Europe fights plans to give emerging economies bigger say in IMF
07.08.2007 - 09:13 CET | By Renata Goldirova
France, Germany and the UK have joined forces to fight against plans to reform the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which would give a bigger say to emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil at the expense of European states.Proposed reforms of the fund an organization of 185 countries created after the second world war to foster global monetary cooperation are due to be agreed next month, before the current managing director Rodrigo Rato steps down in October. But senior IMF officials told the Financial Times that countries are locked in a dispute which pits Europe against the US and fast-growing economies.
What we hear from European colleagues [is] that they have the right of birth to run this institution indefinitely. This is very disappointing, an executive director said. The EU trio have rejected formulas which would award a country with votes based on the size of their economy – an equation that would strongly boost to the powers of Beijing for example. EU economies are seeking reforms that would not reduce their leading position on the board. The UK, France and, to a lesser extent, Germany, have dug in their heels, a senior IMF official is cited as saying by the FT, adding that Japan also fears being eclipsed by its Asian rivals.On the other hand, the US – reportedly annoyed with the Europeans' intransigence has pushed for more votes to the four most under-represented IMF members – Mexico, Turkey, South Korea and China. Washington is seen as a staunch ally of the first three, and wants to see Beijing change its currency policy. A voting reform needs 85 percent of support in order to fly, but some point out that [Mr] Rato doesn't have the votes to push the policy through before he steps down.
Appointing a successor
All eyes are now focused on whether France succeeds in appointing its former socialist finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn for the top IMF job. He has already received Germany's approval but could meet resistance from Italy, which had hoped to see an Italian in the post for the first time, according to some media reports. An unwritten rule says that the IMF's managing director must be European while the president of its sister organisation – the World Bank – must be from the US.Developing countries have also for years protested in vain against this practice as they would like to see a more open competition in the organisation.
Divine inspiration
Published: 06 August 2007
It used to be said that the Labour Party was shaped less by Karl Marx than Methodism. No longer, if the annual survey of MPs' summer reading is a bellwether. This guide into the beliefs of our senators shows they don't have many - beliefs in God, that is. How else to explain the top position among Labour MPs of Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion? Of course, the choice of this volume may simply reflect a kind of subliminal revolt against the ghost of Tony Blair who - even if he did not pray with George Bush - certainly advertised his godliness. It might therefore be seen, paradoxically, almost as a form of exorcism, a way of saying Blair begone!
No doubt our former leader, bridging chasms in the Middle East, couldn't care less. But should it not make the Archbishop of Canterbury tremble a little for the future of a church that was established by act of parliament? Some might find it rather exciting if disestablishmentarianism - one of the longest-sounding political causes in history - was to make a comeback. But it may not come to that, depending on the next election. Godly thoughts, after all, are far from dead on the other side of the benches.If the Tories' favourite book was also Dawkins, the game would surely be up for the Church of England as far as established status was concerned. But while Labour MPs are imbibing atheism in their summer hideouts, their opposite numbers will be doing the opposite; their favourite summer reading - apparently - is William Hague's biography of William Wilberforce. Is either side telling the truth about what they intend to read this summer? God knows.
Swine fever outbreak hits Romania AUG 6,07
The latest swine fever outbreak will not help Romanian meat exports
The Romanian authorities have ordered the slaughter of 20,000 pigs after an outbreak of swine fever at a farm in the west of the country. All farms in Timis county belonging to Smithfield Foods one the largest US meat processors will be inspected for signs of infection, officials say. Road checks have been set up in the area to prevent the movement of meat. Swine fever is a recurrent problem in Romania, which has been banned from exporting pork to other EU countries. Timis official Ovidiu Draganescu said that all 25 farms belonging to Smithfield Foods will be tested for swine fever.
Export ban
The virus has already been found in the Cenei farm, where the slaughter of pigs has already been ordered. Swine fever is a highly infectious disease. Infected pigs must be slaughtered and the carcases buried or incinerated Smithfield - which claims to be the biggest pork producer in the world - bought the Timis farms in 2004. Animal health and food safety standards have been main concerns as Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union on 1 January 2007. The EU told both countries they would have to eradicate swine fever before they could sell pork in the rest of the EU without restrictions.
Brussels praises prompt response
By Tobias Buck in Brussels August 5 2007 18:14
The British government’s quick response to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease at a farm in Surrey drew praise on Sunday from the European Commission, which is poised to adopt its own emergency measures to stop the highly contagious virus from spreading to other EU countries.We are certainly very satisfied with the prompt action taken by the British government and with the steps they are taking, a Commission spokesman said. The Commission said it would adopt its own measures today, including a ban on the movement of animals in the UK, and on all shipments of animals, meat and dairy products from the high-risk areas. The precise region hit by the export ban has yet to be determined, but it is expected to centre on the 10km exclusion zone around the affected farm south-west of London.
The EU measures will largely confirm the actions already announced by the British government. These were based on a 2003 European law inspired by the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak that devastated much of Britain’s rural economy and spread to France, Ireland and the Netherlands.EU officials hope the measures taken by the government over the past three days will avoid a replay of the 2001 outbreak. The biggest question for UK farmers now is how long it will take the Commission to lift the current restrictions. According to the 2003 legislation, the emergency measures in the 3km protection zone must be kept in place for at least 15 days after the last infected animals are killed and the farms disinfected. The 10km surveillance zone must be retained for at least 30 days.The Financial Times Limited 2007
Palestinians struggle with Gaza's three-state solution
By Harvey Morris in Gaza City August 6 2007 03:00
A gaggle of officious but otherwise friendly Hamas militiamen in smart camouflage-blue fatigues has replaced the solitary Fatah recruit who used to snooze at the first Palestinian checkpoint inside the Gaza Strip.With them and thousands of their fellow Executive Force personnel deployed throughout the Strip, a measure of calm has returned after the violence that marked the Islamists' power struggle with the secular Fatah party.But Gaza's 1.4m people have little else to celebrate from the first 50 days of Hamas rule in a territory that is more isolated than ever, both politically and economically.Some can still raise a smile, however, when they note that the Palestinians have leapfrogged the two-state solution to their conflict by securing a three-state solution - Israel, Hamastan in Gaza and Fatahstan in the West Bank.
With unemployment at 40 per cent and rising, the biggest question facing most people is where the next meal will come from. The answer is increasingly that it will come in the form of a foreign food handout.Hamas has said it will pay the salaries of 10,000 people in the largely unproductive public sector who were dropped from the payroll by the Fatah-supported government in the West Bank. But that scarcely compensates for the loss of three times as many wage packets in the dwindling private sector.The paramount concern among what remains of the secular middle class is how far Hamas will go towards instituting Islamic rule. They swap alarmist tales of male sea-bathers threatened with arrest unless they don long shorts and T-shirts, although a glance at the heat-hazed Mediterranean shore indicates beachwear is no more conservative than in Fatah's day. .
Hamas, victorious in battle but stumped for an answer as to what to do with its new power, has so far opted for a soft approach to further Islamisation in an already conservative society.As for the economic decline, Hamas officials blame Gaza's plight on the trinity of Israel, the US and Europe, to which they have now added their new enemy, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president in the West Bank.
We are not responsible for the embargo or the siege, says Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman. Israel and the US and Europe are responsible. What surprises us is that Abu Mazen [Abbas] is now involved in that.Mr Barhoum, a neatly bearded medical graduate in white shirt and black tie, is one of the respectable faces of Hamas, a movement branded terrorists by much of the international community and latterly murderers by Mr Abbas.We are a Palestinian movement, not al-Qaeda. We don't want to be isolated from the US and Europe. Moderate Islam in Turkey gives a good picture of the Islamic model, says Mr Barhoum, referring to Turkey's ruling AKP.
Gazans with little affection for Hamas are not persuaded by such blandishments. The people of Gaza are effectively hostages, says Imad Abu Dayya, head of a local training institute, and are threatened with a loss of their human rights.Hamas are grassroots people. They can survivefor a long time on cucumbers and tomatoes. But they have to decide whether they're moderates or revolutionaries and they need to state their vision clearly to the public.Mr Abu Dayya and others are even more scathing about Mr Abbas and his refusal to negotiate with the Islamist regime that now dominates their lives. Abbas should sit down with Hamas rather than buy a US agenda that's been around for 50 years, says Mr Abu Dayya of US efforts to restart a peace process that would exclude Hamas. President Bush needs to dismantle terror, not fight it, and that involves not attacking the dignity of the poor.Mahmoud al-Jarami, a secularist and former member of the Marxist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who is co-operating with the Hamas regime as a senior foreign ministry official, believes the rival Gaza and West Bank governments have their strengths and weaknesses but that ultimately the government appointed by Mr Abbas in Ramallah is illegitimate. Abu Mazen is not an emperor who can decide for himself.
Like Mr Abu Dayya, he fears the Palestinian president is being dragged into an imposed deal with Israel that will be rejected by the Palestinian people. We were promised a state by 1999, then by 2005. Now Mr Bush is trying to sell us a new illusion.The Financial Times Limited 2007
August 6, 2007
Essential Errors BY ARLENE KUSHNER
This morning here in Israel YNet ran a piece on the upcoming meeting between Olmert and Abbas. It provided almost a template of errors in thinking with regard to what's going on. (Not YNet errors, but errors of those involved.) Primary is this: Israel and the US have both been working to strengthen Abbas so he can realize his authority over the Palestinian territories and combat terror. The objective is to prompt Abbas to reach a settlement with Israel.Prompt Abbas to reach a settlement? That is a mistake of major proportions. Whenever I read something like this I am reminded of the exceedingly pertinent advice of Prof. Moshe Sharon, who says negotiations with the Arabs should be conceived of as a bazaar -- a marketplace. If Israel and the US want Abbas to do certain things more than Abbas wants to, then the cost of getting him to do these things is high. Too high. This is the point everyone seems to miss.
Abbas and his government and those he governs (and I use that term loosely) have to really want a peaceful state with a civic society established next to Israel. They have to want it enough to be willing to make sacrifices to get it. This is simply and incontrovertibly not the case.
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An Israeli official was quoted thus, we've...just handed over a vast sum of money, released prisoners, provided military aid and authorized outside military aid. We conceived a very handsome package and it bore results, stabilizing Abbas.Huh? Abbas is stable? The explanation is that in spite of pressure on him to do so, Abbas has not fallen in again with Hamas. He understands that going back to Hamas' embrace is a death-blow to the political process.I would not be so certain of any of this. What matters to Abbas more? Having a state in Judea and Samaria, or having interaction with fellow Arabs in Gaza? Yes, Abbas is making all of the right noises regarding his absolute refusal to talk to Hamas, but this is for Western ears. And the West -- eager to hear this and refusing to remain mindful of the Palestinian propensity for a forked tongue -- buys it.
Just days ago I discovered on an Arab website a report that says Fatah and Hamas have already met secretly and forged certain agreements. I have not been able to confirm this -- at least not yet, but it would not surprise me if this turned out to be so. And even if it turns out to be true that there's been no contact in recent weeks between Fatah and Hamas, I remind you of the report yesterday from Israel military intelligence that says there will be fighting between Fatah and Hamas in Judea and Samaria soon. Prime Minister Fayyad has told Israeli officials that the PA is not ready to assume control of Palestinian cities. The security services in the PA have not gotten their act together.No matter how you look at it, Abbas is not stable.
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And so what was the result of the meeting today between Olmert and Abbas in Jericho? Olmert began with a statement about the goal of the meeting being to create two states for two people as soon as possible. One has to wonder what Olmert's intent was here. Possible is not going to be any time soon. Abbas made his anticipated requests regarding removal of checkpoints, more humanitarian aid, and amnesty for additional terrorists, and Olmert agreed to consider them. Questions regarding Palestinian institutions and issues of Israeli security were apparently discussed as well. What was not discussed were the core issues of borders, Jerusalem, settlements and refugees, as much as Abbas was eager to put these on the table.There were great photo ops. And the two agreed to talk again, to work towards normalizing ties, and to ultimately discuss fundamental issues.Over in Gaza, former PA prime minister Haniyeh said that the meeting in Jericho was a public relations gimmick that would yield nothing. It looks a bit like that from where I sit, as well.
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A large army and police contingent is preparing today to evict two Jewish families from a marketplace in Hevron, where they took up residence recently. The likelihood of violence is great.It is important to set the record straight with regard to this painful -- and shameful -- situation, as so much disinformation is being circulated:
This market stands on Jewish land. It was purchased, in front of Arab witnesses, in 1807 by Rabbi Haim Bajaoi, at a time when there was a thriving Jewish Quarter in the ancient city; the five dunams he purchased were adjacent to the Quarter and dedicated to the use of the Jewish community. Jews disappeared from Hevron in 1929, after a horrendous Arab massacre (instigated, it should be noted by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Muhammad al-Husseini, who was Arafat's mentor). Those Jews who survived were moved out by the British, who then controlled the area under the Mandate for Palestine: It was easier to remove them than protect them.
In 1948, the Jordanians occupied this area; an Arab market was established on the land that Bajaoi had purchased. When Israel secured control of Hevron in 1967, the Arabs were permitted to continue to operate the market -- even though they were on privately owned Jewish land. This was so even after Jews moved back into the city, into the old Jewish area, known as the Avraham Aveinu neighborhood. Twelve years ago, for security reasons, the IDF evicted the Arabs who maintained the stalls in the market. The market stood empty.By 1998, as part of the Oslo Accords, Israel had pulled out of 80% of Hevron, but the 20% that remained in Israeli hands included the Avraham Aveinu neighborhood and the adjacent market place.The Hevron Jewish community petitioned the Israeli government several times to be permitted to rent the remaining structures left in the market place but their request was consistently denied.
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In March of 2001, a one-year old child, Shalhevet Pass, was shot point-blank in the head by an Arab sniper who had positioned himself in the area of the empty market. The Hevron Jewish community then decided that a Jewish presence there was necessary. They invested many thousands of dollars in converting the old market stalls into small apartments. Nine Hevron families moved in, and a religious study hall was established. This area was named Mitzpe (outlook) Shalhevet, in memory of the child.Once the Jewish residents moved in, Arabs went to court claiming the buildings. The attorney general responded that the Arabs had no further claim, but that the Jewish trespassers would be evicted; the court accepted this and made no additional ruling. Eviction orders were issued by the attorney general's office.
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Before eviction could take place, the Jewish community appealed. Then the court ruled that the land was privately owned by Jews (the family of Rabbi Bajaoi had produced papers and indicated their desire that the Hevron Jewish community use the land). However, they also ruled that the market stalls, which had been put up by Jordan, were captured property that legally fell under the jurisdiction of the Israeli government. The court recommended that the structures be leased by the government to the residents of Mitzpe Shalhevet. Attorney General Mazuz refused, determined to punish those who had used this property without permission. He pushed for eviction.Eighteen months ago, when that eviction was about to take place, there was a gathering of protestors and violence seemed imminent. Crisis was averted when IDF officials on the scene -- headed by General Yair Golan -- negotiated a compromise with the residents, saying that if they moved out peacefully, legal Jewish occupancy of the market would be expedited and Jews from Hevron would soon be permitted to move in. Based on this agreement, the residents moved out voluntarily. Subsequently, Attorney General Mazuz voided the agreement, saying that the IDF had no right to negotiate it. Mitzpe Shalhevet stood empty.
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This brings us to the current crisis. Recently two families grew tired of the waiting, and the failed promises, and moved back into Mitzpe Shalhevet. And once more the government is out to remove them. We've been fooled too many times, the families are saying, This time we're not going peacefully. The community is mindful of the fact that the court had provided a way out with its recommendation, and the government refused to take it, preferring confrontation.Defense Minister Barak is making the decision in this regard now. Responding to pressure from the left (and mindful, undoubtedly, of elections coming up before too very long) he has decided to take action against these two families. What makes this even more shameful is that the representatives of seven factions within the Knesset had appealed to Barak to not go this route. Last month they wrote a letter to him:
We are marking 78 years since the 1929 riots, you are faced with a fateful decision concerning one of the sites which represents, more than anything else, the murder and the thievery [committed upon] the Hebron Jewish community of those days: the site of the 'shuk' [market place] in Hebron, where presently several families are living…We are dealing with Jewish-owned land, which was stolen as a result of the terrible slaughter. It is incumbent on the government to act to return the stolen property as would be expected in relationship to stolen Jewish property anywhere in the world. We the undersigned, chairmen of various parties in the Knesset, turn to you with this request to refrain from expelling these Jewish families living in the shuk'and to study alternative ways to resolve Jewish quarters at this site, legally…
The residents of Hebron prevented violence and conflict...when they voluntarily moved out of these homes, based upon promises that they would be allowed to return, honoring and respecting promises of representatives of the state, IDF officers. This type of approach is to be encouraged and rewarded, not discouraged…
For all the above reasons, we request, that you order that the issue of Jewish residency in the shuk be studied seriously, and that in any case, you prevent, for the time being, any eviction of Jewish residents from the site.Barak's decision, then, is shameful. I titled this posting Essential Errors, and without a shadow of a doubt, what Barak is doing qualifies in this respect.see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info
The European Ideal
From war's s wreckage came the visions of a unified Europe
By Jay Tolson 8/5/07
Today, 50 years after its birth, the European Union is a 27-member association of nations that functions as something more than a single market and something less than a full-blown political confederation. Defying the predictions of naysaying Euro-skeptics, it boasts a combined $15.7 trillion gross domestic product and is governed by an array of institutions—executive, legislative, judicial, and monetary—to which member nations surrender at least part of their sovereignty. Given its hybrid and evolving character, it is perhaps fitting that the EU originated in a document that was little more than a sheaf of blank pages when it was signed on March 25, 1957.
VISIONARY. Jean Monnet, the architect of the European Union(Corbis Bettmann) Yet the Treaty of Rome was no stab in the dark. Representatives of the six signatory nations—France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg—had painstakingly crafted the foundations of what was initially called the European Economic Community. But according to a recent BBC documentary, the signers were so anxious to get the treaty signed that they couldn't wait for Italian printers to produce it.
Obstacle. The cause of that anxiety was a single person: Gen. Charles de Gaulle. Backers of the proposed community feared that the imperious wartime leader of Free France would soon be returned to the French presidency. And once back in power, they knew, de Gaulle would almost certainly quash the project that he believed jeopardized France's leading role in post-World War II Europe.
Urgent and somewhat improvised, the conditions of the treaty's signing would almost perfectly epitomize the precarious nature of the union's subsequent development. A concatenation of political accidents leading to a convergence of interests, as University of Virginia historian Stephen Schuker described it, the treaty allowed the vision of a relatively unknown Frenchman, Jean Monnet, to prevail over that of his more illustrious fellow countryman.
Born in Cognac, the heir of a modest-size brandy firm, Monnet never attended university but quickly demonstrated a genius for making deals and cultivating international networks both in business and in various appointive offices. Serving as an official representative to England during World War I and later as deputy secretary-general of the short-lived League of Nations, Monnet arrived at a fervent belief in international cooperation and institutions.
During the Second World War, while orchestrating U.S. aid to Free France, Monnet had his first discussion with de Gaulle about the future shape of Europe. The latter, dreading American influence almost as much as Soviet aggression, favored a federation of nations with France at the helm. Monnet, once a believer in such a federation himself, proposed a more modest economic collective with nations enjoying equality under an international body controlling basic industries.
As a first step, Monnet settled for an arrangement that gave France limited control over the coal industry in Germany's Saar district. Soon, though, he turned to designing a more substantial plan for French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman. Integrating the French and German coal and steel industries under a common High Authority, the Schuman Plan invited other European countries to join in. In all, six nations emerged as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1952—the very six that would eventually sign the Treaty of Rome. As first president of the High Authority, Monnet could now test his proposition that economic cooperation could drive other forms of association.
Ironically, it was repeated disappointments on those other fronts that spurred movement toward the EEC. Foremost was the failure of the European Defense Community, a proposed supranational force that would absorb small-size German units into its ranks. But France balked, unwilling to go along with any kind of German rearmament. That opened the way to a U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which brought West German forces into a larger alliance resisting the Soviet threat.
Even the ECSC proved disappointing. High Authority technocrats imposed inefficiencies on industries that were being buffeted by international developments, including the Korean War. And the increasing availability of oil made coal a less crucial source of energy.
Single market. But if the disappointments were great, the ECSC was a crucial first step toward bringing part of Germany into a community of democratic European nations. After the failure of the European Defense Community, says Charles Kupchan, a professor of international relations at Georgetown University, European elites felt they should focus on where they could advance—on a single market.
And then, as Schuker points out, there were those happy accidents: a Socialist coalition government briefly in power in Paris and eager for some good news after France's Suez Crisis debacle; a German chancellor yearning for stronger ties with the West; an unusual willingness on the part of the other ECSC nations to grant France its special demands, including extensive subsidies for its agricultural products; an equal willingness on the part of France and Germany to include inducements to the smaller nations.
No wonder, then, that supporters of the treaty felt such urgency to close a deal that could so easily have gone up in smoke. And, indeed, when de Gaulle returned to power in 1958, he initially stood in the way of EEC progress, vetoing England's first bid to join the market. But even de Gaulle would come around and push to dismantle all internal tariffs ahead of the scheduled date.
