EVENTS IN TIME (BIBLE PROPHECY LITERALLY FULFILLED)(BY GOD)

I WRITE NEWS ABOUT AND PUT NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM PERTAINING TO BIBLE PROPHESY HAPPENINGS.JOEL 3:20 But Judah (ISRAEL) shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.(THATS ISRAEL-JERUSALEM WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED AGAIN)-WE CHRISTIANS ARE ALL WAITING PATIENTLY FOR THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE TO OCCUR.SO WE CAN GO TO JESUS AND GET OUR NEVER DYING BODIES.SO WE CAN RULE OVER CITIES OURSELVES.WHILE JESUS RULES FROM DAVIDS THRONE FOREVER IN JERUSALEM.

Monday, October 27, 2008

SYRIA BLAMES THE USA FOR SHOOTING TROUBLE

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

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

MIDEAST CONFLICT NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/1874;_ylt=A0wNcxFdg6xIgbkAwD6z174F

ABC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461

FOX NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3074

FOX BUSINESS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3045

AP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2529

BBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2918

REUTERS VIDEO NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2704

AFP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3091

CNBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3245

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 27,2008

09:30 AM -46.43
10:00 AM -33.37
10:30 AM -48.90
11:00 AM -10.27
11:30 AM -6.29
12:00 PM -3.66
12:30 PM +10.36
01:00 PM +150.66
01:30 PM +162.31
02:00 PM +153.85
02:30 PM +37.99
03:00 PM -33.13
03:30 PM -3.03
04:00 PM -203.18 8175.77

S&P 500 848.92 -27.85

NAS 1505.90 -46.13

GOLD 731.4 +1.1

OIL 62.15 -2.00

TSE 300 -716.61 8,577.48

CDNX -21.97 808.99

S&P/TSX/60 -45.71 515.68

EARLY LOWS AND HIGHS TODAY.
Dow was down -146 at lowest so far today.
Dow was +30 at the high early today.
NYSE Advances 820,Declines 2,012,Unchanged 86 as of 10:30AM today.
NYSE New highs 4,New lows 301 as of 10:30AM today.
NASDAQ Advances 755,Declines 1,566,Unchanged 157 as of 10:30AM today.
Dow,S&P 500 have only had 4 up days this month.

AFTERNOON STATS.
-Dow was down -146 points at low.
-Dow was up +219 points at high.
-General Motors,Bankruptcy no option.
-GM,CHRYSTLER continue talking about merger.
-Will the World combine for another coordinated rate cut?
-DOW,S&P,NASDAQ all down about 25% for the month of October.

GULF FINANCIAL UPDATE AS OF 1:45PM OCT 27,08
Al Quds Index 540.75 -19.62
Doha General Index 6,762.40 -100.56
Jordan AFM 7,103.11 -542.06
BLOM Stock Index 1,310.45 -92.43
TEL AVIV 25 719.29 -24.71

Dubai real estate brokers see signs of weakness for 1st time in years.
Investors bet Regional Governments would drop currency pegs to the Dollar.
Kuwait Central Bank says ready to pump cash into Gulf Banks.
Oil prices down 50% from July highs denting Persian Gulfs growth.
Saudi-Arabia to funnel $2.3 BILLION in loans to low income borrowers.
International Investors dumped trades in late Summer,left Gulf Banks cash strapped.

FINAL WRAPUP

STOCKS slide into close. Midday gains erased.
Stocks at days lows.
S&P moves in 4.2% range today.
Dow down 2.7% today.
Dow trades in 4.7% range today.
Nasdaq fell 2% after gaining 1.5% and falling 2% today.
Nasdaq down 3% today.
Ted Stevens one count conviction on Corruption charges in Alaska.

MARKETS AT THE CLOSE
-Major indicies in wide trading range.
-Bottom line:Buyers not aggresive,but selling pressure lighter.
GOOD NEWS
-Its become real the Markets.
Coporate paper facility.
Capital infusions into Banks.
-New home sales improving.
BAD NEWS
-Europe,Asia still weak,if emerging Markets default seriously.
-Derivative losses barely scratched the surface.

EU CALLS FOR WORLD GOVERANCE - VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7D21rPpBrk

PROGRESS EUROPEAN UNION AND TRADE BLOCS
http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297b/Progress%20of%20the%20European%20Union.htm

WORLD BANK - TRADE BLOCS
http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTPRRS/
EXTRADEBLOCS/0,,contentMDK:20298012~menuPK:564688~pagePK:64168098~
piPK:64168032~theSitePK:564679,00.html

THIRD WORLD TRADE BLOC REVIEWS EU DEAL
http://www.namibian.com.na/2008/October/marketplace/08304DCBAD.html

WORLD REGIONAL TRADE BLOCS
http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/trade/subtheme_trade_blocs.php

REGIONAL TRADE BLOCS IN THE 1930S
http://everything2.com/e2node/Regional%2520trade%2520blocs%2520in%2520the%25201930s

Egypt-WTO-Conference-Egypt wants special WTO session to discuss effects of financial crisis OCT 27,08

APA-Cairo (Egypt) Egypt had called for a special session for General council of World Trade Organization (WTO), to discuss repercussions of the global economic and financial crisis on the world trade system as it relates to developing countries.

Ambassador Hisham Badr, the Egyptian permanent delegate to the United Nations and coordinator of the Arab group at World Trade Organization (WTO), made the statement at the weekend.He said Egypt was concerned that the special session would help probe into means of tackling the present situation in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.Badr said deteriorating economic conditions in the world necessitate the WTO members to direct a clear message of maintaining market openness and avert any protectionist measures likely to affect developing countries.He said the Egyptian initiative has already received support from several countries in Africa, Asia and south America.The Egyptian demand is under cosideration at office of Pascal Lamy, the Director-General of WTO, he said.SM/tjm/APA African Press Agency.

Monday, October 27, 2008 - 11:38:11 AM GMT UN chief enters global financial fray

BEIJING - World leaders called for an urgent overhaul of international financial systems after another day of steep stock market falls led to renewed panic over the slumping global economy.Asian and European leaders meeting here promised wide-ranging and effective reforms, as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also called for quick and meaningful change.Leaders pledged to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems, the 40-member Asia Europe Meeting said in a statement released late Friday.They agreed to take quickly appropriate initiatives in this respect, in consultation with all stakeholders and the relevant international financial institutions.Leaders also called on the International Monetary Fund to play a critical role in helping countries most in trouble, should they ask for assistance.Ban joined chief executives of key UN institutions in urging co-ordinated and effective change when leaders of 20 industrialised and emerging powers meet in Washington on November 15.The market and regulatory failures that have led to this [financial] crisis must be addressed as a matter of urgency, a joint statement from the UN summit said.We reaffirm the need for meaningful, comprehensive and well-coordinated reform of the international financial system and pledge our support to this end.Nampa-AFP

Stock markets slump further on worries about the health of the global economy By Malcolm Morrison, The Canadian Press OCT 27,08

TORONTO - The Toronto stock market was sharply lower in opening trading, falling alongside overseas exchanges as recession fears mount. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 117.04 points or 1.25 per cent to 9,177.05 in early action, after falling almost three per cent last week. American markets also retreated on worries about the health of the global economy. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 85.7 points to 8,293,25 after losing five per cent last week as investors were further discouraged by bleak corporate outlooks. Glum economic prospects continued to pressure oil prices despite OPEC's announcement Friday that the cartel would cut daily production by 1.5 million barrels a day. The November crude contract in New York dropped $1.12 to US$63.03 a barrel, after going as low as $61.30 overnight. The TSX energy sector lost four per cent with EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) down $2.81 to $53.09 while Canadian Oil Sands Trust (TSX:COS.UN) gave back $1 to $26.99. Falling commodity prices and economic pessimism sent the Canadian dollar down 0.53 cent to 78.03 cents US after losing 5.7 cents last week. The TSX Venture Exchange edged 6.75 points lower to 824.21. New York's Nasdaq composite index lost 20.41 points to 1,531.62 while the S&P 500 index gave back 11.23 points to 865.54. The heavy stock-market selling is due to the belief that a worldwide recession is inevitable, aggravated by moves by hedge funds and other investors hit by margin calls, forcing them to sell stock to cover loans. The miserable showing on North American indexes followed deep losses overnight in Asia even as the seven leading industrial nations issued a statement Sunday pledging to co-operate as appropriate, stirring speculation of an orchestrated intervention to help stabilize currency markets.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index dropped to its lowest close in 26 years as investors worried that the high yen will hurt Japanese exports and further disrupt economic activity. The Nikkei fell 6.4 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 12.7 per cent, its lowest finish in more than four years and its biggest single-session drop since 1991. European markets scaled back early steep losses, but London's FTSE 100 index was still down 2.3 per cent while Frankfurt's DAX lost 2.8 per cent and the Paris CAC-40 gave back 4.9 per cent. Falling prices for commodities besides oil also deepened TSX losses. The base metals sector lost 3.5 per cent as key industrial metal copper moved down two cents at US$1.67 a pound. Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) moved down 64 cents to $12.36 while HudBay Minerals (TSX:HBM) shed 10 cents to $4.60. The gold sector was down 3.6 per cent as the December bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined $9.80 to US$720.50 an ounce. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) faded $1.04 to $20.96 and Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) surrendered 93 cents to $24.82 . The TSX financial sector edged up 0.2 per cent as the U.S. government announced it will begin doling out US$125 billion to nine major American banks this week as part of its effort to contain a growing financial crisis. It's the first deployment from the US$700-billion rescue package passed by Congress on Oct. 3. CIBC (TSX:CM) added 70 cents to $53. The global sell-off comes a day ahead of the start of a two-day meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Fed is widely expected to cut its policy rate by a half-point to one per cent on Wednesday, and there is growing speculation about another co-ordinated cut by major central banks. Investors were dismayed at data showing improvements in lending rates among banks in the U.S. and Europe have now become negligible. The rate on three-month loans in dollars - known as the London Interbank Offered Rate - edged down to 3.51 per cent from 3.52 per cent on Friday. Libor has have fallen for 10 days but the improvements are tapering off. In corporate news, BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE) says a lawsuit against the company and the investor group buying the telecommunications giant demanding payment of a suspended dividend is without merit and will be defended in court. BCE shares declined 48 cents to $35.07. Nortel Networks (TSX:NT) fell eight cents to $1.51 after the stock was downgraded by UBS to neutral from buy citing tougher sales fundamentals and worries about liquidity.

European car makers scale back production as crisis deepens
VALENTINA POP Today OCT 27,08 @ 09:41 CET

German and French car makers have temporarily closed their factories as demand falls due to the financial crisis. Meanwhile, additional German banks are seeking state aid, while Eastern European economies have also been badly hit, with the IMF bailing out Hungary and Ukraine.German car giant BMW on Monday (27 October) stopped its production in Leipzig for four days, while Mercedes-producer Daimler announced a closure of up to five weeks in December, German media have reported. French car company Renault also temporarily shut down all of its local factories and some of its foreign plants, such as Dacia Mioveni in Romania, while Peugeot-Citroen said it would slash production by 30 percent. Christian Streiff, chief executive of Peugeot-Citroen told the Financial Times that he did not rule out shutting down factories entirely, including in France, where Peugeot operates six plants. The French car maker expects demand for cars in western Europe to plummet 17 percent by the end of the year. The slump in European car production echoes similar problems in the US, where the three big car giants, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, are seeking federal aid as they might face bankruptcy within a year, according to the Wall Street Journal. Elsewhere, Germany's banking sector is continuing to wobble, with two additional banks seeking state aid as a result of the crisis, West LB and HSN Nordbank.Economic recession throughout the eurozone has also been signaled by the purchasing managers' index (PMI), compiled by data and research group Markit, which slid to 44.6 in October from 46.9 in September. The index's fall marked the fifth consecutive month of contraction, which is indicated by a reading of lower than 50 points.

