JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL 2ND WAVE OF WW3 (200 MILLION MAN ARMY)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THE TURKEY ATATURK DAM ON THE EUPHRATES CAN BE SHUT AND DRIED UP ALREADY BY TURKEY)
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.(ITS AT THIS TIME I BELIEVE WHEN AMERICA GETS NUKED BY RUSSIA ON THE WAY TO THE MIDEAST)
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(WORLDWIDE WAR)(TURKEY-IRAQ-SYRIA)(EUPHRATES RIVER CONSISTS OF 760 MILES IN TURKEY,440 MILES IN SYRIA AND 660 MILES IN IRAQ)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,(WORLDWIDE WAR) which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE-2 billion)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
North Korea fires ICBM, splashes in Sea of Japan: Pentagon-[Reuters]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017-By Phil Stewart and Christine Kim
WASHINGTON/SEOUL-29 (Reuters) - North Korea fired what the U.S. Pentagon said appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that landed close to Japan on Wednesday, Pyongyang's first test launch since sending a missile over its neighbor in mid-September.North Korea fired the missile a week after U.S. President Donald Trump put North Korea back on a U.S list of countries that Washington says support terrorism. The designation allows the United States to impose more sanctions, although some experts said it risked inflaming tensions on the Korean Peninsula.Trump said of North Korea's latest test missile: "It is a situation that we will handle."Trump said the launch did not change his administration's approach to North Korea, which has included new curbs to hurt trade between China and North Korea, which it sees as important to deterring Pyongyang from its ambition to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States.Pentagon spokesman Col. Robert Manning said the Pentagon's initial assessment was that an ICBM was launched from Sain Ni in North Korea and traveled about 1,000 km before splashing down in the Sea of Japan. The missile did not pose a threat to the United States its territories or allies, the Pentagon said.U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the ICBM went higher than any shot Pyongyang has taken.Japan's government estimated that the missile flew for about 50 minutes and landed in the sea in Japan's exclusive economic zone, Japanese broadcaster NHK said. A North Korean missile on Aug. 29 was airborne for 14 minutes over Japan.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tokyo was requesting an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council."We can never accept this violence and have strongly protested to North Korea," Abe told reporters. He called on all countries to strictly implement sanctions against Pyongyang.South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday's missile was fired from Pyongsong, a city in South Pyongan Province, at around 1817 GMT over the sea between South Korea and Japan. The South Korean military said the missile had an altitude of around 4,500 km and flew 960 km.Minutes after the North fired the missile, South Korea's military conducted a missile-firing test in response, the South Korean military said.Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said the missile reached an estimated altitude of 4,000 kilometres and broke up before landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone. He said it was judged to be ICBM class given the missile's lofted trajectory.Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported three projectiles were fired, the nearest landing 210 kilometres west of Japan's northern mainland, suggesting the missile broke into pieces.Japan's Kyodo news agency, quoting the defense ministry, said there were no reports of any damage.U.S. stocks briefly pared gains on the news but the S&P 500 index was up almost one percent at the close.A U.S. intelligence official said the initial indication was that the engine was not significantly more powerful than the Hwasong 14 which Pyongyang tested in July.A 2,800-mile altitude, a 600-mile range, and a splash-down in the sea initially indicates that this was another test of the re-entry vehicle more than one of the missile, its engine, or its guidance system, said the official, who was studying incoming data on the launch.Two U.S. government sources said earlier that U.S. government experts believed North Korea could conduct a new missile test within days.After firing missiles at a rate of about two or three a month since April, North Korea paused its missile launches in September, after it fired a missile that passed over Japan’s northern Hokkaido island on Sept. 15.The U.S. officials who spoke earlier declined to say what type of missile they thought North Korea might test.Last week, North Korea denounced Trump's decision to relist it as a state sponsor of terrorism, calling it a "serious provocation and violent infringement."Trump has traded insults and threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and warned in his maiden speech to the United Nations in September that the United States would have no choice but to "totally destroy" North Korea if forced to defend itself or its allies.Washington has said repeatedly that all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea, including military ones, but that it prefers a peaceful solution by Pyongyang agreeing to give up its nuclear and missile programs.To this end, Trump has pursued a policy of encouraging countries around the world, including North Korea's main ally and neighbor, China, to step up sanctions on Pyongyang to persuade it to give up its weapons programs.North Korea has given no indication it is willing to re-enter diplomatic talks on those terms.North Korea has said its weapons programs is a necessary defense against U.S. plans to invade. The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war, denies any such intention.Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at Washington's conservative Center for the National Interest, said he thought North Korea might hold off on missile testing until about the time of the Winter Olympics, which South Korea is hosting next February, but added that North Korea had to keep testing to refine its weapons program."I am surprised, but not shocked," he said. "North Korea tested two missiles in the fourth quarter last year and will have to continue to test its missile capabilities for years to come if it wants a nuclear deterrent that can hit the U.S."(Reporting by Christine Kim in Seoul, Linda Sieg, William Mallard, Timothy Kelly in Tokyo, Mark Hosenball, John Walcott, Steve Holland and Tim Ahmann in Washington, Writing by David Brunnstrom and Yara Bayoumy; editing by Grant McCool)
Japan detects radio signals pointing to possible North Korea missile test: source-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-November 28, 2017
TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japan has detected radio signals suggesting North Korea may be preparing another ballistic missile launch, although such signals are not unusual and satellite images did not show fresh activity, a Japanese government source said on Tuesday.After firing missiles at a pace of about two or three a month since April, North Korean missile launches paused in September, after it fired a rocket that passed over Japan’s northern Hokkaido island."This is not enough to determine (if a launch is likely soon)," the source told Reuters.Japan's Kyodo news agency reported late on Monday that the Japanese government was on alert after catching such radio signals, suggesting a launch could come in a few days. The report also said the signals might be related to winter military training by the North Korean military.North Korea is pursuing its nuclear weapons and missile programmes in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. It has fired two missiles over Japan.South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing a South Korean government source, also reported that intelligence officials of the United States, South Korea and Japan had recently detected signs of a possible missile launch and have been on higher alert.South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told reporters on Tuesday there have been "noteworthy" movements from the North since its last missile launch in mid-September, but there was no hard evidence of another nuclear or missile test."North Korea hasn't been engaging in new nuclear or missile tests but recently we've seen them persistently testing engines and carrying out fuel tests," said Cho at a media event in Seoul."But we need some more time to see whether these are directly related to missile and nuclear tests."Asked about the media reports, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning told reporters the United States continued to watch North Korea very closely."This is a diplomatically led effort at this point, supported by military options," he said."The Republic of Korea and U.S. alliance remains strong and capable of countering any North Korean provocations or attacks."Two U.S. government sources familiar with official assessments of North Korean capabilities and activities said that while they were not immediately familiar with recent intelligence suggesting that North Korea was preparing to launch a new missile test, the U.S. government would not be surprised if such a test were to take place in the very near future.Other U.S. intelligence officials noted North Korea has previously sent deliberately misleading signs of preparations for missile and nuclear tests, in part to mask real preparations, and in part to test U.S. and allied intelligence on its activities.South Korea's Cho said North Korea may announce the completion of its nuclear programme within a year, as it is moving more faster than expected in developing its arsenal.North Korea defends its weapons programmes as a necessary defence against U.S. plans to invade. The United States, which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war, denies any such intention.(Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo in TOKYO, Phil Stewart, Mark Hosenball and John Walcott in WASHINGTON, Soyoung Kim and Christine Kim in SEOUL; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by lincoln Feast and Nick Macfie)
Why hasn't North Korea tested a missile in two months?-[Christian Science Monitor]-November 28, 2017-yahoonews
It’s a bit of a mystery: Why has North Korea stopped testing missiles? Pyongyang’s last test launch was in mid-September. Prior to that they tested at a rapid pace – seven in 2017’s third quarter. Since then, zip, zero, nada. The launch pads have been quiet. North Korean state media haven’t released new photos of leader Kim Jong-un grinning or clapping as a new missile roars into the sky.It’s tempting to speculate about possible geopolitical reasons for this interregnum. Perhaps President Trump’s rhetoric, such as his vow to use “fire and fury” to counter North Korean nuclear threats, has given Pyongyang pause. Perhaps economic sanctions are biting. Perhaps China has leaned on North Korea – finally – to rein in its impetuous behavior.Perhaps – but it’s more likely the pause has practical causes, say experts. In recent years North Korea has generally tested few missiles, if any, in the fourth quarter of the year.“North Korea tests its missiles when it’s ready to. They’ve got a program in place that probably has a schedule and a timetable for deliverables,” says Shea Cotton, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, in an email response to a reporter’s inquiries.Mr. Cotton is an expert in open-source intelligence who has built and runs a North Korean Missile Test Database. He is also part of a team that uses satellite images and modeling techniques to geo-locate North Korea’s missile-test and nuclear sites, and even the exact location of Mr. Kim's propaganda photos.His data show that North Korea accelerated its missile test program beginning in 2014. It stepped back a bit the next year, then leapt ahead in 2016 with 24 major tests.So far in 2017 there have been 19 tests, according to Cotton’s figures. There have been none, so far, in the year’s fourth quarter.It’s possible that may soon change. The Japanese government on Monday told reporters it had detected radio signals indicating North Korea might be preparing a test launch. The signals were not definitive, according to Japanese media.Asked about this development, Pentagon spokesman Col. Robert Manning said the US was watching the situation carefully.“The Republic of Korea and US alliance remains strong and capable of countering any North Korean provocations or attacks,” the colonel told US reporters.But a drop-off beginning in September is common for Pyongyang. The pace for the first three quarters of the year is roughly similar, ranging from an average of 4.1 to 4.8 since 2012. The average for the quarter that stretches the last three months of the year, however, is 0.8.The consistency of this quiet period supports the idea that it is caused by circumstances that recur every year. Cotton believes one obvious and prosaic reason may be the cycle of agriculture. Harvest time starts every year in September. In North Korea, scarce personnel and fuel resources may be diverted to getting in the crops. Fields often surround military bases, for example. Troops may be used for harvest purposes.In this context North Korean tests appear less planned provocations than part of a plan for a steady march towards greater and greater ballistic missile capabilities. It is not impossible that some move on the part of the US and its allies could produce a North Korean response. Mr. Trump’s relisting of North Korea as a state that backs international terrorism could well irritate Kim, for instance.But it would have to be a final straw, something that adds to accumulated grievances and produces action, says Cotton.“I could see the regime doing a missile test or two before the end of the year, but I don’t see them returning to the rapid pace of testing missiles every other week like we saw earlier this year,” he says. “That’ll probably have to wait until next February or March.”February might be the preferred month, other experts point out. That’s when South Korea will host the Winter Olympics, in Pyeongchang, only about 60 miles from the border between the Koreas.The Olympics could showcase South Korea’s economic progress and social stability, relative to its northern neighbor. Lobbing a multi-stage missile or two into the ocean might be a way for Pyongyang to crash this international party of sport.Meanwhile, the US appears to be intent on irritating the North, rather than pulling together a comprehensive plan that might actually change its behavior, according to Anthony Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.Relisting North Korea as a terrorism sponsor is a case in point, says Mr. Cordesman. It effectively ratchets up tensions with Pyongyang without doing anything to affect the underlying situation. Sure, it grabs headlines in the US – but it also gives Kim a reason to reply in kind.“I think the problem is [the relisting] was done without any regard to a consistent overall strategy,” says Cordesman.As the steady progress of missile tests shows, the reality is that it may be too late to stop the march of North Korea’s development of nuclear weaponry, according to Cordesman. The only viable US option may be a strategy of containment, which accepts the reality of North Korea’s new power and tries to counter it directly, as the US did with the USSR during the Cold War.
CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL 2ND WAVE OF WW3 (200 MILLION MAN ARMY)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THE TURKEY ATATURK DAM ON THE EUPHRATES CAN BE SHUT AND DRIED UP ALREADY BY TURKEY)
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.(ITS AT THIS TIME I BELIEVE WHEN AMERICA GETS NUKED BY RUSSIA ON THE WAY TO THE MIDEAST)
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(WORLDWIDE WAR)(TURKEY-IRAQ-SYRIA)(EUPHRATES RIVER CONSISTS OF 760 MILES IN TURKEY,440 MILES IN SYRIA AND 660 MILES IN IRAQ)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,(WORLDWIDE WAR) which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE-2 billion)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
North Korea fires ICBM, splashes in Sea of Japan: Pentagon-[Reuters]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017-By Phil Stewart and Christine Kim
WASHINGTON/SEOUL-29 (Reuters) - North Korea fired what the U.S. Pentagon said appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that landed close to Japan on Wednesday, Pyongyang's first test launch since sending a missile over its neighbor in mid-September.North Korea fired the missile a week after U.S. President Donald Trump put North Korea back on a U.S list of countries that Washington says support terrorism. The designation allows the United States to impose more sanctions, although some experts said it risked inflaming tensions on the Korean Peninsula.Trump said of North Korea's latest test missile: "It is a situation that we will handle."Trump said the launch did not change his administration's approach to North Korea, which has included new curbs to hurt trade between China and North Korea, which it sees as important to deterring Pyongyang from its ambition to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States.Pentagon spokesman Col. Robert Manning said the Pentagon's initial assessment was that an ICBM was launched from Sain Ni in North Korea and traveled about 1,000 km before splashing down in the Sea of Japan. The missile did not pose a threat to the United States its territories or allies, the Pentagon said.U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the ICBM went higher than any shot Pyongyang has taken.Japan's government estimated that the missile flew for about 50 minutes and landed in the sea in Japan's exclusive economic zone, Japanese broadcaster NHK said. A North Korean missile on Aug. 29 was airborne for 14 minutes over Japan.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tokyo was requesting an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council."We can never accept this violence and have strongly protested to North Korea," Abe told reporters. He called on all countries to strictly implement sanctions against Pyongyang.South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday's missile was fired from Pyongsong, a city in South Pyongan Province, at around 1817 GMT over the sea between South Korea and Japan. The South Korean military said the missile had an altitude of around 4,500 km and flew 960 km.Minutes after the North fired the missile, South Korea's military conducted a missile-firing test in response, the South Korean military said.Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said the missile reached an estimated altitude of 4,000 kilometres and broke up before landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone. He said it was judged to be ICBM class given the missile's lofted trajectory.Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported three projectiles were fired, the nearest landing 210 kilometres west of Japan's northern mainland, suggesting the missile broke into pieces.Japan's Kyodo news agency, quoting the defense ministry, said there were no reports of any damage.U.S. stocks briefly pared gains on the news but the S&P 500 index was up almost one percent at the close.A U.S. intelligence official said the initial indication was that the engine was not significantly more powerful than the Hwasong 14 which Pyongyang tested in July.A 2,800-mile altitude, a 600-mile range, and a splash-down in the sea initially indicates that this was another test of the re-entry vehicle more than one of the missile, its engine, or its guidance system, said the official, who was studying incoming data on the launch.Two U.S. government sources said earlier that U.S. government experts believed North Korea could conduct a new missile test within days.After firing missiles at a rate of about two or three a month since April, North Korea paused its missile launches in September, after it fired a missile that passed over Japan’s northern Hokkaido island on Sept. 15.The U.S. officials who spoke earlier declined to say what type of missile they thought North Korea might test.Last week, North Korea denounced Trump's decision to relist it as a state sponsor of terrorism, calling it a "serious provocation and violent infringement."Trump has traded insults and threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and warned in his maiden speech to the United Nations in September that the United States would have no choice but to "totally destroy" North Korea if forced to defend itself or its allies.Washington has said repeatedly that all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea, including military ones, but that it prefers a peaceful solution by Pyongyang agreeing to give up its nuclear and missile programs.To this end, Trump has pursued a policy of encouraging countries around the world, including North Korea's main ally and neighbor, China, to step up sanctions on Pyongyang to persuade it to give up its weapons programs.North Korea has given no indication it is willing to re-enter diplomatic talks on those terms.North Korea has said its weapons programs is a necessary defense against U.S. plans to invade. The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war, denies any such intention.Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at Washington's conservative Center for the National Interest, said he thought North Korea might hold off on missile testing until about the time of the Winter Olympics, which South Korea is hosting next February, but added that North Korea had to keep testing to refine its weapons program."I am surprised, but not shocked," he said. "North Korea tested two missiles in the fourth quarter last year and will have to continue to test its missile capabilities for years to come if it wants a nuclear deterrent that can hit the U.S."(Reporting by Christine Kim in Seoul, Linda Sieg, William Mallard, Timothy Kelly in Tokyo, Mark Hosenball, John Walcott, Steve Holland and Tim Ahmann in Washington, Writing by David Brunnstrom and Yara Bayoumy; editing by Grant McCool)
Japan detects radio signals pointing to possible North Korea missile test: source-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-November 28, 2017
TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japan has detected radio signals suggesting North Korea may be preparing another ballistic missile launch, although such signals are not unusual and satellite images did not show fresh activity, a Japanese government source said on Tuesday.After firing missiles at a pace of about two or three a month since April, North Korean missile launches paused in September, after it fired a rocket that passed over Japan’s northern Hokkaido island."This is not enough to determine (if a launch is likely soon)," the source told Reuters.Japan's Kyodo news agency reported late on Monday that the Japanese government was on alert after catching such radio signals, suggesting a launch could come in a few days. The report also said the signals might be related to winter military training by the North Korean military.North Korea is pursuing its nuclear weapons and missile programmes in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. It has fired two missiles over Japan.South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing a South Korean government source, also reported that intelligence officials of the United States, South Korea and Japan had recently detected signs of a possible missile launch and have been on higher alert.South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told reporters on Tuesday there have been "noteworthy" movements from the North since its last missile launch in mid-September, but there was no hard evidence of another nuclear or missile test."North Korea hasn't been engaging in new nuclear or missile tests but recently we've seen them persistently testing engines and carrying out fuel tests," said Cho at a media event in Seoul."But we need some more time to see whether these are directly related to missile and nuclear tests."Asked about the media reports, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning told reporters the United States continued to watch North Korea very closely."This is a diplomatically led effort at this point, supported by military options," he said."The Republic of Korea and U.S. alliance remains strong and capable of countering any North Korean provocations or attacks."Two U.S. government sources familiar with official assessments of North Korean capabilities and activities said that while they were not immediately familiar with recent intelligence suggesting that North Korea was preparing to launch a new missile test, the U.S. government would not be surprised if such a test were to take place in the very near future.Other U.S. intelligence officials noted North Korea has previously sent deliberately misleading signs of preparations for missile and nuclear tests, in part to mask real preparations, and in part to test U.S. and allied intelligence on its activities.South Korea's Cho said North Korea may announce the completion of its nuclear programme within a year, as it is moving more faster than expected in developing its arsenal.North Korea defends its weapons programmes as a necessary defence against U.S. plans to invade. The United States, which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war, denies any such intention.(Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo in TOKYO, Phil Stewart, Mark Hosenball and John Walcott in WASHINGTON, Soyoung Kim and Christine Kim in SEOUL; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by lincoln Feast and Nick Macfie)
Why hasn't North Korea tested a missile in two months?-[Christian Science Monitor]-November 28, 2017-yahoonews
It’s a bit of a mystery: Why has North Korea stopped testing missiles? Pyongyang’s last test launch was in mid-September. Prior to that they tested at a rapid pace – seven in 2017’s third quarter. Since then, zip, zero, nada. The launch pads have been quiet. North Korean state media haven’t released new photos of leader Kim Jong-un grinning or clapping as a new missile roars into the sky.It’s tempting to speculate about possible geopolitical reasons for this interregnum. Perhaps President Trump’s rhetoric, such as his vow to use “fire and fury” to counter North Korean nuclear threats, has given Pyongyang pause. Perhaps economic sanctions are biting. Perhaps China has leaned on North Korea – finally – to rein in its impetuous behavior.Perhaps – but it’s more likely the pause has practical causes, say experts. In recent years North Korea has generally tested few missiles, if any, in the fourth quarter of the year.“North Korea tests its missiles when it’s ready to. They’ve got a program in place that probably has a schedule and a timetable for deliverables,” says Shea Cotton, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, in an email response to a reporter’s inquiries.Mr. Cotton is an expert in open-source intelligence who has built and runs a North Korean Missile Test Database. He is also part of a team that uses satellite images and modeling techniques to geo-locate North Korea’s missile-test and nuclear sites, and even the exact location of Mr. Kim's propaganda photos.His data show that North Korea accelerated its missile test program beginning in 2014. It stepped back a bit the next year, then leapt ahead in 2016 with 24 major tests.So far in 2017 there have been 19 tests, according to Cotton’s figures. There have been none, so far, in the year’s fourth quarter.It’s possible that may soon change. The Japanese government on Monday told reporters it had detected radio signals indicating North Korea might be preparing a test launch. The signals were not definitive, according to Japanese media.Asked about this development, Pentagon spokesman Col. Robert Manning said the US was watching the situation carefully.“The Republic of Korea and US alliance remains strong and capable of countering any North Korean provocations or attacks,” the colonel told US reporters.But a drop-off beginning in September is common for Pyongyang. The pace for the first three quarters of the year is roughly similar, ranging from an average of 4.1 to 4.8 since 2012. The average for the quarter that stretches the last three months of the year, however, is 0.8.The consistency of this quiet period supports the idea that it is caused by circumstances that recur every year. Cotton believes one obvious and prosaic reason may be the cycle of agriculture. Harvest time starts every year in September. In North Korea, scarce personnel and fuel resources may be diverted to getting in the crops. Fields often surround military bases, for example. Troops may be used for harvest purposes.In this context North Korean tests appear less planned provocations than part of a plan for a steady march towards greater and greater ballistic missile capabilities. It is not impossible that some move on the part of the US and its allies could produce a North Korean response. Mr. Trump’s relisting of North Korea as a state that backs international terrorism could well irritate Kim, for instance.But it would have to be a final straw, something that adds to accumulated grievances and produces action, says Cotton.“I could see the regime doing a missile test or two before the end of the year, but I don’t see them returning to the rapid pace of testing missiles every other week like we saw earlier this year,” he says. “That’ll probably have to wait until next February or March.”February might be the preferred month, other experts point out. That’s when South Korea will host the Winter Olympics, in Pyeongchang, only about 60 miles from the border between the Koreas.The Olympics could showcase South Korea’s economic progress and social stability, relative to its northern neighbor. Lobbing a multi-stage missile or two into the ocean might be a way for Pyongyang to crash this international party of sport.Meanwhile, the US appears to be intent on irritating the North, rather than pulling together a comprehensive plan that might actually change its behavior, according to Anthony Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.Relisting North Korea as a terrorism sponsor is a case in point, says Mr. Cordesman. It effectively ratchets up tensions with Pyongyang without doing anything to affect the underlying situation. Sure, it grabs headlines in the US – but it also gives Kim a reason to reply in kind.“I think the problem is [the relisting] was done without any regard to a consistent overall strategy,” says Cordesman.As the steady progress of missile tests shows, the reality is that it may be too late to stop the march of North Korea’s development of nuclear weaponry, according to Cordesman. The only viable US option may be a strategy of containment, which accepts the reality of North Korea’s new power and tries to counter it directly, as the US did with the USSR during the Cold War.
