OBAMA IS SURE A CHRISTIAN WHEN HE MOCKS THE BIBLE.
OBAMA MOCKS BIBLE VIDEO
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77629
ELECTION 2008 TV ad features Obama mocking Bible,Candidate's Fight the Smears' site tries to bury video documentation October 10, 2008 11:30 pm Eastern By Drew Zahn 2008 WorldNetDaily
Screen shot from Obama's Fight the Smears' website
A television commercial showing clips of Sen. Barack Obama mocking the Bible has prompted backlash from the candidate's Fight the Smears website, which falsely accuses the ad's creator of trying to scam Christians out of their money by promising to air a spot that will never be broadcast.Under the heading Scamming the faithful, Obama's official website says of the man who made the commercial, The trickster's claims about Barack's faith are every bit as false as his claims that this amateurish video is really a TV ad.WND has confirmed, however, that – true to his word – the ad's creator purchased air time for the commercial on television stations in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Sources at WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh and a cable company servicing Erie told WND that the ad had been aired on several occasions.Nonetheless, in an Oct. 3 update to Scamming the Faithful, the Obama website maintains its attack of the commercial's creator, Stephen Marks of the organization pH for America.Nothing has changed here, reads the Oct. 3 update, The scammer is still untrustworthy. … Making scams seem plausible is what tricksters like him are known for. In the end, he's even less credible now than he was when he first started taking people's money.It is ironic indeed, responded Marks in a statement, that this so-called Fight the Smears' website (is) not fighting smears but creating them.Get The Audacity of Deceit: Barack Obama's War on American Values
Marks insists that every dollar he has raised through his website and the appeal for support at the end of the ad has gone to pay for the media buys and minimal production costs. Marks also claims that that pH for America purchased a television as a gift for the Obama campaign so they can watch the TV and see the ads airing for themselves.Made into both a one-minute and two-minute commercial format, the shorter of the two advertisements can be seen here:Marks told WND, If this ad is seen by all the swing voters in all the key swing states, it would not only anger anyone who reads the Bible, but will make anyone who sees the ad re-think the Jeremiah Wright fiasco as well as Obama's remarks in April that small town America is so bitter that they have to cling to their guns and religion.Most Americans have thus far given Obama a pass on those two issues, but after seeing our ad, it will make many, if not most folks think, Now I finally understand why Obama would belong to such a radical church, and Now I finally understand Obama's true contempt for people of faith regarding his cling to their guns and religion remark, Marks said.Get Jerome Corsi's The Obama Nation, personally autographed – for only $4.95, available today, but only from WND!
Obama's website claims that Marks deliberately edited clips of the candidate to make Obama look bad and that the commercials don't reflect the nature of the speech from which they were taken.With such a deceptive person behind this video, it's not surprising that everything he says about Barack is deeply dishonest and wrong, too, says the Fight the Smears website. The video takes 5 sentences out of a 4,500-word speech Barack gave in 2006 completely out of context to stoke division and hatred.
The commercial features edited clips from a speech Sen. Obama made before a conference in Washington, D.C., June 28, 2006. The entire transcript of the speech can be seen here, but the immediate context is as follows:Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson's, or Al Sharpton's? Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount - a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application? So before we get carried away, let's read our Bibles. Folks haven't been reading their Bibles.The group pH for America is a 527 organization – so named for the IRS designation for such groups – created by Marks, a Republican political consultant who also created advertisements criticizing 2004 Democrat candidate John Kerry. The group's website boasts it is hoping to become the Swiftboat 527 organization of 2008, referencing the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a 527 organization that created commercials widely credited with contributing to Kerry's defeat.Evan Tracey, chief operating officer of Campaign Media Analysis Group, told CNN the appeal for money at the end of the pH for America advertisement, rather than an indication of scamming or tricking people, is common for 527 organizations trying to impress donors.Even though an ad buy might be small now, remember, these groups are auditioning right now for late donations to take these ads to a larger scope, Tracey said. Remember, the Swift Boat original ad buy was less than $1 million and ran in only a handful of small media markets.Marks echoed that strategy in a release announcing the successful purchase of air time for his group's commercial.Unlike other 527 groups who are funded by millionaires, ours has been funded by grass-roots blue-collar voters offended by the side of Barack Obama they see in our ad, Marks said. We hope that as more folks see the ad, that we will eventually get help from more affluent contributors.
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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
WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/
HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS MON OCT 13,2008
09:30 AM +369.25
10:00 AM +350.21
10:30 AM +439.10
11:00 AM +465.78
11:30 AM +517.79
12:00 PM +536.19
12:30 PM +569.01
01:00 PM +571.08
01:30 PM +587.25
02:00 PM +541.90
02:30 PM +498.35
03:00 PM +616.24
03:30 PM +703.69
04:00 PM +936.42 9387.61
S&P 500 1003.35 +104.13
NAS 1844.25 +194.74
GOLD 833.8 -25.2
OIL 81.93 +4.23
TSE 300 CLOSED
CDNX -71.47 975.81
S&P/TSX 60 CLOSED
DOW HISTORIC CLOSE 936.42 5TH HIGHEST IN HISTORY.
S&P soares 11% today.
S&P'S biggest one day PERCENTAGE gain since 1932.
Market reversal
Dow:Biggest points gain in since 1987, and 5TH largest percentage gain in history.
Dow gains over 11%.
Dow back over 9300.
90% upside day. And the Volume on the upside.
Tomorrow the issue:will retail investors be buying as pros take profits.
PARADE OF IDEAS
1-CEO,Treasury,Fed officials meet on market stabilization initiative.
-Guarentee Interbank lending.
-Broader Deposit insurance.
-Capital infusions into Banks.
2-Congress is also considering a 2ND stimulus package.
THE EUROPEAN UNION EURO ZONE AS WELL AS BRITIAN WILL GUARENTEE LOANS BY BANKS.
Without a similar deal by the USA, funds could flow to Europe.
Few results came from the G-7 meeting over the weekend.
World Bank says govenments should still help developing nations out.
Up to 400 Billion dollars will be in line for this European Union plan.
$35 Billion plan to bailout U.KS 4 largest Banks expected today.
Head of Italy's Borsa stock exchange stresses need to protect companies from hostile bids.
Germany expected to set up a special fund to provide up to $100 Billion Euros in equity capital to its countries Banks.
Polands Finance Ministry and Central Bank leaders meet with CEOS of Countries top 10Banks Today.
Norways Government and Central introduces measures to boost Countries Banks liquidity.
Australia and New Zealand latest Countries to guarentee all Bank deposits.
IMF'S Dominique Strauss-Kahn hopes governments actions will bring an end to spreading creit crunch.
10 COUNTRIES WILL GUARENTEE DEPOSIT LIABILITIES.
Austalia
Iceland
Ireland
Germany
Greece
New Zealand
Saudi-Arabia
Spain
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom.
Unlimited funds will be available now. So Countries might buy in these Countries because the funds will be guarenteed.
WATCH FOR THE WORLD TO BE PUT IN REGIONAL ECONOMIC BLOCS SO IF ONE BLOC FAILS THE REST WILL BE ABLE TO BAIL THEM OUT. JUST MY THOUGHT BUT GOES WITH PROPHECY.
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).
Europe puts $2.3 trillion on line for banks By ANGELA CHARLTON and EMMA VANDORE, Associated Press Writers OCT 13,08
PARIS - European governments overcame their differences to put $2.3 trillion on the line Monday in guarantees and other emergency measures to save the banking system in their most unified response yet to the global financial crisis. The pledges by six countries that use the euro and Britain helped soothe stock markets, along with a promise by top central banks to provide unlimited short term dollar credits.The amount — pledged by Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Austria — dwarfs the $700 billion rescue package put together by U.S. President Bush's administration, although not all the European money will necessarily be spent.
It represented Europe's most unified response yet to the financial crisis, after weeks where European governments often acted at cross purposes and sniped at each other — a piecemeal approach that failed to stop steep and frightening slides on financial markets.The time of each one for itself is fortunately over, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said, following a Cabinet meeting that approved France's spending in the framework of the scheme.United Europe has pledged more than the United States, added the French leader, who has taken a lead in corralling European governments to act together.The money pledged by European governments will not go into a collective pot. Instead, governments were deciding individually how much to commit to supporting their own banks under broad guidelines agreed at a summit on Sunday. The sums are considered a maximum, and might not all be spent if the financial crisis eases.About 250 billion euros ($341 billion) of the European pledges was earmarked to be spent on recapitalizing banks by buying stakes.The money pledges put a price tag on the package agreed to Sunday by the 15 countries that use the euro currency. They agreed to individually guarantee bank refinancing until the end of next year, rescue important failing banks through emergency cash injections and take other swift measures to encourage banks to lend to each other again.Stocks markets rebounded Monday after the European decision and other weekend efforts to find solutions to the financial crisis, which has crushed major banks in both the U.S. and Europe and battered stock exchanges worldwide.Germany's DAX rose 518.14 points, or 11.4 percent, to close at 5,062.45, while France's CAC-40 was up 355.01 points, or 11.2 percent, at 3,531.50. Britain's FTSE 100 was 324.84 points, or 8.3 percent, higher at 4,256.90, despite some hefty falls in the banks that have accepted government help.
Also helping markets was a joint move by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank to provide unlimited short-term credit in U.S. dollars to financial institutions. The Bank of Japan said it was considering similar measures.Europe's biggest economy, Germany, put together a rescue package worth as much as 500 billion euros ($671 billion) to shore up the country's financial system. We are taking drastic action, no question about it ... so that what we have experienced is not repeated, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters.Sarkozy said the French government would provide up to 360 billion euros ($491 billion) to help banks, most of that in guarantees for bank refinancing. The Netherlands put up 200 billion euros ($273 billion) to guarantee interbank loans.
Austria's government offered up to 85 billion euros ($116 billion). Spain said it would guarantee up to 100 billion euros ($135 billion) in a bank bond issuance this year. Portugal guaranteed 20 billion euros ($27 billion) euros — nearly 12 percent of annual GDP — to encourage Portuguese banks to lend to each other.Italy did not earmark a specific amount but Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti told reporters the government would offer as much as necessary.The European moves are modeled on Britain's 50 billion-pound ($88 billion) plan to partly nationalize major banks. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also promised to guarantee a further 250 billion pounds ($438 billion) worth of interbank loans to restore confidence in the financial sector.The head of the International Monetary Fund welcomed the European decision despite the high price it is expected to impose on state budgets. We must recapitalize the banks ... otherwise everyone will suffer, Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on France's Europe-1 radio Monday. And that costs money.The euro zone leaders who met Sunday have yet to sell their packages to voters at home, and analysts warned that governments and legislators could still balk. The overall cost will be heavy, especially on countries already in or on the brink of recession. Analysts from the banking sector generally saluted the euro zone measures. After a haphazard start, Europe is finally getting its act together, Bank of America said in a research note. The size and nature of the national plans suggest that they could finally make a difference.The rest of the 27-member EU will have a chance to sign up to the euro-zone measures when they meet Wednesday. Norway, outside both the euro zone and the EU, said it plans to offer new government bonds worth 350 billion kroner ($55.4 billion) to banks to help improve liquidity in the market. In Sweden, Finance Minister Anders Borg said the government plans to put forward a draft law Wednesday to guarantee new bank debt until the end of 2009 and support banks with added share capital. BusinessEurope — a group representing most European major companies — said EU governments' parallel moves to unfreeze bank lending would help reinforce confidence and contribute to a continued flow of credit to companies and households.Associated Press writers Melissa Eddy in Berlin and Malin Rising in Stockholm contributed to this report.
Euro area states harmonise bank rescue plans
LUCIA KUBOSOVA Today OCT 13,08 @ 09:24 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - An unprecedented extraordinary meeting of eurozone leaders in Paris has given the green light to a set of synchronised moves by member states to boost confidence in the financial sector and save failing banks with public money. We cannot have a healthy economy and sustainable growth unless we have a solid financial sector, said French President Nicolas Sarkozy on late Sunday (12 October), after the hastily arranged summit of the 15-strong euro area.The crisis talks aiming to adapt the bloc's financial markets to better cope with the worst financial crisis since the 1930s led to an agreement on a plan similar to that of Britain's rescue scenario. I believe that there is common ground now about what needs to be done, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown told journalists in Paris after he explained the details of the British approach hours ahead of the eurozone session. The UK remains outside the eurozone.Under the agreed package, 15 countries plus Slovakia - set to join the euro in January - committed to provide capital for banks striving for funds because of frozen money markets and to help or directly subscribe to debt-raising by banks for up to five years.Governments are ready to guarantee interbank loans at market rates until the end of next year, while also providing previously announced deposit guarantees for savers. What we want is to give back banks the means to lend, to support the economy to enable households to borrow for mortgages or consumption and give companies the means necessary to invest for growth, Sarkozy said. This is not a gift to banks but will help them function, he added, stressing that the extraordinary measures needed to attack the immediate problem should be later followed by structural changes in the financial system in a bid to create a real capitalism, and not one of speculators.Believe me, in Europe, we will not allow the system continue working in such a way. Believe me, those responsible will need to assume their responsibility. There will be changes ... And those who put the world into this situation will have to pay back.
On the verge of financial meltdown
Ahead of the Paris euro meeting, finance ministers from the G7 club of the seven most industrialised nations - the US, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Britain and Italy - gathered in Washington on Friday (10 October) and agreed a five-point plan to free up the flow of capital, revive the mortgage market and boost efforts by banks to raise money.Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, endorsed the plan while suggesting that previous moves by rich nations had been insufficient.Intensifying solvency concerns about a number of the largest US-based and European financial institutions have pushed the global financial system to the brink of systemic meltdown, he said, according to BBC.US President George Bush argued that the key point is to prevent contradicting actions among the superpowers. In our interconnected world, no nation will gain by driving down the fortunes of another. We are in this together. We will come through it together, he said.
Striving to prevent another Black Monday
The busy agenda in several world capitals over the weekend attempts to stauch the bleeding in global stock markets , which crashed last week, with the American Standard & Poor 500 index tumbling more than 18 percent, while European stocks plunged 22 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei tumbled 24 percent.France, Germany, Italy, Austria and several other countries are each due to hold government meetings on Monday to announce details of their national bail-out schemes, and will reveal the precise sums of public money they are ready to inject to the banking sector.German media have reported that Berlin is to propose a package worth some €400 billion, of which around €100 billion can be used in direct interventions in banks.Analysts believe this sort of co-ordinated action could indeed do the trick for the bloc's financial sector.This announcement of concrete, decisive and well-targeted measures to be deployed simultaneously by individual governments should reassure markets, Marco Annunziata, chief economist with Unicredit Markets and Investment Banking in London, told Reuters.Initial reports on Monday showed a positive reaction by Asian markets, with shares in Australia, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Singapore and India all rising , although while Taiwan's stock market has lost ground, the BBC has reported.
Dow jumps 938 as governments pledge bank aid By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer OCT 13,08
NEW YORK - Wall Street has stormed back from last week's devastating losses, sending the Dow Jones industrials soaring a nearly inconceivable 938 points after major governments' plans to support the global banking system reassured distraught investors. The Dow by far outstripped its previous record for a one-day point gain, 499, reached during the waning days of the dot-com boom in 2000.The market was likely to have a rebound after eight days of precipitous losses that took the Dow down nearly 2,400 points, but no one expected this kind of advance. Still, back-and-forth trading is likely to continue as Wall Street still contends with a crippled financial system and a struggling economy. So some of Monday's big gains may disappear when trading resumes Tuesday.The Dow is up about 938 points at the 9,389 level. All the major indexes are up more than 11 percent.
IMF ready to bail out swooning Hungary
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today OCT 13,08 @ 17:58 CET
Hungary may be the first member of the European Union to be bailed out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since Britain was forced to take out a €3 billion loan in 1976.Hungary's forint slid sharply last week to its lowest level against the euro in two years, while the Budapest Stock Exchange saw heavy losses and investors were taking money out of the country.The forint did however regain some ground on Monday, largely in reaction to the financial rescue plan announced by G7 finance ministers over the weekend, analysts believe.In an attempt to staunch the bleeding, last Friday, Budapest announced sharp spending cuts to government programmes, a bank deposit guarantee similar to that announced by other member states and delays to planned tax cuts.There is a significant and strong attack against the Hungarian money and capital markets, prime minister Ference Gyurcsany declared in announcing the emergency cut-backs. [Hungary] must not spend in these times, he said.On Monday, in response to the spreading financial contagion, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the IMF - an international institution set up to maintain order in the international monetary system - said that the financial institution was ready to rapidly step in with loans to the beleaguered east European nation.We are in close dialogue with the Hungarian authorities and the EU to discuss further responses to the current challenges, including possible technical and financial support by the IMF, he said in a statement.I have informed the authorities that the IMF stands ready to assist their efforts, he added.We will provide technical assistance as needed and, in the context of a supportive policy setting, are ready to undertake discussions on possible financial assistance, responding rapidly.
All tools available
The EU said it welcomed Mr Strauss-Kahn's offer, adding that it was ready to back up IMF aid with its own support using all tools available, although representatives of the bloc did not mention any financial assistance.The Council and the Commission are monitoring the situation closely, and support Hungary' efforts in tackling current challenges, said the presidency of the council of EU economic and finance ministers [ECOFIN] in a statement on Monday.The ECOFIN welcomes the readiness of the IMF to consider providing technical and financial assistance as needed to Hungary, the statement continued.The council of ministers said that it is in close consultations with the Hungarian authorities and the IMF and will ensure that any conditions attached to IMF funds are consistent with EU policy advice.IMF bail-outs of countries have always come attendant with strict demands for sweeping austerity measures including reductions in social programmes and privatisation of public assets.In 1976, to deal with soaring inflation, the UK requested a €3 billion (£2.3bn) loan from the IMF. In return, the then Labour government was required to deliver deep cuts to public spending.
Baltics, Ukraine
Hungary however is just the tip of the iceberg, warn experts. UK economist Barry Gills of Newcastle University told the EUobserver that the crisis is set to hit much of eastern Europe more profoundly than it has Old Europe.There is a looming problem in the east - Ukraine and the Baltics in particular - where the IMF might have to be called in with very large support loans, he said.In eastern Europe, growth is weakening and in some places going into reverse. They are experiencing some of the classic problems of developing countries in the past - structural imbalances such as insufficient reserves from exports to cover import bills; accruing debt to cover debts and balance of payments.This can lead to vulnerability of the currency, so they have to use reserves to protect the currency.Mr Gills worried that the European Union may not have the funds at its disposal to come to the aid of its newest members.Does the EU have the financial reserves apart from the IMF to solve some of these regional solutions? I'm not so sure that's clear at the moment.He also fretted about the significance of the IMF coming to the aid of member states. Does the EU want countries under IMF tutelage within its borders?
European leaders agree crisis rescue at summit by James Franey OCT 12,08
PARIS (AFP) - European Union leaders hammered out a plan Sunday to confront the financial crisis which will involve hundreds of billions of dollars of new initiatives to head off a feared meltdown.Two weeks after the Wall Street collapse of Lehman Brothers unleashed a worldwide crash on stock markets, US and European leaders signalled a growing commitment to take joint action to end the turmoil.After the Group of Seven leading democracies proposed an action plan at weekend meetings in Washington, a Paris summit of the 15 nations that use the euro currency agreed a bank rescue plan , French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.Sarkozy -- who oversees the French presidency of the European Union -- said governments would buy into banks to boost their finances and guarantee inter-bank lending.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the coming week was critical.
