EGYPT GRABS LAND FOR DEBT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTx2Bej9I24&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNRSs6LsGeI&feature=player_embedded

Underwear Bomber False Flag to be Exploited to Renew Draconian Patriot Act
Infowars.com January 3, 2009

Prior to the underwear bomber incident on Christmas, the House of Representatives tabled legislation to reform the Constitution nullifying Patriot Act. On December 16, nine days before the patsy Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was delivered to the airport in Amsterdam by his handler, Congress decided to shuffle the law off into the New Year.Wayne Madsen tells Russia Today the false flag non-attack will be used to push Patriot Act 3.0.Many of the Patriot Act provisions were set to expire on January 1st.

David Kravets wrote for Wired at the time:Under Wednesday’s action, the NSL-reform [National Security Letters] vote is also delayed until the New Year. And the three expiring provisions will remain in force at least through February. The extension came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) balked at a Senate plan to include Patriot Act amendments into a $636 billion Pentagon funding measure, saying doing so would create revolt on the left.In fact, the so-called left in Congress is as dedicated to implementing the government’s control grid as the right. The only difference is that Democrats engage in more hand-wringing over the legislation.So-called liberal Democrats have pushed for renewal of the police state law, including the former Saturday Night Live comedian Al Franken, now a Democrat from Minnesota.

Judge Napolitano comments on the unconstitutionality of the Patriot Act.Heightened terrorist activity in recent days and months — from the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day to the shootings at Fort Hood, to the murder of a Saudi Arabian border guard by Yemeni insurgents, reveal that our need for robust intelligence gathering tools has not diminished since 9/11, declared Republican Congressman Dan Lungren on December 31.The false flag terror operation above Detroit will be used to squelch any opposition to renewing the Patriot Act in February.
Funny how things work.

Obama Orders US Government To Begin Preparing For Biological Attack
The European Union Times January 2, 2010

The US Post Office could play a key role in distributing medical aid in the event of a biological attack, according to an executive order released by the White House.The order signed by President Barack Obama directs government agencies, local law enforcement and the US Post Office to work on a model for distribution of medical countermeasures in the wake of a biological attack.This policy would seek to: (1) mitigate illness and prevent death; (2) sustain critical infrastructure; and (3) complement and supplement State, local, territorial, and tribal government medical countermeasure distribution capacity, the order said.The US Postal Service has the capacity for rapid residential delivery of medical countermeasures for self administration across all communities in the United States, the order added.The US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano were instructed to work with the post office to develop a dispensing model for US cities to respond to a large-scale biological attack, with anthrax as the primary threat consideration.The order calls for the model to be drawn up within 180 days, but gives no details as to whether the idea of using the US postal system to assist Americans in the wake of a biological attack is a new one.

The United States has sought to bolster its capacity to respond to biological attacks since 2001, when anthrax-laced letters mailed to people across the United States led to five deaths.The order came amid heightened security concerns here following an attempt to bring down a US-bound jetliner on Christmas Day. A 23-year-old Nigerian has been charged in the case.

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

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

Volcano erupts in eastern Congo, official says
Sat Jan 2, 9:41 am ET

KINSHASA, Congo – A government official says a volcano has erupted in eastern Congo, sending lava toward a national park.Feller Lutahichirwa said Saturday that the Nyamulagira volcano had erupted at dawn. While the area where the lava was headed is sparsely populated, wildlife officials say it is home to about 40 endangered chimpanzees.Lutahichirwa says government observers are monitoring the situation with help from U.N. helicopters.The director of Virunga National Park says the eruption is of great concern and that rangers have been deployed to monitor the lava flow.

Wildlife officials say fortunately no mountain gorillas are believed to live near the affected area. Virunga National Park is home to 200 of the world's 720 remaining mountain gorillas.

Volcano erupts in Colombia; no reports of injuries
Sat Jan 2, 10:51 pm ET

BOGOTA – The Galeras volcano in southeastern Colombia erupted Saturday night, but there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries, authorities said.Carlos Ivan Marquez, national aid director for the Red Cross, said officials might need to evacuate 8,000 people as a precaution. He said temporary shelters and aid supplies were available.The volcano erupted at 7:43 p.m., according to the Volcanology and Seismological Observatory in Pasto, the provincial capital of 500,000 people that is just over 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Galeras.The 4,276-meter (14,110-foot) volcano has a long history of activity, including several eruptions in the first months of 2009. It sits near the border with Ecuador, some 520 kilometers (320 miles) southwest of Bogota.Galeras has been considered Colombia's most active volcano since coming back to life in 1989. A 1993 eruption killed nine people, including five scientists who had descended into the crater to sample gases. In November 2005, the volcano spewed ash that fell up to 50 kilometers (30 miles) away.

EARTHQUAKES

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

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

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

Powerful quake strikes near Solomon Islands by Evan Wasuka – Sun Jan 3, 10:49 pm ET

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AFP) – A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck near the Solomon Islands in the western Pacific on Monday, triggering panic but causing no major tsunami, disaster officials said.The US Geological Survey said the quake struck about 103 kilometres from the earthquake-prone island town of Gizo at about 9:36 am (2236 GMT Sunday) and was measured at a depth of about 30 kilometres (19 miles).It was the largest of a swarm of tremors centred on the area, ignited by a 6.5 magnitude quake at 8:48 am and followed several hours later by quakes of magnitude 5.3 and 5.2.On the tiny island of Rendova, near Gizo, several houses collapsed but there were no other reports of damage, Julian Makaa of the National Disaster Management Office told AFP.The earthquake caused a small wave, and a few people suffered minor injuries as they ran away from the shore in panic, he said.

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake in the same area nearly three years ago killed more than 50 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced thousands.The Hawaii-based tsunami warning centre said the latest earthquake was powerful enough to have been destructive along coasts near the epicentre but there was no wider threat.No tsunami threat exists for other coastal areas in the Pacific although some other areas may experience small, non-destructive, sea-level changes lasting up to several hours, the centre said in a bulletin.Gizo, on Ghizo island, is the second largest town in the Solomon Islands archipelago with a population of around 6,000.It is about 360 kilometres northwest of the capital Honiara, on the island of Guadalcanal, where residents said they felt shakes but there was no damage. Honiara is 300 kilometres from where the nest of earthquakes was centred.Geoscience Australia seismologist Clive Collins said the main quake, which was estimated at 7.0 magnitude by Australian seismologists, was probably about 80 kilometres from the nearest land.

Further south, in earthquake prone New Zealand, tremors of 4.3 and 3.5 were recorded over the past 24 hours.Like much of the Pacific, the Solomons regularly experiences large earthquakes.In April 2007, a 8.0-magnitude earthquake in the western Solomons centred near Gizo, triggered a tsunami that killed 52 people and displaced thousands.
Gizo harbour lost most of it wharves and jetties in the quake and subsequent tsunami which was officially put at five metres high but with some reports of a 10-metre-high wall of water.On September 29 last year, a devastating tsunami swept along coasts in the Pacific islands of Samoa and Tonga, killing 186 people and wiping out entire villages.Villages and resorts in Samoa, American Samoa and northern Tonga were flattened by the giant waves generated by the massive earthquake, the strongest in a nearly a century.

Tajikistan earthquake leaves 20,000 homeless
Sun Jan 3, 2:22 pm ET

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan – About 20,000 people were left homeless in the impoverished Central Asian nation of Tajikistan after an earthquake leveled their homes in a mountainous region, officials said Sunday.No deaths were reported after the magnitude 5.3 quake struck the Pamir Mountains on Saturday, the Emergency Situations and Civil Defense Committee said.Hundreds of mud-brick houses in several villages in the Gorno-Badakhshansky region were damaged. The quake also cut electricity and communications and blocked the main road between the regional center of Vanch and nearby villages.Those left homeless were placed in emergency shelters in schools and other public buildings or moved in with relatives, Azimjon Shamsiddinov, the deputy chief regional administrator, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Earthquakes are common in the mountains of Tajikistan, one of the poorest of the former Soviet states. The country of 7.3 million people lies north of Afghanistan and west of China.

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.

Maritime storm claims 2 lives Last Updated: Sunday, January 3, 2010 | 10:56 PM AT CBC News

Fredericton-area residents were still digging out on Sunday. (CBC)A winter storm pummelled the Maritimes over the weekend, claiming the lives of at least two people.
A 54-year-old man in Three Fathom Harbour, N.S., is believed to have succumbed to carbon monoxide fumes Sunday from a generator used for heat during a power outage and a woman died in Stratford, P.E.I., after being struck in a parking lot by a snow-removal vehicle.The heavy snowfall, freezing rain, rain and high winds knocked out power to about 45,000 customers and left behind damage from a punishing storm surge in several coastal communities.Port Elgin, N.B., was forced to declare a state of emergency Saturday night due to flooding and evacuated some residents by boats and tractors.In Northport, P.E.I., the tin roof of a waterfront restaurant, The Boat Shop Steak & Seafood Restaurant, was peeled back like a banana and debris was blown about 500 metres, the owner said.

The storm also wreaked havoc on travel, making roads treacherous and causing flight cancellations and delays.It's still storming [in New Brunswick] and it's going to continue through a good part of the day, overnight tonight, and through tomorrow.
—CBC meteorologist Trevor AdamsAnd it's expected to continue into Monday in some areas, although Environment Canada cancelled its snowfall, rainfall and storm surge warnings for the region by Sunday night.

The storm is not quite over yet, said CBC meteorologist Trevor Adams.Saint John-area residents faced plenty of shovelling on Saturday. (Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon/CBC)The centre of low pressure is situated back toward the Gulf of Maine and the storm is expected to move towards the north. That means it's going to cross New Brunswick, so it's still storming there and it's going to continue through a good part of the day, overnight tonight, and through tomorrow, he said.Parts of New Brunswick were expected to get up to another 60 centimetres of snow Sunday, along with high winds, according to Environment Canada.Nova Scotia was to see primarily rain, with the exception of the Highlands, which had up to another 25 centimetres of snow in the forecast. Several parts of the province were also still under a storm surge warning for most of the day.The combination of a run of high astronomical high tides, generally low atmospheric pressure and, over Chaleur-Miscou region, large pounding waves could lead to local coastal flooding and some damage to infrastructure near the shoreline, the website stated.In P.E.I., the entire province was under a similar storm surge warning after flooding forced the closure of Water Street in Charlottetown, caused damage to waterfront businesses in Summerside and left the wharf at Nine Mile Creek in South Shore under more than a metre of water. The warning was later lifted.

