ISRAEL ORDERS STEALTH CORVETTES URGENTLY

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

TALES OF A MONEY LAUNDERER-US GOVERNMENT CORRUPT WORLDWIDE
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/1532

Blair EU candidacy on menu of Merkel-Sarkozy dinner
VALENTINA POP 28.10.2009 @ 09:16 CET

A working dinner in Paris between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday (28 October) night is likely to include the issue of the next EU president, with the British government still pressing for Tony Blair.Just hours after her formal re-appointment as chancellor by the German parliament, Ms Merkel is due to dine in the Elysee palace in Paris, with speculations running wild on whom she will back as the EU's future president once the Lisbon Treaty comes into force.So far, she has kept silent over British ex-prime minister Tony Blair's EU bid. Ms Merkel will not reveal her cards until the very last moment. She always does it like that,an EU diplomat told this website.Unlike her, Mr Sarkozy initially signalled support for Mr Blair, only to discover some problems later, over Britain's non-membership in the eurozone. On Monday, French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner again expressed support for Mr Blair, saying as your humble servant, I am backing Tony Blair.But the French fluctuations are likely to end once Mr Sarkozy will know what Ms Merkel wants. Some smaller member states – notably the Benelux countries and Austria – are wary of a Franco-German-British deal on the head of the EU and are backing the Luxembourg Prime Minister and the chairman of the eurozone group, Jean-Claude Juncker, instead.From across the Channel, Gordon Brown still hopes he can convince the French and German leaders to agree to Mr Blair. His foreign secretary David Miliband actively campaigned for Mr Blair during the foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg on Monday. According to official sources quoted by The Telegraph, London believes Ms Merkel will back the former UK leader if she gets to choose EU's next top diplomat, who will get extra powers once the Lisbon Treaty comes into force.We believe the French and Germans are holding out for the best possible deal they can get out of this situation. But we think Ms Merkel will agree if she gets [to choose who takes] the foreign job and Sarkozy will also be after a significant position,the unnamed British official said.France is said to be eyeing the internal market portfolio for its former commissioner, Michel Barnier.Officially, the issue of the EU president and the top foreign policy job will not be on the agenda of the European Council starting Thursday afternoon, as the Czech president will only be able to sign the Lisbon Treaty after a verdict of the Constitutional Court on 3 November. But some back-door diplomacy and horse-trading are still likely to take place.

Cuban dissidents raise alarm over Spanish EU presidency
ANDREW RETTMAN 28.10.2009 @ 09:30 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Cuban prisoners of conscience have written an open letter to Spain in protest at its dealings with Cuban authorities in the run-up to the Spanish EU presidency.The letter, signed by 37 dissidents, 33 of whom remain behind bars, criticised Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos for failing to meet with human rights campaigners while visiting Havana last week.The refusal to meet with the opposition, listen to its opinions and become aware of the suffering of political prisoners and their families is a sign of contempt which the minister already showed during his previous visit in 2007,the letter said.Noting that Spain is to assume the EU's rotating presidency in January 2010, it appealed that [this] attitude of contempt, with which the Spanish government treats Cuban democrats, should not encompass the entire European Union.The letter said that around 200 political prisoners are still in jail in the Caribbean dictatorship and that there is no will for reform, despite Havana's decision to release one dissident shortly after the Moratinos trip.Limited acts of clemency which coincide with visits by friendly governments have in the past been lambasted by NGOs such as People In Need, which see them as public relations stunts designed to help Cuban allies save face.

Mr Moratinos at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday (27 October) told press that Spain will conduct a review of EU relations with Cuba under its EU presidency, but that any modifications to the status quo will be based on an EU consensus,not on a Spanish initiative.The existing EU position on Cuba is to encourage a process of transition to pluralist democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as a sustainable recovery and improvement in the living standards of the Cuban people - a text that irks the Cuban government, which sees it as interference in its domestic affairs.The current centre-left Spanish government has in recent years worked to unravel a set of EU sanctions on Cuba imposed after a 2003 crackdown on dissidents known as the Black Spring.Spain, a former colonial power in the region, has commercial interests in Cuba in the oil and tourism sectors, with Mr Moratinos last week helping secure the release of around €200 million owed by Cuba to Spanish firms.Madrid's stance towards Havana also has an ideological aspect, with some left-leaning politicians and commentators in Europe seeing Cuba in romantic terms as a Communist country which stood up to the capitalist might of the US.Mr Moratinos' personal track record on human rights issues is causing concern among human rights workers as Spain heads towards its EU chairmanship.The Spanish minister has in the past spoken in praise of hawkish Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman and was a strong advocate of dropping EU sanctions against Uzbekistan in his time as head of the OSCE, a Vienna-based pro-democracy body.

EU leaders head for difficult summit on climate and institutions-Glacier: the poker game over the EU's top jobs risks overshadowing negotiations on climate change (Photo: Marina and Enrique)VALENTINA POP Today OCT 29,09 @ 09:55 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday (29 October) for a two-day summit to try and shape a common position on climate issues amid the twin distractions of negotiating a treaty-saving deal with Czech President Vaclav Klaus and making informal shortlists for the EU's future top jobs.We hope to see a mandate for climate negotiations, we are very close to the Copenhagen Conference, this is the time to form our mandate,Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt said in a webcast ahead of the summit he will be chairing on Thursday. In draft conclusions prepared by Sweden, EU leaders say the overall level of the international public support required could lie in the range of €22 billion to €50 billion a year by 2020 and that the EU is ready to take on its resulting fair share of total international public finance.Precise figures are unlikely to be tabled, despite Mr Reinfeldt's warning of a risk for a clear deadlock at the UN conference in the Danish capital in December. Germany and Italy are wary of advancing figures for fear the EU's negotiating room in Copenhagen may be diminished, while Poland wants to make voluntary contributions and base its share of the longer-term burden on a complicated formula involving carbon emissions levels.

Despite all the Swedish focus on climate talks, the Lisbon Treaty is set to steal the headlines of this meeting. Over dinner, leaders will discuss the precise wording of a deal offered to Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who has requested an opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights in order to sign the treaty.Mr Klaus, whose unpredictability has been a source of frayed nerves in Brussels, has now promised that he will sign the treaty if his conditions are met - a move that can only take place after 3 November when the Czech constitutional court is expected to rule on the compatibility of the treaty with national law.Slovakia, which initially called for a similar opt-out due to the countries' common past, has since changed its mind. We will not sacrifice social rights for people in Slovakia,Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday.Without the Lisbon Treaty in place, all talks about nominations to the newly created top positions – such as the president of the European Council or EU foreign minister - are off the formal agenda. But this is unlikely to stop the posts and possible candidates being discussed in the corridors.

Several names have emerged in recent days. British ex-prime minister Tony Blair has frequently been mentioned as a candidate for president of the European Council. But he is strongly opposed in some quarters, not least by Luxembourg leader Jean-Claude Juncker who on Tuesday became the first to formally put his name out for the job.
Dutch leader Jan-Peter Balkenende's name has also been circulated, while two latecomers to the names race, former Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga and current Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who joined the maybe ranks on Wednesday.EU leaders, however, will also be focusing on a series of other issues including the economy where they are expected to endorse a recent statement from the Group of 20 nations calling for more international economic coordination and to make a political commitment to active labour market policies as unemployment rates continue to rise.Meanwhile, the Baltic Sea strategy, the EU's first coordinated approach to a so-called macro-region, is expected to formally endorsement and could become a model for other similar entities – for instance the Danube region or the Alps.Migration will also be on the agenda on Thursday afternoon, as well as enhancing the powers of Frontex, the EU's border agency, while EU foreign ministers will discuss the European Union's role in the world over dinner.

Post-war events intrude upon EU summit HONOR MAHONY Today OCT 29,09 @ 17:24 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Europe's bloody past hung over EU leaders as they gathered in Brussels to finally try and bring a conclusion to the Lisbon Treaty soap opera, with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary locked in a tussle over how to word an eleventh-hour exemption from a rights charter contained in the document.Czech President Vaclav Klaus started the divisive process of looking back into the Europe's near history earlier this month when, in a surprise move, he made obtaining an opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights a condition for signing the Lisbon Treaty - his signature is needed for the new institutional rules to go into place across the entire EU.Mr Klaus said he feared the charter would expose the country to property claims by ethnic Germans and Hungarians expelled after World War II from the then Czechoslovakia, under the so-called Benes Decrees. The reference to the still-emotive issue prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity on the part of the Swedish EU presidency, which is trying to accommodate Prague so that the the Lisbon Treaty can finally be put into place.But just as Prague appeared to say it was happy with the proposal put forward by the Swedes, the Slovaks entered the fray to say that they wanted an opt-out too, fearing a legal imbalance between the two countries. They believed that any reference to the Benes Decrees and an exemption would then imply that the charter does allow recourse to property claims, but leaving them without the shield against legal actions that their Czech neighbour would have one. The two countries separated peacefully from one another in 1993 but Slovakia was also covered by the Benes Decrees at the time.

Following pressure from the opposition and trade unions who very much support the Charter of Fundamental Rights, Slovak prime minister Robert Fico has since backed away from calling for an opt-out but is now looking for a political declaration on the issue.It could be a phrase citing the charter or in the EU treaty. We don't want any exemption, we want only interpretation. So, if it is true that there is no reason to be concerned [over the Benes Decrees] then let's clearly state it in the conclusions. This is our current political position,said Mr Fico.Hungary, however, has upped the stakes, saying that it has strong reservations about the whole issue.We have serious concerns about what is going on today,Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said.We consider the proposed opt-out to be very dangerous and we will argue against it.Hungary believes that granting the Czech Republic an exemption from the charter on these grounds would effectively remove the Benes Decrees from the scope of European law, including eventual recourse to the European Court of Justice.

Mr Bajnai is also been squeezed by the opposition, the right-wing Fidesz party, who are expected to come into power after the country's elections next May. The party, which may by then hold a majority in parliament, has said it will not ratify any future protocol that includes a Czech opt out from the charter.The Swedish EU presidency now has to untangle this legal, political and emotional knot. Ahead of the summit, Fredrik Reinfeldt, who has been smothered in institutional issues since taking over at the helm of the EU in July, said it would be very difficult.The negotiations come even though most analysts agree the charter would not expose the Czech Republic to the property claims Mr Klaus says he fears.

EU and US seal extradition pact
VALENTINA POP Today OCT 29,09 @ 12:14 CET

The EU and the US have signed a judicial co-operation agreement allowing European countries to refuse to extradite criminals who may be sentenced to the death penalty.
We are establishing a joint ambition to continue our co-operation to fight gross international crime. But equally important is that we are agreed on strengthening the protection of the rights of the individual,Swedish justice minister Beatrice Ask, on behalf of the EU presidency, said at a signing ceremony with US attorney general Eric Holder at the Swedish embassy in Washington on Wednesday (28 October). A long-time critic of the death penalty in the US, the EU began negotiating the extradition agreement after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on US soil. This is the first agreement on extradition between the United States and the European Union. It will enter into force in February 2010, after EU justice ministers ratified the deal earlier this month.Under the deal, existing bilateral extradition treaties between the US and each member state will be streamlined and modernised, clarifying for instance the kind of offences that are extraditable, rules surrounding the exchange of information and transmission of documents and transit rules.The agreement also sets the ground for the creation of joint European-US task forces to address terrorism and serious crimes and enables easier access to bank account information of suspected criminals.

It will allow international witnesses to testify by video conference, making it no longer necessary for a European witness, for example, to cross the Atlantic in order to appear in court.While the two politicians applauded the agreement, they acknowledged that many important details remain to be ironed out.The declaration is what we agreed on,Ms Ask said.It's not possible for us to sort out all the judicial details.Neither will the agreement have any impact on the transfer prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. Mr Holder said he hoped more countries would take inmates, but expressed scepticism that the official deadline for closing the prison – 22 January 2010 - could be met.Only a handful of European countries so far have agreed to accept people released from Guantanamo. Spain, which will take over the rotating EU presidency in January, has been asked by the US to persuade the other member states to accept more detainees.Madrid has already committed to accepting two detainees and is currently reviewing additional files of other inmates, Spanish justice minister Francisco Caamano said after an earlier meeting Mr Holder. The Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has said that Spain will only accept Guantanamo detainees who are not facing charges and have no criminal record in any EU country.

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

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

DANIEL 11:40-43
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

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

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

Peace partner orchestrated Temple Mount violence - Wednesday, 28 October 2009 06:30 News from Jerusalem Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Riots on the Temple Mount were orchestrated by the Palestinian Authority, which maintained an operations room from which its officials guided the violence, Jerusalem police sources told WND.The sources said the PA manned the operations room with the Islamic Movement, a Muslim fundamentalist organization involved in Temple Mount activism. The intelligence unit of the Jerusalem police discovered the room Sunday, the same day as the clashes, the police sources said.Information from the room's discovery led to the arrest on the mount of PA President Mahmoud Abbas' top adviser on Jerusalem affairs, Hatam Abd al-Qadir, on suspicion of disorderly conduct, the police sources told WND. Police said al-Qadir, detained during the clashes, attacked officers and urged worshippers to hold protests.Asked to comment on the police accusations, Dimitri Diliani, the spokesman for Abbas' Fatah party in Jerusalem, refused to deny to WND the claimed discovery of the operations room nor his group's involvement in the Temple Mount riots.The Palestinian people in general and the PA specifically are working on defending our religious and national rights, Diliani said.Diliani confirmed the PA's involvement with the Islamic Movement. The group has been accused of financing Palestinian terrorism.

Some in Israel are trying to paint a picture of us as an ally of the Islamic Movement. I don't think it is wrong. We are allies with anyone who wants to defend such rights and shares with us such values despite our differences,he said.Sunday's clashes, in which at least 25 Arabs and three Israeli policemen were wounded, bore all the marks of a pre-planned PA campaign.Official PA television and radio have been calling on Muslims to storm the Al Aqsa Mosque to protect the site from Jewish threat.The Islamic Movement sponsored buses to transport young Arab Israeli men to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount from the fundamentalist-dominated Muslim city of Um Al-Fahem.The violence began when Israeli officers attempted to accompany a group of tourists on to the mount.The Jerusalem police told WND they have film of several Muslim youth on the mount Sunday preparing the unrest by gathering rocks and pouring oil onto the ground to foil security forces.wnd

Lambs tried by wolves Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:01 News from Jerusalem
Disproportionate use of facts! Why does UNHRC so fervently target Israel while ignoring more heinous crimes?

The UNHRC endorsed Goldstone's Gaza report and I, for once, am happy for this just and timely decision. However, it is clearly not enough, as there are still criminals walking among us, some of whom are even occupying key positions in the US and European governments. To fix this unbearable situation, in which criminals are not persecuted simply because of the high positions they occupy, I would like to propose for the Human Rights Council to start from the very head of the pyramid of power, to set an example for all other would-be war criminals. And what example could be more noticeable than the US? Therefore, it is the UNHRC’s obligation to condemn and indict the Clinton administration, as well as the military and civilian leadership of NATO for war crimes committed against the Serbian people during the 1999 Kosovo War (also known as Operation Allied Force) that left more than 500 innocent civilians dead. According to the Human Rights Watch smart weapons (initially) constituted more than 90 percent of the ordnance employed. By mid-May, this had declined to only 10 or 20 percent of the total.This means that as soon as the war started getting too expensive, concern for civilian lives gave way to concern for NATO budget, or maybe it was a deliberate campaign of terror? In any case, this had a horrible toll on human lives and property; as few as 489 and as many as 528 Yugoslav civilians were killed in the ninety separate incidents in Operation Allied Force.I would also like to draw your attention to the completely disproportionate use of force, as is evident from the casualty ratios (2 NATO soldiers killed in non-combat incidents versus almost 700 Serbs, most of whom civilians, killed in the bombings.) In fact, these numbers indicate something closer to a massacre than to an armed conflict. Perhaps a more proper term for the conflict would be The Kosovo Massacre and not the Kosovo War.Among the targets attacked we can find the People's Republic of China embassy in Belgrade, Serbia's main TV station, the Zastava car factory – all illegal targets under the Geneva Convention. Even worse – civilian chemical factories were bombed, which resulted in major pollution incidents and loss of jobs for thousands of uninvolved civilians. Furthermore, cluster bombs were used in the city of Novi Sad resulting in continuing risk of injury for the civilian population of this city to this very day.

Deliberate campaign of terror?
According to the Geneva Convention (Protocol I, Art. 52(2)) legitimate targets include those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action.This is clearly not the case with all of the above-mentioned targets, thus making their destruction, and the loss of innocent lives which it entailed, clear-cut war crimes that deserve indictment and fair trial in an objective international court.It is even possible that many of these attacks resulted from a deliberate campaign of terror rather than simply gross negligence, as almost half of the incidents (forty-three out of ninety) resulted from attacks during daylight hours, when civilians could have been expected to be on the roads and bridges or in public buildings which may have been targeted.Of course, all the officials involved in the above mentioned crimes will have to be arrested and transported to some neutral country where they will receive a fair and unbiased trial. I would like to propose Israel for this task, since its courts have already earned a reputation of fairness and objectivity in trying war criminals such as the Nazis Eichmann (1962) and Demjanjuk (1986).Yeah, Clinton will do time in an Israeli prison for crimes against the Serbian people.

Sounds like nonsense?
But wait, there is more! The US isn’t a member of the council and so doesn’t have a say in the matter, but let’s look at some of the actual members of the council and their actions to promote human rights and international justice:Britain chose not to participate in the voting, perhaps finding it difficult to condemn Israel after the Guardian exposed Britain’s use of phosphorus bombs in Afghanistan and torture in Iraq. It didn’t feel quite guilty enough to show support for a fellow democracy trying to defend itself, however, possibly not wishing to anger its loyal Islamic allies. The same allies it bombs, kills and oppresses on a daily basis.Unlike the indecisive British, Russia bravely voted against Israel. Russia, which did very little to safeguard the rights of civilians,and which according to the same HRW had responded to the Chechen’s uprising with a campaign unparalleled in the area since World War II for its scope and destructiveness.Yes, one of the nations that voted against Israel is responsible for the worst violence Europe has known since WWII.

