RUSSIA - NUCLEAR SATELLITE NO THREAT

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Australia state declares massive monsoon disaster Tue Jan 20, 2:04 am ET

CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia's tropical Queensland state Thursday declared a flood disaster over an area the size of France and Germany after recent monsoon storms.

Thirty Queensland communities covering 969,000 square km (374,000 sq miles) were declared disaster zones by the state's emergency services minister, Neil Roberts, including many outback and rural communities.Queensland residents affected by storms would be able to apply for government assistance payments if they were unable to recover via their own means, Roberts said.Eight major rivers remain in flood after monsoonal rains and a cyclone moved across the state, cutting roads and forcing many small communities to rely on air drops of food and fresh water.The floods are eventually expected to move inland, helping fill lakes and relieving a long-running drought in parts of Australia's desert interior and tropical north.Queensland is Australia's second biggest state by area and the third most populous, with a A$187 billion ($125.8 billion) economy reliant on tourism, coal mining and agriculture. The state last year recorded a growth rate of 5.1 percent.(Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by Alex Richardson)

The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press Weather The Weather Underground forecast for Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009

shows an approaching trough of low pressure … Quiet weather was anticipated across much of the nation Wednesday, while cold breezes and some snow lingered over the Great Lakes and Northeast.A low pressure system will move off the East Coast and away from shore, while high pressure builds behind it. That will dry out the region by bringing in cool air from the north. The mid-Atlantic states will see high temperatures in the 30s while lows will drop into the teens.In the North, high pressure will bring winds from the northwest to the Great Lakes, kicking up scattered lake-effect snow showers. Less than an inch of total snow accumulation was expected in New York, Ohio and Michigan.In the Plains, the back side of the high pressure system will bring winds from the south, allowing for warmer temperatures and clear skies. Expect the Northern Plains to reach into the upper 30s while the Southern Plains will reach into the upper 60s and lower 70s.In the West, high pressure will start to move eastward as a low pressure system approaches from the Pacific Ocean. This system will put an end to warm weather by pushing clouds over California and triggering scattered showers starting Wednesday night.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Tuesday ranged from a low of minus 23 degrees at Grayling, Mich., to a high of 89 degrees at Bullhead City, Ariz.On the Net:Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com National Weather Service: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com

OZONE DEPLETION

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Last year ranked in top 10 for heat Fri Jan 16, 3:30 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Last year was the eighth warmest year on record, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The world's temperature in 2008 tied that of 2001 according to the center, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Preliminary calculations show the world's average temperature for 2008was 0.88 degree Fahrenheit above the 20th Century average of 57.0 degrees F.The ranking means that all of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1997.

Climate scientists around the world have raised concerns about global warming caused by the so-called greenhouse effect in which chemicals, largely generated by human activity, trap solar radiation.Researchers fear far-reaching effects ranging from changing storm patterns, damage to crops and wildlife, droughts to spread of disease.

The climate center noted that since 1880, the annual combined global land and ocean surface temperature has increased at a rate of 0.09 degree F (0.05 degree C) per decade and the rate has increased over the past 30 years.NASA, which uses a slightly different method of calculating temperatures, has rated 2008 as the ninth warmest on record.On the Net:NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

PSALMS 20:1-9 PRAY THIS FOR ISRAEL EVERY DAY OF THIS WAR
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.
6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
9 Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.

ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.

Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.

ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.

HAMAS AT THERE WORST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UptNr0v1p3E

WAR COVERAGE
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Special/War/

The Well-Oiled Arab Propaganda Machine
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129546

Lebanon army gets boost from Russian jets By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 21, 3:36 am ET

BEIRUT, Lebanon – With Israel in a fragile cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza to the south, the army of this tiny country bordering Israel's north is for the first time getting some serious military muscle, including its first fighter jets in decades.

The influx of hardware begins with Russia, which is trying to increase its influence again in the Mideast.Moscow's decision last month to provide Lebanon with 10 MiG-29 fighter jets comes at a sensitive time, with Israel just out of its second major armed confrontation in two years against neighboring militant groups.The offer was made before Israel launched its offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers on Dec. 27 to stop rocket fire from militants on southern Israeli communities, but the conflict has made it all the more significant.Separate cease-fires declared by Israel and the militant Islamic group went into effect Sunday, ending fighting that has killed about 1,300 Palestinians, according to Palestinian medical officials. Thirteen Israelis also have been killed.Lebanon says it needs more hardware to ensure control of its southern border. During the Gaza fighting, militants fired rockets from southern Lebanon into Israel, prompting Israeli artillery fire.The United States and Europe have long had an ambivalent attitude toward Lebanon's 60,000-member army — wanting to beef it up as a lever against Hezbollah militants who control much of southern Lebanon.At the same time, the U.S. and Europe fear that too much military hardware could enable the Lebanese to use it against Israel.Either way, Russia's military grant to Lebanon triggered an immediate reaction, with Washington promising Beirut a few days later to deliver tanks.Support for the Lebanese armed forces remains a pillar of our Lebanon policy, said David Hale, a deputy U.S. assistant secretary of state. We are working ... to deliver modern M-60 tanks to Lebanon by the spring of 2009 and we're preparing a new package of assistance including close air support capability with precision weapons and urban combat gear.

The U.S. has committed $410 million in security assistance to Lebanon since 2006. Most has gone to logistics, communications, equipment, flak jackets, vehicles and training. In late December, the U.S. delivered 72 Humvees to Lebanon, bringing the total to 350 since 2006. A U.S. Embassy statement said 275 more Humvees will be sent by the end of this year.For years, Lebanon's military was dismissed at home and abroad as little more than an internal security force. The army was rebuilt after splintering along sectarian lines during the 1975-1990 civil war and has primarily taken the role of paramilitary police.It has largely stayed out of the frequent battles between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, the militants in southern Lebanon. But after the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, the army sent thousands of troops to southern Lebanon alongside U.N. peacekeepers in the border zone.Lebanon has virtually no air force — about 30 unarmed helicopters and several 1950s-era British-made Hawker Hunter jets — and no effective air defense system. Israel routinely flies reconnaissance missions over Lebanon unchallenged.But Mideast analysts don't believe that 10 Russian-made fighter jets will tip the regional military balance, which remains heavily in Israel's favor.The acquisition of 10 aircraft has more morale impact than material impact in the field, said retired Lebanese general Amin Hteit.

The Russian offer gives Moscow an opportunity to play a role in the Middle East, where its influence waned after the collapse of the Soviet Union.Many Lebanese see the move as a sign of international commitment to their government as it seeks to control the south, and stop the fire toward Israel coming from Hezbollah and small Palestinian militant groups there. Russia wants to be on the Mediterranean. It seeks to play a role, but it also wants to stress Lebanese sovereignty, Charles Ayoub, a former air force pilot and publisher of Lebanon's pro-Syrian newspaper Addiyar, said in a TV interview. Israeli analyst Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, said Moscow's move is part of the distancing of Lebanon from the West.Nevertheless, Israeli government reaction has been supportive because Israel would prefer to have the Lebanese army and not Hezbollah in charge of the south. The Lebanese state needs to be able to meet the challenges of armed militia, who under U.N. resolutions need to be disarmed, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said in Jerusalem, alluding to Hezbollah. Hezbollah, backed by Russia-allied Syria and Iran, maintains a heavily armed force with more than 30,000 rockets and some bigger missiles in its arsenal. Associated Press writers Aron Heller and Mark Lavie contributed from Jerusalem.

Hamas Hijacks Humanitarian Aid by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu JAN 21,09

(IsraelNN.com) Hamas is hijacking some of the 6,000 tons of international humanitarian aid that have entered Gaza this week for the poor, and instead is using the goods to fund its own support system, the Israeli government charged.Since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead over three weeks ago, Israel has supervised the delivery of nearly 50,000 tons into Gaza but has no supervision over the trucks after the food and medicines are transferred to Arab trucks at Gaza crossings.Armed terrorists have stolen several trucks at gunpoint, forcing one Jordanian company to suspend operations, charged the government agency that supervises coordination of the aid. Israel has warned the international community that reconstruction programs for Gaza must not pass through Hamas hands in order to prevent giving the terrorist organization legitimacy and the opportunity to use aid for its own purposes.Reports of Hamas confiscating aid, using it for its members and selling the rest of it on the black market surfaced nearly two weeks ago, after Israel decided halt fire for three hours a day to allow trucks to enter Gaza.United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) spokesman Chris Gunness said that the U.N. agency is investigating the reports that the hijacked Jordanian trucks were destined for UNRWA. We are not aware of any aid being diverted, he stated but added that officials still are investigating the reports of hijacking.

Gunness added that between a third and a half of the humanitarian aid is for UNRWA. Egypt and the private sector operate most of the other trucks, and a small amount goes to various other U.N. agencies. The UNRWA aid is shipped from the port in Ashdod via Israeli trucks to the Kerem Shalom crossing, where agency officials deliver the trucks to UNRWA warehouses.Hamas and its rival Fatah faction have accused each other of stealing the aid, with Hamas charging that Fatah is diverting aid to Arabs in Judea and Samaria.

Hizbullah Plots Against Israel in Azerbaijan and Sinai Thwarted
by Gil Ronen JAN 21,09

(IsraelNN.com) Authorities in Azerbaijan have thwarted a plot by Hizbullah to bomb the Israeli embassy in Baku, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Watan reported on Monday. The paper quoted well-informed Russian sources as saying Azerbaijan's security apparatus thwarted Hizbullah's alleged plot which was aimed at avenging the killing of the Shi'ite terror group's military commander Imad Mughniyeh in a car bombing in Damascus, in February 2008.Hizbullah has accused Israel of involvement in Mughniyeh's killing but Israel has denied the charge.After Mughniyeh's death, Israeli embassies worldwide went on alert and Israeli authorities advised Jewish institutions across the globe to be vigilant for revenge attacks.The same sources said that Egypt uncovered a Hizbullah cell that was preparing an attack on Israeli targets in Sinai. The ring leader was reportedly a Lebanese man, and the rest of the cell's members were Palestinians.The London Times reported earlier this week that at least one attack was foiled in Azerbaijan weeks after Mughniyeh’s assassination when Azeri Intelligence discovered a plot to blow up the Israeli Embassy there. In addition, Egypt recently broke up a Hizbullah cell in the Sinai headed by a Lebanese citizen, Sami Shehab, which included Palestinians and was planning to attack Israeli targets.

Al-Watan said Baku recently announced that it had thwarted a large-scale plot by an extremist group aimed at targeting foreign embassies and institutions, without detailing which country was being threatened.

According to the paper, Azeri authorities said they arrested the suspected terrorists and seized weapons from them. The Mossad, Israel's overseas intelligence organization, responded to a query regarding the reports by saying that it does not comment on information regarding its activities or activities that are ascribed to it.

Last Israeli troops leave Gaza, completing pullout By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer JAN 21,09

JERUSALEM – The last Israeli troops left the Gaza Strip before dawn Wednesday, the military said, as Israel dispatched its foreign minister to Europe in a bid to rally international support to end arms smuggling into the Hamas-ruled territory.The timing of the troop pullout reflected Israel's hopes to defuse the crisis in still-volatile Gaza before President Barack Obama settled into the White House. The military said troops remain massed on the Israeli side of the border, poised for action if militants violated a fragile, three-day-old truce.The troops' exit marked the end of an Israeli offensive that ravaged Gaza and left some 1,300 Palestinians dead, at least half of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials and a Palestinian human rights group. Thirteen Israelis also died.Israel launched the war to halt years of militant rocket fire on southern Israel and to stop arms smuggling that put one-eighth of the country's population within rocket range. The death toll in Gaza provoked international outrage, but in Israel, the war was widely seen as a legitimate response to militants' attacks.The Israeli military announced Wednesday that it would investigate claims by the United Nations and human rights groups that it improperly used white phosphorous — an ingredient in weapons that inflicts horrific burns. Although the use of phosphorus weapons to mask forces is permitted by international law, Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing a war crime by using it in densely populated areas.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon left the region early Wednesday after touring Gaza and southern Israel. Ban called for an investigation into the Israeli shelling of U.N. compounds in Gaza during the fighting, which he termed outrageous. He also called rocket attacks against Israel appalling and unacceptable.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was headed to Brussels on Wednesday, hoping to clinch a deal committing the European Union to contribute forces, ships and technology to anti-smuggling operations.She will sum up with the the EU representatives their involvement in the international handling of the problem of smuggling into the Gaza Strip, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.An EU commitment would build on a deal the U.S. signed with Israel last week promising expanded intelligence cooperation between the two countries and other U.S. allies in the Middle East and Europe.EU officials said it was too early for that, saying providing humanitarian relief and efforts to secure a lasting cease-fire were their priorities.The situation is fragile, Javier Solana, the EU's foreign and security chief, said ahead of the meeting.The U.S. has promised to supply detection and surveillance equipment, as well as logistical help and training to Israel, Egypt and other nations in the region. The equipment and training would be used to monitor Gaza's land and sea borders.Some EU nations, notably Germany, have promised to help Israel stop the arms smuggling. The issue will likely be debated at a regular EU foreign ministers meeting scheduled next Monday.Most of the smuggling was carried out through tunnels underneath the 8-mile (15 kilometer) border between Egypt and Gaza. Egypt has proved unable or unwilling to halt the flow of weapons and medium-range rockets coming through the tunnels, alongside fuel and consumer goods.

During its offensive, Israel said it destroyed most of the hundreds of tunnels in repeated bombing runs by Israeli jets. But Wednesday, smuggling was under way again.
AP Television News footage showed Palestinian smugglers Wednesday filling a fuel truck with petrol that came through a cross-border tunnel from Egypt. The footage also showed workers busy clearing blocked tunnels and bulldozers carrying out other repairs.Iran has rejected the international attempt to deny Hamas weapons. In statements reported Wednesday on the Web site of Iranian state TV, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said because Israel is so well-armed, Palestinians shouldn't be barred from obtaining weapons.Iran is one of Hamas' main backers but denies Israel's claims that it arms the Palestinian group. Meanwhile, a Palestinian human rights group said it had completed its count of the death toll from the Israeli operation.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said a total of 1,284 Palestinians were killed and 4,336 wounded in the 23-day war. It said 894 of the dead were civilians, including 280 children or minors ages 17 and under. It cited data collected by its field researchers and checked against information from hospitals and clinics. The PCHR was a main source of information about dead and wounded during the war. The Israeli military says 500 Palestinian militants were killed in the fighting. Gaza's militant groups say they lost 158 fighters.

Quartet will talk to Hamas if it recognises Israel: Blair JAN 21,09

ABU DHABI (AFP) – Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said on Wednesday the diplomatic Quartet would deal with Hamas if the Islamist movement accepts a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.The Quartet has always said it is prepared to talk to Hamas provided that Hamas is part of a government that is on terms that are consistent with the two-state solution, said Blair, who represents the four principals of the Quartet -- Europe, Russia, the United States and the United Nations.The issue is not whether we talk to Hamas or not. The issue is whether there is a basis for talking that allows us to make progress on the two-state solution, he told reporters on the sideline of an energy summit in Abu Dhabi.

