I WRITE NEWS ABOUT AND PUT NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM PERTAINING TO BIBLE PROPHESY HAPPENINGS.JOEL 3:20 But Judah (ISRAEL) shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.(THATS ISRAEL-JERUSALEM WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED AGAIN)-WE CHRISTIANS ARE ALL WAITING PATIENTLY FOR THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE TO OCCUR.SO WE CAN GO TO JESUS AND GET OUR NEVER DYING BODIES.SO WE CAN RULE OVER CITIES OURSELVES.WHILE JESUS RULES FROM DAVIDS THRONE FOREVER IN JERUSALEM.
KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
MATTHEW 24:4-5,11,24-25
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many (MILLIONS) shall come in my name,(JESUS-I AM) saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.(MILLIONS)(THIS IS DEFINATELY THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT)
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.(CALIFORNIA THE NEW AGE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD-SO NO WONDER SAN FRANSICO IS THE SODOMITE RAINBOW GROUPERS CAPITAL OF THE EARTH ALSO).
1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits,(NEW AGE MOVEMENT) and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;(NEW AGERS BELIEVE SATANS LIES OF NO SIN,POSSITIVE THINKING,PEACE,LOVE,JOY,UTOPIA)
MARK 13:22-23
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.
2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
DEUTORONOMY 18:10-12
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire,(OCCULT SACRIFICES) or that useth divination,(NEW AGER AND CRYSTALS ETC) divination n. The art or act of foretelling future events or revealing occult knowledge by means of augury or an alleged supernatural agency.) or an observer of times,(Meaning of observer. ... for sketching it. horoscope - Comes from Greek hora, hour, time, and skopos, observer.) or an enchanter,(The word enchant is derived from the Latin word incantare which refers to uttering an incantation or casting a spell). or a witch,(WITCH. Definition: [noun] a female sorcerer (SORCERY IN THE BIBLE IS DRUGS OR OCCULT ACTIVITY) or magician.)
11 Or a charmer,(charmer means a dealer in spells, especially one who, by binding certain knots, was supposed thereby to bind a curse or a blessing on its object.) or a consulter with familiar spirits,(function as mediums or psychics) or a wizard,(MALE WITCH-influence; a magical spell WITH WANDS) or a necromancer.(one seeking unto the dead.)
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
OH NO-I CAN HEAR THE NEXT CONSPIRACY THEORY ALREADY.THIS MANDELA STATUE THEY WILL CLAIM IS THE STATE FROM DANIEL CHAPTERS 2 AND 7.THEY WILL CLAIM WHEN THE 3RD TEMPLE IS BUILT IN JERUSALEM ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT.THIS STATUE WILL BE PUT IN THE 3RD TEMPLE AT THE MIDPOINT OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS WILL CLAIM THAT THIS IS THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION SET UP IN THE 3RD TEMPLE.THAT DEFILES AND POLLUTES THE 3RD TEMPLE.AND TO GO WITH THE BUDDAH-PEACE TEMPLE.THESE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS WILL HAVE A HAY DAY DREAMING UP THEIR IMAGINATIONS AND SCHEMING UP NEW CONSPIRACY THEORIES.ALREADY THEIR SAYING MANDELA DIED BACK IN JUNE ALREADY.AND JUST UNFROZE HIS BODY FOR THE OFFICIAL BURRIAL YESTERDAY.WHICH THEY CLAIMED TODAY.THE OCCULT TEMPLE SERVICE WOULD BE DONE AT NOON.MEANWHILE HE WAS BURRIED YESTERDAY AND THE NEWSPAPER PROOF I GAVE USE EVEN SAID THE 12 NOON BURRIAL DEADLINE WAS MISSED BECAUSE THE SERVICE WENT TO LONG.
Mandela statue unveiled in South Africa capital
2 hours ago-DEC 16,13-yahoonews
PRETORIA,
South Africa (AP) — South Africa has unveiled a gigantic statue of
anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela to cheers and singing at the Union
Buildings in its capital.The mood was joyous Monday in Pretoria
as a military band played and fighter jets flew overhead to honor
Mandela after 10 days of mourning over his death ended Sunday with his
burial.President Jacob Zuma
presided over the unveiling, which preceded a party in celebration of
the Day of Reconciliation, a national holiday.The statue stands
on the grounds of the Union Buildings, where Mandela delivered his
inaugural speech after becoming South Africa's first black president in
1994.The buildings had been a hated symbol of the apartheid regime to many South Africans.Mandela was buried Sunday at his ancestral home in the village of Qunu.
Buddha's birthplace brings light to Nepal
ALJAZEERA-DEC 16,13
Discovery of earliest Buddhist temple in Nepal could transform the country into a 'zone of peace'.
Buddha's birthplace, believed to be in Nepal, marks the origin of Buddhism [Getty Images]
The discovery of the
world's earliest Buddhist temple, marking the birthplace of the Buddha
south of the Himalayas in Nepal, could give a powerful push in the drive
to lift nearby villagers out of crushing poverty. Visits by some of the world's 500 million Buddhists to this holy site near Nepal's border with India could
help the region create a framework for sustainable development linked
to these pilgrimages, said scholars involved in the discovery.Archaeologists recently revealed they
had uncovered a wooden structure, surrounded by an open-air courtyard,
that dated from 2,550 years ago and was situated directly beneath a
brick temple built three centuries later to venerate the birth of the
Buddha. The uncovering of the long-buried
shrine and courtyard, believed to have hosted the tree under which the
Buddha was born, provides the clearest evidence ever of when Prince
Siddhartha Gautama walked the Earth and began outlining his pathway
toward enlightenment and Nirvana. The earliest Buddhist chronicles all
record that Queen Maya Devi gave birth to the Buddha in the mystical
Lumbini Garden, but none provides a clear-cut date for the event.British archaeologist Robin Coningham,
who led the international team that excavated the structure, said in an
interview that there is a good reason for conflicting chronologies of
the Buddha's birth and life: "Writing in South Asia didn't really spread
until about 300 BC." That means details of the Buddha's life and
teachings were passed down orally for centuries before being written
down.