As it evolved, expanded, and changed names (eventually to European Union), this unique institution showed its power as an economic engine. Trade within the community grew more than sixfold even before Britain entered the club in 1973. While the original institutions underwent transformations, the Commission (established as the executive body in the original 1957 treaty) would consistently be the generator of ideas and efforts to advance integration, most dramatically through the creation of a single currency and a European passport.
But in one important sense, the EU has fallen short. Were they alive today, says Kupchan, the original designers of the EU would probably have been disappointed. They had federalist expectations and would have expected, by 2007, something closer to a United States of Europe.
HERE WE GO TROUBLE TO COME NOW, AMERICA WILL HAVE SOME BIG DISASTER IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE AND WHOEVER ELSE IS INVOLVED IN THESE ISRAELIS BEING DRIVEN OFF THEIR LAND.
Israel Forcibly Removes Hebron Settlers
Jewish Settlers Clash With Israeli Police; Olmert Denies Land Swap Plan
HEBRON, West Bank, Aug. 7, 2007
Israeli police officers carry a Jewish settler as he is forcibly removed from a house in the West Bank town of Hebron, Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2007. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
Quote
Soldiers of the Jewish people are coming to do what the worst enemies used to do to Jewish people, but they are doing it to their own brothers and sisters.Avinoam Horowitz, Evicted Jewish settler
(CBS/AP) Israeli police, using sledge hammers, chain saws and power clippers, stormed a building in the West Bank town of Hebron early Tuesday and dragged out hundreds of settlers who had holed up there illegally, hoping to expand the Jewish presence in the volatile biblical city. Settlers spit and hurled stones, water, oil and concrete powder as police, backed by army troops, broke through fortified doors and carried out the squatters one by one. Three settlers sealed themselves inside a concrete bunker built for the standoff. This is a crime against justice and against Jewish history, said Noam Arnon, a spokesman for the Hebron settlers. I am sure we will return. Hebron has a long history and we will return.
Danny Poleg, a police spokesman, said four soldiers, 14 police officers and 12 settlers were injured during the evacuation. One settler and six police were hospitalized. Eleven settlers were briefly detained and two arrested. Hebron, a frequent flashpoint of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, is home to about 500 Jewish settlers living in heavily guarded enclaves among some 170,000 Palestinians. Clashes are frequent. Israel controls the center of the city, including a hotly disputed holy site holy to both Jews and Muslims — the traditional burial site of the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and three of their wives. Its large military presence often hinders the movement of Palestinians.
The Palestinians control the rest of Hebron.
Meanwhile, a widely-read Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is considering a new peace plan that calls for a land swap with the Palestinians, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger. The report comes a day after Olmert met for private talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Jericho, in the West Bank. The visit made Olmert the first Israeli leader to meet officials in a Palestinian town in seven years. According to the report in Haaretz, Israel would offer the Palestinians the equivalent of 100 percent of the territories captured in 1967. Israel would annex 5 percent of the West Bank for major settlement blocs, but equivalent territory elsewhere would be transferred to a Palestinian state. Haaretz said Olmert has not rejected the proposal's main concepts, but the prime minister's office issued a statement expressing amazement at this erroneous article. Such a plan has not been considered, nor is it being raised for discussion in any forum, the statement said.
In other developments:
Twelve Orthodox Jewish soldiers have been court-martialed by the Israeli army after they refused to take part in the evacuation of settlers from Hebron, reports Berger. The soldiers said the Torah forbids evacuating Jews from the biblical Land of Israel. The mutiny underscores a dilemma facing religious Israeli soldiers — whether to take orders from their commanders, or their rabbis. Security officials are warning Israeli citizens traveling in Egypt, Jordan and other Muslim countries to leave immediately due to a concrete and severe threat of terror attacks. Israel's National Security Council says Israelis anywhere in the world should also be alert to the danger of being kidnapped by operatives from Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group. The announcement on the council's Web site is a renewal of a travel advisory issued twice a year.
An Israeli driver was shot and seriously wounded Tuesday in central Israel while traveling on a highway adjacent to the separation barrier with the West Bank, police said. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the shots came from the Palestinian territories and struck the Israeli driver in the chest as he was making his way on Route 6, a cross-country toll highway. The man was evacuated to hospital in serious condition. Police set up roadblocks and were searching the area. You're Hamas people, one Israeli settler screamed repeatedly at police while being dragged from her illegal home in Hebron. The reference was to the radical Islamic group that controls the Gaza Strip and is sworn to Israel's destruction. After forcing one of the building's doors, police encountered 30 youths singing songs who cursed the soldiers as they entered. Many sat atop a 4-foot-high concrete bunker in which three settlers had barricaded themselves. It took police three hours to bore through the neighboring wall to remove them.
Avinoam Horowitz, a local resident and high school teacher, called the eviction a tragedy.Soldiers of the Jewish people are coming to do what the worst enemies used to do to Jewish people, but they are doing it to their own brothers and sisters, he said. The two-story building evacuated Tuesday stands in the city center's marketplace, which the army shut down in 1994, after Jewish militant Baruch Goldstein opened fire at the Tomb of the Patriarchs and killed 29 Palestinians. The settlers initially moved into the structure — a vacant store — more than six years ago, variously evacuating and re-entering it as the case made its way through the Israeli court system. Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the settlers' presence there was illegal, but they ignored orders to evacuate. Hundreds of supporters moved into the building in recent days, reinforcing the doors and windows with metal and concrete in preparation for the raid.
Settlers claim the property was owned by Jewish families for decades until Jordanian authorities seized it after the 1948 Israeli war of independence. Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in 1967. Elsewhere in the city, settlers have whipped up tensions by moving into a four-story building that is a gateway to the nearby Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba. The settlers say they want to create a land link between the two communities. The operation Tuesday followed the highly publicized refusal of several Orthodox Israeli infantry soldiers to take part in the evacuation. The army sentenced a dozen soldiers, including two commanders, to brief jail terms for refusing orders. Neither side expected Tuesday's eviction to be the last word. We have lots of patience, said Horowitz, the teacher. We'll do it again until we get back our property.CBS Interactive Inc.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Sunday, August 05, 2007
RUSSIA CLAIMS ARTIC
Millions flee worst ever floods
Millions affected in South Asia by what U.N. calls worst floods in memory
Officials say more than 1,000 killed or injured.India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal all hit by rising waters
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Monsoon rains in South Asia have driven millions from their homes and caused what the United Nations says is the worst flooding in living memory.A villager transports his mother to safety on a raft through floodwaters on Thursday near the Kaziranga National park in India. More than 1,000 people have been killed or injured by rising waters, but aid agencies say the figure is expected to rise sharply.U.N. children's body UNICEF said it had lost track of how many people had been affected by the floods across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
So far about 20 million people are known to have fled their homes or trapped in villages at risk from landslides, snakebites and disease.Hundreds of thousands have lost their homes, their possessions, livestock and fields and will have to begin their lives from scratch when flood waters recede, UNICEF said.The devastation comes on the heels of severe flooding in southern Pakistan, caused when Cyclone Yemyin struck the country's provinces of Balochistan and Sindh in late June.India appears to have been hardest hit by the latest inundations with floodwaters striking the densely-populated and poor states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
According to government estimates, the cumulative number of human casualties stands at 1,103 in 138 affected districts and more than 112,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed though these figures are set to rise as the situation unfolds, UNICEF said. It was not clear whether the casualty figure includes injured as well as dead.
Authorities in Bihar say at least 30 people have died amid the rains and flooding.
Nearly 180 relief camps have been set up in different parts of the state. Army helicopters will be pressed into service to distribute food packets from Saturday in some parts of the state, says Manoj Srivastava, the state's Disaster Committee chairman.Bihar state governor, R. S. Gavai, has appealed for political parties to work together to aid flood victims.
Up to 500,000 people are believed to have been affected by floods in India's northeastern Assam, the state's Water Resources Minister, Bharat Chandra Narah, told the CNN.Nineteen people have been confirmed dead. Relief materials are being distributed in certain areas in the state. Nearly 500 relief camps have been set up, Narah said.
All but two of the state's 27 districts have been affected and vast areas of land, including many farms, are under water, Narah said. Assam's Brahmaputra river was flowing above the danger mark in some areas.Rains have also affected major cities of Mumbai and the Indian capital of New Delhi.In Nepal, 84 people have been killed by flooding and landslides, and more than 9,700 families have been displaced with 270,000 people in 32 districts affected in the last two weeks, UNICEF said,Dharmaraju Kakani, a senior official for UK charity Oxfam, said at least 28 out of 75 districts in the country have been affected.At least 96 people have died so far in flooding in Nepal and nearly two hundred thousand others have been affected, Kakani told the CNN. Landslides are also affecting relief operations in some areas.
In low-lying Bangladesh, the government says relief efforts are going on to help millions affected by floods.The government along with the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are undertaking relief operations and trying to help people, a senior Foreign Ministry official, Nazmul Kawnain told the CNN.UNICEF said there are fears that the eastern side of the capital of Dhaka could be inundated in the next few days as waters make their way towards the lowlands.Access for rescuers will be difficult because rising waters continue to inundate flooded terrain, UNICEF said.
Russians plant flag to claim Arctic seabed AUG 3,07
Russian TV shows the mini submarine being lowered into the Arctic Ocean to plant a teflon flag more than three kilometres below the North Pole.August 3, 2007 - 4:03PM
Russian explorers dived deep below the North Pole today and planted their national flag on the seabed to stake a symbolic claim to the energy riches of the Arctic.
A mechanical arm dropped a specially made, rust-proof titanium flag painted with the Russian tricolour on the Arctic seabed at a depth of 4261 metres (13,980 ft).It was so lovely down there, Itar-Tass news agency quoted expedition leader Artur Chilingarov as saying as he emerged from one of two submersibles that made the dive.
If a hundred or a thousand years from now someone goes down to where we were, they will see the Russian flag, said Chilingarov, 67, a top pro-Kremlin member of parliament.
Russia wants to extend right up to the North Pole the territory it controls in the Arctic, believed to hold vast reserves of untapped oil and natural gas, which is expected to become more accessible as climate change melts the ice.President Vladimir Putin congratulated the expedition by telephone on the outstanding scientific project, local agencies reported.Boris Gryzlov, who heads the State Duma lower chamber of parliament and the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, hailed the expedition as a new stage of developing Russia's polar riches.This is fully in line with Russia's strategic interests, local media quoted him as saying. I am proud our country remains the leader in conquering the Arctic.Earlier on Thursday Canada mocked Russia's ambitions and said the expedition was nothing more than a show.
This isn't the 15th century. You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say We're claiming this territory', Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay told CTV television.Under international law, the five states with territory inside the Arctic Circle -- Canada, Norway, Russia, the United States and Denmark via its control of Greenland -- have a 320 km economic zone around the north of their coastline.Russia is claiming a larger slice extending as far as the pole because, Moscow says, the Arctic seabed and Siberia are linked by one continental shelf.Then Russia can give foundation to its claim to more than a million square kilometres of the oceanic shelf, said a newsreader for Russia's state news channel Vesti-24, which made the expedition its top news story.
Could raise tension
Russian media have said the move could raise tension with the United States in a battle for Arctic gas, while Washington made clear it did not consider the flag-planting to be a legitimate claim to territory.I'm not sure of whether they've put a metal flag, a rubber flag or a bed sheet on the ocean floor. Either way, it doesn't have any legal standing or effect on this claim," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.A Tass reporter on board the mission support ship said crew members cheered as Chilingarov climbed out of the submersible and was handed a pair of slippers.This may sound grandiloquent but for me this is like placing a flag on the moon, this is really a massive scientific achievement, Sergei Balyasnikov, spokesman for Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Institute, told Reuters.Russia says the mission is intended to show that the Lomonosov ridge, a 1,800 km underwater mountain range that extends under the Arctic to near the pole, is a geological extension of Russian territory. It denied it was a land grab.The aim of this expedition is not to stake Russia's claim but to show that our shelf reaches to the North Pole, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Manila, where he is attending a regional security conference.
The Mir-1 submersible reached the seabed at 1208 Moscow time (0808 GMT) and returned to the surface exactly six hours later.A second Russian submersible, manned by Swedish businessman Frederik Paulsen and Australian adventurer Mike McDowell, reached the seabed 27 minutes later. It reached a depth of 4,302 metres.Soviet and U.S. nuclear submarines have often travelled under the polar icecap, but until Thursday none had reached the seabed under the pole.I'm not sure of whether they've put a metal flag, a rubber flag or a bed sheet on the ocean floor. Either way, it doesn't have any legal standing or effect on this claim," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.A Tass reporter on board the mission support ship said crew members cheered as Chilingarov climbed out of the submersible and was handed a pair of slippers.This may sound grandiloquent but for me this is like placing a flag on the moon, this is really a massive scientific achievement, Sergei Balyasnikov, spokesman for Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Institute, told Reuters.
Russia says the mission is intended to show that the Lomonosov ridge, a 1,800 km underwater mountain range that extends under the Arctic to near the pole, is a geological extension of Russian territory. It denied it was a land grab.The aim of this expedition is not to stake Russia's claim but to show that our shelf reaches to the North Pole, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Manila, where he is attending a regional security conference.The Mir-1 submersible reached the seabed at 1208 Moscow time (0808 GMT) and returned to the surface exactly six hours later.
A second Russian submersible, manned by Swedish businessman Frederik Paulsen and Australian adventurer Mike McDowell, reached the seabed 27 minutes later. It reached a depth of 4,302 metres.Soviet and U.S. nuclear submarines have often travelled under the polar icecap, but until Thursday none had reached the seabed under the pole.REUTERS
David's Comment: Is It Time For Israel to Make Another Pre-Emptive Strike?
AUG 3,07
As I have previously reported, this is the 40th year since the world changing Six Day War. Yes - world changing. In his highly rated book Six Days of War, author Michael Oren stated that although the war lasted on 6 tense days back in 1967, in reality it has been going on ever since, and that the majority of terror events in the Middle East and around the world, are a consequence of the outcome of the Six Day War. This war began with a pre-emptive strike on the Egyptian Air Force by the Israeli Air Force. Catching the Egyptians off guard, the Israeli pilots destroyed most of the Egyptian aircraft, thus inflicting an embarrassing defeat on Egypt and the Arab world. Of course this pre-emptive action by Israel started the war, with Jordan and Syria quickly entering the conflict as they came to the aid of Egypt.
Obviously God was in the Israeli decision and He went on to supernaturally enable the tiny nation of Israel to defeat the 3 large Arab armies and airforces. The primary reason that then Israeli prime minister Levi Eshkol ordered the Israeli Air Force into action, was that Egyptian radio stations had been broadcasting speeches by President Nassar calling for Israel's destruction. Israeli reconnaissance aircraft spotted greatly increased military activity in Egypt, Syria and Jordan, and the defense leadership of those 3 enemy nations were meeting together to discuss the Israel problem.
Forty years on exactly the an almost identical scenario is taking place. Iran's Armadinejhad is calling for Israel's destruction. Hizb'Allah in the north and Hams in the south, are armed to an unprecedented level. Syria is also involved in inceased military activity on the Golan border and the leadership of Hizb'Allah, Syria and Iran are meeting together ( Hamas & Al Qaida are probably also involved ) to strategise and make their plans for a war with Israel. At this time Israel has a peace treaty with Egypt, but history is full of accounts of broken treaties. This Israel / Egypt peace can be at best called a cool peace, and to make it worse the USA has been arming Egypt for years.
Almost daily the news media carries reports of the preparations and incitement by Syria and Iran. As I see from the lessons of history, there is only one option for the Israeli government and defense forces to ensure the well being of the Jewish state - that is to follow the example of Levi Eshkol and Moshe Dayan, and to launch a pre-emptive strike. That may not sound like a very godly statement to make, but it is Biblical. Many times in the Bible, God instructed the armies of Israel to strike the enemy before the enemy struck them.
If Israel's enemies dream of the next war in which they will be victorious, I say let them have it now. Only thing is they will not be victorious, as Israel has an invinceable secret weapon - the God of Israel. The longer Israel waits, the more people will suffer, on both sides. If Iran reaches a nuclear capability and attacks Israel, then Israel will have to retaliate in kind. Multitudes would be killed and injured on both sides. If Syria attacks Israel using their combat ready chemical and biological weapons, then Israel will have to nuke Damascus to put an immediate stop to the war. Again multitudes on both sides would die or suffer terribly.
The only way to stop this future holocaust is too destroy their capability of making war against Israel, NOW ! I may sound like a war-monger, but I am not. I hate the very thought of war, anywhere, but we must be realistic. Israel's enemies mean business - they mean what they say. They always have. Their hatred is fueled by their adherence to Islam, the religion of hate and violence. One of YHVH's spiritual laws of the universe is he who loves by the sword will die by the sword. Israel's neighbors have chosen to live by the sword, so by the sword they will suffer the fate that is set before them.
And its not just Israel that needs to act pre-emptively now. Every western nation is under threat by Islam. Mohammed's instruction to bring the whole world under submission to Allah is still very much alive. Those who refuse are not considered worthy enough to live. Israel and any other country that has the guts to take on the Islamic threat needs to do it NOW.The only other possibility is that we all pray as never before for the lies of Islam to be revealed to the Muslim world, and that millions of Muslims will come to faith in Yeshua the Messiah of the sons of Jacob, Messiah of the the sons of Ishmael and Messiah of the nations.
The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to the Jewish people by the God of Israel . Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.
Shabbat Shalom .. . David & Josie
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
August 2, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
Since the birth of the modern state of Israel in 1948, the country has been blessed with a historic return of two-and-a-half million Jews from around the globe. This incredible ingathering, the realization of the prophet Jeremiah’s vision that Your children shall return to their own land, has offered physical and spiritual freedom to Jews suffering from poverty and persecution.
One of the most amazing stories of prophetic return involves the Jews of Ethiopia. These exiled children of Israel, descendents of one of Israel’s lost tribes, the tribe of Dan, longed for generations to return to their biblical homeland. Yet, during the last century the possibility of their ever making this trip seemed remote. In the 1970s, brutal civil wars and the rise to power of a Communist dictatorship led to oppressive conditions in Ethiopia. Jews were forbidden to practice their religion, and those trying to escape to neighboring countries were captured and imprisoned by the government.
Thankfully, the oppressive regime finally fell. Since then, with the help of The Fellowship’s On Wings of Eagles program, thousands of these desperate Ethiopian Jews have made aliyah (immigrated to Israel), in fulfillment of the biblical prophecy that promises the return of Jewish exiles from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:12). Once in Israel, Wings provides them with klitah (resettlement) assistance that helps them get established in their new homes.
But, though thousands have returned, thousands more wait in squalid refugee camps for their opportunity to return to Israel. Some have waited for years, and seen their closest relatives make aliyah. But they must remain, because there is simply not enough money for them to make the trip.This period of waiting can be life-threatening. Disease is rampant in Ethiopia, and conditions in the camps can be unsanitary and unsafe. Often, children and the elderly get sick and die. It’s especially heartbreaking to think how easily some of their diseases could be treated in Israel, which boasts some of the best medical care in the world.The time to act to bring these people home is now. Lives are in danger, and the political situation in this part of the world is extremely volatile. There is no time to waste.
Today I want to offer you the chance to view online our new television program that calls attention to the plight of these desperate people. It is one thing to read someone’s story, and another to look him in the eye. As you view this video, I think you will see reflected in the eyes of these Ethiopian Jews the same thing I did when I visited them a desperate longing to return to Israel, and a hope that someone will hear their cries for help.Thank you for your support of our work, and your compassion toward these people who have suffered so greatly. May God bless you even as you have blessed his children, Israel.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS
What is the basis for Kosher dietary laws? RABBI ECKSTEIN AUG 3,07
Frequently I’m asked why some observant Jews keep kosher -- that is, observe kosher dietary laws. In fact, there is a biblical basis for many of these dietary laws. The term kosher, meaning fit or proper, is used by the Bible on three occasions. Surprisingly, none of the biblical references are to food. Today, however, the word kosher describes foods that are tahor, or ritually pure, which are permissible for Jews to eat according to Jewish law.
Jewish dietary laws are derived a mainly from passages in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. First, all produce from the ground, i.e. fruits and vegetables, are permitted and may be eaten with either dairy or meat products. Regarding fish, only those varieties with fins and scales, such as tuna, salmon, bass, trout, sole, etc., may be eaten. All seafood and shellfish such as lobster, oyster, and shrimp are prohibited by Leviticus 11:9-13. The Bible does not categorize birds by their features as it does for fish and animals. Instead it lists specific birds that may not be eaten. Fowl that are permitted include chicken, turkey, duck, geese (though not wild geese) and doves. Although the Bible does not state this directly, most birds that may not be eaten are wild birds of prey, such as the eagle, stork, owl and vulture.
Finally, the Bible gives instructions on mammals. According to Deuteronomy 14, animals that walk on four legs, chew their cud, and have split hooves are permitted, such as cattle, sheep, goats and deer. Those that do not have these three characteristics, such as horses, donkeys, camels, and pigs, are prohibited.
Although the kosher dietary rules are derived from Scripture, many other types of laws come from rabbinic interpretation of Scripture. For example, even kosher animals, such as cows and chickens, must be slaughtered and prepared according to Jewish law or they are regarded as impure and may not be eaten. We separate meat and dairy foods (and even meat and dairy dishes), to comply with the rabbinic interpretation of the biblical command, Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk (Exodus 23:19). Many additional Kosher laws, too numerous to mention here, have been added over the centuries.