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).
Nine dead in London, Ont., area in streptococcus outbreak: health unit-[The Canadian Press]-yahoonews-November 27, 2017
LONDON, Ont. — Health officials have issued an alert, saying nine people have died in an ongoing invasive group A streptococcus outbreak in the London, Ont., area.The outbreak was declared more than 18 months ago and the Middlesex-London Health Unit says more than 132 cases of infection have been reported since April 1, 2016.Of the cases, 22 per cent required treatment in intensive care, 15 per cent had Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome and 15 per cent had necrotizing fasciitis — also called "flesh-eating" disease.Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Gayane Hovhannisyan says about half of the cases have been among injection drug users and/or people without access to stable housing.Symptoms depend on the site of the infection and may include fever, chills, sore throat, dizziness, confusion, severe pain, redness or swelling around a wound or injured area.Hovhannisyan says the alert has been issued because the health unit is seeing an increase in infections among people who have no connection to the outbreak in people who inject drugs or don't have stable housing."We need a better understanding of what's happening, which is why we've issued this alert," she said Monday in a news release.The bacteria are spread by direct contact with nose and throat secretions from an infected person, or by direct contact with infected wounds or sores on the skin.While the infections can occur year-round, the health unit said Monday that the number of infections tends to increase during the winter.It said the majority of streptococcus infections cause relatively mild illnesses like strep throat, but sometimes more serious and potentially life-threatening infections are able to get into muscles, blood and other organs.The health unit advises regular handwashing, covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, avoid sharing drinking and eating utensils and to not share drug paraphernalia in an effort to avoid infection. The Canadian Press.
Bali volcano spits ash 2 1/2 miles in the sky, airport closed-YAHOONEWS-[The Canadian Press]-November 28, 2017
KARANGASEM, Indonesia — A volcano with a deadly history continued to erupt Tuesday on Bali, one of the world's most popular resort islands, spitting ash 4,000 metres (2 1/2 miles) high and stranding tens of thousands of tourists for a second day. Lava was welling in its crater, but it remained unclear how bad the eruption might get or how long it could last.Authorities have raised the alert for Mount Agung to the highest level and told 100,000 people to leave an area extending 10 kilometres (6 miles) from its crater as it belches grey and white plumes into the sky. Its last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.Officials extended the closure of Bali's international airport for another 24 hours due to concerns that jet engines could choke on the thick volcanic ash, which was moving across the island.Tourists waiting for planes stared at information screens reading " cancelled " for every flight. Airport spokesman Ari Ahsanurrohim said more than 440 flights were cancelled Tuesday, affecting nearly 60,000 passengers, about the same as Monday. Without aircraft, getting in or out of Bali requires travelling hours by land and boat to an airport on another island."I don't know, we can't change it," said stranded German traveller Gina Camp, who planned to go back outside and enjoy another day on the island, which attracts about 5 million visitors a year to its famed resorts and world-class surf spots. "It's nature and we have to wait until it's over."Experts said a larger, explosive eruption is possible or Agung could stay at its current level of activity for weeks."If it got much worse, it would be really hard to think of. You've got a huge population centre , nearly a million people in Denpasar and surroundings, and it's very difficult to envision moving those people further away," said Richard Arculus, a volcano expert at Australian National University, adding that an eruption in 1843 was even more explosive than the one in 1963."There are many examples in history where you have this kind of seismic buildup — steam ejections of a little bit of ash, growing eruptions of ash to a full-scale stratosphere-reaching column of ash, which can presage a major volcanic event," he said.A NASA satellite detected a thermal anomaly at the crater, said senior Indonesian volcanologist Gede Swantika. That means a pathway from the storage chamber in the volcano's crust has opened, giving magma easier access to the surface.Indonesian officials first raised the highest alert two months ago when a rash of seismic activity was detected at the mountain. More than 100,000 people living near the volcano fled their homes, many abandoning their livestock or selling them for a fraction of the normal price. The seismic activity decreased by the end of October, causing authorities to lower the alert level.Tremors increased again last week and officials upped the alert and ordered another large-scale evacuation, with nearly 40,000 people now staying in 225 shelters, according to the Disaster Mitigation Agency in Karangasem. But tens of thousands of villagers have remained in their homes because they feel safe or don't want to abandon their farms and livestock."Ash has covered my house on the floor, walls, banana trees outside, everywhere" said Wayan Lanus, who fled his village in Buana Giri with his wife and daughter.Flows of volcanic mud have been spotted on Agung's slopes, and Arculus warned more are possible since it's the rainy season on Bali."They're not making a lot of noise. It's just suddenly coming like a flash flood out of nowhere," he said. "You do not want to be near them. Stay out of the valleys."Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and has more than 120 active volcanoes.___Mason reported from Jakarta. Associated Press writer Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta contributed to this report.Firdia Lisnawati And Margie Mason, The Associated Press.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (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.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(EITHER THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR BOOTS 3 COUNTRIES FROM THE EU OR THE DICTATOR TAKES OVER THE WORLD ECONOMY BY CONTROLLING 3 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
REVELATION 17:9-13
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-7 YEARS.THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
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.
OECD warns of Brexit and Catalan crisis effect-nov 28,17-By EUOBSERVER
Today, 11:23-The OECD said Tuesday that the eurozone will grow by 2.4 percent in 2017 and 2.1 percent in 2018. It noted that the UK growth slowdown is expected to continue due to "continuing uncertainty" over Brexit talks - to 1.5 percent this year, 1.2 percent in 2018 and 1.1 percent in 2019. It also warned that "persistent tensions" in Catalonia could "lower consumer and business confidence significantly" in Spain.
Tax haven list to 'whitewash' EU culprits By Nikolaj Nielsen-nov 28,17-euobserver
BRUSSELS, Today, 08:27-Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, and the Netherlands should be on the EU's upcoming tax haven blacklist, according to Oxfam, a global NGO.But the four member states will be excluded because the list, to be announced next week by EU finance ministers and to be accompanied by potential sanctions, will only cover non-EU jurisdictions.The NGO said in a report out on Tuesday (28 November) that the exclusions cast doubt on the credibility of the EU list."EU governments have a choice between ending the harmful impact of tax havens on both the EU and developing countries - or whitewashing tax havens," Oxfam's Aurore Chardonnet said.Aggressive tax planning was said to cost the developing world some €100 billion in lost revenues every year.The figure underpins a broader and separate debate on development and job growth ahead of an EU-Africa summit in the Ivory Coast this week.Earlier this month, a consortium of investigative journalists published a first series of articles following a leak of some 13 million documents from the Bermuda-based law firm Appleby, which handles offshore accounts.It showed, for instance, how Swiss commodity giant Glencore used tax tricks to shift revenues away from African national coffers.Oxfam's Chardonnet said the upcoming EU list was likely to be "empty" given its limited scope and given the political pressure from wealthy non-EU states such as Switzerland.An EU so-called Code of Conduct group, set up by member states, is currently screening the jurisdictions of 92 non-EU countries to see who should be on the blacklist.The group is using criteria based on transparency, fair taxation, and international efforts to tax profits where those profits have been made.Oxfam applied those same criteria and came up with a list of at least 35 non-EU countries as well as the four member states.Chardonnet said the secrecy surrounding the EU group's deliberations on the blacklist meant the public was largely "left in the dark".Earlier this month, Pierre Moscovici, the EU finance commissioner, demanded member states come up with a credible list following the Appleby revelations of widespread tax avoidance and evasion by some of the world's most powerful people."There is no point in just having one country on the black list of tax havens," he said at the time.The comment was largely directed towards the OECD, a Paris-based club of advanced economies, which, in July, designated Trinidad and Tobago as the world's only non-cooperative jurisdiction on tax transparency.