IMF loans for Hungary, Ukraine

With Germany's growth succumbing and Ireland officially entering recession, which the Irish central bank predicts will last two years, the outlook is also grim for Eastern European countries.The IMF unveiled two new members of a growing band of countries set to receive its help in the financial crisis, announcing a $16.5 billion loan for Ukraine and a substantial package for Hungary, AFP reports.The deals, made public by IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Sunday, followed a $2.1 billion loan to Iceland on Friday and came amid appeals for assistance from other countries, including Belarus and Pakistan.The IMF said it can provide a maximum of €160 billion in loans to countries facing financial difficulties.For Hungary, Strauss-Kahn said a substantial financing package would be announced for the country in the next few days, with contributions from the IMF, European governments and other partners.Both Hungary and Ukraine have been badly hit by the financial crisis.

Cashpoint panic

Ukraine stopped early withdrawals from savings accounts this month in a bid to halt a run on banks. The central bank has bailed out several banks and the Ukrainian stock market has lost more than 70 percent of its value this year.The vast former Soviet republic is receiving less money from its main export, steel, because of a slump in global demand, and is using up foreign currency reserves to support its currency, the hryvnia, analysts say.Hungary's vulnerability is primarily due to a large current account and budget deficit, a partially overvalued currency, low stocks of foreign reserves and a high level of short-term foreign currency debt, experts say.Facing a sharp fall in the national currency, the forint, the country's central bank decided last Wednesday to raise its key interest rate by three points to 11.5 percent.Officials have vehemently rejected comparisons between Hungary and Iceland, which faced bankruptcy due to the collapse of its supercharged financial sector.

Recession fears haunt markets OCT 26,08
By Martin Howell and Andrew Roche

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Fears of a deep global recession dominated investor sentiment as financial markets in the Asia-Pacific region began to reopen on Monday after last week's worldwide slide in stock prices and currency collapses.There were early indications that governments and central banks will take further dramatic action to prop up the global financial system this week.The Japanese Finance Minister called a news conference for 9:00 a.m. (8:00 p.m. EDT), and the Bank of Korea announced an emergency meeting for Monday morning amid forecasts from analysts that it will announce an interest rate cut.But there is growing concern that intervention by authorities will not be enough to prevent companies from slashing production and jobs as sales get hit and financing remains difficult.Initially, financial markets were relatively stable in Asian trade on Monday.Standard & Poor's 500 December index futures opened the week slightly higher, gaining 3.0 points at 869.80 after about an hour, though the Australian dollar traded close to record lows against the yen and near 5-1/2 year lows against the U.S. dollar. However, Japan's stock market is expected to decline, threatening to take the Nikkei average to a 26-year low.The International Monetary Fund on Sunday reached an agreement in principle with Ukraine for a $16.5 billion loan package to ease the effects of the financial crisis.The IMF also said that it will announce a substantial financing package for Hungary in the next few days that will include financing by the European Union and some individual European governments.More such deals are expected as other emerging market governments turn to the IMF for help.The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce a 50 basis-point cut in overnight rates on Wednesday that would take them to 1 percent, the lowest level since June 2004, with some expecting an even deeper reduction to 0.75 percent.Advance third-quarter U.S. economic growth data due on Thursday is expected to show a 0.5 percent contraction in gross domestic product after 2.8 percent growth the previous quarter.Increasingly, the signs point to a deep and synchronized global recession, JPMorgan economist Bruce Kasman said.

It is still too early to accurately gauge the depth of the downturn, as the outlook depends on how well policy actions contain the financial crisis.A series of warnings about worse-than-expected results from major international companies last week, including Japan's consumer electronics maker Sony, French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen and online retailer Amazon.com, underlined the concerns that prospects are going to get a lot worse before they get better.We are now in the midst of a full-blown global financial crisis, said Citigroup analyst Robert Buckland. Policy-makers have been unable to calm the storm, although the increasingly aggressive response offers some hope. The earnings downturn looks to have much further to go.Asian and European leaders closed ranks over the weekend to bolster confidence among investors facing the worst financial crisis in 80 years.

PROTECTING THE REAL ECONOMY

We must use every means to prevent the financial crisis impacting growth of the real economy, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said on Saturday at the end of a two-day summit in Beijing of 43 Asian and European leaders.China's central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, was quoted on Sunday as saying that Asia's second-largest economy was in good condition but needed to be on guard to fend off risks.Investment in infrastructure and expansion of consumer demand could help cushion the impact of weakening exports, he said, adding that the central bank would work out an advance plan to provide emergency help to banks if needed.Japanese Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano said on Sunday the government should increase its bank bailout plan to around 10 trillion yen ($106 billion) from two trillion.The Japanese government is poised to announce steps on Monday to stabilize markets, including purchases of bank stocks by a government body, and is considering tougher rules on short selling and changes in mark-to-market accounting rules, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's largest bank, is considering raising up to 1 trillion yen ($10.6 billion) to replenish its capital, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.In the United States, more banks began to get or seek money from the government. Washington Federal Inc said on Sunday it would get a $200 million cash infusion from the U.S. government, while Fifth Third Bancorp announced it had applied for $3.4 billion under the capital purchase program.Earlier on Sunday, a source familiar with the Treasury Department's thinking told Reuters that KeyCorp, Zions Bancorp and Capital One Financial Corp were some of the banks that will receive cash under the program.Four other banks, including PNC Financial Services Group Inc, announced Friday they would participate in the second round of capital injections under the U.S. government's bailout program.Kuwait's central bank was forced to step in to support Gulf Bank, hit by derivatives trading losses, prompting the government to announce it would guarantee deposits at local banks.Saudi Arabia unveiled plans to deposit 10 billion riyals ($2.67 billion) into the Saudi Credit Bank, established to extend interest-free loans to poor citizens.Gulf markets tumbled to multi-month lows on Sunday. Qatar's main index plunged 8.93 percent, Oman's sank 8.29 percent, Dubai dropped 4.74 percent and Saudi Arabia's index slipped 1.66 percent after an 8.7 percent slide on Saturday.And the Polish government plans soon to introduce more measures to help its banks weather the global financial crisis, including state guarantees and loans, according to the draft of a bill seen by Reuters on Sunday.

Treasury begins to deploy financial rescue plan By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger, Ap Economics Writer – OCT 27,08

Reuters – U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson speaks at a news conference after the G7 Ministerial meeting in … WASHINGTON – The government will begin doling out $125 billion to nine major banks this week as part of its effort to contain a growing financial crisis, a top Treasury official said Monday.Assistant Treasury Secretary David Nason said the deals with the nine banks were signed Sunday night and the government will make the stock purchases this week. The deals are designed to bolster the banks' balance sheets so they will begin more normal lending.The action will mark the first deployment of resources from the government's $700 billion financial rescue package passed by Congress on Oct. 3.The bailout package has undergone a major change in emphasis since it was passed by Congress. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson decided to use $250 billion of the $700 billion to make direct purchases of bank stock, partially nationalizing the country's banking system, as a way to get money into the financial system more quickly.As the rescue program wended its way through Congress, the administration emphasized that the money would be used to purchase bad assets of banks. That effort has yet to get started although the administration expects to use $100 billion to purchase bad assets in coming months.The deployment of the first $125 billion to the major banks had been delayed while the government and the banks worked out the details for the purchases.Nason, a key architect of the rescue plan, said in an interview Monday on CNBC that those agreements had been signed late Sunday night.Treasury is also starting to give approval to major regional banks with the goal of getting another $125 billion in stock purchases made by the end of this year.One of those banks, KeyCorp, said Monday it would issue stock for a $2.5 billion infusion of capital from the government.Another major bank, PNC Financial Services Group, announced on Friday it was acquiring National City Corp. It was the first instance of a bank using resources it has been told it will receive from the government's stock purchase program to support an acquisition of another bank. PNC said it is in line to get $7.7 billion in cash from the government by selling stock and warrants to the government under the rescue program.Treasury has given the go-ahead for stronger banks to use the money it receives in the rescue program to acquire weaker banks, prompting critics to say the government should not be financing the consolidation of the banking system — in effect helping to choose winners and losers.

Nason, asked about this issue Monday, said the administration's major aim is to stabilize the financial system and that stronger institutions will be in a better position to make loans and support the overall economy.Nason also confirmed the Treasury Department is reviewing a number of requests from a range of U.S. industries for help from the bailout program. Representatives of insurance companies, auto companies and foreign-controlled banks have all petitioned for help from the $700 billion fund.Nason did not indicate when decisions on those requests might be made. He said one of the issues that Treasury had to consider was that in helping banks, which are federally regulated, the Treasury could tap into the knowledge of federal regulators in making decisions on how much money to supply and to which institutions. That type of information would not be available for non-federally regulated institutions, Nason said.

SYRIA AND THE USA TENSIONS ARE MOUNTING HANG ON FOLKS, LETS SEE WHAT COMES OUTTA THIS. I WONDER IF THE USA IS THINKING LIKE ME THAT SADAM SENT THE NUKES OVER TO SYRIA AFTER AMERICA CAPTURED IRAQ IN 2003.

ISRAEL BOMBED SYRIA AND NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR COLLABORATION DOWN BY THE EUPHRATES RIVER IN SEPTEMBER A YEAR AGO. AND THE MEDIA AND THE WORLD WAS WASHED OF IT AS SYRIA QUICKLY CLEARED THE SITE TO COVERUP ANY NUKE ACTIVITY.

COULD THIS PROPHECY BE COMING TO PASS AT THIS TIME ONLY TIME WILL TELL.

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

US special forces launch rare attack inside Syria OCT 26,08 By ALBERT AJI, Associated Press Writer

DAMASCUS, Syria – U.S. military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack Sunday on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as serious aggression.A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the network of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters moving through Syria into Iraq. The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area because Syria was out of the military's reach.We are taking matters into our own hands, the official told The Associated Press in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.The attack came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an uncontrolled gateway for fighters entering Iraq.A Syrian government statement said the helicopters attacked the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown and fired on workers inside, the statement said.The government said civilians were among the dead, including four children.A resident of the nearby village of Hwijeh said some of the helicopters landed and troops exited the aircraft and fired on a building. He said the aircraft flew along the Euphrates River into the area of farms and several brick factories. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information,Syria's Foreign Ministry said it summoned the charges d'affaires of the United States and Iraq to protest against the strike.

Syria condemns this aggression and holds the American forces responsible for this aggression and all its repercussions. Syria also calls on the Iraqi government to shoulder its responsibilities and launch and immediate investigation into this serious violation and prevent the use of Iraqi territory for aggression against Syria, the government statement said.The area targeted is near the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which had been a major crossing point for fighters, weapons and money coming into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency.Iraqi travelers making their way home across the border reported hearing many explosions, said Farhan al-Mahalawi, mayor of Qaim.On Thursday, U.S. Maj. Gen. John Kelly said Iraq's western borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan were fairly tight as a result of good policing by security forces in those countries but that Syria was a different story.The Syrian side is, I guess, uncontrolled by their side, Kelly said. We still have a certain level of foreign fighter movement.He added that the U.S. was helping construct a sand berm and ditches along the border.There hasn't been much, in the way of a physical barrier, along that border for years, Kelly said.The foreign fighters network sends militants from North Africa and elsewhere in the Middle East to Syria, where elements of the Syrian military are in league with al-Qaida and loyalists of Saddam Hussein's Baath party, the U.S. military official said.He said that while American forces have had considerable success, with Iraqi help, in shutting down the rat lines in Iraq, and with foreign government help in North Africa, the Syrian node has been out of reach.The one piece of the puzzle we have not been showing success on is the nexus in Syria, the official said.

