TUESDAY TALKS ON JERUSALEM

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.

Texas rushes Ike relief as health crisis looms By Tim Gaynor SEPT 15,08

GALVESTON, Texas (Reuters) - Texas officials warned of a health crisis on Monday and urged thousands of people to leave Galveston, where relief supplies were scarce for hungry, exhausted residents of the island city ravaged by Hurricane Ike. In Houston, millions struggled to cope without power in the U.S. energy hub.About 2,000 people have been plucked from flooded areas by helicopters and boats in the largest rescue effort in the state's history as searchers scoured battered communities along the coast and Galveston Bay.Galveston, a city of 60,000, was decimated when the hurricane made landfall there on Saturday morning and 15,000-20,000 people remained in quickly degrading conditions.There's nothing to come here for, Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas told residents still on the island. Please leave.She called in a cruise ship to house recovery teams, and the city was bringing in a refrigerated mobile morgue.We cannot accommodate people who are getting sick, said Galveston City Manager Steven LeBlanc. You have the potential for a health crisis.More than 4 million people, several oil refineries and many businesses and gas stations around Houston remained without power. Government agencies will distribute ice, water and packaged meals from tractor-trailers.President George W. Bush will view storm-damaged areas in Texas on Tuesday. He still is trying to rebuild his image as a disaster manager after he was widely criticized for a botched relief effort in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.The relief roll-out appeared to defuse tensions that had flared between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and local officials after Houston Mayor Bill White vowed to hold FEMA accountable for delivering on its commitments.

FEMA AIN'T BEEN BY

Officials from Texas -- which sheltered some 200,000 evacuees when Katrina devastated New Orleans -- pressed for equal treatment from federal aid agencies.I have asked the president and the administration to just treat us as fairly as they treated Louisiana back during Katrina, said Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Texans will take care of the rest.FEMA said it will deliver 7.5 million meals over the next few days, along with 5.1 million gallons of water, 19.2 million pounds (8,700 tonnes) of ice, and 80,000 tarps.Residents of Texas and Louisiana are in for tough times, FEMA Administrator David Paulison said. Some people will be out of their homes for not only weeks, but months, he said.In Galveston, shocked and bewildered residents staggered through the streets as food and water grew scarce. There was little sign of any federal relief efforts.FEMA ain't been by, nobody, said disabled retiree Vivian Matthews, who was stranded at her flooded apartment for two days. They don't give a damn if we live or die.Four deaths were reported by officials in Galveston -- scene of the worst U.S. weather disaster when a hurricane killed more than 8,000 people in 1900. One person was also killed in the Houston suburb of Pasadena, the mayor said.

VERY FRUSTRATED

Bush said Texas residents are very frustrated by the slow pace of recovery but my message will be that we hear you and we'll work as hard and fast as we can to help you get your lives back up to normal.Power outages were the main obstacle to recovery and authorities have warned that some people could be without it for days. Electricity is the lifeblood of Gulf Coast refineries that process about a quarter of the country's fuel. Power provider CenterPoint Energy reported it had restored power to 500,000 customers but about 1.6 million remained in the dark, including big Houston-based corporations. U.S. crude oil futures shrugged off supply concerns and settled down $5.47 at $95.71 a barrel after hitting seven-month lows. Ike caused minimal damage to oil refineries along the Gulf Coast and companies are preparing to restart operations at the 14 oil refineries in Texas and Louisiana that remained shut due to Ike, the Energy Department said. Houston, the fourth biggest U.S. city and home to a booming economy thanks to energy demand, was still under a dusk-to-dawn curfew due to lack of power. Authorities urged residents to boil water as protection against contamination and disease. Across Houston, where the car is king, hundreds of drivers waited in long gas station lines. Residents lined up thousands deep at relief centers to get ice, water and food. The city's two main airports resumed partial operations. But with debris still littering its streets and windows blown out of office buildings, it could be weeks before the city of more than 2 million people returns to business as usual. (Additional reporting by Chris Baltimore, Erwin Seba, Eileen O'Grady, Anna Driver and Bruce Nichols in Houston and Randall Mikkelsen in Washington; editing by Ed Stoddard and Mohammad Zargham)

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

Meltdown in US finance system pummels stock market By PATRICK RIZZO and JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writers SEPT 15,08

NEW YORK - The upheaval in the American financial system sent shock waves through the stock market Monday, producing the worst day on Wall Street in seven years as investors digested the failure of one of its most venerable banks and wondered which domino would be next to fall. The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 500 points, more than 4 percent, its steepest point drop since the day the stock market reopened after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. About $700 billion evaporated from retirement plans, government pension funds and other investment portfolios.The carnage capped a tumultuous 24 hours that redrew U.S. finance. Lehman Brothers, an investment bank that predates the Civil War and weathered the Great Depression, filed the largest bankruptcy in American history. A second storied bank, Merrill Lynch, fled into the arms of Bank of America.It was by far the most stomach-churning single day since a financial crisis began to bubble up from billions of dollars in rotten mortgage loans that have crippled the balance sheets of one bank after another and landed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the control of the federal government.We are in the middle of a deep, dark recession, and it won't end soon. Here it is, and it is pretty nasty, said Barry Ritholtz, who writes the popular financial blog The Big Picture and is CEO of research firm FusionIQ.And the fallout was far from over. American International Group, the world's largest insurer, was fighting for its very survival: New York Gov. David Paterson moved to allow the company to tap one of its subsidiaries for an emergency loan to stay above water.AIG still remains financially sound, Paterson said, even as the company's stock tumbled almost 60 percent. Almost $20 billion was wiped off AIG's balance sheet on Monday.In Washington, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who refused to toss a financial lifeline to Lehman, was unapologetic as the Bush administration signaled strongly that Wall Street shouldn't expect more rescues from Washington.The American people should remain confident in the soundness and resilience in the American financial system, Paulson told reporters at the White House.Six months ago, Paulson moved to prevent the collapse of Bear Stearns, brokering a deal for JP Morgan Chase & Co. to buy the firm at a fire-sale price with Federal Reserve backing. Earlier this month, he stepped in to help the government seize Fannie and Freddie in hopes of reversing the housing and credit crises.

But Monday, Paulson said he never once considered it appropriate to put taxpayer money at risk to resolve the problems at Lehman Brothers, which was saddled with $60 billion worth of soured real estate holdings.The result was one of the most momentous days in Wall Street history since legendary banker J. Pierpont Morgan helped broker the rescue of financial markets during the Panic of 1907.The Dow industrials dropped 504.48 points to close at 10,917.51, the first time since July they have finished under 11,000. It was the sixth-largest point drop ever and the worst since Sept. 17, 2001, when the average fell 684.81 points on the first day of trading after the terror attacks.In percentage terms, the fall for the Dow on Monday was its worst since the summer of 2002. The index has shed nearly a quarter of its value since its record high last October.Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost more than 4 1/2 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index lost more than 3 1/2 percent.Financial stocks fell as investors worried about the strength of banks' balance sheets. Washington Mutual Inc. 27 percent to $2 a share, while Wachovia Corp. fell 25 percent to $10.71.While Lehman Brothers was filing for Chapter 11 and AIG was scurrying to find financing to stay afloat, Merrill Lynch was avoiding a similar fate with a $50 billion transaction to become part of Bank of America Corp.The deal would create a financial giant rivaling Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank in terms of assets. Bank of America has the most deposits of any U.S. bank, while Merrill Lynch is the world's largest and most widely recognized brokerage. It was an opportunity of a lifetime, said Ken Lewis, Bank of America's chairman and CEO. Lewis made the announcement at a news conference where he was flanked by a smiling John Thain, Merrill's chief executive. The two put the deal together in 48 hours, while they were taking part in marathon discussions at the New York Federal Reserve over the weekend to save Lehman Brothers. Merrill stock rose a penny Monday. One huge concern is that the Lehman bankruptcy will probably trigger even tighter credit — making it more difficult for everyone from large companies to small businesses to American homebuyers to borrow money. It was a dark day for Lehman workers, too. Many of them brought gym bags, shopping totes and Lehman travel bags to cart home personal files and pictures from their desks at the company's midtown Manhattan headquarters. Gawkers lined up behind metal barricades, and bystanders took pictures with their cell phones.

The failure of Lehman and probable job losses at Merrill are also a blow to the New York City economy, which is still trying to absorb a blow from shrunken tax revenues after the collapse of Bear Stearns in March. The city and its outlying suburbs rely heavily on taxes paid by workers in the financial services industry. In marathon sessions Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, government officials and the chief executives of major U.S. and foreign banks huddled at the New York Fed's fortress-like building in downtown Manhattan, trying to work out a way to save Lehman. They failed at that. But a group of 10 banks that includes JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup formed a $70 billion pool that banks or brokerages can tap to cover short-term funding needs. There were also worries that Lehman's problems would infect other financial companies and spread to global stock markets, further harming the U.S. and global economies. The Fed meets Tuesday to decide interest rate policy. It's widely expected to keep rates at 2 percent, but some economists believe it could lower them to soothe Wall Street's frazzled nerves. The financial turbulence could also further derail consumer confidence in the economy just as stores prepare for the critical holiday shopping season. The upheaval in the financial system also means that those consumers with marginal credit history will have an even harder time getting loans, cutting into consumer spending. The backdrop even without this was tough. This certainly adds to the worry level, said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at The International Council of Shopping Centers. Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain assailed greed and corruption on Wall Street and promised to clean it up, while his Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, blamed White House policies and said his opponent would only deliver more of the same. Obama called it the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression. McCain declared in a new TV ad that our economy is in crisis and that only he and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, could fix it. McCain also told voters in Jacksonville, Fla., The fundamentals of our economy are strong.Associated Press writers Jeannine Aversa in Washington, Ieva M. Augstums in Charlotte, N.C., and Rachel Beck, Tim Paradis, Ellen Simon, Vinnee Tong and Stephen Bernard in New York contributed to this report.(This version CORRECTS to American International Group, not American Insurance Group. .)

AIG workers on edge as once-safe company in turmoil By Bob Margolis
SEPT 15,08

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Disbelief and anxiety were written on the faces of staff at American International Group Inc as they grappled with the idea that their company, which was once the largest insurer in the world and one of the safest places to work, was struggling for its survival. Workers at the company's lower Manhattan offices, one block from Wall Street, said there were more lunch deliveries than usual, as staff opted to stay inside rather than brave a phalanx of news reporters and cameras camped outside.There was a bigger police presence than normal in the Wall Street area and security guards were double-checking ID's of everyone who came in or out of the AIG building.Some workers at the 89-year-old institution were shocked that the company could find itself in a crisis like the ones at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, which just filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to find a rescuer, or Bear Stearns, acquired earlier this year in a shotgun merger.

I came to this company because it was a big company, and big companies tend to stick around, said one male AIG employee who declined to give his name.There's a massive culture of uncertainty within the building, said a woman who has been in the insurance business for 20 years.I'll be the guy to turn out the lights and lock the door, joked a man who said he had a senior-level position at the company.I think the idea is to take a nap at my desk and be woken up when this is all over, another woman said.One woman who went through the Black Monday stock market crash of October 19, 1987 played down the gravity of the current situation. This is nothing compared to that, she said.New York State officials said they had reached an agreement with AIG allowing the insurer access to $20 billion of its own capital. Under the plan, AIG will be able to shift the funds from its insurance subsidiaries to the parent company. That news helped lift employees' mood somewhat.New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo is appealing to the federal government on AIG's behalf to provide additional access to capital, New York Gov. David Paterson said.But Paterson stressed it was not a government bailout. We will not expose the taxpayers of this state to any risk, he told reporters.Like all New Yorkers I am deeply concerned about the financial crisis that has engulfed the markets, Paterson said, noting that Wall Street brings in 20 percent of the state's revenue.Some companies have served as a bedrock of the system... and one of them is AIG, he said. The company employs 6,000 people in New York City and another 2,500 elsewhere in the state. AIG has 116,000 employees worldwide.AIG contributes to New York's position as a world financial leader, the governor added.

AIG's problems come after Lehman Bros filed for bankruptcy protection and Merrill Lynch & Co Inc agreed to sell itself to Bank of America Corp, months after Bear Stearns' near collapse and acquisition by JP Morgan Chase & Co with financial backstopping from the U.S. government.AIG, an insurance and financial services company, is also known to millions as the shirt sponsor of current European and English champions Manchester United, one of the world's leading soccer clubs.

According to the 2008 Forbes Global 2000 list, AIG was the 18th-largest company in the world. The company was founded by Cornelius Vander Starr, who traveled to Shanghai with just 300 yen in his pocket in 1919 after serving in World War One. AIG now has operations in approximately 130 countries and holds assets of over $1 trillion.(Writing by Steve James; Editing by Gary Hill)

JERUSALEM DIVIDED

ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And 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.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.

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

ZECHARIAH 14:1-9 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

PAPAL ADDRESS AT FRENCH INSTITUTE
http://www.zenit.org/article-23614?l=english

POPES ADDRESS AT NOTRE DAME
http://www.zenit.org/article-23611?l=english

ON THE TRAIL FOR ISRAELI SOLDIER GILAD SHALIT
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4723995.ece

Tuesday Talks on Fate of Capital
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu SEPT 15,08

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas will met Tuesday to discuss the future of Jerusalem and the PA demand that millions of foreign Arabs move to Israel, Channel Two television reported. The Prime Minister's Kadima party will vote the following day on a successor to lead the party and try to form the next government.Prime Minister Olmert may step down immediately, if one of the four candidates in the Kadima primaries wins 40 percent of the vote on the first round. However, Olmert is going ahead with a business as usual approach. Channel Two said that he, and not Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, is talking with the PA about the future borders of the capital.The Shas party has consistently said it will leave the coalition and presumably topple the government if senior negotiators, meaning Foreign Minister Livni, were to discuss the possibility of dividing the capital so that the PA can control part of it and claim it is as the capital of a new Arab country. She has repeatedly denied that she has spoken with PA negotiators on the matter, but Abbas has insisted the issue has been discussed.The Israeli position on Jerusalem has continually softened in the past year, especially since American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared several months ago that the Har Homa neighborhood, near Gilo in southern Jerusalem, is a settlement, putting it on par with all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. By definition, all of the neighborhoods added to Jerusalem after the Six-Day War in 1967 have the same status as Har Homa. These areas include French Hill, Gilo, Ramot, Pisgat Zev and East Talpiot, among others.

