TOXIC ASSETS COULD COST $1 TRILLION

EU DEFENCE MINISTERS PRESS CONFERENCE
http://www.eu2009.cz/en/media-service/video/*kopie-1:-press-conference-after-the-first-day-of-the-informal-meeting-of-defence-ministers-12436/
http://www.eu2009.cz/en/media-service/video/

Summit EU - USA Date: 5.4.2009
Venue: Prague - Czech Republic

Representatives of all EU Member States to take part in EU-USA Summit in Prague

After consulting the European Commission and the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama, Mirek Topolánek will invite the heads of states and governments of all 27 EU Member States to the EU-USA Summit.The Summit will take place on 5 April in Prague, i.e. immediately after the G-20 Summit on 2 April in London, which will address issues of global financial architecture and consequences of the financial crisis, and after the NATO Summit held in Strasbourg (France) and Baden-Baden and Kehl (Germany) on 3 - 4 April, which will engage in a debate on safety and military cooperation.The Prague Summit may thus address other foreign-policy topics, such as the issues of energy and climate,’ stated Mirek Topolánek in relation to the preparation of the Copenhagen Summit in the autumn.American President Barack Obama should also meet with the Czech Prime Minister for bilateral discussion already on the evening of 4 April.

Informal Meeting of Ministers for Economic and Financial Affairs
Date: 3.4.2009 — 4.4.2009 Venue: Prague - Czech Republic
Category: Informal Ministerial Meetings Theme: Economic and Financial Affairs

On 3 – 4 April the Prague Congress Centre will host an informal meeting of EU Ministers of Economy and Finance and the Governors of the European central banks.

The two-day programme starts on Friday 3 April for the Finance Ministers of the eurozone. Later on, the Finance Ministers of all 27 EU Member States will discuss implementation of the excessive deficit procedure as part of the Stability and Growth Pact. After the working lunch, which will be separate for the Ministers and Governors of the central banks respectively, the participants will debate the current economic and financial situation and the advantages and disadvantages of the biggest enlargement of the EU, five years after. The main subject of the meeting on Saturday will be the reform of the financial market supervision mechanisms in the EU. Both on Friday and on Saturday the meetings will be rounded off with a Presidency press conference.

Minister Nečas opens conference on flexible labour market and social security during crisis MAR 23,09

The representatives of the individual Member States will have an opportunity to exchange experiences and get new information about how to respond to labour market problems.The implementation of the strategy of flexicurity in the Member States of the European Union is the title of a conference on one of the priorities of the Czech Presidency in the area of employment which takes place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Prague on 25 and 26 March. The concept of flexicurity implies a demand for greater flexibility on the labour market balanced by better social security. The conference will focus on the application of the general principle of flexicurity in relation to the current crisis.The plenary meeting on the first day will be dedicated to the question how to motivate the inactive labour force to enter the labour market as quickly as possible. It will primarily focus on mothers after maternity leave, young people, long-term unemployed and people over 50. Another important item on the agenda will be education. Attention will be paid to adult education through life-long learning, to greater incentives for employees and employers to invest in education and to elements of social protection offered to workers who want to join the labour market.

On the second day of the conference the focus will be on the interest of simplifying the transition of people from education to employment, from employment to another form of employment, from unemployment to getting back on the labour market and a gradual transition from employment to retirement. The implementation of the measures to ensure the transition must be fast and efficient. The session will be rounded off with a panel discussion.A press conference attended by Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Petr Nečas and European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladimír Špidla is preliminarily scheduled for 10:45 at the Neklan lounge, Crowne Plaza Prague Hotel, Koulova 15, Prague 6. The conference on flexicurity will be followed by a meeting of the European Employment Committee (EMCO), which is an advisory body of the EU Council, on 26 – 27 March. This meeting will focus on the financial and economic crisis and its impact on employment. The topics of qualification and mobility will also be discussed. This meeting is for experts only and it is closed to the public.

GLOBAL WARMING HOAX
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQGftVwdfhM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Epropagandamatrix%2Ecom%2Farticles%2Fmarch2009%2F032309%5Fglobal%5Fcurrency%2Ehtm&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQGftVwdfhM

JAY ROCKEFELLER INTERNET SHOULD NEVER EXISTED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct9xzXUQLuY

INTERNET CENSORSHIP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGFHDHes4yo&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Epropagandamatrix%2Ecom%2Farticles%2Fmarch2009%2F032309%5Fglobal%5Fcurrency%2Ehtm&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGFHDHes4yo

ISN'T THIS INTERESTING THAT AMERICA SNUBBED AN ISRAEL LEADER,TELLS YOU HOW MUCH AMERICA IS TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE ISRAEL RELATIONSHIP LIKE THE BIBLE CLEARLY SAYS THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL BE THE ONES THAT GUARENTEE ISRAELS SECURITY IN THE FUTURE NOT AMERICA FOR THE 7 YEAR PEACE PLAN OF DANIEL 9:27.

Thursday, March 19, 2009 Update: Israel's chief of staff comes home early after doors close in Obama's Washington

WASHINGTON — Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi cut short his visit to Washington after getting an extraordinarily cool reception from the new U.S. administration.Last year, Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi had no problem setting up meetings with top officials in the U.S. government.On his current trip to Washington, Ashkenazi sought to meet the administration of President Barack Obama, but most officials were unavailable.A statement to WorldTribune.com by the Israel Defense Forces spokesman attempted to downplay the snubs. But diplomatic sources said Ashkenazi failed to obtain access to any Cabinet member, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The Israeli military chief, who sought to discuss the Iranian nuclear threat, was also unable meet his counterpart, Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

[On March 19, the Israel Defense Forces spokesman e-mailed the following statement to WorldTribune.com: The schedule for the United States visit of the IDF Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, was preplanned according to requests made by American officials. Any meetings that were cancelled were substituted with telephone conference calls.] The IDF Internet site reported on March 17, that Ashkenazi cut short his trip to the United States in order to participate in a security cabinet meeting regarding the abducted soldier Gilad Shalit. The Chief of the General Staff wishes to send his sincere apologies to the 1500 senior donors of the Friends of the IDF in the United States, who will gather for their annual donation gala dinner in New York City on Tuesday night (Mar. 17), in which Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi was supposed to participate as a guest of honor,the IDF report stated. On March 12, Ashkenazi left for a five-day visit to the United States meant to lobby the Obama administration to abandon the planned U.S. dialogue with Iran, Middle East Newsline reported.

Ashkenazi, scheduled to meet with the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, was expected to have brought new Israeli intelligence on Iran's nuclear weapons and missile programs. But the diplomatic sources said the administration made it clear that nobody in a policy-making position was available to sit with Ashkenazi. This included the president, Vice President Joseph Biden, Gates, National Intelligence director Dennis Blair or Mullen.[With regards to a meeting with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, one was not scheduled between Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi and Adm. Mullen,the IDF stated. Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi has met with Adm. Mullen five times in the past year.]The administration is sending a very clear message to Israel, and this is we want to talk about Palestine and not Iran, a diplomat who has been following U.S.-Israel relations said.Ashkenazi obtained an appointment with National Security Advisor James Jones. But the sources said the meeting was to focus on U.S. demands for Israel to ease military restrictions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.The Obama administration believes that Israel is as much or more of a problem as it is an ally, at least until Israel's disagreements with its neighbors are resolved, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said.Bolton envisioned that the White House would pressure Israel to legitimize Hamas and Hizbullah. At the same time, he said, Obama would continue to woo Iran.Already, economic and diplomatic advisers to Obama have urged the president to launch a U.S. dialogue with Hamas. The US/Middle East Project, which includes such Obama supporters as former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Hagel, was said to have elicited a promise from Obama to listen to any proposals made by Hamas.The main gist is that you need to push hard on the Palestinian peace process, former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft said. Don't move it to the end of your agenda and say you have too much to do. And the U.S. needs to have a position, not just hold their coats while they sit down.The Israeli chief of staff had also scheduled a session with Dennis Ross, the special adviser on Iran to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But the sources said Ross was not regarded as being in a policy-making role.

The diplomatic sources said the White House and the senior echelon of the Obama administration have refused a dialogue with Israel on the Iranian threat. They said Ms. Clinton, during her visit to Israel, was largely silent during briefings by Israeli intelligence on Iran's nuclear and missile programs.During her visit, Ms. Clinton received written recommendations on U.S. policy toward Iran from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. The U.S. secretary said the recommendations would be relayed to the White House.The Israeli government and military have been alarmed by the rapid and dramatic reversal in the U.S. policy toward Iran,the source said.This reversal took place without any consultation with Israel, Gulf Arab countries or even Congress.The sources said Israel has sought a U.S. commitment to limit its dialogue with Iran. Israel has also urged Obama to make it clear that the military option against Iran's nuclear program exists.But Obama and his top aides appear uninterested in hearing Israel's position. The sources said a key aim of Ashkenazi was to urge the administration to release weapons and systems long sought by Israel in the area of aerial refueling, air-to-ground weapons, sensors as well as the F-22 fighter-jet.In 2008, under the Bush administration, Gates and then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice blocked U.S. requests for these military systems. The sources said Gates and Ms. Rice concluded that Israel could use this equipment for an air strike on Iran's nuclear weapons facilities.Ashkenazi sees this U.S. refusal as what has been undermining Israeli deterrence toward Iran and boosting the confidence of the Teheran regime, the source said.The mullahs in regime have concluded that America has dropped the military option and won't allow such an option to Israel.

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.

Flooding threat still hangs over Manitoba residents who survived 1997 deluge
By Keith Bonnell, Canwest News Service March 21, 2009

Beneath the melting ice, the Red River is coming to life.It’s spring in Manitoba, when nervous eyes turn toward the massive waterway that has a long history of flooding its banks — sometimes with devastating results.This April is expected to see some of the worst flooding since 1997, when the province was hit by the so-called Flood of the Century. That deluge forced 28,000 residents from their homes and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.There’ll be farmers that will have to use boats to get around — that’s inevitable. The river gets to be many miles wide, said Manitoba’s senior flood forecaster, Alf Warkentin. There’ll be huge transportation problems. A lot of municipal roads will be underwater. . . . Provincial roads, like highways, will be underwater, too.Pete Derksen is among those watching the river that flows from Minnesota and North Dakota into southern Manitoba and right past his town of Ste. Agathe, about 40 kilometres south of Winnipeg.You couldn’t tell today, but his one-storey bungalow was one of the casualties of the 1997 flood.It was a complete disaster,recalls Derksen, a retired construction worker, who was one of the last residents to leave Ste. Agathe in 1997. A month after the water forced him from his home, he returned to find a scene, and a stench, he won’t soon forget.The town sewer got overwhelmed, and I got a full blast of sewer backup,he said.The dirty waste filled the basement of his home. It wasn’t water,the 70-year-old explained.He’d left his furnace on when he evacuated, and it kept running, heating up the stinking soup in his basement.The elements were heating this sewer stuff and it was coming up my ductwork into the main floor, he said.He remembers walking in the door for the first time.The blast of heat, the humidity, was just unreal, he said. The ceiling on the house looked like a manure spreader had been in here — just brown gunk all over everything.

But the 1997 flood was felt far beyond Ste. Agathe.


The Red River rose almost 7 1/2 metres, about half a metre beneath the level of the dikes in Winnipeg. The spreading waters were dubbed the Red Sea and covered an area of more than 1,800 square kilometres. This year’s flooding — expected in mid-April when the river crests — could be the worst flooding since the 1997 deluge, forecasters have said. But it’s unlikely to be as severe. Just how bad it gets could, in fact, be determined this weekend.A storm that’s expected to dump up to 25 millimetres of rain across southern Manitoba and North Dakota on Sunday and Monday could dramatically alter the flood forecast. Warkentin said there’s currently a one-in-10 chance waters could rise to flood-of-the-century levels. He said the soil across most of southern Manitoba is saturated from last summer’s rains and the past winter’s snowfall and the ground can’t absorb any more.Still, major evacuations aren’t expected.That’s partly because of steps the province has taken to flood-proof Red River Valley communities.In Winnipeg, a project has been underway since 2005 to double the capacity of the floodway channel that diverts excess water from the Red River around the city.The 48-kilometre Red River Floodway was first built as a response to another Red River flood.In 1950, an estimated 100,000 people were forced from their homes, and neighbourhoods in Winnipeg were swamped by flood waters for seven weeks. About 10,000 homes were destroyed, a state of emergency was declared and the Canadian Army was brought in to protect residents and property.At the time, it was one of the worst disasters in Canadian history.The bid to double the floodway’s capacity is to be completed in 2010, but it’s already more than enough to deal with any flooding this year, officials say.If we have a one-in-700-year flood, we’ll be ready in April,said Ernie Gilroy, CEO of the Manitoba Floodway Authority. They couldn’t deepen the floodway for fear of jeopardizing groundwater, so they expanded it, excavating 21 million cubic metres of dirt. But even with the floodway, there are low-lying areas in the city. Winnipeg officials say this year’s forecasted flood could require between 50,000 and 760,000 sandbags, which will be sent out to 292 homes to shore up flood defences. About 8.1 million sandbags were distributed by the city in 1997.Millions more have been spent fortifying rural communities. It’s also a nervous time in Selkirk, 35 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. We’re happy to see winter heading its way out, but I think there’s always that little bit of trepidation with . . . not knowing what Mother Nature’s going to throw at us this year, Mayor David Bell said from his home overlooking the Red River.It was a surprise ice jam north of the city in 2007 that caused the river to back up over dikes and forced the evacuation of two seniors’ condos and damaged several buildings, including the Marine Museum of Manitoba.

This year, preparations are already being made.

Ice-cutting machines have been working on the river since Tuesday, trying to prevent jams. Light standards have been removed from the waterfront. Portable buildings and storage sheds have been removed from the park. Despite the fears, the mayor calls the power of the river awe-inspiring.Bell said two years ago, when the ice finally gave way, there was a tsunami of ice that roared past the community.He said residents are used to the yearly worries. It’s almost a rite of passage.With files from Winnipeg Free Press Canwest News Service.

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.

MURDER

GENESIS 4:8-11 (THE FIRST MURDER)
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

GENESIS 6:11-13 (EARTH DESTROYED BECAUSE OF TERRORISM,MURDERS)
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.

EXODUS 20:13
13 Thou shalt not kill.(Murder)

REVELATION 9:20-21
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils,(OCCULT) and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,(DRUG ADDICTIONS) nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)

LUKE 21:25
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(OZONE DEPLETION) and in the moon,(FIRST MAN ON MOON) and in the stars;(JUPITER BOMBARDED ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;
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.