Why does charade continue?
Israel’s operation in the 1.5 million Gaza strip has left about 1,400 dead, of which presumably 700 were civilians (according to Amnesty International.) Russia’s attack on the 1.1 million Chechnya has left around 100,000 Chechens dead, of which even the most optimistic accounts place the number of militants to be at around 15,000.And I don’t need to tell you about the crimes of Jordan against the Palestinian refugees carving out a meager existence in its territory during the Black September of 1970 or of China’s inhuman occupation and oppression of Tibet and Xinjiang or of the extreme brutality with which the various Palestinian factions deal with one another in Gaza and the West Bank. All these nations have voted against Israel, all these nations are champions of human right violations and yet no one in Europe has yet stood up and cried foul! Why? Why on earth do British, Spanish and Hoggish courts have the audacity to even look at cases directed against foreign subjects having nothing to do with the affairs of the said countries? Why does the UNHRC so fervently levels charge upon charge against Israel while tactfully ignoring far more heinous crimes committed by most of its members? But most of all, why are so many educated and supposedly free-willed people in Europe follow this charade, instead of denouncing it for it is – yet another attempt by the enemies of Israel to harm it using the very values it is the sole representative of in the Middle East – democracy, freedom, and human rights.Politicians play their Machiavellian games with dozens of ulterior motives, secret agreements and business interests; justice is the last thing on their mind. And so it is the duty of the voter, the so-called simple citizen,to have a realistic and balanced image of the world. A brief foray into any human rights website or even the occasional evening spent watching the news will tell you who are the villains of this world and who are its victims.ynet

Bahrain bans citizens from contact with Israelis Wednesday, 28 October 2009 05:46 News from Jerusalem Bahrain's King Hamad-Bin-Isa-Al-Khalifa

Jerusalem followed with concern on Tuesday reports that the lower house of the Bahrain parliament had passed legislation banning any contact with Israelis, with one source saying this was a direct result of the viciously hostile anti-Israel mood in the Arab world following the Goldstone Report and confrontations over the Temple Mount.Reuters quoted Jalal Fairooz from the Shi'ite Al-Wefaq bloc, an opposition group behind the move, as saying that whoever holds any communication or official talks with Israeli officials or travels to Israel will face a fine... and/or a jail sentence of three to five years.The motivation is that steps are being taken by certain countries to allow certain talks to be held with Israeli officials. Israeli delegates have managed to participate in events in Arab countries with no treaties with Israel,he said.Earlier this month the Israeli flag flew at a renewable energy conference in Abu Dhabi attended by a small Israeli delegation. This was reportedly the first time that an Israeli flag had been displayed in the United Arab Emirates which, like Bahrain, is a Gulf state with which Israel has no ties.The legislation passed the lower house of the Bahraini parliament, and now must go to the upper house, whose members are selected by the king. Israeli officials expressed hope that the move would be quashed by the royal family, and that Bahrain, which is an American ally and considered a moderate Arab state, would not, through this action, signal an extremist turn.A source in the Prime Minister's Office termed the move unfortunate,and said it was a throwback to the Arab rejectionist positions of the 1960s and 1970s.

How does the Arab world think it is possible to make peace without contacts and talking? the official said. This is self-defeating. The Arab world says they want peace, but then can't talk to Israel. It makes no sense.The parliamentary move stands in stark contrast to a July Washington Post op-ed written by Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, calling for more engagement with Israel.In the piece, Khalifa wrote that the Arab world had not done enough to communicate directly with the people of Israel. An Israeli might be forgiven for thinking that every Muslim voice is raised in hatred, because that is usually the only one he hears. Just as an Arab might be forgiven for thinking every Israeli wants the destruction of every Palestinian.The Bahraini foreign minister wrote that the Arab world had not done a good enough job demonstrating to Israelis how the Arab Peace Initiative launched by Saudi Arabia in 2002 can form part of a peace between equals in a troubled land holy to three great faiths.As a result of that article, Bahrain was viewed in Jerusalem earlier this year as the most likely candidate to positively answer US President Barack Obama's request to the Arab states to make some normalization gestures toward Israel. So far, however, neither Bahrain nor any other Arab country has stepped forward.In January 2007, Bahrain stripped citizenship from a Kenyan-born Bahraini runner, Mushir Salem Jawher, who won the Tiberias marathon. Jawher's citizenship was returned a few months later amid concern in Bahrain that as a result of the action they would be isolated by the international sports community.Bahrain, a pro-Western country with Sunni rulers and a Shi'ite majority, hosts the US Navy's 5th Fleet. Last year Bahrain's king appointed a Jewish woman as his kingdom's envoy to Washington.The Jewish community in Bahrain dates back to antiquity, houses the only synagogue in the Persian Gulf, and today numbers between 30 and 50 people.jpost

AARON KLEIN VERSES ARAB ON JERUSALEM-VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/user/aljazeeraenglish#p/u/0/NM2xwL435qw
DEMOCRAT GOAL INCREASE GOVERNMENT
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/10/26/frank_we_are_trying_on_every_front_to_increase_the_role_of_government.html

UN chief says Iran should accept uranium plan By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer – Wed Oct 28, 5:46 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon encouraged Iran on Wednesday to accept a U.N.-drafted plan to ship much of its uranium abroad for enrichment, saying it would be an important confidence-building measure.Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Karamirad said the government will formally respond on Thursday to the proposal to send enriched uranium out of the country for processing, according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency. Another Iranian lawmaker, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said the country's top security body would make a final decision on the proposal later Wednesday.Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment has led to three rounds of increasingly tough U.N. sanctions. Tehran insists its program is purely peaceful and defends the right to develop fuel for electricity-generating reactors.Even as the Iranian government mulls the deal for shipping uranium abroad, it has made clear it will push ahead with its nuclear program and continue enriching uranium.The plan that Tehran is considering was formalized by the United Nations last week after talks between Iran and the United States, Russia and France. It calls for Iran to ship 70 percent of its low enriched uranium to Russia in one batch by the end of the year for further enrichment. It would then be sent to France to be made into isotopes for use in a Tehran research reactor.The U.S. and its allies back the deal because it would, at least temporarily, leave Iran's uranium stockpiles too low to build a nuclear weapon — which they suspect is Tehran's real goal.The secretary-general said Iran's decision to allow U.N. inspectors to visit a previously secret nuclear site near Qum a positive step and welcomed the draft agreement on uranium shipments.

Agreement would constitute an important confidence-building measure and could set the stage for further advances in the negotiations between Iran and the six world powers that have been trying to rein in its nuclear program, Ban said.The idea for uranium shipments was broached at a meeting earlier this month in Geneva between Iran and the six powers — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.Iran's state media have said the country will agree to the plan's general framework but will demand important changes.Iranian state channel, Press TV, said Tehran is opposed to sending the entire shipment abroad at once, suggesting it wants to do it in stages.The head of Iran's Foreign Policy and National Security Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, was quoted by Iran's semiofficial ILNA news agency as sketching out a scenario in which Iran would send out portions of its low-enriched uranium stockpiles only after it receives a batch of reactor-ready rods.
Iran has also given hints that it may want to send less than 70 percent of its stockpiles abroad. On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran might agree to deliver part of (the low-enriched uranium) fuel which we currently don't need.Diplomats from some of the countries involved insist, however, that the uranium shipment would have to be in one batch to be acceptable, or in two, at most, with little time elapsed in between.If Iran makes the shipments in small batches, it would be able to make up for those small amounts quickly by producing more low-enriched uranium. That would mean Iran's stockpile would never be depleted enough to delay its ability to create highly enriched — or weapons-grade — uranium.

Russian space chief proposes nuclear spaceship Wed Oct 28, 9:27 am ET

MOSCOW – Russia's space agency chief is proposing to build a new spaceship with a nuclear engine.

Anatoly Perminov told a government meeting Wednesday that the preliminary design could be ready by 2012. He said it will then take nine more years and 17 billion rubles (about $600 million or 400 million euros) to build the ship.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged the Cabinet to consider providing the necessary funding.
Perminov's ambitious statement contrasted with the current state of the Russian space program.Russia is using 40-year old Soyuz booster rockets and capsules to send crews to the International Space Station. Development of a replacement rocket and a prospective spaceship with a conventional propellant has dragged on with no end in sight.

Israeli urgently orders two stealth corvettes from Germany Wednesday, 28 October 2009 06:12 News from Jerusalem Meko A-100 Corvette

DEBKAfile's military sources report that the two corvettes are needed to meet the build-up of Iranian submarines and Syria warships in the Mediterranean Sea and defend coastal infrastructure facilities such as power stations and naval bases which Israel intelligence fears will be at risk in a regional war.The order placed during Israeli chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi's three-day visit to Berlin this week as guest of the German high command surprised the defense ministry. Germany is contributing 500 million euros toward the two Dolphin submarines already on order for the Israeli Navy. The new order is worth several million more. German sources report that the Israeli request has been referred to Chancellor Angela Merkel for her to decide.The German corvette is a 2,200-tonner, 91 meters long and 13.4 meters wide. It carries a crew of 94, a medium-sized helicopter on its deck and 24 weapons systems - 16 sea-to-shore and 8 ship-to-ship launchers adapted to US-made missiles, as well as missile defenses and automatic cannons. It has a range of 7,400 kilometers and maximum speed of 30 knots. The corvette's great advantages for the Israeli navy are its formidable firepower and advanced radar-evading capabilities, making it extremely hard to spot by shore- or ship-based radar.Before commissioning the warships from Germany, the Israeli Navy researched the market: After the US Lockheed Martin's product proved too pricey - $600 million apiece - purchasing agents opened negotiatons with the Hamburg shipbuilders Blohm and Voss. The initial plan was to have the order subcontracted to Haifa shipyards with Israel's aero industry and Navy installing the weapons systems and electronics. But in view of the spiraling tensions with Iran, Israel's high command decided to set about strengthening the country's marine defenses in the shortest time possible.

Also taken note of was the new clause inserted in the new Merkel government's coalition agreement: promising to phase out the Germany fleet operating off Lebanese shores as part of the UN peacekeeping mission: Within the scope of the United Nations we will work towards a phased reduction of our German contribution to the Maritime Task Force of UNIFIL with the aim to terminate it.Because the fleet to be phased out includes two corvettes, the possibility of transferring them directly to Israel instead of sending them back to home base in Germany is under consideration in view of the troublesome vibes besetting in the region.debka

Prayer Book for Rabin by Hillel Fendel OCT 28,09

(IsraelNN.com) In honor of Yitzchak Rabin Memorial Day, the Amit religious-Zionist education network has published a 15-page prayer book appendix in memory of Rabin.
The prayers include chapters of Psalms to be recited in Rabin’s memory, additional verses whose first letters spell out his name and the word neshamah (soul), as is customary, and Mishna-texts to be studied in his memory. Prayers for the State and for love of fellow man are also included, as are verses decrying murder that were deemed relevant.The concluding prayer reads as follows: O our G-d and the G-d of our fathers, may this prayer in memory of the Prime Minister, Yitzchak ben [son of] Rosa, be accepted before You; and in the merit of my Torah study, prayers and beseeching, may the Nation of Israel in the Land of Israel dwell in security, peace and serenity. May our Torah sprout forth and may our merits increase, and may we love each other and all Israel shall be friends.

Sharpening the awe
The Amit network management explained that the decision to publish the Rabin prayers was made in light of the sense that the Rabin Memorial Day has no significant basis in the religious world. The purpose is to involve as broad of a public as possible in the significance of our memory as people of faith. The prayer book and the prayers will sharpen the awe of the day, and will clarify the importance of our work as educators, in order to demand that every Jew ensure that never again will we see one of us raise a hand against the kingdom.We at Amit believe that we must raise a loud educational voice on the anniversary of the murder of the Prime Minister. This is not just a matter of historic remembrance, but rather a relevant meaning to our shared lives in this multi-faceted Israeli society, in the State that belongs to all of us, despite all the conflicts.Much of the nationalist-religious public has come to feel under attack each year in the days preceding and following the anniversary of Rabin's murder, due to the collective guilt assigned it by leading political figures and much of the media. The prayer book initiative has therefore raised many eyebrows in the religious world, as it uses much of the same terminology often used against it.

Akko Kids Join Prayers for Rain by Maayana Miskin OCT 28,09

(IsraelNN.com) Schoolchildren from the Noam Herzog in Akko (Acre) held a special ceremony early this week in which they prayed for rain. The ceremony was held on the seventh day of the Jewish month of Cheshvan, the day on which Jews in Israel begin praying for rain.Akko's chief rabbi, Rabbi Yosef Yashar, attended the event and sang along with the children. He later termed the occasion particularly moving.Principal Binyamin Buskila explained that the prayer ceremony was the culmination of weeks of learning regarding rain, water, and the significance of rain in Jewish tradition. Students have been studying rain in science class as well as learning what Jewish sages had to say on the subject of rain, he related.The school's main objective is to teach children about prayer, Buskila said. Israel's water crisis will not be solved solely by saving water, or by using water treatment or other important new technologies,he stated. Rather, we must pray, the entire Jewish people must cry out for rain.The students will bring what they have learned to the general public in Akko by distributing stickers calling for everyone to join the prayers for rain, Buskila said. And we hope that in the near future, our city will be blessed by an abundance of rain,he concluded.

Jerusalem Poses New Crisis for Obama As Tensions Rise By Andrew Lee Butters – Wed Oct 28, 4:30 pm ET

Disputes between religious communities over access to holy places are a staple of life in Jerusalem's Old City, but it was more than just another sectarian turf battle that saw Israeli police on Oct. 25 enter the Muslim-controlled area on the Temple Mount to quell stone-throwing by Palestinians. Instead, the riot in the Holy City was yet another sign that, in the absence of any real peace process, the two sides may be headed for renewed confrontation.For weeks now, tensions have been mounting in Jerusalem. Spurred by the Obama Administration's efforts to revive final-status negotiations and emboldened by its successful rebuff of Washington's demand for a settlement freeze, Israel has moved to consolidate its control of occupied East Jerusalem by demolishing Palestinian homes and expanding Israeli construction there. Islamist groups have seized on archeological excavations in the Old City to claim that Israel plans to seize control of the Muslim holy sites - a charge vehemently denied by Israel, but one that has nonetheless roused outrage across the Muslim world. In response to feared protests, Israel has barred Palestinians under 50or not resident in Jerusalem from access to the al-Aqsa Mosque complex on the Temple Mount - known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary - and that, in turn, has only heightened Muslim suspicions over Israel's intentions. (See pictures of 60 years of Israel.)The clashes on Oct. 25 came after Islamist groups called for Palestinians to defend the site after Israel had allowed Israelis to enter it the previous day. The confrontation may have had less to do with keeping Jews from praying at al-Aqsa, however, than with the erosion in Palestinian faith in President Mahmoud Abbas' path of negotiating peace with the Israelis and Americans. Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal set the tone that day by declaring, Jerusalem's fate will be decided with jihad and resistance, and not negotiations.The symbolic power of the Jerusalem issue has a radicalizing effect not only on the Palestinians, but all across the Arab and Muslim world, with anti-Israel sentiment at a fever pitch even in Turkey, a long-standing Israel ally.

Although Hamas supporters may have played a leading role in the Jerusalem protests, there was plenty of evidence of Fatah supporters fighting alongside them - a fact noticed by the Israeli government, which banished the Palestinian Authority official responsible for the holy sites for two weeks. Nor is that a new development: while Abbas continues go through the motions demanded by the Obama Administration, he has reportedly threatened to quit and warned that no peace is possible with the hawkish government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And many leaders of Abbas' own Fatah movement are now privately talking about going back to the barricades. A split has emerged between Abbas and a younger generation of Fatah commanders who have lost patience with his faith in a U.S.-led peace process that has left them no closer to statehood than they were a decade ago. There are daily confrontations between the old guard and the new guard, says Hassan Bakir, chairman of the Palestinian Center for Research and Documentation in Beirut. They are tired of listening to Abbas, who hasn't lived up to his promises. The new guard is calling for a return to resistance.
Rather than restore Palestinian faith in the peace process, the Obama Administration's efforts may have only fueled the backlash. Any optimism over renewed peace efforts that had been generated by President Obama's Cairo speech quickly dissipated as Washington failed to win Israeli compliance with its demand for a settlement freeze. And the Administration put Abbas in an untenable position earlier this month by leaning on him to revoke Palestinian support for the U.N. discussing the Goldstone Report, which accused Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during last winter's fighting in Gaza. So intense was the outcry that followed among Palestinians, including top leaders of Fatah, that Abbas was forced to make a humiliating about-face.

If Israel's relations with the Palestinians are deteriorating and propelling a less accommodating Palestinian leadership to the fore, the scuffles in Jerusalem are also deepening Israel's isolation in the Muslim world. France this week had to cancel plans for a summit of Mediterranean countries after Egypt refused to attend a meeting with Israel's hard-line Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. And in Jordan on Oct. 26, the 15th anniversary of a peace deal with Israel was observed by demonstrators burning an Israeli flag and calls by the parliamentary opposition for the pact to be rescinded.Obama raised expectations after taking office by promising the region speedy movement toward settling the Middle East's most toxic conflict. So far, the Administration's efforts have produced precious little progress - and unfortunately for Obama, the Palestinians may no longer be waiting for Washington to do more to press the Israelis. Instead, they are growing more inclined to do that themselves, in ways that could quickly turn the Middle East into a crisis for the Administration.- With reporting by Rami Aysha / Beirut and Jamil Hamad / Bethlehem

Obama signs hate-crimes bill into law-It's a very sad day for America and for religious liberties October 28, 2009 3:57 pm Eastern By Chelsea Schilling
2009 WorldNetDaily

A hate crimes bill opponents claim will be used to crack down on Christian speech, even the reading of the Bible, was signed into law today by President Obama. The Senate approved the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act by a vote of 68-29 on Oct. 22 after Democrats strategically attached it to a must-pass $680 billion defense appropriations plan. Most Republicans, although normally strong supporters of the U.S. military, opposed the bill because it hands out federal money to states and local governments in pursuit of preventing hate crimes. The bill creates federal protections and privileges for homosexuals and other alternative lifestyles but denies those protections to other groups of citizens. Obama signed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act at a White House ceremony today. Prior to signing the act into law, Obama spoke briefly of the hate crimes bill.

After more than a decade, we've passed inclusive hate-crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are,he said.I promised Judy Shepard when she saw me in the Oval Office that this day would come, and I'm glad that she and her husband, Dennis, could join us for this event. I'm also honored to have the family of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy who fought so hard for this legislation. I just want you all to know how proud we are of the work that Ted did to help make this day possible.American Family Association President Tim Wildmon warned that the new law creates a kind of caste system in law enforcement, where the perverse thing is that people who engage in non-normative sexual behavior will have more legal protection than heterosexuals. This kind of inequality before the law is simply un-American.Wildmon said the legislation creates possible situations where pastors may be arrested if their sermons on sexuality can be linked in even the remotest way to acts of violence.It threatens free speech and freedom of religion and is totally unacceptable,he said.As WND reported, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder admitted a homosexual activist who is attacked following a Christian minister's sermon about homosexuality would be protected by the proposed federal law, but a minister attacked by a homosexual wouldn't be.The Alliance Defense Fund blasted the hate-crimes bill, calling it another nail in the coffin of the First Amendment.