I believe that in the next few days confidence in the banking system will be restored.... The decisions we take over the next few days will affect us for the years ahead.My opinion is that it should produce positive results, added Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. We have a serious crisis and logically when there is a serious crisis it will be difficult to overcome, but we will overcome it.Europe's economic powerhouses all prepared new initiatives to underpin the banking system. No details were released, but Sarkozy said Britain, France, Germany and Italy and others would unveil packages on Monday.Officials have said they will cost several hundred billion dollars on top of the huge sums already spent rescuing banks and supporting money markets.In Washington, the EU action won swift praise from International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who recalled how the IMF has been calling for months for coordinated international action.Nearly all advanced countries are now covered and the... eurozone provisions may be extended eventually to all of Europe, he said.The eurozone plan is also comprehensive.... Altogether we are going in a good direction.Economists were eagerly awaiting the opening of Asia's stock markets Monday to gauge how their rescue plans are received by jittery investors hoping to stem the slide in the markets.In another development Sunday, news media in London reported that the British government would be taking controlling stakes Monday in two banks hit hard by the crisis -- Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS.Britain has already set aside 250 billion pounds (315 billion euros) to guarantee loans, in addition to 200 billion pounds in short-term loans and 50 billion to buy stakes in major banks.Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said an announcement would come at the beginning of the week.Germany is meanwhile expected to guarantee interbank loans with 300 billion euros to 400 billion euros (405 to 540 billion dollars) as well as provide banks with fresh capital in exchange for shares.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said only the state could restore the necessary trust to the public and financial markets.
In Paris, the French government will Monday propose a state guarantee for endangered banks, a ruling party lawmaker said. The New York Times said the Bush administration was also heading toward taking direct stakes in threatened banks in the coming days, as the crisis dominates the run-up to the November 4 presidential election.
Elsewhere, Australia, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates and Portugal all moved to guarantee bank deposits, and Norway said it would issue up to 41 billion euros (54.5 billion dollars) in bonds to pay for measures to support banks. In Washington, Strauss-Kahn said the action plan adopted Friday by the Group of Seven was a breakthrough with the first global pledge to cooperate to stabilise the turmoil at the meetings. The G7 plan, though vague on details, commits countries to support the most important institutions, take measures to get credit flowing, assist banks in raising capital and reassure savers. World Bank president Robert Zoellick said the financial crisis, the worst since the 1929 market crash, underscored the need for coordinated action to modernize multilateralism for a new global economy.Zoellick announced that the International Finance Corp, the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank, was exploring the possibility of a fund to help recapitalize banks in the developing world. US President George W. Bush said the world's richest nations are united on a serious global response to the financial meltdown caused by massive loans to US lenders with bad credit histories. Coordination against the crisis is considered vital to prevent the actions of one country harming another and exacerbating the bank solvency and credit shortage problems. In the Great Depression, so-called beggar-thy-neighbour measures taken unilaterally by countries are considered to have deepened the economic pain.
THREAT OF MARTIAL LAW VIDEO
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77860
MONEYNETDAILY Bailout push included threat of martial law,Congressman says several colleagues got message before vote October 12, 2008 11:56 pm Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif.
WASHINGTON – During deliberations over the $700 billion federal bailout of banks and financial institutions, several members of Congress were threatened with the prospect of martial law if they did not act quickly and decisively to approve the measure, according to Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., an ardent opponent of the plan.
Many of us were told in private conversations, that if we didn't pass this bill on Monday, the sky would fall, the market would drop two or three thousand points, another couple thousand the second day, and a few members were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted no, he said on the House floor Oct. 2.
Sherman's speech to colleagues was captured on C-Span. The video can be seen below:
The statement by Sherman added to fears raised by the announcement that the Army's 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division, after service in Iraq for 35 of the last 60 months, would, for the next 12 months, serve in the U.S. under the service wing of the Northern Command as part of an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.
G20 pledges joint action to fight financial crisis By Vivianne Rodrigues and Walter Brandimarte Reuters - Sunday, October 12 12:40 pm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Group of 20 industrialized and developing countries called on Saturday for a joint response to the financial crisis that is snowballing into emerging markets.The G20 pledged to meet again in November and to reshape the institution to make it more agile in responding to the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.The problems we are facing today in the global economy must be solved by several countries, they can't be addressed by only one country or a single continent, Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega, who chairs the group, told a news conference after the meeting.The G20 includes the Group of Seven industrialized nations along with developing countries such as Brazil, China, India and South Korea.
In a statement issued by the group, the 20 finance ministers pledged to work together to improve the regulation, supervision and overall functioning of the world's financial markets. The group will meet again in Sao Paulo, Brazil.Mantega said the United States needed to help coordinate changes in international finance and that the Group of Seven industrialized nations should work with emerging markets.
Some G7 members support expanding that group to include some emerging countries, Mantega noted.For the first time, President George W. Bush briefly attended the G20 meeting. Mantega said it would be very important for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to attend the group's next meeting.
Capital outflows from emerging markets have accelerated as the financial crisis deepened in the past couple of weeks.The minister said the group was not considering measures to restrict capital flight because that would be counterproductive.Growth is expected to moderate globally, but Mantega stressed that emerging market economies should still grow more than developed ones in 2009, cushioning a global recession.(Editing by Peter Cooney)
Russia's Kudrin:G7, G20 moves defined risk areas
Reuters - Monday, October 13
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 - The decisions made by financial leaders of the Group of Seven and Group of 20 leaders over the weekend have set the stage for other moves, Russia's Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Sunday.The decisions may seem too general from first glance, but they strictly define areas of risk, and the scale of concrete decisions should be decided by individual governments for each economy, Kudrin said.Both the G7 group of rich countries on Friday and G20 countries on Saturday vowed to take action to stem a financial crisis that has roiled stock markets and hurt growth, but did not announce detailed plans.
Gov't eyes plan to take ownership stakes in banks By HARRY DUNPHY and TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writers OCT 12,08
WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told international leaders on Sunday that isolationism and protectionism could worsen the spreading financial crisis. With a new trading week dawning, U.S. lawmakers urged quick action by the Bush administration on measures to make direct purchases of bank stock to help unlock lending. Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said an administration proposal to inject federal money directly into certain banks, in effect partially nationalizing the banking system, is gaining steam.I am hopeful that tomorrow, the Treasury will announce that they're doing it. And they have to do it quickly ... markets are waiting, Schumer, D-N.Y., said.The administration has not indicated when it would announce its next steps.Democrats also are lining up behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan to bring lawmakers back to Capitol Hill after the Nov. 4 election to work on a second economic relief plan. The idea is give the middle class and the average citizen the same kind of relief that we try to give the financial sector, said Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.Top Democrats are suggesting a $150 billion measure that would extend jobless benefits, provide more money for food stamps and finance some construction projects, such as rebuilding bridges and roads. It would also include either a tax rebate or tax cut.Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the second-ranking House Republican, said he would help on a plan that makes sense but is not laden with huge public works projects or bailouts for states that overspent on social programs.In another step aimed at easing the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve on Sunday approved the $12.2 billion acquisition of troubled Wachovia Corp. by Wells Fargo & Co. Wachovia is the latest in a string of major banks and financial institutions that have been felled by the financial crisis. The Fed action was expected.
As the International Monetary Fund and World Bank held their annual meetings over the weekend, Paulson warned the bank's policy-setting committee of the dangers of inward-looking policies.Although we in the United States are taking many extraordinary measures to ease the crisis, we are not pursuing policies that would limit the flow of goods, services or capital, as such measures would only intensify the risks of a prolonged crisis, Paulson said.Meanwhile, the World Bank pledged to protect poor and vulnerable countries and nations with rapidly developing economies. Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens, who heads the bank's policy-setting committee, said the bank and the IMF will draw on the full range of their resources to help these countries.Bank President Robert Zoellick told reporters the financial crisis has been a manmade catastrophe. The actions and responses to overcome it lie in our hands.Jittery investors awaited the reopening of stock markets — the Dow Jones industrial average just completed its worst week ever, plummeting more than 18 percent — and hoped for bold, coordinated international steps to address the crisis.
At a Paris meeting of European leaders Sunday, countries that use the euro agreed to temporarily guarantee bank refinancing to ease the credit crunch. French President Nicolas Sarkozy it would apply in 15 countries through the end of 2009 and was not a gift to banks.The United States has not yet gone that far. But President Bush met at the White House with top global financial leaders on Saturday in a display of unity and said afterward that they had agreed to general principles to combat the crisis. Bush, who had spoken about the crisis for 22 of the past 27 days, went biking at a state park in Maryland on Sunday morning and then kept to a private schedule the rest of the day.Paulson has indicated the administration will use part of the recent $700 billion bailout Bush signed Oct. 3 to have the government take ownership stakes in banks. The plan has wide support on Capitol Hill, although Democrats pressed for quicker action in spelling out specifics.Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., sounded a cautionary note. That has to be very, very carefully done, he said. We are a capitalistic system and we don't want to move away with nationalizing the banking system. So that anything that's done has to be done on a temporary basis.This plan and other Paulson moves were supported by three former treasury secretaries. This is bigger than the private sector can fix by itself, said James A. Baker III, who served under President Reagan. Robert Rubin, treasury secretary under President Clinton and now an adviser to Barack Obama, said it was important to be highly, highly proactive.Lawrence Summers, also a Clinton treasury secretary, said, Any time you have a problem with trust, you've got to deal with it in a very aggressive way.
The lawmakers and ex-Cabinet officers made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows.
On the Net: White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy/
Treasury Department: http://www.ustreas.gov/ World Bank : http://www.worldbank.org/
International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org/
World Bank to protect poor from economic turmoil By HARRY DUNPHY, Associated Press Writer Sun Oct 12, 5:52 PM ET
WASHINGTON - The World Bank agreed Sunday to help developing countries strengthen their economies, bolster their financial systems and protect the poor against the financial turmoil in international markets. Robert Zoellick, the bank's president, said the contagion affecting the global economy has been a manmade catastrophe and responses to overcome it lie in all our hands.He spoke as the U.S. moved to shore up Wall Street and financial institutions and the 15 countries that use the euro agreed in Paris to temporarily guarantee bank refinancing to ease the credit squeeze.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Zoellick, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, endorsed the European move and said he expected markets to react favorably, although you never can be sure what will happen.Strauss-Kahn also called for quick implementation of the $700 billion U.S. rescue plan, which includes the government buying part-ownership in an array of banks.Zoellick said that as the current crisis has unfolded, people in the United States and Europe reacted first with confusion, then anger, then fear.Those natural reactions will spread around the world as the impact spreads, Zoellick said. We need to take them seriously.He said any prolonged tightening of credit or a sustained global slowdown could cause serious setbacks to developing countries' efforts to improve the lives of their populations. Such countries are already struggling with high prices for energy and food.We need concerted global action now not just to deal with this crisis, but to put in place new architecture, new norms, and new oversight to ensure that this crisis never happens again, he said.The poorest and must vulnerable groups risk the most serious — and in some cases, permanent — damage, Zoellick said. One hundred million people have already been driven into poverty this year and that number will grow.Zoellick said the financial crisis underscored the need for concerted global action now, not just to deal with the crisis but to put in place new architecture, new norms and new oversight to ensure that this crisis never happens again.
He said the bank and the IMF must ensure that as governments turn their attention to domestic matters, they do not step back from their commitment to provide billions in aid to poor countries.Aid flows must be maintained, Zoellick said. Today's meeting of ministers was unanimous in that regard.The head of the bank's policy-setting committee, Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens, said ministers were unanimous in their view that the World Bank had to protect the poor and vulnerable in the context of the global financial crisis. He said the Bank needs to be flexible to address the differing problems faced by poor countries and those with rapidly growing economies.In remarks to the committee, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said global unity was needed, not isolationism and protectionism, which do not offer a way to contain the spreading damage. He expressed concern about the fallout on poor countries.Although we in the United States are taking many extraordinary measures to ease the crisis, we are not pursuing policies that would limit the flow of goods, services or capital, as such measures would only intensify the risks of a prolonged crisis, he said.U.S. lawmakers, meanwhile, called for fast action — by the administration on a plan for the government to take direct stakes in certain banks, and by Congress on a new economic aid plan.Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said an administration proposal to inject federal money directly into certain banks, in effect partially nationalizing the banking system, is gaining steam.I am hopeful that tomorrow, the Treasury will announce that they're doing it. And they have to do it quickly ... markets are waiting, Schumer said. Schumer and other Democratic leaders also backed plans by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for a session after the Nov. 4 election to consider a $150 billion proposal to boost the economy. The measure would extend jobless benefits, provide more money for food stamps and finance public works projects, such as rebuilding bridges and roads. Yes, we are going to do a stimulus after the election, said Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. The idea is give the middle class and the average citizen the same kind of relief that we try to give the financial sector, said Frank, D-Mass., who, like Schumer, appeared on the Sunday talk shows. President Bush says his administration is doing everything possible to halt the biggest market disruption since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Associated Press writers Chris Rugaber and Tom Raum contributed to this report. On the Net: White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy/ Treasury Department: http://www.ustreas.gov/ World Bank : http://www.worldbank.org/ International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org/
China looking inward as foreign economies slow By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer Sun Oct 12, 11:20 AM ET
BEIJING - China's ruling Communist Party on Sunday said it would seek to expand its massive internal market to counter the global economic slowdown that has reduced international demand for Chinese goods. The party, led by President Hu Jintao, released a statement at the end of a four-day meeting of its Central Committee where it also approved a plan aimed at doubling rural incomes by 2020.We should step up efforts to boost domestic demand, particularly domestic consumption and keep the economy, the financial sector and the capital market stable, the party said in a statement released through the official Xinhua News Agency.The party also recognized inherent contradictions and problems with China's economy and said all members should prepare for greater challenges as the global financial crisis unfolds.China faces difficulties from high energy costs and inflation, but officials say the country has growth potential despite global uncertainties because of its large labor pool, vast domestic market and the increasing competitiveness of its companies.
Economists have cut China's growth forecasts to as low as 9 percent for the year, down from last year's 11.9 percent. That would be the highest rate for any major country, but Communist leaders want to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses, which could fuel political tensions.China lowered interest rates Wednesday in an effort to revive slowing economic growth and help struggling exporters.The party said it aims to double the income of the country's farmers — currently around $590 per person a year — over 12 years to ease the growing and politically explosive gulf between the urban elite who have benefited most from China's two-decade-old economic boom and its vast poor majority.The move also seeks to boost rural consumption levels by a big margin and eliminate poverty in the countryside by 2020, Xinhua said. China has an estimated 15 million people living in absolute poverty in the countryside.State media reports ahead of the meeting said the committee would review an amendment to give 750 million rural dwellers more freedom to lease or transfer their land, but the final statement did not mention the issue.Chinese economists hope the agricultural reforms will lead to larger, more efficient farms that are better able to meet the demands of the evolving economy while maintaining the country's self-sufficiency.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Fire burns 750 acres, 2 homes northeast of LA OCT 12,08
LOS ANGELES - Firefighters backed by water-dumping helicopters and planes gained ground Sunday on a wildfire that destroyed two homes and forced the evacuation of about 1,200 people in a rugged area 20 miles north of downtown. The blaze charred up to 750 acres and also burned a garage, several sheds and three motor homes, said Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Ron Haralson. No one was seriously injured, but a firefighter and one resident reported minor breathing problems.Haralson said firefighters are getting a really good handle on the blaze, which started early Sunday. But powerful Santa Ana winds were expected to arrive in the evening, and gusts could spread embers igniting brush, grass and chaparral in the area.About 450 homes were evacuated early Sunday when the blaze moved southeast toward city limits, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Stanton Florea.It burned right down to a couple of neighborhoods, Florea said.The fire was 20 percent contained and as it burned south of the Wildlife Waystation, an animal sanctuary and rehabilitation facility set on 160 acres. The nonprofit agency houses more than 400 animals, including lions, bears and deer. Officials were loading up the animals in case the fire switched direction.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Elsewhere in California, firefighters halted the spread of a wildfire that burned about 300 acres of heavy brush, destroyed a home and threatened several wineries in Napa Valley.More than 1,500 firefighters were called in to work the blaze, which state fire officials said was fully contained by Sunday morning.Investigators said Saturday a rock struck by a car ignited the wildfire Friday afternoon. Strong winds in the hills near the wine country town of St. Helena caused the fire to spread quickly.The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said all evacuation orders had been lifted, allowing 100 people to return home after the flames forced them to flee.
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 RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Russia's Medvedev test fires long-range missile By Oleg Shchedrov
Sun Oct 12, 6:29 AM ET
PLESETSK COSMODROME, Russia (Reuters) - President Dmitry Medvedev oversaw the test firing of an intercontinental Topol missile on Sunday and vowed to commission new generation weapons for Russia's armed forces. A Reuters reporter said the truck-mounted Topol was fired at 3:23 a.m. EDT in drizzling rain from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, which is nestled among the taiga forests of Russia's north.Half an hour later it hit the Kura testing site, 6000 km (3700 miles) away on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Pacific.I have just been told that the dummy warhead has landed in Kura, Medvedev said from the Topol launch pad where acrid smoke from the missile still hung thick in the air.We will continue to commission new types of weapons but we will also continue testing the ones we have now, said Medvedev. Their effectiveness has been proved by time. Our shield is fine.Russian nuclear submarines also successfully test fired two ballistic missiles from the Pacific Ocean and Barents Sea on Sunday to targets inside Russia, the navy said.Medvedev, who was sworn in as president in May, has moved to beef up Russia's armed forces after a five-day conflict in Georgia this August which sparked a row with the United States and European Union.Dressed in the army's new-style leather jacket -- with a badge saying commander-in-chief -- Medvedev inspected the 21.5 meter Topol rocket before the launch.
The rocket is designed to pierce anti-missile defense systems such as those that the United States wants to build in Eastern Europe. The Kremlin has opposed Washington's plans.Medvedev's predecessor, Vladimir Putin, raised defense spending during his eight-year presidency to revive Russia's armed forces, which had been drained in the 1990s by corruption, low pay and a lack of funding.Russia's strategic bombers have restarted regular patrols over the Atlantic Ocean, irking NATO, and a group of the Northern Fleet ships is on its way to the Caribbean to take part in joint exercises with U.S. foe Venezuela.Two Russian warships and their support vessels docked in Tripoli ahead of making the transatlantic trip. Russia on Saturday test-launched a strategic missile to the equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
NEW WEAPONS
The RS-12M Topol, called the SS-25 Sickle by NATO, has a maximum range of 10,000 km (6,125 miles).This missile and others which will be commissioned in the next few years are capable of effectively providing the nuclear deterrent and ensuring the security of Russia and its allies, Colonel-General Nikolai Solovtsov, Commander of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, told Medvedev.The Topol, a highly mobile missile designed in Soviet times, is a key part of Russia's nuclear deterrent.But Russia has extended their use way past the 10-year guaranteed operational life set by the manufacturer and the launch on Sunday was aimed partly at testing how the rockets would fire after having their operational life extended so far.An extension of the operational life of the Topol rocket complexes ... will allow the systematic replacement of rockets being taken out of use with new generation rockets without any peak load on the military budget, Interfax news agency quoted Alexander Vovk, an adviser to the head of Russia's strategic forces, as saying. (Writing by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Angus MacSwan)
Russian warships call in Libya: report Sat Oct 11, 1:31 PM ET
TRIPOLI (AFP) - Russian warships bound for Venezuela, including the nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great), put in Saturday at the Libyan port of Tripoli for refuelling. Only one ship was able to enter the port, which is not deep enough to allow the other vessels to dock, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
Two other warships of the Russian northern fleet could be seen in the distance, the correspondent reported.Earlier, Russian naval spokesman Igor Dygalo said the warships also included the anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and support vessels, Interfax news agency reported.The frigate Neustrashimiy (Intrepid), which left Russia two weeks ago bound for Somalia where it was to join in fighting piracy in the region, was also among the vessels that put into Tripoli on Saturday, Interfax said.Dygalo said the port call was scheduled to be completed on Monday.The ships would then resume manoeuvres at unspecified locations in the Mediterranean Sea before heading to Venezuela for joint naval exercises next month, he said.Russia and Venezuela announced their joint military exercises last month amid high tensions between Moscow and Washington and Russian irritation at the presence of US warships near Russian waters in the Black Sea.The planned Russian naval presence in what the United States has long regarded as its backyard would be unprecedented since the Cold War, but Washington has mocked the move as nothing more than symbolic muscle-flexing.Russia-US tensions spiked in August during the conflict in Georgia. Russia has repeatedly criticised the United States for using navy ships for what Washington has said was delivery of humanitarian aid to ally Georgia.The Russian-Venezuelan naval exercises were scheduled to take place near the end of November.
