1-Eu ready to participate in Mideast peace-keeping force. 2-Eu force shows muscle ahead of Congo elections. 3-World has vested interest in Mideast peace. 4-Pope makes fresh mideast peace call. 5-Iram militias must be eliminated. 6-5.0 Quake in Humbolt California. 7-Earthquakes causing Red Sea to Part. 8-Indonesia confirms 42ND Bird flu death.
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
EU ready to participate in Mideast peace-keeping force
By Hannah K. Strange Jul/17/2006
LONDON -- The European Union is ready to take part in an international peace-keeping force to calm hostilities in Israel and Lebanon if such a mission is dispatched, the EU presidency said Monday.I am confident that the European Union and its member states which have been heavily contributing to such missions in the past will stand ready to take part if the conditions are there for such a mission, Finland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told a news conference in Brussels.The deployment of an international force to help resolve the Middle East crisis was earlier suggested by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and discussed by leaders at the Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Our member states have made it clear that they are willing to consider participating in any such mission,said Tuomioja, speaking after a Brussels meeting of EU foreign ministers.However at present this was only an idea, he added.Earlier, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana returned from a fact-finding trip to Lebanon expressing pessimism about the chances of a ceasefire between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces, who have been engaged in a bloody cross-border battle for six days.
As Israeli warplanes continued to pound targets in Lebanon and Hezbollah responded by firing rockets on the Israeli border town of Haifa, Solana said the best that could be hoped for was a de-escalation" of the violence. A cease-fire, while desirable, was in his opinion still out of reach, he told reporters before the Brussels meeting.Solana, who met with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora during his visit, said: At this point in time this is something everybody would like to have. But I think we are a little bit far, still far from that situation.He described the situation as very serious, very grave.I think we have to make all the efforts ... to de-escalate the situation and not to enter into a dynamic of action-reaction, he said.
Tuomioja told reporters that any force deployed must be seen as part of a long-term solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.The EU foreign ministers warned that the conflict could ultimately engulf the entire region. In a statement, they urged immediate action to prevent the escalation of the present crisis which now poses a threat to both Israel and Lebanon and to the wider security of the region.They called on Israel to respect Lebanon's territorial integrity and to refrain from "disproportionate" action, while condemning the capture of Israeli soldiers as well as attacks on Israel by Hezbollah and Hamas. The statement also urged the Lebanese government to rein in Hezbollah guerrillas and to restore its sovereignty over the whole of its national territory.
EU force shows muscle ahead of Congo polls
20 Jul 2006 14:18:44 GMT
KINSHASA, July 20 (Reuters) - A European Union military force sent to Congo showed off its firepower and technology on Thursday, saying it was ready to help U.N. peacekeepers maintain security during this month's elections.Soldiers parachuted into their Kinshasa base from helicopters before special forces teams performed a simulated hostage rescue and the force illustrated how it could quickly deploy men and armoured vehicles.Congolese politicians, military personnel, as well as foreign and local media were also shown the unmanned surveillance planes and weaponry the force has as its disposal.
We have tried to show you that we are credible and ready to fulfil our mission, German General Karlheinz Viereck, commander of the EU mission, told the audience after the display at N'Dodo airport.The EU has sent some 1,000 soldiers to the Democratic Republic of Congo, meant to act as a deterrent against anyone disrupting or challenging the result of the elections.The July 30 polls are the cornerstone of peace deals that ended Congo's 1998-2003 war, which has killed some four million people, and are billed as the former Belgian colony's first free and fair elections in over 40 years.
Despite the world's biggest U.N. peacekeeping force, voting will take place amid tension. Thousands of rebels operate in Congo's east, many candidates say the process is unfair and opposition parties are calling for demonstrations and boycotts.At the end of the month, my men will be ready to fulfil their task of securing the elections if there is trouble and the UN cannot deal with it, Viereck added.
FOUR-MONTH MISSION
The EU force has a four-month mission, starting the first day of voting, but will only intervene if the Congolese police and army, as well as the U.N. are unable to control violence.Some 33 presidential candidates and nearly 10,000 parliamentary candidates will contest the polls, which are costing the international community over $400 million and are the most complicated the U.N. has ever helped organise.Commanders have been reluctant to give details on what sort of operations the European soldiers would carry out, stressing however, that they were not in Congo to support any candidate and would do more than just evacuate expatriates.
During the demonstration, French and Portuguese special forces teams simulated a rescue mission, roping down from helicopters to free hostages in a bus before airlifting them to safety.A Hercules C130 transport plane then flew in soldiers and armoured trucks, showing how the EU could deploy men equipment across the vast country, which is the size of Western Europe, at short notice.
Meanwhile, Belgian surveillance drones and an array of sniper rifles, machine guns and mortars were put on display.The EU has a reserve force of 1,200 soldiers stationed in nearby Gabon but, with only one company of combat troops in Kinshasa, analysts say a successful mission would be one that does not have to act.Some Congolese, however, believe the international community is tacitly backing incumbent President Joseph Kabila while others fear the Europeans have come ready to fight a war.Don't speak about war, Viereck told local journalists. We have just showed a few options for dissuasion.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
2 THESSALIANS 2:3-12
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
DANIEL 11:23-24,39
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse(EU PRESIDENT LEADER OF PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
DANIEL 9:27
27 And he(EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
World has vested interest in Mideast peace
The world's most volatile area is living up to its reputation with a new round of bloody violence, and we're reminded that the latest armed conflict isn't so much between states as it is between Israel and anti-Israeli insurgents of all stripes. It's helpful to identify the players in this latest crisis. Your scorecard should read: Israel vs. Hamas, a Palestinian group, and Hezbollah, a well-armed and trained Lebanese Shiite militia. Both are coached by Iran and Syria. The game plan: Extremists basically want the Israeli state wiped from the face of the Earth. Israel is just as determined that won't happen.
Of the two groups, Hezbollah is currently the biggest threat to peace and stability with its attacks across the southern Lebanon border into Israel and development of a missile arsenal. The latest fighting began June 25 when Hamas-linked militants in the Gaza Strip carried out a cross-border attack on a military outpost in Israel, killing two soldiers and capturing one. Hezbollah guerrillas followed in July with an attack on a military patrol on the border in northern Israel, killing three soldiers and capturing two.
Israel retaliated immediately with a ferocity that has become the trademark of a nation that has fought for survival and right to exist since it was created in 1948 by a United Nations resolution. Israeli forces have pounded Lebanon, both on the ground and in the air. They also want the captured Israeli soldiers returned before there's any talk of cease-fire or truce. And they demand that no more missiles be rained on Israeli cities. With assistance from Syria and Iran, the well-armed Hezbollah militia has become stronger in southern Lebanon, as that country's fledgling attempt at democracy, Mideast style, bumbles along. A United Nations Security Council resolution in 2004 led to withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon, but its accompanying call for disarming militant guerrillas has gone unheeded.
Now President Bush is rightly concerned that the instability caused by the Hezbollah attacks will cause some in Lebanon to invite Syria back into the nation. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is active on the diplomatic front in dealing with the crisis, thinks the 2004 resolution must be fully implemented, Hezbollah disarmed and a Lebanese army deployed to the border — along with a strong peacekeeping operation. Such an operation must be international in makeup, with healthy representation from other Muslim nations in the Middle East. To their credit, leaders in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt have expressed their displeasure with the Hezbollah attacks they fear could lead to war on a much broader scale.
The United States is already stretched too thin in the Middle East, where we are viewed by many in the world community as an automatic, blind backer of Israel. While we can be involved in a search for a diplomatic solution, an end to military hostilities must be brokered on a larger stage, such as the United Nations, again with considerable representation from other Mideast countries. That would help give the effort the credibility it must have. The current upheaval will continue until Lebanon has a viable government that can deal with internal strife, much the same kind of challenge now facing Iraq's newly elected leaders. Otherwise, insurgency and civil war are virtually inevitable.
An anxious world awaits new developments to end the bloodshed and violence of the current upheaval, in which innocent civilians once again are paying the heaviest price. In the short haul, a cease-fire is critical. The long-range answer to co-existence in that troubled world spot remains a more daunting challenge, but one that to be viable requires active participation of moderate Mideast governments that reject radical insurgency groups.
* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Sarah Jenkins and Bill Lee.
Pope makes fresh Mideast peace call
Urges believers to pray on Sunday for an end to conflict
(ANSA) - Vatican City, July 20 - Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday issued a fresh appeal for an end to the latest conflict in the Middle East, proclaiming next Sunday a day of prayers for peace .
The pope issued a statement saying that Sunday would be a special day of prayer and penitence for believers of all faiths in the hope of an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon .We must implore God for the precious gift of peace, he said .The Lebanese have the right to see their country's sovereignty respected, the Israelis have the right to live in peace in their state and the Palestinians have the right to their own free and sovereign state,the German-born pontiff said .The 79-year-old pope also urged aid organisations to help the people hit by this ruthless conflict .
Humanitarian corridors must immediately be established to bring aid to the suffering populations, he said. He called for the opening of reasonable and responsible negotiations to end objective situations of injustice existing in the region .It was the pope's second appeal for peace in four days .On Sunday, he condemned the conflict, saying there could be no justification for the terrorist acts nor the reprisals, particularly when there are tragic consequences for civilians .The pope stressed that history had shown no good would come of such conflicts .Israeli warplanes pounded Lebanon for the ninth consecutive day on Thursday in response to a deadly incursion into Israeli territory last week by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah .Hezbollah, which is based in southern Lebanon and has the backing of Syria and Iran, has retaliated with rocket attacks against Israel .
The conflict has so far killed at least 305 people in Lebanon and 29 in Israel .Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said in a televised address on Wednesday that more than 500,000 people had been displaced by the war and appealed for international help .
© Copyright ANSA.,2006-07-20 14:24
PSALMS 83:3-5
3 They 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 have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
EZEKIEL 38:5-6
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.
Iran's militias must be eliminated
Jul. 20, 2006 12:00 AM
Bishara Bahbah's article in Sunday's Viewpoints, Israel, Palestinians stray from road to peace, makes some positive suggestions for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without addressing the confounding detail of eliminating militias of the kind Hamas and Hezbollah operate that are armed by Iran and Syria.Iran has cast a big shadow over the violence by aiding Hezbollah with advanced missiles. This interference pushes Teheran to the head of the line of priorities that Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates must deal with in order to protect their own peace and stability.
The existence of these militias has made Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora impotent to conduct negotiations on behalf of their respective countries. They could sign the peace documents, but they can't control the militias armed by Iran and Syria.President Bush has the opportunity to build an anti-Iran/Syria coalition of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE that could help with the transition from the militias to new national armies reconstituted under civilian authority in Lebanon and Palestine. - Harvey Karchmer, Scottsdale
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
5.0 quake hits off Humboldt
By George Kelly,CONTRA COSTA TIMES
North Coast residents woke to a 5.0 earthquake this morning, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.A magnitude 5.0 quake hit at 4:41 a.m. It was centered about 40 miles south-southwest of Eureka and about 200 miles northwest of Sacramento at a depth of about 13 miles, according to a United States Geological Survey preliminary report.It was felt as far north as parts of McKinleyville and as far south as Willits.
Scientists: Earthquakes causing Red Sea to part
Arabian tectonic plate and African plate are moving away from each other
Updated: 2:08 p.m. ET July 19, 2006
The Red Sea is parting again, but this time Moses doesn’t have a hand in it. Satellite images show that the Arabian tectonic plate and the African plate are moving away from each other, stretching the Earth's crust and widening the southern end of the Red Sea, scientists reported in this week's issue of journal Nature. Last September, a series of earthquakes started splitting the planet's surface along a 37-mile section of the East African Rift in Afar, Ethiopia. Over a period of three weeks, the crust on the sides of the rift moved apart by 26 feet and magma (molten rock)—enough to fill a football stadium more than 2,000 times—was injected along a vertical crack, forming a new crust. We think that the crust and mantle melt slowly at depths greater than 10 kilometers [6 miles], where it is hotter, forming magma,said Tim J Wright, study co-author, a Royal Society University Research Fellow. This magma rises through the crust because it is less dense than the surrounding rock.
The magma collects in magma chambers at depths of 3 to 5 kilometers [1.9 to 3 miles] where the density is the same as the crustal rocks, Wright explained. Slowly, the pressure has been building up in these chambers until last September when it finally cracked, breaking the crust along a vertical crack. The magma was then injected into this crack.The intrusion of magma into the gap, rather than the cracking of the crust, is responsible for segmentation of continental drifts. This is the first rifting episode to have occurred since 1970 and the largest single rip in the Earth's continental crust during the satellite-monitoring era. We knew about the steady rifting process in Afar, as Arabia moves away from Africa across the rift, Wright said. And we knew that occasionally the strain that builds up slowly over centuries is released suddenly in rifting episodes. We did not know how big the deformation could be.
Slow drift
For the past 30 million years Africa and Arabia have been going through a rifting process, the same one that formed the Red Sea. In this amount of time, the 186-mile- wide Afar depression formed. The ground is continually moving—much more rapidly now than before the rifting episode, Wright told LiveScience. On average, the two sides move apart at about 2 centimeters per year [0.8 inches per year]. But, as this event demonstrates, the motion is episodic and jerky. This poses considerable hazard to the local inhabitants, which is higher for the next few years.This latest split, added to the long-term rifting process, which is tearing the northeast of Ethiopia and Eritrea from the rest of Africa, could eventually create a huge new sea. Although such processes could take millions of years to occur, this event has given scientists an unprecedented opportunity to monitor the rupture in real time.
© 2006 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.
REVElATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Indonesia confirms 42nd human bird flu death
By Fitri Wulandari
JAKARTA (Reuters) - An international test has confirmed a 44-year-old Indonesian fried chicken vendor who died earlier this month had bird flu, a senior health ministry official said on Thursday. The man, from east Jakarta, died on July 12. His death brought to 42 the number of Indonesians killed by the bird flu virus. The populous southeast Asian country has recorded more human deaths from the disease this year than any other country. A chicken trader waits for customers at the local market in Jakarta July 16, 2006. An international test has confirmed a 44-year-old Indonesian man who died this month had bird flu, a senior health ministry official said on Thursday. (REUTERS/Crack Palinggi) The man was confirmed to have bird flu by the Hong Kong laboratory. There were dead chickens around him, but chickens around his neighbourhood tested negative for bird flu, I Nyoman Kandun, director-general of communicable disease control at the Health Ministry, told Reuters.
Contact with sick or dead poultry is the usual mode of transmission of the H5N1 bird flu virus, which is endemic in nearly all of the country's 33 provinces. He had contact with chicken every day when preparing fried chicken. All his family members have tested negative for bird flu,said Runizar Ruesin, the head of the health ministry's Bird Flu Information Centre. While Indonesia has sophisticated laboratories, bird flu tests still need to be confirmed by World Health Organisation-affiliated testing centres, usually in Hong Kong or the United States. Human cases of bird flu have been rising steadily in Indonesia since its first known outbreak in poultry in late 2003. Earlier this month, a three-year-old girl died of the virus. Worldwide, the disease has killed at least 132 people since it re-emerged in east Asia in 2003.
Vietnam has also recorded 42 deaths but has managed to bring the disease under control. Its last human death occurred in 2005.
Indonesia has been criticised for not doing enough to stamp out H5N1, which still remains essentially an animal disease but experts fear could spark a pandemic if it mutates into a form that can pass easily among people. The agriculture ministry said earlier this month Indonesia's death rate from bird flu was worsening, possibly due to limited vaccination of poultry. The government has so far shied away from mass culling, citing lack of funds and impracticality in a country with millions of backyard fowl. Vaccination is the preferred method to prevent the spread of bird flu among poultry. Copyright © 2005 Reuters
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
UNION OF EUROPE IN 16TH CENTURY
1-Europe and us swelter as heat wave claims lives. 2-Medical Chip implants studied. 3-10 dead as storms sweep Japan. 4-50,000 without power across Ontario. 5-Storm cuts power to 440,000 in midAtlantic. 6-Peres meets with Eu 's Solano. 7-There was a union in Europe in the 16th century:it collapsed.