The Quartet has endorsed a roadmap that calls for a Palestinian state coexisting peacefully alongside a secure Israel.Blair said he supported a call by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas for the formation of a national unity government, which the issued in the wake of the devastating Israeli offensive on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.But the former British prime minister said such unity would have to be effected on the right terms and which would lead the Islamist movement to recognise the state of Israel.We all want Palestinian unity, including with Hamas, but it has to be on the right terms. It has got to be on terms consistent with the two-state solution. That is the issue now, Blair stressed.What has to be explored over the coming period of time is what are the possibilities of getting that agreement and reconciliation that are on terms consistent with peace and not with conflict, he added.On Sunday, Blair said that a Saudi-initiated Arab initiative for peace in the region was not dead despite Israel's lethal 22-day war on the Gaza Strip.Israel's onslaught, aimed at destroying Hamas' military capabilities, killed at least 1,300 Palestinians, wounded 5,300 and left large swathes of the territory in ruins.

Mideast urges Obama focus on Palestinian conflict By JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writer JAN 21,09

CAIRO, Egypt – Mideast leaders urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to dive into peace efforts and make the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians one of his top priorities.Some in the region were heartened by Obama's attempt to reach out to Muslims in his inaugural address Tuesday, saying he wanted to put relations on a new path. But he followed that overture immediately with a stern warning to those who foment violence.I would like to stress that the region has high hopes that your administration will deal with the Palestinian issue from its first day as an immediate priority and a key for solving other issues in the Middle East, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in a congratulatory message to Obama.But others were more pessimistic as newspaper editorials and political commentators laid out the challenges facing Obama, from rebuilding the wreckage in Gaza to ending the war in Iraq and confronting a strengthening Taliban in Afghanistan.To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy, Obama said Tuesday.To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist, he added.

Iran, which was shunned by the Bush administration, said it was hoping to see new policies from Obama.The two nations have been deeply at odds over Iran's nuclear program and what the U.S. says is its support for militiamen in neighboring Iraq — a charge Iran denies. Obama has spoken of a need to engage the country.We are ready for new approaches by the United States, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the English-language Press TV, part of Iran's state media.A new Middle East is in the making," Mottaki said, according to the official IRNA news agency. The new generation in this region seeks justice and rejects domination.Mottaki also said Iran will study the idea of setting up a U.S. interests section office in Tehran if there is a formal U.S. request to do so, after nearly three decades without diplomatic ties.Obama and his senior commanders were to meet in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Obama promised during the campaign to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office and said in Tuesday's speech that he would begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people.We feel that we are liberated with Obama's victory, said Ahmed Araak, a 53-year-old retired teacher in Iraq.Israelis were also watching for Obama's first moves in the Middle East. Israel's military completed a withdrawal from Gaza Wednesday, reflecting its hopes of defusing that crisis before Obama took office. Some Israelis were wary during the campaign that Obama would be less supportive than Bush.Prominent commentator Nahum Barnea wrote in Israel's Yediot Ahronot daily that one of the first stops in Obama's foreign policy would be Iran, also a pressing issue for Israel, which fears Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.If Obama succeeds by diplomatic means in closing down the Iranian nuclear project, more power to him, Barnea wrote. If he fails, his willingness to act by less diplomatic means will be tested.A newspaper in U.S. ally Saudi Arabia said the Middle East should not expect Obama to solve every problem. Yesterday was a day of hope, a day to dream. Today, the crowds have gone, the flags have come down, but, half a world away, Gaza still smolders, insurgents still plot in Iraq, the Taliban grow stronger in Afghanistan, read an editorial in the English-language Arab News. It is time for Obama to get down to work, to deliver on the promises he made, the hopes he kindled.A Jordanian doctor of Palestinian origin said the moment was right for the Middle East to take steps to build better ties with the United States. Arabs, both ordinary people and their leaders, should stop their defiance and insults of the U.S., said Jihad Barghouti. Associated Press writers around the Middle East and in Pakistan contributed to this report.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH
http://www.pmw.org.il/

YAHOO NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video

MIDEAST CONFLICT NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/1874;_ylt=A0wNcxFdg6xIgbkAwD6z174F

ABC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461

FOX NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3074

FOX BUSINESS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3045

AP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2529

BBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2918

REUTERS VIDEO NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2704

AFP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3091

CNBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3245

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS WED JAN 21,2009

09:30 AM +47.67
10:00 AM +134.13
10:30 AM +94.07
11:00 AM -5.02
11:30 AM +43.57
12:00 PM +58.78
12:30 PM +80.61
01:00 PM +98.29
01:30 PM +49.22
02:00 PM +124.25
02:30 PM +137.47
03:00 PM +194.42
03:30 PM +199.92
04:00 PM +279.01 8228.10

S&P 500 840.24 +35.02

NASDAQ 1507.07 +66.21

GOLD 854.40 -0.80

OIL 44.08 +3.24

TSE 300 8751.38 +246.45

CDNX 851.55 -5.13

S&P/TSX/60 526.61 +16.67

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

Dow +133 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow +133 points at high today so far.
Dow +46 points at low today so far.

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -9.43%
S&P -10.85%
Nasdaq -8.63%
TSX Advances 381,declines 781,unchanged 230,Volume 857,946,351.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 263,Declines 423,Unchanged 299,Volume 99,661,757.

Oil $41.41 at open,Gold $856.30 at open.
yesterday another 7 Rockets went into ISRAEL from Hamas,totaling 10,633 since 2001.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS

Dow +158 points at high.
Dow -11 points at low.
TSX STATS 12:00PM
Advances 399,Declines 513,Unchanged 219,Volume 321,029,687.
TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE 12:00PM
Advances 207,Declines 216,Unchanged 233,Volume 41,058,991.
NASDAQ STATS 12:00PM
Volume 735,163,340.
DOW STATS 12:00PM
Volume 135,107,448.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS

Dow high today +293 points.
Dow low today -11 points.
Dow +3.5% today Volume 408,930,656.00
Nasdaq +4.6% today Volume 1,940,289,097.00
S&P 500 +4.4% today Volume N/A.
Nasdaq still on pace for biggest weekly drop since week ending NOV 11,2008.
Dow,S&P,Nasdaq up for 3rd time in last 4 sessions.
Stocks up in Volatile session.
Commodities outperforming stocks today.
Financials lead market comeback today.
Major averages lose ground,than rebound during afternoon.

TAPPING THE TARP
-More than 200 Publicaly traded Banks have recieved a total of $191.5 BILLION.
-Nearly half ($90 BILLION)has gone to Citigroup and Bank of America (BofA).
TARP MONEY PAYOUTS
-Citigroup $45 BILLION,Aig $40 BILLION,Wells Fargo $25 BILLION,JP Morgan $25 BILLION,BOFA/Merrill $25 BILLION.

KEYS TO PROSPERITY

God's Economy Vs World's Economy
Greek - Oikonomia OIKO (HOUSE) + NOMOS (LAW)= STEWARD WHO RAN THE HOUSE.

LUKE 16:1-13
1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
5 So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?
6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?
13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

GM falls behind Toyota in annual global sales By BREE FOWLER, AP Auto Writer JAN 21,09

NEW YORK – Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. sold more cars and trucks last year than General Motors Corp., stripping the Detroit automaker of the No. 1 global sales crown. But it's a victory made hollow by the overall industry's continued struggle for viability amid one of its worst sales declines ever.GM said Wednesday it sold 8,355,947 cars and trucks around the world in 2008, falling about 616,000 vehicles short of the 8.972 million Toyota announced Tuesday.Toyota's move into the top sales spot wasn't a huge surprise. The automaker nearly topped GM in 2007, selling only about 3,000 less vehicles than the U.S. company did that year.Mike DiGiovanni, GM's executive director of global market and industry analysis, downplayed the significance of the drop to No. 2, saying that the automaker is focused on profitability rather than sales volume.I don't think being No. 1 in vehicle sales means much at all to the American consumer, DiGiovanni said in a conference call with analysts and automotive journalists. I think what matters most to the consumer is strong brands and strong products. And the key thing right now with what the industry is going through now is viability and profitability.DiGiovanni said all automakers are currently facing risks and challenges not seen since the Great Depression, and pointed out that even Toyota expects to post an operating loss for the current fiscal year — the Japanese automaker's first in 70 years.Toyota's overall global sales fell 4 percent for the year, marking that automaker's first decline in a decade. The Japanese automaker has cut production in both North America and Japan in order to align its product offerings with slowing consumer demand.

GM posted an 11 percent drop in global sales for the year, which it linked to the steep drop in vehicle demand in its key North American and European markets, where Toyota doesn't have as large of a presence. North American sales dropped 21 percent for the year. GM Europe sales fell 6.5 percent, including a 21 percent plunge in the fourth quarter amid the global market meltdown.Those declines were partially offset by a 3.2 percent increase in sales at its Latin America, Africa and Middle East region and 2.7 percent growth in Asia Pacific sales. Sales outside of the United States accounted for 64 percent of GM's global sales in 2008, up from 59 percent the year before.DiGiovanni said Toyota's move to the top of sales rankings doesn't necessarily signal a turning point in the industry. He said it's entirely possible that GM could regain the No. 1 spot once U.S. and European markets recover and sales in key emerging markets pickup.That story has yet to be written, DiGiovanni said. Nobody knows what's going to happen.But first GM has to figure out how to survive long enough to take back its crown. The struggling automaker, which has closed plants and laid off workers to cut production as it faces the worst U.S. auto market in more than 25 years, received a $13.4 billion lifeline from the federal government last month. But the bailout engineered by the former administration requires GM to achieve viability by March 31. The loan may be called back if the government determines GM hasn't met that goal.GM shares fell 29 cents, or 8.3 percent, to $3.21 in midday trading, while Toyota's U.S. shares slipped 5 cents to $65.83.

North American markets open on positive note
Canwest News ServiceJanuary 21, 2009 7:13 AM

North American markets opened up Wednesday Obama optimism and an upbeat profit outlook from IBM.North American markets opened higher Wednesday on an upbeat profit outlook from computer-service provider International Business Machines Corp. and optimism a bank-rescue plan from U.S. President Barack Obama will shore up financial companies.The S&P/TSX composite index was trading up 38.3 points to 8,543.3 after the 9:30 open, while the Dow Jones industrial average was up 85.1 points to 8,034.8.

The Canadian financials subindex was trading flat, although bank stocks were up sharply on the Dow, as sentiment shifted from current weakness in European banks to the prospects for the new American president’s plans to rescue ailing U.S. financial institutions.The energy sector was up slightly, with the March contract for crude oil up $0.14 to $40.98.Gold stocks slipped, with the February contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange for bullion trading down $5.40 US to $849.70 an ounce.

European stocks were mixed, with London’s FTSE down 31.14 points to 4,060.26, the CAC down 10.28 points to 2,915 and Germany’s DAX up 21.62 to 4,261.50.Asian stocks ended lower, with Japan’s Nikkei shedding 2.04 per cent, or 164.15 points, to 7,901.64, and China’s Hang Seng closing at 12,583.63, down 376.14 points, or 2.90 per cent.On Tuesday, North American markets closed sharply lower, with the TSX composite down 336.55, or 3.81 per cent, to 8,504.93. The Dow Jones industrial average closed off 332.13 points, or 4.01 per cent, to 7,949.09.

European stocks recover losses ahead of US open By CARLO PIOVANO, AP Business Writer JAN 21,09

LONDON – European stocks recovered some of their earlier losses Wednesday on expectations of a higher open on Wall Street, with increases in technology shares offsetting some of the gloom in the banking sector.But even as President Barack Obama assumed power Tuesday vowing to begin the work of remaking America, which includes a massive economic stimulus package, investor sentiment was fragile with fears that mounting bank losses could deepen the world economic downturn.In Britain, where record losses at Royal Bank of Scotland have raised concerns of a nationalization of more banks, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 1.1 percent at 4,045.80. Germany's DAX was 0.1 percent higher at 4,243.45, while France's CAC 40 dropped 1.1 percent to 2,891.86. All three indexes were at least 2 percent in the red in earlier trading.The recovery was helped by Wall Street futures, which suggested U.S. markets would be higher Wednesday. Dow futures were up 48 points at 7,993 while S&P500 futures were 7.6 points higher at 8013.60.Those increases, however, would make up only a fraction of the 4 percent the Dow shed Tuesday, its worst ever showing for an Inauguration Day.In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down 2 percent at 7,901.64, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 2.9 percent to 12,578.58.

Risk aversion will not go away, said Simon Smollett, a senior strategist at Calyon in London. We are still waiting for European stock markets to close above their previous days high. So far it has not been since Jan. 6, he noted.With company and economic prospects seeming to darken by the day, hopes are fading the new U.S. government can bring about a quick recovery in the world's largest economy with the reconstruction promised in Obama's inaugural speech.While it was a great day to hope, and fun to watch a part of history, investors are very much in tune to the reality that there is not a lot this new president can do to help Asia, or the world, let alone the United States, in the very near term, said Kirby Daley, senior strategist at Newedge Group in Hong Kong.Corporate news was mixed Wednesday, with technology shares offsetting steep declines in bank stocks.Sweden's LM Ericsson posted a 31 percent drop in fourth quarter profits and announced 5,000 job cuts, but shares rose because the performance was better than market forecasts. Technology giant IBM Corp., meanwhile, provided a better-than-expected profit outlook for 2009.

Analysts say markets will be closely watching the earnings report from Apple Inc. for more direction later in the day.Among the banks, Barclays PLC was down a massive 15.6 percent on fears it may have to be bailed out by the British government and, like Royal Bank of Scotland, become partly nationalized.In Germany, the lender Hypo Real Estate said it would request an extra euro12 billion in loan guarantees from the state to survive the credit crunch. Better news came in France, where Societe General said it would make a euro2 billion profit in 2008 despite the rocky year.In Britain, official data showed unemployment reached a near 10-year high of 6.1 percent, while the Bank of England governor sounded a gloomy note in a speech late Tuesday, suggesting interest rate cuts may not be enough to help the economy. In fact, the government has this week cleared the central bank to buy assets as a policy tool in its latest bailout of the banking sector.The outlook for Asian companies also continued to deteriorate. Australia's BHP Billiton Ltd, the world's largest mining company, announced plans Wednesday to slash 6,000 jobs, or about 6 percent of its global work force, to cope with falling demand. In China, insurance heavyweight China Life warned its 2008 profit may be down more than 50 percent from the previous year.Singapore slashed its 2009 growth forecast for a second time this month, saying the economy could shrink as much as 5 percent.Benchmarks in South Korea and India retreated about 2 percent or more, Singapore's index was down 1.6 percent and Australia's stock measure lost 1 percent. Shanghai's main stock gauge was off around 0.5 percent, while Taiwan's stock measure inched modestly higher.