Russia insists breakaway regions represented at Georgia talks Sat Oct 11, 6:32 PM ET
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia indicated Saturday it would only participate in international talks on Georgia if representatives from the breakaway regions at the centre of the August hostilities were allowed to attend. The talks on security in the region will not have any results without the full participation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian news agencies.As for Russia, we will take part in meetings where these republics are represented as equals with all the rest, he said.Talks on the Georgia conflict are to be held in Geneva on Wednesday under the auspices of the United Nations, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.According to a diplomat in Brussels close to the issue, the representatives from South Ossetia and Abkazia would participate in talks at the level of two working groups, but not at the plenary sessions.Russia recognised the two separatist regions as independent states following a five-day war in August with Georgia. The Russian army entered South Ossetia after Georgian troops tried to regain control of the region from Moscow-backed separatists.Following a ceasefire brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on behalf of the European Union, Russia has been withdrawing its forces from Georgia proper but not from the rebel regions where 7,600 troops are to remain.
Lavrov told Russian news agencies Saturday that Russian troops did not have to withdraw from the disputed district of Akhalgori, as the Georgians claim.Akhalgori, northwest of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, was part of South Ossetia during the Soviet era but was under Georgian control up until the August conflict with Russia.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Friday the status of the disputed region would form part of next week's discussions in Geneva.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
POLL CONSERVATIVES TO WIN IN ELECTIONS
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.
Norbert weakens to tropical storm over Mexico By KIRSTEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer OCT 12,08
PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico - After making landfall over mainland Mexico, Norbert weakened Sunday from a hurricane to a tropical storm, weather officials said.
Norbert made landfall over mainland Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane with winds near 85 mph (140 kph) early Sunday morning, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.But those winds had weakened to near 40 mph (65 kph) and Norbert was expected to rapidly weaken to a tropical depression later Sunday morning, the Miami-based center said.Hurricane warnings for the coast of Mexico have been discontinued, the center said.At 8 a.m. Sunday, Norbert's center was located about 70 miles (110 kilometers) west-southwest of Chihuahua and was moving northeast near 21 mph (34 kph). The storm or its remnants were expected to reach western Texas and New Mexico later on Sunday.Hurricane Norbert made landfall over mainland Mexico early Sunday morning about 25 miles (35 kilometers) southeast of Huatabampo, the center said.
The storm moved over the Mexican mainland after tearing off roofs and forcing hundreds of people to flee widespread flooding on the Baja California peninsula.It hit land Saturday near Puerto Charley on Baja's southwest coast as a Category 2 hurricane, but weakened to Category 1 after emerging over the Gulf of California, the center said.Baja residents fled to shelters in school buses and army trucks as floodwaters rose in their homes. Winds uprooted palm trees and the water rose knee-high in some streets of the town of Puerto San Carlos.We left our house because we were scared. Our house is pretty poor and the water was already coming in, said Maria Espinosa, 54, who arrived at a high school with her daughter and two grandchildren. They joined about 60 other people sitting on foam mattresses and blankets.Streets turned into rushing, knee-deep rivers in Ciudad Constitucion, on the southern peninsula. Furniture, car parts and trash cans floated down the roads that were deserted except for a few police patrols and a soaked dog on high ground.
More than 2,000 people were in the city's shelters, many of them from coastal villages where nearly all homes had lost their roofs, said Miguel Arevalos, the local Civil Protection director.We came here because our roof is gone, the wind ripped it off, said Luis Mesa, 39, taking shelter at an elementary school after fleeing his village of Pueblo Nuevo. They said on the radio it was going to get really ugly.Early Sunday, the storm had passed over the Gulf of California away from the peninsula and was moving toward the mainland. The storm passed far north of the peninsula's resort-studded Los Cabos.Authorities evacuated people from low-lying areas in Sonora state and opened 60 shelters capable of holding more than 6,000 people, said Willebaldo Alatriste, the state's civil protection director.Robert Fernandez, sales manager of the Paradiso Resort and Beach Club in Sonora's popular vacation town of San Carlos, said the hotel set up sandbags along the beach, reinforced its windows and warned visitors against swimming in the ocean.But we don't think it will be too bad, he said.The storm's remnants were expected to continue to dump rain on water-logged West Texas, where authorities prepared for more flooding. State and local officials plan to activate an emergency operations center Monday in Presidio, where an earthen levee is struggling to hold back the swollen Rio Grande. Meanwhile, a weakening Tropical Storm Odile hugged the southwest coast of Mexico. Civil Protection officials in Guerrero state urged about 10,000 people living along river banks or other dangerous areas to evacuate. Mudslides and fallen trees blocked roads, and 150 homes were under 13 feet (4 meters) of water in El Paraiso, a small town north of Acapulco, officials said. Odile's estimated center was located about 45 miles (70 kilometers) west of Manzanillo and was moving north-northwest near 12 mph (19 kph). It carried sustained winds of about 40 mph (65 kph) but forecasters said it was quickly becoming disorganized.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
12 killed in Russian North Caucasus quake Sat Oct 11, 1:29 PM ET
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia - A strong earthquake hit Chechnya and other parts of Russia's North Caucasus Saturday, killing at least 12 people and damaging scores of hospitals, schools and other buildings, emergency officials said. The quake hit around 1 p.m. (0900 GMT) and was centered northeast of the Chechen capital, Grozny, Russian emergency officials said. The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblor had a magnitude of 5.3.At least 12 people were killed in the quake and a series of aftershocks, which were felt throughout the North Caucasus and which rattled Grozny for more than 30 seconds, the regional Emergency Situations Ministry office said. The toll was expected to rise as officials got information from outlying districts.
Most victims were killed by falling debris or furniture in homes and apartment buildings, said Oleg Grekov, a regional emergency official. More than 60 people sought medical help in the hardest hit Chechen towns, which included Grozny and Gudermes, he said.Russia's Caucasus Mountain region only sees occasional earthquakes. Most buildings are not reinforced against severe structural shocks and even small quakes can cause serious damage.Emergency officials said buildings in some districts saw serious structural damage, including hospitals in two Chechen districts.Chechnya is one of Russia's poorest regions, having suffered through two devastating wars in the past 15 years. Many people in the region are unemployed, and sporadic fighting between separatist rebels and federal and regional forces erupts regularly.
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
EU leaders to study crisis plan in Paris By Tamora Vidaillet OCT 12.08
PARIS (Reuters) - Leaders of euro zone countries hold an emergency meeting in Paris on Sunday hoping to agree on specific, pan-European measures to prevent market panic from triggering the most severe global downturn in decades. Government officials have suggested action rather than talk could emerge from the first such gathering of the so-called Eurogroup, hastily arranged by President Nicolas Sarkozy after stock markets around the world plunged last week.The meeting of the 15 countries which use the euro as their currency comes on the heels of a G7 summit of rich nations in Washington which offered no concrete, collective action but promised to do whatever was needed to unfreeze credit markets.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose country is not in the euro zone, will also meet Sarkozy on Sunday and a French official said the Eurogroup will likely use a rescue package unveiled by London last week as its reference point.Speaking just before leaving Washington overnight, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said the Eurogroup would go beyond talking about remedies to put meat, muscles on the bones of that skeleton and to develop, follow up and execute upon it.Lagarde said leaders needed to announce detailed implementation measures as quickly as possible and before the opening of markets if necessary.Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who met in France on Saturday, said they had prepared a certain number of decisions to present at a European summit to try to restore normal flows in blocked credit markets.
LEADERSHIP QUESTIONMARKS
Sarkozy will meet Brown, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at 3.30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. EDT), before the summit of euro zone leaders kicks off 90 minutes later.Britain's capital London is the largest financial center in Europe and government sources said Brown had also been invited to sit in on part of the Eurogroup discussions.Britain's rescue plan makes available 50 billion pounds ($86 billion) of taxpayers' money for injection into its banks and, crucially, calls for underwriting interbank lending, which has all but frozen around the globe.In an interview with the Observer newspaper on Sunday, Brown said he would try to broker a Europe-wide bail-out of banks modeled on his plan, warning that the stakes could not be higher for jobs, mortgages and the future of the economy.The Sunday Times newspaper said Britain will launch its biggest retail bank rescue on Monday when the four largest, HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Barclays, ask for a combined 35 billion pound ($60.5billion) lifeline.Other countries are also stepping up their game, with Australia and New Zealand guaranteeing bank deposits.On Saturday, media reports said Germany was readying a rescue package that could be worth up to $549 billion, including the injection of equity capital worth double digit billions into its banks and guarantees for interbank lending.Still, question marks over the effectiveness of global efforts remained.Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos criticized the G7 response to the crisis, saying on Saturday that while there was unity over the goals, there was nothing in the final statement from Washington about the instruments that would be used.Bos lamented a lack of leadership and said the International Monetary Fund should play a leading role in finding solutions. (Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Washington; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Euro-zone chiefs meet to coordinate on meltdown By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press Writer OCT 12,08
PARIS - European leaders meet Sunday in search of a common response to a spreading financial crisis that has ricocheted across the Atlantic to their shores and to try to preserve the bloc's unity. It could be a complex exercise for the 15 heads of state or government of the euro-zone, where the euro currency is used, because of the varied financial landscapes in each country.German Chancellor Angela Merkel, stressing the need for a synchronized response, said Saturday that a common tool box could be the outcome. Individual countries can use these tools to respond to their particular situation, she said.We need a common approach in Europe but we must be able to adapt to each national situation in a flexible way, she said after a meeting outside Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.Both Merkel and Sarkozy stressed that coordination is vital to taming the crisis and putting an end to the go-it-alone approach that has predominated thus far in Europe.France, the current president of the European Union, and Germany have long been considered the motor for European construction. Decisions made by the euro-zone would likely be later enlarged to include other members of the 27-nation EU.British Prime Minister Gordan Brown was meeting with Sarkozy ahead of the summit. Britain is not in the euro-zone.
Sarkozy and Merkel each rejected as out of the question any common financial rescue fund based on the U.S. model approved last week.The crisis demands extremely rapid responses and a European fund would pose gigantic problems in decision-making among so many nations, Sarkozy said at a news conference with Merkel.Merkel did not exclude support for banks seeking it but said in that case conditions would be attached. One cannot talk of nationalization, she said, adding nothing has yet been decided on the subject.Monday is when decisions should be put into practice nationally, for Germany at least, Merkel said. She called taking things to the national level the third step after a weekend meeting in Washington of finance ministers from the Group of Seven — Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and the U.S.President Bush later appealed for a global approach to the crisis that he said was needed in an interconnected world.So far, European countries have reacted diversely on a case by case basis.Ireland's unilateral move to guarantee all bank deposits caught other EU nations off balance and fearing a flight of capital to the Emerald Isles.Britain announced a $88 billion plan to partly nationalize major banks and promised to guarantee a further $438 billion in loans to shore up the banking sector. The Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis got a bailout and so did lender Dexia SA, helped by France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Developing countries feeling fallout from meltdown By HARRY DUNPHY, Associated Press Writer OCT 12,08
WASHINGTON - Searching for ways to tackle the unfolding economic crisis, global finance ministers are turning attention to the fallout in developing countries and poor nations. President Bush and world financial leaders sought to display unity Saturday as a way to calm investors whose panic has spread despite stepped up government action.The crisis dominated discussions at the meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and the annual sessions of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Many participants spoke in unusually somber tones of the need for action.The talks shifted Sunday to the World Bank and its policy-setting committee, led by Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens and the bank's president, Robert Zoellick, a former U.S. diplomat and trade negotiator.As a result of the downturn, developed countries are not expected to help 28 countries facing twin shocks of rising food and fuel prices, Zoellick said. For the poor, the costs of the crisis could be lifelong, he said.Bush said his administration was doing everything possible to halt the biggest market disruption since the Great Depression. Accompanied by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, he participated for about 25 minutes in a discussion late Saturday with the Group of 20 nations, which includes wealthy countries as well as major developing countries such as China, Brazil and India.White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Bush acknowledged the problem began in the United States, but told participants that we're all in this together.We take this seriously and we want to work with you, Bush assured the ministers, according to Fratto.
In a joint statement the G-20 finance officials pledged to work together to overcome the financial turmoil, and to deepen cooperation to improve the regulation, supervision and the overall functioning of the world's financial markets.Other speakers at a policy meeting of the IMF echoed Bush in emphasizing the need for countries to work together to address the crisis, avoiding the go-it-alone projectionist trade strategies that worsened conditions during the Great Depression of the 1930s.There is a resolve in the international community that this crisis will be resolved, that no tools will be spared to address its ramifications, said Youssef Boutros Ghali, Egypt's finance minister and the new chairman of the policy panel.
European leaders were meeting Sunday in Paris in search of a common response to the crisis. It could be a complex exercise for the 15 heads of state or government of the euro-zone, where the euro currency is used, because of the varied financial landscapes in each country.On the Net:White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy/Treasury Department: http://www.ustreas.gov/World Bank : http://www.worldbank.org/International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
EU's Almunia sees room for near-term ECB rate cut 11 Oct 2008 12:56 PM ET
Size WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Falling euro zone inflation and stabilising inflation expectations could make room for an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Saturday. Supported by the easing of commodity prices, the presently high inflation is on a downward trend and long-term inflation expectations are stabilising at a lower level consistent with price stability, Almunia said in a statement. If confirmed, these new developments could justify some monetary easing in the near-term, he said in a rare reference to ECB monetary policy at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The ECB cut rates by 0.5 percentage point to 3.75 percent together with other major central banks on Wednesday and economists expect more could be in the pipeline. ECB Governing council member Christian Noyer also hinted at such a possibility on Friday by saying that inflation in the 15 countries using the euro would fall below the bank's target of just below 2 percent in mid-2009. Euro zone inflation was 3.6 percent year-on-year in September, down from 3.8 percent in August. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Keywords: FINANCIAL/EUROPE tf.TFNEurope_newsdesk@thomson.com ak
Bush, allies pledge joint action on global crisis By JENNIFER LOVEN and MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Associated Press Writers OCT 11,08
WASHINGTON - President Bush and foreign financial officials displayed joint resolve Saturday to combat the unfolding financial crisis, hoping to calm investors whose panic has spread despite bold and accelerating government action. Yet there was no concrete offer of new moves when Bush spoke on a Rose Garden stage just after daybreak, flanked by representatives from nearly a dozen nations and international organizations. The fresh message of the day was Bush's plea that nations work together to address the crisis, avoiding the go-it-alone protectionist trade strategies that worsened conditions during the Great Depression.In an interconnected world, no nation will gain by driving down the fortunes of another. We are in this together. We will come through it together, Bush said. There have been moments of crisis in the past when powerful nations turned their energies against each other or sought to wall themselves off from the world. This time is different.White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Bush's commitment to collaborative action was repeated and agreed to by every official and minister who took part in a private White House meeting before the statement. Participating in that session with the president were top officials from the Group of Seven powers — the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada — as well as from the European Union, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.Bush did not mention any specific action that prompted his call. But Ireland recently moved to guarantee all bank deposits, triggering similar actions in Germany and other countries concerned that nervous depositors would move their bank accounts to Ireland.The president barely referenced a significant new step from his administration — partial nationalization of some banks. After days of speculation this move was coming, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced late Friday night that the government would buy part ownership in an array of American banks.President Hoover tried something like that in 1932 during the Great Depression. No detail was provided about how the new approach would work, only that it was similar to Britain's move to pour cash into its troubled banks in exchange for stakes in them. The U.S. government would use an unspecified portion of the $700 billion approved by Congress a week ago to purchase stocks in a wide variety of banks and other financial institutions.The rescue program originally was sold to Congress and the public as a plan to buy mortgage-related loans from financial institutions. The goal was to remove troubled assets from those institutions' books and inspire them to restart more normal lending operations.
Congress passed the massive and hard-fought legislation, and Bush signed it. The government raised the amount of bank deposits it insured. Billions of dollars of reserves have gone into banking systems in the U.S. and other countries. Yet credit, the economy's lifeblood, has remained virtually frozen.This paralysis in the credit markets has translated into intense turmoil in the stock markets. The Dow Jones industrial average just completed its worst week in history, plummeting more than 18 percent. Over the past year, people in the U.S. have watched $8.4 trillion drain from investment accounts and retirement savings.So the administration decided to use the bailout bill to pump equity directly into the banks — an idea never mentioned during the congressional debate. The administration says it is authorized in an obscure corner of the 400-page legislation.Officials are not saying how long it will take to get this program under way — just as is the case with the even more complicated effort to buy mortgage-backed securities.Bush seemed to acknowledge that the lag is feeding anxiety on Wall Street. These extraordinary efforts are being implemented as quickly and as effectively as possible, Bush said. The benefits will not be realized overnight.The White House session with Bush followed a three-hour meeting Friday night of G-7 finance ministers. The president largely echoed their terse statement, saying the nations have together pledged to do what it takes to resolve this crisis.Among their promises are preventing the failure of major banks, unfreezing credit markets, bolstering deposit insurance programs, getting the battered mortgage financing system to operate more normally and working with poorer but fast-growing nations that also are feeling the pinch.To address this last pledge, Paulson scheduled a meeting Saturday evening of the Group of 20 countries — which include the G-7 plus the world's biggest developing countries such as China, Brazil and India — to explain recent actions by the U.S. and other wealthy allies.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she saw the discussions as a way to help emerging-market countries understand actions by wealthier nations so they can be included in solutions and if they wish, adopt the same principles.All the representatives are in Washington for weekend meetings of the 185-nation International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In a briefing for the IMF's policy-setting board, Paulson said that after the immediate crisis we must turn our attention to longer-term reforms to modernize our outdated financial regulatory structure.It was the 22nd day among the past 27 that Bush had spoken about the financial crisis, since evidence first arose that the year-old subprime mortgage mess was evolving into a broader and more calamitous meltdown. After the almost 40-minute meeting and his six-minute statement, the president left the White House for a nearly two-hour mountain bike ride in the nearby Virginia woods. Bush also addressed the crisis in his weekly radio address, as did Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden in delivering his party's response. Biden criticized Republican nominee John McCain's proposal to solve the problem in part by having the government buy bad home-loan mortgages at full face value and renegotiate them at a reduced price. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama focused on words of calm. I know these are difficult times. I know folks are worried, he was to say at a rally in Philadelphia, according to prepared remarks released by his campaign. But I also know that now is not the time for fear or panic. Now is the time for resolve and steady leadership. Because I know we can steer ourselves out of this crisis.Associated Press writer Harry Dunphy contributed to this report. On the Net: White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy/ Treasury Department: http://www.ustreas.gov/ World Bank : http://www.worldbank.org/ International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
Saturday, October 11, 2008, 17:57 Financial system on brink of meltdown - IMF
The global financial system is on the brink of a systemic meltdown despite interventions by the US and Europe to stabilise markets, the head of the International Monetary Fund said this evening.Even with unprecedented actions in major economies, including coordinated central bank rate cuts, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said those measures had so far failed to calm the situation.