Opinion-The 'Soros Plan': what to keep and what to scrap By Vit Novotny-nov 28,17-euobserver
BRUSSELS, Today, 11:46-On 26 September 2015, George Soros, an American financier of Hungarian-Jewish extraction, published an article entitled 'Rebuilding the Asylum System' on the Project Syndicate website.Exactly two years later, in September of 2017, the Hungarian government opened a so-called 'national consultation'.In the 'consultation', each Hungarian household is being asked to answer seven questions about the so-called Soros Plan.The consultation cites two proposals from Soros' Project Syndicate article and it quotes other statements by the financier from a variety of sources.The claim of the Hungarian government is that George Soros is lobbying the EU institutions to adopt his "plan".Perhaps it is time to look at what policies George Soros in fact, advocates.Despite significant differences in view, at least two of Soros' recommendations chime with what the Hungarian government has been promoting in its policies. And although Soros is correct on some points, he is wrong on others.-Six points-Soros' piece in the Project Syndicate article includes the following six recommendations:Point 1. The EU should accept at least a million asylum seekers a year and pay for the upkeep of asylum seekers.This is a point of disagreement with Hungary and many other countries.Soros' piece proposes that the EU has to accept at least a million asylum-seekers annually for the foreseeable future and that it "must share the burden fairly" and that "the EU should provide €15,000 … per asylum-seeker for each of the first two years to help cover housing, health care, and education costs."George Soros was wrong on this point. In fact, the EU is not prepared to take in so many people. EU leaders are increasingly recognising that it is a much better idea to create better conditions for asylum seekers in safe havens closer to home. This is to save lives, spend taxpayers' money more effectively and encourage returns where possible.Point 2. The EU should lead the global effort to provide funding to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey; the EU should help to create special economic zones with preferred trade status to attract investment and generate jobs for refugees and locals; and the EU should provide funds to the 'frontline countries'.This is a point of agreement. The Hungarian prime minister has promoted the externalisation of immigration control, no doubt realising that the bill for implementing the policy will inevitably be footed by Hungarian and other EU taxpayers.Point 3. The EU should build a single EU asylum and migration agency.This is a point of disagreement with the Hungarian government. In the 'national consultation' the Hungarian government objects to the creation of an EU asylum agency as it 'erodes national authority'.Indeed, the European Commission has proposed to transform the European Asylum Support Office into a fully-fledged EU asylum agency with enhanced powers. This is because the uncoordinated band of 28 systems that do not communicate with one another is patently unable to handle a massive influx of migrants.Point 4. The EU should establish safe channels for asylum seekers from Greece and Italy to their destination countries, to calm the panic; and as the next step extend safe avenues to the frontline regions, and establish processing centres there.Again, this is a point of genuine agreement between Soros and the Hungarian government. Several weeks into the European refugee crisis in 2015, Budapest eagerly participated in the creation of a corridor that allowed migrants travel via Hungary further west and north.Point 5. The EU operational and financial arrangements should become "global standards for the treatment of asylum-seekers and migrants".The national consultation does not take up the point of the EU asylum standards, so the degree of agreement or otherwise is difficult to ascertain. Nevertheless, the practical Hungarian policy has been contrary to Soros' proposal, deterring migrants and asylum seekers by sometimes brutal methods on the border and in detention camps.Point 6. The EU should mobilise "the private sector – NGOs, church groups, and businesses – to act as sponsors" to absorb and integrate more than a million asylum seekers a year.Again, this point is not included in the national consultation. The official stance of the Hungarian (and many other) governments – an opposition to accepting asylum seekers – means that there is no convergence with Soros' approach here.However, for those individuals who are granted asylum in the EU, there is little doubt that the assistance of citizen and church groups and business would assist their integration.Finally, the national consultation refers to Soros' claim that national borders are the obstacle to protecting refugees.Whatever Soros meant by this statement is not important. Reasserting effective external border control is precisely what the EU institutions, supported by the Hungarian government, are working towards.No prime minister or interior minister, and nobody in the EU Commission, would agree with an open-border policy.Irrelevant of whether Soros and the Hungarian government are right or wrong on specific points, a question remains as to whether it was necessary to attempt to mobilise a country against the opinions of one man.At a time of such deep conflicts over immigration and asylum in Europe, it is a pity that only points of disagreement are addressed in the national consultation.Vit Novotny is a senior researcher at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies - this article represents his personal opinion.
Focus-China vows more investment in eastern Europe at summit By Peter Teffer-nov 28,17-euobserver
Brussels, Today, 09:20-Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang said on Monday (27 November) that there should be more Chinese investment in central and eastern Europe.He spoke at the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Economic and Trade Forum, a side-event to an annual summit in Budapest with China and sixteen central and eastern European countries – eleven of them EU members.Li also said China would increase food imports from the region."It is estimated that China will import products worth of $8 trillion (€6.7 trillion) from overseas in the next five years. … I hope central and eastern European countries will take a larger share of it," he said.Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban said on Monday that the sixteen central and eastern European countries "always saw cooperation with China as a great opportunity"- instead of as a threat."We see the Chinese president's 'One Belt, One Road' initiative as the new form of globalisation which does not divide the world into teachers and students but is based on common respect and common advantages," said Orban.The sixteen are EU members Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia; plus Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.According to a diplomat speaking to the FT, the 'sub-regional' approach is being met with "a great deal of suspicion not only in Brussels but also in the capitals of many member states".Chinese premier Li has said the summit was "not a geopolitical tool, but an incubator for pragmatic trans-regional cooperation".The summit was an opportunity for one of China's leaders to showcase the One Belt, One Road initiative, also called the 'New Silk Road'.According to Orban a key part of that trade route would be a train service between Budapest and Belgrade. The reconstruction of that railway, paid for by the Chinese, would be a "flagship project".But the project had been proposed as far back as in 2013, and is under investigation by the European Commission. The EU executive wants to know whether the project violates EU rules on public tenders.
First oil pumped at Hebron offshore platform-[CBC]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017
ExxonMobil confirmed Tuesday that the Hebron offshore oil platform has produced its first oil.Through a live video link from the platform, the company announced that first oil was pumped on Monday, Nov. 27 at 11:03 a.m.The milestone was reached a month ahead of schedule, the company said. To celebrate, all of the staff who worked on the project were served cake and given jackets during the announcement at ExxonMobil's office at Cabot Place in St. John's.The $14-billion platform was towed to its site 350 kilometres southeast of Newfoundland in June after seven years of construction at Bull Arm, Trinity Bay.The Hebron oil field was first discovered in 1980, and is estimated to produce more than 700 million barrels of oil throughout the lifespan of the project.The structure is 278 metres high, has a 130-metre diameter through the base, weighs 750,000 tonnes and has living quarters for 220 people. The platform took 40 million work hours to build, and it's expected to produce 150,000 barrels of oil per day at peak production.
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
Beijing evicts Chinese migrants in droves, prompting outcry-[The Canadian Press]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017
BEIJING — Zhou Xinci left her hometown in China's struggling rust belt four years ago for Beijing with little more than the clothes on her back and a dream to one day save enough money to buy a home.That dream is now fast unraveling as Zhou, 35, watches as her neighbours — other low-income Chinese migrants like her — are being hurriedly evicted from their homes on the outskirts of the capital by the government.Authorities in Beijing have launched sweeping evictions of workers who have migrated from elsewhere in the country, triggering a public outcry over the treatment of people the city depends on to build skyscrapers, care for children and take on other lowly paid work.Zhou, whose husband is a factory worker in Beijing, knows their family will soon be next and wonders how they will stay in the city and keep their 9-year-old son safe and in school."They are chasing people away from apartments and smashing things. How wouldn't a child be scared? My son is scared and can't sleep at night, of course I'm scared too," she said.Her family now pays 400 yuan ($60) a month to rent a single room big enough for their bed, a wardrobe, television set and refrigerator. But with soaring rents and rising discrimination against migrant workers, she says it will be impossible to find another room."They say Beijing people will feel heartache if they lose a dog," Zhou said. "We are living people. How could they treat us like this?"Workers interviewed by the AP say whole families have been evicted, often with little notice, leaving them scrambling to transport their belongings in the freezing weather. Many have had to pile their furniture, bags, bedding, clothes and other items into overloaded pickup trucks and vans, discarding kitchenware and other belongings that wouldn't fit."They called us at 5 a.m. and by 8 a.m. they had arrived with demolition equipment," said Bi Yan'ao, a 54-year-old migrant worker who has lived in Beijing for 13 years, describing what it was like to have to move out of his apartment in Daxing in just a few hours last week, clutching his belongings."In just one hour, they flattened a 100-meter (330-foot) -long stretch of land. How scary is that."After that, Bi went to work with his relative at a shop selling cosmetics, but then they were told this week they had a couple of days to move out. On Monday evening, Bi stood in the store surveying the piles of boxes of merchandise around him, at a loss for what to do. He teared up."I want to cry," he said. "I don't have anything left now."Last week, the city launched a 40-day campaign to clear out tenants from buildings deemed unsafe after a massive fire killed 19 people at apartments rented mainly by low-income Chinese migrant workers.The eviction drive has been met with widespread anger and criticism online, with people saying it has laid bare the stark inequality in China that prevents poorer migrants who provide essential services in cities from enjoying the same status as the cities' residents. Under China's much-criticized household registration, or "hukou," system, Chinese migrant workers who can't obtain "hukou" in the cities they work in are often denied access to subsidized health care, education and social services.Most tenants living in such homes on the outskirts of the city are factory workers, construction labourers , delivery people, drivers, cleaners, or hairdressers who come from poorer parts of China. Others run their own small wholesale businesses and shops selling cheap goods. Some have lived for years in the city with their children.Along the same street that Bi was on, the owner of a luggage store described a similar experience, saying officials came and told her family to leave within days before the area was to be sealed off and demolished."People have feelings, we cannot accept this, to be asked to leave suddenly," said the store owner, who gave only her surname, Yang. "We've lived in Beijing for a long time and it's not about how much contribution we've made. In the end, we've ended up with not even a place to live, I feel sad. So deeply sad."A group of intellectuals signing an open letter to the central government urging the city to stop the evictions and provide temporary housing for the migrants.One of the signatories, independent political commentator Zhang Lifan, said anger over the evictions showed that rapid economic growth has resulted in a massive accumulation of wealth and also rising inequality and a sense of unfairness.Zhang said many Chinese were quick to extend a hand to displaced migrants because they too had once been in their shoes, having worked their way up the socio-economic ladder to secure a decent middle-class life."When they saw that the migrants had been evicted, they realized that similar tragedies could have happened to them," Zhang said.In the wake of the evictions, individuals and organizations have offered to help displaced migrants with free accommodation.Wang Qi, an employee of a real-estate company in Langfang, a nearby city in Hebei province, said it would provide apartments as temporary homes for the migrant workers free of charge for up to three months. A posting online describing the offer said priority would be given to the sick, elderly and pregnant."Our boss himself was once a migrant worker in Beijing," Wang said. "But now that he has become wealthier, he wants to help out."The Beijing Work Safety Administration has denied that the campaign is aimed at driving out low-income migrants, saying it covers unsafe housing across the city.The Nov. 18 fire in Daxing district that killed 19 people, including eight children, was a "very painful" lesson for the government, and the cleanup campaign was aimed at not allowing such a tragedy to be repeated, a statement on the administration's website said.It acknowledged that the evictions have caused "temporary difficulties" to people who have had to leave at short notice and it pledged to fix such problems.The Beijing city government said last year it plans to cap the city's population at 23 million by 2020 and cut by 15 per cent the number of people in six main districts.China Labor Bulletin spokesman Geoffrey Crothall says the evictions are part of an ongoing effort by the government to redevelop land and capitalize on rising land prices. With the evictions, the government is effectively driving out the backbone of the city's labour force, Crothall said."Beijing needs migrant workers to do all the low-cost efficient service jobs that middle-class Beijingers depend upon," said Crothall. "But if you push them out of the city altogether, then there is going to be no one to do those jobs."___Liu reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press researchers Yu Bing and Shanshan Wang contributed to this report.Emily Wang And Yi-Ling Liu, The Associated Press.
