Story 1-2 minor quakes in Turkey. 2-Olmert - Mubarik talk. 3-ARAB infighting
Two moderate quakes hit western Turkey, no damage ,Mon Jun 5, 6:23 AM ET
ANKARA (AFP) - Two earthquakes measuring 4.5 and 4.1 on the open-ended Richter scale have rocked western Turkey, sending panicked residents into the streets but causing no casualties, officials said. The epicenter of the tremors, which hit at 7:23 am Monday and again 15 minutes later, was the town of Buharkent, in the Aegean province of Aydin which is popular with foreign tourists, the Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory said.
Buharkent Mayor Fevzi Uzun said the tremors caused short-lived panic among residents, but no casualties or damage were reported.There is no destruction resulting from the quake... People have calmed down and returned to their daily lives,Uzun told Anatolia news agency. Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which is crossed by several seismological fault lines. Some 20,000 people perished in two massive tremors in heavily industrialized northwestern Turkey in August and November 1999.
Olmert and Mubarak Discuss PA at Sharm el-SheikhBy Hana Levi Julian (Aruts 7 news)
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Sunday evening to discuss mutual concerns about the current situation in the Palestinian Authority. The two leaders met at the presidential estate in Sharm el-Sheikh. Although Olmert and Mubarak have had numerous phone conversations since Olmert took over the functions of comatose ex-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in January, this was the first meeting between the two men since Olmert became prime minister.
Olmert publicly agreed to meet with PA President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the possibility of returning to the negotiating table for peace talks based on the Road Map plan. He stated, however, that the PA would be expected to keep its end of the deal at each stage of the plan, including disarming and dismantling terrorist organizations. During the meeting and the news conference that followed, Olmert tendered an official apology to Mubarak for last week’s shooting in which two Egyptians were killed; see separate story. The agenda for the meeting between the two leaders included ways to strengthen PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ position within the Hamas-led PA government, as well as the transfer of humanitarian aid to the PA population.Olmert summarized his recent meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush, as well as recent moves to facilitate the transfer of food, medical supplies and equipment into Gaza.Egyptian-Israeli cooperation and the delicate issue of Olmert’s unilateral withdrawal plan were also topics for discussion.
The prime minister told the Egyptian president that a negotiated peace plan would be his first priority – but if that failed, there would be no other choice but to activate unilateral withdrawal and set permanent borders independently. Mubarak is scheduled to meet with Abbas on Monday, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Information.
More Deaths in Hamas-Fatah FightingBy Hillel Fendel (Aruts 7 NEWS)
A state of emergency has been declared in Gaza, as fighting between Hamas and Fatah gunmen continues to claim victims. The latest victim: a Hamas military official killed by a bomb in his home. Officials have instructed medical aid workers to wear protective vests, in light of the feared escalation in fighting.The latest killing, around 11:00 this morning (Monday), was originally reported to be the result of a bomb placed by Fatah men in a Hamas official's home.
Later reports, however, stated the bomb might have been one the victim himself was working on. Among the dead in last night's fighting were the brother and 20-year-old pregnant wife of a Hamas terrorist; the targeted Hamas man is himself listed in very critical condition. The incident occurred in Khan Yunis, adjacent to what used to be N'vei Dekalim in southern Gush Katif.
Elsewhere, at a mourners' tent for a Fatah police officer in Gaza City, shots rang out and killed at least two mourners. The victims, like the officer, were Fatah men who were killed by Hamas gunmen.In a third reported incident, a Hamas operative was killed as he was shot while driving in Gaza City.Later in the day, militants took over and damaged a Fatah TV station. A Hamas spokesman denied that his organization was involved.Tensions were expected to abate yesterday, following the beginning of the payment of salaries to the more than 150,000 Palestinian Authority employees for the first time in three months. The salaries are being funded by interest-free loans granted the PA by local banks. However, the payments did not go smoothly today, and dozens of angry Arabs who were not paid rioted inside at least two bank offices, leading to their closure.
Agitation may also increase as the leaders of Fatah and Hamas find themselves unable to reach an agreement on the issues of dispute between them. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) says that if Hamas does not accept, by tonight, the paper known as the Prisoners' Document, he will call a referendum tomorrow. Hamas leader Ismail Haniye, however, who serves as prime minister in the Palestinian Authority, says that the people already said their piece in the January elections.
He refuses to either recognize the Prisoner's Document or to agree to a referendum.The document in question recognizes Israel's pre-1967 borders, calls for an Arab state in all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, and formulates guidelines forunderstanding between Hamas and Fatah.
Hamas objects to the clauses that call for adopting international resolutions to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and considering the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the PA's Arabs.Yesterday (Sunday), Abbas refused to talk by phone with Haniye, and sent two representatives to speak with him instead. Haniye said he had no time to talk with them. Another attempt at a meeting between Haniye and Abbas' representatives will be made today.
Three Arabs were injured yesterday in southern Gaza when a political argument deteriorated into a shootout between Fatah and Hamas gunmen.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Monday, June 05, 2006
JEWISH LEADERS OPTIMISTIC
Story 1-Jewish leaders buoyed by interfaith meeting.2-Florida fire Statistics. 3-India Monsoon kill 133.
Jun. 4, 2006 7:59 Updated Jun. 4, 2006 8:00Jewish leaders buoyed by EU interfaith meetingBy JOEL CLARK / JTA
Jewish leaders said they were optimistic following a high-profile interfaith meeting held by the European Union last week. The Tuesday meeting was attended by Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders from across Europe, as well as Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Fifteen delegates were invited to Brussels to represent their faith communities in a discussion focused on the role religious communities should play in the promotion of freedom, democracy and human rights across Europe.
Organized by the EU Bureau of European Policy Advisers, the meeting was chaired by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, together with Wolfgang Schussel, chancellor of Austria, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
The event follows a similar gathering of religious leaders at the European Commission, the EU's executive wing, in July 2005, but this was the first time that such an initiative has had the support of the EU presidency. Europe's Jewish community was represented by Chief Rabbi Rene Gutman of Strasbourg and Bas-Rhin in France and Chief Rabbi Albert Guigui of Brussels, both members of the Conference of European Rabbis, the organization which coordinates Europe's chief rabbis. Barroso hailed the meeting as a very important moment,adding that dialogue between faiths was a vital condition in understanding their differences.
Delegates spent three hours discussing issues affecting their communities in front of senior members of the European Commission, including the employment, justice and education commissioners, as well as Barroso and Schussel. The meeting was also attended by Iranian-born Shi'ite leader Ayatollah Seyyed Abbas Ghaemmaghami, who expressed a willingness to work with Jewish leaders on common issues such as ritual slaughter. Guigui, also permanent representative of the Conference of European Rabbis to the European Union, was positive about the meeting.
The fact that the European Union now has a clear structure for interfaith dialogue gives us great hope that we can continue these meetings into the future," he told JTA. Guigui added that he and Gutman had raised several key issues affecting the European Jewish community, notably the rise of anti -Semitism across Europe.
Anti-Semitism is a very deep problem for the Jewish communities of Europe and the president said that they are preparing an EU forum to fight that phenomenon,he said. Imam Abduljalil Sajid, a representative of the UKbased Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony, said the meeting had shown a lot of "hopes and aspirations" among faith leaders. Although there was nothing new in the gathering of religious leaders, Sajid said, the presence of such influential European politicians made it a historic event.
There's no alternative to dialogue, but what we need now is actions to follow it all up. Philip Carmel, director of international relations at the Conference of European Rabbis, said the meeting had been a real landmark. Bringing together religious leaders from all the monotheistic faiths of Europe under the flag of the European Union is something that I regard as very positive, he said. It gives a sign that the EU is committed to real interfaith dialogue and to integrating people of faith into the European discussion to build a better society.
Florida Wildfire Information: January 1- June 1, 2006:
2,974 wildfires have burned 121,954 acres
India monsoon toll hits 133, floods displace 25,000 by Zarir Hussain 41 minutes ago
GUWAHATI, India (AFP) - Twenty-eight people died in lightning strikes and rain-related accidents as the death toll from the early monsoon hit 133 and 25,000 people were displaced by flooding, officials said. Authorities in northeastern Assam state said floodwaters from the Brahmaputra river inundated at least 70 villages and severed road and rail links. At least 25,000 people were forced to take shelter in makeshift arrangements with floodwaters submerging villages,a government statement said.No casualties were immediately reported from the flooding in Assam, but 15 deaths were reported in northern Uttar Pradesh state, and 13 more nationwide after summer rains tore into the subcontinent earlier than expected.
At least 41 people have died in the western state of Maharashtra, which has been pounded by heavy rains since mid-week bringing back memories of floods in July 2005 which killed hundreds of people in the state capital Mumbai.The other deaths -- caused mainly by lightning strikes, drownings and house collapses in heavy storms -- were in Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Jharkhand and West Bengal states, according to official reports.
The monsoon hit India's Andaman archipelago on May 18, about a week earlier than usual.According to Assam's Central Water Commission, the Brahmaputra was Sunday flowing above the danger level in at least six places with the river maintaining a rising trend.
The area worst hit by the first wave of flooding that began Thursday was Assam's eastern district of Dhemaji.State officials said at least 22 villages in the district had been submerged and 642 hectares (1,585 acres) of agricultural fields had been "devastated.Road and rail links in parts of Assam have also been hit by the floods.In many places in southern Assam, floodwaters have topped roads and caused breaches disrupting surface transport,government spokesman C. Nath said.A railway official said a breach in a canal washed away a major section of a rail track between the towns of Rangia and Rangapara in northern Assam.
Since Thursday rail links have remained snapped between Rangia and Rangapara,the official said.Eastern Assam's Kaziranga National Park, home to the world's largest concentration of endangered one-horned rhinos, was partially flooded. The animals are still safe despite floodwaters submerging a section of the park,said ranger D.D. Boro.The 2,906-kilometer
(1,816-mile) Brahmaputra is one of Asia's longest rivers, traversing China's Tibet region, India and Bangladesh before reaching the Bay of Bengal.
Every year the monsoon causes the river to flood its banks, submerging paddy fields, washing away villages, drowning livestock and killing many in the remote state of 26 million people. In 2004, at least 200 people died and more than 12 million were displaced in the floods although last year lower-than-usual rains saw a reduced death toll and fewer people displaced.
Jun. 4, 2006 7:59 Updated Jun. 4, 2006 8:00Jewish leaders buoyed by EU interfaith meetingBy JOEL CLARK / JTA
Jewish leaders said they were optimistic following a high-profile interfaith meeting held by the European Union last week. The Tuesday meeting was attended by Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders from across Europe, as well as Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Fifteen delegates were invited to Brussels to represent their faith communities in a discussion focused on the role religious communities should play in the promotion of freedom, democracy and human rights across Europe.
Organized by the EU Bureau of European Policy Advisers, the meeting was chaired by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, together with Wolfgang Schussel, chancellor of Austria, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
The event follows a similar gathering of religious leaders at the European Commission, the EU's executive wing, in July 2005, but this was the first time that such an initiative has had the support of the EU presidency. Europe's Jewish community was represented by Chief Rabbi Rene Gutman of Strasbourg and Bas-Rhin in France and Chief Rabbi Albert Guigui of Brussels, both members of the Conference of European Rabbis, the organization which coordinates Europe's chief rabbis. Barroso hailed the meeting as a very important moment,adding that dialogue between faiths was a vital condition in understanding their differences.
Delegates spent three hours discussing issues affecting their communities in front of senior members of the European Commission, including the employment, justice and education commissioners, as well as Barroso and Schussel. The meeting was also attended by Iranian-born Shi'ite leader Ayatollah Seyyed Abbas Ghaemmaghami, who expressed a willingness to work with Jewish leaders on common issues such as ritual slaughter. Guigui, also permanent representative of the Conference of European Rabbis to the European Union, was positive about the meeting.
The fact that the European Union now has a clear structure for interfaith dialogue gives us great hope that we can continue these meetings into the future," he told JTA. Guigui added that he and Gutman had raised several key issues affecting the European Jewish community, notably the rise of anti -Semitism across Europe.
Anti-Semitism is a very deep problem for the Jewish communities of Europe and the president said that they are preparing an EU forum to fight that phenomenon,he said. Imam Abduljalil Sajid, a representative of the UKbased Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony, said the meeting had shown a lot of "hopes and aspirations" among faith leaders. Although there was nothing new in the gathering of religious leaders, Sajid said, the presence of such influential European politicians made it a historic event.
There's no alternative to dialogue, but what we need now is actions to follow it all up. Philip Carmel, director of international relations at the Conference of European Rabbis, said the meeting had been a real landmark. Bringing together religious leaders from all the monotheistic faiths of Europe under the flag of the European Union is something that I regard as very positive, he said. It gives a sign that the EU is committed to real interfaith dialogue and to integrating people of faith into the European discussion to build a better society.
Florida Wildfire Information: January 1- June 1, 2006:
2,974 wildfires have burned 121,954 acres
India monsoon toll hits 133, floods displace 25,000 by Zarir Hussain 41 minutes ago
GUWAHATI, India (AFP) - Twenty-eight people died in lightning strikes and rain-related accidents as the death toll from the early monsoon hit 133 and 25,000 people were displaced by flooding, officials said. Authorities in northeastern Assam state said floodwaters from the Brahmaputra river inundated at least 70 villages and severed road and rail links. At least 25,000 people were forced to take shelter in makeshift arrangements with floodwaters submerging villages,a government statement said.No casualties were immediately reported from the flooding in Assam, but 15 deaths were reported in northern Uttar Pradesh state, and 13 more nationwide after summer rains tore into the subcontinent earlier than expected.
At least 41 people have died in the western state of Maharashtra, which has been pounded by heavy rains since mid-week bringing back memories of floods in July 2005 which killed hundreds of people in the state capital Mumbai.The other deaths -- caused mainly by lightning strikes, drownings and house collapses in heavy storms -- were in Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Jharkhand and West Bengal states, according to official reports.
The monsoon hit India's Andaman archipelago on May 18, about a week earlier than usual.According to Assam's Central Water Commission, the Brahmaputra was Sunday flowing above the danger level in at least six places with the river maintaining a rising trend.
The area worst hit by the first wave of flooding that began Thursday was Assam's eastern district of Dhemaji.State officials said at least 22 villages in the district had been submerged and 642 hectares (1,585 acres) of agricultural fields had been "devastated.Road and rail links in parts of Assam have also been hit by the floods.In many places in southern Assam, floodwaters have topped roads and caused breaches disrupting surface transport,government spokesman C. Nath said.A railway official said a breach in a canal washed away a major section of a rail track between the towns of Rangia and Rangapara in northern Assam.
Since Thursday rail links have remained snapped between Rangia and Rangapara,the official said.Eastern Assam's Kaziranga National Park, home to the world's largest concentration of endangered one-horned rhinos, was partially flooded. The animals are still safe despite floodwaters submerging a section of the park,said ranger D.D. Boro.The 2,906-kilometer
(1,816-mile) Brahmaputra is one of Asia's longest rivers, traversing China's Tibet region, India and Bangladesh before reaching the Bay of Bengal.
Every year the monsoon causes the river to flood its banks, submerging paddy fields, washing away villages, drowning livestock and killing many in the remote state of 26 million people. In 2004, at least 200 people died and more than 12 million were displaced in the floods although last year lower-than-usual rains saw a reduced death toll and fewer people displaced.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
JERUSALEM O JERUSALEM
Story 1-Jerusalem O Jerusalem. 2-8 vocanoes in phillipines ready to erupt.
City of Old ,Nelly F Villafuerte
SOMEONE once said: There’s some sort of intangible special feeling about Jerusalem. It’s difficult to put into words. It’s almost as if its walls are bursting with its tortured and triumphant history. It is a wonderful, hating, and mysterious place.
Nobody will dispute the fact that Jerusalem is a city revered by Christians, Muslims, and the Jews. It is also a city where lighting never ceases for thousands of years – and continues up to this day.
And unknown to many, archaeologists found evidence of people living in Jerusalem as far back as 3000 B.C. Confirming the speculation that people were living in Jerusalem for tens of thousands of years before cities appeared. No wonder, Jerusalem is called the City of Old. It is amazing that archaologists found pieces of a broken bowl from Egypt dating to about 1800 B.C. It was a practice of the Egyptians of the Old World to write names of their enemies on bowls and other objects which they then smashed.
The archaeologists found the name of the ruler of Jerusalem and his retainers on the pieces of the broken bowl – together with other enemies of the Egyptians. In Hebrew, Jerusalem is Yerushalayem, which is thought by many to be a combination of the words for city and peace. Jerusalem is a favorite pilgrimage site for many years now. Simply, because from the Biblical account Jesus preached in the place, miracles were performed, and finally Jesus died there.
The word Jerusalem appears about 600 times in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible. In the Holy Bible, the City of Jerusalem is known by other names – Zion, City of Jehovah, City of the Prophets, Holy Mountain, Holy City, Hephzibah, and City of God. In one biblical passage (Isalah 45:13), the Lord Himself refers to Jerusalem as "My city." Far back in the early times, about 1400 B.C.,
Jerusalem was called U-ru-sa-lim, meaning the city of peace. Ironically, religious strife and not peace has often been the picture depicted every time Jerusalem is mentioned in the international scene. Jerusalem is special to God in a very extraordinary way. The Bible says that when Hezekiah, King of Judah was praying to the Lord to spare Jerusalem from destruction by the Assyrian army of King Senhacherib, the Lord in 2 Kings 19:32-34 said: He will not enter
this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city. I will defend this city and save it, for My sake and for the sake of David My servant. That night, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers were killed by the angel of the Lord!
Jerusalem is also special to many people. To the Moslems, Jerusalem is the third holiest city of Islam after Mecca and Medina because the Al Aqsa Mosque is located in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is known as al-Quds, Arabic for "the holy. To the Jews, the whole city is sacred. The Wailing Wall, Judaism’s holiest shrine is in Jerusalem. To Christians, Jerusalem is closely identified with Jesus Himself and with His spiritual teachings. For one, from biblical account, the triple events of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ occurred in this place.
In Genesis 22:2 we see Abraham being tested by God to offer his only son as a burnt offering to God. The place was Mount Moriah. From 2 Chronicles 22:2, we again see King Solomon building the temple to the Lord on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Later in 2 Kings 25:8-17, we see the Babylonians led by Nebuzaradan, commander of the army of King Nebuchadnezar burning the temple. It is in this same biblical site that the Al Aqsa Mosque is standing today. Nowadays, many people are trying to unravel the mystery of the biblical prophecy that the temple of God will be rebuilt and anti-christ will sit in the temple of God. Many people are puzzled how this
biblical prophecy can be fulfilled when the Al Aqsa Mosque is standing on the same supposed site of Solomon’s temple.
