiti, Ike was on course to batter the Bahamas Saturday and Sunday before possibly slamming into Cuba, another island nation recently battered by this hurricane season's conga line of storms. Ike is then forecast to make landfall in south Florida on Wednesday as a major hurricane, Castillo warned. Densely populated south Florida, including the cities of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, has not been hit by a major hurricane since devastating Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Andrew was the costliest natural disaster in US history until it was topped by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Ike was downgraded slightly Friday but remained a major hurricane as it churned over the western Atlantic, with sustained winds of 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour -- a category three on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, the NHC said. As of 0000 GMT Saturday, the eye of Ike was 675 kilometers (420 miles) east of Grand Turk Island and was moving west at about 24 kilometers (15 miles) per hour, the NHC said. Ike and Hanna were part of a trio of storms in the Atlantic that includes Tropical Storm Josephine churning in the eastern Atlantic west of Cape Verde. The storms follow Hurricane Gustav, which ripped through the Caribbean then slammed the US Gulf Coast, and Tropical Storm Fay, which also pounded several Caribbean islands and made landfall in Florida four times, dumping record amounts of rain.

Some 500,000 Entergy customers still lack power Fri Sep 5, 6:20 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 500,000 customers in Entergy Corp's service area in Louisiana and Arkansas remained without power on Friday, four days after Hurricane Gustav caused massive damage to the company's power grid. Gustav cut power to more than 1.8 million homes and businesses along the Gulf Coast and shut more than a dozen oil refineries and many oil and natural gas pipelines - the second worst outage in New Orleans-based Entergy's 95-year history.Entergy has been able to restore power to nearly 454,000 customers, or 47 percent of the total that lost power. including 347,000 in Louisiana by mid-day Friday.All power was restored in 28 parishes in Louisiana, Renae Conley, an Entergy official told reporters.Entergy has declined to estimate the cost of rebuilding its system, after calling damage extremely severe and estimating that full restoration of power was weeks away.

Repairing the swathe of twisted power lines left by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 cost the investor-owned utility about $1 billion.Entergy and other utilities still face a herculean task of rebuilding storm-damaged lines, said the Edison Electric Institute, which lobbies for utilities like Entergy and Cleco.Gustav brought down a network of poles, towers and wires, which must be rebuilt while working around storm debris, said Tom Kuhn, president of the group.Crews closed a section of Interstate 10 on Friday near Baton Rouge to restore a damaged 230-kilovolt line to allow more power to flow in an area where transmission damage was most severe, officials said.Overall, two more critical lines linking Baton Rouge and New Orleans have been restored, said Randy Helmick, Entergy's vice president of transmission and official storm boss.Of the 216 transmission lines knocked out by the storm, 113 have been restored to service. Of the 270 substations knocked out, 171have been restored, officials said.Most of the remaining lines are below 230-kv level, said Helmick.Helmick called initial reports of Gustav's damage to the bulk-power network from limited ground patrols immediately after the storm alarming. But once workers performed aerial inspections, he was relieved to see much of the damage was moderate or created by debris hitting power lines, he said.That allowed us to get lines back faster, Helmick said.While Gustav was not as powerful as Hurricane Katrina which devastated the state in 2005, Gustav was felt across a much greater area, said Greg Rigamer, chief executive of GCR & Associates, a New Orleans consulting firm.Katrina was more severe, but Gustav was more expansive, Rigamer said.

A few heavily damaged areas, near Baton Rouge and along the Louisiana coast, will take longer.Entergy planned to restart the Waterford nuclear reactor on Saturday. The return of the River Bend nuclear power station will take a week, the utility said. At the peak, about 850,000 Entergy customers were without power primarily in Louisiana and Mississippi. Another 93,000 customers lost power in Arkansas on Wednesday. Hurricane Gustav caused the second largest number of outages in the company's 95-year history behind only Katrina, which left 1.1 million out in 2005.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Eileen O'Grady; Editing by Chris Baltimore and David Gregorio)

Quebec recalls eight cheese products suspected of containing listeriosis
Sat Sep 6, 11:19 AM By The Canadian Press

MONTREAL - The Quebec government has ordered the recall of a total of 11 cheese products that may contain the Listeria bacterium after one person died of infection and 14 other cases were confirmed. Health officials say the number of cases could go as high as 24. Quebec health officials say eight of the cheeses were recalled Saturday and are manufactured by Menard de St-Gedeon of Lac-St-Jean, Que. and were packaged after July 12. The Fromagiers de la table ronde in Ste-Sophie, Que., made the other three cheeses, which were recalled Thursday and have packaging dates after July 14. The two companies distribute to 300 outlets in the province. The cheeses go under the names Le Rang des Iles, Le 14 Arpents, Les Petits Vieux, Le Gedeon, Le Menard, Le Couvertine, Le Cabrouet, Les Cailles, Le Fleurdelyse, Le Fou du Roy and Le Rassembleu. A listeriosis strain outbreak that was linked to a Maple Leaf Foods meat plant in Toronto has been blamed for at least 13 deaths.

CANADA WE GO TO THE POLES OCTOBER 14,08 WE BETTER KEEP HARPER IN OFFICE OR WE WILL BE IN BIG TROUBLE. I WISH MIKE HUCKABEE AND SARAH PALIN WERE LEADERS OF 2 OF OUR PARTIES THEN WE COULD GET GOD AND HIS WORDS AND COMMANDMENTS BACK IN CANADA.

Canada set to hold general election in October
Last Updated(Beijing Time):2008-09-03 07:26

Canadians are set to go to the polling stations next month, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper appears determined to trigger an election later this week.
During the past few days, the prime minister has talked with leaders of all three opposition parties. Declaring the parliament in a deadlock, he said he wanted to see if there is any common ground between his minority government and the oppositions to keep the legislature running. The Parliament, scheduled to resume on Sept. 15, has been on summer recess for almost three months. Harper has recently depicted it as dysfunctional, saying the oppositions have tried to block his government's agenda.

Harper met with New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe last week before his latest meeting with Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion on Monday. All three leaders emerged from their meetings saying Harper has made up his mind about calling an election within this week's time. They accused the prime minister of manipulating the election time to best serve his party's interest. They also criticized Harper for breaking the law about a fixed election date that his own government introduced. According to a legislation passed in 2007, the next election will only take place on Oct. 19, 2009. But the prime minister was determined to ignore the law, when he said last Tuesday at a news conference in Ottawa that the legislation only applied to a majority government and not his minority government. It was then that he indicated he wanted an election in the near future. After that, Harper sought the meetings with the opposition leaders and made a three-day tour to the North during which he announced several measures to strengthen Canada's sovereignty in the North Pole. These announcements, including geo-mapping searches for resources and extension of Canada's jurisdiction into the Arctic, are seen as important campaign issues. Harper also asked Governor General Michaelle Jean to cancel her trip to China slated to begin on Sept. 4, so she will be available to dissolve the parliament. According to senior government sources, after having met with all three opposition leaders, the prime minister will declare that he believes his minority government no longer has the confidence of Parliament. He will then have the excuse to go to the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and hit the campaign trail.

It will happen between (September) 5th and the 7th,a senior government source told The Canadian Press. There will be an election kickoff between Friday and Sunday.The election will be held on Oct. 14, said the source. An immediate election call offers Harper a number of political advantages, observers have noted. Firstly, with the economy wavering, Canada is expecting a federal deficit for the current fiscal year, the first such after the former Liberal government managed to achieve surpluses for years in a row. Harper hopes to finish the election before the fiscal report comes out, thus exempting his campaign from being affected by the negative news. Secondly, as the Liberal Party has been threatening to topple the government this fall, the Conservatives decided to take matters into their own hands and take control of the election timing, rather than wait for Liberal leader Stephane Dion to gain more support as time goes on. Thirdly, by calling for an early election, Harper also wants to avoid a series of by-elections set for next week. Polls suggest the Conservatives will fair badly in these elections. The Conservatives came to power after defeating the Liberals in the January 2006 election. The minority government occupies only 127 seats in the 308-seat parliament and needs the support of at least one opposition party to pass legislation or stay in power.Source:Xinhuanet

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).

EU lobbyists shun European Commission register
LEIGH PHILLIPS 05.09.2008 @ 09:35 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - While Brussels is home to an estimated 15-20,000 lobbyists, who daily and doggedly attempt to win lawmakers to their clients' point of view, up to now, only around 300 lobbying organisations have signed up to the European Commission's voluntary registry.As of Wednesday (4 September) - a day when across the Atlantic, Jack Abramoff, once one of Washington's most powerful lobbyists, was sentenced to four years in prison for his extensive corrupt practices - in Europe's capital, a total of 303 lobbying groups had filed with the public record of EU lobbyists, or registry of interest representatives.Campaigners for lobbying transparency in Europe have repeatedly argued that it is only because the US has a mandatory registry that characters such as Mr Abramoff - whose network of corruption has now delivered 13 guilty pleas from public officials and lobbyists - can be caught. In Brussels, they warn, lobbying remains too shadowy an activity after the launch of a voluntary registry, which would never bring an Abramoff-style case to light.A spokesperson for commission vice-president Siim Kallas, the commissioner responsible for administrative affairs, audit and anti-fraud, said the figure was not satisfactory. It is low, said spokesperson Valerie Rampi. 300 for the moment is not enough even though the summer period may have played a role.Of the 300-odd on the public list, 126 trade associations representing groups of businesses and 56 NGOs make up the majority of those willing to sign on. None of the major lobbying firms have registered, and only three think-tanks have done so.I do not see yet the big professional public relations consultancies, nor many law firms - only two have registered so far, Ms Rampi noted.

However, I want to stress the importance of being cautious about the numbers that could be used to measure the 300 figure against, Ms Rampi said. The figure often quoted in the media of around 15,000 individual lobbyists is an external estimate, which the commission does not endorse, she added, pointing out that this is an estimate of the number of individuals, whereas the commission's register lists organisations. Commissioner Kallas has however himself quoted the 15,000 figure on a number of occasions.

More work than you'd imagine

The European Public Affairs Consultancies Association (EPACA), the Brussels lobbyists' professional organisation, is to hold a members' meeting on 10 September to decide how to approach the registry. Jose Lalloum, the president of EPACA, said the organisation has recommended to its members that they register by the end of the month. However, it will still take some time, he warned: There's more work than one imagines in complying with the registry. What counts as lobbying, what doesn't, making sure the client is okay with being registered and ensuring there isn't double counting [both the lobbyist and the group on whose behalf the lobbyist lobbies].The consultants are pretty clear on all of this, but the clients still need explained to them where lobbying starts and where lobbying stops.

One year's testing

The commission says it is to give lobbyists a year to demonstrate their transparency, while the EU executive tests the technicalities of the system to see if it is working. Alter-EU, the coalition of NGOs, green groups, academics and trade unions that has campaigned for lobbying transparency, is concerned at how few large corporations have registered, as well as how they are reporting how much they spend on lobbying.There seems to be wide variation in their reported lobbying costs, Olivier Hoedeman of Alter-EU told EUobserver.Spanish telecoms firm Telefonica for example reports that its EU lobbying costs in 2007 were €950,000, while French car maker Renault says it spent between €200,000 and €250,000, and Air France-KLM reports between €50,000 and €100,000.Do these figures reflect real differences or are they just the result of the commission's failure to provide clear and unambiguous guidelines for calculating lobbying expenses? he asked. Instead of improving lobbying transparency, the register appears to be creating confusion.The coalition, which is itself a lobbyist organisation - albeit one that lobbies about lobbying - is currently drafting guidelines for its 160-odd members and other civil society groups on how to sign up to the registry. Once they do so, they will also list the names of individual lobbyists and not just the organisation - something the commission backed down from demanding.Apart from fulfilling what the commission asks for, we will go much further and disclose much more, including names of our own lobbyists, this way showing that the commission's register should have been, but fails to do due to the lack of political will in the Berlaymont building.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (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.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: 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 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)

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

DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.

REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)

EU ministers map out Georgia peace mission
PHILIPPA RUNNER 05.09.2008 @ 12:38 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The final shape of an EU security mission to Georgia and broader EU-Russia relations will top the agenda of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in France this weekend. The possibility of relaxing sanctions against Belarus and prospects for a new Ukraine treaty will also come up for debate.The EU is keen to send over 200 personnel to Georgia under its European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) umbrella and has already begun recruiting for a chief of staff, political advisers and logistics officers. The participants must have negotiating skills and the ability to work professionally in a stressful and diverse environment, the job advertisement says, asking for availability on 15 September 2008 at the latest, with deployment on the ground envisaged before 15 October.It remains uncertain if the unit will be composed of EU-badged policemen or soldiers however, if it will stand alongside OSCE monitors or be part of an OSCE-led team and if it will have access to the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.Shooting stopped on 12 August between Russian and Georgian forces. But a ceasefire deal allowing Russia to take additional security measures has left Russian soldiers inside the two rebel regions, in control of two 15 km buffer zones inside Georgia proper and manning security checkpoints near the Georgian towns of Gori and Poti. The status quo also sees tens of thousands of Georgian refugees unable to return home, amid ongoing tension as Russia accuses the US of re-arming the Georgian military.

Russian reality

One EU official told Reuters EU peacekeepers should deploy alongside OSCE monitors and Russian soldiers inside the buffer zones, in a mission that will evolve over time to creep into the separatist regions and encourage Russian soldiers to leave.

But another source told EUobserver the EU mission will not have the military force to guarantee security in a hot conflict zone. It will not be that kind of a mission. And the OSCE could never stop a new outbreak in fighting. The reality is, the Russians could be there for a long time yet.Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said Russia would welcome the EU as part of an OSCE team in the buffer areas. But he added that Russian soldiers will stay for now and that only Abkhazia and South Ossetia - which Russia recognises as independent states - have the authority to invite international monitors onto their territory. The EU foreign ministers meeting in the medieval papal palace in Avignon, France on Friday (5 September) will also discuss future EU commercial, judicial, energy and cultural co-operation with Russia ahead of the EU-Russia summit on 14 November.The EU reaction has so far has been limited to freezing technical-level talks on a new EU-Russia treaty. But a European Commission crisis team has drawn up a secret list of potential punitive measures that could be imposed if relations continue to deteriorate. The problem is that we have no sanctions that can really hurt Russia, a commission contact said. So long as Moscow has its hand on the [EU oil and gas] tap, what kind of sanctions can we impose?