The measures have not yet achieved the goal of stabilizing markets and bolstering confidence, Mr Strauss-Kahn told the IMF's policy-steering committee, the International Monetary and Financial Committee. Thus, additional moves will likely be needed the coming months.He said the financial crisis had deepened and was now affecting many more parts of the global financial system, including emerging markets, which until now had been shielded from the crisis. Mr Strauss-Kahn said conditions were likely to remain very difficult, restraining global growth prospects, while credit conditions are set to get tougher and constrain the ability of banks and companies to access funding. The IMF has already warned the world economy will slow sharply next year and the recovery will be unusually slow, with Europe and the United States either in or close to a recession. The immediate challenge for financial policy-makers is to regain order in the system, while also nursing economies through the downturn and keeping inflation under control. Doing this, he said, would require comprehensive responses that address the systemic problems, including dealing with toxic bank assets, recapitalizing banks and adding capital to funding markets. Restoring confidence now requires a decisive commitment to concerted and coordinated action to facilitate timely recognition of troubled assets and bank recapitalization, Strauss-Kahn said. In emerging and developing markets, the balance of risk had shifted toward concerns about slowing economic activity as overall inflation recedes, he said. These changes would justify a halt to the monetary policy tightening cycle, especially in countries where second-round effects of inflation from commodity prices have been limited. A turn to easing would be called for if the outlook continues to deteriorate, he said.2008 irishtimes.com
US enemies in Mideast gloat over financial crisis By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press Writer OCT 11,08
CAIRO, Egypt - America's opponents in the Middle East are gloating over the financial meltdown in the United States, painting it as divine retribution for past misdeeds against Muslims and the last gasps of a dying empire. Hardline clerics across the region and groups like Hamas and al-Qaida took delight in America's financial woes even though it has not left the region unscathed, with stock markets across the Middle East dropping more than 10 percent last week.We are witnessing the collapse of the American Empire, Hamas prime minister in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, told worshippers during Friday prayers. What's going on in America is a result of the violation of the rights of people in Palestine, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Muslims around the world.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that America was paying the price for exporting inflation and deficits to the rest of the world.Now the world capacity is full and these problems have returned to the U.S. he said. And finally they are oppressors, and systems based on oppression and unrighteous positions will not endure.High level Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, was more blunt addressing worshippers on Oct. 3.We are happy that the U.S. economy is in anarchy and the anarchy is reaching Europe, Jannati said. They are seeing the result of their own ugly doings and God is punishing them.Iran denies the financial crisis has hurt its economy, but the turmoil has helped drive the price of oil down more than 40 percent since July, shrinking revenues in a country that relies on oil for 80 percent of its budget.Al-Qaida was one of the first groups to express satisfaction over the financial crisis.
The enemies of Islam are facing a crushing defeat, which is beginning to manifest itself in the expanding crisis their economy is experiencing, said American al-Qaida member Adam Gadahn in a video released early this month.One hardline Sunni cleric in U.S.-allied Lebanon saw the financial collapse as God's answer to Muslim prayers.
God has responded to the supplications of the oppressed people, Mufti of Mount Lebanon Sheik Mohammed Ali al-Jouzo told the state-run news agency Thursday. It is the curse that hits every arrogant power.Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Lebanon, Ali Dareini in Tehran, Iran and Karin Laub in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Mexican marijuana cartels sully US forests, parks By TRACIE CONE, Associated Press Writer Sat Oct 11, 4:20 PM ET
PORTERVILLE, Calif. - National forests and parks — long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels — have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because of the toxic chemicals needed to eke lucrative harvests from rocky mountainsides, federal officials said. The grow sites have taken hold from the West Coast's Cascade Mountains, as well as on federal lands in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.Seven hundred grow sites were discovered on U.S. Forest Service land in California alone in 2007 and 2008 — and authorities say the 1,800-square-mile Sequoia National Forest is the hardest hit.Weed and bug sprays, some long banned in the U.S., have been smuggled to the marijuana farms. Plant growth hormones have been dumped into streams, and the water has then been diverted for miles in PVC pipes.Rat poison has been sprinkled over the landscape to keep animals away from tender plants. And many sites are strewn with the carcasses of deer and bears poached by workers during the five-month growing season that is now ending.What's going on on public lands is a crisis at every level, said Forest Service agent Ron Pugh. These are America's most precious resources, and they are being devastated by an unprecedented commercial enterprise conducted by armed foreign nationals. It is a huge mess.The first documented marijuana cartels were discovered in Sequoia National Park in 1998. Then, officials say, tighter border controls after Sept. 11, 2001, forced industrial-scale growers to move their operations into the United States.Millions of dollars are spent every year to find and uproot marijuana-growing operations on state and federal lands, but federal officials say no money is budgeted to clean up the environmental mess left behind after helicopters carry off the plants. They are encouraged that Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who last year secured funding for eradication, has inquired about the pollution problems.
In the meantime, the only cleanup is done by volunteers. On Tuesday, the nonprofit High Sierra Trail Crew, founded to improve access to public lands, plans to take 30 people deep into the Sequoia National Forest to carry out miles of drip irrigation pipe, tons of human garbage, volatile propane canisters, and bags and bottles of herbicides and pesticides.If the people of California knew what was going on out there, they'd be up in arms about this, said Shane Krogen, the nonprofit's executive director. Helicopters full of dope are like body counts in the Vietnam War. What does it really mean? Last year, law enforcement agents uprooted nearly five million plants in California, nearly a half million in Kentucky and 276,000 in Washington state as the development of hybrid plants has expanded the range of climates marijuana can tolerate.People light up a joint, and they have no idea the amount of environmental damage associated with it, said Cicely Muldoon, deputy regional director of the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service.As of Sept. 2, more than 2.2 million plants had been uprooted statewide. The largest single bust in the nation this year netted 482,000 plants in the remote Sierra of Tulare County, the forest service said.Some popular parks also have suffered damage. In 2007, rangers found more than 20,000 plants in Yosemite National Park and 43,000 plants in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, where 159 grow sites have been discovered over the past 10 years.Agent Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Game estimated that 1.5 pounds of fertilizers and pesticides is used for every 11.5 plants.I've seen the pesticide residue on the plants, Foy said. You ain't just smoking pot, bud. You're smoking some heavy-duty pesticides from Mexico.Scott Wanek, the western regional chief ranger for the National Park Service, said he believes the eradication efforts have touched only a small portion of the marijuana farms and that the environmental impact is much greater than anyone knows.Think about Sequoia, Wanek said. The impact goes well beyond the acreage planted. They create huge networks of trail systems, and the chemicals that get into watersheds are potentially very far-reaching — all the way to drinking water for the downstream communities. We are trying to study that now.
OZONE DEPLETION
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Economic woes chill effort to stop global warming By DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writer OCT 12,08
WASHINGTON - Attempts to tackle global warming are being made more difficult by the spreading economic crisis even as Democratic congressional leaders say it's still a top goal for next year. At the very least, fear of a prolonged economic downturn is expected to delay attempts by the United States to cap greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate as well as both presidential candidates say addressing climate change by imposing mandatory restrictions on heat-trapping pollution — especially carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels — remains a priority.Only months ago, the prospect of climate legislation passing in the next Congress and becoming law looked promising. Both presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain support mandatory emission cuts and a Democratic majority vowed to act on the problem early in the new year.But the most popular remedy for slowing global warming, a mechanism known as cap-and-trade, could put further stress on a teetering economy by raising energy prices.Democrats in both the House and Senate have unveiled draft climate bills. But their supporters acknowledge that the bills may have to be changed, given the economic situation. For example, a proposal to auction off emission permits — a source of money to help refocus the nation's use of energy away from fossil fuels — may have to be abandoned with permits distributed for free.But some Republicans argue the whole idea of a climate bill ought to be scrapped for the time being. Limits of carbon dioxide would increase energy costs and lead the country off the economic cliff, said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.
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).
PESTILENCES (CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS)
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(CHEMICAL,BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
US controls bird flu vaccines over bioweapon fears By ROBIN McDOWELL, Associated Press Writer Sat Oct 11, 7:14 AM ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia - When Indonesia's health minister stopped sending bird flu viruses to a research laboratory in the U.S. for fear Washington could use them to make biological weapons, Defense Secretary Robert Gates laughed and called it the nuttiest thing he'd ever heard. Yet deep inside an 86-page supplement to United States export regulations is a single sentence that bars U.S. exports of vaccines for avian bird flu and dozens of other viruses to five countries designated state sponsors of terrorism.The reason: Fear that they will be used for biological warfare.
Under this little-known policy, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria and Sudan may not get the vaccines unless they apply for special export licenses, which would be given or refused according to the discretion and timing of the U.S. Three of those nations — Iran, Cuba and Sudan — also are subject to a ban on all human pandemic influenza vaccines as part of a general U.S. embargo.The regulations, which cover vaccines for everything from Dengue fever to the Ebola virus, have raised concern within the medical and scientific communities. Although they were quietly put in place more than a decade ago, they could now be more relevant because of recent concerns about bird flu. Officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they were not even aware of the policies until contacted by The Associated Press last month and privately expressed alarm.They make no scientific sense, said Peter Palese, chairman of the microbiology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He said the bird flu vaccine, for example, can be used to contain outbreaks in poultry before they mutate to a form spread more easily between people.The more vaccines out there, the better, he said. It's a matter of protecting ourselves, really, so the bird flu virus doesn't take hold in these countries and spread.U.S. Commerce Assistant Secretary Christopher Wall declined to elaborate on the precise threat posed by vaccines for chickens infected with avian influenza, except to say there are valid security concerns that they do not fall into the wrong hands.Legitimate public health and scientific research is not adversely affected by these controls, he said.
But some experts say the idea of using vaccines for bioweapons is far-fetched, and that in a health emergency, it is unclear how quickly authorities could cut through the current red tape to get the vaccines distributed.Under normal circumstances it would take at least six weeks to approve export licenses for any vaccine on the list, said Thomas Monath, who formerly headed a CIA advisory group on ways to counter biological attacks. All such decisions would follow negotiations at a very high level of government.That could makes it harder to contain an outbreak of bird flu among chickens in, say, North Korea, which is in the region hardest hit by the virus. Sudan and Iran already have recorded cases of the virus in poultry and Syria is surrounded by affected countries. Cuba, like all nations, is vulnerable because the disease is delivered by migratory birds.Kumanan Wilson, whose research at the University of Toronto focuses on policymaking in areas of health protection, said it would be ironic if the bird flu virus morphed into a more dangerous form in one of those countries.That would pose a much graver threat to the public than the theoretical risk that the vaccine could be used for biological warfare, he said.
The danger of biological warfare use depends on the specific virus or bacteria. But most experts agree that bird flu vaccines cannot be genetically altered to create weapons because they contain an inactivated virus that cannot be resuscitated.It's also unlikely they would be used to create a resistant strain of the virus as part of efforts to wreak havoc within global poultry stocks. If enemy states wanted to do that, they could make their own vaccines or turn to a less hostile country like China, said Ian Ramshaw, an expert on vaccine immunology and biosecurity at The Australian National University in Canberra.I can think of no scientific reason how a terrorist organization could use such a vaccine for malicious intent, he said. I personally think it's a rather silly attitude and the U.S. is probably going overboard as it has in the past with many of its bioterrorism initiatives.Meanwhile, bioethicists say limiting vaccines could also raise moral questions of whether some countries should be denied because of decisions based on foreign policy. They said the export controls appear inconsistent, as Libya, Iraq and two dozen other countries suspected by the U.S. of having biological weapons programs do not face restrictions on the export of poultry vaccines. If there really is a serious threat, to be consistent we'd have to more heavily regulate who has access to the vaccine, said Michael Selgelid, who co-authored the book Ethical and Philosophical Consideration of the Dual Use Dilemma in the Biological Sciences.There are malevolent actors in the U.S. just like there might be in all these other countries, he said. The policies were initially put in place amid biosecurity fears in the mid-1990s and then bolstered after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and subsequent anthrax letter mailings. The vaccines are among a long list of other items barred to rogue states over fears they could be used to make weapons of mass destruction, from technology and chemicals to dangerous pathogens. Bird flu has killed more than 240 people across the world since 2003, nearly half of them in Indonesia. Indonesia's health minister Siti Fadilah Supari first drew widespread attention when she boycotted the World Health Organization's 50-year-old virus sharing system last year, saying pharmaceutical companies were using viruses from developing nations without their knowledge to make expensive vaccines. She has since called for the creation of a global stockpile of drugs or other forms of benefit-sharing. Associated Press researcher Judith Ausuebel contributed to this report from New York.
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 RUSSIA-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.
Russian leader Medvedev watches missile tests By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer OCT 12,08
MOSCOW - President Dmitry Medvedev watched a missile soar from Russia's rain-soaked northern forests toward a target thousands of miles away on Sunday, capping a weekend of launches reminding audiences at home and abroad about the country's nuclear might. Prominent coverage of the tests on state-controlled television also seemed designed to boost the bookish Medvedev's credentials as commander-in-chief in the eyes of the Russian populace.On Sunday, Medvedev saw what officials said was the successful test-firing of a 21-year-old Topol intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile hit its target thousands of miles to the east on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Medvedev told servicemen who conducted the launch.Respected comrades ... you have fulfilled your task and I congratulate you, Medvedev, dressed in a dark bomber jacket, told servicemen in bulky blue uniforms in a clearing near the Plesetsk launch facility.The tests come amid increasingly strained ties with the United States following the war with Georgia and persistent Russian opposition to U.S. plans for a missile-defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic, former Soviet satellites now in NATO.Russia has been flexing its military muscle worldwide. It is sending a naval squadron to Venezuela for November exercises, a Western Hemisphere deployment unprecedented since the Cold War. Last year, then-President Vladimir Putin ordered the resumption of long-dormant global patrols by strategic bombers.Russian officials have said newer versions of the Topol can penetrate any missile defense.
We will strengthen our military capability, we will adopt new types of weapons, but we will continue to test the traditional ballistic missiles we have in service, Medvedev said. Their effectiveness has stood the test of time, and that is very good. It shows that our shield is in order.On Saturday, Medvedev watched the test of a Sineva missile launched from a submarine in the Barents Sea. Officials said it flew more than 7,100 miles and hit a target in the Pacific Ocean near the equator.
Sunday's land-based launch was followed by two missile launches from nuclear-powered submarines, one in the Barents Sea and one in the Sea of Okhotsk, off Russia's eastern coast north of Japan, Russian news agencies reported. The weekend launches are part of wide-ranging military exercises called Stability-2008.Medvedev — a former lawyer who comes across as milder than his predecessor and mentor Putin — has watched several military exercises since taking office.He faces an uphill battle in matching the tough-guy image of Putin, a KGB veteran and judo black-belt who is now prime minister and is widely seen as more powerful than Medvedev.
Russian missile makes record flight Sat Oct 11, 10:12 AM ET
MOSCOW - Russian officials say a submarine-launched ballistic missile has made a record flight, hitting a target in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for the first time. President Dmitry Medvedev witnessed the test, part of naval exercises being staged in the northern Barents Sea.Russian TV showed what it said was the Sineva missile launching from the submarine Tula. Medvedev said Saturday it flew more than 7,100 miles into the Pacific near the equator.Medvedev also was quoted by Russian news agencies as ordering naval officials to begin building new aircraft carriers.
A Russian flotilla is heading to the Caribbean Sea for joint exercises with Venezuela — the largest such Russian deployment to the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War.
Conservatives seen winning election By David Ljunggren OCT 11,08
LONDON, Ontario (Reuters) - Canada's ruling Conservative Party is set to win a federal election on Tuesday but will still have only a minority of seats in Parliament, according to two polls released on Saturday.The Conservatives hold 127 of the 308 seats and had genuine hopes of capturing a majority when the campaign started a month ago. Since then, the global financial crisis struck, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper has struggled to persuade Canadians to give him a strong mandate to deal with the aftershocks.An Ipsos-Reid poll for CanWest News put the Conservatives at 34 percent, with the official opposition Liberals at 29 percent and the left-leaning New Democrats at 19 percent.Harper has said from the start of the campaign that he does not think a majority is likely.We're not talking about a majority. My view is that we're in a tight race, he told reporters in London, Ontario.Earlier in the day, he told a rally of supporters that the election would be a decision on who Canadians will trust to protect our economy in this world financial turmoil in the weeks, the months and the years ahead.Under Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system, a party needs around 40 percent of the vote to win a majority. This can slip as low as 38 percent if the opposition is badly divided, as it is now.The Ipsos poll of 2,000 people was conducted October 7-9 and is considered accurate within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The election is the third in four years and, if the polls are accurate, will produce Canada's third successive minority government. Harper defeated a minority Liberal administration in a January 2006 election.A Segma poll for La Presse said the Conservatives had 34.6 percent public support, well ahead of the Liberals at 23 percent. The New Democrats had 20.5 percent.Segma president Raynald Harvey said the Conservatives had bounced back from lows late last week after two televised leaders' debates, where Harper was pummeled by his rivals and had little chance to shine.The Conservatives seem to have stopped their hemorrhage ... they have lost some feathers. But the Liberals are not in a good position to take advantage of this, he said.The Liberals have run a poor campaign, promising to introduce a carbon tax to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost spending on anti-poverty programs.The measure, to be twinned with cuts in corporate and income taxes, is designed to be revenue-neutral. Harper says the idea is a disaster and Liberal leader Stephane Dion -- whose native language is French -- has had difficulty explaining his complex proposals.The Liberals are heading for their worst performance since 1984, when they captured just 40 seats. They now have 97.The Segma survey of 1,500 people was conducted October 5-9 and is considered accurate to within 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Eric Walsh)
The CARMEL ALERT Oct 3rd 2008 A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people.David's Comment: A Strong Sign That We Are Living at the End of This Present Evil Age
In my opinion Derek Prince was the leading Bible teacher of the late 20th century. He called the times in which we live this present evil age. As I watched the news reports of the current financial crisis, I began to realise just how evil the system of the Western World is. Our system is controlled by the rich and powerful and the rest of us are just their means of getting richer. As the ordinary investors lost their life savings over the last few weeks, those in the upper echelons made more money. The financial institutions at the very top level have bought up the remnants of the banks and companies that have gone bankrupt. They kept the profitable parts and passed the loss making parts on to the taxpayer - thats you and me ! In the UK the government sold the profitable part of one of the largest investment companies to a Spanish bank and left all of the bad debts to the British taxpayers.And the US government is also in the process of bailing out the private bankers with taxpayer's money. Its wrong !!!
We ( the oridinary people ) are being ripped off. Did you notice that the price of oil has dropped from close to $140 a barrell to under $100, but the big boys havent passed that reduction on to the motorists ? I was in the UK last week and oil rose back to slightly over the $100 mark, and they wanted to put the price up again ! It is criminal ! A sarcastic friend of mine in NZ used to say prison is where the big criminals put the little criminals. How right he was ! Did you also notice that the stock market collapse on September 29 totalled 777 points and occurred on the eve of the Biblical Feast of Trumpets ? Some believe it is judgment on our nations that has the fingerprints of God all over it. US President George W. Bush was the first US president to propose the establishment of a Palestinian state, and he continues t0 send Condalesa Rice to the Middle East trying to force the Israel to give up her heartland. The Bible clearly warns that nations who try to divide Israel in the end times will pay a terrible price. In Joel 3:2 the Lord says that He will enter into judgment against those nations that have divided up My land.
The financial outlook has been growing darker for much of 2008. Many voices had been forecasting the beginnings of a financial meltdown in September, secular voices and Christian voices. Not being a financial expert myself, I dont understand the nuts and bolts of the financial system, but I know enough to know it is rotten and that it's demise is inevitable. I also saw it coming from a prophetic perspective. YHVH is preparing to re-establish His Kingdom on the Earth. That means this present evil kingdom must fall. Can't happen ? Well it happened to all of our predecessors -Babylon, Egypt, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. The world system is based on finances - hard currency which was first introduced by Nimrod. For the political system to fall, the financial system must fall. We can see it in the book of Revelation, chapter 13. A new computer based financial system that the Anti-Christ will use to control the world. will replace the current system. Unless a person is not connected to the system it will be impossible to buy or sell, pay rent, fill up the tank or get medical assistance. Revelation 13:16-18 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (NKJ) Once connected to the system every move, every electronic communication, everything you buy or sell will be monitored. It will be compulsory. Anyone who refuses the mark will be seen and treated as an outlaw. It will make H G Well's novel 1984 look like a boy scout story.