It is saddening though, to note that subconsciously many of us impose human restrictions to divine prophecies. We seem to forget that with our almighty and sovereign God, nothing is impossible. From biblical account, we can conclude that Jerusalem occupies a very special place in God’s reservoir of love. In Zechariah 12:3: on that date when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I (our Lord God) will make Jerusalem rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.
Only by reading the Holy Bible can the wonders of Jerusalem, the City of the Old be truly unfolded. Hopefully, this story of Jerusalem will inspire and challenge us to read the Holy Bible everyday of our lives. This column continues to give out copies of the Holy Bible for free to those who cannot afford to buy their own copies. If interested, please send your letter-request to Ms. Nelly Favis-Villafuerte, 5th floor, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Roxas Blvd., Makati
City. Kindly mention if it is the Tagalog, English, Cebuano, or Ilocano version that is preferred.
This column is also giving out for free a 42-page 3x5 inch booklet that briefly explains the said doctrine of salvation presented in the Holy Bible. To those who are struggling as to what the Holy Bible really says on how souls can be saved from eternal damnation, please do not hesitate to write me and ask for a copy of the booklet. Let us not forget the Biblical verse that says What profits a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?
Have a joyful day!
8 volcanoes to erupt?
THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology is closely monitoring at least eight active volcanoes in the country which are showing signs of impending major eruptions.Speaking before the weekly forum Kapihan sa Sulo, Philvocs Director Renato Solidum Jr. identified the eight restless volcanoes as Mt. Bulusan, Taal volcano, Mayon, Mt. Pinatubo; Mt. Canlaon; Mt.
Hibok-Hibok, Mt. Matutum and Mt Parker. The last two are in Mindanao.
These eight volcanoes are among those 22 active volcanoes in the country, but these (have been) frequently erupting since (the) 1960s, that is why we are keeping our eye on these, Solidum said. According to Solidum, Philvocs is monitoring all active volcanoes in the country as these may cause a strong earthquake in the future.He said a strong earthquake like the killer temblor that hit Indonesia last week may strike the country since the Philippines is within the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Earthquakes are normal occurrences in the Philippines with Philvocs recording more than 20 weak temblors every day.The country experiences at least one to two strong earthquakes every five years.Because of this, Solidum once more called on the public to be always prepared for disasters.
Jester Manalastas,Peoples Journal,6/4/2006 19:14 PM
City of Old ,Nelly F Villafuerte
SOMEONE once said: There’s some sort of intangible special feeling about Jerusalem. It’s difficult to put into words. It’s almost as if its walls are bursting with its tortured and triumphant history. It is a wonderful, hating, and mysterious place.
Nobody will dispute the fact that Jerusalem is a city revered by Christians, Muslims, and the Jews. It is also a city where lighting never ceases for thousands of years – and continues up to this day.
And unknown to many, archaeologists found evidence of people living in Jerusalem as far back as 3000 B.C. Confirming the speculation that people were living in Jerusalem for tens of thousands of years before cities appeared. No wonder, Jerusalem is called the City of Old. It is amazing that archaologists found pieces of a broken bowl from Egypt dating to about 1800 B.C. It was a practice of the Egyptians of the Old World to write names of their enemies on bowls and other objects which they then smashed.
The archaeologists found the name of the ruler of Jerusalem and his retainers on the pieces of the broken bowl – together with other enemies of the Egyptians. In Hebrew, Jerusalem is Yerushalayem, which is thought by many to be a combination of the words for city and peace. Jerusalem is a favorite pilgrimage site for many years now. Simply, because from the Biblical account Jesus preached in the place, miracles were performed, and finally Jesus died there.
The word Jerusalem appears about 600 times in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible. In the Holy Bible, the City of Jerusalem is known by other names – Zion, City of Jehovah, City of the Prophets, Holy Mountain, Holy City, Hephzibah, and City of God. In one biblical passage (Isalah 45:13), the Lord Himself refers to Jerusalem as "My city." Far back in the early times, about 1400 B.C.,
Jerusalem was called U-ru-sa-lim, meaning the city of peace. Ironically, religious strife and not peace has often been the picture depicted every time Jerusalem is mentioned in the international scene. Jerusalem is special to God in a very extraordinary way. The Bible says that when Hezekiah, King of Judah was praying to the Lord to spare Jerusalem from destruction by the Assyrian army of King Senhacherib, the Lord in 2 Kings 19:32-34 said: He will not enter
this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city. I will defend this city and save it, for My sake and for the sake of David My servant. That night, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers were killed by the angel of the Lord!
Jerusalem is also special to many people. To the Moslems, Jerusalem is the third holiest city of Islam after Mecca and Medina because the Al Aqsa Mosque is located in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is known as al-Quds, Arabic for "the holy. To the Jews, the whole city is sacred. The Wailing Wall, Judaism’s holiest shrine is in Jerusalem. To Christians, Jerusalem is closely identified with Jesus Himself and with His spiritual teachings. For one, from biblical account, the triple events of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ occurred in this place.
In Genesis 22:2 we see Abraham being tested by God to offer his only son as a burnt offering to God. The place was Mount Moriah. From 2 Chronicles 22:2, we again see King Solomon building the temple to the Lord on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Later in 2 Kings 25:8-17, we see the Babylonians led by Nebuzaradan, commander of the army of King Nebuchadnezar burning the temple. It is in this same biblical site that the Al Aqsa Mosque is standing today. Nowadays, many people are trying to unravel the mystery of the biblical prophecy that the temple of God will be rebuilt and anti-christ will sit in the temple of God. Many people are puzzled how this
biblical prophecy can be fulfilled when the Al Aqsa Mosque is standing on the same supposed site of Solomon’s temple.
It is saddening though, to note that subconsciously many of us impose human restrictions to divine prophecies. We seem to forget that with our almighty and sovereign God, nothing is impossible. From biblical account, we can conclude that Jerusalem occupies a very special place in God’s reservoir of love. In Zechariah 12:3: on that date when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I (our Lord God) will make Jerusalem rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.
Only by reading the Holy Bible can the wonders of Jerusalem, the City of the Old be truly unfolded. Hopefully, this story of Jerusalem will inspire and challenge us to read the Holy Bible everyday of our lives. This column continues to give out copies of the Holy Bible for free to those who cannot afford to buy their own copies. If interested, please send your letter-request to Ms. Nelly Favis-Villafuerte, 5th floor, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Roxas Blvd., Makati
City. Kindly mention if it is the Tagalog, English, Cebuano, or Ilocano version that is preferred.
This column is also giving out for free a 42-page 3x5 inch booklet that briefly explains the said doctrine of salvation presented in the Holy Bible. To those who are struggling as to what the Holy Bible really says on how souls can be saved from eternal damnation, please do not hesitate to write me and ask for a copy of the booklet. Let us not forget the Biblical verse that says What profits a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?
Have a joyful day!
8 volcanoes to erupt?
THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology is closely monitoring at least eight active volcanoes in the country which are showing signs of impending major eruptions.Speaking before the weekly forum Kapihan sa Sulo, Philvocs Director Renato Solidum Jr. identified the eight restless volcanoes as Mt. Bulusan, Taal volcano, Mayon, Mt. Pinatubo; Mt. Canlaon; Mt.
Hibok-Hibok, Mt. Matutum and Mt Parker. The last two are in Mindanao.
These eight volcanoes are among those 22 active volcanoes in the country, but these (have been) frequently erupting since (the) 1960s, that is why we are keeping our eye on these, Solidum said. According to Solidum, Philvocs is monitoring all active volcanoes in the country as these may cause a strong earthquake in the future.He said a strong earthquake like the killer temblor that hit Indonesia last week may strike the country since the Philippines is within the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Earthquakes are normal occurrences in the Philippines with Philvocs recording more than 20 weak temblors every day.The country experiences at least one to two strong earthquakes every five years.Because of this, Solidum once more called on the public to be always prepared for disasters.
Jester Manalastas,Peoples Journal,6/4/2006 19:14 PM
Saturday, June 03, 2006
BUGS FLOODING QUAKE
Story 1-BUGS INFEST QUEBEC, 2-QUEBEC ROADS FLOODED OUT FOR WEEKS. 3-22 KILLED IN CHINA FLOODING.4-Iran Quake.
Mosquitoes, blackflies on attack in Quebec Last updated Jun 2 2006 05:13 PM EDT
,CBC News-Quebecers are under attack from more mosquitoes that are acting aggressively under ideal breeding conditions, an expert says.A mild winter and wet spring in Quebec have led to about triple the usual number of mosquitoes in the province, said Jacques Boisvert, an entomologist at the University of Quebec Trois Rivières who tracks bug populations.There's a lot more mosquitoes, more blackflies,Boisvert told CBC News. But to me, what's important is they are more aggressive towards people.May was largely rainy in Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes. In such weather, mosquitoes and blackflies delay their emergence, so their bites are
also delayed.
When conditions improved at the end of May, the emerging females quickly took a large blood meal to prepare for egg laying. Mosquitoes spread West Nile virus, but the infective species doesn't tend to emerge until early July in the province, when dead birds start to appear, Boisvert said. You can move to Antarctica, but it's quite difficult," Boisvert said. "Otherwise, you dress properly.He advised against wearing dark coloured clothing, which attracts mosquitoes.
Donning long sleeves and pants, and putting repellent on exposed skin such as the face and hands is recommended.
Washed-out roads to be closed for weeks near La Tuque Last updated Jun 1 2006 05:41 PM EDT ,CBC News
Officials in La Tuque, Que., say it will be weeks before roads damaged by heavy rains can be reopened. They have issued another dozen evacuation notices, except this time the notices were voluntary. More homes were evacuated Thursday, and officials say people who choose to stay could be cut off for a while. The Sûreté du Québec's helicopter brought loads of people from areas isolated by the heavy rains.
Denis Bilodeau and his wife had access to their cottage cut off by a washed-out road. On Thursday, the two were hoisted up to a helicopter in harnesses. We had enough food for another week," Bilodeau says, "but our kids were worried about us, so we decided to leave. Water from the heavy rain is still swelling small streams and ditches, but the flow is reducing every hour. Officials say it will be weeks before all damaged roads are repaired.
And until then, evacuees won't be going home, and people who choose to stay in isolated houses will have to make do.At least one death is being blamed on the severe weather in the region. A 28-year-old man was struck by lightning north of La Tuque Wednesday.The Quebec government has promised financial aid to residents.
Twenty-two killed, 19,000 homes destroyed in south China floods Fri Jun 2, 2:29 PM
ET BEIJING (AFP) - Rainstorms and floods have killed 22 people and destroyed thousands of homes in southeast China, state media reported. More than 50,000 people have been evacuated from central and northern Fujian province which has been lashed bynon stop rainstorms since Tuesday, according to the ministry of civil affairs, Xinhua news agency said. About 19,000 homes have also been destroyed, according to the ministry, which despatched a rescue team to the flood-hit areas, Xinhua said.
Floods have always been part of life in China.Since serious flooding of the Yangtze River in 1998, China has spent billions of dollars on flood mitigation. Major rivers have been brought under greater control and early warning systems have been put in place, but flash floods and landslides caused by unprecedented rains continue to cause major damage.
Strong quake hits southern Iran, one dead Sat Jun 3, 7:49 AM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - A strong earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale has jolted southern Iran, killing a young girl and injuring two others. The head of Hormozgan province Natural Disaster Department, Masoud Dalman, told state radio that the four-year-old girl was killed in the village of Ramkan on the Gulf island of Qeshm just off the coast from Bandar Abbas.The quake struck at 10:45 am Saturday, official media reported, with the epicentre at the port town of Khamir.
In November last year, 10 people were killed when a 6.0 intensity quake hit Qeshm.Iran suffers frequent earthquakes. The worst quake in recent times razed the southeastern town of Bam in December 2003, killing 31,000 people.In late March, a powerful earthquake hit western Iran, killing at least 70 people and leaving thousands homeless.In February 2005, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale killed more than 600 in Zarand.
Mosquitoes, blackflies on attack in Quebec Last updated Jun 2 2006 05:13 PM EDT
,CBC News-Quebecers are under attack from more mosquitoes that are acting aggressively under ideal breeding conditions, an expert says.A mild winter and wet spring in Quebec have led to about triple the usual number of mosquitoes in the province, said Jacques Boisvert, an entomologist at the University of Quebec Trois Rivières who tracks bug populations.There's a lot more mosquitoes, more blackflies,Boisvert told CBC News. But to me, what's important is they are more aggressive towards people.May was largely rainy in Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes. In such weather, mosquitoes and blackflies delay their emergence, so their bites are
also delayed.
When conditions improved at the end of May, the emerging females quickly took a large blood meal to prepare for egg laying. Mosquitoes spread West Nile virus, but the infective species doesn't tend to emerge until early July in the province, when dead birds start to appear, Boisvert said. You can move to Antarctica, but it's quite difficult," Boisvert said. "Otherwise, you dress properly.He advised against wearing dark coloured clothing, which attracts mosquitoes.
Donning long sleeves and pants, and putting repellent on exposed skin such as the face and hands is recommended.
Washed-out roads to be closed for weeks near La Tuque Last updated Jun 1 2006 05:41 PM EDT ,CBC News
Officials in La Tuque, Que., say it will be weeks before roads damaged by heavy rains can be reopened. They have issued another dozen evacuation notices, except this time the notices were voluntary. More homes were evacuated Thursday, and officials say people who choose to stay could be cut off for a while. The Sûreté du Québec's helicopter brought loads of people from areas isolated by the heavy rains.
Denis Bilodeau and his wife had access to their cottage cut off by a washed-out road. On Thursday, the two were hoisted up to a helicopter in harnesses. We had enough food for another week," Bilodeau says, "but our kids were worried about us, so we decided to leave. Water from the heavy rain is still swelling small streams and ditches, but the flow is reducing every hour. Officials say it will be weeks before all damaged roads are repaired.
And until then, evacuees won't be going home, and people who choose to stay in isolated houses will have to make do.At least one death is being blamed on the severe weather in the region. A 28-year-old man was struck by lightning north of La Tuque Wednesday.The Quebec government has promised financial aid to residents.
Twenty-two killed, 19,000 homes destroyed in south China floods Fri Jun 2, 2:29 PM
ET BEIJING (AFP) - Rainstorms and floods have killed 22 people and destroyed thousands of homes in southeast China, state media reported. More than 50,000 people have been evacuated from central and northern Fujian province which has been lashed bynon stop rainstorms since Tuesday, according to the ministry of civil affairs, Xinhua news agency said. About 19,000 homes have also been destroyed, according to the ministry, which despatched a rescue team to the flood-hit areas, Xinhua said.
Floods have always been part of life in China.Since serious flooding of the Yangtze River in 1998, China has spent billions of dollars on flood mitigation. Major rivers have been brought under greater control and early warning systems have been put in place, but flash floods and landslides caused by unprecedented rains continue to cause major damage.
Strong quake hits southern Iran, one dead Sat Jun 3, 7:49 AM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - A strong earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale has jolted southern Iran, killing a young girl and injuring two others. The head of Hormozgan province Natural Disaster Department, Masoud Dalman, told state radio that the four-year-old girl was killed in the village of Ramkan on the Gulf island of Qeshm just off the coast from Bandar Abbas.The quake struck at 10:45 am Saturday, official media reported, with the epicentre at the port town of Khamir.
In November last year, 10 people were killed when a 6.0 intensity quake hit Qeshm.Iran suffers frequent earthquakes. The worst quake in recent times razed the southeastern town of Bam in December 2003, killing 31,000 people.In late March, a powerful earthquake hit western Iran, killing at least 70 people and leaving thousands homeless.In February 2005, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale killed more than 600 in Zarand.
Friday, June 02, 2006
IRAN NO TO DEAL
Story 1-IRANS SAYS NO TO DEAL 2-FIRES IN CHINA. 3-Flooding in China. 4-Club of Rome 10 world regions.
In John Hagees book Jerusalem countdown, Iran is at stage 5 or possibly 6th and final stage of having a Nuclear Bomb. In his book he says by April to October of 2006, Iran could have the bomb, which would explain why Iran do not want talks. Hes ready for Paslms 83:3-5.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
Yes Iran wants Israel off the world map and won't stop till they get it done. Thank GOD JESUS will protect his people and lead Israel or USA or both to take action against Iran before this comes about.
Here are the steps that is needed in having a Nuclear Bomb.
Uranium once enriched, can form the core of a nuclear bomb. But enriching it requires hard to acquire technology and time. The equipment that mr Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, peddled included centrifuges, which are critical to enrichment. Heres how the process works.
1- DIG IT - Uranium ore is mined, milled, and soaked with sulfuric acid, leaching out pure uranium.
2- CRUCH IT - Uranium is dried and filtered into coarse powder called yellowcake.
3- BAKE IT - The yellowcake isexposed to fluorine gas and heated to 133 F(56 C) converting it into a gas, uranium hexafluoride.
4- SPIN IT - The gas is pumped into a centrifuge that spins at the speed of sound. As it spins, the heavier U-238 moves toward the outside while the lighter, highly fissionable isotope U-235 collects closer to the center.
5- SPIN IT AGAIN - The slightly enriched U-235 is fed into another centrifuge, where it is enriched furthur. It moves down a train of some 1,500 centrifuges. Once it is 20 percent pure, the uranium is considered highly enriched. Only at more than 90 percent purity-which takes about a year-is it weapons grade.
6- SQUEEZE IT - The enriched uranium is converted into a metal powder, uranium oxide, which can be molded into a sphere weighing 35 to 100 pounds (16 to 46 kg) and placed in a weapon.
So as we see Iran is on possibly the last stage which will squeeze Israel and America to take action against Iran and bomb their sites or WW3 will be right around the corner. Yes we are living in perilous (dangerous) times like the Bible says would happen in the last days before JESUS returns to Earth.
CORRECTED: Iran won't abandon nuclear technology: president Fri Jun 2, 1:23 PM
ET TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that Iran will not abandon its right to peaceful nuclear energy despite Western pressure, the official IRNA news agency reported. Pressure of some Western countries to force Iran to abandon its right (to nuclear technology) will not get a result,IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.Major world powers are preparing to deliver a pivotal proposal to Iran combining incentives to halt work that could produce nuclear weapons with a threat of U.N. Security Council action if it refuses.