Gunman kills 3 officers, wounds 4th in Oakland By TERRY COLLINS and LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writers MAR 22,09

OAKLAND, Calif. – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered flags at California's state capitol flown at half-staff for the three Oakland police officers killed by a gunman.

Police said a parolee with an extensive criminal history opened fire at a routine traffic stop Saturday in the city and hours later gunned down members of a SWAT team who were searching for him.Schwarzenegger headed for a meeting with Oakland police on Sunday.A fourth police officer who was wounded Saturday is hospitalized and battling for his life.The gunman also was killed Saturday.The Oakland Police Department says it was the worst day in its history. Never before had three police officers been killed in the line of duty on the same day.

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/

SPECIAL CONFERENCE MAR 23-24,2009,ALL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS WILL BE THERE,ALL THE EU MEMBERS WILL BE THERE,AND THE G-20 WILL BE THERE.THIS SAME GROUP OF EU,BANKERS,G-20 WILL ALSO BE IN LONDON IN APRIL TO LAY PLANS FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER,ESPECIALLY THE G-20.https://futurefinance.wsj.com/index.php

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS MON MAR 23,2009

09:30 AM +21.82
10:00 AM +190.04
10:30 AM +255.27
11:00 AM +296.05
11:30 AM +274.22
12:00 PM +313.65
12:30 PM +305.21
01:00 PM +318.19
01:30 PM +284.50
02:00 PM +274.30
02:30 PM +306.40
03:00 PM +368.21
03:30 PM +404.71
04:00 PM +497.48 7775.86

S&P 500 822.92 +54.38

NASDAQ 1555.77 +98.50

GOLD 938.80 -17.40

OIL 53.83 +1.76

TSE 300 8958.51 +452.16

CDNX 924.03 +22.23

S&P/TSX/60 546.64 +29.84

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -17.07%
S&P -14.91%
Nasdaq -7.59%
TSX Advances 655,declines 819,unchanged 286,Volume 3,173,449,154.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 403,Declines 337,Unchanged 318,Volume 165,400,080.

Dow +152 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow +21 points at low today.
Dow +313 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $948.90.OIL opens at $51.87 today.

Futures strong,but off highs on details of Geithner plan.
Banks +8%-16% at start of trading today.
Commodities up mid-single digits today so far.
Tiffany +6% after earnings beat expectations.
Tiffany total sales -20%,US. same store sales plunge -34%.
CF Industries raises bid for TERRA Industries to$30.50/share.
Nasdaq traded Regional Banks up sharply on Toxic assets plan today.
Natural gas price at 2 week high today.
RIG COUNT -47% from SEPT,2008 peak.
US DOLLAR WAS DOWN 10% LAST WEEK.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow +21 points at low today so far.
Dow +325 points at high today so far.

DAY TODAY PERFORMANCE - 12:30PM STATS
NYSE Advances 3,258,declines 436,unchanged 50,New Highs 8,New Lows 61.
Volume 3,314,360,342.
NASDAQ Advances 2,107,declines 478,unchanged 99,New highs 7,New Lows 18.
Volume 707,459,061.
TSX Advances 923,declines 367,unchanged 273,Volume 1,219,048,150.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 310,Declines 236,Unchanged 267,Volume 73,000,107.

TOXIC CLEANUP( TREASURY PARTNERSHIP PLAN )
-Buy up to $1 TRILLION in toxic assets.
-Purchase securities and loans from Banks.
-Create $500 BILLION in purchasing power.
-Funded with $75-$100 BILLION of TARP funds.

TREASURYS PPIP ($75 to $100 B of TARP CAPITAL)
Loans Program
-Public-private Capital.
-FDIC guarenteed debt.
Securities Program
-Public-Private Capital
-TALF/TARP Financing.

BLAIR ON TOXIC ASSET PLAN
-Public-Private program could be very profitable.
-Taxpayer protected by Private equity,Low prices.
-50/50 split could be adjusted after public comment.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow +21 points at low today.
Dow +501 points at high today.
Dow +6.84% today Volume 515,597,038.
Nasdaq +6.76% today Volume 2,097,468,634.
S&P 500 +7.08% today Volume N/A

A BOTTOMING TREND
Beating expectations:
-existing home sales,Philly FED,CPI,Housing starts,Retail sales.
THE RALLY
3 separate moves up:
1-Pre-open:Geithner plan pre-open.
2-Mid-morning:Better than expected home sales.
3-Republican Whip seeks 1 week delay on AIG bonus vote.

Dow on pace for best monthly precentage gain since OCTOBER 2002.
Dows best day this year.
Dow soars 497 points today.
Dows biggest one day gain since OCT 28,08.
Dows up 18.8% from MAR 9th closing low.
Dow nears 7800 points today.
All 30 dow stocks higher today.
S&P on pace for best monthly percentage gain since DEC 1991.
S&P back above 820 points.
S&P up 21.6% from MAR 09 closing low.
S&P biggest one day gain since OCT 28,2008.
S&P has best day of year so far.
Nasdaq on pace for best monthly percentage gain since OCT 2002.
Nasdaq up 22.6% from MAR low.
Nasdaq back above 1500 points.
Stocks end at days highs.
Highest close for major stock Indexes since early FEB.
Stocks rally on Treasury plans.
Stocks surge to 1 month highs.
OIL hits nearly 3 month highs.

RECORD LOWS DOW
-Sept 30,1996 5,882.17
-Oct 30,1996 5,993.23
-Nov 6,1996 6,177.71
-Dec 16,1996 6,268.35
-Apr 15,1997 6,587.16
-Apr 21,1997 6,660.21
-Apr 28,1997 6,783.02
-May 1,1997 6,976.48
-May 7,1997 7,085.65

RECORD LOWS S&P 500
-Sept 5,1996 649.44
-Sept 6,1996 655.68
-Sept 11,1996 667.28
-Sept 12,1996 671.13
-Oct 1,1996 689.08
-Oct 28,1996 697.26
-Nov 4,1996 706.73
-Nov 5,1996 714.14
-Dec 17,1996 726.04

China Voices Support For New Global Currency To Replace Dollar.Central bank gets behind move to empower IMF to implement new supranational system
Paul Joseph Watson Propaganda Matrix Monday, March 23, 2009

China has expressed support for Russia's proposal to hand the IMF the power to create a new supra-national global currency in response to the call for an alternative to the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency.Last week the Kremlin called for the creation of a supranational reserve currency to be issued by international institutions as part of a reform of the global financial system.The Russian proposal stated that the IMF should take the lead in establishing a superreserve currency accepted by the whole of the international community.China today expressed support for the initiative and said it was ready to discuss the proposal at the upcoming G20 meeting in London on April 2.Hu Xiaolian, vice governor of the country's Central Bank, said that China, which holds about $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, was prepared to debate the issue as the dollar's dominance and U.S. economic woes could entail considerable currency fluctuations and affect the world financial situation,reports RIA Novosti.The creation of a new supra-national global reserve currency to supplant the U.S. dollar would likely lead to a complete collapse of the greenback, of which trillions are held in in foreign exchange reserves by foreign countries such as China and Japan.As we have previously highlighted, the elite have exploited the problem that they created to push for increased regulation of the world economic system in the pursuit of a de-facto global financial dictatorship.

The swift and ruthless exploitation of the economic meltdown on behalf of globalists and central banks revolves around their drive to move towards a one world currency system and an unprecedented centralization of global financial power, a fact that financial analysts are finally beginning to realize.Earlier this month, Ben Bernanke told an elite gathering at the Council on Foreign Relations that a new overarching financial authority should be created and empowered with sweeping new regulatory responsibilities.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, EU heads such as Joaquin Almunia and establishment media outlets like the Wall Street Journal amongst many others have all continually used the economic crisis as an excuse to argue for greater financial power, a new world economic order in which control is concentrated into fewer hands - with the IMF and the World Bank enjoying the spoils.UK Business Secretary and top Bilderberg member Peter Mandelson has also pushed for a Bretton Woods for this century, to help build the machinery of global economic governance.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy all made the same appeal at a conference in Paris on the future of capitalism earlier this year.Merkel called for the creation of a new global economic body under the UN, similar to the Security Council, to judge government policy.Sarkozy called for a new world, new capitalism during his speech, as he commented In capitalism of the 21st century, there is room for the state.Meanwhile, Blair called for a new financial order which he said should be constructed upon values other than the maximum short-term profit.The globalists’ call for a centralized global economic order has nothing to do with providing solutions to the crisis but everything to do with providing themselves with more power and control over the world's financial system.

Euro currency of choice as fed fasing devalues dollar MAR 23,09

Less than a month after lambasting European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet for failing to keep up with Ben S. Bernanke’s efforts to stem the recession, foreign-exchange traders are glad he’s behind the curve.The 16-nation currency strengthened 7.7 percent versus the dollar since February, after tumbling 9.3 percent in the first two months of the year. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. are advising investors to buy euros.Traders are looking past forecasts from Germany’s Kiel- based IFW institute for the European Union economy to shrink 3.3 percent this year, and snapping up currencies where central bankers are resisting calls to purchase debt securities as a way of lowering interest rates and pump cash into their financial systems. Those options are becoming scarce after Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke joined the Bank of England, Bank of Japan and Swiss National Bank in so-called quantitative easing.The dollar is a sell near term versus those currencies where quantitative easing is off the table, said John Normand, head of currency strategy at JPMorgan in London. The top on euro-dollar will come when the ECB looks likely to join the quantitative easing crowd. For now, it’s content to stay on the sidelines.The euro will probably rise 2.8 percent to $1.40 in a month after soaring 5.1 percent last week as long as the ECB refrains from purchasing assets, Normand predicted. The dollar will rebound to $1.30 by June, he said.

Euro Index

The Euro Index, which tracks the currency against the dollar, pound, yen, Swiss franc and Swedish krona, climbed 2.7 percent to 118.53 since March 16. The euro gained 0.5 percent today to $1.3652 as of 11:17 a.m. in London.The Fed said March 18 that it plans to expand its balance sheet by as much as $1.15 trillion as it buys up to $300 billion of U.S. government bonds and steps up purchases of mortgage securities. Bernanke’s goal is to reduce consumer borrowing rates such as those for mortgages and encourage banks to lend in an effort to boost the economy.The trade-weighted Dollar Index, measured against the euro, yen, pound, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc and Swedish krona, posted its biggest one-day drop since 1971, tumbling 2.69 percent, and fell 4.1 percent last week to 83.841. It was down 0.6 percent at 83.35 today.This is an historic moment -- the start of debasement of the world’s reserve currency, wrote Alan Ruskin, head of international currency strategy in North America at RBS Greenwich Capital Markets Inc. in Greenwich, Connecticut. It feels to many participants that in the grand sweep of history we are witnessing the end of Rome on the Potomac.

Shrinking Economy

U.S. gross domestic product shrank 6.2 percent last quarter, the most since 1982. The Congressional Budget Office said March 20 that President Barack Obama’s administration will generate a budget deficit of $1.85 trillion this year, and expenses will exceed revenue by a total $9.27 trillion between 2010 and 2019. That’s about $2.3 trillion more than the administration forecast. At 8.1 percent, the unemployment rate is the highest in more than a quarter century.The flood of dollars also increases the chances for quicker inflation in the global economy, spurring demand for commodities and currencies of raw materials producers. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of commodities is up 22.4 percent since Feb. 18 to 375.5260, and last week posted its biggest gain in two months, rising 8.6 percent.

Commodity Currencies

Quantitative easing across the board will diminish the fiat currencies as a store of value,said Lee Hardman, a foreign-exchange strategist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in London.Investors may then seek refuge in harder currencies such as commodities.Hardman recommends Norway’s krone, the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar. Demand for Australian coal, iron ore and wool drove 17 consecutive years of economic expansion. Norway is the world’s fifth-largest oil producer and New Zealand relies on sales of milk powder, butter, cheese and aluminum.Australia’s dollar climbed 4.4 percent last week to 68.69 U.S. cents, while the krone rallied 6.5 percent to 6.3773, the biggest gain since 1973 and the most among the 16 most-traded currencies. New Zealand’s dollar appreciated 6.4 percent to 55.87 U.S. cents. Melbourne-based BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, climbed 1.6 percent to A$32.18 on the Australian stock exchange.Trichet, 66, took over the ECB from the Netherlands’ Wim Duisenberg in November 2003. Under his watch, the euro appreciated to a peak of $1.6038 in July 2008 from about $1.15.

Behind the Curve

The currency began to slide as the ECB waited until October 2008 to cut interest rates as the global economy slowed, more than a year after Bernanke began slashing borrowing costs. The ECB’s main rate is 1.5 percent, compared with a target range of zero to 0.25 percent for the Fed.A drop in two-year German bund yields in February to the lowest relative to longer-maturity debt since 1997 was a sign that the ECB needs to wake up to reality, Komal Sri-Kumar, chief global strategist at Los Angeles-based TCW Asset Management, which oversees about $118 billion, said last month.European policy makers are behind the curve, said Neil Mackinnon, chief economist and partner at ECU Group, a London- based hedge fund with about $1 billion in assets. The European economy will sink deeper into depression.While the ECB has refrained from quantitative easing, the European Union has taken other steps to bolster the economy. EU leaders said March 20 that they will double to 50 billion euros ($68 billion) a credit line for countries in financial distress.

Follow the Fed

Even Mackinnon says the euro rally may be short-lived as the ECB cuts its main refinancing rate close to zero. He expects the currency to depreciate to $1.245. None of the 53 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the currency will return to its previous high of $1.6038.All major central banks will have to follow the Fed and adopt quantitative easing, said Mackinnon, a former economist for the U.K. Treasury. If the European policy makers are hoping they will get a free ride on the U.S. stimulus, hoping they will look more prudent, they are deluding themselves.Trichet said March 17 in a speech to business leaders in Paris that his policy of loaning banks unlimited funds is sufficient for now.In the context of the euro area, guaranteeing firms and households a steady access to credit largely means ensuring the banking system has appropriate liquidity, Trichet said. In the euro area, it is natural for credit easing to be implemented primarily through the participation of banks.

Turning Point

In a March 19 report titled Sprint to Print, Morgan Stanley recommended selling the dollar against the euro, forecasting it will depreciate to $1.45 in a year.This move may mark the turning point for the dollar, wrote Morgan Stanley currency analysts led by Sophia Drossos and Ron Leven in New York. The Fed’s action exposes the dollar to its vulnerabilities, but this leaves the euro and the yen facing appreciation.