Because of such rules, observant Jews buy their meat only from kosher butcher shops that are under special rabbinic supervision, not from regular stores. Today, many food companies stamp a product with a special symbol or the letter K (for Kosher) to certify it is kosher. This assures observant Jews that the product and its preparation are under rabbinic supervision. Companies may also stamp a product with the letter P for parveh. This letter indicates the item contains no milk or milk by-products and therefore can be eaten after or together with meat.
At first, it may seem strange that many Jews continue to follow these dietary rules. But the kosher dietary laws are linked with the obligation upon Israel to be a holy people. Scripture declares, Therefore be holy, because I am holy. These are the regulations … You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten” (Leviticus 11:45-47) The Bible, in other words, links the observance of the dietary rules with Israel's duty to be holy. The kosher laws set Jews apart from all others and help shape them into a distinctive, holy people, providing them with a way of sanctifying the routine, mundane act of preparing food and eating.
EU border agency under pressure to restart patrol mission
03.08.2007 - 09:29 CET | By Helena Spongenberg
The EU border control agency, Frontex, has come under pressure to continue the bloc's southern border control mission aimed at limiting illegal immigration into the 27-member union.French centre-right MEP Joseph Daul appealed to EU justice and home affairs commissioner Franco Frattini to push for a restart, as soon as possible, of the so-called Nautilus II patrols off the Maltese coast.The month-long Nautilus II, the second patrol mission held in the waters between Sicily, Malta and Libya under coordination of the EU's border control agency Frontex, paused last week due to lack of resources, according to the European Commission.
In a letter to Mr Frattini on 1 August, Mr Daul said: I am sure that your intervention will have a decisive impact on the resumption of the Frontex mission in the Mediterranean area.It appears that the mission has been effective in reducing the number of arrivals to Malta, when one compares the number to the arrivals in the same period last month - 50% less, said Mr Daul.But if reductions in numbers were indeed due to the effectiveness of the mission, then it is clear that it does not make any sense at all to stop them in peak season, during the crucial summer months of August and September, he stated.Last week, Maltese justice and home affairs minister Tonio Borg also called upon Frontex to relaunch its sea-border patrol mission.
We of course hope that the Nautilus operation can resume as soon as possible, Mr Frattini's spokesman, Friso Roscam Abbing, told journalists in Brussels on Thursday (2 August).We have seen that the first phase of this operation has worked quite well…discouraging dangerous illegal clandestine immigration. So it is clear that it is an important element of our comprehensive immigration policy, he said.Mr Abbing added that despite the very good start of the mission more needed to be done and he hoped EU member states which in February committed to support the mission with medical staff, ships, helicopters and other useful equipment for the sea-border controls, would fully live up to that commitment.We will do everything we can so that as of next year, the EU will have permanent missions in the high risk areas such as the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, he added.Each year, around half a million illegal immigrants arrive in the EU.
Deer gets back to roots
By Phyllis Noah/The Ironton Tribune
August 3, 2007 10:43 AM CDT
IRONTON — A prayer shawl from Israel hangs on the back wall of the Church of the King chapel in Ironton — perhaps as a reminder of the Bible’s Jewish roots.Learning to speak the Hebrew language may be an anomaly to some, but to Butch Deer Jr., pastor at Church of the King, it helps him to have a better understanding of the Bible. A long thin piece of fringe on each side of the shawl, the tzitiz, represents the 613 laws that are found in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.We’re not trying to be Jewish, we just want to learn the richness of our heritage, Deer said. Studying the Jewish roots will do that. It will enhance and enrich your relationship with God.So, traveling more than 6,000 miles to learn the Hebrew language was not only a learning experience, but also an opportunity to see the sites where Jesus walked.
Our Bible was written in Hebrew, he said. A lot of times in the translation, we miss a word. For instance, in English, a word generally has one definition, but in Hebrew, it may have multiple definitions and used in different ways.On June 16, Deer went to a six-week class in the Hebrew language staying at kibbutz Tzuba in Israel.
It’s equivalent of a year-long college course crammed into six weeks, Deer said.
Although his classes were until noon, he had four hours of homework every day. In between, he visited all the sites he could by going into Jerusalem three times a week.The kibbutz was established in 1948 after their war of independence, he said. All the money goes into a pot. Everybody has a job. They have vineyards, orchards — it’s really neat to see how it operates.
About 150 people lived in the kibbutz Tzuba, he said. His classmates were not only from the United States, but also from other countries in Europe and Australia.There are lots of things we miss by not studying Jewish roots, Deer said.The site he enjoyed the most when he was in Israel was at the Hulda Gate, he said.It’s where the majority of people would have entered the temple Mount Ararat during Jesus time, Deer said. It was on these Hulda steps where Jesus would have stood during the dedication where the priests would pour out water and say, This is living water. It’s on these Hulda steps where Jesus would have stood and said, I am the living water.Standing at the eastern gate or the Golden Gate in Jerusalem in the middle of an Arab cemetery, he could see the Mount of Olives, he said.
The Golden Gate is on the eastern wall of Jerusalem and below the Temple Mount. It faces the western slope of the Mount of Olives across the Kidron Valley. In the valley below is the road to Jericho and Bethany, the Garden of Gethsemane and several famous first-century tombs.Of course, according to the prophecies of Zachariah, when He returns, he’ll step down on the Mount of Olives, Deer said. Those were places that were really special. My best experience was just riding the bus like the Jewish people do, and the Arabic people do, go into the city of Jerusalem, go to Ben Yehuda Street, eat a swarma.
Millionaire urges unity in EU referendum fight
By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter, Sunday Telegraph
12:51am BST 05/08/2007
Join the Telegraph campaign for an EU referendum
A multi-millionaire businessman has issued a rallying call for members of all parties to unite in a campaign to force Gordon Brown to hold a referendum over the new European Union treaty.Paul Sykes said that the British people had just 12 weeks to stop Britain becoming part of a new country called the European Union.Mr Sykes, a self-made man, philanthropist and eurosceptic, said: Time is not on our side. If we fail to come together, we will have failed those who look to us for a lead in restoring democracy, we will have failed our fellow countrymen and women, and we will have failed our country.
He believes that Mr Brown, like Tony Blair, has reneged on a Labour Party election pledge from 2005 to hold a referendum on the EU treaty. Mr Sykes is a founder member and substantial financial backer of Speakout, a non-party-political group which campaigns for repatriation of powers and a referendum on the EU treaty.Sources close to Mr Sykes say he has spent more than £5 million in the past decade supporting various anti-EU causes.Mr Sykes said: Back in the Nineties most of the various anti-EU groups united to form a common front against a common enemy - the single currency. The campaign was deliberately non-party-political, it used some of the biggest names in showbusiness to get the message across to the public and it forced the issue to the top of the media agenda.It is time, once more, to form a common front for the various lobby groups, think-tanks and campaigning organisations that give diversity and strength to the eurosceptic movement to combine their energies into a single campaign.
Mr Sykes wants all eurosceptic groups, including Open Europe, an independent think tank, to join with politicians from all parties and captains of industry. We need to put our petty divisions to one side and to put the great theological debates on hold. What unites us is much, much more than that which divides us, he said.Gisela Stuart, the Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, issued a fierce attack last week in The Sunday Telegraph on her party's rubbish handling of the issue. Up to 40 Labour MPs are pushing for a referendum.Mr Sykes, 63, criticised the new Prime Minister. The hope had been that Gordon Brown would be a very different kind of leader to his predecessor, that he would listen to the people and honour his party's election manifesto pledge which stated quite clearly that any new 'EU constitution' would be put to the voters in the form of a referendum. But Gordon has not listened.The Labour leadership claims that concessions in the new treaty mean that a referendum is no longer necessary.
Olmert and Abbas to discuss Palestinian state By Adam Entous
Sat Aug 4, 4:23 PM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expects to discuss key issues for creating a Palestinian state with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at a meeting in the West Bank on Monday, Abbas's top aides said on Saturday. The United States is pressing the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to find common ground on some of these issues within four months, in time for a Middle East conference proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush, officials said.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said earlier this week that Olmert had agreed to begin talks with Abbas on fundamental issues.But U.S. officials would not say whether this meant that the two leaders would discuss the most contentious final-status questions of borders, the future of Jerusalem and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.Abbas aide Nabil Amr confirmed that Olmert and Abbas will meet in the West Bank city of Jericho on Monday. It will be their first bilateral meeting in the occupied West Bank.
Amr said the meeting would allow Abbas and Olmert to discuss political issues central to the conflict, including so-called final status issues for the creation of a Palestinian state.Abbas adviser Yasser Abed Rabbo said the meeting would address final status issues to create momentum before the international conference.Olmert's office declined to comment on the agenda for the talks with Abbas, whose Fatah faction was routed in June in fighting in the Gaza Strip by Hamas Islamists who seized the territory.But Israeli officials said Olmert was prepared to discuss fundamental issues with Abbas and restated a goal of reaching an agreement on principles in advance of the international conference expected by the end of the year.These principles, the Israeli officials said, would broadly call for Israel to withdraw from about 90 percent of Palestinian territory but would not identify specific Jewish settlements in the West Bank that would be uprooted.
EXPLOSIVE ISSUES
Olmert and Abbas would also discuss explosive issues like the fate of Palestinian refugees, with the goal of reaching common ground on such things as compensation, the officials said.Israel, citing demographic and security concerns, rejects an influx of Palestinians to homes now in the Jewish state.The Israeli officials said they believed it would be easier to sell an agreement that is broad brush to the Israeli and Palestinian public than one that included specific details.Olmert, the officials said, was reluctant to commit to any specific timetables for the negotiations and implementation.
It is unclear whether Olmert, whose popularity plummeted after last year's inconclusive war in Lebanon, can make major concessions. It is also uncertain how Abbas can deliver on any deal with Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip.A Western official in the region said Washington wanted talks between Olmert and Abbas to become deeper and more energetic over the next period leading up to the international meeting in the fall.Saudi Arabia, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, signaled earlier this week it intended to attend the conference if substantive issues were addressed. (Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta and Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah)
Millions affected in South Asia by what U.N. calls worst floods in memory
Officials say more than 1,000 killed or injured.India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal all hit by rising waters
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Monsoon rains in South Asia have driven millions from their homes and caused what the United Nations says is the worst flooding in living memory.A villager transports his mother to safety on a raft through floodwaters on Thursday near the Kaziranga National park in India. More than 1,000 people have been killed or injured by rising waters, but aid agencies say the figure is expected to rise sharply.U.N. children's body UNICEF said it had lost track of how many people had been affected by the floods across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
So far about 20 million people are known to have fled their homes or trapped in villages at risk from landslides, snakebites and disease.Hundreds of thousands have lost their homes, their possessions, livestock and fields and will have to begin their lives from scratch when flood waters recede, UNICEF said.The devastation comes on the heels of severe flooding in southern Pakistan, caused when Cyclone Yemyin struck the country's provinces of Balochistan and Sindh in late June.India appears to have been hardest hit by the latest inundations with floodwaters striking the densely-populated and poor states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
According to government estimates, the cumulative number of human casualties stands at 1,103 in 138 affected districts and more than 112,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed though these figures are set to rise as the situation unfolds, UNICEF said. It was not clear whether the casualty figure includes injured as well as dead.
Authorities in Bihar say at least 30 people have died amid the rains and flooding.
Nearly 180 relief camps have been set up in different parts of the state. Army helicopters will be pressed into service to distribute food packets from Saturday in some parts of the state, says Manoj Srivastava, the state's Disaster Committee chairman.Bihar state governor, R. S. Gavai, has appealed for political parties to work together to aid flood victims.
Up to 500,000 people are believed to have been affected by floods in India's northeastern Assam, the state's Water Resources Minister, Bharat Chandra Narah, told the CNN.Nineteen people have been confirmed dead. Relief materials are being distributed in certain areas in the state. Nearly 500 relief camps have been set up, Narah said.
All but two of the state's 27 districts have been affected and vast areas of land, including many farms, are under water, Narah said. Assam's Brahmaputra river was flowing above the danger mark in some areas.Rains have also affected major cities of Mumbai and the Indian capital of New Delhi.In Nepal, 84 people have been killed by flooding and landslides, and more than 9,700 families have been displaced with 270,000 people in 32 districts affected in the last two weeks, UNICEF said,Dharmaraju Kakani, a senior official for UK charity Oxfam, said at least 28 out of 75 districts in the country have been affected.At least 96 people have died so far in flooding in Nepal and nearly two hundred thousand others have been affected, Kakani told the CNN. Landslides are also affecting relief operations in some areas.
In low-lying Bangladesh, the government says relief efforts are going on to help millions affected by floods.The government along with the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are undertaking relief operations and trying to help people, a senior Foreign Ministry official, Nazmul Kawnain told the CNN.UNICEF said there are fears that the eastern side of the capital of Dhaka could be inundated in the next few days as waters make their way towards the lowlands.Access for rescuers will be difficult because rising waters continue to inundate flooded terrain, UNICEF said.
Russians plant flag to claim Arctic seabed AUG 3,07
Russian TV shows the mini submarine being lowered into the Arctic Ocean to plant a teflon flag more than three kilometres below the North Pole.August 3, 2007 - 4:03PM
Russian explorers dived deep below the North Pole today and planted their national flag on the seabed to stake a symbolic claim to the energy riches of the Arctic.
A mechanical arm dropped a specially made, rust-proof titanium flag painted with the Russian tricolour on the Arctic seabed at a depth of 4261 metres (13,980 ft).It was so lovely down there, Itar-Tass news agency quoted expedition leader Artur Chilingarov as saying as he emerged from one of two submersibles that made the dive.
If a hundred or a thousand years from now someone goes down to where we were, they will see the Russian flag, said Chilingarov, 67, a top pro-Kremlin member of parliament.
Russia wants to extend right up to the North Pole the territory it controls in the Arctic, believed to hold vast reserves of untapped oil and natural gas, which is expected to become more accessible as climate change melts the ice.President Vladimir Putin congratulated the expedition by telephone on the outstanding scientific project, local agencies reported.Boris Gryzlov, who heads the State Duma lower chamber of parliament and the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, hailed the expedition as a new stage of developing Russia's polar riches.This is fully in line with Russia's strategic interests, local media quoted him as saying. I am proud our country remains the leader in conquering the Arctic.Earlier on Thursday Canada mocked Russia's ambitions and said the expedition was nothing more than a show.
This isn't the 15th century. You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say We're claiming this territory', Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay told CTV television.Under international law, the five states with territory inside the Arctic Circle -- Canada, Norway, Russia, the United States and Denmark via its control of Greenland -- have a 320 km economic zone around the north of their coastline.Russia is claiming a larger slice extending as far as the pole because, Moscow says, the Arctic seabed and Siberia are linked by one continental shelf.Then Russia can give foundation to its claim to more than a million square kilometres of the oceanic shelf, said a newsreader for Russia's state news channel Vesti-24, which made the expedition its top news story.
Could raise tension
Russian media have said the move could raise tension with the United States in a battle for Arctic gas, while Washington made clear it did not consider the flag-planting to be a legitimate claim to territory.I'm not sure of whether they've put a metal flag, a rubber flag or a bed sheet on the ocean floor. Either way, it doesn't have any legal standing or effect on this claim," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.A Tass reporter on board the mission support ship said crew members cheered as Chilingarov climbed out of the submersible and was handed a pair of slippers.This may sound grandiloquent but for me this is like placing a flag on the moon, this is really a massive scientific achievement, Sergei Balyasnikov, spokesman for Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Institute, told Reuters.Russia says the mission is intended to show that the Lomonosov ridge, a 1,800 km underwater mountain range that extends under the Arctic to near the pole, is a geological extension of Russian territory. It denied it was a land grab.The aim of this expedition is not to stake Russia's claim but to show that our shelf reaches to the North Pole, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Manila, where he is attending a regional security conference.
The Mir-1 submersible reached the seabed at 1208 Moscow time (0808 GMT) and returned to the surface exactly six hours later.A second Russian submersible, manned by Swedish businessman Frederik Paulsen and Australian adventurer Mike McDowell, reached the seabed 27 minutes later. It reached a depth of 4,302 metres.Soviet and U.S. nuclear submarines have often travelled under the polar icecap, but until Thursday none had reached the seabed under the pole.I'm not sure of whether they've put a metal flag, a rubber flag or a bed sheet on the ocean floor. Either way, it doesn't have any legal standing or effect on this claim," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.A Tass reporter on board the mission support ship said crew members cheered as Chilingarov climbed out of the submersible and was handed a pair of slippers.This may sound grandiloquent but for me this is like placing a flag on the moon, this is really a massive scientific achievement, Sergei Balyasnikov, spokesman for Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Institute, told Reuters.
Russia says the mission is intended to show that the Lomonosov ridge, a 1,800 km underwater mountain range that extends under the Arctic to near the pole, is a geological extension of Russian territory. It denied it was a land grab.The aim of this expedition is not to stake Russia's claim but to show that our shelf reaches to the North Pole, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Manila, where he is attending a regional security conference.The Mir-1 submersible reached the seabed at 1208 Moscow time (0808 GMT) and returned to the surface exactly six hours later.
A second Russian submersible, manned by Swedish businessman Frederik Paulsen and Australian adventurer Mike McDowell, reached the seabed 27 minutes later. It reached a depth of 4,302 metres.Soviet and U.S. nuclear submarines have often travelled under the polar icecap, but until Thursday none had reached the seabed under the pole.REUTERS
David's Comment: Is It Time For Israel to Make Another Pre-Emptive Strike?
AUG 3,07
As I have previously reported, this is the 40th year since the world changing Six Day War. Yes - world changing. In his highly rated book Six Days of War, author Michael Oren stated that although the war lasted on 6 tense days back in 1967, in reality it has been going on ever since, and that the majority of terror events in the Middle East and around the world, are a consequence of the outcome of the Six Day War. This war began with a pre-emptive strike on the Egyptian Air Force by the Israeli Air Force. Catching the Egyptians off guard, the Israeli pilots destroyed most of the Egyptian aircraft, thus inflicting an embarrassing defeat on Egypt and the Arab world. Of course this pre-emptive action by Israel started the war, with Jordan and Syria quickly entering the conflict as they came to the aid of Egypt.
Obviously God was in the Israeli decision and He went on to supernaturally enable the tiny nation of Israel to defeat the 3 large Arab armies and airforces. The primary reason that then Israeli prime minister Levi Eshkol ordered the Israeli Air Force into action, was that Egyptian radio stations had been broadcasting speeches by President Nassar calling for Israel's destruction. Israeli reconnaissance aircraft spotted greatly increased military activity in Egypt, Syria and Jordan, and the defense leadership of those 3 enemy nations were meeting together to discuss the Israel problem.
Forty years on exactly the an almost identical scenario is taking place. Iran's Armadinejhad is calling for Israel's destruction. Hizb'Allah in the north and Hams in the south, are armed to an unprecedented level. Syria is also involved in inceased military activity on the Golan border and the leadership of Hizb'Allah, Syria and Iran are meeting together ( Hamas & Al Qaida are probably also involved ) to strategise and make their plans for a war with Israel. At this time Israel has a peace treaty with Egypt, but history is full of accounts of broken treaties. This Israel / Egypt peace can be at best called a cool peace, and to make it worse the USA has been arming Egypt for years.
Almost daily the news media carries reports of the preparations and incitement by Syria and Iran. As I see from the lessons of history, there is only one option for the Israeli government and defense forces to ensure the well being of the Jewish state - that is to follow the example of Levi Eshkol and Moshe Dayan, and to launch a pre-emptive strike. That may not sound like a very godly statement to make, but it is Biblical. Many times in the Bible, God instructed the armies of Israel to strike the enemy before the enemy struck them.
If Israel's enemies dream of the next war in which they will be victorious, I say let them have it now. Only thing is they will not be victorious, as Israel has an invinceable secret weapon - the God of Israel. The longer Israel waits, the more people will suffer, on both sides. If Iran reaches a nuclear capability and attacks Israel, then Israel will have to retaliate in kind. Multitudes would be killed and injured on both sides. If Syria attacks Israel using their combat ready chemical and biological weapons, then Israel will have to nuke Damascus to put an immediate stop to the war. Again multitudes on both sides would die or suffer terribly.
The only way to stop this future holocaust is too destroy their capability of making war against Israel, NOW ! I may sound like a war-monger, but I am not. I hate the very thought of war, anywhere, but we must be realistic. Israel's enemies mean business - they mean what they say. They always have. Their hatred is fueled by their adherence to Islam, the religion of hate and violence. One of YHVH's spiritual laws of the universe is he who loves by the sword will die by the sword. Israel's neighbors have chosen to live by the sword, so by the sword they will suffer the fate that is set before them.
And its not just Israel that needs to act pre-emptively now. Every western nation is under threat by Islam. Mohammed's instruction to bring the whole world under submission to Allah is still very much alive. Those who refuse are not considered worthy enough to live. Israel and any other country that has the guts to take on the Islamic threat needs to do it NOW.The only other possibility is that we all pray as never before for the lies of Islam to be revealed to the Muslim world, and that millions of Muslims will come to faith in Yeshua the Messiah of the sons of Jacob, Messiah of the the sons of Ishmael and Messiah of the nations.
