Wednesday, March 24, 2010

JERUSALEM LEAKS-LIVNI-SOETORO-OBAMA

SHADOW GOVERNMENT-DICTATORSHIP-THE MOVIE-GRANT JEFFREY)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1cYlU9NJTI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t91_ZwZX_8A&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6rUHRl-r6I&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEpM8MfVeks&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGdX-qRr-9I&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AnpcS4qqRc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k-QGtvL6s8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8Ec6-6HSsc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq7N00wCoP8&feature=related

OBAMA DECEPTION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw
FALL OF THE REPUBLIC MOVIE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8LPNRI_6T8&feature=player_embedded
ENDGAME GLOBAL ENSLAVEMENT
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1070329053600562261

Democrat congressman: Obamacare will control the people
Rep. Dingell: It takes a long time to do the necessary administrative steps
http://www.breitbart.tv/shocking-audio-rep-dingell-says-obamacare-will-eventually-control-the-people/
STOP PELOSI-AUDIO
http://live.radioamerica.org/loudwater/player.pl?upload=2680&name=wnd

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Pressure growing on China to revalue currency By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer - MAR 24,10 2:45PM

WASHINGTON – Pressure on China to allow its currency to rise in value against the dollar intensified on Wednesday with a prominent economist telling Congress that the Obama administration should cite China and four other Asian economies as currency manipulators in a report due in April.C. Fred Bergsten, head of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday that a successful campaign to pressure Asian nations on the currency issue could create as many as 1.2 million new American jobs.Bergsten said that not only was China keeping its currency undervalued against the dollar, but Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan were keeping their currencies undervalued as well to avoid losing sales in markets where they compete against China.He said he believed the Chinese yuan was undervalued by about 40 percent against the dollar and the other currencies were similarly undervalued. He said allowing those currencies to rise against the dollar to the proper levels would trim America's trade deficit by $100 billion to $150 billion annually. Last year's current account deficit totaled $419.9 billion.Bergsten said a fall in the value of the dollar against the various Asian currencies would boost U.S. exports and result in an additional 600,000 to 1.2 million jobs during a time of high unemployment in this country.Bergsten said that correcting the Chinese and Asian currency misalignments against the dollar would be the most cost-effective step that can be taken to reduce the unemployment rate in the United States.Bergsten testified at a hearing called by the House panel to highlight the growing unhappiness in Washington over China's currency policies.

Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich. and the acting chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said that the status quo with regard to China's currency system was not sustainable.
Niall Ferguson, a professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School, said that the administration should brand China a currency manipulator but he said the impact of the U.S.-China trade deficit would not be that significant because China has many other advantages such as low labor costs which contribute to its huge trade surplus with the United States.The Chinese authorities are spoiling for a fight,Ferguson told the committee, saying that meant the United States has to make sure that any tensions over currency do not boil over into a full-blown trade war between the two nations which could destabilize financial markets.Last month, President Barack Obama vowed to get much tougher in trade disputes with China while Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said recently that he believe China would soon allow its currency to start rising again against the dollar. China allowed the yuan to appreciate by about 20 percent from mid-2005 to mid-2008 but halted the rise after the global economic crisis began to cut deeply into its exports.The administration has given no hint on how it might rule in the upcoming report, which is due on April 15. Under a 1988 trade law, the Treasury must report to Congress every six months on whether any country has been found manipulating its currency to gain trade advantages.If China is designated as a currency manipulator, it would trigger negotiations between the two countries and could lead to economic sanctions if the U.S. takes a case before the World Trade Organization and wins a favorable WTO ruling.China has been cited in five previous reports in the period from May 1992 through July 1994 during the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Those negotiations did not produce any major results and no country has been cited since 1994.

Recently, a group of 14 U.S. senators unveiled legislation that would provide for penalty tariffs to be imposed on Chinese imports if China does not allow its currency to rise in value. Meanwhile, 130 House members sent a letter to the administration urging a tougher approach.Chen Deming, China's commerce minister and a key defender of the country's exchange rate policies, on Wednesday warned that a stronger Chinese currency would have a global impact.While some analysts believe China is getting ready to allow its currency to rise in part to stem growing inflationary pressures inside the country, various Chinese leaders have taken a tough line on the issue.Bergsten said he believed the administration would brand China a currency manipulator in the upcoming report, but Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., said he doubted the United States was ready to make such a move.

US pressured to seek global action on Chinese yuan by P. Parameswaran – MAR 24,10

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States came under pressure at a congressional hearing Wednesday to take multilateral action against China's currency policy that has drawn fire from trading partners.The hearing was convened to find possible solutions to the relatively weak Chinese yuan currency that Washington and Beijing's other trading partners say has been giving China an unfair trade advantage.Lawmakers and experts summoned to testify at the House of Representatives meeting urged an international solution, with some saying bilateral talks with Beijing had been futile.It has been difficult to make progress bilaterally. At times, talk has seemed to produce some progress, but that progress then disappears, lamented Congressman Sander Levin, who heads the powerful Ways and Means Committee.Facing election-year pressure over unemployment, US lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle have asked President Barack Obama to label China a currency manipulator in a mid-April US Treasury report that would see tougher action on Beijing.Levin referred to the report and said it could spark calls for international action on China, for which the United States is a key export market.The report requirements may well increase discussions about the use of multilateral fora to address the currency issue, Levin said.Republican Representative Dave Camp, a ranking member of the House panel, urged the Obama administration to launch a multilateral forum for other countries to join the United States in pressuring Beijing to change its currency policy.

He asked the administration to devote time and resources toward attempting to establish a robust, multilateral process -- either in the G20, IMF, or elsewhere -- so that other countries, particularly some of China?s neighbors in Asia, can bring new points of pressure to bear.I would hope that China would commit to this multilateral process and participate in good faith. If China wants to be treated as a major international player, it has to own up to the responsibilities of that status.Experts at the hearing agreed an international response was critical, including from the Group of 20 industrialized and emerging nations that include China and the United States.Fred Bergsten, a former senior US Treasury official, said at the hearing that the United States should use both the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization to pressure China.He said the US should gain support from European countries and as many developing economies as possible in the IMF to seek a majority decision to launch a special or ad hoc consultation to pursue Chinese agreement to remedy the situation promptly.Similarly, the United States should exercise its right to ask the World Trade Organization to constitute a dispute settlement panel to determine whether China has violated its obligations under rules of the Geneva-based global trade watchdog.The WTO under its rules would ask the IMF whether the RMB (yuan) is undervalued, another reason why it is essential to engage the IMF centrally in the new initiative from the outset,said Bergsten, head of the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics.

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/
CNBC VIDEOS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839263/site/14081545/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS WED MAR 24,2010

09:30 AM -3.83
10:00 AM -24.11
10:30 AM -26.08
11:00 AM -16.27
11:30 AM -48.37
12:00 PM -37.41
12:30 PM -26.83
01:00 PM -22.98
01:30 PM -50.03
02:00 PM -52.30
02:30 PM -33.41
03:00 PM -54.64
03:30 PM -42.55
04:00 PM -52.68 10,836.15

S&P 500 1167.72 -6.45

NASDAQ 2398.76 -16.48

GOLD 1,086.00 -17.70

OIL 80.56 -1.35

TSE 300 11,963.00 -81.60

CDNX 1551.42 -9.94

S&P/TSX/60 702.76 -4.65

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -12 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -62 points at low today.
Dow +0.22 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,092.30.OIL opens at $80.47 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -62 points at low today so far.
Dow +0.22 points at high today so far.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -62 points at low today.
Dow +0.22 points at high today.

CRUDE OIL +7.3 MILLION BARRELS
GASOLINE -2.7 MILLION BARRELS
DISTILLATE INVENTORIES -2.4 MILLION BARRELS
REFINERY UTILIZATION

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).

Ashton makes concessions to parliament on diplomatic service-German centre-right MEP Elmar Brok (l) referred to a spider sitting at the top of a cobweb (Photo: European Parliament)HONOR MAHONY Today MAR 24,2010 @ 09:18 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has offered a series of concessions to MEPs in a bid to get them to sign up to the details of the new diplomatic service, but some parliamentary demands remain unanswered.In a speech before the foreign affairs committee on Tuesday (24 March), Ms Ashton promised the house full budgetary oversight over the service, including signing off on its yearly budget, a point which occupies first place on the parliament's wishlist.There is no question of the accountability of the service in financial terms to the European Parliament, she said.The British peer, who has to build a service which satisfies the demands of member states, the European Commission and the parliament, also appeared to suggest that MEPs will get their wish for budgetary oversight on separate EU missions.At the moment, the parliament agrees a lump sum for EU foreign policy expenditure but has no idea how it is divided up. It's incredible. There is no budget line for our mission in Somalia. We don't know how much has been spent in Somalia on staff, on building, etc. It's very opaque,said German Green MEP Franziska Brantner before the parliamentary hearing.However, Ms Ashton said: There is no longer a gentlemen's agreement to limit parliamentary insight and control,referring to a decades-old pact where the parliament and council have a don't look policy when it comes to each other's internal spending practices.

