1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Moderate quake jolts Japan, five injured. 3-Storms cancels flights in N.Y and N.J. 4-Sask. roads at risk of flooding with sudden warm spell 5-Powerful Storm`s Fury Overspreading The East Coast. 6-Tainted food kills 2 dogs in Puerto Rico. 7-Sea lion mauls surfing teen in Australia. 8-Dearest readers: Jewish World Review. 9-Israel ready for talks with Arabs on peace plan: Olmert. 10-Statement of G-7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. 11-This Week with Rabbi Eckstein. 12-Russia launches new generation nuclear submarine.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Sun Apr 15 11:14 AM EDT
APR 15,07
MAP 5.2 KYRGYZSTAN
MAP 3.3 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.8 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.2 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 5.0 PHOENIX ISLANDS, KIRIBATI REGION
MAP 4.7 WESTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 2.5 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 5.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.7 WESTERN IRAN
MAP 5.4 WESTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 4.6 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
MAP 2.8 WASHINGTON
APR 14,07
MAP 4.6 NEAR NORTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA, P.N.G.
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 NEAR NORTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA, P.N.G.
MAP 2.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 4.8 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 4.8 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 NEAR NORTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA, P.N.G.
MAP 4.7 NEAR NORTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA, P.N.G.
MAP 4.4 GUADELOUPE REGION, LEEWARD ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 CENTRAL MONGOLIA
MAP 3.2 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.9 LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 4.7 OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.9 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 3.0 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 ECUADOR
MAP 2.7 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.9 WEST CHILE RISE
MAP 3.2 MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.1 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.4 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Moderate quake jolts Japan, five injured APR 15,07
YOKKAICHI, Japan (Reuters) - A moderate earthquake jolted central and western Japan on Sunday, injuring at least five people and damaging houses. An official at Kameyama City, one of the sites hardest hit by the magnitude 5.4 quake, said two people were injured and 46 houses and other buildings had suffered partial damage.Some 4,300 households in the region suffered a temporary power outage and five people overall were hurt, Kyodo news agency said.The focus of the tremor that occurred at 12:19 p.m. (0319 GMT) was 16 km (10 miles) below the surface of the earth, in Mie Prefecture, about 300 km (190 miles) west of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.
The shaking was like a big thud, said Motoko Asada, a 56-year-old housewife in Yokkaichi City, just east of Kameyama and where one house had been badly damaged.Luckily, nothing fell and there's been no damage to my house, Asada told Reuters.About six hours later, a tremor with preliminary magnitude of 4.5 jolted the same area, the JMA said.Two people in Kameyama were injured by the first quake after a part of a ceiling fell in a restaurant, and a stone wall of a 16th century castle had partially collapsed, the city official said.Kameyama is home to Sharp Corp.'s flagship liquid crystal display factory and the region is often called Crystal Valley because there are numerous LCD parts and materials suppliers located there to feed into the Sharp plant.
Sharp, the world's third-largest LCD TV maker, said it had halted operations at the Kameyama plant for safety checks, but resumed work after confirming there had been no damage to the facility.
The high speed bullet train service was also briefly halted for checks but resumed service, and some highways were temporarily closed for inspections.Late last month, a 6.9-magnitude quake struck the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, about 300 km west of Tokyo, killing one person, injuring more than 200 people and destroying many homes.Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Storms cancels flights in N.Y and N.J. By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer APR 15,07
NEW YORK - Airlines canceled 300 flights Sunday as a hard-blowing nor'easter gathered strength along the East Coast and threatened to deliver some of the worst flooding to coastal Long Island in 14 years. The cancellations at the New York area's three major airports affected most carriers, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. More cancellations were expected throughout the day.Forecasters expected sustained wind of 40 mph and a storm surge of 3 to 5 feet, a combination that could cause as much coastal damage as a winter storm that wreaked havoc on the island in late 1992, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said.Heavy rain and thunderstorms extended from Florida up the coast to southern New England on Sunday morning.
Spitzer said some low-lying areas of Long Island may need to be evacuated, and he deployed 3,200 members of the National Guard to potential flood areas.The weather system was forecast to strengthen along the East Coast and form a nor'easter, a storm that follows the coast northward with northeasterly wind driving waves and heavy rain.The National Weather Service posted storm warnings and watches all along the East Coast, with tornado warnings in South Carolina and flood warnings extending from Virginia north to the New York area. Winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of New England.Two to 4 inches of rain was forecast for the New York City region with wind gusting to 50 mph. Snow and sleet were possible inland, the weather service said.The weather service said as much as 20 inches of snow was possible at higher elevations of New York's Adirondacks by the time the storm passes late Monday and Tuesday.Pennsylvania officials activated the state emergency operations center in anticipation of the storm. While snowfall in April is highly unusual, it is critical to remain vigilant in executing winter weather preparedness plans, Gov. Ed Rendell said in a statement.New Jersey made preparations for heavy snow in the state's northwest corner and possible flooding elsewhere.
We're ready for everything, which based upon the forecast, is pretty much what we could get, said Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.The storm also rained out Sunday's Washington Nationals game with the New York Mets at New York's Shea Stadium. Last weekend, snow dumped by another major storm system wiped out scheduled Mariners-Indians games at Cleveland for four straight days.Organizers canceled the Greek-American Independence Day parade that had been planned on Fifth Avenue.
It is unusual for this time of year. We probably see a storm like this, at this time of year, probably once every 25 years or so, said Brian Korty, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Camp Springs, Md.The storm had been blamed for five deaths as it blew out of the Plains late in the week, two in violent thunderstorms in Texas and three on slippery roads in Kansas, where more than a foot of snow fell. Two tornadoes caused damage Friday in Texas.
Sask. roads at risk of flooding with sudden warm spell
Last Updated: Saturday, April 14, 2007 | 4:49 PM ET CBC News
Rising temperatures in Saskatchewan this weekend will mean a lot of melting snow and possibly flooded country roads, according to the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority.Authority spokesman Doug Johnson says a rapid melting will create fast moving water in some areas.
We're expecting flows in the once-in-25-year range. There'll be a number of grid roads — significant number of grid roads— and a number of farm access roads that are going to be impacted.Johnson says the Watershed Authority is monitoring a number of communities for high water levels. The risk of flooding is highest along Highway 5 between Canora and Humboldt and in the communities of Wolsley Lake and Lanigan.When we start to see double digits, 15-20 degrees … and we tend to see the nighttime temperatures not dropping below zero, then we start to see a rapid runoff, and that's a problem, he told CBC.
Johnson says flooding was confined to a relatively small area last year, but he adds that isn't the case this year.This year, it's not only the Red Deer River system but the Carrot River basin and some of the basins like Duck Creek that are going into the South Saskatchewan [River], Saskatchewan basin, so it's a much wider area.Spring run-off warnings and water level advisories have been popping up from British Columbia to Manitoba in recent weeks with potential for ice-jam flooding on major rivers.
Unseasonably cool, wet weather in early April has delayed some of the normal melting and set the stage for flooding problems, said Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips.
Powerful Storm`s Fury Overspreading The East Coast APR 15,07
(State College, PA) - The powerful storm that has been the culprit behind severe weather and a snowstorm the past couple of days will strengthen into a major nor'easter today. While the Northeast is just beginning to feel the storm's fury which will persist into Monday, gusty winds will follow this morning's severe thunderstorms over much of the Southeast.
Our Severe Weather Center's page displays all the watches and warnings related to the potent storm that will batter the East Coast the next couple of days as it strengthens into a powerful and slow-moving nor'easter. As it begins to transition into the major nor'easter, the storm will continue to be responsible for triggering damaging thunderstorms and a couple of destructive tornadoes across the Southeast today. Our SevereWeather Center states that the severe weather will be limited to the morning hours across the Southeast coastline, and bear similar characteristics to what the News Summaries page reports ignited Saturday.
The severe weather threat will only persist into the afternoon hours over the Outer Banks of North Carolina and South Florida, including Miami. North of the severe weather, the East Regional News story details that the band of soaking rain, shown on the Northeast Regional Radar, will continue to spread from north to south over the Interstate 95 corridor from Richmond, Va., to Bangor, Maine, through tonight. Since rain gauges will fill up to the three-inch mark, with locally higher amounts, flooding problems are likely, especially in low-lying and poor drainage areas. Flooding in not only a concern along the immediate coastline due to the drenching rain, but also because the storm's strong winds will pile water up against the shore. In addition, the winds, gusting past 50 mph, will rough up the ocean and cause potentially beach-altering erosion. With a plethora of moisture wrapping around the storm's center and meeting up with colder air, snow will make a late-season appearance across the interior.
According to our Winter Weather Center, up to a foot of snow will blanket the majority of New York to far western Maine through Monday. The higher terrain will top the snowfall totals list with one to two feet. Not only will the snow make travel extremely difficult, but its weight could down tree limbs and power lines, leading to power outages, and cause roofs to fail. With temperatures staying close to the freezing mark, the snow will be a heavy, packing snow, not light and fluffy. As the storm departs and temperatures begin to moderate, the melting of this snow will bring a threat of flooding during the middle of the workweek. The threat for downed trees and power lines, and other minor structural damage, will also exist over the rest of the Northeast, as well as the Southeast, as strong winds howl around the storm through Monday. Drivers of high-profile vehicles should be advised that the winds could easily overturn or steer these vehicles off roadways. The intense weather all across the East this weekend could impact other travelers. Air travelers should check the FAA's Flight Delay map and their specific airline before heading to airports. On the ground, motorists heading where the storm's heavy rain and severe thunderstorms will occur should be prepared for slow travel. The heavy, wet and wind-swept snow across the interior Northeast will make for even worse driving conditions.
Tainted food kills 2 dogs in Puerto Rico Sun Apr 15, 11:23 PM ET
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Two dogs in Puerto Rico died of kidney failure after eating dog biscuits that were among the 100-plus brands of pet foods and treats contaminated with an industrial chemical, a veterinarians' group said Saturday. The Ol'Roy dog biscuits were purchased at Amigo, a supermarket chain owned by Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., according to Victor Collazo, chief of Puerto Rico's Veterinary Medical Association.The deaths of the miniature schnauzers were the first in the U.S. Caribbean territory stemming from the contaminated pet food, Collazo said in a statement.Testing has revealed that wheat gluten, a protein source, imported from China was contaminated with melamine, used to make plastics and other industrial products.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received thousands of complaints but has confirmed only about 16 pet deaths. Other sources put the death toll much higher.
Sea lion mauls surfing teen in Australia Sun Apr 15, 1:01 AM ET
SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian teenager was lucky to be alive on Sunday after she survived being mauled by a massive sea lion while surfing. Ella Murphy was attacked by the creature, thought to weigh about 300 kilograms (660 pounds), as she stood on a surfboard being towed behind a boat on Saturday.The animal was close to charging the 13-year-old girl a second time as she floundered in the water off the coast of the small town of Lancelin in Western Australia when she was rescued by the driver of the boat, Chris Thomas.
You can only describe it as like a white pointer (shark) jumping out of the water, he told News Limited newspapers.It was really sort of movie-like. This thing just exploded in a full-on, frontal attack.It actually lined her up. It jumped out of the water at her and hit her head-on. It must have been travelling at an enormous speed.It opened its mouth and grabbed her head. It latched on.Thomas manoeuvred his boat between the sea lion and the girl to prevent a second mauling.It was going back for her, it was looking for her and it spotted her, he said. I had this horrible feeling I was not going to make it back in time.
Ella, who suffered a broken jaw and lost three teeth in the attack, was in a stable condition at Princess Margaret Hospital late Saturday.Her mother, Michelle Forbes, said her daughter had a gash under her chin which was quite close to her carotid artery.We could have lost her, she said.Sea lions are a protected species and it is thought that environmental officers will attempt to move it into another area rather than kill it.
Dearest readers: Jewish World Review APR 15,07
I believe in the Power of Prayer. I TRULY BELIEVE IN IT.This is one of the hardest letters I'm likely to ever write.My father is in his 80s and his life is now hanging in the balance.There are tens of thousands who receive JWR daily. I'm asking that each of you take a moment and recite a prayer on behalf of Yehudah ben (son of ) Rivka.I don't care if you identify as a Jew, Christian, Hindu, or member of any other faith or no faith. Please beseech the One Who Grants Life to allow my father
to live!
Israel ready for talks with Arabs on peace plan: Olmert by Ron Bousso APR 15,07
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that Israel was ready to talk with Arab states over their peace plan as he held the first round of planned regular meetings with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
We are ready to hold talks with any combination of Arab states on their ideas and I would be glad to hear their ideas on the Saudi initiative, Olmert said at the weekly cabinet meeting.I'll be glad to hear their ideas and for them to listen to ours, he said. I hope there will be a chance for such meetings.He was referring to a blueprint revived during an Arab League summit last month which offers Israel peace and normal ties with Arab countries in exchange for withdrawing from Arab land occupied during the 1967 Six Day War, allowing the creation of a Palestinian state and the return of refugees.
Israel, which initially rejected the plan when it was first unveiled in 2002, has said recently it could provide a basis for talks, provided there are amendments to the refugee issue something the Arab states have refused.
We are looking for a way to advance the Saudi initiative, Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said. Both sides can come with their positions and since there are disagreements between the two sides, we have to find a way to bridge them.Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, meanwhile, Sunday urged Israel to respond to Arab gestures for peace in order to avoid a catastrophe.The statements came ahead of a meeting of 12 Arab ministers in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the Saudi-drafted peace initiative. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was later Sunday to hold talks with her Jordanian counterpart in Amman in preparation for Wednesday's meeting, a senior official in her ministry said.
Critics have accused Olmert, whose ratings are approaching zero, of being disingenuous in turning to the dormant peace process as an attempt to divert attention from criticism over last year's war against Hezbollah and a string of corruption scandals.Earlier this month, Arab League chief Amr Mussa rejected Olmert's offer to participate in a meeting of Israelis, Palestinians and moderate Arab nations because the Israelis described the return of refugees as a red line.Its only goal was to get normalisation for free, Mussa said of the offer, adding that it wasn't serious and offered nothing new.
Olmert and Abbas met in Jerusalem on Sunday in the first of what are due to be regular meetings between the two leaders aimed at jumpstarting peace talks, which have been largely stalled for six years, and that were agreed during a visit last month by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Olmert and Abu Mazen (Abbas) discussed mainly the diplomatic horizon without delving into core issues of negotiations, a senior Israeli government official told AFP.The Israeli premier again urged Abbas to do all to secure the release of an Israeli soldier seized by Gaza-based militants last June, which has since been a main stumbling block between Israelis and Palestinians, the official said. The two sides did not discuss the details of a possible Palestinian prisoner release in exchange for Shalit, drawn-out negotiations that have been mediated by Egypt, he said.
Palestinians have demanded that Israel release hundreds of prisoners in exchange for Shalit, but the Olmert government has so far refused to free any detainees with blood on their hands those involved in attacks that have killed Israelis.The Palestinians said they would deploy forces of the presidential guard, loyal to Abbas, along the so-called Philadelphi Route on the border of Gaza and Egypt to stem the alleged smuggling of arms into the coastal strip, the official said. The two leaders agreed to hold the next round of talks before the end of the month in the West Bank town of Jericho, the first such high-level meeting in a Palestinian city, said Palestinian chief negotiation Saeb Erakat.
Statement of G-7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors APR 15,07
Washington, DC- We, Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, met today to evaluate the global economic outlook. Although risks remain, the global economy is having its strongest sustained expansion in more than 30 years and is becoming more balanced. In our economies, U.S. economic activity remains solid even as domestic demand moderates to a more sustainable growth path.
The euro-area is experiencing a healthy upswing. UK growth remains robust and Canadian growth is accelerating. Japan's recovery is on track and expected to continue. We remain confident that the implications of these developments will be recognized by market participants and will be incorporated in their assessments of risks.Further strengthening and rebalancing of domestic demand is desirable to help ensure the global economic expansion remains robust. We continue to be committed to maintaining price stability as the best contribution that monetary policy can make to sustained global growth. We will do more to increase trend economic growth rates, especially through structural reforms such as improving labor markets and long-term fiscal sustainability. We are confident that the continuation of our policies will support economic growth and contribute to reduce international imbalances. We will continue to work together to support the global adjustment process and urge others to do likewise.We reaffirm that exchange rates should reflect economic fundamentals. Excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates are undesirable for economic growth.
We continue to monitor exchange markets closely, and cooperate as appropriate. In emerging economies with large and growing current account surpluses, especially China, it is desirable that their effective exchange rates move so that necessary adjustments will occur.We believe that a successful conclusion of the Doha Development round is imperative. We are committed to resisting protectionist sentiment.
Substantially lowering tariffs and other barriers is essential to spur new growth in global trade and reduce poverty. We welcome recent steps to intensify engagement, recognizing that substantive movement towards a comprehensive final outcome requires all parties to make additional efforts. We expect spending on Aid for Trade to increase to $4 billion, including through enhancing the Integrated Framework. We support initiatives to enhance cooperation to enforce intellectual property rights and combat counterfeiting which are crucial to our knowledge-based economies. We continued our discussions on how to develop local currency bond markets to enhance the contribution of financial markets to sustainable economic growth and to reduce emerging market economies' vulnerability to external shocks and financial crises. We look forward to the results of the high level conference on May 9-10 in Frankfurt, which will help to identify concrete recommendations to sustain the momentum of reform.We discussed recent developments in global financial markets, including hedge funds, which along with the emergence of advanced financial techniques such as credit derivatives, have contributed significantly to the efficiency of the financial system. We will continue to monitor the implications of thesedevelopments. Market-led and official initiatives focused on issues around private pools of capital intended to strengthen market discipline, risk management, market infrastructure, information and valuation practices, are essential contributions to global financial stability.
In this context, we welcomed the work of the United States' President's Working Group on Financial Markets and its Principles and Guidelines Regarding Private Pools of Capital and look forward to the Financial Stability Forum's update of its 2000 Report on Highly Leveraged Institutions. We discussed the issue of mutual recognition of comparable regimes and look forward to further progress being made on cross-border access by investors to our securities markets.
We agree to push forward the ambitious package of bold and fundamental reforms in order to retain the IMF's relevance and legitimacy. Reforms should ensure that actual IMF quota shares, especially those of the most dynamic members, many of which are emerging markets, better reflect relative weights and roles in the global economy. We agree that the voice of low-income countries should be enhanced. A necessary element of IMF reform is improved surveillance over exchange rates.
