BREAKING NEWS
In the Palestinian Refugee Camp 7 miles North of Tripoli Lebanon. Al Quida Terrororists are shooting it it out against the Lebanese Army. I can expect the EU ARMY to come together now to get into the scene to Guarentee peace in the mideast first, then in the future Guarentee Israels security for a Land for peace 7 year treaty. This is no Accident Bible Prophecy has to be fulfilled that the EU gets their army into the Mideast.
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-The Nation's Weather. 3-Hurricane season looms, New Orleans worries. 4-End EU constitution stalemate: Solana. 5-Hamas: Jews Must Run From Ashkelon Like From Sderot. 6-80 Bomb Shelters in Sderot Unfit for Use. 7-How to outlaw Christianity. 8-Lebanese army shells refugee. camp
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 = Mon May 21 15:12:03 UTC 2007
MAY 21,07
MAP 4.2 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 4.4 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 TARAPACA, CHILE
MAY 20,07
MAP 2.6 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 3.4 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 SEA OF JAPAN
MAP 4.5 SOUTH OF PANAMA
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 3.2 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.6 GULF OF CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.0 SIKKIM, INDIA
MAP 4.9 KHABAROVSKIY KRAY, RUSSIA
MAP 5.3 COQUIMBO, CHILE
MAP 4.7 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 2.9 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.6 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 4.6 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
MAY 19,07
MAP 4.9 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.7 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.3 COLORADO
MAP 2.8 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.0 LA RIOJA, ARGENTINA
MAP 3.1 SOUTH OF ALASKA
MAP 3.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.5 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.7 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.7 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Mon May 21, 6:12 AM ET
Thunderstorms swirled over the northern Plains early Monday — raising fears of strong winds, damaging hail and tornadoes — while a warm day dawned over the Midwest and Southeast. Thunderstorms were forecast in the Rockies and western Plains, though the focal point of the activity will most likely shift slightly to the east, with more storms occurring over the Plains than the eastern slopes of the mountains.
Clear skies were predicted over the East as high pressure builds. Temperatures were expected to be about the same as Sunday's highs, but abundant sunshine should make it feel warmer.In the West, temperatures were to warm up as low pressure finally passes through the region and moves into the Intermountain region.The Northwest was unlikely to feel the warmup, though, since Washington and Oregon will likely see continued cloud cover lingers over the states.Fog should also keep Southern California cool throughout the day Monday, but will likely burn off over the beaches by afternoon.
Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Sunday ranged from a low of 28 degrees at Grand Marais Airport, Minn., to a high of 110 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
Hurricane season looms, New Orleans worries By Russell McCulley and Haitham Haddadin Sun May 20, 8:58 AM ET
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - In a New Orleans still recovering from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the city safety plan for the next storm can be summed up best in two words: Get out. As the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season begins, New Orleans officials say the city is better prepared than it was before Katrina, but cannot assure people's safety.When the mayor tells the citizens to evacuate, the citizens should listen and heed the mayor's warning, said Jerry Sneed, director of the city's office of emergency preparedness.Jesse St. Amant, emergency preparedness director for Plaquemines Parish southeast of New Orleans, agreed. I would rather have somebody say I was inconvenienced (by evacuating) than to have to recover their body.Last year's hurricane season passed without a storm hitting Louisiana, which gave the city much needed time to continue its slow rebuilding.But this year, forecasters predict the hurricane season, which starts on June 1, will be busy, and the U.S. Gulf Coast could well be hit.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spent at least $1 billion strengthening levees that failed so miserably when Katrina hit on August 29, 2005, but experts say it will take billions more to secure the city, which is mostly below sea level.
The result, said Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center in Baton Rouge, is that another hurricane like Katrina could do just as much damage.Katrina, a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale when it hit New Orleans, flooded 80 percent of the city when its storm surge swamped the surrounding levees. A Category 3 storm has maximum winds of 130 miles per hour (209 kph).The storm killed at least 1,300 people and did an estimated $81 billion in damage, the most by a natural disaster in the United States.
IT WILL COMPLETELY FLOOD EVERYTHING
If we got a slow-moving Category 3, it will completely flood everything, van Heerden told Reuters at a recent hurricane conference.Louisiana Insurance Commissioner James Donelon said he believed the city's protection was strong enough to stand up to another Katrina, but beyond that, there were no guarantees.We have never, ever ... in the history of New Orleans been better protected against strong surge from hurricanes than we are today, he said in an interview. But a Category 4 or 5 hurricane on the critical path, that I can't answer.The issue is moot to local officials, who say that if a storm of any strength heads toward New Orleans, people should leave.They do not want a repeat of the anarchy after Katrina when people who did not evacuate died in the flooded city while crime and chaos reigned in the streets and in public shelters.Officials said there will be no shelters open for the next storm because they do not want to encourage people to stay. Nor do they want them trying to ride it out in their homes.
The lessons of Katrina have not been lost on New Orleans residents, many of whom have refused to return to a city they still view as a sitting duck for hurricanes. The latest population estimates show that about 255,000 people live in New Orleans now, compared to 480,000 before the storm. Those who are back worry about what this hurricane season will bring. Ina Keelen, a 21-year-old hotel employee who rode out Katrina in the city, said that next time she will leave, adding I can't take another chance with my life.
End EU constitution stalemate: Solana - REUTERS MAY 18,07
AACHEN • European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged the bloc yesterday to resolve the two-year-old stalemate over its stalled constitution, arguing the deadlock was undermining EU’s influence in the world. Receiving a prestigious German peace prize in the border city of Aachen, Solana backed efforts by Chancellor Angela Merkel to launch a blueprint for reforms of EU structures that would be in place from mid-2009. Just when we should be at our most alert, just when the world’s demand for Europe is at its highest, the Union has turned inwards, immersed in a sterile institutional crisis, Solana said. We cannot go on like this. This must be resolved as soon as possible, if possible in 2007, he told an audience packed with past and present European dignitaries. The bloc’s 27 capitals disagree on how to revive a charter all but killed off in 2005 by rejections in Dutch and French referendums. Diplomats say some consensus is, however, emerging around a slimmed down mini treaty proposed by new French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
It is not clear how much will be salvaged of the original text, which would have streamlined EU voting structures, created a more permanent presidency and a single foreign minister. Spanish Socialist Solana would have been the first holder of such a post, giving him control over EU instruments such as its vast overseas aid budget. Yet with his mandate expiring in 2009, any attempt to restore the position come too late for him. We can only develop a genuine foreign policy if we give ourselves the necessary structures, said the 64-year-old former NATO secretary-general. In the last few years, we have come a long way ... But today, we are very close to the limit of what can be achieved in this way.Solana, who has mediated in conflicts from the Balkans to the Middle East, received the Charlemagne Award.
Hamas: Jews Must Run From Ashkelon Like From Sderot
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 21,07
Nizar Riyan, a Hamas leader in Gaza, says his organization is determined to have Israel wiped off the map and be replaced by a state of Palestine. Speaking with the Hamas television station, Riyan called upon the PA Arab factions in Gaza to keep fighting the Jews even if the Arabs and Abu Mazen do not agree, until the last Jew leaves Palestine.Further dispelling any illusions that only Judea and Samaria are contested lands, Riyan called for the bombardment of Ashkelon until its Jews run away just like those of Sderot... The Arabs were expelled from Sderot and Ashkelon, and now the time has come to expel the land-stealers and allow the Arabs to return.
Preparing in Ashkelon
Ashkelon Mayor Roni Mahtzri is to meet with the Director of the Prime Minister's Bureau Monday in light of the threats facing the city. Mahtzri has already had meetings with top government and military figures on the question of how to protect Ashkelon from a feared onslaught of Kassam rockets. The city of Sderot, besieged for over five years by Kassam rockets, has many non-reinforced homes and schools; Ashkelon's population, close to 110,000, is more than five times that of Sderot. In late October 2005, Gen. Dan Harel, completing his term as head of the IDF Southern Command, warned that Ashkelon was already in range of Kassam rockets and that the city would eventually be targeted. Within a few weeks, rockets began hitting the southern outskirts of the city almost weekly, often landing near the Rotenberg Power Plant. The station is Israel's second-largest electric station, supplying about a quarter of Israels electricity. Meanwhile, Cabinet ministers are threatening Hamas leaders with personal liquidation. Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor), a former Defense Minister, said Monday that terrorist officres and even Hamas government ministers must be targeted directly, in addition to those who plan and execute Kassam attacks.Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said Monday that even Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh and exiled leader Khaled Mashaal are legitimate targets.
Dichter further said that fears for the fate of captured soldier Gilad Shalit should not govern Israel's war against terrorism, nor are they well-grounded. The return of Gilad Shalit safe and sound is a very important mission, Dichter told Army Radio. This is a goal that must be sought as if there was no war against terrorism, while at the same time we must fight against terrorism as if there was no Gilad Shalit issue. Once you start fighting terrorism with the fear of what might happen to Shalit, you endanger not only more soldiers, but also more citizens... Shalit is a great asset for Hamas, and they know that he is a very important negotiating card; they don't care about his life, but they care about his value, and will make sure to preserve it.Shalit was captured 11 months ago while guarding the Gaza border. He is being held somewhere in Gaza. Two other soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, were kidnapped on the Lebanon border 18 days later, kicking off the Second Lebanon War. It is not known if the latter two are alive, and, unlike with Shalit, negotiations have not been underway for their exchange.
80 Bomb Shelters in Sderot Unfit for Use
1 Sivan 5767, May 18, '07
(IsraelNN.com) A recent study showed that 80 bomb shelters in the city of Sderot are unfit for use. As there is no available funding to fix them, they have been used for storage. A remaining 36 shelters are functional, but most are in need of repair. The American-based Fellowship organization met with Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal on Thursday afternoon and promised 6.5 million shekels to fix the shelters. When the meeting was interrupted by dozens of Sderot residents who wished to evacuate the city, the Federation promised to sponsor 350 weekend vacations as well. Minister of Pensioners Affairs Rafi Eitan said Thursday that he had a plan to provide immediate protection for Sderot. He will meet with Moyal on Friday to present his plan.
How to outlaw Christianity (Steps 2 & 3)
May 21, 2007 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern Chuck Norris
C.S. Lewis, the former atheist and famous Oxford scholar, once said, Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.
There are a myriad of eminent scholars (like Lewis) who understand the folly of atheism. I will list a few others in this second part of my treatise to expose atheists' agenda to ban Christianity from the courts of culture. In my last article I discussed step 1 of their plan. In this discourse I will address steps 2 and 3.
Step two: target younger generations with atheism
Atheists are making a concerted effort to win the youth of America and the world. Hundreds of web sites and blogs on the Internet seek to convince and convert adolescents, endeavoring to remove any residue of theism from their minds and hearts by packaging atheism as the choice of a new generation. While you think your kids are innocently surfing the Web, secular progressives are intentionally preying on their innocence and naïveté. What's preposterous is that atheists are now advertising and soliciting on websites particularly created for teens. The London Telegraph noted that, Groups including Atheists for Human Rights and Atheist Alliance International Call 1-866-HERETIC - are setting up summer camps and an internet recruiting campaign.YouTube, the most popular video site on the Net for young people, is one of their primary avenues for passing off their secularist propaganda. Another antagonistic and self-proclaimed blasphemous site even beckons youth to record their anti-Christian beliefs on it. Even Oxford scientist Richard Dawkins is on personal campaign and militant quest to spread his name, books, and atheism all over the Internet by hoping young people will post his graphics on their MySpace page. Rather than question or critique his methods as slick marketing, young atheists are proud to post his links, follow and defend him like a religious sage, and cite his texts as infallible truth.
Step three: package and promote atheism as reasonable and scientific
Presenting atheism as scientific fact might be secularists' greatest plan and others point of greatest gullibility, in hope of winning the battle for the ultimate view of reality. And hailed as their chief advocates are men like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, Oxford University's ethologist and evolutionary biologist, with his book, The God Delusion, atheists newest bible or authoritative text.
So what credentials does a man like Dawkins have to discuss the presence or absence of God? Answer: He's a scientist. And the fact is anyone in our age who is a naturalist professor or wears a white lab coat can virtually speak upon any issue (even God) and their words are received as gospel – unless of course they are a theist! What's interesting is that atheists like Dawkins fall into the same snare they accuse of theists. While he might condemn Christians like me for not being educated enough to speak about theism or creation, his own expertise remains outside the realm of antagonism that defines his world crusade. To make dogmatic assertions about the absence of God and not possess expertise in cosmology, astrophysics, or even theology gives him no more of a credible platform than you and me, except to his devoted followers of course. He is an ethologist and evolutionary biologist – since when does that make one an expert on God? (Similarly, Sam Harris has a bachelor's in philosophy – since when does that make one an expert on the universe?) What they and other atheists are hoping you overlook are the hundreds of qualified scientists who believe in a Creator.
Dawkins condemns Christians for being narrow minded and non-adaptive to other cultures which believed in Thor or Zeus, yet he is unwavering in disrespecting any other creation authority except Western science. What about the wisdom of African, Middle-Eastern or Far-Eastern sages, shamans, or religious figures? Just because science can explain many things in the natural realm, does that mean it owns the corner market on metaphysics and God? Is it possible that the scientific worldview is inferior to reveal the truths behind the curtain of creation? Even Paul Davies, the renown British-born physicist, agnostic, professor of cosmology, quantum field theory, and astrobiology, said to Time, Science, God, and Man, that no one can rightfully say there is no God. Agnosticism – reserving judgment about divine purpose – remains as defensible as ever, but atheism – the confident denial of divine purpose – becomes trickier. If you admit that we can't peer behind a curtain, how can you be sure there's nothing there?
John Horgan, a former senior staff writer for Scientific American and the Director of the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology, wrote a book titled, The End of Science. In it he discusses the futility of men like Oxford's Dawkins, Cambridge's Hawking, and others pursuit to discover a theory of everything. He agrees with Paul Davies in purporting that we must face the limits of science in the twilight of the scientific age, opting that the discovery of ultimate answers about the universe will not rely in rationale and empirical examination but possibly a metaphysical practice. (A striking similarity to the words in the Bible, By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command.) Of course for men like Harris, Dawkins, and other atheists, the thought that science cannot provide these ultimate answers must be a horrifying reality to face, as their whole lives depend upon the western-scientific paradigm of reality. Their predicament reminds me of the words of Robert Jastrow, American astronomer, physicist and cosmologist, from his work, God and the Astronomers.
The universe has a beginning….This is an exceedingly strange development, unexpected by all but the theologians. They have always accepted the word of the Bible: In the beginning God created heaven and earth….For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. Once again the Bible is proven correct, The fool has said in his heart, There is no god.
Lebanese army shells refugee camp By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer MAY 21,07
TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanese troops pounded a Palestinian refugee camp with artillery and tank fire for a second day Monday, raising huge columns of smoke as they battled a militant group suspected of ties to al-Qaida in the worst violence since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. Nearly 50 combatants were killed in the first day of fighting Sunday, but it was not known how many civilians have been killed inside the Nahr el-Bared camp on the outskirts of the northern port city of Tripoli, the site of the heaviest battles.Palestinian officials in the camp reported at least nine civilians were killed Monday, along with 40 wounded. The figures could not be confirmed because emergency workers or security officials have not been able to get in.The State Department defended the Lebanese army, saying it was working in a legitimate manner against provocations by violent extremists operating in the camp.
Black smoke engulfed the skies over the camp as fires raged and heavy gunfire and explosions rang out. The fierce fighting resumed after a brief truce that allowed the evacuation of 18 wounded civilians, according to Saleh Badran, an official with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.Lebanon was already in the midst of its worst political crisis between the Western-backed government and Hezbollah-led opposition since the end of the civil war.The battle was an unprecedented showdown between the Lebanese army and militant groups that have arisen in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps, which are home to tens of thousands of people living amid poverty and crime and which Lebanese troops are not allowed to enter.The troops were fighting a group called Fatah Islam, whose leader has said he is inspired by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and was training militants for attacks in other countries. Lebanese officials have also accused Syria of using Fatah Islam to stir up trouble in Lebanon, a charge Damascus has denied.Lebanese officials said one of the men killed Sunday was a suspect in a failed German train bombing another indication the camp had become a refuge for Fatah Islam militants planning attacks outside of Lebanon. In the past, others affiliated with the group in the camp have said they were aiming to send trained fighters into Iraq and the group's leader has been linked to al-Qaida in Iraq.
Hundreds of Lebanese troops, backed by tanks and armored carriers, surrounded the refugee camp Monday. M-48 battle tanks unleashed their cannon fire on the camp, home to 30,000 Palestinian refugees. The militants fired mortars toward the troops at daybreak.An army officer at the front line said troops directed concentrated fire at buildings known to house militants. He said troops also had orders to strike hard at any target that returned fire.Everything we know that they were present in has been targeted, he told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.A spokesman for Fatah Islam, Abu Salim, warned that if the army bombardment did not stop, the militants would step up attacks by rockets and artillery and would take the battle outside Tripoli.He did not elaborate.It is a life-or-death battle. Their aim is to wipe out Fatah Islam. We will respond and we know how to respond, he told the AP.Earlier in the day, another refugee camp, Ein el-Hilweh in southern Lebanon, was tense after Lebanese troops surrounded it and armed militants went on alert.At least 27 soldiers and 20 militants were killed Sunday, Lebanese security officials said. But they did not know how many civilians had been killed in the camp because it is off-limits to their authority.
