1-Moderate earthquake shakes Indonesia's Aceh. 2-Sharp earthquake rattles central New Zealand. 3-Moderate quake jolts northeast India. 4-Philippine volcano spews hot gas, debris. 5-Israel approves UN call to end fighting. 6-Egypt welcomes UN resolution on Lebanon, urging immediate ceasefire. 7-Iran says disarming Lebanese Hizbollah illogical.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
Moderate earthquake shakes Indonesia's Aceh Sun Aug 13, 6:42 AM ET
JAKARTA (AFP) - A moderate 5.5-magnitude earthquake jolted the Indonesian province of Aceh but caused no damage or casualties.The quake, centered 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) under the ocean floor and 73 kilometers northwest of Aceh capital Banda Aceh, struck at 03:46 pm (0846 GMT), said Fauzi from the meteorology agency's headquarters Sunday.The quake was moderately felt in Banda Aceh, he said.A resident told ElShinta radio that the quake was unusual as she heard loud thumping sounds, but it caused little panic among other residents.
Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity, was the nation worst hit by the December 2004 Asian tsunami.Some 168,000 people were killed in Aceh province when a 9.3-magnitude quake unleashed massive walls of water that reached 11 Indian Ocean nations, killing a total of 220,000 people.
Sharp earthquake rattles central New Zealand Sun Aug 13, 5:58 AM ET
NELSON, New Zealand (AFP) - A moderate earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale rattled central New Zealand, but there were no reports of damage or injury.The earthquake was centred 100 kilometres (62 miles) deep and about 80 kilometres southeast of Nelson in the upper south island, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences said Sunday.The sparsely populated area is prone to earthquakes, and three people were killed in a 1968 tremor measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale.
Moderate quake jolts northeast India, no damage Sun Aug 13, 1:31 AM ET
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A moderate earthquake shook areas along India's northeastern border with Bangladesh early on Sunday, but there were no reports of damage or casualties, the Indian Meteorological Department said. Officials said the 5.0 magnitude quake was recorded at 2:16 a.m. (2046 GMT), with the epicentre in Karimganj district -- 300 km (185 miles) south of Guwahati, the main city in the northeastern Indian state of Assam.(Additional reporting by Biswajyoti Das in GUWAHATI)
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Philippine volcano spews hot gas, debris By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 26 minutes ago
LEGAZPI, Philippines - Searing gas and debris raced down the slope of the Mayon volcano in the Philippines this weekend, a development that showed the volcano has entered a much more threatening cycle, a scientist said. The burst of pyroclastic flow Saturday marked the first time Mayon shot out fast-moving hot gas and rock fragments after weeks of showing signs of a major eruption, volcanologist Ed Laguerta said Sunday.This is really the dangerous phase,said Laguerta. We're not worried much with lava flows because they're slow moving, but pyroclastic flows travel at such high velocity and could destroy almost everything in its path.
Blistering gas and volcanic debris can travel 40 mph or more per hour, he said.Mayon continued to show signs of restiveness Sunday, emitting abnormally high levels of sulfuric dioxide and puffing ash at least six times.Mayon, a popular tourist attraction because of its nearly perfect conical shape, is one of the Philippines' 22 active volcanos. It is located 210 miles southeast of Manila on Luzon island.The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology predicted more pyroclastic flows in the next few days and urged villagers not to venture into an extended danger zone around the volcano. Volcanologists have been saying the 8,077-foot Mayon may be gearing up for an explosive eruption.Authorities have ordered the mandatory evacuation of people within the volcano's danger zone, and nearly 45,000 people have been moved to 27 temporary shelters, mostly school buildings in Albay province.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Saturday visited villagers in shelters. She ordered officials to speed up efforts to improve conditions at overcrowded evacuation centers and ensure adequate food and medicine.The volcano's most violent eruption in 1814 killed more than 1,200 people, many of whom sought shelter in a church that was buried by lava.
Israel approves UN call to end fighting 2 hours, 15 minutes ago
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet on Sunday approved a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities with Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, a political source said. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan had said the prime ministers of Israel and Lebanon agreed the fighting would end on Monday at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT).
Olmert had urged the cabinet to accept the U.N. resolution.All but one of the cabinet voted for the resolution that was approved by the Security Council on Friday to end a month-old war that has killed over 1,060 people in Lebanon and 140 Israelis. Shaul Mofaz, the former defense minister, abstained.
The resolution envisages a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon when violence subsides and deployment of 15,000 Lebanese troops and 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers.Hostilities began on July 12 when Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid, then unleashed rocket fire at northern Israel after Israel launched an aerial offensive in Lebanon.Despite the resolution, Israel has expanded its offensive in south Lebanon, tripling its forces there on Saturday in a bid to wipe out Hizbollah rocket launch sites before the ceasefire takes effect.Nearly 30,000 troops were operating against Hizbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Sunday.
Leaders agree to UN truce timing
An estimated 30,000 Israeli troops are now in Lebanon A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah will come into force at 0500 GMT on Monday, the UN Secretary General has said. Kofi Annan announced the timing after discussions with the prime ministers of Lebanon and Israel. However, Israel is likely to continue operations in Lebanon on Sunday in an effort to clear the south of Hezbollah. Nineteen Israeli soldiers were killed on Saturday, and five on a helicopter downed by Hezbollah are feared dead.
Hezbollah's leader has said his group would abide by the ceasefire plan agreed unanimously at the UN Security Council on Friday.
However, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said on TV that Hezbollah would continue fighting as long as Israeli soldiers remained in Lebanon.
Lebanon has now also approved the UN resolution, which calls for a full cessation of hostilities, although Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the government had some reservations. Lebanese officials said that after the truce only Lebanese forces would be authorised to carry weapons in southern Lebanon. Mr Siniora said the area south of the Litani River, beyond which Hezbollah is expected to withdraw under the terms of the agreement, should be demilitarised. There won't be any weapons in the country starting from the area which is the zone, which will be south of the Litani. There won't be any weapons other than the weapons of the central government.
Fighting goes on
Announcing the agreed terms of the ceasefire, Kofi Annan said he was very happy, but added that preferably, the fighting should stop now.He insisted that the UN would work with the Lebanese and Israeli governments to ensure the ceasefire held. The Security Council emphasises the need for an end of violence, but at the same time emphasises the need to address urgently the causes that have given rise to the current crisis Israel expanded its military operation on Saturday as the clock ticked towards the implementation of the agreement, tripling the number of troops in southern Lebanon. Some Israeli estimates put the number of Israeli troops now in southern Lebanon at 30,000. Some Israeli troops have reached the key target of the Litani River, the army says, but 19 Israeli soldiers were killed and more than 70 wounded in the fighting on Saturday. It was Israel's highest number of casualties in a single day since the conflict began.
Israeli jets hit a string of targets in Lebanon on Saturday, saying it killed some 40 Hezbollah fighters. There were heavy clashes elsewhere in the country, and reports from Lebanese sources that some 15 civilians were killed in an air strike. Israel also confirmed a helicopter had been shot down in southern Lebanon, the first such loss to hostile fire in the conflict. It says a crew of five were on board, and all are reported missing. Hezbollah fired more rockets into northern Israel, but Israeli sources said the number was fewer than in recent days.Israel's cabinet will discuss and take a formal vote on the UN ceasefire resolution on Sunday.
War not ended
On Hezbollah's al-Manar TV channel on Saturday, Sheikh Nasrallah said the UN resolution was unfair in holding his group responsible for the fighting. Sheikh Nasrallah said the UN resolution was unjust But he said: We will not be an obstacle to any decision taken by the Lebanese government,adding that Hezbollah would continue to resist Israel's presence in Lebanon.
Sheikh Nasrallah also said Hezbollah would co-operate with the deployment of UN and Lebanese troops in the south. More than 1,000 Lebanese and more than 120 Israelis have been killed in the conflict since Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers on 12 July in a cross-border raid. UN Security Council resolution 1701 says Hezbollah must end attacks on Israel while Israel must end offensive military operations in Lebanese territory. US President George W Bush praised the UN move, but once again criticised Hezbollah, saying the group shared the same totalitarian ideology as those arrested in a suspected plot to blow up US-bound jets from Britain.
Egypt welcomes UN resolution on Lebanon, urging immediate ceasefire
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Saturday that Egypt welcomed the newly-passed UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire in Lebanon, the official MENA news agency reported. Abul Gheit said that Israel must show full and absolute commitments to the resolution and immediately end all hostilities, adding that a complete ceasefire would set the stage for laying the groundwork for a future political settlement.The Egyptian official urged that the first condition for realizing such a settlement was Israel's commitment to a complete pullback from the Lebanese territories, which it had overran since July 12 when the Hezbollah-Israel fighting began. Such a withdrawal would pave the way for the return of control over the south and all parts of Lebanon to the Lebanese army and eventually allow for the return of the displaced and the resumption of international relief operations, said Abul Gheit.
