CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE OUT OF CONTROL.

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

ROBS SPORTS BAR UPDATE ON THE FIRE
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2013/08/major-blaze-at-robs-sports-bar-in.html

1 hour ago  |   - AUG 26,13

Walkerton sports bar destroyed by fire

Mississauga News

ByTorstar Network

WALKERTON — A major fire destroyed a popular sports bar yesterday and blanketed Walkerton's downtown core in smoke.Crowds gathered to watch as flames ripped through the building housing Rob's Sports Bar on Scott St. The fire call came in at about 12:30 p.m.Firefighters from Walkerton, Paisley, Mildmay, Elmwood and Kincardine were brought in to fight the blaze.Police said no injuries were reported at the scene, but the building was destroyed.Several downtown streets were closed as crews worked to douse the flames in the three-storey brick building, which stands at the corner of Scott and Jackson streets, across from the landmark Victoria Jubilee Hall.South Bruce OPP is investigating the fire along with the Office of the Fire Marshal.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

YOSEMITE FIRE UPDATE
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/rimfire.htm
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3660 

Yosemite wildfire threatening San Francisco's water and power supply, as well as giant sequoias

Published August 26, 2013

FoxNews.com

• 
  Aug. 25, 2013: Inmate firefighters walk along Highway 120 as firefighters continue to battle the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif. Fire crews are clearing brush and setting sprinklers to protect two groves of giant sequoias as a massive week-old wildfire rages along the remote northwest edge of Yosemite National Park. (AP)
• 
  In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Forest Service, the Rim Fire burns near Yosemite National Park, Calif. (AP Photo)

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A massive wildfire racing through the Yosemite wilderness -- fueled by high winds -- is threatening San Francisco's fresh water and power supply as well as California's famous giant sequoias.It's one of several fires statewide being fought by more than 8,000 firefighters across nearly 400 square miles. The fire has consumed approximately 225 square miles of picturesque forests. Officials estimate containment at just 7 percent."This fire has continued to pose every challenge that there can be [in] a fire: inaccessible terrain, strong winds, dry conditions," Daniel Berlant of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on Sunday. The fire continues burning in the remote wilderness area of Yosemite, but park spokesman Tom Medena told the Associated Press it's edging closer to the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, the source of 85 percent of San Francisco's famously pure drinking water, as well as power for a number of key city buildings, including the airport. The city has issued assurances that the water quality remains good, but the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has shut two hydro-electric stations fed by water from the reservoir and cut power to more than 12 miles of lines. The city has been buying $600,000 worth of power on the open market to ensure San Francisco doesn't go dark. Meanwhile, park officials are clearing brush and setting sprinklers to protect two groves of giant sequoias. The iconic trees can resist fire, but dry conditions and heavy brush are forcing extra precautions to be taken in the Tuolumne and Merced groves. About three dozen of the giant trees are affected."All of the plants and trees in Yosemite are important, but the giant sequoias are incredibly important both for what they are and as symbols of the National Park System," park spokesman Scott Gediman told the Associated Press on Saturday.The trees grow naturally only on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada and are among the largest and oldest living things on earth.
The Tuolumne and Merced groves are in the north end of the park near Crane Flat. While the Rim Fire is still some distance away, park employees and trail crews are not taking any chances.Fire officials are using bulldozers to clear contingency lines on the Rim Fire's north side to protect the towns of Tuolumne City, Ponderosa Hills and Twain Hart. The lines are being cut a mile ahead of the fire in locations where fire officials hope they will help protect the communities should the fire jump containment lines.Firefighters were hoping to advance on the flames Monday but strong winds, gusting up to 50 miles per hour in some places, were threatening push the blaze closer to Tuolumne City and nearby communities."Winds are increasing, so it's going to be very challenging," said Bjorn Frederickson, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.
Sunday evening, the Forest Service confirmed to KTVU.com that the fire had burned through the Berkeley Tuolumne Family Campsite, which was owned by the city of Berkeley, Calif., and had been in operation since 1922. Firefighters were unable to immediately assess the damage, and it was not clear if any structures survived. The camp had been evacuated Tuesday and no injuries were reported. "It's a very difficult firefight," Berlant said. Frederickson added that the fire is slowing down a bit, but still growing.
The high winds and movement of the fire from bone-dry brush on the ground to 100-foot oak and pine treetops have created dire conditions."A crown fire is much more difficult to fight," Berlant told The Associated Press Sunday. "Our firefighters are on the ground having to spray up."The blaze sweeping across steep, rugged river canyons quickly has become one of the biggest in California history, thanks in part to extremely dry conditions caused by a lack of snow and rainfall this year. Investigators are trying to determine how it started Aug. 17, days before lightning storms swept through the region and sparked other, smaller blazes.The fire is the most critical of a dozen burning across California, officials say. More than 12 helicopters and a half-dozen fixed wing tankers are dropping water and retardant from the air and 2,800 firefighters are on the ground.Statewide, more than 8,300 firefighters are battling nearly 400 square miles of fires. Many air districts have issued health advisories as smoke settles over Northern California. On Saturday, organizers cancelled the 24th annual Lake in the Sky Air Show at Lake Tahoe because of poor visibility.The U.S. Forest Service says about 4,500 structures are threatened by the Rim Fire. Berlant said 23 structures were destroyed, though officials have not determined whether they were homes or rural outbuildings.Jessica Sanderson said one of her relatives gained access to the family's property in Groveland, just 26 miles from the park's entrance, on Saturday and was able to confirm their vacation cabin had burned to the ground.The family saw firefighters on a TV news report a day earlier defending the cabin."It's just mind-blowing the way the fire swept through and destroyed it so quickly," said Sanderson, who's been monitoring the fire from her home near Tampa Bay, Fla. "The only thing left standing is our barbeque pit."
At the nearby Black Oak Casino in Tuolumne City on Sunday, the slot machines were quiet as emergency workers took over nearly all of the resort's 148 hotel rooms."The casino is empty," said casino employee Jessie Dean. "Technically, the casino is open but there's nobody there."As thick smoke portends the fire's fast approach, the area has been cleared of everyone but locals and emergency workers. Dean lives on the reservation of the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians and left her four children at relatives' homes in the Central Valley.But the tourist mecca of Yosemite Valley, the part of the park known around the world for such sights as the Half Dome and El Capitan rock formations and waterfalls, remained open, clear of smoke and free from other signs of the fire that remained about 20 miles away.The Associated Press contributed to this report.Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/08/26/officials-try-to-protect-giant-sequoias-from-california-wildfire/#ixzz2d4oFEDrq

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,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)

THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.