The Belarus question

The Avignon meeting will also examine if the EU should relax sanctions against Belarus, which last month released three political prisoners and promises to hold its free and fairest-ever parliamentary elections on 28 September.EU diplomats say the one-time Russian ally is keen to improve ties with the West to shore up its independence after Russia showed expansionist tendencies in the Georgia campaign.

But even Belarus' closest partners in the EU - Lithuania and Latvia - are treating Minsk with caution. There is still a lot of work to be done there in terms of developing a democratic society, one Lithuanian diplomat said. There will be no quick [sanctions] fix.

Saving Ukraine

Foreign ministers will also debate the upcoming EU-Ukraine summit in Evian, France on 9 September, in the shadow of political turbulence in Kiev, where the pro-Western ruling coalition fell apart this week.The Evian summit had been due to see the signing of the political chapter of a new Association Agreement and the launch of talks for future visa-free travel to Europe. But Germany has blocked the insertion of a phrase saying the EU recognizes Ukraine's accession perspective in the treaty preamble, with Ukraine saying it will not sign a watered-down text.

Bilateral energy deals threaten EU security, IEA says
RENATA GOLDIROVA 05.09.2008 @ 09:31 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU capitals should create a united front in order to beef up their position vis-a-vis major energy suppliers such as Russia, the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggested on Thursday (4 September). Many EU member states prefer to maintain their bilateral relationships with supplier countries, which may affect the strength of the EU to act as a single entity, IEA chief Nobuo Tanaka said, labelling the current fragmented approach perhaps the weakest policy area.In the long run, it means they [EU states] will lose out, Mr Tanaka stressed. Russia supplies the 27-nation bloc with a third of its oil and 40 percent of its natural gas - a dependence expected to rise significantly in the future.The Baltic states, Finland and Slovakia are the most dependent on Russia's gas, while Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK form the least reliant group. According to the Paris-based body - acting as energy policy advisor - the EU should better co-ordinate its external relations so it can use its full weight when talking to Russia. It has also backed the idea of diversifying the union's supplies. Calls to reduce the EU's dependency on Russia have gained more ground in the face of recent events in the South Caucasus.

In August, Moscow launched a military incursion into Georgia in response to its attack on the rebel-held town of Tskhinvali in South Ossetia - the conflict that has, among other things, raised worries about the security of energy supplies crossing Georgia. The International Energy Agency echoed a union's own political message resulting from the EU leaders's summit on EU-Russia ties earlier this week (1September). Recent events illustrate the need for Europe to intensify its efforts with regard to the security of energy supplies, the summit conclusions stated, inviting EU institutions to examine ways to diversify energy sources and supply routes.

Brussels makes case for Nabucco pipeline

EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs, for his part, reiterated on Thursday (4 September) his support for the Nabucco energy corridor, a pipeline designed to lessen the bloc's dependency on Russian gas.Our objective of diversifying our sources and routes is even more important after the events in Georgia, Latvia's commissioner said and called for more political engagement to remove all obstacles to bringing Caspian energy resources to the European market. The Nabucco project is to connect Turkey with Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, with its capacity amounting to 31 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year. The EU hopes construction will begin in 2010 - despite uncertainty over how to feed the pipeline sufficiently.

Further liberalisation needed

In its first review of EU energy policies, the International Energy Agency has backed the controversial idea of splitting energy companies' production and supply wings - known as ownership unbundling - in order to boost competition and bring down prices. We are concerned about the resistance against what we think is the right proposal by the [European] commission for full ownership unbundling, the IEA head said, calling on the EU's executive body to stick to its guns. Earlier this year, EU governments adopted a softer line on liberalisation of the union's gas and electricity sector, meaning that European energy giants will not be forced to sell their transmission networks. The European Parliament also rejected the forced break-up of gas companies, but supported it in electricity sector. The 27-nation EU received an undoubtedly positive evaluation when it came to its green goals to boost renewable energy and lower CO2 emissions. But more should be done to introduce trading of green energy within the bloc before 2020.

Arms deal tests Finland-Slovenia relations
LISBETH KIRK 05.09.2008 @ 09:27 CET

Tensions between two EU countries, Finland and Slovenia grew to new heights on Thursday (4 September), with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa delivering an official note of complaint to the Finnish ambassador in Ljublajana over Finnish TV accusations of bribes in relation to a weapons deal.On Monday (1 September) the investigative journalism programme MOT claimed Finnish defence material manufacturer Patria paid a total of €21 million in bribes indirectly to Slovenian officials and to the prime minister in return for arms orders. The news was broadcast on Finland's national public service broadcaster, YLE.Mr Jansa refuted the claims as being unfounded, saying that MOT could effect the friendly relations between the two countries.We have officially demanded that the television channel that broadcasted this apologise and present evidence for the claims, the Slovenian prime minister said in a message published on the government's website.Mr Jansa added the decision to purchase weapons form the Finnish company Patria was taken during the previous government's term of office. This is a complete lie and fabrication, and it is no coincidence that these claims have been brought forth now, he said.The news has popped up at an unfortunate moment for the Slovenian prime minister, a few weeks ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled in Slovenia for 21 September.The deal with the Slovenian armed forces was signed in December 2006 and included 135 armoured personnel carriers and 120 mm mortars worth some €280 million, according to the largest Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat.

The Slovenian prime minister has been in contact with his Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen over the issue. But the Finnish government says it is not able to intervene in a YLE television programme.The chief executive of Patria, Jorma Wiitakorpi, announced last month he would step down over ongoing police investigations into Patria deals in Egypt and Slovenia. Mr Wiitakorpi has denied any wrongdoing.The State of Finland owns 73 percent of the Patria defence material manufacturer.

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

EU gives blessing for Italy's Roma fingerprint scheme
LUCIA KUBOSOVA 05.09.2008 @ 09:28 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Italy's plan to fingerprint Roma people has received a green light from the European Commission, with Brussels' experts suggesting that the controversial measures are not discriminatory or in breach of EU standards.A commission spokesman told journalists on Thursday (4 September) that the practice proposed by Italian authorities earlier this year is only aimed at identifying persons who cannot be identified in any other way and excludes the collection of data relating to ethnic origin or the religion of people.The centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi sparked protests from human rights organisations and several in the European Parliament after announcing its plan to fingerprint Roma people - including children - as part of a census of Roma camps. Some critics of the move compared it to the policies of Benito Mussolini, the country's fascist leader during the Second World War.EU justice and security commissioner Jacques Barrot had earlier himself voiced concerns about the legality of the census, asking the Italian government to respond to the criticism by revealing the details of the practice.

But his spokesperson said on Thursday that the report submitted by Italy's authorities in early August showed that no EU principles of human rights protection or non-discrimination were violated, as due to the good co-operation between Brussels and Rome, some debatable measures had been changed.Italy's interior minister Roberto Maroni from the anti-immigration Northern League party welcomed the evaluation as highly satisfying, adding that it is fair after all the accusations and insults we have received over the past few months, according to ANSA agency. The European Parliament is also planning to perform its own research into the controversial practice, with a delegation of MEPs set to visit some camps and seek details on how the census is carried out.Reacting to the commission's blessing to the Italian plan, Hungarian Roma liberal MEP Viktoria Mohacsi said: I find it most strange that, contrary to the commission statement claiming compliance with the EU law, the fingerprinting procedure seemed to be applied exclusively to Roma, which I cannot interpret otherwise than a discriminatory treatment targeting one specific ethnic group.Between 90,000 and 110,000 Roma live in Italy, according to the Council of Europe. Many live there without official permission and have set up temporary camps. Earlier this year, Mr Berlusconi's government declared a national state of emergency in response a sharp rise in crime blamed mainly on foreign nationals, particularly from Romania, and adopted several laws clamping down on clandestine migrants. The centre-left opposition suggested such a reaction was only further boosting xenophobic sentiment across the country.

Push for pan-European Direct Debit by Vanessa Macdonald - editorial@di-ve.com
Business & Finance -- 05 September 2008 -- 14:15CEST

The European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) have encouraged the European Payments Council (EPC) to move ahead with the launch of the SEPA Direct Debit scheme. Under this scheme, bank customers would be able to arrange direct debits to pay companies with bank accounts in any of the 31 European countries participating in SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area). The Commission and ECB recognise the potential advantages of the SEPA Direct Debit scheme, in terms of economies of scale and increased competition liable to drive efficiency and innovation in the area of payments to the benefit of European consumers and companies. The Commission and the ECB have indicated to the EPC that they would be prepared to support the idea of a 'multilateral interchange fee' for cross border direct debits within the framework of the SEPA scheme on condition that such fees were objectively justified and transitional (applicable only for a limited period). In order for SEPA Direct Debit to take off, the right incentives should be in place. In particular, banking communities where an interchange fee for national transactions exists could be allowed to apply this fee as currently exists at national level also for SEPA Direct Debit transactions, but only during a limited and well defined transitional phase.

At the end of the transitional phase there would no longer be any transaction-based multilateral interchange fee, neither at the national level, nor at the cross border level, neither for SEPA Direct Debits, nor for national legacy direct debits. Direct debit schemes allow bank customers to give companies or organisations authorisation to take money directly from their bank accounts to pay their bills (e.g. gas, electricity, telephone). Currently there are separate national direct debit schemes and it is not possible to establish direct debit arrangements across frontiers in Europe.

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.

Russia scores Uzbek natural gas By JOHN C.K. DALY UPI International Correspondent Published: Sept. 5, 2008 at 9:31 AM

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- The consequences of last month's armed confrontation between Georgia and Russia over the disputed enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia continue to ripple, extending their influence to Uzbekistan, far to the east.

Stripped of the rhetoric, the lesson that all the former Soviet republics drew from the encounter was that EU, NATO and American promises fall short of deterring Russian foreign policy toward what it terms the near abroad.The subtext of the clash is that Washington's and the EU's assumptions about Russia blithely standing by as alternative export routes are built for Caspian and Central Asian energy assets now appear naive at best, and, for the local states, increasingly hollow. Western plans to build a natural gas pipeline to parallel the 1,092-mile, $3.6 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which could be joined by an additional Trans-Caspian underwater pipeline to transfer Turkmen and Uzbek natural gas to Western markets, now appear more and more problematic.Taking advantage of the situation, Russia's energy giant Gazprom recently has been reaching out to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and, in a major policy reversal, offering to pay near-market European rates for future natural gas production. Azerbaijan is considering Moscow's offer and, if it is accepted, the proposed Nabucco pipeline is likely to be abandoned, as insufficient gas reserves are likely to be found to fill it.The Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan has concluded that, for the moment at least, its exports options lie more with Moscow than any Western proposals.

While Uzbekistan under President Islam Karimov has doggedly pursued a foreign policy independent of Moscow since the country achieved independence in 1991, in this instance at least, geography trumps Western relations. On Sept. 1 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew into Tashkent and held two hours of discussions with Karimov. The upshot of the meeting was that Russia agreed to pay Uzbekistan $300 per thousand cubic meters of natural gas, which, while still below the nearly $400-plus tcm that Gazprom currently charges European customers, nevertheless represents a nearly 100-percent increase in what Gazprom pays at present.The two leaders also agreed to renovate two Soviet-era natural gas pipelines, Central Asia Center-1 and Central Asia Center-2, which will allow Uzbekistan to export its natural gas to Russia through Turkmenistan. By any measure the agreements represent as great a triumph for Russia in the energy Great Game as they do a setback for the West, particularly Washington.The agreement represents yet another setback for Washington's efforts to wean Central Asia away from Moscow's orbit. Of all the Stans, Karimov's government was the most disposed to cooperate with Washington, as epitomized in the agreement signed in the month after Sept. 11, 2001, that saw Tashkent grant Washington the use of its Karshi-Khanabad airbase for Operation Enduring Freedom in neighboring Afghanistan.Washington previously had sought to introduce globalistic free market shock therapy economic reforms in the post-Soviet space, which Karimov declined, preferring his government to manage the nation's transition from a centrally planned economy to capitalist principles internally rather than relying on hordes of suitcase-toting Western advisers. Accordingly, Uzbekistan was spared the hyperinflation that ravaged the Russian middle class in 1992 as well as the chaos that enveloped the Russian Federation six years later when Moscow allowed the ruble to float freely, again unleashing massive inflation. As Tashkent declined Washington's economic guidance, cooperation focused largely on military matters.The tragic events of May 2005 in Andijan, where government troops suppressed demonstrators who previously attacked police and military installations as well as a prison, freeing hundreds of inmates, resulted in an official death toll of 178, which Western human rights activists claimed was far higher. In the wake of Washington's muffled and ambivalent response, Tashkent abrogated its status of forces agreement with Washington, leading the Pentagon to leave Karshi-Khanabad six months later. Relations have recently improved, particularly since Washington and Tashkent share a common interest in seeing Afghanistan pacified, but relations have yet to be restored to their previous level. The tragedy of the misunderstanding is that Uzbekistan's fuel and electrical resources could have been supplied southward to aid in Afghanistan's reconstruction, but, nearly seven years after the U.S.-led invasion, peace seems as elusive as ever.

Not that all is sweetness and light between Moscow and Tashkent. The administration of President Dmitry Medvedev has been aggressively seeking support from former Soviet Central Asian republics for his government's unilateral acknowledgment of Abkhazian and South Ossetian independence, something that the regional leaders have steadfastly refused to do up to now, most notably at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Dushanbe last weekend. Lest his illustrious visitor be in any doubt about Uzbek intentions, Karimov politely told Putin, We will examine the circle of pressing timely issues that we see and observe, on which we have our own views and which we are ready not only to discuss together, but honestly to express our own position on those issues. An Izvestia correspondent, seeking to salvage something positive from the experience, noted that at a dinner that Karimov held for his guest, Karimov's dinner-table toasts were anti-Georgian.This week Putin will have another chance to solicit his Central Asian colleagues for support at the upcoming Collective Security Treaty Organization summit in Moscow, as on Aug. 29 Russia announced it would seek CSTO recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. CSTO, which has observer status at the U.N. General Assembly, consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Azerbaijan and Georgia, which perhaps not coincidentally U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney visited this week, withdrew from the organization in 1999.