Surveillance must focus on external stability and be applied equally and even-handedly without creating new obligations. In this context, we welcome the Managing Director's proposals to update the 1977 Decision on Surveillance over Exchange Rate Policies and to develop a surveillance remit. We look forward to finalizing these proposals rapidly after the Spring Meetings. We took note of the work of the External Review Committee on IMF-World Bank Collaboration as well as of the report of the Committee to Study Sustainable Long-term Financing of the IMF. We agreed to consider the latter proposal in time alongside measures to further reduce administrative expenditures.
We encourage the use of the debt sustainability framework by all borrowers and creditors. We welcome continued work on principles for responsible lending and seek to involve other interested parties. We advocate a rapid resolution to Liberia's arrears to the international financial institutions.
Available internal resources should be fully used to this end. We are prepared to make additional financial contributions. We look forward to the forthcoming International Conference on Education in Brussels.In order to ensure energy security and to address climate change, we consider energy efficiency and the promotion of energy diversification to be important issues for both developed and developing economies. Diversification can include advanced energy technologies such as renewable, nuclear, and clean coal. We agree that market based policy measures should be effectively designed to meet specific conditions in each country.
We commit to continue the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit finance that risks the stability and integrity of the global financial system. We call for the effective and timely implementation of UN Resolutions 1540, 1718, 1737 and 1747.
We commend the Financial Action Task Force on its commitment to examine the risks of weapons of mass destruction proliferation finance. We urge that as it reviews its strategic direction, the FATF consider expanding its mandate, enhancing global implementation of its standards, improving its strategic surveillance, and examining ways to bolster accountability and outreach activities. We look forward to the successful launch of the International Compact for Iraq in Sharm El Sheik on May 3. We discussed economic prospects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and agreed to keep this under review.
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein April 12, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
This Sunday, Jews around the world will observe Yom Ha'Shoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day, which commemorates one of the most terrible chapters in Jewish and human history. Motivated by a fanatical hatred of Jews and a desire to rid society of undesirable elements, the Nazi regime that ruled Germany during the mid-20th century engaged in a systematic, methodical, and brutal campaign to destroy the Jewish people. They nearly succeeded, murdering six millions Jews - about one third of the world's Jewish population at the time.The full name of Holocaust Remembrance Day in Hebrew is actually Yom Ha'Shoah Ve-Hagevurah, meaning the Day of (remembrance of) the Holocaust and the Heroism. This reminds us that even though a shockingly high number of people looked the other way when presented with evidence of Nazi crimes, there were those who went to great lengths to save Jews.
Not all of these were Jewish. In fact, many remembered today as righteous gentiles were Christian. There was Corrie ten Boom, whose home in Holland sheltered those fleeing Nazi oppression. In France, Pastor Andre Trocme helped make an entire town, Le Chambon, a haven for persecuted Jews. Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish Christian, rescued thousands of Jews from the Nazi death machine. And there were, of course, many more who are less well-known, but no less deserving of our gratitude.
Some say the Holocaust is too terrible to remember. But there is a reason that the Jewish people promise to never forget. We remember so that we may prevent such horrible events from ever occurring again.
Today there seems to be a trend to forget the lessons of history taught by the Holocaust, or even to rewrite history as if it never occurred. The radical Muslim regime of Iran, which has dedicated itself to Israel's destruction, held a Holocaust denial conference last year that attracted not only Islamist fanatics, but a disturbingly high number of Western academics and other public figures as well. A
recent study found that many British schools are dropping Holocaust education for fear that Britain's rising Muslim population will take offense. If indeed it is true that those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it, we have very real cause for alarm today making observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day all the more important.No one who experiences Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel ever forgets it. For two minutes, as sirens sound across the country, all activity literally comes to a halt. People stop working, pedestrians pause, cars pull over to the side of the road, and Israel is united in silent remembrance of the six million murdered.
Holocaust Remembrance Day is not observed in the United States outside of the Jewish community. But even so, I invite you to pause on Sunday to remember the six million who were killed for being Jewish, to give thanks to God for the righteous gentiles whose faith led them to risk their lives saving Jews, and to renew the vow to never forget the horrors of the Holocaust. During these days when the threats to Israel's existence are all too real and she faces the dire prospect of a similar fate, it is critical that we stand with her. The need to remember - and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem - is greater than ever.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship of Christians and Jews
DANIEL 11:40
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO
MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame
burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Russia launches new generation nuclear submarine By Guy Faulconbridge APR 15,07
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia launched its first new generation nuclear submarine since the fall of the Soviet Union on Sunday, as the Kremlin seeks to upgrade its undersea nuclear strike force. The long-delayed Yuri Dolgoruky, the first Borei-class (Arctic Wind) nuclear submarine, was moved to the dry docks at a highly secret submarine base in the Arctic town of Severodvinsk, the heart of Russia's northern submarine fleet.Sergei Ivanov, Russia's powerful first deputy prime minister who rules the military-industrial sector, took part in the ceremony along with the navy top brass and Kremlin advisers.For the first time in 17 years we are launching such a vessel --in essence this is the first Russian strategic submarine, a submarine of the new generation, the RIA news agency quoted Ivanov as saying.
The launch of the new submarine is part of a plan, approved by President Vladimir Putin, to upgrade the core of Russia's undersea nuclear attack forces, military analysts said.Putin has boosted funding for the submarine fleet, which has been involved in a string of fatal accidents including the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea in August 2000. All 118 sailors aboard the Kursk
perished.The Yuri Dolgoruky has taken 12 years to build following funding problems in the chaos of the 1990s, when the post-Soviet navy and shipbuilding sector lost much of its talent.Russia wants to show that she remains a nuclear power and -- as the Putin administration says -- still a great power and for them the greatness of that power is measured by its weapons, Alexander Nikitin, a former Russian navy engineer now working as an environmental campaigner, told Reuters from Oslo.
Russia has the second largest nuclear submarine fleet in the world after the United States.Russia's attack submarines fulfil the function of preventing the United States's freedom of action at sea, said Ivan Safranchuk, head of the World Security Institute's Moscow office.The development of this submarine fleet illustrates the intentions of Russia to preserve its position on the world ocean, he said.
The Yuri Dolgoruky, which takes its name from a Slavic prince who helped defend Moscow, can descend to a depth of 450 meters (1,500 feet) and can carry 107 sailors for 100 days without rising to the surface.
The submarine, which Interfax said had cost about 23 billion roubles ($890 million), should have been ready in 2002 but will enter full service in the northern fleet in 2008.Russia will build 8 of the new generation submarines by 2018, defence officials said.But Russia has had problems developing the Bulava-M ballistic missiles, which the new submarines will carry. The missiles, which have a range of 8,000 km (5,000 miles), have misfired in four out the five recent tests.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL GROWS
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-2 earthquakes shake Tokyo and Japan. 3-Spring's slow arrival hits crops, baseball. 4-Spring storm drops snow, spawns tornado. 5-The Nation's Weather. 6-EU official sees Mideast peace momentum. 7-Asian hornets a new menace in France. 8-Two men charged with firebombing Jewish school, centre. 9-Street preacher vows to stay loud and proud. 10-Constitution by the backdoor. 11-The Emerging Church: Straying from the Gospel. 12-Barroso seeks road map for EU Constitution. 13-Solana against setting outer border for EU. 14-support for Jews among Christians is growing.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Sat Apr 14 11:10 AM EDT
APR 14,07
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 ECUADOR
MAP 2.7 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.9 WEST CHILE RISE
MAP 3.2 MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.1 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.4 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
APR 13,07
MAP 4.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 5.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.6 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 3.4 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.8 SOUTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE
MAP 5.3 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.9 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.8 MICHOACAN, MEXICO
MAP 4.5 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
MAP 3.4 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.9 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.0 KEPULAUAN SANGIHE, INDONESIA
MAP 5.5 KEPULAUAN SULA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.4 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 6.0 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 4.4 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.9 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
2 earthquakes shake Tokyo and Japan APR 14,07
TOKYO — Two earthquakes shook Tokyo and northeastern Japan early Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. There were no tsunami warnings from the two temblors, the Meteorological Agency said.A quake with preliminary magnitude of 5.4 struck off the coast of Hachijo-Jima island in the Pacific Ocean at 3:15 a.m. Saturday. About two and half hours later, a magnitude 4.5 quake centered off the coast of Ibaraki jolted dozens of towns in northeastern Japan.Hachijo-Jima is about 185 miles south of Tokyo, and Ibaraki is about 125 miles northeast of the capital.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Spring's slow arrival hits crops, baseball By Andrew Stern Fri Apr 13, 1:18 PM ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wheat fields ruined by freezing temperatures, snowed-out baseball games in Cleveland and Chicago, and shivering vacationers have made this spring one to forget across much of the United States.
After the warmest winter ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere and much talk of global warming, weather watchers say occasional snowstorms in the Midwest and Northeast, and unseasonable cold gripping much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation, is rare though not unprecedented.It's pretty unusual, said University of Wisconsin-Madison atmospheric scientist Jonathan Martin.Once every 10 years or so we have a snow 5 inches event or greater (in Wisconsin) in the first half of April. It hasn't happened for about 12 years but it certainly happened onWednesday for us when more than 5 inches fell, he said.
Such an event is probably a once every 10- or 20-year event for the Great Lakes region. Since this has been so widespread and so extreme for these last seven or eight days -- that might put it in the once-every-30-years category, he added.As much as one-quarter of the nation's hard red winter wheat and nearly half of its soft red winter wheat has been damaged by the sub-freezing temperatures, leaving farmers scrambling to replant ruined fields with scarce corn seeds or soybeans, agriculture experts said.Resulting price jumps for wheat could affect the cost of producing staples such as bread and crackers.The cold, wet spring has also kept Midwestern farmers from starting on this year's planting. Forecasts for continued below-normal temperatures in the nation's breadbasket will keep soils too cool for seeds to germinate, meteorologists said.
It's looking like not much corn planting is going to get done in the Midwest during April. The first half of May is going to be more of a ball game, said Mike Palmerino, forecaster with DTN Meterologix weather service.Actual ball games have been tougher to come by as the boys of summer have become springtime refugees -- the Cleveland Indians baseball team had to move this week's scheduled home games from snowy Jacobs Field to the Milwaukee Brewers' stadium, which used its retractable roof.
The Chicago Cubs also postponed a contest due to a stinging snowstorm.Another violent storm swept out of the southern plains on Friday, blanketing Colorado and Kansas with snow, and stormy weather was expected to batter the East Coast over the weekend.But Friday dawned bright and sunny in Madison, Wisconsin.The sun is so high in the sky and so powerful after the spring equinox (which occurred on March 20 this year), that as soon as it comes out, the melting begins, Martin said.
(Additional reporting by Julie Ingwersen and Chris Stebbins)
Spring storm drops snow, spawns tornado By JEFF CARLTON, Associated Press Writer APR 14,07
DALLAS - A severe storm dropped nearly a foot of snow on parts of the central Plains Friday and spawned at least one tornado in Texas, where one death was blamed on high winds. The storm shattered glass at a Forth Worth grocery store, injuring five people, while a man unloading his truck elsewhere was crushed under his load of lumber, fire spokesman Lt. Kent Worley said.In nearby Haltom City, several homes and businesses were damaged and about a dozen tractor-trailers were pushed onto their sides. The Valley Missionary Baptist Church there was destroyed.Amanda Rymer, 21, said she had a split-second to pull her 2-year-old daughter safety.I felt my house start shaking like the wind and I ran in here and grabbed my little girl, she said. As soon as I moved her, the roof fell in right where she was standing.Rymer said she rushed her daughter into a bedroom and pulled a mattress over her. Then she ran back to the living room for her 2-month-old son, who was sitting in a baby swing.
I didn't know if I was going to come out here and my little boy would be dead or alive or even here, she said.About 23,000 customers were without power Friday because the storms downed trees and power lines, said Gailee Cardwell, a spokeswoman for TXU Electric Delivery.
The storm also forced the cancellation of NASCAR Nextel Cup qualifying races at Texas Motor Speedway. Thousands of fans were advised to move to safety as tornado sirens blared at the speedway in Fort Worth.To the north, the storm caused whiteout conditions on Kansas highways and forced some schools to close early.Truck stop worker Sylvia Smith-Metcalf said conditions were so bad that she would not be able to make a 30-mile drive home to Jetmore when her shift ended.They got me a motel room right next door, she said. I'm supposed to get off work at 10, provided the person on the next shift can get in.
A tornado was spotted near Bedford, a suburb in between Dallas and Forth Worth, though no damage was reported, according to the National Weather Service.The storm system was headed toward the East Coast, where it was expected to create a messy weekend.Winds up to 25 mph were forecast for the Carolinas on Saturday before the storm was to hit the Northeast with heavy snow or rain by Sunday. Forecasters also warned of possible flooding.The storm's combination of snow, rain and high wind was unusual for this time of year, said Brian Korty, a National Weather Service forecaster in Camp Springs, Md.Jan Mahon said people around McCook, Neb., have spring fever and are eager to get out and do some gardening at home or start planting crops in the fields. But after years of abnormally dry or drought conditions near McCook, residents do see the benefit of the snow.Everybody's tired of it, Mahon said. We like the moisture, but we'd rather have rain.It follows an earlier system that grounded hundreds of flights in the Midwest on Wednesday before delivering up to a foot fresh snow to northern New England on Friday.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Sat Apr 14, 5:47 AM ET
A major storm will continue developing Saturday as it moves through the Southeast toward the eastern seaboard. The storm is expected to bring heavy winds, rain and thunderstorms to the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
As it approaches the East Coast, the storm is expected to intensify, climaxing on Sunday.Rain is expected in the Northwest, and snow is likely in higher elevations. Temperatures in the region are expected to range from the 30s in higher elevations to the 60s in lower ones.Inland areas of California should get temperatures in the 60s and 70s, and temperatures in parts of the Southwest should reach the 80s. Temperatures are expected to range from the 30s to 50s in the Northeast and 60s and 70s in most of the Southeast. The upper Midwest should experience temperatures in the 40s and 50s, while temperatures in Florida could reach the 90s. Temperatures in the lower 48 states Friday ranged from a low of 3 degrees at Yellowstone, Wyo., to a high of 97 degrees at Laredo, Texas.
EU official sees Mideast peace momentum By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer APR 14,07
UNITED NATIONS - There is new momentum in the Middle East peace process, a high-ranking European Union official said Friday after meeting the U.N. secretary-general. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU external relations commissioner, pointed to a recent Arab League peace initiative, a new Palestinian unity government, and regular meetings between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.I think the recent developments ... have brought indeed a new momentum to this peace process, she said.Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Ferrero-Waldner discussed these developments and the next meeting of the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers — the U.N., EU, Russia and the U.S.Last month, the Arab League relaunched a proposal based on a dormant 2002 Saudi plan offering peace with Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Mideast War. Olmert has hailed the plan as a revolutionary change but has also expressed reservations.
Since the militant Hamas group swept parliamentary elections last year, EU has paid hundreds of million of dollars in social assistance directly to the people and projects, bypassing the government.
Palestinians installed the new government, a coalition of Hamas and the moderate Fatah party, last month in hopes of persuading international community to end a year of bruising sanctions.Ferrero-Waldner told reporters that she and Ban both welcome the national unity government as indeed an important step towards Palestinian unity.But she stressed that the EU will only support those in the new Palestinian government who accept the Quartet's principles Israel's right to exist, past peace agreements signed by the PLO and renunciation of terror and violence.
Asian hornets a new menace in France By PAUL LAUENER and MARIE-LAURE COMBES, Associated Press Writers SAT APR 14,07
PARIS - Ambushing locals as they return home from work, foreign invaders are dismembering French natives and feeding them to their young. This horror scenario is playing out in France's beehives, where an ultra-aggressive species of Asian hornets — who likely migrated in pottery shipped from China — may be threatening French honey production.The hornets are thought to have reached France in 2004 after stowing away on a cargo boat, said Claire Villemant, a lecturer at Paris' Natural History Museum.She said a France-based bonsai merchant traveled to the Yunnan province of southern China to buy ceramic pots for his trees.
He saw the hornets in that region, she said. When he saw them again, they were buzzing around his property in the southwestern French village of Tonneins.Since then, they hornets have been establishing themselves in their adopted country, concentrating mostly on building imposing nests. It took until last summer for their numbers to start threatening honey production, said Henri Clement, president of the National Union for French Beekeeping. He said it was too early to give figures on the hornets' economic impact, but he is bracing for a tough summer.The situation is very worrying, he said. If the hornets keep attacking the bees then their number will be reduced and honey production will be severely handicapped.France's 1.1 million hives produce up to 30,000 tons of honey a year, about 2,500 tons of which are exported, according to the French national agency for fruits, vegetables and horticulture.
Experts fear the hornets — which also sting humans — may spread to the warmer reaches of southern Europe. They could begin colonizing Spain as early as this summer, Villemant said. Even Britain could be vulnerable if they hornets cross the English Channel through freight, she said.Mike Hood, entomology professor at Clemson University in South Carolina, warned, If it could spread to France, it could spread to other regions of the world, so that would be a concern for the U.S.North America is already suffering its own bee troubles.An invasion of highly aggressive Africanized bees has spread across the southern United States. These killer bees are easily provoked and attack in huge numbers. Since the hybrid Africanized bees are considered less efficient than European bees, beekeepers worry they could lower honey production and pollination.
A mysterious illness has killed tens of thousands of honeybee colonies in at least 22 U.S. states, threatening honey production. The cause of the ailment, called Colony Collapse Disorder, is unclear.In France, the Asian hornets have spread quickly and turned once-tranquil hives into battlefields, since there are no natural predators in the region.Bigger and bulkier than their European cousins, the hornets have no trouble overcoming honeybees. They ambush beehives and dismember the bees, ripping off their heads, antennae, and wings and reducing them to a paste to feed the hornet queen and her larvae.The honeybees are beginning to mount a counteroffensive, Villemant says: They gather around an invading hornet, flap their wings to increase the temperature and effectively roast it.Beekeepers also are fighting back they can change the size of the entrances to the hives so the smaller bees can get in but not the hornets. Some have suggested destroying all hornet nests in the region, including those of French and European hornets. But Villemant says that would be ecologically disastrous. Hood said French beekeepers could go back to where (the hornets) came from to find natural predators. But he added, You have to be careful with this kind of solution as what you bring back might be worse than the pest problem you already have.