Joseph Yam, head of Hong Kong's de facto central bank, warned of a second round in the financial crisis. The effect of this round will be even more widespread and have a huge impact on the world's financial markets, said Yam, who leads the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. We have a difficult year ahead.Oil prices rose slightly, with light, sweet crude for March delivery up 72 cents to $41.56 in European trade. The contract fell $1.53 to settle at $40.68 overnight, with the February contract expiring Tuesday. The pound was near 7 1/2 year lows against the dollar at 1.3778. The dollar traded higher against the yen, at 90.01 yen compared with 89.87 yen late Tuesday. The euro rose to $1.2913 from $1.2876. AP Business writer Jeremiah Marquez contributed to this report.

EU states approve Latvia bail-out
ANDREW WILLIS 20.01.2009 @ 17:47 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU finance ministers formally agreed a €3.1 billion aid package for Latvia on Tuesday (20 January) at a meeting in Brussels. The loan is part of a €7.5 billion package of assistance to support Latvia over the medium term that also includes €1.7 billion from the International Monetary Fund.Further contributions to the package come from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other European countries: Denmark, Estonia, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic, which currently chairs the EU's six-month rotating presidency. Speaking at a press conference, Czech finance minister Miroslav Kalousek said he was heartened to see that EU member states had shown solidarity towards a fellow member state. The Latvian economy and financial markets have experienced major turmoil in recent months, with rising public debt and decreasing foreign currency reserves severely undermining business confidence in the Baltic state. The EU loan will be made available over a three-year period and conditional on measures being taken to restore long-term stability. EU finance ministers also discussed the economic slowdown in light of new figures released by the commission on Monday.

Economic and monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia said both stimulus plans and interest rate cuts had a role to play in securing economic recovery but that the nature of stimulus plans would vary from state to state.

Public finance health at risk

Ministers also agreed that their attention should now turn to the successful implementation of the current stimulus plans as further spending packages would threaten the long-term stability of Europe's public finances. These fiscal stimulus plans have limits, Mr Kalousek told journalists. Despite calls for fiscal responsibility however, the French government announced plans on Tuesday for a €5 billion to €6 billion rescue plan for the country's automobile sector.French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in Paris that the government intended to provide massive support for its three main car manufactures, which have been hit hard by the current slowdown. Likewise, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled a new support plan for British banks on Monday. But the move failed to prevent large falls on European stock exchanges as markets reacted to news that the Royal Bank of Scotland may post record losses of €31 billion (£28bn). On Monday, commissioner Almunia said the British economy was amongst the most exposed to the current financial crisis.

Eastern Europe risks further riots as economic crisis bites
LEIGH PHILLIPS 20.01.2009 @ 18:12 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Civil unrest is spreading in eastern Europe as the economic crisis hits the region harder than western states, with anti-government riots kicking off in Lithuania and Bulgaria in recent days and with Estonia and Hungary at risk.On Friday (16 January), demonstrators attacked the Lithuanian parliament building in Vilnius with stones, smoke bombs, eggs and ice, breaking windows and calling on the government to resign.Police dispersed the crowds - estimated to number some 7,000 according to authorities, with tear gas and rubber-tipped bullets -while Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius to hold called an emergency cabinet meeting. A total of 86 individuals were arrested.Organised by the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation, the protest denounced public sector wage cuts and increases in taxes aimed at aiding the country's battered economy.The violent protests come two days after similar events shook Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, and follows on from riots protesting International Monetary Fund (IMF)-agreed austerity measures in Latvia earlier in the week.

In Sofia last Wednesday some 2,000 students, farmers and green activists also took up stones, snowballs and bottles against their parliament building and demanded the government resign. A total of 150 were arrested and around 30 injured.Last week also saw saw the biggest protest Latvia has witnessed since the demonstrations that led to the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. A crowd of young people broke away from around 10,000 peaceful protesters, overturning a police van and breaking windows at the finance ministry.Lithuanian President Adamkus has suggested that the Vilnius riot was organised by outside elements.The idea arises that disturbances are organised from the outside. They started in Estonia with the Bronze Soldier, he said according to the ELTA news agency. Then followed the event in Riga, and today it was Vilnius. It makes one think about certain sorts of thoughts.The Bronze Soldier riots broke out in 2007 after Tallinn moved a Soviet-era WWII memorial, amid accusations that clashes between ethnic Russians and Estonians were organised by the Kremlin.

Greek inspiration

But Latvian officials dismiss the idea that the protests are anything other than citizens frustrated at the collapse of their economies.It was just spontaneous, Inese Allika, Latvian diplomat, told the EUobserver. Latvians are normally very quiet, and people obviously are seeing what is happening in other countries in the rest of Europe, such as Greece, and they thought Why are we so calm? There had been a huge economic boom in recent years, then all of a sudden, everything stops.The riots are not isolated events but a wave of predictable reactions to the economic crisis, Dorothee Bohle, a political scientist at the Central European University in Budapest told this website.After a few years of relatively high growth and social advancement, it's all come to an abrupt end and they've been slapped with a very harsh austerity package, she said. This is essentially a return of the IMF riots we were used to from Latin America in the eighties and nineties.In mid-December, the head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, warned such civil disturbances were likely.

Social unrest may happen in many countries – including advanced economies, as a result of the crisis, he said at the time.

Hungary next?

Estonia could also be hit by the unrest, despite holding relatively high currency reserves, and Hungary is deeply unstable, the expert warned.While Hungary has not hit the headlines in recent weeks, this is only because the country hasn't really stopped having riots since 2006. It keeps coming back sporadically. During national holidays, there has been street fighting regularly since 2006.In Hungary, as in Greece - where a police shooting sparked violent protests in December - the riots have unique domestic political reasons that combine with the wider economic background, Ms Bohle explained.In Hungary's case, it was the prime minister's being caught lying that social supports could continue and then delivering an austerity package, she said. [There is] a mistrust and lack of legitimacy in the government. On top of this is the existence of the far right, which may make it into parliament. Hungary is deeply politically unstable.

EU cannot trust Russia or Ukraine, Barroso says
PHILIPPA RUNNER 20.01.2009 @ 17:40 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The leaders of Russia and Ukraine are less trustworthy than some African countries, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Tuesday (20 January), as Russian gas finally began to arrive in EU states after a 13-day freeze.I was very disappointed in these past few days by the way the leadership in those countries negotiates, the commission chief said, after making more than 30 personal telephone calls to Moscow and Kiev during the gas dispute.I've been involved in mediation processes since I was young, including in African matters. It's the first time I saw agreements that were systematically not respected, he added.Gas coming from Russia is not secure. Gas coming through Ukraine is not secure. This is an objective fact.The withering remarks come after Russia's Gazprom on Tuesday morning began pumping the normal amount of gas - 424 million cubic metres a day - to Ukraine and initial deliveries arrived in Hungary and Slovakia hours later.The resolution of the gas crisis will see Kiev pay double for gas in 2009 compared to 2008, with Brussels hoping the deal does not fall apart amid mounting political and economic turbulence in Ukraine.This very peculiar episode is over. Let's hope it's over, Mr Barroso said.Apart from pushing for new pipelines and EU energy solidarity investments, the commission indicated the gas dispute could provoke legal action against Russia and Ukraine under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), a 1994 multilateral pact. There is an Energy Charter Treaty that was signed but not ratified by Russia [and] a charter treaty signed and ratified by Ukraine. So here we have ...some public responsibilities in terms of international law, Mr Barroso explained.We were preparing [legal] action for today, in case the gas was not coming back.

Russia not bound by treaty

The Russian ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, rejected Mr Barroso's analysis and questioned the value of the ECT, however.We follow the principles of the treaty, but we are not bound by the obligations, he told EUobserver. After hearing for months and years of the need for Russia to ratify the treaty, we have seen that Ukraine, which has signed and ratified it, did not adhere to it in the crisis.The diplomat said the gas dispute is unlikely to influence EU-Russia talks on a new strategic partnership treaty, with business as usual going on despite Mr Barroso's harsh words.We will have our next working group on economic aspects in about 10 days' time and we'll see. We had one working group on different issues [justice and home affairs] this morning and it went well.The EU has no reason to distrust Russia, Mr Chizhov explained. As far as the EU-Russia relationship goes, I think the pattern of dialogue on energy issues has survived and has withstood the challenge.

Nord Stream to pump EU gas by 2011, Russia says
PHILIPPA RUNNER Today JAN 21,09 @ 13:58 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A major new gas pipe connecting Russia to Germany will be up and running by 2011 Russia predicts, with Paris expected to join Berlin in giving the scheme political backing inside the EU.The need to diversify routes of supplying gas from my country to EU member states has been underlined by this crisis, Russia's EU ambassador, Vladimir Chizhov, told EUobserver on Tuesday (20 January), as Russia's transit deadlock with Ukraine came to an end. The Nord Stream project will now be expedited and I believe that in early 2011 it will able to provide gas, he added.The land sections of this pipeline are already built and pipes are being produced on a daily basis for the underwater section. There are special ships needed to lay those pipes and they will start doing that as Spring comes.Nord Stream is to bring gas from the Shtokman, Yuzhno-Russkoye and Prirazlomnoye fields in Russia to Greifswald in Germany, from where it will branch out west.German firms E.ON and BASF are major shareholders in the venture. But Germany alone has failed to overcome political objections from eastern EU states, such as Poland and Lithuania, which fear Nord Stream will enable Russia to cut off their gas in the event of a bilateral dispute.It's a key Russian objective to bring France on board, to have a broad political coalition in Europe, not just Germany, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) expert Pierre Noel said.

I don't know if they escalated this [Ukraine transit] crisis intentionally, but they want to solidify links with key partners in France, Germany and Italy and I think this crisis will achieve this.French diplomats declined to comment on the favourability of Nord Stream, beyond saying the Ukraine crunch might speed up construction. But the prospect of French firms with strong ties to the Elysee Palace joining the project makes political backing more likely.We [are] interested in participation in Nord Stream under the condition we would be a partner and there would be contracts for extra gas supply in addition to whatever percentage we would have in the pipeline, a spokeswoman for Gaz de France told this website.French oil firm Total is already a major shareholder in the Gazprom-led consortium to develop the Shtokman field.

Russian circle closing

Russia believes the Ukraine crisis will also increase backing for its South Stream project to bring gas via the Black Sea to Bulgaria, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy. The South Stream countries, together with Germany, have become known as the Friends of Russia Club in Brussels diplomatic circles, for their track record of backing Russian interests inside the EU, by - for example - blocking previous EU conflict resolution schemes for Georgia.South Stream, when completed, together with Nord Stream, will provide a circle, a donut of energy security, Russia's Mr Chizhov said. If the circle is broken at one point for whatever reason, be it political, technical, natural disaster or even terrorist attack - God forbid - the rest of the circle will work.Meanwhile, the EU's plan to pump Caspian Sea basin gas directly to Europe via Turkey - the Nabucco project - is fraught with political problems despite support from the Czech EU presidency.

Caspian black hole

Nabucco is not commercially viable unless Turkmenistan joins EU-friendly dictatorship Azerbaijan to put gas into the pipe. But EU-Turkmenistan relations are in a black hole with Russian influence pervasive inside Ashgabat.The European Parliament remains unwilling to approve a basic EU trade agreement due to the country's egregious human rights record. The European Commission does not know if shootings in the country's capital last September, which killed around 40 people, were mafia-related or a failed coup. In this context, EU companies are happier to brave the Russian investment climate than to sign multibillion contracts to get Turkmen gas out of the ground. Turkmenistan is nowhere near building a commercial gas relationship with the EU, the ECFR's Mr Noel said.Correction: The orignal version of the article included Romania in the list of South Stream partner countries. In fact, Romania has not yet committed to the project.

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

Polish president won't sign Lisbon before Irish referendum
ELITSA VUCHEVA Today JAN 21,09 @ 09:10 CET

Poland will not complete the final step of ratification for the EU's Lisbon treaty until after Ireland has had its second referendum on the document, the Polish president has reiterated.While noting that his country does not intend to be an obstacle to the bloc's ratification of the text, Lech Kaczynski said he would only sign off on the treaty if Irish citizens say Yes in the new vote, expected in autumn.
In Ireland, the constitution requires a referendum and in a referendum, the majority voted against the Lisbon Treaty, Mr Kaczynski told foreign diplomats in Warsaw on Tuesday (20 January), Polish news agency PAP reports.It is the sacred right of the Irish nation, he added.The president's tough stance comes despite the Polish parliament's foreign affairs committee on Tuesday passing a resolution for him to yield.The parliament requests the president to respect the will of both houses of parliament and to finish the process of ratification as quickly as possible, the resolution - which is to be voted on in plenary on Thursday - says, according to Rzeczpospolita.The Polish president has in the past called the Lisbon Treaty a great new experiment that very much limits the unanimity principle by introducing the majority principle instead.One of his fellow Law and Justice party members in the Polish committee debate said Lisbon would open the door for Germans to sue Poland for war reparations.Besides Ireland and Poland, Germany - which is awaiting a ruling by its highest court on legal challenges to the text - and the Czech Republic have also not yet ratified the EU treaty.But speaking to MEPs on Tuesday, Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg said Czech ratification should take place soon.I am absolutely sure we will ratify, he said, adding: But I am not a member of the parliament and which day or which week of February exactly it will happen, I cannot tell you.

Irish changes to Lisbon vital for Czech ratification
VALENTINA POP 20.01.2009 @ 17:47 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The ratification of the Lisbon treaty in the Czech senate will be very problematic if the EU protocols promised to the Irish for a second referendum are not adopted, Ludek Sefzig, head of the EU affairs committee in the Czech senate told EUobserver.A former member of the European Parliament and currently a Czech senator from the conservative ODS party, Mr Sefzig was present on Monday (19 January) in Brussels at a joint debate with national parliaments on EU policies in the area of justice and home affairs.He said that the Czech parliament had paused the ratification of the Lisbon treaty due to some procedural issues in both chambers relating to the legislature's power to appeal at the European Court of Justice.We interrupted our ratification procedure because we have more time for discussions now after the Irish No and we prepare our own rules of procedure in both chambers. We will continue the ratification procedure in two months. During this time we will finish our amendments, Mr Sefzig explained.The issue at stake was the transfer of powers, especially in the area of justice and home affairs, from national to an EU level, where Mr Sefzig as well as other senators feared that decisions could be taken behind closed doors and without parliamentary control.In the staging rules of both our chambers we don't have an article about the possibility to send problems of subsidiarity to the European Court of Justice, he added.We can use this time to explain better to the people and the representatives of both chambers what these changes mean. A very big number of MPs, especially in the Senate, are against the Lisbon treaty because they don't see it as a way forward to closing the democratic deficit and they consider the Nice treaty as being more democratic than the Lisbon treaty, Mr Sefzig pointed out.When asked why the Czech government didn't negotiate a better deal when the treaty was agreed, Mr Sefzig answered that the Czech parliament was not fully satisfied with the deal obtained by the government. Yet the Senate was willing to support and adopt the Lisbon treaty, if the protocols promised in December to the Irish were adopted and valid for all member states, he said. Otherwise, it will be very problematic to adopt the Lisbon treaty in the Czech senate, Mr Sefzig warned.