VIPs abroad

Playing to MEPs' desire to be treated as VIPs, especially when travelling abroad, the high representative also promised that all delegations in the EEAS (European External Action Service) will be instructed to support official visits by members of the EP.The EU's 136 foreign delegations will also have a point of contact for the parliament, while the heads of delegations will be at parliament's disposal when the assembly is examining issues relating to the country in question.MEPs will also be entitled to an informal exchange of views with those appointed to be heads of delegations before they take up their job. Joao Vale de Almeida, whose nomination to the Washington embassy sparked controversy for leaving member states out of the loop, will meet MEPs in the near future, Ms Ashton promised.The two-hour-long hearing with MEPs was a largely good-natured affair, with deputies proving to be a lesser adversary than the European Commission when it comes to what should be contained in the diplomatic service.Deputies back including humanitarian aid, development policy and neighbourhood policy in the service, making it as broad as possible. The commission has been fighting to keep to control over as many policy areas as it can.

Open questions

Some of the issues MEPs raised remained unanswered, however.Parliamentarians have spoken out against an all-powerful secretary general of the service, as recently suggested by Ms Ashton. German centre-right MEP Elmar Brok referred to a spider sitting at the top of a web, with deputies believing that the person will exercise too much control without any political accountability.MEPs are also concerned about the level of representation for Ms Ashton's deputies. They reject the idea of her being deputised by a civil servant, believing that her deputies must be political appointees. They particularly do not want a civil servant standing in for Ms Ashton when it comes to relations with the parliament.They also want to see more political accountability for the service's military wing.These issues remained open on Tuesday, with the top diplomat suggesting they will have to be discussed by representatives from the commission, the council and parliament round a table in future. Ms Ashton is planning to present a formal proposal for the structure by the end of next week. MEPs, who have a de facto veto, given their right of co-decision on staff and budgetary issues, believe it will be at least June before the technical questions allowing the establishment of the service are resolved. Some of have suggested the discussions may last until the early autumn.

EU leaders narrow gap on Greek bail-out deal
ANDREW WILLIS Today MAR 24,10 @ 09:28 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Suggestions that euro area leaders were closing in on a Greek financing deal emerged on Tuesday evening (23 March), with pressure mounting ahead of this week's European summit and crucial debt refinancing dates for Athens.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose tough resistance to a quicker agreement has seen her likened to former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher this week, is reportedly ready to sign up to a rescue mechanism, although officials stress important obstacles still need to be removed. Any accord this week on how and when to provide aid to Greece, should Athens fail to independently raise enough money to refinance the roughly €20 billion in bonds set to mature before the end of May, is likely to be announced at a specially convened event prior to the summit's start on Thursday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Tuesday called for a summit of eurozone leaders to precede the full EU gathering, set to be only the second such event in the euro currency's decade-long existence if it takes place. The potential agreement will force compromises on all sides, with negotiators reportedly working overtime to agree language that would give Greece the assurances it is looking for, while meeting Germany's condition that the mechanism would only be used as a last resort, and ideally not at all.Faced with regional elections in May and a German public opposed to bailing out Greece, Ms Merkel is insisting that the International Monetary Fund play a substantial role in the potential rescue plan, with the Financial Times Deutschland suggesting the fund would provide up to €10 billion, topped up with bilateral loans from a number of eurozone countries.

Such a deal would enable Ms Merkel to avoid coughing up the lion's share of any financial support needed, and allow her to present the final outcome as a negotiating success to German citizens, said analysts. Berlin is also demanding that negotiations begin on tough new rules to enforce future budget discipline in the eurozone, even if that means renegotiation of the Lisbon Treaty, and that Greece would first have to fail to raise money on the markets before any rescue mechanism could be triggered.Previously opposed to an IMF financing role, French officials indicated on Tuesday that their government was willing to soften its stance in a bid to secure agreement, reports AFP. The officials also said Paris was willing to discuss tougher eurozone budgetary rules, even accepting debate on Berlin's demand that repeat offenders could be expelled from the currency area.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has been one of the principle voices putting pressure on EU leaders to agree on a plan this week, saying he thought Ms Merkel would back a deal as a committed European.

Brussels authorities sceptical about crime risk in EU district
ANDREW RETTMAN Today MAR 24,10 @ 17:29 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU parliament is pushing Brussels police to boost security around its buildings after a high-profile mugging. But Belgian authorities say EU staff are oversensitive about crime.Estonian Liberal MEP Vilja Savisaar, a 47-year-old mother-of-one, was in the early evening of 2 March attacked in Parc Leopold, a leafy zone behind the parliament headquarters.This man with a black mask on his face suddenly came walking toward me. He screamed - I suppose this was to frighten me. Then he jumped on me. He threw me to the ground and kicked me in the arm and in the leg. I wasn't badly hurt, but he took my bag,she told this website.

After this, I cannot say that I feel safe walking in this area,she added.The same kind of thing has happened to several parliament workers, not just one or two MEPs.
Parliament security chiefs on Monday (22 March) met with the office of Brussels mayor, Freddy Thielemans, to put forward a wish list of new security measures. The list is under wraps for now. But Ms Savisaar would personally like to see: evening police patrols in Parc Leopold, extra lighting, more CCTV and information on whether it is legal to use self-defence gadgets, such as pepper spray.Mr Thielemans' spokesman, Nicolas Dassonville, told EUobserver that a police taskforce is analysing the parliament's proposals, with a decision due in early April.But he poured cold water on the idea that the EU district is becoming more unsafe.Crime in the European quarter has not risen. On the contrary, it has been falling since 2002 in all categories, including muggings,he told EUobserver. The feeling of being at risk is much higher among the European personnel than among people from Brussels. There's a difference in sensibility, in perception,he added, noting that one new measure could take the form of briefings by Belgian police for EU staff about the realities of crime in the city.The division between EU personnel and Belgian natives was reinforced by the mayor, Mr Thielemans, in a recent interview with German newspaper Die Welt.We have the three EU institutions and Nato. They all use our infrastructure, our roads, they do not want traffic jams and they want a functioning police force. But they never pay back what they cost us. This is unfair, he said.

Ms Savisaar believes that any extra security should be paid for by the Belgian side, rather than out of the EU budget: Brussels should pay. We live here. We buy products in Belgian shops. We pay for services. We put a lot of money into this city,she said. The EU institutions create extra costs for Mr Thielemans in the shape of policing the 700 or so demonstrations which take place in front of EU buildings each year and the mushrooming number of EU summits.But a study by the Belgian government in 2007 showed that the EU institutions help support 60,000 jobs in the Belgian capital and inject up to €6.8 billion into the local economy each year, helping make Brussels the third richest region in the EU.

Ten states to push ahead with EU guidelines on international divorces
HONOR MAHONY Today MAR 24,10 @ 17:29 CET


EUOBSERVER /BRUSSELS - The European Commission has proposed new guidelines aimed at allowing international couples to choose which EU country's laws apply if they want to get divorced. I want to ensure that the single market is more than just free movement of goods and services,said EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding on Wednesday (24 March).I do not want people in the EU to be left to manage complicated international divorces alone,said Ms Reding (Photo: European Community, 2006)I do not want people in the EU to be left to manage complicated international divorces alone. I want them to have clear rules so that they always know where they stand.
Each year around 300,000 international couples decided to get married. The rise in bi-national couples has led to a rise in cross-national divorces - about 140,000 annually.The couples involved often squabble over which country's laws should be applied, a decision with important implications for custody rights or division of property. The legal uncertainty means that the spouse quickest off the mark or with the most money can effectively choose which law gives them the best deal.The current system is very much to the detriment of the weakest parties such as women and children said the commissioner, who added that she wants to stop forum shopping.