IRNA said Ahmadinejad made the remarks at a meeting with the visiting head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.Our activities have been based on the International Atomic Energy Agency's regulations and we have had maximum cooperation with them and there is no sign or reason for us not to cooperate with the agency,Ahmadinejad said.Unfortunately, some countries which have nuclear arsenals and are not a signatory the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ... want to deprive us from our obvious right," he said in an apparent reference to Israel.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Over 20,000 fight 'out of control' forest fires in north-east China
Beijing - Over 20,000 firefighters and police officers are battling three major forest fires that are 'out of control' in remote areas of north-eastern China, a state forestry official said Monday. The three fires are 'still out of control despite intense firefighting efforts', the government's Xinhua news agency quoted Cao Qingyao, a spokesman for the State Forestry Administration, as saying.
Strong winds, high temperatures and dry weather are all hampering the firefighting operations, in which 13 aircraft have dropped water on the fires to help the 20,000 people on the ground, Cao said. One of the fires broke out at the Galashan Forest Farm in Nenjiang county, Heilongjiang province. The other two were in the neighbouring Inner Mongolia region, along the Miandu river and the Kandu river, which flows through virgin forest in the Greater Khingan mountains, the agency said. High fire risks followed rainfall more than 30 per cent lower than the average for the first five months of this year in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang, it quoted meteorologists as saying.
Lightning strikes were one possible cause of the fires, it said, adding that no official figures were released for the land areas affected. Two more forest fires in Inner Mongolia were brought under control on Monday, and no casualties were reported in the fires, it said. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
GENESIS 11:13
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Rainy weather in southern China leaves at least 9 dead
Floods, mudflows and landslides triggered by days of torrential rain in southern China have left at least nine dead, dozens injured and hundreds of thousands homeless. In Central China's Hubei Province torrential rain left three people dead, 35 seriously injured and over 350,000 homeless, a local official said over the weekend. Liu Changdou, a disaster-relief official from the provincial civil affairs department, said 945 houses had collapsed and 137,500 hectares of farmland had been flooded. According to the provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters the heavy rain swept over 11 cities and counties from May 24 to 25.
The rain in Jingzhou, which was among the worst hit places, reached 260.7 millimetres, one of the heaviest rainfalls the city has ever experienced.Torrential rain has also swept through most of Guangdong Province in the past few days. Between May 26 and 28 local meteorological observatories issued 105 rainstorm warnings, with five cities and counties issuing warning signals of the highest grade.Most places recorded more than 100 millimetres of rain, with 409.4 millimetres of daily rainfall reported at Shangchuan Island.
Continuous heavy rain caused streets to flood in the cities of Jiangmen, Foshan, Heyuan and Huizhou, but despite damage from water logging no casualties or injuries have been reported. Heavy downpours inconvenienced workers in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, yesterday morning and rain continued for the rest of the day. The weather started to ease yesterday but is expected to gain force again on Thursday. Zhang Dejiang, Party chief for Guangdong Province, urged various areas to take anti-flooding measures to guard against further damage.
Meanwhile the Office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters warned that attention should be paid to mid and small scale reservoirs in southern China that have exceeded flood alarm lines. The one positive outcome of the devastating weather is that the continuous rainfall has eased the drought affecting 2 million hectares of farmland in southern and central areas of North China, central Inner Mongolia and southwestern China, added the office's spokesman. Source: China Daily
DANIEL 7:23
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
Club of Rome ,(Committee of 300 subversive body)
This group was organized in 1968 by the Morgenthau Group for the purpose of accelerating the plans to have the New World Order in place by the year 2000. The Club of Rome developed a plan to divide the world into ten regions or kingdoms.
In 1976, the United States Association of the Club of Rome (USACOR) was formed for the purpose of shutting down the U.S. economy gradually. The Technetronic Era Henry Kissinger was then, and still is, an important agent in the service of the Royal Institute for International Affairs, a member of the Club of Rome and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Kissinger's role in destabilizing the United States by means of three wars, the Middle East, Korea and Vietnam, is well known, as is his role in the Gulf War, in which the U.S. Army acted as mercenaries for the Committee of 300 in bringing Kuwait back under its control and at the same time making an example out of Iraq so that other small nations would not be tempted to work out their own destiny. The Club of Rome, acting on Committee of 300 orders to eliminate General ul Haq, had no compunction in sacrificing the lives of a number of U.S. servicemen on board the flight, including a U.S. Army Defense Intelligence Agency group headed by Brigadier General Herber Wassom. General ul Haq had been warned by the Turkish Secret Service not to travel by plane, as he was targeted for a mid-air bombing. With this in mind, ul Haq took the United States team with him as "an insurance policy," as he commented to his inner circle advisors.
Club of Rome and its financiers under the title of the German Marshall Fund were two highly-organized conspiratorial bodies operating under cover of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and that the majority of Club of Rome executives were drawn from NATO. The Club of Rome formulated all of what NATO claimed as its policies and, through the activities of Committee of 300 member Lord Carrington, was able to split NATO into two factions, a political (left wing) power group and its former military alliance. The Club of Rome is still one of the most important foreign policy arms of the Committee of 300, and the other being the Bilderbergers. It was put together in 1968 from hard-core members of the original Morgenthau group on the basis of a telephone call made by the late Aurellio Peccei for a new and urgent drive to speed up the plans of the One World Government now called the New World Order. Peccei's call was answered by the most subversive "future planners" drawn from the United States, France, Sweden, Britain, Switzerland and Japan that could be mustered.
During the period 1968-1972, The Club of Rome became a cohesive entity of new-science scientists, Globalist, future planners and inter- nationalists of every stripe. As one delegate put it, "We became Joseph's Coat of Many Colors." Peccei's book "Human Quality" formed the basis of the doctrine adopted by NATO's political wing. Peccei headed the Atlantic Institute's Economic Council for three decades while he was the Chief Executive Officer for Giovanni Agnellis' Fiat Motor Company. Agnelli, a member of an ancient Italian Black Nobility family of the same name, is one of the most important members of the Committee of 300. He played a leading role in development projects in the Soviet Union.
The Club of Rome is a conspiratorial umbrella organization, a marriage between Anglo-American financiers and the old Black Nobility families of Europe, particularly the so-called "nobility" of London, Venice and Genoa. The key to the successful control of the world is their ability to create and manage savage economic recessions and eventual depressions. The Committee of 300 looks to social convulsions on a global scale, followed by depressions, as a softening-up technique for bigger things to come, as its principal method of creating masses of people all over the world who will become its "welfare" recipients of the future.
The committee appears to base much of its important decisions affecting mankind on the philosophy of Polish aristocrat, Felix Dzerzinski, who regarded mankind as being slightly above the level of cattle. As a close friend of British intelligence agent Sydney Reilly (Reilly was actually Dzerzinski's controller during the Bolshevik Revolution's formative years), he often confided in Reilly during his drinking bouts. Dzerzinski was, of course, the beast who ran the Red Terror apparatus. He once told Reilly, while the two were on a drinking binge, that "Man is of no importance. Look at what happens when you starve him. He begins to eat his dead companions to stay alive. Man is only interested in his own survival. That is all that counts.
All the Spinoza stuff is a lot of rubbish." With regard to the Third World, the Club of Rome's Harland Cleveland prepared a report which was the height of cynicism. At the time, Cleveland was United States Ambassador to NATO. Essentially, the paper said it would be up to Third World nations to decide among themselves which populations should be eliminated. As Peccei later wrote (based on the Cleveland Report): "Damaged by conflicting policies of three major countries and blocs, roughly patched up here and there, the existing international economic order is visibly coming apart at the seams....The prospect of the necessity of the recourse to triage deciding who must be saved is a very grim one indeed. But, if lamentably, events should come to such a pass, the right to make such decisions cannot be left to just a few nations because it would lend themselves to ominous power over life of the world's hungry.
Prince Hassan named head of Club of RomeGroups Promoting A Globalist, Anti-American AgendaGroups Promoting A Globalist Anti-American Agenda pt2
In John Hagees book Jerusalem countdown, Iran is at stage 5 or possibly 6th and final stage of having a Nuclear Bomb. In his book he says by April to October of 2006, Iran could have the bomb, which would explain why Iran do not want talks. Hes ready for Paslms 83:3-5.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
Yes Iran wants Israel off the world map and won't stop till they get it done. Thank GOD JESUS will protect his people and lead Israel or USA or both to take action against Iran before this comes about.
Here are the steps that is needed in having a Nuclear Bomb.
Uranium once enriched, can form the core of a nuclear bomb. But enriching it requires hard to acquire technology and time. The equipment that mr Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, peddled included centrifuges, which are critical to enrichment. Heres how the process works.
1- DIG IT - Uranium ore is mined, milled, and soaked with sulfuric acid, leaching out pure uranium.
2- CRUCH IT - Uranium is dried and filtered into coarse powder called yellowcake.
3- BAKE IT - The yellowcake isexposed to fluorine gas and heated to 133 F(56 C) converting it into a gas, uranium hexafluoride.
4- SPIN IT - The gas is pumped into a centrifuge that spins at the speed of sound. As it spins, the heavier U-238 moves toward the outside while the lighter, highly fissionable isotope U-235 collects closer to the center.
5- SPIN IT AGAIN - The slightly enriched U-235 is fed into another centrifuge, where it is enriched furthur. It moves down a train of some 1,500 centrifuges. Once it is 20 percent pure, the uranium is considered highly enriched. Only at more than 90 percent purity-which takes about a year-is it weapons grade.
6- SQUEEZE IT - The enriched uranium is converted into a metal powder, uranium oxide, which can be molded into a sphere weighing 35 to 100 pounds (16 to 46 kg) and placed in a weapon.
So as we see Iran is on possibly the last stage which will squeeze Israel and America to take action against Iran and bomb their sites or WW3 will be right around the corner. Yes we are living in perilous (dangerous) times like the Bible says would happen in the last days before JESUS returns to Earth.
CORRECTED: Iran won't abandon nuclear technology: president Fri Jun 2, 1:23 PM
ET TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that Iran will not abandon its right to peaceful nuclear energy despite Western pressure, the official IRNA news agency reported. Pressure of some Western countries to force Iran to abandon its right (to nuclear technology) will not get a result,IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.Major world powers are preparing to deliver a pivotal proposal to Iran combining incentives to halt work that could produce nuclear weapons with a threat of U.N. Security Council action if it refuses.
IRNA said Ahmadinejad made the remarks at a meeting with the visiting head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.Our activities have been based on the International Atomic Energy Agency's regulations and we have had maximum cooperation with them and there is no sign or reason for us not to cooperate with the agency,Ahmadinejad said.Unfortunately, some countries which have nuclear arsenals and are not a signatory the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ... want to deprive us from our obvious right," he said in an apparent reference to Israel.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Over 20,000 fight 'out of control' forest fires in north-east China
Beijing - Over 20,000 firefighters and police officers are battling three major forest fires that are 'out of control' in remote areas of north-eastern China, a state forestry official said Monday. The three fires are 'still out of control despite intense firefighting efforts', the government's Xinhua news agency quoted Cao Qingyao, a spokesman for the State Forestry Administration, as saying.
Strong winds, high temperatures and dry weather are all hampering the firefighting operations, in which 13 aircraft have dropped water on the fires to help the 20,000 people on the ground, Cao said. One of the fires broke out at the Galashan Forest Farm in Nenjiang county, Heilongjiang province. The other two were in the neighbouring Inner Mongolia region, along the Miandu river and the Kandu river, which flows through virgin forest in the Greater Khingan mountains, the agency said. High fire risks followed rainfall more than 30 per cent lower than the average for the first five months of this year in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang, it quoted meteorologists as saying.
Lightning strikes were one possible cause of the fires, it said, adding that no official figures were released for the land areas affected. Two more forest fires in Inner Mongolia were brought under control on Monday, and no casualties were reported in the fires, it said. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
GENESIS 11:13
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Rainy weather in southern China leaves at least 9 dead
Floods, mudflows and landslides triggered by days of torrential rain in southern China have left at least nine dead, dozens injured and hundreds of thousands homeless. In Central China's Hubei Province torrential rain left three people dead, 35 seriously injured and over 350,000 homeless, a local official said over the weekend. Liu Changdou, a disaster-relief official from the provincial civil affairs department, said 945 houses had collapsed and 137,500 hectares of farmland had been flooded. According to the provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters the heavy rain swept over 11 cities and counties from May 24 to 25.
The rain in Jingzhou, which was among the worst hit places, reached 260.7 millimetres, one of the heaviest rainfalls the city has ever experienced.Torrential rain has also swept through most of Guangdong Province in the past few days. Between May 26 and 28 local meteorological observatories issued 105 rainstorm warnings, with five cities and counties issuing warning signals of the highest grade.Most places recorded more than 100 millimetres of rain, with 409.4 millimetres of daily rainfall reported at Shangchuan Island.
Continuous heavy rain caused streets to flood in the cities of Jiangmen, Foshan, Heyuan and Huizhou, but despite damage from water logging no casualties or injuries have been reported. Heavy downpours inconvenienced workers in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, yesterday morning and rain continued for the rest of the day. The weather started to ease yesterday but is expected to gain force again on Thursday. Zhang Dejiang, Party chief for Guangdong Province, urged various areas to take anti-flooding measures to guard against further damage.
Meanwhile the Office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters warned that attention should be paid to mid and small scale reservoirs in southern China that have exceeded flood alarm lines. The one positive outcome of the devastating weather is that the continuous rainfall has eased the drought affecting 2 million hectares of farmland in southern and central areas of North China, central Inner Mongolia and southwestern China, added the office's spokesman. Source: China Daily
DANIEL 7:23
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
Club of Rome ,(Committee of 300 subversive body)
This group was organized in 1968 by the Morgenthau Group for the purpose of accelerating the plans to have the New World Order in place by the year 2000. The Club of Rome developed a plan to divide the world into ten regions or kingdoms.
In 1976, the United States Association of the Club of Rome (USACOR) was formed for the purpose of shutting down the U.S. economy gradually. The Technetronic Era Henry Kissinger was then, and still is, an important agent in the service of the Royal Institute for International Affairs, a member of the Club of Rome and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Kissinger's role in destabilizing the United States by means of three wars, the Middle East, Korea and Vietnam, is well known, as is his role in the Gulf War, in which the U.S. Army acted as mercenaries for the Committee of 300 in bringing Kuwait back under its control and at the same time making an example out of Iraq so that other small nations would not be tempted to work out their own destiny. The Club of Rome, acting on Committee of 300 orders to eliminate General ul Haq, had no compunction in sacrificing the lives of a number of U.S. servicemen on board the flight, including a U.S. Army Defense Intelligence Agency group headed by Brigadier General Herber Wassom. General ul Haq had been warned by the Turkish Secret Service not to travel by plane, as he was targeted for a mid-air bombing. With this in mind, ul Haq took the United States team with him as "an insurance policy," as he commented to his inner circle advisors.
Club of Rome and its financiers under the title of the German Marshall Fund were two highly-organized conspiratorial bodies operating under cover of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and that the majority of Club of Rome executives were drawn from NATO. The Club of Rome formulated all of what NATO claimed as its policies and, through the activities of Committee of 300 member Lord Carrington, was able to split NATO into two factions, a political (left wing) power group and its former military alliance. The Club of Rome is still one of the most important foreign policy arms of the Committee of 300, and the other being the Bilderbergers. It was put together in 1968 from hard-core members of the original Morgenthau group on the basis of a telephone call made by the late Aurellio Peccei for a new and urgent drive to speed up the plans of the One World Government now called the New World Order. Peccei's call was answered by the most subversive "future planners" drawn from the United States, France, Sweden, Britain, Switzerland and Japan that could be mustered.
During the period 1968-1972, The Club of Rome became a cohesive entity of new-science scientists, Globalist, future planners and inter- nationalists of every stripe. As one delegate put it, "We became Joseph's Coat of Many Colors." Peccei's book "Human Quality" formed the basis of the doctrine adopted by NATO's political wing. Peccei headed the Atlantic Institute's Economic Council for three decades while he was the Chief Executive Officer for Giovanni Agnellis' Fiat Motor Company. Agnelli, a member of an ancient Italian Black Nobility family of the same name, is one of the most important members of the Committee of 300. He played a leading role in development projects in the Soviet Union.
The Club of Rome is a conspiratorial umbrella organization, a marriage between Anglo-American financiers and the old Black Nobility families of Europe, particularly the so-called "nobility" of London, Venice and Genoa. The key to the successful control of the world is their ability to create and manage savage economic recessions and eventual depressions. The Committee of 300 looks to social convulsions on a global scale, followed by depressions, as a softening-up technique for bigger things to come, as its principal method of creating masses of people all over the world who will become its "welfare" recipients of the future.
The committee appears to base much of its important decisions affecting mankind on the philosophy of Polish aristocrat, Felix Dzerzinski, who regarded mankind as being slightly above the level of cattle. As a close friend of British intelligence agent Sydney Reilly (Reilly was actually Dzerzinski's controller during the Bolshevik Revolution's formative years), he often confided in Reilly during his drinking bouts. Dzerzinski was, of course, the beast who ran the Red Terror apparatus. He once told Reilly, while the two were on a drinking binge, that "Man is of no importance. Look at what happens when you starve him. He begins to eat his dead companions to stay alive. Man is only interested in his own survival. That is all that counts.
All the Spinoza stuff is a lot of rubbish." With regard to the Third World, the Club of Rome's Harland Cleveland prepared a report which was the height of cynicism. At the time, Cleveland was United States Ambassador to NATO. Essentially, the paper said it would be up to Third World nations to decide among themselves which populations should be eliminated. As Peccei later wrote (based on the Cleveland Report): "Damaged by conflicting policies of three major countries and blocs, roughly patched up here and there, the existing international economic order is visibly coming apart at the seams....The prospect of the necessity of the recourse to triage deciding who must be saved is a very grim one indeed. But, if lamentably, events should come to such a pass, the right to make such decisions cannot be left to just a few nations because it would lend themselves to ominous power over life of the world's hungry.
Prince Hassan named head of Club of RomeGroups Promoting A Globalist, Anti-American AgendaGroups Promoting A Globalist Anti-American Agenda pt2
NYSE EURONEXT MERGER AGREEMENT
Story 1-nyse-Euronext merger agreement, 2-Trouble for Canada boycotting Israel.
NYSE, Euronext unveil merger agreementDeal would create exchange behemoth offering stocks, options and futuresBy Alistair Barr, MarketWatch,Last Update: 8:11 PM ET Jun 1, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- NYSE Group Inc. and Euronext NV agreed to merge late Thursday in a deal that would create a transatlantic exchange behemoth offering near round-the-clock trading in stocks, options and futures. The combination of what is already the world's largest stock exchange and the second-biggest European bourse operator would produce a business worth between $15 billion and $20 billion that processes roughly $100 billion of trades a day and lists companies valued at $27 trillion, NYSE and Euronext said in a statement. It would dwarf the Nasdaq Stock Market , the London Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the world's second-, third- and fourth-largest markets and could lead to more consolidation.