Citigroup’s London-based global head of currencies, Jim McCormick, said in a research report to clients last week that the euro may rise to $1.40. We’ve been selling dollars and we’re now adding to that short,he wrote in the report.Samarjit Shankar, a director of strategy for the global markets group in Boston at Bank of New York Mellon, which administers more than $23 trillion, also predicts $1.40.

Buying Euro Calls

You have Bernanke taking a page from Greenspan’s book and reflating assets, said Shankar. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan cut interest rates to 1 percent in 2003, the lowest level since World War II, to boost growth after the 2001 recession. The ECB takes a very orthodox, almost straitjacketed approach, he said.Werner Eppacher, head of foreign exchange at Deutsche Bank AG´s DWS Investment unit in Frankfurt, said he bought call options on the euro versus the dollar and used forwards to bet on the common currency gaining versus the greenback.Calls give the buyer the right to purchase an asset at a predetermined price, and forwards are agreements to trade a currency pair in the future.The U.S. is facing more structural problems than other regions, Eppacher said. As soon as we have some moderation in financial markets, the conversation will go back to U.S. households deleveraging and external deficits, fiscal deficits, money printing.He predicts the euro will rise to $1.40 in six months, and the Australian dollar will appreciate to 75 U.S. cents.The euro is not rising on its own merits, said Hans- Guenter Redeker, the London-based global head of currency strategy at BNP Paribas SA, France’s biggest bank. The U.S. is exporting its expansionary monetary conditions abroad, which ultimately is very positive for equity markers and is going to be very positive for risk takers.Source: http://www.bloomberg.com Publication date: 3/23/2009

Czech Presidency leads EU summit to agreement on anti-crisis measures MAR 23,09

After the negotiations in Brussels chaired by Czech PM Mirek Topolánek, the heads of state and government of the EU reached an agreement on measures that are to help the EU overcome the impacts of the financial and economic crisis.We can achieve that with three specific packages – with a budget of five, 50 and 75 billion euro, said President of the European Council Mirek Topolánek, explaining that: five billion has been allocated for specific projects that are to achieve specific goals – to increase the energy security of the EU and promote innovations; 50 billion has been earmarked to increase guarantees to help the countries that face difficulties with their balance of payments, and 75 billion euro represents the proposed voluntary loan to the credit fund of the International Monetary Fund.The Czech delegation, consisting of the Czech Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, made sure that the joint statement of the summit include the commitment of the Member States to respect the principles of free market within the framework of the European Economic Recovery Plan, which will see 400 billion euro invested in 2009 and 2010, and to resume compliance with the Growth and Stability Pact as soon as possible.

We have prepared for the G20 summit in the spirit of solidarity, trust and unity, said President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso at the joint press conference with reference to the upcoming summit of economic powers, adding that our coordinated approach to the financial crisis is a contribution to the necessary global solution.The Czech Presidency has also pushed through crucial measures in the context of its other priorities – energy and external relations.200 million euro from the five-billion package will go to the Nabucco project, Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra specified the investments earmarked for securing access to energy resources from the Caspian region for European countries; this measure can be seen as a response to the recent gas crisis. We cannot rule out the possibility of its recurrence but the EU will be better prepared to deal with it.Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg appreciated the consensus which enabled the Czech Presidency to acquire mandate for the Eastern Partnership – the EU has set aside 600 million euro for this ambitious project devised to strengthen the relations with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldavia and Ukraine. Our great dream has come true, we have become united and that is an important progress and a great achievement,stated the leader of the Czech diplomacy.I would like to commend the Czech Presidency one more time because without it we would not have reached consensus on the Eastern Partnership programme,José Manuel Barroso revisited this issue.

South Korea and EU Enter Final Trade Deal Negotiations
By Kurt Achin Seoul 23 March 2009

South Korea and the European Union have started what they call their final round of talks in efforts to agree on a trade liberalization deal. The deal still faces serious opposition from South Korean farmers, and may require fine tuning on opening up the Korean auto market.South Korean Chief Trade Negotiator Lee Hye-min says he and his European Union counterpart Ignacio Garcia Bercero hope to conclude negotiations on a free trade deal this week.As a result of these efforts, now we are about to finishing our long journey ... Our deal has far reached many fields for the whole economy. Both Korean and European manufactures will benefit, he said.The two sides have held seven previous rounds of talks that began nearly two years ago. Signing and implementing a deal would remove tariffs and make it much easier to buy and sell goods and services to each other. By at least one estimate the deal stands to add about $11-billion to South Korea's economy.Opening the automotive and agricultural markets have been sticking points in previous sessions. Both sides view those markets as sensitive and politically difficult to stop protecting.South Korean farmers held protests in Seoul to condemn the deal, shouting that the FTA negotiations are killing Korean farmers. Agriculture, especially rice farming, is seen in South Korea as a matter of both food security and cultural heritage. Deals to allow foreign agriculture products in to the country have sparked emotional and occasionally violent demonstrations in the past.

If this week's negotiations are successful, South Korean officials say they hope to publicly declare the deal at next month's summit of advanced industrial nations in London.South Korea signed a free trade deal with the United States in June of 2007. But serious doubts remain as to whether it will be ratified. Left-leaning South Korean politicians have used sit-ins and civil disobedience to block the National Assembly in Seoul from advancing the vote process on the deal.In the United States, senior Democratic party leaders have expressed reservations about the deal's terms on automobile trade. Earlier this month, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a confirmation he thought the U.S. - South Korea deal just is not fair.

TOP EU NEWS
http://europa.eu/press_room/index_en.htm

Economic Partnership Agreements - remarks to European Parliament
Strasbourg, 23 March 2009

It is a pleasure to be addressing the plenary of the Parliament today on an issue of fundamental importance to the EU's relationship with the ACP. Before I go any further I'd like to make one thing very clear:I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in negotiating agreements with ACP countries that make any country poorer.You might think that that is an obvious statement. But my experience to date tells me that it is one that the Commission cannot assume has been widely understood. So today I'd like to make it crystal clear. And when you come to vote later on, I hope that you'll do so on the basis of the discussion we have had here today and the arguments that have been set out here rather than on the basis of any preconceptions you may have.

Today's plenary session is an important step forward on EPAs – you will be asked for your assent on the full EPA with the Caribbean and the interim EPA with Côte d'Ivoire. You have tabled no less than eight sets of draft resolutions and Oral Questions reflecting the strength of Parliamentary involvement and opinion on EPAs. I would like to pay tribute to the huge effort that the International Trade Committee and the Development Committee have put in to the debates on this issue. I have listened carefully to the views expressed. My aim is to set out the case for EPAs and to dispel the myths around them so that every member of this institution is able to cast an informed vote when the time comes.I believe that these are good agreements that support economic development and integration in the ACP and provide stability in these economically turbulent times. They are partnership agreements founded on the shared goal of development that make trade the servant of this objective not the reverse. Most of all, they are agreements that provide the opportunity for ACP states to lift their citizens out of poverty through the dignity of their own labour and the genius of their own ideas. There is a perception that in EPAs the EU is breaking with the past and unilaterally trying to redefine the EU- ACP partnership. It is true that EPAs are different from the Lomé and Cotonou Conventions that embodied the Union's relations with the ACP for thirty years. But the unilateral preferences that characterised those Conventions became open to challenge in the WTO by other developing countries. The dilemma that we faced was how to safeguard the development requirements of the ACP while respecting international rules. The answer was twofold: Everything But Arms for the Least Developed Countries and Economic Partnership Agreements for the developing countries in the ACP. The common theme stretching all the way back to the first Lomé Convention was trade. Trade has always been the defining factor of EU-ACP relations. And what was once confined to unilateral trade preferences for commodities and raw materials in the early days of Lomé has now been replaced by more diversified trade in manufactured goods, services and ideas in the 21st Century. EPAs offer the ACP the best ever access to EU markets and continue our commitment to provide opportunities for economic development.

Regional integration within and between ACP markets has also been a key objective of the EPA process and a subject that has attracted a lot of attention in oral questions. Our global economy means that size has become more important – a lesson that we have learned in the EU. By simplifying trade rules and replacing the complex maze of bilateral agreements with a small number of region-to-region trade relationships, the ACP can create bigger regional markets that are more attractive to the investment which developing markets need in order to create jobs and growth. I believe we have made some real progress on this front. EPAs are, of course, a two stage process – interim Agreements to ensure we do not face a WTO challenge, and to create some breathing space for the second stage: negotiation of full EPAs. The run-up to the December 2007 WTO deadline for interim EPAs has perhaps given rise to an impression of steamrollering of ACP concerns. But I'd like to reassure the Parliament that these interim agreements are only a temporary solution to safeguard and improve ACP access to EU markets. I inherited the EPAs file at an advanced stage of negotiations. Since then I have met a large number of ACP Ministers and representatives and other stakeholders in the EPA process. I have heard them and listened to them. One thing is clear: all put ACP development at the centre of the EPAs. EPAs are where trade meets development. This means development must be the foundation of our trading relationship, based on frank and open dialogue. And I firmly believe that EPAs will only succeed if they are anchored in an enduring partnership based on trust and mutual respect. But the key test of this partnership is whether we and our ACP partners have a shared vision of the future. In Southern Africa I see a region that took conflict about EPAs and turned it into dialogue and where we have now settled major issues of concern like export taxes, infant industry protection and food security. In the Caribbean I see a region that set down clearly its own ambitions for an innovation based economy. In West Africa I see an emerging regional market access position many thought impossible and in East Africa I see an emerging Customs Union that didn't exist when negotiations started and is now building an EPA around their own integration plans. That looks to me like the beginnings of a successful partnership.

Going forward, my vision for the negotiation of full EPAs is one where each negotiation reflects and respects the regional specificity of the parties to that Agreement – a flexible process. That means both looking at content – because the EPA has to work for its signatories but also the pace of negotiations. But it also means that EPAs should be dynamic not static – able to react to future events and to account for different regional interests and needs. In this process, the Commission will continue to inform and involve the European Parliament. And while we should be ambitious there must also be no imposed dialogue, which is why issues like government procurement have already been removed from some negotiations. We will also take the time – and provide support - to build up regional and national regulation as a prerequisite to further negotiation. Aid for trade and technical assistance will be key in that regard.And I can guarantee that there will be no opening of public services, no pressure for privatisation. The explicit right of the ACP to regulate their own markets will be recognised and there will be no limitation of access to essential medicines or collecting seed – in fact we would rather seek to strengthen than limit ACP rights and capacity in these areas.All of this is overlaid by our commitment that ACP regions can draw on provisions agreed in other EPAs so that each region can move ahead secure in the knowledge they will not be disadvantaged. This is a key aspect of flexibility and of allowing EPAs to replace an all ACP trade regime with one that matches regional solutions to regional needs without undermining ACP solidarity.The case for dynamic rather than static EPAs has been highlighted by the current crisis. We began EPA negotiations during a period of unprecedented expansion of investment, goods and services trade and soaring commodity prices. Few predicted that in a few years the global economy would fall into recession, dramatic price falls, exchange rate and market volatility and a credit drought that would strangle the trade finance exporters and importers need.So we do not need a fixed deal that is redundant by the time the ink dries on the paper. We need an agreement that establishes a relationship where institutions and monitoring can help identify and solve problems as they emerge. This will include safeguards and clauses that allow ACP countries to tackle any import surges, food price pressures and fiscal crises, rendezvous clauses for specific issues, regular review clauses and, as in the Caribbean EPA, a role for parliamentary oversight and monitoring.

To return to where I began, the Parliament has a historic opportunity today to give its assent to the first examples of a new generation of agreements that safeguard the EU's special relationship with the ACP. These agreements are based on a genuine partnership rather than paternalism, and harness trade as the motor of development. They promote and encourage the regional integration that will help ACP countries to prosper in a globalised world. They are flexible in terms of content and respectful of tradition. They are the latest manifestation of the longstanding trade relationship between the EU and the ACP. They are the right agreements at the right time. And I hope that from now on it goes without saying that they are most certainly not designed to make anyone poorer. In short, they are the future and I hope on that basis that Members will feel able to give their assent.

Speech of President Barroso at Conference on Modernisation of Ukraine’s Gas Transit System.Joint EU-Ukraine International Investment Conference on The Modernisation of Ukraine’s Gas Transit System Brussels, 23 March 2009

President Yuschenko, Prime Minister Timoshenko, Ministers, ladies and gentlemen.

Today’s conference comes at a time when our relations with Ukraine are closer than they have ever been. And I am glad to say that at the EU-Ukraine Summit in Paris last year, we made a firm commitment to develop our co-operation still further. We welcomed the fact that the new agreement between the European Union and Ukraine will be an Association Agreement, including a deep and comprehensive free trade area and a strong degree of regulatory approximation.Ukraine is a key strategic partner playing a critical regional role: we look to Ukraine as a flagship in driving forward the Eastern Partnership initiative, which is so important to us, and more generally in upholding and promoting the European values which we share.I am also pleased that Russia is represented here today. Russia is a key energy supplier and of course partner of the European Union and Ukraine in the supply of gas and will remain so for many years to come.The value of close relations for all of us is never more obvious than in times of difficulty. The economic and financial crisis is a reality for all of us. It is at the top of our agenda in the EU, just as it is in Ukraine. Indeed it was only last week here in Brussels that this issue was at the top of the agenda at the European Council.I want to assure you that in this crisis we have not forgotten our neighbours: we are deeply concerned at the impact on Ukraine’s economy, and above all at its impact on the lives of Ukrainian citizens.

I know that other partners of Ukraine, including the International Financial Institutions, share our concern. We want to help with all the instruments at our disposal – to find a way through the crisis and to provide a foundation for the sustained growth you need to maintain your recovery. Today’s conference should certainly be seen as part of a broader package.However, we need your help to make a difference. While sensitive to the need not to interfere in domestic politics, we ask for a united approach, from political leaders and key institutions, on the fundamental economic measures needed to address the present economic and financial crisis faced by Ukraine. That is going to be critical.While the financial crisis and economic downturn are uppermost in the minds of most people, we should keep in mind two urgent but longer term challenges – that of energy security and climate change.