Lebanon says it has no authority to enter the camps under understandings with the Palestinians that give the PLO the authority in the camps. But Lebanon also is believed to be leery of entering for fear that any such actions would cause widespread unrest, be very costly and could spark pan-Arab sympathy for the Palestinian refugees that would trigger a backlash against the country. The clashes were triggered Sunday when police raided suspected Fatah Islam hideouts in several buildings in Tripoli, searching for men wanted in a recent bank robbery. A gunbattle erupted at one of the buildings between the group's fighters, and troops were called in to help the police. Militants then burst out of the nearby refugee camp, seizing Lebanese army positions, capturing two armored vehicles and ambushing troops. Lebanese troops later laid siege to the camp, where Fatah Islam militants were believed to be hiding.Fatah Islam is led by a Palestinian named Shaker al-Absi, who is wanted in three countries. He told The New York Times in March that he was trying to spread al-Qaida's ideology and was training fighters inside the camp for attacks on other countries. He would not specify which countries but expressed anger toward the United States. And he was sentenced to death earlier in absentia along with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq killed last summer by U.S. forces in Iraq, for the 2002 assassination of an American diplomat in Jordan.
In a news conference in March, al-Absi denied he was sending fighters to Iraq.
Fighting in our homeland (Palestine) is more important, he said then. We have no connection with any regime or organization on this earth. Our connection is with There is no God but God' (the slogan of Islam). We have come to raise it over the skies of Jerusalem.Al-Absi had been in custody in Syria until last fall but was released and set up his group in the camp, where he apparently found recruits, Lebanese officials said. Lebanon's national police commander, Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, said Damascus was using Fatah Islam as a covert way to wreak havoc in the country. He denied Fatah Islam's al-Qaida links, saying it was a Syrian-bred group. Perhaps there are some deluded people among them but they are not al-Qaida. This is imitation al-Qaida, a Made in Syria one, he told the AP. Lebanese security officials said Fatah Islam has up to 100 members who come from Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Syria, as well as local sympathizers who belong to the conservative Salafi branch of Islam. The Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. TV station reported the dead militants included men from Bangladesh, Yemen and other Arab countries. Some wore explosive belts, security officials said.
Officials identified the suspect in the failed German train bombing as Saddam El-Hajdib, the fourth -highest ranking official in the Fatah Islam group, an official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. El-Hajdib had been on trial in absentia in Lebanon in the failed German plot. It was unclear whether Lebanese authorities had known the whereabouts of El-Hajdib or al-Absi before the gunbattle first broke Sunday out in Tripoli. The State Department gave its support to the Lebanese army's battle with Fatah Islam. This is a group that has been involved in violence to achieve whatever their stated objective may be, spokesman Sean McCormack said. McCormack declined to discuss whether the group may be tied to al-Qaida or other groups outside Lebanon. Asked about a possible Syrian link, McCormack said, At this point I wouldn't draw that connection.In Monday's fighting, a driver for the AP, working with journalists at the scene, was injured when he was hit in the thigh by a bullet or shrapnel. He was being treated at a hospital and was expected to recover. Ahmed Methqal, a Muslim cleric in the camp, told Al-Jazeera that five civilians had been killed. You can say there is a massacre going on in the camp of children and women who have nothing to do with Fatah Islam, he said. They are targeting buildings, with people in them.Lebanon has struggled to defeat armed groups that control pockets of the country — especially inside the 12 Palestinian refugee camps housing 350,000 people. Some camps have become havens for Islamic militants accused of carrying out attacks in the country and of sending recruits to fight U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq. Palestinian officials from the moderate Fatah faction in the West Bank sought to distance themselves from Fatah Islam and urged Palestinian refugees in the camp to isolate the militant group. Associated Press Writer Hussein Dakroub in Beirut contributed.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
TEMPLE MOUNT CONTROVERSY CONTINUES
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Eight feared dead after storm lashes Myanmar coast. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-Israel to offer new peace initiative 5-125 Kassams Launched Since Tuesday. 6-Lieberman Issues Ultimatum: Dismantle Hamas or Dismantle Gov't. 7-Temple Mount Controversy Continues.
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)
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.
Eight feared dead after storm lashes Myanmar coast Sun May 20, 3:42 AM ET
YANGON (Reuters) - Eight people were feared dead and more than 900 houses were destroyed by a storm in the Bay of Bengal that swept through coastal districts of Myanmar last week, a fisherman and a state newspaper said on Sunday. A small fishing trawler with 13 crew sank off Sindamaw Island, 18 miles southeast of Rakhine state's capital Sittwe, last week, the fisherman told Reuters.Three of the 13 crew were rescued by a nearby fishing boat while two got ashore using a plastic drum and eight went missing, he said.As of Sunday morning, two dead bodies had been found and the remaining six are believed to be dead, he said.More than 900 homes, including 363 in Sittwe Township in Rakhine state, were damaged by the storm, which had winds of up to 130 kilometres (80 miles) per hour, semi-government Myanmar Times weekly reported quoting a Myanmar Red Cross Society official as saying.Emergency kits were supplied to the affected families in the coastal region, which is frequently struck by storms, the official said.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Sun May 20, 5:29 AM ET
Scattered showers and thunderstorms were forecast for Sunday across the eastern Great Lakes, New England and northern Mid-Atlantic. Heavier rainfall amounts were anticipated in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. A cold front was expected to push through the Northern Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley, producing widely scattered showers and thunderstorms. Stronger storms were likely in parts of Montana and the Dakotas, with possible isolated tornadoes and hail.Light to moderate rain was forecast for the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Saturday ranged from a low of 28 degrees at Saramac Lake, N.Y., to a high of 109 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
Israel to offer new peace initiative By DALE GAVLAK, Associated Press Writer MAY 20,07
SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan - Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Sunday his government would offer a counterproposal to an Arab peace initiative to resolve the conflict with Palestinians.
He urged Arab leaders to meet with Israel to hash out the issue.Arab League chief Amr Moussa suggested he would entertain the Israeli offer but said it would not be seriously considered unless it was reasonable.Arab countries have been trying to re-ignite the stalled peace process with their plan that offers Israel full recognition in exchange for a total withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the creation of a Palestinian state.
Israel has welcomed the plan as a good starting point for negotiations, but objects to several key provisions such as pulling back to the pre-1967 borders and taking in millions of Palestinian refugees.The Arab League has proposed, fine.
We will make a counterproposal, Peres said during heated discussions that included Moussa and Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, at the World Economic Forum in Jordan.We will come to the Arab League, to the Saudis, where they want. ... If you are serious and we are serious, let's sit together. You cannot send us a document and say take it or leave it.He did not elaborate on the counteroffer or say when it would be proposed.Peres' offer coincided with a new outburst of violence in the Gaza Strip over the past week with a combination of Palestinian factional fighting and Israeli airstrikes on the Islamic militant group Hamas that has killed scores of Palestinians. The airstrikes, in reprisal for Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, have destroyed a 6-month-old truce between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Arab peace plan was first floated by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and renewed in March at a meeting of the Arab League. Arab leaders have urged Israel to seize the new opportunity.But the proposal has remained grounded with the Palestinian infighting in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's domestic problems after his handling of a summer war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon was sharply criticized. Moussa said he would wait to see what sort of offer Israel proposed before considering it.If there is a counteroffer and a reasonable one, then we're all in business, he said.But Erekat said he backed the Arab peace deal, calling it the most important strategy.Mr. Peres, our negotiations have finished. ... Today, it's time for decisions, Erekat said. Stop the bombardment of Gaza immediately and restart the truce between us immediately. We are willing to engage now in sustaining the cease-fire.On Sunday, Moussa asked Peres if he had the authority to speak for Israel, alluding to the domestic turmoil over the war's fallout.When I see what is going on in the occupied territories, and what is being said by other officials I really find myself at a loss, he said. Who is speaking for the state of Israel?
Peres insisted he was.
In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment because he had not heard Peres' proposal. Even though Israel sees the Arab initiative as very positive, he predicted it would remain grounded. Israel has no interest in stagnation and unfortunately, if the Arab initiative is take it or leave it, that will be a recipe for stagnation, Regev said. Peres adviser Yoram Dori also would not give details on the counterproposal or a timetable for its submission to the Arab League and Saudi Arabia. Our government, our Cabinet will discuss it, and we will submit our proposal to the Arab League and to the Saudis, he said. Erekat urged Israel to solve the thorny issues including the future status of Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories. If Israel doesn't cooperate, he warned the region would be doomed. If we leave things to conflicts and wars and
settling differences by bombardments and wars we will go into the 21st century in the vehicles of darkness and extremism, he said.
125 Kassams Launched Since Tuesday
3 Sivan 5767, May 20, '07
(IsraelNN.com) At least 125 Kassam rockets were fired by Palestinian Authority terrorists at western Negev communities since last Tuesday, according to Israel police. The figure includes the 14 rockets fired at Israel on the Sabbath, but does not include the five Kassams which landed in the western Negev Sunday morning. More than 400 rockets have been fired at Israeli communities since the supposed ceasefire with PA Gaza terrorists on November 26, 2006.
Lieberman Issues Ultimatum: Dismantle Hamas or Dismantle Gov't
by Ezra HaLevi (INN) MAY 20,07
As we go to press, Strategic Threats Minister Avigdor Lieberman has issued an ultimatum to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beiteinu party and is a critical part of the Olmert government, said that he is on his way to the Cabinet meeting, where he will demand an IDF ground operation to completely destroy the Hamas. Anything short of that, he said, would force him to lead Yisrael Beiteinu out of the government and work to bring about the end of the current
government.
Temple Mount Controversy Continues
by Ezra HaLevi and Hillel Fendel (MAY 20,07 INN)
Record numbers of Jews have ascended the Temple Mount since a large group of religious-Zionist rabbis issued a public call to visit Judaisms holiest site in accordance with Jewish legal strictures.
On Jerusalem Day, for the first time in recent history, multiple groups of 40 or more Jews were allowed to ascend the Temple Mount at once. In the past, groups were severely limited in size and only one allowed on the mount at a time. Two Jewish visitors were arrested Wednesday for belting out Shma Yisrael the Jewish declaration of faith and G-d's Oneness of Deuteronomy 6:4. Unlike on previous occasions, the rest of the group was not penalized, and many returned the next day to visit as well. The religious precautions required of one who wishes to ascend the Mount in purity include immersing in a mikveh (ritual bath), taking off one's shoes, and clarifying the precise areas forbidden for entry - or else going only with a guide who knows the area.
There has been a marked increase in Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount since the large group of rabbis ascended, the Movement for the Preparation of the Temple said in a statement. The public is encouraged to study the relevant laws and familiarize themselves with their holiest place.However, many rabbis in the religious-Zionist camp continue to rule out visits to the sacred site.
Former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira, the nonagenarian [in his 90's] dean of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav, told the massive crowds who came to celebrate Jerusalem Day at the yeshiva that entry to the Mount is not permitted at this time, because of the lack of certainty as to the exact location of the Biblically forbidden areas on the mount.Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Rabbi Shlomo Aviner are also among those who forbid Jewish entry to the Temple Mount. It is felt that the extreme nature of the Biblical prohibition against entering the site of the Temple outweighs both political/ nationalist concerns and the confidence of those who claim they know the precise location of the forbidden areas.
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)
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.
Eight feared dead after storm lashes Myanmar coast Sun May 20, 3:42 AM ET
YANGON (Reuters) - Eight people were feared dead and more than 900 houses were destroyed by a storm in the Bay of Bengal that swept through coastal districts of Myanmar last week, a fisherman and a state newspaper said on Sunday. A small fishing trawler with 13 crew sank off Sindamaw Island, 18 miles southeast of Rakhine state's capital Sittwe, last week, the fisherman told Reuters.Three of the 13 crew were rescued by a nearby fishing boat while two got ashore using a plastic drum and eight went missing, he said.As of Sunday morning, two dead bodies had been found and the remaining six are believed to be dead, he said.More than 900 homes, including 363 in Sittwe Township in Rakhine state, were damaged by the storm, which had winds of up to 130 kilometres (80 miles) per hour, semi-government Myanmar Times weekly reported quoting a Myanmar Red Cross Society official as saying.Emergency kits were supplied to the affected families in the coastal region, which is frequently struck by storms, the official said.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Sun May 20, 5:29 AM ET
Scattered showers and thunderstorms were forecast for Sunday across the eastern Great Lakes, New England and northern Mid-Atlantic. Heavier rainfall amounts were anticipated in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. A cold front was expected to push through the Northern Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley, producing widely scattered showers and thunderstorms. Stronger storms were likely in parts of Montana and the Dakotas, with possible isolated tornadoes and hail.Light to moderate rain was forecast for the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Saturday ranged from a low of 28 degrees at Saramac Lake, N.Y., to a high of 109 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
Israel to offer new peace initiative By DALE GAVLAK, Associated Press Writer MAY 20,07
SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan - Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Sunday his government would offer a counterproposal to an Arab peace initiative to resolve the conflict with Palestinians.
He urged Arab leaders to meet with Israel to hash out the issue.Arab League chief Amr Moussa suggested he would entertain the Israeli offer but said it would not be seriously considered unless it was reasonable.Arab countries have been trying to re-ignite the stalled peace process with their plan that offers Israel full recognition in exchange for a total withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the creation of a Palestinian state.
Israel has welcomed the plan as a good starting point for negotiations, but objects to several key provisions such as pulling back to the pre-1967 borders and taking in millions of Palestinian refugees.The Arab League has proposed, fine.
We will make a counterproposal, Peres said during heated discussions that included Moussa and Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, at the World Economic Forum in Jordan.We will come to the Arab League, to the Saudis, where they want. ... If you are serious and we are serious, let's sit together. You cannot send us a document and say take it or leave it.He did not elaborate on the counteroffer or say when it would be proposed.Peres' offer coincided with a new outburst of violence in the Gaza Strip over the past week with a combination of Palestinian factional fighting and Israeli airstrikes on the Islamic militant group Hamas that has killed scores of Palestinians. The airstrikes, in reprisal for Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, have destroyed a 6-month-old truce between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Arab peace plan was first floated by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and renewed in March at a meeting of the Arab League. Arab leaders have urged Israel to seize the new opportunity.But the proposal has remained grounded with the Palestinian infighting in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's domestic problems after his handling of a summer war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon was sharply criticized. Moussa said he would wait to see what sort of offer Israel proposed before considering it.If there is a counteroffer and a reasonable one, then we're all in business, he said.But Erekat said he backed the Arab peace deal, calling it the most important strategy.Mr. Peres, our negotiations have finished. ... Today, it's time for decisions, Erekat said. Stop the bombardment of Gaza immediately and restart the truce between us immediately. We are willing to engage now in sustaining the cease-fire.On Sunday, Moussa asked Peres if he had the authority to speak for Israel, alluding to the domestic turmoil over the war's fallout.When I see what is going on in the occupied territories, and what is being said by other officials I really find myself at a loss, he said. Who is speaking for the state of Israel?
Peres insisted he was.
In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment because he had not heard Peres' proposal. Even though Israel sees the Arab initiative as very positive, he predicted it would remain grounded. Israel has no interest in stagnation and unfortunately, if the Arab initiative is take it or leave it, that will be a recipe for stagnation, Regev said. Peres adviser Yoram Dori also would not give details on the counterproposal or a timetable for its submission to the Arab League and Saudi Arabia. Our government, our Cabinet will discuss it, and we will submit our proposal to the Arab League and to the Saudis, he said. Erekat urged Israel to solve the thorny issues including the future status of Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories. If Israel doesn't cooperate, he warned the region would be doomed. If we leave things to conflicts and wars and
settling differences by bombardments and wars we will go into the 21st century in the vehicles of darkness and extremism, he said.
125 Kassams Launched Since Tuesday
3 Sivan 5767, May 20, '07
(IsraelNN.com) At least 125 Kassam rockets were fired by Palestinian Authority terrorists at western Negev communities since last Tuesday, according to Israel police. The figure includes the 14 rockets fired at Israel on the Sabbath, but does not include the five Kassams which landed in the western Negev Sunday morning. More than 400 rockets have been fired at Israeli communities since the supposed ceasefire with PA Gaza terrorists on November 26, 2006.
Lieberman Issues Ultimatum: Dismantle Hamas or Dismantle Gov't
by Ezra HaLevi (INN) MAY 20,07
As we go to press, Strategic Threats Minister Avigdor Lieberman has issued an ultimatum to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beiteinu party and is a critical part of the Olmert government, said that he is on his way to the Cabinet meeting, where he will demand an IDF ground operation to completely destroy the Hamas. Anything short of that, he said, would force him to lead Yisrael Beiteinu out of the government and work to bring about the end of the current
government.
Temple Mount Controversy Continues
by Ezra HaLevi and Hillel Fendel (MAY 20,07 INN)
Record numbers of Jews have ascended the Temple Mount since a large group of religious-Zionist rabbis issued a public call to visit Judaisms holiest site in accordance with Jewish legal strictures.