However, the proposal remains highly controversial, with non-participating member states concerned that Brussels is at all stepping into this area.The commission tried to introduce similar rules in 2006 but failed to get the required unanimity. Countries with liberal divorce rules, such as Sweden, were concerned that Swedish courts would be forced to practice more restrictive foreign laws if a couple requested it. We are not trespassing on the institution of marriage,said the commissioner, answering the concerns of more socially conservative member states.
Under the rules, couples who wish to divorce will be able to choose which law applies. A Swedish-Finnish couple living in Spain could choose to apply either Swedish or Finnish law to their divorce. The only criteria is that one half of the couple has to have a connection to the country in question.If the couple is unable to agree, the court would have a common set of criteria to look through to decide the issue. The first principle would be to apply the law of the country where they are living at the time.Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovenia and Spain are pushing ahead with the proposals. Couples coming from EU countries not among the 10 pioneering countries may still be able to avail themselves of the EU formula if they live in one of the countries applying the rules.A diplomat from a country outside the group of 10 said the issue was horrendously complicated and that the commission would have to look at different details such as what constitutes habitual residence - something that will be a main principle for deciding which national laws applies in the divorce - in a way that other member states can agree to.

Enhanced co-operation

Wednesday's move, which will need to be agreed by a qualified majority of member states as well as by parliament, represents the first time the EU has used the so-called enhanced co-operation method since it was introduced in the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty.It is a last resort method allowing a minimum of nine member states to move ahead on an issue when agreement among all member states is not possible. Commissioner Reding dismissed concerns about creating a two-speed Europe, saying she believed other member states would board the train once it is moving, eventually bringing the total number of participating states to 25.This may not be the only time this commission makes a proposal based on a small group of member states.
Commissioner Algirdas Semeta, in charge of taxation, recently indicated he may use the tool to push forward with proposals on a common corporate tax base, something vigorously opposed by countries such as Ireland.

Sarkozy bins carbon tax plan
ANDREW RETTMAN Today MAR 24,10 @ 09:30 CET


France has abandoned plans to unilaterally introduce a tax on emissions in a move hailed by industry but criticised by environmentalists.French Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Tuesday (23 March) told fellow centre-right MPs that the government will press for a carbon levy at EU-level instead and promised to ask the European Commission to step up work in the field. We want the decisions to be taken in common with other European countries, otherwise we are going to see a growing shortfall in our competitiveness,he said, according to the Financial Times. The tax, unveiled with some pomp by President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, was due to raise €3.5 billion to €4.5 billion a year by adding a few cents to each litre of petrol and each household gas bill. Mr Fillon's idea of an EU-wide levy is widely seen as a fig leaf for the government's retreat, which may have been caused by its heavy defeat in local elections at the weekend. Denmark, Ireland, Finland and Sweden already have eco-taxes. But the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland are highly unlikely to accept any EU tax-harmonisation moves.Mr Sarkozy's own environment minister, Chantal Jouanno, hit out at the government on Tuesday. I am in despair over this step back, in despair that eco-scepticism has defeated it,she said.

A group of 10 leading pro-green NGOs, including Greenpeace and WWF, also voiced disappointment.The carbon tax is no more and there is nothing left of your promise. We are outraged by the contempt that characterises this decision, they said in a joint letter to the French head of state. The reversal met with a chorus of approval from business federations, however.We are relieved, for all industry, which could not bear this new handicap on competitiveness, Laurence Parisot, the president of the Medef employers' union, said in a statement.The fact that the carbon tax, which was in effect an extra economic penalty, seems to have been buried does not mean that manufacturers are not responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, Jean Pelin, the head of the chemical industry lobby, the UIC, said.

China tells EU: Put pressure on US over climate, not developing countries
LEIGH PHILLIPS 23.03.2010 @ 17:38 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - China's chief diplomat on climate action, Su Wei, has said that the European Union must seize the time and increase its climate ambition to a 30percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions.The EU should raise its target to 30 percent. It's achievable,Mr Su told reporters in Brussels on Monday (22 March) after he and a delegation of Chinese climate officials led by Xie Zhenhua, the vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, met with EU climate action commissioner Connie Hedegaard.This will prompt the US to raise its target. We understand that there are different views among the EU member states, but if the EU wants to continue its clear leadership, it must seize the time.Mr Su said that the two sides had engaged in a very candid exchange of views.The Chinese diplomat also said that the bloc must put pressure on the US to embrace the Kyoto Protocol instead of on developing countries to abandon it:The EU can play an important role in pushing the US in the right direction. The EU should not decide to backtrack simply because the US is trying to. The EU must insist on on the US sticking to its obligations and then the US will be under pressure to step up its commitments.

He added that China closely follows European developments and is aware that there were different views among members states on moving up to a 30 percent reduction target, but that Beijing does not want to see that because of economic considerations, the EU slows down its commitment.He said that his government took note of the communication the bloc issued earlier this month: Overall, we take a very welcoming attitude to the communication.The communication re-affirmed the principles of the Copenhagen Accord [the document produced during the UN climate summit in December] that developed countries take the lead in substantial reductions and adhering to their technical obligations.But he insisted that the EU pass through the door first: So long as these countries do so, we will be able to take positive steps in mitigation.Nevertheless, taking care to praise as much as to damn, Mr Su said: The EU's role in tackling climate change was widely recognised in the world before Copenhagen. China and the EU have many converging positions, interests.

Pessimism

In recent weeks, the EU has become increasingly pessimistic that an international agreement will be reached at the next UN climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of the year. Ms Hedegaard has said that such a deal is unlikely before the end of 2011, when the UN roadshow finally arrives in a so-called Basic country [the developing countries with the largest economies: Brazil, South Africa, India and China], at the climate summit in South Africa.Mr Su also thought a deal in Cancun would be difficult, but that the obstacle was Washington, not poor countries: The most crucial factor is the US. If at the time of the conference, it is obvious that they will not produce any legally binding reduction targets, then it is very difficult to preview that Cancun will achieve a comprehensive result.But I am not that pessimistic. We have just learnt that Congress passed the healthcare bill. Now there is time to focus on climate change.He added that the EU's intense diplomatic outreach to bring together a coalition of the willing to isolate its opponents in the UN is the wrong strategy. Instead, the EU can unite with all of the developing countries to tackle climate change and this will put pressure on the US.Referring to a walk-out of UN talks by the African Union at a meeting last September in Bangkok and a second walk-out in Copenhagen, he said: It seems that as regards the reality of the second phase [of the Kyoto Protocol], developed countries and the EU seem to be backpeddling, which gives rise to these problems.This is not a good strategy. Developing countries and the EU have a lot of goals in common.

JERUSALEM DIVIDED

ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.

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.

ZECHARIAH 14:1-9 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

Nationalists Blame Obama-Livni Collusion for Jerusalem Leaks
by Gil Ronen MAR 24,10


(IsraelNN.com) Twice in the course of two weeks, Israel-US relations were strained when Israeli media published news of technical approvals granted to building projects in eastern Jerusalem – first in Ramat Shlomo, and then at the Shepherd Hotel compound. Both times, the leaks came out just as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was about to meet one of the United States' two most senior officials: Vice President Joe Biden in the first, and President Barack Obama in the second.

Some nationalist analysts think this is no coincidence and the conspiracy theories are making their rounds. One nationalist newspaper sees a collusion between Obama and Israeli opposition Leader Tzipi Livni (Kadima). Others blame media mogul Arnon Moses, owner of Yediot Acharonot and the Ynet news website.Nationalist newspaper Makor Rishon's editor Amnon Lord noted in a front page article Friday that Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic Monthly, who is close to the Obama administration, hinted rather broadly that Obama was behind the very leak – regarding construction of 1,600 housing units at Ramat Shlomo – that supposedly surprised the administration and made it so angry.Obama is not trying to destroy America's relations with Israel; he's trying to organize Tzipi Livni's campaign for prime minister, or at least for her inclusion in a broad-based centrist government,Goldberg wrote. The goal, he explained, is force a rupture in the governing coalition that will make it necessary for Netanyahu to take into his government Livni's centrist Kadima Party (...) and form a broad, 68-seat majority in Knesset that does not have to rely on gangsters, messianists and medievalists for votes.

The Prophet Yoel
Under the headline Yoel the Prophet,Lord also noted that Reshet Bet government-run radio recorded MK Yoel Hasson, a Livni confidante, predicting mysteriously one week before Biden arrived in Israel that in the coming weeks it will become obvious just how flimsy the relations between Netanyahu, the Europeans and Americans really are.
When asked, after the Biden flap, how he had seemed to predict that such a crisis was coming, Hasson smiled mysteriously.