This conference today is a key element in addressing the first of these – namely the imperative of ensuring the secure and reliable flow of energy across our common European continent that is so important to our economic and social well-being.The gas transit system across Ukraine is one of those vital energy arteries that keeps the European body functioning. It has been essential for many years and it will remain of strategic importance for the EU, Ukraine and Russia for decades to come.It is in the common interest of everyone here today therefore that this network functions efficiently, reliably and transparently into the future. It is a system which supplies gas to 16 European countries – 12 of which are EU Member States. We cannot afford for it to become – very frankly – an unreliable conduit, as it was for a few dark weeks in January.So although we have made some progress since my signature with Victor Yuschenko and Tony Blair of the Memorandum of Understanding on energy co-operation in December 2005 – we need to do more.So I am very glad to say that the Commission, the Government of Ukraine and representatives of three International Financial Institutions – the EIB, the EBRD and the World Bank – will shortly sign a joint declaration to move forward together on the key tasks of reforming the Ukrainian gas sector to bring it into the EU’s internal energy market and for modernising the Ukraine gas transit network.I am particularly pleased that Ukraine stands here today united in purpose and commitment. I have spoken personally with both President Yuschenko and Prime Minister Timoschenko on this issue and both are committed to the rapid implementation of this joint declaration. I have already confirmed to both of them that the Commission and the EU stand ready to assist Ukraine. I count also on the International Financial Institutions to support this process that will ensure that the maximum transparency prevails in our gas trade and transit.So ladies and gentlemen, in concluding, this is an auspicious and important day for Ukraine, and its gas supply industry. We now need to do as much as we can to ensure an auspicious future.

Press releaseEU banking supervision and ECB role discussed by MEPs and national MPs Economic and monetary affairs - 12-02-2009 - 12:57

The European Central Bank's potential role in helping to make Europe's fragmented system of financial supervision more effective was one of the key issues discussed over two days of debate between the Economics Committee and national MPs.
How the EU should act to safeguard jobs and growth in the European economy during the crisis was also on the agenda at the annual meeting on Wednesday and Thursday of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee with its counterparts from the national parliaments of the 27 Member States.

European system of banking supervisors…

Pervenche Berès (PES, FR), chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee and co-chair of the meeting, stressed the importance of improving financial supervision at EU level: We, as Parliament, have more than once called for a strengthening of European cooperation as far as supervision is concerned. She proposed a system of European supervisors, on the model of the European System of Central Banks, allowing the necessary synergy between national expertise and European integration of the means to sanction.

or a supervisory role for the ECB?

European Central Bank Executive Board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi argued that it was the ECB itself which should take on this supervisory role: Coordination in Europe is credible only if it is based on an institution which offers and ensure confidentiality, independence and efficient decision making. […] There is such an institution today. It performs this role in monetary policy and has performed it in areas associated with financial stability. It is the ECB and the Eurosystem, for the euro area.He added that this would not require a change in the Treaty, unlike the creation of a new body in charge of prudential supervision - and it would be irresponsible to wait for a Treaty change via the normal revision procedures to achieve a stronger supervisory framework if the same result could be achieved without it.Such a move, he said, would also ensure information synergies between central banking and supervision were exploited to the full.Ms Berès noted that the issue of how such a step would affect the balance of power between the EU institutions was a real one.

Evolution not revolution, says Czech Finance Minister

Ealier, Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek had called for steps to improve the supervisory architecture, but warned against hasty political decisions on regulation which would do more harm than good.Revolutionary changes often lead to bad results. Let's go for an evolutionary approach.The interconnected nature of modern financial markets meant that global coordination was needed, but that did not mean nothing should be done until a worldwide consensus emerged, he said. Europe could lead the way.

Protectionism a road to hell

Mr Kalousek added: The challenge is to ensure Europe remains open. All protectionist measures should be rejected; they would only make the situation worse.Responding to the parliamentarians, he continued Protectionism is a huge risk. No one EU country can exist on its own consumption and demand alone.Populist politicians fall for the protectionist argument, but we must do the harder job, even to the detriment of our own popularity, by explaining that protectionism is the road to hell.

A healthy banking sector essential - pressure to lend to SMEs

Jan Hajda, Chair of the Committee on National Economy, Agriculture and Transport of the Czech Senate, the other co-chair of the meeting on Wednesday, stressed the importance of making the lives of small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] easier. He also emphasised the importance of innovation to boost employment and economic growth.Joaquín Almunia, Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, said it was essential to get restore the banking sector to health: We are convinced that if the financial markets do not function properly over the coming months, the efficiency of the Recovery Plan and monetary policies will be seriously affected.Philippe Maystadt, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) said the objective was not to help banks per se. As far as the EIB's action was concerned, the aim was to providing SMEs with as much credit as possible. He said a condition applies for each bank receiving funds: For every euro we lend to a bank, it needs to prove that there two euros are made in new loans to an SME.The EIB President also stressed the need to keep the pressure on banks so they do lend to small businesses.

Stability Pact and creating positive expectations

Mr Almunia stressed that, despite some opinions to the contrary, the Stability and Growth Pact needs to be respected and enforced in this time of crisis. Its credibility is needed to finance public debt and consolidate public investments, he concluded.Oldřich Vojíř, Chair of the Committee on Economic Affairs of the Czech Chamber of Deputies, and co-chair of Thursday's session, said governments could do little about cyclical changes in GDP, but politicians have to do at least something to create positive expectations. If the left and the right could agree to proceed in a similar way that would already be a political victory.

Euro zone will not break up

Ms Berès also made clear that: Despite certain catastrophic statements, I do not believe that the Euro zone will break up. The cost of leaving the euro zone would in fact be so high for the country concerned and for the Economic and Monetary Union, that such a scenario is just not possible.REF. : 20090209IPR48764Contact

MONEYNETDAILY Fed's secrecy policy 2 years old tomorrow,In 2006, money suppliers stopped reporting publicly on money supply March 22, 2009 12:00 am Eastern
WorldNetDaily

WASHINGTON – As America's economy continues in freefall, tomorrow marks an auspicious two-year anniversary – the day the Federal Reserve announced, with little fanfare, its decision to stop reporting to the public the M3 money supply, the broadest measure of three standards of measurement. Federal Reserve is the non-government agency designated by Congress to control the nation's money supply, which directly impacts the value of the dollar and every investment held by Americans. Since 2006, Americans have seen their investments plummet in value and witnessed the shrinking buying power of their earnings. Why did the Fed make that decision two years ago? What was its rationale? The justification for the secrecy by the organization that prints money was cost. By not producing those numbers for the public, the Fed would save about $1.5 million annually. According to Jerry Robinson, author of the new book Bankruptcy of Our Nation, the $1.5 million savings by the Fed amounted to 0.00000699 percent of it annual net income of last year. You would think that such a broad economic and inflation indicator would be continually produced, analyzed and monitored, says Robinson. However, when the announcement came, it fell on deaf ears. This bold new move by the Fed caused some stir among economists, but it never received any real media coverage.

Just last Wednesday the Fed said it would flood the teetering financial system with an additional $1.2 trillion. The money will be used, the Fed said, to buy government bonds and mortgage-related securities in hopes of lowering the borrowing costs for home mortgages and other types of loans, thereby stimulating economic activity. In other words, the central bank will print more money to pay for the purchases. What the Fed does not explain publicly is how those kinds of infusions of money out of thin air, with nothing to back it, reduce the purchasing power and assets of all Americans by devaluing the dollar. The $1.2 trillion is in addition to hundreds of billions already added to the system since the beginning of the year and dwarfs even the biggest government bailouts to date. The decision was seen as an admission that the economy is much worse than it had forecast at the board's last meeting in January. Robinson predicted such moves in his new book. He saw the March 23, 2006, announcement by the Fed as a predicate to unprecedented emergency manipulations of the financial system in the future. You would think that there would have been some public outcry over the lack of transparency, he said. But the average person has no idea what M3 is, and it is probably just as likely that they do not care.Robinson says he was not surprised by the decision of the Fed two years ago to keep information about the expanding money supply from the very people it impacts. He says the Fed has never been known for its transparency.Instead, it is an organization shrouded in secrecy, he writes in Bankruptcy of Our Nation.

He points out it took from 1776 to 1983 to grow the M3 money supply by $2.5 trillion. But the supply increased by $2.5 trillion in the next 14 years. And then from 1997 to 2001 – only four years – it increased by that amount again. While the Federal Reserve has become less transparent in its actions than ever, we do know that right now, the printing presses are rolling and that the Federal Reserve is injecting massive amounts of currency into the U.S. economy,he explains. Scarcity of currency, he writes, stabilizes its value, but overproduction reduces its value. And is the value of the dollar falls, what does that do to the prices of consumer goods? he asks rhetorically.It drives them up.The Fed last week took consolation in a slight stock market rise in answer to its announcement about injecting $1.2 trillion more into the system. However, Robinson points out that rising stock prices don't actually mean increased wealth for those invested in those companies – simply because the dollar is not worth what it was before the infusion of capital into the system. Robinson says the actions of the Fed can only serve at best as a temporary fix – placing a Band-Aid on a severe laceration. And it will only serve to delay and enlarge the scope of the impending day of reckoning for the United States,he adds.

Treasury's toxic asset plan could cost $1 trillion By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer MAR 22,09

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration's latest attempt to tackle the banking crisis and get loans flowing to families and businesses rely on a new government entity, the Public Investment Corp. to help purchase as much as $1 trillion in toxic assets on banks' books.The plan that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner intends to announce Monday aims to use the resources of the $700 billion bank bailout fund, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.The initiative will seek to entice private investors, including big hedge funds, to participate by offering billions of dollars in low-interest loans to finance the purchases and also sharing risks if the assets fall further in value.When Geithner released the initial outlines of the administration's overhaul of the bank rescue program on Feb. 10, the markets took a nosedive. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged by 380 points as investors expressed disappointment about a lack of details.Christina Romer, head of the Council of Economic Advisers, said Sunday that it's important for investors to know that the administration is bringing a full array of programs to confront the problem.I don't think Wall Street is expecting the silver bullet, she said on CNN's State of the Union.This is one more piece. It's a crucial piece to get these toxic assets off, but it is just part of it and there will be more to come,she said.Also in the coming week Geithner is expected to disclose the administration's proposal to overhaul bank regulations to try to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis.

CAP health check not open for debate
ANDREW WILLIS Today MAR 23,09 @ 17:42 CET

European commissioner for agriculture Mariann Fischer Boel has issued a robust defence of reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) agreed last year - a series of changes Brussels calls the CAP 'health-check', saying the current crisis in the dairy sector was no excuse for a return to a more interventionist policy.I am not going to re-open the agreement that we made in the health-checK. I hope this is clear enough so we can stop this blurred discussion that is sending totally the wrong signal to the farmers, she said on Monday (23 March) after agriculture ministers met in Brussels to discuss falling milk prices. Farmers believe sometimes that one minister or another will be able to put pressure on the commission to re-open the whole discussion. This is not going to happen. It is actually dead, this idea.Earlier in the day, a note circulated around the commission and other national delegations in Brussels in which Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia argued that unconventional approaches" were now needed to deal with the dire situation. However, Ms Fischer Boel said the commission had already acted, pointing to the temporary re-activation of export refunds for all dairy commodities as of the 23 January of this year.She also argued that the drop in dairy prices was due to the fall in global demand and not commission increases in milk production quotas agreed last year in an attempt to make the CAP more market-oriented. I hope ministers are brave enough [to explain this] when they go back into their countries and meet the farmers' organisations, Ms Fishel Boel said. So let's stop this purely political discussion and instead concentrate our efforts on what we can do to facilitate [a resolution of] the real economic problems.Czech agriculture minister Petr Gandalovic, who also attended the press conference, said the Czech presidency intended to step up the debate in the coming months on the future of the CAP post-2013, when the current spending period comes to an end.

Fall in exports

New figures released by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, on Monday confirmed that falling exports are not just confined to the agricultural sector.Seasonally adjusted exports for the euro area fell in January by 10.7 per cent year on year, while imports for December dropped by a smaller 7.3 per cent, leading to a widening of the euro area's trade deficit. The sharp drop in January's exports was larger than many analysts had predicted, sparking fears that first quarter growth for 2009 is headed for a substantial contraction. The 10.7 percent fall in month-on-month exports is pretty dire. We knew it was going to be weak, but that really is scary, said Capital Economics analyst Ben May, according to Reuters. The reaction to Eurostat's weak data is in stark contrast to upbeat expectations for a conclusion to an EU-Korea free-trade deal on Monday evening.Recent hold-ups to securing the agreement, under negotiation since May 2007, have centred on the reluctance by the EU's automobile sector to lift import barriers on cars produced in South Korea.

Brussels cool on Bulgaria steering group idea
ELITSA VUCHEVA Today MAR 23,09 @ 17:38 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The Bulgarian government has asked EU member states to send experienced diplomats to hold key positions in the administration in order to help boost reforms in the country. But the unusual proposal has been rebuffed by European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, who said the Bulgarians should carry out the reforms themselves.The reforms in Bulgaria, in the Bulgarian administration, must be carried out by the Bulgarians themselves. Nothing can substitute your own efforts, Mr Barroso told Bulgarian daily Dnevnik in the margins of an EU summit in Brussels on Friday (20 March).We co-operate with you, we have increased the co-operation, but there is no way that we substitute the efforts that depend on the government, the administrations, and all levels of the Bulgarian state, he added.The Bulgarian government's proposal for specific co-operation schemes with other EU states was prepared in February by socialist prime minister Sergei Stanishev's advisory board, notably his European affairs advisor Maria Markes-Pinto.In order to better and fully achieve [needed reforms] the government of Bulgaria wishes to invite those member states that possess assessed and proven knowledge and experience in the fields pointed out and are ready to share it with the Bulgarian Institutions and Administrative structures responsible for the implementation of these reforms," the letter - seen by EUobserver - reads.

It pointed to five specific areas that need outside help – boosting the competitiveness of the business environment, implementing and monitoring legislation that regulates public procurement and conflict of interest, reform of the judiciary, management of EU funds, and training people in EU law.Three co-operation schemes are foreseen, including setting up concrete, well-targeted assistance missions from different member states,as well as appointing European experts to key positions within the Bulgarian administration.Key directive or management positions in the Central administration as well as in the depending Agencies or bodies ...should be occupied by the required highly qualified professionals from any of the member states, included Bulgaria, following open recruitment and selection procedures,says the proposal.

Cool reactions

The Bulgarian proposal has met with a cool reception beyond Brussels as well.