States should have paused ratification after Irish No

In his personal view, it was a matter of basic solidarity with the people of Ireland to pause the ratification procedure after the No-vote and to wait for a new Yes, Mr Sefzig added. Sweden didn't interrupt [the procedure], but we did. It's just my personal view, and I know that our government will put pressure on members of both chambers to ratify the treaty, he said.To the former Czech MEP, it was an undemocratic approach to put Ireland in the corner after the negative referendum, unlike France and the Netherlands, who also voted against the previous version of the Lisbon treaty in 2005. Back then, the process was stalled and the treaty was re-negotiated by all member states.The weight of the Irish referendum is not [being put] on the same scale as the votes in France and the Netherlands, he explained.

Meanwhile, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg told MEPs on Tuesday that he was rather optimistic the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in the Czech Republic would happen soon.I am absolutely sure we will ratify. But I am not a member of the parliament and which day or which week of February exactly it will happen, I cannot tell you, he said.

German constitutional court to examine Lisbon treaty
HONOR MAHONY Today JAN 21,09 @ 17:39 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Germany's constitutional court is preparing for an unusually long hearing on the EU's Lisbon treaty in a process that will help determine the fate of the document across the European Union.Over two days next month (10-11 February) the court's judges will discuss whether the treaty breaches Germany's constitution.The time the court has allotted for the debate is exceptionally long. According to Focus magazine, it only happens once or twice in a decade that the court gives more than one day for a hearing.The court is considering a complaint brought by conservative MP Peter Gauweiler, who has argued that the treaty infringes on the rights given to German citizens in their country's constitution by allowing a foreign court - the European Court of Justice - to decide upon such issues.He also argues that the treaty undermines the power of Germany's own parliament, the Bundestag.Dietrich Murswiek, the lawyer handling the case for Mr Gauweiler, also remarked on the hearing's length: This shows that the constitutional court is taking the issue very seriously. A hearing of longer than a day happens very rarely.

Although Germany's parliament has ratified the treaty and the president has signed it off, the final step to complete the process – formally handing the papers over in Rome – will remain stalled until the court has decided.But the fate of the treaty, which has to be ratified in all 27 member states to come into force, remains in the balance in three additional countries. The Czech Republic, Poland and Ireland also have yet to complete ratification. The Czech parliament is due to debate the charter at the beginning of February. If it passes parliament, it then faces another hurdle in the shape of the country's eurosceptic president, Vaclav Klaus, who must also give his approval.Ireland is having another go at ratifying the treaty after it was rejected by Irish citizens last June. The second referendum will take place in the autumn. The result will directly influence Poland's treaty situation. Polish President Lech Kaczynski has said he will only give the nod to the treaty if Ireland's referendum produces a Yes vote.

EU announces maritime transport strategy
ANDREW WILLIS Today JAN 21,09 @ 17:48 CET

EU transport commissioner Antonio Tajani launched proposals for a new maritime transport strategy on Wednesday (21 January) at a time when the sector faces stiff competition during the economic downturn. The financial crisis and its impact on the maritime transport sector demands decisive action. We need to look ahead and provide answers to the many challenges we face today, said Mr. Tajani. Under the new proposals, measures simplifying customs procedures will be adopted this year and guidelines aimed at accelerating plant and animal checks will also be published.

Eighty percent of world trade is currently carried out across the seas, with the EU the world's largest exporter and second largest importer. The 1986 Single European Act paved the way for a single market in Europe, yet the shipping industry has long complained that barriers and excessive red tape still exist. These have resulted in increased costs and time delays, forcing producers to opt for land transportation.

The proposals have been welcomed within the sector.

We welcome the new EU strategy as a positive step for European shipping, Knud Pontoppidan, executive director of A.P. Moller-Maersk said in a statement to this website. A.P. Moller-Maersk is the parent company of Maersk Line, the current market leader in container shipping. We are also pleased that the strategy reflects the recommendations that the industry has put forward, said Mr Pontoppidan, who was rapporteur for an industry expert group widely consulted by the commission while drafting the plans. Soaring commodity prices and world food shortages resulted in a boom period for shipping companies in 2007 and early 2008, with record prices being charged. But the financial crisis and ensuing economic downturn has placed the sector, which currently employs over 1.5 million people in Europe, under severe strain.Jan Fritz Hansen, executive vice-president of the Danish Shipowners' Association, remained positive however: We could come out the other side stronger, he said to this website in an interview, predicting further consolidation and new growth opportunities for those companies that do survive. In Europe, the competition keeps us on our toes, he said, pointing out that the Jones Act in the United States, legislation that limits foreign company participation in coastal transport, was frequently blamed for industry's poor international performance. The new commission framework also stresses the importance of making maritime jobs more attractive to young people by improving life-long career prospects. Likewise, it wants to promote greener solutions in maritime transport, safer working conditions for seafarers and stresses the need for an international regulatory framework for shipping so that all companies operate under the same rules. Regulation needs to take place on a global basis, said Mr Hansen, suggesting that the International Maritime Organisation was the correct body to carry this out, backed up by commission support. The proposed strategy and ways to implement it will be discussed at a high-level European conference later this year.

Croatia's EU timetable threatened by border dispute
ELITSA VUCHEVA Today JAN 21,09 @ 18:02 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Croatia's on-going border dispute with Slovenia must be solved within the next few weeks or the country is unlikely to conclude EU talks by the end of the year as planned, the MEP in charge of the dossier has warned.In his report on Croatia's EU progress, approved by deputies in the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee on Wednesday (21 January), Austrian Socialist MEP Hannes Swoboda says that the goal of concluding negotiations in 2009 can be achieved, provided the government of Croatia steps up its efforts to address some of the more sensitive issues linked with the accession process, including fighting organised crime and corruption.But the MEP told this website that although in the official report we want to give a clear message that this is still possible, in reality this date is becoming increasingly difficult to reach.Only if the border issue is solved in the coming three to four weeks, then it is possible. Because otherwise, technically there is not enough time to deal with the issues of the chapters.To solve the border issue, let's say by September, it's not possible, because it will be too late ... More or less all the chapters must be opened [within three to four weeks],he added, while admitting that breaking the deadlock in such a short time would be 70–80 percent not possible.Slovenia and Croatia have been fighting over their common border since they each broke away from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

A particularly thorny issue is a share of the Adriatic Sea close to the Slovenian city of Piran, which would secure Slovenian ships direct access to international waters.Slovenia blocked accession talks with EU candidate Croatia in December, arguing that maps that Croatia had provided during its accession process could prejudge a solution to their long-running dispute.As of now, Croatia – an EU candidate since 2004 and aiming to become full EU member by 2011 at the latest – has opened 22 chapters of the 35 contained in its accession package, and closed seven.

Referendum – an unacceptable threat

Recently, Slovenia also raised the threat of a referendum on Croatia's EU membership if the border issue is not solved – a move strongly criticised by the Austrian MEP.

The threat is absolutely counterproductive. Already now with the very negative or relatively negative attitude of Slovene population – if we can believe opinion polls – I have to see [the idea] very critically, Mr Swoboda said.Last week, an opinion poll showed that 47.5 percent of Slovenians would vote against Croatia's EU entry if a referendum takes place, while 36.8 percent would support it.It is not possible for a member country [of the EU] to block the neighbour's inclusion in the EU by referendum. It's not a way to deal with these issues. he added.

EU ready to help

Meanwhile, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn indicated the EU would be ready to provide assistance to solve the continuing problem between the two neighbouring countries.If both think that some kind of European facilitation can be productive or helpful, then the commission is ready to consider such a possibility, Mr Rehn stated on Wednesday after meeting Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor in Ljubljana.The commissioner told journalists that he had come to Slovenia to present some initiatives that could lead to the solution of the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia, but did not give any more details, AFP reports.Mr Pahor said his government would study the proposals, but added Slovenia was not ready to unblock Croatia's EU accession negotiations at this stage.

PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS

JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME

PSALMS 14:1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

ISAIAH 53:4
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

MATTHEW 9:34
34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.

JOHN 8:41
41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

JOHN 10:20
20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?

PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11(JESUS GETS REVENGE)
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.(JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST AND FOR SINNERS, THE GREAT WHITE THRONE FINAL JUDGEMENT).

WE ARE CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE TREATED THE SAME.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5 (WHY WE ARE PERSECUTED BY THE WORLD)
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

MATTHEW 5:10-12
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

MATTHEW 24:9
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

JOHN 15:18-20
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me (JESUS) before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain(BEHEADED) for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

3 heads found in ice box in northern Mexico Tue Jan 20, 11:43 pm ET

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – Prosecutors say three heads were found in an ice box south of Ciudad Juarez, which lies across from El Paso, Texas.The local prosecutor's office says the heads belonged to three unidentified men and were found in a rural town about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Ciudad Juarez.A headless body was discovered in a canal a few miles (kilometers) away.The prosecutors' statement said Tuesday that the body might belong to one of six police officers kidnapped over the weekend. The heads of four of the officers had previously been found.Mexico's drug war has brought a surge in violence, with more than 5,300 gang killings reported in 2008. Gangs sometimes behead rivals or enemies and leave warning notes with the remains.

LOOK AT THE MIRACLES GOD IS DOING WITH PEOPLE THESE DAYS FIRST IN NY WITH THE MIRACLE SURVIVAL OF THE PEOPLE IN THE PLANE CRASH AND NOW THIS STORY.KING JESUS IS AWESOME.

Men say bird vomit saved their lives in 25 days lost at sea: report Wed Jan 21, 2:41 am ET

SYDNEY (AFP) – Two men who spent 25 days lost at sea in a giant icebox survived their extraordinary ordeal thanks to rainwater from tropical storms and fish spat out by passing birds, a report said Wednesday.The men, who were rescued by helicopter on Saturday, are still being interviewed by Australian immigration officials, who are hoping to clarify how they came to be drifting in shark-infested waters off the country's northern coast.The pair told The Sydney Morning Herald they drank only rainwater and ate small fish regurgitated by seabirds after their Thai fishing boat broke up, possibly in Indonesian waters, in huge waves on December 23.

For 10 days, nothing to eat, one of the men told the paper through an interpreter.
Then two big seabirds came and vomited some small fish -- about six or seven little fish, and that's all.The pair, who are aged 22 and 24 and thought to be from Myanmar, said that 18 of their crewmates from Thailand and Myanmar were lost when the 10-metre wooden fishing boat went down.Australian officials, who have said it would be pointless to search for other possible survivors after such a delay, are questioning the men but have said it could take days to ascertain their nationality and immigration status.Meanwhile, doubts have surfaced about the men's seemingly incredible survival tale after they were released from a Queensland hospital on Tuesday.Doctor Paul Luckin, a Royal Australian Navy Reserve commander and survival expert, said only a regular supply of fresh water would have kept them alive.But for them to be able to capture rainwater in that esky (icebox) would mean the bottom of that esky would have to be fairly clean -- in other words free of saltwater and dead fish, he told national news agency AAP.It would be unlikely that they would travel in that esky for that time without a certain quantity of saltwater getting in.An unnamed source told The Australian that doctors felt the men were in remarkable condition, given their claimed exposure to the elements for almost a month.

There is no sunburn, no chafed lips, no discernible signs that the men were out there that long, the source said.But Peter Heath, general manager at the helicopter rescue company that picked the men up, said they were both dehydrated and at least one was suffering from ulcerations.The first one, as soon as the rescue crewman who was on the line got close to him, the bloke jumped at him, he told AFP. He really wanted to get out of there. And he was in reasonable condition.But he said the second man was wearing a lifejacket and floating in the water tied to the icebox -- which was roughly a metre high, a metre wide and two metres long -- when the helicopter arrived.He was a bit worse. He needed to be picked up fairly carefully. And he needed to have first aid once he was in the aircraft to stop him going into shock, Heath said.

DISEASES

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

Health Ministry: 2 Indonesians died of bird flu Wed Jan 21, 6:26 am ET

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Two Indonesians have died of bird flu, apparently after contact with sick chickens, raising the country's death toll to 115, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.A ministry statement said a 6-year-old girl in Bekasi, West Java, died on Jan. 2. She got sick after buying a chicken with her parents at a market and was hospitalized for a week.A 29-year-old woman died on Dec. 16 in Tangerang just outside the capital, Jakarta. She developed flu-like symptoms after visiting a market and died in a hospital five days later.Double laboratory testing confirmed they had the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, the statement said.Indonesia has regularly recorded human deaths from bird flu since the virus began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003. It first reported deaths from the disease in 2005.The World Health Organization — which bases its tally on national figures — put Indonesia's death toll from the virus at 113 out of 249 recorded fatalities worldwide, including three Chinese victims this year.In Beijing, the Health Ministry said Wednesday that a large-scale outbreak of bird flu was unlikely in China even though the country has reported four cases this month.The deaths were scattered across different provinces, were isolated, unrelated and did not show significant mutations of the H5N1 virus, the ministry said.There's no evidence of a possibility of a large-scale outbreak, the ministry said in a faxed statement to The Associated Press.

Bird flu remains hard for people to catch, but health experts worry it could mutate into a form that passes easily between humans, possibly triggering a pandemic that could kill millions worldwide.Indonesia is considered a potential hotspot for such a mutation, but the country's health minister has refused to share virus samples with the WHO for more than two years.She argues that pharmaceutical companies will use the samples to make vaccines that are ultimately unaffordable to her own people. Critics say Indonesia's policy is making it harder to see if the virus is morphing into a more dangerous form.

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Russia says old nuclear satellite poses no threat By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer JAN 21,09

MOSCOW – Russia's military said Wednesday that an old Soviet-built nuclear-powered satellite has spewed fragments in orbit, but insisted they do not threaten the international space station or people on Earth.The military's Space Forces said the decommissioned Cosmos-1818 satellite partially fragmented in July.Space Forces chief of staff Gen. Alexander Yakushin said in Wednesday's statement that the satellite's fragments remained on a high orbit far above that of the international space station. Yakushin added that the fragments do not pose any threat of radioactive contamination on Earth.The fragmentation was first reported earlier this month in NASA's newsletter Orbital Debris Quarterly News.The U.S. space agency's publication said the satellite released a cloud of dozens of small particles in the July 4 incident. It said the particles could be droplets of sodium-potassium coolant of the satellite's nuclear reactor, possibly released because of a breach in a coolant tube.

Space Forces spokesman Lt.-Col. Alexei Zolotukhin said the satellite's fragmentation was minor. Its cause remained unclear and it was impossible to determine what exactly broke off, he said in a telephone interview.Zolotukhin voiced skepticism about NASA's analysis of the debris, saying it appeared speculative.He said the satellite is orbiting at around 500 miles (800 kilometers) above Earth, compared with the international space station's orbit of 200 miles (300 kilometers). He said Space Forces has been checking the satellite's orbit daily.Zolotukhin said that other satellites orbiting Earth were not in danger because the Cosmos-1818's orbit had been chosen in such a way as to keep it away from other spacecraft.Zolotukhin said the Cosmos-1818 is expected to come down in 2045. He insisted the satellite would not cause radioactive contamination on Earth because it was designed to burn on re-entry.In 1978, the Soviet Cosmos-954 nuclear-powered satellite scattered radioactive debris over a lightly populated area of Northern Canada on its fiery re-entry, but caused no injuries.The Cosmos-1818 was launched into orbit in 1987 on a mission to track ships using a powerful radar scanning the ocean surface. It functioned for several months after the launch before going out of service.Its sister craft, Cosmos-1867, so far has circled Earth without incident, Zolotukhin said.