According to Channel Two, Olmert has now expressed willingness to surrender over 98.1percent of Judea and Samaria to Arab control, even more than the 94-96 percent he had previously offered. On top of other land concessions, Abbas has asked Olmert for the large Jerusalem suburb of Ma'aleh Adumim which is located on the edge of the Judean desert and is home to approximately 36,000 Jews, as well as Givat Ze'ev, named after Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky, located north of Jerusalem and home to approximately 11,000 Jews, including Karlin-Stoliner Rebbe Boruch Yaakov Meir Shochet. Abbas still wants to discuss the possibility of commandeering the large Jerusalem neighborhoods of Gilo and French Hill.Israel also has softened its stance on the issue of refugees, the common term that refers to approximately five million Arabs in foreign countries who claim to be descended from Arabs who fled Israel during the wars in 1948 and 1967.The issue once was a red line that no political leader was willing to cross, but Prime Minister Olmert, several months ago, quietly agreed to make several hundred exceptions for Arabs from outside of Israel to move to Judea and Samaria. The number later increased to several thousand, during subsequent meetings with Abbas, and now stands at 5,000, with Israel willing to absorb a thousand Arabs per year for 5 years. Abbas has rejected this number, telling Olmert that Israel should accept even more.One driving force behind Prime Minister's determination to reach an outline of an agreement with Abbas is to satisfy the determination by American President George W. Bush that a deal will be made before the next president takes office next January.An Olmert-Abbas pact will not have any legal standing without Cabinet or Knesset approval but will be able to be used by the American government and the European Union (EU) as a tool to force the next Israeli government to use it as a base for further Israeli concessions.

Abbas also wants an agreement in order to bolster his claim that his mandate can be extended for another year. He has arranged to meet with President Bush in Washington next week, possibly with an agreement in hand.Both Israel and the PA have said there is no chance of concluding a pact this year on the final status of a new Arab state within Israel's current border.

U.S. to Sell Israel Bunker-Busters, May Be Used in Strike on Iran
Monday, September 15, 2008 FOXNEWS

JERUSALEM — The U.S. has agreed to sell 1,000 buster-bunker bombs to Israel — a deal that could significantly improve Israel's ability to strike at Iran's nuclear facilities.Military experts say an Israeli strike would require bombs that could blast through underground bunkers where some of the Iranian nuclear facilities are located. Last week, the U.S. Defense Department notified Congress that it has agreed to sell Israel small diameter bombs that are capable of doing that.It wasn't clear from the defense department's announcement when the bombs would be delivered.Israel and the United States do no believe Iran's assertion that its nuclear program is to produce energy, not weapons. Israel hopes Iran can be induced through sanctions and diplomacy to scale back its nuclear ambitions, but has not ruled out a military strike.

Rumors and Games ARLENE SEPT 14,08

Changes are rapidly approaching: There is the Kadima primary, scheduled for this Wednesday, and then, three months hence, the end of Bush's administration -- by which time parameters of a peace agreement were supposed to have been nailed down.

Reporting on objective facts with regard to what's happening in the run-up to these events is sometimes close to impossible, as the rumors are flying fast.

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Last week, US Consul Jacob Walles, in an interview in the Palestinian paper Al-Ayyam, stated that Israel had started negotiations with the PA on Jerusalem -- something Olmert promised not to do until all other issues were resolved.The response from the Olmert government was two-fold: First, official fury at Walles for talking when it had been agreed that the content of negotiations was not supposed to be discussed publicly. And then, a denial by Olmert that Jerusalem was on the table, as this caused something of an uproar inside of Kadima. But it seems that a bit of mental dissonance has been generated. Says Olmert: We are angry that Walles spoke about something he was pledged not to talk about, but we're not doing what he says we are. Tzipi Livni, Kadima frontrunner and chief negotiator, also issued a denial.

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Meanwhile, Al Shariq, a newspaper in Qatar, has described on agreement that is allegedly taking shape between Israel and the PA; it was carried by YNet yesterday. Reportedly there are 12 clauses, due to be released by the end of this year. Two are of particular note.First, the Palestinian capital will include several neighborhoods of Jerusalem.And then, 20,000 refugees will be permitted into Israel within ten years -- refugees, aged 60-80, who had been uprooted in 1948, not their families, who would be permitted to live out their lives in Israel.As to the first: One would have to be an incredibly trusting person to believe Olmert's and Livni's denials that Jerusalem has not been discussed. Of course it has! But is the PA going to accept several neighborhoods rather than all of eastern Jerusalem (which includes the Jewish holy sites and substantial Jewish neighborhoods)? And the second: In spite of the cry about right of return, are we to believe that the Palestinians will settle for a small number of elderly people, without family support, coming to live in Israel? As the Arabs are claiming 4.6 million refugees, this is a token .043%.

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And here we are: On Friday, Abbas gave an interview with Haaretz in which he said that We presented our ideas and demands regarding the six issues, but have not received any answer from the Israeli side.Abbas, in this interview as elsewhere, is adamant about Israel accepting responsibility for the refugee problem and a practical right of return -- which he would base on the Arab initiative of 2002.That Arab -- read Saudi -- initiative was a horror for Israel. With regard to the refugees, it called for a just solution based on UN Resolution 194. (For over 60 years, the Arabs have been basing their claims to right of return on this document, which in point of fact guarantees nothing with regard to return.) What is more, which is a tip-off, it Assures the rejection of all forms of Palestinian patriation which conflict with the special circumstances of the Arab host countries. This means that Syria and Lebanon, and other Arab states that currently host Palestinian refugees in an on-going limbo status are being reassured that they are under no obligation to absorb them permanently.

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This morning, an aide to Abbas said that reaching a peace deal this year was becoming more difficult, but that the Palestinians were interested in continuing talks after Olmert left office. What's clear is that they are counting on Livni replacing Olmert. See following...

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A Kuwaiti paper, Al-Jarida, also cited by YNet, says that Ahmed Qurei, the chief PA negotiator, supports Livni for head of Kadima because she is willing to give them what others have not. Understand, Qurei and Livni have established a solid working relationship already in the course of negotiations. Qurei, according to this report, is structuring things so that she appears tough, in order to win votes. A bit of unintended humor: What was actually said was that he is helping her establish a radical right-wing aura. Livni cannot convey a radical right-wing aura any more than I can project an aura of being an avid supporter of Peace Now. This is a window on PA thinking: Concern about protecting Israeli security -- which is what Livni is expressing --is in their eyes the mark of a radical right-winger. In spite of this, Qurei said he would not sign the current agreement that was taking shape on Jerusalem (uh huh...) because it would allow the city to be an Israeli military camp, which is his version of Israel retaining some areas with security measures. In fact, he said that the negotiations, in his expectation, would amount to nothing. My expectation as well, but I ponder why it matters to him whether Livni wins the primary if nothing will come of it anyway.

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Possible scenarios to watch for, coming down the road when the negotiations run their course: Another Intifada -- greatly increased violence (terrorism) against Israel. This is hinted at in some quarters, but others suggest that either there is not the resolve for this within the populace or that politically this is not the way to go.Push for a one state solution. In this scenario PA leaders declare that they've given up on a two-state solution and want Israel to incorporate all Palestinians in Judea and Samaria and Gaza so that there is one bi-national state. A dangerous concept.

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But perhaps the negotiations will be dragged out for longer than expected (and perhaps this is what Qurei is thinking about): According to PA Basic Law -- you may read reports to the contrary, but there is no PA constitution -- the presidential term is four years, which means Mahmoud Abbas's term as president runs out in January 2009. Reports are circulating about unease here that after Abbas leaves chaos in the PA will follow. In fact, the Post has indicated that the IDF has held special exercises in preparation for a potential increase in violence. The Basic Law says that until new elections are held (and this would require 60 days), the Speaker of the Legislative Council takes over once the president has left office. Hamas is pushing hard for this, for the speaker is Hamas-affiliated Abdel Aziz Duwaik. Abdel Aziz Duwaik, it happens, is sitting in an Israeli prison right now. (Acting speaker is Sheikh Ahmed Bahar, who in a Friday sermon a year ago called upon Jews and Americans to be killed to the very last one.) Undoubtedly, it is the prospect of Duwaik receiving the title of PA president while in prison here that is unsettling the IDF, with good reason.Of course, Abbas could still schedule those elections. But he has made no mention of this to date, no move to set things in motion. Abbas, it seems, has a different interpretation of Basic Law. The election for president, he says, is supposed to coincide with elections for the Legislative Council, which are scheduled for January 2010 -- four years after the Hamas electoral victory of 2006. (My assumption is that Abbas is claiming the presidential elections are out of synch because of Arafat's death in November 2004, and the need to elect his successor in early 2005, one year before presidential elections would otherwise have been held.)Anything can happen, and the political in-fighting is likely to be substantial, but there is solid betting that Abbas is about to extend his presidential term to January 2010.

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Israel is suffering from drought. But this is apparently nothing compared to the drought being endured right now in Iran. From the Jordan Times, carried by IMRA, comes a report of extreme suffering in the southern Iranian province of Fars, where rainfall is down 68% and 10 of its 11 rivers have dried up. Not only are people without drinking water, but this agricultural region, where 85% of the population relies on farming, is in dire straits. This is of significance with regard to Iran's strength. The Iranian government has allocated $5 billion to fight the drought, and will have to import 5 million tons of wheat for domestic consumption. Hard times, it would surely seem, make Iran more vulnerable to the impact of serious economic sanctions. What is more, it's a good guess that the population must have grievous dissatisfaction with the focus of its government in this time of hardship.

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This is good news:

Just days ago news reports were saying that the US has been declining in recent months to respond favorably to Israeli requests for military equipment that would make an Israeli attack on Iran more effective. But now in the wake of this comes a different sort of report from Haaretz. The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Friday that it will sell the Israel Air Force 1,000 new bunker buster smart bombs. What we're talking about is the Guided Bomb Unit-39 (GBU-39), which was developed for penetration of deep fortified facilities.This Boeing-developed bomb is able to successfully penetrate more than 1.8 meters of thick reinforced concrete, and has a 50% probability of hitting its target within 5-8 meters. Because of its small size -- 113 kilograms, four can replace a single conventional one-ton bomb on an aircraft.

This, needless to say, will considerably enhance our ability to mount a successful strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, should such a strike be decided upon. It also gives some credence to the theories I've encountered maintaining that public US disapproval of our intention to hit Iran, if necessary, is at least in part smoke screen.

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You might want to take a look at Charles Krauthammer's perceptive piece, Obama's Altitude Sickness, in which he takes a clear-eyed look at the reason why Obama is now losing steam in the campaign....Obama was the ultimate celebrity candidate. For no presidential nominee in living memory had the gap between adulation and achievement been so great. ...The unease at the Denver convention, the feeling of buyer's remorse, was the Democrats' realization that the arc of Obama's celebrity had peaked -- and had now entered a period of its steepest decline. That Palin could so instantly steal the celebrity spotlight is a reflection of that decline. It was inevitable. Obama had managed to stay aloft for four full years. But no one can levitate forever. ...With every primary and every repetition of the high-flown, self-referential rhetoric, the campaign's insubstantiality became clear. By the time...of the last primary [it was] tired and flat. To top himself, Obama had to reach. Hence his triumphal declaration that history would note that night, his victory, his ascension, as the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.The moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal?? Clang....That grandiloquent proclamation of universalist puffery popped the bubble. The grandiosity had become bizarre....One star fades, another is born. The very next morning McCain picks Sarah Palin and a new celebrity is launched....her job is easier. She only has to remain airborne for seven more weeks. Obama maintained altitude for an astonishing four years. In politics, as in all games, however, it's the finish that counts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/11/AR2008091102840.html

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Jeff Jacoby, writing in the Boston Globe, has another take on the current Obama slide: People, he says, are being to see through the Obama economic proposals.

http://www.boston.com:80/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/09/14/seeing_through_obamanomics/

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see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info

CHRIST RETURNS THIS GENERATION SEPT 14,08
https://ww2.micahtek.com/nexolive/nJVISelector.cfm?rDATA1=SHOPPING&rDATA3=DRCV

Beloved in Christ Jesus Our Lord,

When will Christ come again? God woke me up at 5 a.m. and gave me this incredible message for you, as a follower of Christ, and for every preacher of the Gospel across North America: the amazing connection between 2 Timothy 4:2-4 and 2 Timothy 4:8....I’ll explain it to you in condensed form here, for lack of space. When Paul says to Timothy, Preach the word and warns that the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, the doctrine he wants preached is expressed in verse 8 -- Christ’s return.Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.Pastors need to be preaching the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christians need to be looking for His appearing! And the rampant deception and error about this subject must end. The Bible is clear! You can know the truth.This is why Rexella and I have created a new video -- the single most important study we have ever produced: Christ Returns: This Generation? In this video, you will discover astonishing answers to these intriguing questions:

How do we know that the Bible is talking about this generation when it talks about Christ’s return?
What is the crown of righteousness to be received by all those who love His appearing?
Why do some fear Christ’s return?
What are many of the 500 fulfilled prophecies that show us Christ’s return is near?
Did Jesus lose His deity when He came to earth as a baby?
Did Jesus exist at the time of Creation?
What are Lutherans, Presbyterians, Christian Reformers, Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, and others teaching about the Rapture and Christ’s return to earth to set up His Kingdom?
What will happen prior to the Rapture? What will the Rapture be like? What will happen after the Rapture?
What will happen to the deceased and living believers at the Rapture?
What’s the difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ?
What’s the truth about the 1,000-year millennial reign of Christ? What will happen after the ten glorious centuries are fulfilled?
What’s the relationship between Israel and the Church?
What did Jesus mean when He talked about coming back as "King"?
Will the Kingdom last eternally upon the earth?
Will the world come to an end?
Beloved, it is urgently important that you have this extraordinary new video, Christ Returns: This Generation? There are 500 signs pointing to this hour in history. However, seven major signs which only our generation has witnessed means His coming is near. This eternal Kingdom on earth fulfilling Matthew 6:10 is loaded with new teaching that God has shown to me in recent days. And it is exciting. Request your copy of this teaching on DVD or VHS cassette.

Let me hear from you soon. We need your support today, as the financial challenges in launching our fall broadcast ministry to the entire world are great. Thank you! God bless you!

Yours in world evangelism,Jack Van Impe
https://ww2.micahtek.com/nexolive/nJVISelector.cfm?rDATA1=SHOPPING&rDATA3=DRCV

P.S. Christ Returns: This Generation? is one of the highest-potential evangelism tools you could ever give to an unsaved loved one, friend, neighbor, or business acquaintance. It is also perfect to share with your Sunday school class or Bible study group!