On Jerusalem Day, for the first time in recent history, multiple groups of 40 or more Jews were allowed to ascend the Temple Mount at once. In the past, groups were severely limited in size and only one allowed on the mount at a time. Two Jewish visitors were arrested Wednesday for belting out Shma Yisrael the Jewish declaration of faith and G-d's Oneness of Deuteronomy 6:4. Unlike on previous occasions, the rest of the group was not penalized, and many returned the next day to visit as well. The religious precautions required of one who wishes to ascend the Mount in purity include immersing in a mikveh (ritual bath), taking off one's shoes, and clarifying the precise areas forbidden for entry - or else going only with a guide who knows the area.
There has been a marked increase in Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount since the large group of rabbis ascended, the Movement for the Preparation of the Temple said in a statement. The public is encouraged to study the relevant laws and familiarize themselves with their holiest place.However, many rabbis in the religious-Zionist camp continue to rule out visits to the sacred site.
Former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira, the nonagenarian [in his 90's] dean of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav, told the massive crowds who came to celebrate Jerusalem Day at the yeshiva that entry to the Mount is not permitted at this time, because of the lack of certainty as to the exact location of the Biblically forbidden areas on the mount.Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Rabbi Shlomo Aviner are also among those who forbid Jewish entry to the Temple Mount. It is felt that the extreme nature of the Biblical prohibition against entering the site of the Temple outweighs both political/ nationalist concerns and the confidence of those who claim they know the precise location of the forbidden areas.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
BIBLE ON TRIAL
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-The Nation's Weather. 3-N. Florida wildfires continue. 4-Hotter temps could be key ingredient to more severe summer weather in Canada. 5-Harsh weather to be blamed for declining bee population not Colony Collapse Disorder. 6-Viral disease sickens hundreds in China. 7-Israel launches new airstrikes on Hamas. 8-Iran-EU nuclear talks likely in Spain: 9-Bible spared indecent classification in Hong Kong.
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 May 19 12:00 PM EDT
MAY 19,07
MAP 3.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.5 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.0 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 3.6 BRISTOL BAY
MAP 4.7 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
MAP 3.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAY 18,07
MAP 4.6 NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA
MAP 5.8 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 5.7 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 4.5 SOUTHERN IRAN
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 4.7 SALTA, ARGENTINA
MAP 2.5 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 3.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 4.6 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.7 OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
MAP 5.5 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 3.3 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 5.1 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.9 CRETE, GREECE
MAP 4.6 SIKKIM, INDIA
MAP 3.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.6 NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA
MAP 5.2 TONGA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.4 D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 4.7 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 4.7 SUNDA STRAIT, INDONESIA
MAP 5.2 TONGA
MAP 5.0 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Sat May 19, 7:15 AM ET
Low-pressure systems moving along the East Coast were expected to bring significant rain to the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast on Saturday. Minor coastal flooding was possible in northern New England. Showers and thunderstorms were forecast for drought-stricken South Florida, while the Southeast and the Mississippi Valley were expected to stay dry.Scattered showers were forecast for the Northern Plains, Great Lakes, Southwest, Great Basin and the Rockies.The Southwest could hit triple digits, while the Southeast was expected to reach the 70s and 80s. The Northeast was to rise into the 50s and 60s, while the Northwest could see temperatures in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Friday ranged from a low of 26 degrees at West Yellowstone, Mont., to a high of 110 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
N. Florida wildfires continue MAY 19,07
The Associated Press
LAKE CITY, Fla. -- Firefighters have made progress containing a raging wildfire in north Florida, but strengthening winds over the next two days could cause problems, officials said Thursday.The next two days are supposed to be high hazard days on that fire, said Jim Harrell, a spokesman for the Florida Division of Forestry. We're really concerned that high winds will push the fire.With 198 active fires in Florida as of Thursday, Harrell said the one near Lake City was the only fire still posing a significant threat. The Division of Forestry was watching another 8-10 fires, Harrell said, but those were all 80-95 percent contained.The fire near Lake City was covering 120,515 acres and was 65 percent contained, Harrell said.Firefighters have made good progress the past two days, Harrell said. It's been very mild weather.
Officials said as of Thursday, 725 homes remain evacuated, mostly located along U.S. 441, north of Interstate 10. Harrell said firefighters have been setting up near the homes to make sure they are not ignited by embers floating from the main fire. Besides firefighters on the ground, Harrell said four tanker planes have dropped 2,000-2,500 gallons of retardant on the blaze to help strengthen the lines.
Seven new fires started in the state Thursday, covering 6.3 acres, Harrell said. Georgia and Florida have been battling hundreds of wildfires over the past few weeks, but the one near the state border was the most threatening.Smoke from south Georgia wildfires reached all the way to Atlanta early Wednesday.
OZONE DEPLETION
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Hotter temps could be key ingredient to more severe summer weather in Canada at 12:06 on May 19, 2007, EST.
TORONTO (CP) - At least one of the main ingredients for a summer of active, violent weather is being forecast for much of the country, Environment Canada's senior climatologist warns. For the rest of May, June, July and August we're suggesting that the temperatures across... most of Canada look like warmer than normal, said David Phillips. You have at least the potential there for extreme summer weather. While Ontario has already seen some severe weather, the potential for a more active Atlantic hurricane season could also impact the Maritimes, Phillips said. We typically get about nine tropical storms, and they're talking about the possibility of maybe 17, so therefore conditions are ripe.The forecast, as well, for drier than normal conditions in the West could mean droughts and a greater risk of forest fires, said Phillips - who noted the problems already being encountered in northwestern Ontario.
That just doesn't affect forests and wilderness areas, but it also affects campers and tourism in those areas too, he said. Given the early start to the fire season in northwestern Ontario, many are concerned about what might follow, said Bob Thomas, a spokesman for Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources. This is rather unusual, he said, noting that while a bad fire season isn't assured, the prospect is in the back of people's minds. Certainly we're going to have to give that some thought, because we're going to have to be ready.However, Phillips says there's nothing concrete to suggest there will actually be more severe weather and he's not advising anyone to go out and cancel their holidays or take out extra insurance. Still, past experience suggests the chance is there.
I'd be the most surprised person in Canada if we didn't get have our share (of severe weather), he said. That is just generally what weather bring us in this part of the world.Even before the Victoria Day long weekend arrived to signal the unofficial start of summer, two severe weather incidents had already hit southern Ontario. On April 23, thunderstorm-produced wind gusts of 120 to 150 km/hr damaged buildings north of Toronto, injuring one person and knocking out power to 17,000 customers. Last Tuesday, a cold front moved across southern Ontario that produced hail-laden thunderstorms and a probable tornado touchdown in the community of Monkton, north of Stratford.
Winds up to 113 km/hr downed trees, cutting power to 7,000. Flash flooding in Toronto prompted warnings for people to stay away from swollen, fast-running waterways. Hydro One spokesman Al Manchee said while the early onset of severe weather doesn't have the province's massive power utility concerned it has caught their attention. We are prepared, he said, adding lessons have been learned from multiple severe weather events that crippled hydro service across central and northern Ontario last year. We hope it doesn't end up like last summer.Three severe weather events hit central and northern Ontario and western Quebec between July and September last year, where high winds downed trees and branches, leaving hundreds of thousands without power in each case. Hydro One and the Insurance Bureau of Canada estimated the first two of those storms cost nearly $100 million in damage.
In 2006, Environment Canada recorded 23 tornadoes in Ontario alone - almost double the yearly average of 14. Phillips said tornadoes shouldn't come as a surprise, as the country sees an average of 80 each year - second in the world only to the United States. Another possibility, Phillips said, is more heat and smog advisories akin to 2005, particularly in southern Canada. There were 51 smog days in Ontario that year compared to just 16 in 2006. During the recent emergency preparedness week, the federal government urged Canadians to know the potential risks of severe weather, make a plan and have an emergency kit handy. We are encouraging Canadians to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours in the event of an emergency, which is the length of time it takes to mobilize a relief effort in a significant way, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said earlier this month. The Harper government says it put aside $38 million over two years in its 2006 budget to enhance federal capacity to deal with catastrophes and emergencies.
FAMINE
REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)
LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS INCREDIBLE FAMINE WILL OCCUR IN THE LAST DAYS. THIS BEE DISASTER WILL CAUSE SOME OF IT AS BEES HELP POLONISE THE FRUIT, SO FRUIT PRICES WILL SKYROCKET.
Harsh weather to be blamed for declining bee population not Colony Collapse Disorder BY JOHN CHRISTIANSON - The Truro Daily News MAY 19,07
DEBERT - Blueberry harvesters should not worry about a so-called colony collapse disorder of bee hives that has producers concerned in other parts of North America, says a local bee-keeper.Tony Phillips of Debert supplies 80-90 hives per year to blueberry producers and he says die-off in local hives can be attributed to a harsh fall and winter.I think we’ve had losses that some people have had more than they’re used to but the winter is an explanation for that, he said. Media reports from central Canada suggest there’s a massive die-off of bees in 27 U.S. states where 90 per cent of the colonies have disappeared. Called Colony Collapse Disorder, reports suggest the mysterious die-off has affected parts of Canada as well.About 17,000 hives are rented out to blueberry producers in Nova Scotia to help pollinate crops.
Don Johnson, a small blueberry producer in Great Village, hasn’t experienced any die-off, on the scale reported in the United States, on the 10 acres he farms.Last year he rented four boxes of bees at $75 each to help with his crop.My crop personally suffered because of the weather, he said. It was rainy and the bees didn’t seem to want to come out. The bees that I had didn’t seem to want to work.
Phillips said the die-off in the U.S. and in parts of Canada is not as mysterious as some people believe. He said he hasn’t seen colony collapse himself and said that there is a strong indication that some bee keepers are seeing an escalated die-off because of an accumulation of stressors capped off by a virus.They think it’s an accumulative thing, he said
Bees are facing a number of stressors including overcrowding in some areas, chemicals used in agriculture and in the hives themselves for disease control and antibiotics, migratory bee-keeping, trucking from one pollination contract to another and a split to create new hives.All of these things can be stress points and it can be one last thing, the tipping point ... I think they have identified a fungus that was the tipping point with these bees. No one knows for sure, but they think the tipping point was a fungus.George Johnson, a Great Village blueberry producer, said it might be time to think about using the indigenous Alfalfa leafcutter bee to pollinate their crops. The bee is an alternative to the honey bee that is susceptible to disease.Phillips said local beekeepers shouldn’t be overly concerned about Colony Collapse Disorder.I think you’ll be okay in Nova Scotia, he said.
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
Viral disease sickens hundreds in China Sat May 19, 9:51 AM ET
BEIJING - An outbreak of a viral disease common in children has sickened almost 900 people in eastern China but the outbreak has been contained, state media said Saturday. The outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease began in late April in the city of Linyi in Shandong province, the Xinhua News Agency said.About 470 patients had recovered by Friday and another 393 people — mostly children — were still sick with more than half still in the hospital, Xinhua said, citing Bao Wenhui, the deputy director of the provincial health department.The latest information was likely a response to media reports earlier this week that said more than two dozen children had died and that there had been a cover-up. The reports also said the true figures had not been released to prevent public panic. Local health officials dismissed those reports as rumors.
China has in the past been accused of foot-dragging in releasing information about outbreaks of diseases such as bird flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.A 2-year-old girl diagnosed as a probable hand, foot and mouth patient died on April 29, but no other deaths have been reported since, Xinhua said.Hand, foot and mouth disease is common in young children and is characterized by fever, mouth sores and a rash with blisters. It is not related to foot and mouth disease, which infects cattle, sheep and swine.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes hand, foot and mouth disease as mild, and says nearly all patients recover in seven to 10 days without medical treatment. But one cause of the disease may also lead to more serious and fatal diseases such as encephalitis or a type of paralysis, according to the CDC.Xinhua said local health departments have launched a public awareness campaign and quarantined children who are sick.
Shandong reported 2,477 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease in 2005, including one death, and 3,030 cases in 2006, two of which were fatal, the report said.
Israel launches new airstrikes on Hamas By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer MAY 19,07
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli airstrikes targeted Hamas for a fifth straight day Saturday, hitting a rocket squad and two workshops in Gaza, and the defense minister warned militants who attack Israel they should be very afraid.But Defense Minister Amir Peretz also said now is not the time for a major Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.Hospital officials said two Palestinians were killed and four wounded in the latest Israeli strikes.Days of Israeli air attacks on Hamas targets have coincided with a surge in deadly infighting between Hamas gunmen and rivals from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction. On Saturday, the two groups reached a new cease-fire deal, pledging to pull fighters off the streets and exchange hostages, officials from both sides said.Previous truce agreements quickly collapsed in recent days, and it was not clear whether this one would hold. Failure to stanch the bloodshed would spell the end of the shaky power-sharing agreement Hamas and Fatah reached two months ago to end a previous round of internal strife.
Clashes erupted outside the home of a senior Fatah official in Gaza City as the latest truce was reached, and security officials said several people were wounded. In the course of the gunbattle, the convoy of a Fatah-allied colonel in the Palestinian intelligence came under fire, but no one was hurt.
Later, however, teams of representatives from the various Palestinian militant factions went around to buildings to make sure gunmen had come down from rooftops. Once rooftops are cleared, an exchange of an unknown number of hostages kidnapped during the past week is to begin. Other faction members removed roadblocks that had been erected during the fighting to identify gunmen from rival factions.Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said he expected the latest truce to stick because of Israel's military strikes.No one would accept to fight one another while the Israelis are shelling Gaza, he said.Israel launched its latest round of airstrikes on Tuesday to counter a stepped-up barrage of Hamas rockets on Israeli border towns. The militant group, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, has fired nearly 120 rockets at southern Israel since Tuesday, the military said.
On Saturday, Israel missiles slammed into a rocket squad near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, the army said.Earlier in the day, missile strikes demolished two suspected Hamas metal workshops.Saturday's two deaths brought to 22 the number of Palestinians killed in airstrikes in the past week.Peretz warned militants involved in rocket operations should be very afraid, because it is our intention to act against Hamas.We are mainly focusing on sensitive locations tied to Hamas, he told Israel Radio, adding that these locations included rocket workshops.Asked whether Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and the head of Hamas' military wing, Ahmed Jaberi, could also be targets, Peretz said he would not rule out any action that makes it clear to everyone that we don't intend to allow anyone to harm Israeli citizens.At the same time, he said Israel would not embark on a major offensive in the Gaza Strip because it had other, unspecified tools in its arsenal to use against rocket-launchers.
Israel's Security Cabinet is to meet on Sunday with senior defense officials to discuss the rocket attacks and how to respond, Israel media reported. Four rockets hit the border area Saturday, causing damage, but no injury. A day earlier, four Israelis were hurt in rocket attacks. Peretz said Israel is worried by Hamas' efforts to extend the range of its rockets, which include training in Iran. The Israeli airstrikes have driven Hamas fighters out of their bases, prompting accusations that Israel is helping Fatah. Peretz insisted Israel is not interfering in the internal fighting. However, he also said that we certainly would like the moderate forces to emerge with the upper hand, a reference to Fatah. The weeklong Hamas-Fatah fighting has killed more than 50 Palestinians and wounded dozens. By mid-afternoon, Hamas and Fatah announced they had reached a new cease-fire deal, negotiated in a meeting at the Egyptian Embassy and endorsed by Abbas and Hamas' supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal.
The main guarantee is that this agreement was reached by ... Mr. Abbas and Mr. Mashaal, Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti said. We are trying to have an atmosphere of national unity and reconciliation. The most important thing is to stop any form of internal violence between Palestinians.Abbas and Haniyeh, the most senior Hamas politician in Gaza, have so far failed to calm the situation, indicating they have largely lost control to the gunmen and their political patrons. Abbas has stayed in his West Bank headquarters during the fighting. Palestinian officials said he was told by security advisers not to travel to Gaza, for fear of possible danger to his life.
Iran-EU nuclear talks likely in Spain: report Sat May 19, 9:14 AM ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - The next round of talks between Iran and the European Union on Tehran's disputed nuclear program is likely to take place in Spain this month, Iran's foreign minister was quoted as saying on Saturday. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, a Spaniard, last met in Turkey on April 25-26 to discuss the nuclear row. They agreed to meet again but without fixing a date and venue.There is a high possibility that it will take place in Spain, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the ILNA news agency, suggesting the meeting would be sometime between May 22 and May 31.The official IRNA news agency earlier this week said May 31 was the agreed date.In Brussels, EU officials confirmed a meeting was expected to take place at the end of the month but were not able to confirm the date or location.Iran is embroiled in a deepening standoff with major powers over its atomic ambitions, which the West fears are aimed at making nuclear weapons. Tehran says it wants only to produce electricity.
The United Nations has imposed two sets of sanctions on Iran since December over its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment -- a process that can be used to make atomic warheads.U.S. officials have warned of a third, tougher resolution if Tehran does not halt such work but Iranian leaders have repeatedly said they will not bow to such pressure.Asked whether Iran would make any new proposals at the meeting with Solana, Mottaki said: The discussion is not over a particular proposal but it is possible that different ideas will be discussed.(Additional reporting by Dale Hudson in Brussels)
ROMANS 18:18,22,25
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature (SATAN) more than the Creator, (GOD)( THIS VERSE SAYS CREATOR NOT BIG BANGER) who is blessed for ever. Amen.