Trudeau is apologizing to LGBT civil servants: Here's why-[CBC]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will apologize Tuesday to members of the LGBT community for actions the government took against thousands of workers in the Canadian military and public service in the Cold War era.From the 1950s to the 1990s, thousands of federal workers were fired because of their sexuality as part of a "national security" purge.Some gay members of the Canadian Armed Forces were also discharged for what was termed "psychopathic personality with abnormal sexuality."In June 2016, LGBT advocacy group Egale Canada released a report detailing the systemic discrimination and issued a number of recommendations, including that a formal apology be issued by Ottawa.It was announced in May that Trudeau promised to apologize, and the prime minister set the date of the apology for Nov. 28.Ottawa also announced Monday that the government will earmark over $100 million to compensate LGBT civil servants whose careers were sidelined or ended because of their sexuality.Here's a look at some of things for which he will be apologizing:-'Fruit machines'-Many pointed to the Cold War as the reason for the discrimination against LGBT individuals, with the RCMP and the military fearing gay and lesbian members could be open to blackmail by the Soviet Union."They were convinced that people could be blackmailed into selling secrets... that was the official party line adopted from McCarthyism in the States," Barry Deeprose, a prominent LGBT activist, told CBC in 2005.An RCMP unit was tasked with rooting out homosexual public workers, including diplomat John Wendell Holmes, who admitted his homosexuality and was quietly removed from public service in 1960 after being grilled by the Mounties.The Canadian government went so far as to commission a Carleton University professor to develop a homosexuality test — a so-called "fruit machine."In one test, subjects were shown pornographic images while cameras took pictures of their pupils to see if they dilated — the idea being that if their eyes dilated while looking at images of the same sex, it suggested excitement and therefore a same-sex attraction.The machine was used by the federal government throughout the 1960s, until the Defence Research Board — which was later folded into the Department of National Defence — pulled funding in 1967.By the 1960s, the RCMP had a database of 9,000 "expected" lesbians and gay men working across the federal government.Sanctions for their sexuality included dismissal, demotion, denial of opportunities for promotion, being forced to live a double life and other forms of systemic discrimination, according to the 2016 Egale Canada report.A class action lawsuit was filed in November 2016 against the Trudeau government in both Ontario and Quebec over the firings."It is absolutely unacceptable what some members of the Canadian Armed Forces went through," Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan at the time."Discrimination of any kind — whether it's sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity — is absolutely unacceptable and will be stamped out."'No place for the state in the bedrooms'-In 1969, the House of Commons voted 149-55 to pass an omnibus bill that, among other things, decriminalized homosexuality and allowed abortions under certain conditions."The view we take here is that there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation," Pierre Trudeau, then Canada's acting justice minister, said in 1967 when he first introduced the bill."I think what's done in private between two consenting adults doesn't concern the Criminal Code [of Canada]," he said.Former prime minister and then-PC MP John Diefenbaker slammed the bill."I cannot understand why matters like legalizing adult homosexuality or extending the field of abortion will raise the moral standards of any nation," he said.Quebec became the first province to include sexual orientation in its Human Rights Code in 1977, making it illegal to discriminate in housing, public accommodation and employment based on sexual orientation.The Canadian Human Rights Commission recommended sexual orientation be added to the Canadian Human Rights Act in 1979, but that didn't happen until 1996.Discrimination persisted for decades-Despite homosexuality being removed from the Criminal Code, discrimination against LGBT military and public service members persisted for decades, particularly in the military.A military directive specifically banning homosexuality in the ranks was passed in an overhaul of the system in 1976.- TIMELINE | Same-sex rights in Canada-It wasn't until the mid-1980s that members were required to consent to being discharged because of their sexuality. Those that did not agree were allowed to remain, but had career limitations put in place.In August 1992, the Ontario Court of Appeals ruled that the failure to include sexual orientation in the Canadian Human Rights Act was discriminatory. The ban on LGBT individuals in the military was lifted in November that year.In October 2016, the House of Commons defence committee voted unanimously for the Liberal government to order the military ombudsman to amend the service records of LGBT ex-military members who were given dishonourable discharges because of their sexual orientation.Canada's military ombudsman estimated that such an order would affect up to 1,200 service members.
Hot tech: U of M prof makes the case for sexbots-[CBC]-November 28, 2017-yahoonews
A local professor says sexbots could be the key to a happier, healthier society — but could also be a liability."Sexbots aren't going to necessarily replace human partners, but I think they're potentially a powerful tool in addressing people's isolation," says Neil McArthur.McArthur is the director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba. He's also a co-editor of a new book called Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications.With the current rate of technology development, McArthur says sexbots are inevitable. He predicts human-shaped robots with artificial intelligence — which would provide a realistic human experience — will be available to the public within five to 10 years.And these won't be some taboo machines."I guarantee you this will not be Google Glass or something that 14 people in Silicon Valley are using," says McArthur."This will be a technology that becomes very widely adopted, so I just think that we should be ready."Human benefits-Robot Sex is an international collection of essays that details how sexbots might change the way people interact with one another — for better or worse. McArthur wrote an essay titled "The case for sexbots."He says there are several reasons a person might use a sexbot. That includes living in a place with a large gender imbalance, or a community that stigmatises LGBTTQ people. Another benefit could be for people who've had bad or traumatic experiences with sexuality. McArthur says the sexbots could be used as a tool to build trust and confidence."People who've had experience with sexual trauma may find that sexbots help them feel safe in their sexuality and possibly help as a therapeutic tool and help them transition into human relationships," he says.The dark side of sexbots-But just because technology is moving quickly doesn't mean the rest of the world is. McArthur says hacking is a potential challenge given the robots will have such private, sensitive information. There's also the complex issue of intellectual property."[People] may want robots who look like their ex-girlfriend, and their ex-girlfriend might not want that," he says."Our legal regime right now just hasn't given this any thought, so there's no protection for people of that kind."McArthur acknowledges that we might need to address the risk of enforcing the objectification of women and that they're passive objects. But restricting the development of this technology isn't the way to deal with this, he says."I think it's something we need to look at in terms of education," says McArthur."It's part of a larger project of trying to change how society does view women and making sure women are viewed more equally."Regardless of ethics or opinions, McArthur says talking about sexbots will is a good start to the future."People are concerned, they're interested, they're fascinated," he says. "So I think it's important we have this discussion."
Angela Lansbury Says Women ‘Must Sometimes Take Blame’ For Sexual Harassment-[HuffPost UK]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017
Angela Lansbury has given her take on the sexual misconduct cases that have engulfed the entertainment world, believing that women “must sometimes take the blame”.The ‘Murder She Wrote’ actress told Radio Times that women making themselves attractive had “backfired on us” but added that there was “no excuse for inappropriate behaviour”.The 92-year-old Dame says: “We have to own up to the fact women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive.“And unfortunately it has backfired on us, and this is where we are today. We must sometimes take blame.“Although it’s awful to say we can’t make ourselves look as attractive as possible without being knocked down and raped.”She went on to say that she believed sexual misconduct in Hollywood would now stop.“Should women be prepared for this? No, they shouldn’t have to be,” she says. “There’s no excuse for that. And I think it will stop now - it will have to. I think a lot of men must be very worried at this point.”Following her comments, Rape Crisis England & Wales issued a strongly-worded statement (via The Telegraph).It reads: “It is a deeply unhelpful myth that rape and other forms of sexual violence are caused or ‘provoked’ by women’s sexuality or ‘attractiveness’.“Rape is an act of sexual violence, power and control that has little to nothing to do with sexual desire. It is as insulting to men as it is to anyone to suggest they’re unable to take responsibility for their own behaviours and that the way a woman presents herself can cause them to lose control or force them to sexually harass or assault her.“There is no excuse or mitigation for sexual violence and there is no circumstance in which it’s even partially the victim’s or survivor’s fault. Until we accept and acknowledge that, it will be very difficult for us as a society to reduce or prevent rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment or sexual abuse.”The new issue of Radio Times is out now. www.radiotimes.com
Pope demands rights for all in Myanmar, omits 'Rohingya'-[The Canadian Press]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar — Pope Francis insisted Tuesday that Myanmar's future depends on respecting the rights of each ethnic group, an indirect show of support for Rohingya Muslims who have been subject to decades of discrimination and a recent military crackdown described by the U.N. as a textbook campaign of "ethnic cleansing."Francis didn't cite the crackdown or even utter the contested word "Rohingya" in his speech to Myanmar's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other authorities and diplomats in the capital. But he lamented how Myanmar's people have suffered "and continue to suffer from civil conflict and hostilities," and insisted that everyone who calls Myanmar home deserves to have their basic human rights and dignity guaranteed.Rohingya Muslims have faced state-supported discrimination in the predominantly Buddhist country for decades, deprived of citizenship and unable to access basic services such as adequate education and health care. In August, the army began what it called "clearance operations" in Rakhine state following an attack on police posts by Rohingya insurgents. The violence, looting and burning of villages has forced more than 620,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.In his most anticipated speech of his weeklong trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh, Francis expressed support for Suu Kyi's efforts to bring about reconciliation among different groups after decades of military dictatorship. And he insisted that religious differences in the majority Buddhist country must never be a cause for division or distrust."The future of Myanmar must be peace, a peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of each member of society, respect for each ethnic group and its identity, respect for the rule of law, and respect for a democratic order that enables each individual and every group - none excluded - to offer its legitimate contribution to the common good," he said.Francis' avoidance of the term "Rohingya" and his encouragement for Suu Kyi's government disappointed Rohingya activists and human rights groups, who have criticized Suu Kyi for what they consider a weak response to the military crackdown. Suu Kyi's supporters — including the Catholic Church — say she is limited in what she can say against the military and needs more time to bring about reconciliation.The term "Rohingya" is shunned by many in Myanmar because the ethnic group is not a recognized minority in the country. The question of whether Francis would use the term in a show of solidarity dominated the run-up to his trip."We thought that the pope was going to mention the suffering of Rohingya people, but now he cannot even use the name Rohingya and it's totally unacceptable," said Kyaw Naing, a 53-year-old Rohingya man who lives in a confined camp outside of Sittwe, in Rakhine state. "We are very sad that our identity cannot even be revealed."Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said he hoped the pope would use the term during Mass on Wednesday."The pope missed an opportunity to reinforce his previous messages that affirmed the rights of the Rohingya to self-identify and used the name that they had chosen for themselves," he said. "The Rohingya have been stripped of so many things, but their name should never be one of them."Suu Kyi, for her part, referred to the "situation in the Rakhine" in her speech to Francis in the huge conference centre in Naypyitaw, Myanmar's new capital. But she used the conflict as an opportunity to thank those who have supported the government as it seeks to "address long-standing issues — social, economic and political — that have eroded trust and understanding, harmony and co-operation " in Rakhine.She said the government's aim is to carry forward the peace process and strengthen Myanmar's diversity "by protecting rights, fostering tolerance, ensuring security for all."Francis arrived in Naypyitaw after meeting with leaders of Myanmar's different religious groups in Yangon at the archbishop's residence, and separately with a prominent but controversial Buddhist leader who has criticized the Rohingya.The pope stressed a message of "unity in diversity" in his 40-minute meeting with Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders and told them they should work together to rebuild the country, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said.Francis' meeting with Buddhist monk Sitagu Sayadaw was undertaken "in an effort to encourage peace and fraternal coexistence as the only way ahead," Burke said.Sitagu also met with Francis's predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, but has been criticized for using ethnic slurs against Muslims, particularly the Rohingya. He received an award presented by Suu Kyi earlier this year.Francis dove into the Rohingya refugee crisis hours after arriving on Monday by meeting with the military chief responsible for the crackdown, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and three members of the bureau of special operations. The general's office said in a statement on Facebook that he is willing to have "interfaith peace, unity and justice." The general added that there was no religious or ethnic persecution or discrimination in Myanmar, and that the government allowed freedom of worship.Rohingya Muslims were stripped of citizenship in 1982, denying them almost all rights and rendering them stateless. They cannot travel freely, practice their religion, or work as teachers or doctors, and have little access to medical care, food or education.Myanmar's Catholic Church has publicly urged Francis to avoid saying "Rohingya," and they have urged him to toe a delicate line in condemning the violence, given the potential for blowback against the tiny Catholic community.Francis previously has prayed for "our Rohingya brothers and sisters," lamented their suffering and called for them to enjoy full rights. As a result, much of the debate before his trip focused on whether he would again express solidarity with the Rohingya. Any decision to avoid the term and shy away from the conflict could be viewed as a capitulation to the military and a stain on his legacy of standing up for the most oppressed and marginalized of society, no matter how impolitic.Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press.