Two men charged with firebombing Jewish school, centre
Friday, April 13, 2007 CBC News
Montreal police arrested two men Friday in connection with three bombings, including explosions at a Jewish community centre and a Jewish school.The men — Omar Bulphred, 24, and Azim Ibragimov, 22 — have been charged with arson, uttering death threats and possessing arson materials, police said.The two Montreal men were arrested in connection with:The explosion of a small bomb in front of the Ben Weider Jewish Community Centre in Côte-des-Neiges on April 3. A firebomb thrown at the front door of the Taldos Yakov Yosef school in Outremont that sparked a small fire on Sept. 2.
The bombing of a car in Mercier on Sept. 12. No one was injured in any of the incidents.A bail hearing will be held next week, police said.
Street preacher vows to stay loud and proud Friday, April 13, 2007 CBC News
A Calgary preacher plans to keep spreading the word of God with loudspeakers on the street, despite a court order.The grace period the city allowed Art Pawlowski over the Easter weekend has expired, but the preacher said that's not going to stop him.Without the speakers, we cannot proceed. Because of the overpass and the noise from the cars, it's impossible to communicate with anyone over there.
His street church meets across from the Drop-In Centre, a homeless shelter, on weekends.Court of Queen's Bench ruled on April 5 that Pawlowski must abide by the restrictions on his 2007 parks permit preventing him from using loudspeakers to preach.Pawlowski believes the city is persecuting him because of his religious message.
The city of Calgary is prejudiced against our message of hope in the name of Jesus and there is some witch hunt against the cross, he said.City bylaw director Bill Bruce said the noise restrictions have nothing to do with religion. He said if Pawlowski uses the speakers Friday night, there will be consequences.He's going to have to decide how that goes. There is a permit in place, the court has said the permit stands, and it needs to be honoured.Bruce said if Pawlowski defies the order, he could be fined a couple of hundred dollars. He could also have his permit revoked and be issued a mandatory court appearance for non-compliance.
Constitution by the backdoor
14.04.2007 - 17:25 CET | By Jens-Peter Bonde
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT This week the European Parliament's constitutional committee had debates with two former members of the convention the body that drew up the EU constitution. Both presented different methods for getting the major parts of the rejected constitution approved, by the backdoor, with no referendums.The new Dutch minister of European affairs, Frans Timmermans, would change the name Constitution to a new treaty and delete the EU state symbols - the flag and the hymn - from the treaty, but not from the real world.He suggested turning Part II of the proposed constitution on the charter of fundamental rights into one line, accepting them without mentioning them.Part III should be changed into amendments to the actual treaty of Nice incorporating most of the 59 new areas with qualified majority voting.
Essentially, that would mean the same content, only avoiding a referendum.Meanwhile, Pierre Lequiller, head of the National Assembly's EU delegation, proposed a similar outline bringing the treaty down to 116 articles. He would, however, include the fundamental rights part.It was striking that they both seek to avoid asking the opinion of their people on any new EU treaty. This is also the policy of the favourite candidate for the French Presidential elections, Nicholas Sarkozy.He is the Coup d'Etat candidate, aiming to adopt a rejected constitution with no new consultation of the people.
No more referendums! This is the lesson after the French and Dutch No.They had the opportunity to vote yes, which they did not do and now they will not be asked again.
How naive to believe it will work. The voters in France and the Netherlands are not blind. They opposed a constitution against the advice of 90 per cent of their own parliamentary representatives. But the democratic opposition in Europe has not gone into hiding and we will certainly mobilise the citizens for a democratic procedure to be followed.We will now reshape a European referendum campaign to call for referendums in all member states, which could occur on the same day across Europe. (A referendum petition webs ite can be found here www.X09.eu )I strongly believe we should have a new elected convention and referendums the same day throughout the EU. That method will foster the transparency, proximity and democracy rules we all deserve.
Final roadmap in June
This non-consultation method is being echoed at the highest levels. The German EU presidency has already started bilateral talks on the constitution with every single member state, avoiding general consultation and keeping stumm about what other governments have said.The German chancellor will then deliver the final roadmap with the suggested content to the incoming Portuguese presidency at the 21-22 June summit in Brussels.To keep complete control, the German presidency has established a three-country-leadership whereby the following Portuguese and Slovenian presidencies are involved so that everyone remains on message. Berlin can then also use its role as paymaster in the EU to force difficult countries like Poland and the Czech Republic to play ball and its special relations to France and the Netherlands to finalise negotiations on the next treaty.
New name - same content
The reborn constitution will not be called a constitution, but a basic treaty. But changing the name does not change the content.The June summit will see the final roadmap drawn up for the next treaty.
This will then be followed an intergovernmental conference and a special summit in the autumn in a Portuguese city after which the new document will be named.The German presidency will strive to avoid any fundamental change and safeguard the core which is qualified majority in 59 articles in addition to the existing treaty of Nice. It is also in its interests to push ahead because the rejected constitution contains the new double majority voting system meaning that German ministers and civil servants will double their say while smaller countries can half their votes in the Council. Unfortunately, German voters will not be asked their opinion on the document. It would be an interesting exercise as I have the impression that there is real anger in Germany at Brussels bureaucracy.
The former German president, Roman Herzog, recently wrote that Germany can hardly be called a parliamentary democracy because of the democratic deficit in EU law making.This is a poor reflection of democracy in the EU.
As I write this, I am thinking back to the EU's official 50th birthday celebrations in Berlin last month.An occasion with much pomp and ceremony and many inspiring speeches, it was a good reminder that it was the people outside, the ordinary citizens, who made it a really good party.The author is a member of the European Parliament for the Independence Democracy group
The Emerging Church: Straying from the Gospel
April 14, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Jerry Falwell
The late economist Peter Drucker said a few years ago: Every few hundred years in Western history there occurs a sharp transformation.
Fifty years later, there is a new world. And the people born then cannot even imagine the world in which their grandparents lived.I believe we are witnessing a modern effort to transform the church into an institution that experiences broad cultural acceptance. This effort, known as the Emerging Church, is a much-talked about movement that has brought new challenges into the Church of Jesus Christ. The so-called Emerging Church movement was formed out of frustration with dead and irrelevant evangelicalism. The problem is that it has decided to modernize and re-create the church so as not to offend sinners. This renders virtually meaningless the life-changing message of the Gospel.
John 8:32 tells us: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. This is not truth that can be modified to fit cultural whims; it is as relevant today as it was when John was inspired by God to write those words around A.D. 70. However, the website of The Leadership Network, the headquarters of the Emerging (or sometimes Emergent) Church movement, states that their outlook on truth offers a flexible approach to theology whereby individual differences in belief and morality
are accepted within reason.The site further states that members wish to reanalyze the Bible against the context into which it was written.This is very dangerous territory. Such a view opens perilous avenues that enable suggestions that Jesus is not the Christ, that the Bible is not inspired by God Himself and that there are ways to heaven other than through Jesus. Such notions counter the very fabric of the
Gospel.
In this era of diversity and political correctness, we can ill afford to weaken the very foundations of the Gospel. But the Emerging Church has determined that core doctrine and theology are sometimes roadblocks to converting the lost. This is the epitome of contradiction. Further, Emerging Church groups have decided that profanity and vulgar talk from the pulpit and elsewhere is acceptable because it is relevant to the culture. Such teachings counter the biblical teachings that Christians are new creatures in Christ.
Another problem of the Emerging Church is that its leaders, who no doubt started out with good intentions, have very little theological training. Their emphasis has been on appearances. Many of its leaders have been to conferences that tell them how to do things, but they don't know why they are doing them. Thus, they have a little bit of knowledge, but no wisdom. Dr. James McDonald spoke my feelings when he said: I resonate deeply with much of the criticism flowing from the Emerging Church against current Western Christianity, but I am deeply grieved to see the emergent remedies accepted so uncritically by those who feel gratified by the accuracy of their critiques.While I have no problem with the church adapting to the culture, we must ensure that we remain painstakingly true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that we remain obedient servants to His truths. As Jesus stated: He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me (John 14:21).
Barroso seeks road map for EU Constitution Quote The European Union must agree at its June summit on a clear mandate for a path towards a new treaty. Jose Manuel Barroso, President, European Commission SMS NDTV Associated Press Friday, April 13, 2007 (Lisbon)
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Friday urged EU leaders to adopt a road map at their next summit that will guide them toward agreement on stalled plans for a constitution.
EU member states have been deadlocked for two years over a proposed European Constitution that would reshape how the bloc works. Though there is broad consensus in the bloc that a new treaty is needed to prevent gridlock, there are deep differences over how far it should go.The European Union must agree at its June summit on a clear mandate for a path towards a new treaty, Barroso said in a speech to the Portuguese Parliament.Barroso said the split over the constitution put in question (the EU's) credibility. Failure to reach agreement will continue to weaken us internally and externally, he said.The plan is currently being drawn up by Germany, which holds the EU's rotating six-month presidency.Barroso said agreement in June would allow Portugal, which takes over the presidency July 1, to steer the bloc toward a summit convened specifically to adopt a constitution.A new treaty must be in place by spring 2009, ahead of that year's European Parliament elections, Barroso said.French and Dutch voters rejected the EU's draft constitution in referendums in 2005, pitching the bloc into crisis.The constitution would have created a bill of rights, a full-time EU president and foreign minister, and faster decision-making through more decisions by majority vote.
Germany, Spain and Italy want to preserve much of the substance of the original draft of the constitution. The Poles, Czechs and British are wary about any changes that shift power from national capitals to the EU.Large parts of the treaty should be kept. We can't revisit too many issues, Barroso said.Under the current EU treaties no more countries can join the bloc, placing in doubt the date of the next enlargement, which is expected to bring in Croatia.
Solana against setting outer border for EU Apr 11, 2007
Berlin - European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana spoke out Wednesday against formally determining the outer borders of the European Union. The borders cannot be set in stone.
We should not finalize them, he said in an interview with the German magazine Die Zeit. Solana said the EU could, however, decide not to expand much further than the circle of countries with whom we have already started negotiations or have pledged a European perspective to, such as the Balkan states.
How far the EU should expand is an issue which has led to divisions within the 27-member bloc over how to proceed with the EU constitution, which has been on ice since its rejection by Dutch and French voters in 2005. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hoping to present a road map on how to proceed with a streamlined version of the document to the next EU summit at the end of June. Merkel, whose country holds the EU presidency, is due to discuss the issue with Czech President Vaclav
Klaus, a strong opponent of the constitution, at talks near Berlin on April 17. Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Local faithful to stand up for Israel APR 14,07
MICHAEL WYKE / Tulsa World file
John Swails, state executive director of Christians United for Israel, says support for Jews among Christians is growing. He will speak at A Night to Honor Israel on Monday.By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer 4/14/2007
Jews and Christians will meet Monday night in the new Victory Christian worship center to show support for the nation of Israel. Keynote speaker at A Night to Honor Israel will be the Rev. John Hagee, pastor of a San Antonio mega-church and longtime supporter of Israel and the Jewish people.
Hagee spoke at A Night to Honor Israel in Tulsa in 1982 and 1992. He recently founded Christians United for Israel, which is sponsoring the Tulsa event and about 40 other similar gatherings around the country. John Swails, state executive director of Christians United for Israel, said the events are timely because there is an increasing animosity toward Israel around the world.
This is the time for Christians to step up and recognize our opportunity to stand with and show solidarity for Israel and the Jewish people, said Swails, who is chairman of the department of history, humanities and government at Oral Roberts University. Historically, support among Christians for Jews has been minimal, said Swails, who lived for years in Israel.
But he said he now sees a mushrooming of support around the world.I think it's the Spirit moving. I was in Kazakstan as an election observer, and I saw tremendous support there for Israel, he said. Swails said Christians should support Israel for three reasons: Because they're our brothers; because FROM A-8 the same people who are after them are after us, we have a common enemy; and because it's the right thing to do. He said that in the past, Jewish people have been suspicious of the motives of evangelicals who say they support Israel, and I don't blame them.They've been viewed as conversion fodder by evangelicals with a hidden agenda to bring them an evangelical message. And many evangelicals have looked at them as pawns in a biblical end-times scenario.
Our organization exists simply and purely to support Israel and the Jewish people, and to support the Israel-United States relationship, he said. Swails will speak briefly at the event, along with Rabbi Marc Fitzerman of the Conservative B'nai Emunah congregation; Rabbi Charles Sherman of Temple Israel, a Reform congregation; and the Rev. Billy Joe Daugherty of Victory Christian Center. Daugherty and the Rev. Kenneth Hagin Jr. of Rhema Bible Church are state chairmen of Christians United for Israel. The two-hour program also will include music and other contributions from Jewish and Christian congregations.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Sat Apr 14 11:10 AM EDT
APR 14,07
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 ECUADOR
MAP 2.7 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.9 WEST CHILE RISE
MAP 3.2 MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.1 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.4 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
APR 13,07
MAP 4.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 5.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.6 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 3.4 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.8 SOUTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE
MAP 5.3 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.9 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.8 MICHOACAN, MEXICO
MAP 4.5 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
MAP 3.4 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.9 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.0 KEPULAUAN SANGIHE, INDONESIA
MAP 5.5 KEPULAUAN SULA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.4 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 6.0 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 4.4 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.9 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
2 earthquakes shake Tokyo and Japan APR 14,07
TOKYO — Two earthquakes shook Tokyo and northeastern Japan early Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. There were no tsunami warnings from the two temblors, the Meteorological Agency said.A quake with preliminary magnitude of 5.4 struck off the coast of Hachijo-Jima island in the Pacific Ocean at 3:15 a.m. Saturday. About two and half hours later, a magnitude 4.5 quake centered off the coast of Ibaraki jolted dozens of towns in northeastern Japan.Hachijo-Jima is about 185 miles south of Tokyo, and Ibaraki is about 125 miles northeast of the capital.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Spring's slow arrival hits crops, baseball By Andrew Stern Fri Apr 13, 1:18 PM ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wheat fields ruined by freezing temperatures, snowed-out baseball games in Cleveland and Chicago, and shivering vacationers have made this spring one to forget across much of the United States.
After the warmest winter ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere and much talk of global warming, weather watchers say occasional snowstorms in the Midwest and Northeast, and unseasonable cold gripping much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation, is rare though not unprecedented.It's pretty unusual, said University of Wisconsin-Madison atmospheric scientist Jonathan Martin.Once every 10 years or so we have a snow 5 inches event or greater (in Wisconsin) in the first half of April. It hasn't happened for about 12 years but it certainly happened onWednesday for us when more than 5 inches fell, he said.
Such an event is probably a once every 10- or 20-year event for the Great Lakes region. Since this has been so widespread and so extreme for these last seven or eight days -- that might put it in the once-every-30-years category, he added.As much as one-quarter of the nation's hard red winter wheat and nearly half of its soft red winter wheat has been damaged by the sub-freezing temperatures, leaving farmers scrambling to replant ruined fields with scarce corn seeds or soybeans, agriculture experts said.Resulting price jumps for wheat could affect the cost of producing staples such as bread and crackers.The cold, wet spring has also kept Midwestern farmers from starting on this year's planting. Forecasts for continued below-normal temperatures in the nation's breadbasket will keep soils too cool for seeds to germinate, meteorologists said.
It's looking like not much corn planting is going to get done in the Midwest during April. The first half of May is going to be more of a ball game, said Mike Palmerino, forecaster with DTN Meterologix weather service.Actual ball games have been tougher to come by as the boys of summer have become springtime refugees -- the Cleveland Indians baseball team had to move this week's scheduled home games from snowy Jacobs Field to the Milwaukee Brewers' stadium, which used its retractable roof.
The Chicago Cubs also postponed a contest due to a stinging snowstorm.Another violent storm swept out of the southern plains on Friday, blanketing Colorado and Kansas with snow, and stormy weather was expected to batter the East Coast over the weekend.But Friday dawned bright and sunny in Madison, Wisconsin.The sun is so high in the sky and so powerful after the spring equinox (which occurred on March 20 this year), that as soon as it comes out, the melting begins, Martin said.
(Additional reporting by Julie Ingwersen and Chris Stebbins)
Spring storm drops snow, spawns tornado By JEFF CARLTON, Associated Press Writer APR 14,07
DALLAS - A severe storm dropped nearly a foot of snow on parts of the central Plains Friday and spawned at least one tornado in Texas, where one death was blamed on high winds. The storm shattered glass at a Forth Worth grocery store, injuring five people, while a man unloading his truck elsewhere was crushed under his load of lumber, fire spokesman Lt. Kent Worley said.In nearby Haltom City, several homes and businesses were damaged and about a dozen tractor-trailers were pushed onto their sides. The Valley Missionary Baptist Church there was destroyed.Amanda Rymer, 21, said she had a split-second to pull her 2-year-old daughter safety.I felt my house start shaking like the wind and I ran in here and grabbed my little girl, she said. As soon as I moved her, the roof fell in right where she was standing.Rymer said she rushed her daughter into a bedroom and pulled a mattress over her. Then she ran back to the living room for her 2-month-old son, who was sitting in a baby swing.
I didn't know if I was going to come out here and my little boy would be dead or alive or even here, she said.About 23,000 customers were without power Friday because the storms downed trees and power lines, said Gailee Cardwell, a spokeswoman for TXU Electric Delivery.
The storm also forced the cancellation of NASCAR Nextel Cup qualifying races at Texas Motor Speedway. Thousands of fans were advised to move to safety as tornado sirens blared at the speedway in Fort Worth.To the north, the storm caused whiteout conditions on Kansas highways and forced some schools to close early.Truck stop worker Sylvia Smith-Metcalf said conditions were so bad that she would not be able to make a 30-mile drive home to Jetmore when her shift ended.They got me a motel room right next door, she said. I'm supposed to get off work at 10, provided the person on the next shift can get in.