State of emergency
Port Elgin, N.B., remained under a state of emergency on Sunday. (Courtesy Amy Cormier)The small coastal community of Port Elgin, N.B., which declared a state of emergency Saturday night after tidal storm surges flooded several streets and homes in the area, was still under a state of emergency into Sunday afternoon.Terry Murphy, co-ordinator of emergency measures in the town, said he has never seen a storm cause so much damage in such a short amount of time.It's flooded Station Street in Port Elgin, some of Fort Street and we even had water in the centre of the village of Port Elgin, he said. We had to block the roads until the tide receded. We had to evacuate people by boat and tractors.Town officials made arrangements for the evacuees to spend the night at a local nursing home until the flood risk passed. As of Sunday morning, about 25 families were still unable to go back to their homes, said Murphy.EMO officials warned the community to be prepared, but many families were caught off guard by the severity of the storm, he said.

Devastating damage
Mayor Judy Scott said the damage has been devastating.Well, I just drove down by the wharf and there's a big boat, it's a big cruise boat and it's just blowing all over the wharf. It's kinda like upside down.You know buildings of one fella, his building was [blown] over and one of his pets didn't get out. It's just been very tragic too.

Scott was also concerned about the safety of spectators who gathered Sunday afternoon because there were still several downed power lines.We have called the RCMP and they came right down and warned and told them get out of there. Not all listened … Actually, [the officer] was just in a while ago and was heading back out to tell them again, or arrest them cause it's not safe, she said.Owners of summer homes were being asked to stay away until at least Sunday evening's high tide was over, Scott said.About 50 kilometres away, storm surges during high tide also flooded the causeway, which connects the community of Pointe-du-Chêne with Shediac, leaving dozens of residents isolated.Municipal officials expected the situation to improve Sunday.

Power outages
Meanwhile, thousands of Maritimers were still waiting for their power to be restored on Sunday.In New Brunswick, more than 3,000 customers were without power as of 7 p.m., down from about 13,000 that morning. But it could be midnight before everyone's power is back on, said spokeswoman Heather MacLean.Snow removal crews had a hard time keeping up with the heavy snowfall. (CBC)Treacherous road conditions may impede crews from heading into smaller communities, she said.They really are scattered around the province … Only a couple of areas have not been impacted or are without outages right now.Certainly down in the greater Moncton area we're seeing more there, as well as the Miramichi. So those are two areas definitely impacted with high winds and heavy wet snow.Nova Scotia Power had all customers back on line by Sunday evening.Maritime Electric officials in P.E.I. could not be reached for comment, but about 20,000 outages were reported during the storm's peak Saturday night when winds were gusting about 100 km/h.Snowplow crews across the Maritimes also continued to dig out on Sunday.This is a bad one, said Mike Young, who operates a sidewalk plow for the Halifax Regional Municipality.It's not so much the amount that fell, but the rain coming in, mixed in and then it freezes up again and then it starts snowing, he said.So if it wasn't for all of those things then it would have been easy; like, everything's a struggle.

Swiss police: Avalanche toll rises to 4; 3 missing
JAN 4,10

DIEMTIGEN, Switzerland – Police say a fourth person has died and three people are still missing following a double avalanche in the Swiss Alps on Sunday.Police in Bern canton (state) said Monday the fourth victim died of injuries in the hospital.

Three people were confirmed dead Sunday after a group of skiers and then the rescuers who came to their aid were hit by avalanches in the Diemtig Valley about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the capital Bern.Among those killed was an emergency doctor who was part of the initial rescue team.It was unclear Monday whether officials would be able to resume the rescue and recovery operation that was halted at nightfall.Officials are warning of heightened avalanche risk in the Swiss Alps following heavy snowfall.

Seoul battles heaviest snow in more than 70 years By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer – JAN 4,10

SEOUL, South Korea – Seoul residents battled the heaviest snowfall in modern Korean history after a winter storm dumped more than 10 inches (26 centimeters) Monday, forcing airports to cancel flights and paralyzing traffic in South Korea's bustling capital.The snowfall, which began about 1 a.m. (1600 GMT Sunday), was the worst since Korea began conducting meteorological surveys in 1937 and continued through the afternoon, the state weather agency said.Gimpo International Airport, west of Seoul, canceled 224 flights before resuming service Monday afternoon, airport official Choi Choon-ja said.More than 20 flights between Incheon International Airport, 43 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Seoul, and cities in China also were canceled, with China also coping with a snowstorm. More than 100 flights to other regions were delayed, Incheon airport official Kang Soo-kyung said.The snow and icy roads snarled traffic in and out of Seoul, with many commuters squeezing into packed subway trains to get to work. About 3,600 workers were mobilized to clear the snow from Seoul's roads and sidewalks.One vendor in downtown Seoul said she began shoveling the sidewalk where she sells sandwiches from a truck at 9 a.m. (0000 GMT), and hadn't stopped all day.It's been nonstop, said Moon In-ja, 53, her hair covered in snow. She said she didn't dare brave the traffic to head back to her home in another part of Seoul, where she runs a business in the afternoons. If I can't drive now, I might as well stay and clean the street here.

Beijing also was digging out Monday from a weekend winter storm.More than 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of snow accumulated in the city center Sunday, according to China's National Meteorological Center. Citing meteorologists, state media said the snowfall was the highest in the capital for a single day in January since 1951.Upward of 8 inches (20 centimeters) was recorded in the suburbs of Changping near the Great Wall of China, one of the country's top tourist attractions.Hundreds of flights from Beijing were canceled or delayed Sunday because of the snowfall.Primary and middle schools were closed in Beijing and the nearby port of Tianjin, and with snow plows in short supply, more than 300,000 people were assigned to clear snow in the capital with shovels, scrapers and brooms.Authorities were guarding against building collapses and major traffic pileups, but none were reported Monday, the official Xinhua News Agency said.Associated Press writer Christopher Bodeen contributed to this report from Beijing.

Flooded Australian town declared disaster zone
Mon Jan 4, 1:25 am ET

SYDNEY – Authorities declared two flooded farming regions in southwestern Australia natural disaster zones Monday as residents in one town nervously watched a rising river in hopes that it wouldn't break its levees.Parts of Coonamble and Bourke districts in New South Wales, several hundred miles northwest of Sydney, have been isolated by floodwaters since heavy rains last week. While meteorologists said the worst of the rain was over, rivers and reservoirs were still rising from the extra water, and Coonamble's Castlereagh River was expected to peak later Monday.New South Wales state Premier Kristina Keneally declared the two districts disaster zones Monday, entitling them to state emergency funds including loans and subsidies.That will provide much needed longer term help to residents, primary producers, business owners and councils, Keneally said while on a tour of Coonamble.It will help them to rebuild.On Sunday, emergency officials advised 1,200 residents in Coonamble to relocate to safer parts of town away from the rising Castlereagh River. People rode away in motorboats and ranchers herded horses and cattle through the deep water to higher ground. Brown water submerged main roads into town.The Castlereagh River was expected to peak at about 17.4 feet (5.3 meters), according to the Bureau of Meteorology. The levee stands 19 feet (5.9 meters) high in most places; in others it is as low as 17.7 feet (5.4 meters).

Some of the 4,900 residents of the district, however, have refused to leave their properties.I think they've seen the river up and down the last few days, and people don't believe there is a threat, Coonamble Mayor Tim Horan said Monday. Once we get a peak, we'll know what's going on, but as far as we're concerned, the evacuation order is still in place, and we still have to encourage people to stick by it.But longtime resident Ken Baker said he was confident the levees would hold, and refused to leave his house while his wife and daughter evacuated.I know the river quite well, he told Macquarie Radio. I've lived here all my life. I'm quite certain in my own mind that I don't need to evacuate.Bourke, a district with a population of about 4,400, was deluged by some of its heaviest rain in a decade, leaving dozens of properties cut off from roads and forcing some farmers to fly livestock to higher ground.The Darling River is expected to overflow in Bourke by Thursday, causing further minor flooding as it swells from rainfall further upstream, the Bureau of Meteorology predicts.

Brazil nuclear plants may close as floods kill 68
Sun Jan 3, 9:07 pm ET

ANGRA DOS REIS, Brazil (AFP) – Two nuclear plants close to a southern Brazilian town hit by landslides may shut down as a precaution, the mayor said, as the regional toll from deadly floods rose to 68.There are no operational problems at Angra I and Angra II... but if landslides persist in the hills, we'll need to shut them down, Mayor Tuca Jordao told a press conference in this seaside town some 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Rio de Janeiro.Angra overlooks Ilha Grande island, where 29 people were killed in Friday's landslides, including 28 in a luxury hotel nestled at the foot of a jungle-covered hill. Another 17 people were killed in the center of Angra.The mudslides were triggered by incessant rains that have killed at least 68 people across Rio de Janeiro state since Wednesday and left dozens missing. More than 4,000 people have had to evacuate their homes, Civil Defense officials said.

Rescue crews Sunday continued to search for victims among the mud and rubble at the Hotel Sankay, which catered to Brazilian and foreign tourists seeking a remote beachside hideaway. Some 40 guests were staying at the hotel when the landslide hit.

It is still not known if there were foreigners among the dead.Some 200 firefighters and rescue workers were digging in the worst affected areas, hoping to unearth survivors, but hopes were fading fast.Mayor Jordao said he has requested the two nuclear plants be shut down warning that in case of a catastrophe there was no way to quickly evacuate the city's more than 35,000 inhabitants, since the main road leading out is partly blocked by landslides.The plants' closure would not affect electricity supplies to Rio de Janeiro, which has alternative power sources, the company running the plants said.Jordao has also alerted local residents to emergency evacuation plans.This summer (in the southern hemisphere), high rainfall levels have been forecast. To the people of Angra dos Reis: please, at the slightest sign of rain abandon your homes, he said.Local authorities said around 500 houses in high-risk areas have been condemned or declared out of bounds in the city.The Angra neighborhood of Vila Velha has been cut off from the rest of the city for three days, as landslides left it without power, running water and roads, Agencia Brasil said.The only way to get to Vilha Velha, it added, is by boat.Although the rains stopped on Friday, authorities put Rio de Janeiro on alert because of fears of potentially devastating mudslides in its densely populated hillside favelas, or shanty towns.You don't play around with nature. Our problem is the rain and you can't live like that, clinging to the hillsides, Rio state Governor Sergio Cabral said when he visited the disaster areas.Angra dos Reis was hit by devastating floods in 2002 -- 40 people were killed and rescue operations lasted three months.