That is the scenario that lies ahead of us all. It used to seem a long way off. Even a few months ago, it seemed a long way off. But not so anymore. The current financial crisis, often referred to as a melt-down is a unmistakable sign that the current financial system could be replaced very soon. All that has to happen is for the melt-down to go all the way to the foundations and it will be very easy for the New World Order people to cancel all cash (Germany did this very thing in WW2) and bring in the new compulsory, cashless, electronic system. I could be wrong, but I dont think this current crisis will be the one that triggers the changeover, but it could very well be. Or it could be the final dress rehearsal for the next crisis which will be the one that does finally kill the current system, preparing the way for the Mark of the Beast system. That is how close we may well be to beginning of the 7 year period that will bring the end to this present evil age. Already the news is coming through that anti-Semtism is on the rise in many places as they blame the Jews for the current financial crisis. There will be another attempted Holocaust - this time not just against the Jews, but also against the Ruths - the true Christians who love and stand with Israel.
So what can we do to prepare ?
1/ Press into God - get as spiritually strong as possible ( see Daniel 11:32)
2/ Warn your family and friends and do everything you can to bring them into the right Kingdom
3/ Get together with other Believers in your fellowship and prepare contingency plans
4/ Get as physically fit as possible
5/ Be as informed as possible as to what is happening in the world
6/ Unplug from the present system as much as possible
7/ Continue to bless Israel, by aligning with God as He completes the restoration of the Jewish people to the land and to Him
The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to th Jewish people by the God of Israel Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.
Shabbat Shalom .... David & Josie.
The CARMEL ALERT Oct 3rd 2008 A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people.Stefan's Comment: Final Destination
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (NKJ)
We live in a physical world but even this world that we live in has many imitations of the spiritual world that exists around us, and in many cases what happens in this world is a manifestation of what is going in the spiritual realm. One of the strongest of these parallels is war. Ever since Lucifer has been cast from heaven there has been war between the powers of darkness and the powers of light. Once the world was created and man with it, he got caught up in the battle and has been given a choice of which side we wants to be on. There is no sitting on the fence in this battle, you are either with God and serve Him or you are against Him.Every army when going out to war sets an objective or even a number of objectives. In the higher ranks and larger units it is a strategic objective and in the smaller units it is a tactical objective. From that objective a mission is devised that serves the purpose of the objective and a method for the mission is decided upon. That method defines how that mission will be carried out. Every units objective is cut from the mission of the rank above therefore the army's objective is cut from the government's mission. If this was not how the militaries around the world operated every unit would be doing what ever it wants, much like many of the different arms of terrorist organizations who do not work in sync with headquarters and end up very unorganized with rogue units doing as they please.
So it happens that every soldier, down to the least of them, knows what is going on and where the army is heading towards as a whole. That means that even when a soldier is sitting down and cleaning his personal weapon he is doing it in light of the objective, the mission and in order to serve their purpose. We must open our spiritual eyes and realize what time it is that we are living in, what stage of the battle we are involved in, where the General is going and allow everything that we do be in light of that objective, whether we are reading our bible, praying or evangelizing.We must also realize that after we are saved and becomes the sons and daughters of God, a title which we enjoy taking upon ourselves, we also get another title and that is warriors in the army of the Lord of Hosts and that can be something we won't take upon ourselves so easily because it means we need to get our hands dirty by going into the battlefield to fight. Thank God that ...the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:4-5, NKJ)
So where is it that our General is going? What is His objective? What is the final Destination? His objective is to return to us and to take His bride away. There is only a little problem right now and that is that the second half of the bride, the Jewish people, are still blind and many of them still in exile, scattered around the globe in all the different nations. Our General is in the process of bringing them back so that they can stand in Jerusalem and say Baruch Haba BeShem Adonai which means Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord (Matt. 23:39).
When reading the books of the prophets and the New Testament about the things that must take place before the return of our King we realize that the restoration of Israel and the return of the Jewish people to their land is central. This is what God is busy doing today and it is all in preparation for the Jewish people to be cleansed, to be given a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone and for them to once again walk in the commandments and judgements of the Lord (Ezk 36:24-28).Now what must be asked is what can we (I) do? How can we as believers who are filled with the Spirit of God take action and get in the objective that our General has set ?
How can we get our hands dirty?
1. Ps 122:6-7 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces. (NKJ)
2. Matt 25:34-40 Love the Jewish people (the same physical seed that Yeshua is a part of) as you meet them and allow God's light and love to shine through you to them.
3. Help, in anyway you see possible, and encourage the Jewish people who are still in the nations to come home to the land that God has give them.
4. Build up the body of Messiah here in the land by encouraging, praying and sowing in to the different congregations and ministries.
One of the verses I like is when Yeshua said: Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. (Matt 10:16)We need to be wise and cunning, alert and on guard as to what is taking place around so that we can react in a proper way - much like a serpent, yet at the same time be gentle as doves by allowing Yeshua's love and peace to flow through us to those who around us in order to give a good testimony.The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to th Jewish people by the God of Israel Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.
Shabbat Shalom .... David & Josie.
A MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE
In the last newsletter we discussed humility prayer and confession as prerequisites for revival. Let's continue by considering sins that hinder the working of the blessed Holy Spirit of God in our life. Remember, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me (Psalms 66:18). A destructive sin called gossip deafens the ears of Almighty God as one prays to Him.
The Tongue
Nothing in the history of mankind has wrought more havoc and sorrow than the uncontrolled tongue of human beings. A wise proverb states, He that thinketh by the inch and speaketh by the yard should be kicked by the foot. Again, Loose tongues get their owners into tight places.God says in James 3:6, The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. Verses 9, 10: Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
A slanderous, vile, malicious tongue is indicative of one of two conditions:
(1) The slandered maybe a hell-bound sinner. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain (James 1:26). A wagging tongue is usually a symbol of an empty heart. God said so.
The Lord, speaking about those who are filled with all unrighteousness in Romans 1:28-32, mentions fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispering, backbitings, and other abominable practices. Now notice carefully that maliciousness (character assassination), envy (jealousy which produces gossip), debate (leading to boisterous argumentation), malignity, whispering (gossip in quiet, hushed tones), and backbitings are all partakers of the same judgment that shall be pronounced upon fornicators (sex-hungry maniacs) and murderers. Look at verse 32: Who knowing the Judgment of God, that they which commit such things are. worthy of death.In Galatians 5:19-21, the Holy Spirit lists seventeen abominations, and uncleanness (a dirty, smut-filled mouth), hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, heresies, and envyings-all having to do with the REASON FOR or the RESULT OF a poison-filled, uncontrollable tongue-are under the anathema or condemnation of God. The devil's reward, at the end of the trail, for gossipers is stated in verse 21: They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.God hates these sins. How easy it is for self-righteous church members to condemn the sins of the flesh practiced by some, and overlook the wickedness of their own lives as they lacerate, mutilate, and cut to shreds other members of the human race with their razor-sharp tongues. However, Proverbs 6:16-18 states, These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.Friend, what about the deadly tongue you possess? Will your tongue, described in the Bible as a fire, lead you into the fires of eternal doom? Fall on your face, confess your sin, get washed in Christ's blood and be saved for eternity.
(2) Second, a loose-tongued person may be saved, but carnal. Each hearer must determine his own spiritual condition before God. Both situations are taught in God's Holy Word, and a true messenger must present both viewpoints, and then allow the individual, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, to determine his own personal state before God.The Corinthian church was filled with fighting, carping Christians. Paul, in writing to this carnal assembly, says, I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? (1Corinthians 3:1-3).Fighting, bickering, and sowing discord among brethren is not a sign of spiritually, but of extreme carnality. Many who claim to be dominated by the Holy Spirit are constantly running off at the mouth. You are professing a lie if this is the case. It is easy to call the working of the Holy Spirit a second work of grace, an infilling, a baptism, and loudly proclaim an experience with the third member of the Trinity through signs and wonders. The real evidence, however, is in a love-filled heart and Spirit-controlled tongue. You don't believe it? Hear God in James 3:2: If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man. Again, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5:22,23).I was asked, Do you believe in the infilling of the Holy Spirit? Amen. Have you had the evidence? Which one-there are at least nine in 1 Corinthians 12-14, and a host of others found throughout the New Testament.
They replied, Tongues.
I answered, I am seeking a greater evidence than tongues; I am seeking to control the one I have. That's right; the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, long-suffering, gentleness. These have to do with getting along with others and loving them when they treat you like dirt. You don't retaliate by spreading venom about them with the tongue. That is not the mark of a Spirit-filled human being.You argue that the gifts and the fruit are two different things? Quit quibbling; they go hand-in-hand. That is what God is trying to say in 1 Corinthians 13. Charity, which is love, is the evidence of the blessed Holy Spirit's presence in one's life. One can talk about his experiences and visions until doomsday, but if the fruit of the Spirit-LOVE-is absent, all the speaking in tongues is but projected from the diaphragm. Don't get angry now, because that will prove my point that LOVE-the true evidence-is missing in your experience.Listen to the Spirit of God as He writes, through Paul, 1 Corinthians 13:1: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. (More simply: Though I speak with angelic tongues and fight with everyone, I am just a lot of noise). The real evidence is found in verses 4-7:Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not [is not jealous]; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up [saying I have the gift and you don't; I am spiritual and you apparently aren't], doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things [yes, endures all things and will not try to get back with the tongue).
Is this your experience? If so, you have the evidence of the Spirit. Languages, signs, and wonders can be faked; but the above-mentioned love can only be produced by the Holy Spirit.Some of you have roast preacher every week. You talk against every spiritual leader of the Church. One day your children will curse God and turn their back on religion, and your uncontrollable tongue will have been the cause. God hates gossip. The Word proves it:
Lying lips are abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 12:22).
A true witness delivereth souls; but a deceitful witness speaketh lies (Proverbs 14:25).
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones (Proverbs 16:24).
A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue (Proverbs 17:4).
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish (Proverbs 19:9).
Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
Let your speech be always with grace (Colossians 4:6).
An Unforgiving Spirit
Some of you reading this newsletter have been hurt by another's vicious remarks. Because of it, you have harbored ill will toward that person. This is human, I know, but it is not divine. We who are filled with the Spirit can live on a higher plane. To err is human; to forgive divine. If animosity, envy, ill-will, and jealousy continue, this internal bitterness will destroy one's communion with his Lord.In Ephesians 4:30 we find: And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. It is evident that when the Spirit of God, living within a believer, is grieved, the believer feels the mood of the grief-stricken Spirit and shares in the misery. Because of it, fellowship with God is broken.What causes the Spirit to be grieved? Verses 31,32: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And [get it, please] be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.The same truth is taught in Colossians 3:13: Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.Since we are to forgive others as Christ did, what did He do differently? In Luke 23, we see the Saviour hanging on the cross. Thorns stick into the flesh surrounding the skull. Spikes fasten Him to the tree. One sees a mutilated, mangled form suspended between heaven and earth.
Is Christ bitter? NO! He looks at His torturers and cries, Father forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). Had they crucified Him daily for the last 1,900 years, He would still pray for their forgiveness. I know that from Matthew 18:21-35. Peter says to Christ, How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? til seven times [49 times]? Jesus said, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven [490 times]. Oh, what love and what grace. If God expects us to forgive 490 times, then He too will always open His arms to those who come to Him with broken, heavy-laden hearts. Thousands reading this newsletter today, who had the vilest of sins canceled at the cross, now harbor bitterness toward some other brother over some insignificant nonsense that "once upon a time" occurred. Oh, you will be ashamed when you see Christ for not obeying His Holy Word: Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath for given you (Ephesians 4:32).Stephen had this spirit of forgiveness. As angry mobs crushed him to death with rocks in Acts 7:59,60, he cried, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. He was as human as any of us, but was filled with the Spirit of God (verse 55).It is easy to fly off the handle, gossip about others, and run around with a grudge while talking about the power of the Holy Spirit-but it is all a farce. His Spirit will make you turn the other cheek; will make you love the unlovable, and will never seek revenge by hurting the one who hurt you.God says if you want to spare yourself heartache and divine judgment, judge this sin in your own life and put it away. I am calling upon you to do this now. Remember, if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Corinthians 7:14).
FROM THE HEART OF DR. REXELLA VAN IMPE
I Almost Missed the Blessing!
He was standing near the exit of a department store in the shopping mall - a quiet, unassuming man, neatly dressed in casual clothes. As I walked past him on my way out of the store, he glanced in my direction - then quickly looked again, obviously recognizing me.
Mrs. Van Impe?
Yes, I'm Rexella Van Impe.
It's so nice to see you in person. I feel like I've known you and your husband for many years - I used to attend your crusade services. Could you spare just a moment? I have a little story to share with you.Of course, I replied, stepping out of the doorway and to the side of the corridor. I felt perfectly comfortable and at ease with this old friend I'd never met before - he was no longer a stranger. I'd love to hear your story.The man stretched out his right arm and pulled back the sleeve of his coat. His arm was atrophied and shorter than normal, with an extremely deformed hand. I was born this way - with a right arm and hand that were shriveled and useless. As I grew up, I became more and more aware of my deformity. I felt that I was 'damaged' and worthless. I became as handicapped emotionally and mentally as I was physically.As a little boy, I started praying, Oh, God, heal my hand and arm. Help me and give me a normal life.' In my mind, I felt the only way my prayer could be answered would be to get a whole new arm and hand.Over the years, doctors performed three major operations on me - very involved, complicated reconstructive surgeries. The operations were successful in that they enabled me to gain much use of my right arm and hand. I learned to do lots of things - almost anything I wanted - with my repaired hand.As he spoke, the man demonstrated how he could move his arm freely and deftly use his still-twisted hand to pick up and manipulate various objects with obvious strength and dexterity.With a wry smile, he continued his account. "But the surgeries didn't help my mind and my feelings. They continued to be 'deformed' because my arm was still short and my hand was still twisted - not totally whole in appearance. Instead of being thankful for the tremendous improvement, I found myself thinking, 'Why didn't God answer my prayer and heal me? I still don't have a right arm and hand that match my left side.' And I went on feeling frustrated and limited for years.Then one day during my personal devotional time, I finished my Bible reading and was meditating. I again began to wonder why God hadn't answered my boyhood prayers. Suddenly I became intensely aware of God's presence, and He seemed to speak to me.
I answered your prayer!' the Lord said. You are whole. You can do just about anything with your right arm that you can do with your left. You have a good marriage and beautiful children. You have a profitable business. I have blessed you and met your needs. Why do you feel that your prayers were not answered?I was astonished at those words, Rexella. I jumped to my feet and shouted, Thank You, Lord, for opening my eyes. You did answer my prayer. You have made me whole! But I almost missed the blessing!Isn't that a remarkable experience? Hearing our friend's tremendous story stirred my heart and started me thinking. How many times do we risk missing out on God's blessings because they may not arrive in the exact package we're expecting? How should we act, what should we do while we're waiting on the Lord to answer prayer? I love the way The Living Bible instructs and encourages us with Psalm 27:14 - Don't be impatient. Wait for the Lord, and he will come and save you! Be brave, stouthearted and courageous. Yes, wait and he will help you.Are you waiting for God to answer the cry of your heart and meet some special need for you or a loved one? Here are some suggestions for you.
Wait in prayer.
First of all, I believe that when we're waiting on the Lord, we should wait in prayer and allow ourselves to be comforted by the Holy Spirit. Too often we allow ourselves to be anxious and apprehensive after we've prayed and are waiting. By not allowing the comfort of the Holy Spirit to overwhelm us, we make ourselves vulnerable to the ravages of doubt and fear.One of the first times I remember hearing Wait, Rexella was when I was just a little girl, maybe four years old. My mother had left me with my grandmother for the day. For a while I watched as she worked in the kitchen preparing to bake a pie.When I grew restless, my grandmother said, Rexella, as soon as I finish baking this pie, we'll go down and get an ice cream banana split. But for now I want you to sit here on the counter and wait.
A few minutes later I asked, Are you almost done, Grandma?No, honey, you have to wait.Yes, but I want to go get my banana split now! No, I'm not finished here. You must wait a little longer. In another moment or two, I was asking again, Are you through yet? So my grandmother decided to use the waiting time to teach me something new. Spreading some flour across the counter, she taught me how to form the letters and spell the word B-A-N-A-N-A. I was so delighted at my new accomplishment that I momentarily forgot my impatience.I believe that God sometimes has lessons to teach us as we wait. There can be great value to be gained just by waiting, although it's hard for people in today's age of instant gratification to appreciate this truth.
We've all heard the old joke about doctors telling patients to take an aspirin and call me in the morning. Well, current medical research suggests that maybe these medics weren't just ignoring their patient's needs. The truth is that God has put a miraculous healing force within our bodies that, with just a little time, will begin to heal a high percentage of maladies.It's also true that time is a great healer in incidents of loss and grief. What seems unbearable and inconsolable today will become less painful and easier to bear as time goes by. As the Psalmist David expressed so beautifully, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Psalm 30:5).Don't misunderstand me - I'm not saying that we should pray about something, then just wait until we get over it naturally. We've all experienced those wondrous times when God came upon the scene and moved in our behalf almost instantly. In fact, there are times, God says, Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear (Isaiah 65:24).If we need an instant answer, God will not forsake us or fail. But there are times when we need to wait - not impatiently, but bravely, stoutheartedly, and with courage. In those times the Holy Spirit will come to us ... and teach us ... and help us. Don't miss what God wants to do for you!
Wait in faith.
When you pray, wait in faith. Be confident in God. Believe in His love and goodness. Trust the Lord to keep His Word. Jesus said, If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it (John 14:14). Let your confidence be based on the knowledge that He will answer your prayer - God will take care of you.Perhaps you're saying, But Rexella, sometimes that kind of faith is a little bit hard to come by. I understand exactly what you mean.I heard an illustration about a woman whose view from her kitchen window was blocked by an ugly old mountain that she often wished was gone. One day she read that if she had faith as big as a grain of mustard seed, she could pray for the mountain to be removed and it would go. So she decided to try it.Oh, God, if you love me, remove that mountain. I have faith that You can do this, so tonight I'm asking you to take it away.The next morning the woman got up, walked into her kitchen, and looked out the window. There's that mountain, she said, just as I expected!Do you expect God to answer when you pray? Do you have faith that He will hear and respond to your prayers according to His will? Has God answered your prayers in the past? Do you know others whose prayers have been answered? Yes, of course! When you know who God is and what He is like, you can have faith in Him. I believe that real faith is not something you try to believe - it is something you cannot doubt! You must reach a place in your Christian experience where you discover the bedrock truths that require no convincing. And on that Rock you take your stand.
Getting to that place may require you to do some waiting - in prayer ... and in faith. Be willing to do it! Don't miss the blessing!
Wait patiently!