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Europe and the US swelter as heat wave claims lives
A heat wave has spread across Europe with near-tropical temperatures so far claiming seven lives as people struggle through their daily lives in temperatures reaching 40 degrees.The United States is also recording extremely high temperatures, which has led to the death of six people and a call for residents of New York city to turn off the lights to conserve energy.
In France, it is those in the southeast who are suffering the most, but even temperatures in Paris will soar to 36 degrees by midweek as the heat wave spreads to the north, forecasters said Around a quarter of the France is being affected by the heat and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin today planned a visit to a Paris retirement home to show the measures the government is taking to care for the elderly population, vulnerable in the heat.
An elderly man and woman have already died in the Bordeaux region in the when the heat exacerbated their medical conditions. Temperatures had reached 38 degrees when the 85-year-old man died in hospital, and the woman, 81 at her home.A 53-year-old
labourer in the eastern French town of Macon died overnight of malign hyperthermia after working outside in temperatures of 33 degrees, authorities said.
French authorities are on high alert, all too aware of the criticism they faced after the 2003 European heat wave in which 30,000 people died - half of them in France. There is no reason for disquiet, but we have to be vigilant and the health protection messages have to be constantly repeated, said Health Minister Xavier Bertrand. France’s main electricity provider, EDF asked customers to cut back on electricity consumption and said it had been forced to buy power abroad.These exceptional weather conditions, coupled with a rise in consumption, have led to a deficit in production, EDF said in a statement.Two people died yesterday at Nijmegen in the Netherlands, during the first day of a four-day walk after temperatures rose to more than 30 degrees. According to reports on Dutch television around 300 people fainted and 30 walkers had to be hospitalised.
Temperatures in the Netherlands today are expected to rise to 36 degrees.
Meteorologists in Germany have warned that tomorrow could be the hottest day of the year, when the mercury could reach 38 degrees and July could possibly be their hottest month in a century.Berlin is expected to reach a maximum of 30 degrees today.In Spain, a 44-year-old man died of heat exhaustion at Orense, in the north-western region of Galicia, regional officials said, when he was working outside as temperatures hit 41.5 C. Another man died on Sunday in Murcia, southern Spain. In Spanish cities temperatures were slightly lower than that today, with Madrid expected to reach a maximum of 34 degrees.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
MEDICAL CHIP IMPLANTS STUDIED
Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - FreeMarketNews.com
Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans to implant patients in that state, who are suffering from chronic diseases, with a microchip containing their medical information, according to wire service reports. The intention is to give emergency room staff immediate access to such data, avoiding both delays in treatment and costly or serious medical errors. The insurer is teaming up with Hackensack University Medical Center in this pilot program, involving about 200 patients with pre-existing chronic conditions.
The microchip is implanted in a patient's right arm above the elbow, and the hope is that doctors may avoid duplicating medical tests, dangerous drug interactions, and bad diagnoses. At this stage, the article notes, the program is voluntary and won't cost the patient any money to participate. The goal is to test this program for two years, before considering expanding it. - ST ,Staff Reports - Free-Market News Network.
LUKE 2125-26
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; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
10 people dead as storms sweep Japan
TOKYO (Reuters) - At least 10 people died and 13 went missing in Japan on Wednesday as torrential rains swept through a wide swathe of the country, triggering mudslides and floods.More than 60 cm (24 inches) of rain has fallen in the last few days, disrupting rail and road traffic.Weather forecasters warned that the rain could continue and might trigger more mudslides and floods in central and western Japan.Among those affected, at least four died and four others went missing after mudslides struck houses in Okaya, in Nagano prefecture in central Japan, Kyodo news agency said.Also in Okaya, an 80-year-old woman was found dead after her home was crushed by mudslides, a local official said.About 200 troops joined hundreds of rescue workers in searching collapsed houses and swollen rivers for those missing in the region.
A 66-year-old man drowned in an irrigation channel in Yamanashi prefecture in central Japan, a local official said.A 26-year-old man went missing after his car was swept into a river in the central Japanese prefecture of Gifu, Kyodo news agency said.Two people remained unaccounted for after a mudslide buried a house in Kyoto prefecture on Wednesday, Kyodo quoted local officials as saying.(c) Reuters 2006.This article: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1051042006,Last updated: 19-Jul-06 13:27 BST
REVELATION 16:10-11
10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
50,000 still without power across Ontario
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 | 11:28 AM ET ,CBC News
About 50,000 Hydro One customers were still in the dark Wednesday morning, more than a day after violent winds and torrential rains swept through much of the province. That number was down from the 170,000 customers left without electricity immediately
after the storm Monday, which toppled trees and knocked down power lines.
Nearly half of those still without power live in communities across Northern Ontario including the Nipissing, Sudbury and Manitoulin areas, the part of the province hardest hit by the storm.
The largest single pocket of outages is in the Cobden area of eastern Ontario with 9,900 residents.However, thousands of customers in the Newmarket and Orangeville areas were also still without power Wednesday morning.Hydro One called in emergency crews to work through Tuesday night, and had about 1,000 workers responding to calls by Wednesday morning.The extent of the damage is making it difficult to keep up, a spokesman said, citing an example on Manitoulin Island, where 60 trees are down in a two-kilometre stretch.Hydro One said the majority of customers should have power by Thursday, but those in the most remote areas may have to wait until Friday.
Storm cuts power to 440,000 in Mid-Atlantic 35 minutes ago
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A violent cold front packing near-hurricane force winds left more than 440,000 customers in the Mid-Atlantic without power Tuesday night, local power companies said Wednesday. In southeast Pennsylvania, some 365,000 PECO customers lost power Tuesday night, the company said in a release.PECO, a subsidiary of Exelon Corp. of Chicago, said about 283,000 customers were still without service early Wednesday. PECO serves 1.6 million electric and 474,000 natural gas customers in the Philadelphia area.The company said the restoration work would likely be a multi-day effort.The storms also left more than 70,000 customers without power in New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, 25,000 out in Westchester County, New York and more than 20,000 out on Long Island, New York. In New Jersey, the utilities still had to restore service to about 30,000 customers.
The same storms passed through the Midwest on Monday, leaving more than 500,000 customers without power in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.Most of the Midwest power companies reported just a few thousand outages remaining Wednesday morning but the hardest hit, Consumers Energy, with more than 315,000 customers affected in Michigan, still had about 60,000 customers without power.Consumers Energy, a subsidiary of CMS Energy, of Jackson, Michigan, expected to restore service to most customers by Thursday afternoon except for the most rural and hardest hit customers who will have to wait another day or so for power.CMS owns and operates more than 14,000 MW of generating capacity in the United States and abroad, markets energy commodities, and distributes electricity (1.8 million) and natural gas (1.6 million) to customers in Michigan.Exelon owns and operates more than 38,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes electricity and natural gas to 5.2 million customers in Illinois and Pennsylvania.
DANIEL 7:23
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(EU) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS,NOW THE EU) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
VPM Peres Meets with EU European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Solana
Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres Meets with EU European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana Javier Solana,Jill Marie Reinach Office of the Vice Prime Minister 19 July, 2006
Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres met today with European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana. At the beginning of the meeting Peres stated, The alternative to the IDF activity is a regime of the forces of darkness in the world. The State of Israel is being attacked and thus must defend herself.The Vice Prime Minister also related to the question of the involvement of international forces in Lebanon and stated, No international force can prevent the existing situation in which the entire area adjacent to the Israeli-Lebanese border, on the Lebanese side, is lined with large explosives and unmarked mines. An international force cannot stop missiles flying in the air. Thus, the Lebanese
Government needs to eject from its midst the terrorist group Hizbollah. Hizbollah is destroying Lebanon and preventing its independence. If the existing 50,000 Lebanese soldiers will not stand up against this, and thus enable 7000 Hizbollah terrorists to rule Lebanon, we will not tolerate such a situation.
Peres continued, Israel is fighting two fronts, which is difficult and painful, but for us, it is a matter of life or death. We are in the midst of a war not of our choosing, as well as a war of no choice. All of Israel is today united behind the Government steps.Peres also stated, Israel is a country that stands firm against terrorism, and we have not requested from any country to send soldiers to defend us. Israel is right, strong and steadfast in its steps.
TRANSEUROPOLITIK: There was a union in Europe in the 16th century. It collapsed Written by Piotr Maciej Kaczynski,Wednesday, 19 July 2006
On July 4, 1569, the Union of Lublin was created. It’s unlikely you have heard of it. Yet this predecessor of the European Union created the most progressive state in Europe.
The EU faces a dead end. Wracked by the problems of the constitution and a
supposed split between Old and New Europe, Europe has to fall back on its shared history. New Europe, too, is a part of this history, and some of its past is more relevant than we might think.
Once upon a time in the East
Once upon a time there was a union in Europe. In the Eastern part of our continent a country more politically advanced than any yet seen in Europe was created. The Republic of Two Nations (Poles and Lithuanians), created by the Union of Lublin in 1569, was a unique societal and political experiment.In an age of continuous religious warfare, the Republic was an oasis of tolerance. Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Jews and Muslims lived together and their rights and duties were only partially dependent on their religion.
The Europe of the 16th and 17th centuries was full of states controlled by absolute monarchs. The Republic was different. Kings were elected by the Sejm (parliament), and followed its decisions in most areas of policy making. Some 10% of the population had electoral powers to choose their members of the Sejm, a democratic mandate unparalleled at the time.
The Republic was based on the principle of limited equality. To be a member of the ruling class (szlachta) meant being a citizen. And the szlachta were numerous. In certain regions up to 20% of inhabitants were members. Poor, rich, Catholic or Protestant, everyone could have been members of the class. They all had the same rights and duties towards the state; they were equal in courts regardless of their importance and wealth. A popular saying was: Szlachcic na zagrodzie równy wojewodzie (a poor nobleman is equal to a governor).Being a member of szlachta was very attractive not only for the inhabitants of the Republic. The noblemen of the Saxony and Russia (the boyars) wanted their countries to join the Republic so they would have the same privileges as the Republic’s szlachta.
A lesson for our time
What eventually killed the Republic’s political experiment was ignorance. As long as the Republic stayed open and inclusive for others, as long as it was based on the principle of equality and tolerance, it was the most admired state in 16th and early 17th century Europe.But as the Republic turned away from the principle of openness, problems started to arise. The Republic’s Parliament operated through consensus – if one member opposed a policy, then the entire session would be lost. Increasing internal fractures hamstrung attempts at political reform. Then, when the Cossacks (today’s Ukrainians) asked to be members of the szlachta, they were refused. This resulted in increased domestic tensions and civil wars.What lessons for today’s Europe?
First, do not ignore the experiences of the new member states. Second, it is a historical fact that a more advanced political project in Europe is possible. Third, this project requires visionaries and leadership. Fourth, this project needs to be open and inclusive. As long as the Union of Lublin was an open project, attractive for others (insiders and outsiders), it lasted and developed. When the Republic turned its back on this principle, it collapsed.Piotr Maciej Kaczynski,Warsaw (Poland)
Co-founder of the European Perspectives Group - Political analyst in the Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw-based think-tank.
Member of the Steering Committee of Babel International, publisher of cafebabel.com. Author of over forty texts published in leading
European newspapers and magazines.This Letter of Europe has been published by © cafebabel.com
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Europe and the US swelter as heat wave claims lives
A heat wave has spread across Europe with near-tropical temperatures so far claiming seven lives as people struggle through their daily lives in temperatures reaching 40 degrees.The United States is also recording extremely high temperatures, which has led to the death of six people and a call for residents of New York city to turn off the lights to conserve energy.
In France, it is those in the southeast who are suffering the most, but even temperatures in Paris will soar to 36 degrees by midweek as the heat wave spreads to the north, forecasters said Around a quarter of the France is being affected by the heat and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin today planned a visit to a Paris retirement home to show the measures the government is taking to care for the elderly population, vulnerable in the heat.
An elderly man and woman have already died in the Bordeaux region in the when the heat exacerbated their medical conditions. Temperatures had reached 38 degrees when the 85-year-old man died in hospital, and the woman, 81 at her home.A 53-year-old
labourer in the eastern French town of Macon died overnight of malign hyperthermia after working outside in temperatures of 33 degrees, authorities said.
French authorities are on high alert, all too aware of the criticism they faced after the 2003 European heat wave in which 30,000 people died - half of them in France. There is no reason for disquiet, but we have to be vigilant and the health protection messages have to be constantly repeated, said Health Minister Xavier Bertrand. France’s main electricity provider, EDF asked customers to cut back on electricity consumption and said it had been forced to buy power abroad.These exceptional weather conditions, coupled with a rise in consumption, have led to a deficit in production, EDF said in a statement.Two people died yesterday at Nijmegen in the Netherlands, during the first day of a four-day walk after temperatures rose to more than 30 degrees. According to reports on Dutch television around 300 people fainted and 30 walkers had to be hospitalised.
Temperatures in the Netherlands today are expected to rise to 36 degrees.
Meteorologists in Germany have warned that tomorrow could be the hottest day of the year, when the mercury could reach 38 degrees and July could possibly be their hottest month in a century.Berlin is expected to reach a maximum of 30 degrees today.In Spain, a 44-year-old man died of heat exhaustion at Orense, in the north-western region of Galicia, regional officials said, when he was working outside as temperatures hit 41.5 C. Another man died on Sunday in Murcia, southern Spain. In Spanish cities temperatures were slightly lower than that today, with Madrid expected to reach a maximum of 34 degrees.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
MEDICAL CHIP IMPLANTS STUDIED
Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - FreeMarketNews.com
Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans to implant patients in that state, who are suffering from chronic diseases, with a microchip containing their medical information, according to wire service reports. The intention is to give emergency room staff immediate access to such data, avoiding both delays in treatment and costly or serious medical errors. The insurer is teaming up with Hackensack University Medical Center in this pilot program, involving about 200 patients with pre-existing chronic conditions.
The microchip is implanted in a patient's right arm above the elbow, and the hope is that doctors may avoid duplicating medical tests, dangerous drug interactions, and bad diagnoses. At this stage, the article notes, the program is voluntary and won't cost the patient any money to participate. The goal is to test this program for two years, before considering expanding it. - ST ,Staff Reports - Free-Market News Network.
LUKE 2125-26
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; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
10 people dead as storms sweep Japan
TOKYO (Reuters) - At least 10 people died and 13 went missing in Japan on Wednesday as torrential rains swept through a wide swathe of the country, triggering mudslides and floods.More than 60 cm (24 inches) of rain has fallen in the last few days, disrupting rail and road traffic.Weather forecasters warned that the rain could continue and might trigger more mudslides and floods in central and western Japan.Among those affected, at least four died and four others went missing after mudslides struck houses in Okaya, in Nagano prefecture in central Japan, Kyodo news agency said.Also in Okaya, an 80-year-old woman was found dead after her home was crushed by mudslides, a local official said.About 200 troops joined hundreds of rescue workers in searching collapsed houses and swollen rivers for those missing in the region.
A 66-year-old man drowned in an irrigation channel in Yamanashi prefecture in central Japan, a local official said.A 26-year-old man went missing after his car was swept into a river in the central Japanese prefecture of Gifu, Kyodo news agency said.Two people remained unaccounted for after a mudslide buried a house in Kyoto prefecture on Wednesday, Kyodo quoted local officials as saying.(c) Reuters 2006.This article: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1051042006,Last updated: 19-Jul-06 13:27 BST
REVELATION 16:10-11
10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
50,000 still without power across Ontario
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 | 11:28 AM ET ,CBC News
About 50,000 Hydro One customers were still in the dark Wednesday morning, more than a day after violent winds and torrential rains swept through much of the province. That number was down from the 170,000 customers left without electricity immediately
after the storm Monday, which toppled trees and knocked down power lines.