All violent crimes are hate crimes, and all crime victims deserve equal justice, ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley said in a statement.This law is a grave threat to the First Amendment because it provides special penalties based on what people think, feel, or believe. ADF will be on the front line to defend those whose free speech or free exercise of religion rights are violated by this unconstitutional law and to ultimately overturn this attack on freedom.Opponents point to cases in Canada and Sweden, where Christians have faced criminal prosecution for preaching that homosexual behavior is a sin.ADF has clearly seen the evidence of where hate crimes legislation leads when it has been tried around the world: It paves the way for the criminalization of speech that is not deemed politically correct,Stanley explained. Hate crimes laws fly in the face of the underlying purpose of the First Amendment, which was designed specifically to protect unpopular speech.Stanley said such crimes are already punishable under existing federal, state and local laws.

Bills of this sort are designed to forward a political agenda and silence critics, not combat actual crime,he said.The bottom line is that we do not need a law that creates second-class victims in America and that gives the government the opportunity to ignore the First Amendment.Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, testified before Congress against the hate crimes bill in 2007.It is fundamentally unjust for the government to treat some crime victims more favorably than others, just because they are homosexual or transsexual,Dacus said.This bill is an unnecessary federal intrusion into state law enforcement authority, and it is an unwise step toward silencing religious and moral viewpoints.He said the adoption of hate crimes legislation has led to widespread suppression of speech deemed politically incorrect. The Pacific Justice Institute noted that in California, hate crimes laws are commonly invoked as a basis for further laws pushing acceptance of homosexuality in public schools and the workplace. The group also warned that use of hate speech terminology is also now being employed by minority religious groups in America to encourage suppression of free speech, as a prominent Hindu group called on Congress and major Internet service providers to shut down websites critical of Hinduism, including websites of Christian mission organizations.The Pacific Justice Institute pledged to come to defend anyone who is prosecuted under the new hate crimes law because of their religious expression.Liberty Counsel litigation counsel Matt Krause told WND, It's a very sad day for America and for religious liberties in general.

He said the law will not deter crime or help the law-enforcement system.The only thing it will do is silence and scare Christians and religious organizations,Krause said.It will penalize thoughts and actions, and it will not stop crime. It should be called the thought-crimes bill.He continued, We encourage pastors and church leaders to keep doing what they're doing and preach the gospel. If they run into any barriers, they can contact us because we are ready and willing to defend them in any way we need to.The White House announced it will host a reception this evening to commemorate the enactment of the hate crimes legislation. Obama's remarks will be aired live on the White House website.

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.

Storm dumps snow on Rockies, plains, more forecast By KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press Writer – OCT 28,09 8:30PM

DENVER – A storm bringing the first heavy snows of autumn to a large portion of the Rockies and western plains crippled parts of Colorado and Wyoming Wednesday, forcing road closures and sending students home from school as more than 2 feet piled up with much more expected.The slow-moving system socked Denver commuters with treacherous driving conditions — a strong punch for residents who were sporting short sleeves just a couple of weeks ago. Visibility fell below a quarter-mile in many areas, and forecasters warned the storm would linger.Western Nebraskans were already taking action as snow fell. Chadron State College closed its main campus and satellite locations through Thursday, and other schools in the area also shut down. Forecasters said 8 inches of snow had fallen in Whiteclay, near the northern border with South Dakota.The storm was expected to be the biggest snowmaker to hit Colorado's Front Range in October since 1997, said Byron Louis, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Boulder, Colo.Up to 18 inches of snow was forecast in Denver and as much as 4 feet was possible in the Colorado mountains. Cheyenne was expected to get at least 14 inches before the storm moves off.The National Weather Service predicted similar amounts for a wide area of Nebraska and Colorado plains. The storm also brought snow to northern Utah's Wasatch Front.The storm was even more unusual in parts of western Colorado. In Grand Junction, where about 2 inches fell, it was the heaviest snowfall this early in the season since 1995, said National Weather Service hydrologist Bryon Lawrence. Cold Creek in the southwest had recorded 28 inches by midafternoon.Some schools in Colorado and Wyoming closed pre-emptively, including those in a Cheyenne district. And Colorado State University in Fort Collins sent students and staff home around midafternoon. A Colorado Springs homeless shelter decided to allow people who have been kicked out for breaking rules to return because of the weather.

Wyoming state government shut down its offices in the Cheyenne area due to weather early in the afternoon.Most of the roughly 70 accidents in Wyoming happened on Interstate 80 before the Wyoming Department of Transportation closed the highway between Cheyenne and Laramie early in the day. Nine crashes caused injuries but no one was killed.People are just not slowing down enough,department spokesman Bruce Burrows said.The National Weather Service in Wyoming warned whiteout condition would last through Thursday morning.Heavy snow was blamed for a multicar pileup on U.S. Highway 6 in Denver, and the weather closed two northern Colorado highways near Wyoming. Colorado's interstate highways remained open, with some closures on mountain passes.Denver International Airport reported some delays and asked fliers to call first to avoid being stranded at the airport. Some airlines told travelers they would waive or reduce fees for changing flight tickets because of the storm.

Meanwhile, wind was a concern in some prairie areas of Wyoming.When we start getting those wind gusts on Thursday — gusts up to 40 mph — it's going to create some blowing and drifting snow and that's going to cause some problems,said Dan Deal, with the Weather Service in Cheyenne. Drifts several feet deep and wind chills as low as 10 degrees were forecast.The system kicked up heavy winds and dust Tuesday in Nevada, Arizona and California.Winds gusting through Southern California forced a commuter train line to shut down and knocked a tree onto a car, but no serious injuries have been reported.In San Diego County, wind toppled a tree onto a car in San Marcos but the couple inside escaped serious injury. The National Weather Service warned of the possibility of further gusts up to 50 mph through Thursday morning in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Fire danger warnings were up in some areas.Back in Wyoming, the storm brought some big rig truckers to a halt.The smart thing is to just shut it down and call it a day,said Donnel Farrow of Willingboro, N.J. Farrow was hauling mail from Pennsylvania to Salt Lake City but pulled over his rig at a truck stop just east of Cheyenne, Wyo., after a rough drive across Nebraska.Associated Press Writers Mead Gruver and Matt Joyce in Cheyenne, Oskar Garcia in Las Vegas and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nev., contributed to this report.

DISEASES

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

DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS

REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.

REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

WHO to send 200M swine flu vaccines to 100 nations Wed Oct 28, 3:42 pm ET

HAVANA – The World Health Organization plans to distribute 200 million doses of swine flu vaccine to 100 developing countries.WHO secretary-general Margaret Chan says shipments could begin next month.Cuba is on the list of recipients. State media reports that Cuba will accept vaccines, putting aside previous skepticism about their effectiveness.The communist government previously said it would rely on the army sealing off areas where the virus is spreading and mass quarantines to fight swine flu.Cuba has reported seven deaths and 793 confirmed cases.The WHO says nearly 5,000 swine flu deaths have been reported worldwide.Chan spoke Wednesday at the end of a four-day visit to the island.

Obama Administration Launches Deceptive Swine Flu Propaganda Blitz
Richard Gale and Dr. Gary Null Infowars October 29, 2009

President Obama and his top health officials are engaging in a major public relations effort to divert attention away from whether its swine flu vaccine is effective and safe – to whether there is enough of it to go around. And the media, as always, is cooperating fully. This echoes the way media debate was manipulated during the Vietnam and Iraq Wars. Instead of debating whether we should even be fighting those wars, the media debated only whether we were using the correct military strategy.If people would simply shut off the CDC’s supported propaganda noise being blasted across the airwaves and newspapers and simply do their homework, Americans would wake up and realize the hoax behind the swine flu pandemic. Increasing numbers of scientists and doctors are issuing harsh criticisms of the Government’s plan to vaccinate (forcibly if necessary) virtually the entire U.S. population with what they claim is a poorly tested vaccine that is not only ineffective against swine flu, but could cripple and even kill many more people than it helps.The CDC’s public relations campaign has been running scare ads that portray swine flu as a full-blown pandemic responsible for snuffing out countless lives, and which, unless stopped by universal vaccination, could kill millions of American citizens. But scientists and health officials throughout the world have called the governments claims unjustified and deliberately misleading.

For example, Dr. Anthony Morris, a distinguished virologist and former Chief Vaccine Office at the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA), states that There is no evidence that any influenza vaccine thus far developed is effective in preventing or mitigating any attack of influenza and that The producers of these vaccines know they are worthless, but they go on selling them anyway.And in November 2007, the UK newspaper The Scotsman, made public warnings by the inventor of the flu jab,Dr. Graeme Laver. Dr. Laver was a major Australian scientist involved in the invention of a flu vaccine, in addition to playing a leading scientific role in the discovery of anti-flu drugs. He went on record as saying the vaccine he helped to create was ineffective and [that] natural infection with the flu was safer. I have never been impressed with its efficacy,said Dr. Laver.We hear the assumption being made by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that the number of deaths from the H1N1 virus is at pandemic levels and now a national emergency.One would assume that with all of its resources, the New York Times’ October 26 front page story on the CDC’s statistics would be accurate: 20,000 hospitalizations and 1,000 deaths due to the swine flu. However, this is all fiction. And it is a fiction solely based upon the CDC’s own contradictory statements and actions.

Our independent investigations into the clinical trials and statistical studies of influenza vaccines reveal glaring discrepancies. Let us not forget that it is this same New York Times, with its star reporter Judith Miller, who led America into believing that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, tried to purchase yellow cake uranium from Niger, and had dealings with al-Qaeda. And let us also remember that it is the same CDC and health officials in Washington, including President Ford and his top health advisor Joseph Califano, who pushed through and propagandized an untested vaccine during the 1976 swine flu scare, which resulted in thousands of severely neurologically damaged Americans and about 500 reported deaths. Aside from permanent paralysis, many of these vaccine victims also underwent torturous processes for many years to get the government to recognize their illnesses and help cover their costs. Not only was the CDC’s prediction and vaccination campaign for the 1976 flu season a total disaster, it also turned into a deadly scandal, witnessed across the United States on 60 Minutes when Dr. David Sencer, then head of the CDC, confirmed that the vaccine was never field tested, that there were only several reported incidents of H1N1 infection and none of these had been officially confirmed, and then lied about the CDC having no prior evidence that the swine flu vaccine could cause severe and permanent neurological damage. The end result from the 1976 debacle cost the government $3.5 billion in damages, two-thirds were for severe neurological injury and death directly due to the CDC’s vaccination campaign.Therefore, being anti-vaccine or pro-vaccine is not the most urgent issue. What is critical is whether or not there is legitimate, sound science to support either position; in this regard, the vaccine manufacturers and our federal health agencies have failed in the past, and continue to fail today. And they fail dismally. There is absolutely no evidence for sound-scientific protocol or anything resembling a gold-standard behind the swine flu infection statistics and vaccine efficacy and safety clinical trials to support Obama’s and his health advisors’ claims. Instead, the reports on hospitalizations and deaths due to the H1N1virus are grossly distorted. What we are really witnessing is official science and statistics that are little more than propaganda.One unfortunate development over the years is the notion that there is such a thing as a flu season.The truth is that we move annually into periods where there are dramatic increases in flu-like causing pathogens, however, the majority of these are unrelated to any strain of influenza virus. There can between 150 and 200 different infectious pathogens—adenovirus, rhinovirus, parainfluenza, the very common coronavirus and, of course, pneumonia—that produce flu-like symptoms, and worse, during a flu season.For example, how many people have heard of bocavirus, which is responsible for bronchitis and pneumonia in young children, or metapneumovirus, responsible for more than 5 percent of all flu-related illnesses? This is true during every flu season and this year is no different. Furthermore, all flu vaccinations, including the swine flu, are useless for protecting people from these many prevalent infectious organisms.

If we take the combined figure of flu and pneumonia deaths for the period of 2001, and add a bit of spin to the figures, we are left believing that 62,034 people died from influenza. The actual figures determined by Peter Doshi, then at Harvard University, are 61,777 died from pneumonia and only 257 from flu. Even more amazing, among those 257 cases only 18 were confirmed positive for influenza. A separate study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics for the flu periods between 1979 through 2002 revealed the true range of flu deaths were between 257 and 3006, for an average of 1,348 per year.The recent CBS Investigative Report, published on October 21, is one example. After the CDC refused to honor CBS’s Freedom of Information request to receive flu infection data for each individual state, the network performed independent outreach to all fifty states to get their statistics. Their report contradicts dramatically the CDC’s public relations blitz. For example, in California, among the approximate 13,000 flu-like cases, 86 percent tested negative for any flu strain. In Florida, out of 8,853 cases, 83 percent were negative. In Georgia and Alaska, only 2.4 percent and 1 percent respectively tested positive for flu virus among all reported flu-like cases. If the infectious-rate ratios obtained by CBS are accurate, the CDC’s figures are significantly reduced and agree with earlier predictions that the H1N1 virus will be simply an unwelcomed annoyance. So we are in the midst of an enormous medical hoax, a design and purpose that has yet to unfold completely, that will nevertheless reap huge revenues for the vaccine industrial complex.Another example is a recent alarmist report issuing from Georgetown University, also usurped by federal health officials and their multimedia comrades to fuel a campaign of fear and panic. The report announced that over 250 students were infected by swine flu when in fact none of these students were tested for H1N1 infection. The university’s figure was based solely on a count of student visits to the health clinic and calls into an H1N1 hotline.

This is not the first time the CDC’s predictions for influenza strains have been overstated and miscalculated. In an interview on Swedish television, Dr. Tom Jefferson, head of vaccine studies at the prestigious international Cochrane Database Collaboration, after reviewing hundreds of influenza studies and statistical analyses, has said the WHO’s and CDC’s performance is not very good.And in an ITN News interview last month, Jefferson called the swine flu pandemic a juggernaut they [the WHO, government agencies and vaccine makers] created.For the 1992-1993 season, the prediction was off by 84 percent. For the 1994-1995 season, it was off 43 percent for the primary strain and off 87 percent and 76 percent for two other strains. The Laboratory Center for Disease Control’s study comparing vaccine strains with the strains appearing during the 1997-1998 season found the match was off by 84 percent. Again Dr. Jefferson in a Der Spiegel interview remarked,there are some people who make predictions year after year, and they get worse and worse. None of them so far have come about, and these people are still there making these predictions. For example, what happened with the bird flu, which was supposed to kill us all?…. Swine flu could have even stayed unnoticed if it had been caused by some unknown virus rather than an influenza virus… An influenza vaccine is not working for the majority of influenza-like illnesses because it is only designed to combat influenza viruses. For that reason, the vaccine changes nothing when it comes to the heightened mortality rate during the winter months.Our review of all clinical trial studies conducted by the H1N1 vaccine makers for pre-licensing in the American market—CSL, Novartis, Sanofi-Pasteur, Medimmune and now GlaxoSmithKline—reveals they were poorly designed and feebly executed. Any professor in molecular biology or virology would fail a graduate student who presented a paper relying on research conducted in the manner of the studies the vaccine corporations submit to the FDA. Nevertheless, it is this lack of sound randomized, double-blind controlled placebo studies, particularly for inactivated virus vaccines, that our government is declaring definitive and is using to justify mass vaccination of our population.

Last week, Switzerland’s health authorities rejected Novartis’ new swine flu vaccine, Celtura, being targeted for women and children, because the company’s studies were insufficient to guarantee its safety. In addition, the new Novartis vaccine, which uses a cell base from dogs, was found to be contaminated with canine-specific bacteria. The Swiss newspaper, Tagesanzeiger, also noted there remains some suspicion that Novartis’ new vaccine may be a repackaging of an earlier 2008 vaccine responsible for killing almost two dozen homeless people during an illegal clinical trial in Poland. This is the same Novartis whose Fluvirin H1N1 vaccine being distributed in the US relied only on a hasty clinical efficacy and safety trial enrolling only a small number of health adults. Novartis likely remains unperturbed. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant has reported a $6.1 billion profit so far this year and expects to boost sales for the final quarter with is swine flu vaccine.In July, the CDC announced it would cease testing and counting H1N1 virus infections. Their public reason was simply that they are convinced there is a pandemic and, therefore, accurate monitoring was unnecessary. On August 30, the CDC declared the states should report influenza and pneumonia-associated hospitalizations and deaths together, not singling out actual cases of H1N1 infection if there happen to be any actually confirmed from a laboratory. This has always been the CDC’s policy, and the 36,000 figure of annual flu deaths repeated ad nausea on their website and spewed from the media’s health pulpits for several years straight, does not distinguish between pneumonia, influenza and other flu-like pathogenic deaths. Perhaps it would make very little difference because the current rapid diagnostic tests for the H1N1 virus can range in only 10-50 percent accuracy.Elsewhere in the world, particularly in Europe, civilians are increasingly rejecting the H1N1 vaccine. Recent polls in Germany and Austria show only 13 and 18 percent respectively willing to take the shot. In Sweden, four vaccine related deaths have been announced and almost 200 healthcare workers have reported becoming more seriously ill from the vaccination than they might have from a flu infection. In the US, anywhere from 90-99 percent of adverse events go unreported.If people would simply shut off the CDC’s supported propaganda noise being blasted across the airwaves and newspapers— the spectacle of newscasters being inoculated, interviews with government health officials or private doctors and academics receiving consultation fees from drug makers, and the drivel of the New York Times—and simply do their homework, Americans would wake up and realize the hoax behind the swine flu pandemic. All of the information is before us. Nothing is hidden. All the contradictions and hypocrisies are contained within the massive vaccine industrial complex—including the government health agencies and professional medical associations. The lie is too large for them to not expose themselves if we simply look.

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/
CNBC VIDEOS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839263/site/14081545/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS THU OCT 29,2009

09:30 AM +4.20
10:00 AM +56.23
10:30 AM +83.51
11:00 AM +80.33
11:30 AM +106.83
12:00 PM +111.85
12:30 PM +129.46
01:00 PM +152.56
01:30 PM +155.45
02:00 PM +165.73
02:30 PM +169.81
03:00 PM +189.92
03:30 PM +189.01
04:00 PM +199.89 9962.58

S&P 500 1066.11 +23.48

NASDAQ 2097.55 +37.94

GOLD 1,047.50 +17.00

OIL 80.00 +2.54

TSE 300 11,075.22 +269.89

CDNX 1310.42 +47.01

S&P/TSX/60 657.21 +15.67

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow +11.24%
S&P +15.43%
Nasdaq +30.60%
TSX Advances 357,declines 1,243,unchanged 206,Volume 519,529,435.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 268,Declines 680,Unchanged 373,Volume 230,760,575.

Dow +71 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -3 points at low today.
Dow +129 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,037.10.OIL opens at $78.52 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -3 points at low today so far.
Dow +129 points at high today so far.