My third suggestion for learning to wait on the Lord is to be patient - not murmuring, not saying, Why is this happening to me?, not rebelling. For forty years the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, missing out on the blessing of going into the Promised Land.As a matter of necessity, the road out of Egypt's slavery led through the desert. But the Israelites did not go through the desert patiently. They griped, complained, doubted, and rebelled! The more they murmured and rebelled, the longer they had to wait.The land God had promised was out there, just an eleven-day march away (see Deuteronomy 1:2). It was wonderful country - almost literally flowing with milk and honey. But most of the Israelites died in the desert, wandering around and around in the wilderness until they missed out on the blessing. It was real! God had intended for them to have it! But their lack of prayer, lack of faith, and lack of patience ultimately destroyed them.Forty years later, when the doubters and murmurers were dead, Joshua led the new generation - and a handful of faithful old-timers - into the land of Canaan.Oh, my dear friend, there have been times in my life when I was tempted to focus on the problem and not on the solution God was going to give me. In those moments, I was becoming part of the problem! Have you had that experience? Isn't it wonderful that God is faithful? He keeps on reminding us to pray ... to wait in faith ... to be patient and not to give up or rebel. And as we wait, the Spirit of God comes to us, teaches us, helps us, and meets our need! When it happens - when the darkness falls away and the power of God breaks through the limitations of our lives and sets us free - how we rejoice! We gratefully discover that - in the words of Solomon and David, The Lord is our salvation, our refuge, and our strong tower! (See 2 Samuel 22:3; Proverbs 18:10; Psalm 61:3).Thank You, God, we exclaim. We almost missed the blessing!
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.
Norbert weakens to tropical storm over Mexico By KIRSTEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer OCT 12,08
PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico - After making landfall over mainland Mexico, Norbert weakened Sunday from a hurricane to a tropical storm, weather officials said.
Norbert made landfall over mainland Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane with winds near 85 mph (140 kph) early Sunday morning, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.But those winds had weakened to near 40 mph (65 kph) and Norbert was expected to rapidly weaken to a tropical depression later Sunday morning, the Miami-based center said.Hurricane warnings for the coast of Mexico have been discontinued, the center said.At 8 a.m. Sunday, Norbert's center was located about 70 miles (110 kilometers) west-southwest of Chihuahua and was moving northeast near 21 mph (34 kph). The storm or its remnants were expected to reach western Texas and New Mexico later on Sunday.Hurricane Norbert made landfall over mainland Mexico early Sunday morning about 25 miles (35 kilometers) southeast of Huatabampo, the center said.
The storm moved over the Mexican mainland after tearing off roofs and forcing hundreds of people to flee widespread flooding on the Baja California peninsula.It hit land Saturday near Puerto Charley on Baja's southwest coast as a Category 2 hurricane, but weakened to Category 1 after emerging over the Gulf of California, the center said.Baja residents fled to shelters in school buses and army trucks as floodwaters rose in their homes. Winds uprooted palm trees and the water rose knee-high in some streets of the town of Puerto San Carlos.We left our house because we were scared. Our house is pretty poor and the water was already coming in, said Maria Espinosa, 54, who arrived at a high school with her daughter and two grandchildren. They joined about 60 other people sitting on foam mattresses and blankets.Streets turned into rushing, knee-deep rivers in Ciudad Constitucion, on the southern peninsula. Furniture, car parts and trash cans floated down the roads that were deserted except for a few police patrols and a soaked dog on high ground.
More than 2,000 people were in the city's shelters, many of them from coastal villages where nearly all homes had lost their roofs, said Miguel Arevalos, the local Civil Protection director.We came here because our roof is gone, the wind ripped it off, said Luis Mesa, 39, taking shelter at an elementary school after fleeing his village of Pueblo Nuevo. They said on the radio it was going to get really ugly.Early Sunday, the storm had passed over the Gulf of California away from the peninsula and was moving toward the mainland. The storm passed far north of the peninsula's resort-studded Los Cabos.Authorities evacuated people from low-lying areas in Sonora state and opened 60 shelters capable of holding more than 6,000 people, said Willebaldo Alatriste, the state's civil protection director.Robert Fernandez, sales manager of the Paradiso Resort and Beach Club in Sonora's popular vacation town of San Carlos, said the hotel set up sandbags along the beach, reinforced its windows and warned visitors against swimming in the ocean.But we don't think it will be too bad, he said.The storm's remnants were expected to continue to dump rain on water-logged West Texas, where authorities prepared for more flooding. State and local officials plan to activate an emergency operations center Monday in Presidio, where an earthen levee is struggling to hold back the swollen Rio Grande. Meanwhile, a weakening Tropical Storm Odile hugged the southwest coast of Mexico. Civil Protection officials in Guerrero state urged about 10,000 people living along river banks or other dangerous areas to evacuate. Mudslides and fallen trees blocked roads, and 150 homes were under 13 feet (4 meters) of water in El Paraiso, a small town north of Acapulco, officials said. Odile's estimated center was located about 45 miles (70 kilometers) west of Manzanillo and was moving north-northwest near 12 mph (19 kph). It carried sustained winds of about 40 mph (65 kph) but forecasters said it was quickly becoming disorganized.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
12 killed in Russian North Caucasus quake Sat Oct 11, 1:29 PM ET
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia - A strong earthquake hit Chechnya and other parts of Russia's North Caucasus Saturday, killing at least 12 people and damaging scores of hospitals, schools and other buildings, emergency officials said. The quake hit around 1 p.m. (0900 GMT) and was centered northeast of the Chechen capital, Grozny, Russian emergency officials said. The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblor had a magnitude of 5.3.At least 12 people were killed in the quake and a series of aftershocks, which were felt throughout the North Caucasus and which rattled Grozny for more than 30 seconds, the regional Emergency Situations Ministry office said. The toll was expected to rise as officials got information from outlying districts.
Most victims were killed by falling debris or furniture in homes and apartment buildings, said Oleg Grekov, a regional emergency official. More than 60 people sought medical help in the hardest hit Chechen towns, which included Grozny and Gudermes, he said.Russia's Caucasus Mountain region only sees occasional earthquakes. Most buildings are not reinforced against severe structural shocks and even small quakes can cause serious damage.Emergency officials said buildings in some districts saw serious structural damage, including hospitals in two Chechen districts.Chechnya is one of Russia's poorest regions, having suffered through two devastating wars in the past 15 years. Many people in the region are unemployed, and sporadic fighting between separatist rebels and federal and regional forces erupts regularly.
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
EU leaders to study crisis plan in Paris By Tamora Vidaillet OCT 12.08
PARIS (Reuters) - Leaders of euro zone countries hold an emergency meeting in Paris on Sunday hoping to agree on specific, pan-European measures to prevent market panic from triggering the most severe global downturn in decades. Government officials have suggested action rather than talk could emerge from the first such gathering of the so-called Eurogroup, hastily arranged by President Nicolas Sarkozy after stock markets around the world plunged last week.The meeting of the 15 countries which use the euro as their currency comes on the heels of a G7 summit of rich nations in Washington which offered no concrete, collective action but promised to do whatever was needed to unfreeze credit markets.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose country is not in the euro zone, will also meet Sarkozy on Sunday and a French official said the Eurogroup will likely use a rescue package unveiled by London last week as its reference point.Speaking just before leaving Washington overnight, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said the Eurogroup would go beyond talking about remedies to put meat, muscles on the bones of that skeleton and to develop, follow up and execute upon it.Lagarde said leaders needed to announce detailed implementation measures as quickly as possible and before the opening of markets if necessary.Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who met in France on Saturday, said they had prepared a certain number of decisions to present at a European summit to try to restore normal flows in blocked credit markets.
LEADERSHIP QUESTIONMARKS
Sarkozy will meet Brown, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at 3.30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. EDT), before the summit of euro zone leaders kicks off 90 minutes later.Britain's capital London is the largest financial center in Europe and government sources said Brown had also been invited to sit in on part of the Eurogroup discussions.Britain's rescue plan makes available 50 billion pounds ($86 billion) of taxpayers' money for injection into its banks and, crucially, calls for underwriting interbank lending, which has all but frozen around the globe.In an interview with the Observer newspaper on Sunday, Brown said he would try to broker a Europe-wide bail-out of banks modeled on his plan, warning that the stakes could not be higher for jobs, mortgages and the future of the economy.The Sunday Times newspaper said Britain will launch its biggest retail bank rescue on Monday when the four largest, HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Barclays, ask for a combined 35 billion pound ($60.5billion) lifeline.Other countries are also stepping up their game, with Australia and New Zealand guaranteeing bank deposits.On Saturday, media reports said Germany was readying a rescue package that could be worth up to $549 billion, including the injection of equity capital worth double digit billions into its banks and guarantees for interbank lending.Still, question marks over the effectiveness of global efforts remained.Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos criticized the G7 response to the crisis, saying on Saturday that while there was unity over the goals, there was nothing in the final statement from Washington about the instruments that would be used.Bos lamented a lack of leadership and said the International Monetary Fund should play a leading role in finding solutions. (Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Washington; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Euro-zone chiefs meet to coordinate on meltdown By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press Writer OCT 12,08
PARIS - European leaders meet Sunday in search of a common response to a spreading financial crisis that has ricocheted across the Atlantic to their shores and to try to preserve the bloc's unity. It could be a complex exercise for the 15 heads of state or government of the euro-zone, where the euro currency is used, because of the varied financial landscapes in each country.German Chancellor Angela Merkel, stressing the need for a synchronized response, said Saturday that a common tool box could be the outcome. Individual countries can use these tools to respond to their particular situation, she said.We need a common approach in Europe but we must be able to adapt to each national situation in a flexible way, she said after a meeting outside Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.Both Merkel and Sarkozy stressed that coordination is vital to taming the crisis and putting an end to the go-it-alone approach that has predominated thus far in Europe.France, the current president of the European Union, and Germany have long been considered the motor for European construction. Decisions made by the euro-zone would likely be later enlarged to include other members of the 27-nation EU.British Prime Minister Gordan Brown was meeting with Sarkozy ahead of the summit. Britain is not in the euro-zone.
Sarkozy and Merkel each rejected as out of the question any common financial rescue fund based on the U.S. model approved last week.The crisis demands extremely rapid responses and a European fund would pose gigantic problems in decision-making among so many nations, Sarkozy said at a news conference with Merkel.Merkel did not exclude support for banks seeking it but said in that case conditions would be attached. One cannot talk of nationalization, she said, adding nothing has yet been decided on the subject.Monday is when decisions should be put into practice nationally, for Germany at least, Merkel said. She called taking things to the national level the third step after a weekend meeting in Washington of finance ministers from the Group of Seven — Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and the U.S.President Bush later appealed for a global approach to the crisis that he said was needed in an interconnected world.So far, European countries have reacted diversely on a case by case basis.Ireland's unilateral move to guarantee all bank deposits caught other EU nations off balance and fearing a flight of capital to the Emerald Isles.Britain announced a $88 billion plan to partly nationalize major banks and promised to guarantee a further $438 billion in loans to shore up the banking sector. The Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis got a bailout and so did lender Dexia SA, helped by France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Developing countries feeling fallout from meltdown By HARRY DUNPHY, Associated Press Writer OCT 12,08
WASHINGTON - Searching for ways to tackle the unfolding economic crisis, global finance ministers are turning attention to the fallout in developing countries and poor nations. President Bush and world financial leaders sought to display unity Saturday as a way to calm investors whose panic has spread despite stepped up government action.The crisis dominated discussions at the meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and the annual sessions of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Many participants spoke in unusually somber tones of the need for action.The talks shifted Sunday to the World Bank and its policy-setting committee, led by Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens and the bank's president, Robert Zoellick, a former U.S. diplomat and trade negotiator.As a result of the downturn, developed countries are not expected to help 28 countries facing twin shocks of rising food and fuel prices, Zoellick said. For the poor, the costs of the crisis could be lifelong, he said.Bush said his administration was doing everything possible to halt the biggest market disruption since the Great Depression. Accompanied by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, he participated for about 25 minutes in a discussion late Saturday with the Group of 20 nations, which includes wealthy countries as well as major developing countries such as China, Brazil and India.White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Bush acknowledged the problem began in the United States, but told participants that we're all in this together.We take this seriously and we want to work with you, Bush assured the ministers, according to Fratto.
In a joint statement the G-20 finance officials pledged to work together to overcome the financial turmoil, and to deepen cooperation to improve the regulation, supervision and the overall functioning of the world's financial markets.Other speakers at a policy meeting of the IMF echoed Bush in emphasizing the need for countries to work together to address the crisis, avoiding the go-it-alone projectionist trade strategies that worsened conditions during the Great Depression of the 1930s.There is a resolve in the international community that this crisis will be resolved, that no tools will be spared to address its ramifications, said Youssef Boutros Ghali, Egypt's finance minister and the new chairman of the policy panel.
European leaders were meeting Sunday in Paris in search of a common response to the crisis. It could be a complex exercise for the 15 heads of state or government of the euro-zone, where the euro currency is used, because of the varied financial landscapes in each country.On the Net:White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy/Treasury Department: http://www.ustreas.gov/World Bank : http://www.worldbank.org/International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
EU's Almunia sees room for near-term ECB rate cut 11 Oct 2008 12:56 PM ET
Size WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Falling euro zone inflation and stabilising inflation expectations could make room for an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Saturday. Supported by the easing of commodity prices, the presently high inflation is on a downward trend and long-term inflation expectations are stabilising at a lower level consistent with price stability, Almunia said in a statement. If confirmed, these new developments could justify some monetary easing in the near-term, he said in a rare reference to ECB monetary policy at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The ECB cut rates by 0.5 percentage point to 3.75 percent together with other major central banks on Wednesday and economists expect more could be in the pipeline. ECB Governing council member Christian Noyer also hinted at such a possibility on Friday by saying that inflation in the 15 countries using the euro would fall below the bank's target of just below 2 percent in mid-2009. Euro zone inflation was 3.6 percent year-on-year in September, down from 3.8 percent in August. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Keywords: FINANCIAL/EUROPE tf.TFNEurope_newsdesk@thomson.com ak
Bush, allies pledge joint action on global crisis By JENNIFER LOVEN and MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Associated Press Writers OCT 11,08
WASHINGTON - President Bush and foreign financial officials displayed joint resolve Saturday to combat the unfolding financial crisis, hoping to calm investors whose panic has spread despite bold and accelerating government action. Yet there was no concrete offer of new moves when Bush spoke on a Rose Garden stage just after daybreak, flanked by representatives from nearly a dozen nations and international organizations. The fresh message of the day was Bush's plea that nations work together to address the crisis, avoiding the go-it-alone protectionist trade strategies that worsened conditions during the Great Depression.In an interconnected world, no nation will gain by driving down the fortunes of another. We are in this together. We will come through it together, Bush said. There have been moments of crisis in the past when powerful nations turned their energies against each other or sought to wall themselves off from the world. This time is different.White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Bush's commitment to collaborative action was repeated and agreed to by every official and minister who took part in a private White House meeting before the statement. Participating in that session with the president were top officials from the Group of Seven powers — the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada — as well as from the European Union, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.Bush did not mention any specific action that prompted his call. But Ireland recently moved to guarantee all bank deposits, triggering similar actions in Germany and other countries concerned that nervous depositors would move their bank accounts to Ireland.The president barely referenced a significant new step from his administration — partial nationalization of some banks. After days of speculation this move was coming, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced late Friday night that the government would buy part ownership in an array of American banks.President Hoover tried something like that in 1932 during the Great Depression. No detail was provided about how the new approach would work, only that it was similar to Britain's move to pour cash into its troubled banks in exchange for stakes in them. The U.S. government would use an unspecified portion of the $700 billion approved by Congress a week ago to purchase stocks in a wide variety of banks and other financial institutions.The rescue program originally was sold to Congress and the public as a plan to buy mortgage-related loans from financial institutions. The goal was to remove troubled assets from those institutions' books and inspire them to restart more normal lending operations.
Congress passed the massive and hard-fought legislation, and Bush signed it. The government raised the amount of bank deposits it insured. Billions of dollars of reserves have gone into banking systems in the U.S. and other countries. Yet credit, the economy's lifeblood, has remained virtually frozen.This paralysis in the credit markets has translated into intense turmoil in the stock markets. The Dow Jones industrial average just completed its worst week in history, plummeting more than 18 percent. Over the past year, people in the U.S. have watched $8.4 trillion drain from investment accounts and retirement savings.So the administration decided to use the bailout bill to pump equity directly into the banks — an idea never mentioned during the congressional debate. The administration says it is authorized in an obscure corner of the 400-page legislation.Officials are not saying how long it will take to get this program under way — just as is the case with the even more complicated effort to buy mortgage-backed securities.Bush seemed to acknowledge that the lag is feeding anxiety on Wall Street. These extraordinary efforts are being implemented as quickly and as effectively as possible, Bush said. The benefits will not be realized overnight.The White House session with Bush followed a three-hour meeting Friday night of G-7 finance ministers. The president largely echoed their terse statement, saying the nations have together pledged to do what it takes to resolve this crisis.Among their promises are preventing the failure of major banks, unfreezing credit markets, bolstering deposit insurance programs, getting the battered mortgage financing system to operate more normally and working with poorer but fast-growing nations that also are feeling the pinch.To address this last pledge, Paulson scheduled a meeting Saturday evening of the Group of 20 countries — which include the G-7 plus the world's biggest developing countries such as China, Brazil and India — to explain recent actions by the U.S. and other wealthy allies.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she saw the discussions as a way to help emerging-market countries understand actions by wealthier nations so they can be included in solutions and if they wish, adopt the same principles.All the representatives are in Washington for weekend meetings of the 185-nation International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In a briefing for the IMF's policy-setting board, Paulson said that after the immediate crisis we must turn our attention to longer-term reforms to modernize our outdated financial regulatory structure.It was the 22nd day among the past 27 that Bush had spoken about the financial crisis, since evidence first arose that the year-old subprime mortgage mess was evolving into a broader and more calamitous meltdown. After the almost 40-minute meeting and his six-minute statement, the president left the White House for a nearly two-hour mountain bike ride in the nearby Virginia woods. Bush also addressed the crisis in his weekly radio address, as did Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden in delivering his party's response. Biden criticized Republican nominee John McCain's proposal to solve the problem in part by having the government buy bad home-loan mortgages at full face value and renegotiate them at a reduced price. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama focused on words of calm. I know these are difficult times. I know folks are worried, he was to say at a rally in Philadelphia, according to prepared remarks released by his campaign. But I also know that now is not the time for fear or panic. Now is the time for resolve and steady leadership. Because I know we can steer ourselves out of this crisis.Associated Press writer Harry Dunphy contributed to this report. On the Net: White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy/ Treasury Department: http://www.ustreas.gov/ World Bank : http://www.worldbank.org/ International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
Saturday, October 11, 2008, 17:57 Financial system on brink of meltdown - IMF
The global financial system is on the brink of a systemic meltdown despite interventions by the US and Europe to stabilise markets, the head of the International Monetary Fund said this evening.Even with unprecedented actions in major economies, including coordinated central bank rate cuts, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said those measures had so far failed to calm the situation.