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).
Nine dead in London, Ont., area in streptococcus outbreak: health unit-[The Canadian Press]-yahoonews-November 27, 2017
LONDON, Ont. — Health officials have issued an alert, saying nine people have died in an ongoing invasive group A streptococcus outbreak in the London, Ont., area.The outbreak was declared more than 18 months ago and the Middlesex-London Health Unit says more than 132 cases of infection have been reported since April 1, 2016.Of the cases, 22 per cent required treatment in intensive care, 15 per cent had Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome and 15 per cent had necrotizing fasciitis — also called "flesh-eating" disease.Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Gayane Hovhannisyan says about half of the cases have been among injection drug users and/or people without access to stable housing.Symptoms depend on the site of the infection and may include fever, chills, sore throat, dizziness, confusion, severe pain, redness or swelling around a wound or injured area.Hovhannisyan says the alert has been issued because the health unit is seeing an increase in infections among people who have no connection to the outbreak in people who inject drugs or don't have stable housing."We need a better understanding of what's happening, which is why we've issued this alert," she said Monday in a news release.The bacteria are spread by direct contact with nose and throat secretions from an infected person, or by direct contact with infected wounds or sores on the skin.While the infections can occur year-round, the health unit said Monday that the number of infections tends to increase during the winter.It said the majority of streptococcus infections cause relatively mild illnesses like strep throat, but sometimes more serious and potentially life-threatening infections are able to get into muscles, blood and other organs.The health unit advises regular handwashing, covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, avoid sharing drinking and eating utensils and to not share drug paraphernalia in an effort to avoid infection. The Canadian Press.
Bali volcano spits ash 2 1/2 miles in the sky, airport closed-YAHOONEWS-[The Canadian Press]-November 28, 2017
KARANGASEM, Indonesia — A volcano with a deadly history continued to erupt Tuesday on Bali, one of the world's most popular resort islands, spitting ash 4,000 metres (2 1/2 miles) high and stranding tens of thousands of tourists for a second day. Lava was welling in its crater, but it remained unclear how bad the eruption might get or how long it could last.Authorities have raised the alert for Mount Agung to the highest level and told 100,000 people to leave an area extending 10 kilometres (6 miles) from its crater as it belches grey and white plumes into the sky. Its last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.Officials extended the closure of Bali's international airport for another 24 hours due to concerns that jet engines could choke on the thick volcanic ash, which was moving across the island.Tourists waiting for planes stared at information screens reading " cancelled " for every flight. Airport spokesman Ari Ahsanurrohim said more than 440 flights were cancelled Tuesday, affecting nearly 60,000 passengers, about the same as Monday. Without aircraft, getting in or out of Bali requires travelling hours by land and boat to an airport on another island."I don't know, we can't change it," said stranded German traveller Gina Camp, who planned to go back outside and enjoy another day on the island, which attracts about 5 million visitors a year to its famed resorts and world-class surf spots. "It's nature and we have to wait until it's over."Experts said a larger, explosive eruption is possible or Agung could stay at its current level of activity for weeks."If it got much worse, it would be really hard to think of. You've got a huge population centre , nearly a million people in Denpasar and surroundings, and it's very difficult to envision moving those people further away," said Richard Arculus, a volcano expert at Australian National University, adding that an eruption in 1843 was even more explosive than the one in 1963."There are many examples in history where you have this kind of seismic buildup — steam ejections of a little bit of ash, growing eruptions of ash to a full-scale stratosphere-reaching column of ash, which can presage a major volcanic event," he said.A NASA satellite detected a thermal anomaly at the crater, said senior Indonesian volcanologist Gede Swantika. That means a pathway from the storage chamber in the volcano's crust has opened, giving magma easier access to the surface.Indonesian officials first raised the highest alert two months ago when a rash of seismic activity was detected at the mountain. More than 100,000 people living near the volcano fled their homes, many abandoning their livestock or selling them for a fraction of the normal price. The seismic activity decreased by the end of October, causing authorities to lower the alert level.Tremors increased again last week and officials upped the alert and ordered another large-scale evacuation, with nearly 40,000 people now staying in 225 shelters, according to the Disaster Mitigation Agency in Karangasem. But tens of thousands of villagers have remained in their homes because they feel safe or don't want to abandon their farms and livestock."Ash has covered my house on the floor, walls, banana trees outside, everywhere" said Wayan Lanus, who fled his village in Buana Giri with his wife and daughter.Flows of volcanic mud have been spotted on Agung's slopes, and Arculus warned more are possible since it's the rainy season on Bali."They're not making a lot of noise. It's just suddenly coming like a flash flood out of nowhere," he said. "You do not want to be near them. Stay out of the valleys."Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and has more than 120 active volcanoes.___Mason reported from Jakarta. Associated Press writer Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta contributed to this report.Firdia Lisnawati And Margie Mason, The Associated Press.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (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.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(EITHER THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR BOOTS 3 COUNTRIES FROM THE EU OR THE DICTATOR TAKES OVER THE WORLD ECONOMY BY CONTROLLING 3 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
REVELATION 17:9-13
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-7 YEARS.THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
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.
OECD warns of Brexit and Catalan crisis effect-nov 28,17-By EUOBSERVER
Today, 11:23-The OECD said Tuesday that the eurozone will grow by 2.4 percent in 2017 and 2.1 percent in 2018. It noted that the UK growth slowdown is expected to continue due to "continuing uncertainty" over Brexit talks - to 1.5 percent this year, 1.2 percent in 2018 and 1.1 percent in 2019. It also warned that "persistent tensions" in Catalonia could "lower consumer and business confidence significantly" in Spain.
Tax haven list to 'whitewash' EU culprits By Nikolaj Nielsen-nov 28,17-euobserver
BRUSSELS, Today, 08:27-Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, and the Netherlands should be on the EU's upcoming tax haven blacklist, according to Oxfam, a global NGO.But the four member states will be excluded because the list, to be announced next week by EU finance ministers and to be accompanied by potential sanctions, will only cover non-EU jurisdictions.The NGO said in a report out on Tuesday (28 November) that the exclusions cast doubt on the credibility of the EU list."EU governments have a choice between ending the harmful impact of tax havens on both the EU and developing countries - or whitewashing tax havens," Oxfam's Aurore Chardonnet said.Aggressive tax planning was said to cost the developing world some €100 billion in lost revenues every year.The figure underpins a broader and separate debate on development and job growth ahead of an EU-Africa summit in the Ivory Coast this week.Earlier this month, a consortium of investigative journalists published a first series of articles following a leak of some 13 million documents from the Bermuda-based law firm Appleby, which handles offshore accounts.It showed, for instance, how Swiss commodity giant Glencore used tax tricks to shift revenues away from African national coffers.Oxfam's Chardonnet said the upcoming EU list was likely to be "empty" given its limited scope and given the political pressure from wealthy non-EU states such as Switzerland.An EU so-called Code of Conduct group, set up by member states, is currently screening the jurisdictions of 92 non-EU countries to see who should be on the blacklist.The group is using criteria based on transparency, fair taxation, and international efforts to tax profits where those profits have been made.Oxfam applied those same criteria and came up with a list of at least 35 non-EU countries as well as the four member states.Chardonnet said the secrecy surrounding the EU group's deliberations on the blacklist meant the public was largely "left in the dark".Earlier this month, Pierre Moscovici, the EU finance commissioner, demanded member states come up with a credible list following the Appleby revelations of widespread tax avoidance and evasion by some of the world's most powerful people."There is no point in just having one country on the black list of tax havens," he said at the time.The comment was largely directed towards the OECD, a Paris-based club of advanced economies, which, in July, designated Trinidad and Tobago as the world's only non-cooperative jurisdiction on tax transparency.
Opinion-The 'Soros Plan': what to keep and what to scrap By Vit Novotny-nov 28,17-euobserver
BRUSSELS, Today, 11:46-On 26 September 2015, George Soros, an American financier of Hungarian-Jewish extraction, published an article entitled 'Rebuilding the Asylum System' on the Project Syndicate website.Exactly two years later, in September of 2017, the Hungarian government opened a so-called 'national consultation'.In the 'consultation', each Hungarian household is being asked to answer seven questions about the so-called Soros Plan.The consultation cites two proposals from Soros' Project Syndicate article and it quotes other statements by the financier from a variety of sources.The claim of the Hungarian government is that George Soros is lobbying the EU institutions to adopt his "plan".Perhaps it is time to look at what policies George Soros in fact, advocates.Despite significant differences in view, at least two of Soros' recommendations chime with what the Hungarian government has been promoting in its policies. And although Soros is correct on some points, he is wrong on others.-Six points-Soros' piece in the Project Syndicate article includes the following six recommendations:Point 1. The EU should accept at least a million asylum seekers a year and pay for the upkeep of asylum seekers.This is a point of disagreement with Hungary and many other countries.Soros' piece proposes that the EU has to accept at least a million asylum-seekers annually for the foreseeable future and that it "must share the burden fairly" and that "the EU should provide €15,000 … per asylum-seeker for each of the first two years to help cover housing, health care, and education costs."George Soros was wrong on this point. In fact, the EU is not prepared to take in so many people. EU leaders are increasingly recognising that it is a much better idea to create better conditions for asylum seekers in safe havens closer to home. This is to save lives, spend taxpayers' money more effectively and encourage returns where possible.Point 2. The EU should lead the global effort to provide funding to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey; the EU should help to create special economic zones with preferred trade status to attract investment and generate jobs for refugees and locals; and the EU should provide funds to the 'frontline countries'.This is a point of agreement. The Hungarian prime minister has promoted the externalisation of immigration control, no doubt realising that the bill for implementing the policy will inevitably be footed by Hungarian and other EU taxpayers.Point 3. The EU should build a single EU asylum and migration agency.This is a point of disagreement with the Hungarian government. In the 'national consultation' the Hungarian government objects to the creation of an EU asylum agency as it 'erodes national authority'.Indeed, the European Commission has proposed to transform the European Asylum Support Office into a fully-fledged EU asylum agency with enhanced powers. This is because the uncoordinated band of 28 systems that do not communicate with one another is patently unable to handle a massive influx of migrants.Point 4. The EU should establish safe channels for asylum seekers from Greece and Italy to their destination countries, to calm the panic; and as the next step extend safe avenues to the frontline regions, and establish processing centres there.Again, this is a point of genuine agreement between Soros and the Hungarian government. Several weeks into the European refugee crisis in 2015, Budapest eagerly participated in the creation of a corridor that allowed migrants travel via Hungary further west and north.Point 5. The EU operational and financial arrangements should become "global standards for the treatment of asylum-seekers and migrants".The national consultation does not take up the point of the EU asylum standards, so the degree of agreement or otherwise is difficult to ascertain. Nevertheless, the practical Hungarian policy has been contrary to Soros' proposal, deterring migrants and asylum seekers by sometimes brutal methods on the border and in detention camps.Point 6. The EU should mobilise "the private sector – NGOs, church groups, and businesses – to act as sponsors" to absorb and integrate more than a million asylum seekers a year.Again, this point is not included in the national consultation. The official stance of the Hungarian (and many other) governments – an opposition to accepting asylum seekers – means that there is no convergence with Soros' approach here.However, for those individuals who are granted asylum in the EU, there is little doubt that the assistance of citizen and church groups and business would assist their integration.Finally, the national consultation refers to Soros' claim that national borders are the obstacle to protecting refugees.Whatever Soros meant by this statement is not important. Reasserting effective external border control is precisely what the EU institutions, supported by the Hungarian government, are working towards.No prime minister or interior minister, and nobody in the EU Commission, would agree with an open-border policy.Irrelevant of whether Soros and the Hungarian government are right or wrong on specific points, a question remains as to whether it was necessary to attempt to mobilise a country against the opinions of one man.At a time of such deep conflicts over immigration and asylum in Europe, it is a pity that only points of disagreement are addressed in the national consultation.Vit Novotny is a senior researcher at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies - this article represents his personal opinion.