DAY TODAY PERFORMANCE - 12:30PM STATS
NYSE Advances 2,880,declines 739,unchanged 72,New Highs 44,New Lows 32.
Volume 2,693,455,066.
NASDAQ Advances 1,958,declines 589,unchanged 109,New highs 15,New Lows 20.
Volume 933,420,538.
TSX Advances 906,declines 387,unchanged 203,Volume 214,521,961.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 387,Declines 247,Unchanged 261,Volume 83,588,208.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -3 points at low today.
Dow +207 points at high today.
Dow +2.05% today Volume 248,949,710.
Nasdaq +1.84% today Volume 2,231,620,062.
S&P 500 +2.25% today Volume N/A

PAUL FREEDOM OF CHOICE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxH1CpJo-JI&feature=player_embedded

AUDIT THAT FED HAS 208 HOUSE AND 30 SENATE MEMBERS SIGNED UP SO FAR.

$28 TRILLION STOLEN FROM AMERICANS,$50 TRILLION WORLDWIDE FOR THE PLANETARY WORLD GOVERNMENT BANKERS SO FAR.

Government Is Trying to Make Bailouts for the Giant Banks PERMANENT
Washington’s Blog October 29, 2009

Congressman Brad Sherman: I’m not looking for a TARP on steroids with oversight. I’m looking for an end of TARP.On September 25th, I wrote:Paul Volcker and senior Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron both testified to Congress this week that the government is trying to make bailouts for the giant banks permanent. Writing Wednesday in The Hill, Congressman Brad Sherman pointed out that :In my opinion, Geithner’s proposal is TARP on steroids.Section 1204 of the proposal [the proposal being the Resolution Authority for Large, Interconnected Financial Companies Act of 2009] allows the executive branch to use taxpayer money to make loans to, or invest in, the largest financial institutions to avoid a systemic risk to the economy.

Geithner’s proposal reminds me of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the $700 billion Wall Street bailout adopted last year, but the TARP was limited to two years, and to a maximum of $700 billion. Section 1204 is unlimited in dollar amount and is a permanent grant of power to the executive branch. TARP contained some limits on executive compensation and an array of special oversight authorities. Section 1204 contains absolutely no limits on executive compensation and no special oversight.When I asked Geithner whether he would accept a $1 trillion limit on the new bailout authority (if the executive branch wanted to spend more, it would have to come back to Congress), he rejected a $1 trillion limit, insisting that the executive branch be able to respond without coming back to Congress. Both TARP and the Treasury proposal have vague provisions under which taxpayers might possibly recover any money lost through a special tax on the financial services industry. Under the Treasury proposal, only the very largest institutions could benefit from a bailout, but the special tax, if ever collected, would fall chiefly on medium-sized institutions.Thus, the medium-sized institutions will be at a competitive disadvantage for two reasons. First, the largest institutions will be able to borrow money more cheaply because their creditors will believe that if the institution is unable to pay, the taxpayers will. Second, if there ever is a bailout benefitting a very large financial institution, the tax will be imposed on the medium-sized institutions.Sherman is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee and a certified public accountant, so he has a good nose for analyzing proposed financial regulations.Last week, Sherman made the following comments to the Washington Independent regarding Congress’ proposed bill on the too big to fails:

That is a huge gravy train to the top 20 [financial institutions] because it allows them to borrow money at a lower rate. Think of what this does to moral hazard.I’m not looking for a TARP on steroids with oversight. I’m looking for an end of TARP.
The House Committee on Financial Services will hold a hearing on the bill tomorrow, with Tim Geithner, Sheila Bair, John C. Dugan (Comptroller of the Currency), Daniel K. Tarullo (Governor, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System), John E. Bowman (Acting Director, Office of Thrift Supervision), Richard Trumka (President, AFLCIO), and others as witnesses.As the Washington Independent points out, Sherman is going to try to take Tarp off of steroids:Sherman said he intends to offer a series of amendments addressing the issue during the Financial Services panel’s markup of the bill, which has yet to be scheduled. Included will be a provision to cap the president’s bailout authority at $1 trillion, and another to strip out the resolution authority language entirely. A potential third proposal — to create an oversight panel like that monitoring TARP funds — is one he’s leaning against.

New plans to tackle Europe's inefficient food chain
ANDREW WILLIS Today OCT 29,09 @ 09:25 CET

The European Commission has come forward with a list of measures designed to improve Europe's creaking food chain, fuelled by fears that the region is heading for rising food prices as the economy slowly recovers.And while many European consumers already baulk at prices for some food products charged by supermarkets, huge numbers of farmers are struggling to simply cover their costs.Dairy farmers in particular have taken to the streets in recent months, angry that current milk prices do not cover their production inputs.To tackle the apparent contradiction, the college of 27 commissioners adopted a communication on Wednesday (28 October), outlining a list of steps to increase the transparency and improve the functioning of Europe's food chain.Together with national authorities, we will redouble our efforts to ensure that the supply chain works effectively from farm to fork,said the EU's agriculture commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, in a statement.Among other problems, the EU executive's communication points to the large variation in bargaining power between the different actors in the food chain as a chief reason for ongoing tensions and price distortions.Improving contractual relations between actors with the help of member state authorities is therefore essential says the document.To improve transparency in the system, the commission has published a food price-monitoring tool and is calling on member states to a set up a web-based service to enable consumers to compare the price of food in different shops.It is very important for the actors of the food supply chain, consumers and policy makers to increase the transparency of prices along the supply chain,the EU's economy commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, said in a statement.

The commission paper also proposes a list of measures to tackle the negative effect on prices caused by speculators in the agricultural commodities market. They included the need for greater reporting requirements and the possible imposition of position limits to restrict volatility and speculation.Wednesday's initiative comes on the back of fears that rising consumer food prices, and the corresponding drop in citizens' purchasing power, could slow Europe's rate of economic recovery. On average, European households spend 16 percent of their budget on food, making it one of the biggest expenditures.

Bank of Canada says China FX policy great risk By David Ljunggren and Randall Palmer – OCT 28,09

OTTAWA (Reuters) – China's foreign exchange policy poses a great risk and it is a top priority of global policy makers to work toward a change, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said on Wednesday.They are running a great risk with this policy. It is a cause of some of the imbalances in the global economy. It is a contributing factor to some of the vulnerabilities that have existed and were realized,Carney told a Senate committee.It is a top priority I think for all policy makers to work with the Chinese and develop a suite of policies across all major economies, including China, that are consistent with moving off of this policy.The Chinese yuan has been virtually repegged against the dollar since mid-2008, contributing to the further buildup of the country's massive foreign exchange reserves.Making his second appearance before a parliamentary committee this week, Carney repeated the central bank's view that the possibility of intervening on foreign exchange markets should be seen in the context of achieving the central bank's 2 percent inflation target.We should only use our tools that we have, which include foreign exchange intervention, in a manner that is consistent with achieving the inflation target. And that would be the objective of any policy action that we would take,he said.

Carney also repeated that the central bank does not target a specific rate for the Canadian dollar and has options, including credit and quantitative easing, if it feels further easing is needed after cutting interest rates to a record low.He said the Bank of Canada believes it is worth studying further the possibility of switching from its current inflation target to one of targeting price levels.The distinction is a fine one, but under price-level targeting the bank would aim for a specific numeric value in the consumer price index and would try to reverse any past deviation from that target.If the target were overshot, this would mean temporarily tighter monetary policy than otherwise would have been warranted.Under the central bank's current policy, which expires at the end of 2011, it tries to keep inflation at 2 percent and ignores any past deviations.It's too early to come to any conclusions. I would say the price-level targeting research merits continued focus, Carney told the Senate committee.He would not say whether the bank thought it was useful, if inflation targeting were retained, to lower the target from 2 percent.
(Writing by Jeffrey Hodgson; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Construction of controversial Baltic Sea pipeline to start next year
VALENTINA POP 28.10.2009 @ 08:17 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Construction on the controversial Russian-German gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea looks set to start next year, after Denmark recently gave a green light to the environmental impact of the project, Nord Stream's pointman in Brussels told this website.Back in 2005, it was dubbed the Schroder-Putin pipeline, after a controversial deal between the then German chancellor and Russian president, announced weeks before the German general elections. Mr Schroder lost the elections that year, but pocketed a well-paid job with Russia's gas giant Gazprom, as chairman of the Nord Stream consortium set to develop the pipeline.Four years later, after extensive environmental studies, the planned 1,200 km-long pipeline from Vyborg (Russia) to Greifswald (Germany) is nearing its construction phase.We received our first environmental permit on Tuesday (21 October) from Denmark and we intend to get started with construction next year,Sebastian Sass, the EU representative for the Nord Stream consortium said in an interview. He added that the other four permits needed – from Finland, Sweden, Germany and Russia - would probably be granted by the end of the year.In a parallel move, Denmark's energy company Dong recently signed a second supply contract with Gazprom Export, totalling 2 billion cubic metres of gas per year to be bought from the pipeline starting 2011, when Nord Stream is set to become functional. At full capacity, Nord Stream will have two parallel steel pipelines delivering 55 billion cubic metres of gas yearly.

The Danish go-ahead is a first breakthrough in what Mr Putin, currently the Prime Minister of Russia, has often criticised as Europe's lack of resolve to move ahead with the project, which has official EU-priority status.Mr Sass said that Gazprom, which holds 51 percent of the shares in the pipeline consortium, understands the project is only going to work if it fully complies with EU standards.Whatever Mr Putin or Ms Merkel says, it doesn't change a thing. If you look at the Finnish or Swedish legislation, it tells you exactly what the procedure is. So whatever somebody thinks, we have to comply with those procedures, otherwise we are open to appeal. And that would be the worst option,he explained.The shallow, dying Baltic Sea and especially the Gulf of Finland, pose particular environmental challenges to the developers of the €7.4 billion project. In order to have as little environmental impact as possible, Nord Stream says it will not use conventional construction methods such as digging trenches or cutting rocks to even out the seabed, but instead use gravel to fill up holes and simply go round massive rocks in the gulf. Construction will be allowed only during limited times, taking into account migratory bird and fish mating seasons.The Russian-German-Dutch consortium also has to clear some 50 unexploded munitions lying on its planned route, mostly in Finnish and Russian waters. Chemical weapons found in the vicinity of the Danish island of Bornholm would not be removed, as the Danish authorities have agreed it would be better to leave them where they are, Mr Sass said.

Estonia votes against pipeline

Meanwhile, the Estonian parliament on Tuesday (27 October) voted a resolution calling on the states concerned not to issue environmental permits, since not all the risks that the project poses have been taken into account sufficiently.Based on the UN's so-called Espoo convention regarding trans-border environmental impact, Estonia has a consultative say in the approval of the project. It cannot directly veto it, but it can submit its concerns to neighbouring states which issue the permits.The Baltic states and Poland have also raised the issue of energy security, for fear that once Germany has a direct link to Russia, Moscow will find it much easier to cut off supplies to Warsaw or Tallinn, without affecting western European consumers, as was the case in 2006.Valdur Lahtvee, chairman of the Estonian Greens faction in the parliament, said that the Schroder-Putin agreement on Nord Stream was of a similar nature to the division of the Baltic states and Polish territories into Russian and German spheres of influence before World War II.

No precise origin of Nord Stream gas

While stressing several times that the pipeline is designed to bring extra quantities of gas to European markets, not to cut volumes from existing routes via Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, Mr Sass did however acknowledge that his consortium was just a transporter and was not making any decisions on the allocation of amounts [of gas].Our arrangement says that we are being supplied from the Russian gas grid. In fact, an advantage to the project and the consumers is that we'll have diverse sources to supply from,he argued.Most of the gas is to come from a Siberian field, Yuzhno-Russkoye. At a later stage, the pipeline is supposed to be the main transporter for gas extracted from the Shtokman field in the Barents Sea. So far, development of that field has stagnated due to harsh Arctic conditions.It's hard to say where all the gas molecules will come from, already today Gazprom is purchasing amounts from Central Asia,Mr Sass said.The EU has been trying to push forward a project bypassing Russia and collecting gas from Central Asia – the so-called Nabucco pipeline through Turkey. Moscow responded to that by drawing its own project, South Stream, aimed at transporting that same Central Asian gas to Europe via a submarine pipeline through the Black Sea. Mr Sass said both these projects were needed, since Europe's gas demand was increasing and its domestic production falling.In terms of security of supply for the EU it doesn't make any sense now to pick and choose between the different projects [Nord Stream, Nabucco or South Stream], because there's only one [of them] about to become very real, that's us,he explained.

Treasury, GMAC in talks for 3rd round of US aid By Dan Strumpf, Ap Auto Writer – OCT 28,09

NEW YORK – GMAC, the former lending arm of General Motors Co., is in talks with the Treasury Department for a third injection of taxpayer aid, a further sign of the U.S. government's entrenchment in the auto industry.The government mandated earlier this year that GMAC Financial Services raise an additional $11.5 billion in capital by early November after undergoing a stress test along with 18 other banks. While other banks deemed undercapitalized have been able to raise funds from private investors, GMAC has been forced to go back to the government.In a separate move to help the company extend more loans, the company said Wednesday the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would back a $2.9 billion debt offering.GMAC is a crucial player in the U.S. auto industry, providing wholesale financing to many General Motors and Chrysler dealerships to pay for the vehicles on their lots. The company also operates a mortgage lending unit — Residential Capital — which has been pummeled by the housing market downturn. It also runs an insurance unit and an online banking unit called Ally Bank.Having a healthy GMAC is important to us, GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in Washington on Wednesday. Henderson, who said he was not involved in the discussions for more aid to GMAC, called the lender the source of financing for GM and Chrysler.

A Treasury Department spokesman confirmed that the department is in talks with GMAC about a third helping of aid. The government already owns a 35 percent stake in GMAC after providing $12.5 billion to the lender. It also owns a majority stake in GM and a smaller stake in Chrysler.The Treasury spokesman declined to comment on whether the government's ownership stake in GM and Chrysler make it more willing to again help prop up GMAC. But Kirk Ludtke, a senior vice president of CRT Capital Group LLC in Stamford, Conn., said a viable GMAC is critical to the success of GM and Chrysler.
Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal first reported late Tuesday that the U.S. government could hand over another $2.8 billion to $5.6 billion to GMAC, which is based in Detroit. The latest capital infusion would be in the form of preferred stock, the paper said. The government's stake could rise if the new preferred shares were ever converted into common stock.A GMAC spokeswoman said the company is committed to meeting the government's capital requirements but declined to comment on any negotiations with the Treasury Department.GMAC said Wednesday it will offer $2.9 billion in senior fixed-rate notes backed by the FDIC's debt-guarantee program. The offering will be used to extend credit to consumers and businesses, the company said.The FDIC took the rare step earlier this year of allowing the junk-rated company to gain access to its debt-guarantee program, called the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program. It agreed to guarantee up to $7.4 billion in GMAC-issued debt in case the company defaulted on payment. The $2.9 billion offering announced today represents the remainder of that guarantee, after the FDIC agreed to back $4.5 billion earlier in the year.Thomas Ferguson, an analyst with KDP Investment Advisors, said the fact that GM is privately held rather than publicly traded makes it more difficult for it to meet the government's stress-test benchmark.In Washington the company is viewed as an integral part of the U.S. auto industry's restructuring,Ferguson wrote in a report. Today's news is consistent with our view that the government will continue as a financial backstop for GMAC.

Last December, the government gave GMAC $5 billion in exchange for 5 million shares and GMAC's agreement to extend financing services to bailed-out Chrysler LLC. Then in May, the Treasury Department announced a new $7.5 billion injection for GMAC — short of the $11.5 billion the government's stress test showed the company would need to stay afloat if the economy worsens.According to the Journal, the FDIC told GMAC Tuesday that it would guarantee the remaining $2.9 billion in debt to prevent the company from being forced to reduce its lending volume.GMAC in August posted a wider second-quarter loss of $3.9 billion. Midway through the quarter, GMAC became the preferred lender for Chrysler. Last week, the Treasury Department informed Chrysler's former lender, Chrysler Financial, that it would have to shut down by the end of 2011.GMAC is scheduled to report third-quarter results next week.Associated Press Writer Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.

Obama financial reforms advance in Congress By Kevin Drawbaugh – Wed Oct 28, 3:44 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration made gains on Tuesday in its push for U.S. financial reform, unveiling a landmark bill to tackle systemic risk in the economy and winning congressional committee approval for a measure to expose hedge funds to more government scrutiny.The systemic risk bill would grant vast powers to a new systemic risk regulatory council, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp to monitor and address risks to economic stability posed by shaky financial holding companies.Those deemed severely undercapitalized by the council could be restructured or even shut down by regulators. Managers could be dismissed, credit exposures limited, pay and bonuses restricted, acquisitions and new ventures blocked.In a measure meant to reverse decades of weakened oversight of Wall Street and the banks, the bill aggressively asserts government power to prevent bailouts like last year's rescues of AIG, Citigroup and Bank of America.It also attempts to shift the cost of future financial stabilization efforts toward industry and away from taxpayers by forcing financial firms with more than $10 billion in assets to foot the bill for any losses from Federal Deposit Insurance Corp actions to resolve the problems of failing firms.President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the bill was urgent and crucial to prevent excessive risk-taking by big firms.We cannot meet these tests with a set of small changes at the margin,Obama said in a letter to Barney Frank, chairman of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, that also stressed the importance of building a stronger financial system in which no firm was too big to fail.If approved by Congress, where industry lobbyists and Republicans were certain to push back against it in weeks ahead, the bill would form the centerpiece of a sweeping effort by Democrats to tighten bank and capital market oversight.After the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a packed room of Wall Street dealers and bankers on Tuesday they could not look America in the eye and argue that financial regulation is fine as it is.

Geithner said the financial system was tragically fragile after the crisis and the government must respond by adding new regulations and strengthening old ones.It's a war of necessity, not a war of choice,he said at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association annual meeting in New York.And it's a just war.Another part of the administration's reforms -- requiring hedge funds and private equity firms to register with the government -- won approval from Frank's committee on Tuesday.The committee already has approved bills to form a new watchdog agency to protect consumers of mortgages and credit cards, and to regulate over-the-counter derivatives.The full House was expected to vote as early as Thursday on the financial consumer watchdog bill, also a central piece of the administration's reform program.Frank will meet this week with House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson to reconcile their panels' OTC derivatives bills, said Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler on Tuesday at a roundtable meeting.

The CFTC is working with both panels, which are targeting a vote on the House floor for a single bill next week, he said.Frank's committee was expected to vote on Wednesday on a bill to regulate credit rating agencies. The panel put off for now a proposed bill to set up a new National Insurance Office to monitor insurers, which are now policed at the state level.While House Democrats have been making steady progress on financial reforms, despite stiff resistance from lobbyists and Republicans, the Senate has been moving very slowly. Key lawmakers in the upper chamber of Congress are still far apart of key issues, including the consumer watchdog, known as the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, aides said.(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh, Rachelle Younglai, Lisa Lambert, Ross Colvin and Charles Abbott, with Al Yoon and Walden Siew in New York; editing by Carol Bishopric).