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Iran blocks probe of alleged atom bomb work: IAEA
By Mark Heinrich SEPT 15,08

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has stymied a U.N. inquiry into whether it researched ways to make a nuclear bomb, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday, and Britain said it would push hard for tougher sanctions on Iran.A confidential IAEA report said Iran had raised the number of centrifuges enriching uranium by 500 to 3,820 since May and was testing an advanced model able to refine nuclear fuel 2-3 times faster, in continuing defiance of U.N. resolutions.But a senior U.N. official familiar with IAEA findings said Iran seemed at least two years away from enriching enough uranium for an atomic weapon, if it eventually chose to do so.On the issue of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program, we have arrived at a gridlock. Without Iran's assistance and cooperation, we cannot move forward, said a second senior U.N. official.Iran blamed the IAEA for the impasse. A senior Iranian official, who declined to be named, called on the IAEA to change its approach and work in a legal and logical manner.The United States called on Iran to shelve enrichment or face the possibility of more U.N. sanctions, adding to relatively modest punitive measures Tehran has shrugged off.Britain went further, accusing Iran of showing contempt for the IAEA by continuing to refuse to respond to IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei's serious concerns about research with possible military nuclear dimensions.We will therefore push hard for further U.N. sanctions in the coming weeks, a British Foreign Office statement said.The report will be debated by the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors at a meeting starting on Sept 22, with the possibility that Western powers might seek a resolution against Iran.

Iran had stockpiled 480 kg (1,050 pounds) of low-enriched uranium so far, the report by the Vienna-based IAEA said.It would need 1,700 kg (3,740 pounds) to convert into high-enriched uranium (HEU) for fuelling an atom bomb, said U.N. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.That would be a significant quantity, one unit of HEU, and would take on the order of two years, said one official.The report coincided with the announcement by Iran that it was staging air defence exercises in half of its 30 provinces.Air defence commander Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani emphasized that the enemies would receive a serious response for any aggression and we would surprise them and make them regretful, the ISNA agency in Tehran reported.The Bush administration says it wants a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff, but has not ruled out military action if that fails. Iran, the world's No. 4 oil exporter, says its nuclear program is a peaceful drive to generate electricity.

FULL DISCLOSURE

In its last report in May, the IAEA said Iran appeared to be withholding information needed to explain intelligence that it had linked projects to process uranium, test high explosives and modify a missile cone in a way suitable for a nuclear warhead.

ElBaradei called on Iran then for full disclosure -- namely, going beyond flat denials without providing access to sites, documentation or relevant officials for interviews to substantiate their stance.The report said nothing to that end had been done by Iran, which has acknowledged some of the activity cited but said it was for conventional military purposes only.Regrettably the agency has not been able to make any substantial progress on the alleged (weaponization) studies and other associated key remaining issues which remain of serious concern, the report said.It said IAEA investigators had stressed to Iran that the intelligence documentation was detailed and consistent enough that it needs to be taken seriously (by Iran), particularly in light of the fact that, as acknowledged by Iran, some of the information contained in it was factually accurate, it said.But, in a nod to Iranian objections, U.N. officials said Iran was understandably worried about divulging information it felt could compromise its security as tensions fester between Iran and the United States and Israel.They said another obstacle was the refusal of Western powers to let the IAEA provide Iran hard copies of the intelligence for perusal. Iran has said it has seen only electronic versions that could easily have been doctored.We have to recognize the legitimate security concerns of Iran especially with their situation in the world, one official said. We have taken note of Iran's concern that we are touching on their sensitive military environment, another official said.The report said the IAEA was trying to break this deadlock by urging Iran to specify what information was wrong and what was right in its view, but Tehran had not responded so far.Such a gesture was becoming more urgent particularly since the IAEA had obtained information since May suggesting Iran had done tests related to high-altitude explosions typical of a nuclear payload with the assistance of foreign expertise.(additional reporting by Adrian Croft in London, Parisa Hafezi in Tehran and Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington)(Editing by Caroline Drees)

Putin fails to dispel doubts over Medvedev
By Stefan Wagstyl in Moscow September 15 2008 07:59

Vladimir Putin relishes an earthy turn of phrase. When talking of Russia’s response to Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia, the Russian prime minister asks: Should we have wiped the bloody snot off and bowed our heads again this time? Dmitry Medvedev, an ex-lawyer, is more refined. The Russian president is happy to be called a liberal and says that he enjoyed his time last year at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Few world leaders put themselves up for three hours of cross-examination by foreign visitors. But last week, the two men did just that.Taking time off from the Georgian crisis, they hosted elegant lunches for the Valdai Club, a group of journalists and academics, and provided glimpses of how they see Russia, the world and each other.Mr Putin went first, holding court in a luxury spa in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Looking tanned and younger than his 55 years, he seemed more relaxed than at last year’s Valdai meeting when the succession question was still open.He cracked jokes, remarking, for example, how much he respected George W. Bush, before adding: I treat him even better than many Americans would.Otherwise, it was a combative performance, peppered with robust language that he perhaps learnt during his impoverished St Petersburg upbringing. He allowed emotions to show, not least his injured sense that the west had taken advantage of Russia in the 1990s.

Touches of sarcasm abounded, including oblique references to the US behaving like the Roman empire. But he could also be generous – ending the proceedings with a minute’s silence to mark the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Mr Medvedev invited the group to a banqueting hall in the Central Department Store, overlooking Red Square. Convenient, he said, for shopping and for the Kremlin. After just four months in office, he was less at ease than Mr Putin. But he was fluent and convincing and as tough on Georgia as Mr Putin. He was perhaps a bit too earnest, with the robe of office resting heavily on his shoulders, as one visitor remarked.

But it could hardly be otherwise, given the momentous decision to go to war so soon after taking office. Mr Medvedev had been holidaying on a boat on the River Volga when the fateful news of the Georgian attack had come. Taking this decision was not easy, especially on day 95 in office, he said. But we did it right and I have no qualms about it.Mr Medvedev insisted he wanted to focus on Russia’s economic and social development at the same time as bolstering Russia’s influence in the world. I don’t want a militarised country sheltering behind an iron curtain. I lived in such a country and it was uninteresting and tedious. . . Russia has quite different values from the Soviet Union.The key question for many Valdai guests was who really runs Russia. Mr Medvedev emphasised that, as commander-in-chief, he had called the shots in the Georgian crisis and Mr Putin said the same, commenting that the buck stops with him. However, the visitors were left with the same impression as most Russians, that Mr Putin takes the big decisions. In a telling remark, Mr Putin referred to Mr Medvedev as a good guy, using a Russian phrase that sounded more like a condescending term of endearment rather than a fitting label for the country’s president. In contrast, Mr Medvedev hardly mentioned Mr Putin, perhaps to avoid detracting from himself.On Georgia’s pro-west president, Mr Medvedev was even harsher, describing Mikheil Saakashvili as somebody utterly unpredictable, a person totally burdened by pathological traits, a totally unbalanced person who takes narcotics. Mr Putin, who contented himself with calling the Georgian leader criminal, would have been proud.The Financial Times Limited 2008.

NATO's Georgia hesitation emboldened Russia-Canada

OTTAWA, Sep 13 (Reuters) NATO's hesitation at its April summit to integrate Georgia and Ukraine into the alliance only emboldened Russia to invade Georgia last month, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in an interview published today.I think if we had taken a stronger position on the membership of these countries, we would not have had the Russian aggression, he told the National Post newspaper.I think that showing weakness or hesitation encourages this type of behavior on the part of Russia. Harper expressed respect for Russia but said whether or not countries join NATO was a decision between the alliance and that country.Russia does not have a right to dictate decisions outside its own borders, the Conservative prime minister said.Canada and the United States had been among those at the Bucharest summit in April advocating offering a membership action plan to Ukraine and Georgia, but they met opposition led by Germany and France.In the end the NATO summit promised the two countries they could join in the future but the timing was left indefinite. Russia sent forces into Georgia in August after repelling an attempt by Tbilisi to retake the breakaway, pro-Russian South Ossetia region.

A MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE SEPT 15,08 Beginning this week we want to do a four-week study on the cost of discipleship and revival.

There Is a Price to Pay

Salvation does not cost any person anything, because salvation is freely bestowed upon those who believe. Don't let anyone rob you of this blessed truth. Ephesians 2:8, 9 states, For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Romans 6:23 says, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our Saviour shed His precious blood upon the cross over 2,000 years ago to redeem sinners. To be saved, one must receive this precious gift, the Lord Jesus Christ, for the remission of sin. When the transaction occurs God immediately gives eternal life to the receiver of His gift.

Friend, it is free. Because of it one can exuberantly say with Paul, Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15).

The Price Paid by Christ

A. His home

God's gift cost the Saviour everything. This included the relinquishing of His heavenly home for a period of 33 years. Philippians 2:5-8 beautifully pictures the sacrifice: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Yes, He loved you and left the beauty of the Holy City to die an agonizing death upon Calvary. He said, I came down from heaven (John 6:38). Again, I am the living bread which came down from heaven (John 6:51). He loved you and gave himself for you (see Galatians 2:20).

B. His reputation

God's gift also cost the Lord Jesus Christ His reputation. Philippians 2:7: [He] made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. His enemies tried to drag His holy name into the depths of degradation. Listen to them: He casteth out devils through the prince of devils (Matthew 9:34). He hath an unclean spirit (Mark 3:30). He hath a devil and is mad (John 10:20). He is an illegitimate child. They said even that? Absolutely. His sermon so convicted the sinners of His day that they, in retaliation, shouted, We be not born of fornication (John 8:41). Christ bore all of this abusive language because of His great love for the lost including you.

C. His happiness

God's gift also cost Christ great sorrow. He could say in Matthew 26:28, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. He beheld the city, and wept over it (Luke 19:41). Again in Luke 22:44: And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Medical men state that blood is held in one's body by capillaries. When they burst, blood seeps through the skin. Jesus prayed so agonizingly over the souls of men that His capillaries shattered, His blood seeped through His skin, and beads of blood and water ran from His brow to the ground. Oh, how Jesus loved the lost.

Hebrews 12:2 looks ahead to the joy anticipated because of the sorrow endured: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him [seeing the redeemed in His presence] endured the cross.

D. His life

God's gift also cost Christ His life. Psalm 22 prophetically depicts the event. Listen to the Saviour as He hangs, fastened by spikes, to the cross: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? Verse 6: But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. Verses 13-16: They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. Do you hear the agonizing groans of the Lord as he pays the price of salvation for you?

Isaiah, the prophet, also portrays the ignominious scene in chapter 53:1-5: Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Paul says, Christ died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3). John adds, He loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood (Revelation).

Multitudes more of the saved by grace without cost crowd never win lost souls to Christ. Million slip into hell forever and forever and forever while believers fill their daily schedules with temporal earthly pursuits. They fail to witness because their exalted image could become tarnished by the taunts of those Christ-haters who belittle them. They might be called fanatics, fools, idiots, imbeciles, or Jesus freaks. Are we better than Christ who was called demented and mad in John 10:20? Are we better than Paul who said in 1 Corinthians 4:10, We are fools for Christ? God forgive us for not paying the cost of discipleship.

Let's investigate the price some of God's people paid as they followed Jesus.

Stephen, the first deacon, paid all he had by giving his life. In Acts 7:51 we find him preaching a strong, bombastic message naming sin. This kind of preaching is never popular. And [they] ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him (Acts 7:57,58).

The New Testament writers, with the exception of John, laid down their lives for the Saviour. Matthew died from the wounds of a halberd. Mark was dragged through the streets by a team of wild horses until death ensued. Luke was hanged. John was thrown into boiling oil. Though he lived, he was disfigured for life. Peter and Jude were crucified, and James was smashed to death by a club. Paul, last but not least, suffered more than the others combined.

He could say in 1 Corinthians 4:10-13, We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted [beaten], and have no certain dwelling place; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the off- of all things unto this day. In 1 Corinthians 15:31, he says, I die daily.

In 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 he continues, We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed: Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.

Again, 2 Corinthians 11:23-28: In labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, and fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

Think of it. Five times they scourged Paul with the forerunner of the Roman cat-o-nine-tails. Three times they used clubs on his body and once they crushed his head with rocks. Thinking he was dead, they discarded his body at the garbage dump of Lystra (see Acts 14:19).

Salvation is free, but it is not cheap. Discipleship that brings crowns and rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ is costly. Those who do not sacrifice here will have nothing in that day. They shall stand in Christ's presence ashamed (see 1 John 2:28). They shall suffer loss of all rewards (see 1 Corinthians 3:15).

One who is a disciple, a follower of Christ throughout this earthly, pilgrimage, has no regrets as eternity approaches. Listen to Paul again in 2 Timothy 4:6-8. He is about to have his life ended by decapitation beheading. His head will soon roll from his body as the sword severs it. Is he remorseful, regretful, and sorry? Would he like to relive life without all of the sorrow experienced as Christ's follower? You be the judge. He says, For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course. I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. There are no regrets-he is going home to be with Jesus forever.

Christian, get a copy of Fox's Book of Martyrs. It will revolutionize your life as you see the price Christians have paid throughout history. They were grateful for free salvation and gave their all out of gratitude. Let me share two illustrations from this volume:

In the year 258 AD, three hundred Christians jumped into fires at Utica rather than renounce the Lord Jesus Christ.

In 304 AD, Timothy and Mara heard a knock at the door. A voice said, Give us your Scripture portions that we may burn them.

They replied, Never. We would rather have you burn us.

They took Timothy, removed his eyes, threw him in front of his wife, and said, Now let him read his Bible.

Six weeks later, the agents returned saying, Will you renounce Jesus today?

Never!

They then took this godly couple, and hanged them in trees in view of their little children. All this because they loved Jesus.

Salvation is free, but it is not cheap. Some of you have been treating it cheaply. Why not dedicate your life anew today. Get rid of habits, coldness, lukewarmness, and the spirit of unconcern that has hindered your growth in the Lord.
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FROM THE HEART OF DR. REXELLA VAN IMPE

Are You in Contact With Your Spirit Guide?
He will guide you into all truth!

We're hearing so much in this day about the New Age Movement and how we should be in contact with our other self through our spirit guide. These concepts are being taught in our public schools, even at the lower grade levels. Misguided, deceived individuals are teaching our innocent children about transcendental meditation, yoga, and the spirit world.

Numerous celebrities have publicized their involvement with such fearsome ancient spirit guides as Ramtha, Spectra, and Lazirus, who supposedly possess supernatural knowledge and can assist them in making important decisions and choices.

The truth is that most of the spirits out there are not holy. It is vitally important to recognize this fact. Sadly, too many people do not realize that when they participate in activities like channeling, trances, séances, etc., they are opening themselves up to all kinds of demonic spirits. Often, people actually give themselves over to evil spirits, with tragic results.

Our Guide

As Christians, our Spirit Guide lives within us. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you (1 Corinthians 6:19). Therefore, if our Spirit Guide is within us, we have no need to go outside ourselves for guidance as others suggest. He is all we need.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come (John 16:13).

Imagine, you have access to the greatest Spirit of all -- the precious Holy Spirit. You can possess, and be possessed by, the most powerful force in all the universe, the omniscient, omnipresent Spirit of the eternal God. Shirley MacLaine and others talk about their spirit guides being so special because they are ancient. But our Spirit Guide -- the Holy Spirit -- helped create the world, even man.

Genesis 1:1,2 says, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. So the Holy Spirit was there at the dawn of creation -- as a part of the Trinity. He is from the beginning and predates all other spirit guides.