Dementia could cost Canada $1 trillion: report By David Ljunggren – Mon Jan 4, 12:10 am ET

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadians are developing dementia at such a rapid rate that dealing with the problem will cost a total of more than C$870 billion ($830 billion) over the next 30 years unless preventive measures are taken, a report released on Monday said.Canada's Alzheimer Society said more than 103,700 people developed dementia in 2008 in Canada, a country of around 33 million. By 2038, 257,800 new cases per year are expected, with almost 3 percent of the population affected.If we do nothing, dementia will have a crippling effect on Canadian families, our health care system and economy, said the report, entitled Rising Tide.It is the most significant cause of disability among Canadians over the age of 65.Dementia such as Alzheimer's are progressive, degenerative diseases that destroy vital brain cells. There is no cure and are few treatments, although drugs can relieve some of the symptoms for a while.An international report issued in September said more than 35 million people globally would suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia in 2010. By 2030, the number would be almost 66 million.In 2005, a study from Sweden's Karolinska Institute estimated dementia cost global economies $315 billion a year.David Harvey, spokesman for Rising Tide, said the Canadian campaign against dementia is hampered by the peculiarities of the country's health care system, which is partly funded the federal government but administered by provincial governments.

This problem is already with us but over the period of this generation it is going to be very significant. And if we don't address it can overwhelm things like emergency rooms and hospitals, he said.This disease flies under the radar of much of the health system and that's why we're issuing this kind of report.The report recommended that all Canadians over 65 without dementia should increase their physical activity by 50 percent.It also called for the development of a National Dementia Strategy to be adopted by all levels of government as well as educating Canadians about the importance of risk reduction and early diagnosis.We need to refocus research on chronic diseases, said Harvey. A spokeswoman for Health Minister Leona Agglukaq said she was unaware of the report.(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Peter Galloway)

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).

EU enters decisive period for economic plan ANDREW WILLIS
Today JAN 4,10 @ 07:32 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The next few months will be decisive for the European Union's future economic health, with the bloc set to agree a new 10-year economic plan in a bid to leave the recent recession behind, and chart a fresh course towards steady growth and job creation. Decade-high unemployment, an ageing EU population and soaring budget deficits form the backdrop for those involved in drafting the important roadmap. Memory of the EU's current economic plan - the Lisbon Strategy, due to expire in 2010 - is also likely to influence EU leaders as they prepare to discuss its successor at a number of European summits over the next six months under the Spanish EU presidency. The Lisbon Strategy's aim to make the union the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010 is widely acknowledged to have failed, while its two headline targets of 70 percent employment and research and development spending equivalent to 3 percent of GDP are both set to be missed, say experts. Yet the aims of the EU 2020, as the new plan has become known so far, may not differ radically from aspirations in the outgoing decade, although there is likely to be a considerably stronger emphasis on green growth. A commission consultation document launched in November lists three broad themes: Creating value by basing growth on knowledge,Empowering people in inclusive societies, and Creating a competitive, connected and greener economy.Achieving greater growth and higher employment levels through improved education, tailored towards industry needs, and greater levels of research and innovation is unlikely to face major opposition from member states, although NGOs and MEPs are keen to see real steps towards securing social inclusiveness. Some ideas such as a relaxation of EU competition policy to enable the necessary government investment in innovation projects, an idea expressed by Will Hutton, vice-chairman of the Work Foundation think tank in the UK, in a recent interview with EUobserver, may prove too controversial.

Enforcement

The real area for potential disagreement is likely to surround the definition of targets to ensure the plan's broad themes are actually achieved, and in particular the need for mechanisms to enforce these targets. With the EU having little competence in the relevant areas of education, social policy, employment, the Lisbon Strategy relied on peer pressure among states to ensure national governments met their agreed goals. The failure of this system has led several, including Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos, to call for binding mechanisms to ensure individual member states keep up their end of the agreement. We need to have many more binding elements, said Mr Moratinos in Brussels in December, adding that there should be consequences for those states that fail to reach targets. Mr Moratinos did not go into the details of these consequences, but commission officials say their formal submission to EU leaders, scheduled to meet in February, may seek to link targets under the new economic plan with the region's Stability and Growth Pact.

Member states in breach of the pact's rules on permitted debt and deficit levels are issued with reports on how to rectify the situation by the commission, with the possibility of fines for non-compliance.Officials suggest that the commission may try to co-ordinate the release of these reports with scoreboards on member state performance in reaching EU 2020 targets, in a bid to create a greater link between the two, although wary governments could easily reject the idea.

Timetable

Launched in November, the commission's consultation period which invites interested parties to give their views on the plan's direction, is due to end on 15 January. The commission is then expected to come forward with proposals before a specially convened informal European summit of EU leaders on economic affairs in February, to be chaired by the European Council's permanent president Herman Van Rompuy. Leaders are then likely to agree the general focus of the plan at the regular March European summit the following month. The commission is then scheduled to come forward with broad economic policy guidelines for adoption by finance ministers at one of their regular meetings in April-June, with the final rubberstamping expected by leaders at the June European Council. Officials say the exact timetable of when the various components will be agreed is still vague however, while several MEPs and NGOs have criticised the timeframe as being too short, pointing out that the Lisbon Strategy runs until the end of 2010. The commission counters that the current circumstances mean there is no time to waste.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

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

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

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

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

Madrid set to boost EU counter-terrorism activities
VALENTINA POP Today JAN 4,10 @ 09:24 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The Spanish EU presidency plans to set up a special unit aimed at sharing counter-terrorism intelligence among member states, according to Spanish media.El Pais reports that the new body will facilitate the direct exchange of intelligence between two or several member states in close co-operation with the existing special counter-terrorism co-ordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, and the EU situation centre – a Brussels-based crisis management unit which includes counter-terrorism activities.National counter-terrorism units in Spain, Great Britain, Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and Portugal support the plan, sources within the Spanish interior ministry told the newspaper.The EU's new legal framework, the Lisbon Treaty, also enables more co-operation and intelligence sharing in this area. Europol, the bloc's police co-operation and criminal data exchange body, also gained enhanced powers from 1 January. Its activities touch on terrorism as it manages data on chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, cybercrime and Islamist extremism on the web.The EU's institutional changes come against the backdrop of increased fears of terrorist attacks in European countries, after a failed attempt by Al Qaeda on 25 December to blow up a plane destined for the US, which took off in Amsterdam.

Over the weekend, several Western embassies, among which those of Spain and Great Britain, closed their operations in Yemen, where Al Qaeda had trained the failed terrorist plotter. Last week an organisation called al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula urged Muslims to help in killing every crusader who works at their embassies or other places. On Friday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called an international meeting for 28 January in London on fighting extremism in Yemen.In this context, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini said the EU had to develop a strategy of prevention to deal with the terrorist threat in Yemen. He added that the London meeting would be a good opportunity for this.Spain's focus on counter-terrorism comes from its recent trauma in the 11 March 2004 bombings on commuter trains, claimed by Al Qaeda. Some 191 people died and 1,900 were wounded in the attacks. Great Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands also have their tragic experiences with radical Islamists. In a recent development, a Somali extremist with alleged ties to Al Qaeda tried to murder a Danish cartoonist who drew controversial caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.According to Danish media, the 28-year old Somali had apparently already been arrested in September in Kenya in connection with an alleged plan to bomb a hotel where the US chief diplomat Hillary Clinton was staying.

Icelanders petition against Icesave payback
ANDREW WILLIS Today JAN 4,10 @ 07:34 CET

Almost a quarter of Iceland's voters have signed a petition against paying back money lost by foreigners as a result of the collapse of one of the island's main banks in 2008, casting fresh doubt over the country's bid to join the EU. Last week saw Iceland's parliament narrowly pass a new bill to pay back €3.8 billion to the UK and Netherlands, but the country's President, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, refused to sign the legislation shortly before receiving the petition on Saturday (2 January).
Plans to compensate British and Dutch savers who lost money in October 2008 when their accounts with the online savings account Icesave were frozen, following the collapse of the parent company Landsbanki, are deeply unpopular in Iceland. A poll taken last August showed 70 percent of the Icelanders were against the payback deal which would see each citizens of the island's 320,000 citizens contribute 12,000 euro, with many saying they are being made to pay for the mistakes of bankers and regulators. But the payback deal with the UK and Netherlands is seen as crucial to the Iceland's prospects of joining the European Union, although support for joining the bloc has waned considerably since an initial surge in membership enthusiasm was prompted by the financial crisis.

More than 56,000 citizens signed the petition urging Mr Grimsson to refuse to sign the legislation approved by parliament last week, with Magnus Arni Skulason, one of the organisers of the petition, comparing the repayment to financing the country's health service.The interest rate on the Icesave agreement for Iceland is like running the National Health Service of Iceland for six months, he told the BBC. The Icelandic government has been struggling since June to reach an acceptable agreement to compensate the UK and Dutch governments who both reimbursed their citizens who lost their savings when Icesave collapsed. Amendments to an original August agreement were rejected by the UK and the Netherlands, forcing a fresh vote. Under the new deal the money would be gradually repaid over a period running until 2024.

Egyptian banks to accept real estate for debt
Sun Jan 3, 12:02 pm ET

CAIRO (Reuters) – National Bank of Egypt (NBEGPT.UL) (NBE) and Banque Misr, the country's first and second biggest banks by assets, said they had agreed to accept real estate in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in public sector debt.
Egypt has reduced the debts the firms owed to state banks, accrued since nationalization in the 1960s, to 8 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.5 billion) from 32 million only a few years earlier.There has been an agreement ... with the public sector companies that we would take assets as settlement for the public sector debt, Banque Misr's Vice-Chairman Mohamed Ozalp told Reuters on Sunday.National Bank of Egypt's Chairman Tarek Amer confirmed in an e-mail that his bank had also agreed to the real estate for debt exchange.The two banks had formed a company to take receipt of the assets for later sale, Ozalp told Reuters. Both banks are owned by the government but are being run by bankers hired from private sector banks.We're still in the process of looking at the various assets, and it will probably done in phases. It won't all happen at the same time. We'll examine the assets. If they're acceptable to us we'll take them, Ozalp said.The Ministry of Investment, which controls a large portion of Egypt's state-owned companies, proposed the exchange in October, the minister, Mahmoud Mohieldin, told Reuters at the time.We don't really have other sources but to swap debts by pieces of real estate, he said.Banque Misr is owed just over 5 billion pounds of the 8 billion pounds, Ozalp said.(Writing by Patrick Werr; Editing by David Holmes)

London stocks up on first trading day of 2010
JAN 4,10

LONDON (AFP) – London's leading stock market climbed at the start of trading on Monday, as traders returned to their desks for the first trading day of 2010.The FTSE 100 index rose 0.29 percent to 5,428.63 points.Japanese stocks rose 1.17 percent in morning trade on the same day, starting 2010 on an upbeat note as exporters got a boost from a weaker yen and worries eased over the financial woes of Japan Airlines.