Putin is unlikely to make much headway with Karimov, however, as they share the common trait of fierce nationalism, and the Uzbeks, having suffered more than 130 years of Russian imperialism, continue to put their national interest first, however much it might annoy their former overlords.And so the Great Game continues. Putin can take some solace in his rebuff that Uzbekistan has not recognized Kosovo's independence, either, unlike neighboring Afghanistan, which was the first.(e-mail: energy@upi.com)

Total signs three oil and gas agreements in Syria by: OilOnline
Friday, September 05, 2008

Total has signed three oil and gas agreements in Syria that will strengthen the Group’s long-term presence in the country. The first agreement renews the Deir Ez Zor oil license, wholly-owned by Total and jointly operated by Total and the Syrian Petroleum Company via the Deir Ez Zor Petroleum Company joint venture. The license was extended for 10 years to 2021, and enables Total to prolong and optimize production from the Jafra, Qahar and Atalla fields. The second agreement covers enhancing output from the Tabiyeh gas and condensate field to increase gas deliveries to the domestic market from the Deir Ez Zor plant. This agreement will help Total develop its activities in Syria’s gas industry. Lastly, Total signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company and Syrian Gas Company to set up a strategic partnership that will allow the development of common projects between Total and those companies. I’m very pleased that these three agreements have been signed. They pave the way for increased cooperation between Total and Syria and bolster our operations in partnership with the national oil companies of this country, said Christophe de Margerie.

Russia's deal-making in Africa raises alarms in Europe
By Tom Pfeiffer ReutersPublished: September 3, 2008

RABAT, Morocco: Russia is reviving an interest in Africa that collapsed along with the Cold War, and its growing appetite for deals in oil and natural gas is an added cause of unease in an energy-hungry Western Europe.Companies from Russia say their goal is to diversify energy interests and secure raw materials for a fast-growing economy, but the businesses are also seen as tools of an increasingly assertive Kremlin foreign policy.The fact that Russian companies have yet to make major progress in Africa has not assuaged Western concerns, particularly because the Russian intervention in Georgia raised new questions about the reliability of energy supplies from the east.Northern Africa is already an especially important alternative source for European countries that fear over-reliance on Russian energy.

Quietly, but with rising amounts of panic, we're hearing officials from major European governments complain about what the Russians are doing, said Jon Marks, editorial director of the industry newsletter Africa Energy.Russia's push goes beyond traditional allies that it supplied with weapons and money during the Cold War.One of its biggest trading partners in Africa is Morocco, a staunch U.S. ally that supplies Russia with mineral phosphates consumed in large quantities for fertilizer.But Russia also has shown that it wants to keep strong ties with Algeria, a former ally and a neighbor and rival to Morocco. The Kremlin agreed in 2006 to write off $4.7 billion of Cold War-era debt in exchange for a deal to sell Algeria combat jets, submarines, warships and missiles.Russian companies, like counterparts from China and other Asian countries, are spending billions of dollars for better access to the mineral wealth of countries across the continent. Such interest is particularly welcome to those African governments that balk at conditions on democracy, human rights and openness that can be attached to dealings with Americans or Europeans.The big concern in Western Europe is that Russia's tentative deals with African members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are an attempt to get a stranglehold on Europe's natural gas supplies. The Russian company Gazprom, which already provides a quarter of Europe's gas, agreed with the Algerian oil company Sonatrach to seek out and commercialize natural gas together after Vladimir Putin visited Algiers last year as Russia's president, before he became prime minister.

Sonatrach is the European Union's third-biggest supplier of gas, after Russia and Norway.This week, Gazprom signed an oil and gas exploration agreement with Nigeria, although details are yet to be determined, Nigerian National Petroleum announced Wednesday.Gazprom said in April that it was in talks to take part in a multibillion-dollar project to pipe Nigerian gas to Europe across the Sahara.In July, Gazprom said it could build a pipeline to pump Libyan natural gas to Europe. Libya has also agreed to sell some of its oil and gas to Russia.There is a distinct strategy here, said Marks, the Africa Energy editorial director. Gazprom doesn't necessarily get a controlling stake, but the Russians are getting a place at the table.He said a deal Italy signed last weekend to compensate Libya for misdeeds during its colonial rule was partly intended to maintain Italy's critical energy relationship with Libya.

IS OPRAH BIAST SHE WON'T INTERVIEW PALIN
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=5736716&page=1

FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN Now terror subs prowl Caribbean. Navy fears Hezbollah bringing drugs, weapons to United States September 04, 2008 11:35 pm Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND. Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials, just $9.95 per month for credit card users, and provide instant access for the complete reports.

Hezbollah flag

The waters in the Caribbean and around Latin America for a long time have provided a path for illicit drugs to flow into the United States, but the U.S. Navy has increased its patrols in the region now looking for something else – Hezbollah terrorists, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.The Navy, in trolling for mini-submarines sometimes used to transport drugs, has discovered that some of them apparently are being operated by Hezbollah.The mini-subs are small semi-submersibles, made of fiberglass and capable of carrying up to four people plus a payload. They are popular with drug smugglers, and now the U.S. is concerned elements of Hezbollah have begun using them for drug-running or smuggling weapons.In 2006, we were tracking around three of these, said Navy Admiral James Stavridis, commander of U.S. Southern Command. In the year 2007, (the number) jumped to about 30. This year so far, in three months, we've seen about 30.In drawing the connection to Hezbollah, Stravridis said there is concern about the tri-border area (of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay). It is, in my view, principally Hezbollah activity.

There is clearly fund-raising, money laundering, drug trafficking, Stravridis added. And, certainly a portion of the funds that are raised in that are making their way back to the Middle East.The suspected Hezbollah activity is centered largely in the tri-border region, particularly Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, a focal point of Islamic fundamentalism to include the Sunni Hamas and Shiite Hezbollah.Now it has branched beyond the tri-border area into other regions of Latin America to include Venezuela.Indeed, as far back as 2000, Iran had designated the Hezbollah to be its liaison to Hamas and the Sunni Palestinian Islamic Jihad throughout Latin America.

Stravridis expressed concern over this linkage.

(U.S. Southern Command) is concerned about linkage between the Iranian state and nascent Islamic radical terrorism in this region, Stravridis said.Now, Iran itself is showing a growing presence in the region, to which sources claim the administration has paid little attention. This presence includes diplomatic and intelligence not only in Venezuela but also Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador.Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin is the premium, online intelligence news source edited and published by the founder of WND.For the complete report and full immediate access to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, subscribe now.

Rice meets Gadhafi on historic visit to Libya By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer SEPT 05,08

TRIPOLI, Libya - The United States and Libya sealed a historic turnaround after decades of terrorist killings, American retaliation, suspicions and insults with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's peacemaking visit Friday with Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's mercurial strongman. The relationship has been moving in a good direction for a number of years now and I think tonight does mark a new phase, Rice said following a traditional Muslim dinner — the evening meal that breaks the day's fast observed during the holy month of Ramadan — at Gadhafi's official Bab el-Azizia residence. It is the same compound hit by U.S. airstrikes in 1986 in retaliation for a deadly Libyan-linked terrorist attack in Germany. The attack killed Gadhafi's baby daughter.We did talk about learning from the lessons of the past, Rice said. We talked about the importance of moving forward. The United States, I've said many times, doesn't have any permanent enemies.Rice is the highest-ranking American official to visit Libya in a half-century. The United States considers Gadhafi rehabilitated since the days when President Reagan called him the mad dog of the Middle East, because of the Libyan's surprise decision in 2003 to renounce terrorism and give up weapons of mass destruction. His government has also agreed to resolve legal claims from the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and other alleged terror attacks that bore Libyan fingerprints.Libya has changed, American has changed, the world has changed, Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalgam said following a meeting with Rice. Forget the past.Gadhafi welcomed Rice in a room redolent of incense. Wearing flowing white robes, his trademark fez and a green pin of Africa, Gadhafi bowed slightly and put his right hand over his heart in a traditional Arab greeting. The two did not shake hands, but Gadhafi did shake the hands of Rice's male aides.They then exchanged pleasantries, with Rice offering Gadhafi greetings from President Bush and Gadhafi asking about the hurricanes that have hit or are headed to the U.S. mainland, before dozens of reporters, photographers and television cameramen were ushered out.

Their small talk belied almost 30 years of dismal U.S.-Libyan relations that hit their low point in the 1980s when Reagan ordered the retaliatory airstrike and Gadhafi swore revenge.We're off to a good start, Rice said later. It is only a start, but I think, after many, many years, it's a very good thing that the United States and Libya are establishing a way forward.The United States withdrew its ambassador from Libya in 1972 after Gadhafi renounced agreements with the West and vilified the United States in speeches and public statements. Washington cut off diplomatic relations with Libya after a mob sacked and burned the American Embassy in 1979.U.S. officials had expected the notoriously secretive Gadhafi to dine with Rice in a tent, but it turned out they had dinner in a private kitchen.Gadhafi is known for often unpredictable behavior and has cultivated images as both an Arab potentate and African monarch since taking power in a 1969 coup. In a televised address to the nation this week he said he considers the United States neither a friend nor an enemy.In an interview with Al-Jazeera television last year, Gadhafi spoke of Rice in most unusual terms, calling her Leezza and suggesting that she actually runs the Arab world with which he has had severe differences in the past.

I support my darling black African woman, he said. I admire and am very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders. ... Leezza, Leezza, Leezza. ... I love her very much. I admire her, and I'm proud of her, because she's a black woman of African origin.Rice is the first secretary of state to visit Libya since John Foster Dulles in 1953 and the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit since then-Vice President Richard Nixon in 1957.Libya has agreed to pay compensation to the families of victims of the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and those of a 1986 attack on a disco in Berlin. The disco attack killed two U.S. servicemen and drew Reagan's order to attack Libyan targets, including Gadhafi's residence.Rice was spending only a few hours in Tripoli, an ancient city fronting the Mediterranean Sea and backing to the North African desert but took time to visit the offices that serve as the U.S. Embassy in Libya.Plans to send a full-fledged ambassador and build a new embassy are hung up in Congress over concern that Libya has not fulfilled its promises to compensate terror victims. Rice's visit comes amid a surge in interest from U.S. companies, particularly in the energy sector, to do business in Libya, where European companies have had much greater access in recent years. Libya's proven oil reserves are the ninth largest in the world, close to 39 billion barrels, and vast areas remain unexplored for new deposits. Rice said she raised the case of a prominent Libyan dissident who remains detained, and said she discussed other human rights concerns respectfully. Shalgam defended Libya's record.

Iran calls Sarkozy nuclear claims baseless Fri Sep 5, 7:20 AM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Friday dismissed as baseless remarks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Tehran was pursuing its controversial nuclear programme for military purposes. Sarkozy's comments, made on Thursday during a visit to Iran's regional staunch ally Syria, are baseless, foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said in a statement received by AFP.Nuclear weapons are not part of Iran's defence doctrine, he added.Sarkozy warned Iran that its determination to press ahead with its programme of uranium enrichment risked provoking an Israeli military strike.Iran is taking a major risk by continuing the process of seeking nuclear technology for military ends, the French president said at a four-way summit in Damascus with the leaders of Syria, Qatar and Turkey.Iran has consistently denied that its nuclear programme is aimed at making an atomic weapon, and says it wants only to generate energy for its growing population.The Islamic Republic of Iran has always, along with other nations, wanted nuclear disarmament in all countries and the destruction of their arsenals, Ghashghavi said.The United States and its staunch ally Israel -- the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear armed nation -- have never ruled out taking military action against Iran, which they accuse of seeking to make a nuclear bomb.Iran has repeatedly vowed that any attack will be met by a crushing response.Tehran risks a fourth round of UN sanctions over its failure to abide by international calls to freeze uranium enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but can also be used to build the core of a nuclear weapon.

SINS OF PEOPLE

2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

DECIEVERS WAXING WORSE AND WORSE.

2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

MORE SIN SIGNS

EPHESIANS 5:5-8
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

AS YOU WILL READ SUNDAY IN MY NEW AGE OCCULT STORY THIS GUY WAS LEAD BY SATAN, HE WAS DECIEVED BY THE DEMONIC SEDUCING SPIRITS.

Wash. rampage suspect in court: I kill for God SEPT 05,08

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. - I kill for God. I listen to God, a man accused of a northwest Washington shooting rampage said Friday at a hearing where six charges of first-degree murder and four of first-degree assault were filed against him. Isaac Zamora made the chilling comment twice at the brief hearing in Skagit County District Court while investigators wrapped up their work at eight crime scenes. The 28-year-old is being held on $5 million bail in the wake of Tuesday's rampage, which left six people dead and four injured.District Court Judge Warren Gilbert read each charge and the penalties, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. That doesn't mean the death penalty is off the table, according to the Skagit County prosecutor.

Do you talk about it? Sure you talk about it, Prosecutor Rich Weyrich told the Skagit Valley Herald. Where it goes, it's way too early to decide that.Zamora was not required to enter a plea Friday. The charges filed in District Court allow Zamora to be held in custody for 30 days. He will later be formally charged in county Superior Court.A hearing has been set for Oct. 3.The affidavit for probable cause, which details in support of the charges, remains sealed for 10 more days while the investigation continues.The attacks began near Zamora's mother's home near the tiny town of Alger, 70 miles north of Seattle, and continued on Interstate 5. After a high-speed police pursuit, Zamora surrendered at a sheriff's office in Mount Vernon, about 20 miles south of Alger.Among the dead was Skagit County Deputy Sheriff Anne Jackson, who had responded to a call to check on Zamora.