THIS IS SICK TRYING TO SAY THE BIBLE IS AN INDECENT PUBLICATION.
Bible spared indecent classification in Hong Kong Fri May 18, 12:57 AM ET
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's media regulator has rejected calls to reclassify the Bible as an indecent publication following more than 2,000 complaints about its sexual and violent content, including rape and incest. The Bible is a religious text which is part of civilization. It has been passed from generation to generation, Hong Kong's Television and Licensing Authority (TELA) said in a statement issued late on Thursday.It said it would not submit the Bible to the Obscene Articles Tribunal for classification.The regulator received 2,041 complaints against the Bible this week, following an uproar over a sex column in a student magazine that was classified as indecent by authorities for asking if readers had ever fantasized about incest or bestiality.
A Web site launched soon afterwards campaigned to have the Bible similarly classified, citing passages with sexual and violent content it claimed went beyond that of the sex column.But TELA said in its statement the Bible had not violated standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable members of the community.Publications classified as indecent in Hong Kong can only be bought by people aged over 18 and must be sealed in a wrapper with a statutory warning notice.
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 May 19 12:00 PM EDT
MAY 19,07
MAP 3.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.5 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.0 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 3.6 BRISTOL BAY
MAP 4.7 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
MAP 3.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAY 18,07
MAP 4.6 NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA
MAP 5.8 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 5.7 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 4.5 SOUTHERN IRAN
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 4.7 SALTA, ARGENTINA
MAP 2.5 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 3.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 4.6 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.7 OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
MAP 5.5 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 3.3 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 5.1 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.9 CRETE, GREECE
MAP 4.6 SIKKIM, INDIA
MAP 3.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.6 NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA
MAP 5.2 TONGA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.4 D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 4.7 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 4.7 SUNDA STRAIT, INDONESIA
MAP 5.2 TONGA
MAP 5.0 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Sat May 19, 7:15 AM ET
Low-pressure systems moving along the East Coast were expected to bring significant rain to the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast on Saturday. Minor coastal flooding was possible in northern New England. Showers and thunderstorms were forecast for drought-stricken South Florida, while the Southeast and the Mississippi Valley were expected to stay dry.Scattered showers were forecast for the Northern Plains, Great Lakes, Southwest, Great Basin and the Rockies.The Southwest could hit triple digits, while the Southeast was expected to reach the 70s and 80s. The Northeast was to rise into the 50s and 60s, while the Northwest could see temperatures in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Friday ranged from a low of 26 degrees at West Yellowstone, Mont., to a high of 110 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
N. Florida wildfires continue MAY 19,07
The Associated Press
LAKE CITY, Fla. -- Firefighters have made progress containing a raging wildfire in north Florida, but strengthening winds over the next two days could cause problems, officials said Thursday.The next two days are supposed to be high hazard days on that fire, said Jim Harrell, a spokesman for the Florida Division of Forestry. We're really concerned that high winds will push the fire.With 198 active fires in Florida as of Thursday, Harrell said the one near Lake City was the only fire still posing a significant threat. The Division of Forestry was watching another 8-10 fires, Harrell said, but those were all 80-95 percent contained.The fire near Lake City was covering 120,515 acres and was 65 percent contained, Harrell said.Firefighters have made good progress the past two days, Harrell said. It's been very mild weather.
Officials said as of Thursday, 725 homes remain evacuated, mostly located along U.S. 441, north of Interstate 10. Harrell said firefighters have been setting up near the homes to make sure they are not ignited by embers floating from the main fire. Besides firefighters on the ground, Harrell said four tanker planes have dropped 2,000-2,500 gallons of retardant on the blaze to help strengthen the lines.
Seven new fires started in the state Thursday, covering 6.3 acres, Harrell said. Georgia and Florida have been battling hundreds of wildfires over the past few weeks, but the one near the state border was the most threatening.Smoke from south Georgia wildfires reached all the way to Atlanta early Wednesday.
OZONE DEPLETION
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Hotter temps could be key ingredient to more severe summer weather in Canada at 12:06 on May 19, 2007, EST.
TORONTO (CP) - At least one of the main ingredients for a summer of active, violent weather is being forecast for much of the country, Environment Canada's senior climatologist warns. For the rest of May, June, July and August we're suggesting that the temperatures across... most of Canada look like warmer than normal, said David Phillips. You have at least the potential there for extreme summer weather. While Ontario has already seen some severe weather, the potential for a more active Atlantic hurricane season could also impact the Maritimes, Phillips said. We typically get about nine tropical storms, and they're talking about the possibility of maybe 17, so therefore conditions are ripe.The forecast, as well, for drier than normal conditions in the West could mean droughts and a greater risk of forest fires, said Phillips - who noted the problems already being encountered in northwestern Ontario.
That just doesn't affect forests and wilderness areas, but it also affects campers and tourism in those areas too, he said. Given the early start to the fire season in northwestern Ontario, many are concerned about what might follow, said Bob Thomas, a spokesman for Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources. This is rather unusual, he said, noting that while a bad fire season isn't assured, the prospect is in the back of people's minds. Certainly we're going to have to give that some thought, because we're going to have to be ready.However, Phillips says there's nothing concrete to suggest there will actually be more severe weather and he's not advising anyone to go out and cancel their holidays or take out extra insurance. Still, past experience suggests the chance is there.
I'd be the most surprised person in Canada if we didn't get have our share (of severe weather), he said. That is just generally what weather bring us in this part of the world.Even before the Victoria Day long weekend arrived to signal the unofficial start of summer, two severe weather incidents had already hit southern Ontario. On April 23, thunderstorm-produced wind gusts of 120 to 150 km/hr damaged buildings north of Toronto, injuring one person and knocking out power to 17,000 customers. Last Tuesday, a cold front moved across southern Ontario that produced hail-laden thunderstorms and a probable tornado touchdown in the community of Monkton, north of Stratford.
Winds up to 113 km/hr downed trees, cutting power to 7,000. Flash flooding in Toronto prompted warnings for people to stay away from swollen, fast-running waterways. Hydro One spokesman Al Manchee said while the early onset of severe weather doesn't have the province's massive power utility concerned it has caught their attention. We are prepared, he said, adding lessons have been learned from multiple severe weather events that crippled hydro service across central and northern Ontario last year. We hope it doesn't end up like last summer.Three severe weather events hit central and northern Ontario and western Quebec between July and September last year, where high winds downed trees and branches, leaving hundreds of thousands without power in each case. Hydro One and the Insurance Bureau of Canada estimated the first two of those storms cost nearly $100 million in damage.
In 2006, Environment Canada recorded 23 tornadoes in Ontario alone - almost double the yearly average of 14. Phillips said tornadoes shouldn't come as a surprise, as the country sees an average of 80 each year - second in the world only to the United States. Another possibility, Phillips said, is more heat and smog advisories akin to 2005, particularly in southern Canada. There were 51 smog days in Ontario that year compared to just 16 in 2006. During the recent emergency preparedness week, the federal government urged Canadians to know the potential risks of severe weather, make a plan and have an emergency kit handy. We are encouraging Canadians to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours in the event of an emergency, which is the length of time it takes to mobilize a relief effort in a significant way, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said earlier this month. The Harper government says it put aside $38 million over two years in its 2006 budget to enhance federal capacity to deal with catastrophes and emergencies.
FAMINE
REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)
LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS INCREDIBLE FAMINE WILL OCCUR IN THE LAST DAYS. THIS BEE DISASTER WILL CAUSE SOME OF IT AS BEES HELP POLONISE THE FRUIT, SO FRUIT PRICES WILL SKYROCKET.
Harsh weather to be blamed for declining bee population not Colony Collapse Disorder BY JOHN CHRISTIANSON - The Truro Daily News MAY 19,07
DEBERT - Blueberry harvesters should not worry about a so-called colony collapse disorder of bee hives that has producers concerned in other parts of North America, says a local bee-keeper.Tony Phillips of Debert supplies 80-90 hives per year to blueberry producers and he says die-off in local hives can be attributed to a harsh fall and winter.I think we’ve had losses that some people have had more than they’re used to but the winter is an explanation for that, he said. Media reports from central Canada suggest there’s a massive die-off of bees in 27 U.S. states where 90 per cent of the colonies have disappeared. Called Colony Collapse Disorder, reports suggest the mysterious die-off has affected parts of Canada as well.About 17,000 hives are rented out to blueberry producers in Nova Scotia to help pollinate crops.
Don Johnson, a small blueberry producer in Great Village, hasn’t experienced any die-off, on the scale reported in the United States, on the 10 acres he farms.Last year he rented four boxes of bees at $75 each to help with his crop.My crop personally suffered because of the weather, he said. It was rainy and the bees didn’t seem to want to come out. The bees that I had didn’t seem to want to work.
Phillips said the die-off in the U.S. and in parts of Canada is not as mysterious as some people believe. He said he hasn’t seen colony collapse himself and said that there is a strong indication that some bee keepers are seeing an escalated die-off because of an accumulation of stressors capped off by a virus.They think it’s an accumulative thing, he said
Bees are facing a number of stressors including overcrowding in some areas, chemicals used in agriculture and in the hives themselves for disease control and antibiotics, migratory bee-keeping, trucking from one pollination contract to another and a split to create new hives.All of these things can be stress points and it can be one last thing, the tipping point ... I think they have identified a fungus that was the tipping point with these bees. No one knows for sure, but they think the tipping point was a fungus.George Johnson, a Great Village blueberry producer, said it might be time to think about using the indigenous Alfalfa leafcutter bee to pollinate their crops. The bee is an alternative to the honey bee that is susceptible to disease.Phillips said local beekeepers shouldn’t be overly concerned about Colony Collapse Disorder.I think you’ll be okay in Nova Scotia, he said.
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
Viral disease sickens hundreds in China Sat May 19, 9:51 AM ET
BEIJING - An outbreak of a viral disease common in children has sickened almost 900 people in eastern China but the outbreak has been contained, state media said Saturday. The outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease began in late April in the city of Linyi in Shandong province, the Xinhua News Agency said.About 470 patients had recovered by Friday and another 393 people — mostly children — were still sick with more than half still in the hospital, Xinhua said, citing Bao Wenhui, the deputy director of the provincial health department.The latest information was likely a response to media reports earlier this week that said more than two dozen children had died and that there had been a cover-up. The reports also said the true figures had not been released to prevent public panic. Local health officials dismissed those reports as rumors.
China has in the past been accused of foot-dragging in releasing information about outbreaks of diseases such as bird flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.A 2-year-old girl diagnosed as a probable hand, foot and mouth patient died on April 29, but no other deaths have been reported since, Xinhua said.Hand, foot and mouth disease is common in young children and is characterized by fever, mouth sores and a rash with blisters. It is not related to foot and mouth disease, which infects cattle, sheep and swine.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes hand, foot and mouth disease as mild, and says nearly all patients recover in seven to 10 days without medical treatment. But one cause of the disease may also lead to more serious and fatal diseases such as encephalitis or a type of paralysis, according to the CDC.Xinhua said local health departments have launched a public awareness campaign and quarantined children who are sick.
Shandong reported 2,477 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease in 2005, including one death, and 3,030 cases in 2006, two of which were fatal, the report said.
Israel launches new airstrikes on Hamas By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer MAY 19,07
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli airstrikes targeted Hamas for a fifth straight day Saturday, hitting a rocket squad and two workshops in Gaza, and the defense minister warned militants who attack Israel they should be very afraid.But Defense Minister Amir Peretz also said now is not the time for a major Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.Hospital officials said two Palestinians were killed and four wounded in the latest Israeli strikes.Days of Israeli air attacks on Hamas targets have coincided with a surge in deadly infighting between Hamas gunmen and rivals from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction. On Saturday, the two groups reached a new cease-fire deal, pledging to pull fighters off the streets and exchange hostages, officials from both sides said.Previous truce agreements quickly collapsed in recent days, and it was not clear whether this one would hold. Failure to stanch the bloodshed would spell the end of the shaky power-sharing agreement Hamas and Fatah reached two months ago to end a previous round of internal strife.
Clashes erupted outside the home of a senior Fatah official in Gaza City as the latest truce was reached, and security officials said several people were wounded. In the course of the gunbattle, the convoy of a Fatah-allied colonel in the Palestinian intelligence came under fire, but no one was hurt.
Later, however, teams of representatives from the various Palestinian militant factions went around to buildings to make sure gunmen had come down from rooftops. Once rooftops are cleared, an exchange of an unknown number of hostages kidnapped during the past week is to begin. Other faction members removed roadblocks that had been erected during the fighting to identify gunmen from rival factions.Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said he expected the latest truce to stick because of Israel's military strikes.No one would accept to fight one another while the Israelis are shelling Gaza, he said.Israel launched its latest round of airstrikes on Tuesday to counter a stepped-up barrage of Hamas rockets on Israeli border towns. The militant group, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, has fired nearly 120 rockets at southern Israel since Tuesday, the military said.
On Saturday, Israel missiles slammed into a rocket squad near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, the army said.Earlier in the day, missile strikes demolished two suspected Hamas metal workshops.Saturday's two deaths brought to 22 the number of Palestinians killed in airstrikes in the past week.Peretz warned militants involved in rocket operations should be very afraid, because it is our intention to act against Hamas.We are mainly focusing on sensitive locations tied to Hamas, he told Israel Radio, adding that these locations included rocket workshops.Asked whether Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and the head of Hamas' military wing, Ahmed Jaberi, could also be targets, Peretz said he would not rule out any action that makes it clear to everyone that we don't intend to allow anyone to harm Israeli citizens.At the same time, he said Israel would not embark on a major offensive in the Gaza Strip because it had other, unspecified tools in its arsenal to use against rocket-launchers.
Israel's Security Cabinet is to meet on Sunday with senior defense officials to discuss the rocket attacks and how to respond, Israel media reported. Four rockets hit the border area Saturday, causing damage, but no injury. A day earlier, four Israelis were hurt in rocket attacks. Peretz said Israel is worried by Hamas' efforts to extend the range of its rockets, which include training in Iran. The Israeli airstrikes have driven Hamas fighters out of their bases, prompting accusations that Israel is helping Fatah. Peretz insisted Israel is not interfering in the internal fighting. However, he also said that we certainly would like the moderate forces to emerge with the upper hand, a reference to Fatah. The weeklong Hamas-Fatah fighting has killed more than 50 Palestinians and wounded dozens. By mid-afternoon, Hamas and Fatah announced they had reached a new cease-fire deal, negotiated in a meeting at the Egyptian Embassy and endorsed by Abbas and Hamas' supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal.
The main guarantee is that this agreement was reached by ... Mr. Abbas and Mr. Mashaal, Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti said. We are trying to have an atmosphere of national unity and reconciliation. The most important thing is to stop any form of internal violence between Palestinians.Abbas and Haniyeh, the most senior Hamas politician in Gaza, have so far failed to calm the situation, indicating they have largely lost control to the gunmen and their political patrons. Abbas has stayed in his West Bank headquarters during the fighting. Palestinian officials said he was told by security advisers not to travel to Gaza, for fear of possible danger to his life.
Iran-EU nuclear talks likely in Spain: report Sat May 19, 9:14 AM ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - The next round of talks between Iran and the European Union on Tehran's disputed nuclear program is likely to take place in Spain this month, Iran's foreign minister was quoted as saying on Saturday. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, a Spaniard, last met in Turkey on April 25-26 to discuss the nuclear row. They agreed to meet again but without fixing a date and venue.There is a high possibility that it will take place in Spain, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the ILNA news agency, suggesting the meeting would be sometime between May 22 and May 31.The official IRNA news agency earlier this week said May 31 was the agreed date.In Brussels, EU officials confirmed a meeting was expected to take place at the end of the month but were not able to confirm the date or location.Iran is embroiled in a deepening standoff with major powers over its atomic ambitions, which the West fears are aimed at making nuclear weapons. Tehran says it wants only to produce electricity.
The United Nations has imposed two sets of sanctions on Iran since December over its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment -- a process that can be used to make atomic warheads.U.S. officials have warned of a third, tougher resolution if Tehran does not halt such work but Iranian leaders have repeatedly said they will not bow to such pressure.Asked whether Iran would make any new proposals at the meeting with Solana, Mottaki said: The discussion is not over a particular proposal but it is possible that different ideas will be discussed.(Additional reporting by Dale Hudson in Brussels)
ROMANS 18:18,22,25
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature (SATAN) more than the Creator, (GOD)( THIS VERSE SAYS CREATOR NOT BIG BANGER) who is blessed for ever. Amen.
THIS IS SICK TRYING TO SAY THE BIBLE IS AN INDECENT PUBLICATION.