The White House in August approved similar special forces raids from Afghanistan across the border of Pakistan to target al-Qaida and Taliban operatives. At least one has been carried out. The flow of foreign fighters into Iraq has been cut to an estimated 20 a month, a senior U.S. military intelligence official told the Associated Press in July. That's a 50 percent decline from six months ago, and just a fifth of the estimated 100 foreign fighters who were infiltrating Iraq a year ago, according to the official. Ninety percent of the foreign fighters enter through Syria, according to U.S. intelligence. Foreigners are some of the most deadly fighters in Iraq, trained in bomb-making and with small-arms expertise and more likely to be willing suicide bombers than Iraqis. Foreign fighters toting cash have been al-Qaida in Iraq's chief source of income. They contributed more than 70 percent of operating budgets in one sector in Iraq, according to documents captured in September 2007 on the Syrian border. Most of the fighters were conveyed through professional smuggling networks, according to the report. Iraqi insurgents seized Qaim in April 2005, forcing U.S. Marines to recapture the town the following month in heavy fighting. The area became secure only after Sunni tribes in Anbar turned against al-Qaida in late 2006 and joined forces with the Americans. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem accused the United States earlier this year of not giving his country the equipment needed to prevent foreign fighters from crossing into Iraq. He said Washington feared Syria could use such equipment against Israel. Though Syria has long been viewed by the U.S. as a destabilizing country in the Middle East, in recent months, Damascus has been trying to change its image and end years of global seclusion. Its president, Bashar Assad, has pursued indirect peace talks with Israel, mediated by Turkey, and says he wants direct talks next year. Syria also has agreed to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon, a country it used to dominate both politically and militarily, and has worked harder at stemming the flow of militants into Iraq. The U.S. military in Baghdad did not immediately respond to a request for comment after Sunday's raid. Associated Press reporter Pamela Hess in Washington and Sam F. Ghattas in Beirut contributed to this report.

Iranian general reports arming liberation armies By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer – Mon Oct 27, 7:39 am ET

FOX News TEHRAN, Iran – Iran is supplying weapons to liberation armies in the Middle East, a top Revolutionary Guards commander said, offering the first official confirmation the country provides weapons to armed groups in the region.Gen. Hossein Hamedani, deputy commander of a volunteer militia that is part of the elite Revolutionary Guards, did not provide specific details in the report on the state-run Borna news. The U.S. military has accused Iran of arming Shiite militias in Iraq, and Iran is widely believed to provide weapons to Lebanon's militant Shiite Hezbollah group.Not only are our armed forces self-sufficient, liberation armies of the region get part of their weapons from us, Hamedani said, according to the report on Borna's Web site late Sunday.In the past, Iran — a majority Shiite country — has denied arming Hezbollah, saying it only provided political and financial support. The Iranian government has also denied providing weapons or financial support to Shiite militants fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.But the U.S. military has said it has evidence that elements of the Mahdi army, an Iraqi militia loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have been armed by Iran.Hamedani also said Iran has no shortage of advanced missile systems.Our chemical engineers have upgraded Iran's missile capability, he was quoted as saying.Hamedani didn't elaborate, but Iranian officials have said they successfully tested a solid fuel motor for the medium-range Shahab-3 ballistic missile, a technological breakthrough for Iran.Experts say solid fuel increases the accuracy of missiles in reaching targets. But many in the West have expressed doubt about Iran's professed military accomplishments.Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

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

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

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

Nuclear Necessity in Putin's Russia Rose Gottemoeller OCT 27,08

What purpose do nuclear weapons serve in today’s Russia? More than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russians still deploy more than 5,000 warheads on strategic nuclear-weapon systems. Additionally, they might deploy more than 3,000 nonstrategic warheads, and there are as many as 18,000 warheads either in reserve or in a queue awaiting dismantlement.[1] This enormous capability is available to Kremlin leaders, but it is a very good question what they can do with it.Clearly, Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to see some political and diplomatic benefit to the weapons. It was no accident that in February—only one month before Putin successfully won re-election—the Russian military staged an all-out nuclear exercise that harkened back to the Cold War. Much of the short-term political payoff was lost, of course, when, with Putin in ceremonial attendance and cameras rolling, the navy twice failed to launch ballistic missiles from its strategic strike submarine. Still, the Russian president also announced plans for a new strategic weapon system, one that, from the evidence of media reports, involves maneuvering warheads that were first developed in response to President Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars missile defense system in the 1980s.By overseeing the exercise, Putin was able to look presidential, recalling the days of Soviet power for at least the portion of his electorate nostalgic for it. Also, he was able to say to the U.S. administration recently critical of him, You cannot ignore Russia. Finally, he was able to highlight for the Russian armed forces that he was paying attention, celebrating their stature as a national institution. Even with the missteps, the exercise thus was a political boon to Putin—not that he needed it in his landslide election victory. Still, Russia’s dilemmas about its nuclear arsenal extend well beyond the ramifications of these election-year events.

During much of his first term, Putin and his military and foreign policy advisers struggled with what to make of the Cold War-sized nuclear arsenal they inherited. Like Putin’s predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, they pondered whether this arsenal could offer security benefits in a world where the Kremlin’s most likely adversaries were no longer another nuclear weapons superpower, but terrorists and separatists. They tested whether Moscow could leverage these weapons to diplomatic advantage and throw its nuclear weight around. They probed whether it was possible to redirect the resources of the nuclear arsenal to other purposes.As Putin begins his second term, however, many of these questions appear to have been at least partially answered. A combination of military necessity and domestic political benefits have combined with the demise of certain constraints, specifically START II, to convince Putin and his top aides that Russia should continue to depend on nuclear weapons. In fact, the Kremlin has drawn this conclusion even though Russian officials implicitly acknowledge such weaponry will do little to counter the main threats to their security.To illustrate this point: the recent exercise mimicked one last seen in 1982, when the Soviet Union was at the height of its efforts to achieve nuclear war-fighting prowess and bolster its deterrent against the United States. Russia’s official comment, however, placed the 2004 exercise in a context quite different from Cold War deterrence. According to official sources, the exercises were planned to counter the threat of terrorism.[2] Given the massive display of nuclear capability and the evident focus on the United States, this explanation at best seemed far-fetched: would the United States somehow be involved in a terrorist attack and have to be punished for pursuing that course? More likely, the Russian military was simply reaching for its default option, a well-known threat scenario and, at least in the old days, a well-practiced response.

A Missed Opportunity

It did not have to turn out this way. Beginning in the late 1990s, the role of strategic nuclear weapons in Russian national security was at the center of a bureaucratic battle over post-Cold War military reforms—a debate that could have turned out very differently. The battle featured two key players, Marshal Igor Sergeyev, a former commander-in-chief of the Strategic Rocket Forces (SRF) who was named minister of defense in May 1997, and Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin, putatively his senior deputy. Sergeyev favored a strong role for strategic nuclear weapons in Russia’s military policy. Kvashnin wanted the Kremlin to put its emphasis on strengthening the conventional armed forces for regional conflicts such as the war in Chechnya.Under Yeltsin, Sergeyev got his way, seeking and gaining approval from the Security Council to create a Strategic Deterrence Force. This force would combine the strategic nuclear capabilities in the SRF with those of the navy and air force, together with certain other early warning and command and control assets, including Russian reconnaissance satellites in space.[3] In this way, it would form an integrated strategic command similar to the Strategic Command being formed during a similar period in the United States.This victory for the strategic forces was short-lived. By April 2000, the fierce debate between Sergeyev and Kvashnin had broken into the open. Kvashnin apparently went around Sergeyev to suggest to Putin, who had only recently ascended to the presidency, that the SRF should be downgraded as a separate service and folded into the air force. Sergeyev responded sharply and openly to this proposal, angrily insisting that it be withdrawn.[4] Only three months after being sworn in, Putin was faced with the unprecedented task of rebuking his two top military men for their public disagreement.By August, however, Putin seemed to be deciding in Kvashnin’s favor. Through the summer, he fired several generals who were seen as allies of Sergeyev. Then, at a Security Council meeting in August, he gave lip service to the continued need for strong nuclear forces but otherwise placed emphasis squarely on strengthening the conventional forces. The notion of a Strategic Deterrence Force was officially dead; indeed the SRF were to be subordinated to the air force.This outcome to the debate seemed to foretell a permanent victory for Kvashnin. Russian military policy seemed to be heading in the direction of a profound and unprecedented denuclearization. A keystone of Kvashnin’s concept was that the Russian Federation no longer needed to maintain nuclear parity with the United States but could succeed at deterring U.S. aggression with a minimal nuclear force. Kvashnin proposed, for example, to move from 756 land-based ICBMs to 150 by 2003.[5] Although Western analysts called this idea “strategic decoupling,” Russian experts such as Vladimir Dvorkin, a retired SRF general and eminent modeler of the strategic forces, called it a gross strategic mistake.[6]

Repercussions of U.S. Policy

Within two years, a U.S. policy decision helped restore the status of the strategic nuclear forces. In December 2001, the United States announced its intention to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The Russian Federation responded with restraint, officially calling the withdrawal a mistake but not reacting with immediate political or military countermoves. The Kremlin did, however, what it had long warned it would do: it stated that it would not implement the START II treaty cutting the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals. By doing so, Russian officials said they would have the flexibility to counter future U.S. missile defenses that might impact the effectiveness of their strategic arsenal.In deciding not to implement START II, which had never concluded its ratification process and had not entered into force, Russian officials were able to opt out of that treaty’s ban on multiple-warhead land-based missiles (so-called MIRVed ICBMs). Instead of retiring such missiles, the Kremlin decided that it would continue deploying them for at least a decade.[7] In this new strategic landscape, Russian experts began talking increasingly about strategic modernization on the cheap, looking for ways to sustain a modern strategic nuclear force and still accomplish urgently needed improvements to the conventional forces. Dvorkin, for example, spoke about putting multiple warheads on the Topol-M, the new Russian ICBM that had been designed with a single warhead to conform with START II.[8] Yet even without such measures, the failure of START II meant that the Kremlin no longer had an urgent requirement to modernize their strategic forces, because they could maintain the deployment of earlier generations of multiple warhead missiles. The Russian nuclear arsenal was very far indeed from Kvashnin’s stated goal of 150 land-based ICBMs by 2003—Sergeyev seemed to have been vindicated.Putin and his top advisers made the shift plain in October 2003. At a meeting with top-ranking military leaders, Putin seemed to be saying that the time for upheaval was over when he announced, We are moving from radical reforms to deliberate, future-oriented development of the armed forces.”[9] Sergei Ivanov, a Putin ally and civilian who had been sworn in as defense minister in April 2001, also seemed to call a halt to the roller-coaster debate over defense reform, asserting that the Russian army had already adapted to new realities. No longer, Ivanov said, would the Russian army have to consider global nuclear war or a large-scale conventional war as the most likely contingencies. Therefore, nuclear and conventional forces had already been trimmed substantially.[10] Accompanying these statements was a reconfirmation that Russia was taking steps to maintain the capability of its strategic nuclear arsenal. Ivanov underscored the fact that the strategic nuclear forces would retain essentially the same composition as they had had during the Cold War years. Russia retains a significant number of land-based strategic missiles.…I am speaking here about the most menacing missiles, of which we have dozens, with hundreds of warheads, he said.[11]

Whether October 2003 represented an accurate time to declare the reform of the Russian armed forces complete seems doubtful. Even by the evidence that Putin and Ivanov presented in their public comments, reform still was a work in progress. Nevertheless, it is possible to point to a settling out of the relationship between the nuclear forces and the conventional forces. Neither Kvashnin, in his insistence on a denuclearization of the Russian armed forces, nor Sergeyev, with his emphasis on strong strategic nuclear forces and investment to match, had been precisely right. Each, however, had been to some measure correct. The compromise path, as noted above, was engineered through the demise of START II. Relieved of START II constraints, the Russian Federation found a way to retain strategic nuclear weapons on the cheap, thus freeing up funding for conventional force modernization. With the competition resolved, perhaps progress on reforming conventional forces could accelerate.

Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons

This resolution, at least for the time being, of the debate about the relationship and primacy of strategic nuclear and conventional forces does not address the place of nonstrategic nuclear weapons in Russian military doctrine. One of the oddest aspects of the Sergeyev-Kvashnin debate was that both of those military leaders as well as other Russian military experts shared and continue to share a theoretical consensus on the utility of nonstrategic nuclear weapons to counter Russian conventional weakness.In April 2000, a new version of Russian military doctrine was issued, consistent with earlier versions except in its emphasis on the importance of using nuclear weapons to deter and counter attacks on Russian territory. This doctrine had been preceded, in January 2000, by a new National Security Concept that emphasized the same point. In describing the concept, Ivanov, who was then secretary of the Security Council, spoke about the nuclear issue: Russia never said and is not saying now that it will be the first to use nuclear weapons, but at the same time, Russia is not saying that it will not use nuclear weapons if it is exposed to a full-scale aggression which leads to an immediate threat of a break-up and [to] Russia’s existence in general.[12] The doctrine stressed that even a conventional attack on targets that the Russians considered of strategic importance on their own territory could bring forth a nuclear counterattack anywhere in the theater of military operations. The exercise Zapad-99 showed exactly the type of scenario that underpinned this doctrine. Enemy forces (and NATO was heavily implied, in alliance with regional opponents of Russia) were beginning to overrun Russian territory. At the same time, they were using high-precision conventional weapons to attack strategic targets, such as nuclear power plants, on Russian territory. In response, Russia launched bombers armed with nuclear air-launched cruise missiles against enemy territory.The greatest innovation of the January 2000 National Security Concept was the suggestion that nonstrategic nuclear weapons might be used in a limited way to counter a conventional attack, without spurring a major escalation to all-out nuclear use. The concept essentially restated long-standing policy, renewing the mission of the nuclear forces to deter any attack—nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional—against the territory of the Russian Federation.[13] The notion that a limited nuclear response could be used to de-escalate conflict was a departure from Soviet era doctrine, which tended to stress the inevitability of rapid escalation as a counter to the U.S. position. During that era, the United States stated that it might have to use nuclear weapons in a limited way to counter an overwhelming Soviet conventional attack on Western Europe. The arrival of this idea in Russian nuclear policy seems to indicate that the shoe was now on the other foot: it was now Russia that might have to contemplate the limited use of nuclear weapons to compensate for its weakness against a determined and overwhelming regional aggressor.Thus, a major new trend was emerging in Russian nuclear security policy: Nuclear weapons would not only be used in a large-scale coalition war involving exchanges with a major power such as the United States. They might also be used in conflicts on Russia’s periphery if the Russians decided that they had no other option to counter a weapon of mass destruction attack involving chemical or biological weapons. They might also be used to counter attacks by small-scale but capable conventional forces impacting targets that Russia considers to be of strategic importance.

This latter use, it is worth stressing, had earlier antecedents. As early as the mid-1980s, the Soviets were becoming concerned about what they termed strategic conventional attacks against Soviet territory. In that era, they worried about the new U.S. long-range land-attack cruise missiles that were capable of carrying either conventional or nuclear warheads. The Soviets complained at the time that they would not be able to distinguish between a nuclear and conventional attack and would therefore either have to treat the attack as nuclear or lose their opportunity to launch on tactical warning. In this way, strategic conventional weapons might deprive them of their options to limit damage from a nuclear attack.[14] At the time, the Soviets were not stressing the de-escalatory nature of limited nuclear response options. In fact, they tended to threaten that a cruise missile attack on Soviet territory, even if it turned out to be conventional, could lead to all-out nuclear war. They did claim, however, that such response options would be consistent with Soviet no-first-use policy because they would be responding on warning of what appeared to be a nuclear attack; once their opponent had launched such an attack, they were justified to respond. Even if the cruise missile turned out to be conventionally armed, they would have been responding to nuclear warning.Thus, when the Russians talk about using their nuclear forces against terrorists, they are falling back on some established traditions but also on the military reality that their conventional forces are not yet ready to confront new threats to the Russian Federation. Yet, it not likely that terrorist decision-makers will be deterred by nuclear weapons.[15] Rather than bolstering Russian defenses against terrorism, the ineffectual nature of nuclear forces for this mission only highlights the continued weakness of the Russian armed forces overall.

Future Directions

The Russians seem to be drawing a measure of security from their nuclear capability and are doing it on the cheap. One problem will arise if that security becomes synonymous with the current high numbers of nuclear weapons and the Russian government decides it will no longer work to reduce its vast holdings of nuclear weapons and materials. At the moment, Russia seems to be taking seriously its commitments under the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) to reduce operational deployments of strategic nuclear warheads to 1,700-2,200 by 2012. For example, despite their decision to maintain some older systems, they are eliminating SS-18s at the rate of two to three regiments a year, blowing up silos so that the reductions are irreversible. As long as the Russians remain committed to reductions, their continuing dependence on nuclear forces is not a problem.A problem will arise if the Russians decide that they must begin to modernize their nuclear capability, developing and building new nuclear warheads and possibly testing them. This direction looked possible in 2003 as high-level officials made obscure references to the need for new strategic weapons. Putin, for example, remarked approvingly about new strategic capabilities in his State of the Union address in May, but it was unclear whether he was talking about new advanced conventional weapons or new nuclear weapons.[16] U.S. policy may have had some impact on these decisions. For example, Putin announced a new strategic system in February 2004, the resurrection of a Soviet-era maneuvering warhead project that had been originally designed to counter the U.S. Star Wars program. With the United States moving toward deployment of a national missile defense system, Putin perhaps wanted to reassure his military that important technological countermeasures were in the works.Yet, U.S. plans to deploy missile defenses, and research and potentially deploy new nuclear weapons, have also prompted assertions from some Russian officials that they will not seek to match U.S. efforts. Russian officials have stated clearly, We will not chase after you. They seem to believe that existing Russian nuclear deployments could counter any new U.S. capabilities, offensive or defensive, for the foreseeable future. No need for panic, they convey, we will not be surprised or overwhelmed by new developments in the United States.[17] Thus, Russian nuclear policy looking into the future is an interesting admixture. It combines military necessity—an insurance policy against conventional weakness—with a political expression of national pride. The celebration of the nuclear forces has also served a reassurance function, conveying that the leadership, and particularly Putin, value the military’s contribution to Russia’s future.A key question for the international community, and indeed for the United States, is whether Russia’s nuclear capabilities and emotional investment in such weapons might be tapped for larger purposes than Russian domestic politics. It is often said that nuclear weapons give Russia a seat at the diplomatic table. Indeed, Russia’s status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council is linked to its status as a nuclear-weapon state under the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.To be sure, Russia’s nuclear weapons give it a stronger role on the world stage than its economy or political heft would otherwise warrant, and Russia’s pride in this role should be harnessed to accomplish larger international goals. For example, the Russians might be asked to use their nuclear expertise more fully in the fight against proliferation. Recently, they have shown a willingness to take a firmer hand with Iran over the supply of fuel to the Bushehr reactor project. Can such firmness be extended both with Iran and to other proliferation tough cases? Can Russia in fact become a full partner to the United States in the fight against proliferation?[18] Consider the example of North Korea. Having provided nuclear research reactors and power technology to North Korea in the first place, Russia has significant first-hand knowledge of the foundations of the North Korean program. Moreover, Russia has indicated an interest in serving as an international repository for spent nuclear fuel. If North Korea has not reprocessed all of its 8,000 nuclear fuel rods, it might be convinced to hand them over for storage at an international site, along with whatever plutonium has been produced. Because of its involvement with the North Korean program and its geographic proximity, Russia could provide the site for these materials.The Russians, with the help of the United States, could also lead by example. For example, the Russian Federation could accelerate reductions in its nuclear arsenal and the nuclear materials that underpin it. Although the current U.S. administration does not seem interested in reductions beyond those enshrined in the SORT, there are good reasons to pursue them. In particular, controlling and eliminating nuclear assets is the best way to keep them out of the hands of terrorists and regimes inimical to the international order. This goal is particularly relevant to nonstrategic or tactical nuclear weapons. Up to this point, such weapons have not been subject to formal arms control agreements, but they are likely to be among the nuclear assets most attractive and accessible to terrorists.

Even if the United States and Russia do not immediately turn their attention to new nuclear arms reductions, they could reinvigorate joint efforts to protect, control, and account for nuclear materials. An early joint effort, called the Trilateral Initiative because of the involvement of the International Atomic Energy Agency along with the United States and Russia, made some progress on joint nuclear material protection in the 1990s but then stalled over implementation costs and related issues. Russia and the United States could quickly reinvigorate this initiative, thus providing some important impetus to international efforts to control nuclear materials.Likewise, the United States and Russia promised each other, at the time the SORT was signed in May 2002, that they would examine new measures of transparency that would facilitate implementation of the treaty. Some of the most important of such measures could relate to monitoring warheads in storage. Both Russian and U.S. experts have spent considerable time jointly developing the technologies and procedures that would be necessary to monitor warhead storage, and this agenda could quickly be developed. These steps could apply equally to strategic and nonstrategic nuclear warheads if the two countries should decide to pursue joint measures that would control and account for both types.The United States will have to make some effort to allow Russia to assume the role of a more equal partner on nonproliferation policy. Washington is accustomed, for example, to thinking of Russia more as a proliferation problem than part of the solution. Indeed, Russia’s insistence on selling nuclear reactors to unpalatable customers such as Iran and Libya has meant that it has been continually under suspicion as a proliferator itself. Nevertheless, the center of the proliferation sales network seems to have been in Pakistan rather than Russia. Thus, if the United States is willing to continue the difficult work of improving Russian export control laws and other regulations, Russia could develop into a reliable nonproliferation partner.Likewise, on the arms control front, Russian weakness and distraction have often meant that the United States has taken the lead in advancing new initiatives. The SORT, for example, was based on a U.S. concept, although the Kremlin insisted that it be signed as a legally binding treaty rather than a political commitment. In the future, Washington may find itself as the only partner volunteering new ideas, such as further reductions in strategic nuclear forces or a withdrawal of nonstrategic nuclear weapons from NATO Europe. Even if such initiatives are advanced on a voluntary basis rather than in the context of a negotiation, they can be designed to draw forth a positive response from the Russian side.The United States and Russian Federation have a long history of working together to solve nuclear problems, particularly in the realm of nuclear arms reductions. For the time being, Russian nuclear weapons must compensate in part for its weakness. However, Russia’s nuclear capabilities also mean that it can be somewhat self-confident in the international arena, turning its knowledge, expertise, and resources to serve the country’s larger goals. With sufficient U.S. cooperation and encouragement, Putin might be able to provide a new and positive answer to the question of what purpose nuclear weapons serve in today’s Russia.

NOTES

1. According to information published by the Arms Control Association, as of July 31, 2003, strategic nuclear forces of the former Soviet Union totaled 5,286 nuclear warheads (2,922 ICBMs, 1,732 SLBMs, and 632 bombers). This information is based on the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and the Russian Federation of July 31, 2003. Arms Control Association, Current Strategic Nuclear Forces of the Former Soviet Union, February 2004, available at www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/sovforces.asp. See also Natural Resources Defense Council, Table of USSR/Russian Nuclear Warheads, November 25, 2002, www.nrdc.org/nuclear/nudb/datab10.asp.

2. Ivan Safronov, Russia Will Play Out a Nuclear Game With Itself, Kommersant, January 30, 2004.

3. The inception of the Strategic Deterrence Forces is described in Jacob W. Kipp, Russia’s Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons, Military Review, May-June 2001, available at http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/fmsopubs/issues/russias_nukes/russias_nukes.htm.