Reports: Cartoonist attacker earlier held in Kenya By MALIN RISING, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jan 3, 7:40 am ET

STOCKHOLM – The Somali man who attacked an artist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad in a controversial cartoon has previously been arrested in Kenya, Danish media reported Sunday.The Danish intelligence agency PET knew that the 28-year-old Somali man was held in Kenya in September for allegedly participating in plotting an attack against U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Politiken newspaper reported Sunday.Citing unnamed sources, it said he was later released due to lack of evidence.

Clinton visited Kenya as part of an 11-day-tour of Africa in August.Denmark's ambassador to Kenya, Bo Jensen, told the news agency Ritzau that the Somali man was arrested in Kenya at the time for having incomplete travel documents. However, he said Kenyan authorities never told the embassy he was suspected in any terror plot and that the newspaper misunderstood the situation.PET would not comment Sunday on the reports or the Somali suspect.The suspect was charged with two counts of attempted murder Saturday after breaking into artist Kurt Westergaard's home armed with an ax and a knife on Friday night. He denied the charges at the court hearing.

Westergaard — one of 12 Danish artists whose cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad outraged the Muslim world in 2006 — escaped the attack by fleeing to a specially made safe room and alerting police. Police shot the Somali man in the hand and knee.
On Saturday, the head of the Danish intelligence agency, Jakob Scharf, said the man was suspected of having been involved in terror-related activities in east Africa with the terror group al-Shabab and had been under PET's surveillance. However, he did not specifically mention Kenya or any attack against Clinton.Westergaard's cartoon of Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban was viewed as the most provocative of the 12, and he has been the target of several death threats since then. He has been under round-the-clock police protection since February 2008.Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

WORLD TERRORISM

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

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

2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men

LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Passengers on US-bound flights face more screening By LOU KESTEN, Associated Press Writer – MON JAN 4,10

WASHINGTON – Beginning Monday, air travelers flying into the United States from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Yemen and other "countries of interest" will be subjected to enhanced screening techniques, such as body scans, pat-downs and a thorough search of carry-on luggage.Additionally, all passengers on U.S.-bound international flights will be subject to random screening, the Transportation Security Administration announced Sunday. Airports were also directed to increase threat-based screening of passengers who may be acting in a suspicious manner.The TSA said anyone traveling from or though nations regarded as state sponsors of terrorism — as well as other countries of interest — will be required to undergo enhanced screening. The TSA said those techniques include full-body pat-downs, carry-on bag searches, full-body scanning and explosive detection technology.The new directive includes long-term, sustainable security measures developed in consultation with law enforcement officials and our domestic and international partners, the TSA said in a statement posted on its Web site.The new security measures come in response to the failed Christmas Day attempt to bomb a jetliner as it approached Detroit after a flight from Amsterdam.The State Department lists Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria as state sponsors of terrorism. The other countries whose passengers will face enhanced screening include Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.A spokesman for Pakistan International Airline said the company has instituted new security standards for U.S.-bound passengers.

Passengers are subjected to special screening, including full body searches, in a designated area of the departure lounge, said the spokesman, Sultan Hasan. The airline has run advertisements in newspapers to advise passengers of the stepped-up security.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Sunday that full body scanners would be introduced in British airports and officials in Amsterdam said last week they would begin using the scanners on passengers bound for the U.S.In the Yemeni capital, security personnel at the San'a airport were ordered to apply strict measures, including careful baggage examinations and patting down travelers, especially those departing for the United States as the final destination, an official said.The security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to talk about security measures to the media, said the airport was expecting to receive some new equipment to provide better security.Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man who allegedly tried to set off an explosive device aboard a Northwest airliner on Christmas Day, has told U.S. investigators he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen.The TSA said the ability to enforce the new security measures is the result of extraordinary cooperation from our global aviation partners.Associated Press writer Ahmed Al-Haj contributed to this report from San'a, Yemen.On the Net:TSA: http://www.tsa.gov

US, UK close Yemen embassies over al-Qaida threats By ANNE GEARAN and LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writers – JAN 4,10

SAN'A, Yemen – Al-Qaida has several hundred members in Yemen and is actively planning attacks against U.S. targets, the White House said as the U.S. and Britain closed their embassies.Speaking from Washington during appearances on four Sunday talk shows, President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, cited indications al-Qaida is planning to carry out an attack against a target in the capital, possibly the embassy, for the closure Sunday. A State Department spokesman, Fred Lash, said the closure was not permanent but reopening would be assessed day to day, based on the perceived threat to U.S. personnel.The U.S. is worried about the spread of terrorism in Yemen, a U.S. ally and aid recipient, Brennan said, but doesn't consider the country a second front with Afghanistan and Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.As to whether U.S. troops might be sent to Yemen, Brennan replied: We're not talking about that at this point at all. He pledged to provide the Yemeni government with the wherewithal to take down al-Qaida.

Britain and the United States are assisting a counterterrorism police unit in Yemen as fears grow about the increasing threat of international terrorism originating from the country.The Obama administration claims the suspect in the failed Christmas Day bomb plot against a Detroit-bound jetliner was trained and armed by the al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen. Brennan blamed a series of what he called lapses and human errors in U.S. intelligence and security defenses for allowing a Nigerian man to board the plane with explosives. Passengers and crew subdued the suspect when he tried to set off the explosion as the aircraft approached Detroit; he succeeded only setting himself on fire.The Transportation Security Administration announced Sunday that, starting Monday, passengers flying into the United States from Nigeria, Yemen and other countries of interest will be subject to enhanced screening techniques, such as body scans and pat-downs.Yemen is a poor, decentralized and predominantly Muslim country on the Arabian Peninsula. It is the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and the site of the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 U.S. sailors. A 2008 attack on the U.S. Embassy killed one American.Given the active threat from al-Qaida,we're not going to take any chances, Brennan said.

Sen. Joe Lieberman identified three instances in which terrorists or sympathizers penetrated or evaded U.S defenses last year — shootings at a military recruiting station and an Army base and the airline attack — and said all three were linked to Yemen.A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, told The Associated Press that the embassy closure was not based on any information provided by Yemeni officials about a threat.The Yemeni government is friendly to the West but the population is often mistrustful of Western motives and influence. Yemen has pledged to clamp down on militancy, but government control is weak outside the capital and the country has a history of freeing some alleged militants and tolerating others.The Obama administration is growing more vocal about both the threat and the San'a government's limitations. Brennan said Westerners are at risk in Yemen until the government gets a better handle on extremism.The U.S. will look case by case at whether to repatriate the remaining approximately 90 Yemeni detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, Brennan said.Seven of 42 Guantanamo detainees freed by the Obama administration were returned to Yemen, Brennan said, but doubts about the country's ability to police further freed detainees is a major obstacle to Obama's plan to shut down the facility. Brennan reaffirmed the U.S. administration's support for the closure, but said that regarding the Yemeni detainees, nothing would be done to put U.S. citizens at risk.Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. general who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, made a surprise visit to Yemen over the weekend. Following meetings with President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Petraeus announced that Washington this year will more than double the $67 million in counterterrorism aid that it provided Yemen in 2009.The U.S. and Britain are funding a counterterrorism police unit in Yemen, and Britain plans to host an international conference Jan. 28 to come up with a strategy to counter radicalization in Yemen.Gearan reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Meera Selva in London and Ahmed Al-Haj in San'a contributed to this report.
On the Net: State Department background on Yemen: http://tinyurl.com/y8zcx29

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.

Hamas leader claims progress in Palestinian talks By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jan 3, 10:51 am ET

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – The leader of Hamas said Sunday that significant progress has been made in Egyptian-sponsored talks aimed at reconciling his militant Palestinian group with the rival Fatah movement.The two main Palestinian factions have been bitterly divided since Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, leaving Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah in control only of the West Bank.The split has complicated peace efforts with Israel as well as reconstruction of the impoverished and war-damaged Gaza Strip. Efforts to bring them together in a power-sharing arrangement failed and the Egyptian-mediated talks are now aimed at ending the division by holding new Palestinian elections.Khaled Mashaal, who is based in Damascus, Syria, said Hamas still has reservations over the latest Egyptian proposal, which calls for presidential and legislative elections in the first half of this year as well as a reorganization of the security forces under Abbas' authority. He did not elaborate.Hamas and seven other radical, Damascus-based Palestinian factions have rejected the proposal because it does not state that Palestinians have the right to keep fighting Israel. Fatah, which favors negotiations with Israel, has accepted the Egyptian plan.

We have made big strides in the Palestinian-Palestinian negotiations and talks that have taken place in Cairo, Mashaal said. We are in the final stages.The problem is the completion of the (Egyptian) paper ... so it can satisfy everybody's demands, Mashaal said during a visit to Saudi Arabia.The kingdom sponsored a unity agreement between the two factions in February 2007. But that effort fell apart in bickering over implementation, and in June of that year Hamas ousted its rivals from Gaza in a five-day civil war.The Hamas leader spoke after talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal. A week earlier Abbas visited for the kingdom talks with King Abdullah.Mashaal also blamed Israel for a delay in indirect negotiations to exchange hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli Sgt. Gilad Schalit, who was captured by Palestinian militants in 2006.We are still following the negotiations through the German mediator, he said.The Israeli position keeps changing. They take one step forward and two back.

Iranian president visits Central Asia
JAN 4,10

DUSHANBE (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan Monday on his first international trip since a crackdown on opposition supporters in Tehran left at least eight dead.After talks with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmon, Ahmadinejad told journalists the two countries would cooperate on regional security.We will make efforts to ensure security and prevent challenges, he said.We are following the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the region, and we want peace and stability to be established as soon as possible.

Islamist Taliban militants have stepped up a violent campaign in Afghanistan and Pakistan.Rakhmon said the meeting had also expressed support for the realisation of Iran's peaceful nuclear programmes and the resolution of this problem through talks and political and diplomatic methods.The United States, Israel and other world powers suspect Tehran is making a nuclear bomb under the guise of a civilian programme, something Iran vehemently denies. Tehran is under threat of more sanctions over its nuclear activities.Ahmadinejad also said that Tehran intended to continue investing in energy, agriculture and other spheres in Tajikistan.It has already put around 200 million dollars into the construction of a hydroelectric power station in Tajikistan that is expected to open at the end of the year.The two leaders signed a preliminary memorandum saying that Iran would invest in the construction of a second hydroelectric power station.Ahmadinejad was later due to meet the speaker of the Tajik parliament and members of the Iranian diaspora in Tajikistan.He was scheduled to travel on to the Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan on Tuesday to meet President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and for a ceremony Wednesday to open a gas pipeline between Turkmenistan and Iran.