He said that Israel's respect to Resolution 1701 would facilitate the start of a massive operation to rebuild the devastated country and heal the sufferings of the Lebanese. Abul Gheit called upon the international community to shoulder its full responsibility towards ending the humanitarian disaster in Lebanon as soon as possible. He also called for opening inquiries into the massacres and other crimes against humanity that were perpetrated by Israel in Lebanon, according to MENA. On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1701, calling for Israeli troops withdrawal and authorizing an increase of the existing UN force in Lebanon to 15, 000 troops to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon as Israel withdraws. France and the United States, co-sponsors of the draft resolution, came up with a compromise final version after days of hard wrangling. And the resolution has left out some key demands from both Israel and Lebanon in efforts to produce a workable arrangement.
Source: Xinhua
Iran says disarming Lebanese Hizbollah illogical Sun Aug 13, 6:42 AM ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran welcomed on Sunday a planned ceasefire to halt the month-long war between Lebanon's Hizbollah and Israel but described the U.N. Security Council's call for disarming the Iranian-backed group as illogical. The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution on Friday calling for a full cessation of hostilities and for the implementation of a previous U.N. resolution requiring the disarming of armed groups including Hizbollah.We are happy for the ceasefire in Lebanon. But the resolution is not balanced,Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference.It does not condemn the Zionist regime (Israel) and its crimes in Lebanon.Asked about the call for disarming Hizbollah, Asefi said: This is a totally unreasonable demand. It is illogical.
Let us not forget that as long as there is occupation there is resistance,he added.Israel accuses Iran of providing Hizbollah with missiles used against civilian and military targets. Although Iran armed and funded Hizbollah during the 1980s, Tehran now insists it provides only moral support to the group.Opposition to Israel was one of the founding principles of the Islamic Republic. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Sunday, August 13, 2006
ISRAEL IN THE EU
ISRAEL IN THE EU FOR SECURITY REASONS.
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people (ISRAELIS) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN, HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THE 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN
CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
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.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
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:
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING
BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off,(JESUS) but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(THE ROMANS,THE EU TODAY) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he(THE EU DICTATOR SECURING ISRAEL SECURITY) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week (3 1/2 YRS) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(THE DICTATOR STOPS THE ISRAELIS FROM DOING ANIMAL SACRIFICES, THATS WHY THE 3RD TEMPLE HAS TO BE REBUILT BEFORE THE FUTURE 7
YEAR PEACE TREATY IS SIGNED and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.(FROM JOEL 3:2)
Well in Daniel 9:26-27 It clearly says the EU will guarentee ISRAELS LAND FOR SECURITY DEAL,so this might work to get
ISRAEL in the EU QUICK for security reasons.
MIDDLE EAST: PANNELLA, WORLDWIDE SATYAGRAHA, ISRAEL IN EU
(AGI) - Rome, Aug 12 - A worldwide Satyagraha and the adhesion of Israel to the European Union. Marco Pannella launched a new
initiative of the Italian radical party announcing within 100 days from today the organisation and promotion of the first worldwide Satyagraha for peace, something never attempted before. During a press conference the radical leader re-launched his proposal to have Israel enter the European Union being this a possible strategic solution of the terrible Middle East problem which was seriously putting at risk the entire western world. We need a worldwide mobilisation to save Israel from the announced attempt to cancel it from the world.
A form of non-violent mass action for peace, establishing also hunger strikes. For Pannella this could be an alternative to the Middle East chaos and the statement according to which there is no peace without justice and democracy. The radical leader will travel to India and Cambodia shortly to promote his initiative and find the first participants. (agi) - 121439 AGO 06,AGI S.p.A.
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people (ISRAELIS) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN, HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THE 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN
CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
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.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
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:
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING
BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off,(JESUS) but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(THE ROMANS,THE EU TODAY) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he(THE EU DICTATOR SECURING ISRAEL SECURITY) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week (3 1/2 YRS) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(THE DICTATOR STOPS THE ISRAELIS FROM DOING ANIMAL SACRIFICES, THATS WHY THE 3RD TEMPLE HAS TO BE REBUILT BEFORE THE FUTURE 7
YEAR PEACE TREATY IS SIGNED and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.(FROM JOEL 3:2)
Well in Daniel 9:26-27 It clearly says the EU will guarentee ISRAELS LAND FOR SECURITY DEAL,so this might work to get
ISRAEL in the EU QUICK for security reasons.
MIDDLE EAST: PANNELLA, WORLDWIDE SATYAGRAHA, ISRAEL IN EU
(AGI) - Rome, Aug 12 - A worldwide Satyagraha and the adhesion of Israel to the European Union. Marco Pannella launched a new
initiative of the Italian radical party announcing within 100 days from today the organisation and promotion of the first worldwide Satyagraha for peace, something never attempted before. During a press conference the radical leader re-launched his proposal to have Israel enter the European Union being this a possible strategic solution of the terrible Middle East problem which was seriously putting at risk the entire western world. We need a worldwide mobilisation to save Israel from the announced attempt to cancel it from the world.
A form of non-violent mass action for peace, establishing also hunger strikes. For Pannella this could be an alternative to the Middle East chaos and the statement according to which there is no peace without justice and democracy. The radical leader will travel to India and Cambodia shortly to promote his initiative and find the first participants. (agi) - 121439 AGO 06,AGI S.p.A.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
WORLD REACTIONS TO RESOLUTION
1-Peres says U.N. resolution vindicates Israel. 2-Israel to halt war in Lebanon on Monday. 3-EU welcomes UN resolution on Lebanon. 4-UN Council unanimously approves Mideast resolution. 5-Bush Welcomes U.N. Truce Resolution. 6-US calls on Syria, Iran to honor UN resolution on Lebanon. 7-Lebanese Cabinet approves cease-fire. 8-Quake jolts northwestern Iran. 9-Strong quake rocks northwest Indonesia. 10-Sky-watchers await celestial show. 11-Chaos follows in Chinese typhoon's wake.
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PREDIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships;
and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
Peres says U.N. resolution vindicates Israel Sat Aug 12, 3:52 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres on Saturday welcomed a U.N. resolution calling for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah and said the deal vindicated Israel's month-long military campaign. Without the military
pressure we would not have had the diplomatic deal,elder statesman Peres told Israel radio.
The U.N. decision vindicates Israel all the way through and says that Hizbollah was the aggressor and that they need to return the abducted soldiers ... We achieved all we could from the U.N.The U.N. Security Council unanimously backed a resolution on Friday calling for a full cessation of hostilities based on the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations.
Israel's cabinet is expected to express its support for the resolution at a meeting on Sunday. In the meantime, Israeli forces have stepped up operations in Lebanon, driving north toward the Litani river, 20 km (13 miles) inside the country.The conflict, which has killed at least 1,060 in Lebanon and 124 Israelis, began on July 12 when Hizbollah guerillas captured two Israeli soldiers in a raid inside Israel.
Israel to halt war in Lebanon on Monday By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago
BEIRUT, Lebanon Israel will halt its war in Lebanon at 7 a.m. Monday (midnight EDT Sunday night), a senior Israeli government official said Saturday. Lebanon's Cabinet accepted the U.N. cease-fire plan to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah fighters, moving the deal a step closer to implementation, the prime minister said.
Also, the Israeli government confirmed that Hezbollah guerrillas had shot down an Israeli military plane.It was Israel's first loss of a helicopter in Lebanon in the monthlong conflict. Two helicopters collided and crashed and a third crashed separately in northern Israel early on in the fighting.Israel's Cabinet was to
endorse the U.N. cease-fire resolution later Sunday.
In announcing the decision to accept the resolution, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said: It was a unanimous decision, with some reservations.Hezbollah's Mohammed Fneish, minister of hydraulic resources, said the two members of the Islamic militant group who are part of the Cabinet expressed reservations. Particular concern was raised over an article in the resolution that gives the impression that it exonerates Israel of responsibility for the crimes and blames Hezbollah for the monthlong war, he said.
Israel flew hundreds of commandos into southern Lebanon on Saturday, tripling its troop strength to 30,000 and sending some army units as far as the Litani River even as both sides indicated they would accept a U.N. cease-fire plan to stop the heavy fighting.
Airstrikes killed at least 19 people in Lebanon, including 15 in one village, and Hezbollah rockets wounded at least five people in Israel.