India test fires missile in province near Pakistan Tue Jan 20, 5:43 am ET

NEW DELHI – India tested its nuclear-capable Brahmos supersonic cruise missile Tuesday in a province bordering Pakistan, despite already tense relations with Islamabad following the Mumbai terror attacks, a news report said.India's Defense Minister A.K. Antony said the test was pre-planned and not directed at any country, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.New Delhi and Islamabad regularly test missiles, but normally only give each other prior notice for long-range launches. It was not immediately clear whether India informed Pakistan ahead of Tuesday's test.

Defense Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.The test comes amid increased tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.India says Pakistan-based militants plotted and executed the Nov. 26 Mumbai attacks that killed 164 people and has repeatedly insinuated that Pakistani intelligence agents were involved.The Brahmos missile, jointly developed with Russia, can carry a 440-pound (200-kilogram) nuclear warhead and has a maximum range of 180 miles (290 kilometers).Tuesday's test was carried out in the western desert state of Rajasthan that borders Pakistan, PTI said.The missile, which has already been test-fired more than a dozen times, can fly at 2.8 times the speed of sound and can be launched from land, ships, submarines and aircraft.India's missile arsenal also includes the short-range Prithvi missile, the anti-tank Nag missile, the short-range surface-to-air Trishul missile, and the medium-range Agni missile.

Report: NKorea could give up nukes for US ties JAN 21,09

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea is willing to give up its nuclear weapons if President Barack Obama agrees to conditions imposed by the communist regime, including establishing formal diplomatic relations, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper said.

The Japan-based Choson Sinbo paper — considered a mouthpiece of Pyongyang — said in a story posted on its Web site hours before Obama's inauguration Tuesday that the North was waiting to see what position the new president would take on the nuclear standoff.It is too early to predict whether the Obama administration will endorse the North's nuclear possession or try to realize denuclearization through normalization of relations, the paper said. But what is sure is that the North side is ready to deal with any choice by the enemy nation.The paper is closely linked to Pyongyang and its articles are considered a reflection of the North's positions.The U.S., South Korea, Japan, Russia and China have been trying for years to coax North Korea into giving up its atomic ambitions. Pyongyang agreed in 2007 to dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for aid, but the process has been stalled since August.

Last week, the North's Foreign Ministry said it would give up its nuclear weapons only if Washington establishes diplomatic relations with the regime and the U.S. ceases to pose a nuclear threat to the North — an apparent reference to Pyongyang's long-standing claim that American nuclear weapons are hidden in South Korea. Both Seoul and Washington deny the accusation.In its statement the ministry also rejected U.S. demands to verify its list of nuclear programs. The North wants verification to take place later in the disarmament process than the U.S. has requested.The pro-Pyongyang paper said Tuesday that the North put forward conditions for its nuclear abandonment ahead of the launch of the Obama administration, and it was now up to Washington to act. It appeared to be referring to last week's statement.Despite signs the North might warm to Obama, the main Rodong Sinmun newspaper called the U.S. bloodthirsty Wednesday in a routine commentary that accused Washington of planning to invade.Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency also briefly reported Obama's inauguration without giving any assessment of the new U.S. leader.

The North has ratcheted up tension on the peninsula in recent days, accusing the South of plotting war and warning it would respond to any South Korean aggression with one strike capable of annihilation.Analysts say the North's saber rattling is a well-timed negotiating tactic aimed at getting the new president's attention.Obama has said he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il if it helps the international process to disarm Pyongyang.

US consulate in Dubai trims services after warning By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 21, 5:42 am ET

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The U.S. consulate in Dubai was closed Wednesday to public business after a security alert from local authorities, but the top police official said an investigation found no direct evidence of a threat in the Gulf's commercial hub.The American decision to publicly acknowledge the warning could potentially upset Dubai's leaders, who are extremely sensitive about any hints of instability that could threaten the city's extensive business and property markets or its growing image as a luxury tourism destination.Dubai's police chief, Maj. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, told The Associated Press that security forces detained a Sudanese man on Tuesday following an anonymous telephone tip that he was planning some kind of action against the consulate.But there was no apparent plot uncovered after interrogating the suspect, said Tamim. He declined to give further details about the probe or whether the suspect remained in custody.A U.S. Embassy spokesman, Steven Pike, said the decision to temporarily scale back operations at the consulate was based on information from Dubai authorities, but declined to give further details.U.S. officials are continually reviewing the security situation and the consulate could resume normal operations Thursday, said Pike, speaking from the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Dubai.There have been no major terrorist incidents in the Emirates, but officials in neighboring Saudi Arabia have waged large-scale crackdowns on suspected al-Qaida networks and other militant groups there after attacks on foreigners in recent years.

In June, Britain raised its terror warning to the highest level for its citizens living in the Emirates, saying at the time that attacks could be indiscriminate and could happen at any time.The U.S. consulate, located in a Dubai high-rise tower that includes businesses and other diplomatic offices, was closed for American citizen services and visa interviews, said an announcement issued by the embassy late Tuesday.The statement did not elaborate on the nature of the security information. It was issued just hours after U.S. President Barack Obama took the oath of office.

There was no additional security visible around the Dubai tower that includes the consulate, and there was no public notification about any change in services.The embassy remained open for regular business and the Dubai consulate could provide emergency services for Americans if needed, Pike said.Dubai and Abu Dhabi are part of a confederation of seven city-states making up the United Arab Emirates, a close U.S. ally. Dubai is a major financial center in the Middle East and home to large numbers of expatriates from around the world.

US-UAE nuclear energy pact has messages for Iran By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 21, 3:05 am ET

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – An atomic energy deal between the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates, signed in the waning days of the Bush administration, could give Mideast nations a significant boost toward acquiring nuclear technology if Iran pushes ahead with its own ambitions.The pact signed last week in Washington can help the UAE become the first Arab nation to develop a nuclear power-generating industry as early as 2017, according to U.S. officials.The Bush administration has championed the agreement as a model for promoting peaceful nuclear energy, while guarding against weapons proliferation. The deal sets the legal groundwork for U.S. commercial nuclear trade with the UAE, which sits just across the Persian Gulf from Iran.But it also allows Gulf nations worried about Iran's nuclear program to send a signal to Tehran.The clear message to Iran is: If Tehran insists on pursuing its nuclear program, we (Arab countries in the region) are going to have one, although without enrichment, said Mustafa Alani of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center.

Arab states can no longer ignore nuclear technology. There is a huge nuclear technology gap between the Arab states and their neighbors such as Iran, Pakistan and Israel. We need to work to narrow this gap, Alani said.It is unclear if the Obama administration will stick with the deal or abandon it. Congress will either block or ratify the deal within 90 days.Under the deal, the UAE renounces the option of enriching uranium and producing nuclear fuel itself and instead would buy fuel from abroad for a reactor.Uranium enrichment can be used to produce nuclear fuel but can also generate the material needed for a nuclear weapon — which is why the United States and its allies are trying to get Iran to suspend its enrichment program.In Iran, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said the deal showed a U.S. double standard on nuclear technology, pointing to U.S. pressure on Tehran to limit its program.Iran says its program is aimed only at generating electricity and denies aiming to build a weapon.Currently, no Arab nation has a full-fledged nuclear energy program, though several — like Egypt — have small-scale research reactors. The U.S. signed a technology cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia last month that includes cooperation on a peaceful nuclear energy program. Egypt has also said it intends to develop a peaceful energy program and Washington has said it is willing to help.

Alani said importing nuclear technology does potentially give the UAE a chance to seek nuclear weapons capability in the long term should Iran develop an atomic bomb. The UAE has foresworn nuclear arms as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.If Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is going to collapse and Iran gets a bomb, then it will open the door for an arms race in the region, Alani said.The State Department says the United States would have grounds to scrap the agreement if the UAE reneges on its commitment not to engage in enrichment or reprocessing activities.

Iran condemns Canada’s support of Israel
Canwest News ServiceJanuary 21, 2009

Iranian students wave Palestinian national flags and the yellow banners of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group during a demonstration at Tehran University on Tuesday to celebrate Hamas' victory at the end of Israel's three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip. Iran on Tuesday formally rebuked Canada for its support of Israel.Photograph by: Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images, AFP/Getty Images

TEHRAN — Iran formally rebuked Canada's support of Israel Tuesday, summoning Canada's charge d'affaires in Tehran to hear Iran's displeasure in person, Iran's official news agency reported.The Islamic Republic News Agency said that James Carrick was called to meet with the Foreign Ministry to voice Iran's strongly worded protest over (Canada's) support for the Zionists' crimes and atrocities in Gaza.The agency said the rebuke was triggered by Canada's vote against a UN Human Rights Council resolution condemning Israel's actions in Gaza.During the meeting with Carrick, Iran's Foreign Ministry accused Canada of holding double standards and having a selective approach in dealing with human rights, said the news agency.The agency said Carrick would inform his country's officials of Iran's protest and views.
Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs could not be immediately reached for comment.
Israel has said it launched a three-week military campaign in Gaza in response to incessant rocket attacks.

OBAMA GETS IN OFFICIALY TODAY

PSALMS 20:1-9 PRAY THIS FOR ISRAEL EVERY DAY OF THIS WAR
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.
6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
9 Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.

ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.

Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.

ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.

HAMAS AT THERE WORST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UptNr0v1p3E

WAR COVERAGE
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Special/War/

Europeans seek ways to make Gaza truce last By GREGORY KATZ, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jan 19, 1:09 pm ET

LONDON – European nations accustomed to taking a back seat to the United States have taken a lead role in the bid to permanently quell the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.But a cease-fire offered by Hamas expires in six days, giving the effort to cobble together a more durable agreement little time to work.France, British, Germany, Spain and Italy leaders helped get the truce in place by offering technical help to prevent the arms smuggling that infuriates Israel and humanitarian relief to ease the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.Prime Minister Gordon Brown has offered Britain's Royal Navy to help interdict arms shipments bound for Hamas. Several European newspapers have reported, citing unnamed officials, that there are ongoing discussions about deploying a European Union force for the mission.

European Union officials announced Monday they will hold special talks Wednesday with Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and meet Sunday with foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority to discuss prospects for a permanent peace agreement.French officials said the time is right to move beyond the truce by organizing, within the next few weeks, an international conference with an eye toward a comprehensive peace settlement to resolve the underlying conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.It is urgent that a dynamic of negotiations is launched, said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier.The goal would be establishment of a Palestinian state, he said.German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has drafted a five-point plan he hopes will guide EU discussions on providing relief to Gaza and restarting a peace process.The draft, presented to EU leaders in Brussels and obtained by The Associated Press, says funding and aid such as food and medical supplies should be sent to Gaza. Steinmeier's plan also suggests a potential EU role with regard to opening of Gaza-Israel crossing points.Charles Heyman, a former Army officer and editor of Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, said he has been told by people with knowledge of the discussions that officials in Brussels are talking behind the scenes about the possibility of deploying an EU naval force to keep arms shipments out of Gaza. The goal is to prevent Hamas and other militant groups from being able to fire rockets into southern Israel with arms provided by Syria or other Hamas allies.The background talk is of a wider EU force, not just the British, Heyman said. There's no doubt the Royal Navy could help prevent weapons delivery, they have the vessels and the training, but it is a very difficult task. This is one of those desperate jobs where both sides will probably hate them for it.

He said the main danger for Royal Navy sailors and those from other European nations would be a breakdown in communications with the Israeli Navy.They will have to work out between them very effective rules of engagement and lines of command or it could go drastically wrong, he said.U.S. diplomats have also helped with key agreements in recent days, but their role has been muted, in part because of the impending transfer of power in Washington.Christiane Hohmann, an EU spokeswoman, said the top item on the EU agenda is to get desperately needed supplies of fresh drinking water and medical supplies into Gaza and to restore electricity there.Even for that you need a sustainable cease-fire, she said.Europeans are also seeking ways to keep Gaza's border crossings open to ease the humanitarian crisis confronting Palestinians. Germany is directly involved in this effort, with plans to send a team of experts to consult with Egypt about how to improve security at the country's tense border with Gaza. Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner said Germany plans to start the mission in the near future. But the border will remain under Egyptian, not European, control, said Ulrich Wilhelm, spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel. He said Germany could help Egypt with technical equipment and technical advice.

German officials are also proposing a possible EU role in opening the borders between Israel and Gaza. Turkey's top Middle East envoy, Ahmet Davutoglu, said Turkey is working quietly to try to reconcile Hamas and Fatah, the two bitterly divided Palestinian factions. He said this is the key to a durable peace.
Associated Press Writers Constant Brand in Brussels, Angela Charlton in Paris, Suzan Fraser in Istanbul and Geir Moulson in Germany contributed to this report.

EU: No Reconstruction Under Hamas Control
by Maayana Miskin JAN 19,09

(IsraelNN.com) Senior European Union official Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Monday that the EU would give humanitarian aid to Gaza, but would hold off on rebuilding the area entirely until Hamas is out of power. Rebuilding while Hamas is in power could be a waste of resources, Ferrero-Waldner implied. Speaking to the heads of foreign news agencies, she said, We don't want to go on to reconstruct Gaza every I-don't-know-how-many years... What we would like to see is a clear sustainable peace.

Several EU leaders have promised to help Israel fight weapons smuggling to Gaza along the Egyptian border. Residents of Gaza have to get involved in ending terrorism as well, Ferrero-Waldner suggested. We have been at the side of the Palestinian population always and we will be at their side, but at the same time it's also for the Palestinian population on both sides to say We want peace, she said.Officials in Hamas-run Gaza say approximately 1,200 residents were killed in the latest round of fighting, and $1.4 billion dollars of damage was done to buildings and infrastructure.

Arab League Pledges Aid
Arab League nations were quick to offer aid to Gaza. On Monday, less than two full days after fighting ended, Saudi King Abdullah promised his country would send $1 billion to the area.Arab leaders are discussing a proposed $2 billion aid package to Gaza. The discussions are taking place at a Kuwait City economic conference.Leaders slammed Israel at the conference. Syrian President Bashar Assad called Israel a terrorist state, and King Abdullah said Israel's attack on Hamas had been too harsh, adding that one drop of Palestinian blood i{ worth all the money on earth.