Stocks slide as new home sales fall By Tim Paradis, Ap Business Writer – OCT 28,09

NEW YORK – Signs of a weaker housing market and a gloomier outlook on the economy gave investors more reasons to dump stocks.Major market indexes fell by the largest amount in about a month Wednesday after the Commerce Department said new home sales dropped for the first time in five months. Sales slid 3.6 percent in September to 402,000. Analysts had expected an increase.The Dow Jones industrial average lost 119 points, or 1.2 percent, in its third straight triple-digit drop.The Nasdaq composite index fell 2.7 percent, while the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies tumbled 3.5percent. Many of the stocks in both indexes are considered more risky in a tough economy and so they suffered some of the biggest losses.The retreat came as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its expectation for the nation's economic output for the July-September period. Goldman Sachs predicts third-quarter gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 2.7 percent, weaker than its earlier forecast of 3 percent.

The government's report on third-quarter GDP is due Thursday. Economists are looking for growth at an annual rate of 3.3 percent after a record four straight quarters of contraction.The day's slide signaled that investors were reassessing their hopes for a recovery in the economy. Demand for safe-havens like Treasurys rose as did shares of companies whose business is expected to fare better in a slump. Stocks of consumer staples companies like Procter & Gamble Co., which makes Tide detergent and Gillette razors, edged higher.Energy, financial and retail stocks posted some of the biggest losses.Analysts said the market's slide in the past week isn't surprising given the size of the advance in the past eight months and mixed economic readings.

I'm not panicked at the moment,said Manny Weintraub, president of Integre Advisors in New York.I don't think anyone expected a super robust recovery.Stocks struggled Tuesday after a disappointing report on consumer confidence stirred worries about the strength of the coming holiday shopping period.Wednesday's drop was the biggest for stocks since Oct. 1, when traders grappled with worries about jobs and manufacturing.The Dow fell 119.48, or 1.2 percent, to 9,762.69. The index is down in five of the past seven days.Broader indexes fell for a fourth straight day, the longest streak of losses in about a month.The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 20.78, or 2 percent, to 1,042.63. The Nasdaq dropped 56.48, or 2.7 percent, to 2,059.61.

The Russell 2000 index fell 20.63, or 3.5 percent, to 566.36.At the New York Stock Exchange 2,777 stocks fell, while 322 rose. Consolidated volume came to 6.7 billion shares compared with 5.4 billion Tuesday.Overseas markets also tumbled. Bill Schultz, chief investment officer at McQueen, Ball & Associates in Bethlehem, Pa., said investors are looking at the latest data and worrying that the market has risen too much in anticipation of a recovery. The S&P 500 index is up 54.1 percent from a 12-year low in March, though it is down 5 percent since the start of last week, when it finished at its highest level in more than a year.The biggest slide since the market began rebounding eight months ago was a 7 percent slide from mid-June to mid-July.You're starting to see some trepidation about how we move forward,Schultz said. He said the market is likely to stall without improvements in how much revenue companies bring in and better readings on unemployment.With about half the companies in the S&P 500 index having reported third-quarter results, revenue is down 7.5 percent, according Thomson Reuters. The unemployment rate stands at 9.8 percent and is expected to top 10 percent.A strengthening dollar has weighed on commodities prices. That has hurt stocks. The ICE Futures US dollar index rose for a fifth straight day Wednesday, its longest advance since the start of July.Bond prices rose as investors sought safety. That sent yields lower. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.42 percent from 3.45 percent late Tuesday.Crude oil fell $2.09 to settle at $77.46 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold fell.

The drop in oil weighed on shares of energy companies. Oilfield services company Schlumberger Ltd. fell $2.66, or 4.1 percent, to $62.27.Financial stocks fell after GMAC Financial Services brought reminders of troubles still hitting many lenders. The former financing arm of General Motors Co. is in talks with the Treasury Department for a third bailout. The company has been among the financial firms hardest hit by rising loan defaults and troubled credit markets. The government holds a 35 percent stake in GMAC after giving it $12.5 billion in bailout money. Home builders fell after the sales data. Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. slid 41 cents, or 9.5 percent, to $3.89. Toll Brothers Inc. fell 99 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $16.95.The drop in new home sales follows a report from the National Association of Realtors last week that sales of existing home posted the biggest increase in 26 years in September. Some buyers were trying to get ahead of a tax credit set to expire.Britain's FTSE 100 fell 2.3 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 2.5 percent, and France's CAC-40 slid 2.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.4 percent.
(This version CORRECTS SUBS 17th graf bgng At the ... to correct number of falling stocks and UPDATE with consolidated volume. UPDATES throughout with close of trading. Moving on general news and financial services.)

KATYUSHA ROCKET HITS GALILEE

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

Luxembourg PM rejects Blair as EU president By ROBERT WIELAARD, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 27, 1:37 pm ET

BRUSSELS, Belgium – Luxembourg's premier spoke out Tuesday against former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's candidacy to become the European Union's first-ever president.Premier Jean-Claude Juncker said Blair's support for the invasion of Iraq and his aloofness from Europe — he kept Britain out of the euro and the EU's visa-free travel zone — disqualified him from the top EU job.Juncker did not nominate himself for the position but did not discourage others from doing so.If the call went out to me,he told the French daily Le Monde,I would have no reason to refuse to listen.The EU leaders, at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, will discuss who should fill the top jobs of a new EU that is emerging from a treaty to streamline decision-making in the 27-nation bloc.A final decision, also on the future EU foreign minister, may not be announced until December.On Tuesday, the Czech Republic's Constitutional Court postponed a ruling on whether the EU reform treaty complies with the nation's constitution. Supporters of President Vaclav Klaus, an ardent euro-skeptic, have asked for such a ruling, holding up final ratification of the pact that the other 26 EU nations have already approved.The leaders of Britain, France and Germany back Blair, who was Britain's prime minister from 1997 to 2007, for the job of chairing European Council meetings and representing the EU to the outside world.

But the Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg governments say he lacks enthusiasm for more European integration.The (EU) president must be able to take on board the plans, ideas and dreams of countries large and small (and) facilitate the Franco-German cooperation that has long been the bedrock of the EU, Juncker told Le Monde.In recent weeks, other names have been floated in opposition to Blair.They include Paavo Lipponen, a former prime minister of Finland; Herman Van Rompuy, the current Belgian prime minister; Felipe Gonzalez, a former prime minister of Spain; and Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch prime minister.

Czech decision on Lisbon treaty only after EU summit-The astronomical clock in Prague - the EU summit has run out of time to make the new appointments (Photo: wikipedia)HONOR MAHONY Today OCT 28,09 @ 07:06 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Czech constitutional court has indicated it will rule on whether the Lisbon Treaty is compatible with Czech national law next week, meaning EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday (29 October) are unlikely to take a final decision on dividing the top jobs in the European Union.Following a hearing on Tuesday on a legal challenge by 17 conservative senators, the court said it would reconvene on 3 November, when it is likely to give its verdict.The decision leaves the EU summit to take place amid continued uncertainty about when and whether the Union will be able to make the switch to the Lisbon Treaty - a move that creates new EU president and foreign minister posts and determines the future shape of the European Commission, whose current mandate expires on Saturday.All member states have approved the treaty except the Czech Republic whose president Vaclav Klaus has said he will not complete ratification until the court has had its say.The Swedish EU presidency, which has been hoping for a decisive names-for-posts summit so it can concentrate on policy issues instead, said it needs clarity from Prague first. We cannot begin the consultations [on the names] until we have legal clarity. If we obtain legal clarity, then there is time for consultations and a first debate,said Swedish Europe minister Cecilia Malmstrom on Monday, with the momentum for a decision growing since Luxembourg leader Jean-Claude Juncker indicated he would like to be chosen as first occupant of the European Council president post.These decisions may be put off to an extra summit in November.

Czech demands

Instead this week's traditional autumn summit of EU leaders will have to deal with the minutiae of an eleventh hour call by President Klaus for his country to be exempted from the rights charter contained in the Lisbon Treaty.Mr Klaus made the surprise demand earlier this month arguing that adoption of the Charter would leave his country open to property demands by ethnic Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia under the so-called Benes Decrees after World War II.The Czech move prompted Slovakia to say they would veto any solution for Prague if they do not get the same treatment.Even though the Benes Decrees aren't in use in practice and can't be used, they are part of the legal system of the Czech Republic and Slovakia ...and the legal protection for Slovakia and its public can't be lower than is the case in the Czech Republic,said Slovak foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak on Monday.The Slovak stance then led to a retaliatory statement from Hungary. Budapest has cool relations with Bratislava following a 2007 decision by the country to reaffirm the Benes Decrees, which also led to the expulsion of Hungarians from the then Czechoslovakia. Relations are also strained over Bratislava's treatment of the ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia.Hungarian foreign minister Peter Balazs threatened to block the Czech compromise if there is one word about the Benes Decrees.Mr Balazs' spokesperson told EUobserver that the country has four demands, including that the Czech text should not have any reference to the past or any reference to national legislation ...and it should only concern the member state where ratification is still ongoing.

For its part the Czech government indicated the proposed solution will be as bland as possible. Czech Europe minister Stefan Fuele said Monday that the Benes decrees will not be mentioned in the opt-out text.In our proposal we will not refer to any concrete part of our legislation,Mr Fuele said, according to Ceske Noviny.He indicated that a possible solution would be to simply add the name of the country alongside Poland and the UK which are also exempt from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, but for different reasons.The discussions on the Czech opt out which are set to run into the summit are taking place even though most analysts agree the charter will not lead to the property claims Mr Klaus says he fears.

Climate activists shut down EU business conference-Climate Alarm activists hang a banner outside the Charlemagne building (Photo: Leigh Phillips)LEIGH PHILLIPS
Today OCT 28,09 @ 16:38 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - British-style climate camp activists shut down the annual conference of the Confederation of European Business in Brussels on Wednesday (28 October) morning, occupying and blockading the European Commission building where industrialists were due to talk about global warming.The new group, Climate Alarm, accused the EU executive of getting into bed with the businesses sponsoring the conference, which include Shell, Daimler and Arcelor-Mittal, companies it says are some of the worst carbon emitters in the world.Corporate lobbyists have no role to play in deciding how to deal with the climate crisis,said spokeswoman Anna Martin.

[These firms] all lobby hard to obstruct strong action on climate change ...At the same time, they have made windfall profits from a failing carbon market.A few dozen youthful campaigners from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany swooped into the commission's Charlemagne building a few minutes before 9.00 am local time. EU officials had lent the building to the employers' group, also known as Business Europe,for free for the duration of the conference.Some protesters chained the entrance closed while others deliberately trapped themselves inside the large glass revolving doors by jamming wooden door stops into its base, preventing any delegates from entering.This is the second time the European Commission has hosted Business Europe's annual conference. It shows how close the EU institutions are to business when it comes to climate change,Ms Martin told EUobserver.Such radical direct action has been on the increase over the last couple of years in the UK, where activists have occupied or tried to disrupt two coal-fired power stations and block the extension of Heathrow airport. In April this year, activists blocked streets in London's financial district to protest the EU emissions trading scheme.But the blockade on Wednesday, which lasted two hours before police used pepper spray to disperse some of the activists and arrested 20, was the first time climate campers had taken such action in the European capital.The major environmental NGOs and development groups in Brussels regularly engage in showpiece stunts outside the EU buildings. On the same day, in an Oxfam action, hundreds of miniature tents were set up in Brussels Central Station as well as in London, Berlin, Dublin and Madrid to symbolise the plight of climate refugees, while Action Aid campaigners are to hammer on the doors of the European Summit of premiers and presidents on Thursday.The events are almost always carefully co-ordinated with police and building security. But the Climate Alarm action was not authorised by the Brussels police, which the campaigners believe is why the police took the unusual step of using pepper spray.

The activists, who formed the new organisation at a climate camp on the Belgian-Dutch border this summer, are linked to Climate Justice Action (CJA), a wider global network of groups with a strong presence from NGOs in the developing world, which say that emissions reductions targets do not match what scientists are demanding and that the range of climate solutions on offer actually exacerbates global warming and only benefits business.Emissions trading, carbon capture and storage, carbon offsets, biofuels and nuclear power - embraced by the EU and to a lesser degree by some of the more mainstream green outfits as the main strategies to tackle climate change - have been denounced by CJA as false solutions.They also say that industrialised countries owe an environmental debt to developing countries for creating the climate crisis.

Climate change is everyone's business

The action managed to prevent a crowd of some 200 delegates from entering the building. Hans Korteweg, a senior manager with Foratom, the European Atomic Forum, told this website: One of their banners says: Our climate is not your business,but climate is everyone's business, including business.Business absolutely has a role to play - we have the solutions available, the technology we can transfer and the money to invest,he added.They should come into the meeting and debate, not shut it down.
Enzo Gatta, the industrial affairs committee chairman of Business Europe was furious: It's just unbelievable. I really don't understand this. We have enormous amounts of money to invest.It's not about lobbying. There is already worldwide acceptance that emissions must be reduced. There is no serious debate on this anymore. Now it is just a question of co-ordination. That is what is being discussed.A bemused researcher on energy and transport from Italy's National Research Council, who was also stuck outside, was more relaxed about the situation. Leaning against his luggage and pulling out a packet of cigarettes, Vincenzo Antonucci said the activists had a point.It's difficult. On the one hand, what they are saying is true about the likes of Shell and Daimler, of course. This is a correct point of view. But on the other hand, even inside these companies, there are a few, some who are serious about climate change.And green energy is expensive; it's big business. The revolution isn't going to pay.

EU credibility at stake over climate financing
HONOR MAHONY Today OCT 28,09 @ 17:26 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday (29 October) face an international credibility test as they struggle to firm up their financial commitment to fighting climate change.The meeting comes a few weeks ahead of a gathering in Copenhagen where a global deal on reducing greenhouse gas emissions after 2012 - when the current Kyoto set-up expires - is supposed to be reached.But internally, the EU, a self-proclaimed global environmental do-gooder, is struggling for agreement, with discussions pitting rich member states against poorer ones, in a geographical split of central and eastern European countries against western ones.

Preliminary conclusions for the summit suggest that developing countries as a whole will have to pay €100 billion annually by 2020 in order to implement greenhouse gas-cutting strategies, while the overall level of the international public support required is estimated to lie in the range of €22 to €50 billion per year by 2020.But there is no mention of how much money the European Union should put into the international kitty.This reflects a tactical difference of opinion among governments about when the EU should reveal its hand.While Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands want the EU's financing position to be made clear, Germany particularly has been much more reluctant to speak of concrete figures so long as the US and others remain silent.The climate change discussions have also thrown up a more fundamental split in the EU about how each member state should contribute to the overall figure and, until this is settled, say diplomats, the bloc will not be able to name a sum.The division is over what criterion to use for sharing the financial burden, the wealth of a nation (GNI) or how much it pollutes.Basing it on GNI rather than on emissions would make it three times more expensive for Europe, one EU diplomat noted.But an emissions-based criterion would mean central and eastern European countries would have to dig deeper into their pockets.A group of nine new member states, led by Poland, is refusing this option and, so far, another solution based on a mixture of the two.The Poles are absolutely opposed to setting a figure if there is no agreement on how to get there,noted an EU diplomat. An EU finance ministers meeting last week - where Warsaw ruffled feathers with its negotiating style - became stuck on the issue. The meeting eventually broke up in bad humour and the question now rests with EU leaders.

Hot air

There is also disagreement over what to do with pollution credits achieved by differences in emissions compared to commitments made under the current Kyoto Protocol. Known informally as hot air,or more formally as Assigned Amount Units, new member states hold around 2 billion of them.If a company is producing 100 tonnes of CO2, then a country will cap the production at 80 tonnes. If the company is able to reduce the production to 70 tonnes, then the remaining 10 tonnes can be traded in the form of AAU units.They consider them bankable,said an EU diplomat, referring to future financial commitments in the environment area. However, releasing them suddenly would flood the carbon market, while some governments feel that these credits should simply be forgotten and the slate wiped clean as Europe looks ahead to make a new climate deal.How the EU decides to proceed on the credits issue will be closely watched by Russia and Ukraine, also holders of many hot air credits, while the European Union will find it harder to argue for global financial commitments mainly based on emissions at the Copenhagen meeting if it does not have a similar system agreed for itself internally.Additionally, developing countries, who say they are being forced to pay for the pollution caused by rich counties, are looking for a clear political signal from the EU that it will indeed stump up the cash ahead of the Copenhagen summit.Failure to come out of the European Council with some clarity, if not absolute clarity, will be damaging,an EU diplomat admitted on the eve of the discussions.

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.

Tropical Storm Neki heading north in Pacific Mon Oct 26, 11:01 am ET

HONOLULU – Tropical Storm Neki is moving north in the central Pacific with little change in strength expected.Neki's maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph Monday morning.The storm is centered about 480 miles northwest of Lihue, Hawaii, and is moving at about 18 mph.

BEHEADING IN ACTION (VIDEO)CAUTION-ISLAM HAS TO BE STOPPED
http://homelandsecurityus.com/?p=3196
PUBLIC REACTION TO BEHEADINGS
http://homelandsecurityus.com/?p=133
MUSLIM MAFIA
http://homelandsecurityus.com/?p=3178
TAMAR FILLIN
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/1530
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/1531
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/1532

The Taliban in Action Edit Post.By Douglas J. Hagmann, Director

26 October 2009: A little over five years ago, this web site was the first legitimate site to publish the actual videos of men and women being beheaded by Islamic terrorists. We provided our visitors with the actual films to show the horrific, nearly unimaginable brutality committed by the Talban and al Qaeda terrorists in the name of Islam. We did so to provide Americans a real world view of the satanic brutality our brave troops were fighting. Westerners in general and Americans specifically, however, seem to have short memories.Today we are providing you a video that is being proudly circulated on various Arabic language Islamic terrorist web sites showing Sharia law in action - illustrating what happens to those who dare to fight against the oppressive Islamic regime in Afghanistan.For those who have forgotten, THIS IS WHAT WE ARE FIGHTING AGAINST IN AFGHANISTAN. For those who continue to depict fundamentalist Islam as a religion of peace, THIS IS WHAT IS SANCTIONED UNDER ISLAMIC SHARIA LAW- according to their own words and shown by their own actions.While our Commander-in-Chief continues to dither with the idea of sending additional troops to Afghanistan, THIS IS WHAT IS TAKING PLACE. While Islamic apologists continue to downplay and describe such activities as exceptions, THIS IS WHAT IS TAKING PLACE.Any questions? WARNING: This video is EXTREMELY GRAPHIC & VERY DISTURBING.Video in WMV format-Beheading in America - it can (and does) happen here: Beheading in Buffalo - at a Muslim TV Station.