The Islamic militant group fought back hard, claiming to have destroyed 21 Israeli tanks and killing seven soldiers. Israel confirmed seven deaths and said dozens of other soldiers were wounded in the expanded offensive.The Israeli helicopter aircraft was shot down in the Maryamein valley near the village of Yater, and other helicopters scrambled to the area to try to rescue the crew. The Israeli army had no comment on the report.The claim, carried on Hezbollah's al-Manar TV, said the helicopter was brought down by a new missile, the Waad (Arabic for Promise,) in the Islamic militant group's arsenal.The area had seen heavy ground combat Saturday during which hundreds of Israeli troops were airlifted to positions deep inside southern Lebanon and tanks punched across terrain to grab more territory before an expected cessation of hostilities Monday morning.The fighting came a day after the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution seeking a full cessation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah, authorizing 15,000 U.N.
peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon as Israeli forces withdraw from the area.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the broadened Israeli offensive had been anticipated and she hoped the hostilities would end in a day or so.My understanding is that this is part of the normal operations that were contemplated. When the cease fire — the cessation of hostilities — comes into being, Israel will stop, she said in an interview with Israel Television.U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is working with the parties to establish a timetable for the cease-fire, but I would hope that within no more than a day or so that there would be a cessation of the hostilities on the ground,she said.Long columns of Israeli armored vehicles streamed over the border trying to drive Hezollah behind the Litani, about 18 miles from the border, before the truce. More than 50 helicopters
ferried in commandos in what was called the biggest such operation in Israel's history.Israel wanted to seize control of the area before positions are frozen to ensure that Hezbollah fighters don't flood the zone before it is handed over to the Lebanese army and U.N. troops, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss sensitive issues publicly.
Israel, which said its troops had killed some 50 guerrillas over the previous 24 hours, said late in the day that some army units had pushed to the Litani, but gave no details. The Litani is seen by Israel as a crucial boundary in its attempt to push back Hezbollah. Israel repeatedly has insisted that the proposed peacekeeping force cannot allow Hezbollah weapons south of the river. But it will be nearly impossible to rid south Lebanon of the Islamic guerrillas, who are now in the Lebanese Cabinet and run clinics and other charities that are considered essential in rebuilding the region. Their ability to withstand the Israeli military assault has also made Hezbollah heroes across the Arab and Islamic worlds. Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Israeli troops will remain until the international relief force arrives and will be defend themselves if attacked. If anyone dares to use force against Israeli Defense Forces, we will see this as a violation of the cease-fire agreement,he said on Israel television. Israeli army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said earlier that Israel expected to fight for another week despite the cease-fire deal. He said Israeli forces — apparently about 30,000 soldiers now — would stay in Lebanon until an international force arrived.
Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, meanwhile, said his militia would abide by the cease-fire blueprint but warned the guerrillas would keep battling Israeli troops while they remained in Lebanon, calling that our natural right.His address was televised as Lebanon's Cabinet met to vote on the U.N. plan. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora signaled the Cabinet would accept, saying it serves the interests of his country and shows that the whole world stood by Lebanon.
The Israeli Cabinet was expected to approve the cease-fire Sunday, but Israel appeared ready to keep up its full-scale military campaign until the U.N. plan worked its way through the region's political leadership over the weekend. The resolution approved Friday night by the U.N. Security Council would create a peacekeeping force by combining a beefed-up version of ineffective U.N. units already in the war zone and 15,000 soldiers from the Lebanese army. The force, which could number around 30,000, would stand between Israel and Hezbollah's militia.
France, New Zealand, Italy and Ireland said Saturday they were ready to provide troops and Turkey said it was inclined to do so. President Bush issued a statement urging the world's leaders to implement the U.N. plan and help bring real peace to the Middle East. The loss of innocent life in both Lebanon and Israel has been a great tragedy,Bush said. Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian sponsors have brought an unwanted war to the people of Lebanon and Israel, and millions have suffered as a result. I now urge the international community to turn words into action and make every effort to bring lasting peace to the region. Israel has demanded an airtight buffer zone and wonders if U.N. and Lebanese forces are up for the task. A small U.N. military presence — now about 2,000 observers — has been in Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon since 1978 and has been overwhelmed by the Islamic militant group's rising power, aided by Iran and Syria. Rice specifically cited Hezbollah's two sponsors in a statement Friday for all parties to respect the sovereignty of the Lebanese government and the will of the international community.
But the resolution, approved 15-0 in the U.N. Security Council, did nothing to immediately halt the fighting that erupted exactly a month ago and has claimed nearly 900 lives — including at least 760 in Lebanon and 130 Israelis.
Israeli missiles slammed into the southern Lebanon village of Rachaf, about 10 miles from the Israeli border, killing at least 15 civilians, security officials said. Israeli ground forces also fanned out across southern Lebanon hunting for Hezbollah rocket batteries that have fired unending salvos across the border. Three people also were killed in strikes on Kharayeb, and a Lebanese soldier was killed in an air raid near an army base in the Bekaa Valley, officials said. The guerrilla group announced four deaths Friday and three Saturday. After a morning free of Hezbollah rocket strikes in northern Israel, a barrage of 20 missiles at midafternoon injured two people in Amirim and three in Kiryat Shemona. Hezbollah had been averaging nearly 200 hits each day in the monthlong conflict.
In Sidon, a coastal city between Beirut and the Israeli border, Israeli bombs destroyed a power plant. Farther south, another power facility was hit near Tyre, knocking out electricity to the port, police said. On Lebanon's northern frontier, Israeli airstrikes hit the highway leading to the Arida border crossing about a mile from the Mediterranean coast. It was the last official border post open for
humanitarian convoys and civilians fleeing the country. The highway was impassable, but drivers tried to maneuver through ruts and ditches. The only other exits from Lebanon are rugged pathways and back roads through deserts or mountains. Israel seeks to block supply routes for Hezbollah and disrupt their mobility and has warned it would target any vehicles on the roads in southern Lebanon and along other main highways.
EU welcomes UN resolution on Lebanon
Aug 12, 2006, 11:15 GMT
Brussels - The European Union on Saturday welcomed the UN Security Council resolution to stop the fighting in Lebanon and urged all parties to implement it without delay. A statement issued by the Finnish Foreign Ministry - Finland currently holds the EU's rotating Presidency - stated: 'The Presidency of the European Union welcomes the United Nations Security Council's unanimous approval of Resolution 1701 that calls for a full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. This resolution sets the required framework for a political settlement that only can bring a lasting solution to the crisis. The Presidency urges all parties to fully respect the resolution and implement it without delay, it added. The statement also said the EU welcomed prospects that later on, the mandate of the UNIFIL (UN forces in Lebanon) would be enhanced and further steps made to help implement 'a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution. It concluded by reminding of 'the need to work for a comprehensive peace plan for the Middle East. © 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur
UN Council unanimously approves Mideast resolution
August 12, 2006, 06:30
The UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution yesterday that calls for an end to the bloodshed in Lebanon and Israel and authorizes up to 15 000 UN troops to help enforce it.
The 15-0 vote capped weeks of anguished negotiations at the United Nations and elsewhere and is the first measure aimed at ending a month of fighting between Israel and Hizbollah militia that has killed some 1 000 Lebanese and 121 Israelis. The resolution calls for a full cessation of hostilities and tells Hizbollah to stop all attacks immediately and Israel to end all offensive operations.A deal on the resolution's text, negotiated by the United States and France, was announced only hours before the vote by British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.
Approval expected
Approval from both the Israeli and the Lebanese cabinets is expected this weekend, with leaders of both countries urging ministers to accept the resolution.But UN Secretary-General Annan chastised the council for its delay in negotiating the resolution. He also said he was going to contact all parties this weekend to set a timeline for ending the fighting.All members of this council must be aware that this inability to act sooner has badly shaken the world's faith in its authority and integrity,Annan said in a lengthy speech.
War is not politics by other means.Lebanon has been a victim for too long, mired in an incomplete political transformation since the end of the civil war,Annan said. Over the last five weeks we have been reminded yet again what a tense fragile region the Middle East has become.Once fighting subsides, Israel is expected to undertake a phased withdrawal from Lebanon as the Lebanese army and an expanded UN peacekeeping force of up to 15 000 troops deploys in southern Lebanon, now controlled by Hizbollah. - Reuters
Associated Press-Bush Welcomes U.N. Truce Resolution
By NEDRA PICKLER , 08.12.2006, 09:59 AM
President Bush on Saturday urged world leaders to turn the words of a U.N. cease-fire resolution into action and help bring lasting peace to the Middle East. Bush welcomed the resolution unanimously approved Friday night by the United Nations Security Council that seeks a full cessation of the violence between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
More than 800 people have been killed in a month of fighting. The loss of innocent life in both Lebanon and Israel has been a great tragedy, Bush said. Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian sponsors have brought an unwanted war to the people of Lebanon and Israel, and millions have suffered as a result. I now urge the international community to turn words into action and make every effort to bring lasting peace to the region.
Bush's remarks came in a written statement issued while he was on a bike ride on his Texas ranch, where he is wrapping up a 10-day vacation from the White House. The president was returning to Washington Sunday. The U.S. has been Israel's most
supportive ally in the conflict and strongest advocate at the United Nations.