Livni after 10,000 Hamas Attacks: We Proved We Will Fight Terror
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu JAN 19,09

(IsraelNN.com) Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni announced Monday morning that the Cast Lead counterterrorist operation in Gaza proved that the Kadima-led government stood by its word to retaliate against Hamas rocket and mortar attacks following the elimination of any Jewish presence in the Gaza area in the summer of 2005.We said that Israel reserves the right to act and so we did, she said in an interview with Yaron Dekel's It's All Talk program on Voice of Israel government radio. Her reply came after Dekel asked her if the Disengagement program did not bring about the escalation of Hamas attacks on southern Israel.We said that Israel reserves the right to act and so we did.However, he did not press her to explain why the government did not carry out for three years the campaign that crippled Hamas, which began attacking Gaza Belt communities even before the IDF left the Gaza area following the expulsion of some eight thousand Jews from their homes, which were destroyed and then turned over to the Palestinian Authority.Even before Hamas took control of Gaza from the rival Fatah organization, the PA used the grounds of the destroyed Jewish communities as terrorist training bases.

At the time of the expulsion, then-Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, also of Kadima, warned that Israel would retaliate even if one rocket was fired on Israeli communities.Instead, Israel carried out a policy of restraint before carrying out a counterterrorist operation in the summer of 2006 and last year that had little long-term effect on rocket attacks, which actually escalated in number, range and capability with time. As of last month, more than 10,000 rockets and mortar attacks were registered, according to the Sderot Media Center.The Kassam rocket had a range of 8-9.5 kilometers (approximately 5-6 miles) until 2005, when the government carried out the Disengagement program, and 6-12.5 kilometers (up to 10 miles) since then.The government decision to act on its word came after Hamas fired longer-range Grad rockets, similar to Katyushas, that exploded in the populated port cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod and as far north as Yavneh, approximately 20 miles from Tel Aviv.

Livni, in her interview, defended the government decision to vacate the Gaza area, saying it was the right thing to do.

PA Internecine Killings Continued as War Raged
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz JAN 19,09

(IsraelNN.com) Even during the most intense Israeli offensives against the Islamist regime in Gaza, Hamas continued to hunt down, torture and kill members of its rival for political control, Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah organization. Hamas Hamas should understand our message, he warned.claimed it was only targeting traitors to the cause. Hamas, the Islamist movement backed by Iran in the Palestinian Authority, spent part of its resources during the course of Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza on attacking members of Fatah and other PA residents. On Monday, according to the PA-based Ma'an news agency, a Fatah spokesman announced that the movement had evidence of 16 murders of Fatah members, over 80 crippling shootings and hundreds of home imprisonments carried out by Hamas. In its announcement, Fatah called on Hamas and its members to heal the wounds and reinforce unity during the current ceasefire with Israel. The Fatah spokesman added that Abbas's PA faction will not allow further attacks on its people. Hamas should understand our message, he warned, adding that any more internecine violence against Fatah members would prevent any future dialogue between Hamas and Fatah. During the Gaza fighting, Hamas claimed it was only arresting collaborators, traitors and criminals. However, Fatah members received orders from the Hamas regime to remain in their homes and under curfew shortly after the Israeli offensive got underway in earnest. In a January 6, 2009, broadcast on Fatah-controlled PA TV, translated by Palestinian Media Watch, a well-known Arab singer said Hamas gangs of the anarchic security forces killed a relative of his. The father was killed right in front of his children, because he didn't stay at home after they placed him under house arrest, the singer said, he and everyone who belongs to Fatah.

The PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, also affiliated with Fatah, reported on January 9 on liquidations of Fatah members in the Gaza Strip by members of Hamas. The newspaper quoted a Gaza resident who claimed that Hamas gunmen killed her father and injured nine other family members, among them were three small children and two young people in critical condition....A Fatah leader in Gaza at the time said that the multiple murders and attacks on Fatah members was not part of an organized campaign by Hamas, but he also warned Hamas over the isolated incidents of murder.

As cease-fire holds, Gazans take stock of losses By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer JAN 19,09

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Gaza's only cement packing factory is now a giant scrap heap, its towering silo tilting precariously. The owner's villa was pounded by Israeli tank shells until it resembled Swiss cheese.With a cease-fire taking hold Monday, Gazans got their first close look at the widespread destruction across their crowded territory.The first estimates by independent surveyors said Gaza lost nearly $2 billion in assets during Israel's three-week war on Hamas, including 4,100 homes, about 1,500 factories and workshops, 20 mosques, 31 security compounds, and 10 water or sewage lines.Many Gazans seemed overwhelmed, saying they didn't even know where to start with the cleanup.East of Gaza City, a three-story apartment building owned by the Alami family had been shredded by tank shells.Iyad Alami, an accountant, said he was to have moved into the newly built third-floor apartment next month, after spending $50,000 on construction. He said he doesn't have the strength to think about rebuilding after saving for his new home for eight years.The situation is very hard, he said.Moussa Saber, a 64-year old economics professor, inspected his damaged Gaza City apartment for the first time Monday, glass shards crunching under his feet. He turned on the tap of the bathtub, and to his relief water came out. Yet his home is uninhabitable, with doors and windows blown out by bombings of Hamas' main government complex across the street.Saudi Arabia on Monday pledged $1 billion for Gaza's reconstruction, and the international community has promised massive help.

However, many here are skeptical money will actually arrive. They fear the rebuilding efforts will be held up by the bitter rivalry between Hamas and its moderate West Bank rivals led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Israel is also expected to keep tight control over the flow of financial assistance, to make sure aid money does not strengthen Hamas.Even those who have money to rebuild on their own can't get basic materials such as cement, wood or glass. Shortages were widespread in Gaza even before the war, due to the blockade on the territory imposed by Israel and Egypt after Hamas' violent takeover in June 2007.On Monday, the first full day of a mutual cease-fire, Gaza City almost appeared back to its chaotic normalcy, with cars backed up behind slow-moving donkey carts and Hamas police whistling and gesturing to keep traffic flowing across major intersections.Many people were busy cleaning up and collecting the basics.The muezzin of the Abbas Mosque in Gaza City's middle-class Rimal neighborhood wore plastic flip-flops and rolled up his pants as he shoveled debris from the sidewalk. Tow trucks moved flattened cars.Homeowners digging through rubble carried off vases, refrigerators, dishes and baby beds, some loading their goods into cars and trucks. Children carried plastic bags of scrap metal to be sold or recycled.Meanwhile, utility crews began planning repairs to electrical and sewage and water systems. A senior technician, Mofid Awad, said 80 percent of the electricity grid in Gaza City was damaged.Power, water and sewage systems had been badly disrupted even before the war, largely because of Israel's move in November to tighten the border to pressure Hamas to halt rocket fire on southern Israel. With little fuel coming in, water and sewage pumps broke down, and Gaza's main power station operated only intermittently, leading to widespread blackouts and shortages of running water. During the war, six water wells were damaged or destroyed, disrupting the flow of water to an additional 200,000 of Gaza's 1.4 million people, said Monther Shobak, a top official in Gaza's water authority. In the northern town of Beit Hanoun, close to the Israeli border, sewage seeped into the damaged water line. Shobak and Awad said they could restore water and electricity networks in a matter of weeks, provided Israel allows spare parts to be brought in. However, that's a big if. Even during the shaky six-month cease-fire that preceded the war, Israel eased the restrictions only slightly, reluctant to strengthen Hamas rule with a free flow of goods. Israel planned to keep tight control over what is allowed into Gaza. Authorities will wait for damage assessments by international aid groups and then consider requests. We are not looking to give Hamas a prize, said Peter Lerner, an official in the Israeli military. There are limits, and the priority is food supplies.

Even so, Hamas is hoping that a more permanent cease-fire deal under discussion will result in the opening of Gaza's crossing into Egypt. Overall, the damage so far amounts to about $1.9 billion, according to separate surveys conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and by a Palestinian economic development council that serves as a liaison between the Abbas government and donor countries. Both are based in the West Bank. Mohammed Shtayyeh, head of the development council, said damage to infrastructure alone amounted to about $200 million. Even under ideal conditions, with Israel and Egypt lifting the blockade and Hamas and Abbas settling their difference, rebuilding could take three to five years, he said. U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said told reporters at U.N. headquarters Monday that Gaza needs financial aid and U.N. staff in Gaza are trying to find out as much as they can about how great the damage is and how great the needs are.I think on the purely humanitarian and early recovery side ... it will be hundreds of million of dollars, he said, and no doubt the overall reconstruction costs will be numbered in billions of dollars, but I wouldn't want to put a figure on it beyond that.Abbas' prime minister, Salam Fayyad, on Monday urged Hamas to quickly form a joint government that would oversee the rebuilding. He argued that working together on reconstruction could pave the way for a broader power-sharing deal. However, Hamas appeared cool to the proposal, which would require it to relinquish substantial control over Gaza to its rivals. Instead, Hamas civil servants have started making the rounds, taking down names of Gazans who suffered losses — though the inspectors did not hold out a promise of financial aid. Despite the size of the destruction and despite the war, we are still functioning, said Ehab Ghussein, spokesman of Hamas' Interior Ministry. In Kuwait, Arab countries held an economic summit and discussed aid to Gaza. The Saudi king said his country's $1 billion donation would go to a proposed fund Arabs are setting up to rebuild the seaside territory. Kuwait's emir also announced that the oil-rich U.S. ally was making a donation of $34 million to the United Nation's agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees. However, Arab pledges of financial support to the Palestinians have not always materialized. For the Abu Jiba family, which lost its cement packaging factory and adjacent three-story villa during the final days of Israel's ground offensive, the political wrangling does not bode well. The family is out $10 million, the approximate value of the factory and the home. We don't know yet if they (government officials) will rebuild, or if it's just talk in the media, said Atta Abu Jiba, 24, a son of the owner. We have a government here and a government in Ramallah (in the West Bank), and we don't know whom to ask.Associated Press writers Diaa Hadid in Jerusalem, Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah contributed to this report.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press Weather JAN 19,2009

AccuWeather Snow accumulations in the Northeast reached between 1 and 2 inches Monday. Freezing fog was also reported in Lancaster, Pa.Showers and light snow drizzled on higher elevations in the South. A high pressure system over the Plains stoked strong winds, increasing fire threats on the dry land.The West Coast and Rocky Mountains saw seasonable temperatures and dry conditions.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Monday ranged from a low of minus 16 degrees at Cook, Minn., to a high of 87 degrees at Edinburg, Texas.On the Net:Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com National Weather Service: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov

2 dead in snowy, 40-vehicle highway crash in Md. Mon Jan 19, 5:40 pm ET

MYERSVILLE, Md. – A pileup of 35 cars and five tractor-trailers on a snowy Maryland highway killed two people Monday and seriously injured at least a dozen, state police said.Snow was at least partly to blame for the 12:30 p.m. crash on Interstate 70 near South Mountain in northwestern Maryland, said State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo. An inch-and-a-half of snow quickly fell around the same time as the pileup.

Twelve seriously injured people were taken to Washington County Hospital, Russo said.

Jessica Granek, 21, of Columbia, was driving west with three friends to go skiing at Whitetail as visibility was getting worse from the snow, which left a slushy mess on the ground.We started to see brake lights, and I saw a blue SUV turn hard and become perpendicular to the road, Granek said. That made everyone put their brakes on and (they) started sliding. We were fortunate to veer off the right side of road.She described a scene out of a movie or TV show with cars spinning out of control and kept getting nailed from every side. Cars veered off into a wooded area, and Granek saw a tractor-trailer that flew by everyone and went into the woods. An oil tanker jumped a guardrail.Somehow, Granek's car was untouched. When a tanker narrowly missed it, she and her friends ran into the woods away from the road. She called 911, and within minutes, emergency crews were on the scene.Granek and her friends were among 71 people, including infants and the elderly, who were taken to a Red Cross shelter in Washington County, said Julie Barr-Strasburg, executive director of the county's Red Cross chapter.

While about six people were able to leave because they lived nearby, others were waiting to retrieve their vehicles from the pileup, she said. The Red Cross was prepared to keep the shelter open until at least midnight, she said.We are in close contact with emergency management and we are hearing that it will be quite some time before the road is open, she said late Monday afternoon.Most of the people taken to the shelter suffered from bumps and bruises and were receiving first aid, she said.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH
http://www.pmw.org.il/

YAHOO NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video

MIDEAST CONFLICT NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/1874;_ylt=A0wNcxFdg6xIgbkAwD6z174F

ABC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461

FOX NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3074

FOX BUSINESS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3045

AP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2529

BBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2918

REUTERS VIDEO NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2704

AFP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3091

CNBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3245

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS TUE JAN 20,2009

09:30 AM -15.61
10:00 AM -155.31
10:30 AM -104.02
11:00 AM -170.07
11:30 AM -172.75
12:00 PM -153.32
12:30 PM -206.68
01:00 PM -178.20
01:30 PM -166.62
02:00 PM -218.60
02:30 PM -230.18
03:00 PM -267.05
03:30 PM -300.35
04:00 PM -332.13 7949.09

S&P 500 805.23 -44.89

NASDAQ 1440.86 -88.47

GOLD 857.40 +17.20

OIL 40.70 -1.77

TSE 300 8491.98 -349.50

CDNX 856.68 -16.27

S&P/TSX/60 508.84 -23.47

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

Dow -52 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -16 points at high today.
Dow -184 points at low today.
CHRYSLER and FIAT combine as one.
ISRAEL PULLS ALL TROOPS FROM GAZA BEFORE OBAMA TAKES OFFICE AT NOON TODAY.WHAT A SCAM, LISTENING TO AMERICA INSTEAD OF GETTING RID OF HAMAS TOTALLY.

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -5.64%
S&P -5.88%
Nasdaq -3.02%
MON JAN 19,2009 RESULTS
TSX Advances 622,declines 484,unchanged 218,Volume 353,247,479.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 307,Declines 312,Unchanged 275,Volume 72,711,416.
TSX 8841.48 -78.92
CDNX 872.95 +73.00
TSX 60 532.31 -6.17

INAUGURL STATS TODAY - HISTORY
-Biden sworn in before Obama at noon.
-12PM Obama takes Office.
-Estimated cost of Inaugurl this year $150-$170 MILLION dollars.
-Inaugural committee has 15,000-18,000 volunteers in Washington.
-13,000 MILITARY and Civilians are in the Parade.
-There are 432 Presidential Inaugurl Committee staff Members.
-58 Law enforcement and other agencies working on Security.
-8,000 DC officers on duty and those hired from around the country.
-Metro trains will carry 120,000 people an hour today.
-10 balls attended from 8PM to 2:30AM tonight.
-The 56th Parade starts at around 2:30PM today.
-First Inaugurl ball was held in 1809 for James Madison.
-Thomas Jeffersons Inauguration was the first in Washington.
-William McKinley's was the first Inauguration on film.
-Harry Truman had the first televised Inaugurl.
-Bill Clinton had the first Inaugurl ceremony on the Internet.
-William Harrison gave the longest speech at 8,445 words.
-George Washington's 2nd Inaugurl was the shortest at 135 words.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS

Dow -218 points at low today.
Dow -16 points at high today.

1:30PM STATS
TSX Advances 429,declines 640,unchanged 214,Volume 554,918,443.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 222,Declines 313,Unchanged 277,Volume 68,488,926.