We can have contact with this Holy Spirit and be guided by Him, but first we must possess Him. The only way that can happen is by the illumination of His Word. He must convince us of the truth. John 16:8 says, And when he is come, he will reprove [convince] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. He convinces us that we need Him and guides us to the born-again experience.

Thank God, the Spirit does strive with us and illuminates the truth to us.

Our Intercessor

Not only does the Spirit convince us of our need of Christ, He also creates intercessory thoughts in us. There are times when we don't even know what we need -- what is good for us. So many times we may not even know how we should pray or what we should ask for. So we have to join our spirit with the Holy Spirit to seek out God's best plan for our lives. Romans 8:26 says, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

There are times when we come to God, praying only for what we want -- asking for His approval -- instead of seeking His will for our lives. I'm convinced that on those occasions when we come to God, asking selfishly, the Holy Spirit is saying, No, Father, no. When we do not ask within the will of God, then the Holy Spirit, in His mercy, intercedes for what is best.

As a young bride, I had an experience like this. I wanted a baby so much that I begged God to let me have one. I refused to consider how much a child would have hampered and burdened my calling and ministry, which at that time required me to live on the road for months at a time. I avoided thinking about how cruel and unfair my work load and life-style would be to a helpless, wholly-dependent little one.

Even after I knew that motherhood was not God's will for me, I asked anyway. But the Holy Spirit, in His goodness, interceded for me -- for my own good. And now, when I can see things clearly and in perspective, that knowledge brings me great comfort.

There may also be times when we experience a yearning for something that is undefined and inexpressible. It's a hunger or yearning we simply can't understand. At times like these, we can join our spirits with the Holy Spirit and let Him create intercessory thoughts within us. Then we can have peace that what is being sought in our behalf is for our good... and will be done. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him (1 John 5:14,15).

Allowing the Holy Spirit to create intercessory thoughts and prayers brings such satisfaction and fulfillment. It goes beyond our understanding or ability to put it into words. It is so beautiful and powerful.

Our Comforter

Then, the Holy Spirit comforts us. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you (John 14:18).

I love the story about a very sad unbeliever who was seated next to a Christian man on a train. During the trip, the unsaved man began to cry and weep. The believer said to him, I see you are troubled and sad. Is there some way I can help you?

The sorrowful man replied, I've just lost my wife. Our home seems so empty. All I have left to keep me company is her parakeet.

The believer replied, Well, as a Christian I have the Paraclete -- the Holy Spirit. He never leaves me. And He will meet your need if you'll allow Him to.

Paraclete, in the Greek, means comforter and is the name given for the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we have the constant, unfailing presence of the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us.

Our Spiritual Gift-giver

The Holy Spirit also controls the spiritual gifts bestowed upon the body of Christ, the Church. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge...to another faith...to another the gifts of healing... to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).

God gives these gifts to each believer, as He wills. Each of us has been given a very special gift -- and the Holy Spirit will guide us into a place of service using the particular gift He has chosen for us. He will also give us power when using that gift.

Peter had the gift of communication -- the ability to preach. But after he was filled with the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:8; 2:4), he not only had the gift but also the fruit... boldness (see Acts 4:13). So the Holy Spirit not only gives us spiritual gifts, He also gives us the ability (fruit) and strength to use them.

Spiritual gifts are not given to hoard for our own benefit or enjoyment. They are given to enable us to minister to others. And the Spirit will provide the opportunity -- He will definitely show us our place of service.

I believe there are times, depending on the circumstances, when more than one gift of the Spirit may be exercised through you. A situation may arise where there is no one else to depend on and the Holy Spirit manifests (or works) a particular gift through you to meet a particular need at a particular time. It may be a gift that has never operated in your life before, but when the Spirit puts you in a situation, He will illuminate your mind to meet the need. You will discover that where God guides, He provides.

The Holy Spirit is our Keeper

Not only is our Spirit Guide with us in life, but He remains with us even after death.

Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman relates a beautiful story about how he personally discovered this thrilling truth. He was sitting in his home, reading an address delivered by Dr. Moorhead at a Bible Conference. Dr. Moorhead declared that when one becomes a child of God, the Spirit of God comes in to dwell in that person and will continue in that body until the Resurrection. Even after the human spirit has departed to be with the Lord, the third member of the godhead remains with that body until the Resurrection.

Dr. Chapman said that as he thought about this, he started to cry. He said, We hitched the horse to the carriage, and my wife and I rode out to a little graveyard where we had buried our firstborn son. As we stood there beside that little grave, we said, Thank You, Lord, for keeping watch. Immediately the peace of God flooded our souls. He went on, Later, when I stood by the grave of my mother, again I said, Thank You, Holy Spirit, for staying with Your temple and keeping watch.

What a comfort! On the day of Resurrection the Spirit will touch the body with new life, reunite it with the soul, and sweep our triuned body, soul, and spirit to be with God. How amazing and beautiful!

I encourage you today to get in contact with your Spirit Guide. But don't be fooled by the false teachers of the so-called New Age Movement. Satan always has a counterfeit for the real and profitable things in life. He would like to deceive you into listening to his emissaries of evil and guide you into darkness. But he is no match for the real Spirit Guide -- the Holy Spirit, who will always guide you into all truth. Remember, Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).
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AIG IN TROUBLE NOW

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.

Ike remnants blamed for Midwest deaths, blackouts By DANIEL J. YOVICH, Associated Press Writer SEPT 15,08

CHICAGO - Residents of the Midwest faced blackouts affecting more than 2 million homes and businesses and flooded homes Monday after a weekend of devastating weather caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ike. The violent weather in the Midwest, the latest in a brutal summer that has slammed parts of the region with severe flooding, brought Ike's total death toll to at least 34 in nine states from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio Valley.As Ike faded and headed off toward the northeast, combining with a weather system that arrived from the west, it dumped as much as 6 to 8 inches of rain on parts of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. It spawned a tornado in Arkansas that damaged several buildings, and delivered hurricane-force wind to Ohio, temporarily shutting down Cincinnati's main airport during the weekend. Missouri had widespread flooding, and high water on the Mississippi River was expected to close a riverfront street later this week in front of St. Louis' famed Gateway Arch.

We've got flash flooding all over the place, National Weather Service hydrologist Mark Fuchs said of Missouri.We've never had flooding like this, said Tom DeGiulio, town manager in Munster, Ind. About 40 Indiana National Guard troops were activated Sunday to assist with the evacuation of up to 5,000 residents there.About 2 million homes and businesses across Ohio had no electricity Monday, including some in Columbus and Cincinnati, Gov. Ted Strickland said as he declared a state of emergency, which allows the Ohio Department of Transportation to help communities remove debris from roads. He said it would take days to restore power in all areas of the state.About 450 Ohio school districts canceled classes Monday, and the blackouts shut down one-third of the state's traffic signals, officials said.The Ohio outage was the biggest in Duke Power history, said Duke spokeswoman Kathy Meinke. We've never seen anything like this in early fall, American Electric Power spokesman Jeff Rennie said of Ohio's problems.Evacuees who spent the night in a shelter set up at a school in Munster said Monday that the water rose quickly.

The water was nothing but a trickle in the middle of the street and by the time we decided what to do it was too late, said George Polvich, one of the Munster residents rescued by boat. There was, like, three feet of water.The record rainfall also threatened farmers' harvests.Indiana utilities reported more than 100,000 customers without power Monday, and in New York more than 130,000 customers had no electrical service. The utility Entergy Arkansas said about 75,000 customers remained without power in its state Monday.A busy stretch of Interstate 80/94 just east of the Indiana-Illinois state line was closed by flooding Monday and Indiana highway officials had no estimate when it could be reopened.Major flooding is predicted this week for towns in Missouri, including Arnold, where the Meramec River is expected to reach a major flood stage for the third time this year. Fortunately, Arnold still had sandbags in place that were piled up during the first flood in March.The Missouri River is likely to reach more than 11 feet above flood stage in Missouri's St. Charles County, threatening seven private levees, officials said.

Illinois officials said they would ask Gov. Rod Blagojevich to issue a disaster declaration for the city of Chicago and surrounding Cook County, where dozens of people were rescued from rising water by boat.Elsewhere across Illinois, volunteers sandbagged the banks of the overflowing DuPage and Des Plaines Rivers. In Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood, truckloads of sand were delivered to help hold back the rising North Branch of the Chicago River.Also in Illinois, the weekend's record rainfall and flooding were threatening corn and soybean yields. University of Illinois agricultural economist Stu Ellis said the rain could provide the right environment for fungus to spread in soybean fields and further weaken corn crops, already fragile from the summer's drought. Seven people died in the flooding and high wind in Indiana, the state's Department of Homeland Security said Monday. Among them were a teacher and his father who were sucked into a culvert and drowned Sunday while trying to rescue a 10-year-old boy from a flooded ditch, state officials said.

Elsewhere in the Midwest, the weather was blamed for four deaths in Ohio, four in Missouri, two in Tennessee and one each in Arkansas and Kentucky. Associated Press reporters Tom Coyne in Indiana and Meghan Barr in Ohio contributed to this report.

More than 25,000 customers across Ontario lose power after stormy night
Sep 15, 8:38 AM By The Canadian Press

TORONTO - More than 25-thousand customers are without electricity Monday morning across Ontario after a night of rain and gusting winds. Worst-hit areas include Alliston, Peterborough and Bancroft, while Hydro One isn't reporting any outages in some southwestern regions. In Fenelon Falls, more than 5,300 customers are affected by outages. Service isn't expected to be restored until later in the day.

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

THE DOW WAS DOWN 504 POINTS ON THE DAY AND AIG IS IN BIG TROUBLE 75 BILLION WORTH, AND THE GOVERNMENT IS TRYNG TO GET TO BANKS JP MORGAN AND 1 OTHER ONE TO BAIL IT OUT.

Stocks tumble amid new Wall Street landscape By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer SEPT 15,08

NEW YORK - A stunning makeover of the Wall Street landscape sent stocks falling precipitously Monday, with the Dow Jones industrials sliding 500 points in their worst point drop since the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Investors reacted badly to a shakeup of the financial industry that took out two storied names: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Stocks also posted big losses in markets across much of the globe as investors absorbed Lehman's bankruptcy filing and what was essentially a forced sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America for $50 billion in stock. While those companies' situations had reached some resolution, the market remained anxious about American International Group Inc., which is seeking emergency funding to shore up its balance sheet. A faltering of the world's largest insurance company likely would have financial implications far beyond that of Lehman, the largest U.S. bankruptcy.The swift developments that took place Sunday are the biggest yet in the 14-month-old credit crises that stems from now toxic subprime mortgage debt. For the first part of Monday's trading, the market was falling, but in a largely orderly fashion as investors seemed to draw some relief from the resolution of Lehman's problems.But as the session wore on, and there was no word about AIG, the market's suffered another bout of fear that the ongoing credit crisis will continue to devastate the financial sector, and selling accelerated in the final hour.Investors are worried that trouble at AIG and the bankruptcy filing by Lehman, felled by $60 billion in bad debt and a dearth of investor confidence, will touch off another series of troubles for banks and financial institutions that may be forced to further write down the value of their own debt assets. Wall Street had been hopeful six months ago that the collapse of Bear Stearns would mark the darkest day of the credit crisis.AIG's troubles a week after its stock dropped 45 percent are worrisome for some investors because of the company's enormous balance sheet and the risks that troubles with that companies finances could spill over to the companies with which it does business. AIG, one of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow industrials, fell $6.93, or 57 percent, to $5.21 Monday as investors worried that it would be the subject of downgrades from credit ratings agencies.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 504.48, or 4.42 percent, to 10,917.51, moving below the 11,000 mark for the first time since mid-July. It was the worst point drop for the Dow since it lost 684.81 on Sept. 17, 2001, the first day of trading after the terror attacks. It was also the sixth-largest point drop in the Dow, just behind the 508.00 it suffered in the October 1987 crash.Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 58.74, or 4.69 percent, to 1,192.96, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 81.36, or 3.60 percent, to 2,179.91.The S&P 500 broke through the 1,200.44 trading low seen in mid-July, a key level traders watch. Much of the trading day until about the last hour had been orderly because the market had tested another key level early in the session and managed to stay above it. But the eventual drift lower prompted some investors to hit the sell button.

AIG struggles to survive financial tsunami By Lilla Zuill and Joseph A. Giannone SEPT 15,08

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Insurer American International Group struggled for survival a day after a financial tsunami overtook investment bank Lehman and forced the sale of rival Merrill Lynch in the biggest financial industry shake-up since the Great Depression. AIG's struggles followed the failure of frantic attempts to find a rescuer for investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, and Merrill Lynch & Co's agreement to be taken over by Bank of America Corp.The U.S. Federal Reserve has hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to review options for AIG, which has lost some 90 percent of its value so far this year, a person familiar with the situation said on Monday.Fearing a meltdown on Wall Street, the U.S. presidential candidates sparred Monday over who could best restore financial health, with John McCain pledging reform and Barack Obama saying hands-off Republican policies were the problem.U.S. stocks fell sharply across the board, but not as much as some expected.

One of the biggest decliners was Bank of America, whose planned takeover of Merrill would allow it to surpass Citigroup as the country's largest bank by assets.The concern for Bank of America is the debt that they are acquiring, said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in San Francisco. Secondly, is it too big of a purchase? They are dealing with Countrywide right now. Did they need to be dealing with this as well? There's some concern they might have bit more than they could chew, he added.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

As a deepening crisis took new, bigger victims, the Fed for the first time said it would accept stock in exchange for cash loans, and 10 of the world's top banks agreed to establish a $70 billion emergency fund, with any one of them able to tap up to a third of that.The Dow Jones industrial average was down 2.4 percent in early-afternoon trading, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 2.3 percent.Lehman shares fell some 95 percent to 19 cents even as the Wall Street Journal reported that the once proud bank was moving to sell 100 percent of its investment management unit and had a potential list of buyers including private equity firms Bain Capital, Hellman & Friedman and Clayton Dubilier & Rice.The events signaled a seismic shift in Wall Street's power structure, with big name investment banks biting the dust and major banks like Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase becoming the survivors.It's a return to pure capitalism, the survival of the fittest -- the government can't and won't bail everybody out, said Justin Urquhart Stewart, investment director at 7 Investment Management in London.Investors will now retreat to the trustworthy banks, though that's not a phrase that trips off the tongue easily nowadays.