Bible spared indecent classification in Hong Kong Fri May 18, 12:57 AM ET
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's media regulator has rejected calls to reclassify the Bible as an indecent publication following more than 2,000 complaints about its sexual and violent content, including rape and incest. The Bible is a religious text which is part of civilization. It has been passed from generation to generation, Hong Kong's Television and Licensing Authority (TELA) said in a statement issued late on Thursday.It said it would not submit the Bible to the Obscene Articles Tribunal for classification.The regulator received 2,041 complaints against the Bible this week, following an uproar over a sex column in a student magazine that was classified as indecent by authorities for asking if readers had ever fantasized about incest or bestiality.
A Web site launched soon afterwards campaigned to have the Bible similarly classified, citing passages with sexual and violent content it claimed went beyond that of the sex column.But TELA said in its statement the Bible had not violated standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable members of the community.Publications classified as indecent in Hong Kong can only be bought by people aged over 18 and must be sealed in a wrapper with a statutory warning notice.
Friday, May 18, 2007
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO OPRAH
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-The Nation's Weather. 3-Accuweather forecasts hot summer for much of U.S. 4-Israel hits Hamas during Gaza fighting. 5-Putin, EU leaders trade barbs at summit. 6-Sign the Jerusalem Petition. 7-Golan Withdrawal Won't Have it Easy. 8-Exclusive Interview with Gaydamak. 9-Messiah mystery follows death of mystical rabbi 10-Without the law there would be no European Union. 11-Stefan's Comment: Jerusalem IS the Capital City of Israel. 12-Perspectives: Oprah's Secret deceives millions.
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 May 18 5:00 PM EDT
MAY 18,07
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.7 OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
MAP 5.5 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 3.3 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 5.1 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.6 SIKKIM, INDIA
MAP 3.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.0 NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA
MAP 5.2 TONGA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.4 D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 4.7 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 4.7 SUNDA STRAIT, INDONESIA
MAP 5.2 TONGA
MAP 5.0 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAY 17,07
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.0 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.9 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
MAP 4.5 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 4.1 SALTA, ARGENTINA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.2 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.9 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.8 PAPUA REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 4.3 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.8 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.5 NEAR THE COAST OF SOUTHERN PERU
MAP 2.7 MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.4 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 5.5 NEAR THE NORTH COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Fri May 18, 6:53 AM ET
An intense storm forecast to develop off the Mid-Atlantic coast on Friday could cause minor coastal flooding in New Jersey and Long Island. Heavy rain was expected to move into New England, possibly flooding some rivers. Light rain was forecast for the central Appalachians.More thunderstorms were expected in the Rockies, with the most intense storms likely to develop in the Southwest. A strong thunderstorm or two could form in West Texas and roll eastward through the state. Storms were also possible in the Northern Plains.In the West, clear skies were forecast over California and Oregon, although clouds were expected to develop over coastal Washington.
Temperatures in the region were to remain cool.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday ranged from a low of 23 degrees at Land O'Lakes, Wis., to a high of 109 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
OZONE DEPLETION
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Accuweather forecasts hot summer for much of U.S Thu May 17, 7:59 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private weather forecaster Accuweather is predicting hotter-than-normal temperatures for much of the United States this summer, the company said in a press release. Temperatures will be the hottest in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region and the Midwest. Texas is expected to be one of the few exceptions to the expected hotter-than-normal conditions.Rainfall in the United States is expected to be normal except in the Southwest and the Rockies. The Great Lakes, Texas and Florida will receive more rain that usual, Accuweather said.
Israel hits Hamas during Gaza fighting By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer MAY 18,07
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli warplanes pummeled Hamas targets Friday in a stepped-up campaign against militants firing rockets into southern Israel, while Palestinian factions battled with automatic weapons and grenades at a Gaza university. Street battles between Fatah and Hamas remained less intense than the heavy fighting that terrorized Gaza City two days earlier, but a truce agreement late Thursday enjoyed no more success than previous cease-fires declared this week.With the political leaders of the factions seemingly not in control of their gunmen, Hamas militiamen raised the internal strife to an ominous new level by widening their targets beyond armed rivals and seizing aides to two Fatah officials.The infighting that began Sunday has killed more than 50 Palestinians and wounded dozens, while the death toll from Israeli attacks rose to 20 as airstrikes killed eight people Friday.
Israeli missiles came screeching down at least five times in retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks that have panicked people in southern Israel. At least 13 more militant rockets fell, wounding four Israelis in the battered town of Sderot.
Despite the escalating air campaign, a senior Israeli army officer said there were no immediate plans for a major ground offensive against rocket teams, saying Israel was reluctant to do something that might unite the Palestinian factions. He spoke on condition of anonymity because no final decision had been made.One airstrike incinerated a minivan carrying Hamas militants and what the Israeli army described as a large amount of weapons. Three fighters were killed and 12 people were wounded, Palestinian hospital officials said.We were sitting outside my grocery store when a huge explosion shook the area and a small minivan turned into a ball of fire, Jawad Dallou said. People in a nearby mourning tent also were wounded, he said.An earlier airstrike east of Gaza City killed five Palestinians, including at least three Hamas militants, and wounded six. Israel's military said the target was a Hamas headquarters building.
Other air attacks caused no fatalities.
Hamas said the Israeli military had called the home of Ahmed Jaabari, head of Hamas' military wing, and warned his family the house would be hit. People gathered around the building to discourage an attack, he said. The Israeli military had no comment.The fighting between Hamas and Fatah all but destroyed a power-sharing government formed two months ago in hopes of ending nearly a year of periodic clashes between the rival groups.
The latest bloodshed was touched off by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah to deploy thousands of security officers in Gaza City last week to try to restore law and order. Hamas called that a provocation because it wasn't consulted and fighting broke out Sunday.Hamas' two abductions in Gaza on Friday broadened the mayhem; it was the first time senior civilians with ties to Fatah were targeted.The gunmen freed Abdel Salam Abu Askar, a veteran journalist who advises Fatah's Gaza strongman, Mohammed Dahlan, after several hours. But Abdullah Franji, office director of a senior Fatah leader in Gaza, remained in captivity late Friday. Gunbattles between the two factions killed at least three people Friday.Bullets and rocket-propelled grenades flew outside Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold, as Hamas fighters battled Fatah gunmen in the nearby Foreign Ministry building. Grenades hit the office of the school president, who appealed for an immediate halt to the violence.
One person was wounded at the school.
Although Israel said it wasn't taking sides, its airstrikes made it harder for Hamas gunmen to move around, and Hamas used that fact to argue that Fatah and Israel were in collusion. Hamas TV named three Fatah security chiefs who it said were in secret contact with foreign security personnel. They are deep into treason, and we will deal with them accordingly, the broadcast said. The TV did not specify which foreigners, but Fatah forces affiliated with Abbas have received advice and training from the U.S., which lists Hamas as a terror group for killing more than 250 Israelis in attacks over the years.
Earlier in the week, some 500 Fatah security men trained in Egypt under a U.S.-brokered deal returned to Gaza, passing through the border with Israel's permission.
Putin, EU leaders trade barbs at summit By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer MAY 18,07
VOLZHSKY UTYOS, Russia - President Vladimir Putin, emboldened by Russia's vast oil and gas wealth, bluntly rejected European criticism of his crackdown on political foes, saying Friday that like it or not Russia's Western neighbors would have to accept it as a partner. His remarks came hours after police prevented chess great Garry Kasparov from attending an opposition rally in Samara, near the Volga River resort where Putin held a summit with European Union leaders.German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the current EU president, objected at a post-summit news conference to the treatment of Kasparov and other Kremlin opponents, while Putin sought to take the subject of Russian political rights off the table.
Both Russia and the EU are interested in the development of relations with each other, and they will develop whether we like it or not, the Russian leader said, in an apparent reference to Europe's growing reliance on Russia for its energy needs.
Putin questioned whether Europe was really concerned about the human rights records of its allies — citing the alleged abuse of terror suspects at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.The summit produced no new agreements, and failed to make progress on commercial, security and other issues dividing Russia from Europe. Putin's remarks signal that he sees no need to mollify foreign critics of his political course, which opponents say has concentrated power in the Kremlin and muzzled dissent.
Before the summit, Germany asked Russia to permit opposition leaders to protest in Samara. But on Friday morning, police at a Moscow airport confiscated the passports and tickets of Kasparov and other activists and prevented them from flying to Samara.The passports were held for five hours, until the day's last flight to Samara had left, a Kasparov spokesman said.
The former world chess champion said the West's efforts to engage Putin only lends legitimacy to the Kremlin's actions. Any time you pretend that Putin is one of you, that Putin belongs to this democratic club, it backfires on us because that is what Kremlin propaganda is using on us, calling us marginals, extremists, radicals, he said.Merkel complained about the treatment of opposition protesters. I'm concerned about some people having problems traveling here, she told reporters. I hope they will be given an opportunity to express their opinion.Putin said his government is not concerned about the so-called Dissenters Marches, staged by a coalition of opposition groups led by Kasparov. Several of the protests have been brutally dispersed by police.
They don't bother me in any way, Putin said. He blamed some of the violence on demonstrators, who provoke law enforcement forces to use force, and they respond accordingly.Unlike previous protests organized by Kasparov and his allies, Friday's march in Samara won approval by local authorities. But after the detention of several of the organizers, only about 100 protesters showed up Friday.
Demonstrators gathered at a square in the late afternoon, outnumbered by police, and marched through the streets shouting, Russia without Putin! and We need another Russia.Answering Merkel's criticism, Putin said German police have also detained protesters. Law enforcement authorities in practically all countries make preventive arrests, there are examples in Germany, he said. Such action isn't always justified.Merkel shot back, saying that police action against participants in violent riots could be justified.
If a person hasn't done anything yet, if he's just on his way to a demonstration, that's a completely different case, she said.Putin also assailed the EU for failing to respond to the death of a Russian citizen during clashes between police and ethnic Russian protesters in Estonia. The clashes erupted over the removal of a monument to a Soviet soldier from Tallinn, the capital, to another location.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters that democracy and rule of law are sacred principles for the EU.
It's very important for all European countries, and Russia is a European country, to ensure the full respect of those principles and values, he said. But Barroso also reaffirmed the EU's support for Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization — a statement that appeared to reflect a softening of Brussels' stance after recent warnings from the EU that Moscow's candidacy was in jeopardy.
Putin and his European guests also argued about the lack of progress in a dispute over a Russian ban on Polish meat and plants. Putin sought to cast the dispute as a bilateral problem that blocked the expansion of Russia-EU ties, but Merkel and Barroso emphasized European solidarity. A Polish problem is a European problem, Barroso said. A visibly irritated Putin lashed back: I was asking: Is there a boundary to your solidarity? ...We also must defend our interests.But there were glimmers of agreement. Putin and the EU leaders pointed to progress in trade and economic ties and plans for future cooperation. They also pledged to extend EU-Russia work on cross-border trade, visa issues, and scientific and technical cooperation. We need each other, we are open for an honest dialogue between Russia and the EU, Putin said. It's totally wrong to say we couldn't agree on a single issue.
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
Sign the Jerusalem Petition - May 17, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
Yesterday Israel observed the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem. Yom Yerushalayim, or Jerusalem Day, is a day set aside to reflect upon the significance of this ancient and Holy City to the Jewish people, and to celebrate the fact that, after thousands of years, it is once again the capital of a sovereign Jewish state.The Jews' return to rule in Jerusalem was the end of a very long and often bitter struggle. It is important to remember that, even when the modern state of Israel was formed in 1948, the United Nations intended Jerusalem to be an international city. Israel's founders reluctantly agreed to this, in the hope that it would be only a temporary measure that would protect the new country from conflict with its Arab neighbors.These hopes were quickly dashed. When Israel
declared its statehood, her neighbors attacked from all sides. Jordan invaded and occupied the eastern part of Jerusalem, dividing the city. For the next 19 years, Israel would be denied access to some of the holiest sites of all Judaism, including the Western Wall and the cemetery on the Mount of Olives, where generations of Jewish dead are buried.
Then came the pivotal events of 1967, when Arab states again united against Israel. Egypt blocked all shipping in and out of the southern Israel port of Eilat. The combined forces of several Arab nations were gathered at Israel's borders, poised to attack. Their leaders declared in no uncertain terms their intention to destroy the Jewish State.This confrontation led to a battle, now known as the Six Day War, which led to the reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli rule It was a stunning victory for Israel—few moments in modern Jewish history are more electrifying than the moment when Israel Defense Forces Colonel Motta Gur declared over his radio in the midst of battle, The Temple Mount is in our hands!
Incredibly, despite the fact that Jerusalem has been the spiritual center of Jewish life since the time of King David, has had a continuous Jewish presence for thousands of years and has never been claimed as capital by any other nation or people, the world—including the U.S.—still refuses to recognize it as the capital of Israel.New bills recently introduced into the U.S. House and Senate seek to change that by calling on the U.S. government to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv. One of these bills, the Jerusalem Resolution, was originally put before the Senate a couple of years ago, but got stalled in committee. Now there is again an opportunity to revive it—and to send a clear message to the U.S. Congress.
These bills are currently under consideration by the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees. If approved, they will be presented to the House and Senate for a vote. Please sign our petition in support of these important pieces of legislation.
http://www.ifcj.org/site/PageServer?pagename=SFI_jerusalempetition
We will forward the petition on to these two committees. Let's make the voices of thousands of faithful friends of Israel heard in Washington, so the U.S. can be among the first declaring what millions of faithful Jews and Christians know already—that Jerusalem is the rightful capital of Israel and the eternal home of the Jewish people!
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Golan Withdrawal Won't Have it Easy
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 17,07
The Knesset has approved a bill mandating a popular referendum before land in the Golan, Jerusalem or other part of sovereign Israel is given away. Yesha (Judea and Samaria) is not included. Sponsored by MK Avigdor Yitzchaki of Kadima, the proposed legislation is an amendment to the existing law regarding a give-away of Israeli territory. The existing law states that no sovereign land may be given away without approval of the Cabinet, the Knesset, and a popular referendum. However, it adds that the referendum requirement will not come into effect until a Basic Law on plebiscites is legislated thus obviating the need for a referendum. Yitzchaki's bill does away with that qualification, thus leaving the referendum clause in effect. The bill has nothing to do with a possible future withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, which has not yet been annexed by the State of Israel.
The bill was approved in a preliminary Knesset reading by a 26-18 vote, against the position of the government. It must still pass additional Knesset readings as well as a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee vote before coming law.
This vote proves that there is no majority in Israel's Knesset supporting a return the Golan Heights to Syria, MK Yitzchaki said. The Prime Minister must now know clearly that it will not be he, but rather the people, who will decide whether to accept agreements concerning concession of sovereign Israeli land.Polls have consistently shown that a majority of Israelis are against giving away the Golan. The recent October Peace Index survey, carried out last year, showed that 67% of Israelis oppose giving away the Golan even in exchange for full peace. A giant protest rally seven years ago in Tel Aviv - some estimates were that half-a-million people showed up - put to rest until recently any talk of giving away the Golan.
Political Ramifications
This is an important accomplishment for the opposition, said Likud faction whip MK Gideon Saar. Only 18 out of 78 coalition MKs supported the government's position, proving that the coalition exists only on paper.Likud MK Yisrael Katz, head of the Knesset Golan Lobby, said, This vote is a clear message to Syria and others that Israel will never give up the Golan Heights.
Golan Guarantee for the Galilee
The Golan, a mountainous area directly overlooking much of Israel's northern plain, was used by Syria to attack Israeli towns in the years leading up to the Six Day War. In June 1967, Israel finally captured and liberated the Heights, and within weeks, Galilee farmers took their first moves to settle the Golan so as to ensure that the pre-war situation would never return. When they first ascended the mountains and looked down at Israel from the former Syrian positions, some of them were quoted as saying that they had never realized that every move of theirs had been visible to the Syrian gunners above.
Exclusive Interview with Gaydamak
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 18,07
Arutz-7's Yehoshua Meiri spoke on Jerusalem Day with Aryeh Bar-Lev - better known as Arcady Gaydamak - about Gaydamak's help for Sderot and his plans to become Mayor of Jerusalem. Gaydamak sent eight buses for residents of Kassam-besieged Sderot on Wednesday, transporting them to safer areas in the north. Meiri asked, I heard on Egpytian Radio this morning that Israel is evacuating the citizens of Sderot. I know that you mean to do well, but maybe Gaydamak said, I understand [your question]. First of all, in general, radio and media are the tools of journalists to explain their stupidity, their lack of information, and their personal opinions. This is the general situation everywhere... In some countries, the journalists also use the media for propaganda... I don't care about their opinion, nor about public opinion - because public opinion is managed by the professionals, and also because it is human nature to want to see other people being shown to be worse than them... The Jews living in Sderot have been living in a very difficult situation, in great danger, and they never know when the rockets will come. We should help them however we can. I am just a yehudi pashut [a simple Jew], and I want to help. I look to see what I can do. I come to share with them what I can. They are families and I want to help them - and the rest I don't care about.
Meiri: In light of the inability of the Prime Minister to decide on a military course of action against the Gaza terrorists, would you recommend that the IDF Chief of Staff act on his own, as some have recommended?
Gaydamak: I have no confidence at all in this Prime Minister - but even so, there is no doubt that the army should never take action without authorization from the government.
Meiri: My last question is, What about your intentions to be the mayor of Jerusalem?