Nearly half of those still without power live in communities across Northern Ontario including the Nipissing, Sudbury and Manitoulin areas, the part of the province hardest hit by the storm.
The largest single pocket of outages is in the Cobden area of eastern Ontario with 9,900 residents.However, thousands of customers in the Newmarket and Orangeville areas were also still without power Wednesday morning.Hydro One called in emergency crews to work through Tuesday night, and had about 1,000 workers responding to calls by Wednesday morning.The extent of the damage is making it difficult to keep up, a spokesman said, citing an example on Manitoulin Island, where 60 trees are down in a two-kilometre stretch.Hydro One said the majority of customers should have power by Thursday, but those in the most remote areas may have to wait until Friday.
Storm cuts power to 440,000 in Mid-Atlantic 35 minutes ago
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A violent cold front packing near-hurricane force winds left more than 440,000 customers in the Mid-Atlantic without power Tuesday night, local power companies said Wednesday. In southeast Pennsylvania, some 365,000 PECO customers lost power Tuesday night, the company said in a release.PECO, a subsidiary of Exelon Corp. of Chicago, said about 283,000 customers were still without service early Wednesday. PECO serves 1.6 million electric and 474,000 natural gas customers in the Philadelphia area.The company said the restoration work would likely be a multi-day effort.The storms also left more than 70,000 customers without power in New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, 25,000 out in Westchester County, New York and more than 20,000 out on Long Island, New York. In New Jersey, the utilities still had to restore service to about 30,000 customers.
The same storms passed through the Midwest on Monday, leaving more than 500,000 customers without power in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.Most of the Midwest power companies reported just a few thousand outages remaining Wednesday morning but the hardest hit, Consumers Energy, with more than 315,000 customers affected in Michigan, still had about 60,000 customers without power.Consumers Energy, a subsidiary of CMS Energy, of Jackson, Michigan, expected to restore service to most customers by Thursday afternoon except for the most rural and hardest hit customers who will have to wait another day or so for power.CMS owns and operates more than 14,000 MW of generating capacity in the United States and abroad, markets energy commodities, and distributes electricity (1.8 million) and natural gas (1.6 million) to customers in Michigan.Exelon owns and operates more than 38,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes electricity and natural gas to 5.2 million customers in Illinois and Pennsylvania.
DANIEL 7:23
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(EU) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS,NOW THE EU) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
VPM Peres Meets with EU European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Solana
Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres Meets with EU European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana Javier Solana,Jill Marie Reinach Office of the Vice Prime Minister 19 July, 2006
Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres met today with European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana. At the beginning of the meeting Peres stated, The alternative to the IDF activity is a regime of the forces of darkness in the world. The State of Israel is being attacked and thus must defend herself.The Vice Prime Minister also related to the question of the involvement of international forces in Lebanon and stated, No international force can prevent the existing situation in which the entire area adjacent to the Israeli-Lebanese border, on the Lebanese side, is lined with large explosives and unmarked mines. An international force cannot stop missiles flying in the air. Thus, the Lebanese
Government needs to eject from its midst the terrorist group Hizbollah. Hizbollah is destroying Lebanon and preventing its independence. If the existing 50,000 Lebanese soldiers will not stand up against this, and thus enable 7000 Hizbollah terrorists to rule Lebanon, we will not tolerate such a situation.
Peres continued, Israel is fighting two fronts, which is difficult and painful, but for us, it is a matter of life or death. We are in the midst of a war not of our choosing, as well as a war of no choice. All of Israel is today united behind the Government steps.Peres also stated, Israel is a country that stands firm against terrorism, and we have not requested from any country to send soldiers to defend us. Israel is right, strong and steadfast in its steps.
TRANSEUROPOLITIK: There was a union in Europe in the 16th century. It collapsed Written by Piotr Maciej Kaczynski,Wednesday, 19 July 2006
On July 4, 1569, the Union of Lublin was created. It’s unlikely you have heard of it. Yet this predecessor of the European Union created the most progressive state in Europe.
The EU faces a dead end. Wracked by the problems of the constitution and a
supposed split between Old and New Europe, Europe has to fall back on its shared history. New Europe, too, is a part of this history, and some of its past is more relevant than we might think.
Once upon a time in the East
Once upon a time there was a union in Europe. In the Eastern part of our continent a country more politically advanced than any yet seen in Europe was created. The Republic of Two Nations (Poles and Lithuanians), created by the Union of Lublin in 1569, was a unique societal and political experiment.In an age of continuous religious warfare, the Republic was an oasis of tolerance. Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Jews and Muslims lived together and their rights and duties were only partially dependent on their religion.
The Europe of the 16th and 17th centuries was full of states controlled by absolute monarchs. The Republic was different. Kings were elected by the Sejm (parliament), and followed its decisions in most areas of policy making. Some 10% of the population had electoral powers to choose their members of the Sejm, a democratic mandate unparalleled at the time.
The Republic was based on the principle of limited equality. To be a member of the ruling class (szlachta) meant being a citizen. And the szlachta were numerous. In certain regions up to 20% of inhabitants were members. Poor, rich, Catholic or Protestant, everyone could have been members of the class. They all had the same rights and duties towards the state; they were equal in courts regardless of their importance and wealth. A popular saying was: Szlachcic na zagrodzie równy wojewodzie (a poor nobleman is equal to a governor).Being a member of szlachta was very attractive not only for the inhabitants of the Republic. The noblemen of the Saxony and Russia (the boyars) wanted their countries to join the Republic so they would have the same privileges as the Republic’s szlachta.
A lesson for our time
What eventually killed the Republic’s political experiment was ignorance. As long as the Republic stayed open and inclusive for others, as long as it was based on the principle of equality and tolerance, it was the most admired state in 16th and early 17th century Europe.But as the Republic turned away from the principle of openness, problems started to arise. The Republic’s Parliament operated through consensus – if one member opposed a policy, then the entire session would be lost. Increasing internal fractures hamstrung attempts at political reform. Then, when the Cossacks (today’s Ukrainians) asked to be members of the szlachta, they were refused. This resulted in increased domestic tensions and civil wars.What lessons for today’s Europe?
First, do not ignore the experiences of the new member states. Second, it is a historical fact that a more advanced political project in Europe is possible. Third, this project requires visionaries and leadership. Fourth, this project needs to be open and inclusive. As long as the Union of Lublin was an open project, attractive for others (insiders and outsiders), it lasted and developed. When the Republic turned its back on this principle, it collapsed.Piotr Maciej Kaczynski,Warsaw (Poland)
Co-founder of the European Perspectives Group - Political analyst in the Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw-based think-tank.
Member of the Steering Committee of Babel International, publisher of cafebabel.com. Author of over forty texts published in leading
European newspapers and magazines.This Letter of Europe has been published by © cafebabel.com
Thursday, July 20, 2006
IRAN SAYS RESPONSE AUG 22
1-Israel under fire-day 9. 2-Vietnam floods leave 12 dead. 3-Rain lash Kalkata. 4-People ready to evacuate Philippes Volcano. 5-In Russia linking of Jewish Issues. 6-Iran says it will deliver Answer August 22.
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; but he shall be saved out of it.
ISRAEL UNDER FIRE
20 JULY - DAY NINE
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
IAF fighter jets dropped 23 tons of explosives late Wednesday night on a Hezbollah bunker, possibly the hiding place of the group's leader Sheikh Nasrallah, in southeast Beirut.
Two brothers, aged nine and three, were killed Wednesday in the northern city of Nazareth as Katyusha rockets fell in the downtown
and suburban areas of the city. The deaths mark the first time since the recent violence has begun that the victims have been Israeli
Arabs. It was the third Israeli-Arab population center to be hit by Katyusha rockets during this conflict, though, after Madjal-Krum and Tubas Zangarit.
Two elite IDF soldiers were killed on Wednesday during clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon; three more soldiers have been wounded in continued fighting on Thursday.
Some 110 rockets were fired at Israel on Wednesday; IAF aircraft struck six Katyusha rocket launchers in southern Lebanon as well as 20 suspicious cars believed to be carrying Hezbollah operatives and weaponry.
Two suicide bombers were caught this week on their way to attacks in the center of the country.
For the latest news see the Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz and YNet.(www.honestreporting.com)
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; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Vietnam floods leave 12 dead or missing Thu Jul 20, 7:08 AM ET
HANOI (AFP) - Twelve people have been killed or missing feared dead after heavy summer rains triggered flash-floods and mudslides that destroyed 400 houses in mountainous northern Vietnam, officials said. Four people died in Bac Kan province and five had been missing since early Tuesday and were feared drowned, said provincial flood control official Ha Kim Oanh, who warned more floods were expected in the coming weeks.Two more people were killed in Vinh Phuc province, and one in Lang Son province bordering China, said an official of the National Flood and Storm Control Committee in the capital Hanoi.
Hundreds of villagers had been evacuated in remote Bac Kan where heavy rains have swollen rivers and cut roads, said an official in Bac Kan town, 125 kilometres (75 miles) north of Hanoi.The national government has warned 16 northern provinces to prepare for more severe storms ahead after weather services predicted higher than usual rainfall in coming months.
Rains lash Kolkata Thu Jul 20, 8:05 AM ET
KOLKATA (AFP) - Heavy rains flooded large parts of Kolkata, disrupting transport, forcing shops and schools to close and leaving some residents stranded, police have said. About 180 milimetres (seven inches) of rain drenched Kolkata, capital of West Bengal state, on Wednesday with more downpours predicted, weather officials said.Traffic was thin, most offices and schools remained closed as overnight rains flooded roads,said Kolkata deputy police commissioner P.K. Chattopadhyay.Train services were disrupted, government buses were not plying and trams services suspended as roads went under the water, he said.People were evacuated from low-lying areas of the city in rubber boats, he said.The city's Salt Lake area, home to many information technology companies, was badly hit and workers were left stranded on road sides after public transport was halted, IT consultant Swapan Mitra said.Schools and colleges were shut along with shops in upmarket business districts.
Ambulances and other services were also stretched forcing people to carry their sick relatives through knee-deep water to hospitals, witnesses said.Many long-distance trains from the eastern city were cancelled as railway tracks were under water, railway officials said, and flights were delayed.Blinding rain forced airport officials to reschedule the arrivals and departures of the flights from the citys domestic and international airport,an official said.A British Airways flight from London to Kolkata was diverted to New Delhi because of bad weather, he said.Rains and floods have claimed at least 12 lives and left more than a million people homeless in West Bengal since the start of the monsoon season this year.
GENESIS 6:13
13 for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Villagers prepare to evacuate from rumbling Philippine volcano Thu Jul 20, 4:04 AM ET
MATANAG, Philippines (AFP) - Villagers on the slopes of Mayon volcano have prepared to evacuate as a series of minor eruptions and cloud of ash indicated it was building up for a major eruption soon, officials said. The cone-shaped 2,462-meter (8,077-foot) volcano southeast of Manila has been spewing lava since last week and all signs indicate it was preparing for a major explosive eruption within days or weeks, volcanologists said.There were secondary explosions. A collapsed portion of the advancing lava caused an ash cloud of several hundred meters, scientist Ed Laguerta told AFP from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology's observatory in Legaspi city near Mayon.
He said alert level three of a five-step alert system remained hoisted over Mayon and nearby towns and villagers, meaning that residents should prepare for eventual evacuation.In the farming town of Matanag, which lies near the six-kilometer radius (four mile) permanent danger zone, residents have packed their things and were awaiting official word to evacuate.We only have one life to live each, it's important to save that,said coconut farmer Romeo Nantes, 55, and a father of three.Nantes however said that he would be tending his farm until a major eruption occurs.Under the shade of a tree, fellow farmer Balasta Balangitan, 37, led his family and friends in planning an escape route as they watched the smouldering lava flow snake down the slopes.
Balangitan said Matanag was among the towns devastated by Mayon's eruption in 2001, when several dozen people were killed. Mayon, about 300 kilometers (176 miles) southeast of Manila, is one of some 22 active volcanoes in the Philippines.It has erupted 47 times in recorded history, including in 1814, when it buried the town of Cagsawa killing an estimated 1,000 residents. Mayon's most recent major eruption was in 2001.
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 and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE 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 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 have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines(PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
ACROSS THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
In Russia, linking of Jewish issues with democracy is no longer a given
By Lev Krichevsky,July 19, 2006
MOSCOW, July 19 (JTA) — Vladimir Putin insists that democracy and human rights are internal Russian issues. We proceed from the fact that no one knows better than we do how to strengthen our state, the president of Russia, which hosted the recent G-8
summit, said Saturday at a news conference following talks with President Bush.
We know for sure that we cannot strengthen our state without developing democratic institutions, and this is the path that we will certainly take. But we’re certainly going to do this on our own. Worries have grown during the past year over what many see as Putin’s increasingly authoritarian rule, limiting dissent and cementing his own power. In the Soviet era and even after, this would have been considered a Jewish issue, since issues involving democracy and human rights were seen as inextricably linked to Jewish concerns. But is it still the case in a Russia where Jews have freedom of worship and the freedom to emigrate? Do Russian Jews think attention to Russia’s democratic record is productive for the community, or is it a counterproductive development that could further alienate Russia from the West?
Some observers believe Russian Jews should remain sensitive to human-rights issues simply because they are a minority that could become a target.As in any country, minorities, including Jews, have a worse chance for survival under authoritarian regimes, said Yevgenia Albats, a leading Moscow political journalist. Just because the situation looks fine for Jews now does not mean the regime will always keep it the same. Under authoritarian rule, everything, both good and bad, lies with the autocratic leader. She added, Such a leader often needs an internal enemy, and Jews are among the best candidates to this position.
A leading U.S. advocate for Jews in the region agrees.
History and current events show that Jews live better under democratic rule, said Mark Levin, executive director of NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia. In Russia, the Jewish community has not been targeted by the government, it has been able to develop its cultural, educational and religious institutions, but who’s to say how long this can last if the overall society doesn’t progress. Among the issues of concern to Western leaders is Russia’s treatment of nongovernmental organizations. Early this year, Putin signed into law a highly controversial bill that bans foreign participation in the nonprofit sector,
further isolating Russian society from international democratic trends and institutions.
It is certain that the authorities are trying to limit the influence from abroad played by various non-governmental organizations, although fears that this might somehow affect Jewish organizations have not materialized yet, said Mikhail Chlenov,secretary general of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. Another longtime Jewish activist said a discussion over the state of democracy in Russia could help bring long-standing problems to the surface. Tankred Golenpolsky, founder and publisher of the International Jewish Gazette, Russia’s oldest Jewish weekly, gives an example of the problem. There are three Jewish weeklies in Moscow, and each saw how their subscribers got concerned when they tried to mail the papers without blank envelopes, he said.
After all these years, there is deep-seated fear in Jews here. That means there is a problem that we need to talk about. You can only fight fear by talking about it.
Golenpolsky believes Russia should not be shy about openly discussing issues of democracy and minority rights, both within Russian society and with Moscow’s foreign partners in meetings like the G-8 summit. This is our Russian complex: We think that if others don’t know that we have problems at home, then we don’t have problems, he said. But some leaders contend that any such connection may not be productive now that the Jewish community lives in a much freer country and doesn’t face an immediate threat to its well-being. The Federation of Jewish Communities, Russia’s largest Jewish group and the one with the best relations to the Kremlin, said responsible Jewish groups and leaders should think twice before adding their voices to the chorus of those criticizing the Kremlin. Jewish organizations should have as their main focus the interests of the Jews that live in this country, federation spokesman Boruch Gorin said. Gorin and the federation believes it’s in the community’s interest to deal with issues of human rights in a more cautious manner and to avoid irritating authorities. It would be irresponsible” for Jewish organizations to engage in a discussion on human rights without taking into account the peculiarities of Russian mentality and Russian history, Gorin said. Gorin said that the traditional approach, of local Jews appealing to the West on major issues of concern to the Jewish community, is not smart and ineffective.