Tropical Storm Fernand targets Mexico coast

Published August 26, 2013

Associated Press-FOX NEWS

Tropical Storm Fernand brewed up just off Mexico's Gulf coast Sunday, and heavy rains and strong winds caused some power failures and street flooding in the colonial city of Veracruz. The storm was expected to move ashore before dawn Monday.The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm had winds of at least 50 miles per hour late Sunday. Fernand was about five miles north of Veracruz and moving westward at 9 miles per hour.A tropical storm warning was in effect on Mexico's coast from Veracruz north to Barra de Nautla.The government of Veracruz state advised its 7.7 million residents to stay home, and Gov. Javier Duarte suspended classes in the whole state to protect children from venturing out into winds and rain.
Blackouts hit parts of Veracruz city as skies turned gray and rain flooded major roads, causing cars to stall in the middle of the streets. Several trees were reported to have fallen.Forecasters said the storm could bring 4 to 8 inches of rain over parts of several states as it moved inland toward central Mexico.In the eastern Pacific, former Tropical Storm Ivo weakened further from a tropical depression into a remnant low.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/08/26/tropical-storm-fernand-targets-mexico-coast/?intcmp=trending#ixzz2d4pVkgZy

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

ISAIAH 33:8
8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

OH RIGHT BUT THE ARABS SHOOT 20,000 ROCKETS INTO ISRAEL OVER A 6 YEAR PERIOD.AND ISRAEL IS FORCED TO GIVE UP 104 MURDERERS FOR THE SAKE OF THE PEACE TALKS.AND THESE HYPOCRITICAL ARABS WANT THE PEACE PROCESS STOPPED BECAUSE 3 ARAB MURDERERS ARE STOPPED BY THE IDF.THIS IS REDICULAS ISRAEL.JUST NUKE ALL THE ARAB-MUSLIM COUNTRIES AROUND YOU AND THERE WILL BE TRUE PEACE.USE CAN REBUILD THE 3RD TEMPLE AND THERE WILL THEN BE PEACE FOR USE ISRAEL.THE ARABS WILL DO OR SAY ANYTHING TO GET WHAT THEY WANT.NO PEACE - BUT STEAL JERUSALEM AND FORCE ISRAELIS OFF THEIR GOD GIVIN LAND.THATS THE ARAB-MUSLIMS GOAL FOR ISRAEL.NOT PEACE.BUT NO MORE ISRAELIS ANYWHERE IN THE MIDEAST IS THEIR GOAL.

Peace talks on rocks after 3 Palestinians killed by IDF

Session of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations scheduled for Monday night canceled over shooting in Qalandiya

By Ilan Ben Zion and AP August 26, 2013, 2:18 pm 5-The Times of Israel

Three Palestinians were killed and 19 injured in clashes with Israel’s Border Police on Monday in the West Bank refugee camp of Qalandiya, north of Jerusalem, in an incident that heightened tensions between both sides ahead of upcoming peace talks.A session of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, scheduled for Monday night in Jericho at the home of chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, was canceled by the Palestinians as a result.An official from the Palestinian president’s office said the Palestinians decided to postpone Monday’s meeting to protest the killings. He said the Palestinians are also upset about an Israeli announcement on Sunday pushing forward with new settlement construction in east Jerusalem.Another official told the AFP news agency that “the meeting that was to take place in Jericho…today was cancelled because of the Israeli crime committed in Qalandiya today.”Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, issued a statement condemning Israel for what he termed its assassination of the three men in Qalandiya. He added that the slew of crimes committed by the Israelis and their continued settlement construction were a clear sign of Israel’s true intentions.Rudeineh called on the American government to intervene and prevent a collapse in the efforts to restart the peace process. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah condemned the incident. “Such a crime proves the need for an urgent and effective international protection for our people,” he said in a statement.According to Palestinian news outlets, the officers entered Qalandiya around 5 a.m. Monday morning. Medical sources in Ramallah, cited by WAFA news, reported that Rubin Zayed, 34, and Younis Jahjouh, 22, died in the subsequent clashes with soldiers.A third man, Jihad Aslan, 27, died of injuries sustained in the clashes after being pronounced brain dead at a Ramallah hospital, according to Ma’an News.Over a dozen more were injured, one seriously, by rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation. There were no reports of soldiers injured in the skirmish.A video uploaded to YouTube appeared to show Palestinians on rooftops in Qalandiya raining down rubble on Border Police vehicles.Border Police spokesman Shai Hakimi said officers were on a raid to apprehend a “terror suspect” when over 1,500 Palestinians poured into the streets and attacked the officers with firebombs and rocks.Hakimi said officers used riot control munitions — a term that usually refers to rubber bullets and tear gas. He said he wasn’t aware of any use of live fire nor of any Palestinians killed.The IDF said soldiers rushed to the scene after the Border Police officers came under attack. It said soldiers opened fire after they felt their lives were in “imminent danger.”“Large violent crowds such as this which significantly outnumber security forces leave no other choice but to resort to live fire in self-defense,” said military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner.Hatim Khatib, whose brother Youssef was arrested in the raid, told The Associated Press that undercover troops dressed in civilian clothes arrived at their home at 4:30 a.m. looking for the brother.“After half an hour we started hearing shooting from the soldiers inside our house, and then people started throwing stones at them,” he said.Youssef was arrested after he returned from morning prayers at 7 a.m., he said.He said he didn’t know why his brother was arrested but said he had spent time in Israeli jail for throwing rocks and was released three years ago. The Israeli military would not elaborate as to why he was wanted.The IDF said the incident was under investigation.

ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11  In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12  Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13  The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14  And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.

JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23  Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24  Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25  How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26  Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27  And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)

EGYPT

ISAIAH 19:1-5
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.

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 (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3  At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4  Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5  Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY) Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6  O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7  How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he appointed it.