The measures have not yet achieved the goal of stabilizing markets and bolstering confidence, Mr Strauss-Kahn told the IMF's policy-steering committee, the International Monetary and Financial Committee. Thus, additional moves will likely be needed the coming months.He said the financial crisis had deepened and was now affecting many more parts of the global financial system, including emerging markets, which until now had been shielded from the crisis. Mr Strauss-Kahn said conditions were likely to remain very difficult, restraining global growth prospects, while credit conditions are set to get tougher and constrain the ability of banks and companies to access funding. The IMF has already warned the world economy will slow sharply next year and the recovery will be unusually slow, with Europe and the United States either in or close to a recession. The immediate challenge for financial policy-makers is to regain order in the system, while also nursing economies through the downturn and keeping inflation under control. Doing this, he said, would require comprehensive responses that address the systemic problems, including dealing with toxic bank assets, recapitalizing banks and adding capital to funding markets. Restoring confidence now requires a decisive commitment to concerted and coordinated action to facilitate timely recognition of troubled assets and bank recapitalization, Strauss-Kahn said. In emerging and developing markets, the balance of risk had shifted toward concerns about slowing economic activity as overall inflation recedes, he said. These changes would justify a halt to the monetary policy tightening cycle, especially in countries where second-round effects of inflation from commodity prices have been limited. A turn to easing would be called for if the outlook continues to deteriorate, he said.2008 irishtimes.com
US enemies in Mideast gloat over financial crisis By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press Writer OCT 11,08
CAIRO, Egypt - America's opponents in the Middle East are gloating over the financial meltdown in the United States, painting it as divine retribution for past misdeeds against Muslims and the last gasps of a dying empire. Hardline clerics across the region and groups like Hamas and al-Qaida took delight in America's financial woes even though it has not left the region unscathed, with stock markets across the Middle East dropping more than 10 percent last week.We are witnessing the collapse of the American Empire, Hamas prime minister in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, told worshippers during Friday prayers. What's going on in America is a result of the violation of the rights of people in Palestine, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Muslims around the world.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that America was paying the price for exporting inflation and deficits to the rest of the world.Now the world capacity is full and these problems have returned to the U.S. he said. And finally they are oppressors, and systems based on oppression and unrighteous positions will not endure.High level Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, was more blunt addressing worshippers on Oct. 3.We are happy that the U.S. economy is in anarchy and the anarchy is reaching Europe, Jannati said. They are seeing the result of their own ugly doings and God is punishing them.Iran denies the financial crisis has hurt its economy, but the turmoil has helped drive the price of oil down more than 40 percent since July, shrinking revenues in a country that relies on oil for 80 percent of its budget.Al-Qaida was one of the first groups to express satisfaction over the financial crisis.
The enemies of Islam are facing a crushing defeat, which is beginning to manifest itself in the expanding crisis their economy is experiencing, said American al-Qaida member Adam Gadahn in a video released early this month.One hardline Sunni cleric in U.S.-allied Lebanon saw the financial collapse as God's answer to Muslim prayers.
God has responded to the supplications of the oppressed people, Mufti of Mount Lebanon Sheik Mohammed Ali al-Jouzo told the state-run news agency Thursday. It is the curse that hits every arrogant power.Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Lebanon, Ali Dareini in Tehran, Iran and Karin Laub in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Mexican marijuana cartels sully US forests, parks By TRACIE CONE, Associated Press Writer Sat Oct 11, 4:20 PM ET
PORTERVILLE, Calif. - National forests and parks — long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels — have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because of the toxic chemicals needed to eke lucrative harvests from rocky mountainsides, federal officials said. The grow sites have taken hold from the West Coast's Cascade Mountains, as well as on federal lands in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.Seven hundred grow sites were discovered on U.S. Forest Service land in California alone in 2007 and 2008 — and authorities say the 1,800-square-mile Sequoia National Forest is the hardest hit.Weed and bug sprays, some long banned in the U.S., have been smuggled to the marijuana farms. Plant growth hormones have been dumped into streams, and the water has then been diverted for miles in PVC pipes.Rat poison has been sprinkled over the landscape to keep animals away from tender plants. And many sites are strewn with the carcasses of deer and bears poached by workers during the five-month growing season that is now ending.What's going on on public lands is a crisis at every level, said Forest Service agent Ron Pugh. These are America's most precious resources, and they are being devastated by an unprecedented commercial enterprise conducted by armed foreign nationals. It is a huge mess.The first documented marijuana cartels were discovered in Sequoia National Park in 1998. Then, officials say, tighter border controls after Sept. 11, 2001, forced industrial-scale growers to move their operations into the United States.Millions of dollars are spent every year to find and uproot marijuana-growing operations on state and federal lands, but federal officials say no money is budgeted to clean up the environmental mess left behind after helicopters carry off the plants. They are encouraged that Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who last year secured funding for eradication, has inquired about the pollution problems.
In the meantime, the only cleanup is done by volunteers. On Tuesday, the nonprofit High Sierra Trail Crew, founded to improve access to public lands, plans to take 30 people deep into the Sequoia National Forest to carry out miles of drip irrigation pipe, tons of human garbage, volatile propane canisters, and bags and bottles of herbicides and pesticides.If the people of California knew what was going on out there, they'd be up in arms about this, said Shane Krogen, the nonprofit's executive director. Helicopters full of dope are like body counts in the Vietnam War. What does it really mean? Last year, law enforcement agents uprooted nearly five million plants in California, nearly a half million in Kentucky and 276,000 in Washington state as the development of hybrid plants has expanded the range of climates marijuana can tolerate.People light up a joint, and they have no idea the amount of environmental damage associated with it, said Cicely Muldoon, deputy regional director of the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service.As of Sept. 2, more than 2.2 million plants had been uprooted statewide. The largest single bust in the nation this year netted 482,000 plants in the remote Sierra of Tulare County, the forest service said.Some popular parks also have suffered damage. In 2007, rangers found more than 20,000 plants in Yosemite National Park and 43,000 plants in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, where 159 grow sites have been discovered over the past 10 years.Agent Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Game estimated that 1.5 pounds of fertilizers and pesticides is used for every 11.5 plants.I've seen the pesticide residue on the plants, Foy said. You ain't just smoking pot, bud. You're smoking some heavy-duty pesticides from Mexico.Scott Wanek, the western regional chief ranger for the National Park Service, said he believes the eradication efforts have touched only a small portion of the marijuana farms and that the environmental impact is much greater than anyone knows.Think about Sequoia, Wanek said. The impact goes well beyond the acreage planted. They create huge networks of trail systems, and the chemicals that get into watersheds are potentially very far-reaching — all the way to drinking water for the downstream communities. We are trying to study that now.
OZONE DEPLETION
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Economic woes chill effort to stop global warming By DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writer OCT 12,08
WASHINGTON - Attempts to tackle global warming are being made more difficult by the spreading economic crisis even as Democratic congressional leaders say it's still a top goal for next year. At the very least, fear of a prolonged economic downturn is expected to delay attempts by the United States to cap greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate as well as both presidential candidates say addressing climate change by imposing mandatory restrictions on heat-trapping pollution — especially carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels — remains a priority.Only months ago, the prospect of climate legislation passing in the next Congress and becoming law looked promising. Both presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain support mandatory emission cuts and a Democratic majority vowed to act on the problem early in the new year.But the most popular remedy for slowing global warming, a mechanism known as cap-and-trade, could put further stress on a teetering economy by raising energy prices.Democrats in both the House and Senate have unveiled draft climate bills. But their supporters acknowledge that the bills may have to be changed, given the economic situation. For example, a proposal to auction off emission permits — a source of money to help refocus the nation's use of energy away from fossil fuels — may have to be abandoned with permits distributed for free.But some Republicans argue the whole idea of a climate bill ought to be scrapped for the time being. Limits of carbon dioxide would increase energy costs and lead the country off the economic cliff, said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.
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).
PESTILENCES (CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS)
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(CHEMICAL,BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
US controls bird flu vaccines over bioweapon fears By ROBIN McDOWELL, Associated Press Writer Sat Oct 11, 7:14 AM ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia - When Indonesia's health minister stopped sending bird flu viruses to a research laboratory in the U.S. for fear Washington could use them to make biological weapons, Defense Secretary Robert Gates laughed and called it the nuttiest thing he'd ever heard. Yet deep inside an 86-page supplement to United States export regulations is a single sentence that bars U.S. exports of vaccines for avian bird flu and dozens of other viruses to five countries designated state sponsors of terrorism.The reason: Fear that they will be used for biological warfare.
Under this little-known policy, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria and Sudan may not get the vaccines unless they apply for special export licenses, which would be given or refused according to the discretion and timing of the U.S. Three of those nations — Iran, Cuba and Sudan — also are subject to a ban on all human pandemic influenza vaccines as part of a general U.S. embargo.The regulations, which cover vaccines for everything from Dengue fever to the Ebola virus, have raised concern within the medical and scientific communities. Although they were quietly put in place more than a decade ago, they could now be more relevant because of recent concerns about bird flu. Officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they were not even aware of the policies until contacted by The Associated Press last month and privately expressed alarm.They make no scientific sense, said Peter Palese, chairman of the microbiology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He said the bird flu vaccine, for example, can be used to contain outbreaks in poultry before they mutate to a form spread more easily between people.The more vaccines out there, the better, he said. It's a matter of protecting ourselves, really, so the bird flu virus doesn't take hold in these countries and spread.U.S. Commerce Assistant Secretary Christopher Wall declined to elaborate on the precise threat posed by vaccines for chickens infected with avian influenza, except to say there are valid security concerns that they do not fall into the wrong hands.Legitimate public health and scientific research is not adversely affected by these controls, he said.
But some experts say the idea of using vaccines for bioweapons is far-fetched, and that in a health emergency, it is unclear how quickly authorities could cut through the current red tape to get the vaccines distributed.Under normal circumstances it would take at least six weeks to approve export licenses for any vaccine on the list, said Thomas Monath, who formerly headed a CIA advisory group on ways to counter biological attacks. All such decisions would follow negotiations at a very high level of government.That could makes it harder to contain an outbreak of bird flu among chickens in, say, North Korea, which is in the region hardest hit by the virus. Sudan and Iran already have recorded cases of the virus in poultry and Syria is surrounded by affected countries. Cuba, like all nations, is vulnerable because the disease is delivered by migratory birds.Kumanan Wilson, whose research at the University of Toronto focuses on policymaking in areas of health protection, said it would be ironic if the bird flu virus morphed into a more dangerous form in one of those countries.That would pose a much graver threat to the public than the theoretical risk that the vaccine could be used for biological warfare, he said.
The danger of biological warfare use depends on the specific virus or bacteria. But most experts agree that bird flu vaccines cannot be genetically altered to create weapons because they contain an inactivated virus that cannot be resuscitated.It's also unlikely they would be used to create a resistant strain of the virus as part of efforts to wreak havoc within global poultry stocks. If enemy states wanted to do that, they could make their own vaccines or turn to a less hostile country like China, said Ian Ramshaw, an expert on vaccine immunology and biosecurity at The Australian National University in Canberra.I can think of no scientific reason how a terrorist organization could use such a vaccine for malicious intent, he said. I personally think it's a rather silly attitude and the U.S. is probably going overboard as it has in the past with many of its bioterrorism initiatives.Meanwhile, bioethicists say limiting vaccines could also raise moral questions of whether some countries should be denied because of decisions based on foreign policy. They said the export controls appear inconsistent, as Libya, Iraq and two dozen other countries suspected by the U.S. of having biological weapons programs do not face restrictions on the export of poultry vaccines. If there really is a serious threat, to be consistent we'd have to more heavily regulate who has access to the vaccine, said Michael Selgelid, who co-authored the book Ethical and Philosophical Consideration of the Dual Use Dilemma in the Biological Sciences.There are malevolent actors in the U.S. just like there might be in all these other countries, he said. The policies were initially put in place amid biosecurity fears in the mid-1990s and then bolstered after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and subsequent anthrax letter mailings. The vaccines are among a long list of other items barred to rogue states over fears they could be used to make weapons of mass destruction, from technology and chemicals to dangerous pathogens. Bird flu has killed more than 240 people across the world since 2003, nearly half of them in Indonesia. Indonesia's health minister Siti Fadilah Supari first drew widespread attention when she boycotted the World Health Organization's 50-year-old virus sharing system last year, saying pharmaceutical companies were using viruses from developing nations without their knowledge to make expensive vaccines. She has since called for the creation of a global stockpile of drugs or other forms of benefit-sharing. Associated Press researcher Judith Ausuebel contributed to this report from New York.
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 RUSSIA-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.
Russian leader Medvedev watches missile tests By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer OCT 12,08
MOSCOW - President Dmitry Medvedev watched a missile soar from Russia's rain-soaked northern forests toward a target thousands of miles away on Sunday, capping a weekend of launches reminding audiences at home and abroad about the country's nuclear might. Prominent coverage of the tests on state-controlled television also seemed designed to boost the bookish Medvedev's credentials as commander-in-chief in the eyes of the Russian populace.On Sunday, Medvedev saw what officials said was the successful test-firing of a 21-year-old Topol intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile hit its target thousands of miles to the east on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Medvedev told servicemen who conducted the launch.Respected comrades ... you have fulfilled your task and I congratulate you, Medvedev, dressed in a dark bomber jacket, told servicemen in bulky blue uniforms in a clearing near the Plesetsk launch facility.The tests come amid increasingly strained ties with the United States following the war with Georgia and persistent Russian opposition to U.S. plans for a missile-defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic, former Soviet satellites now in NATO.Russia has been flexing its military muscle worldwide. It is sending a naval squadron to Venezuela for November exercises, a Western Hemisphere deployment unprecedented since the Cold War. Last year, then-President Vladimir Putin ordered the resumption of long-dormant global patrols by strategic bombers.Russian officials have said newer versions of the Topol can penetrate any missile defense.
We will strengthen our military capability, we will adopt new types of weapons, but we will continue to test the traditional ballistic missiles we have in service, Medvedev said. Their effectiveness has stood the test of time, and that is very good. It shows that our shield is in order.On Saturday, Medvedev watched the test of a Sineva missile launched from a submarine in the Barents Sea. Officials said it flew more than 7,100 miles and hit a target in the Pacific Ocean near the equator.
Sunday's land-based launch was followed by two missile launches from nuclear-powered submarines, one in the Barents Sea and one in the Sea of Okhotsk, off Russia's eastern coast north of Japan, Russian news agencies reported. The weekend launches are part of wide-ranging military exercises called Stability-2008.Medvedev — a former lawyer who comes across as milder than his predecessor and mentor Putin — has watched several military exercises since taking office.He faces an uphill battle in matching the tough-guy image of Putin, a KGB veteran and judo black-belt who is now prime minister and is widely seen as more powerful than Medvedev.
Russian missile makes record flight Sat Oct 11, 10:12 AM ET
MOSCOW - Russian officials say a submarine-launched ballistic missile has made a record flight, hitting a target in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for the first time. President Dmitry Medvedev witnessed the test, part of naval exercises being staged in the northern Barents Sea.Russian TV showed what it said was the Sineva missile launching from the submarine Tula. Medvedev said Saturday it flew more than 7,100 miles into the Pacific near the equator.Medvedev also was quoted by Russian news agencies as ordering naval officials to begin building new aircraft carriers.
A Russian flotilla is heading to the Caribbean Sea for joint exercises with Venezuela — the largest such Russian deployment to the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War.
Conservatives seen winning election By David Ljunggren OCT 11,08
LONDON, Ontario (Reuters) - Canada's ruling Conservative Party is set to win a federal election on Tuesday but will still have only a minority of seats in Parliament, according to two polls released on Saturday.The Conservatives hold 127 of the 308 seats and had genuine hopes of capturing a majority when the campaign started a month ago. Since then, the global financial crisis struck, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper has struggled to persuade Canadians to give him a strong mandate to deal with the aftershocks.An Ipsos-Reid poll for CanWest News put the Conservatives at 34 percent, with the official opposition Liberals at 29 percent and the left-leaning New Democrats at 19 percent.Harper has said from the start of the campaign that he does not think a majority is likely.We're not talking about a majority. My view is that we're in a tight race, he told reporters in London, Ontario.Earlier in the day, he told a rally of supporters that the election would be a decision on who Canadians will trust to protect our economy in this world financial turmoil in the weeks, the months and the years ahead.Under Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system, a party needs around 40 percent of the vote to win a majority. This can slip as low as 38 percent if the opposition is badly divided, as it is now.The Ipsos poll of 2,000 people was conducted October 7-9 and is considered accurate within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The election is the third in four years and, if the polls are accurate, will produce Canada's third successive minority government. Harper defeated a minority Liberal administration in a January 2006 election.A Segma poll for La Presse said the Conservatives had 34.6 percent public support, well ahead of the Liberals at 23 percent. The New Democrats had 20.5 percent.Segma president Raynald Harvey said the Conservatives had bounced back from lows late last week after two televised leaders' debates, where Harper was pummeled by his rivals and had little chance to shine.The Conservatives seem to have stopped their hemorrhage ... they have lost some feathers. But the Liberals are not in a good position to take advantage of this, he said.The Liberals have run a poor campaign, promising to introduce a carbon tax to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost spending on anti-poverty programs.The measure, to be twinned with cuts in corporate and income taxes, is designed to be revenue-neutral. Harper says the idea is a disaster and Liberal leader Stephane Dion -- whose native language is French -- has had difficulty explaining his complex proposals.The Liberals are heading for their worst performance since 1984, when they captured just 40 seats. They now have 97.The Segma survey of 1,500 people was conducted October 5-9 and is considered accurate to within 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Eric Walsh)
The CARMEL ALERT Oct 3rd 2008 A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people.David's Comment: A Strong Sign That We Are Living at the End of This Present Evil Age
In my opinion Derek Prince was the leading Bible teacher of the late 20th century. He called the times in which we live this present evil age. As I watched the news reports of the current financial crisis, I began to realise just how evil the system of the Western World is. Our system is controlled by the rich and powerful and the rest of us are just their means of getting richer. As the ordinary investors lost their life savings over the last few weeks, those in the upper echelons made more money. The financial institutions at the very top level have bought up the remnants of the banks and companies that have gone bankrupt. They kept the profitable parts and passed the loss making parts on to the taxpayer - thats you and me ! In the UK the government sold the profitable part of one of the largest investment companies to a Spanish bank and left all of the bad debts to the British taxpayers.And the US government is also in the process of bailing out the private bankers with taxpayer's money. Its wrong !!!
We ( the oridinary people ) are being ripped off. Did you notice that the price of oil has dropped from close to $140 a barrell to under $100, but the big boys havent passed that reduction on to the motorists ? I was in the UK last week and oil rose back to slightly over the $100 mark, and they wanted to put the price up again ! It is criminal ! A sarcastic friend of mine in NZ used to say prison is where the big criminals put the little criminals. How right he was ! Did you also notice that the stock market collapse on September 29 totalled 777 points and occurred on the eve of the Biblical Feast of Trumpets ? Some believe it is judgment on our nations that has the fingerprints of God all over it. US President George W. Bush was the first US president to propose the establishment of a Palestinian state, and he continues t0 send Condalesa Rice to the Middle East trying to force the Israel to give up her heartland. The Bible clearly warns that nations who try to divide Israel in the end times will pay a terrible price. In Joel 3:2 the Lord says that He will enter into judgment against those nations that have divided up My land.
The financial outlook has been growing darker for much of 2008. Many voices had been forecasting the beginnings of a financial meltdown in September, secular voices and Christian voices. Not being a financial expert myself, I dont understand the nuts and bolts of the financial system, but I know enough to know it is rotten and that it's demise is inevitable. I also saw it coming from a prophetic perspective. YHVH is preparing to re-establish His Kingdom on the Earth. That means this present evil kingdom must fall. Can't happen ? Well it happened to all of our predecessors -Babylon, Egypt, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. The world system is based on finances - hard currency which was first introduced by Nimrod. For the political system to fall, the financial system must fall. We can see it in the book of Revelation, chapter 13. A new computer based financial system that the Anti-Christ will use to control the world. will replace the current system. Unless a person is not connected to the system it will be impossible to buy or sell, pay rent, fill up the tank or get medical assistance. Revelation 13:16-18 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (NKJ) Once connected to the system every move, every electronic communication, everything you buy or sell will be monitored. It will be compulsory. Anyone who refuses the mark will be seen and treated as an outlaw. It will make H G Well's novel 1984 look like a boy scout story.
That is the scenario that lies ahead of us all. It used to seem a long way off. Even a few months ago, it seemed a long way off. But not so anymore. The current financial crisis, often referred to as a melt-down is a unmistakable sign that the current financial system could be replaced very soon. All that has to happen is for the melt-down to go all the way to the foundations and it will be very easy for the New World Order people to cancel all cash (Germany did this very thing in WW2) and bring in the new compulsory, cashless, electronic system. I could be wrong, but I dont think this current crisis will be the one that triggers the changeover, but it could very well be. Or it could be the final dress rehearsal for the next crisis which will be the one that does finally kill the current system, preparing the way for the Mark of the Beast system. That is how close we may well be to beginning of the 7 year period that will bring the end to this present evil age. Already the news is coming through that anti-Semtism is on the rise in many places as they blame the Jews for the current financial crisis. There will be another attempted Holocaust - this time not just against the Jews, but also against the Ruths - the true Christians who love and stand with Israel.