Ahmadinejad's government has come under heavy Western criticism for its crackdown on opposition supporters in December 27 protests in which at least eight people died and hundreds were arrested.The protests were the bloodiest since demonstrations that erupted directly after a contested June vote that gave Ahmadinejad another term. Authorities said 36 protesters were killed although the opposition put the toll at 72.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

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

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

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

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth before them; 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.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).

MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

France rejects Iran's nuclear counter-proposal
JAN 4,10

PARIS (AFP) – France rejects Iran's latest move to set a new deadline to end the standoff over its contested nuclear programme, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday.We are not the ones who have to decide whether to accept what they want to impose on us, Kouchner told RTL radio. No, this is not the way it is done.Iran said at the weekend that it had until the end of January to reach agreement on a deal to swap uranium for nuclear fuel after rejecting a December 31 deadline set by world powers.Kouchner said Iran was trying to side-step the issue by giving an ultimatum to those who have offered to help them, that is the international community including France.Turning to opposition protests challenging the Iranian regime, Kouchner said the establishment was under threat by very determined people, some of them very religious, and by the Shiite leadership.There is enormous repression. We must condemn those that cause unarmed protesters to be exposed to bullets, arrests and very severe convictions including death sentences, he added.

Scores of opposition activists, protesters and journalists have been arrested since clashes during the latest major demonstration on December 27 that left at least eight killed.

Israelis make pilgrimage to rabbi's tomb in Egypt By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jan 3, 12:39 pm ET

CAIRO – Hundreds of Israelis came to Egypt on Sunday for an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of a 19th-century Jewish holy man in Egypt's Nile Delta, airport officials said.
Last year, Egypt denied the pilgrims entry because the anniversary fell during Israel's offensive on Gaza and there were concerns about their security and public protests.In past years, Egypt limited the number of pilgrims visiting the tomb of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira near the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. But Israeli newspapers reported that President Hosni Mubarak accepted a request from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited Egypt last week to allow unlimited numbers.There are more coming in the next few days, hundreds, probably thousands, said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.Cairo airport officials say about 290 Israelis arrived on Sunday and police imposed tight security at the airport and on the main highway to Alexandria, where they will spend few days before the commemoration of the anniversary of the rabbi's death on Tuesday and Wednesday.Abuhatzeira, who was a son to a chief rabbi of Morocco, was revered by some Jews as a mystic renowned for his piety and for performing miracles. The elderly rabbi was making his way from his native Morocco to the Holy Land in 1879 when he fell ill and died in the Egyptian city of Damanhour near Alexandria.Israeli Consul General in Alexandria Hassan Ka'abia said at least 500-600 Israelis have applied for visas to come. He said others are coming from Europe, especially France.Since Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979, Jewish devotees, mostly of Moroccan origin, have been flocking to the site for a ceremony at his tomb. But Egypt has limited the numbers of pilgrims. In 2001, a Court in Alexandria ruled to ban the ceremony after complaints by opposing groups.

Some residents claim the shrine is not the tomb of a Jew.Egypt guards the stone tomb, which stands in a small chamber, and allows visitors only for the January anniversary of Abuhatzeira's death.The tomb is a vestige of Egypt's once-prosperous Jewish community. Jews in Egypt go back to the time before Moses. And by the founding of Israel in 1948, they numbered about 80,000 people. But the Arab-Israeli wars, and the resentment and expulsions that they engendered, have reduced Egypt's Jews to about 60 people, living in Alexandria and Cairo, according to the Israeli embassy.

PSALMS 137:5-6
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

Ex-Israeli PM still comatose 4 years after stroke By IAN DEITCH, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jan 3, 12:00 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Ariel Sharon, the tough army general turned premier who shocked his hawkish supporters by pulling Israel out of Gaza in 2005, is still lying unconscious in a hospital bed, friends said Sunday on the fourth anniversary of the massive stroke that put him in a coma.Sharon, 81, led Israel from 2001 until the January 2006stroke that left him comatose.Dov Weisglass, a close friend of Sharon and his former spokesman, told The Associated Press on Sunday that Sharon's vital signs are good but it was not clear if he would ever regain consciousness. Medical experts have said that is most unlikely.Sharon was a daring army officer who reached the rank of major general In the 1970s, sometimes disobeying orders from his superiors. After leaving the army, Sharon turned to politics, becoming a hawkish lawmaker in the Likud Party and an enthusiastic supporter of the movement to settle the West Bank with Israelis.He served in several Cabinet posts, including defense minister. He was the architect of Israel's disastrous war in Lebanon, which began in 1982.The next year he was forced to resign by an Israeli commission of inquiry that found him indirectly responsible for the massacre of around 800 Palestinians at the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps by Lebanese Christian militiamen.

Resurrecting his political career, he was elected Israel's prime minister in 2001.

Turning his back on his uncompromising ideology in 2005, Sharon unilaterally withdrew all Israeli settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip, ending Israel's 38-year occupation of the territory and daily clashes between settlers and soldiers with Palestinian militants. Outraged hawkish backers abandoned him, and Sharon created a new centrist party, Kadima, to run in March 2006 elections.Riding a wave of popularity, Sharon appeared to be well on his way to re-election when he suffered a stroke on Jan. 4, 2006.Doctors fought to keep him alive after severe hemorrhaging that caused significant brain damage, performing a number of desperate operations to stop the bleeding but leaving him in a vegetative state. Several months later, he was moved to a long-term care facility outside Tel Aviv.Raanan Gissin, another close friend of Sharon and former spokesman, told the AP that Sharon is not connected to a respirator but sometimes needs an oxygen mask at night. There is still no change physiologically. His body functions but he has still not regained consciousness, Gissin said. Who knows if he can hear or not.Gissin said he visits Sharon often, as does Sharon's family and former staff, including a driver. Our hope is that he will regain consciousness one day,he said. But there are few cases of patients emerging from deep comas after such a long time.

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

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

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

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

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

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

US plan calls for Mideast peace deal in two years: report
MON JAN 4,10

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Washington is pushing a plan to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that foresees reaching a final deal in two years and agreeing on permanent borders in nine months, a daily said Monday.Under the plan, the Israelis and Palestinians will immediately start final status talks that were suspended during the Gaza war a year ago, Israel's Maariv newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources.

The paper said that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was expected to press Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to agree to the plan during a meeting later Monday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.There were no immediate comments on the report from Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian or US officials.The Palestinians have demanded a full freeze on Israeli settlement activity before resuming negotiations.

Under the US plan, the two sides will first discuss the issue of permanent borders, with a deadline of nine months for reaching an agreement, Maariv said.The idea is to have an agreement on borders before the expiry of an Israeli moratorium on new settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, so Israel will start to build again only in those settlements that will be inside its borders under the final status agreement, it said.Underlying the discussions will be the principle of a land swap that has figured prominently in past peace negotiations -- Israel will keep its major settlement blocks in the occupied West Bank and the Palestinians will get land inside Israel in return.After reaching an agreement on borders, the sides will move on to discuss the other core issues: Jerusalem and refugees, Maariv said.To entice both sides to agree to the deal, Washington is preparing letters of guarantee.The Palestinians will get a letter guaranteeing that the two-year deadline will be final, with no delay.If no agreement is reached, the Palestinians will request US backing for their demand to receive an area equal in size to the territory under Arab rule prior to 1967, Maariv said.The Israelis will receive a note ratifying a letter that former US president George W. Bush wrote to then Israeli premier Ariel Sharon in 2004, in which he said that a final status agreement will be based on the principle of land swaps that will allow Israel to keep its major settlement blocs.
Arab diplomats in Cairo told AFP last week that US President Barack Obama's administration was drafting letters of guarantee, but did not provide details.

Fed: Regulation 1st defense against speculation By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer – Sun Jan 3, 1:41 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Stronger regulation is the best way to prevent financial speculation from getting out of hand and throwing the economy in a new crisis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday.But he didn't rule out higher interest rates to stop new speculative investment bubbles from forming.The Fed chief's remarks were his most extensive on the subject since the housing market's tumble led to the gravest financial crisis since World War II — and perhaps the worst in modern history, in his view.Critics blame the Fed for feeding that speculative boom in housing by holding interest rates too low for too long after the 2001 recession.

But Bernanke, in a speech to the American Economic Association's annual meeting in Atlanta, defended the central bank's actions. Extra-low rates were needed to get the economy and job creation back to full throttle after the Sept. 11 attacks and accounting scandals that rocked Wall Street, he said.Bernanke said the direct links were weak between super-low interest rates and the rapid rise in house prices that occurred at roughly the same time. The stance of interest rates during that period does not appear to have been inappropriate, he said.Still, the enormous economic damage from the housing bust — the longest and deepest recession since the 1930s and double-digit unemployment — shows how important it is to guard against a repeat, Bernanke said.All efforts should be made to strengthen our regulatory system to prevent a recurrence of the crisis, and to cushion the effects if another crisis occurs, he said.However, if adequate reforms are not made, or if they are made but prove insufficient to prevent dangerous buildups of financial risks, we must remain open to using monetary policy as a supplementary tool, he added.Speculative excesses are not easy to pinpoint in their early stages, he said, and using higher interest rates to combat them can hurt the economy.For instance, rate increases in 2003 and 2004 to constrain the housing bubble could have seriously weakened the economy just when a recovery from the 2001 recession was starting, he said.To help the country emerge from that recession, the Fed under then-Chairman Alan Greenspan cut its key bank lending rate from 6.5 percent in late 2000 to 1 percent in June 2003. It held rates at what was then a record low for a year. It's this action that critics blame for feeding the housing speculation.Bernanke, however, said the expansion of complex mortgage products and the belief that housing prices would keep rising were the keys to inflating the housing bubble. As a result, lenders made home loans to people to finance houses they couldn't afford.