DANIEL 11:40-43
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south ( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

THERE SAYING ON CBC THAT 3,000 PEOPLE MAY BE AFFECTED BY ASSADS CHEMICAL WEAPON ATTACK.AND THAT THE US WOULD NOT SEND IN GROUND TROOPS IN SYRIA.BUT WOULD JUST SHOOT MISSLES.OVIOUSLY BECAUSE OBAMA AND THE WEST ARE HELPING THE BROTHERHOOD OR OPPOSITION WITH WEAPONS ON THE GROUND.AND IF WESTERN TROOPS WENT ON THE GROUND IN SYRIA.BOTH ASSAD AND THE BROTHERHOOD OR OPPOSITION WOULD KILL THE WESTERNERS.AND BLAME IT ON EACH OTHER AND GET AWAY WITH IT.AND RUSSIA-CHINA-USA AND THE EU COULD ALL BLAME THE OTHER IF WESTERNERS GET KILLED.NO WONDER THIS SYRIA SITUATION IS A BLAME GAME FOR EVERYONE TO USE. 

Britain, Turkey: Syria Intervention Possible without UN

“It is possible to take action based on great humanitarian need and humanitarian distress,” says Britain's Hague.-By Gil Ronen-First Publish: 8/26/2013, 12:57 PM-Israelnationalnews

Hague in Jerusalem-Israel news photo: Flash 90

Both Britain and Turkey said on Monday that it would be possible to respond to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, even without the unanimous backing of the United Nations Security Council.
‘So, is it possible to act on chemical weapons, is it possible to respond to chemical weapons without complete unity on the UN Security Council?", asked rhetorically British Foreign Secretary William Hague. "I would argue, yes it is. Otherwise, of course, it might be impossible to respond to such outrages, such crimes and I don’t think that is an acceptable situation."It is possible to take action based on great humanitarian need and humanitarian distress, it’s possible to do that under many different scenarios,” Hague said in an interview for BBC radio. “I’ve pointed that out in Parliament over recent months before, but again, anything we propose to do on this, the strong response that we’ve talked about, whatever form that takes, will be subject to legal advice, must be in accordance with international law so I can be very clear about that."
Hague refused to “rule anything in or out” regarding the various methods of action than can be used. As for consulting Parliament, the Foreign Secretary was also vague:“That will depend on the timing and nature of what we propose to do,” he explained. “We have a good record on consulting Parliament, having a vote in Parliament if we decide to take any military action and, of course, we’re conscious of the views of Parliament on these matters and the need to be consulted, so we’re very conscious of that but our decisions on that will depend on the timing and nature of what we propose to do.”Turkey also said it would join any international coalition against Syria even if a wider consensus on action cannot be reached at the UN Security Council.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted by the newspaper Milliyet as saying on Monday: “We always prioritize acting together with the international community, with United Nations decisions. If such a decision doesn’t emerge from the UN Security Council, other alternatives ... would come onto the agenda.”
“Currently 36-37 countries are discussing these alternatives. If a coalition is formed against Syria in this process, Turkey would take its place in this coalition,” he said.

 MUSLIM NATIONS (SLAUGHTERED BY NUKES FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)

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,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
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;(ISRAEL) 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,(OIL IS IN 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.

EZEKIEL 39:1-8,11-18
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,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) 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.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS) and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)

JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36  And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37  For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)

EZEKIEL 35:3-6,11-15
3  And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir,(ARABS) I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4  I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
5  Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred,(AGAINST ISRAEL) and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6  Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
11  Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.
12  And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.
13  Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.
14  Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.(ARAB,MUSLIMS)
15  As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir,(ARABS) and all Idumea,(ARAB,MUSLIMS) even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Russia warns against military intervention in Syria

Reuters – 8 minutes ago-AUG 26,13

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia warned Western powers on Monday against any military intervention in Syria, saying the use of force without a U.N. mandate would be a grave violation of international law.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow had no plans to be drawn into a military conflict over the civil war in Syria and that Washington and its allies would be repeating "past mistakes" if they intervened in Syria.
"The use of force without the approval of the United Nations Security Council is a very grave violation of international law," Lavrov told a news conference at which he discussed accusations by rebel forces that Syrian government forces have used chemical weapons.Russia is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's key ally and one of its main arms suppliers, and a veto-wielding member of the Security Council.Expressing concern about statements suggesting NATO had the right to intervene after a chemical attack without securing the approval of the United Nations, Lavrov said the unapproved use of force would "sharply aggravate" the situation.He urged the West not to go down the "dangerous path" it had taken several times before and added: "We have no plans to go to war with anyone.""If anybody thinks that bombing and destroying the Syrian military infrastructure, and leaving the battlefield for the opponents of the regime to win, would end everything - that is an illusion," Lavrov said.(Reporting By Alexeci Anishchuk, writing by Thomas Grove, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Doomsday scenario in Syria’

With Arab support, Western nations prepare for possible military strike on Syria; Assad warns of ‘chaos and instability’ as result

By Michael Bassin August 26, 2013, 1:15 pm 0-The times of Israel

Days after the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad allegedly carried out a chemical attack in a Damascus suburb that killed hundreds of people, Western nations and their Arab allies are actively planning a military strike. This would be the first show of force by an outside power since the Syrian civil war began in March 2011, all Arab dailies lead off.The Saudi-owned A-Sharq Al-Awsat, known for its hostility toward the Assad regime, reports that in the face of overwhelming international pressure, Assad came to an understanding with the United Nations that will allow an international fact-finding team to investigate the chemical attack as early as Monday. The Syrian government has publicly accused “terrorists,” or rebel forces, of launching the deadly attack.Regardless of the conclusions the fact-finding team comes to, the leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France have already decided that Assad’s gesture is too little too late. The Syrian regime will already have had enough time to destroy crucial evidence.“The UN must be realistic about what it can achieve,” British Foreign Secretary William Haig told reporters.

The United States has already announced a re-concentrating of American warships in the eastern Mediterranean.The Doha-based media network Al-Jazeera notes that American Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey has already begun conducting meetings in Jordan with top generals from 10 other countries on a contingency plan for Syria. The main issues being discussed are how a strike in Syria will affect Jordan’s stability, what the response will be from Iran, and whether or not a strike will be successful.