Bush laid blame on Israel's enemies in the first sentence of his statement, saying the resolution was designed to bring an immediate end to the fighting sparked last month by an unprovoked terrorist attack on Israel by Hezbollah, a terrorist group supported by Iran and Syria. The United States and its allies have been working hard since the beginning of this conflict to create the conditions for an enduring cease fire and prevent armed militias and foreign-sponsored terrorist groups like Hezbollah from sparking another crisis, Bush said. Yesterday's resolution aims to end Hezbollah's attacks on Israel and bring a halt to Israel's offensive military operations.
The resolution authorizes 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon, where Hezbollah guerillas have been operating, as Israeli forces that have occupied the area withdraw. It also calls for an embargo on the supply of arms to militias in Lebanon. These steps are designed to stop Hezbollah from acting as a state within a state, and put an end to Iran and Syria's efforts to hold the Lebanese people hostage to their own extremist agenda,Bush said. This in turn will help to restore the sovereignty of Lebanon's democratic government and help ensure security for the people of Lebanon and Israel.
US calls on Syria, Iran to honor UN resolution on Lebanon Fri Aug 11, 8:16 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Iran and Syria to respect the terms of a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council in a bid to end a month of fighting between their ally Hezbollah and Israel. We call upon every state, especially Iran and Syria, to respect the sovereignty of the Lebanese government and the will of the international community, she said in an address to the Security Council.She also said Hezbollah now faces a clear choice between war and peace in light of the resolution, which was unanimously adopted by the 15-member council.The resolution, drafted by France and the United States, calls on Israel and Hezbollah to immediately cease hostilities following a month of fighting that has left more than 1,000 Lebanese and over 120 Israelis dead.
It also calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from positions they have occupied in southern Lebanon in parallel with the deployment of Lebanese army units and a robust international military force in the region to prevent future Hezbollah attacks on Israel.If implemented fully by Lebanon, the resolution will end Hezbollah's existence as a militia armed and supported by Iran and Syria.Rice said the UN text should open a path to lasting peace between Lebanon and Israel that will end the suffering and violence of this past month.The people of the Middle East have lived too long at the mercy of extremists,she said.It is time to build a more hopeful future.
This resolution shows us the way.Immediately before Rice spoke, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan lamented that it took the Security Council's major powers a month to achieve Friday's ceasefire proposal.I would be remiss if I did not tell you how profoundly disappointed I am that the council did not reach this point much, much earlier,he said.All members of this council must be aware that this inability to act sooner has badly shaken the world's faith in its authority and integrity,he said.It is absolutely vital that the fighting now stop,Annan told the gathered council representatives, who in addition to Rice included the foreign ministers of France,
Britain and several other countries.
Lebanese Cabinet approves cease-fire By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer 43 minutes ago
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's Cabinet accepted the U.N. cease-fire plan to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah fighters on Saturday, moving the deal a step closer to implementation, the prime minister said. It was a unanimous decision, with some reservations,Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said in announcing Lebanon's acceptance of the resolution after a four-hour Cabinet meeting.Hezbollah's Mohammed Fneish, minister of hydraulic resources, said the two members of the Islamic militant group who are part of the Cabinet expressed reservations. Particular concern was raised over an article in the resolution that gives the impression that it exonerates Israel of responsibility for the crimes and blames Hezbollah for the monthlong war, he said.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
Quake jolts northwestern Iran Tehran, Aug 12, IRNA
Iran-Kashksaray-Quake
An earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale hit the city of Kashksaray in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan Saturday. The seismological base of the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered the quake at 10:32 hours local time (0702 GMT). There are no reports of any casualty or damage to property caused by the quake. Iran is often hit by quakes of varying magnitudes as it sits on some of the world's most active seismic faultlines.
Strong quake rocks northwest Indonesia Fri Aug 11, 10:22 PM ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia - A strong earthquake rocked parts of Indonesia's Sumatra island early Saturday, causing some people to flee their homes, but there were no reports of damage and no tsunami was triggered. The 6-magnitude quake struck at 3:54 a.m. and was centered under the Indian Ocean 175 miles northwest of Sumatra, the U.S. Geological Survey said.It felt pretty strong,state news agency Antara quoted one villager as saying. "The whole family and our neighbors ran out from our house, but there was not a massive panic.Officials on Sumatra were not available for comment early Saturday. There were no immediate reports of damage.
Sumatra was hardest hit by a powerful December 2004 earthquake and tsunami. More than 216,000 people in Indian Ocean nations were killed or missing in the disaster.The region is rocked by many earthquakes, including a magnitude 8.7 quake in March last year that killed about 900 people on an outlying island.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Sky-watchers await celestial show
Light shows have been spoilt by moonlight in the past.The Earth is to make its annual rendezvous with the Perseid meteors this weekend. The meteor shower will peak on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, producing as many as 100 shooting stars an
hour. The Perseids are tiny particles, ranging in size from a match-head to a dried pea, shed by the comet Swift-Tuttle.
Sky watchers should look north-east, where the sky will be darkest, to get the best chance of seeing them. Claire Gilby, from the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, London, said that unlike many astronomical objects, meteors are visible to the naked eye and observers need no special equipment to view them.
Weather permitting, the sensitivity and wide field of view of the human eye are perfect for watching the Perseids,she said. So, to see the Perseids, all you need to do is sit back and watch the night sky. This year there is a chance that the bright Moon will drown out the glow from the fainter Perseids, as has happened in previous years.
Saint's tears
Meteors are streaks of light in the sky caused by blazing pieces of dust drawn into the Earth's atmosphere from near space. The Perseids are caused when the Earth passes through debris shed by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. This comet travels through the inner planets every 130 years, most recently in 1992. The Perseids are so called because tracing their tails back in the night sky mostly leads to the constellation Perseus. This contains a point called the Perseus radiant - the perspective point from which the meteors would appear to come if they could be seen approaching from interplanetary space. The Perseids are sometimes called the Tears of St Lawrence because the Saint's feast day falls on 10 August. The dust itself consists of particles that are travelling at around 50km (31 miles) per second. As they enter the Earth's atmosphere, they burn up with a short-lived burst of light, heat and ionisation.
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.
Chaos follows in Chinese typhoon's wake By Ben Blanchard
Sat Aug 12, 10:00 AM ET
LANPING VILLAGE, China (Reuters) - Lin Xianglian was cowering in his kitchen from the strongest typhoon to hit China in half a century when he heard a roar and the house next door collapsed. I didn't dare go look what was happening. The wind was so strong my wife and I together were leaning on the front door to stop it blowing in and water was flooding in the back,recalls farmer Lin, 68, sipping tea from a metal bowl.We could do nothing as my two neighbors got buried alive.Aid arrived in time for them to be dug out alive, but Lin says he has no idea where his friends are now or if they survived their injuries.Nobody has told us anything. Nobody has been round to help clear up. It seems we've been left on our own,he says through metal-capped teeth in uncertain-sounding Mandarin.
Typhoon Saomai punched into Cangnan county, where Lin's village is located in the eastern province of Zhejiang, on Thursday after authorities had moved hundreds of thousands in the densely populated commercial province to safety.The official death toll stood at 105 on Saturday with at least 190 missing. The authorities mobilized 10,000 troops, paramilitary police and rescue workers in Zhejiang alone to help with a massive clean-up operation, state television reported.Bulldozers started clearing the wreckage of more than 50,000 homes flattened by the storm as relief workers handed out bottles of water, rice and cooking oil. A dozen psychiatrists arrived to counsel survivors, Xinhua news agency said.Some residents of the remote, mountainous region said they suspect the death toll could be much higher.I heard hundreds died.
The government has shut off villages where the death toll is really high to stop news getting out,said a fashionably dressed youth who declined to be identified.The Communist government, determined to maintain stability at all costs, has a habit of covering up bad news, although disaster death tolls are no longer supposed to be state secrets.Mistrust of the government is common in Zhejiang, which is far from the capital and where a strong entrepreneurial spirit has bred a flourishing private sector.Numerous mutually incomprehensible dialects add to a sense of independence and wariness of authority.
STINKING FLOOD WATERS
In Cangnan town itself, knee-deep floodwater, fetid and mixed with silt, sewage and motor oil, lapped at pedestrians' feet and flowed into shops on the main street.More than a day after the storm had passed, rubbish sat stewing in the more than 30 degree Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) heat.The quality of people isn't very good here. Nobody wants to clear up,said resident Chen Shaohe, holding his daughter's hand and surveying the damage from a dry spot. The reaction of the government has been slow, but what do you expect?
Further down the road, Zhang Shiqiu looked forlornly at the remains of her red-brick, black-tiled house, crying quietly. Gone, all gone,she whispered, rocking slowly backwards and forwards from a perch on the rubble. In the fishing village of Xiaguan where Saomai hit with winds of 216 km (134 mph) per hour, more powerful than a 1956 typhoon that killed more than 3,000 one house appeared to have exploded outwards, blasting bricks into the street.