Lord's conclusion: the affair was engineered with Kadima's help.

Treason
Meanwhile, Jerusalem city councilman Elisha Peleg suggested that Israel Security Agency (aka Shin Bet) should launch an investigation to find the individuals responsible for news of the permits making headlines when they did.I would ask the ISA to find out who are those who believe that Palestinian interests are more important than Israeli interests,he told IDF Radio, saying that treason was involved.
The Jerusalem Municipality issued a statement saying that the report regarding Shepherd Hotel was distorted and is meant to stir up a provocation during Prime Minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu's visit in Washington.The plan was approved in July 2009 by the local committee,the municipality noted.Its approval was published in the media at the time. The landowners only paid the fees on March 15, 2010, and approval was granted automatically after that.Likud Minister for Environmental Protection Gilad Erdan also said that Tuesday’s news was left-wing spin.He called it idle chatter that left-wing elements are looking to use to muddy Netanyahu's name, even at the expense of ties with the US.

Was it Noni?
News1, a news website owned and operated by hard-hitting independent newsman Yoav Yitzchak, had its own theory regarding the embarrassing leaks. He noted that the Shepherd Hotel leak was first published in Ynet, and cited unnamed political sources that estimated that Arnon 'Noni' Moses was trying to bring down Binyamin Netanyahu's government. Moses is waging a business war against a new rival, Yisrael HaYom, which threatens his newspapers' ascendancy in the Israeli market. Yisrael HaYom is owned by Sheldon Adelson, who is considered close to Netanyahu.

REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE (THE EU DICTATORS TEMPLE)

ISAIAH 30:10-15
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.

REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

DANIEL 9:27
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.

REBUILT 4TH TEMPLE (THE TRUE MESSIAHS TEMPLE)

ZECHARIAH 6:12-13
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

ISAIAH 60:9-10
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

ISAIAH 2:1-5
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

MARK 11:9-10,15-17
9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

EZEKIEL 40 TO 48 IS THIS 4TH TEMPLE TO BIG FOR THE MOUNT I BELIEVE TO BE BUILT 25 MILES FROM JERUSALEM.

Supreme Court: No Passover Sacrifice Again This Year
by Hillel Fendel MAR 21,10


(IsraelNN.com) The Supreme Court has rejected a petition requesting that Jews be enabled to offer the Passover Sacrifice this coming Monday, the eve of the holiday.
Similar petitions have been submitted and rejected in recent years.Tuesday evening, a rally demanding freedom of Jewish worship on the Temple Mount was held in downtown Jerusalem. The organizers also demanded to be allowed to celebrate this coming Passover holiday on the site of the Holy Temple by offering the Paschal sacrifice.

They noted that according to Jewish Law, the Holy Temple does not need to be built in order to resume the sacrificial offerings. They emphasized accordingly that the Temple Mount organizations are not trying to change or make modifications to any existing structures on the Mount, but rather aim to receive permission to build a temporary altar, which would be dismantled immediately following the Passover Offering. The Court ruled, however, that because of feared Arab violence, such an act could not be permitted. It's true, the ruling states, that the basic point of departure is that every Jew has the right to the Temple Mount and pray there… However, these rights are not absolute and their implementation can be limited in view of the public interest… In light of the centrality and importance of the Temple Mount for many other religions, too, the danger arising from a flare of violence is not only a local threat… What happens on the Temple Mount affects political considerations and foreign relations of the state.

Responses
Rabbi Yehuda Glick, head of the Organization for Human Rights on the Temple Mount, responded with sorrow: The Land of Israel is acquired through pain – sadly, much pain.

Yosef Rabin, Liaison to North American Communities on behalf of the Organization for Renewal of the Temple, took a harsher tone: The heart of every Jew should shudder at this ruling, which is reminiscent of the decree of the evil king of Israel, Yeravam ben Nevat, who also did not allow the Jewish People to ascend and worship on the Mount.

Symbolic Ceremony
In 2004, the Temple Institute conducted a symbolic Passover sacrifice. Click here to read a description of the offering in general, and here to read about the symbolic ceremony.

State: Passover Sacrifice Would Provoke Muslims
by Maayana Miskin MAR 21,10


(IsraelNN.com) State attorneys asked Sunday for the Supreme Court to forbid Jews to bring sacrifices on the Temple Mount. The appeal to the court was a response to a petition from the Temple Institute, which requested permission to bring a sacrifice on the Temple Mount prior to Passover.The Temple Mount Institute argued that Jews are commanded to bring a sacrifice prior to Passover, and that by prohibiting them from doing so, the state was violating its own laws protecting freedom of worship.

State attorneys argued that the sacrifice would be a dangerous provocation of Muslim sensitivities. Performing the ritual on the Temple Mount would deal a severe blow to public safety and security, they said.The sacrifice would be dangerous particularly at the current time, they said, apparently in reference to recent Muslim riots over the dedication of the rebuilt Hurva synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City. Muslim and Palestinian Authority leaders incited their followers to violence, claiming that the rededication of the synagogue was part of a Jewish plan to seize control of the Temple Mount.In past years, the Supreme Court ruled that Jews may not offer sacrifices on the Temple Mount due to the possibility of a violent Muslim response. The Temple Mount Institute has performed an educational demonstration of the Passover sacrifice instead.

The Temple Will Never be Rebuilt, Islamist Movement Says
by Yehudah Lev Kay
(ISLAM WILL BE SURPRISED BIGTIME WHEN GOD(JESUS)HELPS ISRAEL THROUGH SHOWING FAVOUR AND KNOWLEDGE TO REBUILD THE 3RD TEMPLE)

(IsraelNN.com) The deputy chief of the Islamist movement in Israel Kimal Al-Khatib told thousands of children in a Saturday Islamist protest on the Temple Mount that the Jewish Temple will never be rebuilt. His speech was published in the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper Monday morning. If the Jews think that their mourning will end and they will rejoice by destroying the Al-Aqsa mosque and building their Temple, we say to them that their dream will not be fulfilled and they will continue to mourn. Al-Aqsa is for Muslims only, he said.Al-Khatib was referring to the traditional period of mourning Jews commemorate every summer for the destruction of the Holy Temples on Tisha B'Av (The ninth of the Hebrew month of Av). The Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, while the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque were erected in 691 and 705 CE.The Head of the Islamist movement in Jerusalem, Icharma Savri, also spoke to the assembled children. He previously served as the Chief Mufti of the Palestinian Authority.I tell this gathering, swearing by Allah, and in defiance of our enemies. We pass this safekeeping from generation to generation. Al-Aqsa is the safekeeping of the future generations, one after the other, and the children are dedicated to Al-Aqsa. They are the generation which will free it from our enemies, he said.

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.

Clinton on Arab Incitement: Ignorance or a Lie?
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu MAR 24,10


(IsraelNN.com) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech to American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) this week incorrectly blamed Hamas, instead of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, for inciting violence by praising terrorists.Her brief comments on incitement referred to the newly-renamed Dalal Mughrabi Square in Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told Arab media in January, Of course we want to name a square after Mughrabi, who carried out the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in which 37 Israelis were murdered and dozens of others were wounded. She was killed during the attack.Either intentionally or out of ignorance, Secretary Clinton stated, When a Hamas-controlled municipality glorifies violence and renames a square after a terrorist who murdered innocent Israelis, it insults the families on both sides who have lost loved ones over the years in this conflict.In her speech, she also complimented Abbas, telling her audience, We commend the government of President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad for the reforms they've undertaken to strengthen law and order, and the progress that they've made in improving the quality of life in the West Bank. But we encourage them to redouble their efforts to put an end to incitement and violence.

Contradicting Secretary Clinton’s blaming Hamas for the renaming of the Square in honor of Mughrabi, the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has documented the continuous veneration of the woman terrorist by Abbas and the Palestinian Authority in the past two years.It documented five references where Abbas personally glorified Mughrabi and 10 other examples where Fatah and other PA leaders praised her mass murder of Israelis.Besides Abbas’ comment to the Arabic-language Al Hayat newspaper, he sponsored a celebration of her birthday in late December, as reported by the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority television station. Abbas’ office also funded the Mughrabi computer center, where its dedication last May was attended by one of his advisors. He also sent his secretary general, Tayeb Abd al-Rahim, to speak in his name earlier this month, calling Mughrabi the bridge over which we pass on the way to our freedom,according to PMW. Abbas also sponsored high school graduation ceremonies in 2008 in honor of the terrorist, where his representative reviewed the heroic life of the Shahida [martyr].Although Secretary Clinton blamed Hamas for praising Mughrabi, PMW cited other examples showing that Fatah, led by Abbas, and the Fatah-led PA lauded Mughrabi. Abbas’ Minister of Culture Siham Barghouti earlier this year defended naming the square after her, declaring that honoring them [the Martyrs] this way is the least we can give them, and this is our right.