The London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi adds that any military strike is expected to be limited and to be carried out from air or water. The main option being considered seriously is to launch rocket attacks on specific points for a period of 24-48 hours “to send a message to the Syrian regime.”Alexander Ukashevic, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, warned that “the repercussions would be severe on the White House if Russia’s red line on Syria was exceeded. . . There must be no effort to pre-impose the results of the investigation of UN experts. It must be rational because a mistake would be tragic.”Despite the talk of military action against him, Assad too remains defiant, warning that “military intervention would only bring chaos and instability to the Middle East and the world.”In an exclusive interview with the Russian daily Izvestia, picked up by the London-based Al-Hayat, Assad continues to call his battle with the Syrian opposition a fight between a legitimate power and terrorists.“Syrian security forces are dealing with terrorist armies that have a radical ideology, the same as that of Al-Qaeda,” Assad asserted. “These terrorists are receiving major backing from Israel. If these terrorist groups hate Israel, then why are they going to Israel’s hospitals and fighting the Egyptian and Syrian states rather than opening up its operations against Israel? Let’s not forget that the main supporter of the terrorists is the United States of America.”“I will not turn Syria into a puppet in the hands of the West,” Assad continued. “We are an independent state, we will fight terrorism, and we will build relations with those countries that want what’s best for the Syrian people.”In an editorial published in A-Sharq Al-Awsat called “No politics with chemical weapons,” the paper opines that military intervention in Syria is no longer an option, but a duty.“It cannot be permissible for the Assad regime to dilute the facts and disrupt an international investigation into the use of chemical weapons,” the editorial emphasizes. “Any delay in dealing firmly with Assad’s disregard for the lives of innocent people would cause great harm to the reputation of the international community. Silence for these crimes will destroy the chances of moderation and ignite extremism throughout the entire region.Syrian opposition groups, for their part, may be already making the Saudi paper’s prediction a reality. Also accused of committing vast human atrocities, they have already vowed to bomb Alawite villages along the Syrian coast with thousands of rockets as retaliation for the chemical attack, according to the Dubai-based media channel Al-Arabiya.The leading editorial in Al-Quds Al-Arabi states that, at this point, it is no longer important who carried out the chemical weapons attack. In a piece entitled “Doomsday scenario in Syria,” the paper argues that nothing other than military action can prevent Assad from continuing to subject his people to genocide.“Arab intervention is not enough to overcome the beast,” the editorial reads. “It must be a total global effort.”

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.

Ball of fire in Middle East': Tehran, Damascus warn US against Syria strike

News | 26.08.2013 | 10:16

Iran has warned the US not to cross “the red line” on Syria threatening it would have “severe consequences” for the White House. This follows a statement from Syrian officials who said a strike would create “very serious fallout” for the whole region. "America knows the limitation of the red line of the Syrian front and any crossing of Syria's red line will have severe consequences for the White House," the Iranian Fars news agency quoted deputy chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, Massoud Jazayeri, as saying. Syrian authorities also warned the United States against any military intervention, saying this would "inflame the Middle East". "US military intervention will create very serious fallout and a ball of fire that will inflame the Middle East," Information Minister Omran Zoabi told the Syrian state news agency, SANA. The warning comes as Western officials stated they are considering “a serious response” from the international community to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Arab state. On Saturday, British PM David Cameron’s spokesperson said that both the UK and the US have tasked officials to examine all the options. At the same time, US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that the Defense Department is “prepared to exercise whatever option - if he [Obama] decides to employ one of those options". Earlier on Friday Hagel suggested the Pentagon might move naval forces closer to Syria in case Obama decides to proceed. However, US media reports that four US Navy Destroyers – USS Ramage, USS Gravely, USS Barry and USS Mahan – are being pre-positioned in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, although officials stress that the US Navy has received no orders to prepare for military action. All four warships are said to have been equipped with cruise missiles. It was initially planned that the USS Mahan would be replaced with the recently arrived USS Ramage, but navy commanders decided to change the agenda and now have four warships in the region instead of three. Also, reports say that among the military options under consideration are missile strikes on Syrian units believed to be responsible for chemical attacks, or on Assad's air force and ballistic missile sites. Syrian rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Assad have accused government forces of attacking people in the Damascus suburbs with toxic gas on Wednesday, claiming it killed anywhere between ‘dozens’ to ‘1,300’.  Official Damascus has dismissed the accusations and in response blames rebel forces for the alleged attack. Earlier Syrian government said that in light of the event it was ready to engage in “maximum” cooperation with UN experts, according to Russia’s foreign ministry. Following the August 21 attack reports, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement suggesting the alleged attack was a provocation on behalf of the rebel forces. “A homemade rocket with a poisonous substance that has not been identified yet – one similar to the rocket used by terrorists on March 19 in Khan al-Assal - was fired early on August 21 [at Damascus suburbs] from a position occupied by the insurgents,” the Ministry then said in a statement. Western powers, however, suspect Assad’s forces and demand that the UN team be allowed to examine the scene of the recent attack in a Damascus suburb. The UN team arrived in Syria on Sunday to inspect three sites under an agreement reached with Syrian authorities. French President Francois Hollande stated on Sunday there was "a body of evidence indicating that the August 21 attack was chemical in nature and that everything led to the belief that the Syrian regime was responsible for this unspeakable act". The White House official, who spoke on Sunday on condition of anonymity, said that the White House believes the Syrian government is barring a UN investigative team immediate site access to give the evidence time to degrade, according to AP. Iran claims that the Syrian government had told Tehran it would allow UN inspectors to visit the site of the reported attack. However, a report on state-owned SANA suggested UN inspectors would not be allowed to visit the site of the recent reported attack because it was not part of a previously agreed list of locations. Damascus would cooperate "significantly and transparently" with UN investigations but not allow any "inspection that will prejudice national sovereignty", SANA quoted Information Minister Omran Zoabi as saying. At the same time the still volatile situation in Syria is set to deteriorate even further with opposition forces claiming to have received military aid from Turkey. Also Al-Qaeda’s affiliated bloc Al Nusra, involved in anti-government fighting, pledged in a YouTube video to target Alawite villages and towns in response to the alleged chemical attack.RT

SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS-CHEMICAL WEAPONS

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL/NUCLEAR) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Israelis Flock to Gas Mask Distribution Stations