NYSE and Euronext billed the deal as a merger of equals, but agreement gives NYSE 11 directors on a 20-seat board and the chief executive job to John Thain, NYSE's current CEO. The combined business will also be a U.S. holding company. Euronext CEO Jean-François Théodore will be deputy CEO and head of international operations. Under the terms of the agreement, each NYSE share will be converted into one share of the new company, NYSE Euronext. Euronext investors will get 0.980 shares of NYSE Euronext and €21.32 in cash for each of their stocks. They will also able to choose either all shares or all cash through a "mix and match" procedure, subject to proration, the companies explained. Euronext will also pay its previously announced one-time distribution of €3 a share.
Stock exchanges have transformed themselves from clubby, member-owned organizations into for-profit, public companies. In their new quest for bigger profits, exchanges are combining to cut costs and quickly create the scale needed to attract the biggest companies to list with
them. Once the top companies list on an exchange, investors trade more there, which in turn provides the deep liquidity that makes markets more efficient and prices more accurate. Euronext which has struggled to convince some shareholders of the merits of a merger with NYSE, told shareholders in May that a combination would be the international listing venue of choice and would offer the first truly global marketplace. But at the same time, traditional exchanges are facing competition from rival electronic trading systems and even large investment banks, which process many, more complicated and lucrative trades by themselves.
By combining to cut costs, exchanges hope to be able to invest more in the technology needed to support more complex trading. A combined NYSE and Euronext would offer stock trading
through the New York Stock Exchange, already the largest equity market in the world. It would also have equity trading in Paris, Lisbon, Brussels and Amsterdam and provide futures and options trading via Euronext.liffe in London, one of the largest derivatives exchanges in Europe. NYSE and Euronext estimated annual cost and revenue synergies of $375 million from the deal, with the majority of savings generated from a winnowing-down of their multiple computer systems and trading platforms. The combined company's three cash trading systems and three derivatives trading systems will be changed into one cash and one derivatives platform over the next three years, the company's said. Ten data centers will be cut to four, with two in the U.S. and two in Europe, they added.
NYSE Euronext's strong position in cash equities, listings and derivatives will give it the chance to lift its combined revenue by an estimated $100 million in three years, the companies forecast. Another goal will be to increase NYSE Euronext's share of international listings and strengthen its position in the U.S. equity derivatives market, they said. The transaction still has to be cleared by shareholders of the two exchanges. That could be a considerable hurdle, given past
opposition from some Euronext shareholders to a deal with the NYSE. Chris Hohn's Children's Investment Fund, a hedge fund that owns almost 9% of Euronext and a 10% stake in Deutsche Boerse (DE:581005: news, chart, profile) , wanted Euronext to do a deal with the German exchange. However, during Euronext's annual meeting last month, investors voted against a shareholder motion supporting a Deutsche Boerse bid. See full story.Alistair Barr is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.
I DON'T LIKE THIS ONE BIT CUPE IS BOYCOTTING ISRAEL ALSO. CANADA IS GOIN DOWN HILL FAST, WE ARE BRINGING JUDGEMENT ON OUR COUNTRY BY GOING AGAINST ISRAEL.
THE BIBLE SAYS WHO EVER BLESSES ISRAEL WILL BE BLESSED, BUT WHO EVER DOES ANYTHING TO HURT ISRAEL IS CURSED.
THE HURRICANE SEASON HAS JUST STARTED YESTERDAY, GOD COULD VERY EASILY REDIRECT IT TO CANADA A MAJOR ONE.
PLEASE CANADA REPENT AND HELP ISRAEL DONT BOYCOTT ANYTHING ABOUT ISRAEL THEY ARE HATED BY THE WORLD ALREADY MUCH LESS US CANADIANS GETTING AGAINST THEM ALSO.
WE BETTER PRAY THAT GOD HAS PITY ON US FOR GOING AGAINST ISRAEL.
C.U.P.E. on Israel:The echoes of dark evilsby Beryl Wajsman, Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal Wednesday, May 31, 2006
"We cannot expect anti-Semitism to disappear - Jewish existence and Jewish philosophy will always be threatening. The trauma and insecurity, on the other hand, is within our power to diminish - should we decide to do so."
~ Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harvard, 1968
The next time labour leaders in Canada want to know why there is such antipathy to their agenda in many quarters, they need look no further than the Canadian Union of Public Employee’s Ontario wing. This past weekend some 896 delegates representing 200,000 workers voted in convention to pass a resolution boycotting Israel, a social democracy with the most unionized political jurisdiction in the world. With all of labour’s supposed grievances, why the urgency on this issue? Because according to CUPE (Ont.) Israel does not recognize the Palestinian right to self-determination." Let us put aside the fact that Israel was the only country to recognize the future Arab state of Palestine after partition in 1947; put aside the fact that within one week of the 1967 war when Israel defended itself from invasion by five Arab states and still offered total withdrawal and recognition in return for peace and was greeted with the Arab states’ Khartoum resolution of "No negotiation; no recognition; no peace"; put aside the fact that Israel has recognized Palestinian self-determination at Oslo, at Madrid and at Camp David and been refused each time by Palestinian leadership; what makes this resolution so egregious in nature — such an affront to truth and transparency — is that it comes at a time when the Palestinian Authority’s own President has challenged the Hamas government to renounce violence and recognize Israel or face a referendum.
President Abbas’ own actions put the lie to the pretense that this CUPE (Ont.) initiative was done in the tradition of labour’s fight for universal social justice. The Palestinians don’t question Israel’s acceptance of their right to self-determination. They question only their own capacity to manifest it. It’s time to call a spade a spade. CUPE (Ont.)’s action is, at worst, a primordial example of a hypocrisy unmasked revealing the true face of anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism, and, at best, a knee-jerk Canadian antipathy to any American ally. An antipathy that at its heart is fuelled by a self-doubt driven by a jealousy of others self-belief. Sid Ryan, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario president, used the old canard that, "This is not an attack on the Jewish people. It's [an objection to] the state of Israel's policies on Palestinians. They say they are creating an independent state but they're not giving them the tools to do that. In other words he is not an anti-Semite, he is just an anti-Zionist.
Israel is not saying it is creating an independent Palestinian state. It is saying it is recognizing it. Israel has no obligation to give any tools to build it. Who helped the 600,000 Jews, a tiny remnant of the 6,000,000 butchered in World War II, to build Israel? They declared the state. They bled for it. They built it. No American arms. No aid from anyone. Just the national will to live fortified by the sight of 50,000,000 Arabs thirsting for the blood of the Jews. Despite not having any obligation to help build Palestine, Israel has in fact contributed more than all of its Arab neighbours combined to that effort. For Mr. Ryan not to know this he must want not to know it. Israel gave 150,000 guns to the Palestinian police and militia. Contributed five times the total amount of money of all Arab countries combined to build Palestinian infrastructure, schools, and hospitals. Under Israeli administration the Palestinians have the lowest infant mortality rate among frontline Arab states; the highest literacy rate and the largest per capita percentage of university students. Finally, nearly 700,000 Palestinians work in Israel daily.
What did the Palestinians’ Arab cousins do for them during their twenty-year occupation from 1948-1967? Absolutely nothing but create conditions of grinding poverty that sowed the seeds of frustration and discontent with which Arab tyrants reaped racist, genocidal propaganda to divert, deflect and direct the hatred of their own imprisoned populations for their rulers’ barbarism toward bloodlust against the demonized Jews. One need not agree with the occupation or the settlement policies of Israel. However, to pre-meditatedly distort the truth of the occupation, as CUPE has done, is to be motivated by impulses far removed from any visions of social justice. Israel has the same rights in international law as France, Russia and the United States, to hold territory acquired after self-defense in the face of aggressive attack until peace has been achieved. Mr. Ryan and his fellow travellers who choose to hold Israel to a different standard do so out of the basest of motives.
Katherine Nastovski, chair of the CUPE Ontario international solidarity committee, had the temerity to equate Israeli policies with South African apartheid saying that "Boycott, divestment and sanction worked to end apartheid in South Africa." Israel has Arab judges, diplomats, MP’s, Arabic is an official language of the state and 20% of the student body of Hebrew University is Arab. Full and equal status. However Jews can still not get a visa to most Arab Muslim countries because of their religion. And in those Arab lands with remaining Jewish populations Jews live under a secondary legal status called "dhimmitude". So exactly who is practicing apartheid Ms. Nastovski? And where is your moral voice on Arab racism?
CUPE (Ont.)’s press release states that, "The Israeli 'apartheid wall' (the security fence) has been condemned and determined illegal under international law." Another lie. The International Court of Justice did indeed declare that certain parts of the fence that encroach and divide certain populated areas of the West Bank was illegal and should be moved closer to Israeli border areas to accommodate the Palestinian civilian population. But that was two months after the Israeli Supreme Court itself rendered a similar decision and one month after the Israeli government began changes in the fence to accommodate and respect that decision. Would
any Arab Supreme Court ever challenge a decision of its government? CUPE would dare not even examine this question for fear of disturbing its pre-conceived notions. Alice in Wonderland. "Sentence first, trial after," said the Mad Hatter.
CUPE’s resolution also demands the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties abandoned before and during the 1948 and 1967 wars. What is astounding about this is that the Palestinian Authority itself does not make this demand because its corollary would be the right of the two million Jews from Arab lands who were chased out at the threat of their lives having the same right. The difference however is that the Jews were indeed thrown out by Arab tyrants while the Palestinians left at the urging of their Arab cousins.As early as 1949, Lebanese statesman Emile Ghoury, the last Christian President of the Arab League, wrote in his resignation speech that he could no longer live with the lie that the Israelis chased out their Arab citizens. Ghoury said it was time that the Arab frontline states assumed responsibility for demanding that Israeli and Palestinian Arabs leave their homes for tactical military reasons in order to allow Arab armies to rain devastation only upon the Jews. The promise was that they could return in "…two weeks after we have driven the Jews into the sea…
Indeed, some 50 years later, on March 19, 2001, Fuad Abu Higla, then a regular columnist in the official Palestinian Authority daily Al Hayat Al Jadida, wrote an article before an Arab Summit criticizing Arab states for a series of failures. One of the failures he cited was that of the earlier generation of Arab leaders who "forced" Palestinians to leave Israel in 1948. But perhaps the most telling part of CUPE’s duplicitous hypocrisy was that the vote was held on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, when there could be no effective, organized response from its Jewish members. Racism wears many cloaks and disguises. But in this case it was out in the open.
In May 2005, Israeli and Palestinian academics from Jerusalem, Haifa, Hebron and Bethlehem met in Rome and resolved to work together in such vital areas as the natural sciences, economic development and the preservation of cultural heritage. If Israelis and Palestinians can meet and work together on a constructive basis, why is CUPE not supporting these efforts rather than encouraging mindless boycotts?
Several years ago, the Institute sponsored the first ever conference between leaders of Quebec civil society and Israeli diplomats. FTQ President Henri Massé said that while not fully supporting the settlement policy, he saw nothing to condemn in Israel's humanitarian policies and vehemently denounced Palestinian violence and hate. For the sake of the credibility of labour’s true progressives, it is time to hear this message candidly proclaimed and clearly defended. If this is not done, Canadian labour’s dream of universal social justice will be hijacked by nests of nightcrawlers purveying nothing more than parochial prejudice. And on this there can be no debate. We must always stand ready to marshal our vigilance and resolve against the CUPEs and Ryans and Nastovskis of this land. For they are the dark evils from the mists of history.
Evils whose true natures echo down to us through the decades from the lips of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said in an address at Harvard that, Despite its significance to the Jewish Nation, the State of Israel has failed to alleviate the levels of anti-Semitism. It has simply
allowed anti-Semites to masquerade themselves under the new banner of anti-Zionism. And what is an anti-Zionist? Someone who would deny to the Jewish people the fundamental rights and standards that we justly claim for all peoples and freely accord all other nations of the Globe. It is discrimination against Jews, my friends, simply because they are Jews. In short, it is anti-Semitism. The anti-Semite rejoices at any opportunity to vent his malice. The times have made it unpopular, in the West to proclaim openly a hatred of the Jews. This being the case, the anti-Semite must constantly seek new forms and forums for his poison. How he must revel in the new masquerade! He does not hate the Jews, he is just 'anti-Zionist'!.
Beryl P. Wajsman is the president of the Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal. He can be reached at: letters@canadafreepress.com.
NYSE, Euronext unveil merger agreementDeal would create exchange behemoth offering stocks, options and futuresBy Alistair Barr, MarketWatch,Last Update: 8:11 PM ET Jun 1, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- NYSE Group Inc. and Euronext NV agreed to merge late Thursday in a deal that would create a transatlantic exchange behemoth offering near round-the-clock trading in stocks, options and futures. The combination of what is already the world's largest stock exchange and the second-biggest European bourse operator would produce a business worth between $15 billion and $20 billion that processes roughly $100 billion of trades a day and lists companies valued at $27 trillion, NYSE and Euronext said in a statement. It would dwarf the Nasdaq Stock Market , the London Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the world's second-, third- and fourth-largest markets and could lead to more consolidation.
NYSE and Euronext billed the deal as a merger of equals, but agreement gives NYSE 11 directors on a 20-seat board and the chief executive job to John Thain, NYSE's current CEO. The combined business will also be a U.S. holding company. Euronext CEO Jean-François Théodore will be deputy CEO and head of international operations. Under the terms of the agreement, each NYSE share will be converted into one share of the new company, NYSE Euronext. Euronext investors will get 0.980 shares of NYSE Euronext and €21.32 in cash for each of their stocks. They will also able to choose either all shares or all cash through a "mix and match" procedure, subject to proration, the companies explained. Euronext will also pay its previously announced one-time distribution of €3 a share.
Stock exchanges have transformed themselves from clubby, member-owned organizations into for-profit, public companies. In their new quest for bigger profits, exchanges are combining to cut costs and quickly create the scale needed to attract the biggest companies to list with
them. Once the top companies list on an exchange, investors trade more there, which in turn provides the deep liquidity that makes markets more efficient and prices more accurate. Euronext which has struggled to convince some shareholders of the merits of a merger with NYSE, told shareholders in May that a combination would be the international listing venue of choice and would offer the first truly global marketplace. But at the same time, traditional exchanges are facing competition from rival electronic trading systems and even large investment banks, which process many, more complicated and lucrative trades by themselves.
By combining to cut costs, exchanges hope to be able to invest more in the technology needed to support more complex trading. A combined NYSE and Euronext would offer stock trading
through the New York Stock Exchange, already the largest equity market in the world. It would also have equity trading in Paris, Lisbon, Brussels and Amsterdam and provide futures and options trading via Euronext.liffe in London, one of the largest derivatives exchanges in Europe. NYSE and Euronext estimated annual cost and revenue synergies of $375 million from the deal, with the majority of savings generated from a winnowing-down of their multiple computer systems and trading platforms. The combined company's three cash trading systems and three derivatives trading systems will be changed into one cash and one derivatives platform over the next three years, the company's said. Ten data centers will be cut to four, with two in the U.S. and two in Europe, they added.
NYSE Euronext's strong position in cash equities, listings and derivatives will give it the chance to lift its combined revenue by an estimated $100 million in three years, the companies forecast. Another goal will be to increase NYSE Euronext's share of international listings and strengthen its position in the U.S. equity derivatives market, they said. The transaction still has to be cleared by shareholders of the two exchanges. That could be a considerable hurdle, given past
opposition from some Euronext shareholders to a deal with the NYSE. Chris Hohn's Children's Investment Fund, a hedge fund that owns almost 9% of Euronext and a 10% stake in Deutsche Boerse (DE:581005: news, chart, profile) , wanted Euronext to do a deal with the German exchange. However, during Euronext's annual meeting last month, investors voted against a shareholder motion supporting a Deutsche Boerse bid. See full story.Alistair Barr is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.
I DON'T LIKE THIS ONE BIT CUPE IS BOYCOTTING ISRAEL ALSO. CANADA IS GOIN DOWN HILL FAST, WE ARE BRINGING JUDGEMENT ON OUR COUNTRY BY GOING AGAINST ISRAEL.
THE BIBLE SAYS WHO EVER BLESSES ISRAEL WILL BE BLESSED, BUT WHO EVER DOES ANYTHING TO HURT ISRAEL IS CURSED.
THE HURRICANE SEASON HAS JUST STARTED YESTERDAY, GOD COULD VERY EASILY REDIRECT IT TO CANADA A MAJOR ONE.
PLEASE CANADA REPENT AND HELP ISRAEL DONT BOYCOTT ANYTHING ABOUT ISRAEL THEY ARE HATED BY THE WORLD ALREADY MUCH LESS US CANADIANS GETTING AGAINST THEM ALSO.
WE BETTER PRAY THAT GOD HAS PITY ON US FOR GOING AGAINST ISRAEL.
C.U.P.E. on Israel:The echoes of dark evilsby Beryl Wajsman, Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal Wednesday, May 31, 2006
"We cannot expect anti-Semitism to disappear - Jewish existence and Jewish philosophy will always be threatening. The trauma and insecurity, on the other hand, is within our power to diminish - should we decide to do so."
~ Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harvard, 1968
The next time labour leaders in Canada want to know why there is such antipathy to their agenda in many quarters, they need look no further than the Canadian Union of Public Employee’s Ontario wing. This past weekend some 896 delegates representing 200,000 workers voted in convention to pass a resolution boycotting Israel, a social democracy with the most unionized political jurisdiction in the world. With all of labour’s supposed grievances, why the urgency on this issue? Because according to CUPE (Ont.) Israel does not recognize the Palestinian right to self-determination." Let us put aside the fact that Israel was the only country to recognize the future Arab state of Palestine after partition in 1947; put aside the fact that within one week of the 1967 war when Israel defended itself from invasion by five Arab states and still offered total withdrawal and recognition in return for peace and was greeted with the Arab states’ Khartoum resolution of "No negotiation; no recognition; no peace"; put aside the fact that Israel has recognized Palestinian self-determination at Oslo, at Madrid and at Camp David and been refused each time by Palestinian leadership; what makes this resolution so egregious in nature — such an affront to truth and transparency — is that it comes at a time when the Palestinian Authority’s own President has challenged the Hamas government to renounce violence and recognize Israel or face a referendum.