British archaeologist Robin Coningham [National Geographic]
That led to present-day estimates on the Buddha's birth that have varied between 800 BC and 400 BC, he said. But now, the discovery of the earliest
shrine at Lumbini, and the use of leading-edge dating technologies to
calculate its age, have led Coningham and his team to determine the
temple was built around 550 BC. "Ritual activity [at the shrine] could
have commenced either during or shortly after the life of the Buddha,"
Coningham and nine other scholars state in an article published in the
December issue of the British journal Antiquity. Remarkable find Unveiling evidence confirming key
details of the Buddha's nativity narrative and timing might ultimately
be rated as one of the century's most remarkable archaeological finds.Barbara Moffet, a spokesperson at the
National Geographic Society, which helped support the excavation of what
could be the world's very first Buddhist shrine, said, "It's not every day that we discover something that opens a window on the birth of a major world religion." The Washington, DC-based group filmed key discoveries made during the unearthing of the shrine, and will broadcast a documentary, "Buried Secrets of the Buddha" in February on National Geographic Channel. Coningham, a professor at Durham University in the United Kingdom,
said as archaeologists from Britain and Nepal set out to explore the
ancient shrine at the center of Lumbini's Sacred Garden, an unending
stream of Buddhist monks and nuns from around the world circumambulated
the site, chanting prayers over the emerging temple.He spent three years excavating the
Lumbini shrine, which had been buried beneath an entire sequence of
later temples, working alongside some of Nepal's leading archaeologists,
headed by Kosh Prasad Acharya, former Director General of the
Department of Archaeology in Nepal.Finding new pieces in the puzzle of the origins of Buddhism 25 centuries ago via this simple wooden temple marks "a really important finding in the study of Buddhist archaeology," said archaeologist Keir Strickland, who co-authored the study, "The earliest Buddhist shrine: excavating the birthplace of the Buddha, Lumbini (Nepal)."In Lumbini, you can already see monasteries that have been built by
Japan, China, Myanmar, and Cambodia ... The government of Nepal wants to
develop Lumbini as a centre of peace.
- Ram Prasad Subedi, Embassy of Nepal in Beijing
Professor Coningham said he hopes the
reemergence of this temple will benefit not only Buddhist scholars and
followers across the globe, but also the present-day compatriots of the
Buddha – villagers who toil the fields amid the amazing topography of
Nepal and the punishing poverty born of living in such a remote
location."In the area around Lumbini," he said, "more than half the population lives on less than one and one-half dollars per day." The International Monetary Fund estimated
Nepal's per capita GDP at US$522 in 2010, and only 9 percent of its 30
million citizens are now plugged into the Internet, according to the
Internet World Stats website. Sacred sites Painting new details on the mosaic of
the Buddha's origins could give momentum to a UNESCO plan, being
financed by the Japanese government, to simultaneously promote further
archaeological explorations around Lumbini, conserve sacred sites that
are being uncovered, and liberate nearby villagers from the shackles of
impoverishment."It should be possible to balance sustainable pilgrimage with sustainable conservation" as part of a master plan that benefits the region as a whole, Coningham explained. Hundreds of thousands of Buddhist
monks, nuns, and tourists now make the pilgrimage to Lumbini's
mandala-like matrix of sacred sites every year, and that figure could
rise rapidly over the next decade as the area raises its global profile.To pave the way for the rise of the
Buddha's birthplace in the world atlas of Buddhist pilgrimage sites, the
Asian Development Bank has provided nearly $90 million in funding to
expand Lumbini's roadways and airport. "This is a positive move," Coningham said, for the people of Nepal, which is landlocked between the giants China and India.Govinda Gewali, who is monitoring the
project from the ADB office in Nepal, said the runway at Lumbini's
Gautam Buddha Airport will be extended to accommodate international
flights, which will allow more of the world's half-billion Buddhists to
tour the site.This expansion is slated for
completion in June of 2017, when the airport will be able to handle 1
million international passengers per year, said Kenichi Yokoyama, the
ADB's country director in Nepal. Buddha hub Meanwhile, Counsellor Ram Prasad Subedi at the Embassy of Nepal in Beijing said the discovery of the ancient temple at the centre of the Sacred Garden where the Buddha was born "will definitely boost Lumbini's significance and attraction as a holy place".
A Buddhist monk deep in meditation [National Geographic]
Nepal's government now aims to boost
the number of international tourists who visit the Himalayan nation to 2
million annually by 2020, compared with 800,000 who arrived in 2012.
Part of the drive to attract more visitors is aimed at the global
Buddhist community."In
Lumbini, you can already see monasteries that have been built by Japan,
China, Myanmar, and Cambodia, and so many countries support the master
plan for Lumbini's development," said Subedi. "The government of Nepal wants to develop Lumbini as a centre of peace." Lumbini's expanding glow as a pilgrimage site and as a symbol of cross-cultural understanding "is a great thing for Buddhists and people who believe in peace all over the world," he added.UNESCO is now perfecting a blueprint
to reach out to potential donors across the planet who are willing to
help protect one of the world's most important religious regions while benefitting local inhabitants, said Axel Plathe, UNESCO Representative to Nepal. The current excavations and archaeological discoveries made at Lumbini, Plathe added, "were the result of a UNESCO project that was funded by the government of Japan."Inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1997, the group described Lumbini in glowing terms: "As
the birthplace of the Lord Buddha - the apostle of peace and the light
of Asia - the sacred area of Lumbini is one of the holiest places of one
of the world's
great religions, and its remains contain important evidence about the
nature of Buddhist pilgrimage centers from a very early period."UNESCO's
envoy to Nepal, who has been closely involved in overseeing the
archaeological exploration of the region, said that the temple and
monastery now being brought to light after being hidden for more than
2000 years are transforming age-old legends of the Buddha into
modern-day facts. Zone of peace In a UNESCO description of the Lumbini site, Plathe said its Buddhist groves and waterways form a dreamlike sanctuary: "Sacred
trees, beautiful flowers, celestial splendor, eternal tranquility -
these are the elements that constitute the place where Siddhartha, the
Lord Buddha, was born."
Buddhists number about 500 million [National Geographic]
UNESCO and its partners, Plathe said, aim to guide Lumbini's
development into an expanding zone of peace, featuring modern schools
and hospitals, that fosters an ongoing dialogue involving the world's diverse cultures and peoples.The envoy said he hopes the new global spotlight on the site of the Buddha's birth will spark more patrons of culture and conservation around the world to help plan and finance Lumbini's future. Coningham added that the Sacred Garden, nearby monastic zone, and outlying pilgrim's village have been attracting explorers from virtually every point on the planet.This confluence of cultures swirls around the ancient pilgrimage site. "The Sacred Garden is still used by local Hindus, who also go there to celebrate," he added.Coningham, who has become over the past weeks perhaps the world's
best-known archaeologist, said the team leading the exploration of the
ancient temple and nearby sites is scheduled to release a comprehensive
book on its findings, titled "Excavations at Lumbini," in 2014.
KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(TAKE OVER 3 WORLD REGIONS)
LUKE 2:1-3
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
William F. Jasper thenewamerican.com
December 15, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHYlZb65gVY
We all remember Representative Nancy Pelosi’s infamous statement that
we have to pass the ObamaCare legislation so that we can find out
what’s in it. That was in 2010 and Mrs. Pelosi was then speaker of the
House of Representatives.Well, Congress followed her advice and passed ObamaCare, formally
known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Three years
later, in October of 2013, tens of millions of Americans began finding
out what was really in the bill, as they began receiving health
insurance cancellations and/or massive premium hikes. They also began to
learn that under ObamaCare the IRS has been given new powers to go
after them, their businesses, and their bank accounts. And that is only
the beginning. As with all legislation, the devil is in the details, and
lots of devils keep popping out of the constantly evolving details, as
dozens of federal agencies continue churning out thousands of pages of
regulations to implement the misbegotten, misnamed Affordable Care Act.There are many important lessons from ObamaCare that we should apply
to another huge project that could have a similarly devastating impact
on our nation. In November 2009, President Obama announced his intention
to have the United States participate in a so-called trade agreement
known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I say so-called trade agreement
because 80 percent of the proposed agreement deals with a great many
issues besides trade.The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, as it is called, is an all-out
assault on our national sovereignty. It would unconstitutionally
transfer legislative powers from the U.S. Congress, our state
legislatures, and our city and county governments to multi-national
corporations and unaccountable international bureaucrats at the World
Trade Organization, or WTO. Incredibly, it also would transfer judicial
powers from our federal and state courts — which are bad enough — to
globalist TPP judges at regional tribunals and the WTO. It would also
confer huge advantages on foreign businesses and large multinationals,
while at the same time putting companies that operate here in America —
especially small and medium-sized enterprises — at a competitive
disadvantage. American businesses would remain shackled by the
regulations of EPA, FDA, OSHA, etc. while their foreign competitors
could operate here unimpeded by those same strictures.Like the infamous NAFTA trade agreement passed in the ’90s, the TPP
would usher in another wave of outsourcing, as the remaining
manufacturing and technology bases would be given incentives to move to
Pacific Rim countries, resulting in millions more American job losses.With TPP negotiations on track to be completed by the end of 2013,
President Obama will likely ask Congress to approve this trade agreement
in early 2014. Contact your senators and representative and urge them
to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and see the many additional
articles listed below the video that we’ve published detailing the
dangers of the TPP.
Mandatory lobby register requires EU treaty change
14.12.13 @ 08:08-EUOBSERVER
By Nikolaj Nielsen
BRUSSELS - A treaty change or a unanimous decision from member states is needed to make the EU-joint transparency register mandatory.“To get a legal base, we need a treaty change,” German centre-right
MEP Rainer Wieland, told this website on Friday (13 December).“And we expect the commission to come up with a proposal for a legal
base,” added Wieland, who heads the parliament’s working group on the
joint transparency register.A review of the register on Thursday recommends the European
Commission come forward with a proposal to adapt the EU Treaty to make
it compulsory.The idea still has to get screened and approved by the parliament’s
constitutional affairs committee before a formal proposal is put forward
to the commission.Should the treaty change idea fall apart then the commission needs to
put together another proposal by 2016, which would require unanimity
among EU member states.Wieland said this is the least favourable of the two options because it would exclude the parliament from having any influence.“It is also possible the commission does not want to come with a
proposal because it is out of any reach to get a decision of the
council,” he said.If no decision is made, then the transparency register will come up for review again in 2017.Parliament sources say European commissioner for inter-institutional
affairs Maros Sefcovic wants to keep the register voluntary in order to
attract more entries.The commission’s official line is that making the register mandatory would be too difficult.“It would raise a great number of complex legal issues, in particular
with regard to the scope of the register, and compliance with other
articles of the treaties,” it said in a statement.The two sides came together to review the register and instead put forward some 30 recommendations to improve it.One idea is to expand the scope to include all lobbying activities no matter where they take place geographically.Another is to make a distinction between for profit and non-profit agencies.Both the MEPs and the commission agree incentives need to be put in place to encourage more people to register.The working group wants to shut out the exceptions to a rule that requires registration to access parliament buildings.“These incentives include facilitating access to EP premises, the
possibility to be consulted by the commission as experts or by heard at
EP committee hearings,” notes the working group.
But Olivier Hoedeman at the Brussels-base Corporate Europe Observatory described the recommendations as “incredibly vague.”He noted the commission meets with major corporations that are not in the registry like US investment bank Goldman Sachs.The commission, for its part, estimates up to 75 percent of all
relevant business-related entities and around 60 percent of NGOs
operating in Brussels have registered.Nearly 6,000 organisations are currently in the register, although
pro-transparency groups say numerous entries are either out of date and
contain errors.Registrants are required to update the data once a year and on issues they lobbied on in the previous year.
EU data retention law said to breach privacy rights
13.12.13 @ 09:20-EUOBSERVER
By Nikolaj Nielsen
BRUSSELS - The EU data retention directive breaches the charter of fundamental rights, an EU advocate general has said.“The directive constitutes a serious interference with the
fundamental right of citizens to privacy,” said Pedro Cruz Villalon, an
advocate general at the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice, in
an opinion out on Thursday (12 December).The 2006 directive has generated considerable controversy over the
years because it allows governments and intelligence agencies to track
and store data on the movements, meetings, phone and Internet use of
every EU citizen.Operators are required to retain details of emails and telephone
calls for up to two years in a database specifically designed for police
access.
“The directive treats everyone as a suspect, it monitors everyone, it
puts everyone under surveillance,” said TJ McIntyre of Digital Rights
Ireland, who took the case to the court almost seven years ago.Villalon’s opinion is not binding but is still seen as a major
victory by pro-rights advocates because the court’s judges often come to
the same conclusion.A final court verdict is expected sometime in the first half of next year.
“It bodes very well for the final judgement, it is a very measured, a
very balanced opinion, and I think it is one the court’s will find very
influential,” said McIntyre.Villalon says the European commission has to come up with better reasons to justify the directive.The Spanish advocate says safeguards need to be set up to limit
access because the retained data is at risk of being used in unlawful,
fraudulent, and malicious ways.He suggests using courts or independent bodies to screen access
requests instead of just allowing a loose interpretation of a ‘serious
crime’ to justify police probes.“It should have required a case-by-case examination of requests for
access in order to limit the data provided to what is strictly
necessary,” notes the opinion.Principles should have been set up, it says, so that authorities
authorised to access the data are required to erase them once no longer
useful.Authorities should also have to notify people their data was
accessed, at least retrospectively, if they are innocent or if the
notification presents no risk to criminal investigations.The opinion casts some doubt on fines levied against member states,
which did not fully transpose the directive into national law on time.Sweden over the summer was fined a lump sum of €3 million because of the delay.Germany is also under the commission’s scrutiny.Last year, the Brussels executive took Berlin to the court after it
refused to transpose it. Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court annulled
the directive in 2010.The commission wants Germany to pay a daily penalty payment of
€315,036.54 for each day after the Court ruling until the country ceases
to be in breach of EU law.The German case is still on-going.“You can’t say there is an obligation to implement the directive,
while at the same time the advocate general has said the directive
should be regarded as invalid. At a minimum, the case should be put on
hold,” says McIntyre.A contact at the Court said it would be difficult for a member state
to be in breach of a directive that no longer exists, should it be
annulled.“There are some very special cases where EU law can be deemed to be
non-existant, which basically means it had never been valid, ever, and
anything that it has caused to happen should be reversed,” he said.The European Commission, for its part, says they are working on
improving the directive but must take into account existing EU data
protection laws like the e-privacy directive.“It doesn’t really make sense to review or make a change of the data
retention directive if these other elements are not in place,” said
European Commission spokesperson for home affairs, Michele Cercone.