The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to the Jewish people by the God of Israel . Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.
Shabbat Shalom .. . David & Josie
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
August 2, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
Since the birth of the modern state of Israel in 1948, the country has been blessed with a historic return of two-and-a-half million Jews from around the globe. This incredible ingathering, the realization of the prophet Jeremiah’s vision that Your children shall return to their own land, has offered physical and spiritual freedom to Jews suffering from poverty and persecution.
One of the most amazing stories of prophetic return involves the Jews of Ethiopia. These exiled children of Israel, descendents of one of Israel’s lost tribes, the tribe of Dan, longed for generations to return to their biblical homeland. Yet, during the last century the possibility of their ever making this trip seemed remote. In the 1970s, brutal civil wars and the rise to power of a Communist dictatorship led to oppressive conditions in Ethiopia. Jews were forbidden to practice their religion, and those trying to escape to neighboring countries were captured and imprisoned by the government.
Thankfully, the oppressive regime finally fell. Since then, with the help of The Fellowship’s On Wings of Eagles program, thousands of these desperate Ethiopian Jews have made aliyah (immigrated to Israel), in fulfillment of the biblical prophecy that promises the return of Jewish exiles from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:12). Once in Israel, Wings provides them with klitah (resettlement) assistance that helps them get established in their new homes.
But, though thousands have returned, thousands more wait in squalid refugee camps for their opportunity to return to Israel. Some have waited for years, and seen their closest relatives make aliyah. But they must remain, because there is simply not enough money for them to make the trip.This period of waiting can be life-threatening. Disease is rampant in Ethiopia, and conditions in the camps can be unsanitary and unsafe. Often, children and the elderly get sick and die. It’s especially heartbreaking to think how easily some of their diseases could be treated in Israel, which boasts some of the best medical care in the world.The time to act to bring these people home is now. Lives are in danger, and the political situation in this part of the world is extremely volatile. There is no time to waste.
Today I want to offer you the chance to view online our new television program that calls attention to the plight of these desperate people. It is one thing to read someone’s story, and another to look him in the eye. As you view this video, I think you will see reflected in the eyes of these Ethiopian Jews the same thing I did when I visited them a desperate longing to return to Israel, and a hope that someone will hear their cries for help.Thank you for your support of our work, and your compassion toward these people who have suffered so greatly. May God bless you even as you have blessed his children, Israel.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS
What is the basis for Kosher dietary laws? RABBI ECKSTEIN AUG 3,07
Frequently I’m asked why some observant Jews keep kosher -- that is, observe kosher dietary laws. In fact, there is a biblical basis for many of these dietary laws. The term kosher, meaning fit or proper, is used by the Bible on three occasions. Surprisingly, none of the biblical references are to food. Today, however, the word kosher describes foods that are tahor, or ritually pure, which are permissible for Jews to eat according to Jewish law.
Jewish dietary laws are derived a mainly from passages in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. First, all produce from the ground, i.e. fruits and vegetables, are permitted and may be eaten with either dairy or meat products. Regarding fish, only those varieties with fins and scales, such as tuna, salmon, bass, trout, sole, etc., may be eaten. All seafood and shellfish such as lobster, oyster, and shrimp are prohibited by Leviticus 11:9-13. The Bible does not categorize birds by their features as it does for fish and animals. Instead it lists specific birds that may not be eaten. Fowl that are permitted include chicken, turkey, duck, geese (though not wild geese) and doves. Although the Bible does not state this directly, most birds that may not be eaten are wild birds of prey, such as the eagle, stork, owl and vulture.
Finally, the Bible gives instructions on mammals. According to Deuteronomy 14, animals that walk on four legs, chew their cud, and have split hooves are permitted, such as cattle, sheep, goats and deer. Those that do not have these three characteristics, such as horses, donkeys, camels, and pigs, are prohibited.
Although the kosher dietary rules are derived from Scripture, many other types of laws come from rabbinic interpretation of Scripture. For example, even kosher animals, such as cows and chickens, must be slaughtered and prepared according to Jewish law or they are regarded as impure and may not be eaten. We separate meat and dairy foods (and even meat and dairy dishes), to comply with the rabbinic interpretation of the biblical command, Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk (Exodus 23:19). Many additional Kosher laws, too numerous to mention here, have been added over the centuries.
Because of such rules, observant Jews buy their meat only from kosher butcher shops that are under special rabbinic supervision, not from regular stores. Today, many food companies stamp a product with a special symbol or the letter K (for Kosher) to certify it is kosher. This assures observant Jews that the product and its preparation are under rabbinic supervision. Companies may also stamp a product with the letter P for parveh. This letter indicates the item contains no milk or milk by-products and therefore can be eaten after or together with meat.
At first, it may seem strange that many Jews continue to follow these dietary rules. But the kosher dietary laws are linked with the obligation upon Israel to be a holy people. Scripture declares, Therefore be holy, because I am holy. These are the regulations … You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten” (Leviticus 11:45-47) The Bible, in other words, links the observance of the dietary rules with Israel's duty to be holy. The kosher laws set Jews apart from all others and help shape them into a distinctive, holy people, providing them with a way of sanctifying the routine, mundane act of preparing food and eating.
EU border agency under pressure to restart patrol mission
03.08.2007 - 09:29 CET | By Helena Spongenberg
The EU border control agency, Frontex, has come under pressure to continue the bloc's southern border control mission aimed at limiting illegal immigration into the 27-member union.French centre-right MEP Joseph Daul appealed to EU justice and home affairs commissioner Franco Frattini to push for a restart, as soon as possible, of the so-called Nautilus II patrols off the Maltese coast.The month-long Nautilus II, the second patrol mission held in the waters between Sicily, Malta and Libya under coordination of the EU's border control agency Frontex, paused last week due to lack of resources, according to the European Commission.
In a letter to Mr Frattini on 1 August, Mr Daul said: I am sure that your intervention will have a decisive impact on the resumption of the Frontex mission in the Mediterranean area.It appears that the mission has been effective in reducing the number of arrivals to Malta, when one compares the number to the arrivals in the same period last month - 50% less, said Mr Daul.But if reductions in numbers were indeed due to the effectiveness of the mission, then it is clear that it does not make any sense at all to stop them in peak season, during the crucial summer months of August and September, he stated.Last week, Maltese justice and home affairs minister Tonio Borg also called upon Frontex to relaunch its sea-border patrol mission.
We of course hope that the Nautilus operation can resume as soon as possible, Mr Frattini's spokesman, Friso Roscam Abbing, told journalists in Brussels on Thursday (2 August).We have seen that the first phase of this operation has worked quite well…discouraging dangerous illegal clandestine immigration. So it is clear that it is an important element of our comprehensive immigration policy, he said.Mr Abbing added that despite the very good start of the mission more needed to be done and he hoped EU member states which in February committed to support the mission with medical staff, ships, helicopters and other useful equipment for the sea-border controls, would fully live up to that commitment.We will do everything we can so that as of next year, the EU will have permanent missions in the high risk areas such as the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, he added.Each year, around half a million illegal immigrants arrive in the EU.
Deer gets back to roots
By Phyllis Noah/The Ironton Tribune
August 3, 2007 10:43 AM CDT
IRONTON — A prayer shawl from Israel hangs on the back wall of the Church of the King chapel in Ironton — perhaps as a reminder of the Bible’s Jewish roots.Learning to speak the Hebrew language may be an anomaly to some, but to Butch Deer Jr., pastor at Church of the King, it helps him to have a better understanding of the Bible. A long thin piece of fringe on each side of the shawl, the tzitiz, represents the 613 laws that are found in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.We’re not trying to be Jewish, we just want to learn the richness of our heritage, Deer said. Studying the Jewish roots will do that. It will enhance and enrich your relationship with God.So, traveling more than 6,000 miles to learn the Hebrew language was not only a learning experience, but also an opportunity to see the sites where Jesus walked.
Our Bible was written in Hebrew, he said. A lot of times in the translation, we miss a word. For instance, in English, a word generally has one definition, but in Hebrew, it may have multiple definitions and used in different ways.On June 16, Deer went to a six-week class in the Hebrew language staying at kibbutz Tzuba in Israel.
It’s equivalent of a year-long college course crammed into six weeks, Deer said.
Although his classes were until noon, he had four hours of homework every day. In between, he visited all the sites he could by going into Jerusalem three times a week.The kibbutz was established in 1948 after their war of independence, he said. All the money goes into a pot. Everybody has a job. They have vineyards, orchards — it’s really neat to see how it operates.
About 150 people lived in the kibbutz Tzuba, he said. His classmates were not only from the United States, but also from other countries in Europe and Australia.There are lots of things we miss by not studying Jewish roots, Deer said.The site he enjoyed the most when he was in Israel was at the Hulda Gate, he said.It’s where the majority of people would have entered the temple Mount Ararat during Jesus time, Deer said. It was on these Hulda steps where Jesus would have stood during the dedication where the priests would pour out water and say, This is living water. It’s on these Hulda steps where Jesus would have stood and said, I am the living water.Standing at the eastern gate or the Golden Gate in Jerusalem in the middle of an Arab cemetery, he could see the Mount of Olives, he said.
The Golden Gate is on the eastern wall of Jerusalem and below the Temple Mount. It faces the western slope of the Mount of Olives across the Kidron Valley. In the valley below is the road to Jericho and Bethany, the Garden of Gethsemane and several famous first-century tombs.Of course, according to the prophecies of Zachariah, when He returns, he’ll step down on the Mount of Olives, Deer said. Those were places that were really special. My best experience was just riding the bus like the Jewish people do, and the Arabic people do, go into the city of Jerusalem, go to Ben Yehuda Street, eat a swarma.
Millionaire urges unity in EU referendum fight
By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter, Sunday Telegraph
12:51am BST 05/08/2007
Join the Telegraph campaign for an EU referendum
A multi-millionaire businessman has issued a rallying call for members of all parties to unite in a campaign to force Gordon Brown to hold a referendum over the new European Union treaty.Paul Sykes said that the British people had just 12 weeks to stop Britain becoming part of a new country called the European Union.Mr Sykes, a self-made man, philanthropist and eurosceptic, said: Time is not on our side. If we fail to come together, we will have failed those who look to us for a lead in restoring democracy, we will have failed our fellow countrymen and women, and we will have failed our country.
He believes that Mr Brown, like Tony Blair, has reneged on a Labour Party election pledge from 2005 to hold a referendum on the EU treaty. Mr Sykes is a founder member and substantial financial backer of Speakout, a non-party-political group which campaigns for repatriation of powers and a referendum on the EU treaty.Sources close to Mr Sykes say he has spent more than £5 million in the past decade supporting various anti-EU causes.Mr Sykes said: Back in the Nineties most of the various anti-EU groups united to form a common front against a common enemy - the single currency. The campaign was deliberately non-party-political, it used some of the biggest names in showbusiness to get the message across to the public and it forced the issue to the top of the media agenda.It is time, once more, to form a common front for the various lobby groups, think-tanks and campaigning organisations that give diversity and strength to the eurosceptic movement to combine their energies into a single campaign.
Mr Sykes wants all eurosceptic groups, including Open Europe, an independent think tank, to join with politicians from all parties and captains of industry. We need to put our petty divisions to one side and to put the great theological debates on hold. What unites us is much, much more than that which divides us, he said.Gisela Stuart, the Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, issued a fierce attack last week in The Sunday Telegraph on her party's rubbish handling of the issue. Up to 40 Labour MPs are pushing for a referendum.Mr Sykes, 63, criticised the new Prime Minister. The hope had been that Gordon Brown would be a very different kind of leader to his predecessor, that he would listen to the people and honour his party's election manifesto pledge which stated quite clearly that any new 'EU constitution' would be put to the voters in the form of a referendum. But Gordon has not listened.The Labour leadership claims that concessions in the new treaty mean that a referendum is no longer necessary.
Olmert and Abbas to discuss Palestinian state By Adam Entous
Sat Aug 4, 4:23 PM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expects to discuss key issues for creating a Palestinian state with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at a meeting in the West Bank on Monday, Abbas's top aides said on Saturday. The United States is pressing the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to find common ground on some of these issues within four months, in time for a Middle East conference proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush, officials said.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said earlier this week that Olmert had agreed to begin talks with Abbas on fundamental issues.But U.S. officials would not say whether this meant that the two leaders would discuss the most contentious final-status questions of borders, the future of Jerusalem and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.Abbas aide Nabil Amr confirmed that Olmert and Abbas will meet in the West Bank city of Jericho on Monday. It will be their first bilateral meeting in the occupied West Bank.
Amr said the meeting would allow Abbas and Olmert to discuss political issues central to the conflict, including so-called final status issues for the creation of a Palestinian state.Abbas adviser Yasser Abed Rabbo said the meeting would address final status issues to create momentum before the international conference.Olmert's office declined to comment on the agenda for the talks with Abbas, whose Fatah faction was routed in June in fighting in the Gaza Strip by Hamas Islamists who seized the territory.But Israeli officials said Olmert was prepared to discuss fundamental issues with Abbas and restated a goal of reaching an agreement on principles in advance of the international conference expected by the end of the year.These principles, the Israeli officials said, would broadly call for Israel to withdraw from about 90 percent of Palestinian territory but would not identify specific Jewish settlements in the West Bank that would be uprooted.
EXPLOSIVE ISSUES
Olmert and Abbas would also discuss explosive issues like the fate of Palestinian refugees, with the goal of reaching common ground on such things as compensation, the officials said.Israel, citing demographic and security concerns, rejects an influx of Palestinians to homes now in the Jewish state.The Israeli officials said they believed it would be easier to sell an agreement that is broad brush to the Israeli and Palestinian public than one that included specific details.Olmert, the officials said, was reluctant to commit to any specific timetables for the negotiations and implementation.
It is unclear whether Olmert, whose popularity plummeted after last year's inconclusive war in Lebanon, can make major concessions. It is also uncertain how Abbas can deliver on any deal with Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip.A Western official in the region said Washington wanted talks between Olmert and Abbas to become deeper and more energetic over the next period leading up to the international meeting in the fall.Saudi Arabia, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, signaled earlier this week it intended to attend the conference if substantive issues were addressed. (Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta and Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah)
Friday, August 03, 2007
NEW WORLD ORDER - OIL - BILDERBERGS
S.European fire damage nears area for whole 2006: EU Thu Aug 2, 9:32 AM ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Southern Europe has suffered almost as much damage from forest fires this year as in the whole of 2006 and more blazes may hit southern Spain in the days ahead, the European Union said in a statement on Thursday. The European Commission said figures from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), showed 3,376 sq km (1,303 sq miles) of land had been burned so far in 2007.This compared with a total of 3,585 sq km (1,384 sq miles) for the whole of 2006.The situation in southwest Europe, which had relatively moderate conditions in July, has changed dramatically, particularly in the south of the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands, the EFFIS said.
These two areas are experiencing increased fires...and continued heightened risk. There was a sharp increase in fires in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Italy, four out of the 14 southern European countries covered in EFFIS's data, in the second half of July.Figures for some other countries that had experienced blazes, such as Turkey and Albania, have yet to be included in the survey, conducted using a meteorological and satellite-based mapping system.The European Union said this week it was helping Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Macedonia tackle fires, though its resources for doing so were stretched to the limit.
TWO GOP CONGRESSMEN URGE THEIR COLLEAGUES TO READ EPICENTER OVER THE AUGUST RECESS And Rush Limbaugh celebrates 19 years of EIB.
By Joel C. Rosenberg
(DENVER, COLORADO, August 2, 2007) -- In an article entitled, The GOP Summer Reading List, CBS News and The Politico website are reporting that Republican Reps. Thaddeus G. McCotter of Michigan and Zach Wamp of Tennessee are recommending six books -- and a movie, Islam vs. Islamists -- to their GOP cohorts for the August recess. They're all on foreign policy, with a particular emphasis on Islam. And it's not exactly beach reading.
The list:
-- Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against America by Walid Phares, a critically acclaimed 288-page overview of the four major strains of radical Islam and their strategies to take down the United States.
-- The War of Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy, another Phares title in which the former Justice Department official offers a brief overview of the ideological divide between the fundamentalist Islamic world and the United States and the rest of the capitalist global community.
-- China: The Gathering Threat by Constantine Menges, in which the former CIA official suggests a potential nuclear showdown with the People's Republic within the next four years.
-- The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West and the Future of the Holy City by Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations who documents the 3,000-year history of the city and its contemporary role in a global standoff.
-- Epicenter: Why Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future by Joel C. Rosenberg, an evangelical Christian novelist who explores the impact of various conflicts in the Middle East on everyday life in the West in his first work of nonfiction.
-- The General in His Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a fictional portrait of Simon Bolivar's last days in decline, lamenting the lost power that once made him such a prominent figure.
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In other news, congratulations to my friend and former boss, Rush Limbaugh, who yesterday celebrated nineteen years of excellence in broadcasting. It is difficult to fully comprehend the enormous impact Rush has made both on American radio (he single-handedly saved AM radio from oblivion through his own show and through inspiring hundreds of other talk radio shows into being), on American conservatism (which he proved could be smart, principled and fun), and on the Republican party (which has thrived since 1988 when it has vigorously pursued a smart, principled and optimistic agenda and has stumbled badly when it seemed to revert to visionless, compass-less, pork barrel politics-as-usual). I owe Rush a special debt of gratitude for being so encouraging of my career and so supportive of my books from the launch of The Last Jihad to the Limbaugh Letter interview he did with me for Epicenter last fall. Thanks so much, Rush. Keep up the great work -- may you have many more years doing what you love and do best! God bless you.
Iran steps up petro-dollar war with U.S.
Pressures falling greenback by demanding Japan buy oil in yen
August 2, 2007 - By Jerome R. Corsi - WorldNetDaily.com
Iran has intensified pressure on the falling U.S. dollar by demanding that Japan begin paying for Iranian oil in yen, instead of dollars. Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, or NIOC, has confirmed the company has asked Japan to open letters of credit in yen in preparation for NOIC issuing oil invoices in Japanese currency. In April, WND reported Iran successfully pressured China to begin paying for Iranian oil in euros, not dollars. To date, Iran has not followed up on the announcement that Iran would create an Iranian oil bourse to quote oil in euros, instead of dollars. Still, according to Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, 70 percent of Iran's oil income is now paid in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Iran also has announced that the country will not participate in any OPEC move to increase oil production to counter rising oil prices. Yesterday, crude oil prices rose to a record high $78 a barrel on international markets.
Iran's continued switch from the dollar reflects its concern with the currency's falling value along with a desire to counter the U.S.-backed sanctions imposed by the U.N. on Tehran for transparency violations in its nuclear program. In July, the euro hit a historic low against the dollar. As WND repeatedly has reported, Iran has frustrated the Bush administration's strategy, resisting diplomatic approaches the U.S. has used with European nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency to induce Iran to quit enriching uranium. Recent disclosures indicate Iran has made progress solving the technological problems of installing an estimated 3,500 centrifuges at its uranium enhancement nuclear facility in Isfahan. Iran produces approximately 2.3 million barrels of crude oil per day, with approximately 65 percent of that volume headed for Asia, largely to China and Japan.
August 1, 2007 3 DVDS
Dearly Beloved in Christ Jesus our Lord,
What do you do when the Holy Spirit speaks to you in the middle of the night? I get up, and start writing down what the Lord is saying! As a direct result of this supernatural phenomenon, Rexella and I have produced three blockbuster videos -- and today they are all available together, in a single, powerful package.The material that follows is the Holy Spirit’s illumination of my mind in producing a one-minute promo for global television. I prayed without ceasing for God’s guidance in creating this sixty-second promo covering the five hours of material in the trilogy. This is what the world will hear. Praise the Lord! Now for more details:
Prophecy: 21st Century Revelations, The Seven Mystery Years and Apocalypse Unraveled, a five-hour spiritually illuminating study pointing to Christ’s imminent return, can now be yours.The trilogy covers the entire 22 chapters of the book of Revelation, plus numerous stimulating subjects including cloning, global warming, AIDS, atomic bombs, Russia, China, America, the world coming dictator of the New World Order and his infamous mark - 666. The trilogy also deals with the rapidly rising world church with its 33,800 differing denominations. What apostate Christian leader will head up this monstrous organization? Also discover the final prediction before Christ’s return as Neo Nazis, Ku Klux Klanners, religious terrorists, such as Ahmadinejad of Iran, Osama Bin Laden, Hamas and Hizbullah all promote the extermination of Israel and Jews.Order this five-hour trilogy for the greatest study ever produced by Drs. Jack & Rexella Van Impe.
THE APOCALYPSE UNRAVELED TRILOGY!
This extraordinary new collection includes, first of all, PROPHECY: 21st CENTURY REVELATIONS -- which sets the record straight on an enormous number of fantasies propagated for centuries. It proves emphatically that Christ’s return is near -- even at the doors (Matthew 24:33)! This is a faith-inspiring message of hope for you and those with whom you share it ... especially a loved one who has doubted the authenticity of Bible prophecy, or the reality of the Rapture! This trilogy also features THE SEVEN MYSTERY YEARS -- containing some of the most exciting revelations ever impressed upon me by the Spirit of God in the middle of the night!