Focus-China vows more investment in eastern Europe at summit By Peter Teffer-nov 28,17-euobserver
Brussels, Today, 09:20-Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang said on Monday (27 November) that there should be more Chinese investment in central and eastern Europe.He spoke at the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Economic and Trade Forum, a side-event to an annual summit in Budapest with China and sixteen central and eastern European countries – eleven of them EU members.Li also said China would increase food imports from the region."It is estimated that China will import products worth of $8 trillion (€6.7 trillion) from overseas in the next five years. … I hope central and eastern European countries will take a larger share of it," he said.Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban said on Monday that the sixteen central and eastern European countries "always saw cooperation with China as a great opportunity"- instead of as a threat."We see the Chinese president's 'One Belt, One Road' initiative as the new form of globalisation which does not divide the world into teachers and students but is based on common respect and common advantages," said Orban.The sixteen are EU members Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia; plus Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.According to a diplomat speaking to the FT, the 'sub-regional' approach is being met with "a great deal of suspicion not only in Brussels but also in the capitals of many member states".Chinese premier Li has said the summit was "not a geopolitical tool, but an incubator for pragmatic trans-regional cooperation".The summit was an opportunity for one of China's leaders to showcase the One Belt, One Road initiative, also called the 'New Silk Road'.According to Orban a key part of that trade route would be a train service between Budapest and Belgrade. The reconstruction of that railway, paid for by the Chinese, would be a "flagship project".But the project had been proposed as far back as in 2013, and is under investigation by the European Commission. The EU executive wants to know whether the project violates EU rules on public tenders.
First oil pumped at Hebron offshore platform-[CBC]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017
ExxonMobil confirmed Tuesday that the Hebron offshore oil platform has produced its first oil.Through a live video link from the platform, the company announced that first oil was pumped on Monday, Nov. 27 at 11:03 a.m.The milestone was reached a month ahead of schedule, the company said. To celebrate, all of the staff who worked on the project were served cake and given jackets during the announcement at ExxonMobil's office at Cabot Place in St. John's.The $14-billion platform was towed to its site 350 kilometres southeast of Newfoundland in June after seven years of construction at Bull Arm, Trinity Bay.The Hebron oil field was first discovered in 1980, and is estimated to produce more than 700 million barrels of oil throughout the lifespan of the project.The structure is 278 metres high, has a 130-metre diameter through the base, weighs 750,000 tonnes and has living quarters for 220 people. The platform took 40 million work hours to build, and it's expected to produce 150,000 barrels of oil per day at peak production.
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
Beijing evicts Chinese migrants in droves, prompting outcry-[The Canadian Press]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017
BEIJING — Zhou Xinci left her hometown in China's struggling rust belt four years ago for Beijing with little more than the clothes on her back and a dream to one day save enough money to buy a home.That dream is now fast unraveling as Zhou, 35, watches as her neighbours — other low-income Chinese migrants like her — are being hurriedly evicted from their homes on the outskirts of the capital by the government.Authorities in Beijing have launched sweeping evictions of workers who have migrated from elsewhere in the country, triggering a public outcry over the treatment of people the city depends on to build skyscrapers, care for children and take on other lowly paid work.Zhou, whose husband is a factory worker in Beijing, knows their family will soon be next and wonders how they will stay in the city and keep their 9-year-old son safe and in school."They are chasing people away from apartments and smashing things. How wouldn't a child be scared? My son is scared and can't sleep at night, of course I'm scared too," she said.Her family now pays 400 yuan ($60) a month to rent a single room big enough for their bed, a wardrobe, television set and refrigerator. But with soaring rents and rising discrimination against migrant workers, she says it will be impossible to find another room."They say Beijing people will feel heartache if they lose a dog," Zhou said. "We are living people. How could they treat us like this?"Workers interviewed by the AP say whole families have been evicted, often with little notice, leaving them scrambling to transport their belongings in the freezing weather. Many have had to pile their furniture, bags, bedding, clothes and other items into overloaded pickup trucks and vans, discarding kitchenware and other belongings that wouldn't fit."They called us at 5 a.m. and by 8 a.m. they had arrived with demolition equipment," said Bi Yan'ao, a 54-year-old migrant worker who has lived in Beijing for 13 years, describing what it was like to have to move out of his apartment in Daxing in just a few hours last week, clutching his belongings."In just one hour, they flattened a 100-meter (330-foot) -long stretch of land. How scary is that."After that, Bi went to work with his relative at a shop selling cosmetics, but then they were told this week they had a couple of days to move out. On Monday evening, Bi stood in the store surveying the piles of boxes of merchandise around him, at a loss for what to do. He teared up."I want to cry," he said. "I don't have anything left now."Last week, the city launched a 40-day campaign to clear out tenants from buildings deemed unsafe after a massive fire killed 19 people at apartments rented mainly by low-income Chinese migrant workers.The eviction drive has been met with widespread anger and criticism online, with people saying it has laid bare the stark inequality in China that prevents poorer migrants who provide essential services in cities from enjoying the same status as the cities' residents. Under China's much-criticized household registration, or "hukou," system, Chinese migrant workers who can't obtain "hukou" in the cities they work in are often denied access to subsidized health care, education and social services.Most tenants living in such homes on the outskirts of the city are factory workers, construction labourers , delivery people, drivers, cleaners, or hairdressers who come from poorer parts of China. Others run their own small wholesale businesses and shops selling cheap goods. Some have lived for years in the city with their children.Along the same street that Bi was on, the owner of a luggage store described a similar experience, saying officials came and told her family to leave within days before the area was to be sealed off and demolished."People have feelings, we cannot accept this, to be asked to leave suddenly," said the store owner, who gave only her surname, Yang. "We've lived in Beijing for a long time and it's not about how much contribution we've made. In the end, we've ended up with not even a place to live, I feel sad. So deeply sad."A group of intellectuals signing an open letter to the central government urging the city to stop the evictions and provide temporary housing for the migrants.One of the signatories, independent political commentator Zhang Lifan, said anger over the evictions showed that rapid economic growth has resulted in a massive accumulation of wealth and also rising inequality and a sense of unfairness.Zhang said many Chinese were quick to extend a hand to displaced migrants because they too had once been in their shoes, having worked their way up the socio-economic ladder to secure a decent middle-class life."When they saw that the migrants had been evicted, they realized that similar tragedies could have happened to them," Zhang said.In the wake of the evictions, individuals and organizations have offered to help displaced migrants with free accommodation.Wang Qi, an employee of a real-estate company in Langfang, a nearby city in Hebei province, said it would provide apartments as temporary homes for the migrant workers free of charge for up to three months. A posting online describing the offer said priority would be given to the sick, elderly and pregnant."Our boss himself was once a migrant worker in Beijing," Wang said. "But now that he has become wealthier, he wants to help out."The Beijing Work Safety Administration has denied that the campaign is aimed at driving out low-income migrants, saying it covers unsafe housing across the city.The Nov. 18 fire in Daxing district that killed 19 people, including eight children, was a "very painful" lesson for the government, and the cleanup campaign was aimed at not allowing such a tragedy to be repeated, a statement on the administration's website said.It acknowledged that the evictions have caused "temporary difficulties" to people who have had to leave at short notice and it pledged to fix such problems.The Beijing city government said last year it plans to cap the city's population at 23 million by 2020 and cut by 15 per cent the number of people in six main districts.China Labor Bulletin spokesman Geoffrey Crothall says the evictions are part of an ongoing effort by the government to redevelop land and capitalize on rising land prices. With the evictions, the government is effectively driving out the backbone of the city's labour force, Crothall said."Beijing needs migrant workers to do all the low-cost efficient service jobs that middle-class Beijingers depend upon," said Crothall. "But if you push them out of the city altogether, then there is going to be no one to do those jobs."___Liu reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press researchers Yu Bing and Shanshan Wang contributed to this report.Emily Wang And Yi-Ling Liu, The Associated Press.