4. David Hoffmann, Putin Tries to Stop Feuding in the Military, The Washington Post, July 15, 2000, p. 14. A good summation of Russian commentary on the debate is contained in Nikolai Sokov, Denuclearization of Russia’s Defense Policy? July 17, 2000, available at www.cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/denuke.htm. Another good precis of the debate is Philipp C. Bleek, Russia Ready to Reduce to 1,500 Warheads, Addressing Dispute Over Strategic Forces’ Fate, Arms Control Today, September 2000.

5. For a good review of Russian sources on this point, see Sokov, Denuclearization of Russia’s Defense Policy?

6. Vladimir Dvorkin, Russia Needs a Transparent Development Programme for Its Strategic Nuclear Forces, Vremya Novostei, No. 1, January 2003, translated in the CDI Russia Weekly, No. 240, Center for Defense Information, Washington, DC.

7. According to some analysts, SS-18s and SS-19s could be refurbished and maintained well beyond their guaranteed life span, perhaps until 2020 or even beyond. General Yury Kirillov, chief of the SRF Military Academy, said that, [c]onsidering Russia’s economic capabilities, the preservation of Russia’s nuclear potential requires a maximum possible extension of the service life of the RS-20 and RS-18 MIRVed missile complexes. (The NATO designators for these missiles are the SS-18 and SS-19.) Interview with Colonel General Yury Kirillov, Possibly It’s Time to Advance the Idea of a Nuclear Deterrence Safeguards Treaty, Yadernyy Kontrol, November-December 2002, translated in FBIS-SOV-2003-0114, October 5, 2002.

8. Discussion among Aleksandr Golts, Sergey Parkhomenko, and Vladimir Dvorkin, Ekho Moskvy Radio, May 21, 2002, available at www.echo.msk.ru/interview/8529.html.

9. Lenta.RU, available at http://vip.lenta.ru/fullstory/2003/10/02/doctrine/index.htm.

10. Viktor Litovkin, Security is Best Achieved Through Coalition: Russia’s New Military Doctrine Highlights Community of Goals with the World, www.cdi.org/russia/276-6.cfm.

11. Simon Saradzhyan, Putin Beefs Up ICBM Capacity, The Moscow Times, October 3, 2003. See also Jeremy Bransten, Russia: Putin Talks Up Power of Nuclear Arsenal, RFE/RL, available at www.rferl.org/nca/features/2003/10/03102003170748.asp.

12. Security Council Chief Says New Concept Unique, ITAR-TASS, February 24, 2000, in FBIS-SOV-2000-0224. The doctrine may be found at Voyennaya doktrina Rossiiskoi Federatsii, Nezavisimaya gazeta, April 22, 2000, available at http://ng.ru/printed/politics/2000-04-22/5_doktrina.html.

13. For a useful commentary on the link between Zapad-99 and the Security Concept, see Nikolai Sokov, Russia’s New National Security Concept: The Nuclear Angle, CNS Reports, January 19, 2000, available at http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/sokov2.htm.

14. For a discussion of this period in Soviet doctrine, see Rose Gottemoeller, Land-Attack Cruise Missiles, Adelphi Paper, No. 226 (Winter 1987/88): 18-19.

15 It should be noted that, when the Russian government refers to terrorists, it often is describing separatists from the breakaway republic of Chechnya, who may or may not be engaging in nonstate terrorist activities. To the extent that Chechen politicians ascribe to the responsibilities of government leadership, they might be subject to some aspects of deterrence, especially of a nuclear kind.

16. President Vladimir Putin’s Annual Address to the Federal Assembly, May 16, 2003. Then-Deputy Prime Minister Alyoshin asserted after the president’s speech that Putin was talking about a new strategic command and control system to allow the use of in-depth space, air and earth systems, not new nuclear weapons. See Natalia Slavina, Deputy Premier Says Russia Government to Pursue Tasks of Putin’s Address, ITAR-TASS, May 16, 2003, transcribed in FBIS-SOV-2003-0516. See also Russian Deputy Premier Calls for Developing IT-Intensive Weapon Systems, Moscow Interfax, May 16, 2003, in FBIS-SOV-2003-0516.

17. Conversations with author, Moscow, January 2004.

18. This idea was advanced by Russian participants in a joint project of the U.S. National Academy of Scientists and the Russian Academy of Sciences on the future of nonproliferation coo=peration. See National Research Council of the National Academies, Overcoming Impediments to U.S.-Russian Cooperation on Nuclear Non-Proliferation: Report of a Workshop, February 2004, pp. 1-10.

Rose Gottemoeller is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she holds a joint appointment with the Russian and Eurasian Program and the Global Policy Program. Before joining Carnegie in October 2000, Gottemoeller was deputy undersecretary for defense nuclear nonproliferation in the Department of Energy.

Bee swarm kills 3 dogs, injures 70-year-old woman in Florida Sun Oct 26, 5:28 PM By The Associated Press

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. - A 70-year-old woman is injured and three dogs are dead after a swarm of bees terrorized a neighbourhood in South Florida. Authorities say crews removed about 25 kilograms of honeycomb from the side of a home in Palm Beach County after Friday's attack. The hive has been contained. The bees swarmed Nancy Hill and her two dogs. Hill was treated at a hospital, but the dogs died. The bees also attacked two other dogs in the neighbourhood. One of those died and the other was injured. Lab tests should determine whether the bees were Africanized bees, also known as killer bees. Their stings are no more potent than an ordinary bee's, but they are far more aggressive and attack in swarms.

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).

Czech Republic rejects EU villain role
ELITSA VUCHEVA Today OCT 27,08 @ 09:26 CET

The Czech Republic is being unfairly painted as an EU villain ahead of its presidency next year, Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg has said as the country gears up to take over the EU chair in January.The Czech Republic's reputation as a highly eurosceptic country is false, Mr Schwarzenberg told French daily Le Monde in an interview published on Saturday (25 October).We are not more eurosceptic that other countries in Europe, and I regret that we are being presented as the bad [characters] in the play, he said.Referring to the country's outspoken EU-hostile president, Vaclav Klaus, the diplomat underlined he has his own opinions, but added that it is the government that forms foreign and European policy.According to the Czech top diplomat, Prague will also ratify the EU's Lisbon treaty - aimed at making the bloc more efficient – before the January presidency hand over.

Additionally, Mr Schwarzenberg dismissed doubts that a small country like his could not deal with major issues such as the Russia-Georgia conflict and the global financial crisis, which have dominated the French presidency agenda.We may be small but in the case of the Russians specifically, we have more know-how than anybody else since we lived with them for 40 years, he said.[For the rest,] we will of course keep a close and constant relation with each and every one of the EU member states. We are in Europe, the phone works, everybody can go within one hour to London or Paris, where is the problem? he added.

Pistols at dawn

Mr Schwarzenberg's comments come as speculations have mounted in the media that French leader Nicolas Sarkozy may have ambitions to lead the EU beyond the end of the French chairmanship of the bloc, on 31 December.Le Monde reported last week - quoting several advisors to the French president - that Mr Sarkozy would like to lead a new eurozone economic government, heading the group of countries using the euro until another EU member state using the single currency takes up the rotating EU presidency, in 2010.The Czech foreign minister said he could not believe this means Mr Sarkozy wants to neutralise the Czech EU presidency. This suspicion is unbearable, he added, joking that if Paris tried to sabotage Prague's presidency - a word used by a Sarkozy advisor in Le Monde - it would merit an old-fashioned duel.If the president used this word, I'd consider it is an insult. And if we were [living] at the times of our grand-parents, we would have to meet at 5am in the Boulogne Woods [a large park in Paris], with two witnesses dressed in black, he said.

Klaus attacks

Meanwhile, Mr Klaus over the weekend accused the French president of trying to undermine the Czech contribution.Mr Sarkozy wants to siphon off our presidency, he said during a television debate on Sunday, using a term for illegal asset stripping coined when he was prime minister in the 1990s.He added that the EU presidency was anyway meaningless.It is prestigious, but not for the countries. It is prestigious for the few politicians who go to Brussels 12 times per month, he was reported as saying by AFP.If the Czech presidency had been in office during the financial crisis, it would have had a more rational opinion …than most other European countries, Mr Klaus added, after earlier last week calling Mr Sarkozy's interventionist ideas on managing the economy old socialism.

Polish summit row heats up afresh
PHILIPPA RUNNER Today OCT 27,08 @ 09:14 CET

Bickering over who should represent Poland at the intergovernmental level threatens to spill over into a second EU summit, after the political party of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he will stay home on 7 November if the president goes to Brussels.If the president insists, the premier won't go. Let the president put forward Poland's position on the [financial] crisis alone, a senior member of Mr Tusk's liberal Civic Platform party told Polish newspaper Dziennik on Sunday.The president has already confirmed his plans. He's spoken with the French [EU presidency]. From what we hear, there are no problems to have two chairs, said Adam Bielan, a spokesman for President Lech Kaczynski's conservative Law and Justice faction.The two leaders both turned up for the last EU summit on 15 October, with an angry Mr Tusk forced at times to send away his foreign minister and finance minister from the top table to let the president take one of Poland's official seats.

Following the fiasco, which also saw the president charter a special plane to fly to the EU capital, the prime minister has asked the Polish constitutional court to rule on who should lead the Polish delegation in future. But it is uncertain whether the court will give its opinion before the extraordinary 7 November meeting, called by French President Nicolas Sarkozy last week to discuss the global financial emergency.

Poland has so far escaped any major bank collapse. But the fears of a Europe-wide recession leading to a drop in Polish exports, as well as a currency crisis in Hungary, have seen a run on the Polish zloty, which has lost 10 percent of its value against the euro in the past few days.The president's team is widely seen as lacking financial expertise, with Polish analysts saying the EU summit-attendance row is a form of early campaigning for next year's Polish presidential elections.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)

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

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

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

UK defence minister supports EU army
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today OCT 27,08 @ 09:25 CET

The freshly appointed UK defence secretary has publicly supported the idea of a European army, a key ambition of the French EU presidency.Speaking to the country's Sunday Times newspaper yesterday (26 October), John Hutton, who took on the defence portfolio on 3 October, was asked about the prospects for an EU force.He said: I think we've got to be pragmatic about those things. I think that's perfectly sensible. France is one of our closest allies, and the French believe very strongly in this type of role. If we can support it, we should.French President Nicholas Sarkozy, whose country currently chairs the EU's six-month rotating presidency, wants the bloc's existing military framework to have a new headquarters and each member state to commit 1,500 troops to rapid reaction forces. I'm not one of those EU haters [who think] anything to do with the EU must by definition be terrible, said Mr Hutton. There's plenty of them around. I think frankly those kind of views are pathetic.Britain's role in the world is to be part of those alliances - that's the best way to project power, strength and conviction around the world, he continued. People who don't understand that don't understand the nature of the modern world.Mr Hutton also told the British paper that he thought the plans for a European Union mission to tackle piracy off the Somalian coast is a good example of how EU forces can be used.Although the EU does not have a military, with defence remaining within the domain of each member state, Mr Sarkozy had hoped to place EU defence architecture at the heart of his country's EU chairmanship until his best-laid plans were overtaken by the global financial crisis.In 2007, during French Bastille Day celebrations in which troops from every EU member state marched down the Champs-Elysees, Mr Sarkozy said the EU should construct a unified military.The Bastille comments followed similar remarks from German Chancellor Angela Merkel in March of the same year on the occasion of the EU's 50th birthday. At the time, she said in an interview that she supported the idea of a unified EU army.However, the UK, the largest of the EU's big-three military spenders ahead of France and Germany, has until now opposed the idea of a common EU force, arguing that it would unnecessarily duplicate tasks performed by NATO.According to the Lisbon Treaty, rejected in June by the Irish in a referendum, the North Atlantic alliance remains the foundation of the collective defence of [EU] members, with NATO always headed by a US general, however.