Do you realize that some 80% of all churches claiming to be Christian today are actually preaching unscriptural error? Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:2, we do not handle the word of God deceitfully! While this travesty goes on in many pulpits today, this video turns back the tide of guile -- for your sake!Finally, APOCALYPSE UNRAVELED -- this intriguing, fast-paced video is presented in language so clear and plain that no one will have a moment of difficulty grasping the highlights of every amazing chapter of the book of Revelation. In a whirlwind 100 minutes, Rexella and I take you on a journey through the past, present, and future as revealed in these breathtaking pages of Scripture!
The most puzzling questions raised by the book of Revelation are answered in concise fashion. One of my minister friends, Dr. David Williams, pastor of one of the largest churches in America, says this is the most astounding but understandable presentations of Revelation he has ever seen.Beloved, there are literally hundreds of new and intriguing insights in this single video. Yet APOCALYPSE UNRAVELED is only one of three breakthrough videos in this trilogy!
I urge you to give generously today toward our global soul-winning ministry, and request your copy or copies of this life-changing, soul-stirring http://www.jvim.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi?DNTP trilogy of video teachings. Please donate $45 (U.S.), $50 (Canada) for a single set -- a 33% savings -- or email our Donor Services department for other options.Thank you for being such a friend to Rexella and me, our beloved partner in the work of God around the world!
Yours in world evangelism,
Jack Van Impe
P.S. You, as a child of God, must know and understand the revelations of this trilogy for your own sake, and for the sake of lost loved ones and friends who are looking to Christians for the answers to their deepest and most disturbing questions! These flash floods of insights, which have come to me from the heart of God, are powerful! Please request your copy of The Apocalypse Unraveled TRILOGY as you support our worldwide ministry today! Thank you!
Christian Group Warns U.S. Against Pressuring Israel on Peace Deal
Monday , July 30, 2007 - By Sharon Kehnemui Liss
Editor's Note: The following is the second in a two-part series on Christians United for Israel and the evangelical movement's outlook on U.S. Middle East policy. Diplomacy is back in fashion in the Middle East as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair tries his hand at bringing Israel and the Palestinians to a two-state solution of peaceful neighbors.But Mideast talks are taking another form back in the United States. An unexpected voice from right field is warning U.S. negotiators not to be so quick to give away the farm, literally.I don't believe Israel should give up any piece of their land. I think they've given up too much of their land, said Michelle Stephens, one of 50 million Evangelicals who are said to be waking up to the idea that Israel's existence is integrally tied to their own religious outlook.
Would somebody else, another country, coming in to America say, You need to give up Florida'? I live in Southern California, You need to give up San Diego to Mexico. That's not going to happen. Why should we do that with Israel? Stephens asked. Stephens, 37, traveled with her husband cross-country to Washington, D.C., last week to join nearly 5,000 like-minded Evangelicals attending a conference called Christians United for Israel. Pastor Greg Stephens, who leads Father's House Church in El Cajon, Calif., said the group isn't interested in telling Israel what to do, but it sure has got some choice words for President Bush and Congress.
Our personal position: don't give away a square inch. ... The Israeli government is a sovereign nation and what they choose to do concerning land for peace, they have the right to do. ... They are a sovereign nation we respect that, he said. On the other hand, as far as the U.S. Congress is concerned, I will pressure my congressman. (If) my congressman is encouraging it, I am telling him, 'It's your last term. My guys, oh, I am on my guys.While strong supporters of Israel may take comfort in the headstrong backing, Rafi Dajani of the American Task Force on Palestine said the problem with Stephens' position is in its very essence it doesn't allow or recognize any Palestinian claim to land.The people that still don't recognize the land is occupied ... are a minority on both sides, said Dajani, whose group advocates a Palestine and Israel living peacefully side-by-side. That interpretation is not accepted by anybody in the international community, and most ironic, it's a position that runs counter to U.S., Israeli and Palestinian interests and consensus across the board. Those who still don't believe in that are not part of mainstream discourse even though they can bring together 5,000 people.
Dajani's point doesn't move members of CUFI, whose unshakable support for Israel belies its two years in existence. The inflexibility could come from 2,000 years of shared ancestry between Christians and Jews, or it could be a byproduct of CUFI's indefatigable founder, Pastor John Hagee. Hagee, head of the 19,000-strong Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, started leading Evangelicals toward support for Israel 26 years ago.In 1981, remember when the IDF (the Israeli Defense Forces) bombed the nuclear reactor in Iraq. The American press was very vitriolic against Israel, called it gunboat diplomacy and a lot of other very unkind and unreasonable things. I felt that Israel had done the world a favor by removing nuclear weapons from the hands of a political madman, Saddam Hussein. And I think history supports that conclusion, Hagee told FOXNews.com in a one-on-one interview at the start of the three-day CUFI conference.Hagee, a rotund, bespectacled, silver-haired man spoke in a quiet, long Texas drawl as he described how he first approached local Jewish leaders in 1981 to promote a communal assembly of Jews and Christians.Things moved slowly along but after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced in February 2006 that he wanted to wipe Israel from the map, Hagee mobilized, bringing together 400 evangelical leaders from business, media, academia and the ministry to form CUFI.
Christian Right ... and Left
CUFI's talking points for the U.S. government are steeped in national security and Zionistic aspirations: Don't pressure Israel to give up any more land for peace, don't divvy up Jerusalem, move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, take out Hezbollah, stop Iran's nuclear pursuits and don't cut and run prematurely from Iraq.
If we leave Iraq, Iran will fill that vacuum. Iran will have 40 percent of the oil of the Middle East with which to develop more terrorism, more nuclear weapons. They will certainly be a greater threat to Israel and I believe that they will transport terrorism to the United States of America, and those nuclear suitcase bombs will be going off in America, Hagee said.Israel is the only democracy that is in the Middle East, and we're spending millions and trillions of dollars to make Iraq free. Well, Israel is already free so we need to help them, said Pastor Caroline Aycock of Texas.
While tough talking on national security issues, members of CUFI insist they are nonpartisan and that security for Israel and the U.S. goes beyond party lines.We are not red-blue, blue-red. We are red, white and blue, and if you love Israel, if you love the United States, we're with you, Stephens said.This really crosses the Republican and Democrat line, added Julie Wineinger, a registered nurse from Davis, Calif., who attended the CUFI conference with her daughter. We're really serious about this, really passionate about it. You know, enough to spend the money to come and be here and take our time to do this.Lobbyists from California said they were received warmly in the offices of Republican Reps. Brian Bilbray, Darrell Issa and Duncan Hunter as well as Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Susan Davis and Doris Matsui. Even an aide in the office representing the district held by the late Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald spoke with the lobbyists.CUFI members from around the country also met with senators, including California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, who received a standing ovation from CUFI's Texas delegation.
The California lobbyists dimly noted that among the lawmakers who did not speak with them were Democrats Reps. Loretta Sanchez and Mike Thompson of California and Rep. Jane Harman, a well-known supporter of Israel in Congress. A spokeswoman for Sanchez said a conflict in scheduling prevented her from meeting with the group. Harman and Thompson's staffs did not return calls for comment.I would point out that we met with only one Democrat and that was Dennis Moore, said John Powers, a 76-year-old retired fire equipment business owner, who lobbied Kansas lawmakers with about eight other fellow Kansans. I saw very little partisanship represented as measured by what might be a difference between his views and the views of a Republican congressman. They seem to be of like minds.Powers said Moore at first got the impression that we were suggesting initiating hostilities (with Iran) which we were not and that got corrected. ... With him, war is a last resort, and I think that's really the way we feel as well.
Moore spokeswoman Rebecca Black said the congressman makes it a point to meet with all constituents from his state who request to see him in Washington. As for Iran policy, she said Moore prefers the diplomatic track.The congressman always believes that we should be doing things focusing on sanctions on diplomacy, international coalitions before we ever consider military actions, Black said. I don't know that the congressman ever takes any options off the table but certainly his preference would be for this diplomatic effort.War isn't totally off the table for CUFI, however, if it comes down to protecting Israel, Powers and Greg Stephens agreed.
If that became a necessity, if that became a judgment of our leaders, our national leaders, in their judgment, that was the best approach, I don't think there's anything in our Christian belief that says we can't exercise that option, Powers said.We are not warmongers, but the bible tells us there is a time for war and there is a time for peace. So once again, what do we do but go right back to our scriptural principles. We were attacked. Israel is attacked every day. We have a right to defend ourselves, Greg Stephens added.
The words of Daniel finally unsealed
August 3, 2007
It's hard to imagine how much America – and the world – has changed in just my lifetime. I was born at the beginning of the Depression. The United States was only a second-rate power until I was a young teenager. It emerged from World War II as a world power. By the time I was in my 20s, America was an undisputed superpower.
During the Cold War years, the world was essentially divided between two superpowers The Soviet Union and the USA. I witnessed America rise from secondary power to become the greatest superpower on earth when the Soviet Union crumbled under the weight of its failed economic system.
Concurrently, I watched America's power decline from within. I witnessed the growing influence of socialist, liberal, secular humanist professors in our major universities during the 12 years I worked with college students. This influence spread as their students carried these ideas into careers in the media and politics.
As America drifted further and further from God, it embraced this godless ideology. The impact of this change soon became evident. Though we led the world in military technology and power, we've come to the point where the last war in which we won a decisive victory was the invasion of Grenada in 1983. Today, we are debating whether or not to desert Iraq and let terrorists take it over as a major power base. It's stunning to contemplate that anyone could witness America travel from the peak of power to the precipice of destruction in a single lifetime.
Alvin Toffler saw this phenomenon developing. This was the basis of his 1970 best-seller Future Shock. Toffler defines future shock as the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time. Toffler predicted, Millions of ordinary, psychologically normal people will face an abrupt collision with the future.We live in much greater stress and anxiety because of the exponential rate of change that is accelerating in our world. The world into which I was born ceased to exist a long time ago. But the change was gradual enough to allow me time to adjust. The world into which people were born in the year 2000 is already disappearing. It will not exist by 2012.
Just try to figure what the impact of the following facts will be. There are 3,000 new books published every single day. We've gone from information overload to information explosion. More new information will be generated this year than in the previous five thousand years. The technical knowledge explosion is governed by Moore's Law, which says computers will get twice as smart every 18 to 24 months. It takes four years to get a technical degree. By the time a student graduates, his education is virtually obsolete.
The prophet Daniel was given visions of the world as it would exist in the days leading to the Second Coming of Christ. The Apostle John was time-traveled forward to be an actual eyewitness of the final days of this age. Unfortunately, both men also suffered from the same communication difficulties. There were no words in their vocabularies to describe what they witnessed. How could a man of the first century A.D. who has never seen a machine describe the technical marvels of the 21st century? John was told to write about what he saw. I think he did an inspired job.
Today, Daniel and Revelation are among the most discussed and debated books within the whole canon of Scripture. More expositions have been written in the past 10 years focusing on Daniel and Revelation than probably any other books in the Bible. It's as if the words of these books were sealed up until the time appointed. Even 60 years ago, most of what Daniel predicted here didn't make sense. These things certainly did not make sense to the generations prior to the 20th century. Daniel, directly taught by Heaven's highest angel, Michael, said as much. Daniel asked the archangel, As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?
Note very carefully the archangel Michael's reply, Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. This was the second time Michael told Daniel that the words were to be sealed until the time of the last days generation to whom they were addressed. The archangel concludes with special instructions to Daniel: But as for you, Daniel, conceal – or encrypt – these words and seal up the book until the time of the end; many will go [travel] back and forth, and knowledge will increase.
Knowledge has greatly increased. And as we've seen will increase even more. Also, just as predicted in this verse, the limitations of time and space to travel have been exponentially decreased. This has unlocked the encrypted prophetic messages that were intended for this generation. Current events have unlocked them further. All of these things point to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming very soon. Don't put off your decision any longer. Time is rapidly running out for you to get ready to meet Him when He comes. Just recognize you are a sinner, and accept the gift of pardon He purchased for you in His own blood. He is coming, and soon. Whether you are ready or not.
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Jews to be forcibly removed from Judaism's oldest city
With hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in illegal outposts, PM directs forces against 2 families - August 3, 2007 - By Aaron Klein - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Hebron
JERUSALEM – Fresh from ordering security forces to destroy a synagogue built by Jews to pray near Joseph's Tomb, Judaism's third holiest site, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert now has directed his forces to forcibly evict two families that moved into a market in Jewish sections of Hebron, the oldest Jewish community in the world. The evictions are scheduled for Monday. Israel says the occupation of market by the two families is illegal since their arrival wasn't coordinated with the Israeli military. The market in question, now converted to small, two-story apartments, was built in 1929 after Arab riots temporarily forced Jews from Hebron – the first time the city was without a Jewish presence in over 2,500 years. For more than 30 years, a sign was posted on the market boasting in Arabic that the structure was built on stolen Jewish property. Arab merchants illegally set up shop at the market but were asked by the Israel Defense Forces to leave after a series of clashes broke out in the mid-1990s. Even though the market was stolen by the Arabs, Hebron's Jewish community purchased the market from its original Arab occupants in 2001.
In January 2006, Jewish families took up occupancy to strengthen Jewish ties to the area following the murder of an infant by a Palestinian sniper, yards away from the market. The market, integrated within the Hebron Jewish community, is adjacent to several Jewish apartments and Jewish municipal buildings. It is not located in an Arab neighborhood. It doesn't require any original additional protection from IDF soldiers already patrolling the area. Despite the original property owners' recent signing over of the market to Hebron's Jewish community, as well as Israel's Supreme Court ruling that the structure was Jewish-owned, the government considers the occupancy of the marketplace illegal, saying families living inside did not negotiate their arrival with the IDF. Following a standoff with the army last year, the Jews who had moved into the market decided to leave, reportedly after receiving promises from military officials they could return a few months later, after the court systems – which deemed the property Jewish – worked with the IDF to verify the legality of the Jewish residence.
But Israel's attorney general overturned the Supreme Court decision and declared the residents cannot move in. Still, two Jewish families recently moved back in, and Olmert's government immediately ordered that they be evacuated by Monday, even threatening that the families may need to reimburse the IDF for the costs of their evacuation. Shlomit Bar-Kochba, who was among those who agreed to vacate in January 2006, moved back into the market with her husband and eight children. She told the Jerusalem Post she was shocked by the interest of the Olmert government in her move.
We didn't think it would interest anyone that we returned, she said. I thought it doesn't interfere with anyone. We came back very quietly. We didn't make noise or celebrate.The agreement was that we would leave in January, and shortly they would allow us to return, she said, explaining that when the agreement didn't come to fruition months later, her family decided not to wait anymore. It seemed illogical to her, she told the Post, that the government was upset by their presence some 10 months later, explaining no additional security was required and that her home sits on land owned by Jews. Hebron is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, believed to be the resting place of biblical patriarchs and matriarchs. Jews lived in Hebron for thousands of years. There are accounts of the trials of the city's Jewish community throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke and Ottoman periods.
In 1929, as a result of an Arab pogrom in which 67 Jews were murdered, the entire Jewish community fled the city, with Hebron – including the market – becoming temporarily devoid of Jews. Olmert's decision to single out for evacuation two Jewish families living in Jewish sections of Hebron has been called into question by religious leaders here. While Jewish construction projects deemed illegal in Jewish cities in the West Bank are regularly bulldozed or evacuated by the government, Olmert's office has taken no action against hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in illegal outposts in the West Bank and Jerusalem. WND previously exposed the Israeli government has allowed Palestinians and the United Nations to build illegally on hundreds of acres of Jewish-owned lands in Jerusalem purchased by the Jewish National Fund, a U.S.-based Jewish organization, using Jewish donors funds solicited for the purpose of Jewish settlement. Tens of thousands of Palestinians live on the Jewish-owned Jerusalem land, which was recently isolated from Jewish sections of Jerusalem by Israel's security barrier.
WND also previously reported the city of Jerusalem, under orders from Olmert, deleted files documenting hundreds of illegal Arab building projects throughout eastern sections of Jerusalem housing tens of thousands of Palestinians, according to a report by the Jerusalem Forum, which promotes Jewish construction in the city.
Aryeh King, chairman of the Jerusalem Forum, said Jerusalem municipal workers told him they were instructed by Olmert's office to ignore illegal Palestinian construction in Jerusalem. Ehud Olmert gave the order not to deal with the problem and not to put Israeli security forces to the duty of taking down the illegal Arab complexes, said King. Senior municipal workers told me Olmert said not to bother with the illegal Arab homes because eventually eastern Jerusalem would be given to the Palestinian Authority.
Joseph's Tomb synagogue destroyed by Israeli forces
Olmert's ordering of the two families to be forced from the Hebron Jewish market comes just days after the prime minister ordered his security forces to destroy a synagogue used by Jews to worship near Joseph's Tomb, Judaism's third holiest site and the believed burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph – the son of Jacob who was sold by his brothers into slavery and later became the viceroy of Egypt.
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, which granted nearby strategic territory to the Palestinians, Joseph's Tomb was supposed to be accessible to Jews and Christians. But following repeated attacks against Jewish worshippers at the holy site by gunmen associated with then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat's militias, Prime Minister Ehud Barak in October 2000 ordered an Israeli unilateral retreat from the area. The tomb is located near the modern day West Bank city of Nablus, or biblical Shechem.
Currently, Jewish pilgrimage to Joseph's Tomb is legal only several times per year in convoys protected by the Israel Defense Forces. Still, some Jews regularly attempt clandestine visits to the holy site. Jewish students last year built a structure on the West Bank's Mount Gerizim, which is just outside the tomb area. The structure was used as a synagogue and was constructed on the Mount so Jews can pray and study Torah as close to the tomb site as possible. Dozens of Jewish students congregated daily at the makeshift synagogue. But Olmert's office and Israeli government officials deemed the structure – which they refused to call a synagogue – illegal since it was built without a government permit. On Monday, under direct orders from Olmert, the Israel Civil Lands Administration destroyed the structure.
The Torah describes how Jacob purchased a land plot in Shechem, which was given as inheritance to his sons and was used to re-inter Joseph, whose bones were taken out of Egypt during the Jewish exodus. Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are also said to be buried at the site. As detailed in the Torah, shortly before his death, Joseph asked the Israelites to vow they would resettle his bones in the land of Canaan – biblical Israel. That oath was fulfilled when, according to the Torah, Joseph's remains were taken by the Jews from Egypt and reburied at the plot of land Jacob had earlier purchased in Shechem, believed to be the site of the tomb. Modern archeologists confirm Nablus is the biblical city of Shechem. Yehuda Leibman, who until the Israeli retreat from Joseph's Tomb in 2000 was director of a yeshiva constructed there, explained, The sages tell us that there are three places which the world cannot claim were stolen by the Jewish people: the Temple Mount, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Joseph's Tomb.There is evidence suggesting for more than 1,000 years Jews of various origins worshipped at Joseph's Tomb. The Samaritans, a local tribe that follow a religion based on the Torah, say they trace their lineage back to Joseph himself and that they worshipped at the tomb site for more than 1,700 years.
Israel first gained control of Nablus and the neighboring site of Joseph's Tomb in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Oslo Accords signed by Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin called for the area surrounding the tomb site to be placed under Palestinian jurisdiction but allowed for continued Jewish visits to the site and the construction of an Israeli military outpost at the tomb to ensure secure Jewish access. Following the transfer of control of Nablus and the general area encompassing the tomb to the Palestinians in the early 1990s, there were a series of outbreaks of violence in which Arab rioters and gunmen from Arafat's Fatah militias shot at Jewish worshipers and the tomb's military outpost. Six Israeli soldiers were killed and many others, including yeshiva students, were wounded in September 1996 when Palestinian rioters and Fatah gunmen attempted to over take the tomb. Eventually, Israeli soldiers regained control of the site. The Palestinians continued to attack Joseph's Tomb with regular shootings and the lobbing of firebombs and Molotov cocktails. Security for Jews at the site increasingly became more difficult to maintain. Rumors circulated in 2000 that Barak would evacuate the Israeli military outpost and give the tomb to Arafat as a peacemaking gesture.
In early 2000, the Israeli army began denying Jewish visits to the tomb on certain days due to prospects of Arab violence. Following U.S. mediated peace talks at Camp David in September 2000, Arafat returned to the West Bank and initiated his intifada. During one bloody week in October 2000, Fatah gunmen attacked the tomb repeatedly, killing two and injuring dozens, prompting Barak to order a complete evacuation of Judaism's third holiest site on Oct. 6. Within less than an hour of the Israeli retreat, Palestinian rioters overtook Joseph's Tomb and reportedly began to ransack the site. Palestinian mobs reportedly tore apart books, destroying prayer stands and grinding out stone carvings in the Tomb's interior. Palestinians hoisted a Muslim flag over the tomb. Amin Maqbul, an official from Arafat's office, visited the tomb to deliver a speech declaring, Today was the first step to liberate (Jerusalem).
One BBC reporter described the scene: The site was reduced to smoldering rubble – festooned with Palestinian and Islamic flags – cheering Arab crowd. Palestinians on Oct. 10 began construction of a mosque on the rubble of the tomb's adjacent yeshiva compound. Workers painted the dome of the compound green, the Islamic color. In a WND exclusive interview, Tariq Tarawi, a Fatah lawmaker who in 2000 served as chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the vicinity of the tomb, said the Palestinians would never allow Israel to rebuild a yeshiva or synagogue at Joseph's Tomb. The Brigades carried out most of the attacks against the tomb site. A yeshiva is an institution, said Tarawi. An institution can be the beginning of claiming rights and these claims can bring once again the Israeli army to establish a base in the place, and we can not accept this. If the Jews try to build a yeshiva, we will shoot at them.