A tornado was spotted near Bedford, a suburb in between Dallas and Forth Worth, though no damage was reported, according to the National Weather Service.The storm system was headed toward the East Coast, where it was expected to create a messy weekend.Winds up to 25 mph were forecast for the Carolinas on Saturday before the storm was to hit the Northeast with heavy snow or rain by Sunday. Forecasters also warned of possible flooding.The storm's combination of snow, rain and high wind was unusual for this time of year, said Brian Korty, a National Weather Service forecaster in Camp Springs, Md.Jan Mahon said people around McCook, Neb., have spring fever and are eager to get out and do some gardening at home or start planting crops in the fields. But after years of abnormally dry or drought conditions near McCook, residents do see the benefit of the snow.Everybody's tired of it, Mahon said. We like the moisture, but we'd rather have rain.It follows an earlier system that grounded hundreds of flights in the Midwest on Wednesday before delivering up to a foot fresh snow to northern New England on Friday.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Sat Apr 14, 5:47 AM ET
A major storm will continue developing Saturday as it moves through the Southeast toward the eastern seaboard. The storm is expected to bring heavy winds, rain and thunderstorms to the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
As it approaches the East Coast, the storm is expected to intensify, climaxing on Sunday.Rain is expected in the Northwest, and snow is likely in higher elevations. Temperatures in the region are expected to range from the 30s in higher elevations to the 60s in lower ones.Inland areas of California should get temperatures in the 60s and 70s, and temperatures in parts of the Southwest should reach the 80s. Temperatures are expected to range from the 30s to 50s in the Northeast and 60s and 70s in most of the Southeast. The upper Midwest should experience temperatures in the 40s and 50s, while temperatures in Florida could reach the 90s. Temperatures in the lower 48 states Friday ranged from a low of 3 degrees at Yellowstone, Wyo., to a high of 97 degrees at Laredo, Texas.
EU official sees Mideast peace momentum By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer APR 14,07
UNITED NATIONS - There is new momentum in the Middle East peace process, a high-ranking European Union official said Friday after meeting the U.N. secretary-general. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU external relations commissioner, pointed to a recent Arab League peace initiative, a new Palestinian unity government, and regular meetings between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.I think the recent developments ... have brought indeed a new momentum to this peace process, she said.Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Ferrero-Waldner discussed these developments and the next meeting of the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers — the U.N., EU, Russia and the U.S.Last month, the Arab League relaunched a proposal based on a dormant 2002 Saudi plan offering peace with Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Mideast War. Olmert has hailed the plan as a revolutionary change but has also expressed reservations.
Since the militant Hamas group swept parliamentary elections last year, EU has paid hundreds of million of dollars in social assistance directly to the people and projects, bypassing the government.
Palestinians installed the new government, a coalition of Hamas and the moderate Fatah party, last month in hopes of persuading international community to end a year of bruising sanctions.Ferrero-Waldner told reporters that she and Ban both welcome the national unity government as indeed an important step towards Palestinian unity.But she stressed that the EU will only support those in the new Palestinian government who accept the Quartet's principles Israel's right to exist, past peace agreements signed by the PLO and renunciation of terror and violence.
Asian hornets a new menace in France By PAUL LAUENER and MARIE-LAURE COMBES, Associated Press Writers SAT APR 14,07
PARIS - Ambushing locals as they return home from work, foreign invaders are dismembering French natives and feeding them to their young. This horror scenario is playing out in France's beehives, where an ultra-aggressive species of Asian hornets — who likely migrated in pottery shipped from China — may be threatening French honey production.The hornets are thought to have reached France in 2004 after stowing away on a cargo boat, said Claire Villemant, a lecturer at Paris' Natural History Museum.She said a France-based bonsai merchant traveled to the Yunnan province of southern China to buy ceramic pots for his trees.
He saw the hornets in that region, she said. When he saw them again, they were buzzing around his property in the southwestern French village of Tonneins.Since then, they hornets have been establishing themselves in their adopted country, concentrating mostly on building imposing nests. It took until last summer for their numbers to start threatening honey production, said Henri Clement, president of the National Union for French Beekeeping. He said it was too early to give figures on the hornets' economic impact, but he is bracing for a tough summer.The situation is very worrying, he said. If the hornets keep attacking the bees then their number will be reduced and honey production will be severely handicapped.France's 1.1 million hives produce up to 30,000 tons of honey a year, about 2,500 tons of which are exported, according to the French national agency for fruits, vegetables and horticulture.
Experts fear the hornets — which also sting humans — may spread to the warmer reaches of southern Europe. They could begin colonizing Spain as early as this summer, Villemant said. Even Britain could be vulnerable if they hornets cross the English Channel through freight, she said.Mike Hood, entomology professor at Clemson University in South Carolina, warned, If it could spread to France, it could spread to other regions of the world, so that would be a concern for the U.S.North America is already suffering its own bee troubles.An invasion of highly aggressive Africanized bees has spread across the southern United States. These killer bees are easily provoked and attack in huge numbers. Since the hybrid Africanized bees are considered less efficient than European bees, beekeepers worry they could lower honey production and pollination.
A mysterious illness has killed tens of thousands of honeybee colonies in at least 22 U.S. states, threatening honey production. The cause of the ailment, called Colony Collapse Disorder, is unclear.In France, the Asian hornets have spread quickly and turned once-tranquil hives into battlefields, since there are no natural predators in the region.Bigger and bulkier than their European cousins, the hornets have no trouble overcoming honeybees. They ambush beehives and dismember the bees, ripping off their heads, antennae, and wings and reducing them to a paste to feed the hornet queen and her larvae.The honeybees are beginning to mount a counteroffensive, Villemant says: They gather around an invading hornet, flap their wings to increase the temperature and effectively roast it.Beekeepers also are fighting back they can change the size of the entrances to the hives so the smaller bees can get in but not the hornets. Some have suggested destroying all hornet nests in the region, including those of French and European hornets. But Villemant says that would be ecologically disastrous. Hood said French beekeepers could go back to where (the hornets) came from to find natural predators. But he added, You have to be careful with this kind of solution as what you bring back might be worse than the pest problem you already have.
Two men charged with firebombing Jewish school, centre
Friday, April 13, 2007 CBC News
Montreal police arrested two men Friday in connection with three bombings, including explosions at a Jewish community centre and a Jewish school.The men — Omar Bulphred, 24, and Azim Ibragimov, 22 — have been charged with arson, uttering death threats and possessing arson materials, police said.The two Montreal men were arrested in connection with:The explosion of a small bomb in front of the Ben Weider Jewish Community Centre in Côte-des-Neiges on April 3. A firebomb thrown at the front door of the Taldos Yakov Yosef school in Outremont that sparked a small fire on Sept. 2.
The bombing of a car in Mercier on Sept. 12. No one was injured in any of the incidents.A bail hearing will be held next week, police said.
Street preacher vows to stay loud and proud Friday, April 13, 2007 CBC News
A Calgary preacher plans to keep spreading the word of God with loudspeakers on the street, despite a court order.The grace period the city allowed Art Pawlowski over the Easter weekend has expired, but the preacher said that's not going to stop him.Without the speakers, we cannot proceed. Because of the overpass and the noise from the cars, it's impossible to communicate with anyone over there.
His street church meets across from the Drop-In Centre, a homeless shelter, on weekends.Court of Queen's Bench ruled on April 5 that Pawlowski must abide by the restrictions on his 2007 parks permit preventing him from using loudspeakers to preach.Pawlowski believes the city is persecuting him because of his religious message.
The city of Calgary is prejudiced against our message of hope in the name of Jesus and there is some witch hunt against the cross, he said.City bylaw director Bill Bruce said the noise restrictions have nothing to do with religion. He said if Pawlowski uses the speakers Friday night, there will be consequences.He's going to have to decide how that goes. There is a permit in place, the court has said the permit stands, and it needs to be honoured.Bruce said if Pawlowski defies the order, he could be fined a couple of hundred dollars. He could also have his permit revoked and be issued a mandatory court appearance for non-compliance.
Constitution by the backdoor
14.04.2007 - 17:25 CET | By Jens-Peter Bonde
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT This week the European Parliament's constitutional committee had debates with two former members of the convention the body that drew up the EU constitution. Both presented different methods for getting the major parts of the rejected constitution approved, by the backdoor, with no referendums.The new Dutch minister of European affairs, Frans Timmermans, would change the name Constitution to a new treaty and delete the EU state symbols - the flag and the hymn - from the treaty, but not from the real world.He suggested turning Part II of the proposed constitution on the charter of fundamental rights into one line, accepting them without mentioning them.Part III should be changed into amendments to the actual treaty of Nice incorporating most of the 59 new areas with qualified majority voting.
Essentially, that would mean the same content, only avoiding a referendum.Meanwhile, Pierre Lequiller, head of the National Assembly's EU delegation, proposed a similar outline bringing the treaty down to 116 articles. He would, however, include the fundamental rights part.It was striking that they both seek to avoid asking the opinion of their people on any new EU treaty. This is also the policy of the favourite candidate for the French Presidential elections, Nicholas Sarkozy.He is the Coup d'Etat candidate, aiming to adopt a rejected constitution with no new consultation of the people.
No more referendums! This is the lesson after the French and Dutch No.They had the opportunity to vote yes, which they did not do and now they will not be asked again.
How naive to believe it will work. The voters in France and the Netherlands are not blind. They opposed a constitution against the advice of 90 per cent of their own parliamentary representatives. But the democratic opposition in Europe has not gone into hiding and we will certainly mobilise the citizens for a democratic procedure to be followed.We will now reshape a European referendum campaign to call for referendums in all member states, which could occur on the same day across Europe. (A referendum petition webs ite can be found here www.X09.eu )I strongly believe we should have a new elected convention and referendums the same day throughout the EU. That method will foster the transparency, proximity and democracy rules we all deserve.
Final roadmap in June
This non-consultation method is being echoed at the highest levels. The German EU presidency has already started bilateral talks on the constitution with every single member state, avoiding general consultation and keeping stumm about what other governments have said.The German chancellor will then deliver the final roadmap with the suggested content to the incoming Portuguese presidency at the 21-22 June summit in Brussels.To keep complete control, the German presidency has established a three-country-leadership whereby the following Portuguese and Slovenian presidencies are involved so that everyone remains on message. Berlin can then also use its role as paymaster in the EU to force difficult countries like Poland and the Czech Republic to play ball and its special relations to France and the Netherlands to finalise negotiations on the next treaty.
New name - same content
The reborn constitution will not be called a constitution, but a basic treaty. But changing the name does not change the content.The June summit will see the final roadmap drawn up for the next treaty.
This will then be followed an intergovernmental conference and a special summit in the autumn in a Portuguese city after which the new document will be named.The German presidency will strive to avoid any fundamental change and safeguard the core which is qualified majority in 59 articles in addition to the existing treaty of Nice. It is also in its interests to push ahead because the rejected constitution contains the new double majority voting system meaning that German ministers and civil servants will double their say while smaller countries can half their votes in the Council. Unfortunately, German voters will not be asked their opinion on the document. It would be an interesting exercise as I have the impression that there is real anger in Germany at Brussels bureaucracy.
The former German president, Roman Herzog, recently wrote that Germany can hardly be called a parliamentary democracy because of the democratic deficit in EU law making.This is a poor reflection of democracy in the EU.
As I write this, I am thinking back to the EU's official 50th birthday celebrations in Berlin last month.An occasion with much pomp and ceremony and many inspiring speeches, it was a good reminder that it was the people outside, the ordinary citizens, who made it a really good party.The author is a member of the European Parliament for the Independence Democracy group
The Emerging Church: Straying from the Gospel
April 14, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Jerry Falwell
The late economist Peter Drucker said a few years ago: Every few hundred years in Western history there occurs a sharp transformation.
Fifty years later, there is a new world. And the people born then cannot even imagine the world in which their grandparents lived.I believe we are witnessing a modern effort to transform the church into an institution that experiences broad cultural acceptance. This effort, known as the Emerging Church, is a much-talked about movement that has brought new challenges into the Church of Jesus Christ. The so-called Emerging Church movement was formed out of frustration with dead and irrelevant evangelicalism. The problem is that it has decided to modernize and re-create the church so as not to offend sinners. This renders virtually meaningless the life-changing message of the Gospel.
John 8:32 tells us: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. This is not truth that can be modified to fit cultural whims; it is as relevant today as it was when John was inspired by God to write those words around A.D. 70. However, the website of The Leadership Network, the headquarters of the Emerging (or sometimes Emergent) Church movement, states that their outlook on truth offers a flexible approach to theology whereby individual differences in belief and morality
are accepted within reason.The site further states that members wish to reanalyze the Bible against the context into which it was written.This is very dangerous territory. Such a view opens perilous avenues that enable suggestions that Jesus is not the Christ, that the Bible is not inspired by God Himself and that there are ways to heaven other than through Jesus. Such notions counter the very fabric of the
Gospel.
In this era of diversity and political correctness, we can ill afford to weaken the very foundations of the Gospel. But the Emerging Church has determined that core doctrine and theology are sometimes roadblocks to converting the lost. This is the epitome of contradiction. Further, Emerging Church groups have decided that profanity and vulgar talk from the pulpit and elsewhere is acceptable because it is relevant to the culture. Such teachings counter the biblical teachings that Christians are new creatures in Christ.
Another problem of the Emerging Church is that its leaders, who no doubt started out with good intentions, have very little theological training. Their emphasis has been on appearances. Many of its leaders have been to conferences that tell them how to do things, but they don't know why they are doing them. Thus, they have a little bit of knowledge, but no wisdom. Dr. James McDonald spoke my feelings when he said: I resonate deeply with much of the criticism flowing from the Emerging Church against current Western Christianity, but I am deeply grieved to see the emergent remedies accepted so uncritically by those who feel gratified by the accuracy of their critiques.While I have no problem with the church adapting to the culture, we must ensure that we remain painstakingly true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that we remain obedient servants to His truths. As Jesus stated: He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me (John 14:21).
Barroso seeks road map for EU Constitution Quote The European Union must agree at its June summit on a clear mandate for a path towards a new treaty. Jose Manuel Barroso, President, European Commission SMS NDTV Associated Press Friday, April 13, 2007 (Lisbon)
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Friday urged EU leaders to adopt a road map at their next summit that will guide them toward agreement on stalled plans for a constitution.
EU member states have been deadlocked for two years over a proposed European Constitution that would reshape how the bloc works. Though there is broad consensus in the bloc that a new treaty is needed to prevent gridlock, there are deep differences over how far it should go.The European Union must agree at its June summit on a clear mandate for a path towards a new treaty, Barroso said in a speech to the Portuguese Parliament.Barroso said the split over the constitution put in question (the EU's) credibility. Failure to reach agreement will continue to weaken us internally and externally, he said.The plan is currently being drawn up by Germany, which holds the EU's rotating six-month presidency.Barroso said agreement in June would allow Portugal, which takes over the presidency July 1, to steer the bloc toward a summit convened specifically to adopt a constitution.A new treaty must be in place by spring 2009, ahead of that year's European Parliament elections, Barroso said.French and Dutch voters rejected the EU's draft constitution in referendums in 2005, pitching the bloc into crisis.The constitution would have created a bill of rights, a full-time EU president and foreign minister, and faster decision-making through more decisions by majority vote.
Germany, Spain and Italy want to preserve much of the substance of the original draft of the constitution. The Poles, Czechs and British are wary about any changes that shift power from national capitals to the EU.Large parts of the treaty should be kept. We can't revisit too many issues, Barroso said.Under the current EU treaties no more countries can join the bloc, placing in doubt the date of the next enlargement, which is expected to bring in Croatia.
Solana against setting outer border for EU Apr 11, 2007
Berlin - European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana spoke out Wednesday against formally determining the outer borders of the European Union. The borders cannot be set in stone.
We should not finalize them, he said in an interview with the German magazine Die Zeit. Solana said the EU could, however, decide not to expand much further than the circle of countries with whom we have already started negotiations or have pledged a European perspective to, such as the Balkan states.
How far the EU should expand is an issue which has led to divisions within the 27-member bloc over how to proceed with the EU constitution, which has been on ice since its rejection by Dutch and French voters in 2005. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hoping to present a road map on how to proceed with a streamlined version of the document to the next EU summit at the end of June. Merkel, whose country holds the EU presidency, is due to discuss the issue with Czech President Vaclav
Klaus, a strong opponent of the constitution, at talks near Berlin on April 17. Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Local faithful to stand up for Israel APR 14,07
MICHAEL WYKE / Tulsa World file
John Swails, state executive director of Christians United for Israel, says support for Jews among Christians is growing. He will speak at A Night to Honor Israel on Monday.By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer 4/14/2007
Jews and Christians will meet Monday night in the new Victory Christian worship center to show support for the nation of Israel. Keynote speaker at A Night to Honor Israel will be the Rev. John Hagee, pastor of a San Antonio mega-church and longtime supporter of Israel and the Jewish people.
Hagee spoke at A Night to Honor Israel in Tulsa in 1982 and 1992. He recently founded Christians United for Israel, which is sponsoring the Tulsa event and about 40 other similar gatherings around the country. John Swails, state executive director of Christians United for Israel, said the events are timely because there is an increasing animosity toward Israel around the world.
This is the time for Christians to step up and recognize our opportunity to stand with and show solidarity for Israel and the Jewish people, said Swails, who is chairman of the department of history, humanities and government at Oral Roberts University. Historically, support among Christians for Jews has been minimal, said Swails, who lived for years in Israel.
But he said he now sees a mushrooming of support around the world.I think it's the Spirit moving. I was in Kazakstan as an election observer, and I saw tremendous support there for Israel, he said. Swails said Christians should support Israel for three reasons: Because they're our brothers; because FROM A-8 the same people who are after them are after us, we have a common enemy; and because it's the right thing to do. He said that in the past, Jewish people have been suspicious of the motives of evangelicals who say they support Israel, and I don't blame them.They've been viewed as conversion fodder by evangelicals with a hidden agenda to bring them an evangelical message. And many evangelicals have looked at them as pawns in a biblical end-times scenario.
Our organization exists simply and purely to support Israel and the Jewish people, and to support the Israel-United States relationship, he said. Swails will speak briefly at the event, along with Rabbi Marc Fitzerman of the Conservative B'nai Emunah congregation; Rabbi Charles Sherman of Temple Israel, a Reform congregation; and the Rev. Billy Joe Daugherty of Victory Christian Center. Daugherty and the Rev. Kenneth Hagin Jr. of Rhema Bible Church are state chairmen of Christians United for Israel. The two-hour program also will include music and other contributions from Jewish and Christian congregations.