The square was dedicated two weeks ago, on the same day that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel. Abbas had canceled the ceremony because of the timing, but the Fatah youth movement decided to stage its own ceremony that night.That same day, PA television praised the Coastal Road Massacre, calling the attack a glorious chapter in the history of the Palestinian people.The day after the square was named and when Vice President Biden already was in the air on his return to Washington, Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi said at a second dedication of the square,We shall not submit to any threats, and we are here today to celebrate our history and our battle in naming the square after Mughrabi.Fatah also held a summer camp in 2008 named for Mughrabi out of honor and admiration for the Shahida.

BAN THE QUARAN IN AMERICA - AUDIO
http://www.breitbart.tv/son-of-hamas-founder-biggest-terrorist-in-this-world-is-the-god-of-islam/

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU-Peace partner accused of working with al-Qaida allies Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, firing rockets from Gaza Strip March 23, 2010 9:39 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2010 WorldNetDaily

TEL AVIV – Groups tied to the Palestinian Authority are responsible for recent rocket-fire from the Gaza Strip aimed at nearby Jewish communities, WND has learned.
Further, the PA-tied groups have been working with Gaza-based Islamist organizations that promote the ideology of al-Qaida, according to Palestinian security sources.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has been widely blamed for the rocket attacks, including the Qassam rocket attack last week that killed a foreign worker in Israel's northern Negev. U.S. and Israeli policy regards the PA as a peace partner for Israel. The Obama administration is seeking to commence indirect negotiations between the PA and Israel aimed at creating a PA-led state. Sources close to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the PA's official military wing, told WND about 90 percent of the recent rocket-fire from Gaza was launched by cells of the Ayman Judah Brigades, an offshoot of the Al Aqsa Brigades. Hamas officials said their own investigation into the rocket-firings confirmed this scenario. Mahmoud al-Zahar, Hamas chief in Gaza, told WND in a phone interview yesterday the groups responsible for the rocket attacks work under many names. We are investigating these groups in order to know what is the real background of these groups. Many seem tied to Fatah.The Israel Air Force attacked a smuggling tunnel in Gaza Monday after a Qassam rocket fired by Palestinians from the territory struck an open field in a Jewish community near the southern city of Ashkelon a day earlier. Four rockets were fired at communities in the Negev over the weekend, after 12 rockets and mortar shells hit the area over the course of last week. Palestinian security officials in Gaza told WND that Hamas has been working overtime to stop the rocket-fire from Gaza for fear the attacks could prompt a large-scale Israeli response in the territory. The security officials pointed to Arabic announcements last weekend in which al-Zahar personally barred any group in Gaza from firing rockets from the territory for the time being. Al-Zahar has been taking heat from the greater Arab media for his declarations. According to sources in Hamas, the Fatah groups allegedly responsible for the rocket-fire have been working with Islamist organizations in Gaza allied with al-Qaida. The sources charged the PA is seeking to agitate an Israeli raid of Gaza in hope of minimizing its Hamas rival's control of the coastal territory. This is not the first time Israel's so-called peace partner has been accused of working with al-Qaida allies.

WND reported last August the PA provided financial support and, in at least one case, an official salary to al-Qaida allies in the Gaza Strip, according to information obtained by WND.

Democrat congressman: Obamacare will control the people
Rep. Dingell: It takes a long time to do the necessary administrative steps
http://www.breitbart.tv/shocking-audio-rep-dingell-says-obamacare-will-eventually-control-the-people/
STOP PELOSI-AUDIO
http://live.radioamerica.org/loudwater/player.pl?upload=2680&name=wnd

DOCTOR'S ORDERS - New rally cry: Don't submit!We're not going to roll over and let Pelosi have her way March 23, 2010 8:36 pm Eastern By Chelsea Schilling
2010 WorldNetDaily - Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.


Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has a message for the Americans people: Do not submit to Obamacare, the massive health-care reform bill President Obama just signed into law. I want to let people know that we hear you,she told WND. We want this bill repealed, too, and we're not just going to roll over and accept Obamacare. We're not going to roll over and let Nancy Pelosi have her way because it was just a handful of Democrats leadership that pushed this bill onto the backs of 300 million Americans. We don't have to accept this.Now you can join nearly 15,000 Americans and 100 members of Congress in declaring your independence from Obamacare by signing the Declaration of Health Care Independence. While Bachmann explained that she is not advocating civil disobedience, she said people must not give into apathy and believe the health-care bill cannot be overturned. She was the first lawmaker down on the floor this week as she eagerly presented H.R. 4903, a one-page bill to repeal the Democrats' health reform.Asked whether the health-care bill really has a chance of being repealed, Bachmann replied, It's very difficult. I won't put rose-colored glasses on.She cited a poll that revealed 76 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress has been doing.Americans must prepare to take the fight to the polls this election, she explained, and they must vote for constitutional conservatives to make up majorities in the House and Senate. What we saw on Sunday evening was the results of November 2008, Bachmann said. Pure and simple, that's what it was. We also will have our day of victory, but we have to focus on November 2010. It is all about choosing constitutional conservatives who have a winnable chance of getting elected. She added that the American people must also strategically select a strong presidential candidate in 2012.

We can take no substitutes for our nominee. We cannot be fooled with someone who is conservative lite, Bachmann said. It has to be a bold, strong, constitutional conservative who we run for president, one who is strong enough to see this fight through of repealing Obamacare. We absolutely can do it.She called repeal of Obamacare a winning issue and the No. 1 concern that conservative candidates would be wise to embrace during their campaigns this year. We will continue to win this argument, and we'll win at the ballot box in November if we continue to press our case from now until November, Bachmann said confidently. In light of the passage of the health reform bill – and the Democrats' more than questionable tactics – she said it is more important than ever that Americans declare their health-care independence. Nearly 15,000 people have signed the Declaration of Health Care Independence at WND. Bachmann has received signatures from an additional 11,000 Americans and nearly 100 lawmakers in rejection of an unconstitutional Washington takeover of health care. Bachmann; Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa; Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, and other lawmakers drafted the Declaration of Health Care Independence and formally unveiled it on Jan. 27. The declaration is a commitment to protect the rights of the American people to make their own health decisions, reduce bureaucratic red-tape, decrease intergenerational debt and implement 10 common-sense principles for future health-care reform.

They presented the following 10 points of agreement in the declaration: We, therefore, the People and Representatives of the United States of America, do solemnly Publish and Declare that health care reform, as a matter of principle, must: Protect as inviolate the vital doctor-patient relationship; Reject any addition to the crushing national debt heaped upon all Americans; Improve, rather than diminish, the quality of care that Americans enjoy; Be negotiated publicly, transparently, with genuine accountability and oversight; Treat private citizens at least as well as political officials; Protect taxpayers from funding of abortion and abortion coverage; Reject all new mandates on patients, employers, individuals or states; Prohibit expansion of taxpayer-funded health care to those unlawfully present in the United States; Guarantee Equal Protection under the law and the Constitution; Empower, rather than limit, an open and accessible marketplace of health care choice and opportunity.

The Declaration of Health Care Independence is a framework for going forward on health-care reform, something that we believe all Americans agree with, Bachmann explained. All 10 of those statements are items that the president himself said that his health-care reform would embrace.However, she said Obama's statements were untrue because the health bill contains full federal funding of abortion and allows illegal alien access to taxpayer-subsidized health care because there are no procedures for verifying immigration status prior to receiving benefits. Rep. Michele Bachmann speaks to PJTV during protest against Obamacare at Capitol on March 21 (photo: Flickr, theqspeaks)Bachmann added that Obama was wrong when he said Republicans do not want health reform. The president was very rude and arrogant when he stated that Republicans didn't have a plan, she said.Even the day before the health-care vote, he stated very rudely and very arrogantly that Republicans and those who didn't vote for his bill wanted the status quo. That was patently false, and he knew that was false. We had more than 70 different proposals for health-care reform.She said true health reform would embrace the principles in that declaration. As for the Democrats' passage of the health-care bill on Sunday, she said conservatives have a right to feel disappointed, but they must pull out all the stops in the upcoming months. What is at stake is the survival of the finest health care the world has ever known,Bachmann said.We want to be able to continue that. We don't want to allow ourselves to devolve into a social welfare state, but that's clearly the president's intention for us.She added,Now it's up to us to fight for our country, just like those who have gone before us. We have to be up for the battle.