Golenpolsky disagreed.
We are a mature country with a great history, but we shouldn’t be playing hide-and-seek with our problems and with our partners, he said.In the meantime, few Jewish activists would disagree that the state could do more to fight the anti-Semitism that continues to plague Russian society, even in the absence of a state-sponsored policy against the Jews. But some Jewish leaders say the issue will not be solved by lecturing Russia on its internal problems. Lecturing Russia is not necessary and not enough, Chlenov said.
Much more here depends not on the West but on Russia’s own society. Either there is the will of society to fight with these evils, or there isn’t. Foreign lessons would hardly help. (JTA Foreign Editor Peter Ephross in New York contributed to this report.)
Iran might nuke Israel on this date, this date has to do with Mohammid going to heaven.So its an important date to Iran and could be a warning that Iran is going to nuke Israel.
Iran says it will deliver response Aug. 22 By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 52 minutes ago
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Thursday it would formally respond on Aug. 22 to a Western package of incentives aimed at resolving the standoff over its suspect nuclear program — the first time the Islamic republic has set a specific date for its reply. The Supreme National Security Council, Iran's top security decision-making body, also threatened that the country would reconsider its nuclear policies if sanctions were imposed by the United Nations.The council did not elaborate, but Iranian officials repeatedly have suggested that Tehran may withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and stop cooperating with U.N. inspectors.The package of incentives requires a logical time to study it ... Aug. 22 has been set for declaring (our) views,the council said in a statement read on state-run television.In case the path of confrontation is chosen instead of the path of dialogue ... and Iran's definite rights are threatened, then there will be no option for Iran but to reconsider its nuclear policies.
The statement came a day after Russia said the U.N. Security Council is in no rush to pressure Iran over its nuclear program, striking a more conciliatory tone than the United States as diplomats began discussing a resolution to put legal muscle behind demands that Tehran suspend uranium enrichment.The United States and some of its allies accuse Iran of seeking to produce highly enriched uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed at generating electricity.In Thursday's statement, Iran said it plans to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy in the next 20 years.The Western nations on June 6 offered Iran a package of incentives — including advanced technology and possibly even nuclear research reactors — if Tehran suspended enrichment.
But the frustrated powers agreed last week to send Iran back to the U.N. Security Council for possible punishment, saying Tehran had given no sign it would bargain in earnest over its nuclear ambitions.Iran has said the incentives package was an acceptable basis for negotiations.Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad initially said Iran would respond to the package in mid-August, but the republic then pushed back its response to late August. Thursday's statement was the first time a specific date was set.The United States has accused Iran of stalling while it continues to pursue suspect technology, but Tehran accused Washington on Thursday of putting up obstacles.The Iranian council said special committees in key state agencies were still studying the offer by the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany, and it invited the United States and its allies to return to the negotiating table.
It said it was surprising that the United States was creating obstacles for a negotiated settlement while Iran was seriously studying the offer.Iran is not after tension, but if others push things toward tension and create problems, then all will face problems. Iran believes dialogue is the most logical solution. It is serious in this path. We want the other side to return to the negotiating table, the statement said.The Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to a negotiated settlement through diplomacy. The United States, by changing the path of talks toward the Security Council, is trying to create obstacles.
A senior Iranian lawmaker said Tuesday the country's parliament was preparing to debate withdrawal from the nonproliferation treaty if the U.N. Security Council adopts a resolution that would force Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment. Withdrawal from the treaty could end all international oversight of Iran's nuclear program. In February, Iran for the first time produced its first batch of low-enriched uranium, using a cascade of 164 centrifuges. The process of uranium enrichment can be used to generate electricity or in building a bomb, depending on the level of enrichment.Iran has said it will never give up its right under the treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel, but it has indicated it may temporarily suspend large-scale activities to ease tensions.
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; but he shall be saved out of it.
ISRAEL UNDER FIRE
20 JULY - DAY NINE
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
IAF fighter jets dropped 23 tons of explosives late Wednesday night on a Hezbollah bunker, possibly the hiding place of the group's leader Sheikh Nasrallah, in southeast Beirut.
Two brothers, aged nine and three, were killed Wednesday in the northern city of Nazareth as Katyusha rockets fell in the downtown
and suburban areas of the city. The deaths mark the first time since the recent violence has begun that the victims have been Israeli
Arabs. It was the third Israeli-Arab population center to be hit by Katyusha rockets during this conflict, though, after Madjal-Krum and Tubas Zangarit.
Two elite IDF soldiers were killed on Wednesday during clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon; three more soldiers have been wounded in continued fighting on Thursday.
Some 110 rockets were fired at Israel on Wednesday; IAF aircraft struck six Katyusha rocket launchers in southern Lebanon as well as 20 suspicious cars believed to be carrying Hezbollah operatives and weaponry.
Two suicide bombers were caught this week on their way to attacks in the center of the country.
For the latest news see the Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz and YNet.(www.honestreporting.com)
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; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Vietnam floods leave 12 dead or missing Thu Jul 20, 7:08 AM ET
HANOI (AFP) - Twelve people have been killed or missing feared dead after heavy summer rains triggered flash-floods and mudslides that destroyed 400 houses in mountainous northern Vietnam, officials said. Four people died in Bac Kan province and five had been missing since early Tuesday and were feared drowned, said provincial flood control official Ha Kim Oanh, who warned more floods were expected in the coming weeks.Two more people were killed in Vinh Phuc province, and one in Lang Son province bordering China, said an official of the National Flood and Storm Control Committee in the capital Hanoi.
Hundreds of villagers had been evacuated in remote Bac Kan where heavy rains have swollen rivers and cut roads, said an official in Bac Kan town, 125 kilometres (75 miles) north of Hanoi.The national government has warned 16 northern provinces to prepare for more severe storms ahead after weather services predicted higher than usual rainfall in coming months.
Rains lash Kolkata Thu Jul 20, 8:05 AM ET
KOLKATA (AFP) - Heavy rains flooded large parts of Kolkata, disrupting transport, forcing shops and schools to close and leaving some residents stranded, police have said. About 180 milimetres (seven inches) of rain drenched Kolkata, capital of West Bengal state, on Wednesday with more downpours predicted, weather officials said.Traffic was thin, most offices and schools remained closed as overnight rains flooded roads,said Kolkata deputy police commissioner P.K. Chattopadhyay.Train services were disrupted, government buses were not plying and trams services suspended as roads went under the water, he said.People were evacuated from low-lying areas of the city in rubber boats, he said.The city's Salt Lake area, home to many information technology companies, was badly hit and workers were left stranded on road sides after public transport was halted, IT consultant Swapan Mitra said.Schools and colleges were shut along with shops in upmarket business districts.
Ambulances and other services were also stretched forcing people to carry their sick relatives through knee-deep water to hospitals, witnesses said.Many long-distance trains from the eastern city were cancelled as railway tracks were under water, railway officials said, and flights were delayed.Blinding rain forced airport officials to reschedule the arrivals and departures of the flights from the citys domestic and international airport,an official said.A British Airways flight from London to Kolkata was diverted to New Delhi because of bad weather, he said.Rains and floods have claimed at least 12 lives and left more than a million people homeless in West Bengal since the start of the monsoon season this year.
GENESIS 6:13
13 for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Villagers prepare to evacuate from rumbling Philippine volcano Thu Jul 20, 4:04 AM ET
MATANAG, Philippines (AFP) - Villagers on the slopes of Mayon volcano have prepared to evacuate as a series of minor eruptions and cloud of ash indicated it was building up for a major eruption soon, officials said. The cone-shaped 2,462-meter (8,077-foot) volcano southeast of Manila has been spewing lava since last week and all signs indicate it was preparing for a major explosive eruption within days or weeks, volcanologists said.There were secondary explosions. A collapsed portion of the advancing lava caused an ash cloud of several hundred meters, scientist Ed Laguerta told AFP from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology's observatory in Legaspi city near Mayon.
He said alert level three of a five-step alert system remained hoisted over Mayon and nearby towns and villagers, meaning that residents should prepare for eventual evacuation.In the farming town of Matanag, which lies near the six-kilometer radius (four mile) permanent danger zone, residents have packed their things and were awaiting official word to evacuate.We only have one life to live each, it's important to save that,said coconut farmer Romeo Nantes, 55, and a father of three.Nantes however said that he would be tending his farm until a major eruption occurs.Under the shade of a tree, fellow farmer Balasta Balangitan, 37, led his family and friends in planning an escape route as they watched the smouldering lava flow snake down the slopes.
Balangitan said Matanag was among the towns devastated by Mayon's eruption in 2001, when several dozen people were killed. Mayon, about 300 kilometers (176 miles) southeast of Manila, is one of some 22 active volcanoes in the Philippines.It has erupted 47 times in recorded history, including in 1814, when it buried the town of Cagsawa killing an estimated 1,000 residents. Mayon's most recent major eruption was in 2001.
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 and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE 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 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 have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines(PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
ACROSS THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
In Russia, linking of Jewish issues with democracy is no longer a given
By Lev Krichevsky,July 19, 2006
MOSCOW, July 19 (JTA) — Vladimir Putin insists that democracy and human rights are internal Russian issues. We proceed from the fact that no one knows better than we do how to strengthen our state, the president of Russia, which hosted the recent G-8
summit, said Saturday at a news conference following talks with President Bush.
We know for sure that we cannot strengthen our state without developing democratic institutions, and this is the path that we will certainly take. But we’re certainly going to do this on our own. Worries have grown during the past year over what many see as Putin’s increasingly authoritarian rule, limiting dissent and cementing his own power. In the Soviet era and even after, this would have been considered a Jewish issue, since issues involving democracy and human rights were seen as inextricably linked to Jewish concerns. But is it still the case in a Russia where Jews have freedom of worship and the freedom to emigrate? Do Russian Jews think attention to Russia’s democratic record is productive for the community, or is it a counterproductive development that could further alienate Russia from the West?
Some observers believe Russian Jews should remain sensitive to human-rights issues simply because they are a minority that could become a target.As in any country, minorities, including Jews, have a worse chance for survival under authoritarian regimes, said Yevgenia Albats, a leading Moscow political journalist. Just because the situation looks fine for Jews now does not mean the regime will always keep it the same. Under authoritarian rule, everything, both good and bad, lies with the autocratic leader. She added, Such a leader often needs an internal enemy, and Jews are among the best candidates to this position.
A leading U.S. advocate for Jews in the region agrees.
History and current events show that Jews live better under democratic rule, said Mark Levin, executive director of NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia. In Russia, the Jewish community has not been targeted by the government, it has been able to develop its cultural, educational and religious institutions, but who’s to say how long this can last if the overall society doesn’t progress. Among the issues of concern to Western leaders is Russia’s treatment of nongovernmental organizations. Early this year, Putin signed into law a highly controversial bill that bans foreign participation in the nonprofit sector,
further isolating Russian society from international democratic trends and institutions.
It is certain that the authorities are trying to limit the influence from abroad played by various non-governmental organizations, although fears that this might somehow affect Jewish organizations have not materialized yet, said Mikhail Chlenov,secretary general of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. Another longtime Jewish activist said a discussion over the state of democracy in Russia could help bring long-standing problems to the surface. Tankred Golenpolsky, founder and publisher of the International Jewish Gazette, Russia’s oldest Jewish weekly, gives an example of the problem. There are three Jewish weeklies in Moscow, and each saw how their subscribers got concerned when they tried to mail the papers without blank envelopes, he said.
After all these years, there is deep-seated fear in Jews here. That means there is a problem that we need to talk about. You can only fight fear by talking about it.
Golenpolsky believes Russia should not be shy about openly discussing issues of democracy and minority rights, both within Russian society and with Moscow’s foreign partners in meetings like the G-8 summit. This is our Russian complex: We think that if others don’t know that we have problems at home, then we don’t have problems, he said. But some leaders contend that any such connection may not be productive now that the Jewish community lives in a much freer country and doesn’t face an immediate threat to its well-being. The Federation of Jewish Communities, Russia’s largest Jewish group and the one with the best relations to the Kremlin, said responsible Jewish groups and leaders should think twice before adding their voices to the chorus of those criticizing the Kremlin. Jewish organizations should have as their main focus the interests of the Jews that live in this country, federation spokesman Boruch Gorin said. Gorin and the federation believes it’s in the community’s interest to deal with issues of human rights in a more cautious manner and to avoid irritating authorities. It would be irresponsible” for Jewish organizations to engage in a discussion on human rights without taking into account the peculiarities of Russian mentality and Russian history, Gorin said. Gorin said that the traditional approach, of local Jews appealing to the West on major issues of concern to the Jewish community, is not smart and ineffective.
Golenpolsky disagreed.
We are a mature country with a great history, but we shouldn’t be playing hide-and-seek with our problems and with our partners, he said.In the meantime, few Jewish activists would disagree that the state could do more to fight the anti-Semitism that continues to plague Russian society, even in the absence of a state-sponsored policy against the Jews. But some Jewish leaders say the issue will not be solved by lecturing Russia on its internal problems. Lecturing Russia is not necessary and not enough, Chlenov said.
Much more here depends not on the West but on Russia’s own society. Either there is the will of society to fight with these evils, or there isn’t. Foreign lessons would hardly help. (JTA Foreign Editor Peter Ephross in New York contributed to this report.)
Iran might nuke Israel on this date, this date has to do with Mohammid going to heaven.So its an important date to Iran and could be a warning that Iran is going to nuke Israel.
Iran says it will deliver response Aug. 22 By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 52 minutes ago
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Thursday it would formally respond on Aug. 22 to a Western package of incentives aimed at resolving the standoff over its suspect nuclear program — the first time the Islamic republic has set a specific date for its reply. The Supreme National Security Council, Iran's top security decision-making body, also threatened that the country would reconsider its nuclear policies if sanctions were imposed by the United Nations.The council did not elaborate, but Iranian officials repeatedly have suggested that Tehran may withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and stop cooperating with U.N. inspectors.The package of incentives requires a logical time to study it ... Aug. 22 has been set for declaring (our) views,the council said in a statement read on state-run television.In case the path of confrontation is chosen instead of the path of dialogue ... and Iran's definite rights are threatened, then there will be no option for Iran but to reconsider its nuclear policies.
The statement came a day after Russia said the U.N. Security Council is in no rush to pressure Iran over its nuclear program, striking a more conciliatory tone than the United States as diplomats began discussing a resolution to put legal muscle behind demands that Tehran suspend uranium enrichment.The United States and some of its allies accuse Iran of seeking to produce highly enriched uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed at generating electricity.In Thursday's statement, Iran said it plans to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy in the next 20 years.The Western nations on June 6 offered Iran a package of incentives — including advanced technology and possibly even nuclear research reactors — if Tehran suspended enrichment.
But the frustrated powers agreed last week to send Iran back to the U.N. Security Council for possible punishment, saying Tehran had given no sign it would bargain in earnest over its nuclear ambitions.Iran has said the incentives package was an acceptable basis for negotiations.Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad initially said Iran would respond to the package in mid-August, but the republic then pushed back its response to late August. Thursday's statement was the first time a specific date was set.The United States has accused Iran of stalling while it continues to pursue suspect technology, but Tehran accused Washington on Thursday of putting up obstacles.The Iranian council said special committees in key state agencies were still studying the offer by the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany, and it invited the United States and its allies to return to the negotiating table.
It said it was surprising that the United States was creating obstacles for a negotiated settlement while Iran was seriously studying the offer.Iran is not after tension, but if others push things toward tension and create problems, then all will face problems. Iran believes dialogue is the most logical solution. It is serious in this path. We want the other side to return to the negotiating table, the statement said.The Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to a negotiated settlement through diplomacy. The United States, by changing the path of talks toward the Security Council, is trying to create obstacles.