Friday, April 13, 2007
2007 A PROPHETIC 40 YEAR CYCLE
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Strong earthquake shakes Mexico, no injuries. 3-Snow, strong winds close N.S. schools. 4-Powerful winds wreak havoc across Los Angeles. 5-The Nation's Weather. 6-Arlene Kushner in Israel. 7-Peres: Invest in the Sea, not Judea/Samaria. 8-8 catastrophes we should be worried about. 9-Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 10-Olmert and Abbas plan Sunday discussion. 11-Re-discover real Jesus, Pope urges in new book. 12-Breaking News: More Than 20 young Israelis Make Confession of Faith at Boombamela New Age Festival. 13-Thousands of Jews Visit Tombs of Joshua, Calev. 14-2007 a prophetic year?
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Fri Apr 13 10:00 AM EDT
APR 13,2007
MAP 3.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.0 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.0 KEPULAUAN SANGIHE, INDONESIA
MAP 5.5 KEPULAUAN SULA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.4 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 6.0 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 4.4 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.9 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
APR 12,07
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.1 VANUATU
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.6 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.6 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.0 SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 4.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.9 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.4 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.9 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.0 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.2 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 TARAPACA, CHILE
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
Strong earthquake shakes Mexico, no injuries By Gerardo Torres
Fri Apr 13, 5:20 AM ET
ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.0 shook Mexico early on Friday, sending thousands of tourists in Acapulco fleeing into the streets in panic and knocking out electricity as far away as the capital.
There were no immediate reports of injuries from the quake, centered in the Pacific coastal state of Guerrero.Oh man, we felt it. We jumped out of bed and went into the garden. I was fast asleep. It really shook. Things fell off shelves, said Acapulco resident Anna Archdale de Palazuelos.Tourists, many of them in nightgowns and pajamas, were evacuated from their hotels in Acapulco, where 20,000 homes lost electricity.Power also went down in some areas of Mexico City, which was devastated by a 8.1 magnitude earthquake in 1985 that killed around 10,000 people.
We were in the house sleeping. It woke us up. My girlfriend heard a noise like thunder, said Mexico City resident Adan Gutierrez.Inhabitants in the capital's central Tlatelolco district, badly hit 22 years ago, swarmed out into a main square. Mexican radio said the windows of some homes there were broken.Friday's quake hit at 12:42 local time (05:42 GMT) and was centered 40 miles northwest of Acapulco, the biggest city in Guerrero and home to around a million people.Fire services in the city rushed out to check for damage. Authorities in the state capital Chilpancingo said they had no reports of serious damage or injuries.An aftershock was felt in Mexico City about three hours later, which the U.S. Geological Survey said was magnitude 5.4. It was centered close to the first tremor.Emergency services in the capital and in Acapulco both said there were no reports of injuries or damage.
(Additional reporting by Catherine Bremer and Adriana Barrera in Mexico City and Diane Bartz in Washington)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Snow, strong winds close N.S. schools
Friday, April 13, 2007 CBC News
Schools are closed in northern and central Nova Scotia on Friday as winter returns to the region once again.A snowfall warning is in effect, and some areas can expect more than 15 centimetres of snow.
Environment Canada says a low-pressure system is moving south of the province, bringing wet snow, rain and wind gusts of up to 90 km/h along the southwestern shore.The snow is expected to hit Cape Breton by noon.The Chignecto-Central Regional School Board closed all of its schools for the day and the Nova Scotia Community College campus in Truro is also shut down.Motorists are being urged to drive with caution.Just last weekend, Nova Scotians were shovelling out of a storm that dumped snow and ice pellets as it swept across Eastern Canada.
Powerful winds wreak havoc across Los Angeles Thu Apr 12, 7:29 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Powerful winds wreaked havoc across Los Angeles on Thursday, fanning brush fires near one of the city's most exclusive neighborhoods and knocking out power to thousands of homes, officials said. One multi-million dollar home was completely gutted and three more suffered damage, one severely, after a wind-whipped fire erupted near Beverly Hills, fire officials said, while around 76,000 households suffered power cuts.The fire tore through around 35 acres (14 hectares) of tinder-dry brush, driven by winds in excess of 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Ron Myers told local broadcaster KCAL 9.
Television footage showed one large house in the upscale Beverly Glen district next to Beverly Hills completely destroyed by the blaze, which broke out at around 1:00 pm local time (2000 GMT).We have two homes with serious damage while two more have suffered what looks like roof damage at this stage, Myers said.Around 200 firefighters had been deployed to tackle the fire, with aerial support from helicopters which dumped water on the flames.There were no immediate reports of any injuries.
Meanwhile local power companies said thousands of homes had suffered outages because of the winds, which also toppled several large trees across Los Angeles and shrouded the city's downtown skyline in clouds of dust.The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said around 63,000 customers across the city were without power, while Southern California Edison officials put their figure at around 13,000.Most are due to the wind, LADWP spokeswoman Gale Harris said.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
APR 13,07
Forecasters predicted severe thunderstorms from central Texas to the Mississippi Delta, and more snow and rain in the Northeast on Friday. Clear skies were expected in much of the West. Thunderstorms packing hail, high wind and possible tornados were expected from around Waco, Texas, into parts of Louisiana and Arkansas.In the Northeast, snow and rain were expected, with potentially heavy snow in parts of New England.In the West, pleasant weather was expected in most of the region.But in the Northwest, a Pacific storm was expected to push into Puget Sound, bringing cloudy skies and rain to parts.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday ranged from a low of 3 degrees at Yellowstone, Wyo., to a high of 89 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
April 12, 2007 Arlene Kushner in Israel
As I report on what is happening in this part of the world, it is almost always implicit (sometimes I state it explicitly) that nothing is written in stone, that it hasn't happened until it's happened, that things might change tomorrow.
Today I have further information -- as the situation slips and slides -- on the prisoner exchange for Shalit and Israel's assessment of Hamas. The Israeli defense establishment is now expressing concern that Hamas is on the verge of splitting into three factions. This turn of events might jeopardize the Shalit deal and have an effect on future relations with the PA.
The three factions:
First is the one led by Khaled Mashaal, in Damascus, who has lowered his profile at the moment. His goal is the take-over of the PLO. Hamas's joining of the PLO was part of the deal at Mecca and something that Abbas has been advancing for some time. It renders a bit ludicrous the notion that Abbas can negotiate with us as head of the PLO and not head of the PA, which is tainted by Hamas. I understand that Mashaal's plans for the PLO down the road include canceling of all agreements with
Israel.Mashaal's current attempt to make it appear as if he has moderated is no more than a devious plot, intelligence warns. His ultimate goal is to become, like Arafat, the supreme Palestinian leader. In reality he has not modified or abandoned his radical, anti-Israel stance. I don't know if he's as slippery as Arafat was, or as innovative (Arafat in his time did things like run a terrorism school and do counterfeiting). But in terms of pure malice and evil, he is, I would say, a match.
Second is a group called the rejectionists, who believe that the coalition with Fatah in the unity government was a betrayal of Hamas principles. They are in-your-face radicals without pretense.
Led by former interior minister Said Siam, former foreign minister Mahammoud Zahar, and former Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, they have the backing of many in the armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin Kassam and are spearheading a revolt against positions taken by Mashaal and Haniyeh. The third faction is being labeled as the most radical of the three, which says quite a bit when you consider who the others are. They are located in Gaza and led by one Ahmed Jaabri, who is believed to have carried out the abduction of Shalit. It is this group, reportedly, that drafted the list of prisoners whose release are being demanded in exchange for Shalit. It appears then that this group is calling the shots at some level -- for, as I understand it, the request for the release of these prisoners went from Hamas officially to the Egyptians. At a substantial level, Haniyeh's hands are tied. And if his hands are tied, Abbas is tied hands and feet.
THIS STORY IS INTERESTING BELOW BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS THE DICTATOR OF THE EU COMES FROM THE SEA (OF NATIONS AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN).
REVELATION 13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
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:
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) 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:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) 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 (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he
shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR
Peres: Invest in the Sea, not Judea/Samaria
by Hillel Fendel (INN) APR 12,07
At a conference entitled The Sea as an Economic Resource, Shimon Peres says Israel should stop investing in Jude and Samaria and build artificial islands in the Mediterranean instead. The conference, which opened yesterday (Wednesday) in the seaside town of Mikhmoret, north of Netanya, deals with opportunities and threats presented by the sea. Topics on the agenda include pollution of the sea and coasts, the economic potential of the sea for Israel, and more. The conference is sponsored by the Ruppin Academic Center. In his remarks, Vice Premier Shimon Peres said, The State of Israel has a narrow waistline [less than ten miles between Netanya and Tul Karem, for instance - ed.]... Israel has invested some 60 billion shekels in the territories [Judea, Samaria and Gaza]. Instead of this, we must invest in the sea, and stretch our western border in that direction by building artificial islands.
It was Peres who, as Minister of Defense in the mid-1970's, approved the establishment of the first Jewish communities, Kedumim and Elkanah, in Samaria. He has since become very anti-settlement. Some view with irony his remarks about investing in the sea, especially in light of his well-known position in favor of a New Middle East and well-known Arab threats to throw the Jews into the sea.
Peres' support for artificial islands, though not a lone voice, is also controversial. Plans to build an international airport a quarter-mile offshore from north Tel Aviv are currently being discussed by an inter-ministerial committee. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and Transportation Minister Sha'ul Mofaz recently agreed to proceed with plans on between one and five such islands along the central Israel
coast between Bat Yam and Netanya as a way of alleviating central Israel's land shortage problem.
However, environmental groups such as the Israel Union for Environmental Defense (IUED) say that the idea gravely threatens the future of Israel's tranquil Mediterranean waters and sandy beaches. Before the airport-island scheme gains irreversible momentum, IUED urges full exploration of terrestrial alternatives, including direct development costs, environmental impacts, and feasibility of rail transport links to population centers.
Other participants at the Mikhmoret conference include water industry experts, environmentalists, and more. Conference Chairman Buki Oren, a former Chairman of Israel's official Mekorot Water Company, said, There is enough water in the world to supply all its needs; the challenge is to know how to use it wisely and develop appropriate technologies. He said that Israel must take the lead in raising international awareness regarding the use and preservation of water resources. Environmentalist businessman Morris Kahn had criticism both for companies that pollute and for the Environment Ministry's lackluster efforts to enforce ecological regulations. Personal responsibility must beimposed on companies and their directors that pollute the environment and the sea, Kahn said. He added that the Minister of Environment is frequently a politician who never really wanted the job in the first place, noting that the late Yehudit Naot of Shinui was an exception to this rule.
SINS OF PEOPLE
2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
DECIEVERS WAXING WORSE AND WORSE.
2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
SCOFFERS MOCKING CHRISTS LITERAL 2ND COMING TO EARTH BODILY.
2 PETER 3:3-7
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
LETHARGY AND INDIFFERENCE AMONG GODS PEOPLE.
REVELATION 3:14-16
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
MORE SIN SIGNS
EPHESIANS 5:5-8
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
HOMOSEXUALS.
GENESIS 19:5
5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
ROMANS 1:18-32
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:(HOMOSEXUALITY,AND ALL SEX SINS)
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:(LESBIENS)
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly,(SODOMITES) and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.(AIDS ETC)
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
UNRIGHTEOUS PEOPLE.
TITUS 3:5
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
SEX SINS
1 CORINTHIANS 6:9,14-18
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
GALATIONS 5:19-21
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
ALL THESE SINS ABOVE ARE SURE NOT OBEYING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS LIKE GOD TOLD THE WORLD TO DO. THATS WHY THE JUDGEMENTS ON THE EARTH FOR NOT OBEYING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS (NOT 10 SUGGESTIONS)
8 catastrophes we should be worried about
April 12, 2007 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern - By W. F. Walker Johanson WND
There sure is a lot of talk about how global warming is about to destroy the planet! And how, if we don't stop driving our SUVs – and go back to living by candlelight – we'll all be dead within the next 20 years. (Just ask your children; that's what they probably already believe.) But I'd like to propose that there are much worse catastrophes we really should be worried about. Here is my list of the Top 8:
Catastrophe No. 1 – Parents who abdicate their responsibilities
It's stunning to me how few children ever do their homework. What are parents thinking? Don't they know that doing your homework and getting good grades is a valid indicator of future success and happiness? Why do so many parents allow their children to watch so much TV, dress like thugs, disrespect their teachers (and the parents, themselves) and swear so vulgarly? And why do they drive them all over town to play multiple sports … when most haven't read a single book in the past year?
No TV during the week; sit-down meals at home with Mom and Dad to discuss what's going on in each other's lives; more focus on reading, homework and family than on TV, sports, and the Internet; a little leadership to keep children away from bad influences and the wrong crowd would all do wonders to help reverse this national catastrophe.
Catastrophe No. 2 – No at-home moms and no dads at all
I know it's old-fashioned (and home prices really are so outrageously high that you just have to have both parents working) but the sad truth is that ever since moms went back to work, families have gone to hell. And it's families that keep every civilization functioning smoothly. Research has proven that children in families get better grades, have higher graduation rates, drink less alcohol, go to college more, get in trouble less and so on. And where crime is out-of-control it's usually where there are no dads, just lots of moms getting pregnant out-of-wedlock. And all of the attempts to re-define the family as one with two moms or two dads, or with parents who aren't married to each other, is just a feeble attempt to bring credibility to relationships that do not generate the societal advantages of traditional families. Is this a catastrophe? Indeed! And it's way more important than global warming!
Catastrophe No. 3 – Pornography, free sex and pedophilia
Just think about it for a minute … if sex were totally free and readily available, why would men ever choose to get married? This is just one of the many reasons why all major civilizations have always frowned upon promiscuous sex and have taught the next generation that the happiest, most honorable and best place for sex is between a man and a woman who love each other, get married and raise their own children – together – as part of a real family. Families keep civilizations together, and sex keeps husbands in families. Once sex became easily available – in magazines, in movies, on videos, over the phone, in men's rooms, at school – and women just went along with it because no one taught them that it was wrong to have sex outside of marriage – then the compelling draw for men to want to get married was gone. This is too bad. Just think of all the heartbreak this catastrophe has caused. (And we can all remember how disgusting it was to have some older person make sexual advances toward us when we were younger. There's a reason we felt that way. It wasn't just a different sexual orientation; it was wrong.)
Catastrophe No. 4 – Crime and drug use
Probably half of all local TV news is about crime in our cities and neighborhoods. How can this be? And how can we be so blasé in shrugging our shoulders at this tsunami of criminal behavior? There are reasons why crime is so prevalent. Young men are being raised by unwed working (or welfare) moms (or grandmas) who are unable to exert any control over them. They flunk out of school; they get caught up in the drug and youth gang worlds; they have to steal to buy drugs; they have to use guns to defend themselves from other thugs; and (if we're lucky) they wind up in prison, where they just hang-out with even more hardened criminals. Is this a catastrophe that's perhaps more urgent than global warming? Ask the victims of these criminals. They'll tell you which is more important.
Catastrophe No. 5 – Profanity and pop culture
I find it fascinating that the black community gets up-in-arms over a popular comedian's use of the six-letter N-word (when many in their own communities use it all the time), and the liberal gay community gets so indignant over Ann Coulter's use of the six-letter F-word, but no one seems to care that the four-letter F-word is used in nearly every sentence by certain high school students, is used regularly by Hollywood celebrities in movies and comedy skits, is blasted over the radio in many popular songs, and even appears in many of the articles in the upscale New Yorker magazine. I don't ever use this word. It's a vulgarism that merely indicates one's vocabulary, upbringing and education have really been lousy. Is our tolerating its use a sign of an enlightened civilization, or of a depraved one? You choose. And how have we arrived at the current situation where pop-culture elevates all that's bad and denigrates all that's good. Might this be another catastrophe worth worrying about?
Catastrophe No. 6 – The pitiful education Americans receive
I know it's funny when Jay Leno does his Jaywalking man-on-the-street interviews, and when Sean Hannity sends Flipper out to interview young people to expose how little they know about what's really going on the world, but then again it's really not all that funny, is it? America's youth are getting a pitiful education – from elementary school all the way through college. And it's not because there aren't thousands of great teachers trying to make it work. It's because many students put in zero effort, have parents who defend their slacker behavior (and who are quick to criticize the school but slow to criticize their own children), and that the curriculum is so laden-down with politically correct side-issues that the education students got in Thomas Jefferson's day was much more robust than what they get today.
Frankly, it's pitiful that so many young people aren't learning how to read (or to love reading) or how to write, including the basics of good grammar and communication skills so important to getting a good job and living a productive and happy life.
And the caliber of history education – both American and world history – is so poor that more than half of all Americans really don't know that America was the world's first true democracy and is still the Beacon of Freedom and Hope for oppressed people all around the world. Rather, they're often being taught that we're the cause of all of the world's problems (such as global warming, for example), and that socialist, communist and totalitarian regimes have just as much legitimacy and credibility as does the West. How totally absurd!
(And we'll have to save it for another column to discuss the quality of education as it relates to science, math, basic economic principles, finance, job-skills training, etc.)
Catastrophe No. 7 – The America-haters in the news media and Hollywood
Before the hippie Sex Revolution of the Vietnam War era, it used to be that our newspaper and TV reporters were proud Americans, who felt it their duty to report on the horrors our enemies were inflicting upon poor, innocent victims around the world. But consider what's happened since. Now, our mainstream news media see the enemies of America as being on an equal plane with us (except for those nations the press considers superior to us). The Bill of Rights ensures that we have a free press, but what the founders thought that meant is a far cry from what the current media think. The founders meant that the press would be free from government control. But the media see it as giving them the freedom to side with our enemies (whose media, I remind you, are government controlled).
Rather than being objective between the opposing political parties in the U.S., our media think it's their role to be objective critics – not between opposing political parties within America, but between us and our enemies outside of the country. This anti-Americanism is preposterous, and it's a topic Rush Limbaugh reiterates over and over again (thank goodness). But it's what gives the media the freedom to criticize our treatment of POWs at Guantanamo Bay, while not criticizing the treatment (murder) of suicide bombing victims by Islamo-fascists in Iraq. In this way, our own mainstream media are actually complicit in the defeat it hopes America will receive. And, unfortunately, we have a passive electorate that just believes whatever the media claim and seems to have an inability to ever make a judgment between right and wrong – which, of course, opens the door for the bad guys to win.