Israeli poll bounce shows Livni leading Netanyahu By Dan Williams Dan Williams – OCT 27,08

Reuters – Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni speaks to the media after her meeting with President Shimon Peres … JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Tzipi Livni has seen a sharp turnaround in fortunes for Israel's ruling Kadima party since she became leader last month and could beat the right-wing opposition in a coming election, polls on Monday indicated.President Shimon Peres, formally setting into motion procedures for a national ballot, told the Knesset after consultations with political parties that there was no chance of reaching a deal now to form a new coalition government.Following Peres' announcement, parliament has up to three weeks to dissolve itself and set an election date, widely expected to be scheduled for January or February.Two newspaper surveys, published after Livni abandoned on Sunday her efforts to forge a coalition government and recommended to Peres a parliamentary election be held, showed Kadima just beating Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud -- a reversal of the results forecast in previous polls, published in August.Livni's Kadima colleagues attributed the gains to her image as a new kind of corruption-free politician, though few appeared to relish going to polls with an untested leader so soon.I think that we didn't want an election. We wanted to continue in the existing (coalition) configuration, Environment Minister Gideon Ezra of Kadima told Israel's Army Radio.Briefing her faction, Livni, a 50-year-old former lawyer and one-time Mossad operative, made clear she was not complacent.

We all awoke today to flattering polls, and while this is certainly important, we need a Kadima that is strong, a Kadima that is united, a Kadima that strides forward as one, she said.With Israel focused on choosing a new leadership, prospects for progress in slow-moving U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations with the Palestinians seem dim. Washington had hoped for at least a framework agreement by the end of the year.

Centrist Kadima was battered by the 2006 Lebanon war and a graft scandal that forced Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign last month, although he remains in office until a new government is formed. Livni replaced Olmert as Kadima leader on September 17.

CONFIDENCE

The poll in Yedioth Ahronoth daily predicted Kadima would take 29 of 120 seats in the Knesset -- the same number it has now -- while Likud would take 26, up from 12. The Labor party of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Olmert's main ally in the outgoing government, was seen taking 11 seats, down from 19 now.A similar poll, also conducted on Sunday, for the Maariv newspaper gave Kadima 31 seats, Likud 29 and Labor 11.The results broke with past surveys that saw Netanyahu, a former prime minister whose popularity has been boosted by Israeli security jitters, easily beating Kadima and Labor.Two polls in August, before Livni replaced Olmert as Kadima leader on September 17, showed Likud winning between 31 and 33 seats against a Kadima led by Livni that would take only 20 to 23.Yuval Steinitz, a senior Likud lawmaker and Netanyahu confidant, described the surveys as selective and biased.The polls I've seen show Likud leading by six or seven seats, though that's still not enough, he told Reuters.Livni said on Sunday her efforts to form a new coalition government had failed over the demands of a key religious Jewish faction for special welfare stipends, and that she would seek an early ballot. The Yedioth survey had 500 respondents and a 4.5 percent margin of error. Maariv, which polled 900 people, gave no margin of error. (Editing by Dominic Evans)

Row simmers in Australia over Lord's Prayer Sun Oct 26, 12:29 am ET

SYDNEY (AFP) – The use of the Lord's Prayer in Australia's parliament came under question Sunday, after the speaker of the house called for debate on whether to continue the century-old tradition.Harry Jenkins has called for debate on whether the Christian prayer, which has been recited at the start of each parliamentary sitting since federation in 1901, should be reworded or replaced.One of the most controversial aspects of the parliamentary day I found from practically day two is the prayer, Jenkins, speaker of the House of Representatives, told The Sunday Telegraph.On the one end of the spectrum is why have a prayer? The other end of the spectrum is where we have discussions about the words of the prayer. For people outside the parliament there are a lot of things they wish to discuss.Jenkins' comments came after a new independent member of parliament, Rob Oakeshott, said he was disappointed that an acknowledgement of indigenous people was not made at the start of each session.I ask you to revisit this question of daily acknowledgement within this chamber for traditional owners, a simple symbolic but respectful act which will assist in building a better Australia, he said in his maiden speech.

Jenkins said an indigenous recognition would be in line with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's historic apology to Aboriginal Australians in January for injustices suffered during 220 years of white settlement.But Immigration Minister Chris Evans said traditional land owners were already mentioned at the opening of parliament each year and other formal Parliament House functions.We had this debate in the Senate a few years ago when there was talk about having a moment's reflection rather than the Lord's Prayer but the strong view among Senators was that the Lord's Prayer ought to remain -- I wouldn't expect any change, he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Australia, a former colony of Great Britain, marks Christian festivals such as Christmas and Easter with public holidays.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

TORAH PORTION FROM OCT 26 - NOV 01, 2008

SINCE WHAT ISRAEL READS WILL BE FULFILLED IN THAT WEEK I WILL BE PUTTING THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION ON FOR ALL OF US TO KEEP TRACK OF ISRAEL HAPPENINGS.

TORAH PORTION FROM OCT 26, 2008 6PM TO NOV 01,2008

GENESIS 6:9 - 11:32
9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

GENESIS 7:1-24
1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

GENESIS 8:1-22
1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.
13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.
15 And God spake unto Noah, saying,
16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him:
19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

GENESIS 9:1-29
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

GENESIS 10:1-32
1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.
6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.
15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,
16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,
17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,
18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.
19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.
20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.
21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.
26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,
27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.
31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.
32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

GENESIS 11:1-32
1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:
17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:
21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

PROPHETS PORTION

ISAIAH 54:1 - 55:5
1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

ISAIAH 55:1-5
1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.
5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

NEW TESTAMENT PORTION

MATTHEW 24:36-44
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

LUKE 17:26-37
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
32 Remember Lot’s wife.
33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

ACTS 2:1-16
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

1 PETER 3:18-22
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

OBAMAS GRANDMA CONFIRMS KENYA BIRTH

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

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

EARTHQUAKES

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

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

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

Strong quake shakes Afghanistan OCT 26,08

KABUL (Reuters) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 5.6 struck northeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, but caused no casualties or damage, a government official said.The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said on its website the quake's epicenter was at a depth of 208 km (130 miles).The quake occurred at about 6 am local time and was also felt in the capital, Kabul, some 260 km (160 miles) from the epicenter lying to the south of the city of Faizabad of northeastern Badakhshan province.Mountainous Afghanistan is an earthquake prone country.Thousands of people were killed by earthquakes in northern Badakhshan province in the late 1990s.In 2002 at least 1,500 people were killed when a series of quakes of between magnitude 5 and 6 struck northern Baghlan province in the Hindu Kush mountains, destroying the district capital of Nahrin.(Writing by Jonathon Burch; Editing by David Fox)

Second small earthquake strikes near Morgan Hill
Bay City News Service 10/25/2008 07:24:27 AM PDT

The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting a second small earthquake struck this morning about an hour and a half after a 2.9 quake struck in the same area of Santa Clara County. According to the USGS, the second earthquake struck at about 6:25 a.m. a.m. and had a preliminary magnitude of 2.0. The first earthquake, which struck at about 5 a.m., had a depth of 4.2 miles, while the second quake had a depth of 3.9 miles. Both earthquakes were centered 10 miles north of Morgan Hill and 15 miles east-southeast of San Jose, according to the USGS.2008 by Bay City News, Inc.

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.

More than 60 killed in fierce Yemen storms Sat Oct 25, 11:49 AM

SANAA (AFP) - Aid operations swung into higher gear in Yemen on Saturday after floods killed at least 58 people and six more died from lightning strikes during two days of fierce storms.The interior ministry, updating an earlier toll, said at least 58 people died in flooding fed by torrential downpours that hit Hadramaut and Mahara provinces on Thursday and Friday.At least five others were reported missing in Mahara.Four people were also killed by lightning in the southern provinces of Tayez and Lahj, and a mother and son also died when struck by lightning in the Al-Mahwit region north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.But the toll could rise even further as rescue teams searched for victims who may still be trapped in homes swept by the floods and as the authorities launched an airlift to fly aid to the stricken areas.

A first batch of six aircraft took off from Sanaa on Saturday loaded with tents, food and medicine for the Hadramaut capital of Al-Mukalla and Mahara, airport officials said.Other airlifts are scheduled for later in the day, one official said, adding that public and private organisations had joined ranks to help victims of the disaster.The Organisation of the Islamic Conference described the situation as a national catastrophe and launched on Saturday a drive to collect funds to help Yemen's flood victims.OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in a statement issued in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, urged members of the 57-strong Islamic body as well as charity organisations in Muslim countries to help Yemen surmount the grave humanitarian crisis.Ihsanoglu called for OIC solidarity with the people of Yemen in these difficult circumstances and also urged the international community to provide assistance to Yemen, one of the world's least developed nations.The oil-rich United Arab Emirates has said it will send emergency aid.Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh toured Al-Mukalla on Friday to oversee operations after tasking a government commission with handling the rescue effort.Rescue coordinators said that among the victims were seven people who perished in Al-Mukalla, which is on the shores of the Arabian Sea.Both Hadramaut and Mahra provinces have been officially declared disaster zones.Bad weather continued to batter southeast coastal regions on Saturday but residents said the skies were clearing inland.Military helicopters and others operated by oil firms were hampered on Friday by strong winds as they fought to rescue thousands of people stranded by the floods, according to one emergency official.Local authorities in Yemen said that more than 500 houses were destroyed across Hadramaut province and 3,500 families made homeless. Flooding also caused heavy damage to roads and power and water networks.Among the affected areas was the UNESCO world heritage site of Shibam which was totally cut off by the flood waters. But the situation was returning to normal on Saturday, local officials said.Shibam, with more than 20,000 residents, is famed for its high-rise mudbrick buildings, mostly dating from the 16th century, that have given the town the moniker the Manhattan of the desert.It was established in the third century and built with the profits from frankincense, which is still sold there.Floods and lightning also claimed the lives of at least 25 people in April 2006 across eight provinces of the Arabian peninsula country.

AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ELECTION 2008 Democrat: Obama's grandma confirms Kenyan birth,This has been a real sham he's pulled off for the last 20 months' October 23, 2008 11:33 pm Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

Philip J. Berg

The Pennsylvania Democrat who has sued Sen. Barack Obama demanding he prove his American citizenship – and therefore qualification to run for president – has confirmed he has a recording of a telephone call from the senator's paternal grandmother confirming his birth in Kenya.The issue of Obama's birthplace, which he states is Honolulu in 1961, has been raised enough times that his campaign website has posted an image purporting to be of his Certification of Live Birth from Hawaii.

But Philip J. Berg, a former deputy attorney general for Pennsylvania, told the Michael Savage talk radio program tonight that the document is forged and that he has a tape recording he will soon release.This has been a real sham he's pulled off for the last 20 months, Berg told Savage. I'll release it [the tape] in a day or two, affidavits from her talking to a certain person. I heard the tape. She was speaking [to someone] here in the United States.He said the telephone call was from Obama's paternal grandmother affirming she was in the delivery room in Kenya when he was born Aug. 4, 1961.Berg said he's pursuing the issue because of the most important document in the United States, the U.S. Constitution.Nothing is more important than enforcing the Constitution, he said. The Constitution's provisions are very small for qualifying for president. One, be over 35, and he is. Two, be in the country 14 years, and he has been. Three, be a natural-born citizen. He is not.

Obama campaign officials acknowledged the dispute by posting the image purporting to be a copy of his certification of live birth earlier this year. But they've declined to return WND requests for comment on the issues.WND reported earlier this week Berg's claim that Obama has legally admitted the accusations included in his lawsuit, including that he was born in Mombosa, Kenya, by not responding to the allegations.Berg filed suit in U.S. District Court in August alleging Obama is not a natural-born citizen and is thus ineligible to serve as president of the United States.His lawsuit is demanding that the courts verify Obama's original birth certificate.Berg has cited Rule 36 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which states that unless the accused party provides written answer or objection to charges within 30 days, the accused legally admits the matter.Since Obama filed only motions to dismiss the case and did not actually answer the claims, according to Rule 36, Obama has legally admitted he is not a natural-born citizen., asserted Berg, who has taken his information public through his website.Berg addressed the existence of a birth announcement in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper, featured on the Atlasshrugs2000 website, that suggests Obama was born in the city Aug. 4, 1961.But Berg explained to Savage he believes Obama's mother was near the end of her pregnancy and unable to travel by plane, so Obama was born in Kenya. The family then traveled to Hawaii and registered the birth and submitted the newspaper announcement.Besides Berg's lawsuit, several other court challenges also have been filed, including one in Washington state where petitioners are seeking to have the Washington secretary of state verify Obama's eligibility to serve prior to the election.