A senior Iranian lawmaker said Tuesday the country's parliament was preparing to debate withdrawal from the nonproliferation treaty if the U.N. Security Council adopts a resolution that would force Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment. Withdrawal from the treaty could end all international oversight of Iran's nuclear program. In February, Iran for the first time produced its first batch of low-enriched uranium, using a cascade of 164 centrifuges. The process of uranium enrichment can be used to generate electricity or in building a bomb, depending on the level of enrichment.Iran has said it will never give up its right under the treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel, but it has indicated it may temporarily suspend large-scale activities to ease tensions.
US ISRAEL TO GO ANOTHER WEEK
1-Heatwave leads to spate of Forest fires. 2-Indonesia quake again,no Tsunami alert. 3-Quake rocks China 4-Quake jolts Pakistan-Iran border. 5-Washington Quake. 6-Japan plans 30 year weather forcasts. 7-Indonesia seeks answers after 520 dead in Tsunami. 8-US-ISRAEL agree to wait a week before world steps in
Lebanon.
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Heatwave leads to a spate of forest fires
By h.b.,Tue, 18 Jul 2006, 17:05
The heatwave across Spain has led to increased incidents of forest fire and now there are hundreds of hectares burning with six provinces under threat from the flames – Cáceres, Badajoz, Cádiz, Valencia, A Coruña and Pontevedra. In Galicia currently there are as many as ten fronts active, and a previous fire in Conil de la Frontera, believed to have been put out last night, has restarted today possibly deliberately. Once again police have had to evacuate the residents of the Roche urbanisation.In Valencia lightning is being blamed for the starting of a series of small fires.The weather conditions are complicating the fire fighters efforts.Meanwhile water reserves nationally have fallen back under the 50% level down 1.5% over the past seven days to stand at 49.7%
© typicallyspanish.com
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.
No tsunami risk after latest quake off Indonesia: warning centre
1 hour, 1 minute ago
JAKARTA (AFP) - Some residents fled their homes and police raced to warn people of a potential tsunami after a quake rattled Indonesia but a warning centre said it hit too deep to pose a threat. The 6.2-magnitude quake, which hit undersea between Java and Sumatra islands at 5:57 pm (1057 GMT), came just two days after a 7.7-strength temblor triggered a tsunami that lashed the south coast of Java, killing at least 525 people.A geophysicist from the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Gerard Fryer, told AFP that the quake does not seem to have generated a tsunami.Fryer added: Our assessment is that it is no hazard.
Minutes after the quake struck, an official from Indonesia's national seismology centre told Elshinta radio, which is broadcast across much of the country, that it may have caused a tsunami.People are advised to be on alert, he said.Residents in Lebak on the western tip of Java ran out of their homes and mosques in panic, screaming Allahu Akbar! (God is the greatest), an Elshinta reporter said.In Bandar Lampung, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the coast of south Sumatra, policeman Barak Elki told AFP that local security officials had headed for the coast to warn residents of a possible tsunami.It was up to each district head to give the warning,Elki said, adding that he had received a warning himself from the national meteorological agency.The quake was felt in the capital for about one minute, where it caused tall buildings to sway and sparked some evacuations.
The US Geological Survey put its epicentre at 153 kilometres (96 miles) west-southwest of Jakarta, at a depth of 44 kilometres.
Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet causing frequest seismic and volcanic activity, was the nation worst hit by the December 2004 Asian tsunami.Some 168,000 people were killed in Aceh province when a 9.3-magnitude quake unleashed massive walls of water that reached 11 Indian Ocean nations, killing a total of 220,000.
Quake rocks northwest China Wed Jul 19, 9:38 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 on the Richter scale shook a sparsely populated area in northwest China, state media has reported. The epicenter of the tremor, which struck Wednesday afternoon at 5:53 pm (0953 GMT), was in Yushu county in Qinghai province, the Xinhua news agency said, citing the China Seismological Bureau.The same area was hit by a magnitude 5.0 quake on Tuesday, Xinhua said, adding neither event had led to immediate reports of casualties.
Quake jolts Pakistan-Iran border Wed Jul 19, 8:30 AM ET
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - A moderate earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted southwestern Pakistan's border with Iran but there were no reports of casualties or damage.The tremor happened at 4.27 am (2327 GMT Tuesday) and the epicenter was situated around 650 kilometres (400 miles) southwest of Quetta, a seismological department official told AFP Wednesday.The area where the quake struck, near the Arabian Sea coast in Baluchistan province, is very sparsely populated, he said. A massive 7.6-magnitude earthquake on October 8 last year killed more than 73,000 people in Pakistani Kashmir and North West Frontier Province and made more than three million people homeless.
Magnitude 3.6 earthquake shakes Mount St. Helens
Tue Jul 18, 7:58 PM
MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. (AP) - A magnitude 3.6 earthquake has shaken Mount St. Helens, one of the largest earthquakes recorded during the ongoing eruption.The U.S. Geological Survey says the 9:56 a.m. quake triggered significant rock falls from the lava dome and crater walls, sending plumes of dust to the rim. Lava has continued to push into the crater - most recently forming a sheer rock fin - since the mountain reawakened with a drumfire of low-level seismic activity in September 2004. The crater was formed by the volcano's deadly May 18, 1980, eruption that killed 57 people and blasted about 400 metres off the then-2,950-metre peak.
The volcano reopens to climbers on Friday. Climbing the volcano has been banned since September 2004. The National Volcanic Monument limits the number of climbers to 100 a day and requires a permit available online through the Mount St. Helens Institute.
DANIEL 12:4
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Japan plans 30-year supercomputer forecasts By HANS GREIMEL, Associated Press Writer Tue Jul 18, 9:00 PM ET
TOKYO - Japan is planning ultra long-range 30-year weather forecasts that will predict typhoons, storms, blizzards, droughts and other inclement weather, an official said Tuesday. The project, to start next year, will harness the powers of one of the world's fastest supercomputers and is an offshoot of ongoing research by the country's science ministry to map global warming trends for the next 300 years.Using the Earth Simulator supercomputer, housed in a hangar-sized building in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo, Japan's science ministry hopes to calculate long-term patterns in the interaction of atmospheric pressure, air temperatures, ocean currents and sea temperatures, said Tomonori Otake, an official with the ministry's earth environment bureau.
The results will help establish predictable routes for typhoons and identify areas that are recurring targets for heavy rains, abundant snow, high waves, heavy winds, scorching heat or crop-threatening droughts.Now we can see what areas are at risk and start thinking about what kind of countermeasures to take, Otake said.Early warning could enable the government to allocate money and resources to potential disaster areas before disaster strikes.The ministry is now outlining the parameters of the project and will accept bids from researchers with an eye toward starting the program by next spring. A budget is not yet set, but it could cost in the area of $26 million a year.The Earth Simulator, introduced in 2002, was the world's fastest supercomputer until 2004, when IBM's Blue Gene took the title. But the $350 million computer still performs 35.6 trillion calculations a second, more computations than there are stars in our galaxy.
The machine tracks global sea temperatures, rainfall and crustal movement to predict natural disasters over the next centuries. As part of the project, Japan eyes forecasts for the entire planet for areas as small as 1.9 square miles.But don't plan on locking in sunny weather for that planned family picnic in July 2036. These forecasts are only general trends.Just like the daily forecast, we can't give a percentage for how accurate they are, Otake said.
LUKE 2125-26
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; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Indonesia seeks answers after tsunami kills 520 By Ed Davies
1 hour, 45 minutes ago
PANGANDARAN, Indonesia (Reuters) - Thousands awoke from a second night on mosque floors or under makeshift shelters on Indonesia's Java island on Tuesday as authorities grappled with the aftermath of a tsunami that killed at least 520 people. As efforts continued to find 235 people still missing, the media questioned why there was no warning ahead of Monday's killer waves despite regional efforts to set up early alert systems after the massive Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.The Jakarta Post said in an editorial that the country's National Disaster Management Coordination Board had done nothing of note to increase people's preparedness for disasters.Preparedness also covers efforts to build effective early warning systems based on sophisticated information and communication technologies, the daily said.Heavy equipment to search for bodies under the rubble was in place on Wednesday along parts of the 160-km (100-mile) stretch of south Java's coastline that was battered by waves after a 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake.Officials said there were four dead foreigners, including a Dutch national, a Swede, a Japanese and a Belgian.
More than 54,000 people were displaced from wrecked fishing villages and beach resorts, adding to the rehabilitation headache for the authorities after an earthquake that killed more than 5,700 people in central Java less than two months earlier.Aid trucks started to arrive for the thousands who lost their homes or who, fearing further tsunamis, fled to hills above the coast.Many found refuge under plastic-sheeting shelters while thousands camped out in mosques at the resort of Pangandaran and nearby Cilacap port, which were among the hardest-hit spots.Soft-drink and snack seller Mukasih, 25, said the tsunami destroyed both her kiosk and her home.Suddenly the waves came in and knocked me over. I tried to swim but I couldn't, she told Reuters.Mukasih suffered cuts and lacerations as the waves flung her and one of her children against a wall. She later found her husband and other child sheltering in a mosque.
Asked what her plans were, she said: I don't know. I'm still thinking, but I don't want a shop on the beach again.No tsunami warning system was set up for the southern coast of Java after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that left 230,000 killed or missing, including 170,000 in Indonesia.Some officials considered the area, which lies some 270 km (170 miles) southeast of Jakarta, less likely to be hit by a tsunami than others in Indonesia.It turned out that our prediction was wrong, the Jakarta Post quoted Surono, a senior official of the country's earthquake agency, as saying. "Now, we believe that there are no tsunami-free areas along the southern coast of Java.Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters the government would build an early warning system in Java and other areas in Indonesia in three years.Indonesia's 17,000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the "Pacific Ring of Fire.
US, Israel agree to wait before world steps in Lebanon Wed Jul 19, 6:00 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States and Israel have initially agreed to wait one week, while the pounding of Hezbollah targets continues, before seeking a buffer zone and an international force in southern Lebanon, a US daily has said. However Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora criticized the poor international response to Israel's bombings in an interview with the New York Times, and accused Israel of trying to destroy his country and its people.US and American officials told the daily that the Israeli-US consensus called for another week of pounding Hezbollah targets to downgrade the militant's group's military capabilities.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would then travel to the region, the officials added, to try to establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon and possibly also an international force to monitor the country's borders and Hezbollah's actions.A 19-kilometer (12-mile) buffer zone was being considered to keep Hezbollah at arms' reach from Israel, the officials said.Israel, they added, had dropped its demand that Hezbollah disarm completely before a ceasefire begins.Washington and its Arab allies, US officials said, were discussing how to strengthen Lebanon's borders, while Israel has signaled it would welcome an international force as long as it included troops from major powers and prevented Hezbollah from supplementing its arsenal.
A senior US official, who like the other sources asked not to be identified, said not everybody was happy with the US position, saying we're very careful how we talk about it.He also said the United States was telling Israel there was a limit to the time it would be allowed to continue its present course of action.We are not going to be wagering with the lives of innocent people here, said the US official.Meanwhile, Siniora said the international community was not doing all that it can to stop Israel continuing its aggression against Lebanon,adding that Israel was taking that lack of pressure as a green light.
According to the New York Times, Siniora stopped short of condemning Hezbollah for drawing Israeli fire on Lebanon and accused Israel of committing massacres against Lebanese civilians and working to destroy everything that allows Lebanon to stay alive.He said he was in favor of the release of the two Israeli soldiers seized by Hezbollah in a raid that triggered the current crisis, but that Israel should also withdraw from the disputed Shebaa Farms area of the border.The premier also said all Lebanese jailed in Israel should be released and that Israel should return to the terms of the 1949 armistice between the two countries.Siniora said that if all those conditions were met, the Lebanese Army would move into southern Lebanon.He also backed the deployment of a stronger international force in the area, but only after all the issues were put on the table.
Lebanon.
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Heatwave leads to a spate of forest fires
By h.b.,Tue, 18 Jul 2006, 17:05
The heatwave across Spain has led to increased incidents of forest fire and now there are hundreds of hectares burning with six provinces under threat from the flames – Cáceres, Badajoz, Cádiz, Valencia, A Coruña and Pontevedra. In Galicia currently there are as many as ten fronts active, and a previous fire in Conil de la Frontera, believed to have been put out last night, has restarted today possibly deliberately. Once again police have had to evacuate the residents of the Roche urbanisation.In Valencia lightning is being blamed for the starting of a series of small fires.The weather conditions are complicating the fire fighters efforts.Meanwhile water reserves nationally have fallen back under the 50% level down 1.5% over the past seven days to stand at 49.7%
© typicallyspanish.com
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.
No tsunami risk after latest quake off Indonesia: warning centre
1 hour, 1 minute ago
JAKARTA (AFP) - Some residents fled their homes and police raced to warn people of a potential tsunami after a quake rattled Indonesia but a warning centre said it hit too deep to pose a threat. The 6.2-magnitude quake, which hit undersea between Java and Sumatra islands at 5:57 pm (1057 GMT), came just two days after a 7.7-strength temblor triggered a tsunami that lashed the south coast of Java, killing at least 525 people.A geophysicist from the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Gerard Fryer, told AFP that the quake does not seem to have generated a tsunami.Fryer added: Our assessment is that it is no hazard.
Minutes after the quake struck, an official from Indonesia's national seismology centre told Elshinta radio, which is broadcast across much of the country, that it may have caused a tsunami.People are advised to be on alert, he said.Residents in Lebak on the western tip of Java ran out of their homes and mosques in panic, screaming Allahu Akbar! (God is the greatest), an Elshinta reporter said.In Bandar Lampung, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the coast of south Sumatra, policeman Barak Elki told AFP that local security officials had headed for the coast to warn residents of a possible tsunami.It was up to each district head to give the warning,Elki said, adding that he had received a warning himself from the national meteorological agency.The quake was felt in the capital for about one minute, where it caused tall buildings to sway and sparked some evacuations.
The US Geological Survey put its epicentre at 153 kilometres (96 miles) west-southwest of Jakarta, at a depth of 44 kilometres.
Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet causing frequest seismic and volcanic activity, was the nation worst hit by the December 2004 Asian tsunami.Some 168,000 people were killed in Aceh province when a 9.3-magnitude quake unleashed massive walls of water that reached 11 Indian Ocean nations, killing a total of 220,000.
Quake rocks northwest China Wed Jul 19, 9:38 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 on the Richter scale shook a sparsely populated area in northwest China, state media has reported. The epicenter of the tremor, which struck Wednesday afternoon at 5:53 pm (0953 GMT), was in Yushu county in Qinghai province, the Xinhua news agency said, citing the China Seismological Bureau.The same area was hit by a magnitude 5.0 quake on Tuesday, Xinhua said, adding neither event had led to immediate reports of casualties.
Quake jolts Pakistan-Iran border Wed Jul 19, 8:30 AM ET
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - A moderate earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted southwestern Pakistan's border with Iran but there were no reports of casualties or damage.The tremor happened at 4.27 am (2327 GMT Tuesday) and the epicenter was situated around 650 kilometres (400 miles) southwest of Quetta, a seismological department official told AFP Wednesday.The area where the quake struck, near the Arabian Sea coast in Baluchistan province, is very sparsely populated, he said. A massive 7.6-magnitude earthquake on October 8 last year killed more than 73,000 people in Pakistani Kashmir and North West Frontier Province and made more than three million people homeless.
Magnitude 3.6 earthquake shakes Mount St. Helens
Tue Jul 18, 7:58 PM
MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. (AP) - A magnitude 3.6 earthquake has shaken Mount St. Helens, one of the largest earthquakes recorded during the ongoing eruption.The U.S. Geological Survey says the 9:56 a.m. quake triggered significant rock falls from the lava dome and crater walls, sending plumes of dust to the rim. Lava has continued to push into the crater - most recently forming a sheer rock fin - since the mountain reawakened with a drumfire of low-level seismic activity in September 2004. The crater was formed by the volcano's deadly May 18, 1980, eruption that killed 57 people and blasted about 400 metres off the then-2,950-metre peak.