Also killed were a man shot at the same location as Jackson; two male construction workers shot nearby; a 48-year-old woman found a few houses away; and a 64-year-old motorist killed along I-5 near a rest stop, authorities said. Two people were wounded near Alger — one by stabbing — and two were wounded on the freeway, including a state trooper.Zamora, who has a long record of run-ins with the law, had been admitted several times to hospitals for mental health treatment and attempted suicide several times, his friends and family said.

OZONE DEPLETION

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Melting Swiss glacier yields Neolithic trove, climate secrets by Hui Min Neo
Fri Sep 5, 1:56 AM ET

BERN (AFP) - Some 5,000 years ago, on a day with weather much like today's, a prehistoric person tread high up in what is now the Swiss Alps, wearing goat leather pants, leather shoes and armed with a bow and arrows. The unremarkable journey through the Schnidejoch pass, a lofty trail 2,756 metres (9,000 feet) above sea level, has been a boon to scientists. But it would never have emerged if climate change were not melting the nearby glacier.So far, 300 objects dating as far back as the Neolithic or New Stone Age -- about 4,000 BC in Europe -- to the later Bronze and Iron Ages and the Medieval era have been found in the site's former icefields.

We know now that the discoveries on Schnidejoch are the oldest of this kind ever made in the Alps, said Albert Hafner, an expert with the archaeology service in Bern canton.They have allowed researchers not only to piece together snapshots of life way back when, but also to shed light on climate fluctuations in the past 6,500 years -- and hopefully shed light on what is happening now.For us, the site itself is the most important find because we have this correlation between climate change and archaeological objects, Hafner said.We know that people were only able to walk on this site when it was relatively warm, said Martin Grosjean, executive director of a national network called Swiss Climate Research. When it was too cold, the glacier advanced and it was not a passable route.Scientists have long known there were periods of warmer weather in the region but the artefacts allowed them to identify the exact years, when the site would have been passable on foot.According to Grosjean, such data could help sharpen forecasts for the future by taking into account patterns of natural temperature fluctuation.The treasure trove preserved in the icefields was discovered after two hikers noticed a strange piece of wood lying upon some stones in 2003.It turned out to be a quiver -- a case for arrows -- made from birch bark and dating as far back as 3,000 B.C. Hafner said this object may be the most significant single discovery at the site.It is the only quiver found that is made of birch bark. It is unique in Europe, he said.Since then, even older objects have been excavated, including a wooden bow estimated to predate by 1,000 years the famed Oetzi the Iceman -- a 5,100-year-old frozen body found high in the Tyrolean Alps on a glacier straddling Italy and Austria in 1991.

Experts have deduced that many of the most valuable items may have originated from one ill-fated person, probably carrying the quiver, bow and arrows and clothed in leather pants and shoes.We think the person may have been killed during an accident because there were several objects from the same period found on the site, said Hafner. It is unlikely that people would be leaving these objects so high up in the mountain.The leather samples are also the oldest of their kind ever found, said Grosjean. Leather decays easily in ambient temperatures. We know there were villages by the lakes in Switzerland but we've never found such leather objects, he said.

Analysis showed the pants' patch was made from a domesticated goat that resembled a breed recorded in Laos in those days.But the chances that the goat migrated from Laos are very slim. It could be a species that we had never before recorded to have been present in the Europe. Or its lineage may have died out since, said Grosjean.

Five years on, discoveries continue as the glaciers retreats. Last week, we found another Roman coin, said Grosjean, while Hafner said talks were underway with several museums on a future exhibition of the finds. And with climate change, more such sites could emerge. The leather pieces are the oldest such finds now but maybe in the coming years, with other glaciers retreating around the world, they may not be the oldest for long, said Grosjean. A recent UN Environment Programme report said by the end of the century, swathes of mountain ranges worldwide risk losing their glaciers if global warming continues at its projected rate. The ongoing trend of worldwide and rapid, if not accelerating, glacier shrinkage ... may lead to the deglaciation of large parts of many mountain ranges by the end of the 21st century, the report warned.

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

Silver State Bank in Nevada is shut By MARCY GORDON, AP Business Writer SEPT 05,08

WASHINGTON - Nevada regulators have shut down Silver State Bank. It was the 11th failure this year of a federally insured bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the bank, located in Henderson, Nev. It had $2 billion in assets and $1.7 billion in deposits as of June 30.The FDIC said Friday the bank's insured deposits will be assumed by Nevada State Bank of Las Vegas. Its branches will reopen Monday as offices of Nevada State Bank in Nevada and National Bank of Arizona in Arizona.The agency said depositors of Silver State Bank will continue to have full access to their deposits.The 11 failures so far this year compare with three for all of 2007, and federal banking officials have said that more banks are in danger of collapse.Silver State Bank has operated 12 branches in Nevada and Arizona as well as loan offices in Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California and Florida.The FDIC estimated its resolution will cost the deposit insurance fund between $450 million and $550 million.Regular deposit accounts are insured up to $100,000; for some individual retirement accounts, the limit is $250,000.There were about $20 million in uninsured deposits held in roughly 500 accounts at Silver State that potentially exceeded the insurance limit, the FDIC said.Concern has been growing over the solvency of some banks amid the housing slump and the steep slide in the mortgage market. The pressures of tighter credit, tumbling home prices and rising foreclosures have been battering many banks, large and small, across the nation.The largest bank failure by far this year has been that of savings and loan IndyMac Bank, which was seized by regulators on July 11 with about $32 billion in assets and deposits of $19 billion.The seizure of Pasadena, Calif.-based IndyMac, which was the largest regulated thrift to fail in the United States, prompted hundreds of angry customers to line up for hours in Southern California to demand their money. IndyMac also was the second-largest financial institution to close in U.S. history, after Continental Illinois National Bank in 1984.The FDIC has been operating the bank, now called IndyMac Federal Bank, under a conservatorship.The FDIC plans to raise insurance premiums paid by banks and thrifts to replenish its reserve fund after paying out billions of dollars to depositors at IndyMac. The fund, currently at $45 billion, is expected to take a hit from IndyMac of $4 billion to $8 billion.Federal officials expect turbulence in the banking industry to continue well into next year, and more banks to appear on the FDIC's internal list of troubled institutions.

Of the 8,500 or so FDIC-insured banks in the country, 117 were considered to be in trouble in the second quarter — the highest level in about five years and up from 90 in the first quarter. The agency doesn't disclose the banks' names.Only 13 percent of banks that make the list fail, on average, and most are nursed back to health or acquired by stronger institutions, according to the FDIC.Federally insured banks and thrifts set aside a record $50.2 billion to cover losses from soured mortgages and other loans in the April-June quarter, when profits plunged 86 percent from a year earlier. Silver State Bank customers with accounts exceeding $100,000 can contact the FDIC at 1-800-523-8177 to set up an appointment to discuss their deposits.

Stocks mostly rise as investors snap up financials By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer Fri Sep 5, 6:00 PM ET

NEW YORK - Wall Street wrestled with intensifying economic worries Friday, extending sharp losses after a disheartening jobs report and then grudgingly engaging in some mild bargain hunting that gave the market some modest gains. The major indexes ended the week with big declines, a sign that investors, who not long ago expected the economy to improve, are now growing increasingly discouraged. Stocks initially fell after the Labor Department reported that payrolls shrank more than predicted last month and that the unemployment rate reached a five-year high. But stocks that had been pounded lower, including a huge drop on Thursday, were suddenly more attractive to investors willing to make some bets.The government said payrolls shrank by 84,000 last month, more than the 75,000 economists predicted, and higher than the 51,000 jobs lost in July. The unemployment rate rose to a five-year high of 6.1 percent from 5.7 percent.The report confirmed Wall Street's fears that the economy continues to weaken. The nation has lost nearly 550,000 jobs so far this year, eroding investors' hopes for a late-year recovery.This was an ugly number that pretty much confirms that our economy continues to trend downward, said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Harris Private Bank. I had thought things were stabilizing, and this just knocks the legs out of any hope of seeing much economic improvement right now.But investors, with little conviction but willing to make a few bets, picked up some of the stocks hit in a sell-off Thursday, particularly banks and insurers. That lifted the market off its lows, but it was hardly a solid advance.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 32.73, or 0.29 percent, to 11,220.96; the blue chips had been down 150 points at their lows of the session.Broader stock ended mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.48, or 0.44 percent, to 1,242.31, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 3.16, or 0.14 percent, to 2,255.88.Friday's moves follow a dismal performance on Thursday in which all three major indexes moved back into bear market territory, defined as a 20 percent drop from a recent peak. The Dow plunged more than 340 points in a selloff underpinned by disappointing economic news and lackluster sales reports from retailers; the news drove home to investors that the economy was more troubled than many had thought.For the week, the Dow lost 2.8 percent, its fourth straight week of losses and the biggest drop since late June. The S&P 500 gave up 3.2 percent and the technology-heavy Nasdaq, home to many stocks seen as riskier than the blue chips, fell 4.7 percent.Bond prices fell Friday as investors took profits from the gains logged earlier in the week. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.69 percent from 3.62 percent late Thursday.Since mid-July I think it's become apparent that the global economies have really weakened pretty sharply, said Thomas J. Lee, U.S. equities strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. He said that while investors had been applauding the drop in oil prices since then, there was an assumption that lower commodities prices would hasten a recovery in the U.S. economy. Now, he said, investors are worried that the economy might be weakening even as oil falls.It's disinflation coupled with an accelerating downside in the economy. That's not what people were prepared for. I think people were expecting disinflation as an economic recovery was under way, Lee said. The surge in unemployment today really underscores that fear.Wall Street again found little comfort from falling oil. Crude dropped to nearly $105 a barrel in Friday's session as the dollar continued to gain on the euro and investors waited to see whether OPEC would move to restrict output next week following a two-month plunge in prices. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet early next week in Vienna and has indicated it may take action to defend the $100-a-barrel level.Light, sweet crude settled down $1.66 to $106.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Among financials carving out advances, Citigroup Inc. rose 77 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $19.07, while Bank of America Corp. rose $1.63, or 5.3 percent, to $32.23. Wachovia Corp. rose $1.22, or 7.9 percent, to $16.75.Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. rose $1.03, or 6.8 percent, to $16.20 after a Sandler O'Neill & Co. analyst said he expects the troubled investment bank to survive the credit crisis. The stock has fluctuated on reports that it is hammering out a deal for a cash infusion or buyout.

In the consumer staples sector, smokeless tobacco maker UST Inc. surged following a report from The New York Times that Altria Group Inc. plans to acquire the company. Altria, parent of Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA, dismissed the report as pure speculation. Nonetheless, UST, the maker of Skoal and Copenhagen brands, jumped $13.55, or 25 percent, to $67.55, while Altria rose 29 cents to $20.95. Energy names slipped as oil continued its drop. Chevron Corp. declined $1 to $80.22, while ConocoPhillips fell $1.05 to $75.43. Advancing issues narrowly outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.91 billion shares compared with 5.11 billion shares traded Thursday. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.23, or 0.03 percent, to 718.85. Investors overseas sent shares sharply lower on concerns about America's effect on global growth. Japan's Nikkei stock fell 2.75 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 ended down 2.26 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 2.42 percent, and France's CAC-40 shed 2.49 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week down 322.59, or 2.79 percent, at 11,220.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished down 40.52, or 3.16 percent, at 1,242.31. The Nasdaq composite index ended the week down 111.64, or 4.72 percent, at 2,255.88. The Russell 2000 index finished the week down 20.65, or 2.79 percent, at 718.85. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index — a free-float weighted index that measures 5,000 U.S. based companies — ended Friday at 12,702.58, down 421.91 points, or 3.21 percent, for the week. A year ago, the index was at 14,846.39. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

The CARMEL ALERT Sept 5th 2008 A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people.

Guest Comment: Don't Do It by Scott Baker
Isaiah 46:13 I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; And My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, And My glory for Israel.

I've seen the Glory of God once. Ezekiel talks about it as an actual tangible entity in nine different places. For example, Ezekiel 43:4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east. And, Ezekiel 3:23 So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face.

This experience happened here in Haifa when I was at a conference over 10 years ago. The Glory of God came tangibly into the room, as a mighty rushing wind. Although it was a windless night, the curtains flapped perpendicular to the floor as this rushing wind blew into the room with a heavenly whooshing noise and a different atmosphere. As the atmosphere came in the room, there were many baby Russian believers in attendance, letting out gasps of awe and joy. Three men were ministering from the States, relatively unknown (you wouldn't know their names). Many prophetic words were released at this conference, but of all the words spoken, that which I remember that stayed with me most I can summarize like this: God is coming for revival in Israel - but don't just look for revival in Israel, He is coming to bring revival to the entire Middle East region.

As I write this and ponder these things that happened many years ago, Condelisa Rice has been busy here in the region and Israel brokering talks with the leaders of Israel and the leaders of the Palestinians, which includes the division of Jerusalem. It has been under the radar, and there has been no mention of this what so ever in the Israeli press or news media all week, , except for this article I found: http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73428 . (As of this writing, it is confirmed that they are negotiating over Jerusalem: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73965 .)

According to sources, the pace of this brokering is being done at break-neck speed, so that George Bush may put the crowning achievement on before his final term is finished. Normally I would be very grieved and upset, but I have resigned in my heart that there is nothing I can do to change things but pray, and God is still in control. I see that of all people, it is a Christian Arab who can see with the prophet's eyes to rebuke the folly of men ( http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73129 ) as well as the leaders of this nation of Israel and the other nations who will not listen to wisdom.

God is in control, and even as the leaders scurry to make names for themselves at the expense of God's people...God says in Zechariah 12:2, 3, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around...and that, in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

I tremble for what George Bush and Condolisa Rice are doing to Israel, and especially to Jerusalem. And in that respect, I truly fear what Ehud Olmert and our leaders are going to do to Jerusalem. I believe that it will bring on what is called, the time of Jacob's trouble as described in Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

But it is not only the time of Jacob's trouble...the scripture says that he shall be saved out of it. In the next verse, God says that Jacob shall return and be quiet and at ease, and no one shall make him afraid any more (Jeremiah 30:10). But God says in the next verse Jeremiah 30:11 to Jacob (the Jewish people) that, For I am with you, declares the LORD, to save you;...but the next verse is scary...For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you,...