Op-Ed: The EU Auditors Report: A PA-EU Financial Scandal
Published: Sunday, December 15, 2013 6:48 PM-Israelnationalnews
European taxpayers are supporting a massive fraud.
David Singer
The European Union (EU) has become embroiled in a financial scandal
of massive proportions in relation to the financial assistance given by
it to the Palestinian Authority (PA) since 1994.This
appears very clear from the comprehensive European Court of Auditors
Report dated 22 October 2013 which was only made public this week.
The Report reveals the following:
1.
During the period 1994–2006, more than 2.7 billion euro was allocated
to the Palestinian Authority from the EU’s general budget.
2.
Between 2007 and 2012 some 2.9 billion euro was committed from the EU
general budget. The main focus of EU assistance involved direct
financial support (DFS) - which accounted for 47.4 % of the overall
assistance in the period 2007–12.
3. DFS was the EU’s response to
the political, fiscal and humanitarian crisis that followed the
temporary suspension of most aid to the PA following Hamas’ January 2006
election victory. A ‘temporary international mechanism’ (TIM) was
established which aimed to ensure the direct delivery of assistance to
the Palestinian population while bypassing a Hamas‑led government.
4.
TIM - initially set up for 3 months - operated between June 2006 and
February 2008 - until replaced by the current mechanism – PEGASE - which
is largely based on TIM.
5. PEGASE DFS has had the broad
objective of helping the PA continue to function until the overall
political objective of a two state solution is achieved.
6.
The main objective of PEGASE DFS is to help the PA to meet its
obligations towards civil service employees and pensioners (CSP) and
maintain the functioning of the administration and the provision of essential public services to the population;
7. Support for civil servants and pensioners comprised 72.5 % of total funding.
8.
Since the launch of PEGASE DFS in February 2008, few substantial
changes have been made to the CSP component. This is in spite of changes
in the operational environment, including the increasing number of
beneficiaries, the rise in the number of civil servants not attending
work after public sector strikes in Gaza in August–September 2008 and
the growing need for civil service reform.
9, The EU has not developed a clear strategy on how to reduce the PA’s dependency on PEGASE DFS support over time.
10.
From 2008 to 2012, the average number of civil servants and pensioners
that regularly had part of their salary paid by contributions from the
CSP component rose from 75 502 to 84 320. This represents approximately
half of the PA’s 170 000 civil servants and pensioners.
11. The PA
has made little progress on civil service and pension reforms to reduce
the fiscal impact of the increasing numbers of staff and pensioners,
for example, by reducing the number of PA staff or amending the rules
regulating entitlements.
The audit found indications that in Gaza a
considerable number of civil servants were receiving salaries - partly
funded by PEGASE DFS - because they were eligible for support by virtue
of being on the PA payroll but who were not going to work due to the
political situation in Gaza. Some civil servants were dismissed after
the Hamas takeover because they supported the PA, while others were
demoted or locked out following the PA trade union strikes of August–
September 2008.
12.Out of 10 Gaza beneficiaries selected by the
audit for interviews, three stated that they were not working, while one
was absent. The audit also found that the State Audit and
Administrative Control Bureau was obliged, in accordance with PA
regulations, to pay salaries for its 90 staff members in Gaza, all of
whom are unable to work.
These findings are consistent with
estimates based on data from interviews provided in a 2010 evaluation of
PEGASE contracted by the EU which indicated that 22 % and 24 %
respectively of the staff employed by the PA Ministries of Health and Education in Gaza were not working at the time.
13.
The EU, while aware of this problem, has not taken adequate steps to
address it and was unable to provide clear information on the extent of
this practice. Given the amount of money which the EU is providing
through PEGASE DFS, it would have been expected that they could obtain
such information from the PA.
14. Despite the importance of this
issue, there was no transparent reference to PEGASE DFS being used to
pay non‑performing workers in any of the EU’s financing documentation
for the annual programs.
15.While PEGASE is intended to support public services for the benefit of the Palestinian Arab population, the payment of non‑performing civil servants does not serve this objective
Spending
hundreds of millions of dollars supposedly supporting the salaries of
public servants that no longer occupy those positions and doing nothing
to arrest this expenditure - although knowing it was happening -
indicates an appalling standard of financial irresponsibility for which
the EU has become famous.
This financial gravy train seems set to continue while:
1. Hamas and the PLO refuse to reconcile their differences
2. The PLO rejects any kind of settlement with Israel that entails Israel obtaining sovereignty in any part of the 'West Bank'.
The European Union is on a treadmill from which it must now extricate itself.
The obvious solution
is to make sure EU money gets to the most needy – not phantom
employees who have been having a financial feast at European taxpayers
expense.
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
ISAIAH 31:5
5 As birds flying,(PLANES) so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem;(WITH PLANES) defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.(NUKE OR BOMB ISRAELS ENEMIES)
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
ISAIAH 14:12-15
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(SATAN HAS PROUD I PROBLEMS)
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Op-Ed: Annex the Land Before the "End of Jewish History"
Published: Sunday, December 15, 2013 7:14 PM-Israelnationalnews
The "End of Jewish History" is not as farfetched as
Fukiyama's predictions for the world. Nor is a repetition of the fate of
the Ten Tribes.
Giulio Meotti
The
writer, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio, writes a twice-weekly
column for Arutz Sheva. He is the author of the book "A New Shoah", that
researched the personal stories of Israel's terror victims, published
by Encounter. His writing has appeared in publications, such as the Wall
Street Journal, Frontpage and Commentary. He has just prblished a book
about the Vatican and Israel titled "J'Accuse: the Vatican Against
Israel" published by Mantua Books.