Gaydamak: I will be Mayor of Jerusalem because it is of absolute necessity that the mayor be someone who acts not for his own personal interests... In the Israeli system, there is a natural division of Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and this parliamentary system is not suitable for Israel because the candidates are elected based on this division, and then they must act not for the people's interests but
only for the sake of maintaining the coalition; they are not able to run the country. We should change this system and have a strong presidential system. This is why I decided that I should take control of this city of Jerusalem, for the good of the residents, all of them, Jews and Muslims, and create economic prosperity... and because Jerusalem is the most important symbol of peace in the world, we should also try to solve the problems of confrontation in the Middle East. This is why I should be the mayor of Jerusalem; it's not that I want [this position].
Messiah mystery follows death of mystical rabbi
Revered Israeli apocalyptic kabbalah leader shocks Jews, Christians with name Yeshua
Posted: May 18, 2007 - WorldNetDaily.com
Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri
A controversy is raging in Israel, in evangelical circles in the U.S. and on kabbalah web forums worldwide following the posthumous release of what a revered Sephardic rabbi claimed to be the name of the Messiah. When Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri died in February 2006, somewhere between the age of 106 to possibly 117, 300,000 attended his funeral in Jerusalem. The Baghdad-born kabbalist had gained notoriety around the world for issuing apocalyptic warnings and for saying he personally met the long-awaited Jewish Messiah in November 2003. Before Kaduri died, he reportedly wrote the name of the Messiah on a small note, requesting it remained sealed for one year after his death. The note revealed the name of the Messiah as Yehoshua or Yeshua or the Hebrew name Jesus. However, complicating the story further, the note is being challenged as a forgery by his 80-year-old son Rabbi David Kaduri. It's not his writing, he is quoted as telling Israel Today.
The note, written in Hebrew and signed in the rabbi's name, said: Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah's name, He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid. This I have signed in the month of mercy.The Hebrew sentence consists of six words. The first letter of each of those words spells out the Hebrew name Yehoshua or Yeshua. The finding has raised a combination of excitement and controversy in both Jewish and Christian circles – but scarcely any media attention. Jewish blogs and web forums are filled with skeptical analysis and puzzlement. So this means Rabbi Kaduri was a Christian? asked one poster rhetorically. Another wrote: The Christians are dancing and celebrating.Not exactly.
In fact, many Christian discussion boards say Kaduri's description of the Messiah – no matter what his name – doesn't fit the biblical account of a returned Jesus of Nazareth, who, they believe, will rule and reign on Earth from Jerusalem for 1,000 years. About his encounter with the Messiah Kaduri claimed is alive in Israel today, he reportedly told close relatives: He is not saying, I am the Messiah, give me the leadership.Rather the nation is pushing him to lead them, after they find [in my words] signs showing that he has the status of Messiah.Kaduri was also quoted as saying the imminent arrival of the Messiah will save Jerusalem from Islam and Christianity that wish to take Jerusalem from the Jewish Nation – but they will not succeed, and they will fight each other.Statements like that have some Christians wondering if Kaduri might be talking about another Yeshua – perhaps even a miracle -performing false Christ many evangelicals believe will precede the return of Jesus.
It is hard for many good people in society to understand the person of the Messiah, Kaduri wrote before his death. The leadership and order of a Messiah of flesh and blood is hard to accept for many in the nation. As leader, the Messiah will not hold any office, but will be among the people and use the media to communicate. His reign will be pure and without personal or political desire. During his dominion, only righteousness and truth will reign.Kaduri wrote that not all will believe in the Messiah – and that it will often be easier for non-religious people to accept him. He also describes a Messiah
who is, at first, not aware of his position.
Kaduri's funeral
A few months before his death, Kaduri gave a Yom Kippur address in which he gave clues as to how to recognize the Messiah. He told those gathered for the Day of Atonement in his synagogue the Messiah would not come until former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dies.
Sharon was stricken while in office Jan. 4, 2006. He remained in a coma until replaced by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. While many expected the imminent passing of Sharon, he has remained alive but unconscious ever since his attack. Shortly after what Kaduri characterized as his Nov. 4, 2003, encounter with the Messiah, in which he said he learned his name, the rabbi began warning of impending disasters worldwide. In September 2005 in a class at his Jerusalem yeshiva seminary, Kaduri called for Jews all over the world to return to Israel because of the calamities about to befall the Earth and for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple.
In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will bring about great disasters in the countries of the world to sweeten the judgments of the land of Israel, he said. In 1990, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneerson told Kaduri that he would live to see the coming of the Messiah. Also in September 2005, Kaduri said: The Messiah is already in Israel. Whatever people are sure will not happen is liable to happen, and whatever we are certain will happen may disappoint us. But in the end, there will be peace throughout the world.As a lifelong student and teacher of kabbalah, Kaduri rejected a meeting requested by pop superstar Madonna, who dabbled in the ancient art of Jewish mysticism. He reportedly said at the time: It is forbidden to teach a non-Jew kabbalah, not even Talmud, not even simple Torah.Kaduri is said to have been one of the few known living practitioners who used his knowledge of kabbalah to affect change in the world. He would often distribute amulets intended to heal, enhance fertility and bring success. He was also believed to have been involved in the removal of 20 dybbuks, or lost souls that strayed into the hapless bodies of living people to torment them.
Aviel Schneider, the author of the Israel Today story, said the worldwide reaction to news of Kaduri's note has been crazy. He said he has never received so many emails and calls from around the globe. He said he was urged not to publish the story by the rabbi's yeshiva, where officials said it was impossible that the note was actually written by Kaduri. But Schneider was given access to many of the rabbi's manuscripts, written in his own hand for the exclusive use of his students. He was struck by symbols painted by Kaduri all over the pages. They were crosses, said Schneider. In the Jewish tradition, you don't use crosses. You don't even use plus signs because they might be mistaken for crosses. But there they were, painted in his own hand.Asked what those symbols meant, Kaduri's family said they were signs of the angel.
[Comment] Without the law there would be no European Union
18.05.2007 - 09:22 CET | By Peter Sain ley Berry
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - Go to any introductory lecture on the European Union and you will hear phrases such as unique experiment,international co-operation rule of law.Indeed the whole concept of what has become today's EU was founded upon the simple idea that if the conduct of nations could be voluntarily regulated by law, then there would be no further need for war. From this grew the idea of a community of nations pooling their sovereignty and subjecting themselves to a legal discipline the better to achieve those national objectives best realised within a common framework.Member states even agreed to give European law precedence over their own; there wouldn't be any point in having common laws if nations could pick and choose which they obeyed.As the Union has developed so the volume of European law has grown; disproportionately so, say the critics. It has become fashionable to decry that so much legislation reportedly as much as 80 per cent in Germany has its origins at European level. Anthony Coughlan wrote a persuasive piece on this subject in these pages last week, arguing that this growth is pre-empting national parliamentary democracy.
But of course there are major laws and minor laws. One cannot equate laws that govern the functioning of a Parliament, or the running of schools, with other laws that specify the size of a car's headlights or how a commodity sold simultaneously in several European countries should be labelled.
Without law there could be no European Union. In volume terms European law does indeed appear massive - but it is domestic law that determines why France is France or Germany is Germany. Nevertheless, the idea that European law is too dominant, too intrusive, has taken hold in the popular consciousness to the extent that even the European Commission is working to reduce the volume of new regulations and to roll back others.Considered by itself this is no doubt a sensible measure, but it is easy for people to get the idea that because, in the past, there have been perhaps too many regulations, the principle of European Law itself is somehow flawed. This is dangerous for it undermines the whole basis on which the Union is constructed. Once we lose our respect for the law as the fundamental instrument that makes the Union
work, we threaten everything that has been achieved. A Union with weak laws, or laws that are not enforced, will be a Union that will soon break apart.The same applies to agreements that may not have the status of law but which are nevertheless meant to be honoured. If we can't abide by our own internal decisions, how can we call on the rest of the world, much of which looks to the EU as a model, to do so?
Reneging on agreements
We have seen various examples recently of a worrying trend towards reneging on agreements. On the Constitutional Treaty, for example, despite having solemnly accepted all of its provisions in 2004, various governments now want to change or withdraw from its provisions.London had accepted an extension of majority voting; Warsaw had accepted a revised system of voting in the European Council; Prague had accepted a single speed Europe.All these points are now again in contention as the German Presidency struggles to bring forward a new treaty. Warsaw even appears to be seeking an escape from its legal commitment to adopt the euro.More serious is the case of Romania, which joined the Union only a few months ago on the solemn undertaking that widespread and irreversible reforms to root out crime and corruption were well on their way. Various pledges were made and accepted in good faith and the country, with Bulgaria, was admitted at the earliest opportunity in 2007.
Once inside the Union, the Romanian Parliament has turned its back on reform, dismissed its anti-corruption prosecutors, thrown out its respected and efficient Justice Minister Monica Macovei and voted massively to impeach its pro-EU President. The country seems set to return to its old ways, even postponing its elections for the 35 seats in the European Parliament in case this should prove troublesome.
Banana republic standards
Many people argued that Romania and Bulgaria should not have acceded in 2007 but instead should have been forced to wait a year until the process of reform was complete.I argued this case myself.
I could never understand why it was necessary to admit as full members countries described recently by The Times as weakened by systemic corruption, organised crime, fragile judiciaries and oligarchic control of press and broadcast media.The Commission, I seem to remember, argued that if the two countries were not admitted in 2007 then the pace of reform would slow. Well, it has slowed now and we have within the bosom of the European Union a country whose respect for the very principle of law is in some doubt.All is not lost of course. The suspended President Traian Basescu may well win his forthcoming impeachment referendum, though the authorities are not making life easy for him.
If he does he has promised to take action to weaken the party bosses.
For its part the European Commission cannot simply wring its hands and hope that all will come right. Romania has broken the pledges it made. That cannot be without consequence and while there is no doubt that we all want to see Romania, growing and prospering as part of the European family, this has to be as a state with European rather than banana republic standards.
The wider point is that we are in no position to deplore Romania's fall from grace if other member states also show themselves willing to renege on agreements and understandings when it suits them.Law can only work by consent. Respecting agreements, however uncomfortable, makes us all stronger. Ultimately we are our own policemen. It is not only Romania that must learn this.If we don't European Government will be reduced to the impotent position of Saint-Exupéry's King, who regaled on an impressive throne but without any other accoutrements of power, is reduced to ordering Le Petit Prince, sometimes to obey him and sometimes not to do so. Not exactly a recipe for success and progress.The author is editor of EuropaWorld
Stefan's Comment: Jerusalem IS the Capital City of Israel MAY 18,07
Isaiah 62:1 For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. (NKJ)
In the past few weeks I have noticed some disturbing attitudes regarding Israel from within the European Union and by the independent countries that make it up. Here are a couple of these disturbing decisions and comments.
Taken from The Financial Times 27/3/07: A year-old diplomatic boycott of the Palestinian government eased on Monday when Raymond Johansen, Norway’s deputy foreign minister, met Ismael Haniyeh, Palestinian prime minister. The meeting was the first between Haniyeh and a senior European diplomat since western powers imposed an economic and diplomatic blockade on the Hamas-led government in March 2006. Norway, a big donor to the Palestinian Authority and sponsor of the Oslo peace accords, restored full relations with the PA after Haniyeh’s Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction formed a unity government on Saturday. We hope that all the European countries, and even other countries, will ... support this unity government, Mr Johansen said on Monday.
Norway was the first nation to back the new P.A unity government, but right behind them were all the countries of the E.U. who have said that they are renewing all ties and breaking all blockades with the P.A.My question is, why? Both the Hamas and the Fatah organisations are acknowledged by the western world to be terrorist groups who have sent men, woman and children to blow themselves up in Israeli restaurants, bus and checkpoints. These checkpoint throughout the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were designed precisely to stop such suicide bombers. They have also attempted to attack any other target that can be found with a 'good' number of Jewish people in it.How can the leadership of the E.U. accept a government made up of terrorists and then expect the state of Israel to sit down and talk with them, especially when they are still carrying out hostile acts against Israel and refusing to acknowledge her right to exist as a state? Doing this would be like Osama Bin Laden heading up a political party and then the US leadership being expected to sit down with that government for peace talks,the USA was still under threat from Al Qaida.The 15th of May this year is the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem under full Israeli control. This year, the U.S ambassador along with all the E.U. countries representatives in Israel elected to boycott the ceremonies and celebrations because they do not recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and because of their desire in not upsetting the Arab nations of the world.
Taken From Ynet.com 14/5/07:
European Union countries will not take part in the celebrations marking the 40-year anniversary of Jerusalem's reunification, EU president Germany said Thursday in a diplomatic letter sent to the Foreign Ministry and the Knesset. US Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones will also not participate in the events. Diplomatic sources told Ynet that the event was not on the ambassador’s timetable.
Ambassadors of all EU countries will not show up for the special Knesset session which will be on Jerusalem Day on Wednesday. As frustrating as it is to see this united stand against Israel and Jerusalem as her capital, we can rest assured that almighty God, the Holy God of Israel is in control of the situation and is using all of these incidents to His glory. Israel is a sovereign nation and has the right to choose her own capital. More importantly God has chosen Jerusalem as His capital city of His chosen nation. Having lived here in Israel for more than half of my life, serving in the army, and seeing the events that occur on our borders and most importantly knowing the truth that is in the word of God regarding Israel, and specifically Jerusalem, I must let out a cry to convey how wrong these foreign governments in the decisions they are making. God's judgement and wrath shall be upon them and their countries for the stand that they are taking against Israel.
Please continue to pray for the situation, and for the leaders inside Israel, that they would have wisdom to deal with these situations and boldness to stand up to the powers that would try to separate Israel from her land and capital.
Interesting: On the very date in the Hebrew calendar that Israel celebrates Jerusalem's reunification in 1967, torrential downpours flooded Jerusalem and serioius violence erupted between Hamas & Fatah. On the same day a serious rocket attack on Sderot provoked the Israeli government to launch pinpoint airstrikes against Hamas targets in Gaza city.
Shabbat Shalom .. . David & Josie SILVER
Perspectives: Oprah's Secret deceives millions
Rebecca Grace - Guest Columnist
OneNewsNow.com May 18, 2007
The Gospel According to Oprah is more than just a book title; it's a mindset that has created quite a following for the billionaire talk-show host. And her promotion of a philosophy extolling the Law of Attraction has added to millions who are being led away from the teachings of Christ.According to a May 2006 article titled The Divine Miss Winfrey in USA Today, Over the past year, Winfrey ... has emerged as a spiritual leader for the new millennium, a moral voice of authority for the nation.There's no doubt that Oprah is spiritual, but the philosophy she pushed on the February 8, 2006, broadcast of The Oprah Winfrey Show couldn't place her farther from the truth. During the show, Oprah interviewed a panel of teachers who appear in a 93-minute film called The Secret.
The Secret, also a book which has sold two million copies, is promoted as a feature length, historic and factually based account of an age old secret, said to be 4,000 years in the making, and known only to a fortunate few.
The Secret reveals this great knowledge to the world -- The Secret to wealth, The Secret to health, The Secret to love, relationships, happiness, eternal youth ... The Secret to life itself.While its appeal is wide and its lure powerful, the philosophy of The Secret is a narrow road that leads to death and destruction.
In Colossians 2:8, the apostle Paul warns the church at Colosse to See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. Therefore, here are reasons why The Secret has nothing to do with Christianity and everything to do with occultism.
What sources say
While the worldview behind The Secret is nothing new, Rhonda Byrne, an Australian woman in her 50s, is credited with discovering The Secret during a time of utter despair in her life. Because of the impact it had on her life, she has decided to share it.According to Byrne and her host of high-profile teachers, the Law of Attraction which they claim is the most powerful law in the universe is the
Secret.The DVD summarizes the law in three words: Thoughts become things. If a person thinks hard enough about something, he will get it be it good or bad. The attraction is especially potent when a person's thoughts and desires are super-charged by emotions. So by applying the Law of Attraction, a person can create his own circumstances based on the thoughts he thinks and the choices he makes.
Your life is a physical manifestation of the thoughts that go on in your head, said Lisa Nichols, one of the teachers of The Secret.You are the masterpiece of your own life. You are the Michelangelo of your own life, added metaphysician Joe Vitale.What makes these ideas even more deceiving is that they are backed by personal testimonies.
For example, Jack Canfield, teacher of The Secret and author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, said, Since I learned The Secret and started applying it to my life, my life has truly become magical a life everyone dreams of I live in a four-and-a-half million-dollar mansion. I have a wife to die for. I get to vacation in all the fabulous spots of the world .... And all of this happens and continues to happen all because of knowing how to apply The Secret.Even more alarming than stories such as Canfield's is the way The Secret teachers twist Scripture and present an unbiblical view of God. For example: Teacher James Arthur Ray asks, Do you treat yourself the way that you want other people to treat you? Nichols instructs: You are eternal life. You're source energy. You are God manifested in human form, made to perfection.