Requests for gas and chemical mask kits have quadrupled in the wake of increasing tensions in Syria

By David Lev-First Publish: 8/25/2013, 3:45 PM-Israelnationalnews

Gas masks in Israeli school drill (file)-Israel news photo: Flash 90

As tensions in Syria rise to unprecedented heights, Israelis, fearful of a possible chemical attack by its northern neighbor, have been flocking to gas mask distribution stations. Distribution of updated masks and chemical protection kits have been going on for several years, but on Sunday hordes of Israelis who have neglected to get their updated kits flocked to post offices, which are responsible for the distribution.According to the Israel Post Office, requests for kits were quadruple those of a regular Sunday.
Israelis have also been cleaning out safe rooms and neighborhood bomb shelters, most of which serve older neighborhoods where houses were built without safe rooms. In many neighborhoods, the shelters have long been used for community activities, to run after-school programs, or as synagogues. In a recent campaign, the Homefront Security Ministry has been checking the status of shelters and found many of them to be wanting.Israel, meanwhile, has called for international action to halt the Syrian government's use of chemical weapons. Speaking Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Israel “expects this to end. The most dangerous regimes on earth must not have the most dangerous weapons on earth.”Speaking with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius Sunday morning, President Shimon Peres said that “Syria has a ruler who kills people with no compunction, and in a horrible manner. No one can ignore the deaths of children. This is the time for an international effort to remove chemical weapons from Syria. We will not allow those weapons to remain there, not in the hands of Bashar al-Assad, or anyone else,” Peres said.

LUTHERN CHURCH ELECTS FIRST FEMALE BISHOP

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

08/22/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

American Lutheran Church elects first female presiding bishop

Elizabeth Eaton

Elizabeth Eaton was elected leader of the Evangelical Lutherans last week

Maria Teresa Pontara Pederiva Rome While the Anglican Church has pulled back the handbrake on women’s ordination to the priesthood in England, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has stepped down on the accelerator, electing its first female presiding bishop last week. The woman in question is Harvard Divinity School graduate Elizabeth Eaton, 58.


Eaton – who won in a 600-287 landslide at the denomination’s triennial Churchwide Assembly in Pittsburgh, against outgoing president Mark Hanson and two other female candidates – is Bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod, based in her hometown Cleveland and is married to the Rev. Conrad Selnick, an Episcopal priest. Like Hanson, Eaton supported the decision to allow gay clerics to be ordained bishops, taking what was perhaps an even “softer” line, because more understanding than many of those who were against. “Being an inclusive church meant respecting those who had a different understanding of Scripture and doctrine.” “These people also have voice in this church,” she said.Last 12 May, Guy Erwin, a member of the Osage tribe who holds a degree from Yale and a PhD from Yale, was the first openly gay figure to be elected bishop of Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Southwest California Synod, becoming one of 65 ELCA bishops across the U.S.The ELCA changed its rules in 2009 to allow gay and lesbian individuals to be ordained priests in what is the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. It is estimated that over 600 congregations abandoned the Lutheran Church following this decision. Today, the Lutheran Church has almost ten thousand congregations (9638 to be precise) across the U.S., the Caribbean and the Virgin Islands, with over sixteen thousand priests and more than four million members.The main problem President Eaton will be facing is how to hold the Lutheran Church together and in particular how to meet the varying needs and expectations of families and young people. In her acceptance speech, she stressed the need to meet people’s needs by going out to meet them. Missionary action needs to be strengthened. “Today people search for a new church on the Internet, so those without a website are invisible,” she said.  Hence new technologies need to be used in a more efficient and intelligent way, although searching for God’s help through prayer remains the number one priority, Eaton stressed.Bishop Eaton will be installed on 5 October (probably at Rockefeller Chapel in Chicago’s Hyde Park) and her first day in office will be N1 November. She is now on a par with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who in 2006 became the first woman to become a primate of an Anglican province. The two Churches are in full communion, meaning they are able to share clergy and have shared ministries. “Today we are closer,” said the Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber the day after Eaton’s election.When asked, in a press conference, to comment on what it meant for a woman to be elected president, she replied: “Everyone has gifts to serve” When we say everyone is welcome and that God’s gifts have been poured out on everyone, as it says in Joel, that it can also be poured out on someone who happens to be female from Ohio.” “We are a church that is overwhelmingly European in a culture that is increasingly pluralistic. We need to welcome the gifts of those who come from different places, that is a conversation we need to have as a church,” she said.

08/20/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

Iran: Man sentenced to 10 years in prison for distributing copies of the Gospel

The Iranian Parliament

Young people’s interest in and conversion to Christianity is concerning Iranian authorities

vatican insider staff Rome
An Iranian man, converted from Islam to Christianity, was sentenced to ten years in prison for "crimes against state security".
 
This is neither the first nor the last of such cases unfortunately. This time it was Mohammad-Hadi Bordbar’s turn. The man, also known as Mostafa is a native of the city of Rasht and has been found  guilty for distributing copies of the Gospel in Iran.As reported to Fides news agency, “the court documents show that the man confessed to "having abandoned Islam to follow Christianity", and "considering evangelization his duty, he distributed 12,000 pocket gospels". After having received baptism, Mostafa had set up a "house church", an assembly of home worship, with prayer meetings at home, which are considered "illegal".”“Mostafa was arrested in Tehran on December 27, 2012, after a police raid at his house. The security officers detained and interrogated all those present at the meeting for hours, about 50 Iranian Christians,” Fides news agency reports.“In his home the police found material and Christian publications, such as movies, books, CDs and over 6,000 copies of the Gospel. Mostafa had already been arrested in 2009 for conversion to Christianity, found guilty of apostasy, then released on bail. In another recent case, reported to Fides by the Iranian Christian Agency "Mohabat News", a court in the city of Robat-Karim, south of Tehran, sentenced the young Ebrahim Firouzi, another Iranian Christian to one year in prison and two years of exile, for "evangelization activities and distribution of Bibles", considered "in opposition to the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran”,” Fides went on to say.“In the ruling, the judge describes Ebrahim Firouzi of being "guilty of criminal acts for holding prayer meetings at home and for having spread among the young doubts on Islamic principles". The young man was arrested in March 2013.” “As recalled by the NGO "Barnabas team" and "Christian Solidarity Worldwide", committed to the defence of Christians in the world, in recent years the interest of young Iranians towards Christianity has made conversion to Christianity a disturbing problem for the Iranian authorities,” Fides wrote.“Many churches of Farsi-language have been closed in Tehran and in other cities, while the pressure on Christian converts from Islam is on the rise. The new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, spoke of a possible "reform of civil rights" recently asking Islamic religious clergy to "stop state interference in the private lives of people".”