Everybody knows that it is either going to be “settlements” or a “Palestinian State”. Both cannot cohexist side by side. The fate of Jewish life in Judea and Samaria is the most important single defining issue for the future of the Jewish people.After Yasser Arafat convinced the Israelis that "delivering" Arabs to the Jews is something his people couldn’t tolerate, Israel has convinced herself that she can deliver many Jews to the Arabs.This is the real meaning of John Kerry’s “security promises”.Declaring
partial sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, the alternative suggested
by those Israelis who made a religion out of security, will not ease the
tremendous pressure on the State of Israel and the Jews. Partial sovereignty will lead to the point where the security situation will be even worse, and Israel might fatally decide to abandon every inch of the Biblical heartland.However - exactly as there is no solution to the Old City of Jerusalem, where separation is impossible unless Israel relinquishes the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall, the State of Israel
in Judea and Samaria has now only two alternatives: annexing all the
land (at least Area C where all the Israelis live) in the name of Jewish
rights, or facing a new catastrophe, a new cataclysm, a new diaspora, a
new cycle of exile, or at worst, a new Holocaust, whether violent or
not.Everybody knows that it is either going to be “settlements” or a “Palestinian State”. Both cannot cohexist side by side.And
a “Palestinian State” means the deportation of at least 100,000 Jews -
or up to many times that number - and the annihilation of an entire
Jewish civilization in Judea and Samaria.And it might mean something even worse: it might mean the end of Jewish history. Why is that? Two
exiles, in 586 B.C. and in 70 A.D., created the conditions for a
dispersion and isolation. Only a miracle made it possible for the Jewish
people to survive under forced conversions and gas chambers. What if
the third Jewish commonwealth, which is based in Tel Aviv, Naharya and
Hevron, meets the fate of the first two? No people could survive it,
again. Not even the Jews.Yes, Jewish leftist coteries will
continue to exist in New York and hareidi ghettos might be seen in
Antwerp. But destroying Jewish life in Judea and Samaria and exposing
the Jewish life on the coast to an inexorable calamity, means delivering
the Jewish people in its entirety to the fate of the Ten Tribes.They were Jews who melted away into history. Disappeared. Forever.Muslims
prefer the sword rather than the UN resolutions to
determine boundaries. The 1947 boundaries have already been washed away
by the blood of 6,500 Israelis who gave birth to the State of Israel with their lives.Do we want the post-1967 boundaries to be washed away by blood of millions of Jews? Because
we all know that the only real goal of all Palestinian Arabs, both
“moderate” and "radical", is the Blue Line. That of the Mediterranean.
EARTHQUAKES
ISAIAH 42:15
15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
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,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
1 Day, Magnitude 2.5+ Worldwide
38 earthquakes - DownloadUpdated: 2013-12-15 14:30:31 UTC-05:00Showing event times using Local System Time (UTC-05:00)38 earthquakes in map area
2.849km WNW of Talkeetna, Alaska 2013-12-15 14:03:20 UTC-05:0096.9 km
4.7124km WNW of Tofino, Canada 2013-12-15 13:11:49 UTC-05:005.0 km
2.710km S of Morovis, Puerto Rico 2013-12-15 12:50:44 UTC-05:0012.0 km
4.848km ENE of Kushiro, Japan 2013-12-15 12:17:42 UTC-05:0083.1 km
3.5133km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-12-15 11:42:51 UTC-05:0010.0 km
3.689km NE of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-12-15 10:43:18 UTC-05:0057.0 km
4.7110km ESE of Kitaibaraki, Japan 2013-12-15 10:35:15 UTC-05:0043.8 km
2.862km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-12-15 10:30:05 UTC-05:0058.0 km
2.866km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-12-15 09:28:55 UTC-05:0047.0 km
4.379km W of San Antonio de los Cobres, Argentina 2013-12-15 09:27:42 UTC-.5 km
2.646km NNE of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-12-15 08:50:01 UTC-05:0041.0 km
5.28km E of Huicungo, Peru 2013-12-15 07:55:16 UTC-05:0063.1 km
2.645km SSW of Keokea, Hawaii 2013-12-15 07:36:55 UTC-05:007.0 km
4.5104km SSE of Shizunai, Japan 2013-12-15 06:43:29 UTC-05:0040.9 km
2.866km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-12-15 04:56:17 UTC-05:0052.0 km
2.873km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-12-15 04:55:30 UTC-05:0018.0 km
2.743km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico 2013-12-15 04:50:13 UTC-05:0039.0 km
2.89km WNW of Greenville, California 2013-12-15 04:24:34 UTC-05:000.0 km
3.03km W of San Juan Bautista, California 2013-12-15 04:22:44 UTC-05:005.9 km
2.93km W of San Juan Bautista, California 2013-12-15 03:44:36 UTC-05:005.8 km
4.537km SSE of Amukta Island, Alaska 2013-12-15 03:34:48 UTC-05:0043.7 km
3.076km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-12-15 03:31:03 UTC-05:0027.0 km
4.728km SSW of Ovalle, Chile 2013-12-15 03:01:02 UTC-05:0047.0 km
4.43km N of Anatahan, Northern Mariana Islands 2013-12-15 01:45:18 UTC-05:001.0 km
4.4122km SE of Ndoi Island, Fiji 2013-12-15 01:30:18 UTC-05:00395.6 km
2.564km SSW of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska 2013-12-15 01:19:26 UTC-05:00129.8 km
4.5102km SE of Pondaguitan, Philippines 2013-12-15 00:42:34 UTC-05:00103.8 km
2.82km SSW of Springtown, Texas 2013-12-14 23:54:16 UTC-05:004.8 km
4.330km N of Piru, Indonesia 2013-12-14 22:47:17 UTC-05:0046.7 km
5.0156km NE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia 2013-12-14 22:07:09 UTC-7 km
2.56km WSW of Avenal, California 2013-12-14 21:33:04 UTC-05:0011.4 km
4.6251km S of Ndoi Island, Fiji 2013-12-14 20:14:22 UTC-05:00550.1 km
2.581km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-12-14 19:08:17 UTC-05:0054.0 km
4.14km SE of Tuxpan, Mexico 2013-12-14 17:33:44 UTC-05:00105.9 km
2.93km W of San Juan Bautista, California 2013-12-14 16:41:08 UTC-05:005.3 km
3.352km NW of Atka, Alaska 2013-12-14 15:58:02 UTC-05:00198.7 km
2.5123km SSE of Old Iliamna, Alaska 2013-12-14 15:30:26 UTC-05:004.3 km
2.511km SSE of Cherokee, Oklahoma 2013-12-14 14:45:15 UTC-05:000
KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
FALSE POPE FROM THE VATICAN
REVELATION 13:11-13 11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;(FALSE VATICAN POPE) and he had two horns like a lamb,(JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD) and he spake as a dragon.(HES SATANICALLY INSPIRED,HES A CHRISTIAN DEFECTOR FROM THE FAITH) 12 And he (FALSE RELIGIOUS LEADER) exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,(WORLD DICTATOR) and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.(THE WORLD DICTATOR CREATES A FALSE RESURRECTION AND IS CROWNED LEADER OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER). 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
REVELATION 17:1-5,9,15-18 1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,(VATICAN IN POLITICS) and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman (FALSE CHURCH) was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour,(VATICAN COLOURS)(ANOTHER REASON WE KNOW THE FALSE POPE COMES FROM THE VATICAN) and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS) 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.(VATICAN-CATHOLICS ALL AROUND THE WORLD OVER 1 BILLION) 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Pope's crackdown on order alarms traditionalists
By NICOLE WINFIELD
4 hours ago-DEC 15,13
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis may have been named Time
magazine's Person of the Year, but he has come under scathing criticism
from a growing number of traditionalist Catholics for cracking down on a