The New World Order, The Bilderberg Plan – Control Oil, Control People, Part 23 Deanna Spingola JULY 31,2007
There are arguments from both sides of the oil issue: either we are quickly running out of oil or we have adequate oil to meet our requirements for generations. Both sides offer evidence, witnesses, experts and documentation to validate their assertions. Some peak-oil projects, funded by oil companies, are highly suspect. The very credible Lindsey Williams maintains that the North Slope in Alaska has as much crude oil as Saudi Arabia. Governor Frank H. Murkowski said in 2005 that there is enough oil on the North Slope to supply the entire United States for 200 years. 1 Antony Sutton, author of Energy, the Created Crisis, is adamant that we have sufficient oil. Conversely, I have read reports which support the peak oil theory. I personally believe, after research, that “there is enough and to spare.” Doom and gloom, Chicken Little oil scarcity claims have been propagated from the beginning. A scarcity, authentic or manufactured, of any crucial commodity accomplishes the following:
1. Increases profits to those who manipulate that commodity.
2. Allows the controllers to determine availability to the right people.
3. In the case of energy – severely impacts lifestyle, progress and prosperity.
4. Extracts more money from an often overburdened consumer.
Henry A. Kissinger, Rockefeller’s well-compensated, multi-purpose minion and long-time member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) said: Control the oil and you can control entire Continents. Control food and you control people. 2 Michael Collon, Belgian author said: If you want to rule the world, you need to control oil. All the oil. Anywhere. 3
The first very memorable oil crisis occurred in 1973. Nixon, obedient to his handlers, announced the demonetization of the dollar on August 15, 1971. This allowed time for the real deciders to plan their strategy. Eighty-four individuals, financial, corporate and political elitists, gathered at Saltsjöbaden, Sweden for the annual Bilderberg meeting. American attendee, Walter J. Levy, outlined the plan for a pending 400% increase in OPEC revenues, the exact percentage that Kissinger would demand of Saudi Arabian Shah. Their intentions were not prevention but rather a scheme on how to manage the projected abundance of oil dollars – what was later referred to by Herr Kissinger as “recycling the petrodollar flows.” The Bilderberg policy was to initiate a global oil embargo. 4
An internal memo, dated January 8, 1973, from U.S. Bilderberg official Robert D. Murphy suggested a list of participants for the May 1973 meeting. He stated: There will be room for only 20 Americans at Saltsjöbaden. 5
Those attending included Robert O. Anderson of Atlantic Richfield Oil Co., Lord Greenhill, chairman of British Petroleum, Sir Eric Roll of Siegmund G. Warburg (creator of Eurobonds), George Ball of Lehman Brothers Investment Bank, Henry Kissinger, William P. Bundy, Zbigniew Brzezinski (soon to be Carter’s national security advisor), David Rockefeller, Emilio G. Collado, Executive Vice President, Exxon Corp.; Gianni Agnelli, Otto Wolff von Amerongen and Arthur H. Dean, CFR Director (1955-72) and a partner in Rockefeller-oriented Sullivan & Cromwell. Kissinger had requested Warburg to develop the Eurobonds ten years before. 6 A very small scheming elite group, centered in New York and London, influence the economy of the entire world.
The reasons for the oil shock were:
1. Launch a colossal assault against world industrial growth.
2. Tilt the balance of power back to the advantage of Anglo-American financial interests.
3. Control the world’s oil flows, their most powerful weapon.
4. Increase the world demand for U.S. dollars. 7
Egypt and Syria invaded Israel on October 6, 1973 which came to be known as the Yom Kippur War. This war was secretly orchestrated by Herr Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s national security adviser as well as Secretary of State. Kissinger effectively managed the Israeli response through his close association with Simcha Dinitz. Kissinger, Nixon’s intelligence czar, through privileged channels, misrepresented motives, suppressed communications, and intercepted intelligence reports ensured that the war would progress and end with his shuttle diplomacy as planned in May 1973 at Saltsjöbaden. The Arabs, scapegoats for the Elite, were the recipients of the world’s rage and Kissinger was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for 1973. 8
A fortuitous coincidence was that, with oil’s huge price increase, British Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell and other Anglo-American oil companies were able to substantially recoup the millions they had spent in the exploration of the North Sea oilfields. Meanwhile, in Vienna, OPEC countries met and decided to raise their prices by 70% and initiated an oil embargo on all oil sales to the U.S. and the Netherlands (major oil port for Western Europe) because of the U.S. support for Israel in the Middle East War. On October 17, 1973, OPEC demanded withdrawal of Israel from Arab territories occupied since June 1967 and the restoration of the legal rights of the Palestinians. Nixon was in the midst of Watergate, orchestrated by de facto president Kissinger and assisted by Alexander Haig. 9 There are detectable reasons for Kissinger, a Rockefeller asset, to Watergate Nixon, a man he detested and swore he would never work for – he didn’t. 10 In addition, the Watergate fiasco distracted the masses from the grave economic situation.
Uninformed Nixon attempted to get U.S. Treasury officials to force OPEC to lower oil prices but was bluntly instructed, via a memo, that the bankers had mandated the dollar recycling program to accommodate the higher oil prices. Jack F. Bennett, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Monetary Affairs (until July 1974), had counseled Nixon towards his 1971 dollar demonetization decision. Bennett, at Kissinger’s direction and according to an established agreement with the Saudis to finance the U.S. government deficits, had arranged for David C. Mulford to go to Saudi Arabia to act as an investment adviser to SAMA. His job was to guide the Saudi petrodollars investments to the correct banks, naturally in London and New York. The Bilderberg scheme was operating just as planned. 11
Led by Exxon, some oil companies had created a short supply of domestic crude oil, supported by Nixon on advice from his aids. By January 1974, oil prices had increased by 400%. In December 1974, nine powerful bankers, including David Rockefeller, approached New York mayor Abraham Beame. They made him an offer he could not refuse – unless he assigned management of the city’s vast pension funds to them – the Municipal Assistance Corporation – then their complicit media cronies would financially destroy the city. This decreased the amount of money available for roadways, bridges, hospitals, schools and the laying-off of tens of thousands of city workers in order for New York City, the biggest city in the country, to service their bank debt. Similar circumstances occurred in other parts of the world: bank collapses, grave trade deficits, unemployment, inflation, and industrial and transportation depression in the more industrial nations. In third-world countries, the consequences were even more severe. 12
While devastating to the populace, the oil companies flourished: Exxon, Mobil, Texaco, Chevron, and Gulf. OPEC’s petrodollars were deposited into the right banks in New York and London: Chase Manhattan, Citibank, Manufacturers Hanover, Bank of America, Barclays, Lloyds and Midland Bank. 13 These events set the stage for the debt crisis of the 1980s. The globalist decision of August 1971 to remove the dollar from a fixed, gold-backed exchange rate system generated a shift to double-digit inflation, urban decay, mounting unemployment and excessive interest rates. The Kissinger-orchestrated Middle East oil crisis of 1973-74 was designed to de-industrialize and eventually transform the United States from the world’s largest creditor nation to the world's biggest debtor nation.A review of history further helps to reveal ruthless business patterns that have shaped current circumstances – including yet another war resulting in death and bloodshed for the benefit of the greedy, insatiable elite.
Beginning with the Civil War, the opportunistic, monopolistic John D. Rockefeller sold inflated-priced Harkness whiskey to the Federal troops. Recognizing the huge profitability in war with the right commodity, he built his first oil refinery in 1863 along the Cuyahoga River (Ohio) to accommodate the growing needs of the raging Civil War which he and others, like J. P. Morgan, had purchased their way out of for $300. The Rothschild controlled National City Bank of Cleveland gave Rockefeller his first loan. In 1865 Rockefeller, for $72,500, bought out his partners (Henry Flagler, Samuel Andrews, Stephen V. Harkness) and price-chopped or otherwise destroyed his competitors by purchasing supporting industries such as pipelines, railroad tank cars, terminal facilities and barrel manufacturing factories. He soon incorporated the growing imperialistic Standard Oil Company in 1870 to fully exploit the growing Russian kerosene market as well as the curative snake-oil market in the U.S.
In what Ohio historian Christopher Eiben called a brilliant stroke of corporate back scratching,Rockefeller sold shares to bankers who lent him millions and railroaders who gave him great freight deals, including rebates on rivals' shipments.14 Working through the Wall Street firms of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., and J. P. Morgan Co., the Rothschilds financed John D. Rockefeller so that he could create the Standard Oil Empire. They also financed the activities of Edward Harriman (railroads) and Andrew Carnegie (steel). 15
By 1873 Standard Oil, by hook or crook, had acquired about 80 percent of the refining capacity in Cleveland which was about one third of the U.S. total. Interestingly enough, the stock market crashed on September 18, 1873 and created a six year recession allowing Standard Oil to seize refineries in Pennsylvania's oil region, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York. Rockefeller controlled approximately 90% of the oil refined as well as most of the oil marketing facilities in the U.S. by 1878. 16 Ruthless Rockefeller, who detested competition, founded the first global monopoly and was supplying 90% of the world’s oil, 70% overseas. Great Britain also experienced economic depression in 1873 replete with pandemic unemployment and bankruptcies. Two years later, the Rothschilds provided a sizeable loan (£4,080,000) to enable the British government to acquire a controlling share of the Suez Canal. 17
Rockefeller had built the world’s biggest business in Cleveland, Ohio. Standard Oil sold over 300 refining byproducts from Vaseline to chewing gum. In 1882, he created the Standard Oil Trust, suggested by Samuel Dodd, Standard Oil’s attorney, to eviscerate and devour all of the independent oil producers and refiners both nationally (250 competitors in the U.S.) and internationally. A trust is when stockholders in a group of companies transfer their shares to a single set of trustees who control all of the companies which constitutes a monopoly. In exchange, the stockholders received certificates entitling them to a specified share of the consolidated earnings of the jointly managed companies. 18 Rockefeller’s trust became an example to other businessmen who embraced the trust” concept – always at the expense of the working man. Rockefeller took his growing Goliath to Manhattan in 1883 where he influenced urban sprawl. 19. Russia’s oil industry accelerated in the latter part of the 19th century due to an oil boom at the Caspian Sea town of Baku, which had opened in 1873 and at Galicia (now in Poland). The Rothschild banking family had major interests in the oil-wells of Baku, Russia. Beginning in 1875, Ludvig and Robert Nobel built an oil empire known as the Brothers Nobel, or Branobel, based on oil deposits in Baku on the Caspian Sea. 20 By 1883, Standard Oil’s imports were not as essential to the Russian market for reasons that follow. 21
Britain’s Marcus Samuel, future founder of Shell Oil, developed tankers capable of carrying oil in cost-cutting bulk transport through the Suez Canal. The maiden voyage of the Murex, the first tanker, was in 1892. Remember, Great Britain had a controlling interest in the Suez Canal, thanks to the Rothschilds. Marcus and his brother also established bulk oil storage at ports in the Far East. In addition, they contracted with a Russian group, controlled by the Rothschilds, for the long-term supply of kerosene which put them in high-risk direct competition, abhorrent to Rockefeller, with Standard Oil. The Samuel brothers named their company The Tank Syndicate but renamed it in 1897 to the Shell Transport and Trading Company. 22
Rockefeller and his accomplices felt that they were above the law until the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act on July 2, 1890, enacted by Congress based on their Constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce. It was signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison. In 1892, the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the disbanding of the Standard Oil Trust, an illegal monopoly. Standard Oil was subsequently reorganized in 1899 as a holding company under the name of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. That state had conveniently adopted a law that permitted a parent company to own the stock of other companies. 23. In 1896 Standard Oil contributed $250,000 to Republican William McKinley's presidential campaign against Democrat William Jennings Bryan, a supporter of antitrust legislation. 24 McKinley was opposed to the imperialistic, expansionist Spanish-American War. Yet, to retain office in the next election, he asked Congress to declare war against Spain in 1898. He signed the Gold Standard Act in 1900.
In September 1901, William McKinley, allegedly a Rockefeller tool, was shot by Leon Czolgosz (son of Polish immigrants), labeled as an anarchist although he didn’t belong to any rebel groups. Czolgosz was immediately tried and executed by the Establishment. The assassination was manipulated by the Establishment to subtly discredit rebellion and anyone who might justifiably dissent. The Elite, in any age, would actually prefer to prohibit dissent. It is similar to our current administration saying: Let us never tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories concerning the attacks of September the 11th… 25 and by implication – let us never tolerate conspiracy theorists. Following the assassination, various anti-sedition and anti-conspiracy laws were passed by the Establishment. Who benefited by McKinley’s death – Teddy Roosevelt who was supported by the contending Morgan (as opposed to Rockefeller) wing of the Republican Party. Roosevelt immediately started using the anti-trust weapon to try to destroy Rockefeller's Standard Oil and Harriman's Northern Securities, both bitter enemies of the Morgan world empire. 26
Woodrow Wilson, son of a Presbyterian minister, had the financial and political support of the Rockefellers, Jacob Schiff, Bernard Baruch, and others in his successful 1910 bid for governor of New Jersey. They also had the love letters he wrote to Mary Peck, his mistress while he was president of Princeton (1902-1910), for which they paid $65,000. 27 Therefore he later made the perfect, morally compromised presidential candidate. The following unconstitutional acts were engineered during the administration of the obedient Rockefeller minion, Woodrow Wilson:
1913: The Sixteenth Amendment – authorized income taxes (never ratified)
The Seventeenth Amendment – direct popular election of Senators
Underwood Tariff – lowered duties
Federal Reserve Act – created the un-federal Federal Reserve System
Through the years, Standard Oil received bad press as a result of their cutthroat business practices and the muckraking reports of people like Ida Tarbell and writer/activist Upton Sinclair. Rockefeller hired Ivy Lee in 1914 as their public relations manager to clean up their image and appear philanthropic. 28 A public relations professional, with media complicity, also discredits or disgraces any national or foreign opponent.
For decades, voters merely decide to cast a vote – the actual decisions regarding candidates and the orchestrated consequences of those calculated choices are made in covert CFR committee meetings, Bilderberg assemblies, pentagon offices and corporate boardrooms. Voters ultimately suffer the extreme penalties and the elite benefactors, the “deciders” remain unscathed.
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1 Lindsey Williams - The Energy Non-Crisis - Part 1 of 8
2 Monsanto Buys ‘Terminator’ Seeds Company by F. William Engdahl, Global Research, August 27, 2006
3 A Century of War, Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order by William Engdahl, pg. 267
4 Ibid, pg. 130-141
5 Ibid
6 Ibid
7 Ibid
8 Ibid
9 Ibid
10 Kissinger by Gary Allen, http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/homeland/kissinger/ Accessed July 27, 2007
11 A Century of War, Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order by William Engdahl, pg. 130-141 See also The Hidden Hand of American Hegemony: Petrodollar Recycling and International Markets
12 A Century of War, Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order by William Engdahl, pg. 130-141
13 Ibid
14 The Energy Bulletin, Rockefeller and Co. turned oil into local gold by Grant Segall, Published on 11 Jun 2005 by Cleveland Plain Dealer, http://www.energybulletin.net/7374.html Accessed July 20, 2007
15 Rothschild Fortune Built Rockefellers, Morgans, Etc
16 The Dismantling of The Standard Oil Trust, http://www.linfo.org/standardoil.html, Accessed July 24, 2007
17 N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/N-M-Rothschild-amp;-Sons-Limited-Company-History.html Accessed July 23, 2007
18 The Dismantling of The Standard Oil Trust, http://www.linfo.org/standardoil.html, Accessed July 24, 2007
19 Rockefeller and Co. turned oil into local gold, June 12, 2005, By Grant Segall, http://www.cleveland.com/energy/index.ssf?/energy/more/1.html Accessed July 23, 2007
20 Alfred Nobel - St. Petersburg, 1842-1863 by Birgitta Lemmel, http://nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/biographical/articles/russia/ Accessed July 23, 2007
21 At The Dawn Of The Kerosene Era by Alexander Matveichuk PhD (History), Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, 2006, http://www.oilru.com/or/26/464/ Accessed July 20, 2007
22 Shell, The beginnings, http://www.shell.com/home/content/aboutshell-en/who_we_are/our_history/the_beginnings/the_beginnings_history_of_shell_22112006.html Accessed July 26, 2007
23 The Dismantling of The Standard Oil Trust, http://www.linfo.org/standardoil.html, Accessed July 24, 2007
24 American Experience, The Rockefeller Timeline, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/timeline/index.html Accessed July 24, 2007
25 President Bush Speaks to United Nations, Remarks by the President, To United Nations General Assembly, U.N. Headquarters, New York, New York, November 10, 2001, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/11/20011110-3.html Accessed July 25, 2007
26 Investigate the Vice President First by Murray N. Rothbard, http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard67.html Accessed July 25, 2007
27 The Greatest Story Never Told, Winston Churchill and the Crash of 1929 by Pat Riott, pg. 20
28 John D. Rockefeller: A Photographic History by Kristin Aguilera and Keith E. Rolfe, Photographs courtesy of the Rockefeller Archive Center, http://www.financialhistory.org/MAGAZINE/photo-history.htm Accessed July 24, 2007
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July 31, 2007 Deanna Spingola has been a quilt designer and is the author of two books. She has traveled extensively teaching and lecturing on her unique methods. She has always been an avid reader of non-fiction works designed to educate rather than entertain. She is active in family history research and lectures on that topic. Currently she is the director of the local Family History Center. She has a great interest in politics and the direction of current government policies, particularly as they relate to the Constitution. © Copyright 2006 by Deanna Spingola.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Southern Europe has suffered almost as much damage from forest fires this year as in the whole of 2006 and more blazes may hit southern Spain in the days ahead, the European Union said in a statement on Thursday. The European Commission said figures from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), showed 3,376 sq km (1,303 sq miles) of land had been burned so far in 2007.This compared with a total of 3,585 sq km (1,384 sq miles) for the whole of 2006.The situation in southwest Europe, which had relatively moderate conditions in July, has changed dramatically, particularly in the south of the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands, the EFFIS said.
These two areas are experiencing increased fires...and continued heightened risk. There was a sharp increase in fires in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Italy, four out of the 14 southern European countries covered in EFFIS's data, in the second half of July.Figures for some other countries that had experienced blazes, such as Turkey and Albania, have yet to be included in the survey, conducted using a meteorological and satellite-based mapping system.The European Union said this week it was helping Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Macedonia tackle fires, though its resources for doing so were stretched to the limit.
TWO GOP CONGRESSMEN URGE THEIR COLLEAGUES TO READ EPICENTER OVER THE AUGUST RECESS And Rush Limbaugh celebrates 19 years of EIB.
By Joel C. Rosenberg
(DENVER, COLORADO, August 2, 2007) -- In an article entitled, The GOP Summer Reading List, CBS News and The Politico website are reporting that Republican Reps. Thaddeus G. McCotter of Michigan and Zach Wamp of Tennessee are recommending six books -- and a movie, Islam vs. Islamists -- to their GOP cohorts for the August recess. They're all on foreign policy, with a particular emphasis on Islam. And it's not exactly beach reading.
The list:
-- Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against America by Walid Phares, a critically acclaimed 288-page overview of the four major strains of radical Islam and their strategies to take down the United States.
-- The War of Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy, another Phares title in which the former Justice Department official offers a brief overview of the ideological divide between the fundamentalist Islamic world and the United States and the rest of the capitalist global community.
-- China: The Gathering Threat by Constantine Menges, in which the former CIA official suggests a potential nuclear showdown with the People's Republic within the next four years.
-- The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West and the Future of the Holy City by Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations who documents the 3,000-year history of the city and its contemporary role in a global standoff.
-- Epicenter: Why Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future by Joel C. Rosenberg, an evangelical Christian novelist who explores the impact of various conflicts in the Middle East on everyday life in the West in his first work of nonfiction.
-- The General in His Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a fictional portrait of Simon Bolivar's last days in decline, lamenting the lost power that once made him such a prominent figure.
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In other news, congratulations to my friend and former boss, Rush Limbaugh, who yesterday celebrated nineteen years of excellence in broadcasting. It is difficult to fully comprehend the enormous impact Rush has made both on American radio (he single-handedly saved AM radio from oblivion through his own show and through inspiring hundreds of other talk radio shows into being), on American conservatism (which he proved could be smart, principled and fun), and on the Republican party (which has thrived since 1988 when it has vigorously pursued a smart, principled and optimistic agenda and has stumbled badly when it seemed to revert to visionless, compass-less, pork barrel politics-as-usual). I owe Rush a special debt of gratitude for being so encouraging of my career and so supportive of my books from the launch of The Last Jihad to the Limbaugh Letter interview he did with me for Epicenter last fall. Thanks so much, Rush. Keep up the great work -- may you have many more years doing what you love and do best! God bless you.
Iran steps up petro-dollar war with U.S.