Catastrophe No. 8 – Liberal Democrats who seem incapable of recognizing 'good' from 'evil'
And speaking of bad guys, why is it that Democrats seem so incapable of recognizing a bad guy when confronted with one? When a thug gets hurt in the process of committing a crime, somehow it's the police's fault.
When a pedophile sexually abuses young boys at Scout camp, somehow it's the BSA's fault for not permitting gay scoutmasters. When parents complain about foul language in school library books, somehow it's the parents who are wrong for wanting to censor the school's right to put foul-language books in their taxpayer-funded libraries. Somehow Christians – who espouse love thy neighbor and being kind and generous to those in need – are the dangerous religious zealots, while the Islamo-fascists – who espouse killing all Jews and non-Muslims – are considered members of the religion of peace. Democrats seem to feel that if we would just treat our enemies nicer – and listen to their legitimate grievances – they would stop hating us. Try this approach on any bully you know and he'll just laugh hilariously, while he continues to beat you to a pulp. What an embarrassingly naïve Neville Chamberlain approach. Perhaps the catastrophe of not recognizing who the bad guys really are will bring the world to an end sooner than the time frame projected for global warming. Which catastrophe do you think is the more imminently dangerous? So there you have it:
Eight catastrophes that we really should be worried about. And if you wonder where global warming comes in on my list, it's just below slow drivers in the fast lane!
Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (JOHN 1:29)
Happy Passover!
Even before I knew Yeshua as my Messiah, Passover was my favorite Jewish holiday.
My family would gather around a festive table for the Seder (holiday meal). With all of my cousins at the table, the story of Passover would be told from the Haggadah (a book), explaining the story of Moses and the Exodus. How the Jewish people were in slavery in Egypt. Moses confronting Pharaoh and the 10 plagues, how the firstborn was spared by the blood of the lamb, and how God parted the Red Sea and delivered the Jewish people from slavery and bondage in Egypt. This year Passover is from April 3-10.
In 1987 at Passover, as a university student, I accepted Yeshua (Jesus) through studying the Messianic prophecies. Passover took on a whole new meaning for me! All those scriptures about Passover and the sacrificial lamb made sense to me. Passover is revealed in many Messianic prophecies and this will be fully explained when our Messianic Prophecy Bible is completed. The prophecies are everywhere. But what I find so amazing is how God's fulfillment of prophecy is so perfect down to the hour! There is absolutely no way that this could be a coincidence!
Part of the biblical Passover practice was that the lamb, which would be used for the Passover, was to be set aside on the 10th day of the month of Nissan. It was then to be tested until the 14th day to be certain it was without spot or blemish before it was killed. Yeshua as the Passover Lamb was also set aside on the 10th day of the Nissan, because it was on this day that He entered Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. The true significance of His triumphal entry was that on this occasion Yeshua set Himself aside as the Passover Lamb. From the 10th day until the 14th day of Nissan, Yeshua was tested by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Scribes, and the Herodians. By answering all of their objections and questions, Yeshua (the Lamb of God) clearly showed that He was without spot and without blemish.
He was later crucified at nine o'clock in the morning and at exactly the same time, the special
Passover animal (lamb or he-goat) sacrifice was offered in the Temple compound. Just as the Jewish leaders were very careful that not a single bone of the Passover lamb was broken, John 19:36 points out that not a single bone of Yeshua was broken either, during His scourging, the crucifixion itself, nor by the Roman soldiers who always broke the victim's legs. Messianic Jews celebrate this good news at Passover, with the recognition that the blood placed on the tops and sides of the doorframes in Egypt was none other than a foreshadowing of the blood Yeshua would shed 1500 years later, which would cover mankind from all of their sins. But what breaks my heart, is that this year 14 million Jewish people worldwide will celebrate Passover in their homes with family and friends who are gathered around the table for the Seder meal, retelling the story of Passover. However, no one has a clue as they read about God's deliverance in Egypt that the Passover lamb has been fulfilled in Yeshua!
Even though the Jewish people are known as the People of the Book, most know little, if anything, about the Messianic prophecies. The rabbis do not investigate or discuss the Messianic prophecies, and they ignore what Moses says: . . without the blood atonement, there is no redemption of sin.
Leviticus 17:11. What began at the first Passover was later fulfilled by Yeshua, once and for all! Our people must hear this good news and the Messianic Prophecy Bible will provide this life-changing truth in a way Jewish people can relate to and understand.
Moses stood up to Pharaoh saying: Let my people go! so that the Jewish people would be freed from bondage and they could worship God in freedom. Today Moses is not here, but you are -- so I'm asking you to please take a stand for the Jewish people so that they can be delivered from eternal death and be set free by knowing Yeshua the Passover Lamb, who gives freedom and eternal life.
Your brother in Messiah's love,
Zev Isaacs Messianic Prophecy BIBLE Project
Olmert and Abbas plan Sunday discussion By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 13, 7:23 AM ET
JERUSALEM - A meeting Sunday between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will include a general discussion of a future Palestinian state, Palestinian and Israeli officials said Friday, but is not expected to yield dramatic results. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the two leaders would discuss the political horizon at the Sunday meeting, the first in a series of biweekly meetings that Olmert and Abbas agreed to hold at the prodding of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.Specifically, they will probe the possibility of turning President Bush's vision of a two-state solution into a realistic political track, Erekat said.David Baker, an official in Olmert's office, confirmed that Olmert and Abbas would discuss the composition of a future Palestinian state, but said talks would focus mainly on security and humanitarian issues. Olmert also plans to raise the issue of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas-linked militants since June, 2006, Baker said.
A prisoner swap deal for Shalit's release has been in the works for months, but has not produced results so far.Erekat said the Sunday meeting would take place in Jerusalem, but Baker would not confirm that.The two leaders' agreement to hold regular meetings was announced at the end of March by Rice, who visited the region repeatedly over the past months in an attempt to jumpstart peace talks.Israel opposes final status negotiations with the Palestinians as long as their government includes the Islamist group Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel or renounce violence, and as long as Palestinian militants continue holding Shalit and firing rockets from Gaza.Because of that opposition, Rice announced that the Olmert-Abbas talks are supposed to include only discussion of the more vaguely defined political horizon.The term appears to include general discussion of a two-state solution but no substantive negotiations on the issues dividing the sides, such as permanent borders, the fate of disputed Jerusalem, and a solution for Palestinian refugees who lost their homes when Israel was formed in 1948.
Re-discover real Jesus, Pope urges in new book By Philip Pullella APR 13,07
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his first book since becoming Pontiff, shares his personal search for the face of the Lord and indirectly dismisses popular speculative versions of Christ's life like The Da Vinci Code.Jesus of Nazareth, released on Friday, is a highly complex theological treatise on Christ as both God and man in which the Pope dissects and analyzes scripture passages like the old university professor he once was.Benedict says the reader should not consider the 450-page work, a study he began about two years before his election and finished last September, as an infallible part of official Church teaching, writing: Anyone is free to contradict me.The book is sprinkled with hundreds of Biblical references, citations, and quotes of people as disparate as Karl Marx and Mother Teresa, Socrates and Confucius, Dante and Nietzsche.
I have tried to present the Jesus of the Gospels as the real Jesus, as the historical Jesus in the true sense, writes Benedict, the Vatican's top theologian for nearly 25 years before his election to the papacy in 2005.Recently, Christian churches have fought against depictions or interpretations of Christ which have worked their way into works of fiction such as The Da Vinci Code, which claimed that Jesus married, had children and never rose from the dead.
NOT A MYTH
As if to confront these, Benedict writes:Yes, it really happened. Jesus is not a myth. He is a man made of flesh and blood, a totally real presence in history ... he died and rose from the dead.In presenting the book to the media, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna was more direct in his criticism of recent interpretations of Christ's life.The innumerable fanciful images of Jesus as a revolutionary, as a timid social reformer, as the secret lover of Mary Magdalene, can be put to rest in the ossuary of history, Schonborn told a news conference, adding that the book was based on the solid, historical credibility of the Gospels.For over a century, Biblical scholars have used new critical analytical methods and newly found documents such as the Dead Sea Scrolls to portray Jesus as more human than divine. This scholarship reached popular audiences with The Da Vinci Code.
The book, a first volume in a larger work, concentrates on Christ's public ministry. Mostly an academic work blended with personal touches, it starts with his baptism in the Jordan River when he was already an adult and ends with the Transfiguration. While the book is mostly a theological study, at times the Pope offers contemporary relevance to some Biblical accounts.After analyzing the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Pope says rich countries bent on power and profit have plundered and sacked Africa and other poor regions and exported to them the cynicism of a world without God.
Breaking News: More Than 20 young Israelis Make Confession of Faith at Boombamela New Age Festival APR 13,2007
David's Comment: Flying in the Face of the Creator of the Universe Jeremiah 30:3 For behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah, says the LORD. And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.(NKJ)
There are dozens of Bible verses like the one above, that speak about the Lord's intention to return all of the Jewish people from both the house of Israel and the house of Judah, to the land of Israel at the end if the current age. Acts 3:21 tells us that Yeshua must remain in heaven until the time of the fulfillment of all the words of the Old Testament prophets.. Thus the return is an absolute pre-requisite before Yeshua can return to establish the Millenium reign. Therefore every Bible believing Christian should be excited by the ongoing return of the Jewish people to the land of their forefathers. Not only excited by, but participating in some way to assist Jewish people from every nation to get back to Israel as soon as possible. We should not be saying MARANATHA unless we are doing something about it.The other fact I want to make mention of is that as a result of the many wars over the last 100 years, more than 100 million people have been made homeless refugees.
The United Nations, and its predecessor, the League of Nations, worked very effectively to permanently re--settle or relocate nearly all of these 100 million refugees - all except the so called Palestinian refugees that is. By the way, the news media has always told the world that the so called Palestinians live in refugee camps giving the impression that they live in tents. Even I had that impression until several years ago. But they do not live in tents. These refugee camps are actually normal apartments in Arab towns and cities.
Why do I write so called Palestinians? Because there is no such thing as a Palestinian. Even the word is illegitimate in God's eyes.The Romans invented the name to remove the connection to God that is found in the name Isra EL. From the restoration of Israel in 1948 until the 6 Day Wa of 1967, Jordan annexed & controlled East Jerusalem & the so called West Bank, with Arabs from every surrounding country living under Jordanian control. During that time there was never any talk of a Palestinian people . There was the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra, the Palestine Post and the Palestine Electric Company, but they were all Jewish. If there was such a thing as Palestinian people, they would be Jewish not Arab. Its all an Islam / media fabrication. i.e. A BIG LIE !!!
One must also ask Why have the so called Palestinians never been permanently resettled ? The answer has become very obvious over the last 2 or 3 weeks. George Bush and Condalesa Rice, under the spell of Saudi Arabian oil pressure, have been pushing Israel''s leadersto agree to the Saudi Middle East peace plan. This plan calls for Israel to return to the 1948 - 1967 boundaries which give Israel only 17% of the territory that God promised to Abraham. Not only that, but the Saudi plan also calls for a total cessation of the return of the Jewish people to Israel. And any Jews that leave would not be allowed back. If it wasnt so serious, it would be laughable
Oh yes, there is one more element in the Saudi peace plan. In 1948 about 650,000 Arabs fled at the command of the Arab League. These people are the so called refugees. Now their offspring numbers more than 3.5 million, and the Saudi plan calls for their right of return to Israel, thus ensuring the eventual demise of the Jewish state of Israel. To cut the size of Israel back, or to stop the return of the Jewish people, or to overun the country with non-Jews, is to delay or totally prevent the return of the Lord.Can you see why the refugees were never resettled ? It was the Devil's plan to keep them as the bait with which to hook the once Christian Western world into standing alongside the Muslim world in the destruction of Israel, preventing the second coming of Messiah.
I can understand the secular unbelievers going along with Satan's plan, but why Bush & Rice, who both claim to be Christians ? And why does the majority of the Church also side with the so called Palestinains ? To close on a positive note, the fact that the Saudi plan has come to the forefront once again, and that Bush & Rice are backing it, is another clear sign that we must surely be living in what the prophets called the end of the age, or the latter days. Let's hasten the day of the Lord's return by praying that our pastors will have a revelation of this message, getting our churches involved in bringing the Jews home. Lets be praying for Bush & Rice to wake up, and lets pray Psalm 83 over all who conspire against the Lord's land and people.The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to the Jewish people by the God of Israel . Do not be silent, but share this to your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.
Shabbat Shalom .. . David & Josie SILVER
Thousands of Jews Visit Tombs of Joshua, Calev
by Hillel Fendel APR 13,07 (INN)
Some 5,000 Jews availed themselves last night (Thursday) of the IDF's offer to safeguard the area of the Arab village of Kifel Heres so that they could visit the holy sites. The area lies immediately to the north of the city of Ariel.Twice a year, the security forces enable Jews to visit the holy gravesites of Joshua bin Nun and Calev ben Yefuneh, who led the Israelites in their conquest of the Holy Land, and that of Joshua's father Nun. Some 5,000 visitors arrived throughout last night, experiencing the unusual sensation of walking freely through an Arab village without fear of attack. The three graves are interspersed among the village's houses; two of them are housed by dome-like structures, while Nun's grave is marked only with a large concrete mound. Most worshipers arrived first at the grave of Calev, who led the Tribe of Judah in conquering Hevron. They then walked a few hundreds meters to the north to the burial place of Joshua, and then to the west where lies his father. Joshua and Calev were the only ones of the 12 Spies dispatched by Moses who returned with an encouraging report of the Land of Israel. Pamphlets with special prayers were handed out to the thousands of visitors. The prayers included mentions of the special merit of the three holy men in that they experienced the Exodus from Egypt, the receiving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, and the conquest of the Promised Land.
The event was organized by the Shomron Local Religious Council. People came from far and near, said one organizer, representing the hareidi, hassidic, religious-Zionist and traditional sectors.
It was moving to see them all come together to proclaim the call of Joshua and Calev, 'Let us ascend to the Land and inherit it, for we will be able to succeed.Pupils of local elementary schools were on hand to celebrate their completion of the Book of Joshua. The Aleinu prayer, traditionally attributed to Joshua, was recited repeatedly. We see that the public votes with its feet on behalf of Judaism's holy site, an organizer said, without consideration of separation fences, inclement weather [it began drizzling around 1:30 AM], or the late hour.Dov Shapira, head of the local religious council, gave a deluxe edition of the Bible, accompanied by Joshua's blessing Be strong and of great courage, to the head of the IDF Nachshon Regiment, in recognition of the army's cooperation in the complex operation. The organizers now wish to visit Joseph's Tomb in Shechem, where the stakes are higher: Joseph is the son of the Patriarch Jacob, and prayers at his burial site carry special merit - while on the other hand, Shechem is more dangerous for Jews than the little village Kifel Hares.
2007 a prophetic year? April 11, 2007
By Marylou Barry
In Genesis, God flooded the earth for 40 days and 40 nights, and 40 days after the mountaintops became visible, Noah opened the ark's window and sent out a bird. Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca, and his son Esau was 40 years old when he married Judith. The judge Eli presided over the people of Israel for 40 years. Their first king, Saul, reigned for 40 years; their second king, David, reigned for 40 years; and their third king, Solomon, reigned for 40 years. The number 40 is used a lot in the Bible, and it is sometimes – but not always – connected with punishment. Israel was made to wait 40 years in the desert to enter the Promised Land and was given a 40-year judgment under the Philistines for its misdeeds. Egypt had a 40-year sentence to serve under Babylon's Nebuchadnezzar.
When Moses was given the Ten Commandments, he stayed on the mountain with God for 40 days. He died after living 40 years as a prince, 40 years as an exile, and 40 years as a prophet leading his people to the Promised Land. When they first arrived, he sent 40-year-old Joshua to spy out the land. That mission took – you guessed it – 40 days. According to the New Testament, Jesus began his ministry with a 40-day fast in the wilderness and ended it with a 40-day reunion with his followers. Fast-forward to June 1967.
In the Six-Day War, Israel retook East Jerusalem, propelling the Temple Mount back into Jewish hands for the first time in 19 centuries. Then, in what may have been the first de facto land-for-peace tradeoff in Israeli history, defense minister and acclaimed war hero Moshe Dayan turned custody of the Mount right back over to the defeated Jordanian enemy. It was evident that if we did not prevent Jews from praying in what was now a mosque compound, he later wrote, matters would get out of hand and lead to a religious clash.
However, Dayan had attached two conditions to the transfer: 1) a ban on rabble-rousing sermons against the Jews, and 2) freedom of access without limitation or payment. These conditions were never enforced by the Israeli government. Some observers blame the transfer on Dayan's secular worldview. In his biography, Dayan clearly stated that the last thing he wanted was the Beit Hamikdash (Temple building) rebuilt, one commentator wrote. So Dayan gave the Temple Mount back to the Arabs because he wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be a third Temple. There was nothing that Prime Minister Eshkol could do about it. After all, Dayan had just become one of the biggest heroes in Israeli history. One of our biggest heroes may go down in history as one of our biggest screw-ups.Dayan's heroism notwithstanding, Scripture speaks loudly against the giving away of Israel's land to her enemies. Although official title to the Mount was not surrendered, guardianship of it and access to it were, and quite voluntarily so.
The point here might be better explained with an illustration:
On your way to school Monday, the neighborhood bully and two of his friends try to grab your lunch money in an unprovoked attack. You respond by bravely – and unexpectedly – beating the living snot out of all three. Monday night you get to thinking that, wow, maybe it would be best to mend fences because, at some time in the future, that bully might possibly threaten you again. So, on your way to school Tuesday, you startle the young thug by voluntarily handing him your lunch money! Butch, you say, I believe you've changed a lot since you regained consciousness yesterday, so I'll make you a little deal. My lunch money for today is still mine, understand, but I'm going to let you hold on to it for safekeeping. However, I expect you never to harass me again, and I expect you to give me access to my money whenever I want it.
How much regard do you think Butch is going to have for your lunch money – or anything remotely associated with you – from now on? This year, 2007, commemorates the 40-year anniversary of the giveaway of the Temple Mount. Now as before, Israel's enemies surround the city and beat their plowshares into swords. The ancient plateau still stands where old Abraham went to offer Isaac, where King David dreamed of the Temple his son Solomon would build, where 12-year-old Jesus amazed the doctors of the law with his understanding. But now it is populated with monuments to a god the ancient Hebrews never knew, and the 40-year cycle has come around again. Will the merciful God of Israel grant His people a pass on what some might consider one leader's lapse in judgment?