religious order that celebrates the old Latin Mass. The case has become
a flashpoint in the ideological tug-of-war going on in the Catholic
Church over Francis' revolutionary agenda, which has thrilled
progressives and alarmed some conservatives.The
matter concerns the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, a small but
growing order of several hundred priests, seminarians and nuns that was
founded in Italy in 1990 as an offshoot of the larger Franciscan order
of the pope's namesake, St. Francis of Assisi.Then-Pope Benedict
XVI launched an investigation into the congregation after five of its
priests complained that the order was taking on an overly traditionalist
bent, with the old Latin Mass being celebrated more and more at the
expense of the liturgy in the vernacular.Benedict, a great admirer of the pre-Vatican II Mass, had relaxed restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass in 2007.While
the order was in turmoil over this liturgical issue, the dispute at its
core comes down to differing interpretations of the modernizing reforms
of the Second Vatican Council, which include the use of local languages
in Mass that some considered a break with the church's tradition.The
Vatican in July named the Rev. Fidenzio Volpi, a Franciscan Capuchin
friar, as a special commissioner to run the order with a mandate to
quell the dissent that had erupted over the liturgy, improve unity
within its ranks and get a handle on its finances. In the same decree
appointing Volpi, Francis forbade the friars from celebrating the old
Latin Mass unless they got special permission, a clear rollback from
Benedict's 2007 decision.In the weeks that followed,
traditionalists voiced outrage: four tradition-minded Italian
intellectuals wrote to the Vatican accusing it of violating Benedict's
2007 edict by restricting the Latin Mass for the friars, saying the Holy
See was imposing "unjust discrimination" against those who celebrate
the ancient rite.Volpi though was undeterred: He sent their
founder, the Rev. Stefano Maria Manelli, to live in a religious home
while he set about turning the order around.And on Dec. 8, he
took action, issuing a series of sanctions in the name of the pope that
have stunned observers for their seeming severity: He closed the friars'
seminary and sent its students to other religious universities in Rome.
He suspended the activities of the friars' lay movement. He suspended
ordinations of new priests for a year and required future priests to
formally accept the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and its new
liturgy or be kicked out. And he decreed that current priests must
commit themselves in writing to following the existing mission of the
order.In a letter detailing the new measures, Volpi accused friars
loyal to Manelli of seeking to undermine him and accused some of
embezzlement. He denounced a cult of personality that had grown around
Manelli, saying it "reveals a great spiritual poverty and psychological
dependence that is incompatible with" the life in a religious community.The
sanctions seem harsh when compared to recent actions taken by the
Vatican against other much larger religious orders or groups found to
have doctrinal or other problems, such as the Holy See's crackdown on
social justice-minded American nuns or the Vatican's reform efforts of
the disgraced Legion of Christ. In both cases, a papal envoy was named
to rewrite constitutions or statutes and oversee reforms, but Volpi's
actions with the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate would appear to go
much further.
Traditionalists have charged that a double standard
is at play, with a conservative, tradition-minded order being targeted
for particular sanction on ideological grounds by a pope with a
progressive bent."I hope that I am not being intemperate in
describing this as rather harsh," the Rev. Timothy Finigan, a British
priest whose "The Hermeneutic of Continuity" blog is much-read in
traditionalist circles, wrote last week of the sanctions.
Francis
has called Benedict's 2007 decree allowing wider use of the Latin Mass
"prudent," but has warned that it risks being exploited on ideological
grounds by factions in the church; Francis has made clear his disdain
for traditionalist Catholics, saying they are self-absorbed retrogrades
who aren't helping the church's mission to evangelize.For some,
the issue is purely ideological. Christopher Ferrara, a columnist for
The Remant, a traditionalist biweekly newspaper in the United States,
said Volpi's aim was to make the order conform to the more progressive
ideology of other religious orders like Volpi's own Capuchins, which he
noted are dwindling in numbers while more conservative, tradition-minded
orders like the Franciscan Friars are growing."Traditionalism
isn't an ideology, it's holding fast to everything that has been handed
down," Ferrara said in a telephone interview.A group of
tradition-minded lay Catholics has launched an online petition seeking
Volpi's ouster, but it's not clear how many signatories have signed on;
an email seeking figures wasn't returned Saturday.The Vatican
spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, defended Volpi as a sage,
esteemed and experienced administrator and dismissed calls for his
removal."He knows religious life well, was for many years head of
the Italian conference of religious superiors and I think his
nomination was a wise choice," Lombardi said in an email to The
Associated Press. "While the situation seems difficult and painful, it
appears the letter is yet another demonstration that the naming of a
commissioner was necessary and that he knows what to do with the powers
he has."I don't have any reason to doubt it," Lombardi concluded.The
Rev. Robert Gahl, a moral theologian at the Opus Dei-run Pontifical
Holy Cross University, said he was certain that the pope wasn't opposed
to the old Latin Mass and was not aiming to combat it by restricting its
celebration with the Friars. He said Francis appeared to be taking the
measures to quell the internal conflicts that arose over its
celebration, and then took other measures after financial irregularities
occurred."Liturgy is always a surprisingly sensitive topic," he
said. "It can be extremely controversial and can upset communities even
when the substance of the disagreement is minuscule. So, I think Francis
is pushing for community peace and unity which may entail a temporary
reduction in some use" of the old Latin Mass.
"I'm certain that
Francis wants unity in Christ and to put a stop to the back-biting
between ideological groups in the church, also by those who ideologize
the liturgy," he said.___Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
After ‘storm of the century,’ crippled Jerusalem plows on
Three days of heavy snowfall leave the capital’s sidewalks unnavigable and its streets littered with broken tree limbs
A view of the the snow-covered walls of Jerusalem's Old City, Saturday, December 14, 2013 (photo credit: Nati Shohat/Flash90)
In the wake of three consecutive
days of snow, Jerusalem’s streets are a tangled mess of broken boughs,
snow drifts, slush and half-buried cars. An estimated 19 inches fell on a
decidedly unprepared capital, stranding vehicles, knocking power out
across the city, and bringing businesses and transportation to a halt.
The
center of the city was uncharacteristically empty for a Saturday night,
as most residents huddled indoors against the cold. The Ben Yehuda
Street pedestrian mall, typically mobbed by teens after the departure of
the Sabbath, was empty of people and covered in several inches of
packed powder. Major roads were clear, but side streets remained
blanketed in wet, heavily packed snow among ruts coated in black
ice. The light rail’s tracks along Jaffa Road were encrusted in ice, and
much of the rail line was covered in snow.