You see, in the arrogance of man (and not just in the world leaders), but also in our leaders here in Israel as well...God has a contention with them! He is long suffering as we all know, but it is also wise to maintain a healthy fear of displeasing the LORD, and it sounds that according to His word the status of Jerusalem is very important to Him. And He didn't entrust His land because He wanted it given away to non-believers (Muslims) - whose Al Asqa Mosque in the heart of the temple Mount in Jerusalem boldly and defiantly proclaims in Arabic: God does not beget, nor has he begotten (a statement in contempt to the heart of the true message of John 3:16). Yeshua said to Jerusalem, to the Jewish people: You will not see me again, until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD - which I believe means an undivided Jerusalem...and from what I can tell in the scripture, God says that He will enter into judgment because according to Joel 3:2, On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.

Oh, that our leaders in Israel knew! It is NOT your Land to give away! It is God's land, and I am concerned that they are digging their own graves as the expression goes (and everyone else's). Here is the emboldened truth that actually happens when terrorists receive land back from Israel: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73969

In one of the movies of the Raiders of the Lost Ark, they had the Ark of the Covenant, and they (ordinary men) weren't aware that they were tampering with the Divine (we know that today, we are the Ark of the Covenant - our temples are the holders of His Glory...living stones being grafted together into a spiritual temple made without hands...at least that is the way it is supposed to be)...and when they finally tampered with and opened the Ark, they didn't know what it was or what hit them. I can see a similar twist to what is going on with God's Land.

God's glory is coming back to Israel, it doesn't matter what is happening. Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.

The bible says, there are certain things that God hates. I'm sure He hates all sin, but there are seven things mentioned that are an abomination to Him, and one of them is a proud look (Proverbs 6:16, 17). Anyone who suffers from the blight of being anti-Semitic, has this proud look when looking down upon a Jew, when they consider themselves better. Most of the Muslim Arab world is in operation to this spirit described perfectly in Psalm 83 - (Psalm 83: Oh God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God. be not still. See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. Come. they say, let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.)

Let this Flash presentation be your prayer...I highly recommend it...pass it around. God bless you as you stand up for, defend and support and pray for the people of Israel: http://www.acwitness.org/psalm83english.html

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

Shabbat Shalom ... David & Josie

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * * THE CENTRAL, DEFINING ISSUE IS JUDGMENT Note: Though I taped the segment yesterday, the interview Glenn Beck did with me yesterday will actually air tonight - Thursday, September 4th - on CNN Headline News at 7pm, 9pm and midnight. By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., September 4, 2008) -- Understanding how to protect American lives and American interests from serious threats in Iran, Iraq and Russia and helping the U.S. establish real energy independence in the years ahead are among the defining issues of this presidential campaign.

Senator Obama and his chief advisors all but concede he has almost no foreign policy experience. He was, after all, a community organizer and has spent most of his time in the Senate running for President. But to a man, the Obama camp says experience is not that important. The central and defining issue, they argue, is a candidate's judgment. This is why Sen. Obama himself said in his acceptance speech in Denver: If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.It is indeed a debate worth having. The problem is, Senator Obama has shown disastrous judgment on Iran, Iraq, Russia and energy independence, as Governor Palin and Rudy Guiliani noted so effectively last night.

Consider a few examples:

OBAMA SAID IRAN IS A TINY COUNTRY AND NOT A SERIOUS THREAT: Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union, said Sen. Obama in a May 2008 speech to a town hall meeting during his primary campaign. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us . . . . Iran, they spend 1/100th of what we spend on the military. If Iran ever tried to pose a serious threat to us, they wouldn't stand a chance. The media and Democratic establishment was stunned. The next day, Obama changed course and gave prepared speech saying Iran is a grave threat. But his initial, gut instincts were telling - and wrong. Iran is a real and grave and growing threat to the national security of the U.S. and our allies.

OBAMA SAID THE SURGE IN IRAQ WOULDN'T WORK, AND WOULD MAKE THINGS WORSE: I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there [in Iraq], said Sen. Obama during a January 2007 TV interview the night President Bush announced the policy of putting more troops in Iraq. In fact, I think it will do the reverse. Just one problem: the surge has worked phenomenally well. We're winning in Iraq. And we will soon be able to bring our troops home in victory and with honor.

OBAMA STILL REFUSES TO SAY THE SURGE IS WORKING NOW: During a July 2008 interview with Sen. Obama on ABC News, Terry Moran noted that Iraqis' rejection of both al Qaeda and Shiite extremists have transformed the country, that attacks are down more than 80% nationwide, and U.S. combat casualties have plummeted, five this month so far, compared with 78 last July, and Baghdad has a pulse again. He then asked Sen. Obama, If you had to do it over again, knowing what you know now, would you - would you support the surge? Sen. Obama said no. Moran was stunned. But the Senator continued, Well, no, keep - these kinds of hypotheticals are very difficult. Hindsight is 20/20. I think what I am absolutely convinced of is that at that time, we had to change the political debate, because the view of the Bush administration at that time was one that I just disagreed with. Moran finally concluded: And so, when pressed, Barack Obama says he still would have opposed the surge. It's one thing to have flawed judgment and make a major foreign policy mistake. But should one not at least concede the obvious and give credit where credit is due? It was Sen. McCain who championed the surge and persuaded President Bush to go along. The facts are clear, even to the media. McCain was right. Obama was wrong.

OBAMA TOLD GEORGIA TO SHOW RESTRAINT WHEN RUSSIA INVADED HER: I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an immediate end to armed conflict, Sen. Obama said in a statement. Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full-scale war. The entire free world condemned Vladimir Putin and the Russian government for raping and pillaging a small but free and democratic country. Why in the world would Sen. Obama urge Georgia to show restraint in defending her people and her freedom? Eventually, Obama corrected his mistake and sounded a little tougher on Russia. But his first instincts were dead wrong, demonstrating his judgment was seriously flawed.

OBAMA OPPOSES DRILLING FOR AMERICAN OIL IN AMERICA AND OFFSHORE: [O]ffshore oil drilling will have little impact on prices, Sen. Obama said in an August 2008 speech in Iowa. It won't lower prices today. It won't lower prices during the next administration. In fact, we won't see a drop of oil from this drilling for almost 10 years. Without drilling for American oil in America, how does Sen. Obama plan to wean us off of Middle Eastern oil and protect our energy security? After all, we actually have a lot of oil we could use for ourselves - if we could only drill for it. The Department of the Interior estimates that there are 112 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil beneath U.S. federal lands and coastal waters, noted Investor's Business Daily in July. That's enough oil to power 60 million cars for 60 years. That's not counting the trillion barrels locked up in shale rock - three times the total oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.

OH BY THE WAY THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER SO THIS DOOMSDAY SENERIO WILL NOT HAPPEN. SURE WE MIGHT GET QUAKES AND TSUNAMIS BUT NOT TOTAL DESTRUCTION AS JESUS RULES FROM JERUSALEM FOREVER NEVER ENDING. SO WHEN HE RETURNS TO EARTH BODILY SHORTLY THE EARTH WILL STILL BE HERE.

Are we all going to die next Wednesday? SEPT 5,08

Two nightmare scenarios, two ends of the world. In the first, there is little warning. For maybe a month there would be no sign that life was about to come to an abrupt and nasty end for all living things on Earth.Then, earthquakes would start unexpectedly, alerting geologists that something terrible, unimaginable, was amiss.

After a few days, these seismic disturbances would reach catastrophic proportions.

Cities would be levelled, the oceans would rise and wash in a series of mega-tsunamis that would attack the world's coasts, killing millions.The fact that the earthquakes were striking randomly, not along well-known geological faultlines, would be proof that something devastating was afoot.Finally, the end would come, in a disaster of Biblical scale. The Earth would literally start to crack up.Molten lava would wash over the land and the seas would start to boil.Mega-hurricanes would level buildings and forests the world over. Eventually, mountains would crumble as the Earth's crust continued to disintegrate.The fabric of the planet itself would start to disappear, trillions of tonnes of rock, water, air and life sucked into a whirlpool of unimaginable force.From space, our blue-and-white home would appear to vanish down a plughole in a flash of light.At least in this scenario we would have a little time, perhaps, to come to terms with the end.However, a second doomsday scenario is even more terrifying. There would be no warning at all.In an instant - about one-twentieth of a second - the entire Earth would simply vanish from space.

Less than two seconds later, the Moon would follow suit. Eight minutes later, the Sun would be ripped apart, followed by the rest of the planets in the solar system and onwards, a wave of destruction caused by a rent in the fabric of space itself, spreading out from our world at the speed of light.But why should we now be worrying about such possible causes of Armageddon? The answer is a gargantuan machine - the largest, most expensive scientific experiment in history, the Large Hadron Collider, to be turned on next Wednesday.Although it was designed to answer the fundamental questions of life, some people have claimed that it could end up destroying the entire cosmos.This gigantic £4 billion-plus atom-smasher has been built under the Swiss-French border near Geneva, and is the most powerful device ever built for probing the secrets of the atom and the forces and particles which make up our Universe.It is a staggering device, occupying a train-sized tunnel 18 miles long, buried 300ft underground, studded with gigantic, cathedral-sized ring-shaped detectors where collisions between packets of heavy subatomic particles, hadrons, will take place in the hope that the innermost workings of matter and energy will be revealed.The LHC is, arguably, the most impressive machine ever built by Mankind.But a few people are convinced that it should never be turned on. A lawsuit has been lodged at the European Court For Human Rights by a small group of maverick scientists.They claim there is a small - but not zero - chance that when the LHC is activated it will create either a mini-black hole which would fall into the ground and swallow the Earth from within (scenario one).Or, even more bizarrely, trigger a catastrophic chain reaction in the very fabric of space and time itself, which would rip apart the entire universe like the skin of a bursting balloon (scenario two).

Bizarrely, this group, led by a German chemist called Otto Rossler, are using the European Convention on human rights to argue that, should the LHC destroy the entire Universe, it would violate the right to life and right to private family life.In fact, since 1994, when the collider was first mooted by the multi-national European nuclear research organisation (CERN), a small number of doomsayers have claimed that by replicating the conditions pertaining at the start of the universe (Big Bang), about 13,700 million years ago, there would be a small but real risk an unstoppable cataclysm would take place.This is not a threat taken seriously by the scientists at CERN. When I visited the place a couple of years ago, to see the collider being built, any mention of mini-black holes and other risks elicited only raised eyebrows and shrugs of derision.The LHC was not designed to destroy the universe, of course, but to fill in some of the embarrassingly large gaps that still run through our basic understanding of physics and how the universe works.It could discover, for instance, what most of the Universe is actually made of.The ordinary stuff that we see around us - the atoms and molecules of water, carbon, iron, oxygen and the rest that make up our bodies, the planet Earth, the Moon, the other planets, the Sun and all the stars - actually accounts for only about one part in 25 of the total 'ingredients' of the cosmos.

Astronomers know that something else, invisible and mysterious, must pervade every inch of space, its subtle gravity affecting the movements of the galaxy.This material - no one really has a clue what it is - has been dubbed 'dark matter' and it is hoped that the collider just might shed some light on what it is, perhaps uncovering a new type of particle.Perhaps more embarrassingly, we don't know what it is that gives even ordinary matter its mass.In the 1960s, British physicist Peter Higgs proposed the existence of a new particle, now known as the Higgs Particle, which effectively lends weight to the stuff of the universe.So important and fundamental is this hypothetical entity that it has been dubbed the God particle.It is hoped that if Higgs is right, the collider could finally clear up this mystery and, as a result of its super-powerful collisions, traces of this particle could emerge.That alone would, in itself, be justification for a large chunk of that £4 billion outlay. By simulating the Big Bang, it is hoped the LHC will act as a universe in a test tube, allowing scientists to examine a whole suite of exotic subatomic particles and forces and to go some way to completing the work started by Einstein and the other giants of 20th-century physics.So is there really a chance that the scientists have made a terrible miscalculation and that their new toy could inadvertently kill us all? Happily, the simple answer is no. CERN's scientists have in fact commissioned several safety reviews (such as those that have taken place before other big particle accelerators have been turned on).All have concluded that there is no measurable risk whatsoever. Perhaps the best argument against the LHC doomsday scenario is that cosmic rays - natural high-energy particles from space - smash into the Earth's atmosphere all the time with far, far more energy than will be generated by this machine.If it were possible to create a dangerous black hole by simply bashing atomic particles together, this would have happened naturally long ago, and we wouldn't be here to build this particle accelerator in the first place. So we are safe.In fact, what the scientists at CERN really fear is not the end of the world, but that their machine simply isn't big or powerful enough to uncover anything new - that to probe the deepest secrets of the cosmos they will have to ask for yet more cash to build something on an even greater scale.Either that, or their equations are simply wrong and a whole new approach is needed, despite the billions they have spent.Not a doomsday for Earth, perhaps, but a catastrophe for physics.

As for the rest of us, we have to hope that the scientists have done their sums right - and keep our fingers crossed next Wednesday.

JOHN MCCAIN RNC PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH

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.

Southeast braces for Hanna as Ike strengthens By KEVIN MAURER, Associated Press Writer SEPT 04,08

WILMINGTON, N.C. - Some Southeastern states declared emergencies and officials urged residents to head inland Thursday as Tropical Storm Hanna headed toward the Atlantic coast, where it could bring high winds and rain from South Carolina to Maine.