Katyusha Rocket Hits Galilee by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu OCT 27,09

(IsraelNN.com) Terrorists in southern Lebanon fired a Katyusha rocket on the Upper Galilee shortly after 7 p.m. (1 p.m. EDT). No one was wounded and no damage was reported, but a fire broke out at the site of the explosion. The IDF retaliated with half a dozen rounds of artillery fire. The explosion occurred near Kiryat Shmona, and police and civil defense authorities are searching for the point of impact. Lebanese authorities confirmed that the rocket was fired from a village near the Israeli border.The rocket may have been fired by a terrorist cell not directly connected with Hizbullah. Earlier in the day, Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited the area and said, Quiet has been maintained here for nine years after many years of attacks and the painful five-week period of the Second Lebanon War.Tuesday's attack was at least the ninth since the end of the war in 2006.United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) forces have been mandated to keep Hizbullah out of southern Lebanon as part of the ceasefire agreement to which Israel agreed to end the Second Lebanon War in August 2006.Its commanders said at the outset that they would not carry out the mandate to disarm, Hizbullah, which is estimated to have stockpiled between 60,000 and 80,000 rockets since the end of the war, more than three times the amount it possessed before it attacked Israel with more than 1,000 rockets.

Ahmadinejad: Zionist regime is a threat to all nations Tuesday, 27 October 2009 13:37News from Jerusalem Ahmadinejad calls for Israel to be Wiped of the map!!

The Zionist regime is a threat to all nations ... it cannot tolerate the existence of any strong country in the region,said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday, according to Teheran news agency Press TV.Ahmadinejad spoke after welcoming Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who arrived in Teheran Tuesday for a two-day visit.Iran's president praised Erdogan's stance over Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the Turkish leader's clear stance toward the Zionist regime has had a positive impact on the world of Islam.At an international conference in January, Erdogan strongly condemned Israel's offensive in Gaza and the steep Palestinian casualties inflicted there. The Iranian leader is known for his anti-Israeli remarks since 2005, when he said the Jewish state should be wiped off the map.Ahmadinejad lashed out at Israel, which is believed to have nuclear weapons, saying that when an illegal regime has atomic weapons, it's impossible to block others from having peaceful nuclear energy.The Iranian leader was echoing statements voiced by Erdogan in the Guardian on Monday, accusing the five permanent Security Council members of hypocrisy. While these countries put pressure on Iran, which does not have a weapon, he said, they themselves keep nuclear arsenals for military purposes.During the Guardian interview, Erdogan also referred to reports saying Israel or other Western countries were planning to carry out what he termed a crazy attack against Iran in lieu of sanctions or negotiations.

On the one hand you say you want global peace, on the other hand you are going to have such a destructive approach to a state which has 10,000 years of history. It is not correct,he was quoted as saying, adding that Ankara was firm in its belief that Teheran's nuclear program was peaceful.Ahmadinejad reportedly suggested that if Turkey and Iran reinforce their unity, they will overcome serious threats and make use of opportunities in favor of their own nations.In related news, Ahmadinejad announced on Tuesday that his country would persist with its nuclear program, despite international concerns.His remarks were the first since a UN-backed draft was put forth aimed at easing tensions with the West.Iranian State TV reported later on Tuesday that Teheran opposes shipping its full stockpile of low-enriched uranium at once, and seeks changes to the UN plan.The demand for a step-by-step approach Tuesday came as the world awaited Iran's decision on the plan, which seeks to ease Western worries about the country's ability to one day create nuclear weapons.The UN plan envisages Teheran sending out most of its low-enriched stock to Russia for further processing, which would reduce its stockpile significantly and limit its potential capability to build nuclear arms.According to the plan, the higher-enriched uranium would be used to power a small medical research reactor in the Islamic republic's capital.Iran's stance on the plan has so far been unclear, and an official response from Teheran is expected on Friday.Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki hinted Monday Teheran could agree to ship some of its low-enriched uranium to Russia for processing as reactor fuel - but also left the possibility open that Iran may snub the proposal altogether.The remarks came as UN inspectors were visiting a formerly secret mountainside uranium enrichment site near Qom, south of Teheran.jpost

Arab prof: Blowing oneself up OK in Tel Aviv Tuesday, 27 October 2009 07:33 News from Jerusalem OK in Tel-Aviv!!!

Suicide bombings are OK in Tel Aviv, Israel, but not in Saudi Arabia, declared a Saudi professor speaking on Arab satellite television.Someone who blows himself up amidst the enemy is different from someone who blows himself up in a safe place. Blowing oneself up in Tel Aviv is not like blowing oneself up in Riyadh, stated Saudi University professor Salman Al-Abdali on Iqra TV, an Arab educational television network.Explosive belts are legitimate when they are used against colonialist aggressors,added Al-Abdali.Let me reiterate: colonialist aggressors, who cross continents and oceans, in order to invade the lands of the Muslims.The television clip was translated into English by the Middle East Media Research Institute.The Saudi professor was speaking earlier this month, just days after Saudi Arabia denied it offered the Israel Air Force permission to fly over its territory to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.The Arab country was responding to reports claiming it had agreed to turn a blind eye and not interfere should Israel and the U.S. attack Iranian nuclear facilities through Saudi air space.WND last month quoted an Egyptian intelligence official stating Saudi Arabia was cooperating with Israel on the Iranian nuclear issue.The official said Saudi Arabia had been passing intelligence information to Israel related to Iran. He affirmed a report from the Arab media, strongly denied by the Israeli government, that Saudi Arabia has granted Israel overflight permission during any attack against Iran's nuclear facilities.

The official previously told WND that Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, has been involved in an intense, behind-the-scenes lobbying effort urging the U.S. and other Western countries to do everything necessary to ensure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons. Such weapons would threaten Saudi Arabia's position of influence in the Middle East.The Egyptian official said his country believes it is not likely President Obama will grant Israel permission to attack Iran.He spoke in the past about other Arab countries' efforts to oppose an Iranian nuclear umbrella but did not comment on Egypt's own position on the matter.Egypt recently granted Israel permission to conduct naval exercises off Egyptian coastal waters. The military drills clearly were aimed at Iran.Both Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as other Arab countries, such as Jordan, are influenced by Sunni Islam. Those Arab countries are threatened by the growing influence of Iran, dominated by Shiite Islam.
wnd

UN team unwelcome in Tehran, Mottaki whittles down overseas enrichment plan Tuesday, 27 October 2009 06:49 News from Jerusalem Just arrived, ordered to leave? Senior Iranian MP Alaeddin Boroujerd said Monday afternoon, Oct. 26 that the UN inspectors had carried out their mission to visit a newly-disclosed uranium enrichment plant and may leave Iran later in the day.

DEBKAfile's Iranian sources report that the nuclear watchdog team were supposed to have paid a second visit to the Fordu plant near Qom in the next two days after their first trip on Sunday. So either the Iranians cut the inspectors' mission short or they were denied access to the suspected facility and aborted.Earlier, as world powers waited on tenterhooks for Tehran's reply to the IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei's overseas enrichment proposal, Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki came up with a new offer: There are two options on the table… either to buy it or give part of our fuel for further processing abroad.

He said a final Iranian reply would come within days.DEBKAfile's Iranian sources report: The idea Mottaki threw out was aimed at seeing how far the Islamic Republic could whittle down the original proposal to send 75 percent of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for conversion into unweaponizable fuel for a research reactor, without giving up its inalienable right to enrich its own nuclear material.
Iran was let off the hook of the Friday Oct. 23 deadline for its reply, although the US, France, Russia approved the deal on time. Mottaki took up the slack to try and push the powers and ElBaradei a bit further into accepting the reduction of overseas shipments and licensing Iran to import some more, a suggestion not included in the Elbaradei plan because it would violate UN Security Council Resolutions. In this way, Tehran hoped to let go of only a (negotiable) part of its enriched uranium - and so invalidate President Barack Obama's plan to lose control of most of the enriched uranium it held in stock that could be used for making a nuclear device.This new Iranian proposal boils down to a deal to break that stock down into consignments of, say, 100-200 kgs, each to be posted overseas over a period of months or even years.This was confirmed by MP Boroujerd, the head of parliament's foreign policy commission, who said: Because the West has repeatedly violated agreements in the past, Iran should send its low enriched uranium abroad for further processing gradually and in several phases and necessary guarantees should be taken.

He said this to Iran's Arabic language al Alam television Monday.Since Iran is known to produce 3,175 kgs of enriched uranium a day at its overt plant in Natanz, it would need 77 days to produce the 200 kg taken out of stock for shipping to Russia and France. This is the quantity Tehran proposes to purchase to keep its stock level, refusing under any circumstances to be deprived of a sufficiency of material for producing a nuclear weapon.Tehran will accept the world powers-IAEA deal only if it can be finagled to meet this fundamental principle - a process Mottaki has kicked off.How far are the US, Russia and France coordinated on standing up to Tehran's dickering? Speaking after the Iranian foreign minister, a senior Russian official Sergei Ryabkov urged the exercise of patience with the Islamic Republic: We should not give the impression that everything has stayed as it was. On the contrary, we need to give the Iranians positive stimuli.debka

Jerusalem Bulldozes Five Illegal Arab Buildings
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu OCT 27,09

(IsraelNN.com) Jerusalem razed five more illegal Arab structures on Tuesday, continuing a policy that flies in the face of U.S. President Barack Obama’s demands that Israel keep its hands off the illegal construction while freezing building for Jews. The Netanyahu government has rejected the freeze in the capital.Tuesday’s demolitions were carried out without incident in Arab neighborhoods, including Jabal Mukhabar, home of several Arab terrorists who carried out attacks while bearing Israeli identity cards.Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat approved the action with a court ruling against the illegal buildings, many of which are found throughout eastern Jerusalem and act as an obstacle to Jewish contiguity from Ramallah, to the north, and Maaleh Adumim to the east. A Jerusalem judge agreed with city officials that the homes were built without approval and on land that is zoned as a green area.

Nearly 70 homes have been demolished this year, but government officials previously have estimated that approximately 40,000 Arab homes in the capital have been built without permits. Then-Housing Minister Natan Sharansky asserted seven years ago that the homes are built for political reasons, in strategic areas of the city, along side roads and in areas where they can help split Jerusalem apart ... [and are] built by wealthy Arab contractors, paid for by Saudi Arabia.President Obama’s policy, following a long-standing State Department position, considers all of eastern Jerusalem, including the Western Wall area and the neighborhoods of Ramot, French Hill, among others, to be occupied territory.

American Jews X-ing Out J Street by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu OCT 27,09

(IsraelNN.com) The self-proclaimed pro-Israel J Street lobby opened its nationwide conference this week, trying to survive a growing tide of American Jews who oppose its anti-Israeli government policies.Speaking at the opening of its three-day conference this week in Washington, the group's director, Jeremy Ben-Ami, declared that J Street is defining support for the creation of a Palestinian state as a core pro-Israel position.He claimed wide backing for its policies despite the boycott of the conference by Michael Oren, the Israel Ambassador to Washington. Also absent were dozens of Congress members, concerned with the organization’s pro-Arab position and its opposition to tougher sanctions in Iran, which is trying to develop nuclear power while threatening to annihilate the Jewish State.Ben-Ami brushed aside Oren’s boycott by simply declaring that the ambassador made a serious mistake because we do love Israel [and] we do support Israel.Among J Street’s partners are the Brit Tzedek v’Shalom (Alliance for Peace and Justice), a group which backs an end to Israel's occupation of land acquired during the 1967 war and an end to Palestinian terrorism. It campaigned three years ago with Americans for Peace Now to oppose the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism law.The lobby, largely funded by billionaire George Soros, has gone on the defensive for its views, with its branch on universities officially dropping the claim that it is pro-Israel.

Former Israel diplomat Lenny Ben-David, writing on his private blog last week, cited Ben-Ami’s having been a senior vice president for Fenton Communications, which signed a contract with a foundation in Qatar to lead an anti-Israeli campaign on American campuses.Did you sever your ties with Fenton when you began J Street? Ben-David asked.Do you retain any role or holdings in Fenton today? Did you play any role in introducing Fenton to the Qatari agents or play any role in facilitating the contract? Were you aware of the negotiations or the contract signed on March 12, 2009?

Ben-Ami has not responded.

Ben-David also challenged J Street’s claim that about five of its donors are Muslims and Arabs. He wrote,A partial listing quickly extracted from the U.S. Federal Election Commission shows more than 30 contributors, many with ties to Arab-American organizations.Previous reports have stated that Arabs and Muslims contribute approximately 10 percent of J Street’s $3 million annual budget.

Israel’s First Secure ER Protects Patients from Chemical Warfare
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu OCT 27,09

(IsraelNN.com) The Rambam Hospital in Haifa dedicated this week a new $14 million emergency facility that provides protection from missiles and chemical weapons that Israel believes may be in Hizbullah’s possession. The hospital was one of hundreds of civilian targets that came under fire by the terrorist organization in the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.The new emergency room is the first stage of a plan that includes the establishment of a secure underground hospital for 1,730 patients, a children’s hospital and facilities for cancer care and for cardiac treatment, and a tower for clinical research.Government sources provided one quarter of the construction costs, and private donors and organizations provided the remainder.The new emergency room complex, when completed, will be more than three times larger than the previous facility, covering three-quarters of an acre with the ability to treat 60 patients simultaneously, according to Rambam Health Care Campus director Prof. Rafi Beyar.

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/
CNBC VIDEOS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839263/site/14081545/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS WED OCT 28,2009

09:30 AM -5.59
10:00 AM -17.16
10:30 AM -24.34
11:00 AM -47.23
11:30 AM -17.16
12:00 PM -30.25
12:30 PM -43.76
01:00 PM -51.54
01:30 PM -41.87
02:00 PM -59.70
02:30 PM -77.09
03:00 PM -80.74
03:30 PM -100.44
04:00 PM -119.48 9762.69

S&P 500 1042.63 -20.78

NASDAQ 2059.61 -56.48

GOLD 1,027.80 -7.60

OIL 77.26 -2.25

TSE 300 10,829.20 -224.34

CDNX 1263.41 -43.05

S&P/TSX/60 643.32 -12.62

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow +12.60%
S&P +17.73%
Nasdaq +34.18%
TSX Advances 568,declines 978,unchanged 232,Volume 443,007,870.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 366,Declines 550,Unchanged 340,Volume 203,290,817.

Dow -27 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -64 points at low today.
Dow +21 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,037.00.OIL opens at $8.85 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -64 points at low today so far.
Dow +21 points at high today so far.

INVENTORIES (WEDNESDAYS)
CRUDE OIL +800,000 Barrels
GASOLINE +1.6 MILLION Barrels
DISTILLATE INV -2.1 MILLION Barrels
REFINERY UTILIZATION +0.7% TO 81.8%

DAY TODAY PERFORMANCE - 12:30PM STATS
NYSE Advances 771,declines 2,892,unchanged 66,New Highs 46,New Lows 37.
Volume 3,155,202,073.
NASDAQ Advances 646,declines 1,924,unchanged 98,New highs 14,New Lows 29.
Volume 1,152,605,480.
TSX Advances 307,declines 1,084,unchanged 191,Volume 259,133,474.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 203,Declines 526,Unchanged 288,Volume 118,384,606.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -123 points at low today.
Dow +21 points at high today.
Dow -1.21% today Volume 257,300,359.
Nasdaq -2.67% today Volume 2,629,027,657.
S&P 500 -1.95% today Volume N/A

GETTING TOUGH ON TO BIG TO FAIL
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1310167999&play=1
T-NOTE AUCTION RESULTS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1310159636&play=1
US HEADING FOR NEW FINANCIAL CRISIS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1310074472&play=1
IS VOLITILITY BACK
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1310056330&play=1

Op-Ed Contributor We Can Do It By BAN KI-MOON
Published: October 25, 2009

Every day, the critical December summit in Copenhagen grows closer. All agree that climate change is an existential threat to humankind. Yet agreement on what to do still eludes us. How can this be? The issues are complex, affecting everything from national economies to individual lifestyles. They involve political trade-offs and commitments of resources no leader can undertake lightly. We could see all that at recent climate negotiations in Bangkok. Where we needed progress, we saw gridlock.

Yet the elements of a deal are on the table. All we require to put them in place is political will. We need to step back from narrow national interest and engage in frank and constructive discussion in a spirit of global common cause. In this, we can be optimistic. Meeting in London earlier this week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the leaders of 17 major economies (responsible for some 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions) that success in Copenhagen is within reach—if they themselves engage, and especially if they themselves go to Copenhagen to push an agenda for change.U.S. leadership is crucial. That is why I am encouraged by the spirit of compromise shown in the bipartisan initiative announced last week by John Kerry and Lindsey Graham. Here was a pair of U.S. senators — one Republican, the other Democratic — coming together to bridge their parties’ differences to address climate change in a spirit of genuine give-and-take. We cannot afford another period where the United States stands on the sidelines. An engaged United States can lead the world to seal a deal to combat climate change in Copenhagen. An indecisive or insufficiently engaged United States will cause unnecessary — and ultimately unaffordable — delay in concrete strategies and policies to beat this looming challenge.Leaders across the globe are increasingly showing the engagement and leadership we need. Last month, President Barack Obama joined more than 100 others at a climate change summit at U.N. headquarters in New York — sending a clear message of solidarity and commitment. So did the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, all of whom pledged to promote the development of clean energy technologies and ensure that Copenhagen is a success.

Japan’s prime minister promised a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020, laying down a marker for other industrialized nations. The European Union, too, has pledged to make a 30 percent reduction as part of a global agreement. Norway has announced its readiness for a 40 percent cut in emissions. Brazil has unveiled plans to substantially cut emissions from deforestation. India and China are implanting programs to curb emissions as well.

Looking forward to Copenhagen, I have four benchmarks for success:Every country must do its utmost to reduce emissions from all major sources, including from deforestation and emissions from shipping and aviation. Developed countries must strengthen their mid-term mitigation targets, which are currently nowhere close to the cuts that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says are needed. Developing countries must slow the rise in their emissions and accelerate green growth as part of their strategies to reduce poverty. A successful deal must strengthen the world’s ability to cope with an already changing climate. In particular, it must provide comprehensive support to those who bear the heaviest climate impacts. Support for adaptation is not only an ethical imperative; it is a smart investment in a more stable, secure world. A deal needs to be backed by money and the means to deliver it. Developing countries need funding and technology so they can move more quickly toward green growth. The solutions we discuss cannot be realized without substantial additional financing, including through carbon markets and private investment. A deal must include an equitable global governance structure. All countries must have a voice in how resources are deployed and managed. That is how trust will be built.Can we seal a comprehensive, equitable and ambitious deal in Copenhagen that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global temperature rise to a scientifically safe level? Can we catalyze clean energy growth? Can we help to protect the most vulnerable nations from the effects of climate change? Can we expect the United States to play a leading role? The best answer to all these questions was given last week by Senators Kerry and Graham: Yes, we can.Ban Ki-moon is secretary general of the United Nations.