The Fed in 2005 did crack down on dubious mortgage practices and the type of mortgages blamed for the crisis. Bernanke acknowledged that these efforts came too late or were insufficient to stop the decline in underwriting standards and effectively constrain the housing bubble.Still, Bernanke said the lesson learned from the crisis isn't that regulation is ineffective but that regulation must be better and smarter.However, the Fed's regulatory lapses and its failure to spot problems leading up to the crisis have spurred efforts in Congress to rein in the Fed's powers and subject it to more oversight. Bernanke, who has been tapped by President Barack Obama to a second term as Fed chief, faces a contentious confirmation in the Senate.During a brief question-and-answer session after his speech, Bernanke didn't talk about current economic conditions or the future course of interest rates.When the Fed meets later this month, it is expected to keep its key bank lending rate at a record low, near zero. The big question is whether the Fed will provide clues at that time about when it will need to start raising rates to prevent inflation from taking off. Some analysts worry that the Fed, which has held rates at record lows since December 2008, could be fueling a new speculative period and potentially a future economic crisis. Looking back, Bernanke suggested the Fed might have underestimated the full force of the recession, which struck in December 2007.It turns out the recession was worse than we thought at the time, he said. After four straight losing quarters, the economy finally grew from July through September last year. Much of that growth, though, came from government-supported spending on homes and cars. There's concern about how vigorous the recovery will be once government supports are removed later this year. Associated Press writer Dorie Turner in Atlanta contributed to this report.

TORAH PORTION FROM JAN 3 - 9,2010

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

TORAH PORTION FROM JAN 03 2010 6PM - JAN 09 6PM 2010

EXODUS 1:1 - 6:1
1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.
6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

EXODUS 2:1-25
1 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.
7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
9 And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
11 And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.
12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?
14 And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.
15 Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
17 And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18 And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?
19 And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.
20 And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.
21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

EXODUS 3:1-22
1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:
17 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
18 And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.
19 And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.
20 And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.
21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty:
22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

EXODUS 4:1-31
1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.
2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
6 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.
10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.
17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
19 And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.
20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
21 And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.
25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
27 And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.
28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.
29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:
30 And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

EXODUS 5:1-23
1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.
12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
13 And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?
15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.
17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.
20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
21 And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.
22 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

EXODUS 6:1
1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

PROPHETS PORTION

ISAIAH 27:6-28:13
6 He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.
7 Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?
8 In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.
9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.
10 Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

ISAIAH 29:22-23
22 Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.

JEREMIAH 1:1-2:3
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
2 To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
13 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

NEW TESTAMENT PORTION

MATTHEW 22:23-33,41-46
23 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27 And last of all the woman died also.
28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

MARK 12:18-27,35-37
18 Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,
19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.
21 And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise.
22 And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also.
23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.
24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?
25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.
35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?
36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

LUKE 20:27-44
27 Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him,
28 Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man’s brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
29 There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.
30 And the second took her to wife, and he died childless.
31 And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died.
32 Last of all the woman died also.
33 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife.
34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:
35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
37 Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
38 For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
39 Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said.
40 And after that they durst not ask him any question at all.
41 And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David’s son?
42 And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
43 Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
44 David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?

ACTS 3:12-15
12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

ACTS 5:27-32
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

ACTS 7:17-36
17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.
19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.
20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months:
21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:
25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
26 And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?
29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.
34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

ACTS 22:12-16
12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,
13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

ACTS 24:14-16
14 But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.

HEBREWS 11:23-26
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.
24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

SPAIN HEADS EU FOR NEXT 6 MONTHS

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.

Mudslide kills 10 people in Brazilian resort city By TALES AZZONI, Associated Press Writer – JAN 1,10

SAO PAULO – A rain-loosened slab of hillside collapsed on three houses and an upscale lodge after New Year celebrations at a resort near Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 10 people, Brazilian authorities said.About 100 rescuers were searching for other survivors of the mudslide that also injured at least five people early Friday. Police helicopters and navy vessels were helping in the rescue efforts.The mudslide apparently happened after tourists had returned to their rooms following the New Year's celebration in the lodge on an island off the city of Angra dos Reis, fire department commander Pedro Machado said.Witnesses told local media the hillside lodge and the houses, which can only be accessed by boat, collapsed after being struck by a slab of land nearly 300 meters (330 yards) wide.Wooden parts of the lodge were seen floating near the shore and on the beach.The Sankay lodge was capable of accommodating 50 guests and was reportedly full at the time of the mudslide.Other mudslides had killed 19 people across Rio de Janeiro state on Thursday, mostly when as shanties collapsed under mud or rain in the greater Rio de Janeiro city area.Four other people had died early Friday in Angra dos Reis because of other mudslides caused by the heavy rains.Authorities said nearly 80 mudslides have been reported throughout the region, toppling trees and destroying power lines.
Local officials declared three days of mourning and canceled the town's annual celebration on Jan. 6.

Brazil mudslides, floods kill 29 after heavy rain
JAN 1,10

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Mudslides and flooding killed at least 29 people in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state and authorities worry the death toll could climb with more heavy rains in the forecast, local media reported on Friday.Ten people were found dead on Friday after a small hotel collapsed in the beach resort of Angra dos Reis, one of Brazil's most exclusive tourism destinations, GloboNews television channel reported, citing firefighters.Rescue teams, aided by helicopters and navy boats, were struggling to reach the region where the hotel collapsed, Pedro Machado, head of the firefighters' corps, told GloboNews.Television footage showed the hotel completely buried under a mountain of reddish brown mud. On Thursday, a heavy downpour that triggered mudslides and floods killed as many as 19 people across Rio state, Brazil's third most populous.Machado said heavy rains forecast for the coming days could make rescue work harder and trigger more mudslides.

The state's civil defense, ports and firefighters agencies did not immediately return calls.Local media said most of the deaths occurred as shacks located in some poor areas collapsed. Heavy rain was forecast for greater Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second-largest city.(Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Writing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

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).

WATCH CLOSELY NOW AS SPAIN WILL BRING ABOUT THE DICTATORS SEAT OF POWER FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS.

Spain takes over EU presidency By Daniel Woolls, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 1, 8:14 am ET

MADRID – Spain took over the presidency of the European Union on Friday, with the prime minister promising to work to end the continent's economic crisis.The six-month rotating post passed from Sweden to Spain at the stroke of midnight, and the country launched its stint in the helm with a spectacular sound and light show for New Year's Eve revelers gathered at the Puerta del Sol, one of Madrid's most emblematic plazas.Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Spain's main goal as EU president is to fight for economic recovery, for recovery from the crisis, and make Europe an economy that is more and more productive, more and more innovative and more and more sustainable.Zapatero also said that under the new Treaty of Lisbon, which went into effect Dec. 1, the 27-member European Union must work to assert itself more on the global stage as it deals with powerhouses like the United States and China.We have to make Europe an ever stronger factor in the international context; a Europe that defends and extends the values of peace, cooperation, and dialogue among all peoples and nations, Zapatero said in a short video posted on a Web site the government has created to launch the presidency.One of the key goals of the Lisbon treaty is to streamline EU decision-making procedures so the bloc can act with more agility.

It also created the post of full-time president, Belgian Herman Van Rompuy, and named a new foreign policy chief, Britain's Catherine Ashton, but retained the system of rotating presidencies for handling the bloc's day-to-day affairs.As chance would have it, the EU's efforts to resurrect the economy will now be led by the country that is perhaps the worst off of all of them.Spain has an EU-high unemployment rate of 17.9 percent, about double the bloc's average, and while countries including France and Germany have managed to climb out of technical recession, Spain acknowledges it is lagging behind and will not see net creation of jobs until late this year.Spain had posted nearly a decade of solid and sometimes robust growth, largely on the strength of its construction sector, until the real estate bubble collapsed over the past two years.

Pope calls for respect, peace at start of 2010 By ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 1, 6:40 am ET

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI on Friday called for respect of all people without discrimination and the protection of children from war and violence as he celebrated the start of the new year.Jan. 1 is also the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, and the pontiff issued an appeal to all armed groups to stop, reflect and abandon the way of violence, even if it seems impossible.You will feel in your hearts the joy of peace, which you have perhaps long forgotten, Benedict said during the Angelus prayer.

He said peace begins by recognizing that men are brothers, not rivals or enemies.

Peace begins with a look of respect that recognizes in another man's face a person, regardless of the color of his skin, nationality, language or religion, he said during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica earlier in the day.The value of respect for all should be taught from an early age, Benedict said. Noting that classes containing children of different backgrounds are common, he said that their faces are a prophecy of the kind of humanity we are called upon to create: a family of families and peoples.The 82-year-old pope put children, especially those hurt by conflict or forced to leave their homes, at the heart of his call for peace.He said they make it evident that men are brothers because despite differences, they cry and laugh the same way, have the same needs, communicate spontaneously, play together.

The painful images of children at the mercy of war and violence, their faces disfigured by pain and desperation, are a silent appeal for peace, Benedict said.The pope celebrated the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica a week after he was knocked down by a woman on Christmas Eve. He was unhurt in the fall and has kept up his busy holiday schedule.The Vatican said the woman was mentally unstable and identified her as 25-year-old Susanna Maiolo, a Swiss-Italian national. She remains in a clinic for treatment.In his comments, Benedict also renewed his call to protect the environment, saying that the degradation of man leads to the degradation of the planet.

WORLD TERRORISM

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

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

2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men

LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Al-Qaeda threat looms into new decade: Brown
JAN 1,2010

LONDON (AFP) – The failed Detroit plane bombing showed that terrorism remains a very real global threat as the world enters a new decade eight years after 9/11, Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Friday.World leaders needed to cooperate urgently to tighten security at airports and on aircraft following the December 25 attack in which a 23-year-old Nigerian nearly downed a US jet as it prepared to land, he said.

Brown added that Britain had ordered a review of airport security arrangements and promised action as quickly as possible. This could include the use of full body scanners at airports.The new decade is starting as the last began -- with Al-Qaeda creating a climate of fear, he wrote, saying the failed bombing had exposed an evolving terrorist threat and highlighted a major new base for terrorism.The failed attack in Detroit on Christmas Day reminds us of a deeper reality: that almost 10 years after September 11th international terrorism is still a very real threat, he added.The Detroit attack, which has led to a major review of security procedures and the coordination of airline and other watch-lists, had thrown the spotlight onto the threat posed by militants based in Yemen, he said.Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is believed to have been trained in Yemen before embarking on the failed bombing, with explosives concealed in his underwear which remained undetected as he passed through Nigerian and Dutch airports. Related article: Brown calls meeting on Yemen.Enemies of democracy and freedom -- now trying to mastermind death and destruction from Yemen as well as other better-known homes of international terror such as Pakistan and Afghanistan -- are concealing explosives in ways which are more difficult to detect,said Brown.Al Qaeda and their associates continue in their ambition to indoctrinate thousands of young people around the world with a deadly desire to kill and maim, he wrote in an article on his Downing Street office's website.And he said: Our response in security, intelligence, policing and military action, is not just an act of choice but an act of necessity.Brown said Britain has one of the toughest borders in the world, and had screened 135 million passengers in and out of the country against watchlists -- including the Detroit attempted bomber, who was refused a visa in May 2009.But in light of the Detroit incident we all urgently need to work together on how we might further tighten these arrangements, he said.