SHELLSHOCKED

Scores of Lehman employees began showing up at dawn at the company's New York headquarters, many dressed in casual clothes. Most were carrying duffel bags and suitcases, as if they were planning to pack up and leave.Merrill workers were also uncertain about their future. New York Gov. David Paterson said Wall Street might lay off 30,000 workers in a worst-case scenario. Everybody has been shellshocked, a Merrill trader said on his way into the headquarters building. Nobody thought we'd be bought by Bank of America in a million years. At least we won't be bankrupt. It should be a interesting day at work.AIG could be the next U.S. financial giant to run into serious trouble. U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who shocked many on Wall Street by insisting there would be no taxpayer funds to help Lehman, said at a press briefing that there were private sector talks under way in New York on AIG that had nothing to do with any government bridge loan. But an official told Reuters that New York Federal Reserve, which was active in talks over Lehman this weekend, was hosting meetings on AIG with representatives of the Treasury Department, financial services firms and state officials. Separately, a source familiar with the situation said that weekend talks between billionaire investor Warren Buffett and AIG had ended with no deal.

MERRILL SELLS, LEHMAN EXITS

Shares of U.S. banks tumbled in the wake of the Lehman news, with Washington Mutual down 17 percent, Wachovia Corp losing 21 percent, Morgan Stanley falling 13 percent and Citigroup dropping 14 percent. Merrill shares roughly halved earlier gains to 16 percent. The Bank of America offer was worth $29 a share when it was announced, almost $12 above Merrill's Friday closing price. Lehman said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and was attempting to sell assets, becoming Wall Street's highest-profile bankruptcy since junk bond specialist Drexel Burnham Lambert succumbed in 1990. Lehman's European arm appointed administrators, who said they would wind down the business in as orderly a manner as possible. Lehman's bankruptcy petition followed three days of talks between bank CEOs and regulators at the Fed's fortress-like building in lower Manhattan. The euro jumped as high as $1.4479, up 1.7percent from Friday, and U.S. Treasury yields dropped to five-month lows on concern about the stability of the U.S. financial system and as investors increased bets that the Fed will cut interest rates. The euro later weakened to $1.4189. With Lehman and Merrill out of the picture, three of the top five U.S. investment banks would have departed the scene inside six months. Bear Stearns was acquired in a fire sale by JPMorgan in March. Authorities sought to prop up market confidence with announcements late on Sunday. The Fed said it would accept equities as collateral for emergency loans, and laid out a series of steps to calm markets and brace for Lehman's collapse. In addition to broadening the collateral it will accept from investment banks in exchange for direct loans, the Fed said it would increase the amount of Treasury securities it auctions on a regular basis under one of its lending programs. (Additional reporting by Steve Slater, Sitaraman Shankar, Brian Gorman, Jane Baird and Olesya Dmitracova in London; Jessica Hall in Philadelphia and Ellis Mnyandu in New York; Writing by Christian Plumb and Bill Rigby; Editing by Maureen Bavdek, John Wallace and Steve Orlofsky)

Wall Street crisis could put Fed rate cut in play By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer SEPT 15,08

WASHINGTON - Wreckage from a massive crisis on Wall Street could prompt the Federal Reserve to do an about face and once again cut a key interest rate this week or possibly later this year, economists said Monday. Just a few days ago, a rate cut appeared largely off the table. Now it has emerged as a possibility as the Fed prepares to meet Tuesday against a backdrop of historic upheaval in the U.S. financial system.Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the country's fourth-largest investment firm, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. And, Bank of America is buying Merrill Lynch in a $50 billion deal.It puts a Fed rate cut back on the table, said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group.Seeking to calm frazzled markets, President Bush assured the country his administration is working to reduce disruptions and minimize the impact of these developments on the broader economy.The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 300 points in afternoon trading.On the other side of the Atlantic, major European central banks plowed billions into markets Monday with the hope of averting a lending freeze-up in the wake of Lehman's failure.It is an ongoing process and we have to remain extraordinarily alert, said European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet.

In Asia, China's central bank cut a key interest rate to stimulate growth as inflation has eased. It was the first rate cut there in almost six years. Chinese regulators have steadily raised interest rates over the past three years to contain inflation pressure.During emergency sessions over the weekend, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made clear there would be no government bailout of Lehman. The Fed took steps Sunday night to keep cash flowing to major Wall Street players by expanding its loan programs, however.Before the extraordinary events over the weekend, the prevailing wisdom was that the Fed would hold its key interest rate steady at 2 percent at its next meeting on Tuesday.

Although that still could happen, a growing number of economists and investors now believes there is a chance the Fed could reduce its rate by one-quarter or even a bolder one-half percentage point on Tuesday. Much hinges on the information the Fed gets about how the inner workings of the U.S. financial system are functioning and how Wall Street investors react to the crisis.It is a different ballgame. Anything can be expected and a rate cut is possible, said economist Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research. Yamarone thinks the Fed on Tuesday will decide to stay the course and leave rates alone, fearing another cut would hurt the value of the U.S. dollar more. Hoffman, too, isn't convinced a rate cut will happen.Were the Fed to slice its key rate, the prime lending rate for millions of consumers and businesses — now at 5 percent — would drop by a corresponding amount. The prime rate applies to certain credit cards, home equity lines of credit and other loans. The Fed's key rate and the prime rate are at four-year lows.Even if the Fed doesn't lower rates on Tuesday, analysts believe the central bank could switch signals and suggest it could cut rates sooner down the road.Over the last few months, Bernanke and his Fed colleagues have signaled that the central bank's next move on interest rates would probably be an increase to fend off inflation. Given all the economic and financial stresses, though, economists are now saying the likelihood of a rate increase over the next six to nine months is virtually nil.A recent retreat in record-high oil prices and improved readings on wholesale prices, however, gives the Fed more leeway to lower rates if needed or at least hold them steady.The Fed in June halted its most aggressive rate-cutting campaign to shore up the economy out of fears that those low rates were aggravating inflation. It didn't budge the rate at the last meeting in August for the same reason. Fed officials have suggested that harder-to-get credit and financial troubles have blunted the energizing impact of the central bank's already-ordered rate cuts on consumers and businesses. Economic growth is slowing and the unemployment rate is at a five-year high of 6.1 percent.

Some argued that an additional rate cut might offer a psychological boost to shaken Wall Street investors, but probably wouldn't do much to turn around worried consumers and bolster the economy. Others feared another rate cut could send a wrong message to financial companies that made bad bets. I see very little gain of lower rates at this time and some may argue that extremely low rates may encourage the type of risky behavior on the part of investors which is exactly what the Fed wants to avoid, said Victor Li, an economics professor at the Villanova School of Business.

15 DEAD - 3 MILLION POWERLESS YET

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.

15 IS DEAD THOUSANDS HOMELESS AND 3 MILLION POWERLESS AS IKE DID FLOOD AND TERRORISE TEXAS AND AREA. GEORGE W I WARNED YOU THIS WAS A WAKE UP CALL TO GET OFF ISRAELS BACK ABOUT DIVIDING JERUSALEM, YOU CAN'T TOUCH GODS HOLY CITY WITHOUT WARNINGS, THEN BIG DESTRUCTION. WHEN WILL AMERICA LEARN TO LET THE EU TAKE ITS ROLE IN END TIME EVENTS AND AMERICA TO GET OUT OF THE PEACE PROCESS FOR GOOD.

Remnants of Ike blamed for 15 deaths in Midwest By DANIEL J. YOVICH, Associated Press Writer SEPT 15,08

CHICAGO - Losing it devastating punch as a major hurricane, Ike nevertheless drubbed the Midwest with powerful winds and floodwaters that are being blamed for at least 15deaths. More than a million homes and businesses lost electrical power on Sunday and thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes. Authorities were to continue on Monday to assess damage and map recovery.The death toll from Ike rose to 30 people in eight states extending from the hurricane-pounded Gulf Coast to the storm-battered Midwest.Illinois officials said they planned to ask Gov. Rod Blagojevich to issue a disaster declaration for both the city of Chicago and Cook County, a move that would make additional funds available to deal with flood-related costs.Cook County was placed under a state of emergency as thigh-high water prompted dozens of boat rescues in Chicago.No deaths were reported Sunday in Illinois, but elsewhere in the Midwest the remnants of Ike proved deadly.Six people died in floodwaters and high winds in Indiana, the state's Department of Homeland Security said Monday. Among them were a teacher and his father, who were sucked into a culvert and drowned Sunday morning while trying to rescue a 10-year-old boy from a flooded ditch in Chesterton in northwest Indiana, the state officials said. Falling trees were blamed for three deaths in southern Indiana. Another death in the southern part of the state was wind-related, officials said.

We've never had flooding like this, said Tom DeGiulio, town manager in Munster, Ind. About 40 Indiana National Guard troops were activated Sunday to assist with the evacuation of up to 5,000 residents there.Three people died in Missouri, including a 21-year-old woman who was likely swept away by rising floodwaters while trying to help another man, authorities said. Two died in the St. Louis area — a woman struck by a tree limb and an elderly man found dead in a home's flooded backyard. Authorities suspect the man drowned.Strongs winds were blamed for three deaths in Ohio. Two motorcyclists were killed when a tree toppled onto them at a state park in southwest Ohio, said state Department of Natural Resources spokesman Jason Fallon, and a woman was killed when a tree crashed into her home in Hamilton County, just north of Cincinnati.In Tennessee, two men sitting in a golf cart on the 16th hole of a Nashville golf course were killed when a tree fell over on them Sunday morning, fire department spokesman Ricky Taylor said.One death was reported in Arkansas, where a 29-year-old man was killed when a tree fell on a mobile home as he was preparing to leave, authorities said.The remnants of Ike dumped as much as 6 to 8 inches of rain in parts of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, spawned a tornado Arkansas that damaged several buildings, and delivered hurricane-force winds to Ohio, forcing Cincinnati's main airport to temporarily shut down. Flooding in Missouri closed the street in front of St. Louis' famed Gateway Arch.Power outages darkened more than a million homes and businesses in Ohio and Kentucky.More than 680,000 Duke Energy customers were without power Sunday night in southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky in the biggest outage in the company's history, said Duke Energy spokeswoman Kathy Meinke.It's going to be quite extensive, Meinke said. Over 90 percent of our customers are without service.

More than 354,000 customers were without power in central Ohio, said American Electric Power spokesman Jeff Rennie. About 310,000 Ohio Edison customers were in the dark in northeast Ohio, said spokeswoman Robin Patton.In Chicago, Saturday's rainfall of 6.64 inches at O'Hare International Airport set a record for a single day. The previous record was 6.49 inches, recorded on Aug. 14, 1987. In Missouri, winds as high as 60 mph and torrential rains of up to 7 inches raised new concerns about swelling rivers. Major flooding was expected along the Mississippi from Ste. Genevieve to Cape Girardeau by late this week, the National Weather Service said.

Strong winds prompted the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to evacuate its control tower and cancel about 40 flights before resuming air traffic, airport spokesman Ted Bushelman said. Strong gusts ripped off part of the roof from a Delta Airlines hangar and damaged another airport building, Bushelman said. He said winds were up to 74 mph. Associated Press reporters Tom Coyne in Indiana and Meghan Barr in Ohio contributed to this report.

Nearly 2,000 brought to safety in Texas after Ike By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer SEPT 15,08

GALVESTON, Texas - As teams persisted in the biggest search and rescue operation in Texas history, a new phase of the disaster wrought by Hurricane Ike was only beginning while thousands of people faced long stays in crowded shelters because their homes were damaged or destroyed. The death toll from Ike rose to 28, but many of those were far to the north of the Gulf Coast as the storm slogged across the nation's midsection, leaving a trail of flooding and destruction. Glass-strewn Houston was placed under a weeklong curfew, and millions of people in the storm's path remained in the dark.Rescuers said they had saved nearly 2,000 people from waterlogged streets and splintered houses by Sunday afternoon. Many had ignored evacuation orders and tried to ride out the storm. Now they were boarding buses for indefinite stays at shelters in San Antonio and Austin.I have nowhere to go, said Ldyyan Jonjocque, 61, waiting for a bus while holding the leashes of her four Australian shepherd dogs. She said she had to leave two dogs behind in her home. She wept as she told of officers rescuing her in a dump truck.In hard-hit towns like Orange, Bridge City and Galveston, authorities continued their door-to-door search well into the night, hoping to reach an untold number of people still in their homes, many without power or supplies.Many of those who did make it to safety boarded buses without knowing where they were going or when they could return to what might remain of their homes.Shelters across Texas scurried to find enough cots, and some evacuees arrived with little cash and no idea of what the coming days held.

Even for those who still have a home to go to, Ike's 110 mph winds and battering waves left thousands in coastal areas without electricity, gas and basic communications — and officials estimated it may not be restored for a month.We want our citizens to stay where they are, said a weary Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas. Do not come back to Galveston. You cannot live here at this time.Michael Geml has braved other storms in his bayfront neighborhood in Galveston, where he's lived for 25 years, though none quite like Ike. The 51-year-old stayed in the third-story Jacuzzi of a neighbor's house, directly on the bay, with family pets as waves crashed across the landscape. But amid the havoc, Geml asked anyone who would listen — even his rescuers — for an odd commodity: cat litter for his spooked feline.

I'll never stay again, Geml said. I don't care what the weatherman says — a Category 1, a Category 2. I thought I was going to die.Kathi and Paul Norton huddled inside their house in Crystal Beach until it collapsed and was swept away. Their flag pole kept the house from collapsing on top of them, buying them a few seconds to escape, holding onto the staircase.You never know what a hurricane is like until you ride it on a staircase, said Kathi Norton, 47. As she spoke outside the giant, warehouse-like shelter on a former Air Force base in San Antonio, busloads of new evacuees were arriving, bumper to bumper.The hurricane also battered the heart of the U.S. oil industry as Ike destroyed at least 10 production platforms, officials said. Details about the size and production capacity of the destroyed platforms were not immediately available, but the damage was to only a fraction of the 3,800 platforms in the Gulf.It was too soon to know how seriously it would affect oil and gas prices.

President Bush made plans to visit the area on Tuesday.He said getting power restored is an extremely high priority and urged power companies to please recruit out-of-state people to come and help you do this.Ike was downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved north. Roads were closed in Kentucky because of high winds. As far north as Chicago, dozens of people in a suburb had to be evacuated by boat. Two million people were without power in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Of the 28 dead, five were in the hard-hit barrier island city of Galveston, including one body found in a vehicle submerged in floodwater at the airport. There were two other deaths in Texas and four in Louisiana, including a 16-year-old boy trapped in rising floodwaters. Several were farther inland. Two golfers died when a tree fell on them in Tennessee. There were two deaths in Indiana; three died in Missouri. One person died in Arkansas and three in Ohio, including two motorcyclists killed when a tree toppled on them at a state park. Ike killed more than 80 in the Caribbean before reaching the U.S. Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city, was reduced to near-paralysis in some places. But power was on in downtown office towers Sunday afternoon, and Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical complex, was unscathed and remained open. Both places have underground power lines. Its two airports — including George Bush Intercontinental, one of the busiest in the United States — were set to reopen Monday with limited service. But schools were closed until further notice, and the business district was shuttered. Five people were arrested at a pawn shop north of Houston and charged with burglary in what Harris County Sheriff's spokesman Capt. John Martin described as looting, but there was no widespread spike in crime. Authorities said Sunday afternoon that 1,984 people had been rescued, including 394 by air. Besides people literally plucked to safety, that figure includes people met by crews as they waded through floodwaters trying to find dry ground. Still others chose to remain in their homes along the Texas coast even after the danger of the storm had passed. There was no immediate count Sunday of how many people remained in their homes, or how many were in danger. The Red Cross reported 42,000 people were at state and Red Cross shelters Saturday night. The search-and-rescue effort included more than 50 helicopters, and 1,500 searchers and teams from federal, state and local agencies. From the city of Orange alone, near the Louisiana line, more than 700 people sought dry ground — a Herculean effort to organize a reverse evacuation that nobody had ever planned for, Mayor Brown Claybar said.