Ethics talk on human rights and globalization
Oct. 27, 2009 WMU NEWS

KALAMAZOO--Human rights and the rise of globalization will intersect during a talk on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at Western Michigan University as part of the Center for the Study for Ethics in Society's fall lecture series.Dr. Carol C. Gould, professor of political science and director of the Center for Global Ethics and Politics at the Ralph Bunche Institute, The City University of New York, will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Room 2028 of Brown Hall. Her presentation, titled Diversity, Democracy and Dialogue in a Human Rights Framework, is free and open to the public.In her lecture, Gould will focus on the growing awareness of the power and scope of globalization in its various dimensions as well as the growing importance of institutions of global governance. The development of a global, public sphere of discourse and deliberation have raised hopes that disparate groups can provide input into the decisions and policies of global governance. Gould will look at the possibilities, but says transnational deliberation must be framed by human rights agreements to protect the interests of all. In addition to her duties as a center director and professor of political science, Gould also is a professor of philosophy at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of The City University of New York. She is editor of the Journal of Social Philosophy and executive director of the Society for Philosophy and Public Affairs.Gould also is the author of Marx's Social Ontology,Rethinking Democracy and Globalizing Democracy and Human Rights,which won the David Easton Award from the Foundations of Political Theory Section of the American Political Science Association. She has also edited seven books and has published numerous articles in social and political philosophy, philosophy of law, feminist theory and applied ethics.

The challenges of global governance-IMF isn't the right body to become regulator Alia McMullen, Financial Post Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Charles Crowell/Bloomberg News Kenneth Rogoff speaks at a news conference at the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the IMF and World Bank in Dubai.
National governments need to make way for international authorities to play a greater role in governance, particularly when it comes to finance and trade, says Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard University professor and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.We probably need to strike a different balance between roles for national authorities, with international authorities taking more of a role,Prof. Rogoff said in an interview with the Financial Post at a recent governance conference held at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.He said the financial sector was a prime example where global governance was needed, with the inadequacies of the present system highlighted by the financial crisis.I agree that we should have a global financial regulator,he said.My main reason is that I think a financial regulator needs to be insulated from political pressures and it is very hard to do that with a domestic financial regulator.

He said the financial crisis was a watershed for the Groups of 20 nations, with developed countries recognizing the need for developing and emerging-market economies to have a seat at the table in international talks. At the same time, he said he was concerned that the multitude of interests in the G20 would result in more talk than action.The IMF, a global financial authority, has also increased in importance as a result of the crisis, with a number of countries approaching the body for financial aid. But Prof. Rogoff said the IMF was not the right institution to become a global financial regulator.I think it's great that it's been given much more of a role in supervision and regulation and it's really had a rebirth from the crisis, but at the same time, I'm against having a super-sized IMF,he said.He said a larger IMF would raise huge questions of moral hazard -- that is, creating a governance system where the players in it did not fear failure and took imprudent risks.People think the IMF is tough. The truth is it finds it almost impossible to say no,he said.The IMF is lending in places like the Ukraine and Eastern Europe and over time it's just going to let them dig a deeper hole before they have their financial crisis.Other institutions, such as the World Trade Organization, have also been faced with challenges as globalization brings countries closer together. Prof. Rogoff said the WTO had run into a brick wall regarding such countries as China, India and Brazil.For all their complaining about the WTO, they are the world's biggest beneficiaries of it,he said of the three countries.They're allowed to export goods with virtually no restrictions and they are still allowed to place heavy import quotas.He said import barriers in China were extremely unfair and the WTO needed to provide more leadership to encourage developing and emerging-market countries such as China to open their markets because of their growing role in world trade.The big problem with the WTO is that the fast-growing countries that are taking over an ever-larger share of world trade are operating as if they're small African countries,Prof. Rogoff said.He said the WTO was one of many international organizations in a transition of rebalancing power.amcmullen@nationalpost.com

Loonie intervention not to be taken lightly Paul Vieira, Financial Post
Published: Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Reuters Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
OTTAWA -- Mark Carney, the Bank of Canada governor, told federal MPs on Tuesday that central bank intervention in currency markets -- on its own -- seldom works unless backed by other appropriate policy measures.Further, he added, the decision to intervene is not to be taken lightly,and should be executed only if the dollar's movements would have serious consequences on the economic outlook.In testimony before the House of Commons finance committee, he said at this stage,the measures the central bank has put forward, such as the pledge to keep its key policy rate at a historic low until June 2010, are consistent with its objective to get inflation to the 2% level.The stronger loonie, up as much as 25% this year, has subdued inflationary pressures, Mr. Carney said. The bank sets its policy rate with the aim of reaching 2% inflation.On Tuesday, the Canadian dollar was trading up slightly at 93.87 U.S. cents.If needed, Mr. Carney reiterated that Bank of Canada has the option of flooding the financial markets with additional cash -- through so-called credit and quantitative easing -- in an effort to keep a lid on rates with the intent of lessening the loonie's appeal to foreign investors.The tank is full,Mr. Carney said, in reference to the unconventional policy tools he has available should they be required.

MPs on the committee applauded the Bank of Canada's efforts to talk down the dollar, which it has tried to do through speeches by members of the governing council and stronger language in policy statements.Mr. Carney said there are only two occasions in which the central bank would consider intervention: when there is a breakdown in foreign-exchange markets; and if the persistent move in the currency, in either direction, would result in serious implications for the economy.The last time the central bank intervened, on its own, to alter the course of the Canadian dollar was in 1998.Just hours before Mr. Carney's testimony before MPs, the chief economist at CIBC World Markets said the Bank of Canada could effectively intervene in currency markets to dampen the Canadian dollar should its strength threaten to sacrifice the country's industrial heartland.In an article, Avery Shenfeld said it may be time for the central bank to revisit its view on currency intervention, which it hasn't done on its own in nearly 11 years. Anyone who has watched the Canadian dollar's performance in the last 15 years would have a tough time arguing that foreign exchange markets are the perfectly rational, calculating machines that the textbooks suggest,he said.He cited precedence in Switzerland, where that central bank moved this year to stop the Swiss franc's appreciation against the euro.Intervention is a powerful tool for those who opt to use it.

Financials lead TSX decline Financial Post
Published: Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Reuters In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index was on pace for a third straight day of losses.North American stock markets were mixed at midday on Tuesday, with the benchmark Canadian index losing points on falling gold prices and the Dow Jones in New York gaining on positive housing and retail numbers.In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index was on pace for a third straight day of losses, down about 75 points, or 0.7%, to 11,1604, led by the financials and materials sectors.Oil at noon was selling for US $79.41 a barrel, up 73 cents, while gold was down $4.00 to US$1,038.80 an ounce.At noon the Canadian dollar was up 19 basis points from Monday's close, trading at 93.91 cents US.In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was up about 64 points, or 0.6%, to around 9,929 at midday, buoyed by the third monthly increase in the Case/Shiller home price index and a 1.8% rise in retail sales, according to the Johnson Redbook retail sales index.The U.S. Conference Board's gauge of consumer confidence's unexpected decrease in October of 5.7 points briefly erased early gains.The Nasdaq composite index defied the U.S. trend, losing about nine points, or 0.4%, at midday, to 2,133, as Apple and Amazon.com lost ground.
Overseas markets were similarly uneven, with European markets trading mostly on the plus side, while Asian markets posted losses.

Sarkozy under fire for indecent spending during EU presidency
VALENTINA POP Today OCT 28,09 @ 17:13 CET

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has come under fire for what his critics call indecent spending of an average €1 million a day during the six months he chaired the EU presidency.A report on the accounts of the French EU presidency published by the Court of Auditors put the cat among the pigeons in the political establishment on Wednesday (28 October), with opposition figures bashing the indecent spending of €171 million over six months, meaning an average of €1 million a day.Among the extravagances was the EU-Mediterranean summit organised on 13 and 14 July 2008, which cost around €17 million and where leaders dined for €5,050 per person. A shower for €276,000 was also installed temporarily in the Grand Palace in Paris, but the president never used it. It had massage and surround sound radio functions and was custom built for the 1.6 metre tall president, the UK's Daily Telegraph reported.
French socialist lawmaker Rene Dosiere, specialised in public expenditures, said the the decadent dinner cost more than five times a normal meal at a time when French have to tighten their belt.

The President has lost touch with reality,Mr Dosiere argued.For his part, Frederic Lefebvre, a spokesman for the centre-right UMP party of Mr Sarkozy said the accusations were dishonest and simple lies.No meal cost more than €5,000 per person. And that includes the costs of refurbishing the place where the summit took place, he insisted.As for the shower, Mr Lefebvre said in reality the cost was for the refurbishing of eight rooms with toilets for the heads of state.A spokesperson for the French government also stressed that the president never showers in the Grand Palais. He takes his shower at the Elysee [palace] or at home.

Commission unveils van CO2 emissions standards proposal
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today OCT 28,09 @ 17:33 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has proposed a significantly watered-down bill that aims to reduce CO2 emissions from vans.The new legislation, approved at the last meeting of the college of commissioners in its the current term before it transforms into a caretaker executive, requires that emissions for each new model of van from a manufacturer cough out no more than 175 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre.The limit will be phased in slowly, with three quarters of vans required to meet the target by 2014, four fifths by 2015 and all vans by 2016.A tighter target of 135g/km would be scheduled for 2020.However, earlier texts had suggested the 175g/km target be met by 2012, with a second target of 160g/km to be met by 2015.

In a further weakening, minibuses are to be exempted from the law.

Meanwhile, van-makers who exceed the limit will be fined five euros per gramme per kilometre if they miss the threshold by one gramme, a fine that climbs to €125 per gramme per kilometre if they exceed the carbon ceiling by four grammes.Admitting that the bill was not first rate, environment commissioner Stavros Dimas bluntly told reporters as he announced the proposal: The level of ambition is not as high as it was initially, but it's still a very important decision.He felt that it was now or never for the legislation, meant to complement similar laws covering emissions from cars passed at the end of 2008. If we didn't have a proposal today, whether we would have had one in the near future is uncertain,he said.Green transport campaigners were displeased by the proposal.Kerstin Meyer of Transport & Environment said: We need to start cutting carbon now, not in 2016. The EU is once again weakening vehicle fuel efficiency standards, one of the most important tools for tackling carbon emissions and oil use.The campaign group noted that the schedule represents a 14 percent reduction over nine years on the 2007 level of 203 g/km. Meanwhile, the best diesel cars have already improved by up to 27 percent over just the last two years. T&E argues that it is possible for the technology developed for cars to be used for vans.EU governments have spent billions in recent months on subsidies for new vehicles, bailouts for automotive companies, and taxpayer-backed loans for the development of low carbon vehicle technology,added Ms Meyer.By lobbying against fuel efficiency standards, the automotive industry is showing that it is more than happy to take taxpayers' money and run.

Bungled commission message lets Spanish firms off hook
ANDREW WILLIS Today OCT 28,09 @ 17:31 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The European Commission told Spain to abolish a corporate tax scheme on Wednesday (28 October), on the basis that it gives Spanish firms an unfair advantage in European takeover deals. But many firms appear to have escaped scot-free, as the obligation to pay back the illegal tax relief to the Spanish government will only apply to takeovers carried out after December 2007, the date when the commission announced its investigation. As a result, no money will be paid back on the vast majority of lucrative deals netted by a number of Spanish firms since the government tax scheme came into place in 2002.Compounding the issue, the lucky let-off for the firms was caused by unclear statements made by one commissioner in particular to the European parliament, leading lawyers to advise against demands for pre-December 2007 paybacks. Under the Spanish tax scheme, national firms taking over non-Spanish European firms were allowed to write off, over a period of 20 years, the excess price paid for the acquisition of a business over the market value of the assets composing it.When looking to takeover competing firms, company boards will typically make an offer exceeding the market value of the target firm.This tax provision gives a discriminatory advantage to Spanish companies when acquiring shares in other European companies, said the EU's competition watchdog, Neelie Kroes, in a statement.

Legal basis undermined

But despite the commission decision, Spanish firms who concluded deals before December 2007 will not have to pay back the funds and can even continue to write off the excess value paid for a takeover. Privately commission officials admit that their legal argument to take a stronger line was severely weakened by mixed messages coming out of the executive itself during the period in question. One exasperated official specifically pointed to comments made by the EU's internal market commissioner to the European Parliament, indicating Spanish firms could argue they were ambiguous regarding the legality of the Spanish scheme. As a result, major takeover deals such as O2's acquisition by Telefonica or Scottish Power's aquisition by Iberdrola will be unaffected by the commission's announcement.Despite the apparent let-off, doubts existed as to whether the Spanish administration would force companies who made deals after December 2007 to pay back illegal tax relief.

After an unannounced meeting with Ms Kroes in Brussels a few weeks ago, Spanish finance minister Elena Salgado declared no firms would have to pay back the money.
But Spanish diplomats in Brussels on Wednesday signaled that Spain would comply with the new decision.

What recovery? Americans still gloomy on economy By ASHLEY M. HEHER, AP Retail Writer – Tue Oct 27, 4:36 pm ET

CHICAGO – The housing market and stocks may be looking up, but Americans just can't shake their job worries.In a sign that talk of an economic recovery has yet to soothe a recession-battered nation, consumer confidence fell in October and came in well below what analysts were expecting.For stores, the reading is reason to worry that holiday sales might be even worse than they feared.In a separate reading, the Conference Board reported shoppers' sentiments about the state of the economy are the gloomiest in nearly three decades. Americans reported they plan to cut back on spending, in large part because they don't trust the job market.The unemployment rate is just under 10 percent, and economists say it could hit 10.5 percent next year.It's hard to get a job, and the ones that are out there don't pay enough, said Mitch Hicks, a 33-year-old from Hillsboro, Ore., who lost his job at a cabinet company a year ago and is still struggling to find work.The board's index of consumer confidence fell to 47.7 in October from 53.4 in September. Economists were expecting only a small decline, to 53.1. It takes a reading of 90 to indicate an economy on solid footing, 100 or more to indicate growth.Nearly half the 5,000 households surveyed by the board said jobs were hard to come by, and about one in four said they expected fewer available jobs in the coming months.We've gone down so far that it's kind of like when you fall into a deep hole and you're down 20 feet and you climb up by three feet,said Brian Bethune, an economist at IHS Global Insight.You're better off than you were before, but you've still got a long way to go to get out.There have been signs of recovery elsewhere: Corporate earnings are getting stronger, the stock market has regained much of its lost ground and figures due out Thursday are expected to show the recession officially ended in June or July.

And there was another indication Tuesday that the housing market is stabilizing. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller price index showed home prices in August climbed for the third consecutive month, helped by a popular tax credit for first-time homebuyers.

But all the improvements haven't translated to economic security.Sharon Jerndt, 47, is trimming her holiday gift list because she's scared of racking up credit card debt. She's also eating at home and skipping other indulgences.I'm trying to only pay with cash,said Jerndt, who works as a court reporter in Chicago.Economists pay close attention to consumer confidence because it's a good barometer of the attitude of shoppers, whose spending on goods and services ultimately fuels 70 percent of the U.S. economy.At best, economists expect holiday sales to be flat from a year ago, when businesses recorded their biggest declines in at least four decades.Americans are quite pessimistic about their future earnings, a sentiment that will likely constrain spending during the holidays,said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center.The confidence index sank to a historic low of 25.3 in February. It's still well below the reading of 61.4 last fall just before Lehman Brothers collapsed, the beginning of the financial crisis.AP Retail Writers Sarah Skidmore in Portland, Ore., and Betsy Vereckey in Chicago contributed to this report.

Stocks mostly fall on mixed data; IBM lifts Dow By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer – Tue Oct 27, 5:49 pm ET

NEW YORK – Stocks mostly fell Tuesday as mixed reports on home prices and consumer confidence gave investors little incentive to step into the market.Rising energy stocks and a decision by IBM Corp. to double its stock-repurchase plan propped up the Dow Jones industrials but the Nasdaq composite index slid after Chinese Internet search company Baidu Inc. warned its revenue could take a hit as it switches its advertising system.Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.Bond prices rose after strong demand at a government debt auction, signaling that investors are still seeking safety.Stocks rose at the start of trading following a report that home prices in 20 major metropolitan markets increased for the third straight month in August. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index gained 1 percent in August from July.However, the gains in home prices couldn't offset worries that consumers might not be in a mood to spend this holiday season. The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index fell unexpectedly to 47.7 in October, its second-lowest reading since May. Analysts predicted a figure of 53.1.While data on consumer confidence can be volatile, the drop-off still took some of the sheen off corporate profit reports for the July-September quarter, which have been coming in ahead of expectations.When I look at the consumer, I think that is the next big test,said Dave Hinnenkamp, chief executive KDV Wealth Management in Minneapolis.We've passed a big test on the earnings front.

The Dow rose 14.21, or 0.1 percent, to 9,882.17. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.54, or 0.3 percent, to 1,063.41, while Nasdaq fell 25.76, or 1.2 percent, to 2,116.09.Bond prices rose after a Treasury Department auction of $44 billion in two-year notes drew robust demand. That pushed yields lower. The yield on the two-year note rose fell to 0.94 percent from 1.04 percent late Monday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.45 percent from 3.56 percent.Stocks have fallen for most of the past week on worries about the economy. The Dow dropped 104 points Monday after a similar slide Friday. It was the first consecutive triple-digit loss for the Dow since mid-June.The drops have come as a strengthening dollar pushed the prices of commodities lower. The dollar mostly rose again Tuesday but didn't dominate trading.Analysts say the coming days could be choppy as traders look for fuel to extend the market's climb. The down days are welcome by those who say the advance has been too quick. The S&P 500 index is up 57.2 percent since March but down 3.1 percent from the start of last week when it closed at its highest level in more than a year.The end of the month could also present hurdles. For many mutual funds, the last trading day of their fiscal year is Friday. Fund managers looking to minimize taxes for shareholders could sell some of their investments.Investors are also looking to the government's first reading on economic output for the third quarter. The report on gross domestic product is due Thursday and could signal an end to the recession that many analysts have said is over, at least officially.

Joe Battipaglia, market strategist for the private client group at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Yardley, Pa., said recent economic data don't support arguments for a fast recovery in the economy, nor do they suggest a rebound would be weak enough to push stocks back down to the levels of eight months ago.We are in what I would call purgatory right now where the U.S. economy is rather limp,he said.Crude oil rose 87 cents to settle at $79.55 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold fell.

IBM, one of the 30 companies that make up the Dow, rose after it added $5 billion to its stock repurchase fund. The total now stands at $9.2 billion. The stock advanced 54 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $120.65. The rise in oil after a three-day slide helped lift energy stocks and the Dow. Exxon Mobil Corp., which is slated to report earnings Thursday, rose $1.68, or 2.3 percent, to $74.91.Baidu's American Depositary shares slid $49.31, or 11.4 percent, to $383.66 after it its warning about revenue.
Consolidated volume at the NYSE fell to 5.4 billion shares from 5.7 billion Monday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies slid 6.69, or 1.1 percent, to 586.99.
Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.1 percent, and France's CAC-40 slipped less than 0.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.5 percent.