Bulgarian weekly Kapital reports that most EU diplomats consider an oversight mechanism already in place for the country as enough.The Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) was set up when Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU, on 1 January 2007, to monitor reforms in areas such as justice and home affairs, seen as a field where the two countries perform particularly badly.The member states have already tasked the European Commission with monitoring the situation, because this is how Europe works. The commission has the bureaucratic capacity, is not dependant on political messages and is handling its task very well,a senior diplomat told the paper.For his part, France's ambassador to Bulgaria, Etienne de Poncins, said that France backs the idea in principle, but underlined that the political will must come from the Bulgarian government, parliament and institutions.We cannot replace the Bulgarian authorities in the job they have to do.Besides the institutional imbroglio, the issue of who would pay the European experts' salaries is another question mark over the Bulgarian idea, with state administration employees in Bulgaria earning much less than most of their EU counterparts.

A last-ditch move

The Bulgarian government's initiative comes just a few months ahead of the general elections in the country, expected to take place in early summer.It is seen by some as a last-ditch attempt by the increasingly unpopular current coalition government to get some Brussels' praise before the elections.The government is already blamed for irreversibly losing €220 million of pre-accession EU funding last year over its persistent failure to tackle corruption, with millions more of EU money still frozen and at risk, unless Sofia delivers some results.Last November, the commission judged that most of the measures it has taken so far are only a promise for future action, and in an interim report in February it called for convincing and tangible results from Sofia.But regardless of the country's shortcomings, the Bulgarian approach sets a bad precedent, Bulgarian media comment.Letting the Europeans come because we can't make it on our own is a helpless position,Kapital wrote last week.

U.S. backs Danish PM as next NATO chief: diplomats By David Brunnstrom David Brunnstrom – Sat Mar 21, 12:35 pm ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The United States has told NATO allies it will back Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the next head of the alliance, NATO diplomats and a U.S. source said Saturday.Rasmussen already has the support of European heavyweights Germany, Britain and France for the post of NATO secretary-general, but Washington had been considering backing Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay.A U.S. source close to the administration of President Barack Obama said Washington had indicated its acceptance of Rasmussen after U.S. National Security Adviser General James Jones this month went to Denmark to visit him.Two senior NATO diplomats confirmed Washington had signaled to allies its acceptance of Rasmussen.There seems to be a general coalescence around Rasmussen, said one, adding that an announcement was expected at the April 3-4 NATO summit. The current secretary-general, Dutchman Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, steps down on July 31.Another NATO diplomat said Rasmussen's appointment still needed the backing of all 26 NATO allies -- including mostly Muslim Turkey, which has voiced misgivings over Rasmussen linked to the row over a cartoon in a Danish newspaper in 2006 depicting the Prophet Mohammad with a bomb in his turban.A senior NATO source predicted there would be no problems. Turkey doesn't want to be in a minority of one,the source said.(Additional reporting by Paul Taylor; editing by Mark John and Tim Pearce)

YOU CAN TELL BY OBAMAS MESSAGE HES NOT READING FROM A TELEPROMPTER ON THIS OCCASION,OBAMA IS WELL KNOWING THIS HOLIDAY IN IRAN.

OBAMAS MESSAGE TO HIS FELLOW IRANIANS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY_utC-hrjI

ARAB USES TERROR BY TRACTOR FOR FRIENDS OF MUSLIMS
http://wejew.com/media/3747/New_Terror_Tractor_Attack_Jerusalem_Live_Cam_Footage/

Israel's Peres sends holiday greeting to Iran By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer – Fri Mar 20, 3:52 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Israeli President Shimon Peres sent a rare greeting to the people of Iran on Friday, praising what he called a great and ancient culture and saying they would be better off without their hard-line leadership.The greeting coincided with a video message sent by President Obama to Iran in which he said the U.S. is prepared to end years of strained relations if Tehran tones down its bellicose rhetoric.Peres, a Nobel peace laureate, talked of the warm ties that once existed between the two countries under the pro-U.S. shah, who was overthrown in 1979, and voiced hope that they could once again live in peace.I turn to the noble Iranian nation in the name of the ancient Jewish nation and wish that it return to its rightful place among developed nations, he said.But in an interview accompanying the greeting, Peres took a tougher tone toward Iran's leaders, branding the leaders who came to power in the 1979 Islamic revolution religious fanatics and predicting that Iranians would eventually overthrow them.I think the Iranian nation will topple these leaders. Leaders that do not serve the people will, in the end, the nation will get rid of them,Peres said in the interview.It's such a rich country with such a rich culture, he added. On the one hand I look at Iran with admiration because of its history and on the other hand with sorrow because of what's happened to it.Peres' blessing for the Persian Nowruz holiday was broadcast on the Farsi-language service of the Voice of Israel radio station. The station said the interview would air on Monday. The station claims to have several million listeners in Iran, though it was not immediately clear how many people had heard the message.Israel and Iran enjoyed close ties before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which toppled the U.S.-backed shah and brought to power a clerical leadership hostile to the Jewish state.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel and questioned whether the Holocaust occurred. Israel also accuses Iran of supporting hostile Arab militant groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, and says Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.Peres took aim at Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial. Since when is he an expert on the Jewish Holocaust? Was he at Auschwitz? What does he know? All day he makes speeches and speeches, but they are destroying the nation. They won't so quickly destroy us.In his aired greeting, Peres turned his focus to the Iranian people and offered a Nowruz blessing.Our relations with the Iranian nation knew days of prosperity, even in modern times as we shared with you our experience in agriculture, industry, development of science and medicine and we developed with you the best relations possible, he said.To our dismay, our diplomatic relations are at a low point flowing from the desires leading the current leaders of your land to act in every way possible against the state of Israel and its people, but I am confident that the day we are hoping for is not far, when the good neighborly relations and the cooperation will flourish in all fields for the welfare of our nations and for the betterment of our common future.Peres spoke in Hebrew for most of the blessing, but then ended his address with a traditional Persian holiday greeting in Farsi: May your Nowruz be a victory, and every day be Nowruz! Meir Javedanfar, an independent Iranian-born analyst living in Israel, called Peres' statements very significant.He said both Peres and Obama were aware that Iran is preparing to hold a presidential election and are hopeful that they can encourage voters to choose a new moderate leadership.Iranian right-wingers thrive on demonizing the U.S. and Israel, he said. This is basically to counter that, with the hope that the people of Iran will vote against extremism.He said Peres also might be trying to encourage the people of Iran to embrace Obama's diplomatic overture.We should try not to allow the provocative messages of Ahmadinejad to destroy the rapprochement, he said. Farnoush Ram, a broadcaster at the Israeli radio station, said Peres' predecessor, Iranian-born Moshe Katsav, had also sent Nowruz messages to Iran in the past, but this was the first blessing since Ahmadinejad took office.

Iran's supreme leader dismisses Obama overtures By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer – Sat Mar 21, 11:42 am ET

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's supreme leader rebuffed President Barack Obama's latest outreach on Saturday, saying Tehran was still waiting to see concrete changes in U.S. policy.Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was responding to a video message Obama released Friday in which he reached out to Iran on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian new year, and expressed hopes for an improvement in nearly 30 years of strained relations.Khamenei holds the last word on major policy decisions, and how Iran ultimately responds to any concrete U.S. effort to engage the country will depend largely on his say.In his most direct assessment of Obama and prospects for better ties, Khamenei said there will be no change between the two countries unless the American president puts an end to U.S. hostility toward Iran and brings real changes in foreign policy.They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice. We haven't seen any change, Khamenei said in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad.In his video message, Obama said the United States wants to engage Iran, but he also warned that a right place for Iran in the international community cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization.

Khamenei asked how Obama could congratulate Iranians on the new year and accuse the country of supporting terrorism and seeking nuclear weapons in the same message.

Khamenei said there has been no change even in Obama's language compared to that of his predecessor.He (Obama) insulted the Islamic Republic of Iran from the first day. If you are right that change has come, where is that change? What is the sign of that change? Make it clear for us what has changed.Still, Khamenei left the door open to better ties with America, saying should you change, our behavior will change too.

Diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Iran were cut after the U.S. Embassy hostage-taking after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which toppled the pro-U.S. shah and brought to power a government of Islamic clerics.The United States cooperated with Iran in late 2001 and 2002 in the Afghanistan conflict, but the promising contacts fizzled — and were extinguished completely when Bush branded Tehran part of the Axis of Evil.

Khamenei enumerated a long list of Iranian grievances against the United States over the past 30 years and said the U.S. was still interfering in Iranian affairs.He mentioned U.S. sanctions against Iran, U.S. support for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during his 1980-88 war against Iran and the downing of an Iranian airliner over the Persian Gulf in 1988.He also accused the U.S. of provoking ethnic tension in Iran and said Washington's accusations that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons are a sign of U.S. hostility. Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, like energy production, not for building weapons.Have you released Iranian assets? Have you lifted oppressive sanctions? Have you given up mudslinging and making accusations against the great Iranian nation and its officials? Have you given up your unconditional support for the Zionist regime? Even the language remains unchanged, Khamenei said.Khamenei, wearing a black turban and dark robes, said America was hated around the world for its arrogance, as the crowd chanted Death to America.Prominent political analyst Saeed Leilaz said Khamenei's comments did not amount to a rejection of better ties with the Obama administration. Rather, Iran's current hard-line leaders need to publicly maintain some degree of anti-U.S. rhetoric to bolster their own position, especially with their conservative base, he said. Iran's ruling Islamic establishment needs to lessen tensions with the U.S. and at the same time maintain a controlled animosity with Washington,he said. Iran can't praise Obama all of a sudden.
Khamenei will also likely stand his ground as long as he remains concerned about the United States' ability to destabilize Iran, he said. For its part, the Obama administration must take practical steps such as lifting a ban on selling Iran spare parts for passenger aircraft or considering unfreezing Iranian assets in the U.S., Leilaz said.

Obama has signaled a willingness to speak directly with Iran about its nuclear program and hostility toward Israel, a key U.S. ally. At his inauguration last month, the president said his administration would reach out to rival states, declaring we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.They say we have stretched a hand toward Iran. ... If a hand is stretched covered with a velvet glove but it is cast iron inside, that makes no sense, Khamenei said.

Obama’s War Policies Worse than Bush’s, Anti-War Activist Says
Friday, March 20, 2009 By Josiah Ryan, Staff Writer

President Barack Obama’s war policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are criminal and worse than those of former President Bush, according to Adam Kokesh, who serves on the board of directors of the anti-war group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW).Kokesh and other members of the IVAW gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to call on Obama to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also launched a 24-hour vigil/demonstration called Operation No Change to mark the sixth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War (March 20, 2003).In some ways, Obama is worse than Bush, Kokesh told CNSNews.com. Bush wasn’t proposing a surge in Afghanistan – and Bush was talking about a quicker timeline for withdrawal than Obama.

That’s why we called this Operation No Change,said Kokesh. What Obama is doing with our foreign policy on a fundamental level is not change. Though we are going to re-label the troops non-combat troops, they are still out there, and clearly they are still fighting for American interests.Kokesh also said that he absolutely thinks Obama’s war policies are criminal and that he has not been surprised by Obama’s actions since he became president in January. I’m not disappointed because I never had any hope in him, said Kokesh.All of the predications of those of us who read the fine print about Obama have come true. During the primaries he sold himself very vaguely as a peace candidate and said he wanted to end the occupations. But when that congealed into something specific, I could see right away he really had no interest in reforming foreign policy or ending these occupations,Kokesh said.Tracy Harmon, however, who is an IVAW member, told CNSNews.com that while she has been disappointed in Obama’s actions since his inauguration, she thinks he is sincere about his intention to withdraw from Iraq.I do believe him, said Harmon. I think he wants to get us out but it has taken longer – he extended the pullout date by three months.

Harmon said that Obama’s decision to send a surge into Afghanistan demonstrates that he is not a peace president as many voters may have thought.For the most part, it is a disillusionment, she said. He is seen as an anti-war president, but he is starting a whole new war in Afghanistan.When it comes to war policy, there were a number of presidential candidates who would have been better than Obama, including 2008 candidates Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), said Kokesh.

BILDERBERG OTTAWA MEETING LAST YEAR

EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)

REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)

REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

WORLD GOVERNMENT

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he 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.

DANIEL 12:4,1
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

REVELATION 13:1-3,7,8,12,16-18
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
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.

REVELATION 17:3,7,9-10,12,18
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

MICROCHIP IMPLANTS DISCUSSED AT BILDERBERG MEETING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AckRQRofS1M&feature=related
MICROCHIPING TROOPS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaLq0yhFgPI&feature=related
REAL ID
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH2WGhwoFFY&feature=related
REAL ID MICROCHIP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCI95vCauz8&feature=related
THE AIRFORCE WANTS YOUR LOV IMPLANTS FOOD,WATER,AIR
http://www.whale.to/b/palit.html
MICROCHIP MIND CONTROL
http://www.rense.com/general17/imp.htm
NA UNION AND RFID
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuBo4E77ZXo&feature=related
CLUB OF ROME
http://www.clubofrome.org/eng/home/
BILDERBERGS
http://www.4rie.com/rie%203.html
COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS (US)
http://www.cfr.org/
COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS (EUROPE)
http://www.ecfr.eu/
TRILATERAL COMMISSION
http://www.trilateral.org/
IMF
http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
IMF PRESS BRIEFING MAR 12,09
http://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/view.asp?eventID=1408
WORLD BANK
http://www.worldbank.org/

BILDERBERG SEEKS BANK CENTRALIZATION AGENDA JUNE 10,2008
http://nationalexpositor.com/News/1255.html

Intel Strike - Fresh off of the 2008 Bilderberg Meeting, it looks as if New York Federal Reserve president Timothy Geithner is set to push a new agenda in the world of central banking that was likely decided upon at Bilderberg. Geithner yesterday, wrote an article in the Financial Times calling for a global regulatory banking framework. In addition, Geithner called for the Federal Reserve to have an instrumental role in this new framework. Geithner cites all of the problems that were actually created by the central bankers in the first place as the rationale for having greater centralized power. It is interesting Geithner decides to write this piece right after the Bilderberg Meeting where some of the most powerful figures in the world of central banking attended. Not only did Geithner attend, but the attendee list included Ben Bernanke the Federal Reserve Chairman, Henry Paulson the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Jean-Claude Trichet the president of the European Central Bank, Robert Zoellick the president of the World Bank and other high profile bankers. With the who’s who of central banking attending the Bilderberg Meeting, it is highly unlikely that what Geithner is proposing in his Financial Times article was not discussed at the Bilderberg Meeting. It is no secret that the true objective of the Bilderberg Meeting is to steer the world into accepting a global government. By establishing a new global regulatory banking framework, this will inch the planet ever closer to a one world currency operating in a cashless society where microchips are used to facilitate transactions. Make no mistake about it, this system will not be good, because it will be controlled by a bunch of criminal psychopaths like the one’s who attended the 2008 Bilderberg Meeting.In his Financial Times article, Geithner wrote the following:

The institutions that play a central role in money and funding markets – including the main globally active banks and investment banks – need to operate under a unified framework that provides a stronger form of consolidated supervision, with appropriate requirements for capital and liquidity. To complement this, we need to put in place a stronger framework of oversight authority over the critical parts of the payments system – not just the established payments, clearing and settlements systems, but the infrastructure that underpins the decentralised over-the-counter markets.Because of its primary responsibility for the stability of the overall financial system, the Federal Reserve should play a central role in such a framework, working closely with supervisors in the US and in other countries. At present the Fed has broad responsibility for financial stability not matched by direct authority and the consequences of the actions we have taken in this crisis make it more important that we close that gap.Finally, we need a stronger capacity to respond to crises. The Fed has put in place a number of innovative new facilities that have helped ease liquidity strains. We plan to leave these in place until conditions in money and credit markets have improved substantially.