Has the biblical 40-year phenomenon drawn to a close at this late date? Or will 2007 be another prophetic year?
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Fri Apr 13 10:00 AM EDT
APR 13,2007
MAP 3.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.0 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.0 KEPULAUAN SANGIHE, INDONESIA
MAP 5.5 KEPULAUAN SULA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.4 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 6.0 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 4.4 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.9 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
APR 12,07
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.1 VANUATU
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.6 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.6 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.0 SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 4.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.9 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.4 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.9 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.0 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.2 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 TARAPACA, CHILE
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
Strong earthquake shakes Mexico, no injuries By Gerardo Torres
Fri Apr 13, 5:20 AM ET
ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.0 shook Mexico early on Friday, sending thousands of tourists in Acapulco fleeing into the streets in panic and knocking out electricity as far away as the capital.
There were no immediate reports of injuries from the quake, centered in the Pacific coastal state of Guerrero.Oh man, we felt it. We jumped out of bed and went into the garden. I was fast asleep. It really shook. Things fell off shelves, said Acapulco resident Anna Archdale de Palazuelos.Tourists, many of them in nightgowns and pajamas, were evacuated from their hotels in Acapulco, where 20,000 homes lost electricity.Power also went down in some areas of Mexico City, which was devastated by a 8.1 magnitude earthquake in 1985 that killed around 10,000 people.
We were in the house sleeping. It woke us up. My girlfriend heard a noise like thunder, said Mexico City resident Adan Gutierrez.Inhabitants in the capital's central Tlatelolco district, badly hit 22 years ago, swarmed out into a main square. Mexican radio said the windows of some homes there were broken.Friday's quake hit at 12:42 local time (05:42 GMT) and was centered 40 miles northwest of Acapulco, the biggest city in Guerrero and home to around a million people.Fire services in the city rushed out to check for damage. Authorities in the state capital Chilpancingo said they had no reports of serious damage or injuries.An aftershock was felt in Mexico City about three hours later, which the U.S. Geological Survey said was magnitude 5.4. It was centered close to the first tremor.Emergency services in the capital and in Acapulco both said there were no reports of injuries or damage.
(Additional reporting by Catherine Bremer and Adriana Barrera in Mexico City and Diane Bartz in Washington)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Snow, strong winds close N.S. schools
Friday, April 13, 2007 CBC News
Schools are closed in northern and central Nova Scotia on Friday as winter returns to the region once again.A snowfall warning is in effect, and some areas can expect more than 15 centimetres of snow.
Environment Canada says a low-pressure system is moving south of the province, bringing wet snow, rain and wind gusts of up to 90 km/h along the southwestern shore.The snow is expected to hit Cape Breton by noon.The Chignecto-Central Regional School Board closed all of its schools for the day and the Nova Scotia Community College campus in Truro is also shut down.Motorists are being urged to drive with caution.Just last weekend, Nova Scotians were shovelling out of a storm that dumped snow and ice pellets as it swept across Eastern Canada.
Powerful winds wreak havoc across Los Angeles Thu Apr 12, 7:29 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Powerful winds wreaked havoc across Los Angeles on Thursday, fanning brush fires near one of the city's most exclusive neighborhoods and knocking out power to thousands of homes, officials said. One multi-million dollar home was completely gutted and three more suffered damage, one severely, after a wind-whipped fire erupted near Beverly Hills, fire officials said, while around 76,000 households suffered power cuts.The fire tore through around 35 acres (14 hectares) of tinder-dry brush, driven by winds in excess of 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Ron Myers told local broadcaster KCAL 9.
Television footage showed one large house in the upscale Beverly Glen district next to Beverly Hills completely destroyed by the blaze, which broke out at around 1:00 pm local time (2000 GMT).We have two homes with serious damage while two more have suffered what looks like roof damage at this stage, Myers said.Around 200 firefighters had been deployed to tackle the fire, with aerial support from helicopters which dumped water on the flames.There were no immediate reports of any injuries.
Meanwhile local power companies said thousands of homes had suffered outages because of the winds, which also toppled several large trees across Los Angeles and shrouded the city's downtown skyline in clouds of dust.The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said around 63,000 customers across the city were without power, while Southern California Edison officials put their figure at around 13,000.Most are due to the wind, LADWP spokeswoman Gale Harris said.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
APR 13,07
Forecasters predicted severe thunderstorms from central Texas to the Mississippi Delta, and more snow and rain in the Northeast on Friday. Clear skies were expected in much of the West. Thunderstorms packing hail, high wind and possible tornados were expected from around Waco, Texas, into parts of Louisiana and Arkansas.In the Northeast, snow and rain were expected, with potentially heavy snow in parts of New England.In the West, pleasant weather was expected in most of the region.But in the Northwest, a Pacific storm was expected to push into Puget Sound, bringing cloudy skies and rain to parts.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday ranged from a low of 3 degrees at Yellowstone, Wyo., to a high of 89 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
April 12, 2007 Arlene Kushner in Israel
As I report on what is happening in this part of the world, it is almost always implicit (sometimes I state it explicitly) that nothing is written in stone, that it hasn't happened until it's happened, that things might change tomorrow.
Today I have further information -- as the situation slips and slides -- on the prisoner exchange for Shalit and Israel's assessment of Hamas. The Israeli defense establishment is now expressing concern that Hamas is on the verge of splitting into three factions. This turn of events might jeopardize the Shalit deal and have an effect on future relations with the PA.
The three factions:
First is the one led by Khaled Mashaal, in Damascus, who has lowered his profile at the moment. His goal is the take-over of the PLO. Hamas's joining of the PLO was part of the deal at Mecca and something that Abbas has been advancing for some time. It renders a bit ludicrous the notion that Abbas can negotiate with us as head of the PLO and not head of the PA, which is tainted by Hamas. I understand that Mashaal's plans for the PLO down the road include canceling of all agreements with
Israel.Mashaal's current attempt to make it appear as if he has moderated is no more than a devious plot, intelligence warns. His ultimate goal is to become, like Arafat, the supreme Palestinian leader. In reality he has not modified or abandoned his radical, anti-Israel stance. I don't know if he's as slippery as Arafat was, or as innovative (Arafat in his time did things like run a terrorism school and do counterfeiting). But in terms of pure malice and evil, he is, I would say, a match.
Second is a group called the rejectionists, who believe that the coalition with Fatah in the unity government was a betrayal of Hamas principles. They are in-your-face radicals without pretense.
Led by former interior minister Said Siam, former foreign minister Mahammoud Zahar, and former Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, they have the backing of many in the armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin Kassam and are spearheading a revolt against positions taken by Mashaal and Haniyeh. The third faction is being labeled as the most radical of the three, which says quite a bit when you consider who the others are. They are located in Gaza and led by one Ahmed Jaabri, who is believed to have carried out the abduction of Shalit. It is this group, reportedly, that drafted the list of prisoners whose release are being demanded in exchange for Shalit. It appears then that this group is calling the shots at some level -- for, as I understand it, the request for the release of these prisoners went from Hamas officially to the Egyptians. At a substantial level, Haniyeh's hands are tied. And if his hands are tied, Abbas is tied hands and feet.
THIS STORY IS INTERESTING BELOW BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS THE DICTATOR OF THE EU COMES FROM THE SEA (OF NATIONS AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN).
REVELATION 13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
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:
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) 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:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) 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 (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he
shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR
Peres: Invest in the Sea, not Judea/Samaria
by Hillel Fendel (INN) APR 12,07
At a conference entitled The Sea as an Economic Resource, Shimon Peres says Israel should stop investing in Jude and Samaria and build artificial islands in the Mediterranean instead. The conference, which opened yesterday (Wednesday) in the seaside town of Mikhmoret, north of Netanya, deals with opportunities and threats presented by the sea. Topics on the agenda include pollution of the sea and coasts, the economic potential of the sea for Israel, and more. The conference is sponsored by the Ruppin Academic Center. In his remarks, Vice Premier Shimon Peres said, The State of Israel has a narrow waistline [less than ten miles between Netanya and Tul Karem, for instance - ed.]... Israel has invested some 60 billion shekels in the territories [Judea, Samaria and Gaza]. Instead of this, we must invest in the sea, and stretch our western border in that direction by building artificial islands.
It was Peres who, as Minister of Defense in the mid-1970's, approved the establishment of the first Jewish communities, Kedumim and Elkanah, in Samaria. He has since become very anti-settlement. Some view with irony his remarks about investing in the sea, especially in light of his well-known position in favor of a New Middle East and well-known Arab threats to throw the Jews into the sea.
Peres' support for artificial islands, though not a lone voice, is also controversial. Plans to build an international airport a quarter-mile offshore from north Tel Aviv are currently being discussed by an inter-ministerial committee. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and Transportation Minister Sha'ul Mofaz recently agreed to proceed with plans on between one and five such islands along the central Israel
coast between Bat Yam and Netanya as a way of alleviating central Israel's land shortage problem.
However, environmental groups such as the Israel Union for Environmental Defense (IUED) say that the idea gravely threatens the future of Israel's tranquil Mediterranean waters and sandy beaches. Before the airport-island scheme gains irreversible momentum, IUED urges full exploration of terrestrial alternatives, including direct development costs, environmental impacts, and feasibility of rail transport links to population centers.
Other participants at the Mikhmoret conference include water industry experts, environmentalists, and more. Conference Chairman Buki Oren, a former Chairman of Israel's official Mekorot Water Company, said, There is enough water in the world to supply all its needs; the challenge is to know how to use it wisely and develop appropriate technologies. He said that Israel must take the lead in raising international awareness regarding the use and preservation of water resources. Environmentalist businessman Morris Kahn had criticism both for companies that pollute and for the Environment Ministry's lackluster efforts to enforce ecological regulations. Personal responsibility must beimposed on companies and their directors that pollute the environment and the sea, Kahn said. He added that the Minister of Environment is frequently a politician who never really wanted the job in the first place, noting that the late Yehudit Naot of Shinui was an exception to this rule.
SINS OF PEOPLE
2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
DECIEVERS WAXING WORSE AND WORSE.
2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
SCOFFERS MOCKING CHRISTS LITERAL 2ND COMING TO EARTH BODILY.
2 PETER 3:3-7
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
LETHARGY AND INDIFFERENCE AMONG GODS PEOPLE.
REVELATION 3:14-16
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
MORE SIN SIGNS
EPHESIANS 5:5-8
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
HOMOSEXUALS.
GENESIS 19:5
5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
ROMANS 1:18-32
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:(HOMOSEXUALITY,AND ALL SEX SINS)
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:(LESBIENS)
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly,(SODOMITES) and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.(AIDS ETC)
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
UNRIGHTEOUS PEOPLE.
TITUS 3:5
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
SEX SINS
1 CORINTHIANS 6:9,14-18
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
GALATIONS 5:19-21
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
ALL THESE SINS ABOVE ARE SURE NOT OBEYING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS LIKE GOD TOLD THE WORLD TO DO. THATS WHY THE JUDGEMENTS ON THE EARTH FOR NOT OBEYING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS (NOT 10 SUGGESTIONS)
8 catastrophes we should be worried about
April 12, 2007 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern - By W. F. Walker Johanson WND
There sure is a lot of talk about how global warming is about to destroy the planet! And how, if we don't stop driving our SUVs – and go back to living by candlelight – we'll all be dead within the next 20 years. (Just ask your children; that's what they probably already believe.) But I'd like to propose that there are much worse catastrophes we really should be worried about. Here is my list of the Top 8:
Catastrophe No. 1 – Parents who abdicate their responsibilities
It's stunning to me how few children ever do their homework. What are parents thinking? Don't they know that doing your homework and getting good grades is a valid indicator of future success and happiness? Why do so many parents allow their children to watch so much TV, dress like thugs, disrespect their teachers (and the parents, themselves) and swear so vulgarly? And why do they drive them all over town to play multiple sports … when most haven't read a single book in the past year?
No TV during the week; sit-down meals at home with Mom and Dad to discuss what's going on in each other's lives; more focus on reading, homework and family than on TV, sports, and the Internet; a little leadership to keep children away from bad influences and the wrong crowd would all do wonders to help reverse this national catastrophe.
Catastrophe No. 2 – No at-home moms and no dads at all
I know it's old-fashioned (and home prices really are so outrageously high that you just have to have both parents working) but the sad truth is that ever since moms went back to work, families have gone to hell. And it's families that keep every civilization functioning smoothly. Research has proven that children in families get better grades, have higher graduation rates, drink less alcohol, go to college more, get in trouble less and so on. And where crime is out-of-control it's usually where there are no dads, just lots of moms getting pregnant out-of-wedlock. And all of the attempts to re-define the family as one with two moms or two dads, or with parents who aren't married to each other, is just a feeble attempt to bring credibility to relationships that do not generate the societal advantages of traditional families. Is this a catastrophe? Indeed! And it's way more important than global warming!
Catastrophe No. 3 – Pornography, free sex and pedophilia
Just think about it for a minute … if sex were totally free and readily available, why would men ever choose to get married? This is just one of the many reasons why all major civilizations have always frowned upon promiscuous sex and have taught the next generation that the happiest, most honorable and best place for sex is between a man and a woman who love each other, get married and raise their own children – together – as part of a real family. Families keep civilizations together, and sex keeps husbands in families. Once sex became easily available – in magazines, in movies, on videos, over the phone, in men's rooms, at school – and women just went along with it because no one taught them that it was wrong to have sex outside of marriage – then the compelling draw for men to want to get married was gone. This is too bad. Just think of all the heartbreak this catastrophe has caused. (And we can all remember how disgusting it was to have some older person make sexual advances toward us when we were younger. There's a reason we felt that way. It wasn't just a different sexual orientation; it was wrong.)
Catastrophe No. 4 – Crime and drug use
Probably half of all local TV news is about crime in our cities and neighborhoods. How can this be? And how can we be so blasé in shrugging our shoulders at this tsunami of criminal behavior? There are reasons why crime is so prevalent. Young men are being raised by unwed working (or welfare) moms (or grandmas) who are unable to exert any control over them. They flunk out of school; they get caught up in the drug and youth gang worlds; they have to steal to buy drugs; they have to use guns to defend themselves from other thugs; and (if we're lucky) they wind up in prison, where they just hang-out with even more hardened criminals. Is this a catastrophe that's perhaps more urgent than global warming? Ask the victims of these criminals. They'll tell you which is more important.
Catastrophe No. 5 – Profanity and pop culture
I find it fascinating that the black community gets up-in-arms over a popular comedian's use of the six-letter N-word (when many in their own communities use it all the time), and the liberal gay community gets so indignant over Ann Coulter's use of the six-letter F-word, but no one seems to care that the four-letter F-word is used in nearly every sentence by certain high school students, is used regularly by Hollywood celebrities in movies and comedy skits, is blasted over the radio in many popular songs, and even appears in many of the articles in the upscale New Yorker magazine. I don't ever use this word. It's a vulgarism that merely indicates one's vocabulary, upbringing and education have really been lousy. Is our tolerating its use a sign of an enlightened civilization, or of a depraved one? You choose. And how have we arrived at the current situation where pop-culture elevates all that's bad and denigrates all that's good. Might this be another catastrophe worth worrying about?
Catastrophe No. 6 – The pitiful education Americans receive
I know it's funny when Jay Leno does his Jaywalking man-on-the-street interviews, and when Sean Hannity sends Flipper out to interview young people to expose how little they know about what's really going on the world, but then again it's really not all that funny, is it? America's youth are getting a pitiful education – from elementary school all the way through college. And it's not because there aren't thousands of great teachers trying to make it work. It's because many students put in zero effort, have parents who defend their slacker behavior (and who are quick to criticize the school but slow to criticize their own children), and that the curriculum is so laden-down with politically correct side-issues that the education students got in Thomas Jefferson's day was much more robust than what they get today.
Frankly, it's pitiful that so many young people aren't learning how to read (or to love reading) or how to write, including the basics of good grammar and communication skills so important to getting a good job and living a productive and happy life.
And the caliber of history education – both American and world history – is so poor that more than half of all Americans really don't know that America was the world's first true democracy and is still the Beacon of Freedom and Hope for oppressed people all around the world. Rather, they're often being taught that we're the cause of all of the world's problems (such as global warming, for example), and that socialist, communist and totalitarian regimes have just as much legitimacy and credibility as does the West. How totally absurd!
(And we'll have to save it for another column to discuss the quality of education as it relates to science, math, basic economic principles, finance, job-skills training, etc.)
Catastrophe No. 7 – The America-haters in the news media and Hollywood
Before the hippie Sex Revolution of the Vietnam War era, it used to be that our newspaper and TV reporters were proud Americans, who felt it their duty to report on the horrors our enemies were inflicting upon poor, innocent victims around the world. But consider what's happened since. Now, our mainstream news media see the enemies of America as being on an equal plane with us (except for those nations the press considers superior to us). The Bill of Rights ensures that we have a free press, but what the founders thought that meant is a far cry from what the current media think. The founders meant that the press would be free from government control. But the media see it as giving them the freedom to side with our enemies (whose media, I remind you, are government controlled).
Rather than being objective between the opposing political parties in the U.S., our media think it's their role to be objective critics – not between opposing political parties within America, but between us and our enemies outside of the country. This anti-Americanism is preposterous, and it's a topic Rush Limbaugh reiterates over and over again (thank goodness). But it's what gives the media the freedom to criticize our treatment of POWs at Guantanamo Bay, while not criticizing the treatment (murder) of suicide bombing victims by Islamo-fascists in Iraq. In this way, our own mainstream media are actually complicit in the defeat it hopes America will receive. And, unfortunately, we have a passive electorate that just believes whatever the media claim and seems to have an inability to ever make a judgment between right and wrong – which, of course, opens the door for the bad guys to win.
Catastrophe No. 8 – Liberal Democrats who seem incapable of recognizing 'good' from 'evil'
And speaking of bad guys, why is it that Democrats seem so incapable of recognizing a bad guy when confronted with one? When a thug gets hurt in the process of committing a crime, somehow it's the police's fault.