Ann Coulter's Ottawa campus speech axed By JUSTIN SADLER and DOUG HEMPSTEAD, QMI Agency Last Updated: March 23, 2010 11:28pm

OTTAWA - It’s just the thing conservative author, commentator and self-described polemicist Ann Coulter is known for: Dividing her audiences. Coulter was scheduled to speak before an audience gathered at the University of Ottawa’s Marion Hall Tuesday evening. Instead, security concerns raised by the university kept the Republican firebrand from speaking. Organizers pulled the plug on the speaking engagement because there were just too many people — too many of whom were just too rowdy. At a university, instead of free speech, censorship,said Ezra Levant, a Canadian conservative writer, lawyer and blogger who was scheduled to introduce Coulter. Coulter was at the university for the second stop of her Canadian speaking tour to dish on political correctness, media bias and freedom of speech. Police were called by the university to assist after students of all political stripes descended upon the auditorium to hear the talk — some of them lining up for more than two hours in the rain — only for it to be cancelled a half-hour after it was due to begin. More than 2,000 people tried to get into the event, several times the capacity of the venue. We were called to ensure the crowd left in an orderly fashion,said Ottawa police Sgt. Rob Gilchrist. No arrests were made and no injuries were reported.

Hundreds of people pooled into the lobby in an attempt to get into the auditorium. Organizers, who turned away those who didn’t register ahead of time, had allowed about 200 people into the auditorium when the fire alarm was pulled minutes before the talk was set to start. The cancellation is regarded as a victory among those who showed up to protest the presence of Coulter, who is known for her inflammatory comments. She recently said Muslims shouldn’t be allowed to travel in airplanes and should use flying carpets instead. Groups gathered outside the building chanting This is what free speech looks like while the crowd inside could be heard chanting We want Ann after it was announced the event was cancelled at 8:15 p.m.

Organizers painted the cancellation as disgraceful. Francois Houle got his wish, Levant said of the University’s provost and vice president.He telegraphed to the community that University of Ottawa is not a place for free debate.Houle had earlier sent Coulter a letter suggesting she brush up on the limits of free speech in Canada, adding that promoting hatred could lead to criminal charges. Coulter reacted angrily to the letter, saying Houle had threatened to charge her with a crime. The university’s student federation also vehemently opposed Coulter’s appearance, banning posters advertising the talk from the University Centre building. The event followed her Monday visit to London, Ont. where little of her speech touched on Canadian issues. Instead, she verbally attacked gay rights activists, the mainstream media and the Barack Obama administration. Her Canadian tour will wrap up at the University of Calgary on Thursday. justin.sadler@sunmedia.ca

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.

Chaos as freak storm batters Australia's Perth
Tue Mar 23, 6:11 am ET


PERTH (AFP) – Some 100,000 people were left without power on Tuesday after a freak storm battered the Australian city of Perth, hurling golf ball-sized hailstones and causing floods and landslides.Western Australia premier Colin Barnett estimated a damage bill of hundreds of millions of dollars after the wild weather smashed into the city late on Monday, paralysing flights and commuter traffic.Thousands of residents jammed emergency phone lines as falling trees downed power cables and crashed into homes in the worst storm seen in years. Hospitals were flooded and some damaged schools remained closed on Tuesday.I think from my memory this would be the most severe weather conditions we've had since the famous May storm in 1994, where we had very, very strong winds and a massive loss of power supply, Barnett told public broadcaster ABC.Hopefully the damage to the power supply won't be as severe but I suspect this time we've got a lot more damage to buildings and housing.Nearly 160,000 homes lost power at the height of the storm, which brought wind gusts over 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour and dumped nearly 40 millimetres (1.6 inches) of rain.

About 20 people were evacuated from one hospital's emergency room after the roof collapsed, while a landslip near the city centre crushed two parked cars and filled one apartment with mud.Stained-glass windows and glasshouses were shattered at The University of Western Australia, where vice-chancellor Allan Robson said there had been considerable damage.We were in the eye of the storm, the hail was incredible, the rain was incredible, Robson said.An insurance catastrophe had been declared for the city, the Insurance Council of Australia said.Cars had their windscreens and back windows smashed by the hailstones, while hazardous driving conditions worsened when 150 sets of traffic lights went blank. Some central office buildings were evacuated for safety reasons.Further storms are forecast to follow the unusual weather, which comes after Perth's driest southern hemisphere summer on record with just 0.2 millimetres of rain in December, January and February.On Sunday, a category two cyclone hit the Great Barrier Reef coastline on Australia's east, ripping trees out of the ground and smashing boats and houses.

Disputed isle in Bay of Bengal disappears into sea By NIRMALA GEORGE, Associated Press Writer – Wed Mar 24, 9:29 am ET

NEW DELHI – For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them: the island's gone.New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said oceanographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Its disappearance has been confirmed by satellite imagery and sea patrols, he said.What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming, said Hazra.Scientists at the School of Oceanographic Studies at the university have noted an alarming increase in the rate at which sea levels have risen over the past decade in the Bay of Bengal.Until 2000, the sea levels rose about 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) a year, but over the last decade they have been rising about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) annually, he said.

Another nearby island, Lohachara, was submerged in 1996, forcing its inhabitants to move to the mainland, while almost half the land of Ghoramara island was underwater, he said. At least 10 other islands in the area were at risk as well, Hazra said.We will have ever larger numbers of people displaced from the Sunderbans as more island areas come under water, he said.Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 150 million people, is one of the countries worst-affected by global warming. Officials estimate 18 percent of Bangladesh's coastal area will be underwater and 20 million people will be displaced if sea levels rise 1 meter (3.3 feet) by 2050 as projected by some climate models.India and Bangladesh both claimed the empty New Moore Island, which is about 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) long and 3 kilometers (1.5 miles) wide. Bangladesh referred to the island as South Talpatti.There were no permanent structures on New Moore, but India sent some paramilitary soldiers to its rocky shores in 1981 to hoist its national flag.The demarcation of the maritime boundary — and who controls the remaining islands — remains an open issue between the two South Asian neighbors, despite the disappearance of New Moore, said an official in India's foreign ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on international disputes.Bangladesh officials were not available for comment Wednesday.

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.

Magnitude 5.0 earthquake hits eastern Turkey
Wed Mar 24, 10:46 am ET


ISTANBUL (Reuters) – An earthquake of 5.0 magnitude occurred near the eastern Turkish city of Bingol on Wednesday, data from the United States Geological Survey showed.There were no immediate reports of death or damage.The earthquake struck only weeks after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake killed dozens of people near the eastern Turkish city of Elazig.

Strong quake hits off Papua New Guinea: geologists
Mon Mar 22, 11:49 am ET


PORT MORESBY (AFP) – A strong 6.6 magnitude quake struck off Papua New Guinea's coast on Monday, US geologists said, but there was no tsunami warning and the epicentre's depth lessened the likelihood of damage.The quake struck at 1400 GMT with its epicentre located 93 kilometres (58 miles) north of the town of Rabaul on New Britain island and at a depth of 415 kilometres, the United States Geological Survey said.There was no immediate alert from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, based in Hawaii.

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)
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.

Stocks fall after agency cuts Portugal debt rating By STEPHEN BERNARD and TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writers - MAR 24,10

NEW YORK – Stocks fell from their 2010 highs Wednesday on renewed concerns about European debt problems and weakness in the housing market.The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 45 points in afternoon trading. Broader stock indexes also slid.
Treasury prices tumbled after a government debt auction drew only modest demand for a second straight day. That stirred concern that the government will have to pay more to attract buyers for its debt. Washington has been issuing record amounts of debt to help revive the economy.The drop in stocks comes after Fitch Ratings lowered Portugal's credit rating. The rating agency said the country's recovery will be slower than other countries that use the euro. Fitch contends that could hurt Portugal's ability to repay its debt.Debt problems in Europe have been one of the few drags on stocks in recent months. Rising debt in Greece, Portugal and other nations that use the euro have investors worried the countries will struggle to rebound economically and upend a global recovery.The dollar rose sharply against the euro and other major currencies. The dollar is at its highest level against the euro since May. The stronger dollar makes commodities more expensive to foreign buyers. That cuts into demand.Stocks have been carving steady gains for more than a month as economic reports signal slow improvement in the economy. That has kept cautious traders from placing big bets on a rebound. Some analysts were already expecting a retreat now that major stock indexes are at their highest level in about 18 months.