Rescue crews vowed to continue the search until they had knocked on every door. They were helped by receding floodwaters, but there were constant surprises as people rowed and sloshed through towns. The storm also took a toll in Louisiana, where hundreds of homes were flooded and power outages worsened as the state struggles to recover from Hurricane Gustav, which struck over Labor Day. In Hackberry, La., about 15 miles from the coast, workers moved a large shrimp boat out of the highway with a bulldozer, but the team had to stop because of strong currents in the floodwaters and difficulty in seeing the roadway. Thayne Culbertson, a disabled veteran and commercial fisherman, rode out the storm at a friend's apartment in Galveston. As someone who has been through several hurricanes, he decided to stay behind for Ike in case he could help. Instead, help had to find him. He was picked up by a helicopter after a toppled utility pole battered the building and windows were blown out. He later boarded a bus to San Antonio. During the storm, he said, the sand felt like it was peeling away your skin.Associated Press Writers Michael Kunzelman in Orange, Juan A. Lozano and Jon Gambrell in Galveston, Allen G. Breed in Sabine Pass, Doug Simpson in Baton Rouge, La., and Pauline Arrillaga and Chris Duncan in Houston contributed to this report.

China evacuates a half million for tropical storm: report SEPT 15,08

SHANGHAI (AFP) - China evacuated nearly half a million people from coastal areas as tropical storm Sinlaku bore down, but officials said the mainland was expected to escape the worst, state media reported Monday. Authorities also ordered 30,000 fishing boats to return to harbour in the eastern province of Zhejiang as heavy rains hit, indicating Sinlaku was moving closer, Xinhua news agency said.However, the storm, which was about 200 kilometres (125 miles) off China's eastern coast and moving northwest, was expected to change direction and not make landfall in mainland China, Xinhua quoted Zhejiang Meteorological Bureau chief Li Jian as saying.Still, Zhejiang Governor Lu Zushan said that Sinlaku remained a threat and downpours accompanying the storm could trigger landslides and flash floods.In southeast Fujian province, 230,000 people have moved to safer places and the same number have been relocated in Zhejiang, Xinhua said.Sinlaku lashed Taiwan over the weekend, leaving at least four dead, causing landslides and power blackouts and uprooting trees.It was downgraded from a typhoon early Monday, the agency said.

Four dead in Taiwan typhoon Mon Sep 15, 3:43 AM ET

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Four people were killed and seven reported missing on Monday after Typhoon Sinlaku brought winds of up to 160 kph (100 mph) to Taiwan, causing a section of bridge to collapse and a fatal mudslide. Seventeen people were injured around the island as the typhoon dumped as much as 1,400 mm of rain in some mountainous areas of the north. Winds and rain tapered off by early Monday.Part of a bridge in Taichung county of central Taiwan collapsed, killing at least one person in a vehicle that plunged from the span into fast-moving waters below.Two others died in a mudslide in northern Taiwan. The fourth fatality occurred when a motor scooter slid into the ocean.The centre of the storm was 410 km (250 miles) northeast of Taiwan at 2:30 p.m. EDT on Monday. Meteorological service tropicalstormrisk.com said Sinlaku would weaken to a tropical storm as it headed for Japan.Sinlaku is the fourth storm of the season to hit Taiwan. On July 18, typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 20 people.(Reporting by Ralph Jennings)

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

LOOKOUT FOLKS WITH THESE 2 BIG COMPANIES GOIN DOWN AMERICA IS IN TROUBLE,NO COMPANY IS SAFE NOW. I'LL BE WATCHING THE STOCK MARKETS CLOSELY TODAY I CAN TELL YOU.

World markets tumble on Lehman news By EMMA VANDORE, AP Business Writer
SEPT 15,08

PARIS - Stock markets tumbled in Europe and Asia on Monday after the double-fisted blow from Wall Street news that Lehman Brothers had filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch would be sold to a large U.S. bank. London's FTSE-100 share index was down 3.37percent, the Paris CAC-40 index lost 4.47 percent and Germany's DAX 30 index of blue chips sagged 3.18 percent.Asia's biggest stock exchanges in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea were closed for holidays, but India's Sensex index tumbled 3.4 percent, Taiwan's benchmark indicator plummeted 4.1 percent and Singapore dropped 3.2 percent.

We will have a shakeout today and there will probably be more damage in the afternoon when the U.S. gets going, said Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe in London.Ahead of the opening on Wall Street, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 372, or 3.3 percent, to 11,086.

Europe's major central banks moved to calm markets Monday, pumping billions into the financial system. The European Central Bank loaned 30 billion euros but said it received 51 bids for 90.3 billion euros ($127 billion) on its one-day tender with a bid rate of 4.25 percent — a clear sign that demand for cash is over the top.

Similarly, the Bank of England offered up 5 billion pounds (nearly $9 billion) in a three-day auction — but bids were nearly five times higher, at 24.1 billion pounds ($43 billion)The Zurich-based Swiss National Bank said it was also providing liquidity in a generous and flexible manner at an overnight rate of 1.9 percent, but wouldn't say how much was on offer.Speaking at an awards ceremony at Frankfurt city hall, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said policymakers must be extraordinarily alert for jitters in financial markets, spooked by the credit turmoil that stems from now-toxic subprime mortgage debt.It is an ongoing market correction with episodes of high level of volatility, it is what we have experienced since now a long period of time and is going on, he said.The 158-year-old Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed Monday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company was crippled by $60billion in soured real-estate holdings and unable to find an investment partner to throw it a lifeline.Officials from the government and various banks failed to find a solution during weekend meetings. During the talks, when Bank of America balked at buying Lehman, the government urged it to buy investment bank Merrill Lynch instead. The $50 billion deal stops speculators whose next target after Lehman would have been Merrill, Cantor Fitzgerald's Pope said.The moves will create a firebreak in the financial structure, and once disappointment that Lehman didn't manage to make a deal has been digested, stocks will start to recover, Pope said.

You are going to have a torrid day today, probably tomorrow as well, but then I think people are going to start thinking there's some opportunity out there to be engaged, he said.The declines in Europe were led by drops in insurance and financial stocks, with shares in French insurer AXA SA down 9.6 percent, Germany's Commerzbank AG falling 6.5 percent, and Swiss bank UBS AG down 6.7 percent,Britain's Barclays, which had considered a combination with Lehman Brothers but walked away, was down 10.1 percent.Before that, markets also have to react to a possible restructuring of the world's largest insurance company, American International Group Inc. The company said Sunday it is discussing options with outside parties to improve its business. The Wall Street Journal said on its Web site Sunday that AIG may announce a turnaround plan Monday that would involve selling assets such as its aircraft leasing business.A global consortium of banks, meanwhile, announced late Sunday a $70billion pool of funds to lend to ailing financial companies, a move geared toward preventing a worldwide panic on stock and other financial exchanges. The U.S. Federal Reserve chipped in with more largesse in its emergency lending program for investment banks. The dollar declined against euro, which rose to $1.4241 from $1.4215 late Friday in New York. The pound rose to $1.7948 from $1.7937. Crude oil for October delivery was trading down nearly $6 to below $96 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It is the lowest the price has been since February this year. Aurelio Maccario an economist with UniCredit in Milan said the reaction in Europe and Asia has been more contained than it could have been.

Everyone is waiting for the U.S. markets to open, let's see how the day unfolds, he said. AP Business Writers George Frey in Frankfurt, Dave McHugh in London and Jeremiah Marquez in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Wall Street awakes to find Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch gone By Joe Bel Bruno, Christopher S. Rugaber And Martin Crutsinger, The Associated Press

NEW YORK - When Wall Street woke up Monday morning, two more of its storied firms had fallen. Lehman Brothers, burdened by US$60 billion in soured real-estate holdings, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after attempts to rescue the 158-year-old firm failed. Bank of America Corp. said it is snapping up Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. in a $50 billion all-stock transaction. The demise of the independent Wall Street institutions came as shock waves from the 14-month-old credit crisis roiled the U.S. financial system six months after the collapse of Bear Stearns. The world's largest insurance company, American International Group Inc., also was forced into a restructuring. And a global consortium of banks, working with government officials in New York, announced a $70 billion pool of funds to lend to troubled financial companies. The aim, according to participants who spoke to The Associated Press, was to prevent a worldwide panic on stock and other financial exchanges. Ten banks - Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS - each agreed to provide $7 billion to help enhance liquidity and mitigate the unprecedented volatility and other challenges affecting global equity and debt markets.The Federal Reserve also chipped in with more largesse in its emergency lending program for investment banks. The central bank announced late Sunday that it was broadening the types of collateral that financial institutions can use to obtain loans from the Fed. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the discussions had been aimed at identifying potential market vulnerabilities in the wake of an unwinding of a major financial institution and to consider appropriate official sector and private sector responses.

The European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Swiss central bank also made more short-term credit available to banks. European stocks fell sharply, with the FTSE 100 Index off 3.42 per cent in London, the CAC-40 down 4.27 per cent in Paris, and Germany's blue-chip DAX 30 falling 3.38 per cent. Asian stock markets also tumbled, with India's Sensex sinking more than 5 per cent. Japan and Hong Kong were closed for holidays. Financial stocks were hard hit and the dollar fell against the pound and the euro. Futures pegged to the Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 250 points in electronic trading Sunday evening, pointing to a sharply lower open for the blue chip index Monday morning. Asian stock markets also tumbled, with India's Sensex sinking more than 5 per cent. Japan and Hong Kong were closed for holidays. The stunning weekend developments took place as voters, who rank the economy as their top concern, prepare to elect a new president in seven weeks. It likely will spur a much greater focus by presidential candidates - Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama - and members of Congress on the need for stricter financial regulation. Samuel Hayes, finance professor emeritus at Harvard Business School, said the Bush administration may get a lot of blame for the situation, which could benefit Obama. Just the psychological impact of this kind of failure is going to be significant, he said. It will color people's feelings about their well-being and the integrity of the financial system.Lehman Brothers' announcement that it is filing for bankruptcy came after all potential buyers walked away. Potential suitors were spooked by the U.S. Treasury's refusal to provide any takeover aid, as it had done six months ago when Bear Stearns faltered and earlier this month when it seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Employees emerging from Lehman's headquarters near the heart of Times Square Sunday night carried boxes, tote bags and duffel bags, rolling suitcases, framed artwork and spare umbrellas. Many were emblazoned with the Lehman Brothers name. Its businesses in Britain were placed in administration Monday, said the administrator, accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, and employees carrying boxes and bags were walking out of Lehman's London offices.

TV trucks lined Seventh Avenue opposite the building, while barricades at the building's main entrance attempted to keep workers and onlookers from gumming up the steady flow of pedestrians flowing in and out of Times Square. Some workers had moist eyes while a few others wept and shared hugs. Most who left the building quietly declined interviews. People snapped pictures with cameras and their phones. Observers pressed up against a police barricade drew the ire of one man who emerged from the building and shouted: Are you enjoying watching this? You think this is funny? Merrill Lynch, another investment bank laid low by the crisis that was triggered by rising mortgage defaults and plunging home values in the U.S., agreed to be acquired by Bank of America for 0.8595 shares of Bank of America common stock for each Merrill Lynch common share. That values Merrill at $29 a share, a 70 per cent premium over the brokerage's Friday closing price of $17.05, but well below what Merrill was worth at its peak in early 2007, when its shares traded above $98.

Charlotte, N.C.,-based Bank of America has the most deposits of any U.S. bank, while Merrill Lynch is the world's largest brokerage. A combination of the two would create a global financial giant to rival Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank in terms of assets. Strategically, most industry analysts say it's a good fit. If the deal goes according to plan, Bank of America will be able to offer Merrill's retail brokerage services to its huge customer base. There is not a great deal of overlap between the two companies - Bank of America does have an investment bank already, but it has never been terribly strong. Where there is duplication, however, the combination of the two companies could result in more layoffs. Both Merrill and Bank of America have already cut thousands of investment banking jobs over the past year.

The deal would not come without risks, however. Merrill Lynch, like many of its Wall Street peers, has been struggling with tight credit markets and billions of dollars in assets tied to mortgages that have plunged in value. Merrill has reported four straight quarterly losses. Bank of America's own finances are far from robust. As consumer credit deteriorates, the bank has seen its profits decline, and the company is still in the midst of absorbing the embattled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, which it acquired in January. Insurer AIG, hit hard by deterioration in the credit markets, said Sunday it is reviewing its operations and discussing possible options with outside parties to improve its business after a week when its stock dropped 45 per cent amid concerns about the company's financial underpinnings.

The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times both reported early Monday on their Web sites that the American International Group is seeking an additional $40 billion in emergency funds - possibly from the Federal Reserve - to help it avoid a credit rating downgrade, which would make it more expensive for AIG to raise money. The insurer has already raised $20 billion in fresh capital this year. AIG was working with New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo and a representative of the governor's office through the weekend to craft a solution that protects policyholders, according to Dinallo's spokesman David Neustadt. It's clear we're one step away from a financial meltdown, said Nouriel Roubini, chairman of the consulting firm RGE Monitor. The meetings that began Friday night were a who's who of financial heavyweights: Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Fed, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, and a host of CEOs, including Vikram Pandit of Citigroup Inc., Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co., John Mack of Morgan Stanley, Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Merrill Lynch & Co.'s John Thain. For all their efforts, Lehman had to file for bankruptcy. The end of Lehman may not stop the financial crisis that has gripped Wall Street for months, analysts said. More investment banks could disappear soon. The independent broker-dealers are going the way of the dodo bird, said Bert Ely, an Alexandria, Va.,-based banking consultant.