That is why on Monday I ordered immediate reviews into existing measures -- including for transit passengers -- and asked for ways we can urgently tighten procedures.I will be receiving the preliminary findings in the next few days and we will act on them as quickly as possible.He added potential measures to be deployed could include explosive trace technology, full body scanners and advanced x-ray technology.He stressed that Britain cannot rely only on a fortress Britain strategy but must take the fight to where extremists are based, in Afghanistan, Pakistan and all around the world.The Detroit plot thankfully failed. But it has been another wake-up call for the ongoing battles we must wage not just for security against terror but for the hearts and minds of a generation.

UK considers body scanners after airline attack By SYLVIA HUI, Associated Press Writer – Thu Dec 31, 7:01 pm ET

LONDON – Britain is considering introducing new technology such as full body scanners to improve airport security after the attempted Christmas Day airline attack, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday.The failed attempt to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit last week was a wake-up call for Britain to move quickly to combat changing terrorist techniques by updating its security measures and improving the way it shares information about terror suspects, Brown said.These enemies of democracy and freedom ... are concealing explosives in ways which are more difficult to detect, the prime minister said in an article posted on his official Web site.Brown said traditional pat-down searches and sniffer dogs are no longer enough to identify hidden explosives and weapons. Together with the U.S., Britain is examining the use of more sophisticated equipment — including full body scanners and advanced x-ray technology, he said.The U.S. and many other countries have been reluctant to introduce body scanners that peer underneath clothing because of privacy concerns. Privacy advocates say they amount to a virtual strip search because they display an image of the body onto a computer screen.But reacting to last week's attempted airline bombing — in which 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded his flight from Amsterdam to Detroit carrying undetected explosives — the Netherlands announced Wednesday it will immediately begin using full body scanners for flights heading to the United States.

The controversial scanners are currently on trial at Britain's Manchester Airport. BAA, the authority that owns six U.K. airports including London's Heathrow, has said it would await a European ruling on privacy regulations before considering a similar move.Brown also stressed that the British government is working to prevent young people at British universities and colleges from being targetted by terrorist recruiters.Some security experts and the British media have speculated that Abdulmutallab — who was president of University College London's Islamic Society when he studied for his undergraduate degree there — may have been recruited by al-Qaeda extremists on campus.Although we are increasingly clear that he linked up with al-Qaeda in Yemen after leaving London, we nevertheless need to remain vigilant against people being radicalized here as well as abroad, Brown said.The leader also said he has ordered an immediate review aiming at tightening Britain's passenger screening methods and improving its watch-list system.

Times Square revelers mark end of difficult decade By VIRGINIA BYRNE, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 1, 6:46 am ET

NEW YORK – For all those reflecting glumly on the last 10 years of terror attacks, war and recession, Gail Guay has some advice: Don't look back.The 50-year-old Guay, from Raymond, N.H., was among the hundreds of thousands of revelers who rang in 2010 in a chilly Times Square as the famous Waterford crystal ball dropped at midnight Thursday, marking the end of a difficult decade that many wanted to leave behind.But a sense of starting fresh remained elusive for many, who wondered what sort of legacy would begin on Jan. 1.Nothing seems to be going well, said John O'Donnell, of Hazleton, Pa.People are losing their lives overseas. People are unemployed. It doesn't seem like it's about to end soon.Las Vegas welcomed some 315,000 revelers with fireworks from casino rooftops, celebrity toasts at nightclubs and a traffic-free Las Vegas Strip.David Fraley attended a separate gathering in Sin City's downtown estimated at 35,000 people.This decade's over. Let's get a better one going, said Fraley, 56, who lost his job as a supermarket liquor clerk in March.Bob Batchelor, a professor of mass communications at Kent State University and author of The 2000s, published before the decade was even done, said the meaning of the new decade would be diminished by the hangover of the last decade.That,he said,makes it tough to be as optimistic as Americans usually are.But New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was more tempered in his assessment.If you put it in the context of what people are suffering around the world, we're in very good shape, he said from Times Square.

Some were hopeful.

I have many wishes for 2010! exclaimed Ramona Vlada, 28, of Romania.I wish to be healthy, love and to be loved at the same time, be with the family and make a family even bigger.Celebrations took many forms, with concerts, fireworks and the timed drops of favorite local symbols.Denver revelers by the thousand gathered downtown and gave the traditional New Year's countdown, ending with a rousing cheer as the clock struck midnight.In the Tennessee cities of Memphis and Nashville, organizers dropped 10-foot red guitars. In Atlanta, an 800-pound fiberglass peach took a 138-foot plunge. In Times Square it was an 11,875-pound ball covered with more than 32,000 bulbs that was lowered at midnight.In Boston, more than 1,000 artists and performers participated in the First Night celebrations. Artists planned to display six ice sculptures, including a replica of one of the Boston Museum of Fine Art's 4,000-year-old Egyptian sculptures.And in Chicago, the city's Transit Authority was offering rides for a penny to help residents and visitors get in place for fireworks displays during the evening and at midnight. Around the world, from fireworks in Sydney to balloons sent aloft in Tokyo, merrymakers at least temporarily shelved worries about the future to bid farewell to the first decade of the 21st century. In Times Square, organizers mixed about 10,000 handwritten wishes into the 3,000 pounds of confetti that was dropped over the crowds. The messages included appeals for the safe return of troops fighting overseas, continued employment and a cure for diabetes. The hundreds of thousands of people gathered brought out heightened police security, displayed a day earlier when officers evacuated several blocks around Times Square to investigate a parked van without license plates. Only clothing and clothes racks were found inside. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, speaking from Times Square on a Webcast, said his department had many officers in the crowd, both uniformed and plainclothes. He said officers were using bomb-sniffing dogs and technology to detect biological and chemical agents. Counter-sniper teams were set up as well. As of early morning on the first day of the new decade, there had been no reports of trouble or arrests.Associated Press writer Oskar Garcia in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Goodbye 2009! World ready for a more hopeful 2010 By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer – Thu Dec 31, 3:44 pm ET

PARIS – Fireworks exploded over Sydney's famous bridge and the Eiffel Tower prepared for its own colored-light spectacle as the world celebrated a New Year that many hope will be more prosperous and peaceful than 2009.Revelers across the globe at least temporarily shelved worries about their future prospects to bid farewell to The Noughties, a bitter-tinged nickname for the first decade of the 21st century playing on a term for zero and evoking the word naughty.The financial downturn hit hard in 2009, sending many industrial economies into recession, tossing millions out of work and out of their homes as foreclosures rose dramatically in some countries.

The year that is ending has been difficult for everybody. No continent, no country, no sector has been spared, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on national TV in a New Year's Eve address.Even if the tests are unfinished, 2010 will be a year of renewal,he added.Germany's leader warned her people that the start of the new decade won't herald immediate relief from the global economic ills. South Africa's president was more ebullient, saying the World Cup is set to make 2010 the country's most important year since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Other leaders focused on the positive aspects of 2009.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said 2009 had been an extraordinary year for the world — citing the inauguration of the United States' first black president and international attempts to grapple with climate change and the global financial crisis.The great message from 2009 is that because we've been all in this together, we've all worked together, Rudd said in a New Year's message.Australia got the festivities rolling Thursday, with Sydney draping its skies with explosive bursts of crimson, purple and blue to the delight of more than 1 million New Year revelers.

Concerns that global warming might raise sea levels and cause other environmental problems were on the minds of some as the year ended.Venice revelers were set to ring in the New Year with wet feet as high tide was to peak just before midnight to flood low-lying parts of the city — including the St. Mark's Square.In winter, tourists checking into Venice hotels are regularly asked their shoe sizes so they can be fitted with boots to face the lagoon city's exceptionally high tides.The last year also offered its reminders of the decade's fight against terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently, rising militant violence in Pakistan.Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, in a statement Wednesday, suggested that terrorism book-ended the decade, with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, and foiled plot by a Nigerian man to set off explosives on a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Eve.In late December we were reminded at this decade's end, just as we were at its beginning, that there is a terrorist threat which puts our safety and security at risk and which requires us to take on al-Qaeda and the Taliban at the epicentre of global terrorism, he said.The American Embassy in Indonesia warned of a possible terrorist attack on the resort island of Bali on New Year's Eve, citing information from the island's governor — though local security officials said they were unaware of a threat.More than 8,000 police and soldiers were deployed for extra security in and around Paris. The Eiffel Tower was decked out for its 120th anniversary year with hundreds of multicolored lights for a show that's more energy-saving than its usual sparkling-light display.

Despite forecasts for below-freezing temperatures, thousands were expected to gather on the banks of the River Thames in London for fireworks after Big Ben strikes midnight. (2009 was) like shock therapy, where people really change when something bad happens to them, said accountant Conrad Jordaan, 35. It was a world-changing year, a bad year in many ways, but an important year because of the economic downturn, he said, enjoying cigarettes and coffee at an outdoor cafe in London.It will be interesting to see if it changes peoples' behavior long term.Europe and the Americas were likely to be partying harder than Asia. Islamic countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan use a different calendar, and China will mark the new year in February. Still, in Shanghai, some people paid 518 yuan ($75) to ring the bell at the Longhua Temple at midnight and wish for new-year luck. In Chinese, saying 518 sounds like the phrase I want prosperity. Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries where New Year's Eve is not celebrated publicly. Clerics in the ultraconservative country say Muslims can only observe their faith's feasts of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. For them, any other occasions are considered innovations that Islam rejects.

Unlike many Islamic countries where pigs are considered unclean, New Year's in Austria just isn't complete without a pig-shaped lucky charm — and stalls selling the little porkers were doing good business Thursday. Some are made of marzipan or chocolate; others come in glass, wood, rubber or soap. Herbert Nikitsch of the University of Vienna's Institute of European Ethnology said the porcine phylactery may originate from the fact that pigs represented food and sustenance for farmers in preindustrial times.

Some festivities went awry.