Stocks Sink on Financial fears.
Major averages lower for 1st time in 3 sessions.
The treasury department has already disbursed $251.5 BILLION from Tarp fund.
$250 BILLION Tarp pledged to buy senior pref. Shares,warrants in Banks.
TARP overall proposal:Give small banks access to TARP,Treasury must develop foreclosure relief.
The house Stimulus plan would include $275 BILLION in new Tax cuts.

Chrysler/Fiat Alliance
-Fiat gets 35% of Chrysler.
-No Cash infusion.
-Access to Plants/Technology/dealers.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS

Dow -340 points at low today.
Dow -16 points at high today.
Dow -4.1% today Volume 417,435,178.00
Dow drops below 8000 points(7,949.09).
Dow touches lowest point since NOVEMBER 20,2008.
Dow has fallin 72% of the time on Inauguration day.
S&P 500 -5.2% today Volume N/A.
Nasdaq - 5.7% today Volume 1,873,979,044.00
Nasdaq touches lowest since DECEMBER 4,2008.
Barack Obama is the U.S.A 44th President.
Senator Kennedy Collapses and taken from Luncheon.
Senator Robert Byrd also left Luncheon due to incident or illness.
Stocks at 2 month lows today.
2 MILLION PACKED WASHINGTON MALL TO SEE OBAMA INAUGURATION.
Thats 1 out of 100 Americans seen the event.

NO OBAMINATION RALLY TODAY
Market Message:No stability w/out stability in Financials.
-Bonds rally,Commodites down.
-Street moves forward,bad Bank model.

BANKS TAKE BEATING
-Bank of America -28% today.
-Wells Fargo -24% today.
-JP Morgan -19% today.
-Citigroup -18% today.

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

World to collapse into several major blocs because of financial crisis
16.01.2009 Source: Pravda.RuPages: 1

The world will fall into several blocs, and countries will separate from each other after the crisis. It is also possible that they will unite in a joint effort to change the global economic system. Experts of the World Economic Forum developed four scenarios for the future long-term development of the world, The Vedomosti newspaper wrote. The world crisis is not going to end soon. The crisis has already made the world revise the grounds of the financial system, regulating agencies and the role of governments in the economy. The global financial system was growing for 20 years, but the crisis triggered the correction of countless imbalances – the process that will take more than just several years. In the first scenario, the crisis in the USA and in Europe will exacerbate during the forthcoming years. Developing countries will decline Western ideas and models and close their economies from the rest of the world. Trade and cash flows will come from three major blocs – the American, the European and the Eastern bloc. The flows will differentiate regulation norms, which will increase the capital cost for global companies and result in the prosperous development of local companies. The average annual growth of the world GDP will make up 3.2 percent; in the USA and in Europe – 1.2 percent; in developing states – 9 percent. Asia with China at the head will become the economic and the geopolitical leader. The US dollar and the EU euro will lose the status of world’s two major reserve currencies.

In accordance with the second scenario, the recession will first and foremost hit developing states. The West will keep its leading position in the world and determine financial regulation, market functioning and other principles. International financial institutes will be reformed. However, the reforms will not take account of the needs of developing countries and the need to revise the principles of risk-management, which may intensify the danger of a deeper crisis even more. The GDP of developed countries will gain 3.1 percent every year, 6 percent of developing states and 3.6 percent of the world on the whole. The third and the most pessimistic scenario will send the world into the whirlpool of international conflicts and struggle for resources. Many countries will impose restrictions on the movement of capital and goods. Many countries will nationalize their banking systems, the euro-zone will collapse in 2014 because of sovereign defaults and discrepancies between members. The world GDP will grow at only 2.3 percent. According to the fourth and the final scenario, world politicians will realize that a coordinated common approach to the problem is the only way to extricate from the crisis. They will recognize that developing countries take the lead on the international arena, which will help them form common risk-management principles to make it connect the macroeconomic policy. The world economy will be growing at a slow pace, but will then accelerate to 3.6 percent a year at the expense of developing countries, first and foremost. The world financial system will remain integrated with companies oriented at developing states (Brazil, Russia, India and China) playing the key role in the system.Source: agencies.

TSX closes lower, pressured by RBS loss, lower oil Updated Mon. Jan. 19 2009 5:20 PM ET The Canadian Press

TORONTO -- The Toronto stock market closed lower Monday as sliding oil prices took another bite from energy stocks and a record-breaking loss at Royal Bank of Scotland along with indications of a deeper-than-expected slowdown in Europe prompted investors to sell financials.The U.K. and Europe are certainly giving us lots to think about, said Andrew Martyn, portfolio manager at Davis Rea Ltd.The S&P/TSX composite index pulled back 78.92 points to 8,841.48 on top of last week's two per cent decline.New York markets were closed for the Martin Luther King holiday while investors will be focused Tuesday on the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States.And there are high hopes that the new administration will boost investor confidence -- at least in the short term -- with details of huge stimulus package.We're all looking for the Obama bounce, added Martyn, who thinks there will be some sort of lifting action between now and mid-March.If you look at the technical charts, they say we're in a long term downtrend -- that's obvious. But we are in a strong intermediate snapback that should mechanically carry through to the end of February or March, Martyn said.And to the extent we don't get it, it should confirm in my mind that the strength of the downtrend is just so mean that you won't want to hang around for most things until the end of the summer of 2009.

Investor sentiment was negative as the European Union said it is facing a deep and protracted recession as a consequence of the world financial crisis.It said the economies of the 16 countries that use the euro will shrink by 1.9 per cent in 2009, with the entire EU contracting 1.8 per cent.Meanwhile, European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet says global economic growth this year will be substantially below forecasts made only about a month ago.Trichet said world and European growth in 2009 will be substantially below the forecasts made at the beginning of December.A day before the Bank of Canada is widely expected to cut its main interest rate half a point to one per cent, the Canadian dollar fell 0.43 of a cent to 79.7 cents US.

The TSX Venture Exchange added 7.3 points to 872.95.

The federal government announced moves to loosen credit, with Industry Minister Tony Clement saying the federal government will invest $350 million in the Business Development Bank to ease credit conditions for auto supply companies and other small and medium-sized businesses.The TSX energy sector moved off 1.75 per cent. The New York Mercantile Exchange is closed for floor trading but in electronic trading the February crude contract, which expires Tuesday, declined $1.91 to US$34.60 late in the afternoon. The March contract gave back $1.69 to US$40.88 a barrel.EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) declined $1.01 to C$55.72 while Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) lost $1.16 to $47.38.Suncor Inc. (TSX:SU), which releases quarterly earnings Tuesday, was down $1.22 to $26.26.Shares in industrial waste management services provider Newalta Inc. (TSX:NAL) declined seven cents to $5.91 after it said its capital expenditure in the first half of 2009 will be $15 million, compared with $125 million in all of 2008. Newalta is heavily dependent on the oil and gas industry in Western Canada.

The financial sector sagged 1.5 per cent as Royal Bank of Scotland said that its losses for last year could reach 28 billion pounds or US$41.3 billion -- the biggest ever for a British corporation.The bank said profits in retail and commercial business in Britain had been wiped out by losses in its global banking and markets division and its stock plunged 67 per cent.Also, the British government revealed a second bailout plan for its ailing banks. The new plan would require banks to identify their riskiest assets and would allow them to pay a fee to insure them with the government. By offering to insure bank loans, the government is exposing taxpayers to billions of pounds of potential losses.On the TSX, TD Bank (TSX:TD) dropped $1.48 to $42.22 while Royal Bank (TSX:RY) slid $1.04 to $32.60 after hitting a new 52-week low of $32.17.Telecoms were a bright spot, up 1.65 per cent with Telus Corp. (TSX:T) ahead $1.36 to $36.66 while Rogers Communications (TSX:RCI.B) advanced 44 cents to $33.99.Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) shares advanced 21 cents to $4.94 after it said its transportation division will continue to operate the Las Vegas monorail that shuttles passengers along the east side of the city's famed strip. Its Berlin-based railway equipment division has received a five-year option order from the Las Vegas Monorail Company valued at US$58 million.Canadian National Railways (TSX:CNR), which reports earnings on Thursday, declined 53 cents to $42.SFK Pulp Fund (TSX:SFK.UN) units retreated 23 cents or 32 per cent to 49 cents after it suspended monthly distributions until market conditions substantially improve. The company also extended quarterly maintenance shutdowns at two U.S. recycling mills by one and two weeks.

Russia, Ukraine sign gas deal, end standoff By NATALIYA VASILYEVA, Associated Press Writer JAN 19,09

MOSCOW – Russia and Ukraine pledged to restore natural gas supplies to Europe after signing deals Monday to end a bitter dispute that led to a chilling two-week cutoff of shipments.Europeans, who normally get about one-fifth of their gas from Russia via Ukrainian pipelines, anxiously awaited for the fuel to start flowing.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko on Monday signed the documents at Putin's government headquarters on the Moscow river. They resulted from an outline agreement they had clinched in late-night talks Sunday as heads of Russia's state-run natural gas monopoly Gazprom and the Ukraine's Naftogaz.As a result of intensive and lengthy talks we have reached agreement on all issues concerning natural gas supply to Ukraine and its transit to Europe, Putin said. He said Gazprom had been instructed to resume shipments bound for Europe that had been halted since Jan. 7 as Moscow and Kiev argued over 2009 gas prices and allegations that Ukraine was stealing gas destined for Europe.Tymoshenko said the gas would be pumped toward Europe as soon as it enters the Ukrainian pipes.Early Tuesday, Gazprom chief Alexei Miller ordered the resumption of deliveries bound for Europe via Ukraine to begin at 10 a.m. (2 a.m. EST) Tuesday.In a directive issued before dawn, Miller told company officials to ensure the neighboring countries' pipeline systems are synchronized to get the gas flowing at the designated time.

Officials said the restored gas shipments could take up to 36 hours to cross Ukraine, which is the size of France, and reach European customers.EU officials were taking a wait and see attitude.We now need an indication of the precise time that gas deliveries will be resumed. Our monitors will verify when the gas actually starts to flow, the European Commission said.Europe gets about 20 percent of its total natural gas needs from Russia via Ukrainian pipelines, and the cutoff hit hard at some countries, such as Bulgaria and Slovakia, that rely almost entirely on Russia for gas. In the Balkans and other eastern European nations, the crisis has shut factories and left millions of people to shiver in unheated homes.The confrontation has deeply shaken Europeans' trust in both Russia and Ukraine as reliable energy suppliers — something each has repeatedly insisted it is, while blaming the other for the supply cutoff.More than 15 nations have been forced to scramble for alternative sources of energy. The dispute was further complicated by geopolitical struggles over Ukraine's future and over lucrative export routes for the energy riches of the former Soviet Union.Before dawn Sunday, Tymoshenko and Putin negotiated a preliminary deal for Ukraine to get gas with a 20 percent discount from this year's average European price, which Russia says is $450 per 1,000cubic meters. That would double the price Ukraine paid in 2008.However, natural gas prices for Europe are expected to fall sharply later this year, due to the reduction in oil prices. By midsummer, Ukraine could be paying as little as $150 for 1,000 cubic meters, said Ronald Smith, a strategist at Moscow's Alfa Bank.Russia, meanwhile, will not have to pay Ukraine higher transit prices to use its pipelines this year. Putin said in 2010, Ukraine will have to pay full price for Russian gas, and Russia will pay market prices for transit.Tymoshenko said the deal would save Ukraine billions of dollars. But there was no celebration in the camp of her political rival, President Viktor Yushchenko.

Citing Monday's deal, Yushchenko's energy adviser Bohdan Sokolovsky said Ukraine will pay $360 per 1,000 cubic meters in the first quarter of this year, and then a lower price. He said the average price for 2009 should be $235-$240 — still a significant increase from the $179.50 it paid last year. Sokolovsky said Ukraine was giving more than it was getting out of the deal. He said that by continuing to pay last year's transit fee of $1.70 per 100 kilometers, Russia was getting a 60 percent discount — as opposed to a 20 percent reduction for Ukraine. This is not a symmetric approach, he told the AP. Sokolovsky said Ukraine will face major economic difficulties as a result of the price increase. This will be a difficult phase, but I hope a temporary one.Associated Press writers Yuras Karmanau and Maria Danilova in Kiev, Ukraine, and Jim Heintz and Steve Gutterman in Moscow contributed to this report.

Feds to put $350M in Business Development Bank Mon. Jan. 19 2009 11:20 AM ET The Canadian Press

TORONTO -- The Business Development Bank of Canada will receive a $350-million injection from the federal government in next week's budget to free up lending to auto supply companies and other small- and medium-sized businesses, federal Industry Minister Tony Clement said Monday. Clement said the investment will allow the government-owned bank to provide an additional $1.5 billion in financing to businesses that otherwise may be unable to secure loans under tight credit conditions. One message I've heard loud and clear from business was that in order for business to succeed, we need to get credit moving, Clement said in a breakfast speech to the Canadian International Council in Toronto. The funding will include an immediate $250-million capital investment to increase the bank's term-lending activities, as well as another $100 million to top up lines of credit for small- and medium-sized businesses. Clement said the investment will act as a lifeline to struggling businesses, including auto supply companies, which are suffering amid slumping demand for new vehicles in the U.S. The federal and Ontario governments have already promised $4 billion in emergency loans to the Canadian subsidiaries of General Motors and Chrysler. The beleaguered automakers have also received a promise of US$17.4 billion in loans from the U.S. government, although they have asked that all funding be deferred until the companies, governments and unions are able to reach an agreement on the conditions of the funding. Clement said he finds the pace of the discussions disappointing, and the Canadian government has been ready to hand over its portion of the money since December. I'm signalling to them, let's get a move on, let's finish our discussions and our dialogue, and if you need the money let's flow the money, Clement told reporters.

The offer was made in good faith by both Ontario and Canada, the offer still stands and... I'm hoping to see some conclusion of this in the next couple of weeks.He said there are some complex legal issues slowing down the discussions, but refused to elaborate. The companies have until Feb. 20 to provide the government with a comprehensive restructuring plan. Clement said he expects the automakers to work with the Canadian Auto Workers union to make Canadian labour costs competitive with those in the U.S. at both Detroit Three and foreign-run plants. There's a wide range of opinions on the true cost of Canadian employees of the Detroit Three. Tony Faria, an auto industry specialist at the University of Windsor, estimates that once new contracts negotiated by both the CAW in Canada and the United Auto Workers in the U.S. come into effect, Canadian workers will cost their employers about $27 an hour more than their American counterparts. Meanwhile, the CAW argues its members cost automakers less than U.S. employees of GM, Chrysler and Ford. Labour costs at other automakers' plants are usually lower because their employees generally aren't unionized. Clement called labour competitiveness a tough condition of government funding, but a necessary one. Automakers will have to make some tough decisions, we know, and will have to make some bold actions during the restructuring, he said. I think it's evident that change will have to be made by the automakers, by the unions and other stakeholders in order for this industry to survive.CAW president Ken Lewenza has said he is willing to negotiate with the automakers, but hasn't specified what concessions he is willing to make. Clement says the government is talking to the U.S. about better integrating the auto industries in both countries, but he cautioned the Canadian industry will shrink. We realize that this restructuring could take years to complete. We also realize that industry sales will likely not rebound to previous levels for a significant period of time, he said. But if we continue to move forward with new and innovative production processes and technologies, I'm convinced that we can and we will have a leaner, more efficient and more competitive Canadian auto industry.The auto industry has been struggling to stay afloat amid slumping U.S. sales and tight credit markets.