Accustomed as I am to inclement weather
(having been born in Syracuse, NY, lived many years in New England and
studied in Toronto), it came as a shock that the much-touted snow plows
and salt trucks that served as props in a photo op for Jerusalem Mayor
Nir Barkat were nowhere to be seen on Thursday or Friday. Only on this,
the third day of the storm, did backhoes, plows, even the Israel Defense
Forces’ armored personnel carriers, take to the roads to clear the
accumulated and frozen solid precipitation. They will undoubtedly work
through the night to keep the city’s thoroughfares navigable.City Hall scrambled on Saturday to clear
Jerusalem’s main roads and highways of snow, but the sidewalks remained a
treacherous mess of compacted ice several inches thick. (This
reporter’s sore bottom will attest to the slickness of ice-coated
Jerusalem stone pavement.) After another night with near-freezing
temperatures, residents navigating the city’s streets on Sunday for the
first time since Wednesday will face the perils of uncleared and unsafe
sidewalks.On Thursday night, the night air echoed with
the sound of tree limbs snapping like matchsticks beneath the weight of
the snow. Two nights later, central Jerusalem reverberated with the
sound of chainsaws, wielded by tree crews hired by the municipality to
clear away those fallen branches. According to Barkat, “almost every
tree” in the city was damaged by the storm.Around midnight I asked one of the laborers
how much work he had cut out for him. He gave a sheepish shrug and
mumbled something to the effect of “a lot.” And he could give no
estimate of how long the cleanup project would take.
Jerusalem’s
Shatz Street pedestrian mall covered in snow and downed tree limbs,
Saturday night, December 14, 2013 (photo credit: Ilan Ben Zion/Times of
Israel)
Scars of the brutal December storm will mark
the city’s trees for years to come, but for the time being the pressing
issue for thousands of Jerusalemites is the lack of electricity. As of
Saturday night, thousands of residents were still without power — a
consequence of tree limbs tearing down electrical wires across the city.Though the Israel Electric Corporation’s
employees worked “around the clock,” according to one worker who spoke
to Channel 2, to get the grid back online, darkness still swathed many
homes in the city. In defense of the IEC’s failure to get power fully
restored in Jerusalem after two days, CEO Eli Glickman said that despite
its preparations, it was impossible to predict such a disaster.“Compared to other countries in the world —
let’s take [cue air quotes] ‘developed countries,’ the United States,
New York, New Jersey — just in the last year there were power outages of
a month and a month-and-a-half. Here we’re talking about citizens
suffering badly for a few hours, and our hearts are with them, but let’s
compare it to the United States,” he said.In Glickman’s defense, preparations were made and the storm was a “once-in-a-century” event, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it.
At the same time, comparing a relatively mild snowstorm (by
international standards) to Superstorm Sandy is out of line and
belittles the magnitude of that colossal disaster.It’s likely some Israelis won’t have power
come morning. It’s more likely that some businesses and public offices
won’t be up and running, even once public transportation returns to
regular service. Although disaster was averted, as Netanyahu proclaimed
on Saturday after the last flakes fell, City Hall’s preparations proved
woefully inadequate, and recovery will take several days longer than it
should have. For once, MK Miri Regev (Likud) was the voice of reason
when she said that the capital should not have been snowbound as long as
it was.But let’s take stock: Jerusalem is not underwater like the Gaza Strip; its residents were temporarily beleaguered, but not in a chaotic war zone like those of Homs; and they have roofs over their heads, unlike many Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
After storm and heavy flooding, Gaza receives fuel
First fuel shipment in 45 days funded by Qatar; 40,000 strip residents forced from their homes due to flooding
Palestinian
rescue members evacuate a cat following heavy rains in Gaza City, on
Saturday, December 14, 2013. (photo credit: AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A
Palestinian official says the Gaza Strip has received its first
industrial fuel shipment in 45 days, bringing much-needed relief to the
storm-battered coastal territory.A
lack of fuel has hampered the rescue efforts in Gaza, where flooding
from heavy rains has forced about 40,000 residents from their homes. The
territory suffers from frequent power outages.While the rival Palestinian government in the
West Bank can ship fuel to Gaza through Israel, Gaza’s Hamas rulers have
refused to accept the shipments, saying they cannot afford a new tax.Palestinian border official Raed Fattouh said Sunday’s fuel shipment was paid for by Qatar.The storm has also left thousands of Israelis
without power. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was postponing a
regularly scheduled Cabinet meeting until Sunday afternoon over it.
REUTERS PICTURE AT 11:34AM - FINAL BURIAL OF MANDELA-I WONDER WHEN THE OCCULT TEMPLE WORSHIP OCCURED THAT THE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS SAID WOULD OCCUR.THEY SAID IT OCCURS ON DEC 16,13.BUT HE WAS BURRIED TODAY. Funeral overruns by 105 minutes, meaning the tribal tradition that members are buried at noon was missed
By Sibongile Khumalo
41 minutes ago-DEC 15,13-yahoonews
.
Qunu (South Africa) (AFP) - South Africa's first black
president Nelson Mandela received a tearful state funeral at his
childhood village of Qunu on Sunday, followed by a traditional burial
attended by family and friends.A
21-gun salute and full military honour guard escorted Mandela's coffin
to a marquee where 4,500 mourners said their final goodbyes.His flag-draped casket was placed on cow skins, surrounded by 95 candles -- each signifying a year of his extraordinary life."The person who lies here is South Africa's greatest son," said ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa in an opening address.Mandela's
widow, Graca Machel, who was seldom far from his bedside during his
final months, looked on disconsolate, along with his former wife Winnie
Madikizela–Mandela.The frail and ageing leaders of South Africa's
anti-apartheid struggle also attended: George Bizos, Desmond Tutu and
Ahmed Kathrada, whose voice broke with emotion as he delivered a eulogy
for his old friend.
The coffin of South African former president Nelson Mandela leaves for a traditional burial in Qunu …
"I first met him 67 years ago," said Kathrada, who along with Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in 1963.He
recalled his fellow inmate as a powerful amateur boxer who could cope
far better than others with the physical challenge of hard labour."What I saw in hospital was a man helpless and reduced to a shadow of himself," he said struggling not to break down."We can salute you as a fighter for freedom. Farewell my dear brother, my mentor, my leader."Now I've lost a brother my life is in a void and I don't know who turn to."
His words left many in tears among the invited guests, whose
ranks included foreign dignitaries and celebrities ranging from
Britain's Prince Charles to US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.Private burial for a public icon.Mandela
will be buried with traditional Xhosa rites in a graveyard that sits on
the sprawling family estate Mandela built in Qunu after his release
from prison in 1990."It was in that village that I spent some of
the happiest years of my boyhood and whence I trace my earliest
memories," he wrote in his autobiography.