Meanwhile, disaster planners eyed ferocious-looking Hurricane Ike strengthening in the Atlantic. And with power outages and problems from Hurricane Gustav lingering in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and relief groups found themselves juggling three storms.Rain and wind from Hanna could start as early as Friday night in the South, where some residents shuttered houses and stocked up on food and sandbags, coastal parks closed, and schools canceled events and changed sports schedules. Tropical storm watches and warnings were issued from Georgia to near Atlantic City, N.J.Forecasters expected Hanna to strengthen only slightly before making landfall early Saturday, though hurricane watches remained for much of coastal North and South Carolina.The governors of Virginia and North Carolina declared states of emergency. North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley urged residents to pay attention because Hanna's path could change.No, you're not in the clear if you're not in the track we talked about today, he said. You're in the clear after the storm goes through and didn't bother you.In South Carolina, Gov. Mark Sanford urged people to leave flood-prone areas and mobile homes in two northern counties by Friday afternoon.Still, some scoffed at the storm that killed at least 61people in Haiti. Instead, they turned to Ike, a Category 4 hurricane approaching the Bahamas. FEMA was sending hundreds of truckloads of meals, water and other supplies to the East Coast but also leaving resources on the Gulf Coast in case Ike heads there.Ike looks like it's a very, very dangerous storm, said FEMA Administrator David Paulison.The latest storms come on the heels of Gustav, which had some Louisiana residents still without power and living in shelters several days later.

In 2004, Paulison, then the preparedness director of FEMA, said three major hurricanes in just over a month strained but did not ultimately hobble the agency's resources and staffing.On Thursday, FEMA officials said they had sent teams to Louisiana to deal with Gustav while others planned for Hanna.FEMA's head of disaster operations, Glenn Cannon, said FEMA had deployed 700 ambulances for Gustav and was moving many east toward Florida.He said Ike looks like Hurricane Andrew did in 1992 before it killed 23 people and did $26.5 billion in damage in Florida. But he warned not to look past Hanna.Everybody's a little tired right now, and, I think, would like to look past Hanna, and we know Ike has us all concerned, he told The Associated Press. But Hanna can jump up and bite us.The American Red Cross also was moving supplies, equipment and people. The organization was borrowing money to cover Gustav expenses that could reach more than $70 million and expects to go deeper into debt as it prepares for the other storms, said Red Cross vice president Joseph Becker.Hanna chugged just east of the Bahamas Thursday with winds near 65 mph. At 8 p.m. EDT, it was 580 miles south-southeast of Wilmington, N.C.A tropical storm warning, meaning tropical storm conditions were expected within 24 hours, was issued from the Savannah River in Georgia to the North Carolina/Virginia border.

A hurricane watch was issued for Edisto Beach, S.C., to the Outer Banks of North Carolina near the Virginia border. Tropical storm watches were issued from the North Carolina/Virginia border to Great Egg Inlet, N.J., and from the Savannah River south to Altamaha Sound, Ga. Watches mean conditions are possible within 36 hours. In North Myrtle Beach, S.C., few homes were boarded up, but vacationers hastily packed bags. We've seen people boarding up today and the Coast Guard helicopters flying overhead and decided it was time to go, said James Collins, of Cadillac, Mich.

Emergency managers in New England also planned for Hanna, which could hit this weekend with heavy rain and strong winds. In Providence, R.I., workers cleared storm drains and stocked up on sandbags and residents were urged to buy supplies. If nothing else it's a good dress rehearsal for Ike if Ike were to come, said Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. In Kure Beach, N.C., Jimbo Andrews nursed a soda while bartender Kassie Jones made plans for a Friday night hurricane party. Andrews said he keeps hurricane supplies at his house and planned to leave if Ike hit. And Hanna? It looked to get him out of some yard work. No sense in going to the trouble when you got a storm coming, he said.

Associated Press writers Gary D. Robertson, Estes Thompson and Martha Waggoner in Raleigh; Page Ivey, Susanne M. Schafer and Jim Davenport in Columbia, S.C.; Jeffrey Collins in North Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Bruce Smith in Charleston, S.C.; Ben Evans and Eileen Sullivan in Washington; and Karen Testa in Boston contributed to this report.

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).

Sarkozy warns Iran it risks Israeli attack Thu Sep 4, 2:55 PM By Francois Murphy and Emmanuel Jarry

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Iran on Thursday it was taking a dangerous gamble in seeking to develop nuclear weapons because one day its arch-foe Israel could strike.Western powers accuse Iran of seeking the atom bomb under the cover of a civilian nuclear program but Tehran denies the charge, insisting it only wants to master atomic technology in order to generate electricity.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if the dispute cannot be settled through diplomacy.Iran is taking a major risk in continuing the process to obtain a military nuclear capacity, Sarkozy told a meeting in Damascus with the leaders of Syria, Turkey and Qatar.One day, whatever the Israeli government, we could find one morning that Israel has struck, Sarkozy added.The question is not whether it would be legitimate, whether it would be intelligent. What will we do at that moment? It would be a catastrophe. We must avoid that catastrophe, Sarkozy told the meeting in comments broadcast on television.
Speculation about a possible attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has risen since Israel staged an air force exercise in June which was reported to be a simulation of a strike against Iran.

WEST FRIGHTENED

The French president has asked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to help resolve the standoff with Iran, a close ally of Syria, and Assad has pledged to help seek a solution.The solution is to find a mechanism to prove that this nuclear program is a peaceful program, Assad told France 2 television in an interview, adding that he understood why the West was worried about the idea of Iran getting the bomb.Of course the West is frightened. We don't want the nuclear bomb in the Middle East, he said.The U.N. Security Council has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Iran over its failure to heed calls to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for power plants or, potentially, nuclear weapons.Sarkozy repeated his call on Iran to halt enrichment and said Tehran should accept stricter inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).If Iran continues enrichment, that is a problem. But IAEA checks should at least take place in a complete manner. Then (Iran's) good faith would be established, he said.Iran is in talks with the IAEA on improving its cooperation with the agency, but Sarkozy did not say what complete inspections would be in his view.Tehran has also so far failed to respond to a sweetened offer of incentives by France, Britain, Germany, the United States, Russia and China aimed at persuading it, initially, to freeze expansion of its nuclear work.(Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer)(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

Cheney offers US backing for Georgia's NATO bid By MARIA DANILOVA, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 4, 4:38 PM ET

KIEV, Ukraine - Vice President Dick Cheney insisted that Georgia will join NATO and backed its attempts to rebuild from its war with Russia on Thursday, using a trip to former Soviet republics as a show of U.S. support for their pro-Western leaders.

Cheney flew to Kiev from Georgia, where he denounced Russia's illegitimate, unilateral attempt to redraw the U.S. ally's borders by force.Georgia will be in our alliance, Cheney told reporters while standing alongside Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, whose pro-Western government has sought to join NATO despite Russian opposition.Angry Russian officials have repeatedly said U.S. military aid was instrumental in emboldening Georgia to try to retake South Ossetia by force on Aug. 7. The attack sparked five days of fighting and resulted in Russian forces driving into South Ossetia and on into Georgia.Speaking in Moscow, Konstantin Kosachyov, head of foreign affairs committee in the Kremlin-controlled lower house, accused Cheney of trying to forge an anti-Russian axis.It's Cheney who was behind all recent events on the former Soviet turf, Kosachyov said in televised remarks.The vice president's trip was intended as a signal that the U.S. will continue cultivating close ties with Georgia and its neighbors even after Russia showed it was willing to use military force against countries along its border.Before Georgia, Cheney also stopped in oil-rich Azerbaijan.There are concerns the Kremlin might next seek to squeeze Ukraine as it tries to reclaim dominance in the former Soviet Union. The strategically located country of 46 million has pipelines that carry Russian gas to European consumers and a Black Sea port that is home to a key Russian naval base.

America will do its duty to work with the governments of Georgia and our other friends and allies to protect our common interests and to uphold our values, Cheney said.Russia's actions have cast grave doubts on Russia's intentions and on its reliability as an international partner, Cheney added.On the eve of his arrival, the White House announced a $1 billion commitment to help the small, strategically located nation recover from its war with Russia.Saakashvili said Georgia was grateful for the aid, which matched his government's estimate of war damages: Together with our other partners, in Europe, America and elsewhere, we will rebuild Georgia. We feel that we are not alone.The United States is at Georgia's side, Cheney said, as you work to overcome an invasion of your sovereign territory and an illegitimate, unilateral attempt to change your country's borders by force, that has been universally condemned by the free world.New U.S. military aid to Georgia would further test relations between Washington and Moscow, which are already at a post-Cold War low.Russia has condemned the U.S. use of warships to deliver aid as a form of gunboat diplomacy. The flagship of the U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, the USS Mount Whitney, sailed into the Black Sea on Wednesday with more aid for Georgia.

According to a military official, the ship is planning to dock in the Black Sea port of Poti. The official, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that the Russians have said they would not impede the ship's movement, but they want to check the cargo when it arrives in Poti. The U.S. has agreed to that, the official said.The United States and European Union say Russia has failed to meet its obligations under an EU-brokered cease-fire deal. But Moscow insists the cease-fire accord lets it run checkpoints in security zones more than 4 miles into Georgian territory. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said before meeting with his Russian counterpart Thursday that the EU hopes the Russian troops will pull out by Monday when an EU delegation led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy visits Moscow. The EU peace deal talks about temporary security measures and patrols, not about permanent installations, Frattini was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency. But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov firmly said after talks with Frattini in Moscow that Russian peacekeepers will stay in the security zone until there is a comprehensive mechanism of international monitoring. For the first time since the outbreak of hostilities, Russia on Thursday allowed military monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to patrol a road near South Ossetia. Access to the area has been a focus for the OSCE and international partners, and we welcome this important step, Ambassador Terhi Hakala, the head of the OSCE mission to Georgia, said in a statement. The OSCE has decided to increase its team of observers in Georgia from 8 before the conflict to 100.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko, who has supported Georgia, has objected to Russia using its ships stationed in the Ukrainian base in the war, thus dragging Ukraine into the conflict. His move has angered Moscow and further strained relations which already have been tense over energy disputes and the Russian navy presence in Ukraine. Since the war in Georgia last month, Russia has asserted it has what President Dmitry Medvedev called privileged interests in its sphere of influence, which includes the former Soviet states in the South Caucasus. I would like to say firmly: we are worried about the Russian president's recent use of the term regions of privileged interests of the Russian Federation, Yushchenko said Thursday at a meeting with the ambassadors of G-7 nations. I don't think this corresponds to the spirit of our neighborly relations.Cheney's visit comes at an awkward time for Yushchenko. The governing coalition, made up of his party and that of his 2004 Orange Revolution partner — now Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko — has collapsed, dashing hopes for quick progress and integration with the European Union.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have turned into bitter rivals before the 2010 presidential election, in which they are likely to compete against each other, blocking each other's policies and stalling much-needed reform. After Tymoshenko sided with the Russia-friendly opposition to trim presidential powers, Yushchenko's allies pulled out of the coalition, robbing it of a parliamentary majority. The parliament now has to come up with a new alliance or a new election will be called. That would be the third parliamentary vote in as many years and a major embarrassment to Yushchenko's government. Associated Press writers Steve Gutterman and Misha Dzhindzhikashvili in Tbilisi; Jennifer Loven, Matthew Lee and Lolita Baldor in Washington; Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Ariel David in Rome contributed to this report.

Stocks plummet after retail, unemployment data By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer Thu Sep 4, 6:03 PM ET

NEW YORK - Dejected investors sent stocks plunging Thursday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 340 points after retailers and the government added to a mountain of bad economic news and devastated hopes for a late-year recovery. The market was already nervous as it waited for the government to release its August employment report on Friday. So news from the nation's major retailers that shoppers curtailed their spending last month due to higher gas and food prices came as a heavy blow.Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, beat expectations because of its big discounts, but many teen retailers and luxury chains did poorly, a sign that consumers are spending mostly on essentials and putting discretionary buying on hold.Meanwhile, the Labor Department said new applications for unemployment insurance rose by 15,000 last week from the previous week. That broadly missed expectations for a fourth-straight week of declines, heightening worries that the average American — already feeling the effects of the weak housing market — will have even less means to spend.Furthermore, if the job market keeps deteriorating, it is tough for Wall Street to see a rebound in sight for the economy's biggest culprit: the tumbling housing market.You have to have a paycheck to pay that mortgage, said Craig Peckham, market strategist at Jefferies & Co.The numbers released Thursday were a sign that despite some upbeat reports over the past month, the economy remains deeply troubled. Investors are not expecting any promising news in the August jobs report, particularly after the ADP National Employment Report said that private sector employment decreased in August by 33,000. Economists are predicting the government will report the eighth straight monthly payrolls drop, and a rise in the unemployment rate.

The market was so disheartened that it showed little reaction when the Institute for Supply Management said the service sector grew unexpectedly in August for the first time in three months as new orders increased and inflation moderated. The August reading of 50.6 was higher than the 50.0 expected, and the reading of 49.2 in July; but the sector's edging above the threshold between contraction and expansion was hardly a sign of a robust economy.An economic recovery appears to be far off to investors — and with the Dow down more than 15 percent for the year so far, they don't appear to be holding out for a significant upturn in stocks, either.We're seeing nothing but sellers, said Ted Oberhaus, director of equity trading at Lord, Abbett & Co. In a bear market, you sort of really don't need an excuse to sell.The Dow fell 344.65, or 2.99 percent, to 11,188.23. It was the worst drop for the blue-chip index since June 26, when it fell more than 358 points, or 3.03 percent.