The claim states, The certificate that Mr. Obama has posted on his official Website is a Certification of Live Birth, and not a Birth Certificate' from Hawaii. There is no indication on even this certificate as to specifically where the birth took place.
Berg also told Savage there is no information available on which hospital Obama's mother used in Hawaii.The Washington state case also alleges, Wayne Madsen, Journalist with Online Journal as a contributing writer and published an article on June 9, 2008, stating that a research team went to Mombassa, Kenya, and located a Certificate Registering the birth of Barack Obama, Jr. at a Kenya Maternity Hospital, to his father, a Kenyan citizen and his mother, a U.S. citizen.When Jerome Corsi, senior WND investigator reporter, recently traveled to Kenya to investigate several questions about the candidate, he was told the records were sealed and would not be made available.Though it hasn't given Berg the evidence he seeks, the Obama campaign has publicly answered allegations that the candidate was born in Kenya and faked his Hawaii birth certificate.Smears claiming Barack Obama doesn't have a birth certificate aren't actually about that piece of paper, says the Fight the Smears section of Obama's website, they're about manipulating people into thinking Barack is not an American citizen.The truth is, Barack Obama was born in the state of Hawaii in 1961, a native citizen of the United States of America, the campaign website states. It also includes images of the Hawaii certificate bearing the name Barack Hussein Obama II.The Washington claim states, If in fact Obama was born in Kenya, the laws on the books in the United States at the time of his birth stated if a child is born abroad and one parent was a U.S. Citizen, which would have been his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, Obama's mother would have had to live ten (10) years in the United States, five (5) of which were after the age of fourteen (14). At the time of Obama's birth, his mother was only eighteen (18) and therefore did not meet the residency requirements under the law to give her son (Obama) U.S. Citizenship much less the status of natural born.Berg said he believed it also was a complication that Obama's mother divorced his father, married and moved to Indonesia for several years and Obama attended school there at a time when, Berg said, only Indonesia citizens were allowed in schools. Records that are available from Indonesia revealed Obama was registered in school as Barry Soetoro, and his religion was listed as Islam.When Obama later returned to Hawaii, within the United States, there should have been a government document affirming his citizenship, but that also cannot be found. If that was not processed properly, Berg said, Obama would be in a situation even worse than not being a natural-born citizen.If he didn't go through immigration, he now is illegal and has been an illegal alien. He couldn't even hold the position of senator for Illinois, Berg said.Further, Berg said he suspected Obama's college records may indicate he received aid as a foreigner, and that's why those records have been withheld by the campaign.I really think it's because it probably indicates he's from Kenya, or Indonesia, or received foreign aid, Berg said.I feel very confident saying these things, Berg told Savage.

Iranian Speaker: Iran Prefers Obama as President October 24, 2008 7:49 PM

Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Wednesday that Iran would prefer Democrat Barack Obama in the White House next year. Larijani also dismissed any idea that the U.S. would attack Iran. We are leaning more in favor of Barack Obama because he is more flexbile and rational, even though we know American policy will not change that much, Larijani said at a press conference during a visit to Bahrain.

How to deal with Iran and the crisis over its nuclear drive has been one of the foreign policy issues in the Nov. 4 race for the White House between Obama and Republican John McCain. Larijani, a leading figure in the conservative camp in Iran, also said the United States was too busy dealing with the global financial crisis to consider waging an attack on Iran. The risk was low before, he said. But now I am 100% certain that the United States will not unleash a war against Iran. The economic crisis has cost the United States $1.4 trillion and Washington is working to resolve its internal problems and not a war.Washington severed ties with Iran in 1980 in the wake of the Islamic revolution. U.S. President George W. Bush famously denounced the country as part of an axis of evil. Tensions have mounted over Iran's nuclear program, which many Western countries believe is a cover for ambitions to build atomic weapons, although this is vehemently denied by Tehran.

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

Asia, Europe Leaders Urge More Finance Rules Before Bush Summit
By Jennifer M. Freedman and Christopher Swann

Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Asian and European leaders called for an overhaul of World War II-era banking rules, lending support to French President Nicolas Sarkozy as he pushes the U.S. to embrace greater supervision of global financial markets. The leaders pledged to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems, according to a statement in Beijing yesterday. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told reporters after the gathering of more than 40 heads of state and government that we need even more financial regulation to ensure financial safety.U.S. and European leaders have sparred over the causes of the credit crunch and how to cure it. Sarkozy has called for stricter government oversight of banks and hedge funds. President George W. Bush, who will host the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations on Nov. 15, emphasized the role of free markets in a speech yesterday. It is foolish to think that within a few weeks Europe and the U.S. are going to be able to overhaul international financial regulation, said Allan Meltzer, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. It will be extremely hard to come up with a consensus. I doubt the Europeans will even be able to agree among themselves.Meltzer chaired a U.S. congressional commission that studied the international financial system in 2000 after the Asian financial crisis.

European Proposals

The EU has floated the ideas of including more bank supervision, stricter regulation of hedge funds, new rules for credit-rating companies and changes at the International Monetary Fund. The French president has compared the effort to the 1944 Bretton Woods conference in New Hampshire that fixed exchange rates, hitched the world to the gold standard and created the IMF and World Bank. While the specific solutions pursued by every country may not be the same, agreeing on a common set of principles will be an essential step towards preventing similar crises in the future, Bush said today in his weekly radio address. Nations must focus on the fundamentals of long-term economic growth: free markets, free enterprise and free trade, Bush said. The two-day summit in Beijing was the first meeting of Asian and EU chiefs since calls for coordinated action mounted along with bank failures and plunging stock prices that began last month.

IMF Scrutinized

The IMF, World Bank and other agencies are falling behind the times, said Jeon Hyochan, a researcher at Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seoul. The agencies need to strengthen their ability to take pre-emptive measures.The Washington-based IMF is considering an emergency program to prevent a collapse of emerging markets by almost doubling borrowing limits for members and waiving its standard demands for economic austerity measures. The agency agreed Oct. 24 to lend Iceland $2.1 billion in accordance with existing rules after the island nation's banking system collapsed, threatening a prolonged economic contraction. There is a unanimous consensus to push forward reform, said Kazuo Kodama, a spokesman at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. No agreement has been reached on the details of that reform, he said. Japan wants the IMF to be able to act in a nimble, speedy, timely manner and without excessively stringent conditions when helping poorer nations, said Osamu Sakashita, a spokesman for Prime Minister Taro Aso.

Critical Role

The EU and Asian leaders were less specific in their statement, which says the IMF should play a critical role in assisting countries seriously affected by the crisis.
Sarkozy's campaign for an overhaul threatens to expose differences with the U.S. over global financial governance. That may provoke tensions and bog down talks while individual countries continue to act on their own to limit the fallout. Sarkozy said the mid-November meeting in Washington will involve regulatory decisions because EU and Asian leaders agree that action is needed. We have all understood it would not be possible to simply meet and have a conversation, Sarkozy said. We needed to turn it into a decision-making forum.The gathering to be hosted by Bush, who leaves office in January, will be the first of a series of financial summits that will also address foreign-exchange rates, according to Sarkozy, who said talks about currencies may be put off until after Nov. 15. It is simply impossible to talk about the financial crisis without discussing currencies and the way in which they interact.

Exchange Rates

The pound and the euro have both lost more than 20 percent against the dollar in the past three months, and more than 30 percent against the yen. Aso said derivatives products that flow around the world should also feature on the agenda. South Korea stressed the importance of trans-Atlantic unity in taking any actions. If Europe and the U.S. become united, it would enhance whatever countermeasures are taken, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said, according to his spokesman, Lee Dong Kwan. The credit crisis is choking off funds to companies and people, undermining business and consumer sentiment. Economists at Deutsche Bank AG expect the Group of Seven economies to contract 1.1 percent next year, the worst since the Great Depression, and global growth to be the weakest since the 1980s. Stock markets and commodities have tumbled along with currencies this year amid growing concern that governments, central banks and finance ministers are powerless to counter eroding corporate earnings and a global recession. To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer M. Freedman in Beijing at jfreedman@bloomberg.net; Christopher Swann in Washington at cswann1@bloomberg.net Last Updated: October 25, 2008 14:59 EDT

Asian, European leaders reach consensus in China OCT 25,08

BEIJING — Asian and European leaders said Saturday they have reached a broad consensus on ways to deal with the global financial meltdown and will present their views at a crisis summit next month in Washington.Speaking at the close of a two-day Asia-Europe Meeting in China’s capital, the leaders called for new rules for guiding the global economy and a leading role for the International Monetary Fund in aiding crisis-stricken countries.The biennial forum, known as ASEM, generally does not make decisions, and a statement issued by the leaders indicated how much the crisis in global markets has driven world opinion and institutions.I’m pleased to confirm a shared determination and commitment of Europe and Asia to work together, EU Commission President Jose Barroso said at a closing news conference.He said participants would use the statement as the basis of their approach at the Nov. 15 Washington summit of the 20 largest economies.Although short on details, the statement, adopted Friday, calls on the IMF and similar institutions to help stabilize struggling banks and shore up flagging share prices.Leaders agreed that the IMF should play a critical role in assisting countries seriously affected by the crisis, upon their request, it said.Participants also agreed to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems, the statement said.The document is one of the strongest endorsements yet for a leading role in the crisis for the Washington-based IMF, long known as the international lender of last resort.Responses to the crisis among participants have been varied thus far. The 15 euro countries and Britain reacted in dramatic fashion, agreeing to put up a total of $2.3 trillion US in guarantees and emergency aid to help banks.

In contrast, South Korea, China, Japan and the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations have merely recommitted themselves to an $80 billion emergency fund to help those facing liquidity problems — to be established by next June — even while their stock markets tumble and export markets dry up.Speaking for the hosts, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said financial innovation needed to be balanced with regulation, and called for measures to reduce the impact of the meltdown on jobs, growth and trade.We need to use every means to prevent the financial crisis from having an impact on the growth of the real economy, Wen said.He said that the direct impact of the crisis on China had been relatively light, but the accompanying slowdown in the world economy and export demand would inevitably have an impact on China’s economy.China will seek to do its part by maintaining “fairly fast and stable economic growth,” Wen said. Although growth in the third quarter slowed to nine per cent — down from 11.9 per cent for all of 2007 — China’s economy continues to grow at the fastest rate among the largest economies.French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Beijing summit had raised expectations for solid results when the leaders meet in Washington.They have all expressed their willingness for the Washington summit to be a place where we make some decisions, and we have all understood that it would not be possible to simply meet and have a discussion, we need to turn it into a decision-making forum, Sarkozy said.German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for the IMF to become a guard for the stability of the international finance system, and said there was unanimous agreement that it needed to take on a supervisory role.She also called for the step-by-step integration of the IMF into the Financial Stability Forum, founded in 1999 by the Group of Seven leading industrialized countries and aimed at bolstering the international financial system.