Subodh Kumar, global investment strategist at Subodh Kumar & Assoc. in Toronto, said investors have been too quick to look past risks still facing the economy such as debt problems in Portugal.There are quantitative issues that the markets have been ignoring,he said.I believe that markets are somewhat extended.In midafternoon trading, the Dow fell 44.21, or 0.4 percent, to 10,844.62, a day after closing at its highest level since September 2008.The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 6.14, or 0.5 percent, to 1,168.03, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 14.27, or 0.6 percent, to 2,400.97.Bond prices dropped after an auction of $42 billion in five-year Treasury notes drew weak demand. The yield on the five-year note, which moves opposite price, rose to 2.56 percent from 2.42 percent.The yield on the benchmark 10-year note rose to 3.81 percent from 3.69 percent late Tuesday.

An auction Tuesday of $44 billion in two-year notes also saw a drop in demand.

A Commerce Department report on new home sales showed the market is continuing to contract. Sales unexpectedly fell to the lowest level on record in February as bad winter weather kept buyers out of the market.New home sales fell 2.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 308,000. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast sales would rise to 320,000.The report comes a day after the National Association of Realtors said a drop in sales of existing homes wasn't as bad as forecast last month.A recovery in housing has been uneven. Reports that beat even modest expectations have regularly been met with buying on Wall Street, such as Tuesday's big gains. The Dow jumped nearly 103 points, or 1 percent. It has advanced in 10 of the past 11 days. Investors brushed off a report on orders to factories for big-ticket manufactured goods that showed continued growth. Unlike the housing market, the manufacturing industry has shown steady improvement in recent months. Durable goods orders — items expected to last at least three years — rose 0.5 percent last month, slightly below expectations for 0.7 percent growth. However, it was the third straight month orders rose, and excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders increased by more than expected. Orders climbed 0.9 percent in February excluding aircraft and other transportation orders. Economists had forecast an increase of 0.6 percent. In corporate news, homebuilder Lennar Corp. said its fiscal first-quarter loss narrowed. However, the company said it is on track to return to profitability this year, which sent its shares higher. It climbed 84 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $17.90. MF Global Holdings Ltd. shares surged after it named former New Jersey Governor and Goldman Sachs executive Jon Corzine as its CEO. It jumped 66 cents, or 9 percent, to $7.98. Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 617.8 million shares, compared with 569.9 million shares traded at the same point Tuesday. Crude oil fell $1.27 to $80.64 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold fell. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.77, or 0.6 percent, to 686.53. Overseas, European indexes bounced off lows initially seen after the Portugal debt downgrade. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.4 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.4 percent.

Oil falls below $81 on jump in US crude supplies By DEBORAH JIAN LEE, AP Energy Writer - MAR 24,10

NEW YORK – Oil prices fell on Wednesday, briefly dipping below $80, just after the government reported a larger-than-expected jump in U.S. crude inventories last week.
Benchmark crude for May delivery lost $1.46 at $80.45 a barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the price dropped as low as $79.88.The Energy Department reported that crude inventories rose by 7.3 million barrels to 351.3 million barrels last week. Analyst expected an increase of 1.67 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.Oil supplies in the U.S. have risen sharply in recent weeks, belying a slow but steady overall economic recovery and suggesting consumer demand remains weak.Oil prices also tracked lower stock prices, which fell after Fitch Ratings said Portugal's recovery will be slower than other countries in the eurozone, hurting its ability to repay debt.Oil analyst Andrew Lipow said debt-troubled countries like Greece and Portugal will likely pay more in interest, which could force higher taxes or sharp spending cuts.That means there's less money around for consumers to spend on energy or consumer goods that would help these economies grow.PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said the news about Portugal hammered the euro, strengthened the dollar and beat down dollar-denominated crude oil prices. A stronger dollar makes crude more expensive for investors in other currencies.In other Nymex trading in April contracts, heating oil fell 2.73 cents to $2.0745 a gallon, and gasoline slid 4.48 cents to $2.2180 a gallon. Natural gas dropped 3.5 cents to $4.095 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, Brent crude was down $1.22 at $79.48 on the ICE futures exchange.
Associated Press writers Pablo Gorondi in Budapest, Hungary and Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.

Japan government to face big fund shortage in 2011/12: Nikkei By Rie Ishiguro and Stanley White – Mon Mar 22, 11:48 pm ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's government may need to issue more bonds or drop some spending plans as it faces a shortage of up to 7 trillion yen ($78 billion) in funds in the year to March 2012, the Nikkei newspaper reported.An increase in bond issuance would raise the specter of a cut in Japan's sovereign ratings as the national debt is nearing 200 percent of its gross domestic product, analysts say.

Fitch, Moody's and Standard and Poor's have all warned Japan it faces a ratings downgrade, which could raise the borrowing costs for the most indebted of the industrialized nations and rattle investors who are already nervous about Greece's debt and the sovereign risk facing other European nations.The government has said it will launch a fiscal framework this year, and that could be the trigger for a downgrade if it doesn't go well, said Nobuto Yamazaki, executive fund manager at DIAM Asset Management in Tokyo.There is also the possibility the government will alter its campaign pledges, because even the general public accepts that some of what the government is promising is unrealistic.The Democratic Party-led government plans to issue a record 44 trillion yen in new bonds in the budget for the business year beginning in April.It may need to issue even more in the following year from April 2011 as it faces a 6 trillion yen to 7 trillion yen fund shortage if it is to meet the party's election pledges while tax revenues shrink, the Nikkei said without citing sources.The government would have to cut spending, raise taxes or issue more new bonds to cover the shortfall, the paper said.The Nikkei said tax revenues were likely to fall to 42.6 trillion in 2011/12 from an expected 48 trillion in the year from April 1, a forecast some economists said might be too gloomy and probably reflected a desire by finance ministry mandarins to pressure politicians to do more on fiscal reform.

The bond market didn't react immediately to the Nikkei story. Benchmark 10-year JGB futures rose 0.11 point to 138.74 as investors worried about whether Europe will agree to support Greece sought safety in government debt in other countries.Still, traders and investors said Japan's fiscal woes could push up bond yields in the long term as markets brace for a steadily increasing supply of new debt.Some analysts are sanguine because Japanese household savings, totaling around $15 trillion, are about the size of the U.S. economy, and this money regularly flows into Japanese government debt.Japan has been able to run budget deficits for years, but that's because high savings means households and the corporate sector finance the public sector,said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital Investors in Sydney.This is a worry in the long term, but in the short term it's more of the same.The government will announce a long-term fiscal policy framework and a fiscal discipline target in June. A legally binding framework is one possibility, Finance Minister Naoto Kan told lawmakers in the parliament on Tuesday.

Some investors and government officials worry that the fiscal framework could bring Japan closer to a downgrade if it does not include a credible plan to reduce the debt burden.The government has faced calls from outspoken banking minister Shizuka Kamei, head of a small coalition party, for more spending to stimulate the fragile economy before an upper house election expected in July.Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has rejected such calls, helping markets shrug off Kamei's comments. Kamei's push last year for big spending was also unsuccessful. Analysts say pressure for more spending may grow as tumbling public support for the Democratic Party-led government raises the chances of a poor showing in the upper house election. The ruling party needs to avoid fueling market worries about rising government debt when it drafts its platform for the election, Democratic Party Vice Secretary General Goshi Hosono told Reuters in an interview on Friday. (Editing by Chris Gallagher)

Big Changes Coming to Student Loans By Kim Clark - Wed Mar 24, 10:20 am ET US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT

Buried deep in the controversial healthcare bill are provisions that promise to make big changes to the student loan industry. The reforms were passed by the House and now await Senate passage and the president's signature. Because the provisions require only a simple majority, lobbyists said they had a good chance of becoming law.By eliminating taxpayer subsidies to corporate middlemen who marketed and originated federal student loans, the Obama administration says it will raise more than $60 billion over the next 10 years that will be spent on more and bigger grants, easier repayment terms, and even a little deficit reduction.Here are some answers to the most important questions students and parents may have about the new loan landscape:How will the new student loan reform bill affect students wishing to take out federal loans for college?