Broader indexes also tumbled. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 38.15, or 2.99 percent, to 1,236.83, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 74.69, or 3.20 percent, to 2,259.04.All three indexes moved back into bear market territory, defined as a 20 percent drop from a recent peak. The indexes were at highs, including a record 14,198.09 for the Dow, last October.As investors fled stocks, they turned to the safety of government bonds, sending Treasury prices higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.62 percent from 3.70 percent late Wednesday.Not even another drop in oil could console investors. After the government reported a lower-than-expected drop in U.S. gasoline and crude supplies, light sweet crude fell $1.46 to settle at $107.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude is about $30 below its July 11 high of $147.27. Gold prices also slid Thursday.News about housing didn't help the market. Toll Brothers Inc. CEO Robert Toll said he is seeing signs the housing market is stabilizing, but Ara Hovnanian — CEO of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. — said he sees no evidence yet of a market bottom. The stock market appeared to agree with the latter sentiment, sending homebuilder stocks sharply lower.Toll Brothers performed better than its peers, even after posting a third-quarter loss; its shares rose 27 cents to $25.07. But shares of Hovnanian, which on Wednesday reported a quarterly loss, sank $1.35, or 17.4 percent, to $6.40. Pulte Homes Inc. fell 86 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $12.05, and KB Home fell $1.22, or 5.7 percent, to $20.11.The financial sector fared poorly on Thursday as well, particular after bond fund manager Bill Gross wrote in a commentary on his firm's Web site that the U.S. Treasury needs to provide funding to mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Freddie shares fell 30 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $5.08, and Fannie shares fell 65 cents, or 8.9 percent, to $6.67. The biggest decliners among the 30 Dow components were three financial stocks: Bank of America Corp., which fell $2.36, or 7.2 percent, to $30.60; Citigroup Inc., which fell $1.31, or 6.7 percent, to $28.30; and American International Group Inc., which fell $1.36, or 6 percent, to $21.22. Wal-Mart's stock ended down only a penny at $59.78, after it said sales of groceries and back-to-school products helped its August same-store sales rise 3 percent, above expectations. But the discount chain's success was seen as the corollary of a cash-strapped consumer, and other retailers fell. JCPenney Co. fell $2.07, or 5 percent, to $39.57, while Gap Inc. fell 83 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $19.14. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 23.29, or 3.14 percent, to 718.62. Declining issues outpaced advancers by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 5.11 billion shares, up from 4.94 billion shares on Wednesday. Overseas, the Bank of England and European Central Bank left their benchmark interest rates unchanged — a move analysts expected, as both regions face rising inflation and slowing economic growth. The ECB also decided to make it more expensive for banks to borrow from the central bank against risky assets — another worry weighing on investors' minds, Jefferies' Peckham said. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 2.50 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 2.91 percent, and France's CAC-40 shed 3.22 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock closed down 1.04 percent. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Prepared remarks of Cindy McCain's address By The Associated Press SEPT 04,08

Prepared remarks of Cindy McCain, wife of presidential candidate John McCain, to the Republican National Convention on Thursday:

Thank you everyone.John and I are so proud of them and so happy to have them here with us tonight.Nothing has made me happier or more fulfilled in my life than being a mother.But while John and I take great joy in having been able to spend time together this week as a family, our hearts go out to the thousands of families who have had to leave their homes once again due to devastating weather.It is not only our natural instinct to rally to them, to lift them up with our prayers and come to their aid, it is also our duty to our country.That duty is what brings me before you tonight. And it's much larger and more important than just me or John or any of us: It's the work of this great country calling us together — and there is no greater duty than that, no more essential task for our generation — right now.That's been very much on my mind these last few months as I traveled our country.Each day, after the bands packed up, the speeches were done, and the camera lights darkened, I always came back to how blessed and honored I was to be part of our national conversation.And in these times, when so many of our fellow Americans face difficult situations, what I saw moved me deeply.Families worried about losing their homes.

Towns deserted by industries once at their center.Mothers with no choice but to send their children to unsafe and underperforming schools.But I have also seen the resilience of the American people. I've heard stirring stories of neighbor helping neighbor, of cities on one end of the country offering help to fellow citizens on the other.Despite our challenges our hearts are still alive with hope and belief in our individual ability to make things right if only the Federal government would get itself under control and out of our way.So tonight is also about renewing our commitment to one another.Because this campaign is not about us. It's about our special and exceptional country. And this convention celebrates a special and exceptional Republican Party ... the hand we feel on our shoulder belongs to Abraham Lincoln. Our country was born amidst the struggle for freedom ... and our party arose from a great battle for human rights, dignity, and equality for all people. We give way to no one and no other party in that cause. From its very birth, our party has been grounded in the notion of service, community and self-reliance ... and it's all tempered by a uniquely American faith in — and compassion for — each other's neighbors. A helping hand and friendly support has always been our way. It's no surprise that Americans are the most generous people in history. That generosity of spirit is in our national DNA. It's our way of doing things. It's how we view the world.

I was taught Americans can look at the world and ask either: What do other countries think of us ... or we can look at ourselves and ask: What would our forefathers make of us and what will our children say of us? That's a big challenge. In living up to it, we know the security and prosperity of our nation is about a lot more than just politics. It also depends on personal commitment, a sense of history and a clear view of the future. I know of no one who better defines how to do that ... whose life is a better example of how to go about that than the man I love and with whom I have shared almost 30 years of my life: My husband, John McCain. From the beginning of time, no matter how accomplished in other fields, women have always sought a husband with an eye to what kind of father that man would be. Well, I hit a home run with John McCain! I got the most marvelous husband and friend and confidant ... a source of strength and inspiration ... and also the best father you could ever imagine. In that most sacred role, he brought to our children his great personal character ... his lifelong example of honesty ... and his steadfast devotion to honor. He has shown the value of self-sacrifice by daily example and, above all ... John showers us with the unconditional love and support every family dreams of. I know what his children say of him. And his courageous service to America in war and peace leaves no doubt what our forefathers would make of him! It's these virtues of character that led him to this campaign, to this moment. John McCain is a steadfast man who will not break with our heritage ... no matter how demanding or dangerous the challenges at home or abroad. And let's not be confused: these are perilous times, not just for America, but for freedom itself. It's going to take someone of unusual strength and character — someone exactly like my husband — to lead us through the reefs and currents that lie ahead. I know John. You can trust his hand at the wheel. But you know what, I've always thought it's a good idea to have a woman's hand on the wheel as well. So how about Governor Sarah Palin!

John has picked a reform-minded ... hockey-mommin' ... basketball shootin' ... moose huntin' ... fly-fishin' ... pistol-packing ... mother of five for vice president. And as a fellow hockey mom myself and a Western conservative mother, I couldn't be prouder that John has shaken things up as he usually does! No one can do the job alone. And that's why I'm glad John will have Governor Palin by his side. We all to have work together ... build consensus — the way John has done all his life. His leadership inspires and empowers ... and places ultimate success in all our hands.

Ronald Reagan was fond of saying, with freedom goes responsibility — a responsibility that can only be met by the individual himself.I have been witness to great service and sacrifice — to lives lived with humility and grace. In World War II, my father's B-17 was shot down three times. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. But he was quiet about that ... and never claimed to have done more than his small share. Just like my husband. I think John was a hero in Vietnam. But he thinks it was just his turn. Our son, Jack, will graduate from the United States Naval Academy next year — fourth generation — ready to do his service. And our son Jimmy — a lance corporal in the Marine Corps — served honorably in Iraq ... as hundreds of thousands of other young men and women just like him are doing for America and freedom everywhere. The stakes were never more clear to me, than the morning I watched my son Jimmy strap on his weapons and board a bus headed for harm's way. I was born and raised in the American West and will always see the world through the prism of its values. My Father was a true Western Gentleman.He rose from hardscrabble roots to realize the American dream. With only a few borrowed dollars in his pocket, a strong back and a can-do spirit, he built a great life for his family. His handshake was his solemn oath. He looked you straight in the eye and he always believed the best of you unless you gave him good cause not to. Modest and good-natured, he had deep roots in our American soil. He taught me life is not just about you — it's also about nurturing the next generation ... preparing a better world for all our children and helping them find the right way up. We all come to that knowledge in different ways. For me, the great moment of clarity came when I became a mother. Something changed in me, and I would never see my obligations the same way. It was after that, I was walking through the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh, surrounded by terrible poverty and the devastation of a cyclone. All around me were the children, and the desperate faces of their mothers. The pain was overwhelming ... and I felt helpless.

But then I visited an orphanage begun by Mother Teresa, and two very sick little girls captured my heart. There was something I could do. I could take them home. And so I did. Today both of those girls are healthy and happy. And one of them you just met: our beautiful daughter, Bridget. Much is expected of a country as blessed as America ... and our people are at work all over the globe ... making it a better planet ... doing their part. It was my privilege to work with the men and women of the American Voluntary Medical Teams in places like Zaire, Micronesia and Vietnam ... watching as they relieved whole towns from disease ... and rescued countless children from sickness. The reward for sharing in that work is truly indescribable. To see a child rescued from a life in the shadows by Operation Smile is to witness and share a joy that is life-changing. And the challenges go on. I just returned from the Republic of Georgia, where HALO Trust — an organization specializing in clearing the debris of war — and others, are rescuing innocent victims from land mines and missiles. Sometimes the courage of others leaves me breathless. I only need to speak the word Rwanda and the images it conjures are beyond description. In my box tonight is Ernestine, a woman, a friend, a mother like myself, whom I met in Kigali. She suffered unimaginable horrors and was made to watch appalling havoc wreaked on her family. Yet, as the violence in her country subsides, she doesn't seek retribution — instead, she offers love and seeks reconciliation for her people. She says, simply, It's time to move on for me and my country.Ernestine, would you please stand up? Your courage is humbling. Your forgiveness is healing. You are my hero. Forgiveness is not just a personal issue: It's why John led the effort to normalize relations with Vietnam ... to retrieve the remains of our MIAs ... to bring closure to both sides. That's leadership — national leadership. And it's leading by example. The presidential contest will begin in earnest when this convention closes. If Americans want straight talk and the plain truth they should take a good close look at John McCain ... a man tested and true ... who's never wavered in his devotion to our country ... a man who's served in Washington without ever becoming a Washington insider ... who always speaks the truth no matter what the cost ... a man of judgment and character ... a loyal and loving and true husband and a magnificent father!

This is a good man, a worthy man ... I know. I have loved him with all my heart for almost 30 years ... and I humbly recommend him to you tonight as our nominee for the next president of the United States! I'm so grateful to have had the chance to speak with you tonight ... and for the honor you are about to grant my husband — and, indeed, our entire family. I promise you I will work every day to help John strengthen our freedom ... to serve this great country with the honor, dignity and the love it deserves ... from each and every generation it blesses. May God bless all of you: ... our beloved America ... the citizens of the Gulf Coast ... and all the sons and daughters serving this great country around the world tonight. Thank you.

I LIKED THE MCCAIN SPEECH TONIGHT, IT WAS THE BEST ONE I HEARD OF HIS.

Full text of John McCain's speech SEPT 04,08

The full text of Sen. John McCain's acceptance speech, as prepared for delivery.

Thank you all very much. Tonight, I have a privilege given few Americans — the privilege of accepting our party’s nomination for President of the United States. And I accept it with gratitude, humility and confidence.In my life, no success has come without a good fight, and this nomination wasn't any different. That's a tribute to the candidates who opposed me and their supporters. They're leaders of great ability, who love our country, and wished to lead it to better days. Their support is an honor I won't forget. I'm grateful to the President for leading us in those dark days following the worst attack on American soil in our history, and keeping us safe from another attack many thought was inevitable; and to the First Lady, Laura Bush, a model of grace and kindness in public and in private. And I'm grateful to the 41st President and his bride of 63 years, and for their outstanding example of honorable service to our country.As always, I'm indebted to my wife, Cindy, and my seven children. The pleasures of family life can seem like a brief holiday from the crowded calendar of our nation's business. But I have treasured them all the more, and can’t imagine a life without the happiness you give me. Cindy said a lot of nice things about me tonight. But, in truth, she’s more my inspiration than I am hers. Her concern for those less blessed than we are — victims of land mines, children born in poverty and with birth defects — shows the measure of her humanity. I know she will make a great First Lady.

When I was growing up, my father was often at sea, and the job of raising my brother, sister and me would fall to my mother alone. Roberta McCain gave us her love of life, her deep interest in the world, her strength, and her belief we are all meant to use our opportunities to make ourselves useful to our country. I wouldn’t be here tonight but for the strength of her character.My heartfelt thanks to all of you, who helped me win this nomination, and stood by me when the odds were long. I won’t let you down. To Americans who have yet to decide who to vote for, thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to win your trust. I intend to earn it.Finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We’ll go at it over the next two months. That’s the nature of these contests, and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and admiration. Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, an association that means more to me than any other. We’re dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. No country ever had a greater cause than that. And I wouldn’t be an American worthy of the name if I didn’t honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement.But let there be no doubt, my friends, we’re going to win this election. And after we’ve won, we’re going to reach out our hand to any willing patriot, make this government start working for you again, and get this country back on the road to prosperity and peace.

These are tough times for many of you. You’re worried about keeping your job or finding a new one, and are struggling to put food on the table and stay in your home. All you ever asked of government is to stand on your side, not in your way. And that’s just what I intend to do: stand on your side and fight for your future.

And I’ve found just the right partner to help me shake up Washington, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. She has executive experience and a real record of accomplishment. She’s tackled tough problems like energy independence and corruption. She’s balanced a budget, cut taxes, and taken on the special interests. She’s reached across the aisle and asked Republicans, Democrats and Independents to serve in her administration. She’s the mother of five children. She’s helped run a small business, worked with her hands and knows what it’s like to worry about mortgage payments and health care and the cost of gasoline and groceries.She knows where she comes from and she knows who she works for. She stands up for what’s right, and she doesn’t let anyone tell her to sit down. I’m very proud to have introduced our next Vice President to the country. But I can’t wait until I introduce her to Washington. And let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming.I’m not in the habit of breaking promises to my country and neither is Governor Palin. And when we tell you we’re going to change Washington, and stop leaving our country’s problems for some unluckier generation to fix, you can count on it. We’ve got a record of doing just that, and the strength, experience, judgment and backbone to keep our word to you.