Workers offloaded blocks of ice, to help preserve bodies, for the two-hour drive up a narrow road clogged by fallen trees and rocks that runs so high it passes through cloud, toward the worst-hit villages in Cangnan county. At least 41 villagers, including eight children, were killed when a house collapsed in the town of Jinxiang, an hour's drive from where the typhoon made landfall, a local official said. In Lanping village, Lin sat in his candle-lit kitchen and pondered rebuilding his own damaged house. He was philosophical. I saw the great typhoon of 1956. This one was only so-so compared to that,he said.
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PREDIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships;
and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
Peres says U.N. resolution vindicates Israel Sat Aug 12, 3:52 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres on Saturday welcomed a U.N. resolution calling for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah and said the deal vindicated Israel's month-long military campaign. Without the military
pressure we would not have had the diplomatic deal,elder statesman Peres told Israel radio.
The U.N. decision vindicates Israel all the way through and says that Hizbollah was the aggressor and that they need to return the abducted soldiers ... We achieved all we could from the U.N.The U.N. Security Council unanimously backed a resolution on Friday calling for a full cessation of hostilities based on the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations.
Israel's cabinet is expected to express its support for the resolution at a meeting on Sunday. In the meantime, Israeli forces have stepped up operations in Lebanon, driving north toward the Litani river, 20 km (13 miles) inside the country.The conflict, which has killed at least 1,060 in Lebanon and 124 Israelis, began on July 12 when Hizbollah guerillas captured two Israeli soldiers in a raid inside Israel.
Israel to halt war in Lebanon on Monday By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago
BEIRUT, Lebanon Israel will halt its war in Lebanon at 7 a.m. Monday (midnight EDT Sunday night), a senior Israeli government official said Saturday. Lebanon's Cabinet accepted the U.N. cease-fire plan to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah fighters, moving the deal a step closer to implementation, the prime minister said.
Also, the Israeli government confirmed that Hezbollah guerrillas had shot down an Israeli military plane.It was Israel's first loss of a helicopter in Lebanon in the monthlong conflict. Two helicopters collided and crashed and a third crashed separately in northern Israel early on in the fighting.Israel's Cabinet was to
endorse the U.N. cease-fire resolution later Sunday.
In announcing the decision to accept the resolution, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said: It was a unanimous decision, with some reservations.Hezbollah's Mohammed Fneish, minister of hydraulic resources, said the two members of the Islamic militant group who are part of the Cabinet expressed reservations. Particular concern was raised over an article in the resolution that gives the impression that it exonerates Israel of responsibility for the crimes and blames Hezbollah for the monthlong war, he said.
Israel flew hundreds of commandos into southern Lebanon on Saturday, tripling its troop strength to 30,000 and sending some army units as far as the Litani River even as both sides indicated they would accept a U.N. cease-fire plan to stop the heavy fighting.
Airstrikes killed at least 19 people in Lebanon, including 15 in one village, and Hezbollah rockets wounded at least five people in Israel.
The Islamic militant group fought back hard, claiming to have destroyed 21 Israeli tanks and killing seven soldiers. Israel confirmed seven deaths and said dozens of other soldiers were wounded in the expanded offensive.The Israeli helicopter aircraft was shot down in the Maryamein valley near the village of Yater, and other helicopters scrambled to the area to try to rescue the crew. The Israeli army had no comment on the report.The claim, carried on Hezbollah's al-Manar TV, said the helicopter was brought down by a new missile, the Waad (Arabic for Promise,) in the Islamic militant group's arsenal.The area had seen heavy ground combat Saturday during which hundreds of Israeli troops were airlifted to positions deep inside southern Lebanon and tanks punched across terrain to grab more territory before an expected cessation of hostilities Monday morning.The fighting came a day after the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution seeking a full cessation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah, authorizing 15,000 U.N.
peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon as Israeli forces withdraw from the area.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the broadened Israeli offensive had been anticipated and she hoped the hostilities would end in a day or so.My understanding is that this is part of the normal operations that were contemplated. When the cease fire — the cessation of hostilities — comes into being, Israel will stop, she said in an interview with Israel Television.U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is working with the parties to establish a timetable for the cease-fire, but I would hope that within no more than a day or so that there would be a cessation of the hostilities on the ground,she said.Long columns of Israeli armored vehicles streamed over the border trying to drive Hezollah behind the Litani, about 18 miles from the border, before the truce. More than 50 helicopters
ferried in commandos in what was called the biggest such operation in Israel's history.Israel wanted to seize control of the area before positions are frozen to ensure that Hezbollah fighters don't flood the zone before it is handed over to the Lebanese army and U.N. troops, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss sensitive issues publicly.
Israel, which said its troops had killed some 50 guerrillas over the previous 24 hours, said late in the day that some army units had pushed to the Litani, but gave no details. The Litani is seen by Israel as a crucial boundary in its attempt to push back Hezbollah. Israel repeatedly has insisted that the proposed peacekeeping force cannot allow Hezbollah weapons south of the river. But it will be nearly impossible to rid south Lebanon of the Islamic guerrillas, who are now in the Lebanese Cabinet and run clinics and other charities that are considered essential in rebuilding the region. Their ability to withstand the Israeli military assault has also made Hezbollah heroes across the Arab and Islamic worlds. Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Israeli troops will remain until the international relief force arrives and will be defend themselves if attacked. If anyone dares to use force against Israeli Defense Forces, we will see this as a violation of the cease-fire agreement,he said on Israel television. Israeli army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said earlier that Israel expected to fight for another week despite the cease-fire deal. He said Israeli forces — apparently about 30,000 soldiers now — would stay in Lebanon until an international force arrived.
Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, meanwhile, said his militia would abide by the cease-fire blueprint but warned the guerrillas would keep battling Israeli troops while they remained in Lebanon, calling that our natural right.His address was televised as Lebanon's Cabinet met to vote on the U.N. plan. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora signaled the Cabinet would accept, saying it serves the interests of his country and shows that the whole world stood by Lebanon.
The Israeli Cabinet was expected to approve the cease-fire Sunday, but Israel appeared ready to keep up its full-scale military campaign until the U.N. plan worked its way through the region's political leadership over the weekend. The resolution approved Friday night by the U.N. Security Council would create a peacekeeping force by combining a beefed-up version of ineffective U.N. units already in the war zone and 15,000 soldiers from the Lebanese army. The force, which could number around 30,000, would stand between Israel and Hezbollah's militia.
France, New Zealand, Italy and Ireland said Saturday they were ready to provide troops and Turkey said it was inclined to do so. President Bush issued a statement urging the world's leaders to implement the U.N. plan and help bring real peace to the Middle East. The loss of innocent life in both Lebanon and Israel has been a great tragedy,Bush said. Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian sponsors have brought an unwanted war to the people of Lebanon and Israel, and millions have suffered as a result. I now urge the international community to turn words into action and make every effort to bring lasting peace to the region. Israel has demanded an airtight buffer zone and wonders if U.N. and Lebanese forces are up for the task. A small U.N. military presence — now about 2,000 observers — has been in Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon since 1978 and has been overwhelmed by the Islamic militant group's rising power, aided by Iran and Syria. Rice specifically cited Hezbollah's two sponsors in a statement Friday for all parties to respect the sovereignty of the Lebanese government and the will of the international community.
But the resolution, approved 15-0 in the U.N. Security Council, did nothing to immediately halt the fighting that erupted exactly a month ago and has claimed nearly 900 lives — including at least 760 in Lebanon and 130 Israelis.
Israeli missiles slammed into the southern Lebanon village of Rachaf, about 10 miles from the Israeli border, killing at least 15 civilians, security officials said. Israeli ground forces also fanned out across southern Lebanon hunting for Hezbollah rocket batteries that have fired unending salvos across the border. Three people also were killed in strikes on Kharayeb, and a Lebanese soldier was killed in an air raid near an army base in the Bekaa Valley, officials said. The guerrilla group announced four deaths Friday and three Saturday. After a morning free of Hezbollah rocket strikes in northern Israel, a barrage of 20 missiles at midafternoon injured two people in Amirim and three in Kiryat Shemona. Hezbollah had been averaging nearly 200 hits each day in the monthlong conflict.
In Sidon, a coastal city between Beirut and the Israeli border, Israeli bombs destroyed a power plant. Farther south, another power facility was hit near Tyre, knocking out electricity to the port, police said. On Lebanon's northern frontier, Israeli airstrikes hit the highway leading to the Arida border crossing about a mile from the Mediterranean coast. It was the last official border post open for
humanitarian convoys and civilians fleeing the country. The highway was impassable, but drivers tried to maneuver through ruts and ditches. The only other exits from Lebanon are rugged pathways and back roads through deserts or mountains. Israel seeks to block supply routes for Hezbollah and disrupt their mobility and has warned it would target any vehicles on the roads in southern Lebanon and along other main highways.