Spread betting boom as Britons gamble on turbulent markets OCT 26,08

LONDON, (AFP) - The credit crunch has sparked a surge in spread betting in Britain, as people speculate tax-free on the financial markets rather than sink their capital into turbulent stocks.With no taxes to pay and no commission charges, spread betting has increased in popularity as nervous investors worry about expanding their portfolios of company shares.Rather than regular betting on a precise outcome, spread betting allows punters to gamble on a range of outcomes, with the accuracy of the wager determining how much is won -- or lost.We have seen a significant increase in betting numbers and trades in alignment with the volatility in the market, Peter O'Donovan, head of financial spread betting at PaddyPowertrader.com, told AFP.We have certainly been busy since July 2008. The turmoil in the market certainly seems to have stimulated our business.Equities and indices are among the busiest sectors, he said, adding that applications for spread betting accounts have almost doubled over the past 12 months.Financial spread betting sees punters betting on the rise or fall of currencies, stock markets, shares, futures and metals, without having to pass through stockbrokers and share purchasing paperwork.The closer the bet is to the result, the bigger the gain, but the further off the mark it is, the higher the loss.Punters, who must hold accounts with the bookmaker, could even lose more than their original stakes. However, limits are put in place to avoid extreme gains or catastrophic losses.Spread betting carries a high level of risk and you may lose more than your initial investment, said a spokesman for the spread betting information website CleanFinancial.He added: It may not be suitable for all investors. People should speculate with money that they can afford to lose.

Financial spread betting is a tax-free, commission-free alternative to trading shares and financial markets, O'Donovan said.You are essentially betting on the performance of a share, index or commodity. You don't own the share itself, you merely use it as an underlying instrument for your betting.The nine-percent betting tax was scrapped in 2001, but in contrast people buying shares still have to pay stamp duty upon purchase and tax on their dividend at either 10 percent or 32.5 percent.Bookmaker Ladbrokes takes bets on market changes on a five-minute, hourly or daily basis, on currencies, commodities and indices.Turnover varies from day to day but on average the figure is approximately 75,000 pounds per day. The five-minute markets are the most popular, a Ladbrokes spokesman told AFP.Professor Chris Brady and Doctor Richard Raymar, from the Cass Business School in London, said in a 2006 report that 400,000 spread betting accounts were open in Britain at the time.They predicted the figure would hit the million mark in 2011.CleanFinancial said spread bettors are typically men aged 35 to 55 who work in financial circles, often self-employed. Big banks ban some of their employees from spread betting, the spokesman for the site said.Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, one of the largest in Britain and no slouch on offering novelty bets, was taking bets on which bank would be next to fall, but suspended such betting in mid-September.At the time, the largest bet -- 5,000 euros -- was on Washington Mutual at odds of 4-9. The savings bank collapsed on September 25. Its closure and receivership is the largest bank failure in US financial history.

Companies start competing for bailout money By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer OCT 26,08

WASHINGTON – The bailout is now the hottest lobbying game in town.Insurers, automakers and American subsidiaries of foreign banks all want the Treasury Department to cut them a piece of the largest government rescue in U.S. history.The betting is that many with their hands out will be successful, especially with financial markets in a stomach-churning dive and predictions the economy is about to tumble into a deep recession.These groups argue that the credit squeeze is so severe and the risks to the economy so dire that their industries need financial support as well.The Treasury is considering requests from a variety of industries, but has not decided whether to expand the program, officials said Saturday.

Lobbying efforts are intensifying.

The Financial Services Roundtable wrote Treasury officials on Friday requesting that the initiative to buy $250 billion in bank stock grow to cover insurers, auto companies, securities dealers and U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies, including banks. The Treasury's plan is intended to bolster banks' tattered balance sheets and get them to resume making loans.As the Treasury now interprets it, these additional groups would not participate in the bank stock program. They could receive help from a separate part of the $700 billion rescue that will buy bad assets from financial institutions.Steve Bartlett, the president of the Roundtable, urged the Treasury to broaden the definition of those eligible for the stock purchase program.The institutions that are excluded play a vital role in the U.S. economy by providing liquidity to the market, Bartlett wrote Neel Kashkari, the Treasury Department official running the bailout program.Referring to U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies, Bartlett said, This is a global crisis and to not recognize the U.S. firms controlled by foreign banks or companies would create further impediment to the market's recovery.A financial industry official said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met over the past week with various groups, including hedge fund managers, that were petitioning for assistance. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the Treasury has not made a decision.This official said the discussions with insurance industry executives were being held in advance of what are expected to be disappointing earnings reports by some insurance companies in the coming week.The official said the insurance industry would like to get government purchases of their stock on a mandatory basis, duplicating the agreement Paulson struck two weeks ago with nine major banks.Paulson pressured the big banks to go along with the program as a way of removing the stigma that might be attached to the payments if only a few major banks had received them.Some insurers technically would be eligible for stock purchases now if they own subsidiaries that are savings and loan institutions regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Last month, American International Group, the country's largest insurance company, received an $85 billion loan from the Federal Reserve. Since then, it has gotten further support in an effort to withstand the biggest upheavals on Wall Street since the Great Depression.Complicating the government's decision-making is that the Bush administration will not be in charge after Jan. 20. Paulson, who has said he has no intention of staying on the job, has pledged to consult with both campaigns on his bailout actions. Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign said Friday it supported the effort by the auto industry to get money from the $250 billion made available for stock purchases. That would be in addition to $25 billion recently approved by Congress for low-interest loans to help the struggling industry retool and build fuel efficient vehicles. The debate over expanding the bailout comes as the Treasury is rushing to get money out the door to the primary recipients: banks that sharply curtailed lending after suffering billions of dollars of losses on mortgage-related assets as home foreclosures soared in the housing slump. Lawmakers are pressuring the Treasury to do more in the foreclosure area, as well. Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., told Congress about efforts to provide government-backed loan guarantees for mortgages that are reworked to help homeowners in danger of default. That would give banks an incentive to speed up refinancing efforts because the government would back part of the reworked loan. The Treasury also is moving ahead to get bank stock purchases approved. It announced on Oct. 14 that it was spending $125 billion to buy stock in nine of the largest financial institutions. An announcement was expected Friday about a second round involving 20 to 22 other banks. But it was decided each bank would announce its own agreements with the Treasury, out of concern that excluded banks could suffer a stock sell-off from disappointed investors. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. announced Friday it was acquiring National City Corp. for $5.58 billion, in what was the first instance of a bank using fresh investments from the bailout program to make an acquisition. PNC said it had received $7.7 billion in cash through selling stock to the government under the program.

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).

Chinese eggs found tainted with excessive melamine By MIN LEE, Associated Press Writer OCT 26,08

HONG KONG – Excessive levels of the industrial chemical melamine in Chinese eggs might be traced to feed given to chickens, the Hong Kong government said late Saturday.The government said in a statement it found 4.7 parts per million of melamine in the eggs produced by a division of China's Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group based in the northeastern port city Dalian. The legal limit of melamine in Hong Kong is 2.5 ppm.Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow said the melamine may have come from feed given to the chickens that laid the eggs.The preliminary opinion experts have given us is that there is a problem with the feed, Chow told reporters.The new results have prompted officials to expand food testing to meat imports from China, Chow told reporters Sunday.In an earlier egg-related food safety scare, the banned cancer-causing industrial dye, Sudan Red, was used to color egg yolks.China is currently caught in a food safety scandal over dairy products tainted with melamine. More than 3,600 children remain sick in China from contaminated milk, with three in serious condition, the Ministry of Health said last week. The deaths of four infants have been blamed on dairy products contaminated with melamine.Authorities say middlemen apparently added melamine to milk they collected from farmers to sell to large dairy companies. The suppliers are accused of watering down the milk and then adding the nitrogen-rich chemical to make the milk seem higher in protein when tested. Protein tests often simply measure nitrogen levels.Calls to Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group Sunday went unanswered.Chow said Hong Kong officials will step up checks of eggs imported from China.Melamine is used in the manufacturing of plastics, fertilizer, paint and adhesives. Health experts say ingesting a small amount poses no danger, but in larger doses, the chemical can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.

The Hong Kong government also said it found excessive amounts of melamine in Blueberry Cream Sandwich crackers made by Philippine company Croley Foods MFG. Corp.

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).

Czech eurosceptics routed in polls ahead of Lisbon Treaty vote
Posted: 26 October 2008 0445 hrs

PRAGUE : The leftist Czech opposition Saturday swept senate elections, crushing the eurosceptic ruling Civic Democrats of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek before Prague takes over the EU presidency. The liberal Civic Democrats lost their single-vote majority in the upper house in the vote in which 27 out of 81 senate seats were at stake. The opposition Social Democrats clinched 23 seats against seven they were defending. The ruling party's rout could compromise Topolanek's future as chief of the party, which elects a new leader in December. The result also raises the likelihood of the Lisbon Treaty sailing through the senate before Prague takes over the rotating European Union presidency on January 1 as the opposition Social Democrats have always voiced their support. The Czech Republic is one of only three of the 27 EU countries to still approve the treaty, designed to streamline institutions after the bloc's recent eastward expansion and replace the failed constitution. Prime Minister Topolanek on Saturday verbalised the uncertainty voiced by critics on his future, saying: For me personally it means I'll have to decide whether I'll run for party chairman at the congress in December. His main rival in the party, Pavel Bem who is Prague mayor, said: The party should consider calling an extraordinary congress before the scheduled date in December.And Social Democrats leader Jiri Paroubek, revelling in what he called a glittering victory, Saturday made a pitch for snap polls. The result of the elections opens the way for the cabinet to resign, and to early elections which could be held next year, he said.

But the result of the senate polls may see the stationing of a US radar base -- part of the US missile defence system -- on Czech soil blocked as it is promoted by the Civic Democrats. In the senate elections, the Civic Democrats only secured three out of nine seats they were defending. The Communists took one. The centre-right governing coalition, comprising the Christian Democrats and the Greens as well and lacking a clear majority in the more powerful lower house, will now have 44 seats in the senate. Last weekend, the Social Democrats also crushed the Civic Democrats in regional elections, clinching wins in 13 of the 14 Czech regions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

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

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

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

Israel's Livni expected to recommend snap elections on Sunday
Posted: 26 October 2008 0555 hrs

JERUSALEM - The head of Israel's governing party, Tzipi Livni, is likely to recommend early elections on Sunday after ending efforts to form a coalition government, Israeli public radio reported. Sources close to Livni told Israeli radio Saturday that she would propose snap elections to President Shimon Peres, and that the vote could be held in the next four months. Livni, leader of the Kadima party and currently foreign minister, warned on Thursday that if she was unable to form a coalition government by a Sunday deadline, snap elections would be called. She had gathered her inner circle on Saturday night for last-minute talks before announcing her decision. She took the correct decision, Kadima party member and lawmaker Yoel Hasson told journalists, without confirming the radio report. Livni is expected to meet Peres at 1500 GMT to inform him on efforts to form a government. The chances of forming a government were reduced after a powerful ultra-Orthodox party said it would not join a coalition headed by prime minister designate Livni. Major differences emerged in talks with Shas, the third largest party with 12 deputies, whose support was seen as vital in forming a viable government. On Friday, Shas said it had failed to secure two key requirements -- increased family allowances and a guarantee that the future of occupied east Jerusalem would not be negotiated in peace talks with the Palestinians. Peres asked Livni on September 22 to form a new government after she was elected Kadima leader to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has resigned to battle a wave of graft allegations. Livni, a 51-year-old former Mossad agent, is seeking to become Israel's second woman prime minister after Golda Meir, who held office from 1969 to 1974. However, should general elections be scheduled for 2009, polls have indicated they could bring Likud and former premier Benjamin Netanyahu to power. An early general election could also cast a long shadow over already sluggish Middle East peacemaking. As foreign minister, Livni has led US-backed negotiations with the Palestinians that were revived at a US conference last November but have made little progress since. On Thursday, Netanyahu accused Livni of wanting to divide Jerusalem, whose fate is one of the thorniest issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians have demanded mostly Arab east Jerusalem -- seized and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six Day war in a move not recognised internationally -- as the capital of their future state. Israel considers the entire city its eternal, undivided capital, although Olmert last month said that Israel would have to give up almost the entire occupied West Bank including east Jerusalem as the price for peace.