08/22/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

Francis and Fatima

Our Lady of Fatima

In October, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima will travel from Portugal to Rome, where the Pope will entrust the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Andrea Tornielli vatican city This coming 13 October Pope Francis will entrust the world to Mary, as part of the Year of Faith initiative. This is in continuation with the acts performed by his predecessors, from Pius XII to John Paul II and is a demonstration of Francis’ deep devotion to the Virgin Mary.The original statue of Our Lady of Fatima, with the bullet that struck John Paul II (in the 13 May 1981 attempt on his life) set in the Virgin Mary’s crown, will arrive in St. Peter’s Square in the afternoon of Saturday 12^th and Francis will be there to receive it. This is the 10^th time in just under a century that the Marian effigy leaves the Chapel of Apparitions in Fatima, Portugal. In the evening the statue will be taken to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love in Rome, where a prayer vigil will be held. On morning of October 13^th, the statue will return to St. Peter’s Square, where the Pope will celebrate mass after the Rosary and will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.The first of these consecrations took place during Pius XII’s pontificate. On 31 October 1942, right in the middle of the Second World War, Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the radio in Portuguese, mentioning Russia especially, according to the instructions received by the three little shepherds during the apparition at Fatima. Another consecration was made by John Paul II on 25 March 1984, when tensions were running high because of the European missile crisis.
 
The original statue was brought back to the Vatican on 8 October 2000, when John Paul II entrusted the new millennium to Mary in the presence of 1500 bishops from all across the world. His words –pronounced eleven months before the September 11 attacks – were not understood at the time. He said the world was at a crossroads and could either transform itself into a blooming garden or into a pile of ruins. Pope Francis mentioned the statue of Our Lady of Fatima in his first Angelus prayer on Sunday 17 March, referring to one of the replicas of the statue that were travelling around the world. “I remember, when I had only just become a bishop in the year 1992, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima had just arrived in Buenos Aires and a big Mass was celebrated for the sick. I went to hear confessions at that Mass…” Francis said, before going on to recount a story about an old woman who came to him for confession and surprised him with the simplicity of her faith: “If the Lord did not forgive everything, the world would not exist.” A month later, the then Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal José Policarpo, announced that Pope Francis had asked him to consecrate his pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima: “Pope Francis asked me twice if I could consecrate his new ministry to Our Lady of Fatima.”Cardinal Policarpo accepted ad the consecration was carried out last 13 May. “O Blessed Virgin, we are at your feet to carry out the request clearly expressed by Pope Francis to consecrate to you, O Virgin of Fatima, his ministry as Bishop of Rome and universal pastor,” Cardinal Policarpo said, marking the 96^th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children. Francis has made his devotion to Our Lady of Fatima very clear, visiting the Basilica of St. Mary major as many as five times to pray. His first visit was on 14 March, straight after he was elected Pope. He laid some flowers before the Salus Populi Romani icon and asked the Virgin Mary to protect the city of Rome.The Pope returned there on 4 May to recite the Rosary and again on the Feast Day of Corpus Domini after the procession to the basilica. Francis also went to pray before the Salus Populi Romani before his trip to Rio, to entrust World Youth Day to the care of the Virgin Mary. He then visited the basilica again, straight after landing in Ciampino last 29 July and before returning to the Vatican, to pray and give thanks to the Virgin Mary. One of Francis’ favourite Marian devotions is to the Virgin Mary Untier of Knots (Maria Knotenlöserin), a devotion he helped spread across Argentina. This devotion is inspired by an 18^th century Bavarian image, which currently adorns one of the chapels of the St. Peter am Perlach church in Augsburg, Germany.Fr. Bergoglio discovered it on one of his study trips and began to spread word of it in Argentina. When he was appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he dedicated a shrine in the city to Mary Untier of Knots and had a prayer printed on the back of an image of the Virgin Mary which he used to send out with his correspondence; this roughly translates as: “May evil never ensnare you in its chaotic web… May you act as an example of how to unravel the knots in our lives and help us through difficult times with simplicity and patience, through the intercession of Your Son.”

08/21/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

The Pope and the Curia’s spoil system

The Roman Curia

The U.S. has criticised Pope Francis for not having replaced the Vatican Secretary of State yet