What Geithner is proposing is entirely insane but this is the same tactic that the financial elites used to establish the Federal Reserve back in 1913. They created a crisis and said that the crisis happened because they didn’t have enough power to prevent it. The Panic of 1907 which was used to justify the passage of the Federal Reserve Act was actually caused by JP Morgan and assorted elite financial interests. They did this so they could use the crisis as an excuse to centralize their control and power over the banking system. Through the Federal Reserve, banks were finally consolidated under its umbrella through the Great Depression which was deliberately caused by the tight monetary policies implemented by the central bank. Throughout the 1920s money was made plentiful, but following the stock market crash of 1929, the Federal Reserve tightened the money supply which put hundreds of community banks out of business and allowed the central bankers to consolidate control over the nation’s banking system.Geithner is using the excuse of the current financial crisis that was caused by the Federal Reserve and the world’s assorted central banks in order to again consolidate more power for the banking cartel. It is simply history repeating itself, only this time it is on a much larger scale. Below is another blurb taken from Geithner’s Financial Times piece:Since last summer, we have lived through a severe and complex financial crisis. Why was the financial system so fragile? What can be done to make the system more resilient in the future? The world experienced a financial boom. The boom fed demand for risk. Products were created to meet that demand, including risky, complicated mortgages. Many assets were financed with significant leverage and liquidity risk and many of the world’s largest financial institutions got themselves too exposed to the risk of a global downturn. The amount of long-term illiquid assets financed with short-term liabilities made the system vulnerable to a classic type of run. As concern about risk increased, investors pulled back, triggering a self-reinforcing cycle of forced liquidation of assets, higher margin requirements, increased volatility. What Geithner doesn’t say in his article is that the current global financial crisis was caused by the Federal Reserve and the world’s various central banks. Alan Greenspan intentionally set interest rates at incredibly low levels after the 9/11 attacks. This encouraged lenders to lend out money using all sorts of creative financing packages. It also encouraged borrowers to borrow money from the lenders because of the cheaper money. These policies lead to the continued devaluation of the U.S. Dollar and the U.S. housing crisis which have been the main drivers behind most of the economic problems we are currently seeing.

Geithner wants us to believe that giving the Federal Reserve and the rest of this private banking system more power is what’s needed to resolve all of the economic problems that were caused by the central bankers themselves. How stupid does Geithner and the rest of the global elite think we are? We have a historical track record of central bankers creating economic problems and bringing in phony solutions to expand their control. We need decentralization and free markets to resolve the economic problems that have been created by these people, not more centralized power.If all of this wasn’t bad enough, Jim Tucker from the American Free Press speaking on the Alex Jones show today stated that one of his Bilderberg sources revealed to him that the global elite are planning to push forward their cashless society grid agenda with the use of implantable microchips. The implantable microchips would be sold as a way for people to easily move through the militarized control grid that they’ve setup via the bogus terror war. Tucker also mentioned that we would see the media hyping the phony terror war and specifically the phony white Al-Qaeda terror threat as a way for them to continue the justification of the enslavement grid. Assuming Tucker’s Bilderberg source is providing accurate information, this agenda that Geithner is pushing in his Financial Times article is right in line with their well documented plans to get rid of cash. The central bankers would need a global regulatory framework for the banking system so they can move closer to a global currency operating in a cashless society.

This is some incredibly scary stuff. Of course there was not one word of the 2008 Bilderberg Meeting in any major U.S. media outlets. The corporate controlled media maintained a blackout on any coverage of this incredibly important yearly meeting of the global elite. It is pathetic when citizen journalists like the ones at InfoWars, PrisonPlanet and RogueGovernment provide the best coverage of what is one of the most important geopolitical meetings of the year. Either way, the commentary from Geithner as well as the information from Tucker’s Bilderberg source seems to indicate that the global elite are getting ready to further centralize the banking system in order to establish their one world cashless society grid. These criminals must be exposed and their system of global corruption and tyranny must be defeated. Let’s tell these bastards that they can take their cashless society grid and their implantable microchips where the sun don’t shine.

BERNANKE WAS ALSO AT OTTAWA LAST YEAR SO WAS CLINTON AND OBAMA SO WE SEE WHY THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IS SMOOTHERED WITH BILDERBERG MEMBERS TO BRING ABOUT THE EU WORLD DOMINATION. NOW WE KNOW WHY THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION WILL BE HAND IN GLOVE TO THE EUROPEAN UNION,THE VATICAN MUST BE SECRETLY BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE BILDERBERGS ALSO SINCE THEY WILL BE HAND IN GLOVE WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION WHEN THIS GLOBAL GOVERNMENT FINALLY COMES INTO BEING FOR A BRIEF TIME 7 YEARS OR LESS AT THE MOST.

Reducing risk in the financial system By Timothy Geithner
Published: June 8 2008 23:30 | Last updated: June 8 2008 23:30
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/807c8a64-355a-11dd-998d-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

Since last summer, we have lived through a severe and complex financial crisis. Why was the financial system so fragile? What can be done to make the system more resilient in the future? The world experienced a financial boom. The boom fed demand for risk. Products were created to meet that demand, including risky, complicated mortgages. Many assets were financed with significant leverage and liquidity risk and many of the world’s largest financial institutions got themselves too exposed to the risk of a global downturn. The amount of long-term illiquid assets financed with short-term liabilities made the system vulnerable to a classic type of run. As concern about risk increased, investors pulled back, triggering a self-reinforcing cycle of forced liquidation of assets, higher margin requirements, increased volatility. What should be done to strengthen the system in the future? First, when we get through this crisis we have to increase the shock absorbers held in normal times against bad macroeconomic and financial outcomes. This will require more exacting expectations on capital, liquidity and risk management for the largest institutions that play a central role in intermediation and market functioning. They should be set high enough to offset the benefits that come from access to central bank liquidity, but not so high that they succeed only in pushing more capital to the unregulated part of the financial system. Second, we have to improve the capacity of the financial infrastructure to withstand default by a big institution. This will require taking some of the risk out of secured funding markets, increasing resources held against default in the centralised clearing house, and encouraging more standardisation, automation and central clearing in the derivatives markets. Third, the regulatory framework cannot be indifferent to the scale of leverage and risk outside the supervised institutions. I do not believe it would be desirable or feasible to extend capital requirements to leveraged institutiions such as hedge funds. But supervision has to ensure that counterparty credit risk management in the supervised institutions limits the risk of a rise in overall leverage outside the regulated institutions that could threaten the stability of the financial system. And regulatory policy has to induce higher levels of margin and collateral in normal times against derivatives and secured borrowing to cover better the risk of market illiquidity.Fourth, we need to streamline and simplify the US regulatory framework. Our system has evolved into a confusing mix of diffused accountability, regulatory competition and a complex web of rules that create perverse incentives and leave huge opportunities for arbitrage and evasion. The blueprint by Hank Paulson, Treasury secretary, outlines a sweeping consolidation and realignment of responsibilities.

The institutions that play a central role in money and funding markets – including the main globally active banks and investment banks – need to operate under a unified framework that provides a stronger form of consolidated supervision, with appropriate requirements for capital and liquidity. To complement this, we need to put in place a stronger framework of oversight authority over the critical parts of the payments system – not just the established payments, clearing and settlements systems, but the infrastructure that underpins the decentralised over-the-counter markets. Because of its primary responsibility for the stability of the overall financial system, the Federal Reserve should play a central role in such a framework, working closely with supervisors in the US and in other countries. At present the Fed has broad responsibility for financial stability not matched by direct authority and the consequences of the actions we have taken in this crisis make it more important that we close that gap. Finally, we need a stronger capacity to respond to crises. The Fed has put in place a number of innovative new facilities that have helped ease liquidity strains. We plan to leave these in place until conditions in money and credit markets have improved substantially. We are examining what framework of facilities will be appropriate in the future, with what conditions for access and what oversight requirements to mitigate moral hazard risk. Some of these could become a permanent part of our instruments. Some might be best reserved for the type of acute market illiquidity experienced in this crisis. Authority to pay interest on reserves would give the Fed the ability to respond to acute liquidity pressure in markets without undermining its capacity to manage the federal funds rates in line with the federal open market committee’s target. The big central banks should put in place a standing network of currency swaps, collateral policies and account arrangements that would make it easier to mobilise liquidity across borders quickly in a crisis.As we reshape the incentives and constraints for risk-taking in the financial system, we have to recognise that regulation has the potential to make things worse. Regulation can distort incentives in ways that may make the system less safe. One of the strengths of our system is the speed with which we adapt to challenge. It is important that we move quickly to adapt the regulatory system to address the vulnerabilities exposed by this financial crisis. We are beginning the process of building the necessary consensus here and with the other main financial centres.The writer is president and chief executive, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The Financial Times Limited 2009.

OTTAWA 2008 BILDERBERG LIST OF PEOPLE.

CAN Adams, John Associate Deputy Minister of National Defence and Chief of the Communications Security Establishment Canada
CAN Brodie, Ian Chief of Staff, Prime Minister’s Office
CAN Clark, Edmund President and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group
CAN Desmarais, Jr., Paul Chairman and co-CEO, Power Corporation of Canada
CAN Edwards, N. Murray Vice Chairman, Candian Natural Resources Limited
CAN Martin, Roger Dean, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
CAN McKenna, Frank Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group
CAN Prichard, J. Robert S. President and CEO, Torstar Corporation
CAN Reisman, Heather M.Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc

Full List of Participants

DEU Ackermann, Josef Chairman of the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee, Deutsche Bank AG
CAN Adams, John Associate Deputy Minister of National Defence and Chief of the Communications Security Establishment Canada
USA Ajami, Fouad Director, Middle East Studies Program, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University
USA Alexander, Keith B.Director, National Security Agency
INT Almunia, Joaquín Commissioner, European Commission
GRC Alogoskoufis, George Minister of Economy and Finance
USA Altman, Roger C.Chairman, Evercore Partners Inc.
TUR Babacan, Ali Minister of Foreign Affairs
NLD Balkenende, Jan Peter Prime Minister
PRT Balsemão, Francisco Pinto Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.; Former Prime Minister
FRA Baverez, Nicolas Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
ITA Bernabè, Franco CEO, Telecom Italia Spa
USA Bernanke, Ben S. Chairman, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System
SWE Bildt, Carl Minister of Foreign Affairs
FIN Blåfield, Antti Senior Editorial Writer, Helsingin Sanomat
DNK Bosse, Stine CEO, TrygVesta
CAN Brodie, Ian Chief of Staff, Prime Minister’s Office
AUT Bronner, Oscar Publisher and Editor, Der Standard
FRA Castries, Henri de Chairman of the Management Board and CEO, AXA
ESP Cebrián, Juan Luis CEO, PRISA
CAN Clark, Edmund President and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group
GBR Clarke, Kenneth Member of Parliament
NOR Clemet, Kristin Managing Director, Civita
USA Collins, Timothy C. Senior Managing Director and CEO, Ripplewood Holdings, LLC
FRA Collomb, Bertrand Honorary Chairman, Lafarge
PRT Costa, António Mayor of Lisbon
USA Crocker, Chester A. James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies
USA Daschle, Thomas A. Former US Senator and Senate Majority Leader
CAN Desmarais, Jr., Paul Chairman and co-CEO, Power Corporation of Canada
GRC Diamantopoulou, Anna Member of Parliament
USA Donilon, Thomas E. Partner, O’Melveny & Myers
ITA Draghi, Mario Governor, Banca d’Italia
AUT Ederer, Brigitte CEO, Siemens AG Österreich
CAN Edwards, N. Murray Vice Chairman, Candian Natural Resources Limited
DNK Eldrup, Anders President, DONG A/S
ITA Elkann, John Vice Chairman, Fiat S.p.A.
USA Farah, Martha J. Director, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience; Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Natural Sciences, University of Pennsylvania
USA Feldstein, Martin S.President and CEO, National Bureau of Economic Research
DEU Fischer, Joschka Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
USA Ford, Jr., Harold E. Vice Chairman, Merill Lynch & Co., Inc.
CHE Forstmoser, Peter Professor for Civil, Corporation and Capital Markets Law, University of Zürich
IRL Gallagher, Paul Attorney General
USA Geithner, Timothy F. President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
USA Gigot, Paul Editorial Page Editor, The Wall Street Journal
IRL Gleeson, Dermot Chairman, AIB Group
NLD Goddijn, Harold CEO, TomTom
TUR Gögüs, Zeynep Journalist; Founder, EurActiv.com.tr
USA Graham, Donald E.Chairman and CEO, The Washington Post Company
NLD Halberstadt, Victor Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings
USA Holbrooke, Richard C. Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC
FIN Honkapohja, Seppo Member of the Board, Bank of Finland
INT Hoop Scheffer, Jaap G. de Secretary General, NATO
USA Hubbard, Allan B. Chairman, E & A Industries, Inc.
BEL Huyghebaert, Jan Chairman of the Board of Directors, KBC Group
DEU Ischinger, Wolfgang Former Ambassador to the UK and US
USA Jacobs, Kenneth Deputy Chairman, Head of Lazard U.S., Lazard Frères & Co. LLC
USA Johnson, James A. Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC (Obama’s man tasked with selecting his running mate)
SWE Johnstone, Tom President and CEO, AB SKF
USA Jordan, Jr., Vernon E. Senior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC
FRA Jouyet, Jean-Pierre Minister of European Affairs
GBR Kerr, John Member, House of Lords; Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc.
USA Kissinger, Henry A. Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.
DEU Klaeden, Eckart von Foreign Policy Spokesman, CDU/CSU
USA Kleinfeld, Klaus President and COO, Alcoa
TUR Koç, Mustafa Chairman, Koç Holding A.S.
FRA Kodmani, Bassma Director, Arab Reform Initiative
USA Kravis, Henry R. Founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
USA Kravis, Marie-Josée Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Inc.
INT Kroes, Neelie Commissioner, European Commission
POL Kwasniewski, Aleksander Former President
AUT Leitner, Wolfgang CEO, Andritz AG
ESP León Gross, Bernardino Secretary General, Office of the Prime Minister
INT Mandelson, Peter Commissioner, European Commission
FRA Margerie, Christophe de CEO, Total
CAN Martin, Roger Dean, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
HUN Martonyi, János Professor of International Trade Law; Partner, Baker & McKenzie; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
USA Mathews, Jessica T. President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
INT McCreevy, Charlie Commissioner, European Commission
USA McDonough, William J. Vice Chairman and Special Advisor to the Chairman, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
CAN McKenna, Frank Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group
GBR McKillop, Tom Chairman, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
FRA Montbrial, Thierry de President, French Institute for International Relations
ITA Monti, Mario President, Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi
USA Mundie, Craig J. Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation
NOR Myklebust, Egil Former Chairman of the Board of Directors SAS, Norsk Hydro ASA
DEU Nass, Matthias Deputy Editor, Die Zeit
NLD Netherlands, H.M. the Queen of the
FRA Ockrent, Christine CEO, French television and radio world service
FIN Ollila, Jorma Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc
SWE Olofsson, Maud Minister of Enterprise and Energy; Deputy Prime Minister
NLD Orange, H.R.H. the Prince of
GBR Osborne, George Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
TUR Öztrak, Faik Member of Parliament
ITA Padoa-Schioppa, Tommaso Former Minister of Finance; President of Notre Europe
GRC Papahelas, Alexis Journar., Henry M.Secretary of the Treasury
USA Pearl, Frank H. Chairman and CEO, Perseus, LLC
USA Perle, Richard N.Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
FRA Pérol, François Deputy General Secretary in charge of Economic Affairs
DEU Perthes, Volker Director, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik
BEL Philippe, H.R.H. Prince
CAN Prichard, J. Robert S. President and CEO, Torstar Corporation
CAN Reisman, Heather M.Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc.
USA Rice, Condoleezza Secretary of State
PRT Rio, Rui Mayor of Porto
USA Rockefeller, David Former Chairman, Chase Manhattan Bank
ESP Rodriguez Inciarte, Matias Executive Vice Chairman, Grupo Santander
USA Rose, Charlie Producer, Rose Communications
DNK Rose, Flemming Editor, Jyllands Posten
USA Ross, Dennis B. Counselor and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
USA Rubin, Barnett R.Director of Studies and Senior Fellow, Center for International Cooperation, New York University
TUR Sahenk, Ferit Chairman, Dogus Holding A.S.
USA Sanford, Mark Governor of South Carolina
USA Schmidt, Eric Chairman of the Executive Committee and CEO, Google
AUT Scholten, Rudolf Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG
DNK Schur, Fritz H. Fritz Schur Gruppen
CZE Schwarzenberg, Karel Minister of Fsan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
ESP Spain, H.M. the Queen of
CHE Spillmann, Markus Editor-in-Chief and Head Managing Board, Neue Zürcher Zeitung AG
USA Summers, Lawrence H.Charles W. Eliot Professor, Harvard University
GBR Taylor, J. Martin Chairman, Syngenta International AG
USA Thiel, Peter A. President, Clarium Capital Management, LLC
NLD Timmermans, Frans Minister of European Affairs
RUS Trenin, Dmitri V. Deputy Director and Senior Associate, Carnegie Moscow Center
INT Trichet, Jean-Claude President, European Central Bank
USA Vakil, Sanam Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
FRA Valls, Manuel Member of Parliament
GRC Varvitsiotis, Thomas Co-Founder and President, V + O Communication
CHE Vasella, Daniel L.Chairman and CEO, Novartis AG
FIN Väyrynen, Raimo Director, The Finnish Institute of International Affairs
FRA Védrine, Hubert Hubert Védrine Conseil
NOR Vollebaek, Knut High Commissioner on National Minorities, OSCE
SWE Wallenberg, Jacob Chairman, Investor AB
USA Weber, J. Vin CEO, Clark & Weinstock
USA Wolfensohn, James D. Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company, LLC
USA Wolfowitz, Paul Visiting Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
INT Zoellick, Robert B. President, The World Bank Group

Rapporteurs
GBR Bredow, Vendeline von Business Correspondent, The Economist
GBR Wooldridge, Adrian D. Foreign Correspondent, The Economist

AUT Austria HUN Hungary
BEL Belgium INT International
CHE Switzerland IRL Ireland
CAN Canada ITA Italy
CZE Czech Republic NOR Norway
DEU Germany NLD Netherlands
DNK Denmark PRT Portugal
ESP Spain POL Poland
FRA France RUS Russia
FIN Finland SWE Sweden
GBR Great Britain TUR Turkey
GRC Greece USA United States of America
WE CAN ADD HILARY CLINTON AND BARACK OBAMA ALSO THEY WERE THERE FOR AT LEAST 1 MEETING EACH.

AND SINCE ITS THE CLUB OF ROME THAT PUTS THE WORLD INTO 10 REGIONAL BLOCS HERES THE MEMBERSHIP TO WATCH FOR THEIR SPEECHES SO WE KNOW HOW IT WILL BE COMING ABOUT.

MEMBERSHIP OF CLUB OF ROME MEMBERS.THESE ARE THE BOYS TO WATCH FOR IN SPEECHES AS THERE ARE MEMBERS FROM THE GENEVA TREATY,PEACE ORGANIZATIONS AND AN ISRAELI IN THIS BUNCH.

Mr. Sadikou Ayo Alao, Benin President, Gerrdes Bank
Prof. Assia Bensalah Alaoui, Morocco Public Law University Mohammed V, Rabat-Agdal
Ms. Eda Coutinho Barbosa Machado de Souza, Brazil Director General of the Institute of Superior Education of Brazil
Ms. Estela de Magelhaes Barbot, Portugal Vice-President of AGA
Ambassador Benjamin Bassin, Finland Former Ambassador of Finland to China
The Hon. Shlomo Ben-Ami, Israel Vice-President, Toledo International Centre for Peace
Ms. Janine Benyus, USA Author and Biologist at the Design Table Biomimicry Guild
Mr. Jérôme Bindé, France Director, UNESCO Division of Foresight, Philosophy and Human Sciences
Mr. Juan Luis Cebrian, Spain Council Delegate of the Group PRISA
Dr. Derrick de Kerckhove, Canada Director, McLuham Program in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto
Ambassador Mauricio de Maria y Campos, Mexico Former Mexican Ambassador to South Africa
Dr. Ricardo Diez-Hochleitner, Spain Board Member of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and Honorary President of the Club of Rome
Mr. Isidro Faine Casas, Spain Chairman, Caja de Ahorros y Pensiones de Barcelona (La Caixa)
The Hon. José María Figueres Olsen, Costa Rica CEO, Grupo Felipe IV and former President of Costa Rica
Prof. Arnoldo José Gabaldon, Venezuela Honorary Professor of the Simón Bolívar University
Prof. Alberto Gasparini, Italy Professor of Urban and Rural Sociology, University of Trieste
Mr. Gerardo Gil-Valdivia, Mexico President, Mexican National Association of the Club of Rome
Prof. Paulo Alcantara Gomes, Brazil Rector, University Castelo Branco
Prof. Heitor Gurgulino de Souza, Brazil Secretary-General of the International Association of University Presidents and Vice-President of the Club of Rome
Prof. Orhan Güvenen, Turkey Chair of Accounting Information Systems, Bilkent University and Member of the Club of Rome Executive Committee
Prof. Talat S. Halman, Turkey Chairman of the Department of Turkish Literature, Bilkent University
Dr. Bohdan Hawrylyshyn, Ukraine Chairman International Centre of Political Studies, International Management Institute, Geneva
Mr. Rafael Hernandez Colon, Puerto Rico Former Governor of Puerto Rico
Mr. Diego Hidalgo Schnur, Spain Founder and President of FRIDE
Prof. Kuniko Inoguchi, Japan Member of the National DIET, Tokyo
The Hon. Mugur Constantin Isarescu, Romania Governor, National Bank of Romania
Mr. Peter Johnston, UK Head of Unit, New Methods of Work, Directorate-General Information Society, European Commission
Prof. Esko Kalimo, Finland Chair of the European Support Centre, Club of Rome
Mr. Tapio O. Kanninen, Finland Policy Planning Unit, Department of Political Affairs, United Nations
Dr. Sergey P. Kapitza, Russia Institute for Physical Problems, Academy of Sciences
Dr. Laszlo Kapolyi, Hungary Founder of System Consulting Rt. and former Hungarian Secretary of State for Energy
Dr. Ashok Khosla, India President of Development Alternatives and Co-President, The Club of Rome
Dr. David C. Korten, U.S.A. Co-Founder and Board Chair of People-Centred Development Forum
Mr. Martin Lees, United Kingdom Secretary-General of the Club of Rome
Mr. Patrick Liedtke, Germany Secretary-General and Managing Director of The Geneva Association and Executive Committee Member of the Club of Rome
Mrs. Wendy Luhabe, South Africa Chairman, Alliance Capital
Prof. Mona Makram-Ebeid, Egypt Head of the Association for the Advancement of Education and Executive Committee Member of the Club of Rome
Mr. Wolfgang Meyer, Germany Honorary President, UITP - International Association of Public Transport
Mrs. Liz Mohn, Germany Vice Chairwoman of the Executive Board, Bertelsmann Stiftung
Mr. Uwe Möller, Germany Former Secretary-General and Executive Committee Member of the Club of Rome
Mr. Jesus Moneo, Spain Member of the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Madrid
Mr. Kikujiro Namba, Japan President, Promotech Inc.
Dr. Konrad Osterwalder, Switzerland Rector of UNU
Mr. Gunter Pauli, Belgium President, ZERI Organisation
Dr. Roberto Peccei, USA Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of California Los Angeles and Executive Committee Member of the Club of Rome
Dr. José Aristodemo Pinotti, Brazil Head of Department, Sao Paulo University Medical School
Dr. Franz Josef Radermacher, Germany Founder of the Global Marshall Plan
Ms. Maria Ramirez Ribes, Venezuela Author and President of the Venezuelan Chapter of the Club of Rome
Dr. Harold Robles, The Netherlands Founder of the Medical Knowledge Institute
Dr. Wolfgang Sachs, Germany Head of the Globalization and Sustainability Project, Wuppertal Institute
Rector Victor A. Sadovnichy, Russia Rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University
The Hon. Noemí Sanín Posada, United Kingdom Ambassador of Columbia to the United Kingdom
Dr. Siegfried Sellitsch, Austria President of the Vienna Technical University
Mr. Tasneem Ahmad Siddiqui, Pakistan Chairman of SAIBAN
Dr. Ivo Slaus, Croatia Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Rudjer Boskovic Institute, President of the Croatian National Association of the Club of Rome
Dr. Mihaela Y. Smith, United Kingdom CEO, Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management (CPTM)
Mr. Klaus Steilmann, Germany Founder of the Klaus Steilmann GmbH & Co KG
Dr. Keith D. Suter, Australia President of the United Nations Association of Australia
Prof. Ramon Tamames Gomez, Spain Professor of Economic Structures, Autonomous University of Madrid
Prof. Anitra Thorhaug, U.S.A US National Association for the Club of Rome; Research Faculty,Yale University; Chair International Outreach and Physiological Section American Botanical Society; Project Director The Future of the Western Hemisphere UsaCoR; author, researcher on pollution in the coastlines and oceans of the world.
Mr. Wouter van Dieren, The Netherlands President, IMSA Institute for Environment and Systems Analysis Amsterdam Ltd.
Dr. Agni Vlavianos-Arvanitis, Greece President and Founder of the Biopolitics International Organisation
Dr. Klaus von Dohnanyi, Germany German Politician and Member of the German Social Democrat Party
Dr. Eberhard von Koerber, Germany Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eberhard von Koerber AG and Co-President of the Club of Rome
Prof. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Germany Dean of Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California
Prof. Raoul Weiler, Belgium Prof. Emeritus, Faculty of Agricultural and Applied Biological Sciences, University of Leuven and Chairman of the Belgian Chapter and Executive Committee member of the Club of Rome
Dr. Anders Wijkman, Sweden Member of the European Parliament and Vice-President of the Club of Rome
Dr. Markku Wilenius, Germany Senior Vice-President, Group Development, Allianz Group and Executive Committee Member of the Club of Rome

Microchips Everywhere: a Future Vision
By TODD LEWAN AP National Writer JAN 29,2008

Here's a vision of the not-so-distant future:Microchips with antennas will be embedded in virtually everything you buy, wear, drive and read, allowing retailers and law enforcement to track consumer items and, by extension, consumers wherever they go, from a distance.

A seamless, global network of electronic sniffers will scan radio tags in myriad public settings, identifying people and their tastes instantly so that customized ads, live spam,may be beamed at them.In Smart Homes, sensors built into walls, floors and appliances will inventory possessions, record eating habits, monitor medicine cabinets _ all the while, silently reporting data to marketers eager for a peek into the occupants' private lives.

Science fiction?

In truth, much of the radio frequency identification technology that enables objects and people to be tagged and tracked wirelessly already exists and new and potentially intrusive uses of it are being patented, perfected and deployed.Some of the world's largest corporations are vested in the success of RFID technology, which couples highly miniaturized computers with radio antennas to broadcast information about sales and buyers to company databases.Already, microchips are turning up in some computer printers, car keys and tires, on shampoo bottles and department store clothing tags. They're also in library books and contactless payment cards (such as American Express' Blue and ExxonMobil's Speedpass.)Companies say the RFID tags improve supply-chain efficiency, cut theft, and guarantee that brand-name products are authentic, not counterfeit. At a store, RFID doorways could scan your purchases automatically as you leave, eliminating tedious checkouts.At home, convenience is a selling point: RFID-enabled refrigerators could warn about expired milk, generate weekly shopping lists, even send signals to your interactive TV, so that you see personalized commercials for foods you have a history of buying. Sniffers in your microwave might read a chip-equipped TV dinner and cook it without instruction.We've seen so many different uses of the technology, says Dan Mullen, president of AIM Global, a national association of data collection businesses, including RFID, and we're probably still just scratching the surface in terms of places RFID can be used.