What the Bible reveals
According to Christian Worldview Network columnist Russ Wise, The Secret is the latest in a series of examples that are used by the enemy of Truth to try and nullify God's authoritative Word. Wise is vice president of Christian Information Ministries.Refering to Romans 12:1-2, Wise writes: Note that Paul did not say that we should consult our feelings about the matter, but that our spiritual worship is
to present our bodies as a sacrifice to the Lord, Wise added. The message of The Secret is not selflessness, but selfishness and self-indulgence.Wise explains that according to 2 Corinthians 10:5, Our purpose is not to use our thought life to enhance ourselves, but to bring our thought lives into obedience and submit ourselves to a holy God. This thought is totally absent from The Secret! It is
also totally absent from a culture that is more concerned about what Oprah says than what God says.
Rebecca Grace, a regular contributor to OneNewsNow.com, is staff writer for AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association. Family News Network.
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 May 18 5:00 PM EDT
MAY 18,07
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.7 OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
MAP 5.5 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 3.3 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 5.1 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.6 SIKKIM, INDIA
MAP 3.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.0 NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA
MAP 5.2 TONGA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.4 D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 4.7 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 4.7 SUNDA STRAIT, INDONESIA
MAP 5.2 TONGA
MAP 5.0 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAY 17,07
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.0 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.9 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
MAP 4.5 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 4.1 SALTA, ARGENTINA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.2 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.9 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.8 PAPUA REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 4.3 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.8 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.5 NEAR THE COAST OF SOUTHERN PERU
MAP 2.7 MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.4 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 5.5 NEAR THE NORTH COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Fri May 18, 6:53 AM ET
An intense storm forecast to develop off the Mid-Atlantic coast on Friday could cause minor coastal flooding in New Jersey and Long Island. Heavy rain was expected to move into New England, possibly flooding some rivers. Light rain was forecast for the central Appalachians.More thunderstorms were expected in the Rockies, with the most intense storms likely to develop in the Southwest. A strong thunderstorm or two could form in West Texas and roll eastward through the state. Storms were also possible in the Northern Plains.In the West, clear skies were forecast over California and Oregon, although clouds were expected to develop over coastal Washington.
Temperatures in the region were to remain cool.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday ranged from a low of 23 degrees at Land O'Lakes, Wis., to a high of 109 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
OZONE DEPLETION
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Accuweather forecasts hot summer for much of U.S Thu May 17, 7:59 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private weather forecaster Accuweather is predicting hotter-than-normal temperatures for much of the United States this summer, the company said in a press release. Temperatures will be the hottest in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region and the Midwest. Texas is expected to be one of the few exceptions to the expected hotter-than-normal conditions.Rainfall in the United States is expected to be normal except in the Southwest and the Rockies. The Great Lakes, Texas and Florida will receive more rain that usual, Accuweather said.
Israel hits Hamas during Gaza fighting By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer MAY 18,07
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli warplanes pummeled Hamas targets Friday in a stepped-up campaign against militants firing rockets into southern Israel, while Palestinian factions battled with automatic weapons and grenades at a Gaza university. Street battles between Fatah and Hamas remained less intense than the heavy fighting that terrorized Gaza City two days earlier, but a truce agreement late Thursday enjoyed no more success than previous cease-fires declared this week.With the political leaders of the factions seemingly not in control of their gunmen, Hamas militiamen raised the internal strife to an ominous new level by widening their targets beyond armed rivals and seizing aides to two Fatah officials.The infighting that began Sunday has killed more than 50 Palestinians and wounded dozens, while the death toll from Israeli attacks rose to 20 as airstrikes killed eight people Friday.
Israeli missiles came screeching down at least five times in retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks that have panicked people in southern Israel. At least 13 more militant rockets fell, wounding four Israelis in the battered town of Sderot.
Despite the escalating air campaign, a senior Israeli army officer said there were no immediate plans for a major ground offensive against rocket teams, saying Israel was reluctant to do something that might unite the Palestinian factions. He spoke on condition of anonymity because no final decision had been made.One airstrike incinerated a minivan carrying Hamas militants and what the Israeli army described as a large amount of weapons. Three fighters were killed and 12 people were wounded, Palestinian hospital officials said.We were sitting outside my grocery store when a huge explosion shook the area and a small minivan turned into a ball of fire, Jawad Dallou said. People in a nearby mourning tent also were wounded, he said.An earlier airstrike east of Gaza City killed five Palestinians, including at least three Hamas militants, and wounded six. Israel's military said the target was a Hamas headquarters building.
Other air attacks caused no fatalities.
Hamas said the Israeli military had called the home of Ahmed Jaabari, head of Hamas' military wing, and warned his family the house would be hit. People gathered around the building to discourage an attack, he said. The Israeli military had no comment.The fighting between Hamas and Fatah all but destroyed a power-sharing government formed two months ago in hopes of ending nearly a year of periodic clashes between the rival groups.
The latest bloodshed was touched off by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah to deploy thousands of security officers in Gaza City last week to try to restore law and order. Hamas called that a provocation because it wasn't consulted and fighting broke out Sunday.Hamas' two abductions in Gaza on Friday broadened the mayhem; it was the first time senior civilians with ties to Fatah were targeted.The gunmen freed Abdel Salam Abu Askar, a veteran journalist who advises Fatah's Gaza strongman, Mohammed Dahlan, after several hours. But Abdullah Franji, office director of a senior Fatah leader in Gaza, remained in captivity late Friday. Gunbattles between the two factions killed at least three people Friday.Bullets and rocket-propelled grenades flew outside Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold, as Hamas fighters battled Fatah gunmen in the nearby Foreign Ministry building. Grenades hit the office of the school president, who appealed for an immediate halt to the violence.
One person was wounded at the school.
Although Israel said it wasn't taking sides, its airstrikes made it harder for Hamas gunmen to move around, and Hamas used that fact to argue that Fatah and Israel were in collusion. Hamas TV named three Fatah security chiefs who it said were in secret contact with foreign security personnel. They are deep into treason, and we will deal with them accordingly, the broadcast said. The TV did not specify which foreigners, but Fatah forces affiliated with Abbas have received advice and training from the U.S., which lists Hamas as a terror group for killing more than 250 Israelis in attacks over the years.
Earlier in the week, some 500 Fatah security men trained in Egypt under a U.S.-brokered deal returned to Gaza, passing through the border with Israel's permission.
Putin, EU leaders trade barbs at summit By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer MAY 18,07
VOLZHSKY UTYOS, Russia - President Vladimir Putin, emboldened by Russia's vast oil and gas wealth, bluntly rejected European criticism of his crackdown on political foes, saying Friday that like it or not Russia's Western neighbors would have to accept it as a partner. His remarks came hours after police prevented chess great Garry Kasparov from attending an opposition rally in Samara, near the Volga River resort where Putin held a summit with European Union leaders.German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the current EU president, objected at a post-summit news conference to the treatment of Kasparov and other Kremlin opponents, while Putin sought to take the subject of Russian political rights off the table.
Both Russia and the EU are interested in the development of relations with each other, and they will develop whether we like it or not, the Russian leader said, in an apparent reference to Europe's growing reliance on Russia for its energy needs.
Putin questioned whether Europe was really concerned about the human rights records of its allies — citing the alleged abuse of terror suspects at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.The summit produced no new agreements, and failed to make progress on commercial, security and other issues dividing Russia from Europe. Putin's remarks signal that he sees no need to mollify foreign critics of his political course, which opponents say has concentrated power in the Kremlin and muzzled dissent.
Before the summit, Germany asked Russia to permit opposition leaders to protest in Samara. But on Friday morning, police at a Moscow airport confiscated the passports and tickets of Kasparov and other activists and prevented them from flying to Samara.The passports were held for five hours, until the day's last flight to Samara had left, a Kasparov spokesman said.
The former world chess champion said the West's efforts to engage Putin only lends legitimacy to the Kremlin's actions. Any time you pretend that Putin is one of you, that Putin belongs to this democratic club, it backfires on us because that is what Kremlin propaganda is using on us, calling us marginals, extremists, radicals, he said.Merkel complained about the treatment of opposition protesters. I'm concerned about some people having problems traveling here, she told reporters. I hope they will be given an opportunity to express their opinion.Putin said his government is not concerned about the so-called Dissenters Marches, staged by a coalition of opposition groups led by Kasparov. Several of the protests have been brutally dispersed by police.
They don't bother me in any way, Putin said. He blamed some of the violence on demonstrators, who provoke law enforcement forces to use force, and they respond accordingly.Unlike previous protests organized by Kasparov and his allies, Friday's march in Samara won approval by local authorities. But after the detention of several of the organizers, only about 100 protesters showed up Friday.
Demonstrators gathered at a square in the late afternoon, outnumbered by police, and marched through the streets shouting, Russia without Putin! and We need another Russia.Answering Merkel's criticism, Putin said German police have also detained protesters. Law enforcement authorities in practically all countries make preventive arrests, there are examples in Germany, he said. Such action isn't always justified.Merkel shot back, saying that police action against participants in violent riots could be justified.
If a person hasn't done anything yet, if he's just on his way to a demonstration, that's a completely different case, she said.Putin also assailed the EU for failing to respond to the death of a Russian citizen during clashes between police and ethnic Russian protesters in Estonia. The clashes erupted over the removal of a monument to a Soviet soldier from Tallinn, the capital, to another location.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters that democracy and rule of law are sacred principles for the EU.
It's very important for all European countries, and Russia is a European country, to ensure the full respect of those principles and values, he said. But Barroso also reaffirmed the EU's support for Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization — a statement that appeared to reflect a softening of Brussels' stance after recent warnings from the EU that Moscow's candidacy was in jeopardy.
Putin and his European guests also argued about the lack of progress in a dispute over a Russian ban on Polish meat and plants. Putin sought to cast the dispute as a bilateral problem that blocked the expansion of Russia-EU ties, but Merkel and Barroso emphasized European solidarity. A Polish problem is a European problem, Barroso said. A visibly irritated Putin lashed back: I was asking: Is there a boundary to your solidarity? ...We also must defend our interests.But there were glimmers of agreement. Putin and the EU leaders pointed to progress in trade and economic ties and plans for future cooperation. They also pledged to extend EU-Russia work on cross-border trade, visa issues, and scientific and technical cooperation. We need each other, we are open for an honest dialogue between Russia and the EU, Putin said. It's totally wrong to say we couldn't agree on a single issue.
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
Sign the Jerusalem Petition - May 17, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
Yesterday Israel observed the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem. Yom Yerushalayim, or Jerusalem Day, is a day set aside to reflect upon the significance of this ancient and Holy City to the Jewish people, and to celebrate the fact that, after thousands of years, it is once again the capital of a sovereign Jewish state.The Jews' return to rule in Jerusalem was the end of a very long and often bitter struggle. It is important to remember that, even when the modern state of Israel was formed in 1948, the United Nations intended Jerusalem to be an international city. Israel's founders reluctantly agreed to this, in the hope that it would be only a temporary measure that would protect the new country from conflict with its Arab neighbors.These hopes were quickly dashed. When Israel
declared its statehood, her neighbors attacked from all sides. Jordan invaded and occupied the eastern part of Jerusalem, dividing the city. For the next 19 years, Israel would be denied access to some of the holiest sites of all Judaism, including the Western Wall and the cemetery on the Mount of Olives, where generations of Jewish dead are buried.
Then came the pivotal events of 1967, when Arab states again united against Israel. Egypt blocked all shipping in and out of the southern Israel port of Eilat. The combined forces of several Arab nations were gathered at Israel's borders, poised to attack. Their leaders declared in no uncertain terms their intention to destroy the Jewish State.This confrontation led to a battle, now known as the Six Day War, which led to the reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli rule It was a stunning victory for Israel—few moments in modern Jewish history are more electrifying than the moment when Israel Defense Forces Colonel Motta Gur declared over his radio in the midst of battle, The Temple Mount is in our hands!
Incredibly, despite the fact that Jerusalem has been the spiritual center of Jewish life since the time of King David, has had a continuous Jewish presence for thousands of years and has never been claimed as capital by any other nation or people, the world—including the U.S.—still refuses to recognize it as the capital of Israel.New bills recently introduced into the U.S. House and Senate seek to change that by calling on the U.S. government to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv. One of these bills, the Jerusalem Resolution, was originally put before the Senate a couple of years ago, but got stalled in committee. Now there is again an opportunity to revive it—and to send a clear message to the U.S. Congress.
These bills are currently under consideration by the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees. If approved, they will be presented to the House and Senate for a vote. Please sign our petition in support of these important pieces of legislation.
http://www.ifcj.org/site/PageServer?pagename=SFI_jerusalempetition
We will forward the petition on to these two committees. Let's make the voices of thousands of faithful friends of Israel heard in Washington, so the U.S. can be among the first declaring what millions of faithful Jews and Christians know already—that Jerusalem is the rightful capital of Israel and the eternal home of the Jewish people!
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Golan Withdrawal Won't Have it Easy
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 17,07
The Knesset has approved a bill mandating a popular referendum before land in the Golan, Jerusalem or other part of sovereign Israel is given away. Yesha (Judea and Samaria) is not included. Sponsored by MK Avigdor Yitzchaki of Kadima, the proposed legislation is an amendment to the existing law regarding a give-away of Israeli territory. The existing law states that no sovereign land may be given away without approval of the Cabinet, the Knesset, and a popular referendum. However, it adds that the referendum requirement will not come into effect until a Basic Law on plebiscites is legislated thus obviating the need for a referendum. Yitzchaki's bill does away with that qualification, thus leaving the referendum clause in effect. The bill has nothing to do with a possible future withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, which has not yet been annexed by the State of Israel.
The bill was approved in a preliminary Knesset reading by a 26-18 vote, against the position of the government. It must still pass additional Knesset readings as well as a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee vote before coming law.
This vote proves that there is no majority in Israel's Knesset supporting a return the Golan Heights to Syria, MK Yitzchaki said. The Prime Minister must now know clearly that it will not be he, but rather the people, who will decide whether to accept agreements concerning concession of sovereign Israeli land.Polls have consistently shown that a majority of Israelis are against giving away the Golan. The recent October Peace Index survey, carried out last year, showed that 67% of Israelis oppose giving away the Golan even in exchange for full peace. A giant protest rally seven years ago in Tel Aviv - some estimates were that half-a-million people showed up - put to rest until recently any talk of giving away the Golan.
Political Ramifications
This is an important accomplishment for the opposition, said Likud faction whip MK Gideon Saar. Only 18 out of 78 coalition MKs supported the government's position, proving that the coalition exists only on paper.Likud MK Yisrael Katz, head of the Knesset Golan Lobby, said, This vote is a clear message to Syria and others that Israel will never give up the Golan Heights.
Golan Guarantee for the Galilee
The Golan, a mountainous area directly overlooking much of Israel's northern plain, was used by Syria to attack Israeli towns in the years leading up to the Six Day War. In June 1967, Israel finally captured and liberated the Heights, and within weeks, Galilee farmers took their first moves to settle the Golan so as to ensure that the pre-war situation would never return. When they first ascended the mountains and looked down at Israel from the former Syrian positions, some of them were quoted as saying that they had never realized that every move of theirs had been visible to the Syrian gunners above.
Exclusive Interview with Gaydamak
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 18,07
Arutz-7's Yehoshua Meiri spoke on Jerusalem Day with Aryeh Bar-Lev - better known as Arcady Gaydamak - about Gaydamak's help for Sderot and his plans to become Mayor of Jerusalem. Gaydamak sent eight buses for residents of Kassam-besieged Sderot on Wednesday, transporting them to safer areas in the north. Meiri asked, I heard on Egpytian Radio this morning that Israel is evacuating the citizens of Sderot. I know that you mean to do well, but maybe Gaydamak said, I understand [your question]. First of all, in general, radio and media are the tools of journalists to explain their stupidity, their lack of information, and their personal opinions. This is the general situation everywhere... In some countries, the journalists also use the media for propaganda... I don't care about their opinion, nor about public opinion - because public opinion is managed by the professionals, and also because it is human nature to want to see other people being shown to be worse than them... The Jews living in Sderot have been living in a very difficult situation, in great danger, and they never know when the rockets will come. We should help them however we can. I am just a yehudi pashut [a simple Jew], and I want to help. I look to see what I can do. I come to share with them what I can. They are families and I want to help them - and the rest I don't care about.
Meiri: In light of the inability of the Prime Minister to decide on a military course of action against the Gaza terrorists, would you recommend that the IDF Chief of Staff act on his own, as some have recommended?
Gaydamak: I have no confidence at all in this Prime Minister - but even so, there is no doubt that the army should never take action without authorization from the government.
Meiri: My last question is, What about your intentions to be the mayor of Jerusalem?
Gaydamak: I will be Mayor of Jerusalem because it is of absolute necessity that the mayor be someone who acts not for his own personal interests... In the Israeli system, there is a natural division of Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and this parliamentary system is not suitable for Israel because the candidates are elected based on this division, and then they must act not for the people's interests but
only for the sake of maintaining the coalition; they are not able to run the country. We should change this system and have a strong presidential system. This is why I decided that I should take control of this city of Jerusalem, for the good of the residents, all of them, Jews and Muslims, and create economic prosperity... and because Jerusalem is the most important symbol of peace in the world, we should also try to solve the problems of confrontation in the Middle East. This is why I should be the mayor of Jerusalem; it's not that I want [this position].