That's partly because some of the firms, particularly Merrill, made bad bets on real estate. But several analysts said that investment companies will need the deep pockets of commercial banks to survive the next few years. On Sunday, there was also an emergency trading session being held at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association to reduce risk associated with a potential Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy. The ISDA, which arranges trades for derivatives, said it was allowing customers to make trades and unwind positions linked to Lehman. Roubini said it's difficult to accurately gauge the health of companies like Merrill because their financial health depends on how they value complex securities. As a result, their finances aren't very transparent, he said. That can lead to a loss of confidence in the financial markets, he said, which can overwhelm an investment bank even if it is financially healthy by some measures. Once you lose confidence, the fundamentals matter less, he said. The common denominator of the financial crisis, analysts said, is the bursting of the housing bubble. Home prices have dropped on average 25 per cent so far. Roubini predicted they could drop another 15 per cent. The crisis has begun to slow the broader economy as banks make fewer loans and consumers have begun cutting spending. Many economists are now forecasting that the economy could slip into recession by the end of this year and early next year. That, in turn, could cause additional losses for commercial banks on credit cards, auto loans and student loans. The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates steady at 2 per cent, below inflation, when it meets Tuesday. It was possible, however, that the central bank might decide in coming weeks to cut rates if such a move is seen as needed to calm turbulent financial markets. The International Monetary Fund predicted earlier this year that total losses from the credit crisis could reach almost $1 trillion. So far, banks have only taken about $350 billion in losses. Commercial banks are also starting to feel the pinch. Eleven have closed so far this year, including Pasadena, Calif.-based IndyMac Bank, which had $32 billion in assets and $19 billion in deposits. Christopher Whalen, managing director of Institutional Risk Analytics, a research firm, predicts that approximately 110 banks with $850 billion in assets could close by next July. That's out of 8,400 federally insured institutions, he said, which together hold $13 trillion in assets. Individual customers are starting to get nervous about the financial health of their banks for the first time in generations, he said. Whalen's firm analyzes the safety and soundness of banks for business clients, but began receiving inquiries from individuals in the past two months for the first time, he said. If we don't get ahead of this, we are going to face a run on the retail banks by election day, he said. AP Business Writers Madlen Read, Tim Paradis and Stephen Bernard in New York, Martin Crutsinger in Washington, Ieva Augstums in Charlotte and Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.

US in once-in-a-century financial crisis : Greenspan Sep 14 02:18 PM US/Eastern

The United States is mired in a once-in-a century financial crisis which is now more than likely to spark a recession, former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan said Sunday. The talismanic ex-central banker said that the crisis was the worst he had seen in his career, still had a long way to go and would continue to effect home prices in the United States. First of all, let's recognize that this is a once-in-a-half-century, probably once-in-a-century type of event, Greenspan said on ABC's This Week.Asked whether the crisis, which has seen the US government step in to bail out mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, was the worst of his career, Greenspan replied Oh, by far.There's no question that this is in the process of outstripping anything I've seen, and it still is not resolved and it still has a way to go, Greenspan said. And indeed, it will continue to be a corrosive force until the price of homes in the United States stabilizes. That will induce a series of events around the globe which will stabilize the system.Greenspan was also asked whether the United States had a greater-than 50 percent chance of escaping a recession. No, I think it's less than 50 percent.

I can't believe we could have a once-in-a-century type of financial crisis without a significant impact on the real economy globally, and I think that indeed is what is in the process of occurring.The former Federal Reserve chairman also predicted that the financial crisis would see the failure of more major financial institutions, even as embattled Wall Street investment giant Lehman Brothers scrambled to find a buyer.In and of itself that does not need to be a problem. It depends on how it is handled and how the liquidations take place. And indeed we shouldn't try to protect every single institution.On Saturday, Democrat Barack Obama's campaign seized on a warning from Greenspan about John McCain's tax plans to portray the Republican as economically reckless. In an interview with Bloomberg Television Friday, Greenspan said the nation could not afford 3.3 trillion dollars of tax cuts proposed by McCain without matching cuts in spending. Greenspan, a long-time friend of McCain and a Republican, said about the Arizona senator's plans to extend massive tax cuts imposed by President George W. Bush: I'm not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money.McCain has said he would pay for his cuts by ending pet funding projects for US lawmakers' districts known as earmarks.

DISEASES

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

China makes first arrests in tainted milk probe By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer SEPT 15,08

BEIJING - Chinese police arrested two brothers suspected of adding a dangerous chemical to milk they sold to a company that produced infant formula that killed two babies and sickened more than 1,200 others, officials and state media reported Monday. The two brothers, surnamed Geng, run a milk collection center in Hebei province and are accused of adding melamine, a chemical used in plastics, to the milk to make it appear higher in protein, the official Xinhua News Agency said. They sold about three tons of contaminated milk a day, the report said, citing Hebei police spokesman Shi Guizhong.Chinese investigators say melamine may have been added to the milk to fool quality tests after water was added to fraudulently increase the milk's volume. Melamine is rich in nitrogen and standard tests for protein in food ingredients measure nitrogen levels.China's Health Ministry on Monday said two infants have died from drinking the contaminated milk powder and 1,253 have been sickened.Vice Health Minister Ma Xiaowei told a news conference that 913 of the infants were only slightly affected and their condition was not considered life threatening. However, 340 remained hospitalized and 53 cases were considered especially severe, he said.No information was given about the fatalities, although authorities had earlier announced one death.

The company that produced the infant formula, Sanlu Group Co., is China's biggest producer of powdered milk and is 43 percent owned by a New Zealand dairy farmers' cooperative, Fonterra.New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Monday she learned of the problem on Sept. 5 and convened a meeting of senior ministers three days later at which she ordered officials to directly inform senior authorities in Beijing, at a time when provincial Chinese officials appeared to be dragging their feet in ordering a recall.We were the whistle blowers and they leapt in and ensured there was action on the ground, Clark told reporters. At a local level ... I think the first inclination was to try and put a towel over it and deal with it without an official recall.Fonterra, the world's biggest milk trader, said Sunday it had urged Sanlu to recall the product as early as six weeks ago. Sanlu did not order a recall until last Thursday.Chinese officials have defended their response to the country's latest product safety disaster but blamed Sanlu Group for delays in warning the public. Officials say they were not alerted until last Monday, even though Sanlu received complaints as early as March and company tests in August found the milk powder contained melamine, which is banned in food products.Authorities have seized 2,176 tons of milk powder from a Sanlu warehouse and recalled 8,218 tons already sent to market, Xinhua said. It said all would be destroyed.On Sunday, the General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine sent groups of officials to Hebei, Guangdong and Heilongjiang provinces and the Inner Mongolia region to inspect dairy companies. The teams will also work with local officials to remove all substandard milk powder from the market.Inspectors will check the country's 175 baby milk food factories and their findings will be released within two days, said Li Changjiang, head of the safety watchdog.The incident is an embarrassing failure for China's product safety system, which was overhauled in an attempt to restore consumer confidence after a string of recalls and warnings abroad over tainted toothpaste, faulty tires and other goods.Associated Press writer Ray Lilley in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.On the Net:
Sanlu Group: http://www.sanlu.com Fonterra Co-operative Group: http://www.fonterra.com

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

Press Releases, 9/12/2008 Finland ratifies the treaty of Lisbon

The Government of Finland decided to present on Thursday 11 September to the President of the Republic the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon and the confirmation of the Act on the implementation of the Treaty. The President of the Republic is to decide on the matter on Friday 12 September.The Parliament of Finland approved the Treaty of Lisbon for its part on 11 June.Deliberations on the Treaty by the Parliaments of the Member States of the European Union have been completed in other Member States except for Sweden and the Czech Republic. In its referendum in June, Ireland voted against the Treaty. Seventeen Member States have deposited their instruments of ratification with the Government of Italy.The Act on the implementation of the Treaty is under discussion also before the Åland Parliament (Lagting) whose consent has been requested in order to bring the provisions of the Treaty into force in Åland. The consent of the Åland Parliament is not a prerequisite for the ratification of the Treaty by Finland.The Government gave the following statement in connection with this matter: In the context of the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon discussions have been carried out with the representatives of Åland on the participation of Åland in the preparation of European Union affairs and Åland's possibilities to exert influence on them. On the basis of these discussions a decision in principle is being prepared for its adoption by the Government of Finland. In addition, a working group has been established to prepare an amendment to the Act on the Autonomy of Åland concerning the possibility of Åland to be heard before the European Court of Justice.

Finland ratifies EU's Lisbon Treaty
12 September 2008, 13:43 CET

(HELSINKI) - Finnish President Tarja Halonen on Friday ratified the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, giving the final approval for the deal adopted by Finland's parliament by a large majority in June.One hundred and fifty-one of Finland's 200 parliamentarians voted for the treaty on June 11 while 27 opposed it and 21 were absent.The Lisbon Treaty replaces the EU constitution that was rejected by French and Dutch voters in referendums in 2005, plunging the bloc into the worst crisis in its half-century history.The Finnish president had three months after parliament's vote to ratify the text.However, the Aaland islands, an autonomous region of Finland, also need to ratify the treaty. The Finnish government and Aaland's representatives are currently negotiating how to improve the islands' participation in EU matters.Aaland's parliament is expected to decide its position on the Lisbon treaty by the end of the year, though its decision will have no consequence on mainland Finland's ratification.Ireland, the only country in the 27-member bloc to hold a referendum on the reform treaty, sent shockwaves through the EU when 53 percent of voters rejected it in June.EU leaders are set to discuss the Irish rejection again at an October summit in an effort to overcome the impasse ahead of European Parliament elections next year.

Some EU states to hold back on Georgia mission
ELITSA VUCHEVA Today SEPT 15,08 @ 09:29 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU ministers will on Monday (15 September) gather in Brussels to decide the composition of the bloc's peace mission to Georgia, while a question mark remains over where exactly the EU force will be deployed.France and Germany are expected to contribute the largest number of troops, with Berlin saying it would contribute around one-fifth of the 200-member mission and a French defence ministry source telling the AFP news agency that France could send around 70 people.

The UK will on Monday announce substantial numbers to join the EU mission, reports the Telegraph. Poland has signaled it wants to play a large role. Romania plans to send 20 personnel, while most other EU states are expected to commit between two and 20 people each.Some countries, on the other hand, have expressed less enthusiasm. Belgian foreign minister Karel De Gucht told daily La Libre Belgique that his country would like to delay its participation to the first changeover, within six months in order to first see where exactly the mission will be deployed.Nicolas Sarkozy has said that [EU troops] will be deployed in a dismembered Georgia, but that they could go to South Ossetia and Abkhazia as well. However, Russian [foreign] minister Lavrov says this is out of the question, Mr De Gucht said.If Europeans can only deploy in the security zone, that gives me a bad feeling, as, basically, we will have to protect borders which we have not recognised, he added, referring to the borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which earlier proclaimed independence from Georgia.

Deploy where?

Speaking to journalists in Brussels on Friday (12 September), a French EU presidency source said that the long-term goal would be to deploy the EU mission across the entire Georgian territory as recognised by international law.However, he stressed, the priority is to deploy in the zones adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia first and to make sure that Russia withdraws from Georgia by 10 October, as earlier agreed. Russian troops started to pull out from Georgia proper over the weekend, international media report.But Russia - which has recognised the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia - has rejected the presence of EU troops in the breakaway regions. South Ossetia and Abkhazia are now sovereign states. The governments of these two countries must agree in order for international observers to be sent on their territories, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Le Figaro. The EU monitoring mission is expected to be deployed before 1 October.The bloc's foreign mnisters are also to discuss who will be appointed EU special representative for Georgia, as agreed earlier in September, with Pierre Morel – currently the EU special representative for Central Asia - the front-runner for the job, an EU official told EUobserver.

Serbia to be left empty-handed?

EU ministers are also to discuss progress achieved by Serbia in its co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal and the possibility of unfreezing the trade-related part of a pre-accession deal signed with the EU in April.Following the arrest of top fugitive Radovan Karadzic in July, a large majority of member states, as well as the European Commission and the French EU presidency favour such a move, the French presidency source said.The Netherlands, however, remains opposed and unlikely to change its position, the diplomat added.The Hague is demanding that Serbia arrest remaining war crimes suspects Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic before allowing the country closer EU ties. For his part, UN prosecutor Serge Brammertz, who was in Belgrade last week and expressed cautious optimism about the possibility of Serbia catching the remaining war criminals soon, will also be in Brussels today to answer the questions of the EU ministers and all the doubts which they have in reference to Belgrade, Mr Brammertz's spokesperson told Italian news agency Ansa.

NATO chief, envoys visit Georgia to show support By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer SEPT 15,08

TBILISI, Georgia - Georgia's president said Monday he hopes a visit from NATO's chief will accelerate his nation's drive to join the Western alliance, pressing for sustained international support following its defeat by Russia in a brief and bitter war. Mikhail Saakashvili said Georgia and NATO should work hard to show that Georgia is on track to join what he called the Euro-Atlantic family.That is Georgia's proper and rightful place, he said.NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, also speaking in Georgia's capital, criticized Russia but spoke cautiously in remarks before a NATO-Georgia meeting.De Hoop Scheffer and ambassadors from every NATO member converged on Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, in a show of support for the former Soviet republic. The U.S. strongly supports NATO membership for Georgia, but Germany and others dependent on Russian energy supplies have balked at taking an action sure to infuriate the Kremlin.The NATO chief said the alliance will assess how to further enhance the partnership between NATO and Georgia.The trip to Georgia, scheduled before the war, comes as Russia is strengthening its grip on South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another separatist region of Georgia, in a challenge to Georgia's NATO hopes.Russia, which borders Georgia to the north, objects strenuously to having Georgia join the Western military alliance — an opposition underscored last month when Russia crushed Georgia in a war over Georgia's separatist, Russian-oriented province of South Ossetia.

As the ambassadors arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned the West that any sanctions imposed on Russia over the war would backfire.It's senseless to pressure Russia with sanctions, Medvedev said at a meeting with Russian business leaders. They can shut a couple of sources of (revenue) to a banana republic and make its situation dramatic. It won't work like that here.Without mentioning any specific nation, Medvedev warned that attempts to punish Russia would also hurt the West. Sanctions is a weapon that will backfire, he said.And he dismissed calls by some Western diplomats to bar Russia from joining the World Trade Organization. Russia would like to join but will not be pressured into concessions, Medvedev said.WTO isn't a carrot; it entails a lot of difficult obligations, he said. And if we do it, let us do it in a normal way without them trying to scare us.The two-day NATO visit is expected to include the first meeting of a new NATO-Georgia Commission set up to oversee future ties.De Hoop Scheffer said last week that NATO wants to show support for Georgia after Russia's use of disproportionate force against its much smaller neighbor. He has stressed NATO's condemnation of Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.Following the war, NATO said it was making closer ties with Russia dependent on the withdrawal of Russian forces to the positions they held before the conflict, as required by a cease-fire agreement.Russia has promised to withdraw from positions in Georgia proper next month. But it has said it will keep nearly 8,000 troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, although the U.S. and European Union that would violate the cease-fire.Saakashvili, a U.S. ally, has angered Russia by seeking NATO membership. In April, NATO declined to grant Georgia a road map — a detailed plan for achieving membership — but said Georgia would eventually join. A review of Georgia's request for a road map is scheduled for December. The war has deepened NATO's dilemma over Georgia — how to handle the membership aspirations of a country with large chunks of territory controlled by Russia and its separatist allies.