When a pedophile sexually abuses young boys at Scout camp, somehow it's the BSA's fault for not permitting gay scoutmasters. When parents complain about foul language in school library books, somehow it's the parents who are wrong for wanting to censor the school's right to put foul-language books in their taxpayer-funded libraries. Somehow Christians – who espouse love thy neighbor and being kind and generous to those in need – are the dangerous religious zealots, while the Islamo-fascists – who espouse killing all Jews and non-Muslims – are considered members of the religion of peace. Democrats seem to feel that if we would just treat our enemies nicer – and listen to their legitimate grievances – they would stop hating us. Try this approach on any bully you know and he'll just laugh hilariously, while he continues to beat you to a pulp. What an embarrassingly naïve Neville Chamberlain approach. Perhaps the catastrophe of not recognizing who the bad guys really are will bring the world to an end sooner than the time frame projected for global warming. Which catastrophe do you think is the more imminently dangerous? So there you have it:
Eight catastrophes that we really should be worried about. And if you wonder where global warming comes in on my list, it's just below slow drivers in the fast lane!
Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (JOHN 1:29)
Happy Passover!
Even before I knew Yeshua as my Messiah, Passover was my favorite Jewish holiday.
My family would gather around a festive table for the Seder (holiday meal). With all of my cousins at the table, the story of Passover would be told from the Haggadah (a book), explaining the story of Moses and the Exodus. How the Jewish people were in slavery in Egypt. Moses confronting Pharaoh and the 10 plagues, how the firstborn was spared by the blood of the lamb, and how God parted the Red Sea and delivered the Jewish people from slavery and bondage in Egypt. This year Passover is from April 3-10.
In 1987 at Passover, as a university student, I accepted Yeshua (Jesus) through studying the Messianic prophecies. Passover took on a whole new meaning for me! All those scriptures about Passover and the sacrificial lamb made sense to me. Passover is revealed in many Messianic prophecies and this will be fully explained when our Messianic Prophecy Bible is completed. The prophecies are everywhere. But what I find so amazing is how God's fulfillment of prophecy is so perfect down to the hour! There is absolutely no way that this could be a coincidence!
Part of the biblical Passover practice was that the lamb, which would be used for the Passover, was to be set aside on the 10th day of the month of Nissan. It was then to be tested until the 14th day to be certain it was without spot or blemish before it was killed. Yeshua as the Passover Lamb was also set aside on the 10th day of the Nissan, because it was on this day that He entered Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. The true significance of His triumphal entry was that on this occasion Yeshua set Himself aside as the Passover Lamb. From the 10th day until the 14th day of Nissan, Yeshua was tested by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Scribes, and the Herodians. By answering all of their objections and questions, Yeshua (the Lamb of God) clearly showed that He was without spot and without blemish.
He was later crucified at nine o'clock in the morning and at exactly the same time, the special
Passover animal (lamb or he-goat) sacrifice was offered in the Temple compound. Just as the Jewish leaders were very careful that not a single bone of the Passover lamb was broken, John 19:36 points out that not a single bone of Yeshua was broken either, during His scourging, the crucifixion itself, nor by the Roman soldiers who always broke the victim's legs. Messianic Jews celebrate this good news at Passover, with the recognition that the blood placed on the tops and sides of the doorframes in Egypt was none other than a foreshadowing of the blood Yeshua would shed 1500 years later, which would cover mankind from all of their sins. But what breaks my heart, is that this year 14 million Jewish people worldwide will celebrate Passover in their homes with family and friends who are gathered around the table for the Seder meal, retelling the story of Passover. However, no one has a clue as they read about God's deliverance in Egypt that the Passover lamb has been fulfilled in Yeshua!
Even though the Jewish people are known as the People of the Book, most know little, if anything, about the Messianic prophecies. The rabbis do not investigate or discuss the Messianic prophecies, and they ignore what Moses says: . . without the blood atonement, there is no redemption of sin.
Leviticus 17:11. What began at the first Passover was later fulfilled by Yeshua, once and for all! Our people must hear this good news and the Messianic Prophecy Bible will provide this life-changing truth in a way Jewish people can relate to and understand.
Moses stood up to Pharaoh saying: Let my people go! so that the Jewish people would be freed from bondage and they could worship God in freedom. Today Moses is not here, but you are -- so I'm asking you to please take a stand for the Jewish people so that they can be delivered from eternal death and be set free by knowing Yeshua the Passover Lamb, who gives freedom and eternal life.
Your brother in Messiah's love,
Zev Isaacs Messianic Prophecy BIBLE Project
Olmert and Abbas plan Sunday discussion By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 13, 7:23 AM ET
JERUSALEM - A meeting Sunday between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will include a general discussion of a future Palestinian state, Palestinian and Israeli officials said Friday, but is not expected to yield dramatic results. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the two leaders would discuss the political horizon at the Sunday meeting, the first in a series of biweekly meetings that Olmert and Abbas agreed to hold at the prodding of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.Specifically, they will probe the possibility of turning President Bush's vision of a two-state solution into a realistic political track, Erekat said.David Baker, an official in Olmert's office, confirmed that Olmert and Abbas would discuss the composition of a future Palestinian state, but said talks would focus mainly on security and humanitarian issues. Olmert also plans to raise the issue of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas-linked militants since June, 2006, Baker said.
A prisoner swap deal for Shalit's release has been in the works for months, but has not produced results so far.Erekat said the Sunday meeting would take place in Jerusalem, but Baker would not confirm that.The two leaders' agreement to hold regular meetings was announced at the end of March by Rice, who visited the region repeatedly over the past months in an attempt to jumpstart peace talks.Israel opposes final status negotiations with the Palestinians as long as their government includes the Islamist group Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel or renounce violence, and as long as Palestinian militants continue holding Shalit and firing rockets from Gaza.Because of that opposition, Rice announced that the Olmert-Abbas talks are supposed to include only discussion of the more vaguely defined political horizon.The term appears to include general discussion of a two-state solution but no substantive negotiations on the issues dividing the sides, such as permanent borders, the fate of disputed Jerusalem, and a solution for Palestinian refugees who lost their homes when Israel was formed in 1948.
Re-discover real Jesus, Pope urges in new book By Philip Pullella APR 13,07
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his first book since becoming Pontiff, shares his personal search for the face of the Lord and indirectly dismisses popular speculative versions of Christ's life like The Da Vinci Code.Jesus of Nazareth, released on Friday, is a highly complex theological treatise on Christ as both God and man in which the Pope dissects and analyzes scripture passages like the old university professor he once was.Benedict says the reader should not consider the 450-page work, a study he began about two years before his election and finished last September, as an infallible part of official Church teaching, writing: Anyone is free to contradict me.The book is sprinkled with hundreds of Biblical references, citations, and quotes of people as disparate as Karl Marx and Mother Teresa, Socrates and Confucius, Dante and Nietzsche.
I have tried to present the Jesus of the Gospels as the real Jesus, as the historical Jesus in the true sense, writes Benedict, the Vatican's top theologian for nearly 25 years before his election to the papacy in 2005.Recently, Christian churches have fought against depictions or interpretations of Christ which have worked their way into works of fiction such as The Da Vinci Code, which claimed that Jesus married, had children and never rose from the dead.
NOT A MYTH
As if to confront these, Benedict writes:Yes, it really happened. Jesus is not a myth. He is a man made of flesh and blood, a totally real presence in history ... he died and rose from the dead.In presenting the book to the media, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna was more direct in his criticism of recent interpretations of Christ's life.The innumerable fanciful images of Jesus as a revolutionary, as a timid social reformer, as the secret lover of Mary Magdalene, can be put to rest in the ossuary of history, Schonborn told a news conference, adding that the book was based on the solid, historical credibility of the Gospels.For over a century, Biblical scholars have used new critical analytical methods and newly found documents such as the Dead Sea Scrolls to portray Jesus as more human than divine. This scholarship reached popular audiences with The Da Vinci Code.
The book, a first volume in a larger work, concentrates on Christ's public ministry. Mostly an academic work blended with personal touches, it starts with his baptism in the Jordan River when he was already an adult and ends with the Transfiguration. While the book is mostly a theological study, at times the Pope offers contemporary relevance to some Biblical accounts.After analyzing the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Pope says rich countries bent on power and profit have plundered and sacked Africa and other poor regions and exported to them the cynicism of a world without God.
Breaking News: More Than 20 young Israelis Make Confession of Faith at Boombamela New Age Festival APR 13,2007
David's Comment: Flying in the Face of the Creator of the Universe Jeremiah 30:3 For behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah, says the LORD. And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.(NKJ)
There are dozens of Bible verses like the one above, that speak about the Lord's intention to return all of the Jewish people from both the house of Israel and the house of Judah, to the land of Israel at the end if the current age. Acts 3:21 tells us that Yeshua must remain in heaven until the time of the fulfillment of all the words of the Old Testament prophets.. Thus the return is an absolute pre-requisite before Yeshua can return to establish the Millenium reign. Therefore every Bible believing Christian should be excited by the ongoing return of the Jewish people to the land of their forefathers. Not only excited by, but participating in some way to assist Jewish people from every nation to get back to Israel as soon as possible. We should not be saying MARANATHA unless we are doing something about it.The other fact I want to make mention of is that as a result of the many wars over the last 100 years, more than 100 million people have been made homeless refugees.
The United Nations, and its predecessor, the League of Nations, worked very effectively to permanently re--settle or relocate nearly all of these 100 million refugees - all except the so called Palestinian refugees that is. By the way, the news media has always told the world that the so called Palestinians live in refugee camps giving the impression that they live in tents. Even I had that impression until several years ago. But they do not live in tents. These refugee camps are actually normal apartments in Arab towns and cities.
Why do I write so called Palestinians? Because there is no such thing as a Palestinian. Even the word is illegitimate in God's eyes.The Romans invented the name to remove the connection to God that is found in the name Isra EL. From the restoration of Israel in 1948 until the 6 Day Wa of 1967, Jordan annexed & controlled East Jerusalem & the so called West Bank, with Arabs from every surrounding country living under Jordanian control. During that time there was never any talk of a Palestinian people . There was the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra, the Palestine Post and the Palestine Electric Company, but they were all Jewish. If there was such a thing as Palestinian people, they would be Jewish not Arab. Its all an Islam / media fabrication. i.e. A BIG LIE !!!
One must also ask Why have the so called Palestinians never been permanently resettled ? The answer has become very obvious over the last 2 or 3 weeks. George Bush and Condalesa Rice, under the spell of Saudi Arabian oil pressure, have been pushing Israel''s leadersto agree to the Saudi Middle East peace plan. This plan calls for Israel to return to the 1948 - 1967 boundaries which give Israel only 17% of the territory that God promised to Abraham. Not only that, but the Saudi plan also calls for a total cessation of the return of the Jewish people to Israel. And any Jews that leave would not be allowed back. If it wasnt so serious, it would be laughable
Oh yes, there is one more element in the Saudi peace plan. In 1948 about 650,000 Arabs fled at the command of the Arab League. These people are the so called refugees. Now their offspring numbers more than 3.5 million, and the Saudi plan calls for their right of return to Israel, thus ensuring the eventual demise of the Jewish state of Israel. To cut the size of Israel back, or to stop the return of the Jewish people, or to overun the country with non-Jews, is to delay or totally prevent the return of the Lord.Can you see why the refugees were never resettled ? It was the Devil's plan to keep them as the bait with which to hook the once Christian Western world into standing alongside the Muslim world in the destruction of Israel, preventing the second coming of Messiah.
I can understand the secular unbelievers going along with Satan's plan, but why Bush & Rice, who both claim to be Christians ? And why does the majority of the Church also side with the so called Palestinains ? To close on a positive note, the fact that the Saudi plan has come to the forefront once again, and that Bush & Rice are backing it, is another clear sign that we must surely be living in what the prophets called the end of the age, or the latter days. Let's hasten the day of the Lord's return by praying that our pastors will have a revelation of this message, getting our churches involved in bringing the Jews home. Lets be praying for Bush & Rice to wake up, and lets pray Psalm 83 over all who conspire against the Lord's land and people.The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to the Jewish people by the God of Israel . Do not be silent, but share this to your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.
Shabbat Shalom .. . David & Josie SILVER
Thousands of Jews Visit Tombs of Joshua, Calev
by Hillel Fendel APR 13,07 (INN)
Some 5,000 Jews availed themselves last night (Thursday) of the IDF's offer to safeguard the area of the Arab village of Kifel Heres so that they could visit the holy sites. The area lies immediately to the north of the city of Ariel.Twice a year, the security forces enable Jews to visit the holy gravesites of Joshua bin Nun and Calev ben Yefuneh, who led the Israelites in their conquest of the Holy Land, and that of Joshua's father Nun. Some 5,000 visitors arrived throughout last night, experiencing the unusual sensation of walking freely through an Arab village without fear of attack. The three graves are interspersed among the village's houses; two of them are housed by dome-like structures, while Nun's grave is marked only with a large concrete mound. Most worshipers arrived first at the grave of Calev, who led the Tribe of Judah in conquering Hevron. They then walked a few hundreds meters to the north to the burial place of Joshua, and then to the west where lies his father. Joshua and Calev were the only ones of the 12 Spies dispatched by Moses who returned with an encouraging report of the Land of Israel. Pamphlets with special prayers were handed out to the thousands of visitors. The prayers included mentions of the special merit of the three holy men in that they experienced the Exodus from Egypt, the receiving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, and the conquest of the Promised Land.
The event was organized by the Shomron Local Religious Council. People came from far and near, said one organizer, representing the hareidi, hassidic, religious-Zionist and traditional sectors.
It was moving to see them all come together to proclaim the call of Joshua and Calev, 'Let us ascend to the Land and inherit it, for we will be able to succeed.Pupils of local elementary schools were on hand to celebrate their completion of the Book of Joshua. The Aleinu prayer, traditionally attributed to Joshua, was recited repeatedly. We see that the public votes with its feet on behalf of Judaism's holy site, an organizer said, without consideration of separation fences, inclement weather [it began drizzling around 1:30 AM], or the late hour.Dov Shapira, head of the local religious council, gave a deluxe edition of the Bible, accompanied by Joshua's blessing Be strong and of great courage, to the head of the IDF Nachshon Regiment, in recognition of the army's cooperation in the complex operation. The organizers now wish to visit Joseph's Tomb in Shechem, where the stakes are higher: Joseph is the son of the Patriarch Jacob, and prayers at his burial site carry special merit - while on the other hand, Shechem is more dangerous for Jews than the little village Kifel Hares.
2007 a prophetic year? April 11, 2007
By Marylou Barry
In Genesis, God flooded the earth for 40 days and 40 nights, and 40 days after the mountaintops became visible, Noah opened the ark's window and sent out a bird. Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca, and his son Esau was 40 years old when he married Judith. The judge Eli presided over the people of Israel for 40 years. Their first king, Saul, reigned for 40 years; their second king, David, reigned for 40 years; and their third king, Solomon, reigned for 40 years. The number 40 is used a lot in the Bible, and it is sometimes – but not always – connected with punishment. Israel was made to wait 40 years in the desert to enter the Promised Land and was given a 40-year judgment under the Philistines for its misdeeds. Egypt had a 40-year sentence to serve under Babylon's Nebuchadnezzar.
When Moses was given the Ten Commandments, he stayed on the mountain with God for 40 days. He died after living 40 years as a prince, 40 years as an exile, and 40 years as a prophet leading his people to the Promised Land. When they first arrived, he sent 40-year-old Joshua to spy out the land. That mission took – you guessed it – 40 days. According to the New Testament, Jesus began his ministry with a 40-day fast in the wilderness and ended it with a 40-day reunion with his followers. Fast-forward to June 1967.
In the Six-Day War, Israel retook East Jerusalem, propelling the Temple Mount back into Jewish hands for the first time in 19 centuries. Then, in what may have been the first de facto land-for-peace tradeoff in Israeli history, defense minister and acclaimed war hero Moshe Dayan turned custody of the Mount right back over to the defeated Jordanian enemy. It was evident that if we did not prevent Jews from praying in what was now a mosque compound, he later wrote, matters would get out of hand and lead to a religious clash.
However, Dayan had attached two conditions to the transfer: 1) a ban on rabble-rousing sermons against the Jews, and 2) freedom of access without limitation or payment. These conditions were never enforced by the Israeli government. Some observers blame the transfer on Dayan's secular worldview. In his biography, Dayan clearly stated that the last thing he wanted was the Beit Hamikdash (Temple building) rebuilt, one commentator wrote. So Dayan gave the Temple Mount back to the Arabs because he wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be a third Temple. There was nothing that Prime Minister Eshkol could do about it. After all, Dayan had just become one of the biggest heroes in Israeli history. One of our biggest heroes may go down in history as one of our biggest screw-ups.Dayan's heroism notwithstanding, Scripture speaks loudly against the giving away of Israel's land to her enemies. Although official title to the Mount was not surrendered, guardianship of it and access to it were, and quite voluntarily so.
The point here might be better explained with an illustration:
On your way to school Monday, the neighborhood bully and two of his friends try to grab your lunch money in an unprovoked attack. You respond by bravely – and unexpectedly – beating the living snot out of all three. Monday night you get to thinking that, wow, maybe it would be best to mend fences because, at some time in the future, that bully might possibly threaten you again. So, on your way to school Tuesday, you startle the young thug by voluntarily handing him your lunch money! Butch, you say, I believe you've changed a lot since you regained consciousness yesterday, so I'll make you a little deal. My lunch money for today is still mine, understand, but I'm going to let you hold on to it for safekeeping. However, I expect you never to harass me again, and I expect you to give me access to my money whenever I want it.
How much regard do you think Butch is going to have for your lunch money – or anything remotely associated with you – from now on? This year, 2007, commemorates the 40-year anniversary of the giveaway of the Temple Mount. Now as before, Israel's enemies surround the city and beat their plowshares into swords. The ancient plateau still stands where old Abraham went to offer Isaac, where King David dreamed of the Temple his son Solomon would build, where 12-year-old Jesus amazed the doctors of the law with his understanding. But now it is populated with monuments to a god the ancient Hebrews never knew, and the 40-year cycle has come around again. Will the merciful God of Israel grant His people a pass on what some might consider one leader's lapse in judgment?
Has the biblical 40-year phenomenon drawn to a close at this late date? Or will 2007 be another prophetic year?
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