andrea Tornielli vatican city

“We also wanted someone with good managerial skills and leadership skills, and so far that hasn't been as obvious.” This is what the Archbishop of New York and American papal candidate, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, had to say about Pope Francis at World Youth Day in Rio a few weeks ago. The cardinal voiced this rather frank criticism during an interview with Vatican correspondent John Allen, published on the National Catholic Reporter website last 24 July.Basically, one of the most media-friendly protagonists of the last Conclave that elected Bergoglio to the Throne of Peter just four months ago has said that Francis, the Argentinean Pope “from the other side of the world” has not been enough of a “manager”. In his comment, Dolan was particularly referring to the fact that the Vatican Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, has not been replaced yet. Bertone, who was Benedict XVI’s right hand man, was widely criticised during the pre-Conclave discussions. “I would expect that after the summer lull, we'll see some more signs of management changes,” Cardinal Dolan added, after stating that he had expected the replacement to happen before the summer, as many had wrongly predicted.Dolan’s comment is completely separate from other statements made by top figures in the U.S. Catholic Church, such as the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput. In an interview with the National Catholic Reporter he admitted that "the right wing of the church ... generally have not been really happy about his election, from what [he has] been able to read and to understand." Unlike certain conservative and traditionalist circles, the Archbishop of New York does not complain about such things as the little changes made to the liturgy, about the current Pope’s simple style or about the fact he has not repeatedly stressed the Church’s well-known position with regard to abortion, euthanasia and homosexuality. But Dolan has not hidden his dissatisfaction regarding Francis’ failure so far to act as a real “manager” - a typically American concern.After he had been Pope for one month and just before Holy Week was about to begin, with all its demanding rites, on 13 April, Francis announced he was setting up a group of eight advisors to help him reform the Curia and govern the Church. He got stuck in straight away with the Vatican Bank (the IOR) given the rather unevangelical scandals it was at the centre of. He nominated a trusted prelate as its head and set up a commission to reform the Bank. He started restructuring all of the Holy See’s economic and financial structures. He met and listened to numerous people and took decisions. Dolan, and perhaps even others, expected to see some important figure get the axe, starting with Cardinal Bertone who will turn 79 at the start of December.In the weeks following their election, neither Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II nor Benedict XVI changed the Secretary of State they inherited from their respective predecessors. They waited years (Paul VI waited six and Benedict XVI over one year) or months (the Secretary of State Jean Villot was replaced less than five months after the Conclave which elected Wojtyla, but only because he died). Pope Francis is waiting to do so “post aquas”, after the summer holidays that is, although he has in fact continued working throughout this period.In his book Open Mind, Faithful Heart, a collection of spiritual reflections published in 2012, Bergoglio, who was still a cardinal at the time, speaks of Abraham and detachment from oneself and reminds readers of certain priests who, once appointed to a higher position, immediately start making changes to the office, changing secretaries, putting new carpets down, curtains up, kitting themselves out with all sorts of office equipment and reshaping the environment they’re in to suit them. This inevitably leads to conflict.Francis’ words may say something about the method used by the new Pope, who is prepared to make changes to the structures and composition of the Roman Curia - starting with the position of Secretary of State, which could undergo changes as part of the reforms that are being prepared – but without making any hasty decisions, always taking people into account. On the return flight from Rio de Janeiro, Francis told journalists he appreciated collaborators who told him “I don't see that, I disagree: that's what I think, you do as you wish,” because those who do say such things are real collaborators, as opposed to those who say: “Oh, how wonderful, how wonderful, how wonderful”, and then they say the opposite somewhere else.”As the last 8 years show, Benedict XVI’s pontificate was conditioned by collaborators who were not always up to the job. It is understandable therefore, that his successor should exercise due caution when selecting his key collaborators.

MUSLIM NATIONS (SLAUGHTERED BY NUKES FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)

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,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
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;(ISRAEL) 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,(OIL IS IN 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.

EZEKIEL 39:1-8,11-18
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,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) 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.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS) and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)

JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36  And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37  For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)

Iran warns US over military move against Assad

Republican Guards commander says Washington should beware of ‘trespassing over the red line in Syria’

By AP August 25, 2013, 1:35 pm 2-The Times of Israel

TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian commander warned the United States Sunday over a possible military move against the Tehran-backed regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.The semi-official Fars news agency, which has close ties to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, quoted Gen. Masoud Jazayeri as warning that “trespassing over the red line in Syria will have severe consequences for the White House.”Gen. Jazayeri did not provide details but said Washington is well aware of such red lines. He said the war in Syria is a product of a US plot and “regional reactionary” countries, a common reference to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.Earlier Saturday, Washington said US naval forces are moving closer to Syria as President Barack Obama considers a military response to Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons.Hundreds of people were killed in a reported chemical attack Wednesday, prompting international calls for action against the Syrian regime.

Iran is considered one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s strongest backers.The Times of Israel contributed to this report.

Only 60% of Israelis have gas masks

Postal Service says requests have jumped fourfold in recent days

By Gavriel Fiske August 25, 2013, 3:53 pm 1-The Times of Israel

As the prospect of a US-led Western military intervention into the Syrian civil war dominated Israeli headlines on Sunday, a new report revealed that, due to budget constraints, some 40 percent of Israeli citizens do not possess government-supplied gas masks to protect them from a potential chemical weapon attack.The post office said Sunday that requests have jumped fourfold in the last few days, likely the result of the news out of Syria.Only 60 percent of Israelis currently have gas masks, a Home Front Command official told Channel 2. “We’re not 100% ready, of course,” he reportedly said. “There is no 100% defense… but every person should be equipped.”In May, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a new $350 million initiative to equip every Israeli with a gas mask. However, official said that the shortfall was due to a “question of budget.”Despite the lack of gas masks, the official went on to say that Israel is more prepared that ever before for the case of a chemical weapons attack. “We are prepared for any scenario,” he said, adding that Home Front Command forces are “continually learning and training” for such a scenario.

Since the reports of a mass chemical gas attack outside Damascus surfaced last week, debate has raged in the US and Europe about possible military intervention. Israel is said to be preparing for the possibility that, in response to an American attack, Syria might retaliate against targets in Israel. Syria is reported to have an arsenal of at least 100,000 missiles, some of which can target any area in the country.In Israel, gas masks are distributed via the post office, which maintains an information page (Hebrew). Citizens can order and check availability by calling *2237.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Syrian Islamists vow revenge for alleged gas attack

Leader of al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front says he will target Shiite Muslim villages to hit back at Assad regime

By Jamal Halaby August 25, 2013, 3:58 pm 0-The times of Israel

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The leader of an al-Qaida-linked Syrian rebel group vowed on Sunday to attack villages home to President Bashar Assad’s minority sect to avenge a deadly alleged chemical weapons attack on opposition-held suburbs of Damascus last week.Jabhat al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani’s comments came in an audio recording posted on a militant website that usually carries al-Qaida and similar groups’ statements. It also appeared on the group’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, although the authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified.Last Wednesday’s purported chemical attack in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta has prompted U.S. naval forces to move closer to Syria as President Barack Obama considers a military response.Al-Golani said he plans to target villages inhabited by President Bashar Assad’s minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam that dominates his regime.

Addressing the families of children killed in the alleged chemical attack, al-Golani said: “The revenge for the blood of your children is a debt to be paid back … 1,000 rockets will be fired at them in revenge for the massacre of Ghouta.”In Jordan, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was set to meet with Arab and Western peers later in the day to discuss ways to bolster the security of Syria’s neighbors against possible attacks, chemical or other, by Assad’s regime, a Jordanian security official said.The meeting, closed to the press and held at an unspecified location, gathers chiefs of staff from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to brief reporters. 