NATO members have been united in their criticism of Russia, but less so on Georgia's future. The United States has pushed for NATO to take a key step toward granting Georgia membership in April. Russia seems confident that Georgia is not close to joining NATO. Georgia is much farther away from membership in NATO than it used to be, Sergei Karaganov, a political analyst with close Kremlin connections, said in Moscow. Anatol Lieven, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington, said European countries and the United States would be unlikely to fight Russia on Georgia's behalf, even if joined NATO. Georgia would be crushingly defeated and NATO would be humiliated, he said. The war began Aug. 7, when Georgian forces launched an attack to regain control of South Ossetia. Russian forces repelled the offensive and pushed deep into Georgia. After a partial withdrawal last month, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea port of Poti and other positions in western Georgia over the weekend as part of an additional agreement reached by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who brokered the original EU peace plan. Moscow has pledged to withdraw all other forces now on Georgian territory outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia within 10 days of the deployment of EU monitors who are supposed to be in place by Oct. 1. But it is pushing to keep Western observers away from South Ossetia and Abkhazia. At a tent camp housing more than 2,000 displaced people in Gori, a central Georgian city near South Ossetia, families wondered Sunday whether they would ever return home for good. Nanuli Okroperidze, 45, who lives in Tent 85 with her mother, four children, two grandchildren and two other relatives, said her home is one of many in her mostly ethnic Georgian village in South Ossetia that were torched. It's gone, burned to ashes, she said.

Greens consider Norwegian judge as top candidate in European elections
LISBETH KIRK Today SEPT 15,08 @ 09:23 CET

The leader of the Green group in the European parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, is pushing for a Norwegian to top his list in next summer's European elections.

Negotiations with Eva Joly are in full swing, he confirmed on RTL Radio on Sunday evening (13 September).Eva Joly was born in Norway but has held duel Norwegian-French citizenship for the past 41 years.Daniel Cohn-Bendit (centre) wants a Norwegian who also holds French citizenship to join the Greens (Photo: European She made her name as a fierce anti-corruption investigating magistrate in France and more than anyone was responsible for exposing the scandal at state oil giant ELF-Aquitaine.During the case, she faced regular death threats, her telephones were tapped and her home and offices burgled several times. As a result of her work, 30 people were convicted and it later emerged that senior members of President Mitterrand's government were implicated as participating in the illegal activities, including former French foreign minister Roland Dumas.She now works as a special advisor to the Norwegian government on money laundering and campaigns for tougher international action against fraud involving political and economic leaders. Eva Joly shares our values. She is considering being a candidate, but has requested a few final details, Mr Cohn-Bendit said.France's centrist Democratic Movement, headed by Francois Bayrou, has also eyed up the qualifications of Ms Joly. She appeared at a rally launching the party's EU campaign in June. According to regional daily Lyon Capitale, Ms Joly could be offered a candidacy for the Greens in the French south-east, while Norwegian daily Aftenposten reports she may well run in Brittany, where she has a home.

EU ministers to take a risk on Belarus
PHILIPPA RUNNER Today SEPT 15,08 @ 09:30 CET

EU foreign ministers on Monday (15 September) are to make a formal offer to relax sanctions against Belarus in return for good conduct in upcoming parliamentary elections, as Europe takes a risk on President Alexander Lukashenko's regime.The EU will re-evaluate the situation in Belarus in the light of the legislative elections and is ready to re-examine the restrictive measures in place against Belarus officials if OSCE monitors give a positive verdict on the 28 September vote, the foreign ministers' draft conclusions say, AFP reports.The EU may also take positive and concrete measures in terms of future trade and cultural projects and will dangle the prospect of including Belarus in its neighbourhood policy, which could see a large increase in financial aid to the cash-strapped government. The EU in 1997 imposed a freeze on meetings with Belarus officials above deputy-minister level and in 2006 put 41 leading figures - including President Lukashenko himself and the head of the current electoral commission, Lidziya Yarmoshyna - on a visa ban list.The EU in 2007 also threw Belarus off its register of low-tariff trade partners following complaints about restrictions on trade union activity by the Geneva-based International Labour Organisation (ILO).The new thaw in relations comes after Belarus in August released three political prisoners, including opposition leader Alexander Kazulin - a former Lukashenko ally turned critic, fiercely disliked by the president. Belarus has also declined to recognise the independence of Georgia rebel regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia despite Russian pressure.

The EU sanctions offer was carefully prepared via two separate meetings between Lithuanian foreign minister Petras Vaitiekunas and Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski with Belarusian foreign minister, Sergei Martynov, last week.But the EU remains wary of lending legitimacy to the Lukashenko regime prematurely, declining a European Commission proposal to invite Mr Martynov to Brussels on Monday, while inviting Mr Kazulin to meet with EU officials on the margins of the foreign ministers' gathering instead.Relations with countries which are not Athenian democracies always carry political risk, Poland's Mr Sikorski told the Dziennik newspaper over the weekend, pointing out that EU states do business with other non-democratic regimes such as Saudi Arabia. In politics you can rarely succeed without taking a risk.The minister didn't disguise his pleasure at the prospect of pulling a one-time Russia ally closer to the West, after last week's meeting with Mr Martynov in a government building in Wiskulach, Belarus, where the former leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine in 1991 agreed to end Soviet rule.It was rather satisfying, to sit in the same room where President Szuszkiewicz with Boris Yeltsin and Leonid Kravchuk signed the act dissolving the Soviet Union, Mr Sikorski said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

OK THE ARAB MUSLIMS ARE FORCING THE EUROPEAN UNION INTO GETTING MORE INVOLVED IN THE ISRAELI PEACE PROCESS. THE BIBLE SAYS THE EU NOT AMERICA WILL SIGN THE FINAL 7 YR PEACE TREATY BETWEEN THE ISRAELI-ARABS AND MANY OF DANIEL 9:27. SO PROPHECY IS RIGHT ON SCHEDUALE FOR THE EU TO TAKE FULL CONTROL OF THE PEACE PROCESS.

AND HOW DO I KNOW JORDAN WILL BE PLAYING A ROLE IN THE PEACE PROCRESS? BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS IN WAVE 1 OF WW3 EGYPT WILL BE DESTROYED BUT JORDAN WILL BE SPARED.

DANIEL 11:41-42
41 He (EU DICTATOR GUARENTEEING ISRAELS SECURITY) shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

AND AT THE MIDPOINT OF THE 7 YR TREATY I BELIEVE ISRAELIS WILL FLEE TO PETRA IN JORDAN TO BE PROTECTED AS WE READ IN REVELATION.

REVELATION 12:6
6 And the woman (ISRAEL) fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.(3 1/2 YEARS)

Jordan calls for bigger EU role in Mideast peace SEPT 14,08

Amman, Sep 14: Jordan Sunday called on the European Union (EU) to play a much bigger role in restoring peace in the troubled Middle East region.Jordan's King Abdullah II, underscored the importance of the EU's role in the establishment of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, when he met Javier Solana, the foreign policy chief of the 27-nation bloc, in Amman Sunday, a royal court statement said.The monarch underlined the importance of the EU role in the maintenance of security and stability in the Middle East and the establishment of peace between the Palestinians and Israel, particularly in the coming months, the statement said.Abdullah also warned that Israel's continued building of settlements in the Palestinian Territories, particularly East Jerusalem, will derail peace efforts.He urged the EU to help the Palestinians rebuild their institutions and improve their standard of living.Solana also held separate talks with the Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi and Foreign Minister Salah Bashir.The European foreign policy chief arrived in Amman Saturday night in the course of a Middle East tour which also took him to Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Egypt. --- IANS

Olmert makes 11th-hour pitch for Palestinian deal By Adam Entous SEPT 15,08

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday a partial peace deal with the Palestinians could still be reached before his successor takes over, but President Mahmoud Abbas's aides dismissed the idea. Ahead of talks with Abbas on Tuesday, Olmert told a parliamentary committee Israel could not afford to wait any longer to clinch a deal on statehood borders because the price territorially, already very high, could become unbearable.But Israeli, Palestinian and Western officials called Olmert's 11th-hour bid for a deal a long shot given Abbas's public opposition to any partial accord. A senior Palestinian official said real differences remained on all the core issues, including borders.In lieu of a surprise breakthrough, Israeli and Western officials said the two sides could issue a joint statement summarising progress in the talks so far and committing to continue the negotiations in 2009.Facing possible indictment in corruption probes, Olmert has promised to resign after his Kadima party holds an election on Wednesday to replace him. He could stay on as caretaker premier for weeks or months until a new government is formed.Israeli officials expressed doubt a lame duck would have enough authority to make such far-reaching concessions. It's over, one said.

DEAL POSSIBLE

Olmert brushed aside the sceptics in closed-door testimony to a key Knesset committee, saying a deal was still achievable in 2008, the timeline set by U.S. President George W. Bush, who leaves office in January.It is possible to reach understandings about borders, security and refugees and then, for the first time, the shape of a Palestinian state will be clear and we will have a recognised international border, Olmert was quoted by aides as saying.But even Olmert's closest allies in government are openly dismissive of the effort. Vice Premier Haim Ramon said on Sunday a peace deal was unlikely, both this year and next.Abbas has publicly rejected anything less than a comprehensive agreement on all of the final-status issues, including the future of Jerusalem.Olmert has so far put off negotiations on Jerusalem and has ruled out a so-called right of return for Palestinians refugees, a central Palestinian demand.Olmert has offered few details in public about the negotiations, but he said on Monday a deal meant Israel would have to compensate the Palestinians for land it hopes to keep by close to a 1-to-1 ratio.According to Western and Palestinian officials, Olmert has proposed withdrawing from some 93 percent of the occupied West Bank, plus all of the Gaza Strip.In exchange for West Bank settlement blocs that Israel wants to keep, Olmert proposed about a 5 percent land swap giving the Palestinians a desert territory adjacent to the Gaza Strip.

Olmert's proposal would not address the thorny issue of Jerusalem and would put off implementation until Abbas reins in militants and re-establishes control of the Gaza Strip, which Hamas seized a year ago.Abbas rejected that proposal because it would not provide for a contiguous Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, a spokesman said.(Additional reporting by Wafa Amr in Ramallah, Editing by Dominic Evans)

Solana: EU seeking co-op with Arabs on Mideast peace September 14, 2008

Visiting European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana said here Saturday that the EU is keen on promoting cooperation with Arab countries in a bid to support efforts aimed at reaching a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement. Solana made the remarks following his talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the current situation in the Meddle East, particularly on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, the Egyptian MENA news agency reported. Describing the meeting as particular important, Solana said they discussed the latest regional developments, including the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks and means to push forward the negotiations.

Solana voiced his appreciation to Muabark's viewpoint on the current regional situation, saying the meeting is meant to coordinate efforts to help implement the pledges that all parties made at a U.S.-hosted Mideast conference in Annapolis last November. Israeli and Palestinian leaders pledged at the Annapolis conference to reach a comprehensive peace deal by the end of 2008.Yet little visible progress has since been achieved. Solana, who arrived here Friday evening as part of his Mideast tour, also held talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit. Source: Xinhua

Abbas: We'll ask new U.S. Administration to support peace September 14, 2008

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday evening that the Palestinian Authority would ask the newly elected American administration to support the Middle East peace process. Abbas told a joint news conference with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Ramallah We hope that the current U.S. administration won't blame any part in case no agreement is reached by the end of this year.We are doing our best in order to reach a peace agreement with Israel before the end of this year, because since Annapolis, we have been talking about reaching an agreement and we really want to reach an agreement, said Abbas. Israeli and Palestinian leaders pledged at the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis conference to reach a comprehensive peace deal by the end of 2008, before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves the White House in January. Yet little visible progress has since been achieved. Abbas also added that the Palestinians don't want to reach an interim peace agreement, and not an agreement that doesn't include all the permanent status issues, which are currently on the negotiating table.

Abbas stressed that the Palestinians don't want to postpone any of the six permanent status issues, which are Jerusalem, the settlements, the refugees, water, security and borders. Asked about his scheduled visit to the United States on Sept. 26, during which he is to meet with President Bush, Abbas told reporters that I will talk with President Bush about the points that we agreed upon and the points we disagreed.For his part, Moratinos told the news conference that the Israeli settlement activities have to stop immediately in order to reach a real peace, while reiterating the supportive position taken by Spain to the Palestinians. We are certain that at the end an independent Palestinian state will be established, said Moratinos, who still expressed hope that Israel and the Palestinians would be able to reach a peace agreement before the end of the year.Source: Xinhua

Israel says U.S. wrong on Jerusalem talks Sept. 12, 2008 at 1:21 PM

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas meets with the U.S. consul-general to Jerusalem Jacob Walles, in Ramallah on December 24, 2006. (UPI Photo/Omar Rashidi/Palestinian Authority)JERUSALEM, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Israeli leaders are reportedly upset over remarks attributed to a U.S. official that Israel is ready to open talks on Jerusalem with the Palestinians.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a Kadima Party meeting that his government was sticking by its position that Jerusalem should be left until the end of the talks.Comments on the Jerusalem issue in Israeli-Palestinian talks reportedly from U.S. Consul General Jacob Walles appeared in the Palestinian daily al-Ayyam and were deemed by Israel as highly inappropriate, The Jerusalem Post said.We have achieved significant progress but we haven't started the negotiations on Jerusalem yet, Olmert told a crowd of several hundred party activists and supporters.Olmert said he believed a final-status peace agreement was within reach by the end of 2008.

THE ARAB LEAGUE I BELIEVE TO BE THE MANY OF DANIEL 9:27 IN THE FINAL 7 YR TREATY SIGNING.

Arab League chief doubts Mideast peace deal this year Sat Sep 13, 1:43 PM ET

CAIRO (AFP) - Arab League chief Amr Mussa said on Saturday there were no high hopes for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians this year, warning that time was being lost. There is no great expectation that there will be an agreed solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Mussa told reporters after talks in Cairo with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.He said the status quo was causing despair in the Middle East as a whole.This is what we discussed, particularly in the context of the promises made by US President George W. Bush regarding the year 2008 and the results of the Annapolis meeting.Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were launched at a US-sponsored conference in Annapolis in November with the goal of reaching a comprehensive peace deal by the time Bush leaves office in January 2009.

But the two sides remain sharply divided on the core issues of the conflict, despite several meetings in recent months between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.The negotiations are not heading in a productive direction and the Palestinians' situation is not reassuring, Mussa said, warning that time is being lost.Differences focus on the future status of Jerusalem, final borders, the fate of some 4.6 million UN-registered Palestinian refugees and the future of Jewish settlements on Israeli-occupied territory.On August 31 a senior Israeli government official said his country wants to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians by the end of the year but postpone a final agreement on the future of Jerusalem.