So what can we do to prepare ?
1/ Press into God - get as spiritually strong as possible ( see Daniel 11:32)
2/ Warn your family and friends and do everything you can to bring them into the right Kingdom
3/ Get together with other Believers in your fellowship and prepare contingency plans
4/ Get as physically fit as possible
5/ Be as informed as possible as to what is happening in the world
6/ Unplug from the present system as much as possible
7/ Continue to bless Israel, by aligning with God as He completes the restoration of the Jewish people to the land and to Him
The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to th Jewish people by the God of Israel Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.
Shabbat Shalom .... David & Josie.
The CARMEL ALERT Oct 3rd 2008 A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people.Stefan's Comment: Final Destination
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (NKJ)
We live in a physical world but even this world that we live in has many imitations of the spiritual world that exists around us, and in many cases what happens in this world is a manifestation of what is going in the spiritual realm. One of the strongest of these parallels is war. Ever since Lucifer has been cast from heaven there has been war between the powers of darkness and the powers of light. Once the world was created and man with it, he got caught up in the battle and has been given a choice of which side we wants to be on. There is no sitting on the fence in this battle, you are either with God and serve Him or you are against Him.Every army when going out to war sets an objective or even a number of objectives. In the higher ranks and larger units it is a strategic objective and in the smaller units it is a tactical objective. From that objective a mission is devised that serves the purpose of the objective and a method for the mission is decided upon. That method defines how that mission will be carried out. Every units objective is cut from the mission of the rank above therefore the army's objective is cut from the government's mission. If this was not how the militaries around the world operated every unit would be doing what ever it wants, much like many of the different arms of terrorist organizations who do not work in sync with headquarters and end up very unorganized with rogue units doing as they please.
So it happens that every soldier, down to the least of them, knows what is going on and where the army is heading towards as a whole. That means that even when a soldier is sitting down and cleaning his personal weapon he is doing it in light of the objective, the mission and in order to serve their purpose. We must open our spiritual eyes and realize what time it is that we are living in, what stage of the battle we are involved in, where the General is going and allow everything that we do be in light of that objective, whether we are reading our bible, praying or evangelizing.We must also realize that after we are saved and becomes the sons and daughters of God, a title which we enjoy taking upon ourselves, we also get another title and that is warriors in the army of the Lord of Hosts and that can be something we won't take upon ourselves so easily because it means we need to get our hands dirty by going into the battlefield to fight. Thank God that ...the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:4-5, NKJ)
So where is it that our General is going? What is His objective? What is the final Destination? His objective is to return to us and to take His bride away. There is only a little problem right now and that is that the second half of the bride, the Jewish people, are still blind and many of them still in exile, scattered around the globe in all the different nations. Our General is in the process of bringing them back so that they can stand in Jerusalem and say Baruch Haba BeShem Adonai which means Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord (Matt. 23:39).
When reading the books of the prophets and the New Testament about the things that must take place before the return of our King we realize that the restoration of Israel and the return of the Jewish people to their land is central. This is what God is busy doing today and it is all in preparation for the Jewish people to be cleansed, to be given a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone and for them to once again walk in the commandments and judgements of the Lord (Ezk 36:24-28).Now what must be asked is what can we (I) do? How can we as believers who are filled with the Spirit of God take action and get in the objective that our General has set ?
How can we get our hands dirty?
1. Ps 122:6-7 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces. (NKJ)
2. Matt 25:34-40 Love the Jewish people (the same physical seed that Yeshua is a part of) as you meet them and allow God's light and love to shine through you to them.
3. Help, in anyway you see possible, and encourage the Jewish people who are still in the nations to come home to the land that God has give them.
4. Build up the body of Messiah here in the land by encouraging, praying and sowing in to the different congregations and ministries.
One of the verses I like is when Yeshua said: Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. (Matt 10:16)We need to be wise and cunning, alert and on guard as to what is taking place around so that we can react in a proper way - much like a serpent, yet at the same time be gentle as doves by allowing Yeshua's love and peace to flow through us to those who around us in order to give a good testimony.The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to th Jewish people by the God of Israel Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.
Shabbat Shalom .... David & Josie.
A MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE
In the last newsletter we discussed humility prayer and confession as prerequisites for revival. Let's continue by considering sins that hinder the working of the blessed Holy Spirit of God in our life. Remember, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me (Psalms 66:18). A destructive sin called gossip deafens the ears of Almighty God as one prays to Him.
The Tongue
Nothing in the history of mankind has wrought more havoc and sorrow than the uncontrolled tongue of human beings. A wise proverb states, He that thinketh by the inch and speaketh by the yard should be kicked by the foot. Again, Loose tongues get their owners into tight places.God says in James 3:6, The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. Verses 9, 10: Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
A slanderous, vile, malicious tongue is indicative of one of two conditions:
(1) The slandered maybe a hell-bound sinner. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain (James 1:26). A wagging tongue is usually a symbol of an empty heart. God said so.
The Lord, speaking about those who are filled with all unrighteousness in Romans 1:28-32, mentions fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispering, backbitings, and other abominable practices. Now notice carefully that maliciousness (character assassination), envy (jealousy which produces gossip), debate (leading to boisterous argumentation), malignity, whispering (gossip in quiet, hushed tones), and backbitings are all partakers of the same judgment that shall be pronounced upon fornicators (sex-hungry maniacs) and murderers. Look at verse 32: Who knowing the Judgment of God, that they which commit such things are. worthy of death.In Galatians 5:19-21, the Holy Spirit lists seventeen abominations, and uncleanness (a dirty, smut-filled mouth), hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, heresies, and envyings-all having to do with the REASON FOR or the RESULT OF a poison-filled, uncontrollable tongue-are under the anathema or condemnation of God. The devil's reward, at the end of the trail, for gossipers is stated in verse 21: They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.God hates these sins. How easy it is for self-righteous church members to condemn the sins of the flesh practiced by some, and overlook the wickedness of their own lives as they lacerate, mutilate, and cut to shreds other members of the human race with their razor-sharp tongues. However, Proverbs 6:16-18 states, These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.Friend, what about the deadly tongue you possess? Will your tongue, described in the Bible as a fire, lead you into the fires of eternal doom? Fall on your face, confess your sin, get washed in Christ's blood and be saved for eternity.
(2) Second, a loose-tongued person may be saved, but carnal. Each hearer must determine his own spiritual condition before God. Both situations are taught in God's Holy Word, and a true messenger must present both viewpoints, and then allow the individual, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, to determine his own personal state before God.The Corinthian church was filled with fighting, carping Christians. Paul, in writing to this carnal assembly, says, I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? (1Corinthians 3:1-3).Fighting, bickering, and sowing discord among brethren is not a sign of spiritually, but of extreme carnality. Many who claim to be dominated by the Holy Spirit are constantly running off at the mouth. You are professing a lie if this is the case. It is easy to call the working of the Holy Spirit a second work of grace, an infilling, a baptism, and loudly proclaim an experience with the third member of the Trinity through signs and wonders. The real evidence, however, is in a love-filled heart and Spirit-controlled tongue. You don't believe it? Hear God in James 3:2: If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man. Again, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5:22,23).I was asked, Do you believe in the infilling of the Holy Spirit? Amen. Have you had the evidence? Which one-there are at least nine in 1 Corinthians 12-14, and a host of others found throughout the New Testament.
They replied, Tongues.
I answered, I am seeking a greater evidence than tongues; I am seeking to control the one I have. That's right; the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, long-suffering, gentleness. These have to do with getting along with others and loving them when they treat you like dirt. You don't retaliate by spreading venom about them with the tongue. That is not the mark of a Spirit-filled human being.You argue that the gifts and the fruit are two different things? Quit quibbling; they go hand-in-hand. That is what God is trying to say in 1 Corinthians 13. Charity, which is love, is the evidence of the blessed Holy Spirit's presence in one's life. One can talk about his experiences and visions until doomsday, but if the fruit of the Spirit-LOVE-is absent, all the speaking in tongues is but projected from the diaphragm. Don't get angry now, because that will prove my point that LOVE-the true evidence-is missing in your experience.Listen to the Spirit of God as He writes, through Paul, 1 Corinthians 13:1: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. (More simply: Though I speak with angelic tongues and fight with everyone, I am just a lot of noise). The real evidence is found in verses 4-7:Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not [is not jealous]; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up [saying I have the gift and you don't; I am spiritual and you apparently aren't], doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things [yes, endures all things and will not try to get back with the tongue).
Is this your experience? If so, you have the evidence of the Spirit. Languages, signs, and wonders can be faked; but the above-mentioned love can only be produced by the Holy Spirit.Some of you have roast preacher every week. You talk against every spiritual leader of the Church. One day your children will curse God and turn their back on religion, and your uncontrollable tongue will have been the cause. God hates gossip. The Word proves it:
Lying lips are abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 12:22).
A true witness delivereth souls; but a deceitful witness speaketh lies (Proverbs 14:25).
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones (Proverbs 16:24).
A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue (Proverbs 17:4).
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish (Proverbs 19:9).
Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
Let your speech be always with grace (Colossians 4:6).
An Unforgiving Spirit
Some of you reading this newsletter have been hurt by another's vicious remarks. Because of it, you have harbored ill will toward that person. This is human, I know, but it is not divine. We who are filled with the Spirit can live on a higher plane. To err is human; to forgive divine. If animosity, envy, ill-will, and jealousy continue, this internal bitterness will destroy one's communion with his Lord.In Ephesians 4:30 we find: And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. It is evident that when the Spirit of God, living within a believer, is grieved, the believer feels the mood of the grief-stricken Spirit and shares in the misery. Because of it, fellowship with God is broken.What causes the Spirit to be grieved? Verses 31,32: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And [get it, please] be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.The same truth is taught in Colossians 3:13: Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.Since we are to forgive others as Christ did, what did He do differently? In Luke 23, we see the Saviour hanging on the cross. Thorns stick into the flesh surrounding the skull. Spikes fasten Him to the tree. One sees a mutilated, mangled form suspended between heaven and earth.
Is Christ bitter? NO! He looks at His torturers and cries, Father forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). Had they crucified Him daily for the last 1,900 years, He would still pray for their forgiveness. I know that from Matthew 18:21-35. Peter says to Christ, How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? til seven times [49 times]? Jesus said, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven [490 times]. Oh, what love and what grace. If God expects us to forgive 490 times, then He too will always open His arms to those who come to Him with broken, heavy-laden hearts. Thousands reading this newsletter today, who had the vilest of sins canceled at the cross, now harbor bitterness toward some other brother over some insignificant nonsense that "once upon a time" occurred. Oh, you will be ashamed when you see Christ for not obeying His Holy Word: Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath for given you (Ephesians 4:32).Stephen had this spirit of forgiveness. As angry mobs crushed him to death with rocks in Acts 7:59,60, he cried, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. He was as human as any of us, but was filled with the Spirit of God (verse 55).It is easy to fly off the handle, gossip about others, and run around with a grudge while talking about the power of the Holy Spirit-but it is all a farce. His Spirit will make you turn the other cheek; will make you love the unlovable, and will never seek revenge by hurting the one who hurt you.God says if you want to spare yourself heartache and divine judgment, judge this sin in your own life and put it away. I am calling upon you to do this now. Remember, if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Corinthians 7:14).
FROM THE HEART OF DR. REXELLA VAN IMPE
I Almost Missed the Blessing!
He was standing near the exit of a department store in the shopping mall - a quiet, unassuming man, neatly dressed in casual clothes. As I walked past him on my way out of the store, he glanced in my direction - then quickly looked again, obviously recognizing me.
Mrs. Van Impe?
Yes, I'm Rexella Van Impe.
It's so nice to see you in person. I feel like I've known you and your husband for many years - I used to attend your crusade services. Could you spare just a moment? I have a little story to share with you.Of course, I replied, stepping out of the doorway and to the side of the corridor. I felt perfectly comfortable and at ease with this old friend I'd never met before - he was no longer a stranger. I'd love to hear your story.The man stretched out his right arm and pulled back the sleeve of his coat. His arm was atrophied and shorter than normal, with an extremely deformed hand. I was born this way - with a right arm and hand that were shriveled and useless. As I grew up, I became more and more aware of my deformity. I felt that I was 'damaged' and worthless. I became as handicapped emotionally and mentally as I was physically.As a little boy, I started praying, Oh, God, heal my hand and arm. Help me and give me a normal life.' In my mind, I felt the only way my prayer could be answered would be to get a whole new arm and hand.Over the years, doctors performed three major operations on me - very involved, complicated reconstructive surgeries. The operations were successful in that they enabled me to gain much use of my right arm and hand. I learned to do lots of things - almost anything I wanted - with my repaired hand.As he spoke, the man demonstrated how he could move his arm freely and deftly use his still-twisted hand to pick up and manipulate various objects with obvious strength and dexterity.With a wry smile, he continued his account. "But the surgeries didn't help my mind and my feelings. They continued to be 'deformed' because my arm was still short and my hand was still twisted - not totally whole in appearance. Instead of being thankful for the tremendous improvement, I found myself thinking, 'Why didn't God answer my prayer and heal me? I still don't have a right arm and hand that match my left side.' And I went on feeling frustrated and limited for years.Then one day during my personal devotional time, I finished my Bible reading and was meditating. I again began to wonder why God hadn't answered my boyhood prayers. Suddenly I became intensely aware of God's presence, and He seemed to speak to me.
I answered your prayer!' the Lord said. You are whole. You can do just about anything with your right arm that you can do with your left. You have a good marriage and beautiful children. You have a profitable business. I have blessed you and met your needs. Why do you feel that your prayers were not answered?I was astonished at those words, Rexella. I jumped to my feet and shouted, Thank You, Lord, for opening my eyes. You did answer my prayer. You have made me whole! But I almost missed the blessing!Isn't that a remarkable experience? Hearing our friend's tremendous story stirred my heart and started me thinking. How many times do we risk missing out on God's blessings because they may not arrive in the exact package we're expecting? How should we act, what should we do while we're waiting on the Lord to answer prayer? I love the way The Living Bible instructs and encourages us with Psalm 27:14 - Don't be impatient. Wait for the Lord, and he will come and save you! Be brave, stouthearted and courageous. Yes, wait and he will help you.Are you waiting for God to answer the cry of your heart and meet some special need for you or a loved one? Here are some suggestions for you.
Wait in prayer.
First of all, I believe that when we're waiting on the Lord, we should wait in prayer and allow ourselves to be comforted by the Holy Spirit. Too often we allow ourselves to be anxious and apprehensive after we've prayed and are waiting. By not allowing the comfort of the Holy Spirit to overwhelm us, we make ourselves vulnerable to the ravages of doubt and fear.One of the first times I remember hearing Wait, Rexella was when I was just a little girl, maybe four years old. My mother had left me with my grandmother for the day. For a while I watched as she worked in the kitchen preparing to bake a pie.When I grew restless, my grandmother said, Rexella, as soon as I finish baking this pie, we'll go down and get an ice cream banana split. But for now I want you to sit here on the counter and wait.
A few minutes later I asked, Are you almost done, Grandma?No, honey, you have to wait.Yes, but I want to go get my banana split now! No, I'm not finished here. You must wait a little longer. In another moment or two, I was asking again, Are you through yet? So my grandmother decided to use the waiting time to teach me something new. Spreading some flour across the counter, she taught me how to form the letters and spell the word B-A-N-A-N-A. I was so delighted at my new accomplishment that I momentarily forgot my impatience.I believe that God sometimes has lessons to teach us as we wait. There can be great value to be gained just by waiting, although it's hard for people in today's age of instant gratification to appreciate this truth.
We've all heard the old joke about doctors telling patients to take an aspirin and call me in the morning. Well, current medical research suggests that maybe these medics weren't just ignoring their patient's needs. The truth is that God has put a miraculous healing force within our bodies that, with just a little time, will begin to heal a high percentage of maladies.It's also true that time is a great healer in incidents of loss and grief. What seems unbearable and inconsolable today will become less painful and easier to bear as time goes by. As the Psalmist David expressed so beautifully, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Psalm 30:5).Don't misunderstand me - I'm not saying that we should pray about something, then just wait until we get over it naturally. We've all experienced those wondrous times when God came upon the scene and moved in our behalf almost instantly. In fact, there are times, God says, Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear (Isaiah 65:24).If we need an instant answer, God will not forsake us or fail. But there are times when we need to wait - not impatiently, but bravely, stoutheartedly, and with courage. In those times the Holy Spirit will come to us ... and teach us ... and help us. Don't miss what God wants to do for you!
Wait in faith.
When you pray, wait in faith. Be confident in God. Believe in His love and goodness. Trust the Lord to keep His Word. Jesus said, If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it (John 14:14). Let your confidence be based on the knowledge that He will answer your prayer - God will take care of you.Perhaps you're saying, But Rexella, sometimes that kind of faith is a little bit hard to come by. I understand exactly what you mean.I heard an illustration about a woman whose view from her kitchen window was blocked by an ugly old mountain that she often wished was gone. One day she read that if she had faith as big as a grain of mustard seed, she could pray for the mountain to be removed and it would go. So she decided to try it.Oh, God, if you love me, remove that mountain. I have faith that You can do this, so tonight I'm asking you to take it away.The next morning the woman got up, walked into her kitchen, and looked out the window. There's that mountain, she said, just as I expected!Do you expect God to answer when you pray? Do you have faith that He will hear and respond to your prayers according to His will? Has God answered your prayers in the past? Do you know others whose prayers have been answered? Yes, of course! When you know who God is and what He is like, you can have faith in Him. I believe that real faith is not something you try to believe - it is something you cannot doubt! You must reach a place in your Christian experience where you discover the bedrock truths that require no convincing. And on that Rock you take your stand.
Getting to that place may require you to do some waiting - in prayer ... and in faith. Be willing to do it! Don't miss the blessing!
Wait patiently!
My third suggestion for learning to wait on the Lord is to be patient - not murmuring, not saying, Why is this happening to me?, not rebelling. For forty years the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, missing out on the blessing of going into the Promised Land.As a matter of necessity, the road out of Egypt's slavery led through the desert. But the Israelites did not go through the desert patiently. They griped, complained, doubted, and rebelled! The more they murmured and rebelled, the longer they had to wait.The land God had promised was out there, just an eleven-day march away (see Deuteronomy 1:2). It was wonderful country - almost literally flowing with milk and honey. But most of the Israelites died in the desert, wandering around and around in the wilderness until they missed out on the blessing. It was real! God had intended for them to have it! But their lack of prayer, lack of faith, and lack of patience ultimately destroyed them.Forty years later, when the doubters and murmurers were dead, Joshua led the new generation - and a handful of faithful old-timers - into the land of Canaan.Oh, my dear friend, there have been times in my life when I was tempted to focus on the problem and not on the solution God was going to give me. In those moments, I was becoming part of the problem! Have you had that experience? Isn't it wonderful that God is faithful? He keeps on reminding us to pray ... to wait in faith ... to be patient and not to give up or rebel. And as we wait, the Spirit of God comes to us, teaches us, helps us, and meets our need! When it happens - when the darkness falls away and the power of God breaks through the limitations of our lives and sets us free - how we rejoice! We gratefully discover that - in the words of Solomon and David, The Lord is our salvation, our refuge, and our strong tower! (See 2 Samuel 22:3; Proverbs 18:10; Psalm 61:3).Thank You, God, we exclaim. We almost missed the blessing!
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