Most student borrowers won't notice much difference, since most of the changes are behind the scenes. If anything, the new system will be simpler and less confusing. Starting July 1, no students will be asked to--or have the opportunity to--shop for their Stafford loan, which is the most common kind of student loan, available to all citizens attending undergraduate or graduate programs at least half time. All colleges will arrange for students to take their federal Stafford loans directly from the government. The biggest immediate downside for students is that some won't get the small discounts that certain lenders offered on Stafford loans. But all undergraduates will continue to be eligible to borrow Stafford funds of least $5,500 (and, depending upon their age and year in college, up to $12,500) at an interest rate that cannot exceed 6.8 percent a year. Students who qualify as needy will continue to be able to borrow at lower rates of interest. All graduate students will be eligible for Stafford loans of up to $20,500 a year at an interest rate of no more than 6.8 percent. Graduate students will also continue to be able to borrow their full cost of attendance (less any other financial aid) through the Grad PLUS program at an annual rate of no more than 7.9 percent.

How will the new student loan reform bill affect parents wishing to take out a federal PLUS loan? The bill could make things easier for many parents. Starting July 1, parents will be able to borrow PLUS funds directly from the federal government only. In many cases, this will save parents money because the direct federal PLUS rate is capped at 7.9 percent a year, while private lenders often charged as much as 8.5 percent. In addition, some research shows that the federal government was more lenient on parents who had credit problems and less likely to reject parents' PLUS applications than private banks.

How will the new student loan reform bill affect graduates attempting to pay back their loans? It will make it easier for future graduates to pay back their student loans. Starting with federal student loans taken out in 2014, future graduates will be able to sign up for an income-based repayment plan that will cap their monthly payments at 10 percent of their income. Anyone paying back federal student loans now can sign up for the current IBR program that caps payments below 15 percent of a graduate's income.

How will the new student loan reform bill affect students who need financial aid?
It will make more grant money available to more students. By stopping subsidies to private companies that made Stafford loans, the federal government will raise money that it will use to fund more and bigger Pell grants, which typically go to students from families earning less than about $45,000 a year. In 2010-11, the maximum Pell grant will rise $200 to $5,550. The bill also calls for some future Pell grant increases to be made according to the consumer price index. By some estimates, the maximum Pell grant could rise to $5,900 over the next decade.

Will this reform really cause the loss of up to 31,000 jobs, as its opponents (mostly private lenders) claim? No. This is just a shift in who makes the loans. Since, if anything, the demand for federal student loans is likely to increase, there will still be plenty of need for workers to process and handle the loans. The federal government is already arranging to contract with many of the existing loan companies to service the future loans. The only significant layoffs are likely to be among the salespeople who lobbied colleges to choose a private bank as a preferred lender.As painful as that will be for the individuals, that's a savings for students because it means there is no more incentive for the kind of kickback arrangements that led to recent scandals, notes Jason Delisle, director of the Federal Education Budget Project for the New America Foundation. Besides, if the federal government can make more loans with fewer people, that's an improvement in efficiency that saves taxpayers money, he adds. Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics, says,There should be little job impact from this legislation, and any job losses that do occur will be the result of improved productivity.

Is this a federal takeover of the student loan program? Only a little. Until now, the federal government guaranteed the private lenders that made Stafford and PLUS loans that it would repay 97 cents on the dollar for loans that go into default. Now the government will make all the loans, thus taking on the last 3 percent of the risk, and keep the billions of dollars it used to pay to private companies for making the loans. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that's a good deal for taxpayers, with the net gain to the Treasury totaling more than $60 billion over the next 10 years. Private lenders and banks will no longer get paid by the federal government to make the federally subsidized and guaranteed student loans, but they will still be free to raise private capital from investors and make private loans.

Ukraine's new leaders seek to revive cooperation with IMF
MAR 24,2010


KIEV (AFP) – The team of Ukraine's new President Viktor Yanukovych pledged Wednesday to revive cooperation with the International Monetary Fund as it met with an IMF mission in Kiev.Last year, the Washington-based Fund refused to release the latest tranche of a 16.4-billion-dollar rescue loan for the crisis-battered former Soviet republic amid criticism of Ukraine's fiscal policies.The IMF mission met on Wednesday with Ukrainian officials in the first such talks since last month's inauguration of Yanukovych, who has made revival of cooperation with the IMF a priority, local media reported.It is very important for Ukraine to re-establish relations with the IMF and rapidly obtain the new tranche, Irina Akimova, deputy head of Yanukovych's administration, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.This is needed for sending a signal to all our investors and for resolving financial problems, she added after the start of talks with the IMF mission, which is due to remain in Ukraine until April 2.The IMF's key condition is that Ukraine adopt a realistic budget for 2010 limiting the deficit to no more than six percent of GDP, Akimova said.The Fund declined to release the latest installment of its rescue loan last fall after Ukraine's then-president Viktor Yushchenko signed a wage and pension bill that violated the IMF's strict conditions for the loan.A new IMF cash infusion would help Ukraine overcome a steep fiscal shortfall as the country struggles with an economic crisis that saw its GDP plummet by 15 percent last year.
So far the Ukrainian government has received a total of 10.6 billion dollars of the 16.4-billion-dollar loan, which was extended in November 2008 to help Ukraine weather the global economic crisis.

EU yields to Canada over oil trade barriers: sources By Pete Harrison – MAR 24,10

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union has yielded to Canadian demands it remove possible trade barriers to polluting oil sands to avoid further damage to ties, according to sources and leaked documents.Relations are already strained after the European Union banned imports of seal products last July on animal welfare grounds, a move Canada is challenging at the World Trade Organization.Canada warns that draft EU standards to promote greener fuels are too unwieldy and will harm the market for its oil sands -- tar-like oil that is trapped in sediment and forms the world's second-largest proven crude reserves after Saudi Arabia.Such a system would be extremely difficult to implement and monitor, and would in itself create barriers to trade, Canadian Ambassador Ross Hornby told a top official at the European Union's executive in a letter seen by Reuters.Several sources said Canada had raised the issue frequently during trade talks with the EU.Environmentalists bitterly oppose the industry, saying the extra energy needed to extract oil from the north Alberta sands intensifies the damage they do to the climate, while extraction wastes harm wildlife and pollute rivers.Carbon dioxide emissions from the extraction and refining of oil from tar sands are three times higher than those from conventional sources,said Nusa Urbancic of green transport campaigners T&E.Treating tar sands like any other source of oil will just increase Europe's dependence on this dirty fuel for years to come,she added.

TOO HOT TO HANDLE

But Ross cited research showing oil sands' carbon footprint was only 5-15 percent higher than most crude imports consumed in the United States.A separate category for oil sands, therefore, is not science-based and would amount to unjustifiable discrimination against the oil sands, he wrote to Karl Falkenberg, head of the European Commission's environment department.Hornby confirmed he had written such a letter, which was released by the Commission under freedom of information laws.

Europe seems to have taken the advice.

A recent draft EU paper on fuel standards, seen by Reuters, drops all reference to Canadian oil sands or tar sands, in sharp contrast with drafts from last year.Those early papers gave oil sands a greenhouse gas value of 107 grams per megajoule, way higher than any other road fuel except those extracted from coal.The European Commission declined to comment on the leaked documents, but sources said the oil sands issue was generally becoming too hot for them to handle.Canada took the same approach last year when California was drafting its own fuel standards, another letter seen by Reuters shows.California's rules should treat Canadian oil sands like any other crude oil, Canada's former natural resources minister Lisa Raitt told California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Canadian environment groups reacted angrily after the Reuters story, and called on Europe to expose dirty oil.It is bad enough that the federal government is doing nothing of consequence to fight global warming here in Canada, now they are going to other countries and actively lobbying to weaken perfectly good climate change policy,Graham Saul of Climate Action Network Canada said in a statement.

Hornby noted in his letter to EU officials that European companies including BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and StatoilHydro are active in developing Canada's lucrative oil sands sector.The discussion comes amid high tensions in Canada about perceived European interference. Canada's Inuit people sued the European Union in January over the ban on seal products such as furs and oil, and Canadian parliamentarians ate a meal of seal meat earlier this month in protest. That won't worry many European politicians, who privately named Canada as the biggest laggard on tackling climate change at U.N. talks in Copenhagen in December. Disputes do occur, but we have a mature relationship, and a sign of that is that we're negotiating a trade agreement at the moment,Hornby told Reuters. (Editing by Sue Thomas)

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