In the Philippines, hundreds of people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gunfire during the celebrations. Many Filipinos, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year's celebrations drive away evil and misfortune — but some carry that belief to extremes. At Zojoji, one of Tokyo's oldest and biggest Buddhist temples, thousands of worshippers released clear, helium-filled balloons to mark the new year. Nearby Tokyo Tower twinkled with white lights, while a large 2010 sign glowed from the center. Across town in Shibuya, the scene was more chaotic. The area, known as a magnet of youth culture, exploded with emotion at the stroke of midnight. Strangers embraced spontaneously as revelers jumped and sang. Keitaro Morizame, a 24-year-old TV producer in Tokyo, expressed optimism for the new year. I really felt the economic downturn last year, he said. I think the future will be brighter.In Istanbul, Turkish authorities deployed some 2,000 police around Taksim Square to prevent pickpockets and the molestation of women that have marred New Year celebrations in the past. Some officers were under cover, disguised as street vendors or even in Santa Claus dress, Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said. In Stonehaven, on Scotland's east coast, the fireballs festival — a tradition for a century and a half — sees in the New Year. The pagan festival is observed by marchers swinging large, flaming balls around their heads. The flames are believed to either ensure sunshine or banish harmful influences. In contrast to many galas worldwide, the Stonehaven Fireballs Association warns those attending not to wear their best clothes — because there will be sparks flying along with smoke and even whisky. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Veronika Oleksyn in Vienna, Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, Daniela Petroff in Venice, Ronan Sullivan in Sydney, Jay Alabaster and Tomoko Hosaka in Tokyo, Cara Anna in Beijing, Gregory Katz in London, and Jim Gomez in Manila, contributed to this story.

London, Paris stocks finish 2009 with big gains
by Roland Jackson – Thu Dec 31, 9:11 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – British and French stock markets rose Thursday in light holiday-shortened trade to finish 2009 with bumper annual gains of more than 22 percent amid growing investor confidence over economic recovery.London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares won just 0.28 percent to end at 5,412.88 points at 1230 GMT, as traders headed home early for New Year celebrations.Shortly afterwards, in Paris the CAC 40 index added a marginal 0.02 percent to close at 3,936.33 points at 1300 GMT. Frankfurt had shut Wednesday for festivities.This year, London and Paris have each soared by more than 22 percent in value, while Frankfurt jumped almost 24 percent.We saw a decent push higher but trading volumes were understandably light, GFT analyst David Morrison told AFP.Investors wanted to see a positive end to 2009, to cap a stunning rally that began back in March.All three main European markets have surged ahead, boosted by mounting signs of economic recovery after a vicious downturn that was rooted in the global financial crisis.The eurozone, Japan and the United States all pulled out of recession in 2009 -- but Britain has yet to escape amid stubborn fears about ballooning state debt and soaring unemployment.However, the London stock market has soared by almost 55 percent in value since striking six-year lows in March at around the 3,500-points mark. The high for the year stands at 5,445.20 points -- reached on Tuesday.

Frankfurt, London and Paris will remain shut on Friday and reopen for business on Monday, January 4.Morrison added that the New Year would bring an array of challenges for stock market investors.2010 will bring a host of fresh challenges, although investors will hope that stocks will continue to strengthen, he said.
Sovereign debt concerns will become even more of an issue, and we have to worry about a ratings downgrade for the UK once the general election is out of the way.But before that, fourth-quarter corporate earnings will grab traders' attention: if there is no improvement in revenues this time round, we can expect a sharp correction in equities.Markets had slumped in early 2009 on fears about governments' abilities to overcome the deep worldwide recession.But they were lifted as many of the world's central banks and governments launched radical measures to boost lending, stabilise the troubled banking sector and slash interest rates to historically low levels.Investors can look back on the last twelve months with a sigh of relief, added UBS analyst Geoffrey Yu.The global financial system stabilized, helping avert a depression, as most asset classes began to feel the effects of extraordinary and coordinated policy intervention by the second quarter.

Risks remain in 2010, but the world economy is back from the brink, he added. On Wednesday, Germany's DAX 30 index of leading shares sank 0.90 percent to finish at 5,957.43 points on Frankfurt's final trading day of 2009. Sentiment was hit after Tokyo finished in the red on its final trading day of the year on Wednesday. The market also reopens on January 4. Wall Street stocks edged higher overnight after a better-than-expected report on US manufacturing activity, indicating that a recovery from recession was on track. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.03 percent to 10,548.51, a day after the blue-chip index fell for the first time in seven sessions that saw new 2009 highs.

Oil prices wrap up huge 2009 rally on mixed note
Thu Dec 31, 4:49 pm ET

NEW YORK (AFP) – World oil prices wrapped up a massive 2009 rebound Thursday on a mixed note amid hopes for a global recovery from recession.Crude oil prices surged 80 percent from a year ago as traders were heartened by mounting evidence that the global economy was on the mend, with the eurozone, Japan and the United States emerging from a fierce recession.New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, crept eight cents higher to close at 79.36 dollars a barrel.London's Brent North Sea crude for February fell 10 cents to settle at 77.93 dollars.The New York contract ended the year 77.94 percent higher, while Brent was not far behind, clocking in a gain of 70.94 percent.Amid thin trading as many market participants were away from their desks ahead of the New Year holiday Friday, the New York contract managed to reach the pyschological level of 80.00 dollars in intraday trade.Momentum seems to run out near 80 dollars as market participants ponder the conundrum of whether or not a sustainable recovery is actually underway, said Mike Fitzpatrick at MF Global.The oil market ran counter to other markets, overcoming a slightly firmer dollar that makes oil more expensive and slumping Wall Street equities.The positive bias shows near-term supply and demand strength, said Ellis Eckland, an independent analyst.Oil prices found support again from official US data released Wednesday that showed declines in stockpiles of crude oil and distillates, including heating oil, in the past week, suggesting stronger demand in the world's biggest energy-consuming nation.That report built on the prior week's unexpected and sharp declines in the two categories.The inventories number were bullish yesterday. Also the weather?s been cold, Eckland said, explaining the rise in demand for heating oil.The analyst forecast a typical January surge in oil prices as markets emerge from the worst global economic and financial crisis in decades.

Before the 2008 crisis, you?d often get a rally in January, because it?s cold and the demand is stronger. The distillates market tightens up, he said.The current market is kind of going back to normal, because the market wasn?t tight at all, he added.The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which produces 40 percent of global crude output, last week held its production quotas unchanged at an Angola meeting, warning of lingering weakness in the world economy.A steady 10-month climb has brought the New York futures contract not far from its 2009 peak at 81.37 dollars.MF Global's Fitzpatrick said that oil this year had fixed its role as a macroeconomic measurement that formerly was held exclusively by precious metals, currencies and treasuries. That role was enhanced earlier in the year as commodities in general became a store of value for investors as confidence in capital markets was shaken in the wake of last year's Lehman Brothers debacle, he said. The OPEC meeting capped a year of recovery for oil prices, which have more than doubled since the cartel set strict quota cuts in the depths of the economic crisis a year ago.

Last January the cartel agreed cuts of 4.2 million barrels a day, which helped support prices. The worldwide economic downturn, which was sparked by the global financial crisis that emanated from the collapse of the US housing bubble, had slammed energy demand, driving prices to a 2009 low of 33.98 dollars on February 12.

So much then for 2009, a year that the oil market spent mainly in a recovery mode, said Barclays Capital analyst Paul Horsnell. However, prices still remain far below the record highs above 147 dollars a barrel struck in July 2008 on fears of supply disruptions.

MURDER

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

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

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

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

LUKE 21:25
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(OZONE DEPLETION) and in the moon,(FIRST MAN ON MOON) and in the stars;(JUPITER BOMBARDED ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Finnish police: Shooter likely targeted victims
JAN 1,10

HELSINKI – Finnish police say the man who killed five people in a New Year's Eve shooting rampage appears to have deliberately targeted his victims.Finnish investigator Henrik Niklander said it was unlikely to be a coincidence that the three men and two women who were shot and killed Thursday in a mall in Espoo all worked at the same grocery store.Police told reporters Friday that a preliminary probe revealed that 43-year-old Ibrahim Shkupolli's method for slaying his victims also indicated deliberate planning.Four of the victims were shot with an unlicensed handgun inside the mall. The fifth victim — Shkupolli's Finnish ex-girlfriend — was found dead in a nearby apartment. The woman had taken out a restraining order against Shkupolli, who reportedly stalked her for years.

29 MKs Challenge Construction Ban in Letter to PM
by Avi Yellin JAN 1,10

(IsraelNN.com) Nearly 30 members of Knesset sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) this week challenging the government’s current ban on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. The letter, initiated by the Matot Arim organization in cooperation with Knesset House Committee Chairman Yariv Levin (Likud) and opposition MK Uri Ariel (National Union), claims that because of the colossal infringement of human rights resulting from the construction ban, the policy violates Israel’s Basic Law and would require extensive and protracted legislation in order to be legally implemented.

Suzie Dym of Matot Arim told Israel National News the letter signed by 29 members of Knesset will – in addition to focusing on the human rights issues and dubious legality of the policy – take the struggle against the construction ban to an entirely new level. Until now there has been shock at the infringement of human rights resulting from the freeze. This is what has been dealt with up to now. But this letter is asserting that the problem is not only about human rights. The lawmakers who signed the document are saying that they as elected officials know that the Zionist enterprise requires an extensive momentum of Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. This construction is central to the Jewish people, to the Zionist endeavor and to the security of Israel.The letter was signed by 29 parliamentarians from seven different political factions representing a wide spectrum of Israeli society. According to Dym, the State of Israel is a representative democracy and therefore a letter to the prime minister signed by such a large number of lawmakers should have sweeping implications and be honored by the prime minister and defense minister on a policy level.

Har Bracha Students Appeal Removal from Hesder Program
by Avi Yellin JAN 1,10

(IsraelNN.com) Students from the Har Bracha Yeshiva petitioned the Supreme Court Friday morning in an effort to revoke the decision of Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Labor) to oust their yeshiva from the Hesder program combining Torah study with IDF service.The petition, filed by Attorney Gilad Corinaldi, argued that the defense minister’s decision lacks legal foundation and is instead based on personal political considerations, therefore creating a dangerous precedent that could have long term negative implications for Israeli society.The petition further accused the defense minister of creating a dangerous crisis by violating the holy alliance of Religious Zionism with the state and its institutions that may, heaven forbid, hurt the cohesion and unity of our people’s army.According to the students, who received letters from the IDF giving them 60 days to find another yeshiva or be expelled from the Hesder program, Barak’s decision amounts to collective punishment and forces them to pay the price of the defense minister’s personal rivalry with their Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Eliezer Melamed. The petitioners are hopeful that the Supreme Court will act in accordance with the law and overrule Barak’s decree.

Barak had claimed that Rabbi Melamed's behavior was encouraging soldiers to refuse orders when the Rabbi wrote that although if asked he would have told soldiers not to demonstrate against expulsions of settlers while in the army, he admired their integrity. Barak removed the yeshiva from the Hesder program. Rabbi Melamed signed an announcement by the Organization of Hesder Yeshiva Heads against demonstrations in the army, but Barak remained adamant about the ouster.