The volcano reopens to climbers on Friday. Climbing the volcano has been banned since September 2004. The National Volcanic Monument limits the number of climbers to 100 a day and requires a permit available online through the Mount St. Helens Institute.
DANIEL 12:4
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Japan plans 30-year supercomputer forecasts By HANS GREIMEL, Associated Press Writer Tue Jul 18, 9:00 PM ET
TOKYO - Japan is planning ultra long-range 30-year weather forecasts that will predict typhoons, storms, blizzards, droughts and other inclement weather, an official said Tuesday. The project, to start next year, will harness the powers of one of the world's fastest supercomputers and is an offshoot of ongoing research by the country's science ministry to map global warming trends for the next 300 years.Using the Earth Simulator supercomputer, housed in a hangar-sized building in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo, Japan's science ministry hopes to calculate long-term patterns in the interaction of atmospheric pressure, air temperatures, ocean currents and sea temperatures, said Tomonori Otake, an official with the ministry's earth environment bureau.
The results will help establish predictable routes for typhoons and identify areas that are recurring targets for heavy rains, abundant snow, high waves, heavy winds, scorching heat or crop-threatening droughts.Now we can see what areas are at risk and start thinking about what kind of countermeasures to take, Otake said.Early warning could enable the government to allocate money and resources to potential disaster areas before disaster strikes.The ministry is now outlining the parameters of the project and will accept bids from researchers with an eye toward starting the program by next spring. A budget is not yet set, but it could cost in the area of $26 million a year.The Earth Simulator, introduced in 2002, was the world's fastest supercomputer until 2004, when IBM's Blue Gene took the title. But the $350 million computer still performs 35.6 trillion calculations a second, more computations than there are stars in our galaxy.
The machine tracks global sea temperatures, rainfall and crustal movement to predict natural disasters over the next centuries. As part of the project, Japan eyes forecasts for the entire planet for areas as small as 1.9 square miles.But don't plan on locking in sunny weather for that planned family picnic in July 2036. These forecasts are only general trends.Just like the daily forecast, we can't give a percentage for how accurate they are, Otake said.
LUKE 2125-26
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; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Indonesia seeks answers after tsunami kills 520 By Ed Davies
1 hour, 45 minutes ago
PANGANDARAN, Indonesia (Reuters) - Thousands awoke from a second night on mosque floors or under makeshift shelters on Indonesia's Java island on Tuesday as authorities grappled with the aftermath of a tsunami that killed at least 520 people. As efforts continued to find 235 people still missing, the media questioned why there was no warning ahead of Monday's killer waves despite regional efforts to set up early alert systems after the massive Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.The Jakarta Post said in an editorial that the country's National Disaster Management Coordination Board had done nothing of note to increase people's preparedness for disasters.Preparedness also covers efforts to build effective early warning systems based on sophisticated information and communication technologies, the daily said.Heavy equipment to search for bodies under the rubble was in place on Wednesday along parts of the 160-km (100-mile) stretch of south Java's coastline that was battered by waves after a 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake.Officials said there were four dead foreigners, including a Dutch national, a Swede, a Japanese and a Belgian.
More than 54,000 people were displaced from wrecked fishing villages and beach resorts, adding to the rehabilitation headache for the authorities after an earthquake that killed more than 5,700 people in central Java less than two months earlier.Aid trucks started to arrive for the thousands who lost their homes or who, fearing further tsunamis, fled to hills above the coast.Many found refuge under plastic-sheeting shelters while thousands camped out in mosques at the resort of Pangandaran and nearby Cilacap port, which were among the hardest-hit spots.Soft-drink and snack seller Mukasih, 25, said the tsunami destroyed both her kiosk and her home.Suddenly the waves came in and knocked me over. I tried to swim but I couldn't, she told Reuters.Mukasih suffered cuts and lacerations as the waves flung her and one of her children against a wall. She later found her husband and other child sheltering in a mosque.
Asked what her plans were, she said: I don't know. I'm still thinking, but I don't want a shop on the beach again.No tsunami warning system was set up for the southern coast of Java after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that left 230,000 killed or missing, including 170,000 in Indonesia.Some officials considered the area, which lies some 270 km (170 miles) southeast of Jakarta, less likely to be hit by a tsunami than others in Indonesia.It turned out that our prediction was wrong, the Jakarta Post quoted Surono, a senior official of the country's earthquake agency, as saying. "Now, we believe that there are no tsunami-free areas along the southern coast of Java.Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters the government would build an early warning system in Java and other areas in Indonesia in three years.Indonesia's 17,000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the "Pacific Ring of Fire.
US, Israel agree to wait before world steps in Lebanon Wed Jul 19, 6:00 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States and Israel have initially agreed to wait one week, while the pounding of Hezbollah targets continues, before seeking a buffer zone and an international force in southern Lebanon, a US daily has said. However Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora criticized the poor international response to Israel's bombings in an interview with the New York Times, and accused Israel of trying to destroy his country and its people.US and American officials told the daily that the Israeli-US consensus called for another week of pounding Hezbollah targets to downgrade the militant's group's military capabilities.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would then travel to the region, the officials added, to try to establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon and possibly also an international force to monitor the country's borders and Hezbollah's actions.A 19-kilometer (12-mile) buffer zone was being considered to keep Hezbollah at arms' reach from Israel, the officials said.Israel, they added, had dropped its demand that Hezbollah disarm completely before a ceasefire begins.Washington and its Arab allies, US officials said, were discussing how to strengthen Lebanon's borders, while Israel has signaled it would welcome an international force as long as it included troops from major powers and prevented Hezbollah from supplementing its arsenal.
A senior US official, who like the other sources asked not to be identified, said not everybody was happy with the US position, saying we're very careful how we talk about it.He also said the United States was telling Israel there was a limit to the time it would be allowed to continue its present course of action.We are not going to be wagering with the lives of innocent people here, said the US official.Meanwhile, Siniora said the international community was not doing all that it can to stop Israel continuing its aggression against Lebanon,adding that Israel was taking that lack of pressure as a green light.
According to the New York Times, Siniora stopped short of condemning Hezbollah for drawing Israeli fire on Lebanon and accused Israel of committing massacres against Lebanese civilians and working to destroy everything that allows Lebanon to stay alive.He said he was in favor of the release of the two Israeli soldiers seized by Hezbollah in a raid that triggered the current crisis, but that Israel should also withdraw from the disputed Shebaa Farms area of the border.The premier also said all Lebanese jailed in Israel should be released and that Israel should return to the terms of the 1949 armistice between the two countries.Siniora said that if all those conditions were met, the Lebanese Army would move into southern Lebanon.He also backed the deployment of a stronger international force in the area, but only after all the issues were put on the table.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
CULT SAYS END OF WORLD
1-Second tropical storm brews off North Carolina. 2-Monsoon hits Korea. 3-World reactions,Israel is right. 4-EU to plan for Rapid Reaction border force. 5-Berlin in plans to split EU neighbourhood states. 6-G-8 and Sovereign democracy. 7-Hp unveils competitor RDIF chip. 8-Doomsday cult says September end of world (Good luck Cult, will not happen)
LUKE 2125-26
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; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Second tropical storm of 2006 brews off North Carolina coast 48 minutes ago
MIAMI (AFP) - The second tropical storm of the 2006 hurricane season formed off the coast of North Carolina, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported. At 5 pm (2100 GMT) tropical storm Beryl was located 290 kilometers (180 miles) in the Atlantic southeast of Cape Hatteras, with winds of 64 kilometers (40 miles) per hour.Forecasters believe the storm will eventually move north-east and away from land, but have nevertheless issued a tropical storm warning for the northern half of North Carolina's coastline.
Beryl is the second Atlantic storm since last year's record-smashing season of 28 named storms, including 15 that became hurricanes.US weather experts forecast that between eight and 10 hurricanes as many as six of them major would form in the
Atlantic basin during the six-month storm season that started on June 1.
The first Atlantic tropical storm of the year was Alberto, which fizzled out in mid-June one day after its landfall brought heavy rain but none of the destructive power of last year's killer hurricanes.
Monsoon hits Korean peninsula, 150 dead or missing 1 hour, 18 minutes ago
SEOUL (AFP) - At least 150 people on the Korean peninsula are believed dead or missing and several thousand are homeless after monsoon rains caused severe flooding and landslides, officials and aid workers said. The Red Cross reported that at least 100 people were either dead or missing in the impoverished North, where a further 9,000 had been left homeless by the rains.In some remote areas, whole villages have been swept away and essential public services, such as health care clinics, have been destroyed, Jaap Timmer,the head of North Korean operations at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said in Geneva.
Over the heavily-militarised border in South Korea, the disaster agency said the monsoon rains had pounded the north and east for a fifth straight day and had left 19 people dead and 31 missing.Most of the victims came from the mountainous eastern province of Gangwon, where 17 were killed in landslides or flash floods, said the National Emergency Management Agency.More than 550 millimeters (21.6 inches) of rain have fallen there since Friday, according to the agency.There was little official word on casualties or damage from the authorities in the reclusive North and the Red Cross said communications networks had been severely disrupted making it difficult to collect reliable information.There has also been widespread damage to roads and bridges, which has left many people displaced or stranded,Timmer said in a statement.
A typhoon, which struck last Friday, totally or partially destroyed more than 11,500 houses, the Red Cross said.It also destroyed out vast swathes of farmland, a major blow for the secretive communist nation which has long relied on international food handouts after failed harvests.The North Korean Red Cross had mobilised more than 2,300 volunteers to provide first aid and rescue and evacuation support in affected provinces, the aid group said.It had also sent blankets, kitchen sets, plastic sheeting, water containers and water purification tablets to almost 10,000 families whose homes were completely destroyed in South Pyongan, North Hwanghe and Kangwon provinces.Meanwhile, South Korea's President Roh Moo-Hyun had designated 18 cities and counties as special disaster areas where victims could receive state-organized special loans, subsidies and tax breaks, the disaster agency.
The special disaster areas covered seven places in the Gangwon province and 11 elsewhere, including some southern towns hit by typhoon Ewiniar last week and heavy rain more recently, the agency said.It warned there could be more flood victims with casualty reports still coming in. Relief efforts continued with more than 3,700 people remaining homeless as of early Tuesday, it said.The downpour has flooded homes, swept away roads and inundated farmland and villages. Tens of thousands of residents were also left without power.Police, military and disaster agencies have evacuated victims to schools and other safer areas while airlifting relief to flooded areas.In the capital Seoul, some of the once submerged and closed riverside expressways and roads were partially opened for traffic again Tuesday morning as the rain front was moving southward. Heavy rains were expected to fall on the Korean peninsula for another few days.
World Reactions: Israel is Right, and Talk of World War III
By Hillel Fendel (aruts-7 INN)
The G-8 leaders, including Bush, Blair, and Putin, are showing no signs of pressuring Israel to go easy - yet. In the U.S., there's talk of World War Three. World leaders meeting in a suburb of the Russian city of St. Petersburg at the G-8 summit have come down squarely on Israel's side. They called for Hamas and Hizbullah to return the Israeli soldiers they are holding captive and for the cessation of rocket attacks on Israel - as conditions for Israel's cessation of its offensive on Lebanon. The G-8 is a self-proclaimed Group of Eight industrialized nations, namely, the U.S., Russia, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan.
Canada took a surprisingly pro-Israel approach when Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters before the summit that Israel has a right to defend itself, and that Israel's offensive in Lebanon was a measured manifestation of that right. He clearly blamed the current warfare on Hamas and Hizbullah.
In response to calls for a more proportionate Israeli response to Hizbullah and Hamas, an Israel Radio correspondent in Washington quoted observers who said that such a response would have to include indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians, just as both terrorist groups have done. Israel should therefore be commended for not acting proportionately, the observers say.Former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has described the Israel-Lebanon-Hamas warfare as part of the beginning of World War III.
The Republican Senator from the southern state of Georgia, speaking on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, mentioned a series of locations in which the west and Muslim terrorists are clashing. Noting the question of the survival of Israel, as well as bombs in India, the war in Afghanistan, the Iran/Syria/Hamas/Hizbullah alliance, the war in Iraq funded largely from Saudi Arabia and supplied largely from Syria and Iran,and Muslim terrorist threats in Britain and the United States, as well as the missiles from North Korea, Gingrich concluded, I mean, we… are in the early stages of what I would describe as the third world war.
Sen. John McCain (R, Az.), appearing on CNN on Monday, was only a shade more conservative, saying, We need to make our European allies understand that this is the most serious challenge we have faced in the Middle East in a long time.McCain added that the U.S. might have to take direct action itself.
Frankly,Gingrich said, the Israelis have every right to insist that every single missile leave south Lebanon, and the United States ought to be helping the Lebanese government have the strength to eliminate Hizbullah as a military force.The threat to the United States,Gingrich said, is an ideological wing of Islam that is irreconcilable to modern civilization as we know it throughout most of the world. The United States and her allies face a long war with this irreconcilable wing of Islam.
Brussels to unveil plan on EU rapid border teams
17.07.2006 - 14:20 CET | By Lucia Kubosova
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission is this week set to adopt a plan to establish EU rapid reaction teams aimed at safeguarding the bloc's external borders. At their last meeting before the summer break, commissioners are set on Wednesday (19 July), to approve a document seen by the EUobserver which outlines the tasks and rules under which rapid border intervention teams would operate.
The plan is based on a voluntary scheme where member states willing to participate in the project would be asked to draw up a list of national border guards available to other countries in critical situations.
The rapid intervention teams would work on an ad hoc basis and only be deployed in times of crises to "fill any gaps in the control and surveillance performed by the national border guard service of the requesting member states.The joint operations would be conducted by the EU's agency for external borders management (Frontex), while the states facing the immigrant influx would need to approve the deployment of guards from other member states on their territory. The guest officers would help out in tasks such as checking the travel documents of people crossing the border of a country at stake, conducting interviews or searching vehicles or belongings.They may also take part in external border patrols and even act to prevent illegal crossings of borders.
Guest officers and members of the Rapid Border Intervention Teams shall moreover be entitled to wear their own uniforms, however with insignia clearly identifying them as participating in a joint operation.They shall also be issued with a document identifying them and giving proof of their right to exercise their tasks,states the draft proposal.The agency would cover the costs of joint operations estimated at €11.4 million between 2008-2013 - such as accommodation, travel, vaccination or special insurance costs but not the regular salaries of the national experts.Frontex would also provide basic training for guest experts - so that they have the same high level of expertise on border control related issues and are able to work together efficiently in crisis situations,says the proposal.
The border agency is already provided with so-called joint support teams but they are used to tackle regular operations organised by the agency - such as major international events taking place in some of the member states.
Malta and Spain troubles
The issue has come to a head recently with Malta and Spain's Canary Islands seeing a high influx of immigrants. Both governments have strongly pressed for more EU action to tackle the problem.Malta, which is 316 square km and has 400,000 inhabitants, is
currently hosting 1,031 illegal immigrants at its open centres.Spain's Canary Islands have also seen a day-by-day increase of immigrants crossing its borders, with 160 having arrived over the weekend.
Over 11,000 people have landed on the islands this year about twice as much as in 2005, according to Spanish media.Over the weekend, both countries were involved in an incident where their authorities refused to accept immigrants and could not agree on who should take care of them.On Sunday, Maltese officials denied the entry of a Spanish fishing boat with 51 African immigrants on board claiming to have been rescued outside the coast of the Mediterranean island.