EU welcomes UN resolution on Lebanon
Aug 12, 2006, 11:15 GMT
Brussels - The European Union on Saturday welcomed the UN Security Council resolution to stop the fighting in Lebanon and urged all parties to implement it without delay. A statement issued by the Finnish Foreign Ministry - Finland currently holds the EU's rotating Presidency - stated: 'The Presidency of the European Union welcomes the United Nations Security Council's unanimous approval of Resolution 1701 that calls for a full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. This resolution sets the required framework for a political settlement that only can bring a lasting solution to the crisis. The Presidency urges all parties to fully respect the resolution and implement it without delay, it added. The statement also said the EU welcomed prospects that later on, the mandate of the UNIFIL (UN forces in Lebanon) would be enhanced and further steps made to help implement 'a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution. It concluded by reminding of 'the need to work for a comprehensive peace plan for the Middle East. © 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur
UN Council unanimously approves Mideast resolution
August 12, 2006, 06:30
The UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution yesterday that calls for an end to the bloodshed in Lebanon and Israel and authorizes up to 15 000 UN troops to help enforce it.
The 15-0 vote capped weeks of anguished negotiations at the United Nations and elsewhere and is the first measure aimed at ending a month of fighting between Israel and Hizbollah militia that has killed some 1 000 Lebanese and 121 Israelis. The resolution calls for a full cessation of hostilities and tells Hizbollah to stop all attacks immediately and Israel to end all offensive operations.A deal on the resolution's text, negotiated by the United States and France, was announced only hours before the vote by British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.
Approval expected
Approval from both the Israeli and the Lebanese cabinets is expected this weekend, with leaders of both countries urging ministers to accept the resolution.But UN Secretary-General Annan chastised the council for its delay in negotiating the resolution. He also said he was going to contact all parties this weekend to set a timeline for ending the fighting.All members of this council must be aware that this inability to act sooner has badly shaken the world's faith in its authority and integrity,Annan said in a lengthy speech.
War is not politics by other means.Lebanon has been a victim for too long, mired in an incomplete political transformation since the end of the civil war,Annan said. Over the last five weeks we have been reminded yet again what a tense fragile region the Middle East has become.Once fighting subsides, Israel is expected to undertake a phased withdrawal from Lebanon as the Lebanese army and an expanded UN peacekeeping force of up to 15 000 troops deploys in southern Lebanon, now controlled by Hizbollah. - Reuters
Associated Press-Bush Welcomes U.N. Truce Resolution
By NEDRA PICKLER , 08.12.2006, 09:59 AM
President Bush on Saturday urged world leaders to turn the words of a U.N. cease-fire resolution into action and help bring lasting peace to the Middle East. Bush welcomed the resolution unanimously approved Friday night by the United Nations Security Council that seeks a full cessation of the violence between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
More than 800 people have been killed in a month of fighting. The loss of innocent life in both Lebanon and Israel has been a great tragedy, Bush said. Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian sponsors have brought an unwanted war to the people of Lebanon and Israel, and millions have suffered as a result. I now urge the international community to turn words into action and make every effort to bring lasting peace to the region.
Bush's remarks came in a written statement issued while he was on a bike ride on his Texas ranch, where he is wrapping up a 10-day vacation from the White House. The president was returning to Washington Sunday. The U.S. has been Israel's most
supportive ally in the conflict and strongest advocate at the United Nations.
Bush laid blame on Israel's enemies in the first sentence of his statement, saying the resolution was designed to bring an immediate end to the fighting sparked last month by an unprovoked terrorist attack on Israel by Hezbollah, a terrorist group supported by Iran and Syria. The United States and its allies have been working hard since the beginning of this conflict to create the conditions for an enduring cease fire and prevent armed militias and foreign-sponsored terrorist groups like Hezbollah from sparking another crisis, Bush said. Yesterday's resolution aims to end Hezbollah's attacks on Israel and bring a halt to Israel's offensive military operations.
The resolution authorizes 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon, where Hezbollah guerillas have been operating, as Israeli forces that have occupied the area withdraw. It also calls for an embargo on the supply of arms to militias in Lebanon. These steps are designed to stop Hezbollah from acting as a state within a state, and put an end to Iran and Syria's efforts to hold the Lebanese people hostage to their own extremist agenda,Bush said. This in turn will help to restore the sovereignty of Lebanon's democratic government and help ensure security for the people of Lebanon and Israel.
US calls on Syria, Iran to honor UN resolution on Lebanon Fri Aug 11, 8:16 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Iran and Syria to respect the terms of a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council in a bid to end a month of fighting between their ally Hezbollah and Israel. We call upon every state, especially Iran and Syria, to respect the sovereignty of the Lebanese government and the will of the international community, she said in an address to the Security Council.She also said Hezbollah now faces a clear choice between war and peace in light of the resolution, which was unanimously adopted by the 15-member council.The resolution, drafted by France and the United States, calls on Israel and Hezbollah to immediately cease hostilities following a month of fighting that has left more than 1,000 Lebanese and over 120 Israelis dead.
It also calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from positions they have occupied in southern Lebanon in parallel with the deployment of Lebanese army units and a robust international military force in the region to prevent future Hezbollah attacks on Israel.If implemented fully by Lebanon, the resolution will end Hezbollah's existence as a militia armed and supported by Iran and Syria.Rice said the UN text should open a path to lasting peace between Lebanon and Israel that will end the suffering and violence of this past month.The people of the Middle East have lived too long at the mercy of extremists,she said.It is time to build a more hopeful future.
This resolution shows us the way.Immediately before Rice spoke, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan lamented that it took the Security Council's major powers a month to achieve Friday's ceasefire proposal.I would be remiss if I did not tell you how profoundly disappointed I am that the council did not reach this point much, much earlier,he said.All members of this council must be aware that this inability to act sooner has badly shaken the world's faith in its authority and integrity,he said.It is absolutely vital that the fighting now stop,Annan told the gathered council representatives, who in addition to Rice included the foreign ministers of France,
Britain and several other countries.
Lebanese Cabinet approves cease-fire By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer 43 minutes ago
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's Cabinet accepted the U.N. cease-fire plan to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah fighters on Saturday, moving the deal a step closer to implementation, the prime minister said. It was a unanimous decision, with some reservations,Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said in announcing Lebanon's acceptance of the resolution after a four-hour Cabinet meeting.Hezbollah's Mohammed Fneish, minister of hydraulic resources, said the two members of the Islamic militant group who are part of the Cabinet expressed reservations. Particular concern was raised over an article in the resolution that gives the impression that it exonerates Israel of responsibility for the crimes and blames Hezbollah for the monthlong war, he said.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
Quake jolts northwestern Iran Tehran, Aug 12, IRNA
Iran-Kashksaray-Quake
An earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale hit the city of Kashksaray in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan Saturday. The seismological base of the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered the quake at 10:32 hours local time (0702 GMT). There are no reports of any casualty or damage to property caused by the quake. Iran is often hit by quakes of varying magnitudes as it sits on some of the world's most active seismic faultlines.
Strong quake rocks northwest Indonesia Fri Aug 11, 10:22 PM ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia - A strong earthquake rocked parts of Indonesia's Sumatra island early Saturday, causing some people to flee their homes, but there were no reports of damage and no tsunami was triggered. The 6-magnitude quake struck at 3:54 a.m. and was centered under the Indian Ocean 175 miles northwest of Sumatra, the U.S. Geological Survey said.It felt pretty strong,state news agency Antara quoted one villager as saying. "The whole family and our neighbors ran out from our house, but there was not a massive panic.Officials on Sumatra were not available for comment early Saturday. There were no immediate reports of damage.
Sumatra was hardest hit by a powerful December 2004 earthquake and tsunami. More than 216,000 people in Indian Ocean nations were killed or missing in the disaster.The region is rocked by many earthquakes, including a magnitude 8.7 quake in March last year that killed about 900 people on an outlying island.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Sky-watchers await celestial show
Light shows have been spoilt by moonlight in the past.The Earth is to make its annual rendezvous with the Perseid meteors this weekend. The meteor shower will peak on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, producing as many as 100 shooting stars an
hour. The Perseids are tiny particles, ranging in size from a match-head to a dried pea, shed by the comet Swift-Tuttle.
Sky watchers should look north-east, where the sky will be darkest, to get the best chance of seeing them. Claire Gilby, from the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, London, said that unlike many astronomical objects, meteors are visible to the naked eye and observers need no special equipment to view them.
Weather permitting, the sensitivity and wide field of view of the human eye are perfect for watching the Perseids,she said. So, to see the Perseids, all you need to do is sit back and watch the night sky. This year there is a chance that the bright Moon will drown out the glow from the fainter Perseids, as has happened in previous years.