Pressures falling greenback by demanding Japan buy oil in yen
August 2, 2007 - By Jerome R. Corsi - WorldNetDaily.com
Iran has intensified pressure on the falling U.S. dollar by demanding that Japan begin paying for Iranian oil in yen, instead of dollars. Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, or NIOC, has confirmed the company has asked Japan to open letters of credit in yen in preparation for NOIC issuing oil invoices in Japanese currency. In April, WND reported Iran successfully pressured China to begin paying for Iranian oil in euros, not dollars. To date, Iran has not followed up on the announcement that Iran would create an Iranian oil bourse to quote oil in euros, instead of dollars. Still, according to Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, 70 percent of Iran's oil income is now paid in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Iran also has announced that the country will not participate in any OPEC move to increase oil production to counter rising oil prices. Yesterday, crude oil prices rose to a record high $78 a barrel on international markets.
Iran's continued switch from the dollar reflects its concern with the currency's falling value along with a desire to counter the U.S.-backed sanctions imposed by the U.N. on Tehran for transparency violations in its nuclear program. In July, the euro hit a historic low against the dollar. As WND repeatedly has reported, Iran has frustrated the Bush administration's strategy, resisting diplomatic approaches the U.S. has used with European nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency to induce Iran to quit enriching uranium. Recent disclosures indicate Iran has made progress solving the technological problems of installing an estimated 3,500 centrifuges at its uranium enhancement nuclear facility in Isfahan. Iran produces approximately 2.3 million barrels of crude oil per day, with approximately 65 percent of that volume headed for Asia, largely to China and Japan.
August 1, 2007 3 DVDS
Dearly Beloved in Christ Jesus our Lord,
What do you do when the Holy Spirit speaks to you in the middle of the night? I get up, and start writing down what the Lord is saying! As a direct result of this supernatural phenomenon, Rexella and I have produced three blockbuster videos -- and today they are all available together, in a single, powerful package.The material that follows is the Holy Spirit’s illumination of my mind in producing a one-minute promo for global television. I prayed without ceasing for God’s guidance in creating this sixty-second promo covering the five hours of material in the trilogy. This is what the world will hear. Praise the Lord! Now for more details:
Prophecy: 21st Century Revelations, The Seven Mystery Years and Apocalypse Unraveled, a five-hour spiritually illuminating study pointing to Christ’s imminent return, can now be yours.The trilogy covers the entire 22 chapters of the book of Revelation, plus numerous stimulating subjects including cloning, global warming, AIDS, atomic bombs, Russia, China, America, the world coming dictator of the New World Order and his infamous mark - 666. The trilogy also deals with the rapidly rising world church with its 33,800 differing denominations. What apostate Christian leader will head up this monstrous organization? Also discover the final prediction before Christ’s return as Neo Nazis, Ku Klux Klanners, religious terrorists, such as Ahmadinejad of Iran, Osama Bin Laden, Hamas and Hizbullah all promote the extermination of Israel and Jews.Order this five-hour trilogy for the greatest study ever produced by Drs. Jack & Rexella Van Impe.
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This extraordinary new collection includes, first of all, PROPHECY: 21st CENTURY REVELATIONS -- which sets the record straight on an enormous number of fantasies propagated for centuries. It proves emphatically that Christ’s return is near -- even at the doors (Matthew 24:33)! This is a faith-inspiring message of hope for you and those with whom you share it ... especially a loved one who has doubted the authenticity of Bible prophecy, or the reality of the Rapture! This trilogy also features THE SEVEN MYSTERY YEARS -- containing some of the most exciting revelations ever impressed upon me by the Spirit of God in the middle of the night!
Do you realize that some 80% of all churches claiming to be Christian today are actually preaching unscriptural error? Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:2, we do not handle the word of God deceitfully! While this travesty goes on in many pulpits today, this video turns back the tide of guile -- for your sake!Finally, APOCALYPSE UNRAVELED -- this intriguing, fast-paced video is presented in language so clear and plain that no one will have a moment of difficulty grasping the highlights of every amazing chapter of the book of Revelation. In a whirlwind 100 minutes, Rexella and I take you on a journey through the past, present, and future as revealed in these breathtaking pages of Scripture!
The most puzzling questions raised by the book of Revelation are answered in concise fashion. One of my minister friends, Dr. David Williams, pastor of one of the largest churches in America, says this is the most astounding but understandable presentations of Revelation he has ever seen.Beloved, there are literally hundreds of new and intriguing insights in this single video. Yet APOCALYPSE UNRAVELED is only one of three breakthrough videos in this trilogy!
I urge you to give generously today toward our global soul-winning ministry, and request your copy or copies of this life-changing, soul-stirring http://www.jvim.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi?DNTP trilogy of video teachings. Please donate $45 (U.S.), $50 (Canada) for a single set -- a 33% savings -- or email our Donor Services department for other options.Thank you for being such a friend to Rexella and me, our beloved partner in the work of God around the world!
Yours in world evangelism,
Jack Van Impe
P.S. You, as a child of God, must know and understand the revelations of this trilogy for your own sake, and for the sake of lost loved ones and friends who are looking to Christians for the answers to their deepest and most disturbing questions! These flash floods of insights, which have come to me from the heart of God, are powerful! Please request your copy of The Apocalypse Unraveled TRILOGY as you support our worldwide ministry today! Thank you!
Christian Group Warns U.S. Against Pressuring Israel on Peace Deal
Monday , July 30, 2007 - By Sharon Kehnemui Liss
Editor's Note: The following is the second in a two-part series on Christians United for Israel and the evangelical movement's outlook on U.S. Middle East policy. Diplomacy is back in fashion in the Middle East as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair tries his hand at bringing Israel and the Palestinians to a two-state solution of peaceful neighbors.But Mideast talks are taking another form back in the United States. An unexpected voice from right field is warning U.S. negotiators not to be so quick to give away the farm, literally.I don't believe Israel should give up any piece of their land. I think they've given up too much of their land, said Michelle Stephens, one of 50 million Evangelicals who are said to be waking up to the idea that Israel's existence is integrally tied to their own religious outlook.
Would somebody else, another country, coming in to America say, You need to give up Florida'? I live in Southern California, You need to give up San Diego to Mexico. That's not going to happen. Why should we do that with Israel? Stephens asked. Stephens, 37, traveled with her husband cross-country to Washington, D.C., last week to join nearly 5,000 like-minded Evangelicals attending a conference called Christians United for Israel. Pastor Greg Stephens, who leads Father's House Church in El Cajon, Calif., said the group isn't interested in telling Israel what to do, but it sure has got some choice words for President Bush and Congress.
Our personal position: don't give away a square inch. ... The Israeli government is a sovereign nation and what they choose to do concerning land for peace, they have the right to do. ... They are a sovereign nation we respect that, he said. On the other hand, as far as the U.S. Congress is concerned, I will pressure my congressman. (If) my congressman is encouraging it, I am telling him, 'It's your last term. My guys, oh, I am on my guys.While strong supporters of Israel may take comfort in the headstrong backing, Rafi Dajani of the American Task Force on Palestine said the problem with Stephens' position is in its very essence it doesn't allow or recognize any Palestinian claim to land.The people that still don't recognize the land is occupied ... are a minority on both sides, said Dajani, whose group advocates a Palestine and Israel living peacefully side-by-side. That interpretation is not accepted by anybody in the international community, and most ironic, it's a position that runs counter to U.S., Israeli and Palestinian interests and consensus across the board. Those who still don't believe in that are not part of mainstream discourse even though they can bring together 5,000 people.
Dajani's point doesn't move members of CUFI, whose unshakable support for Israel belies its two years in existence. The inflexibility could come from 2,000 years of shared ancestry between Christians and Jews, or it could be a byproduct of CUFI's indefatigable founder, Pastor John Hagee. Hagee, head of the 19,000-strong Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, started leading Evangelicals toward support for Israel 26 years ago.In 1981, remember when the IDF (the Israeli Defense Forces) bombed the nuclear reactor in Iraq. The American press was very vitriolic against Israel, called it gunboat diplomacy and a lot of other very unkind and unreasonable things. I felt that Israel had done the world a favor by removing nuclear weapons from the hands of a political madman, Saddam Hussein. And I think history supports that conclusion, Hagee told FOXNews.com in a one-on-one interview at the start of the three-day CUFI conference.Hagee, a rotund, bespectacled, silver-haired man spoke in a quiet, long Texas drawl as he described how he first approached local Jewish leaders in 1981 to promote a communal assembly of Jews and Christians.Things moved slowly along but after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced in February 2006 that he wanted to wipe Israel from the map, Hagee mobilized, bringing together 400 evangelical leaders from business, media, academia and the ministry to form CUFI.
Christian Right ... and Left
CUFI's talking points for the U.S. government are steeped in national security and Zionistic aspirations: Don't pressure Israel to give up any more land for peace, don't divvy up Jerusalem, move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, take out Hezbollah, stop Iran's nuclear pursuits and don't cut and run prematurely from Iraq.
If we leave Iraq, Iran will fill that vacuum. Iran will have 40 percent of the oil of the Middle East with which to develop more terrorism, more nuclear weapons. They will certainly be a greater threat to Israel and I believe that they will transport terrorism to the United States of America, and those nuclear suitcase bombs will be going off in America, Hagee said.Israel is the only democracy that is in the Middle East, and we're spending millions and trillions of dollars to make Iraq free. Well, Israel is already free so we need to help them, said Pastor Caroline Aycock of Texas.
While tough talking on national security issues, members of CUFI insist they are nonpartisan and that security for Israel and the U.S. goes beyond party lines.We are not red-blue, blue-red. We are red, white and blue, and if you love Israel, if you love the United States, we're with you, Stephens said.This really crosses the Republican and Democrat line, added Julie Wineinger, a registered nurse from Davis, Calif., who attended the CUFI conference with her daughter. We're really serious about this, really passionate about it. You know, enough to spend the money to come and be here and take our time to do this.Lobbyists from California said they were received warmly in the offices of Republican Reps. Brian Bilbray, Darrell Issa and Duncan Hunter as well as Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Susan Davis and Doris Matsui. Even an aide in the office representing the district held by the late Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald spoke with the lobbyists.CUFI members from around the country also met with senators, including California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, who received a standing ovation from CUFI's Texas delegation.
The California lobbyists dimly noted that among the lawmakers who did not speak with them were Democrats Reps. Loretta Sanchez and Mike Thompson of California and Rep. Jane Harman, a well-known supporter of Israel in Congress. A spokeswoman for Sanchez said a conflict in scheduling prevented her from meeting with the group. Harman and Thompson's staffs did not return calls for comment.I would point out that we met with only one Democrat and that was Dennis Moore, said John Powers, a 76-year-old retired fire equipment business owner, who lobbied Kansas lawmakers with about eight other fellow Kansans. I saw very little partisanship represented as measured by what might be a difference between his views and the views of a Republican congressman. They seem to be of like minds.Powers said Moore at first got the impression that we were suggesting initiating hostilities (with Iran) which we were not and that got corrected. ... With him, war is a last resort, and I think that's really the way we feel as well.
Moore spokeswoman Rebecca Black said the congressman makes it a point to meet with all constituents from his state who request to see him in Washington. As for Iran policy, she said Moore prefers the diplomatic track.The congressman always believes that we should be doing things focusing on sanctions on diplomacy, international coalitions before we ever consider military actions, Black said. I don't know that the congressman ever takes any options off the table but certainly his preference would be for this diplomatic effort.War isn't totally off the table for CUFI, however, if it comes down to protecting Israel, Powers and Greg Stephens agreed.
If that became a necessity, if that became a judgment of our leaders, our national leaders, in their judgment, that was the best approach, I don't think there's anything in our Christian belief that says we can't exercise that option, Powers said.We are not warmongers, but the bible tells us there is a time for war and there is a time for peace. So once again, what do we do but go right back to our scriptural principles. We were attacked. Israel is attacked every day. We have a right to defend ourselves, Greg Stephens added.
The words of Daniel finally unsealed
August 3, 2007
It's hard to imagine how much America – and the world – has changed in just my lifetime. I was born at the beginning of the Depression. The United States was only a second-rate power until I was a young teenager. It emerged from World War II as a world power. By the time I was in my 20s, America was an undisputed superpower.
During the Cold War years, the world was essentially divided between two superpowers The Soviet Union and the USA. I witnessed America rise from secondary power to become the greatest superpower on earth when the Soviet Union crumbled under the weight of its failed economic system.
Concurrently, I watched America's power decline from within. I witnessed the growing influence of socialist, liberal, secular humanist professors in our major universities during the 12 years I worked with college students. This influence spread as their students carried these ideas into careers in the media and politics.
As America drifted further and further from God, it embraced this godless ideology. The impact of this change soon became evident. Though we led the world in military technology and power, we've come to the point where the last war in which we won a decisive victory was the invasion of Grenada in 1983. Today, we are debating whether or not to desert Iraq and let terrorists take it over as a major power base. It's stunning to contemplate that anyone could witness America travel from the peak of power to the precipice of destruction in a single lifetime.
Alvin Toffler saw this phenomenon developing. This was the basis of his 1970 best-seller Future Shock. Toffler defines future shock as the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time. Toffler predicted, Millions of ordinary, psychologically normal people will face an abrupt collision with the future.We live in much greater stress and anxiety because of the exponential rate of change that is accelerating in our world. The world into which I was born ceased to exist a long time ago. But the change was gradual enough to allow me time to adjust. The world into which people were born in the year 2000 is already disappearing. It will not exist by 2012.
Just try to figure what the impact of the following facts will be. There are 3,000 new books published every single day. We've gone from information overload to information explosion. More new information will be generated this year than in the previous five thousand years. The technical knowledge explosion is governed by Moore's Law, which says computers will get twice as smart every 18 to 24 months. It takes four years to get a technical degree. By the time a student graduates, his education is virtually obsolete.
The prophet Daniel was given visions of the world as it would exist in the days leading to the Second Coming of Christ. The Apostle John was time-traveled forward to be an actual eyewitness of the final days of this age. Unfortunately, both men also suffered from the same communication difficulties. There were no words in their vocabularies to describe what they witnessed. How could a man of the first century A.D. who has never seen a machine describe the technical marvels of the 21st century? John was told to write about what he saw. I think he did an inspired job.
Today, Daniel and Revelation are among the most discussed and debated books within the whole canon of Scripture. More expositions have been written in the past 10 years focusing on Daniel and Revelation than probably any other books in the Bible. It's as if the words of these books were sealed up until the time appointed. Even 60 years ago, most of what Daniel predicted here didn't make sense. These things certainly did not make sense to the generations prior to the 20th century. Daniel, directly taught by Heaven's highest angel, Michael, said as much. Daniel asked the archangel, As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?
Note very carefully the archangel Michael's reply, Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. This was the second time Michael told Daniel that the words were to be sealed until the time of the last days generation to whom they were addressed. The archangel concludes with special instructions to Daniel: But as for you, Daniel, conceal – or encrypt – these words and seal up the book until the time of the end; many will go [travel] back and forth, and knowledge will increase.
Knowledge has greatly increased. And as we've seen will increase even more. Also, just as predicted in this verse, the limitations of time and space to travel have been exponentially decreased. This has unlocked the encrypted prophetic messages that were intended for this generation. Current events have unlocked them further. All of these things point to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming very soon. Don't put off your decision any longer. Time is rapidly running out for you to get ready to meet Him when He comes. Just recognize you are a sinner, and accept the gift of pardon He purchased for you in His own blood. He is coming, and soon. Whether you are ready or not.
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Jews to be forcibly removed from Judaism's oldest city
With hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in illegal outposts, PM directs forces against 2 families - August 3, 2007 - By Aaron Klein - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Hebron
JERUSALEM – Fresh from ordering security forces to destroy a synagogue built by Jews to pray near Joseph's Tomb, Judaism's third holiest site, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert now has directed his forces to forcibly evict two families that moved into a market in Jewish sections of Hebron, the oldest Jewish community in the world. The evictions are scheduled for Monday. Israel says the occupation of market by the two families is illegal since their arrival wasn't coordinated with the Israeli military. The market in question, now converted to small, two-story apartments, was built in 1929 after Arab riots temporarily forced Jews from Hebron – the first time the city was without a Jewish presence in over 2,500 years. For more than 30 years, a sign was posted on the market boasting in Arabic that the structure was built on stolen Jewish property. Arab merchants illegally set up shop at the market but were asked by the Israel Defense Forces to leave after a series of clashes broke out in the mid-1990s. Even though the market was stolen by the Arabs, Hebron's Jewish community purchased the market from its original Arab occupants in 2001.
In January 2006, Jewish families took up occupancy to strengthen Jewish ties to the area following the murder of an infant by a Palestinian sniper, yards away from the market. The market, integrated within the Hebron Jewish community, is adjacent to several Jewish apartments and Jewish municipal buildings. It is not located in an Arab neighborhood. It doesn't require any original additional protection from IDF soldiers already patrolling the area. Despite the original property owners' recent signing over of the market to Hebron's Jewish community, as well as Israel's Supreme Court ruling that the structure was Jewish-owned, the government considers the occupancy of the marketplace illegal, saying families living inside did not negotiate their arrival with the IDF. Following a standoff with the army last year, the Jews who had moved into the market decided to leave, reportedly after receiving promises from military officials they could return a few months later, after the court systems – which deemed the property Jewish – worked with the IDF to verify the legality of the Jewish residence.
But Israel's attorney general overturned the Supreme Court decision and declared the residents cannot move in. Still, two Jewish families recently moved back in, and Olmert's government immediately ordered that they be evacuated by Monday, even threatening that the families may need to reimburse the IDF for the costs of their evacuation. Shlomit Bar-Kochba, who was among those who agreed to vacate in January 2006, moved back into the market with her husband and eight children. She told the Jerusalem Post she was shocked by the interest of the Olmert government in her move.
We didn't think it would interest anyone that we returned, she said. I thought it doesn't interfere with anyone. We came back very quietly. We didn't make noise or celebrate.The agreement was that we would leave in January, and shortly they would allow us to return, she said, explaining that when the agreement didn't come to fruition months later, her family decided not to wait anymore. It seemed illogical to her, she told the Post, that the government was upset by their presence some 10 months later, explaining no additional security was required and that her home sits on land owned by Jews. Hebron is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, believed to be the resting place of biblical patriarchs and matriarchs. Jews lived in Hebron for thousands of years. There are accounts of the trials of the city's Jewish community throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke and Ottoman periods.
In 1929, as a result of an Arab pogrom in which 67 Jews were murdered, the entire Jewish community fled the city, with Hebron – including the market – becoming temporarily devoid of Jews. Olmert's decision to single out for evacuation two Jewish families living in Jewish sections of Hebron has been called into question by religious leaders here. While Jewish construction projects deemed illegal in Jewish cities in the West Bank are regularly bulldozed or evacuated by the government, Olmert's office has taken no action against hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in illegal outposts in the West Bank and Jerusalem. WND previously exposed the Israeli government has allowed Palestinians and the United Nations to build illegally on hundreds of acres of Jewish-owned lands in Jerusalem purchased by the Jewish National Fund, a U.S.-based Jewish organization, using Jewish donors funds solicited for the purpose of Jewish settlement. Tens of thousands of Palestinians live on the Jewish-owned Jerusalem land, which was recently isolated from Jewish sections of Jerusalem by Israel's security barrier.
WND also previously reported the city of Jerusalem, under orders from Olmert, deleted files documenting hundreds of illegal Arab building projects throughout eastern sections of Jerusalem housing tens of thousands of Palestinians, according to a report by the Jerusalem Forum, which promotes Jewish construction in the city.
Aryeh King, chairman of the Jerusalem Forum, said Jerusalem municipal workers told him they were instructed by Olmert's office to ignore illegal Palestinian construction in Jerusalem. Ehud Olmert gave the order not to deal with the problem and not to put Israeli security forces to the duty of taking down the illegal Arab complexes, said King. Senior municipal workers told me Olmert said not to bother with the illegal Arab homes because eventually eastern Jerusalem would be given to the Palestinian Authority.
Joseph's Tomb synagogue destroyed by Israeli forces
Olmert's ordering of the two families to be forced from the Hebron Jewish market comes just days after the prime minister ordered his security forces to destroy a synagogue used by Jews to worship near Joseph's Tomb, Judaism's third holiest site and the believed burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph – the son of Jacob who was sold by his brothers into slavery and later became the viceroy of Egypt.
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, which granted nearby strategic territory to the Palestinians, Joseph's Tomb was supposed to be accessible to Jews and Christians. But following repeated attacks against Jewish worshippers at the holy site by gunmen associated with then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat's militias, Prime Minister Ehud Barak in October 2000 ordered an Israeli unilateral retreat from the area. The tomb is located near the modern day West Bank city of Nablus, or biblical Shechem.
Currently, Jewish pilgrimage to Joseph's Tomb is legal only several times per year in convoys protected by the Israel Defense Forces. Still, some Jews regularly attempt clandestine visits to the holy site. Jewish students last year built a structure on the West Bank's Mount Gerizim, which is just outside the tomb area. The structure was used as a synagogue and was constructed on the Mount so Jews can pray and study Torah as close to the tomb site as possible. Dozens of Jewish students congregated daily at the makeshift synagogue. But Olmert's office and Israeli government officials deemed the structure – which they refused to call a synagogue – illegal since it was built without a government permit. On Monday, under direct orders from Olmert, the Israel Civil Lands Administration destroyed the structure.