Trudeau is apologizing to LGBT civil servants: Here's why-[CBC]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will apologize Tuesday to members of the LGBT community for actions the government took against thousands of workers in the Canadian military and public service in the Cold War era.From the 1950s to the 1990s, thousands of federal workers were fired because of their sexuality as part of a "national security" purge.Some gay members of the Canadian Armed Forces were also discharged for what was termed "psychopathic personality with abnormal sexuality."In June 2016, LGBT advocacy group Egale Canada released a report detailing the systemic discrimination and issued a number of recommendations, including that a formal apology be issued by Ottawa.It was announced in May that Trudeau promised to apologize, and the prime minister set the date of the apology for Nov. 28.Ottawa also announced Monday that the government will earmark over $100 million to compensate LGBT civil servants whose careers were sidelined or ended because of their sexuality.Here's a look at some of things for which he will be apologizing:-'Fruit machines'-Many pointed to the Cold War as the reason for the discrimination against LGBT individuals, with the RCMP and the military fearing gay and lesbian members could be open to blackmail by the Soviet Union."They were convinced that people could be blackmailed into selling secrets... that was the official party line adopted from McCarthyism in the States," Barry Deeprose, a prominent LGBT activist, told CBC in 2005.An RCMP unit was tasked with rooting out homosexual public workers, including diplomat John Wendell Holmes, who admitted his homosexuality and was quietly removed from public service in 1960 after being grilled by the Mounties.The Canadian government went so far as to commission a Carleton University professor to develop a homosexuality test — a so-called "fruit machine."In one test, subjects were shown pornographic images while cameras took pictures of their pupils to see if they dilated — the idea being that if their eyes dilated while looking at images of the same sex, it suggested excitement and therefore a same-sex attraction.The machine was used by the federal government throughout the 1960s, until the Defence Research Board — which was later folded into the Department of National Defence — pulled funding in 1967.By the 1960s, the RCMP had a database of 9,000 "expected" lesbians and gay men working across the federal government.Sanctions for their sexuality included dismissal, demotion, denial of opportunities for promotion, being forced to live a double life and other forms of systemic discrimination, according to the 2016 Egale Canada report.A class action lawsuit was filed in November 2016 against the Trudeau government in both Ontario and Quebec over the firings."It is absolutely unacceptable what some members of the Canadian Armed Forces went through," Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan at the time."Discrimination of any kind — whether it's sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity — is absolutely unacceptable and will be stamped out."'No place for the state in the bedrooms'-In 1969, the House of Commons voted 149-55 to pass an omnibus bill that, among other things, decriminalized homosexuality and allowed abortions under certain conditions."The view we take here is that there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation," Pierre Trudeau, then Canada's acting justice minister, said in 1967 when he first introduced the bill."I think what's done in private between two consenting adults doesn't concern the Criminal Code [of Canada]," he said.Former prime minister and then-PC MP John Diefenbaker slammed the bill."I cannot understand why matters like legalizing adult homosexuality or extending the field of abortion will raise the moral standards of any nation," he said.Quebec became the first province to include sexual orientation in its Human Rights Code in 1977, making it illegal to discriminate in housing, public accommodation and employment based on sexual orientation.The Canadian Human Rights Commission recommended sexual orientation be added to the Canadian Human Rights Act in 1979, but that didn't happen until 1996.Discrimination persisted for decades-Despite homosexuality being removed from the Criminal Code, discrimination against LGBT military and public service members persisted for decades, particularly in the military.A military directive specifically banning homosexuality in the ranks was passed in an overhaul of the system in 1976.- TIMELINE | Same-sex rights in Canada-It wasn't until the mid-1980s that members were required to consent to being discharged because of their sexuality. Those that did not agree were allowed to remain, but had career limitations put in place.In August 1992, the Ontario Court of Appeals ruled that the failure to include sexual orientation in the Canadian Human Rights Act was discriminatory. The ban on LGBT individuals in the military was lifted in November that year.In October 2016, the House of Commons defence committee voted unanimously for the Liberal government to order the military ombudsman to amend the service records of LGBT ex-military members who were given dishonourable discharges because of their sexual orientation.Canada's military ombudsman estimated that such an order would affect up to 1,200 service members.
Hot tech: U of M prof makes the case for sexbots-[CBC]-November 28, 2017-yahoonews
A local professor says sexbots could be the key to a happier, healthier society — but could also be a liability."Sexbots aren't going to necessarily replace human partners, but I think they're potentially a powerful tool in addressing people's isolation," says Neil McArthur.McArthur is the director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba. He's also a co-editor of a new book called Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications.With the current rate of technology development, McArthur says sexbots are inevitable. He predicts human-shaped robots with artificial intelligence — which would provide a realistic human experience — will be available to the public within five to 10 years.And these won't be some taboo machines."I guarantee you this will not be Google Glass or something that 14 people in Silicon Valley are using," says McArthur."This will be a technology that becomes very widely adopted, so I just think that we should be ready."Human benefits-Robot Sex is an international collection of essays that details how sexbots might change the way people interact with one another — for better or worse. McArthur wrote an essay titled "The case for sexbots."He says there are several reasons a person might use a sexbot. That includes living in a place with a large gender imbalance, or a community that stigmatises LGBTTQ people. Another benefit could be for people who've had bad or traumatic experiences with sexuality. McArthur says the sexbots could be used as a tool to build trust and confidence."People who've had experience with sexual trauma may find that sexbots help them feel safe in their sexuality and possibly help as a therapeutic tool and help them transition into human relationships," he says.The dark side of sexbots-But just because technology is moving quickly doesn't mean the rest of the world is. McArthur says hacking is a potential challenge given the robots will have such private, sensitive information. There's also the complex issue of intellectual property."[People] may want robots who look like their ex-girlfriend, and their ex-girlfriend might not want that," he says."Our legal regime right now just hasn't given this any thought, so there's no protection for people of that kind."McArthur acknowledges that we might need to address the risk of enforcing the objectification of women and that they're passive objects. But restricting the development of this technology isn't the way to deal with this, he says."I think it's something we need to look at in terms of education," says McArthur."It's part of a larger project of trying to change how society does view women and making sure women are viewed more equally."Regardless of ethics or opinions, McArthur says talking about sexbots will is a good start to the future."People are concerned, they're interested, they're fascinated," he says. "So I think it's important we have this discussion."
Angela Lansbury Says Women ‘Must Sometimes Take Blame’ For Sexual Harassment-[HuffPost UK]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017
Angela Lansbury has given her take on the sexual misconduct cases that have engulfed the entertainment world, believing that women “must sometimes take the blame”.The ‘Murder She Wrote’ actress told Radio Times that women making themselves attractive had “backfired on us” but added that there was “no excuse for inappropriate behaviour”.The 92-year-old Dame says: “We have to own up to the fact women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive.“And unfortunately it has backfired on us, and this is where we are today. We must sometimes take blame.“Although it’s awful to say we can’t make ourselves look as attractive as possible without being knocked down and raped.”She went on to say that she believed sexual misconduct in Hollywood would now stop.“Should women be prepared for this? No, they shouldn’t have to be,” she says. “There’s no excuse for that. And I think it will stop now - it will have to. I think a lot of men must be very worried at this point.”Following her comments, Rape Crisis England & Wales issued a strongly-worded statement (via The Telegraph).It reads: “It is a deeply unhelpful myth that rape and other forms of sexual violence are caused or ‘provoked’ by women’s sexuality or ‘attractiveness’.“Rape is an act of sexual violence, power and control that has little to nothing to do with sexual desire. It is as insulting to men as it is to anyone to suggest they’re unable to take responsibility for their own behaviours and that the way a woman presents herself can cause them to lose control or force them to sexually harass or assault her.“There is no excuse or mitigation for sexual violence and there is no circumstance in which it’s even partially the victim’s or survivor’s fault. Until we accept and acknowledge that, it will be very difficult for us as a society to reduce or prevent rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment or sexual abuse.”The new issue of Radio Times is out now. www.radiotimes.com
Pope demands rights for all in Myanmar, omits 'Rohingya'-[The Canadian Press]-yahoonews-November 28, 2017
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar — Pope Francis insisted Tuesday that Myanmar's future depends on respecting the rights of each ethnic group, an indirect show of support for Rohingya Muslims who have been subject to decades of discrimination and a recent military crackdown described by the U.N. as a textbook campaign of "ethnic cleansing."Francis didn't cite the crackdown or even utter the contested word "Rohingya" in his speech to Myanmar's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other authorities and diplomats in the capital. But he lamented how Myanmar's people have suffered "and continue to suffer from civil conflict and hostilities," and insisted that everyone who calls Myanmar home deserves to have their basic human rights and dignity guaranteed.Rohingya Muslims have faced state-supported discrimination in the predominantly Buddhist country for decades, deprived of citizenship and unable to access basic services such as adequate education and health care. In August, the army began what it called "clearance operations" in Rakhine state following an attack on police posts by Rohingya insurgents. The violence, looting and burning of villages has forced more than 620,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.In his most anticipated speech of his weeklong trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh, Francis expressed support for Suu Kyi's efforts to bring about reconciliation among different groups after decades of military dictatorship. And he insisted that religious differences in the majority Buddhist country must never be a cause for division or distrust."The future of Myanmar must be peace, a peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of each member of society, respect for each ethnic group and its identity, respect for the rule of law, and respect for a democratic order that enables each individual and every group - none excluded - to offer its legitimate contribution to the common good," he said.Francis' avoidance of the term "Rohingya" and his encouragement for Suu Kyi's government disappointed Rohingya activists and human rights groups, who have criticized Suu Kyi for what they consider a weak response to the military crackdown. Suu Kyi's supporters — including the Catholic Church — say she is limited in what she can say against the military and needs more time to bring about reconciliation.The term "Rohingya" is shunned by many in Myanmar because the ethnic group is not a recognized minority in the country. The question of whether Francis would use the term in a show of solidarity dominated the run-up to his trip."We thought that the pope was going to mention the suffering of Rohingya people, but now he cannot even use the name Rohingya and it's totally unacceptable," said Kyaw Naing, a 53-year-old Rohingya man who lives in a confined camp outside of Sittwe, in Rakhine state. "We are very sad that our identity cannot even be revealed."Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said he hoped the pope would use the term during Mass on Wednesday."The pope missed an opportunity to reinforce his previous messages that affirmed the rights of the Rohingya to self-identify and used the name that they had chosen for themselves," he said. "The Rohingya have been stripped of so many things, but their name should never be one of them."Suu Kyi, for her part, referred to the "situation in the Rakhine" in her speech to Francis in the huge conference centre in Naypyitaw, Myanmar's new capital. But she used the conflict as an opportunity to thank those who have supported the government as it seeks to "address long-standing issues — social, economic and political — that have eroded trust and understanding, harmony and co-operation " in Rakhine.She said the government's aim is to carry forward the peace process and strengthen Myanmar's diversity "by protecting rights, fostering tolerance, ensuring security for all."Francis arrived in Naypyitaw after meeting with leaders of Myanmar's different religious groups in Yangon at the archbishop's residence, and separately with a prominent but controversial Buddhist leader who has criticized the Rohingya.The pope stressed a message of "unity in diversity" in his 40-minute meeting with Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders and told them they should work together to rebuild the country, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said.Francis' meeting with Buddhist monk Sitagu Sayadaw was undertaken "in an effort to encourage peace and fraternal coexistence as the only way ahead," Burke said.Sitagu also met with Francis's predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, but has been criticized for using ethnic slurs against Muslims, particularly the Rohingya. He received an award presented by Suu Kyi earlier this year.Francis dove into the Rohingya refugee crisis hours after arriving on Monday by meeting with the military chief responsible for the crackdown, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and three members of the bureau of special operations. The general's office said in a statement on Facebook that he is willing to have "interfaith peace, unity and justice." The general added that there was no religious or ethnic persecution or discrimination in Myanmar, and that the government allowed freedom of worship.Rohingya Muslims were stripped of citizenship in 1982, denying them almost all rights and rendering them stateless. They cannot travel freely, practice their religion, or work as teachers or doctors, and have little access to medical care, food or education.Myanmar's Catholic Church has publicly urged Francis to avoid saying "Rohingya," and they have urged him to toe a delicate line in condemning the violence, given the potential for blowback against the tiny Catholic community.Francis previously has prayed for "our Rohingya brothers and sisters," lamented their suffering and called for them to enjoy full rights. As a result, much of the debate before his trip focused on whether he would again express solidarity with the Rohingya. Any decision to avoid the term and shy away from the conflict could be viewed as a capitulation to the military and a stain on his legacy of standing up for the most oppressed and marginalized of society, no matter how impolitic.Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press.