Saint's tears
Meteors are streaks of light in the sky caused by blazing pieces of dust drawn into the Earth's atmosphere from near space. The Perseids are caused when the Earth passes through debris shed by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. This comet travels through the inner planets every 130 years, most recently in 1992. The Perseids are so called because tracing their tails back in the night sky mostly leads to the constellation Perseus. This contains a point called the Perseus radiant - the perspective point from which the meteors would appear to come if they could be seen approaching from interplanetary space. The Perseids are sometimes called the Tears of St Lawrence because the Saint's feast day falls on 10 August. The dust itself consists of particles that are travelling at around 50km (31 miles) per second. As they enter the Earth's atmosphere, they burn up with a short-lived burst of light, heat and ionisation.
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.
Chaos follows in Chinese typhoon's wake By Ben Blanchard
Sat Aug 12, 10:00 AM ET
LANPING VILLAGE, China (Reuters) - Lin Xianglian was cowering in his kitchen from the strongest typhoon to hit China in half a century when he heard a roar and the house next door collapsed. I didn't dare go look what was happening. The wind was so strong my wife and I together were leaning on the front door to stop it blowing in and water was flooding in the back,recalls farmer Lin, 68, sipping tea from a metal bowl.We could do nothing as my two neighbors got buried alive.Aid arrived in time for them to be dug out alive, but Lin says he has no idea where his friends are now or if they survived their injuries.Nobody has told us anything. Nobody has been round to help clear up. It seems we've been left on our own,he says through metal-capped teeth in uncertain-sounding Mandarin.
Typhoon Saomai punched into Cangnan county, where Lin's village is located in the eastern province of Zhejiang, on Thursday after authorities had moved hundreds of thousands in the densely populated commercial province to safety.The official death toll stood at 105 on Saturday with at least 190 missing. The authorities mobilized 10,000 troops, paramilitary police and rescue workers in Zhejiang alone to help with a massive clean-up operation, state television reported.Bulldozers started clearing the wreckage of more than 50,000 homes flattened by the storm as relief workers handed out bottles of water, rice and cooking oil. A dozen psychiatrists arrived to counsel survivors, Xinhua news agency said.Some residents of the remote, mountainous region said they suspect the death toll could be much higher.I heard hundreds died.
The government has shut off villages where the death toll is really high to stop news getting out,said a fashionably dressed youth who declined to be identified.The Communist government, determined to maintain stability at all costs, has a habit of covering up bad news, although disaster death tolls are no longer supposed to be state secrets.Mistrust of the government is common in Zhejiang, which is far from the capital and where a strong entrepreneurial spirit has bred a flourishing private sector.Numerous mutually incomprehensible dialects add to a sense of independence and wariness of authority.
STINKING FLOOD WATERS
In Cangnan town itself, knee-deep floodwater, fetid and mixed with silt, sewage and motor oil, lapped at pedestrians' feet and flowed into shops on the main street.More than a day after the storm had passed, rubbish sat stewing in the more than 30 degree Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) heat.The quality of people isn't very good here. Nobody wants to clear up,said resident Chen Shaohe, holding his daughter's hand and surveying the damage from a dry spot. The reaction of the government has been slow, but what do you expect?
Further down the road, Zhang Shiqiu looked forlornly at the remains of her red-brick, black-tiled house, crying quietly. Gone, all gone,she whispered, rocking slowly backwards and forwards from a perch on the rubble. In the fishing village of Xiaguan where Saomai hit with winds of 216 km (134 mph) per hour, more powerful than a 1956 typhoon that killed more than 3,000 one house appeared to have exploded outwards, blasting bricks into the street.
Workers offloaded blocks of ice, to help preserve bodies, for the two-hour drive up a narrow road clogged by fallen trees and rocks that runs so high it passes through cloud, toward the worst-hit villages in Cangnan county. At least 41 villagers, including eight children, were killed when a house collapsed in the town of Jinxiang, an hour's drive from where the typhoon made landfall, a local official said. In Lanping village, Lin sat in his candle-lit kitchen and pondered rebuilding his own damaged house. He was philosophical. I saw the great typhoon of 1956. This one was only so-so compared to that,he said.
HUMAN ANIMAL MIXING TROUBLE
1-Israel, the US, and the Christian Right: The Menage a Trois From Hell. 2-243 N. American Immigrants Arrive in Israel Thursday. 3-On Lebanon, Russian Gambit Focuses Franco-American Minds, Short Term Resolution Goes Blue Amid Flashes of Lightening. 4-Netanyahu Addresses Kinloss Audience. 5-Olmert talks to Rice. 6-ANNAN HOPEFUL SECURITY COUNCIL CAN PASS RESOLUTION ON ISRAEL-LEBANON CONFLICT TODAY.
7-European Commission publishes updated crop yield forecast: July heat waves and drought reduce European crop yields. 8-Human-animal mixing going too far, report says.
ON JULY 22,06 GOD BLESSED ME WITH $1000.00 AND SINCE THEN I HAVE BEEN BLESSED ALSO WITH $800.00 MORE, I GIVE THE GOD OF ISRAEL (JESUS) ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY FOR THE BLESSINGS. $180.00 TO GODS KINGDOM, PRAISE GOD.
This guys not for Christians beware. I call him A (LUKEWARM LIBERAL,DEMOCRAT LEFTIST).
Israel, the US, and the Christian Right: The Menage a Trois From Hell
As I reported for the Nation in my most recent article, The Birth Pangs of a New Christian Zionism, the White House has convened a series of meetings over the past few months with leaders of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a newly formed political organization that tells its members that supporting Israel's expansionist policies is a biblical imperative. CUFI's Washington lobbyist, David Brog, told me that during the meetings, CUFI representatives pressed White House officials to adopt a more confrontational posture toward Iran, refuse aid to the Palestinians and give Israel a free hand as it ramped up its military conflict with Hezbollah.
The White House instructed Brog not to reveal the names of officials he met with, Brog said. Brog, the former chief-of-staff to Arlen Specter, is now the first full-time lobbyist for the Christian Zionism movement. He claims that CUFI's lobbying efforts, including organizing 3500 evangelical activists to visit congressional offices as Israel and Hezbollah exchanged their first salvoes of missiles, are having an impact. There is an ongoing debate in Washington over how long to let Israel continue the campaign against Hezbollah--how long will we let Israel fight its war on terror as we fight our own war on terror? Brog told me. And I think the arrival in Washington at that juncture of thousands of Christians who came for one issue and one issue only, to support Israel, sent a very important message to the Administration and the Congress, and I think helped persuade people that they should allow Israel some more time.
But CUFI has more on its agenda than simply supporting Israel.Its founder and president, Pastor John Hagee, is determined to see America and Israel adopt his Armageddon-based worldview as their foreign policy. Consider what Hagee wrote this year in Charisma magazine: The coming nuclear showdown with Iran is a certainty. Israel and America must confront Iran's nuclear ability and willingness to destroy Israel with nuclear weapons. For Israel to wait is to risk committing national suicide.Hagee's desire to doom the now-dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace process is equally disturbing. As I detailed in the Nation, in his book, The Beginning of the End, Hagee celebrated the murder of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy and glorified his assassin, Yigal Amir. More recently, Hagee's allies, like nationally syndicated evangelical radio host Janet Parshall, became ecstatic at the outbreak of violence in Lebanon and Israel. These are the times we've been waiting for,Parshall told her audience on July 21. This is straight out of a Sunday school lesson.
Time and again, Christian Zionists have delighted in events that most Israelis considered grave tragedies. And yet, Israel continually expends more energy cultivating their support than it does on earning much-needed international goodwill.
Case in point: after calling Ariel Sharon's descent into a comatose state God's punishment for the dividing the land, Pat Robertson was granted a personal meeting yesterday with Sharon's successor, Ehud Olmert. Afterwards, Robertson told his 700 Club viewership that the Lebanese people were sheltering a terrorist group and urged them to pray for an Israeli military victory.
Even as Israel alienates the international community by pursuing extreme militaristic solutions to its problems, it can count on unflagging support from America's evangelicals. It has recycled a strategy employed during the Cold War by authoritarian, anti-communist governments waging purportedly existential battles against dark-skinned barbarian hordes. For these regimes, the Bible Belt provided a natural constituency.
When international opinion turned against South Africa's apartheid regime in the 1980's, it presented itself to evangelicals as a final redoubt of Christian civilization in a sea of Afro-militant communism. Robertson responded with repeated denounciations of Mandela and the ANC on the 700 Club. Similarly, when evangelical Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios-Montt initiated a scorched-earth campaign (with Israeli military assistance) to exterminate his country's Mayan population, he called on Robertson for PR help.
Robertson leapt to aid his friend, hosting a telethon for Guatemala's military. He even funded the construction of model villages (read: concentration camps) for the Mayans who survived the massacres. Israel has clearly applied the lessons of the past.But it would be simplistic to expect Israel to continue down the dead-end road paved by regimes like those of P.W. Botha and Rios-Montt.