Forbes ranks Sara Netanyahu Israel’s most powerful woman

The prime minister is ‘totally influenced’ by his wife, magazine says, placing her ahead of bank chiefs, billionaires and cultural icons

By Ron Friedman March 26, 2013, 1:24 am 0-The Times of Israel

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu casts his vote in the Likud primary elections together with his wife Sara, on November 24 (photo credit: Gil Yohanan/Flash90)

She may not hold an official government post, draw a huge salary or run an international corporation, but Sara Netanyahu’s purported influence over her husband, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, earned her the No. 1 spot on Forbes Israel’s list of the country’s 50 most powerful women, published last week.

Netanyahu, a child psychiatrist by training, beat out billionaires, CEOs, Cabinet ministers and cultural icons to gain the top spot, with the magazine citing her ostensible tight control over senior government appointments as her main leverage tool.“She is not directly involved in making decisions on economic, military or diplomatic matters. She won’t intervene in deciding on raising the VAT or launching a strike on Iran, but she is deeply involved in deciding who the people who make the critical decisions are,” a source who worked closely with the Netanyahus told Forbes. “Most of the appointments surrounding the prime minister — not only in his bureau — go through Sara Netanyahu. Major roles in the most important office in the country as well as minor government jobs — she is involved in all of them,” the unnamed source said.

Another unnamed official described the relationship as follows: “For someone to be influential, he or she needs to find a subject willing to be so totally influenced; that is the prime minister. He is completely under her influence, and doesn’t indicate any desire to be freed of it. He is very committed to her, and apparently loves her very much.”Immediately following Sara Netanyahu on the list is a more conventional pick, Bank Leumi CEO Rakefet Russak-Aminoach. Russak-Aminoach, 47, is the youngest person to stand at the head of the leading Israeli bank and over the past year steered it through tumultuous financial times, seeing through painful staff cuts and internal reforms.Filling out the Forbes top three was real estate magnate Shari Arison, who is also the driving force behind the annual Good Deeds Day, a philanthropic venture that this year included participants in 50 countries.The top ranked female politician was Tzipi Livni in 11th place, followed closely by opposition head Shelly Yachimovich. Both women led their parties (Hatnua and Labor respectively) in January elections. Though the results were less impressive than they had hoped for, today both find themselves in positions of power, Livni as the country’s justice minister and Yachimovich as the chief opposition political thorn in Netanyahu’s side.Israel’s favorite supermodel, Bar Refaeli made the list in 45th place, with the magazine citing her constant coverage by the media, her popularity on online social networks, and her income, as her claims to power.

Rural Living

Bees dying by the millions

By Jon Radojkovic

Wednesday, June 19, 2013 9:42:22 EDT AM

One of many dead hives at Schuit's Saugeen Honey, in Elmwood.

• Bees dying by the millions in Grey-Bruce

ELMWOOD - Local beekeepers are finding millions of their bees dead just after corn was planted here in the last few weeks. Dave Schuit, who has a honey operation in Elmwood, lost 600 hives, a total of 37 million bees.“Once the corn started to get planted our bees died by the millions,” Schuit said. He and many others, including the European Union, are pointing the finger at a class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids, manufactured by Bayer CropScience Inc. used in planting corn and some other crops. The European Union just recently voted to ban these insecticides for two years, beginning December 1, 2013, to be able to study how it relates to the large bee kill they are experiencing there also.Local grower Nathan Carey from the Neustadt, and National Farmers Union Local 344 member, says he noticed this spring the lack of bees and bumblebees on his farm. He believes that there is a strong connection between the insecticide use and the death of pollinators.“I feel like we all have something at stake with this issue,” he said. He is organizing a public workshop and panel discussion about this problem at his farm June 22 at 10 a.m. He hopes that all interested parties can get together and talk about the reason bees, the prime pollinators of so any different plant species, are dying.At the farm of Gary Kenny, south west of Hanover, eight of the 10 hives he kept for a beekeeper out of Kincardine, died this spring just after corn was planted in neighbouring fields.What seems to be deadly to bees is that the neonicotinoid pesticides are coating corn seed and with the use of new air seeders, are blowing the pesticide dust into the air when planted. The death of millions of pollinators was looked at by American Purdue University. They found that, “Bees exhibited neurotoxic symptoms, analysis of dead bees revealed traces of thiamethoxam/clothianidin in each case. Seed treatments of field crops (primarily corn) are the only major source of these compounds.Local investigations near Guelph, led to the same conclusion. A Pest Management Regulatory Agency investigation confirmed that corn seeds treated with clothianidin or thiamethoxam “contributed to the majority of the bee mortalities” last spring.“The air seeders are the problem,” said Ontario Federation of Agriculture director Paul Wettlaufer, who farms near Neustadt. This was after this reporter called John Gillespie, OFA Bruce County president, who told me to call Wettlaufer. Unfortunately, Wettlaufer said it was, “not a local OFA issue,” and that it was an issue for the Grain Farmers of Ontario and representative, Hennry Vanakum should be notified. Vanakum could not be rached for comment.Yet Guelph University entomologist Peter Kevan, disagreed with the EU ban.
“There’s very little evidence to say that neonicotinoids, in a very general sense, in a broad scale sense, have been a major component in the demise of honeybees or any other pollinators, anywhere in the world,” said Kevan.But research is showing that honeybee disorders and high colony losses have become a global phenomena. An international team of scientists led by Holland’s Utrecht University concluded that, ”Large scale prophylaxic use in agriculture, their high persistence in soil and water, and their uptake by plants and translocation to flowers, neonicotinoids put pollinator services at risk.” This research and others rsulted in the Eurpean Union ban.The United Church is also concerned about the death of so many pollinators and has prepared a “Take Action” paper it’s sending out to all its members. The church is basing its action on local research. The Take Action paper states among other things, “Scientific information gathered suggests that the planting of corn seeds treated with neonicotinoids contributed to the majority of the bee mortalities that occurred in corn growing regions of Ontario and Quebec in Spring 2012.”Meanwhile Schuit is replacing his queen bees every few months now instead of years, as they are dying so frequently. “OMAFRA tells me to have faith. Well, I think it’s criminal what is happening, and it’s hard to have faith if it doesn’t look like they are going to do anything anyway,” Schuit says.