President Abbas’ own actions put the lie to the pretense that this CUPE (Ont.) initiative was done in the tradition of labour’s fight for universal social justice. The Palestinians don’t question Israel’s acceptance of their right to self-determination. They question only their own capacity to manifest it. It’s time to call a spade a spade. CUPE (Ont.)’s action is, at worst, a primordial example of a hypocrisy unmasked revealing the true face of anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism, and, at best, a knee-jerk Canadian antipathy to any American ally. An antipathy that at its heart is fuelled by a self-doubt driven by a jealousy of others self-belief. Sid Ryan, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario president, used the old canard that, "This is not an attack on the Jewish people. It's [an objection to] the state of Israel's policies on Palestinians. They say they are creating an independent state but they're not giving them the tools to do that. In other words he is not an anti-Semite, he is just an anti-Zionist.
Israel is not saying it is creating an independent Palestinian state. It is saying it is recognizing it. Israel has no obligation to give any tools to build it. Who helped the 600,000 Jews, a tiny remnant of the 6,000,000 butchered in World War II, to build Israel? They declared the state. They bled for it. They built it. No American arms. No aid from anyone. Just the national will to live fortified by the sight of 50,000,000 Arabs thirsting for the blood of the Jews. Despite not having any obligation to help build Palestine, Israel has in fact contributed more than all of its Arab neighbours combined to that effort. For Mr. Ryan not to know this he must want not to know it. Israel gave 150,000 guns to the Palestinian police and militia. Contributed five times the total amount of money of all Arab countries combined to build Palestinian infrastructure, schools, and hospitals. Under Israeli administration the Palestinians have the lowest infant mortality rate among frontline Arab states; the highest literacy rate and the largest per capita percentage of university students. Finally, nearly 700,000 Palestinians work in Israel daily.
What did the Palestinians’ Arab cousins do for them during their twenty-year occupation from 1948-1967? Absolutely nothing but create conditions of grinding poverty that sowed the seeds of frustration and discontent with which Arab tyrants reaped racist, genocidal propaganda to divert, deflect and direct the hatred of their own imprisoned populations for their rulers’ barbarism toward bloodlust against the demonized Jews. One need not agree with the occupation or the settlement policies of Israel. However, to pre-meditatedly distort the truth of the occupation, as CUPE has done, is to be motivated by impulses far removed from any visions of social justice. Israel has the same rights in international law as France, Russia and the United States, to hold territory acquired after self-defense in the face of aggressive attack until peace has been achieved. Mr. Ryan and his fellow travellers who choose to hold Israel to a different standard do so out of the basest of motives.
Katherine Nastovski, chair of the CUPE Ontario international solidarity committee, had the temerity to equate Israeli policies with South African apartheid saying that "Boycott, divestment and sanction worked to end apartheid in South Africa." Israel has Arab judges, diplomats, MP’s, Arabic is an official language of the state and 20% of the student body of Hebrew University is Arab. Full and equal status. However Jews can still not get a visa to most Arab Muslim countries because of their religion. And in those Arab lands with remaining Jewish populations Jews live under a secondary legal status called "dhimmitude". So exactly who is practicing apartheid Ms. Nastovski? And where is your moral voice on Arab racism?
CUPE (Ont.)’s press release states that, "The Israeli 'apartheid wall' (the security fence) has been condemned and determined illegal under international law." Another lie. The International Court of Justice did indeed declare that certain parts of the fence that encroach and divide certain populated areas of the West Bank was illegal and should be moved closer to Israeli border areas to accommodate the Palestinian civilian population. But that was two months after the Israeli Supreme Court itself rendered a similar decision and one month after the Israeli government began changes in the fence to accommodate and respect that decision. Would
any Arab Supreme Court ever challenge a decision of its government? CUPE would dare not even examine this question for fear of disturbing its pre-conceived notions. Alice in Wonderland. "Sentence first, trial after," said the Mad Hatter.
CUPE’s resolution also demands the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties abandoned before and during the 1948 and 1967 wars. What is astounding about this is that the Palestinian Authority itself does not make this demand because its corollary would be the right of the two million Jews from Arab lands who were chased out at the threat of their lives having the same right. The difference however is that the Jews were indeed thrown out by Arab tyrants while the Palestinians left at the urging of their Arab cousins.As early as 1949, Lebanese statesman Emile Ghoury, the last Christian President of the Arab League, wrote in his resignation speech that he could no longer live with the lie that the Israelis chased out their Arab citizens. Ghoury said it was time that the Arab frontline states assumed responsibility for demanding that Israeli and Palestinian Arabs leave their homes for tactical military reasons in order to allow Arab armies to rain devastation only upon the Jews. The promise was that they could return in "…two weeks after we have driven the Jews into the sea…
Indeed, some 50 years later, on March 19, 2001, Fuad Abu Higla, then a regular columnist in the official Palestinian Authority daily Al Hayat Al Jadida, wrote an article before an Arab Summit criticizing Arab states for a series of failures. One of the failures he cited was that of the earlier generation of Arab leaders who "forced" Palestinians to leave Israel in 1948. But perhaps the most telling part of CUPE’s duplicitous hypocrisy was that the vote was held on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, when there could be no effective, organized response from its Jewish members. Racism wears many cloaks and disguises. But in this case it was out in the open.
In May 2005, Israeli and Palestinian academics from Jerusalem, Haifa, Hebron and Bethlehem met in Rome and resolved to work together in such vital areas as the natural sciences, economic development and the preservation of cultural heritage. If Israelis and Palestinians can meet and work together on a constructive basis, why is CUPE not supporting these efforts rather than encouraging mindless boycotts?
Several years ago, the Institute sponsored the first ever conference between leaders of Quebec civil society and Israeli diplomats. FTQ President Henri Massé said that while not fully supporting the settlement policy, he saw nothing to condemn in Israel's humanitarian policies and vehemently denounced Palestinian violence and hate. For the sake of the credibility of labour’s true progressives, it is time to hear this message candidly proclaimed and clearly defended. If this is not done, Canadian labour’s dream of universal social justice will be hijacked by nests of nightcrawlers purveying nothing more than parochial prejudice. And on this there can be no debate. We must always stand ready to marshal our vigilance and resolve against the CUPEs and Ryans and Nastovskis of this land. For they are the dark evils from the mists of history.
Evils whose true natures echo down to us through the decades from the lips of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said in an address at Harvard that, Despite its significance to the Jewish Nation, the State of Israel has failed to alleviate the levels of anti-Semitism. It has simply
allowed anti-Semites to masquerade themselves under the new banner of anti-Zionism. And what is an anti-Zionist? Someone who would deny to the Jewish people the fundamental rights and standards that we justly claim for all peoples and freely accord all other nations of the Globe. It is discrimination against Jews, my friends, simply because they are Jews. In short, it is anti-Semitism. The anti-Semite rejoices at any opportunity to vent his malice. The times have made it unpopular, in the West to proclaim openly a hatred of the Jews. This being the case, the anti-Semite must constantly seek new forms and forums for his poison. How he must revel in the new masquerade! He does not hate the Jews, he is just 'anti-Zionist'!.
Beryl P. Wajsman is the president of the Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal. He can be reached at: letters@canadafreepress.com.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
WTO BILL ON FREE TRADE ZONES
Story 1-WTO bill on free trade zones. Story 2-8 scorpians found in Jerusalem.3-EU States issue biometric passports with chips in them.4-Israel holiday Feast of weeks (Giving of Torah to Israelis).
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(EU) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(10 World blocs).
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
Serbia: Bill on free trade zones presented
12:43 - 01 June 2006 - Serbian Assistant Minister of Finance Vesna Hreljac-Ivanovic said that the new bill on free trade zones, drafted under World Trade Organisation (WTO) and EU standards, removes limiting factors which existed in this area so far. In a press conference Hreljac-Ivanovic presented new bills on free trade zones and foreign currency operations that the government approved in its last session. She noted that the founder makes a decision to set up a free trade zone, after which the company for managing the zone is established and a request is sent to state authorities, reports SMT.
The founder can establish only one company for managing a zone so as to prevent a monopoly, she explained adding that the company needs to submit evidence on technical and economic conditions. She also said that a special commission will be in charge of grading these conditions and added that the company will also have to submit a report on free trade zone feasibility. There will be tax incentives for setting up free trade zones, Hreljac-Ivanovic said. According to her, a report on operations will be submitted once a year. She also added that there are three zones in Serbia at the moment: in Subotica, Zrenjanin and Pirot, which are obliged to submit demands for new licences within 90 days after the law comes into effect. However, these three zones will not be obliged to submit new reports, she added. Assistant Minister responsible for foreign currency inspection Lidija Smiljanic said that the bill on foreign currency operations was drafted in cooperation with the National Bank of Serbia (NBS).
This law will liberalise financial transactions and will allow the purchase of securities issued by foreign issuers, she said. The new regulations on financial transactions should put an end to foreign currency operations by presenting fake invoices, Smiljanic said expressing hope that the bill will be passed by parliament in June. Source: Serbia & Montenegro Today.
Scorpion-like creatures isolated in cave for aeonsJerusalem,June 2, 2006
AdvertisementScientists have discovered crustaceans and scorpion-like invertebrates living in an underground cave that has been sealed off from the rest of the world for millions of years.Geologists from Jerusalem's Hebrew University made the discovery at a quarry near Ramla in central Israel after opening passages to a cave containing a lake and a unique ecosystem 100 metres below ground.Biologists found white crustaceans resembling prawns and invertebrates similar to scorpions. The cave also contained bacteria that served as food.
So far eight species were found in the cave, all of them unknown to science," biologist Hanan Dimantman said. Every species examined had no eyes, so they lost their sight due to evolution. Apart from the scorpions, all are alive. The scorpions are dead but we are sure live scorpions are to be found under boulders.The cave, with a maze of passages that extend about two kilometres, is sealed off from surface water and nutrients by a layer of chalk. The scientists said the lake's temperature and salinity indicated it drew its water from deep underground. The cave's ecosystem began forming about 5 million years ago, when part of Israel was covered by the Mediterranean Sea.- GUARDIAN
The chips are in the cards now but will be placed in peoples skin to keep track of everyone on earth.
REVELATION 13:7-8,16-18
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
EU nations to issue biometric passports Thu Jun 1, 11:03 AM ET
LUXEMBOURG - European Union nations will have to start issuing new secure biometric passports with a chip containing facial features by the end of August, EU officials said Thursday, and prepare to add fingerprint data to the travel documents by 2009. By Aug. 26 of this year member states will need to be able ... to include a facial image in a chip," said Friso Roscam Abbing, spokesman for EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini. He said Frattini would present plans to EU justice and interior ministers for adding fingerprints to the new biometric passports in two to three weeks time.
Roscam Abbing said the new biometric features, which reduce patterns of fingerprints, faces and irises to mathematical algorithms stored on a chip, would go beyond security standards demanded by the United States.EU nations participating in the American visa-waiver program were given until October this year to comply with U.S. standards to have either a digital photo or a chip containing biometric data in their passports if they wanted to continue visa-free travel to the U.S.
Shavuot/Sabbath Holiday: Thurs. Night to Sat.NightBy Hillel Fendel (Arutz 7 news)
The holiday of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks), one of the three Biblical pilgrimage-to-Jerusalem festivals, marks the Jewish People's receiving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai 3,318 years ago. Tens of thousands are expected to arrive at the Western Wall throughout Thursday night and Friday morning, in commemoration of the Biblical commandment to visit Jerusalem on this holiday. The commandment, like some others in the Torah, is not binding when the Holy Temple is not in place.
The Shavuot holiday of 1967 (5727), which followed the Six-Day War and the liberation of Jerusalem by only a few days, was the first holiday in 1,900 years in which masses of Jews congregated at the Western Wall.
Shavuot also marks the day after the 49-day Sefirat HaOmer counting period, which begins on the Passover holiday. The counting denotes the fact that the ultimate purpose of the Exodus from Egypt was for the Jewish People to receive the Torah and begin its national/spiritual existence as the People of the Book.
Shavuot is celebrated for one day by those who live in the Land of Israel, as originally prescribed by the Torah. However, outside Israel, in accordance with rabbinic tradition because of the lack of calendric certainty, the holiday is celebrated for two days.
Features of the Shavuot holiday include:
* remaining awake all night to study Torah;
* the bringing of the Bikurim (First Fruits) to the Holy Temple;
* the time of the wheat harvest;
* the public reading of the Book of Ruth;
* a wide-spread custom of eating dairy foods on Shavuot.
For more details on the holiday, see the sites listed at jr.co.il/hotsites.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(EU) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(10 World blocs).
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
Serbia: Bill on free trade zones presented
12:43 - 01 June 2006 - Serbian Assistant Minister of Finance Vesna Hreljac-Ivanovic said that the new bill on free trade zones, drafted under World Trade Organisation (WTO) and EU standards, removes limiting factors which existed in this area so far. In a press conference Hreljac-Ivanovic presented new bills on free trade zones and foreign currency operations that the government approved in its last session. She noted that the founder makes a decision to set up a free trade zone, after which the company for managing the zone is established and a request is sent to state authorities, reports SMT.
The founder can establish only one company for managing a zone so as to prevent a monopoly, she explained adding that the company needs to submit evidence on technical and economic conditions. She also said that a special commission will be in charge of grading these conditions and added that the company will also have to submit a report on free trade zone feasibility. There will be tax incentives for setting up free trade zones, Hreljac-Ivanovic said. According to her, a report on operations will be submitted once a year. She also added that there are three zones in Serbia at the moment: in Subotica, Zrenjanin and Pirot, which are obliged to submit demands for new licences within 90 days after the law comes into effect. However, these three zones will not be obliged to submit new reports, she added. Assistant Minister responsible for foreign currency inspection Lidija Smiljanic said that the bill on foreign currency operations was drafted in cooperation with the National Bank of Serbia (NBS).
This law will liberalise financial transactions and will allow the purchase of securities issued by foreign issuers, she said. The new regulations on financial transactions should put an end to foreign currency operations by presenting fake invoices, Smiljanic said expressing hope that the bill will be passed by parliament in June. Source: Serbia & Montenegro Today.
Scorpion-like creatures isolated in cave for aeonsJerusalem,June 2, 2006
AdvertisementScientists have discovered crustaceans and scorpion-like invertebrates living in an underground cave that has been sealed off from the rest of the world for millions of years.Geologists from Jerusalem's Hebrew University made the discovery at a quarry near Ramla in central Israel after opening passages to a cave containing a lake and a unique ecosystem 100 metres below ground.Biologists found white crustaceans resembling prawns and invertebrates similar to scorpions. The cave also contained bacteria that served as food.
So far eight species were found in the cave, all of them unknown to science," biologist Hanan Dimantman said. Every species examined had no eyes, so they lost their sight due to evolution. Apart from the scorpions, all are alive. The scorpions are dead but we are sure live scorpions are to be found under boulders.The cave, with a maze of passages that extend about two kilometres, is sealed off from surface water and nutrients by a layer of chalk. The scientists said the lake's temperature and salinity indicated it drew its water from deep underground. The cave's ecosystem began forming about 5 million years ago, when part of Israel was covered by the Mediterranean Sea.- GUARDIAN
The chips are in the cards now but will be placed in peoples skin to keep track of everyone on earth.
REVELATION 13:7-8,16-18
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
EU nations to issue biometric passports Thu Jun 1, 11:03 AM ET
LUXEMBOURG - European Union nations will have to start issuing new secure biometric passports with a chip containing facial features by the end of August, EU officials said Thursday, and prepare to add fingerprint data to the travel documents by 2009. By Aug. 26 of this year member states will need to be able ... to include a facial image in a chip," said Friso Roscam Abbing, spokesman for EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini. He said Frattini would present plans to EU justice and interior ministers for adding fingerprints to the new biometric passports in two to three weeks time.
Roscam Abbing said the new biometric features, which reduce patterns of fingerprints, faces and irises to mathematical algorithms stored on a chip, would go beyond security standards demanded by the United States.EU nations participating in the American visa-waiver program were given until October this year to comply with U.S. standards to have either a digital photo or a chip containing biometric data in their passports if they wanted to continue visa-free travel to the U.S.
Shavuot/Sabbath Holiday: Thurs. Night to Sat.NightBy Hillel Fendel (Arutz 7 news)
The holiday of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks), one of the three Biblical pilgrimage-to-Jerusalem festivals, marks the Jewish People's receiving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai 3,318 years ago. Tens of thousands are expected to arrive at the Western Wall throughout Thursday night and Friday morning, in commemoration of the Biblical commandment to visit Jerusalem on this holiday. The commandment, like some others in the Torah, is not binding when the Holy Temple is not in place.
The Shavuot holiday of 1967 (5727), which followed the Six-Day War and the liberation of Jerusalem by only a few days, was the first holiday in 1,900 years in which masses of Jews congregated at the Western Wall.
Shavuot also marks the day after the 49-day Sefirat HaOmer counting period, which begins on the Passover holiday. The counting denotes the fact that the ultimate purpose of the Exodus from Egypt was for the Jewish People to receive the Torah and begin its national/spiritual existence as the People of the Book.
Shavuot is celebrated for one day by those who live in the Land of Israel, as originally prescribed by the Torah. However, outside Israel, in accordance with rabbinic tradition because of the lack of calendric certainty, the holiday is celebrated for two days.
Features of the Shavuot holiday include:
* remaining awake all night to study Torah;
* the bringing of the Bikurim (First Fruits) to the Holy Temple;
* the time of the wheat harvest;
* the public reading of the Book of Ruth;
* a wide-spread custom of eating dairy foods on Shavuot.
For more details on the holiday, see the sites listed at jr.co.il/hotsites.
COUNCILWOMAN AGAINST IFCJ
Story 1-Council Woman against International fellowship of Christians and Jews.2-Mumbai monsoon flooding.
I give to the IFCJ its a great organization for helping Israelis come to Israel (fulfilling prophecy), and for feeding starving Israelis. I suggest all Christians donate to this cause because we will be blessed for helping out Israel in these last days of the age of grace.www.ifcj.org
Councilwoman Against Israeli Dependence on Evangelical MoneyBy Hillel Fendel (Arutz 7 news)
Jerusalem City Councilwoman Mina Fenton (NRP) has written a powerful letter against the increasing dependency by Local Government on the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews (IFCJ). Fenton is a member of the National Religious Party and is the Chairperson of the Council for the Advancement of Women's Status in Jerusalem. Her letter blasts the influx and growing influence of Christian Evangelical money - and specifically the IFCJ, headed by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein - in 100 local and municipal councils throughout Israel: As a member of the Jerusalem City Council, I received an invitation to the Second Local Government Convention, under the sponsorship of (or dependence on) the IFCJ, in Tel Aviv University, May 30-31.