The problem, critics say, is that microchipped products might very well do a whole lot more.With tags in so many objects, relaying information to databases that can be linked to credit and bank cards, almost no aspect of life may soon be safe from the prying eyes of corporations and governments, says Mark Rasch, former head of the computer-crime unit of the U.S. Justice Department.By placing sniffers in strategic areas, companies can invisibly rifle through people's pockets, purses, suitcases, briefcases, luggage and possibly their kitchens and bedrooms anytime of the day or night,says Rasch, now managing director of technology at FTI Consulting Inc., a Baltimore-based company.In an RFID world, You've got the possibility of unauthorized people learning stuff about who you are, what you've bought, how and where you've bought it ... It's like saying, Well, who wants to look through my medicine cabinet?

He imagines a time when anyone from police to identity thieves to stalkers might scan locked car trunks, garages or home offices from a distance. Think of it as a high-tech form of Dumpster diving,says Rasch, who's also concerned about data gathered by spy appliances in the home.It's going to be used in unintended ways by third parties not just the government, but private investigators, marketers, lawyers building a case against you ...Presently, the radio tag most commercialized in America is the so-called passive emitter, meaning it has no internal power supply. Only when a reader powers these tags with a squirt of electrons do they broadcast their signal, indiscriminately, within a range of a few inches to 20 feet.Not as common, but increasing in use, are active tags, which have internal batteries and can transmit signals, continuously, as far as low-orbiting satellites. Active tags pay tolls as motorists to zip through tollgates; they also track wildlife, such as sea lions.

Retailers and manufacturers want to use passive tags to replace the bar code, for tracking inventory. These radio tags transmit Electronic Product Codes, number strings that allow trillons of objects to be uniquely identified. Some transmit specifics about the item, such as price, though not the name of the buyer.
However,once a tagged item is associated with a particular individual, personally identifiable information can be obtained and then aggregated to develop a profile, the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded in a 2005 report on RFID.Federal agencies and law enforcement already buy information about individuals from commercial data brokers, companies that compile computer dossiers on millions of individuals from public records, credit applications and many other sources, then offer summaries for sale. These brokers, unlike credit bureaus, aren't subject to provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970, which gives consumers the right to correct errors and block access to their personal records.That, and the ever-increasing volume of data collected on consumers, is worrisome, says Mike Hrabik, chief technology officer at Solutionary, a computer-security firm in Bethesda, Md. Are companies using that information incorrectly, and are they giving it out inappropriately? I'm sure that's happening. Should we be concerned? Yes.Even some industry proponents recognize risks. Elliott Maxwell, a research fellow at Pennsylvania State University who serves as a policy adviser to EPCglobal, the industry's standard-setting group, says data broadcast by microchips can easily be intercepted, and misused, by high-tech thieves.As RFID goes mainstream and the range of readers increases, it will be "difficult to know who is gathering what data, who has access to it, what is being done with it, and who should be held responsible for it,Maxwell wrote in RFID Journal, an industry publication.The recent growth of the RFID industry has been staggering: From 1955 to 2005, cumulative sales of radio tags totaled 2.4 billion; last year alone, 2.24 billion tags were sold worldwide, and analysts project that by 2017 cumulative sales will top 1 trillion generating more than $25 billion in annual revenues for the industry.

Heady forecasts like these energize chip proponents, who insist that RFID will result in enormous savings for businesses. Each year, retailers lose $57 billion from administrative failures, supplier fraud and employee theft, according to a recent survey of 820 retailers by Checkpoint Systems, an RFID manufacturer that specializes in store security devices.Privacy concerns, some RFID supporters say, are overblown. One, Mark Roberti, editor of RFID Journal, says the notion that businesses would conspire to create high-resolution portraits of people is simply silly.Corporations know Americans are sensitive about their privacy, he says, and are careful not to alienate consumers by violating it. Besides, All companies keep their customer data close to the vest ... There's absolutely no value in sharing it. Zero.Industry officials, too, insist that addressing privacy concerns is paramount. As American Express spokeswoman Judy Tenzer says, Security and privacy are a top priority for American Express in everything we do.But industry documents suggest a different line of thinking, privacy experts say.A 2005 patent application by American Express itself describes how RFID-embedded objects carried by shoppers could emit identification signals when queried by electronic consumer trackers. The system could identify people, record their movements, and send them video ads that might offer incentives or even the emission of a scent.RFID readers could be placed in public venues, including a common area of a school, shopping center, bus station or other place of public accommodation, according to the application, which is still pending and which is not alone.In 2006, IBM received patent approval for an invention it called, Identification and tracking of persons using RFID-tagged items. One stated purpose: To collect information about people that could be used to monitor the movement of the person through the store or other areas.Once somebody enters a store, a sniffer scans all identifiable RFID tags carried on the person, and correlates the tag information with sales records to determine the individual's exact identity. A device known as a person tracking unit then assigns a tracking number to the shopper to monitor the movement of the person through the store or other areas.But as the patent makes clear, IBM's invention could work in other public places, such as shopping malls, airports, train stations, bus stations, elevators, trains, airplanes, restrooms, sports arenas, libraries, theaters, museums, etc.(RFID could even help follow a particular crime suspect through public areas.)Another patent, obtained in 2003 by NCR Corp., details how camouflaged sensors and cameras would record customers' wanderings through a store, film their facial expressions at displays, and time to the second how long shoppers hold and study items.Why? Such monitoring allows one to draw valuable inferences about the behavior of large numbers of shoppers,the patent states.

Then there's a 2001 patent application by Procter & Gamble, Systems and methods for tracking consumers in a store environment.This one lays out an idea to use heat sensors to track and record where a consumer is looking, i.e., which way she is facing, whether she is bending over or crouching down to look at a lower shelf.The system could space sensors 8 feet apart, in ceilings, floors, shelving and displays, so they could capture signals transmitted every 1.5 seconds by microchipped shopping carts.The documents raise the hair on the back of your neck, says Liz McIntyre, co-author of Spychips, a book that is critical of the industry. The industry has long promised it would never use this technology to track people. But these patent records clearly suggest otherwise.Corporations take issue with that, saying that patent filings shouldn't be used to predict a company's actions.We file thousands of patents every year, which are designed to protect concepts or ideas, Paul Fox, a spokesman for Procter & Gamble, says. The reality is that many of those ideas and concepts never see the light of day.And what of his company's 2001 patent application? I'm not aware of any plans to use that, Fox says.Sandy Hughes, P&G's global privacy executive, adds that Procter & Gamble has no intention of using any technologies RFID or otherwise to track individuals. The idea of the 2001 filing, she says, is to monitor how groups of people react to store displays, not individual consumers.NCR and American Express echoed those statements. IBM declined to comment for this story.

Not every element in a patent filing is necessarily something we would pursue...., says Tenzer, the American Express spokeswoman. Under no circumstances would we use this technology without a customer's permission.McIntyre has her doubts.In the marketing world of today, she says, data on individual consumers is gold, and the only thing preventing these companies from abusing technologies like RFID to get at that gold is public scrutiny.RFID dates to World War II, when Britain put transponders in Allied aircraft to help radar crews distinguish them from German fighters. In the 1970s, the U.S. government tagged trucks entering and leaving secure facilities such as the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and a decade later, they were used to track livestock and railroad cars.In 2003, the U.S. Department of Defense and Wal-Mart gave RFID a mammoth push, mandating that suppliers radio tag all crates and cartons. To that point, the cost of tags had simply been too high to make tagging pallets let alone individual items viable. In 1999, passive tags cost nearly $2 apiece.Since then, rising demand and production of microchips along with technological advances have driven tag prices down to a range of 7 to 15 cents. At that price, the technology is well-suited at a case and pallet level,says Mullen, of the industry group AIM Global.John Simley, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, says tracking products in real-time helps ensure product freshness and lowers the chances that items will be out of stock. By reducing loss and waste in the supply chain, RFID allows us to keep our prices that much lower.Katherine Albrecht, founder of CASPIAN, an anti-RFID group, says, Nobody cares about radio tags on crates and pallets. But if we don't keep RFID off of individual consumer items, our stores will one day turn into retail zoos where the customer is always on exhibit.So, how long will it be before you find an RFID tag in your underwear? The industry isn't saying, but some analysts speculate that within a decade tag costs may dip below a penny, the threshold at which nearly everything could be chipped.To businesses slammed by counterfeiters pharmaceuticals, for one that's not a bad thing. Sales of fake drugs cost drug makers an estimated $46 billion a year. In 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that RFID be incorporated throughout the supply chain as a way of making sure consumers get authentic drugs.

In the United States, Pfizer has already begun chipping all 30- and 100-count bottles of Viagra, one of the most counterfeited drugs.Chips could be embedded in other controlled or potentially dangerous items such as firearms and explosives, to make them easier to track. This was mentioned in IBM's patent documents.Still, the idea that tiny radio chips might be in their socks and shoes doesn't sit well with Americans. At least, that's what Fleishman-Hillard Inc., a public-relations firm in St. Louis, found in 2001 when it surveyed 317 consumers for the industry.Seventy-eight percent of those queried reacted negatively to RFID when privacy was raised. More than half claimed to be extremely or very concerned, the report said, noting that the term Big Brother was used in 15 separate cases to describe the technology.It also found that people bridled at the idea of having Smart Tags in their homes. One surveyed person remarked: Where money is to be made the privacy of the individual will be compromised.In 2002, Fleishman-Hillard produced another report for the industry that counseled RFID makers to convey (the) inevitability of technology, and to develop a plan to neutralize the opposition, by adopting friendlier names for radio tags such as Bar Code II and Green Tag.And in a 2003 report, Helen Duce, the industry's trade group director in Europe, wrote that the lack of clear benefits to consumers could present a problem in the real world,particularly if privacy issues were stirred by negative press coverage.(Though the reports were marked Confidential, they were later found archived on an industry trade group's Web site.)The Duce report's recommendations: Tell consumers that RFID is regulated, that RFID is just a new and improved bar code, and that retailers will announce when an item is radio tagged, and deactivate the tags at check-out upon a customer's request.Actually, in the United States, RFID is not federally regulated. And while bar codes identify product categories, radio tags carry unique serial numbers that when purchased with a credit card, frequent shopper card or contactless card can be linked to specific shoppers.And, unlike bar codes, RFID tags can be read through almost anything except metal and water, without the holder's knowledge.EPCglobal, the industry's standard-setting body, has issued public policy guidelines that call for retailers to put a thumbnail-sized logo EPC, for Electronic Product Code on all radio tagged packaging. The group also suggests that merchants notify shoppers that RFID tags can be removed, discarded or disabled.Critics say the guidelines are voluntary, vague and don't penalize violators. They want federal and state oversight something the industry has vigorously opposed particularly after two RFID manufacturers, Checkpoint Systems and Sensormatic, announced last year that they are marketing tags designed to be embedded in such items as shoes.Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, says, I don't think there's any basis ... for consumers to have to think that their clothing is tracking them.On the Web:http://www.epcglobalinc.org
http://www.spychips.com http://epic.org/ http://www.idtechex.com/ 2008 The Seattle Times Company.

TORAH PORTION FROM MAR 22 - 28 2009

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 MAR 22 2009 6PM - MAR 28 6PM 2009

EXODUS 38:21 - 40:38
21 This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.
22 And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.
23 And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.
24 All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
25 And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
26 A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.
27 And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
28 And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.
29 And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.
30 And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,
31 And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

EXODUS 39:1-43
1 And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses.
2 And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
3 And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.
4 They made shoulderpieces for it, to couple it together: by the two edges was it coupled together.
5 And the curious girdle of his ephod, that was upon it, was of the same, according to the work thereof; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as the LORD commanded Moses.
6 And they wrought onyx stones inclosed in ouches of gold, graven, as signets are graven, with the names of the children of Israel.
7 And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses.
8 And he made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work of the ephod; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
9 It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled.
10 And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this was the first row.
11 And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
12 And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
13 And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings.
14 And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the twelve tribes.
15 And they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends, of wreathen work of pure gold.
16 And they made two ouches of gold, and two gold rings; and put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate.
17 And they put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate.
18 And the two ends of the two wreathen chains they fastened in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod, before it.
19 And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, upon the border of it, which was on the side of the ephod inward.
20 And they made two other golden rings, and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart of it, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.
21 And they did bind the breastplate by his rings unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as the LORD commanded Moses.
22 And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.
23 And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend.
24 And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.
25 And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates;
26 A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the LORD commanded Moses.
27 And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons,
28 And a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen,
29 And a girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, of needlework; as the LORD commanded Moses.
30 And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
31 And they tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it on high upon the mitre; as the LORD commanded Moses.
32 Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished: and the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.
33 And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets,
34 And the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers' skins, and the vail of the covering,
35 The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat,
36 The table, and all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread,
37 The pure candlestick, with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light,
38 And the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door,
39 The brasen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
40 The hangings of the court, his pillars, and his sockets, and the hanging for the court gate, his cords, and his pins, and all the vessels of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of the congregation,
41 The cloths of service to do service in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons' garments, to minister in the priest's office.
42 According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work.
43 And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.

EXODUS 40:1-38
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
3 And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail.
4 And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof.
5 And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle.
6 And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
7 And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein.
8 And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate.
9 And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy.
10 And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy.
11 And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it.
12 And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water.
13 And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.
14 And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats:
15 And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.
16 Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he.
17 And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.
18 And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars.
19 And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the LORD commanded Moses.
20 And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:
21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses.
22 And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the vail.
23 And he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.
24 And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward.
25 And he lighted the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
26 And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail:
27 And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the LORD commanded Moses.
28 And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle.
29 And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering; as the LORD commanded Moses.
30 And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal.
31 And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat:
32 When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses.
33 And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.
34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36 And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys:
37 But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.
38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

PROPHETS PORTION

1 KINGS 7:40-8:21
40 And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the LORD:
41 The two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars;
42 And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the pillars;
43 And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;
44 And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;
45 And the pots, and the shovels, and the basons: and all these vessels, which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the LORD, were of bright brass.
46 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.
47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out.
48 And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was,
49 And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold,
50 And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.
51 So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.

1 KINGS 8:1-21
1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.
2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
4 And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.
5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.
7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
8 And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.
9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.
12 Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
13 I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.
14 And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)
15 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,
16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
18 And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.
19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.
20 And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

NEW TESTAMENT PORTION

REVELATION 15:5-8
5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.