The Torah describes how Jacob purchased a land plot in Shechem, which was given as inheritance to his sons and was used to re-inter Joseph, whose bones were taken out of Egypt during the Jewish exodus. Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are also said to be buried at the site. As detailed in the Torah, shortly before his death, Joseph asked the Israelites to vow they would resettle his bones in the land of Canaan – biblical Israel. That oath was fulfilled when, according to the Torah, Joseph's remains were taken by the Jews from Egypt and reburied at the plot of land Jacob had earlier purchased in Shechem, believed to be the site of the tomb. Modern archeologists confirm Nablus is the biblical city of Shechem. Yehuda Leibman, who until the Israeli retreat from Joseph's Tomb in 2000 was director of a yeshiva constructed there, explained, The sages tell us that there are three places which the world cannot claim were stolen by the Jewish people: the Temple Mount, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Joseph's Tomb.There is evidence suggesting for more than 1,000 years Jews of various origins worshipped at Joseph's Tomb. The Samaritans, a local tribe that follow a religion based on the Torah, say they trace their lineage back to Joseph himself and that they worshipped at the tomb site for more than 1,700 years.
Israel first gained control of Nablus and the neighboring site of Joseph's Tomb in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Oslo Accords signed by Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin called for the area surrounding the tomb site to be placed under Palestinian jurisdiction but allowed for continued Jewish visits to the site and the construction of an Israeli military outpost at the tomb to ensure secure Jewish access. Following the transfer of control of Nablus and the general area encompassing the tomb to the Palestinians in the early 1990s, there were a series of outbreaks of violence in which Arab rioters and gunmen from Arafat's Fatah militias shot at Jewish worshipers and the tomb's military outpost. Six Israeli soldiers were killed and many others, including yeshiva students, were wounded in September 1996 when Palestinian rioters and Fatah gunmen attempted to over take the tomb. Eventually, Israeli soldiers regained control of the site. The Palestinians continued to attack Joseph's Tomb with regular shootings and the lobbing of firebombs and Molotov cocktails. Security for Jews at the site increasingly became more difficult to maintain. Rumors circulated in 2000 that Barak would evacuate the Israeli military outpost and give the tomb to Arafat as a peacemaking gesture.
In early 2000, the Israeli army began denying Jewish visits to the tomb on certain days due to prospects of Arab violence. Following U.S. mediated peace talks at Camp David in September 2000, Arafat returned to the West Bank and initiated his intifada. During one bloody week in October 2000, Fatah gunmen attacked the tomb repeatedly, killing two and injuring dozens, prompting Barak to order a complete evacuation of Judaism's third holiest site on Oct. 6. Within less than an hour of the Israeli retreat, Palestinian rioters overtook Joseph's Tomb and reportedly began to ransack the site. Palestinian mobs reportedly tore apart books, destroying prayer stands and grinding out stone carvings in the Tomb's interior. Palestinians hoisted a Muslim flag over the tomb. Amin Maqbul, an official from Arafat's office, visited the tomb to deliver a speech declaring, Today was the first step to liberate (Jerusalem).
One BBC reporter described the scene: The site was reduced to smoldering rubble – festooned with Palestinian and Islamic flags – cheering Arab crowd. Palestinians on Oct. 10 began construction of a mosque on the rubble of the tomb's adjacent yeshiva compound. Workers painted the dome of the compound green, the Islamic color. In a WND exclusive interview, Tariq Tarawi, a Fatah lawmaker who in 2000 served as chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the vicinity of the tomb, said the Palestinians would never allow Israel to rebuild a yeshiva or synagogue at Joseph's Tomb. The Brigades carried out most of the attacks against the tomb site. A yeshiva is an institution, said Tarawi. An institution can be the beginning of claiming rights and these claims can bring once again the Israeli army to establish a base in the place, and we can not accept this. If the Jews try to build a yeshiva, we will shoot at them.
The New World Order, The Bilderberg Plan – Control Oil, Control People, Part 23 Deanna Spingola JULY 31,2007
There are arguments from both sides of the oil issue: either we are quickly running out of oil or we have adequate oil to meet our requirements for generations. Both sides offer evidence, witnesses, experts and documentation to validate their assertions. Some peak-oil projects, funded by oil companies, are highly suspect. The very credible Lindsey Williams maintains that the North Slope in Alaska has as much crude oil as Saudi Arabia. Governor Frank H. Murkowski said in 2005 that there is enough oil on the North Slope to supply the entire United States for 200 years. 1 Antony Sutton, author of Energy, the Created Crisis, is adamant that we have sufficient oil. Conversely, I have read reports which support the peak oil theory. I personally believe, after research, that “there is enough and to spare.” Doom and gloom, Chicken Little oil scarcity claims have been propagated from the beginning. A scarcity, authentic or manufactured, of any crucial commodity accomplishes the following:
1. Increases profits to those who manipulate that commodity.
2. Allows the controllers to determine availability to the right people.
3. In the case of energy – severely impacts lifestyle, progress and prosperity.
4. Extracts more money from an often overburdened consumer.
Henry A. Kissinger, Rockefeller’s well-compensated, multi-purpose minion and long-time member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) said: Control the oil and you can control entire Continents. Control food and you control people. 2 Michael Collon, Belgian author said: If you want to rule the world, you need to control oil. All the oil. Anywhere. 3
The first very memorable oil crisis occurred in 1973. Nixon, obedient to his handlers, announced the demonetization of the dollar on August 15, 1971. This allowed time for the real deciders to plan their strategy. Eighty-four individuals, financial, corporate and political elitists, gathered at Saltsjöbaden, Sweden for the annual Bilderberg meeting. American attendee, Walter J. Levy, outlined the plan for a pending 400% increase in OPEC revenues, the exact percentage that Kissinger would demand of Saudi Arabian Shah. Their intentions were not prevention but rather a scheme on how to manage the projected abundance of oil dollars – what was later referred to by Herr Kissinger as “recycling the petrodollar flows.” The Bilderberg policy was to initiate a global oil embargo. 4
An internal memo, dated January 8, 1973, from U.S. Bilderberg official Robert D. Murphy suggested a list of participants for the May 1973 meeting. He stated: There will be room for only 20 Americans at Saltsjöbaden. 5
Those attending included Robert O. Anderson of Atlantic Richfield Oil Co., Lord Greenhill, chairman of British Petroleum, Sir Eric Roll of Siegmund G. Warburg (creator of Eurobonds), George Ball of Lehman Brothers Investment Bank, Henry Kissinger, William P. Bundy, Zbigniew Brzezinski (soon to be Carter’s national security advisor), David Rockefeller, Emilio G. Collado, Executive Vice President, Exxon Corp.; Gianni Agnelli, Otto Wolff von Amerongen and Arthur H. Dean, CFR Director (1955-72) and a partner in Rockefeller-oriented Sullivan & Cromwell. Kissinger had requested Warburg to develop the Eurobonds ten years before. 6 A very small scheming elite group, centered in New York and London, influence the economy of the entire world.
The reasons for the oil shock were:
1. Launch a colossal assault against world industrial growth.
2. Tilt the balance of power back to the advantage of Anglo-American financial interests.
3. Control the world’s oil flows, their most powerful weapon.
4. Increase the world demand for U.S. dollars. 7
Egypt and Syria invaded Israel on October 6, 1973 which came to be known as the Yom Kippur War. This war was secretly orchestrated by Herr Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s national security adviser as well as Secretary of State. Kissinger effectively managed the Israeli response through his close association with Simcha Dinitz. Kissinger, Nixon’s intelligence czar, through privileged channels, misrepresented motives, suppressed communications, and intercepted intelligence reports ensured that the war would progress and end with his shuttle diplomacy as planned in May 1973 at Saltsjöbaden. The Arabs, scapegoats for the Elite, were the recipients of the world’s rage and Kissinger was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for 1973. 8
A fortuitous coincidence was that, with oil’s huge price increase, British Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell and other Anglo-American oil companies were able to substantially recoup the millions they had spent in the exploration of the North Sea oilfields. Meanwhile, in Vienna, OPEC countries met and decided to raise their prices by 70% and initiated an oil embargo on all oil sales to the U.S. and the Netherlands (major oil port for Western Europe) because of the U.S. support for Israel in the Middle East War. On October 17, 1973, OPEC demanded withdrawal of Israel from Arab territories occupied since June 1967 and the restoration of the legal rights of the Palestinians. Nixon was in the midst of Watergate, orchestrated by de facto president Kissinger and assisted by Alexander Haig. 9 There are detectable reasons for Kissinger, a Rockefeller asset, to Watergate Nixon, a man he detested and swore he would never work for – he didn’t. 10 In addition, the Watergate fiasco distracted the masses from the grave economic situation.
Uninformed Nixon attempted to get U.S. Treasury officials to force OPEC to lower oil prices but was bluntly instructed, via a memo, that the bankers had mandated the dollar recycling program to accommodate the higher oil prices. Jack F. Bennett, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Monetary Affairs (until July 1974), had counseled Nixon towards his 1971 dollar demonetization decision. Bennett, at Kissinger’s direction and according to an established agreement with the Saudis to finance the U.S. government deficits, had arranged for David C. Mulford to go to Saudi Arabia to act as an investment adviser to SAMA. His job was to guide the Saudi petrodollars investments to the correct banks, naturally in London and New York. The Bilderberg scheme was operating just as planned. 11
Led by Exxon, some oil companies had created a short supply of domestic crude oil, supported by Nixon on advice from his aids. By January 1974, oil prices had increased by 400%. In December 1974, nine powerful bankers, including David Rockefeller, approached New York mayor Abraham Beame. They made him an offer he could not refuse – unless he assigned management of the city’s vast pension funds to them – the Municipal Assistance Corporation – then their complicit media cronies would financially destroy the city. This decreased the amount of money available for roadways, bridges, hospitals, schools and the laying-off of tens of thousands of city workers in order for New York City, the biggest city in the country, to service their bank debt. Similar circumstances occurred in other parts of the world: bank collapses, grave trade deficits, unemployment, inflation, and industrial and transportation depression in the more industrial nations. In third-world countries, the consequences were even more severe. 12
While devastating to the populace, the oil companies flourished: Exxon, Mobil, Texaco, Chevron, and Gulf. OPEC’s petrodollars were deposited into the right banks in New York and London: Chase Manhattan, Citibank, Manufacturers Hanover, Bank of America, Barclays, Lloyds and Midland Bank. 13 These events set the stage for the debt crisis of the 1980s. The globalist decision of August 1971 to remove the dollar from a fixed, gold-backed exchange rate system generated a shift to double-digit inflation, urban decay, mounting unemployment and excessive interest rates. The Kissinger-orchestrated Middle East oil crisis of 1973-74 was designed to de-industrialize and eventually transform the United States from the world’s largest creditor nation to the world's biggest debtor nation.A review of history further helps to reveal ruthless business patterns that have shaped current circumstances – including yet another war resulting in death and bloodshed for the benefit of the greedy, insatiable elite.
Beginning with the Civil War, the opportunistic, monopolistic John D. Rockefeller sold inflated-priced Harkness whiskey to the Federal troops. Recognizing the huge profitability in war with the right commodity, he built his first oil refinery in 1863 along the Cuyahoga River (Ohio) to accommodate the growing needs of the raging Civil War which he and others, like J. P. Morgan, had purchased their way out of for $300. The Rothschild controlled National City Bank of Cleveland gave Rockefeller his first loan. In 1865 Rockefeller, for $72,500, bought out his partners (Henry Flagler, Samuel Andrews, Stephen V. Harkness) and price-chopped or otherwise destroyed his competitors by purchasing supporting industries such as pipelines, railroad tank cars, terminal facilities and barrel manufacturing factories. He soon incorporated the growing imperialistic Standard Oil Company in 1870 to fully exploit the growing Russian kerosene market as well as the curative snake-oil market in the U.S.
In what Ohio historian Christopher Eiben called a brilliant stroke of corporate back scratching,Rockefeller sold shares to bankers who lent him millions and railroaders who gave him great freight deals, including rebates on rivals' shipments.14 Working through the Wall Street firms of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., and J. P. Morgan Co., the Rothschilds financed John D. Rockefeller so that he could create the Standard Oil Empire. They also financed the activities of Edward Harriman (railroads) and Andrew Carnegie (steel). 15
By 1873 Standard Oil, by hook or crook, had acquired about 80 percent of the refining capacity in Cleveland which was about one third of the U.S. total. Interestingly enough, the stock market crashed on September 18, 1873 and created a six year recession allowing Standard Oil to seize refineries in Pennsylvania's oil region, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York. Rockefeller controlled approximately 90% of the oil refined as well as most of the oil marketing facilities in the U.S. by 1878. 16 Ruthless Rockefeller, who detested competition, founded the first global monopoly and was supplying 90% of the world’s oil, 70% overseas. Great Britain also experienced economic depression in 1873 replete with pandemic unemployment and bankruptcies. Two years later, the Rothschilds provided a sizeable loan (£4,080,000) to enable the British government to acquire a controlling share of the Suez Canal. 17
Rockefeller had built the world’s biggest business in Cleveland, Ohio. Standard Oil sold over 300 refining byproducts from Vaseline to chewing gum. In 1882, he created the Standard Oil Trust, suggested by Samuel Dodd, Standard Oil’s attorney, to eviscerate and devour all of the independent oil producers and refiners both nationally (250 competitors in the U.S.) and internationally. A trust is when stockholders in a group of companies transfer their shares to a single set of trustees who control all of the companies which constitutes a monopoly. In exchange, the stockholders received certificates entitling them to a specified share of the consolidated earnings of the jointly managed companies. 18 Rockefeller’s trust became an example to other businessmen who embraced the trust” concept – always at the expense of the working man. Rockefeller took his growing Goliath to Manhattan in 1883 where he influenced urban sprawl. 19. Russia’s oil industry accelerated in the latter part of the 19th century due to an oil boom at the Caspian Sea town of Baku, which had opened in 1873 and at Galicia (now in Poland). The Rothschild banking family had major interests in the oil-wells of Baku, Russia. Beginning in 1875, Ludvig and Robert Nobel built an oil empire known as the Brothers Nobel, or Branobel, based on oil deposits in Baku on the Caspian Sea. 20 By 1883, Standard Oil’s imports were not as essential to the Russian market for reasons that follow. 21
Britain’s Marcus Samuel, future founder of Shell Oil, developed tankers capable of carrying oil in cost-cutting bulk transport through the Suez Canal. The maiden voyage of the Murex, the first tanker, was in 1892. Remember, Great Britain had a controlling interest in the Suez Canal, thanks to the Rothschilds. Marcus and his brother also established bulk oil storage at ports in the Far East. In addition, they contracted with a Russian group, controlled by the Rothschilds, for the long-term supply of kerosene which put them in high-risk direct competition, abhorrent to Rockefeller, with Standard Oil. The Samuel brothers named their company The Tank Syndicate but renamed it in 1897 to the Shell Transport and Trading Company. 22
Rockefeller and his accomplices felt that they were above the law until the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act on July 2, 1890, enacted by Congress based on their Constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce. It was signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison. In 1892, the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the disbanding of the Standard Oil Trust, an illegal monopoly. Standard Oil was subsequently reorganized in 1899 as a holding company under the name of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. That state had conveniently adopted a law that permitted a parent company to own the stock of other companies. 23. In 1896 Standard Oil contributed $250,000 to Republican William McKinley's presidential campaign against Democrat William Jennings Bryan, a supporter of antitrust legislation. 24 McKinley was opposed to the imperialistic, expansionist Spanish-American War. Yet, to retain office in the next election, he asked Congress to declare war against Spain in 1898. He signed the Gold Standard Act in 1900.
In September 1901, William McKinley, allegedly a Rockefeller tool, was shot by Leon Czolgosz (son of Polish immigrants), labeled as an anarchist although he didn’t belong to any rebel groups. Czolgosz was immediately tried and executed by the Establishment. The assassination was manipulated by the Establishment to subtly discredit rebellion and anyone who might justifiably dissent. The Elite, in any age, would actually prefer to prohibit dissent. It is similar to our current administration saying: Let us never tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories concerning the attacks of September the 11th… 25 and by implication – let us never tolerate conspiracy theorists. Following the assassination, various anti-sedition and anti-conspiracy laws were passed by the Establishment. Who benefited by McKinley’s death – Teddy Roosevelt who was supported by the contending Morgan (as opposed to Rockefeller) wing of the Republican Party. Roosevelt immediately started using the anti-trust weapon to try to destroy Rockefeller's Standard Oil and Harriman's Northern Securities, both bitter enemies of the Morgan world empire. 26
Woodrow Wilson, son of a Presbyterian minister, had the financial and political support of the Rockefellers, Jacob Schiff, Bernard Baruch, and others in his successful 1910 bid for governor of New Jersey. They also had the love letters he wrote to Mary Peck, his mistress while he was president of Princeton (1902-1910), for which they paid $65,000. 27 Therefore he later made the perfect, morally compromised presidential candidate. The following unconstitutional acts were engineered during the administration of the obedient Rockefeller minion, Woodrow Wilson:
1913: The Sixteenth Amendment – authorized income taxes (never ratified)
The Seventeenth Amendment – direct popular election of Senators
Underwood Tariff – lowered duties
Federal Reserve Act – created the un-federal Federal Reserve System
Through the years, Standard Oil received bad press as a result of their cutthroat business practices and the muckraking reports of people like Ida Tarbell and writer/activist Upton Sinclair. Rockefeller hired Ivy Lee in 1914 as their public relations manager to clean up their image and appear philanthropic. 28 A public relations professional, with media complicity, also discredits or disgraces any national or foreign opponent.
For decades, voters merely decide to cast a vote – the actual decisions regarding candidates and the orchestrated consequences of those calculated choices are made in covert CFR committee meetings, Bilderberg assemblies, pentagon offices and corporate boardrooms. Voters ultimately suffer the extreme penalties and the elite benefactors, the “deciders” remain unscathed.
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1 Lindsey Williams - The Energy Non-Crisis - Part 1 of 8
2 Monsanto Buys ‘Terminator’ Seeds Company by F. William Engdahl, Global Research, August 27, 2006
3 A Century of War, Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order by William Engdahl, pg. 267
4 Ibid, pg. 130-141
5 Ibid
6 Ibid
7 Ibid
8 Ibid
9 Ibid
10 Kissinger by Gary Allen, http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/homeland/kissinger/ Accessed July 27, 2007
11 A Century of War, Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order by William Engdahl, pg. 130-141 See also The Hidden Hand of American Hegemony: Petrodollar Recycling and International Markets
12 A Century of War, Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order by William Engdahl, pg. 130-141
13 Ibid
14 The Energy Bulletin, Rockefeller and Co. turned oil into local gold by Grant Segall, Published on 11 Jun 2005 by Cleveland Plain Dealer, http://www.energybulletin.net/7374.html Accessed July 20, 2007
15 Rothschild Fortune Built Rockefellers, Morgans, Etc
16 The Dismantling of The Standard Oil Trust, http://www.linfo.org/standardoil.html, Accessed July 24, 2007
17 N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/N-M-Rothschild-amp;-Sons-Limited-Company-History.html Accessed July 23, 2007
18 The Dismantling of The Standard Oil Trust, http://www.linfo.org/standardoil.html, Accessed July 24, 2007
19 Rockefeller and Co. turned oil into local gold, June 12, 2005, By Grant Segall, http://www.cleveland.com/energy/index.ssf?/energy/more/1.html Accessed July 23, 2007
20 Alfred Nobel - St. Petersburg, 1842-1863 by Birgitta Lemmel, http://nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/biographical/articles/russia/ Accessed July 23, 2007
21 At The Dawn Of The Kerosene Era by Alexander Matveichuk PhD (History), Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, 2006, http://www.oilru.com/or/26/464/ Accessed July 20, 2007
22 Shell, The beginnings, http://www.shell.com/home/content/aboutshell-en/who_we_are/our_history/the_beginnings/the_beginnings_history_of_shell_22112006.html Accessed July 26, 2007
23 The Dismantling of The Standard Oil Trust, http://www.linfo.org/standardoil.html, Accessed July 24, 2007
24 American Experience, The Rockefeller Timeline, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/timeline/index.html Accessed July 24, 2007
25 President Bush Speaks to United Nations, Remarks by the President, To United Nations General Assembly, U.N. Headquarters, New York, New York, November 10, 2001, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/11/20011110-3.html Accessed July 25, 2007
26 Investigate the Vice President First by Murray N. Rothbard, http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard67.html Accessed July 25, 2007
27 The Greatest Story Never Told, Winston Churchill and the Crash of 1929 by Pat Riott, pg. 20
28 John D. Rockefeller: A Photographic History by Kristin Aguilera and Keith E. Rolfe, Photographs courtesy of the Rockefeller Archive Center, http://www.financialhistory.org/MAGAZINE/photo-history.htm Accessed July 24, 2007
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July 31, 2007 Deanna Spingola has been a quilt designer and is the author of two books. She has traveled extensively teaching and lecturing on her unique methods. She has always been an avid reader of non-fiction works designed to educate rather than entertain. She is active in family history research and lectures on that topic. Currently she is the director of the local Family History Center. She has a great interest in politics and the direction of current government policies, particularly as they relate to the Constitution. © Copyright 2006 by Deanna Spingola.
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