The convention, entitled, "From Dependence to Independence in Local Government, is a contradiction in terms. Holding such a convention under the sponsorship /dependence of Evangelical money certainly does not lead to independence...The IFCJ is a private body with its own interests, which is penetrating into the institutions of power in the country, with hundreds of millions of dollars being transferred to the Welfare Ministry, local municipal welfare offices, associations, and more.The IFCJ takes pride in its takeover of the welfare institutions in the country via the Welfare Ministry and municipal councils. It has succeeded in penetrating some 100 municipal councils; all the evidence and data are found in the IFCJ's announcements.
The Wednesday morning session of the convention is billed as, "Buckling Under the Burden - Welfare in a Changing Reality (under the sponsorship of the IFCJ).What does this mean. Are the convention planners telling us that this "Friendship Fund" is the one that will take responsibility for providing solutions for the welfare budgetary problem in the country's difficult and changing reality? Will the Evangelists set a new public agenda for us? Will they determine how much the current welfare laws apply to the changing social reality in Israel?
This is a take-over, creating a dependency. We must remember: "He who'll pay, has the say.Dependence has a price! Ruth Sinai, writing in Haaretz on Jan. 7, 2006, notes, "It is hard to find a single local council in this country that is not supported by loyal American Christians, via the IFCJ. In four years of the fund's activity in Israel, it has become the leading philanthropic organization in the country.Sinai quotes Adi Eldar, Mayor of Carmiel and Chairman of the Local Government Center (who himself receives funding from the IFCJ for Carmiel and makes sure that others get as well - M.F.), who said, "The Fund supports the weaker members of society in place of the State [emphasis in the original]...Sinai further details the municipal council activities: Staff from the Fund hold advisory meetings with the Welfare Ministry and local municipal employees regarding goals and criteria.
Well then, who is in charge of welfare in this country? Who determines policy? Who is in charge of whom? Who is responsible? Who is dependent? Who at all is independent?!? And especially when the local government strengthens and eternalizes a private entity and grants it power and legitimacy.Sinai notes that some cities, such as [the hareidi cities] Beitar and Emanuel, find it difficult to accept the source of the donations and do not request assistance from theFund...What a disgrace it is for the Jewish sovereign state in the Land of Israel, that frees itself of its basic obligation to be concerned for the welfare of its citizens, and encourages the receipt of money that is fatal from two standpoints: It is Christian Evangelical money that endangers the Jewish existence, and it is directed towards creating dependence...Fenton also writes that the money comes from millions of Evangelicals who give the money because of their religious beliefs about the end of times - which do not include Jews as we know them today.
IFCJ head Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein denies this, citing a poll showing that only 28% of the donors do so because of their religious "End of Times" beliefs. However, his own PR movies tell a different story. The film "On Wings of Eagles" shows montages of Yitzak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shaking hands in Oslo in 1994 together with images of the Twin Towers crumbling down, with a narrator intoning, "The mosaic of events we see happening today is like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle with the pieces beginning to form the exact picture foretold by the prophets. Eckstein is then seen standing on a mountaintop, saying, You can see the pieces of the puzzle that are coming together - apparently referring to the pieces of the Christian-religious puzzle.
The acceptance of Evangelical money has been the subject of various Halakhic [Jewish legal] rulings, though an unambiguous stance has not yet been formulated. Some say it is forbidden to take any money, some say it is permitted, and others say it may be used only to fund non-educational causes. Among those in the forefront of the opposition to accepting such money are Rabbi Simcha HaCohen Kook of Rehovot and Rabbi Shlomo Aviner of Beit El.
Man dies, travel problems as Mumbai faces monsoon woes Thu Jun 1, 5:42 AM ET MUMBAI
(AFP) - Rain has lashed Mumbai again as this year's early-arriving monsoon caused travel chaos and brought back memories of last year's devastating floods that left hundreds dead. One man drowned in the stormy sea off the peninsula city on India's west coast and commuters were stranded for hours late Wednesday because of flooded roads and late-running trains. The monsoon rains arrived several days earlier than expected and city officials had not yet completed anti-flooding measures, including finishing a project to dredge a river that runs through the city.It has taken one heavy rainfall at the beginning of the season for the authorities to have been caught unprepared,said an editorial in the DNA newspaper Thursday.
Environmentalist Anil Bhatia said the city was better prepared for the rains this year after record rainfall on July 26 in 2005 swept away slum dwellings, cut electricity and severed the city from the rest of the country for a day.Neglected drainage facilities and rampant illegal development, that left natural waterways blocked, were blamed for many of the problems.
Bhatia said decades of people flowing into the city of nearly 20 million, development and concreting of green spaces had all added to the city's drainage woes.Land use change has become so predominant, I would say it would take up to five years before we have a (anti-flooding) system in place again,he said.The annual monsoon rains began sweeping through India in late May and the several months of rain are vital to the country's agriculture.
I give to the IFCJ its a great organization for helping Israelis come to Israel (fulfilling prophecy), and for feeding starving Israelis. I suggest all Christians donate to this cause because we will be blessed for helping out Israel in these last days of the age of grace.www.ifcj.org
Councilwoman Against Israeli Dependence on Evangelical MoneyBy Hillel Fendel (Arutz 7 news)
Jerusalem City Councilwoman Mina Fenton (NRP) has written a powerful letter against the increasing dependency by Local Government on the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews (IFCJ). Fenton is a member of the National Religious Party and is the Chairperson of the Council for the Advancement of Women's Status in Jerusalem. Her letter blasts the influx and growing influence of Christian Evangelical money - and specifically the IFCJ, headed by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein - in 100 local and municipal councils throughout Israel: As a member of the Jerusalem City Council, I received an invitation to the Second Local Government Convention, under the sponsorship of (or dependence on) the IFCJ, in Tel Aviv University, May 30-31.
The convention, entitled, "From Dependence to Independence in Local Government, is a contradiction in terms. Holding such a convention under the sponsorship /dependence of Evangelical money certainly does not lead to independence...The IFCJ is a private body with its own interests, which is penetrating into the institutions of power in the country, with hundreds of millions of dollars being transferred to the Welfare Ministry, local municipal welfare offices, associations, and more.The IFCJ takes pride in its takeover of the welfare institutions in the country via the Welfare Ministry and municipal councils. It has succeeded in penetrating some 100 municipal councils; all the evidence and data are found in the IFCJ's announcements.
The Wednesday morning session of the convention is billed as, "Buckling Under the Burden - Welfare in a Changing Reality (under the sponsorship of the IFCJ).What does this mean. Are the convention planners telling us that this "Friendship Fund" is the one that will take responsibility for providing solutions for the welfare budgetary problem in the country's difficult and changing reality? Will the Evangelists set a new public agenda for us? Will they determine how much the current welfare laws apply to the changing social reality in Israel?
This is a take-over, creating a dependency. We must remember: "He who'll pay, has the say.Dependence has a price! Ruth Sinai, writing in Haaretz on Jan. 7, 2006, notes, "It is hard to find a single local council in this country that is not supported by loyal American Christians, via the IFCJ. In four years of the fund's activity in Israel, it has become the leading philanthropic organization in the country.Sinai quotes Adi Eldar, Mayor of Carmiel and Chairman of the Local Government Center (who himself receives funding from the IFCJ for Carmiel and makes sure that others get as well - M.F.), who said, "The Fund supports the weaker members of society in place of the State [emphasis in the original]...Sinai further details the municipal council activities: Staff from the Fund hold advisory meetings with the Welfare Ministry and local municipal employees regarding goals and criteria.
Well then, who is in charge of welfare in this country? Who determines policy? Who is in charge of whom? Who is responsible? Who is dependent? Who at all is independent?!? And especially when the local government strengthens and eternalizes a private entity and grants it power and legitimacy.Sinai notes that some cities, such as [the hareidi cities] Beitar and Emanuel, find it difficult to accept the source of the donations and do not request assistance from theFund...What a disgrace it is for the Jewish sovereign state in the Land of Israel, that frees itself of its basic obligation to be concerned for the welfare of its citizens, and encourages the receipt of money that is fatal from two standpoints: It is Christian Evangelical money that endangers the Jewish existence, and it is directed towards creating dependence...Fenton also writes that the money comes from millions of Evangelicals who give the money because of their religious beliefs about the end of times - which do not include Jews as we know them today.
IFCJ head Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein denies this, citing a poll showing that only 28% of the donors do so because of their religious "End of Times" beliefs. However, his own PR movies tell a different story. The film "On Wings of Eagles" shows montages of Yitzak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shaking hands in Oslo in 1994 together with images of the Twin Towers crumbling down, with a narrator intoning, "The mosaic of events we see happening today is like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle with the pieces beginning to form the exact picture foretold by the prophets. Eckstein is then seen standing on a mountaintop, saying, You can see the pieces of the puzzle that are coming together - apparently referring to the pieces of the Christian-religious puzzle.
The acceptance of Evangelical money has been the subject of various Halakhic [Jewish legal] rulings, though an unambiguous stance has not yet been formulated. Some say it is forbidden to take any money, some say it is permitted, and others say it may be used only to fund non-educational causes. Among those in the forefront of the opposition to accepting such money are Rabbi Simcha HaCohen Kook of Rehovot and Rabbi Shlomo Aviner of Beit El.
Man dies, travel problems as Mumbai faces monsoon woes Thu Jun 1, 5:42 AM ET MUMBAI
(AFP) - Rain has lashed Mumbai again as this year's early-arriving monsoon caused travel chaos and brought back memories of last year's devastating floods that left hundreds dead. One man drowned in the stormy sea off the peninsula city on India's west coast and commuters were stranded for hours late Wednesday because of flooded roads and late-running trains. The monsoon rains arrived several days earlier than expected and city officials had not yet completed anti-flooding measures, including finishing a project to dredge a river that runs through the city.It has taken one heavy rainfall at the beginning of the season for the authorities to have been caught unprepared,said an editorial in the DNA newspaper Thursday.
Environmentalist Anil Bhatia said the city was better prepared for the rains this year after record rainfall on July 26 in 2005 swept away slum dwellings, cut electricity and severed the city from the rest of the country for a day.Neglected drainage facilities and rampant illegal development, that left natural waterways blocked, were blamed for many of the problems.
Bhatia said decades of people flowing into the city of nearly 20 million, development and concreting of green spaces had all added to the city's drainage woes.Land use change has become so predominant, I would say it would take up to five years before we have a (anti-flooding) system in place again,he said.The annual monsoon rains began sweeping through India in late May and the several months of rain are vital to the country's agriculture.
SANHEDRIN NEWS
6,200 NOW DEAD IN INDONESIA QUAKE.
Story 1-Flooding in Quebec, 2-SANHEDRIN NEWS.
Severe weather warnings continue after flooding in La Tuque Last updated May 31 2006 03:02 PM EDT ,CBC News
People in La Tuque, Que., braced for more rain — and more repairs — Wednesday as they tried to clean up after a violent storm overnight. Officials say 100 millimetres of rain fell in just a few hours on the city, about 100 kilometres north of Shawinigan. Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the region. "A warm, humid and unstable air mass is affecting
most of southern and central Quebec,the warning states.The forecast is for showers or possibly thunderstorms in the afternoon and there is a risk of a severe thunderstorm in the evening.
The rain was part of a major weather system that rolled across western Quebec overnight causing flooding in some areas as well as landslides and fires. The storm in La Tuque damaged several roads and washed out part of the main route along the St-Maurice River. A number of homes were cut off as a result and at least 13 people have had to seek shelter elsewhere.
State of emergency
Rejean Gaudreault, the city's mayor, declared a state of emergency and local officials were meeting with provincial police to discuss the situation. As well, local Liberal MNA Julie Boulet was expected to tour the area to assess the damage. Gaudreault said it may take several days to repair all the routes.A truck was caught in one of the landslides but no one was hurt, Gaudreault said. Officials say soil saturation and high water levels have them worried that more landslides may be unavoidable.
Natives, dam affected
The heavy rains also took out part of the road from La Tuque to the local hydro dam and to the Wemotaci native community. In Laval, meanwhile, a lightning strike is being blamed for a fire that damaged a residential construction site, destroying some of the six homes in the area. People were already living in two of the houses while four others were still under construction.
The Sanhedrin Reestablished (Part II) By: Dov Gilor Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Part I of this article discussed the background and early days of the new Sanhedrin. The chain of ordination began in 2004 with the ordination of Rabbi Moshe Halberstam, who ordained Rabbi Dov Levanoni, who passed it down to the other rabbis. A Sanhedrin of 71 rabbis convened in Tiberius on the 10th of Shevat, 5765 (Jan. 20, 2005). This is just the second time in 1,600 years that this unique event has occurred.
The Sanhedrin includes rabbis from diverse backgrounds: Charedi, religious-Zionist, Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Chassidic, Lithuanian, and others. The ordination of these rabbis is part of the process to reestablish the Sanhedrin, but they will not necessarily be the final members. Each of the rabbis currently sitting on the Sanhedrin pledged that he has assumed his seat on condition that he will relinquish it to anyone greater in Torah who wishes to join. It is hoped that the release of several of the names of those involved in the Sanhedrin will encourage those who believe that their own rabbis or teachers are qualified to be part of this endeavor to recommend that their rabbi be included in the Sanhedrin. Those interested in becoming involved with the Sanhedrin should contact the Sanhedrin secretariat.
The new Sanhedrin has at least the authority of a regular bet din, if not more. Among the many topics the Sanhedrin intends to address are: the bridging of the divisions between various communities of Jewish exiles who have returned to Israel; the establishment of authentic techelet, the blue thread that is part of tzizit; the definition of the measurement of the ammah (the biblical cubit) and the determination of the exact point of human death, so as to deal with the Jewish ethics of transplants. The Sanhedrin will also establish a forum of architects and engineers to begin plans for rebuilding the Temple.
The 71 rabbis, who are members of the Sanhedrin are Torah scholars, and many are experts in secular and scientific fields. The 71 rabbis elected a seven-member leadership council that meets once a week in Jerusalem to prepare for the Sanhedrin meetings and represent the institution in dealings with the public.The following are the members of the council: The nasi (president) is Rabbi Adin Even Israel (Steinzaltz), a talmudic scholar who began his monumental translation and commentary of the Talmud in 1965, established a network of schools in Israel and Russia, and has received honorary degrees from Yeshiva University, Bar Ilan U., Ben Gurion U. and Florida International U. The Av Bet-Din (chancellor) is Rabbi Nacham Kahana, a graduate of Yeshivat Mir, a rabbinic scholar and the rabbi of the Young Israel of Jerusalem’s Old City.
He is currently working on an interpretation the Tosafot of the Talmud. He is also the director of the Institute for Talmudic Commentaries and has created a database of reliable Kohanim in Israel. Rabbi Yoel Schwartz is the assistant Av Bet-Din. He is a Torah scholar and a prolific writer who has published over 200 seforim. He learned at Yeshivat Ponevitz and Yeshivat Mir and was the mashgiach of Yeshivat Itri and the spiritual advisor of the Nahal Charedi (ultra-religious army program).
There are four other distinguished members. Rabbi Dov Levanoni is a Torah scholar, a prolific author and the author of Hamikdah, a description of the Second Temple according to Rambam. Rabbi Yisroel Ariel, who was a rosh yeshiva, the spiritual leader of Yamit and the founder of Machon HaMikdash, served in the paratroop unit that liberated the Kotel in the Six-Day War. Rabbi Dov Stein received ordination from Rav Sternberg of the Eda Hareidi. For the past 20 years he has been the spirit behind the renewal of the Sanhedrin and serves as its secretary.
He is well-known for his responses to secular questions about our principals of faith on the
Internet at http://www.thesanhedrin.org/, Rabbi Yehuda Edri is a Torah scholar, supervisor and principal for the Chareidi Shas Party’s El Hamaayan Educational system. He is an expert on the location of the Temple and its measurements. Other members of the Sanhedrin include (not in order of seniority): Rabbi Mordechai Avrahami, Rabbi Yishai Ba’avad (general secretary of Rabbis of Yehudah, Shomeron[Yos"h]), Rabbi Michael Shlomo Bar-Ron, Rabbi Dov Avraham Ben-Shorr, Rabbi Reuven Hass, Rabbi Meir Yaakov HaLevi Haqaq, Rabbi Amnon Hever (Ph.D Jewish History), Rabbi Yishayahu Hollander, Rabbi Mordekhai Kislev (professor of botany, Bar Ilan University), Rabbi Tzvi Rogin (Head of The Temple Mount Information Center), Rabbi Elitzur Segal, Rabbi Hillel Weiss (professor of Jewish literature, Bar Ilan University), Rabbi Elihu Schatz (Ph.D in chemistry) and others.
The Sanhedrin has also set up two Batei Din (sub-courts) and one Va’ada (sub-committee). The Special Court for Matters Concerning the Nation and the State, with its chief justice, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, concerns itself with the government and Jewish law.Since 1948, the government of Israel has in general been a socialist, secular government taht exercises civil authority in the majority of the land of Israel. Although this government is made up largely of Jews, it is increasingly distancing itself from its Jewish culture and religious heritage.
It sees itself as a secular government of its citizens, and moves are being made to completely separate religion and state by disenfranchising and reducing the funding of religious institutions. It has also embarked on a policy of appeasement of international anti-Israel opinion and terror organizations, by large-scale forced-transfer of mostly religious Jewish population centers in a government policy called "turning inward." In spite of these aggressive moves against various religious communities within the land of Israel, the new Sanhedrin is interested in working within the law to achieve needed reforms.
There is also a special court for matters concerning the Bnei Noah, with Rabbi Yoel Schwartz as its chief justice and a "Research Committee for the Exact Site of the Holy Temple and Altar," whose spokesperson is Rabbi Gidon Harlap.
Story 1-Flooding in Quebec, 2-SANHEDRIN NEWS.
Severe weather warnings continue after flooding in La Tuque Last updated May 31 2006 03:02 PM EDT ,CBC News
People in La Tuque, Que., braced for more rain — and more repairs — Wednesday as they tried to clean up after a violent storm overnight. Officials say 100 millimetres of rain fell in just a few hours on the city, about 100 kilometres north of Shawinigan. Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the region. "A warm, humid and unstable air mass is affecting
most of southern and central Quebec,the warning states.The forecast is for showers or possibly thunderstorms in the afternoon and there is a risk of a severe thunderstorm in the evening.