Messiah mystery follows death of mystical rabbi
Revered Israeli apocalyptic kabbalah leader shocks Jews, Christians with name Yeshua
Posted: May 18, 2007 - WorldNetDaily.com
Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri
A controversy is raging in Israel, in evangelical circles in the U.S. and on kabbalah web forums worldwide following the posthumous release of what a revered Sephardic rabbi claimed to be the name of the Messiah. When Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri died in February 2006, somewhere between the age of 106 to possibly 117, 300,000 attended his funeral in Jerusalem. The Baghdad-born kabbalist had gained notoriety around the world for issuing apocalyptic warnings and for saying he personally met the long-awaited Jewish Messiah in November 2003. Before Kaduri died, he reportedly wrote the name of the Messiah on a small note, requesting it remained sealed for one year after his death. The note revealed the name of the Messiah as Yehoshua or Yeshua or the Hebrew name Jesus. However, complicating the story further, the note is being challenged as a forgery by his 80-year-old son Rabbi David Kaduri. It's not his writing, he is quoted as telling Israel Today.
The note, written in Hebrew and signed in the rabbi's name, said: Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah's name, He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid. This I have signed in the month of mercy.The Hebrew sentence consists of six words. The first letter of each of those words spells out the Hebrew name Yehoshua or Yeshua. The finding has raised a combination of excitement and controversy in both Jewish and Christian circles – but scarcely any media attention. Jewish blogs and web forums are filled with skeptical analysis and puzzlement. So this means Rabbi Kaduri was a Christian? asked one poster rhetorically. Another wrote: The Christians are dancing and celebrating.Not exactly.
In fact, many Christian discussion boards say Kaduri's description of the Messiah – no matter what his name – doesn't fit the biblical account of a returned Jesus of Nazareth, who, they believe, will rule and reign on Earth from Jerusalem for 1,000 years. About his encounter with the Messiah Kaduri claimed is alive in Israel today, he reportedly told close relatives: He is not saying, I am the Messiah, give me the leadership.Rather the nation is pushing him to lead them, after they find [in my words] signs showing that he has the status of Messiah.Kaduri was also quoted as saying the imminent arrival of the Messiah will save Jerusalem from Islam and Christianity that wish to take Jerusalem from the Jewish Nation – but they will not succeed, and they will fight each other.Statements like that have some Christians wondering if Kaduri might be talking about another Yeshua – perhaps even a miracle -performing false Christ many evangelicals believe will precede the return of Jesus.
It is hard for many good people in society to understand the person of the Messiah, Kaduri wrote before his death. The leadership and order of a Messiah of flesh and blood is hard to accept for many in the nation. As leader, the Messiah will not hold any office, but will be among the people and use the media to communicate. His reign will be pure and without personal or political desire. During his dominion, only righteousness and truth will reign.Kaduri wrote that not all will believe in the Messiah – and that it will often be easier for non-religious people to accept him. He also describes a Messiah
who is, at first, not aware of his position.
Kaduri's funeral
A few months before his death, Kaduri gave a Yom Kippur address in which he gave clues as to how to recognize the Messiah. He told those gathered for the Day of Atonement in his synagogue the Messiah would not come until former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dies.
Sharon was stricken while in office Jan. 4, 2006. He remained in a coma until replaced by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. While many expected the imminent passing of Sharon, he has remained alive but unconscious ever since his attack. Shortly after what Kaduri characterized as his Nov. 4, 2003, encounter with the Messiah, in which he said he learned his name, the rabbi began warning of impending disasters worldwide. In September 2005 in a class at his Jerusalem yeshiva seminary, Kaduri called for Jews all over the world to return to Israel because of the calamities about to befall the Earth and for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple.
In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will bring about great disasters in the countries of the world to sweeten the judgments of the land of Israel, he said. In 1990, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneerson told Kaduri that he would live to see the coming of the Messiah. Also in September 2005, Kaduri said: The Messiah is already in Israel. Whatever people are sure will not happen is liable to happen, and whatever we are certain will happen may disappoint us. But in the end, there will be peace throughout the world.As a lifelong student and teacher of kabbalah, Kaduri rejected a meeting requested by pop superstar Madonna, who dabbled in the ancient art of Jewish mysticism. He reportedly said at the time: It is forbidden to teach a non-Jew kabbalah, not even Talmud, not even simple Torah.Kaduri is said to have been one of the few known living practitioners who used his knowledge of kabbalah to affect change in the world. He would often distribute amulets intended to heal, enhance fertility and bring success. He was also believed to have been involved in the removal of 20 dybbuks, or lost souls that strayed into the hapless bodies of living people to torment them.
Aviel Schneider, the author of the Israel Today story, said the worldwide reaction to news of Kaduri's note has been crazy. He said he has never received so many emails and calls from around the globe. He said he was urged not to publish the story by the rabbi's yeshiva, where officials said it was impossible that the note was actually written by Kaduri. But Schneider was given access to many of the rabbi's manuscripts, written in his own hand for the exclusive use of his students. He was struck by symbols painted by Kaduri all over the pages. They were crosses, said Schneider. In the Jewish tradition, you don't use crosses. You don't even use plus signs because they might be mistaken for crosses. But there they were, painted in his own hand.Asked what those symbols meant, Kaduri's family said they were signs of the angel.
[Comment] Without the law there would be no European Union
18.05.2007 - 09:22 CET | By Peter Sain ley Berry
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - Go to any introductory lecture on the European Union and you will hear phrases such as unique experiment,international co-operation rule of law.Indeed the whole concept of what has become today's EU was founded upon the simple idea that if the conduct of nations could be voluntarily regulated by law, then there would be no further need for war. From this grew the idea of a community of nations pooling their sovereignty and subjecting themselves to a legal discipline the better to achieve those national objectives best realised within a common framework.Member states even agreed to give European law precedence over their own; there wouldn't be any point in having common laws if nations could pick and choose which they obeyed.As the Union has developed so the volume of European law has grown; disproportionately so, say the critics. It has become fashionable to decry that so much legislation reportedly as much as 80 per cent in Germany has its origins at European level. Anthony Coughlan wrote a persuasive piece on this subject in these pages last week, arguing that this growth is pre-empting national parliamentary democracy.
But of course there are major laws and minor laws. One cannot equate laws that govern the functioning of a Parliament, or the running of schools, with other laws that specify the size of a car's headlights or how a commodity sold simultaneously in several European countries should be labelled.
Without law there could be no European Union. In volume terms European law does indeed appear massive - but it is domestic law that determines why France is France or Germany is Germany. Nevertheless, the idea that European law is too dominant, too intrusive, has taken hold in the popular consciousness to the extent that even the European Commission is working to reduce the volume of new regulations and to roll back others.Considered by itself this is no doubt a sensible measure, but it is easy for people to get the idea that because, in the past, there have been perhaps too many regulations, the principle of European Law itself is somehow flawed. This is dangerous for it undermines the whole basis on which the Union is constructed. Once we lose our respect for the law as the fundamental instrument that makes the Union
work, we threaten everything that has been achieved. A Union with weak laws, or laws that are not enforced, will be a Union that will soon break apart.The same applies to agreements that may not have the status of law but which are nevertheless meant to be honoured. If we can't abide by our own internal decisions, how can we call on the rest of the world, much of which looks to the EU as a model, to do so?
Reneging on agreements
We have seen various examples recently of a worrying trend towards reneging on agreements. On the Constitutional Treaty, for example, despite having solemnly accepted all of its provisions in 2004, various governments now want to change or withdraw from its provisions.London had accepted an extension of majority voting; Warsaw had accepted a revised system of voting in the European Council; Prague had accepted a single speed Europe.All these points are now again in contention as the German Presidency struggles to bring forward a new treaty. Warsaw even appears to be seeking an escape from its legal commitment to adopt the euro.More serious is the case of Romania, which joined the Union only a few months ago on the solemn undertaking that widespread and irreversible reforms to root out crime and corruption were well on their way. Various pledges were made and accepted in good faith and the country, with Bulgaria, was admitted at the earliest opportunity in 2007.
Once inside the Union, the Romanian Parliament has turned its back on reform, dismissed its anti-corruption prosecutors, thrown out its respected and efficient Justice Minister Monica Macovei and voted massively to impeach its pro-EU President. The country seems set to return to its old ways, even postponing its elections for the 35 seats in the European Parliament in case this should prove troublesome.
Banana republic standards
Many people argued that Romania and Bulgaria should not have acceded in 2007 but instead should have been forced to wait a year until the process of reform was complete.I argued this case myself.
I could never understand why it was necessary to admit as full members countries described recently by The Times as weakened by systemic corruption, organised crime, fragile judiciaries and oligarchic control of press and broadcast media.The Commission, I seem to remember, argued that if the two countries were not admitted in 2007 then the pace of reform would slow. Well, it has slowed now and we have within the bosom of the European Union a country whose respect for the very principle of law is in some doubt.All is not lost of course. The suspended President Traian Basescu may well win his forthcoming impeachment referendum, though the authorities are not making life easy for him.
If he does he has promised to take action to weaken the party bosses.
For its part the European Commission cannot simply wring its hands and hope that all will come right. Romania has broken the pledges it made. That cannot be without consequence and while there is no doubt that we all want to see Romania, growing and prospering as part of the European family, this has to be as a state with European rather than banana republic standards.
The wider point is that we are in no position to deplore Romania's fall from grace if other member states also show themselves willing to renege on agreements and understandings when it suits them.Law can only work by consent. Respecting agreements, however uncomfortable, makes us all stronger. Ultimately we are our own policemen. It is not only Romania that must learn this.If we don't European Government will be reduced to the impotent position of Saint-Exupéry's King, who regaled on an impressive throne but without any other accoutrements of power, is reduced to ordering Le Petit Prince, sometimes to obey him and sometimes not to do so. Not exactly a recipe for success and progress.The author is editor of EuropaWorld
Stefan's Comment: Jerusalem IS the Capital City of Israel MAY 18,07
Isaiah 62:1 For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. (NKJ)
In the past few weeks I have noticed some disturbing attitudes regarding Israel from within the European Union and by the independent countries that make it up. Here are a couple of these disturbing decisions and comments.
Taken from The Financial Times 27/3/07: A year-old diplomatic boycott of the Palestinian government eased on Monday when Raymond Johansen, Norway’s deputy foreign minister, met Ismael Haniyeh, Palestinian prime minister. The meeting was the first between Haniyeh and a senior European diplomat since western powers imposed an economic and diplomatic blockade on the Hamas-led government in March 2006. Norway, a big donor to the Palestinian Authority and sponsor of the Oslo peace accords, restored full relations with the PA after Haniyeh’s Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction formed a unity government on Saturday. We hope that all the European countries, and even other countries, will ... support this unity government, Mr Johansen said on Monday.
Norway was the first nation to back the new P.A unity government, but right behind them were all the countries of the E.U. who have said that they are renewing all ties and breaking all blockades with the P.A.My question is, why? Both the Hamas and the Fatah organisations are acknowledged by the western world to be terrorist groups who have sent men, woman and children to blow themselves up in Israeli restaurants, bus and checkpoints. These checkpoint throughout the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were designed precisely to stop such suicide bombers. They have also attempted to attack any other target that can be found with a 'good' number of Jewish people in it.How can the leadership of the E.U. accept a government made up of terrorists and then expect the state of Israel to sit down and talk with them, especially when they are still carrying out hostile acts against Israel and refusing to acknowledge her right to exist as a state? Doing this would be like Osama Bin Laden heading up a political party and then the US leadership being expected to sit down with that government for peace talks,the USA was still under threat from Al Qaida.The 15th of May this year is the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem under full Israeli control. This year, the U.S ambassador along with all the E.U. countries representatives in Israel elected to boycott the ceremonies and celebrations because they do not recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and because of their desire in not upsetting the Arab nations of the world.
Taken From Ynet.com 14/5/07:
European Union countries will not take part in the celebrations marking the 40-year anniversary of Jerusalem's reunification, EU president Germany said Thursday in a diplomatic letter sent to the Foreign Ministry and the Knesset. US Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones will also not participate in the events. Diplomatic sources told Ynet that the event was not on the ambassador’s timetable.
Ambassadors of all EU countries will not show up for the special Knesset session which will be on Jerusalem Day on Wednesday. As frustrating as it is to see this united stand against Israel and Jerusalem as her capital, we can rest assured that almighty God, the Holy God of Israel is in control of the situation and is using all of these incidents to His glory. Israel is a sovereign nation and has the right to choose her own capital. More importantly God has chosen Jerusalem as His capital city of His chosen nation. Having lived here in Israel for more than half of my life, serving in the army, and seeing the events that occur on our borders and most importantly knowing the truth that is in the word of God regarding Israel, and specifically Jerusalem, I must let out a cry to convey how wrong these foreign governments in the decisions they are making. God's judgement and wrath shall be upon them and their countries for the stand that they are taking against Israel.
Please continue to pray for the situation, and for the leaders inside Israel, that they would have wisdom to deal with these situations and boldness to stand up to the powers that would try to separate Israel from her land and capital.
Interesting: On the very date in the Hebrew calendar that Israel celebrates Jerusalem's reunification in 1967, torrential downpours flooded Jerusalem and serioius violence erupted between Hamas & Fatah. On the same day a serious rocket attack on Sderot provoked the Israeli government to launch pinpoint airstrikes against Hamas targets in Gaza city.
Shabbat Shalom .. . David & Josie SILVER
Perspectives: Oprah's Secret deceives millions
Rebecca Grace - Guest Columnist
OneNewsNow.com May 18, 2007
The Gospel According to Oprah is more than just a book title; it's a mindset that has created quite a following for the billionaire talk-show host. And her promotion of a philosophy extolling the Law of Attraction has added to millions who are being led away from the teachings of Christ.According to a May 2006 article titled The Divine Miss Winfrey in USA Today, Over the past year, Winfrey ... has emerged as a spiritual leader for the new millennium, a moral voice of authority for the nation.There's no doubt that Oprah is spiritual, but the philosophy she pushed on the February 8, 2006, broadcast of The Oprah Winfrey Show couldn't place her farther from the truth. During the show, Oprah interviewed a panel of teachers who appear in a 93-minute film called The Secret.
The Secret, also a book which has sold two million copies, is promoted as a feature length, historic and factually based account of an age old secret, said to be 4,000 years in the making, and known only to a fortunate few.
The Secret reveals this great knowledge to the world -- The Secret to wealth, The Secret to health, The Secret to love, relationships, happiness, eternal youth ... The Secret to life itself.While its appeal is wide and its lure powerful, the philosophy of The Secret is a narrow road that leads to death and destruction.
In Colossians 2:8, the apostle Paul warns the church at Colosse to See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. Therefore, here are reasons why The Secret has nothing to do with Christianity and everything to do with occultism.
What sources say
While the worldview behind The Secret is nothing new, Rhonda Byrne, an Australian woman in her 50s, is credited with discovering The Secret during a time of utter despair in her life. Because of the impact it had on her life, she has decided to share it.According to Byrne and her host of high-profile teachers, the Law of Attraction which they claim is the most powerful law in the universe is the
Secret.The DVD summarizes the law in three words: Thoughts become things. If a person thinks hard enough about something, he will get it be it good or bad. The attraction is especially potent when a person's thoughts and desires are super-charged by emotions. So by applying the Law of Attraction, a person can create his own circumstances based on the thoughts he thinks and the choices he makes.
Your life is a physical manifestation of the thoughts that go on in your head, said Lisa Nichols, one of the teachers of The Secret.You are the masterpiece of your own life. You are the Michelangelo of your own life, added metaphysician Joe Vitale.What makes these ideas even more deceiving is that they are backed by personal testimonies.
For example, Jack Canfield, teacher of The Secret and author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, said, Since I learned The Secret and started applying it to my life, my life has truly become magical a life everyone dreams of I live in a four-and-a-half million-dollar mansion. I have a wife to die for. I get to vacation in all the fabulous spots of the world .... And all of this happens and continues to happen all because of knowing how to apply The Secret.Even more alarming than stories such as Canfield's is the way The Secret teachers twist Scripture and present an unbiblical view of God. For example: Teacher James Arthur Ray asks, Do you treat yourself the way that you want other people to treat you? Nichols instructs: You are eternal life. You're source energy. You are God manifested in human form, made to perfection.
What the Bible reveals
According to Christian Worldview Network columnist Russ Wise, The Secret is the latest in a series of examples that are used by the enemy of Truth to try and nullify God's authoritative Word. Wise is vice president of Christian Information Ministries.Refering to Romans 12:1-2, Wise writes: Note that Paul did not say that we should consult our feelings about the matter, but that our spiritual worship is
to present our bodies as a sacrifice to the Lord, Wise added. The message of The Secret is not selflessness, but selfishness and self-indulgence.Wise explains that according to 2 Corinthians 10:5, Our purpose is not to use our thought life to enhance ourselves, but to bring our thought lives into obedience and submit ourselves to a holy God. This thought is totally absent from The Secret! It is
also totally absent from a culture that is more concerned about what Oprah says than what God says.
Rebecca Grace, a regular contributor to OneNewsNow.com, is staff writer for AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association. Family News Network.
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