DANIEL 7:23
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
Berlin in plans to split EU neighbourhood states
17.07.2006 - 09:57 CET | By Aleander Balzan
The EU could downgrade its relations with its partners from the Middle East in reforms mooted by Germany which will take over the EU presidency in the first half of 2007, according to a UK daily.The move could have an effect on Middle East countries that are currently members of the EU neighbourhood policy (ENP). The Guardian reports that the German plans intend to split the countries taking part in the current EU neighbourhood policy scheme, separating those that have membership hopes from those who would never be admitted to the EU. This means that Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and the Palestinian Authority will be given a less prominent position than members who are geographically within Europe.
Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia will be among the countries to be admitted to the more advanced club. But the German plans have been criticised by European experts believing that the EU must not demote its relations with the 10 non-European members.The problems of North Africa are just as important to the EU as those of eastern Europe.
It is wrong to tell North Africa that because they are Muslims and live in sandy places, they can't be integrated,Charles Grant, director for the Centre for European Reform, told the Guardian. But Rolf Welberts, a senior official at the German foreign ministry, defended the plans, arguing that the current neighbourhood policy had not been a success.
Ukraine should not be treated in the same way as Morocco or Algeria. We think the action plan of the ENP should be replaced with something deeper,Mr Welberts was reported saying by the Guardian. Mr Welberts added that Ukraine must be offered the hope of EU membership. Otherwise "there is a real risk that Ukraine will turn away,Mr Welberst concluded. However, Berlin's plans may dash rather than boost the membership aspirations of states like Ukraine. German politicians have previously mooted ideas for a privileged partnership with Ukraine as well as western Balkan states which would take the form of something between ENP ties and full membership. These ideas have been widely seen as an alternative, not a step in between, to fully fledged EU membership.
The European Neighbourhood Policy was developed after the EU's 2004 enlargement, with the objective of avoiding the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and its neighbours. Under this policy the EU offers its neighbours a privileged relationship.
G8 and sovereign democracy
18:05 | 17/ 07/ 2006
MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Romanov) - The G8 summit in St. Petersburg is over, and everyone seems to be writing the same thing about it. I'll do my best to buck the trend. In my view, one of the summit's priorities was the issue of independence and sovereignty in relations between democratic countries, although it was not on the agenda and none of the leaders spoke about it explicitly. In a unipolar world dominated by the United States and its desire to be generous to humankind by forcing the North American worldview on it, this issue was bound to surface at bilateral talks within the G8 and during joint discussions.
This issue is also interesting because some members of the Russian political elite have coined a new phrase, sovereign democracy,as a reaction to two opposing phenomena. One of them is the unquestionable and rapid (in historical terms)
strengthening of Russia, which is buttressing its independence and reinforcing its prestige on the international scene and in the global economy (although mostly in the energy sector so far).
The other is the equally unquestionable and rapidly growing concern and discontent in influential American quarters over the strengthening of Russia. In an ideal world, it would be logical and correct to develop partner relations with a strengthening Russia, not seek confrontation with it. But life, especially in the political world, has never been ideal, and Cold War stereotypes are resurfacing increasingly fast. Paradoxically, the U.S. democracy is becoming increasingly jealous of the rising Russian democracy, which it criticizes for not being its carbon copy. This is absurd, because all successful democracies, although they use the same democratic instruments, proceed in their own way, with due regard for national traditions and specifics. France is not like Sweden, Spain is different from Japan, and the United States is not Switzerland. However, despite their successes, an objective observer will also see their weak sides, small sins and oddities.
This is also true of the U.S. The G8 summit in St. Petersburg began with President George W. Bush meeting with a dozen NGO representatives. President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, had met and talked with hundreds of representatives of Russian and foreign NGOs ahead of the summit and later conveyed their requests to the G8 leaders, just as he had promised. But it is not arithmetic that matters in this case. The odd thing is that Russian NGOs brought to President Bush a request from American NGOs, who want their president to meet with members of U.S. civil society.
Isn't it shocking that the American president, who tries to teach Russians democracy, does not deem it necessary to hear the opinion of his own NGOs? Another oddity: During a news conference on the results of bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart, the Chief Executive - even though he had promised not to interfere in Russia's internal affairs before the summit - said he had told the Russian president about his hopes for institutional change in the world, citing Iraq as an example of a new democracy. The Russian leader, who did his best to act as a polite host, nevertheless retorted to the applause and laughter of journalists: Frankly speaking, we would not want to have a democracy like the one in Iraq.
It is difficult to say if Bush's recommendation was an unsuccessful impromptu, or the U.S. elite is so far removed from reality as to think that the tottering Iraqi democracy, which is kept alive by the occupation forces, is what Russians want. Do the Americans like the Iraqi semblance of democracy because it is a puppet government at Washington's beck and call? Is this the main gauge of a successful and correct policy?
Iraq should not be the only example in this case. President Bush could cite Ukraine or Georgia, which also do Washington's bidding. When Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko decided to sack Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, she ran to complain to
the American ambassador. Why is it that Ukraine's leading politicians seem unable to act without advice from the U.S. embassy?
During the summit, all of the G8 leaders worked on their relations with Washington in one way or another. London did not need to do this, as it has long been traveling in the wake of U.S. policy, but France is fighting for the right to an independent opinion.
The joint news conference of Jacques Chirac and George Bush showed that the two leaders differ considerably over the situation in the Middle East. This is why France, just like Russia, is not one of Washington's favorite countries. Maybe the French should also learn democracy in Iraq?
So, the reasons for the appearance of the phrase sovereign democracy in the Russian political dictionary are clear. However, this term does not seem to be quite correct, because genuine democracy that respects the interests of all countries can only be sovereign, or else it would not be a democracy. So, sovereign democracy is much of a muchness.Spain is a good example of sovereignty in a democratic state. Acting at the request of its citizens, the Spanish government pulled out troops from Iraq without stopping to think whether this would displease the United States. Russia will proceed into the future in its own way.
Its apparent objective is to become a full and effective democracy, but ways towards that goal can differ. Russia can move in a Russian way, whereas France and Spain may be moving towards the same objective in their own manner. And the United States should respect their choice.
DANIEL 12:4
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
HP Unveils RFID's Future Competitor
07.17.06 By Natali T. Del Conte
Hewlett-Packard unveiled a memory chip the size of a tomato seed on Monday in its Palo Alto laboratories. The tiny chip, called the Memory Spot, can be attached unobtrusively to any object and carry media or data. The Memory Spot will rival RFID tags in carrying information on movable physical objects, but HP calls it the smarter alternative.It has some of the characteristics of RFID but it's very different because it's orders of magnitude different in bandwidth, said Howard Taub, vice president and associate director of HP Laboratories. It's like comparing a monkey and a human. There are some similarities but the capabilities are very different.
The Memory Spot has a 10 megabits-per-second data-transfer rate and can store up to 4 megabits of data, although the demonstration chips stored only 256 kilobits. The chip has an integrated antenna, which is why it is so much smaller than an RFID chip, which gets most of its size from the separately attached antennae. It receives power through inductive coupling from a special read-write device that extracts data from the memory on the chip.
HP says that the chip will "bridge the digital and physical worlds. Taub demonstrated picture albums with the nearly-invisible chip attached to the borders. When a reader touched the chip, audio from the picture was played. Taub next waved the reader over the chip on a medicine bottle and the attached computer received the dosage, direction, and all other pertinent information from the prescription.Other proposed applications include sending digital postcards with movies and sounds like the moving pictures in a Harry Potter movie.
The chip can also be used to attach catalogs to merchandise, resumes to business cards, and digital information to a document in order to photocopy it without scanning. Magnetic Memory Chips Hit the Market Chip Titans Look to Startup for Flash Lift Intel To Talk Up 'Rosedale 2' WiMAX Chip Intel to Speed Up Chip Redesigns The reading devices have yet to be developed, but Taub has hopes that mobile phone companies and PDA manufacturers will want in.
A PDA is a good reader because it's got a screen and audio and video capabilities, but cell phones are the perfect readers, Taub said. Everybody has one with them at all times and they can play video and audio. But cell phones are not designed for this yet, so the cell phone companies would have to decide if they want to be part of the ecosystem. Information transfer requires actual physical connection to the Memory Spot and Taub says they designed it that way. We don't want to increase the range of contact, he said. We think it's just right.Memory Spot technology works independently of Internet connection. It is meant for physical data transmission, much like RFID, although another fundamental difference is that the data on Memory Spot is rewriteable whereas the majority of RFID chips are read-only. In a world with infinite connection and infinite bandwidth, you probably wouldn't need this, but I still don't have cell phone connection here in the basement,Taub said.
HP's business divisions have not put a price approximation on Memory Spot, particularly because they do not have a manufacturer lined up yet. Taub estimates that the chips could cost consumers $1 each, but emphasized that this price point is pure speculation. Because this Memory Spot is in such early phases, consumers will not actually see or use it for at least another two to five years. We're just announcing the technology right now,Taub said.
The hard part is building the ecosystem. You have to get your readers and writers, and I don't know how long it will take me to convince the cell phone companies to do this. How long has RFID been around and it's still not completely built out? An integral part of building the ecosystem will also involve building new standards for Memory Spot. Taub says that they have applied to some standards boards, although he would not say which ones, as well as complied with FCC regulations. He said that HP will announce the new standard in the near future.
MATTHEW 24:4-5
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
House of Yahweh: Doomsday cult sees end to world in September
AFP, via the Daily Star (Bangladesh), France,July 16, 2006
www.thedailystar.net
The escalating Middle East conflict has strengthened the convictions of a doomsday cult in central Kenya that believes the world will come to an end in September. Members of the "House of Yahweh" sect here have begun selling off their belongings and preparing for Armageddon, attracting the attention of authorities concerned the group's leaders may be taking advantage of believers.The goings-on now in Israel are a clear indication of what will happen,says Ruth Wanjiku, a member of the Kenyan branch of the House of Yahweh that is based in the US state of Texas.This is the beginning of the end of the world as prophesied by the 'Book of Yahweh',she says, referring to the group's version of the Bible that holds Armageddon will begin on September 12.The End. Again.
Handshake of Death: According to the House of Yahweh, a Christian sect, when Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin shook hands at the White House on Sept. 13, 1993, they began a seven-year tribulation that will end this Sept. 13 and bring about the end of the world. Los Angeles Times, Jan. 10, 2000.
According to the prophesy, the end of the world will begin that day when the United States moves to protect Israel, sparking a war that sucks in nuclear powers China, North Korea, Iran, India and Pakistan, as well as non-nuclear state Sudan.Recent developments in the Middle East, with Israel attacking militant positions in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, have only bolstered the group's assertions.
There will be a 'nuclear winter' with temperatures dropping to below zero degrees centigrade (32 Fahrenheit) and killing all non-believers,Wanjiku says, explaining the group's belief that conflict in the Middle East will cause the apocalypse.The high nuclear concentration will slowly move to low-concentration areas and this is how lives will be wiped from the face of the earth,adds fellow member Dominic Karichu.
In order to survive, believers are selling off possessions to build massive mud bunkers and store food, moves that have alarmed officials in Kinangop, a small trading post about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Nairobi.Since we cannot risk staying in our houses after September 12, we are selling them to finance the bunkers and food, Wanjiru said.It was not immediately clear if other branches of the House of Yahweh were taking similar preparations to the group's Kenyan followers but local officials said they will take action against any unscrupulou behavior.
Authorities said they had ordered village chiefs and police to arrest House of Yahweh leaders who instruct members to sell their homes and other possessions.Some people could be taking advantage of this to fleece the unsuspecting faithful and we are not going to leave anything to chance,said Nyandarua district commissioner Khamasi Shivogo.
you@example.com sends you a link to 'House of Yahweh: Doomsday cult sees end to world in September'.
You can find this article at http://www.religionnewsblog.com/15280
LUKE 2125-26
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; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Second tropical storm of 2006 brews off North Carolina coast 48 minutes ago
MIAMI (AFP) - The second tropical storm of the 2006 hurricane season formed off the coast of North Carolina, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported. At 5 pm (2100 GMT) tropical storm Beryl was located 290 kilometers (180 miles) in the Atlantic southeast of Cape Hatteras, with winds of 64 kilometers (40 miles) per hour.Forecasters believe the storm will eventually move north-east and away from land, but have nevertheless issued a tropical storm warning for the northern half of North Carolina's coastline.
Beryl is the second Atlantic storm since last year's record-smashing season of 28 named storms, including 15 that became hurricanes.US weather experts forecast that between eight and 10 hurricanes as many as six of them major would form in the
Atlantic basin during the six-month storm season that started on June 1.
The first Atlantic tropical storm of the year was Alberto, which fizzled out in mid-June one day after its landfall brought heavy rain but none of the destructive power of last year's killer hurricanes.
Monsoon hits Korean peninsula, 150 dead or missing 1 hour, 18 minutes ago
SEOUL (AFP) - At least 150 people on the Korean peninsula are believed dead or missing and several thousand are homeless after monsoon rains caused severe flooding and landslides, officials and aid workers said. The Red Cross reported that at least 100 people were either dead or missing in the impoverished North, where a further 9,000 had been left homeless by the rains.In some remote areas, whole villages have been swept away and essential public services, such as health care clinics, have been destroyed, Jaap Timmer,the head of North Korean operations at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said in Geneva.
Over the heavily-militarised border in South Korea, the disaster agency said the monsoon rains had pounded the north and east for a fifth straight day and had left 19 people dead and 31 missing.Most of the victims came from the mountainous eastern province of Gangwon, where 17 were killed in landslides or flash floods, said the National Emergency Management Agency.More than 550 millimeters (21.6 inches) of rain have fallen there since Friday, according to the agency.There was little official word on casualties or damage from the authorities in the reclusive North and the Red Cross said communications networks had been severely disrupted making it difficult to collect reliable information.There has also been widespread damage to roads and bridges, which has left many people displaced or stranded,Timmer said in a statement.
A typhoon, which struck last Friday, totally or partially destroyed more than 11,500 houses, the Red Cross said.It also destroyed out vast swathes of farmland, a major blow for the secretive communist nation which has long relied on international food handouts after failed harvests.The North Korean Red Cross had mobilised more than 2,300 volunteers to provide first aid and rescue and evacuation support in affected provinces, the aid group said.It had also sent blankets, kitchen sets, plastic sheeting, water containers and water purification tablets to almost 10,000 families whose homes were completely destroyed in South Pyongan, North Hwanghe and Kangwon provinces.Meanwhile, South Korea's President Roh Moo-Hyun had designated 18 cities and counties as special disaster areas where victims could receive state-organized special loans, subsidies and tax breaks, the disaster agency.
The special disaster areas covered seven places in the Gangwon province and 11 elsewhere, including some southern towns hit by typhoon Ewiniar last week and heavy rain more recently, the agency said.It warned there could be more flood victims with casualty reports still coming in. Relief efforts continued with more than 3,700 people remaining homeless as of early Tuesday, it said.The downpour has flooded homes, swept away roads and inundated farmland and villages. Tens of thousands of residents were also left without power.Police, military and disaster agencies have evacuated victims to schools and other safer areas while airlifting relief to flooded areas.In the capital Seoul, some of the once submerged and closed riverside expressways and roads were partially opened for traffic again Tuesday morning as the rain front was moving southward. Heavy rains were expected to fall on the Korean peninsula for another few days.
World Reactions: Israel is Right, and Talk of World War III
By Hillel Fendel (aruts-7 INN)
The G-8 leaders, including Bush, Blair, and Putin, are showing no signs of pressuring Israel to go easy - yet. In the U.S., there's talk of World War Three. World leaders meeting in a suburb of the Russian city of St. Petersburg at the G-8 summit have come down squarely on Israel's side. They called for Hamas and Hizbullah to return the Israeli soldiers they are holding captive and for the cessation of rocket attacks on Israel - as conditions for Israel's cessation of its offensive on Lebanon. The G-8 is a self-proclaimed Group of Eight industrialized nations, namely, the U.S., Russia, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan.