The rain was part of a major weather system that rolled across western Quebec overnight causing flooding in some areas as well as landslides and fires. The storm in La Tuque damaged several roads and washed out part of the main route along the St-Maurice River. A number of homes were cut off as a result and at least 13 people have had to seek shelter elsewhere.
State of emergency
Rejean Gaudreault, the city's mayor, declared a state of emergency and local officials were meeting with provincial police to discuss the situation. As well, local Liberal MNA Julie Boulet was expected to tour the area to assess the damage. Gaudreault said it may take several days to repair all the routes.A truck was caught in one of the landslides but no one was hurt, Gaudreault said. Officials say soil saturation and high water levels have them worried that more landslides may be unavoidable.
Natives, dam affected
The heavy rains also took out part of the road from La Tuque to the local hydro dam and to the Wemotaci native community. In Laval, meanwhile, a lightning strike is being blamed for a fire that damaged a residential construction site, destroying some of the six homes in the area. People were already living in two of the houses while four others were still under construction.
The Sanhedrin Reestablished (Part II) By: Dov Gilor Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Part I of this article discussed the background and early days of the new Sanhedrin. The chain of ordination began in 2004 with the ordination of Rabbi Moshe Halberstam, who ordained Rabbi Dov Levanoni, who passed it down to the other rabbis. A Sanhedrin of 71 rabbis convened in Tiberius on the 10th of Shevat, 5765 (Jan. 20, 2005). This is just the second time in 1,600 years that this unique event has occurred.
The Sanhedrin includes rabbis from diverse backgrounds: Charedi, religious-Zionist, Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Chassidic, Lithuanian, and others. The ordination of these rabbis is part of the process to reestablish the Sanhedrin, but they will not necessarily be the final members. Each of the rabbis currently sitting on the Sanhedrin pledged that he has assumed his seat on condition that he will relinquish it to anyone greater in Torah who wishes to join. It is hoped that the release of several of the names of those involved in the Sanhedrin will encourage those who believe that their own rabbis or teachers are qualified to be part of this endeavor to recommend that their rabbi be included in the Sanhedrin. Those interested in becoming involved with the Sanhedrin should contact the Sanhedrin secretariat.
The new Sanhedrin has at least the authority of a regular bet din, if not more. Among the many topics the Sanhedrin intends to address are: the bridging of the divisions between various communities of Jewish exiles who have returned to Israel; the establishment of authentic techelet, the blue thread that is part of tzizit; the definition of the measurement of the ammah (the biblical cubit) and the determination of the exact point of human death, so as to deal with the Jewish ethics of transplants. The Sanhedrin will also establish a forum of architects and engineers to begin plans for rebuilding the Temple.
The 71 rabbis, who are members of the Sanhedrin are Torah scholars, and many are experts in secular and scientific fields. The 71 rabbis elected a seven-member leadership council that meets once a week in Jerusalem to prepare for the Sanhedrin meetings and represent the institution in dealings with the public.The following are the members of the council: The nasi (president) is Rabbi Adin Even Israel (Steinzaltz), a talmudic scholar who began his monumental translation and commentary of the Talmud in 1965, established a network of schools in Israel and Russia, and has received honorary degrees from Yeshiva University, Bar Ilan U., Ben Gurion U. and Florida International U. The Av Bet-Din (chancellor) is Rabbi Nacham Kahana, a graduate of Yeshivat Mir, a rabbinic scholar and the rabbi of the Young Israel of Jerusalem’s Old City.
He is currently working on an interpretation the Tosafot of the Talmud. He is also the director of the Institute for Talmudic Commentaries and has created a database of reliable Kohanim in Israel. Rabbi Yoel Schwartz is the assistant Av Bet-Din. He is a Torah scholar and a prolific writer who has published over 200 seforim. He learned at Yeshivat Ponevitz and Yeshivat Mir and was the mashgiach of Yeshivat Itri and the spiritual advisor of the Nahal Charedi (ultra-religious army program).
There are four other distinguished members. Rabbi Dov Levanoni is a Torah scholar, a prolific author and the author of Hamikdah, a description of the Second Temple according to Rambam. Rabbi Yisroel Ariel, who was a rosh yeshiva, the spiritual leader of Yamit and the founder of Machon HaMikdash, served in the paratroop unit that liberated the Kotel in the Six-Day War. Rabbi Dov Stein received ordination from Rav Sternberg of the Eda Hareidi. For the past 20 years he has been the spirit behind the renewal of the Sanhedrin and serves as its secretary.
He is well-known for his responses to secular questions about our principals of faith on the
Internet at http://www.thesanhedrin.org/, Rabbi Yehuda Edri is a Torah scholar, supervisor and principal for the Chareidi Shas Party’s El Hamaayan Educational system. He is an expert on the location of the Temple and its measurements. Other members of the Sanhedrin include (not in order of seniority): Rabbi Mordechai Avrahami, Rabbi Yishai Ba’avad (general secretary of Rabbis of Yehudah, Shomeron[Yos"h]), Rabbi Michael Shlomo Bar-Ron, Rabbi Dov Avraham Ben-Shorr, Rabbi Reuven Hass, Rabbi Meir Yaakov HaLevi Haqaq, Rabbi Amnon Hever (Ph.D Jewish History), Rabbi Yishayahu Hollander, Rabbi Mordekhai Kislev (professor of botany, Bar Ilan University), Rabbi Tzvi Rogin (Head of The Temple Mount Information Center), Rabbi Elitzur Segal, Rabbi Hillel Weiss (professor of Jewish literature, Bar Ilan University), Rabbi Elihu Schatz (Ph.D in chemistry) and others.
The Sanhedrin has also set up two Batei Din (sub-courts) and one Va’ada (sub-committee). The Special Court for Matters Concerning the Nation and the State, with its chief justice, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, concerns itself with the government and Jewish law.Since 1948, the government of Israel has in general been a socialist, secular government taht exercises civil authority in the majority of the land of Israel. Although this government is made up largely of Jews, it is increasingly distancing itself from its Jewish culture and religious heritage.
It sees itself as a secular government of its citizens, and moves are being made to completely separate religion and state by disenfranchising and reducing the funding of religious institutions. It has also embarked on a policy of appeasement of international anti-Israel opinion and terror organizations, by large-scale forced-transfer of mostly religious Jewish population centers in a government policy called "turning inward." In spite of these aggressive moves against various religious communities within the land of Israel, the new Sanhedrin is interested in working within the law to achieve needed reforms.
There is also a special court for matters concerning the Bnei Noah, with Rabbi Yoel Schwartz as its chief justice and a "Research Committee for the Exact Site of the Holy Temple and Altar," whose spokesperson is Rabbi Gidon Harlap.
OLD NATION STATES BREAK DOWN
Story 1-Monsoon, flooding in India. 2-Old Nation states break down into component parts.3-Christ promises to return.
GENESIS 6:13
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Monsoon leads to flooding, rough seas in south India Tue May 30, 1:49 PM ET MUMBAI (AFP)
- Three people died and two were missing at sea as annual monsoon rains caused floods in India's south that saw parts of Kerala state flooded and fishing in the Arabian Sea curtailed, reports said. Two women were killed after a coconut trees uprooted by the heavy rains fell on them and a man was killed when a tree landed on a passenger bus in Kerala, Press Trust of India reported. Elsewhere in the state, hundreds of families were moved to relief camps as villages in low-lying districts were flooded after the monsoon hit Friday, a week earlier than expected PTI said.
The heavy rains and rough winds also saw several boats capsize off India's western coast, leading a local weather department to warn fishermen not to go to sea. Gusty winds and heavy rains will continue for the next 24 hours and we have sent a warning to fishermen asking them not to venture out to sea, weather official K.V. Singh said from the western coastal state of Goa where five trawlers capsized Tuesday. One sailor was reported missing.Early Tuesday morning, a merchant vessel with 21 people aboard ran aground because of the strong winds and current, the Indian Coast Guard said.
Twenty were rescued and handed over to port authorities,Commandant M. Prasad told AFP, adding that one person remained missing.The advance of the rains upwards from the south is keenly watched as two-thirds of the country's billion-plus population earn their livelihood from agriculture, but poor infrastructure often means heavy flooding and loss of life.Last year 400 people died in the financial hub Mumbai, in western Maharashtra state, after nearly 100 centimetres (40 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours.The state's top official however promised that there would be no repeat of that disaster. A project to desilt the river that runs through the city, to prevent this year's rains from overrunning badly neglected drainage facilities, has almost been completed, he said. I assure Mumbai's citizens that there won't be a repeat of last year during the monsoons, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times Tuesday.
LUKE 21:27-33
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
EUROPE Old nation-states break down into component parts BY CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER,www.firmaspress.com
It appeared to be an unconsequential event. The small republic of Montenegro, by means of a referendum, withdrew peacefully from the federation it had formed with Serbia.With a view of the Mediterranean, Montenegro occupies little more than 13,000 square kilometers -- the size of Connecticut -- and has barely 620,000 people. Most of them are of Slav origin, nominally Orthodox Christians, although there is a noticeable Islamic minority, the product of the old and very reduced Turkish influence in the Balkans.
Of course, there are historical reasons that explain the breakaway, but probably one of the elements that encouraged the Montenegrins to set up tents elsewhere was the currency. A few years ago, they took the happy initiative to renounce the Yugoslav dinar -- the Serbian currency -- and adopt the euro. Contrary to what was happening in Serbia, that move gave economic solidity to Montenegro, controlled inflation and stimulated foreign investment. The conclusion was simple: Standing under Brussels umbrella granted stability to Montenegrin society and
increased its chances of development. The choice between a troubled and poor partner like Serbia and a powerful and organized partner like the European Union was a no-brainer.
Besides, the European Union meant something else: It was a source of political legitimacy and security. When EU authorities established that if only 55 percent of all Montenegrins asked for independence Brussels would give them its blessing, that simple rule served as a stimulus to the separatists. The Serbs -- who were not asked for their opinion -- did not dare challenge the European Union, mostly because in the 1990s they had a taste of NATO's very persuasive bombardments. Taking their tents elsewhere, then, was relatively easy for the people of Montenegro.The Montenegro episode had an immediate repercussion in Spain. Basque and Catalonian separatists watched it with eyes filled with hope. If the European Union permitted the breakup of Serbia-Montenegro by means of a referendum where more than 55 percent voted in favor, would it dare apply a different standard to Spain?
If more than 55 percent of all Catalonians or Basques requested independence, they would likely get it, even though the rest of the Spaniards could voice no opinion about the secession of two territories that for centuries have formed an essential part of the complex national mosaic.
The great paradox is that the European Union, which emerged to strengthen nations within a grand design, has ended up weakening them for the benefit of ethnic regions and groups that speak different languages. If the euro is an international currency and European laws and judicial authorities prevail over local justice, what use is the national state?
If the European Parliament gains increasing competence and the seeds of a grand pan-European Army germinate and grow, what real attributes are left for the national state. What we're witnessing is the beginning of the end of a very long historical process that began in the Middle Ages five or six centuries ago, when the modern states were built with the fragments of the feudal world that emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire.
England, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, the great nations that were forged then and dominated the planet for centuries (although some, like Italy and Germany, were slow to coalesce into unitarian states), are beginning to dilute into a benevolent bureaucracy, faithful to the values of the Enlightenment, ruled by a social-democratic view of the economy, and fortunately organized by democratic methods that respect human rights. Is that good for the Europeans and for the world.
Maybe. Yes as grounds for peaceful coexistence, but probably No as a center for scientific, technical and economic initiatives. The enormous effort to coordinate the interests and peculiarities of 100 ethnic groups and 40 languages, plus the bureaucratic tendency
to regulate and unify usages and customs, people and activities, surely will slow down the creative processes, gradually distancing the European Union from more dynamic and efficient foci of action, such as the United States, Japan and China.
In any case, it doesn't appear that the steps taken by the European Union can be reversed. If throughout the centuries the modern states assimilated strange components that seemed indigestible (who today can remember the glory of the Burgundians or the Prussians?), now we face a contrary process, a process of disunion that liquidates or erodes states as it integrates them into a supranational unit that functions by means of very effective administrative structures but has no emotional handles.
Where will this gigantic experiment in political engineering end? No one can tell. What does seem obvious, however, is that no one can stop it.
I must say at this last story I disagree with the author that 1967 recapture of Jerusalem was not the end of the times of the Gentiles. I myself think it was, The gentiles at the end of the 7 yr treaty only capture Jerusalem for a day or week at the most, then Jesus comes back to earth and rules and reigns for 1000 yrs and forever.
This week's promise: Christ will return No clever story
We were not making up clever stories when we told you about the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. We have seen his majestic splendor with our own eyes.
2 Peter 1:16 NLT ,Fulfillment of prophecy?
On June 7, 1967, a date clear to the heart of every patriotic Israeli, the army of Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem. The previous month the Egyptians had decided to attempt once more to conquer Israel. Israel felt its only hope was to launch a preemptive strike, which it did on June 5. Two days later the Israelis captured the Old City of Jerusalem, which had been part of
Jordan. As a result of this military victory in what is known as the Six-Day War, Israel once again possessed her ancient capital.
From the beginning of Jesus' ministry he warned the Jews of God's coming wrath unless they repented (Matthew 3:8). The Roman army, under general Titus, completely destroyed the city and temple in A.D. 70. Jesus had also prophesied that following its defeat "Jerusalem will be…trampled down by the Gentiles until the age of the Gentiles comes to an end" (Luke 21:24). Does this mean that the "age of the Gentiles" came to end on June 7, 1967?
Revelation 11:2 seems to answer no. It states that the Gentiles "will trample the holy city for forty-two months," apparently the three and a half years period to the second coming of Christ, implying that the Jews will not be in control of Jerusalem at this time. June 7, 1967 was an
extremely significant event in Jewish history, but it was not the fulfillment of prophecy.
Reflection
When you read the unfulfilled prophecies of the Bible, do you believe that they will be literally fulfilled? The first coming of Jesus Christ fulfilled many prophecies, and his second coming will fulfill many more. Adapted from The One Year® Book of Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten (Tyndale, 2003), entry for June 7.
GENESIS 6:13
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Monsoon leads to flooding, rough seas in south India Tue May 30, 1:49 PM ET MUMBAI (AFP)
- Three people died and two were missing at sea as annual monsoon rains caused floods in India's south that saw parts of Kerala state flooded and fishing in the Arabian Sea curtailed, reports said. Two women were killed after a coconut trees uprooted by the heavy rains fell on them and a man was killed when a tree landed on a passenger bus in Kerala, Press Trust of India reported. Elsewhere in the state, hundreds of families were moved to relief camps as villages in low-lying districts were flooded after the monsoon hit Friday, a week earlier than expected PTI said.
The heavy rains and rough winds also saw several boats capsize off India's western coast, leading a local weather department to warn fishermen not to go to sea. Gusty winds and heavy rains will continue for the next 24 hours and we have sent a warning to fishermen asking them not to venture out to sea, weather official K.V. Singh said from the western coastal state of Goa where five trawlers capsized Tuesday. One sailor was reported missing.Early Tuesday morning, a merchant vessel with 21 people aboard ran aground because of the strong winds and current, the Indian Coast Guard said.
Twenty were rescued and handed over to port authorities,Commandant M. Prasad told AFP, adding that one person remained missing.The advance of the rains upwards from the south is keenly watched as two-thirds of the country's billion-plus population earn their livelihood from agriculture, but poor infrastructure often means heavy flooding and loss of life.Last year 400 people died in the financial hub Mumbai, in western Maharashtra state, after nearly 100 centimetres (40 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours.The state's top official however promised that there would be no repeat of that disaster. A project to desilt the river that runs through the city, to prevent this year's rains from overrunning badly neglected drainage facilities, has almost been completed, he said. I assure Mumbai's citizens that there won't be a repeat of last year during the monsoons, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times Tuesday.
LUKE 21:27-33
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
EUROPE Old nation-states break down into component parts BY CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER,www.firmaspress.com
It appeared to be an unconsequential event. The small republic of Montenegro, by means of a referendum, withdrew peacefully from the federation it had formed with Serbia.With a view of the Mediterranean, Montenegro occupies little more than 13,000 square kilometers -- the size of Connecticut -- and has barely 620,000 people. Most of them are of Slav origin, nominally Orthodox Christians, although there is a noticeable Islamic minority, the product of the old and very reduced Turkish influence in the Balkans.
Of course, there are historical reasons that explain the breakaway, but probably one of the elements that encouraged the Montenegrins to set up tents elsewhere was the currency. A few years ago, they took the happy initiative to renounce the Yugoslav dinar -- the Serbian currency -- and adopt the euro. Contrary to what was happening in Serbia, that move gave economic solidity to Montenegro, controlled inflation and stimulated foreign investment. The conclusion was simple: Standing under Brussels umbrella granted stability to Montenegrin society and
increased its chances of development. The choice between a troubled and poor partner like Serbia and a powerful and organized partner like the European Union was a no-brainer.
Besides, the European Union meant something else: It was a source of political legitimacy and security. When EU authorities established that if only 55 percent of all Montenegrins asked for independence Brussels would give them its blessing, that simple rule served as a stimulus to the separatists. The Serbs -- who were not asked for their opinion -- did not dare challenge the European Union, mostly because in the 1990s they had a taste of NATO's very persuasive bombardments. Taking their tents elsewhere, then, was relatively easy for the people of Montenegro.The Montenegro episode had an immediate repercussion in Spain. Basque and Catalonian separatists watched it with eyes filled with hope. If the European Union permitted the breakup of Serbia-Montenegro by means of a referendum where more than 55 percent voted in favor, would it dare apply a different standard to Spain?
If more than 55 percent of all Catalonians or Basques requested independence, they would likely get it, even though the rest of the Spaniards could voice no opinion about the secession of two territories that for centuries have formed an essential part of the complex national mosaic.
The great paradox is that the European Union, which emerged to strengthen nations within a grand design, has ended up weakening them for the benefit of ethnic regions and groups that speak different languages. If the euro is an international currency and European laws and judicial authorities prevail over local justice, what use is the national state?
If the European Parliament gains increasing competence and the seeds of a grand pan-European Army germinate and grow, what real attributes are left for the national state. What we're witnessing is the beginning of the end of a very long historical process that began in the Middle Ages five or six centuries ago, when the modern states were built with the fragments of the feudal world that emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire.
England, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, the great nations that were forged then and dominated the planet for centuries (although some, like Italy and Germany, were slow to coalesce into unitarian states), are beginning to dilute into a benevolent bureaucracy, faithful to the values of the Enlightenment, ruled by a social-democratic view of the economy, and fortunately organized by democratic methods that respect human rights. Is that good for the Europeans and for the world.