Brown urges EU to create 10 million jobs by 2014 Tue Oct 27, 1:53 pm ET

LONDON (AFP) – The European Union should aim to create 10 million new jobs by 2014, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday, as it seeks to restore growth following the global economic downturn.In a letter to his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt, Brown said the target should be part of a new, explicit and urgent economic mission for the bloc which also includes maintaining stimulus measures and supporting business.We need to set an ambitious, yet realistic, target to create 10 million new jobs by 2014, ensuring that two million of these jobs are in low-carbon industries,Brown wrote to Reinfeldt, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.
European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday for a two-day summit, while finance ministers from the G20 will also gather in Scotland on November 6-7 to discuss banking regulation in the aftermath of the crisis.

Valero margins squeezed by rising crude prices By Chris Kahn, Ap Energy Writer – OCT 27,09

NEW YORK – The largest independent petroleum refiner in the U.S. said Tuesday it lost nearly $500 million in the third quarter as it was caught between a rise in oil prices and a slump in American travel.It was the second quarterly loss in a row for Valero. The company, which is based in San Antonio, Texas, lost $254 million between April and June.The recession has forced companies to slash travel budgets and so many workers have lost jobs that demand for the gasoline and jet fuel made by refiners has fallen sharply. But Valero's problems also show how the weak U.S. currency has hurt companies that typically see only a modest shift in results related to exchange rates.Crude contracts, which are priced in dollars, get more expensive as U.S. currency falls and investors holding euros and other strong foreign money can buy more.So the cost of Valero's main ingredient, oil, is rising but the fuel that it sells has not kept pace.Refiners historically have been able to pass along higher costs by charging more for gasoline and other refined products. They've had a tougher time doing that this year with the nation's appetite for energy shrinking, said Ann Kohler, an analyst with Caris and Company.Valero Energy Corp. reported a loss of $489 million, or 87 cents per share for the three months that ended in September. That compares with a profit of $1.2 billion, or $2.18 per share, in the third quarter of last year.Chief Financial Officer Mike Ciskowski told investors in a conference call that Valero expects to report a similar loss in the final three months of the year, excluding special items. The company may cut its shareholder dividend in the fourth quarter if industry conditions don't improve measurably,Ciskowski said.

Valero has tried to cut costs by costs by producing less. In September, the company shuttered its coker and gasifier complex at its Delaware City refinery. The company also shut down its coker and fluid catalytic cracking unit at its Corpus Christi refinery and kept its Valero Aruba refinery closed for an extended period.The company said in September that at least 150 employees and 100 contract workers would be let go in Delaware City, Del., and 700 more would lose their jobs at the Aruba refinery. This month, Valero announced it would slash 100 jobs from its Paulsboro plant in New Jersey by year's end.Other refineries have cut back as well, and U.S. gasoline supplies have dropped in the first three weeks of October. As a result, pump prices are headed higher this fall. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline on Tuesday, for the first time this year, costs more than it did 12 months ago.At this time last year as the financial crisis spread, the price of gasoline plummeted.Valero shares lost 88 cents, or 4.3 percent, to close at $19.39 Tuesday.

Obama team: US needs bill to lead in clean energy By H. JOSEF HEBERT and DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writers – OCT 27,09

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration warned on Tuesday that the U.S. could slip further behind China and other countries in clean energy development if Congress fails to pass climate legislation, as early signs of a rift emerged among Democrats over the bill's costs.Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a Senate panel that the U.S. has stumbled in the clean energy race and to catch up Congress must enact comprehensive energy legislation that puts the first-ever limits on the gases blamed for global warming.The United States ... has fallen behind,said Chu.But I remain confident that we can make up the ground.While the legislation is likely to clear the environment panel, more than a dozen Democrats have voice serious concerns about the potential economic fallout from shifting away from fossil fuels to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.On Tuesday, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee, told the hearing Tuesday that he had serious reservations with the aggressive effort to cut emissions over the next decade. The bill calls for greenhouse gases to be cut by 20 percent by 2020, a target that was scaled back to 17 percent in the House after opposition from coal-state Democrats.We cannot afford a first step that takes us further away from an achievable consensus on commonsense climate change legislation,Baucus said.Montana can't afford the unmitigated impacts of climate change, but we also cannot afford the unmitigated effects of climate change legislation,he said.The chief author of the Senate bill, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., acknowledged that the bill would raise energy prices, but said the savings from reducing energy and the money to be made in new technologies were far greater.

Are there some costs? Yes, sir, there are some costs,Kerry said. He added that while an array of studies show restricting greenhouse gases will lead to higher energy prices, none of them factor in the cost of doing nothing.Kerry got some much-needed backup from President Barack Obama, who made a stop at a solar energy site in Florida Tuesday.The president warned that opponents, whom he did not identify, would work against the climate bill.They're going to argue that we should do nothing, stand pat, do less or delay action yet again,said Obama.It's a debate between looking backward and looking forward, between those who are ready to seize the future and those who are afraid of the future.An Environmental Protection Agency analysis released late Friday said the average household would pay an additional $80 to $111 a year to power their homes and fuel their cars if the bill becomes law and businesses pass on the cost of reducing pollution to consumers.Republicans questioned the validity of the EPA study Tuesday. And Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the panel's top Republican, and a skeptic of the science behind global warming, said Americans would not stomach the expense.This is something the American people can't tolerate and I don't think they will,Inhofe said.With weeks remaining before 192 nations gather in Copenhagen, Denmark to negotiate a new global treaty to slow climate change, time is running out for the Senate to bridge the differences and pass a climate bill this year.Republicans complained that chairman Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who hopes to have the bill out of the environment committee in early November, was trying to rush the bill through without adequate study into its cost.Why are we trying to jam down this legislation now? asked Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio. Wouldn't it be smarter to take our time and do it right?
The bill is S. 1733.On the Net:Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee: http://www.epw.senate.gov

Senegal: IMF official given cash farewell gift By SADIBOU MARONE, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 27, 1:52 pm ET

DAKAR, Senegal – Senegal's president said Tuesday that he hosted a special dinner at his palace for a departing International Monetary Fund representative — only to have a top aide erroneously send him off with nearly $200,000 in cash as a goodbye gift.

President Abdoulaye Wade's admission has prompted the opposition in the West African nation to call for an investigation.Wade said his top aide gave the cash to IMF country director Alex Segura after a Sept. 25 dinner at the presidential palace marking the end of Segura's three-year term. Wade issued a statement Tuesday in which he said the gift was not a bribe.A top aide to the president asked if he should give something to Segura as is custom, the statement said.The president said yes without specifying the sum, as there was a common practice,the statement said. The top aide was mistaken about the amount and realized his error later.Wade did not specify what the proper amount was supposed to be. Nor did Wade say if the Senegalese government had followed a similar practice with other diplomats or foreign officials.An IMF statement said Segura left the president's house immediately for the airport and only later discovered that the gift was a large sum of U.S. dollars and euros. The IMF said they have returned the money to the Senegalese government.

Wade said he was not attempting to bribe Segura.It doesn't make sense to talk about corruption of someone who is leaving permanently without the slightest chance of meeting each other again one day,Wade said.Wade, the 83-year-old leader of Senegal, has come under increasing criticism for corruption allegations. He recently changed the constitution to alter the length of the presidential term from five to seven years. Last month, he announced that he planned to run for a third term — meaning that he could be in office well into his 90s.He has dismayed former supporters through ostentatious displays of wealth, including renting numerous suites in a luxury hotel in Switzerland this summer for his annual summer vacation. His Swiss holiday, which one newspaper claimed had cost the government at least $1.6 million, came at the same time that Senegal suffered devastating rains that flooded entire neighborhoods, causing some 264,000 people to lose their homes.He also has raised eyebrows by giving important portfolios to his son, Karim Wade, who was raised abroad and is not fluent in Wolof, the predominant local language. The elder Wade has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing by his son.Opposition legislator Imam Mbaye Niang said he will ask parliament to investigate the recent gift.Wade has to be taken to court for spending national money illegally,he said.Unfortunately I am sure that we will not succeed because the opposition is the minority in parliament.An IMF statement issued late Monday said the Washington-based organization would launch an independent investigation into the matter.The president explained that the money was intended as a traditional farewell gift to Mr. Segura in recognition of his contribution to Senegal, and was not in any way intended to influence either Mr. Segura, who was leaving the country permanently, or the IMF,the statement said.

The IMF said that Wade had acknowledged the amount that was provided was a mistake. The bank said Segura informed his successor on the night of his departure and they agreed that Segura would transport the money to his destination, Barcelona.With Mr. Segura worried about missing his flight and, concerned that there was no place to leave the money safely in Senegal, he decided to take the money aboard the plane, the statement said.The IMF said they returned the money to Senegal's ambassador to Spain in early October. Segura has since returned to Washington, the statement said.

Obama embraces House financial overhaul bill By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer - OCT 27,09

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Tuesday embraced a House bill that would give the government unprecedented power to seize bank holding companies and other large financial firms teetering on the brink of collapse and stick their competitors with the cost.In a letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, Obama said the belief among financial executives that the government would ultimately protect them creates a perverse incentive for large firms to take reckless risks.Taxpayers simply must not be put in the position of paying for losses incurred by private institutions,Obama wrote in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press.Under Frank's proposal, a council of regulators would be established to monitor financial firms regarded as so big and influential that their collapse could bring down the entire economy.If the council determines that a firm has grown too big and dangerous, the Federal Reserve could step in to dismantle it. Firms with more than $10 billion of assets would be responsible for covering any outstanding costs of that action.The agreement paves the way for the bill's swift approval. Frank's committee was expected to consider it next week with a floor vote anticipated as early as November.The proposal is the latest step by Obama and congressional Democrats to overhaul the regulatory framework governing financial institutions and clamp down on the kind of risky market bets that contributed to last year's market crisis.On Tuesday, Frank's committee voted 67-1 on legislation that would force hedge funds and other large privately managed pools of capital to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission and undergo periodic examinations.

Frank's latest proposal to give the government the power to dismantle large, influential non-bank firms is not expected to generate the same kind of consensus. Republicans are likely to oppose the measure because they say it will create the expectation that some companies will be bailed out by the government because of their designation as being critical to the health of the economy.Democrats counter that the bill will prevent future bailouts because it will enable regulators to dismantle these firms.The companies also would be required to hold more money in reserve and would have a tougher time borrowing against their assets, making it less likely they would fail.Obama credited Frank for acting quickly and in the face of substantial opposition.Federal regulators already can dismantle banks. But the government was powerless last year at the height of the financial crisis when large bank holding companies and other non-bank institutions, such as insurance giant American International Group, started failing.Who should pay to dismantle these firms had been considered among the toughest questions that Congress had to answer after last year's near-collapse of several firms that prompted hefty government bailouts.Lawmakers know that voters are still angry from the bailouts and don't want to see taxpayer money on the line. At the same time, businesses say it is unfair to force them to invest their capital in advance to pay for the mistakes of others.
Another major issue for lawmakers was how much power to give the Federal Reserve. Many lawmakers blame the Fed for the current financial crisis and said it should not be trusted to monitor the largest financial institutions for their risk to the economy.Whereas Obama's proposal would have put the Federal Reserve in charge of monitoring these large financial institutions, Frank's plan gives more power to a council of regulators. The council would monitor the firms and set policy, while the Fed would be in charge of enforcement.On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee was expected to approve legislation that would give the Securities and Exchange Commission more money and power to police the stock market and set new rules for credit rating agencies.Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

An American decline would undermine global security By Steve Yetiv – Tue Oct 27, 5:00 am ET

Norfolk, Va. – The great recession, mounting debt, military burdens, overconsumption. From New York to Beijing to Paris, there is talk, sometimes jubilant in tone, that the United States is on the decline. Some have even said that it's about time.The truth is, if the US declines, who else could take on the tremendous world role? No one. Rather than jeering, the rest of the world should consider just how much the US does, and step up support for it. The security of the world is at stake.The US has played a critical role in the Persian Gulf since Britain withdrew in 1971. Without a regional protector, regional crises would cause oil prices to spike, creating economic shocks around the world. Indeed, the most serious oil shocks have come when US capability in the region was weak (consider the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the 1979 Iranian revolution, the 1980 eruption of the Iran-Iraq war).Washington's role is also critical for Middle East peace. Israel is very strong, but a strain of its national psyche remains massively insecure. If Israel were to perceive American weakness, it would compensate by refusing to make serious concessions for peace.In Asia, Washington helps preempt a dangerous arms race. Understandably, the US wants Japan to fund more of its own costly defense. A weakening America would likely cause Japan to increase defense spending well beyond its norm of 1 percent of gross domestic product. That could trigger a runaway Asian arms race that hurts world security.

The world also benefits from the US-led fight against terrorism, the invasion of Iraq aside. America leads the world in fighting terrorism in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and around the world.The US also works hard to fight nuclear proliferation. The United Nations Security Council does not want a nuclear-armed Iran. Nor do most countries in the region. If the Iran nuclear standoff ends peacefully, it will be in part because Iran fears sustained US-led pressure. US credibility and strength are crucial here, as they are in containing North Korea.Economically, Washington has promoted free trade. Since the 1947 Marshall Plan, America has run trade deficits and yielded economic benefits to others so as to bolster the global economy and stay trade wars – a critical role. Then there is the question of who will help ensure stability in the oil-rich Persian Gulf. Iran has claimed that it can protect the region, but many Arab countries and other nations don't trust it. And Arab countries have repeatedly failed to develop the military force to protect the region. Europeans currently lack the force projection and the will to do the job.

If the US declines, what countries could play these global roles?

Of course, the US isn't perfect. In order to merit support, it must be multilateral in a globalized world and must accommodate rising powers. Certainly, Washington needs to make sure to be consistent in consulting and enlisting other nations before it hatches big plans. And then there is the fact that asking other countries to support the US is wrapped in politics. Yet, if the rest of the world doesn't step up and support America's overburdened and undersupported shoulders, global security could diminish exponentially.Here are three examples of what other countries could do to help lift the US burden:
1. Beijing should leverage its influence with Pakistan. If China could put pressure on Pakistan to stop supporting the Afghan Taliban facing US-led forces through its intelligence services, that could be just the right amount of pressure to force Pakistan to act. Deservedly, China is becoming a great power and should start supporting major global efforts.
2. Many of America's allies play important roles in Afghanistan, but all should contribute significantly more troops, nonmilitary personnel, and money. They also have much to lose from failure in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
3. As many countries as possible should back US-led threats of tougher sanctions and the threat of force in Iran, especially given recent revelations of Iran's secret nuclear facility near Qom. At a minimum, China should cancel any existing contracts to provide Iran with gasoline – contracts that may embolden Tehran. Without serious threats, Iran will not negotiate away its nuclear option, and a military showdown will be likely. Bolstering America makes far more sense for world security in the 21st century than hoping for its decline or undermining it.Steve Yetiv is a professor of political science at Old Dominion University and is the author of Crude Awakenings and The Absence of Grand Strategy.

Japan to carry out missile shoot-down off Hawaii: US OCT 27,09

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Japanese naval forces plan to shoot down a medium-range missile off Hawaii in a test of Tokyo's missile defense weaponry, the US military said.A Japanese destroyer will try to detect, track and knock out the missile in mid-flight with an SM-3 interceptor rocket, the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said in a statement.The test will be carried out in cooperation with the US Navy and the MDA on a range off the coast of Kauai in Hawaii, with a launch window set for 4:00 - 8:00 pm (0200 to 0600 GMT).The Japanese ship is equipped with the Aegis radar system, which tracks the incoming missile and directs the interceptor to the target. The destroyer will be loaded with additional SM-3 interceptors before heading back to Japan, the statement said.Japan has sought to bolster its missile defenses in the face of the threat posed by North Korea's missile and nuclear programs.US President Barack Obama's administration has said it will build a missile defense shield in Europe using the SM-3 interceptors and the Aegis radar system.

US-Israel drill may shape European missile shield By MICHAEL BARAJAS, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 27, 3:20 pm ET

TEL AVIV, Israel – A U.S. military officer said Tuesday that a major missile defense exercise staged by American and Israeli forces will help the development of a planned NATO missile shield for Europe.Some 2,000 U.S. and Israeli personnel are holding maneuvers this week and next to test technology that would protect Israel from a missile attack, setting up radar arrays along the coast and deploying naval vessels offshore. The allies plan to conduct a live-fire test during the exercise.

U.S. Army Col. Tony English told reporters visiting a coastal battery on the edge of Tel Aviv on Tuesday that it was the first major exercise integrating THAAD and Patriot ground-to-air missiles and the ship-launched Aegis system.This is the most complete air missile defense system we've ever done anywhere in the world,he said.

President Barack Obama announced last month that he was scrapping a Bush-era plan which would have put missile interceptors in Poland and the Czech Republic, a program deeply opposed by nearby Russia.In its place he proposed a reduced missile system linked to NATO. The Poles and the Czechs have said they will take part.NATO has praised the proposal as offering a defense from potential Iranian missile threats.The plan calls for U.S. Navy ships equipped with anti-missile weapons to form a front line of defense in the eastern Mediterranean. Those would be combined with land-based anti-missile systems to be placed in Europe.In Tel Aviv, English said the U.S.-Israeli exercise, codenamed Juniper Cobra 10, would benefit a future European deployment.We're going to learn a lot of lessons here that will definitely apply to that later system,he said.

US drone strikes may break international law: UN OCT 27,09

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan could be breaking international laws against summary executions, the UN's top investigator of such crimes said.The problem with the United States is that it is making an increased use of drones/Predators (which are) particularly prominently used now in relation to Pakistan and Afghanistan,UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions Philip Alston told a press conference.My concern is that drones/Predators are being operated in a framework which may well violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law,he said.US strikes with remote-controlled aircraft against Al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan have often resulted in civilian deaths and drawn bitter criticism from local populations.The onus is really on the United States government to reveal more about the ways in which it makes sure that arbitrary extrajudicial executions aren't in fact being carried out through the use of these weapons,he added.

Alston said he presented a report on the matter to the UN General Assembly.

He urged the United States to be more forthright about how and when it uses drone aircraft, something about which the US Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) usually keep silent.We need the United States to be more up front and say,OK, we're willing to discuss some aspects of this program,otherwise you have the really problematic bottom line that the CIA is running a program that is killing significant numbers of people and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant international laws,Alston said.Since August 2008, around 70 strikes by unmanned aircraft have killed close to 600 people in northwestern Pakistan.I would like to know the legal basis upon which the United States is operating, in other words... who is running the program, what accountability mechanisms are in place in relation to that,Alston said.Secondly, what precautions the United States is taking to ensure that these weapons are used strictly for purposes consistent with international humanitarian law.Third, what sort of review mechanism is there to evaluate when these weapons have been used? Those are the issues I'd like to see addressed,the UN official said.