Another interest rate cut expected from Bank of Canada Monday, January 19, 2009 | 2:57 PM ET CBC News

The Bank of Canada is expected to pare borrowing costs again when it announces its next interest rate decision on Tuesday.Economists see the central bank cutting its key overnight lending rate by half a percentage point, which would reduce it to one per cent.The bank has already been aggressively cutting the cost of money, including a drop of three-quarters of a percentage point with its previous announcement in December, as it tries to bolster the Canadian economy.The country shed 70,000 jobs in November and 34,000 in December, while inflation, which used to be a major worry due to rising energy costs, is easing, thanks to a turnaround in those same energy costs.Charmaine Buskas, a senior economics strategist at TD Securities, said the statement that accompanies the Bank of Canada's rate decision will be closely scrutinized.The bank will need to strike a delicate balance between signalling further cuts, and sounding too dovish and allowing the market to get ahead of itself, Buskas said in a recent commentary. The statement will undoubtedly maintain the rather dour paragraph describing the economic outlook and the lower profile for inflation.The Bank of Canada will also provide its latest view of the health of the Canadian economy when it releases its monetary policy update on Thursday.

EU trade chief calls for further WTO efforts JAN 19,09

SEOUL, South Korea – The European Union's trade chief called Tuesday for more effort in world trade talks, saying that increased commerce has a role to play in spurring the slumping global economy.History teaches us that the way forward in times of economic downturn is partly through trade, EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton told reporters. The need to move forward and not backwards, to not move into protectionism ... is an impetus for us to continue the work in Geneva and continue moving towards a completion of the round.World Trade Organization talks aimed at a new global commerce pact — the so-called Doha round named after Qatar's capital where they were launched in 2001 — have been unable to secure a final deal.The Geneva-based global trade body last month acknowledged that it was unable to reach a new agreement before the end of the last year because of disagreement between the United States and emerging economies over trade rules applying to agricultural and industrial goods.Ashton, speaking at a press conference after concluding two days of talks aimed at pushing forward South Korean-EU free trade negotiations, said she remains cautiously optimistic about prospects for a global deal.She suggested however, that much depends on the stance of the incoming U.S. government under Barack Obama, whose inauguration as the 44th U.S. president is set for later Tuesday.
We will need to see how a new administration in the United States takes us forward, she said.

Economic upturn by mid-2009, report says
ANDREW WILLIS 19.01.2009 @ 16:23 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU growth is set to contract by 1.8 percent in 2009 before recovering slightly to 0.5 percent in 2010 according to the commission's interim forecast released Monday (19 January).However economic and monetary affairs commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, said in a press conference that measures taken by member states and EU institutions would result in an upturn in the economy from the middle of this year. The measures to stabilise the financial market, the easing of monetary policies and the economic recovery plans will enable us to put a floor under the deterioration of the economy this year, he said. However new economic data released in the report makes for grim reading. As a result of the slowdown, the unemployment rate in the EU is expected to increase to 8.75 percent in 2009, with a further increase expected in 2010. Mr Almunia said inflation figures would likely be negative for the euro area by mid 2009 but would come back into positive territory by the second half of the year. We do not consider this as a deflation scenario, he said. Judging by the forecasts, that situation seems to be a fair assessment, said senior analyst with the European Policy Centre, Fabian Zuleeg, in an interview with this website. It is therefore unlikely that the European Central Bank will suffer from the same difficulties as the Bank of Japan in the 1990s when interest rate cuts failed to stimulate the economy. Although consumers frequently look on falling product prices as a positive thing, consumption tends to fall off during sustained periods of deflation as consumers wait for prices to fall further. This in turn results in a reduction in industrial production, resulting in an economic slowdown or deflationary spiral.

Correct implementation vital

We are predicting a recovery from the third quarter of this year but this depends on a recovery in the financial markets, said commissioner Almunia while presenting the interim report to journalists. The key aspect now is successful implementation of stimulus packages, he continued. There are a number of potential pitfalls regarding implementation according to Mr Zuleeg. The speed in which these things are put into place has a big input on business confidence, he said. Quick implementation is likely to improve business confidence, whereas delays or political argument may have the reverse effect. It is also difficult for governments to spend this amount of money quickly and get the necessary machinery in place, Mr Zuleeg said as one possible reason for delayed implementation. Commissioner Almunia also stressed the need for co-ordinated action in implementing the stimulus plans. European market integration means delayed implementation in one member state threatens the economic prospects of another. Good consumer finances in some member states will have important implications for the German economy, which relies heavily on exports.

Member states face excessive deficit action

The commission's report highlights the precarious situation of some member state public finances heading into 2009. It predicts the average EU deficit is expected to reach 4.5 percent this year, and 4 percent for the euro area. As a result, the commission is likely to launch excessive-deficit actions against a number of member states over the coming months, although commissioner Almunia refused to be drawn on which ones. The college of commissioners will meet on 18 February to discuss the opening of proceedings.We will stick by the Stability and Growth Pact, said commissioner Almunia. The rules are in the treaty.Political wrangling and individual stimulus plans are likely to play a big part in deciding which countries face sanctions. The simple numerical situation is not going to be enough, said Mr Zuleeg.

Most people unaware of upcoming EU elections
HONOR MAHONY 19.01.2009 @ 16:23 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The vast majority of EU citizens remain unaware that European elections will take place later this year despite a concerted effort by politicians in Brussels to raise the profile of the European Parliament, a newly-published poll has shown.A survey from autumn last year of some 27,000 people across the bloc's 27 member states found that 67 percent did not know when the next European poll would be held and 54 percent said they would not be interested in the election, due to take place in June.There were strong variations in knowledge across the bloc, with Luxembourgers clocking in as the most well-informed (36% gave the correct year and date) while just two percent of Finnish people knew they could be making a trip to the urns this summer.The by-now-traditional low average turnout for the European election looks set to be repeated this year, with just 28 percent of those asked saying they would definitely vote. Some 15 percent said they would definitely not vote.The Portuguese (76% are not likely to vote), Britons and Austrians (75%) are least likely to cast their ballots for the 736 MEPs that are due to be elected, while even in Belgium, where voting is compulsory, the Eurobarometer survey suggests that voter turnout will likely hit just 61 percent.While MEPs have important legislative powers in the area of the single market, affecting almost every one of the bloc's 500 million citizens, and are to see a big increase in their legislative powers under the proposed Lisbon Treaty, their institution remains something of a mystery for many people.

Some 73 percent considered themselves badly informed about the parliament, and while 66 percent think the Brussels chamber is democratic, a significant number also consider it technocratic (40%) and inefficient (36%). The results are set to irritate euro-deputies who have long been frustrated by the discrepancy between the low voter turnout in European elections and the important legislative powers they have.They also come despite specific measures taken to raise awareness among the EU public, such as increased media coverage, slots for more spontaneous debating and new rules allowing political parties to set up political foundations as a forum for getting their message across.However, awareness is set to increase when the parliament closes in April and MEPs begin campaigning to win back their seats.An additional political twist for this year's election could be the attempt to establish the first pan-European eurosceptic party under Declan Ganley, the Irish anti-Lisbon Treaty campaigner. Mr Ganley led a successful campaign in the run up to the Irish referendum on the Lisbon text, helping secure the No vote victory.

Moreover, voters are also sure to be made aware by the left-wing parties that a vote for the centre-right European People's Party, currently the largest group in the parliament, may lead to Jose Manuel Barroso being re-nominated as head of the European Commission, a post that he has in the past indicated he wants to hold onto.
Analysts argue that if EU personalities are involved and voters can see what the stakes are, then they are more likely to go to the ballot box.

DISEASES

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

More recalls of peanut butter products announced By EMILY FREDRIX, Associated Press Writer JAN 19,09

MILWAUKEE – Kellogg Co. said Monday federal authorities have confirmed that salmonella was found in a single package of its peanut butter crackers, as two grocers and General Mills Corp. recalled some of their products because of the scare.
Kellogg had recalled 16 products last week because of the possibility of salmonella contamination.On Monday, the company based in Battle Creek, Mich., said the Food and Drug Administration confirmed contamination in a single package of Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter.Food companies and retailers have been recalling products with peanut butter in them because of suspicion of contamination amid a salmonella outbreak that has killed at least six people and sickened more than 470 others in 43 states. At least 90 people have been hospitalized.Also Monday, Midwestern grocer and retailer Meijer Inc. said it was recalling two types of crackers and two varieties of ice cream because of the possibility of salmonella contamination: Meijer brand Cheese and Peanut Butter and Toasty Peanut Butter sandwich crackers, and Peanut Butter and Jelly and Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.

Golden Valley, Minn.-based General Mills said in a news release Monday afternoon that it was recalling two flavors of snack bars: LARABAR Peanut Butter Cookie snack bars and JamFrakas Peanut Butter Blisscrisp snack bars. The company said the recall affected 15,000 cases and no illnesses have been reported. General Mills said the recall did not affect any other products it makes.It was not immediately clear how many packages of Kellogg crackers had been tested, if more tests were being made on other products or if some had already been found not have salmonella, Kellogg spokeswoman Kris Charles said. A spokesman for the FDA said the agency was not providing any new information Monday, a federal holiday.The government on Saturday had advised consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods containing peanut butter until health officials learn more about the contamination.

Most peanut butter sold in jars at supermarkets appears to be safe, officials said.

Officials have been focusing on peanut paste and peanut butter made at Peanut Corp. of America's plant in Blakely, Ga.On Sunday, Peanut Corp. expanded its own recall to all peanut butter and peanut paste produced at the Blakely plant since July 1.The company's peanut butter is not sold directly to consumers but it is distributed to institutions and food companies. The peanut paste, made from roasted peanuts, is an ingredient in cookies, cakes and other products sold to consumers.Meijer, based in Grand Rapids, said in a news release Monday it was issuing its recall because makers of its products had announced possible contamination. The products are sold in Meijer stores and gas stations in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.

Late Monday, grocer Kroger Co. recalled Private Selection Peanut Butter Passion Ice Cream sold in select stores, also because of the possibility of contamination. The Cincinnati-based company said the product was sold at stores named City Market, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Scoopers, QFC and Smith's in 11 states, primarily in the West. The company said the ice cream was not sold in its namesake Kroger stores or any other retailers it operates. No illnesses have been reported.The recall last week by Kellogg, the world's largest cereal maker, affected products including Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies, Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers. Charles said the recall affected more than 7 million cases of its products.Kellogg Chief Executive David Mackay said the company would evaluate its processes to ensure we take necessary actions to reassure consumers and rebuild confidence in these products.Salmonella, a bacteria, is the most common cause of food poisoning in the U.S., causing diarrhea, cramping and fever.Also on Monday, Abbott Nutrition recalled three products because of the possibility of salmonella contamination: ZonePerfect Chocolate Peanut Butter bars, ZonePerfect Peanut Toffee bars and NutriPals Peanut Butter Chocolate nutrition bars. The Columbus, Ohio-based company said the items were sold in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore. Over the weekend, Little Debbie maker McKee Foods Corp. of Collegedale, Tenn., issued a voluntary recall of its peanut butter crackers because of possible contamination. Other companies issuing recalls recently include Midwest supermarket chain Hy-Vee Inc. of West Des Moines, Iowa, Perry's Ice Cream Co. of Akron, N.Y., and the South Bend Chocolate Co. in Indiana. Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products, a division of St. Louis-based Ralcorp, recalled several brands of peanut butter cookies it sells through Wal-Mart stores. Some companies were quick to assure their customers their products were fine and they were not involved in the investigation. Russell Stover Candies Inc., maker of Russell Stover and Whitman's, said Monday it does not use ingredients from Peanut Corp. ConAgra Foods Inc., maker of Peter Pan peanut butter, said Saturday it was not involved in the investigation and neither the Omaha, Neb.-based company nor its suppliers use ingredients from Peanut Corp. Peter Pan and other peanut butter produced by ConAgra were linked in 2007 to a salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 625 people in 47 states. The company traced the contamination to a leaky roof and faulty sprinkler head at its Georgia plant.

North Korea steps up warnings against South By Jonathan Thatcher JAN 19,09

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea, which analysts suspect is trying harder to grab the attention of incoming U.S. president Barack Obama, on Tuesday accused the South of driving the divided peninsula back into war.It is the latest verbal onslaught against South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who on Monday put the architect of the policy that has so angered the North in charge of relations between the two Koreas.

It goes without saying that Lee Myung-bak is the one who has driven the bellicosity high, the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in an editorial carried on North Korea's KCNA news agency.South Korea at the weekend placed its military -- backed by some 28,000 U.S. troops in the South -- on high alert and warned of possible conflicts off the west coast of the peninsula which has been the scene of deadly naval disputes in the past, after Pyongyang said it would wipe out its neighbor.

Only those who made up their minds to start a war can say this nonsense ... This is hysterical madness and the situation is grave, the newspaper added.Analysts say the secretive North, which often uses key events when it wants to make a point to the outside world, is using its latest surge in furious rhetoric to try to attract the attention of Obama, who will be inaugurated later in the day.Investors shrugged off North Korea's repeated threats as South Korea's five-year CDS, a measure of risk premium on investing in the South, stood at 310 basis points, up slightly from Monday but still far below levels seen last week.Pyongyang's rocky relationship with the Bush administration has been calmer in the past year or so, after it agreed to start moves to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, though negotiations have been stalled for months over the North's refusal to allow nuclear material to be taken outside the country.Many North Korea-watchers say Pyongyang's ultimate goal, using the threat of nuclear weapons as its leverage, is to have diplomatic relations with Washington and it may be hoping for an easier relationship with the Obama government.

The relationship between the two Koreas -- still technically at war -- has chilled sharply since Lee took office almost a year ago with a promise to end the free-flow of aid to his communist neighbor unless it moved to end its nuclear weapons program.

On Monday, he named as his new unification minister conservative scholar Hyun In-taek, a major figure in developing Lee's policy of heavy investment into the North in exchange for nuclear disarmament and economic reform.Pyongyang's leaders have bridled at the policy which many analysts say would ultimately undermine the authority of iron ruler Kim Jong-il, who has maintained absolute control while his country's economy has sunk into ruin.Since late last year, the North has blocked almost all traffic between the two sides but has allowed a South Korean team of officials in to discuss the possible purchase of fuel rods from its nuclear reactor.
The team is due back in Seoul later on Tuesday.(Additional reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Valerie Lee)

THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR AMERICA,YOU CAN COUNT ON THAT.

Text of President Barack Obama's inaugural address By The Associated Press The Associated Press – 12:05 PM

Capitol AP Reuters – U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama talk with former President George W. Bush and … Text of President Barack Obama's inaugural address on Tuesday, as prepared for delivery and released by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

OBAMA: My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it).

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.