Overseen by male members
of his clan, the burial will include the slaughter of an ox -- a ritual
performed through various milestones of a person's life under the
clan's traditions.During the ceremony, Mandela will be referred to as Dalibhunga,
the name given to him at the age of 16 after undergoing the initiation
to adulthood
Mourners will wear traditional Xhosa regalia, with blue and white beaded headgear and necklaces.Xhosa speakers are divided into several groups, including the Thembu people, of which Mandela is a member.
Global outpouring
The
funeral closes the final chapter on a towering public figure whose
courage and moral fortitude turned him into a global symbol of freedom
and hope.During 10 days of mourning, hundreds of thousands of South
Africans had turned out across the country to bid the founding father of
their "Rainbow Nation" farewell.
They braved a rain-sodden
memorial in Soweto and for three days queued to see his remains as they
lay in state at Pretoria's Union Buildings.Lines of mourners enveloped a city that was once the bastion of white rule.For
50 million compatriots, Mandela was not just a president, but a moral
guide who led them away from internecine racial conflict.For the rest of the world he was a charismatic leader of the anti-apartheid struggle -- in turn a poet, saint and scholar."Ever
since he passed away, I wanted to walk the journey with him," said
Pascal Moloi, 52, who made the trip from Johannesburg to Qunu to attend a
public viewing.
While Mandela had been critically ill for
months, the announcement of his death on December 5 still sent a spasm
through a country struggling to carry forward his vision of a harmonious
multi-racial democracy of shared prosperity.During the funeral South African President Jacob Zuma told the country it was incumbent on them to carry on his legacy."One thing we can assure you of today Tata (father), as you take your final steps, is that South Africa will continue to rise."South Africa will continue to rise because we dare not fail you," Zuma said.For
the rest of the world, Mandela's death marked the loss of that rarest
of world leaders: those who are viewed with near universal respect and
admiration.Gushing tributes
poured in from every corner of the globe, although Mandela himself had
always stressed he was part of a communal leadership and resisted any
move towards his public canonisation -- posthumous or otherwise.
SINCE THESE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS LOVE ISON AND WORSHIP IT SO MUCH.I THOUGHT I BETTER PUT A ISON STORY WITH THE MENDELA BURRIAL.MAYBE FOR THE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS.ISON WILL BRING MANDELA BACK TO LIFE.AND MANDELA WILL BOMBARD THE EARTH WITH ROCKS AND KILL MOST PEOPLE AND POISON ALL THE WATERS WITH WORMWOOD.SINCE THE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS BELIEVE ANYTHING.
TORONTO – “Comet of the century!”“To be seen in the daytime sky!”These
were only a few claims hyped by media upon the discovery of Comet ISON
in September 2012 by Russian astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom
Novichonok (a comet is usually named after its discoverer, but this one
was named after the project that discovered it, the International
Scientific Optical Network, ISON).Of course, none of those claims were true. But for scientists, it didn’t matter: ISON was a chance to peer back at the very beginning of our solar system.Karl Battams, astrophysicist at the United States Naval Research Laboratory
(NRL) in Washington, DC, and the voice of ISON throughout the comet’s
close pass, was happy with what was accomplished. Battams led the Comet ISON Observing Campaign.Battams stressed that scientists never claimed ISON would put on the show some believed would happen.“Before us scientists even got to put our word in, there were
stories about the thing being brighter than the full moon and ‘comet of
the century,’ so that made life difficult for us because what we…had to
convey was that this was a really, really exciting object, just not for
the reasons that you’ve been reading about.”And
that reason was this: ISON was born out of the Oort cloud — a cloud
that extends far beyond the orbit of Pluto — trillions of kilometres
away from the sun and which was born 4.5 billion years ago. And the fact
that this comet was a sun-grazer — a comet that would pass very close
to the sun — made it even more exciting. Scientists would be able to see
how this ancient piece of rock interacted with solar radiation,
learning about its composition and characteristics.This was
ISON’s first pass, which meant that it had never been bombarded by the
sun’s radiation. Scientists wondered if the comet would survive such a
close pass — 1.2 million kilometres — above the sun’s surface. The sun
is blazing hot at this distance, so hot that it vaporizes almost
everything.“The very hardest rock you can imagine. If
the comet was coated in diamonds, the diamonds would instantly boil
away and vaporize,” Battams said.
All that heat and radiation was too much for the new comet.Battam
said that it may have been nicer to have had something in the sky for
people to see for themselves, but that doesn’t diminish how important a
role the comet played for scientists.“We’ve gotten to watch this
thing for such a long period of time now, and we’ve recorded the largest
and certainly the broadest data set about a comet in history…One of the
key parts of studying a comet is how were they put together. I think as
any kid will tell you, the best way to find out how a toy is put
together is to rip it apart,” Battams said, laughing.“And
as sad as it may seem, the sun ripped apart our little Christmas
present to see how it was put together, and that’s what we’ve got to try
to learn from.”Astronomers will be analyzing the comet for months to come. And they have plenty of data to use.
“Scientifically,
it’s just been absolutely incredible,” he said. “I think for me what I
loved the most about this whole experience is that we’ve pulled together
not only professional observers from big ground-based facilities, but
we’ve got 13 different spacecraft involved…Even stuff from Mars. And to
top it all off, the amateur community has just been completely crucial
to this whole process. We’ve got an army of eyes around the world.”Various NASA observing campaigns. (NASA)-Though Hubble is scheduled to image where ISON should be, Battam doubts that there will be anything to see. Two other telescopes, Chandra — an X-ray telescope — and Spitzer — an infrared telescope — will also take a look.It’s good to do this, Battam said, just to confirm that ISON is indeed gone.Though ISON may be gone, Battams pointed out that there’s still a comet gracing our skies, Comet Lovejoy, that people can enjoy.Comet ISON may be gone, but Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1) is still grazing the pre-dawn sky. (Courtesy of Bill Longo)
The NRL has received many calls from people who bought telescopes in
the hope of catching ISON. Now that it’s gone, they wonder if there’s
anything else to see.“The sky is full of wonders. And the next bright comet is just around the corner,” Battams said.Where to find Comet Lovejoy around 5 a.m. from a latitude of 43 degrees. (Stellarium)Next year will be chock-full of even more exciting comets. There
will be Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring), which will pass incredibly
close to Mars at about 110,000 km above the planet’s surface (there had
been talk about it colliding with Mars, but calculations have shown that
this will not happen). There is also the European Space Agency’s
Rosetta mission which will release a lander on the comet 67
P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.“And,” Battams said, “Who knows what will turn up in the meantime.”Battams’s busy schedule is just settling down. He’s spent months observing and analyzing ISON.
So, when asked what the next thing he’s excited about, Battams laughed and said, “A rest.”