Canada took a surprisingly pro-Israel approach when Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters before the summit that Israel has a right to defend itself, and that Israel's offensive in Lebanon was a measured manifestation of that right. He clearly blamed the current warfare on Hamas and Hizbullah.
In response to calls for a more proportionate Israeli response to Hizbullah and Hamas, an Israel Radio correspondent in Washington quoted observers who said that such a response would have to include indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians, just as both terrorist groups have done. Israel should therefore be commended for not acting proportionately, the observers say.Former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has described the Israel-Lebanon-Hamas warfare as part of the beginning of World War III.
The Republican Senator from the southern state of Georgia, speaking on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, mentioned a series of locations in which the west and Muslim terrorists are clashing. Noting the question of the survival of Israel, as well as bombs in India, the war in Afghanistan, the Iran/Syria/Hamas/Hizbullah alliance, the war in Iraq funded largely from Saudi Arabia and supplied largely from Syria and Iran,and Muslim terrorist threats in Britain and the United States, as well as the missiles from North Korea, Gingrich concluded, I mean, we… are in the early stages of what I would describe as the third world war.
Sen. John McCain (R, Az.), appearing on CNN on Monday, was only a shade more conservative, saying, We need to make our European allies understand that this is the most serious challenge we have faced in the Middle East in a long time.McCain added that the U.S. might have to take direct action itself.
Frankly,Gingrich said, the Israelis have every right to insist that every single missile leave south Lebanon, and the United States ought to be helping the Lebanese government have the strength to eliminate Hizbullah as a military force.The threat to the United States,Gingrich said, is an ideological wing of Islam that is irreconcilable to modern civilization as we know it throughout most of the world. The United States and her allies face a long war with this irreconcilable wing of Islam.
Brussels to unveil plan on EU rapid border teams
17.07.2006 - 14:20 CET | By Lucia Kubosova
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission is this week set to adopt a plan to establish EU rapid reaction teams aimed at safeguarding the bloc's external borders. At their last meeting before the summer break, commissioners are set on Wednesday (19 July), to approve a document seen by the EUobserver which outlines the tasks and rules under which rapid border intervention teams would operate.
The plan is based on a voluntary scheme where member states willing to participate in the project would be asked to draw up a list of national border guards available to other countries in critical situations.
The rapid intervention teams would work on an ad hoc basis and only be deployed in times of crises to "fill any gaps in the control and surveillance performed by the national border guard service of the requesting member states.The joint operations would be conducted by the EU's agency for external borders management (Frontex), while the states facing the immigrant influx would need to approve the deployment of guards from other member states on their territory. The guest officers would help out in tasks such as checking the travel documents of people crossing the border of a country at stake, conducting interviews or searching vehicles or belongings.They may also take part in external border patrols and even act to prevent illegal crossings of borders.
Guest officers and members of the Rapid Border Intervention Teams shall moreover be entitled to wear their own uniforms, however with insignia clearly identifying them as participating in a joint operation.They shall also be issued with a document identifying them and giving proof of their right to exercise their tasks,states the draft proposal.The agency would cover the costs of joint operations estimated at €11.4 million between 2008-2013 - such as accommodation, travel, vaccination or special insurance costs but not the regular salaries of the national experts.Frontex would also provide basic training for guest experts - so that they have the same high level of expertise on border control related issues and are able to work together efficiently in crisis situations,says the proposal.
The border agency is already provided with so-called joint support teams but they are used to tackle regular operations organised by the agency - such as major international events taking place in some of the member states.
Malta and Spain troubles
The issue has come to a head recently with Malta and Spain's Canary Islands seeing a high influx of immigrants. Both governments have strongly pressed for more EU action to tackle the problem.Malta, which is 316 square km and has 400,000 inhabitants, is
currently hosting 1,031 illegal immigrants at its open centres.Spain's Canary Islands have also seen a day-by-day increase of immigrants crossing its borders, with 160 having arrived over the weekend.
Over 11,000 people have landed on the islands this year about twice as much as in 2005, according to Spanish media.Over the weekend, both countries were involved in an incident where their authorities refused to accept immigrants and could not agree on who should take care of them.On Sunday, Maltese officials denied the entry of a Spanish fishing boat with 51 African immigrants on board claiming to have been rescued outside the coast of the Mediterranean island.
DANIEL 7:23
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
Berlin in plans to split EU neighbourhood states
17.07.2006 - 09:57 CET | By Aleander Balzan
The EU could downgrade its relations with its partners from the Middle East in reforms mooted by Germany which will take over the EU presidency in the first half of 2007, according to a UK daily.The move could have an effect on Middle East countries that are currently members of the EU neighbourhood policy (ENP). The Guardian reports that the German plans intend to split the countries taking part in the current EU neighbourhood policy scheme, separating those that have membership hopes from those who would never be admitted to the EU. This means that Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and the Palestinian Authority will be given a less prominent position than members who are geographically within Europe.
Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia will be among the countries to be admitted to the more advanced club. But the German plans have been criticised by European experts believing that the EU must not demote its relations with the 10 non-European members.The problems of North Africa are just as important to the EU as those of eastern Europe.
It is wrong to tell North Africa that because they are Muslims and live in sandy places, they can't be integrated,Charles Grant, director for the Centre for European Reform, told the Guardian. But Rolf Welberts, a senior official at the German foreign ministry, defended the plans, arguing that the current neighbourhood policy had not been a success.
Ukraine should not be treated in the same way as Morocco or Algeria. We think the action plan of the ENP should be replaced with something deeper,Mr Welberts was reported saying by the Guardian. Mr Welberts added that Ukraine must be offered the hope of EU membership. Otherwise "there is a real risk that Ukraine will turn away,Mr Welberst concluded. However, Berlin's plans may dash rather than boost the membership aspirations of states like Ukraine. German politicians have previously mooted ideas for a privileged partnership with Ukraine as well as western Balkan states which would take the form of something between ENP ties and full membership. These ideas have been widely seen as an alternative, not a step in between, to fully fledged EU membership.
The European Neighbourhood Policy was developed after the EU's 2004 enlargement, with the objective of avoiding the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and its neighbours. Under this policy the EU offers its neighbours a privileged relationship.
G8 and sovereign democracy
18:05 | 17/ 07/ 2006
MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Romanov) - The G8 summit in St. Petersburg is over, and everyone seems to be writing the same thing about it. I'll do my best to buck the trend. In my view, one of the summit's priorities was the issue of independence and sovereignty in relations between democratic countries, although it was not on the agenda and none of the leaders spoke about it explicitly. In a unipolar world dominated by the United States and its desire to be generous to humankind by forcing the North American worldview on it, this issue was bound to surface at bilateral talks within the G8 and during joint discussions.
This issue is also interesting because some members of the Russian political elite have coined a new phrase, sovereign democracy,as a reaction to two opposing phenomena. One of them is the unquestionable and rapid (in historical terms)
strengthening of Russia, which is buttressing its independence and reinforcing its prestige on the international scene and in the global economy (although mostly in the energy sector so far).
The other is the equally unquestionable and rapidly growing concern and discontent in influential American quarters over the strengthening of Russia. In an ideal world, it would be logical and correct to develop partner relations with a strengthening Russia, not seek confrontation with it. But life, especially in the political world, has never been ideal, and Cold War stereotypes are resurfacing increasingly fast. Paradoxically, the U.S. democracy is becoming increasingly jealous of the rising Russian democracy, which it criticizes for not being its carbon copy. This is absurd, because all successful democracies, although they use the same democratic instruments, proceed in their own way, with due regard for national traditions and specifics. France is not like Sweden, Spain is different from Japan, and the United States is not Switzerland. However, despite their successes, an objective observer will also see their weak sides, small sins and oddities.
This is also true of the U.S. The G8 summit in St. Petersburg began with President George W. Bush meeting with a dozen NGO representatives. President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, had met and talked with hundreds of representatives of Russian and foreign NGOs ahead of the summit and later conveyed their requests to the G8 leaders, just as he had promised. But it is not arithmetic that matters in this case. The odd thing is that Russian NGOs brought to President Bush a request from American NGOs, who want their president to meet with members of U.S. civil society.
Isn't it shocking that the American president, who tries to teach Russians democracy, does not deem it necessary to hear the opinion of his own NGOs? Another oddity: During a news conference on the results of bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart, the Chief Executive - even though he had promised not to interfere in Russia's internal affairs before the summit - said he had told the Russian president about his hopes for institutional change in the world, citing Iraq as an example of a new democracy. The Russian leader, who did his best to act as a polite host, nevertheless retorted to the applause and laughter of journalists: Frankly speaking, we would not want to have a democracy like the one in Iraq.
It is difficult to say if Bush's recommendation was an unsuccessful impromptu, or the U.S. elite is so far removed from reality as to think that the tottering Iraqi democracy, which is kept alive by the occupation forces, is what Russians want. Do the Americans like the Iraqi semblance of democracy because it is a puppet government at Washington's beck and call? Is this the main gauge of a successful and correct policy?
Iraq should not be the only example in this case. President Bush could cite Ukraine or Georgia, which also do Washington's bidding. When Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko decided to sack Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, she ran to complain to
the American ambassador. Why is it that Ukraine's leading politicians seem unable to act without advice from the U.S. embassy?
During the summit, all of the G8 leaders worked on their relations with Washington in one way or another. London did not need to do this, as it has long been traveling in the wake of U.S. policy, but France is fighting for the right to an independent opinion.
The joint news conference of Jacques Chirac and George Bush showed that the two leaders differ considerably over the situation in the Middle East. This is why France, just like Russia, is not one of Washington's favorite countries. Maybe the French should also learn democracy in Iraq?
So, the reasons for the appearance of the phrase sovereign democracy in the Russian political dictionary are clear. However, this term does not seem to be quite correct, because genuine democracy that respects the interests of all countries can only be sovereign, or else it would not be a democracy. So, sovereign democracy is much of a muchness.Spain is a good example of sovereignty in a democratic state. Acting at the request of its citizens, the Spanish government pulled out troops from Iraq without stopping to think whether this would displease the United States. Russia will proceed into the future in its own way.
Its apparent objective is to become a full and effective democracy, but ways towards that goal can differ. Russia can move in a Russian way, whereas France and Spain may be moving towards the same objective in their own manner. And the United States should respect their choice.
DANIEL 12:4
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
HP Unveils RFID's Future Competitor
07.17.06 By Natali T. Del Conte
Hewlett-Packard unveiled a memory chip the size of a tomato seed on Monday in its Palo Alto laboratories. The tiny chip, called the Memory Spot, can be attached unobtrusively to any object and carry media or data. The Memory Spot will rival RFID tags in carrying information on movable physical objects, but HP calls it the smarter alternative.It has some of the characteristics of RFID but it's very different because it's orders of magnitude different in bandwidth, said Howard Taub, vice president and associate director of HP Laboratories. It's like comparing a monkey and a human. There are some similarities but the capabilities are very different.
The Memory Spot has a 10 megabits-per-second data-transfer rate and can store up to 4 megabits of data, although the demonstration chips stored only 256 kilobits. The chip has an integrated antenna, which is why it is so much smaller than an RFID chip, which gets most of its size from the separately attached antennae. It receives power through inductive coupling from a special read-write device that extracts data from the memory on the chip.
HP says that the chip will "bridge the digital and physical worlds. Taub demonstrated picture albums with the nearly-invisible chip attached to the borders. When a reader touched the chip, audio from the picture was played. Taub next waved the reader over the chip on a medicine bottle and the attached computer received the dosage, direction, and all other pertinent information from the prescription.Other proposed applications include sending digital postcards with movies and sounds like the moving pictures in a Harry Potter movie.
The chip can also be used to attach catalogs to merchandise, resumes to business cards, and digital information to a document in order to photocopy it without scanning. Magnetic Memory Chips Hit the Market Chip Titans Look to Startup for Flash Lift Intel To Talk Up 'Rosedale 2' WiMAX Chip Intel to Speed Up Chip Redesigns The reading devices have yet to be developed, but Taub has hopes that mobile phone companies and PDA manufacturers will want in.
A PDA is a good reader because it's got a screen and audio and video capabilities, but cell phones are the perfect readers, Taub said. Everybody has one with them at all times and they can play video and audio. But cell phones are not designed for this yet, so the cell phone companies would have to decide if they want to be part of the ecosystem. Information transfer requires actual physical connection to the Memory Spot and Taub says they designed it that way. We don't want to increase the range of contact, he said. We think it's just right.Memory Spot technology works independently of Internet connection. It is meant for physical data transmission, much like RFID, although another fundamental difference is that the data on Memory Spot is rewriteable whereas the majority of RFID chips are read-only. In a world with infinite connection and infinite bandwidth, you probably wouldn't need this, but I still don't have cell phone connection here in the basement,Taub said.
HP's business divisions have not put a price approximation on Memory Spot, particularly because they do not have a manufacturer lined up yet. Taub estimates that the chips could cost consumers $1 each, but emphasized that this price point is pure speculation. Because this Memory Spot is in such early phases, consumers will not actually see or use it for at least another two to five years. We're just announcing the technology right now,Taub said.
The hard part is building the ecosystem. You have to get your readers and writers, and I don't know how long it will take me to convince the cell phone companies to do this. How long has RFID been around and it's still not completely built out? An integral part of building the ecosystem will also involve building new standards for Memory Spot. Taub says that they have applied to some standards boards, although he would not say which ones, as well as complied with FCC regulations. He said that HP will announce the new standard in the near future.
MATTHEW 24:4-5
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
House of Yahweh: Doomsday cult sees end to world in September
AFP, via the Daily Star (Bangladesh), France,July 16, 2006
www.thedailystar.net
The escalating Middle East conflict has strengthened the convictions of a doomsday cult in central Kenya that believes the world will come to an end in September. Members of the "House of Yahweh" sect here have begun selling off their belongings and preparing for Armageddon, attracting the attention of authorities concerned the group's leaders may be taking advantage of believers.The goings-on now in Israel are a clear indication of what will happen,says Ruth Wanjiku, a member of the Kenyan branch of the House of Yahweh that is based in the US state of Texas.This is the beginning of the end of the world as prophesied by the 'Book of Yahweh',she says, referring to the group's version of the Bible that holds Armageddon will begin on September 12.The End. Again.
Handshake of Death: According to the House of Yahweh, a Christian sect, when Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin shook hands at the White House on Sept. 13, 1993, they began a seven-year tribulation that will end this Sept. 13 and bring about the end of the world. Los Angeles Times, Jan. 10, 2000.
According to the prophesy, the end of the world will begin that day when the United States moves to protect Israel, sparking a war that sucks in nuclear powers China, North Korea, Iran, India and Pakistan, as well as non-nuclear state Sudan.Recent developments in the Middle East, with Israel attacking militant positions in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, have only bolstered the group's assertions.
There will be a 'nuclear winter' with temperatures dropping to below zero degrees centigrade (32 Fahrenheit) and killing all non-believers,Wanjiku says, explaining the group's belief that conflict in the Middle East will cause the apocalypse.The high nuclear concentration will slowly move to low-concentration areas and this is how lives will be wiped from the face of the earth,adds fellow member Dominic Karichu.
In order to survive, believers are selling off possessions to build massive mud bunkers and store food, moves that have alarmed officials in Kinangop, a small trading post about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Nairobi.Since we cannot risk staying in our houses after September 12, we are selling them to finance the bunkers and food, Wanjiru said.It was not immediately clear if other branches of the House of Yahweh were taking similar preparations to the group's Kenyan followers but local officials said they will take action against any unscrupulou behavior.
Authorities said they had ordered village chiefs and police to arrest House of Yahweh leaders who instruct members to sell their homes and other possessions.Some people could be taking advantage of this to fleece the unsuspecting faithful and we are not going to leave anything to chance,said Nyandarua district commissioner Khamasi Shivogo.
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