You know, I’ve been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum.Sometimes it’s meant as a compliment and sometimes it’s not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don’t work for a party. I don’t work for a special interest. I don’t work for myself. I work for you.I’ve fought corruption, and it didn’t matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and had to be held accountable. I’ve fought big spenders in both parties, who waste your money on things you neither need nor want, while you struggle to buy groceries, fill your gas tank and make your mortgage payment. I’ve fought to get million dollar checks out of our elections. I’ve fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes. I fought crooked deals in the Pentagon. I fought tobacco companies and trial lawyers, drug companies and union bosses.I fought for the right strategy and more troops in Iraq, when it wasn’t a popular thing to do. And when the pundits said my campaign was finished, I said I’d rather lose an election than see my country lose a war.Thanks to the leadership of a brilliant general, David Petraeus, and the brave men and women he has the honor to command, that strategy succeeded and rescued us from a defeat that would have demoralized our military, risked a wider war and threatened the security of all Americans.I don’t mind a good fight. For reasons known only to God, I’ve had quite a few tough ones in my life. But I learned an important lesson along the way. In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is the real test.I fight for Americans. I fight for you. I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Michigan, who lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market. Bill got a temporary job after he was out of work for seven months. Sue works three jobs to help pay the bills.I fight for Jake and Toni Wimmer of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Jake works on a loading dock; coaches Little League, and raises money for the mentally and physically disabled. Toni is a schoolteacher, working toward her Master’s Degree. They have two sons, the youngest, Luke, has been diagnosed with autism. Their lives should matter to the people they elect to office. They matter to me.I fight for the family of Matthew Stanley of Wolfboro, New Hampshire, who died serving our country in Iraq. I wear his bracelet and think of him every day. I intend to honor their sacrifice by making sure the country their son loved so well and never returned to, remains safe from its enemies.I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger. We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust, when we valued our power over our principles.

We’re going to change that. We’re going to recover the people’s trust by standing up again for the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics. We believe everyone has something to contribute and deserves the opportunity to reach their God-given potential from the boy whose descendents arrived on the Mayflower to the Latina daughter of migrant workers. We’re all God’s children and we’re all Americans.We believe in low taxes; spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don’t legislate from the bench. We believe in the values of families, neighborhoods and communities.We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and initiative of Americans. Government that doesn’t make your choices for you, but works to make sure you have more choices to make for yourself.I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them. My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.Keeping taxes low helps small businesses grow and create new jobs. Cutting the second highest business tax rate in the world will help American companies compete and keep jobs from moving overseas. Doubling the child tax exemption from $3500 to $7000 will improve the lives of millions of American families. Reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs will let you keep more of your own money to save, spend and invest as you see fit. Opening new markets and preparing workers to compete in the world economy is essential to our future prosperity.I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy and it often seems your government hasn’t even noticed. Government assistance for unemployed workers was designed for the economy of the 1950s. That’s going to change on my watch. My opponent promises to bring back old jobs by wishing away the global economy. We’re going to help workers who’ve lost a job that won’t come back, find a new one that won’t go away.We will prepare them for the jobs of today. We will use our community colleges to help train people for new opportunities in their communities. For workers in industries that have been hard hit, we'll help make up part of the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary, lower paid one while they receive retraining that will help them find secure new employment at a decent wage.Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice, remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work.When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them. Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have that choice and their children will have that opportunity.Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucracies. I want schools to answer to parents and students. And when I’m President, they will.My fellow Americans, when I’m President, we’re going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades. We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us very much. We will attack the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we’ll drill them now. We will build more nuclear power plants. We will develop clean coal technology. We will increase the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas. We will encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.

Senator Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the health of our planet. It’s an ambitious plan, but Americans are ambitious by nature, and we have faced greater challenges. It’s time for us to show the world again how Americans lead.This great national cause will create millions of new jobs, many in industries that will be the engine of our future prosperity; jobs that will be there when your children enter the workforce.Today, the prospect of a better world remains within our reach. But we must see the threats to peace and liberty in our time clearly and face them, as Americans before us did, with confidence, wisdom and resolve.We have dealt a serious blow to al Qaeda in recent years. But they are not defeated, and they’ll strike us again if they can. Iran remains the chief state sponsor of terrorism and on the path to acquiring nuclear weapons. Russia’s leaders, rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power, have rejected democratic ideals and the obligations of a responsible power. They invaded a small, democratic neighbor to gain more control over the world’s oil supply, intimidate other neighbors, and further their ambitions of reassembling the Russian empire. And the brave people of Georgia need our solidarity and prayers. As President, I will work to establish good relations with Russia so we need not fear a return of the Cold War. But we can’t turn a blind eye to aggression and international lawlessness that threatens the peace and stability of the world and the security of the American people.We face many threats in this dangerous world, but I'm not afraid of them. I'm prepared for them. I know how the military works, what it can do, what it can do better, and what it should not do. I know how the world works. I know the good and the evil in it. I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams of a freer, safer and more prosperous world, and how to stand up to those who don't. I know how to secure the peace.When I was five years old, a car pulled up in front of our house. A Navy officer rolled down the window, and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. I rarely saw my father again for four years. My grandfather came home from that same war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day. In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home with me. I hate war. It is terrible beyond imagination.I’m running for President to keep the country I love safe, and prevent other families from risking their loved ones in war as my family has. I will draw on all my experience with the world and its leaders, and all the tools at our disposal — diplomatic, economic, military and the power of our ideals — to build the foundations for a stable and enduring peace.In America, we change things that need to be changed. Each generation makes its contribution to our greatness. The work that is ours to do is plainly before us. We don’t need to search for it.We need to change the way government does almost everything: from the way we protect our security to the way we compete in the world economy; from the way we respond to disasters to the way we fuel our transportation network; from the way we train our workers to the way we educate our children. All these functions of government were designed before the rise of the global economy, the information technology revolution and the end of the Cold War. We have to catch up to history, and we have to change the way we do business in Washington.The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn’t a cause, it’s a symptom. It’s what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not you.Again and again, I’ve worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed. That’s how I will govern as President. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not.Instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn’t think of them first, let’s use the best ideas from both sides. Instead of fighting over who gets the credit, let’s try sharing it. This amazing country can do anything we put our minds to. I will ask Democrats and Independents to serve with me. And my administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability.We’re going to finally start getting things done for the people who are counting on us, and I won’t care who gets the credit.

I’ve been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I have been her servant first, last and always. And I’ve never lived a day, in good times or bad, that I didn’t thank God for the privilege. Long ago, something unusual happened to me that taught me the most valuable lesson of my life. I was blessed by misfortune. I mean that sincerely. I was blessed because I served in the company of heroes, and I witnessed a thousand acts of courage, compassion and love.On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn’t any worry I wouldn’t come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too. I liked to bend a few rules, and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. I didn’t think there was a cause more important than me. Then I found myself falling toward the middle of a small lake in the city of Hanoi, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me. I was dumped in a dark cell, and left to die. I didn’t feel so tough anymore. When they discovered my father was an admiral, they took me to a hospital. They couldn’t set my bones properly, so they just slapped a cast on me. When I didn’t get better, and was down to about a hundred pounds, they put me in a cell with two other Americans. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even feed myself. They did it for me. I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those men saved my life.I was in solitary confinement when my captors offered to release me. I knew why. If I went home, they would use it as propaganda to demoralize my fellow prisoners. Our Code said we could only go home in the order of our capture, and there were men who had been shot down before me. I thought about it, though. I wasn’t in great shape, and I missed everything about America. But I turned it down.A lot of prisoners had it worse than I did. I’d been mistreated before, but not as badly as others. I always liked to strut a little after I’d been roughed up to show the other guys I was tough enough to take it. But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder than they ever had before. For a long time. And they broke me.When they brought me back to my cell, I was hurt and ashamed, and I didn’t know how I could face my fellow prisoners. The good man in the cell next door, my friend, Bob Craner, saved me. Through taps on a wall he told me I had fought as hard as I could. No man can always stand alone. And then he told me to get back up and fight again for our country and for the men I had the honor to serve with. Because every day they fought for me.I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else’s. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn’t my own man anymore. I was my country’s.I’m not running for president because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God. If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you’re disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.

I’m going to fight for my cause every day as your President. I’m going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I’m an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight with me.Fight for what’s right for our country.Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.Fight for our children’s future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all.Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.Thank you, and God Bless you.

McCain tells convention, nation he'll bring change By DAVID ESPO and ROBERT FURLOW, Associated Press Writers SEPT 05,08

ST. PAUL, Minn. - John McCain, a POW turned political rebel, vowed Thursday night to vanquish the constant partisan rancor that grips Washington as he launched his fall campaign for the White House. Change is coming, he promised the roaring Republican National Convention and a prime-time television audience. To repeated cheers from his delegates, McCain criticized fellow Republicans as well as Democratic rival Barack Obama as he reached out to independents and disaffected Democrats.We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us, he said of the Republicans who controlled Congress for most of the past 15 years.As for Obama, he said, I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.Before McCain's speech, the climax of the final night of the party convention, delegates awarded the vice presidential nomination to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the first female ticketmate in Republican history.She stands up for what's right and she doesn't let anyone tell her to sit down, McCain said of the woman who has faced intense scrutiny in the week since she was picked.And let me offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming, McCain declared.He and Palin were departing their convention city immediately after the Arizona senator's acceptance speech, bound for Wisconsin and an early start on the final weeks of the White House campaign.McCain, at 72 bidding to become the oldest first-term president, drew a roar from the convention crowd when he walked out onto the stage lighted by a single spotlight. He was introduced by a video that dwelt heavily on his time spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and as a member of Congress, hailed for a faithful unyielding love for America, country first.

USA, USA, USA,chanted the crowd in the hall.

McCain faced a delicate assignment as he formally accepted his party's presidential nomination: presenting his credentials as a reformer willing to take on his own party and stressing his independence from an unpopular President Bush — all without breaking faith with his Republican base.

He set about it methodically.

After we've won, we're going to reach out our hand to any willing patriot, make this government start working for you again, he said, and he pledged to invite Democrats and independents to serve in his administration.He mentioned President Bush only in passing, as the leader who led the country through the days after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.And there was plenty for conservative Republicans to cheer — from his pledge to free the country from the grip of its dependence on foreign oil, to a vow to have schools answer to parents and students rather than unions and entrenched bureaucrats.A man who has clashed repeatedly with Republicans in Congress, he said proudly, I've been called a maverick. Sometimes it's meant as a compliment and sometimes it's not. What it really means is I understand who I work for.I don't work for a party. I don't work for a special interest. I don't work for myself. I work for you.Thousands of red, white and blue balloons nestled in netting above the convention floor, to be released on cue for the traditional celebratory convention finale. Given McCain's political mission, it was left to other Republicans to deliver much of the criticism aimed at Obama. In the race for the White House, It's not about building a record, it's about having one, said former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. It's not about talking pretty, it's about talking straight.McCain invoked the five years he spent in a North Vietnamese prison. I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's, he said. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.The last night of the McCain-Palin convention also marked the end of an intensive stretch of politics with the potential to reshape the race for the White House. Democrats held their own convention last week in Denver, nominating Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden as running mate for Obama, whose own acceptance speech drew an estimated 84,000 partisans to an outdoor football stadium. The polls indicate a close race between McCain and Obama, at 47 a generation younger than his Republican opponent, with the outcome likely to be decided in scattered swing states in the industrial Midwest and the Southwest.

Ahead lie the traditional major checkpoints — presidential and vice presidential debates, millions of dollars in ads — but also the unscripted, spontaneous moments that can take on outsized importance in the race to pick a president. Before he spoke Thursday night, Cindy McCain recommended her husband to the crowd — and the nation. If Americans want straight talk and the plain truth they should take a good close look at John McCain, a man tested and true who's never wavered in his devotion to our country, she said. She called him a man who's served in Washington without ever becoming a Washington insider.Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also had a speaking slot, and he used it to criticize McCain's rival. He said Obama and the liberal group MoveOn.org were the only ones who didn't realize that Bush's decision to deploy additional troops to Iraq last year had succeeded. Ridge's turn at the podium came after he had been mentioned prominently in speculation about a running mate.

That was an honor that went unexpectedly to Palin, the first female vice presidential candidate in party history, a 44-year-old Alaska governor virtually unknown nationally a week ago. In the days since, she has faced a storm of scrutiny, some of it relating to her tenure as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and her time as governor, but most involving her 17-year-old unmarried daughter who is pregnant. For the most part, McCain's aides have kept Palin out of public sight while vociferously defending her readiness to become president. She emerged Wednesday night during prime time to deliver a smiling, sarcastic attack on Obama that generated roars of approval — and acceptance — from the delegates. She followed up in the hours before McCain's convention appearance with a meeting with Republican governors and a fundraising appeal that blamed Democrats for spreading misinformation and flat-out lies about her family and her. Even so, there were fresh questions about her readiness to sit one chair away from the Oval Office. McCain has cited her authority over the Alaska National Guard as one example. But in a memo last spring, Air Force Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell warned that missions are at risk in the state's units because of a personnel shortage. The lack of qualified airmen, Campbell said, has reached a crisis level.In an interview on Wednesday with The Associated Press, Campbell said the situation has improved since then, but not enough to eliminate his concern that shortages will result in the burnout of troops. McCain won the presidential nomination late Wednesday night in an anticlimactic vote that followed a campaign lasting most of a decade. He first ran for the White House in 2000, but lost the Republican nomination to Bush in a bruising struggle. He began the current campaign the Republican front-runner, but his chances seemed to collapse last winter when opposition to the Iraq war rose among independents and conservatives grew upset over his backing for legislation to give illegal immigrants a path toward citizenship. In one of the most remarkable comebacks in recent times, he recovered to win the New Hampshire primary in early January, then wrapped up the nomination on Feb. 5 with big-state primary victories on Super Tuesday. Obama, campaigning in swing-state Pennsylvania on Thursday, said he wasn't surprised at Palin's criticism of him, and said Democrats intended to focus on her record. I think she's got a compelling story, but I assume she wants to be treated the same way that guys want to be treated, he said. I've been through this 19 months, she's been through it — what — four days so far? Obama's campaign announced it had raised roughly $10 million from more than 130,000 donors since Palin delivered her speech Wednesday night. Outside the hall, police on horseback thwarted plans by anti-war demonstrators to march on the convention hall. protesters calling for an end to the Iraq war vowed to march as McCain spoke. More than 100 demonstrators were arrested earlier in the day after a concert by the rock group Rage Against the Machine.

Police arrested more than 250 demonstrators on the convention's first day on Monday, but the streets have been relatively quiet since.