Maybe. Yes as grounds for peaceful coexistence, but probably No as a center for scientific, technical and economic initiatives. The enormous effort to coordinate the interests and peculiarities of 100 ethnic groups and 40 languages, plus the bureaucratic tendency
to regulate and unify usages and customs, people and activities, surely will slow down the creative processes, gradually distancing the European Union from more dynamic and efficient foci of action, such as the United States, Japan and China.
In any case, it doesn't appear that the steps taken by the European Union can be reversed. If throughout the centuries the modern states assimilated strange components that seemed indigestible (who today can remember the glory of the Burgundians or the Prussians?), now we face a contrary process, a process of disunion that liquidates or erodes states as it integrates them into a supranational unit that functions by means of very effective administrative structures but has no emotional handles.
Where will this gigantic experiment in political engineering end? No one can tell. What does seem obvious, however, is that no one can stop it.
I must say at this last story I disagree with the author that 1967 recapture of Jerusalem was not the end of the times of the Gentiles. I myself think it was, The gentiles at the end of the 7 yr treaty only capture Jerusalem for a day or week at the most, then Jesus comes back to earth and rules and reigns for 1000 yrs and forever.
This week's promise: Christ will return No clever story
We were not making up clever stories when we told you about the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. We have seen his majestic splendor with our own eyes.
2 Peter 1:16 NLT ,Fulfillment of prophecy?
On June 7, 1967, a date clear to the heart of every patriotic Israeli, the army of Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem. The previous month the Egyptians had decided to attempt once more to conquer Israel. Israel felt its only hope was to launch a preemptive strike, which it did on June 5. Two days later the Israelis captured the Old City of Jerusalem, which had been part of
Jordan. As a result of this military victory in what is known as the Six-Day War, Israel once again possessed her ancient capital.
From the beginning of Jesus' ministry he warned the Jews of God's coming wrath unless they repented (Matthew 3:8). The Roman army, under general Titus, completely destroyed the city and temple in A.D. 70. Jesus had also prophesied that following its defeat "Jerusalem will be…trampled down by the Gentiles until the age of the Gentiles comes to an end" (Luke 21:24). Does this mean that the "age of the Gentiles" came to end on June 7, 1967?
Revelation 11:2 seems to answer no. It states that the Gentiles "will trample the holy city for forty-two months," apparently the three and a half years period to the second coming of Christ, implying that the Jews will not be in control of Jerusalem at this time. June 7, 1967 was an
extremely significant event in Jewish history, but it was not the fulfillment of prophecy.
Reflection
When you read the unfulfilled prophecies of the Bible, do you believe that they will be literally fulfilled? The first coming of Jesus Christ fulfilled many prophecies, and his second coming will fulfill many more. Adapted from The One Year® Book of Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten (Tyndale, 2003), entry for June 7.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
647,000 SURVIVORS HOMELESS
Story 1-647,000 people homeless due to Indonesia quake. 2-Expert downplays underwater volcano risk. 3-Tomorrow hurricane season starts (LOOKOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????)
647,000 Indonesians displaced by quake By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer 18
minutes ago BANTUL, Indonesia - U.S. Marines joined an international effort to deliver aid and medical care to nearly 650,000 Indonesians displaced by a devastating earthquake, as hopes faded of finding more survivors. Two U.S. Marine cargo planes carrying a mobile field hospital landed Tuesday in Yogyakarta, closest to the quake area in central Java, after cracks in the airport runway were patched. A disaster assistance response team from the U.S. Agency for International Development is being readied and the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, which has extensive medical facilities, is en route to the area, White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said. The United States also increased its aid contribution to $5 million.
The United Nations said at least 21 other countries have joined the effort to help those left homeless by Saturday's magnitude-6.3 quake, which killed more than 5,800 people. An estimated 647,000 people were displaced by the quake, nearly a third of them homeless and the rest staying with relatives, said Bambang Priyohadi, a senior provincial government official. The government said Wednesday the temblor destroyed more than 135,000 homes, reducing them to piles of bricks, tiles and wood in less than a minute.
Priyohadi based the displaced figure on the number of homes destroyed and a family index of 4.8 people per house. The main hospital in hardest-hit Bantul district was still overwhelmed, with 400 patients for just over 100 beds, and doctors complained of a lack of supplies.We are short of splints, gauze, even beds,said Dr. Hidayat, the hospital's earthquake emergency coordinator, adding that 90 percent of the victims had bone fractures.The minute we get fresh splits, they are gone.But conditions improved at several other hospitals, where parking lots and hallways that had been filled with hundreds of victims in the days after the quake were clear, with most patients now being treated in beds.Workers removed a tent outside Yogyakarta's largest hospital, Sardjito, that had been used to shelter the injured.The U.N.'s top humanitarian official said the aid effort was going well, and there had been major improvements in coordination among aid organizations and nations since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 131,000 people in Indonesia's Aceh province alone.
We are now reaching more and more victims,Jan Egeland told The Associated Press in Brussels, Belgium. "I am getting reports that we are making enormous progress.The government's Social Affairs Ministry said the official death toll rose Wednesday to 5,846.Most survivors were still living in improvised shacks or group shelters erected in rice fields. Groups of families cooked together, each contributing scavenged food.Despite government promises of aid, shortages of food and fresh water remained a pressing concern, and thousands of people used cardboard boxes to beg for cash and supplies from passing drivers.The head of a Malaysia search and rescue team said hope had faded of finding more survivors or bodies, and his group had turned to clearing rubble from streets instead.
The collapsed homes were all so small that anyone who was trapped would have been extracted by their family members, Abdul Aziz Ahmad said, adding his team found only one body Monday.A 44-member team of Chinese doctors, search and rescue workers and seismologists also arrived with five tons of supplies, including a field hospital, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. Thailand said it would send 48 military medical personnel, medicine and equipment. Teams from Malaysia, Singapore, Norway and other nations already are working in the area. The Asian Development Bank announced a total of $60 million in grants and low-interest loans to rebuild the earthquake zone.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has temporarily moved his office to Yogyakarta and spent a night sleeping in a tent with survivors, vowed to fight corruption in delivering aid money. I am ordering that not even one dollar will be misused,he said. The quake was the fourth destructive temblor to hit Indonesia in the past 17 months, including the one that triggered the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami.
Expert downplays underwater volcano risk Tue May 30, 7:36 PM ET SAIPAN, Northern
Mariana Islands - A visiting scientist is downplaying the risks of underwater volcanoes, which surround the Northern Marianas Islands. Frank Trusdell, a Hawaii-based geologist from the U.S. Geological Survey, said although so-called submarine volcanoes can cause tsunamis if they erupt, the ones around the waters of the islands are not a major threat due to their small size.Land volcanoes in this U.S. commonwealth's chain of 14 islands are the ones that people should be wary of because they are powerful enough to destroy habitats, property and lives, he said.As far as volcanic eruptions and being concerned about volcanoes, the ones that are above sea level are the ones that should be monitored and what people should focus their energy on,he said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that it successfully videotaped a volcanic eruption underneath the calm waters at Brimstone Pit, about 37 miles northwest of Rota Island.The agency said Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory oceanographer Bob Embley, who led a team of 21 international scientists on three expeditions, successfully recorded the underwater explosion using robots.Trusdell said there are several active submarine volcanoes among the Northern Marianas and there are many inactive ones which are buried deep under the ocean that have yet to be discovered.You can imagine that each of the volcanic islands is the top of a large mountain range. So only the tops of the mountain range are above sea level, he said.
In between the islands, there is a possibility of what we call sea mountains which are submarine volcanoes. There are many of them in the Northern Marianas.A detailed map of the locations of the submarine volcanoes was done between 2003 and 2004.
Based on the map, scientists have identified several active submarine volcanoes.Trusdell said the volcanoes are shallow enough so that people saw discolored water or gases during an eruption.But there are many other volcanoes that are below the ocean floor, which are too deep to be recognized at the surface, he said.
Powerful hurricane season looms in Atlantic by Patrick Moser 1 hour, 10 minutes ago MIAMI
(AFP) - Storm-weary residents along the US Atlantic coast this week begin six months of hurricane watching and forecasters say there is every chance they will see new devastation. The season officially starts Thursday and US experts say as many as 10 hurricanes could form in the Atlantic and four could slam ashore in the southern United States.That could easily spell disaster for residents of coastal areas, thousands of whom have not yet finished repairing homes damaged by last year's Katrina, Rita and other massive storms.In addition, some 100,000 people whose homes were destroyed or severely damaged are still living in mobile homes
or trailers, which offer little protection from a hurricane's destructive fury.
And authorities admit they have not finished strengthening the levees that broke after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the US Gulf coast on August 29, 2005, flooding large parts of New Orleans.We now have a much larger vulnerable population going into this hurricane season and it will not take a category three or four hurricane to devastate that citizenship," said Robert Latham, who heads the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. A hurricane ranks at category three on the five-category Saffir-Simpson intensity scale if its packs winds of 178-209 kilometers (111-130 miles) per hour and rises to category four when its winds increase to 249 kph (155 mph).Katrina ranked as category three when it slammed ashore near New Orleans, causing the deaths of more than 1,500 people.
In all, 2005 saw a record 15 hurricanes, among an unprecedented 28 named storms that formed in the Atlantic. For the first time on record, seven of the hurricanes were considered major, meaning they hit category three or higher.It was also the costliest hurricane season, with damage estimated at more than 100 billion dollars.While experts do not expect those records to be beaten this year, there is no saying whether a major hurricane might slam into a major city along the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico.As bad as Katrina was, it can be worse, said Latham.He admitted areas hit by Katrina were ill-prepared to face another hurricane, despite efforts to
rebuild shattered infrastructure.
Another storm would be really devastating, he said this month, when government forecasters presented a report saying the 2006 season could see between eight to 10 hurricanes develop in the Atlantic, with four to six becoming major storms.In Florida, concern rose as engineers recently suggested a major storm could smash an aging levee that rings the 1,800-square-kilometer (700-square-mile) Lake Okeechobee, in the center of the state.Officials said they were readying for a worst-case scenario, in which residents from areas around the lake would have to be evacuated at the same time as people living along Florida's Gulf and Atlantic
coast flee from a looming hurricane. The specter of highways paralysed as a powerful storm bears down was raised last year when 2.5 million people evacuated Houston as Hurricane Rita approached, causing massive jams as cars broke down or ran out of gas.
The storm eventually moved farther north and spared the Texan city. In New Orleans, where thousands of people were trapped in the flooded city after failing to follow evacuation orders, authorities plan to use planes, trains and buses to get residents out should a hurricane threaten.
But a recent poll indicated that 13 percent of the 34.6 million people in harm's way would not evacuate if ordered to do so and 56 percent do not feel vulnerable to a hurricane. That, says National Hurricane Center chief Max Mayfield, could spell disaster. "It takes just one hurricane over your house to make it a bad year.
647,000 Indonesians displaced by quake By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer 18
minutes ago BANTUL, Indonesia - U.S. Marines joined an international effort to deliver aid and medical care to nearly 650,000 Indonesians displaced by a devastating earthquake, as hopes faded of finding more survivors. Two U.S. Marine cargo planes carrying a mobile field hospital landed Tuesday in Yogyakarta, closest to the quake area in central Java, after cracks in the airport runway were patched. A disaster assistance response team from the U.S. Agency for International Development is being readied and the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, which has extensive medical facilities, is en route to the area, White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said. The United States also increased its aid contribution to $5 million.
The United Nations said at least 21 other countries have joined the effort to help those left homeless by Saturday's magnitude-6.3 quake, which killed more than 5,800 people. An estimated 647,000 people were displaced by the quake, nearly a third of them homeless and the rest staying with relatives, said Bambang Priyohadi, a senior provincial government official. The government said Wednesday the temblor destroyed more than 135,000 homes, reducing them to piles of bricks, tiles and wood in less than a minute.
Priyohadi based the displaced figure on the number of homes destroyed and a family index of 4.8 people per house. The main hospital in hardest-hit Bantul district was still overwhelmed, with 400 patients for just over 100 beds, and doctors complained of a lack of supplies.We are short of splints, gauze, even beds,said Dr. Hidayat, the hospital's earthquake emergency coordinator, adding that 90 percent of the victims had bone fractures.The minute we get fresh splits, they are gone.But conditions improved at several other hospitals, where parking lots and hallways that had been filled with hundreds of victims in the days after the quake were clear, with most patients now being treated in beds.Workers removed a tent outside Yogyakarta's largest hospital, Sardjito, that had been used to shelter the injured.The U.N.'s top humanitarian official said the aid effort was going well, and there had been major improvements in coordination among aid organizations and nations since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 131,000 people in Indonesia's Aceh province alone.
We are now reaching more and more victims,Jan Egeland told The Associated Press in Brussels, Belgium. "I am getting reports that we are making enormous progress.The government's Social Affairs Ministry said the official death toll rose Wednesday to 5,846.Most survivors were still living in improvised shacks or group shelters erected in rice fields. Groups of families cooked together, each contributing scavenged food.Despite government promises of aid, shortages of food and fresh water remained a pressing concern, and thousands of people used cardboard boxes to beg for cash and supplies from passing drivers.The head of a Malaysia search and rescue team said hope had faded of finding more survivors or bodies, and his group had turned to clearing rubble from streets instead.
The collapsed homes were all so small that anyone who was trapped would have been extracted by their family members, Abdul Aziz Ahmad said, adding his team found only one body Monday.A 44-member team of Chinese doctors, search and rescue workers and seismologists also arrived with five tons of supplies, including a field hospital, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. Thailand said it would send 48 military medical personnel, medicine and equipment. Teams from Malaysia, Singapore, Norway and other nations already are working in the area. The Asian Development Bank announced a total of $60 million in grants and low-interest loans to rebuild the earthquake zone.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has temporarily moved his office to Yogyakarta and spent a night sleeping in a tent with survivors, vowed to fight corruption in delivering aid money. I am ordering that not even one dollar will be misused,he said. The quake was the fourth destructive temblor to hit Indonesia in the past 17 months, including the one that triggered the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami.
Expert downplays underwater volcano risk Tue May 30, 7:36 PM ET SAIPAN, Northern
Mariana Islands - A visiting scientist is downplaying the risks of underwater volcanoes, which surround the Northern Marianas Islands. Frank Trusdell, a Hawaii-based geologist from the U.S. Geological Survey, said although so-called submarine volcanoes can cause tsunamis if they erupt, the ones around the waters of the islands are not a major threat due to their small size.Land volcanoes in this U.S. commonwealth's chain of 14 islands are the ones that people should be wary of because they are powerful enough to destroy habitats, property and lives, he said.As far as volcanic eruptions and being concerned about volcanoes, the ones that are above sea level are the ones that should be monitored and what people should focus their energy on,he said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that it successfully videotaped a volcanic eruption underneath the calm waters at Brimstone Pit, about 37 miles northwest of Rota Island.The agency said Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory oceanographer Bob Embley, who led a team of 21 international scientists on three expeditions, successfully recorded the underwater explosion using robots.Trusdell said there are several active submarine volcanoes among the Northern Marianas and there are many inactive ones which are buried deep under the ocean that have yet to be discovered.You can imagine that each of the volcanic islands is the top of a large mountain range. So only the tops of the mountain range are above sea level, he said.
In between the islands, there is a possibility of what we call sea mountains which are submarine volcanoes. There are many of them in the Northern Marianas.A detailed map of the locations of the submarine volcanoes was done between 2003 and 2004.
Based on the map, scientists have identified several active submarine volcanoes.Trusdell said the volcanoes are shallow enough so that people saw discolored water or gases during an eruption.But there are many other volcanoes that are below the ocean floor, which are too deep to be recognized at the surface, he said.
Powerful hurricane season looms in Atlantic by Patrick Moser 1 hour, 10 minutes ago MIAMI
(AFP) - Storm-weary residents along the US Atlantic coast this week begin six months of hurricane watching and forecasters say there is every chance they will see new devastation. The season officially starts Thursday and US experts say as many as 10 hurricanes could form in the Atlantic and four could slam ashore in the southern United States.That could easily spell disaster for residents of coastal areas, thousands of whom have not yet finished repairing homes damaged by last year's Katrina, Rita and other massive storms.In addition, some 100,000 people whose homes were destroyed or severely damaged are still living in mobile homes
or trailers, which offer little protection from a hurricane's destructive fury.
And authorities admit they have not finished strengthening the levees that broke after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the US Gulf coast on August 29, 2005, flooding large parts of New Orleans.We now have a much larger vulnerable population going into this hurricane season and it will not take a category three or four hurricane to devastate that citizenship," said Robert Latham, who heads the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. A hurricane ranks at category three on the five-category Saffir-Simpson intensity scale if its packs winds of 178-209 kilometers (111-130 miles) per hour and rises to category four when its winds increase to 249 kph (155 mph).Katrina ranked as category three when it slammed ashore near New Orleans, causing the deaths of more than 1,500 people.
In all, 2005 saw a record 15 hurricanes, among an unprecedented 28 named storms that formed in the Atlantic. For the first time on record, seven of the hurricanes were considered major, meaning they hit category three or higher.It was also the costliest hurricane season, with damage estimated at more than 100 billion dollars.While experts do not expect those records to be beaten this year, there is no saying whether a major hurricane might slam into a major city along the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico.As bad as Katrina was, it can be worse, said Latham.He admitted areas hit by Katrina were ill-prepared to face another hurricane, despite efforts to
rebuild shattered infrastructure.
Another storm would be really devastating, he said this month, when government forecasters presented a report saying the 2006 season could see between eight to 10 hurricanes develop in the Atlantic, with four to six becoming major storms.In Florida, concern rose as engineers recently suggested a major storm could smash an aging levee that rings the 1,800-square-kilometer (700-square-mile) Lake Okeechobee, in the center of the state.Officials said they were readying for a worst-case scenario, in which residents from areas around the lake would have to be evacuated at the same time as people living along Florida's Gulf and Atlantic
coast flee from a looming hurricane. The specter of highways paralysed as a powerful storm bears down was raised last year when 2.5 million people evacuated Houston as Hurricane Rita approached, causing massive jams as cars broke down or ran out of gas.
The storm eventually moved farther north and spared the Texan city. In New Orleans, where thousands of people were trapped in the flooded city after failing to follow evacuation orders, authorities plan to use planes, trains and buses to get residents out should a hurricane threaten.
But a recent poll indicated that 13 percent of the 34.6 million people in harm's way would not evacuate if ordered to do so and 56 percent do not feel vulnerable to a hurricane. That, says National Hurricane Center chief Max Mayfield, could spell disaster. "It takes just one hurricane over your house to make it a bad year.
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