For all its flaws, Israel has one of the most resilient and politically sophisticated societies in the world. When the dust clears in Lebanon, Israelis will realize that their problems can only be solved through politics. And someday, they will have to deal with the Palestinians again. But then what?
What if a future Israeli government decides, as Yitzhak Rabin did, that Israel can live in the world and survive -- and even thrive? And what if a future American government backs Israel by mobilizing international allies behind a new land-for-peace effort? Most Americans would probably support this as they did in the past. American Jews would back a peace process if convinced there was a viable partner. And polls consistently show Israeli opinion in favor of the establishment of a Palestinian state. But in such a scenario, so-called Christian Zionists would reveal themselves as one of Israel's worst enemies. They have their own agenda and it
has nothing to do with peace.
EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
243 N. American Immigrants Arrive in Israel Thursday
By Ezra HaLevi(INN)
The first chartered plane of a record-setting week of Western Aliyah arrived in Israel Thursday, with not a single one of the 243 immigrants signed up backing out or postponing due to the war. The plane touched down and pulled alongside a special hangar near Ben Gurion Airport’s Terminal 1, where the new immigrants were greeted by hundreds of well wishers, family, friends, IDF soldiers, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and prominent American Aliyah supporter Rabbi Hershel Schachter.The flight was the 18th chartered flight of immigrants organized by the Nefesh b’Nefesh Aliyah assistance organization, together with the Jewish Agency.
A few months ago, 243 people registered to be a part of this flight today,Nefesh b’Nefesh co-founder Rabbi Yehoshua Fass said. They listened to the news and watched the scenes of war on television. But today, that plane landed with 243 olim (immigrants to Israel). We asked G-d to comfort the Jewish people on [the fast of] Tisha B’av last week. Not one person cancelled, and it brings great comfort to all of Israel.At every welcoming ceremony, one of the arriving families takes the stage and receives their Aliyah identity card, holding it up and saying a few words.
Wednesday, as people awoke to the news of 15 fallen reservists in battles in
Lebanon, Harold Sternlicht, one of the new immigrants said: For many years people have come to Israel running away from things the Holocaust, persecution. Today we are running to Israel!. The audience of new and veteran olim cheered and IDF soldiers who had been brought to the ceremony to greet the arrivals looked on in awe. This is extremely emotional,said Rachel, who added that when Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah turns on his television and sees the new arrivals,The will see that the nation of Israel is stronger than he ever imagined.
Judy, another soldier, herself came on Aliyah from Los Angeles almost two years ago. She has been in the IDF for a year, in a soldier/teacher program working with underprivileged kids. She says that the sight of crowds of new immigrants reminds her of why she chose to make Israel her home. Kim Richardson, 21, is arriving from Poughkeepsie, New York. She is joining her sister, Jen, who moved to Israel two years ago. Both sisters say they never thought about moving to Israel while growing up, but attended a program called Netiv their freshman year of college, during which they worked on Kibbutz Saad, studied at Hebrew University and fell in love with the Jewish state. The hair stylist I went to before I boarded the plane yesterday understood why I decided to move here the best,Kim said. His name was Hugo, and he told me, It’s all about your generation – you can change the world.
On Lebanon, Russian Gambit Focuses Franco-American Minds, Short Term Resolution Goes Blue Amid Flashes of Lightening
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee at the U.N.
UNITED NATIONS, August 10, 8:20 p.m. -- The ranks of Russian chess masters must now be expanded beyond Karpov and Kasparov. After 5 p.m. on Thursday, Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin emerged from 885 Second Avenue, which houses the French and UK missions, and spoke to a throng of reporters. He announced that Russia is putting forth its own resolution on Lebanon, one calling for a 72 hour cessation of hostilities. He said he intended to put this resolution in blue, meaning file it with Security Council Affairs and then Documents Control, which will prepare the text in the UN's six official languages, allowing for a Friday vote. Amb. Churkin indicated that Russia would withdraw its resolution if the French and U.S., who were negotiating upstairs, came to agreement on changes to their resolution.
The full text -- only 130 words -- of the Russian draft resolution is below.
Soon thereafter, just as a thunderstorm began, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton emerged. He called the Russian resolution an unnecessary diversion, declaring that we are not playing games. While heading out onto 47th Street, he said they would continue
working all night. The rain grew harder and a dog began to howl.
A side door opened and gallons of soapy water were swept out onto the pavilion full of wet journalists. The lion lay with the lamb: a famously Zionist reporter held the Al Arabia TV microphone as a favor. Upstairs, French Ambassador de La Sabliere apparently negotiated with himself.
It was reported that Margaret Beckett would arrive from London, if they allowed her on the plane. There were rumors of Condoleeza Rice in the wings. As one wag this one put it, success has many parents, but failure has only the P5 Ambassadors.
Ambassadors Churkin and Wang, right to left, in drier North Korean times
Back at UN headquarters, soaking wet, informed sources indicated that to go blue the plumbing involves Security Council Affairs on the 32nd floor, and Document Control on the 15th. The ascent and descent of elevators was studied. There were sighting of elusive Documents Control staff. Television journalists headed for the exits. If Churkin says it's going blue, that's good enough for us,one said.It was a dark and rainy night... Watching the lightening above Turtle Bay, a reporter turned to news analysis, remembering a side comment by Chinese Ambassador Wang, that there would be repercussions for the U.S.'s obstruction of even a Presidential Statement on the death by bomb of the four UNIFIL staffers. And where was Amb. Wang during Thursday's developments? Since a chess master does not move without thinking several steps ahead, who'd be Amb. Churkin's backers? Developing.
The Russian draft resolution, distributed to Council members:
Russian Federation: draft resolution,The Security Council,Expressing its gravest concern over the increasing escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and Israel since 12 July 2006,Appalled by large numbers of civilian casualties, extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and hundreds of thousands internally displaced persons, Emphasizing the critical need for urgent humanitarian supplies and mindful of the looming threat of even greater humanitarian catastrophe,
1.Calls for an immediate and full cessation of hostilities for humanitarian purposes for a period of 72 hours;
2.Urges all parties concerned and the international community to provide urgently all required humanitarian assistance to civilian
population in Lebanon;
3.Calls for extraordinary diplomatic efforts to arrive without further delay at a political solution to the crisis;
4.Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
UN Office: S-453A, UN, NY 10017 USA Tel: 212-963-1439
Netanyahu Addresses Kinloss Audience
by Devorah Richman - Friday 11th of August 2006
As Jews around the world commemorated the suffering of Jewish people throughout the ages last Thursday, more than 1,500 people flocked to Finchley Synagogue to hear a former Israeli Prime Minister and the Chief Rabbi of Poland discuss the issue from a
historic and contemporary perspective.The Tisha B’Av event, organised by the Kinloss Learning Centre, saw Rabbi Michael Schudrich give an inspiring talk on Our Sorrows of the Past a history on Jewish Conflict, while Benjamin Netanyahu gave a
forthright defence of the actions of the IDF in Lebanon.
He also stressed that the war must be considered in a wider context than simply a Middle East conflict. It’s not that Hezbollah are fighting Israel, he told the audience. This is a war of the western world, of which Israel is a part.Netanyahu went on to praise the pro-Israel stance adopted by US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a sentiment received with rousing applause and a standing ovation.
Kinloss's Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who organised the evening, told TJ: This was a remarkable occasion as it was the largest gathering ever to be held on Tisha B’Av.Meanwhile, speaking to the BBC this week, Netanyahu said Hezbollah saw Israel as the first step on the way to an Islamic empire. It is a mad wisdom.It should not be dismissed because it's mad. Just as Hitler - he started off as an attack on the Jews and this is the same thing.
Olmert talks to Rice: sources 2 hours, 40 minutes ago
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday and was reviewing the latest draft U.N. resolution to halt fighting in Lebanon. The prime minister's office is meeting now about the latest draft,a political source said.Israel's Channel 10 television said the text had been positively received, but political sources said Olmert's office had yet to take a stance.Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, said: We have to wait.When the U.N. Security Council does pass a resolution, it will go to the cabinet and the Israeli government will make a formal decision,he said.Regev said a key issue for Israel was that the cessation of hostilities cannot be a platform for Hizbollah to rearm and regroup and strengthen itself.
ANNAN HOPEFUL SECURITY COUNCIL CAN PASS RESOLUTION ON ISRAEL-LEBANON CONFLICT TODAY New York, Aug 11 2006 1:00PM
Observing that every day Security Council discussions go on, the death, the killings and the destruction continues in the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this morning that he was hopeful the Council can vote on a resolution to halt the conflict in the region before the end of the day.Mr. Annan, <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=917">speaking to reporters as he arrived at UN Headquarters in New York, said: I hope we should be able to do it [adopt a resolution] today. The will is there. We are close.The Council has scheduled a meeting for later today to discuss the violence that has engulfed Lebanon and northern Israel for the past month. As many as 1,000 civilians have been killed in Lebanon alone, according to authorities there, while Israel has said 41 of its civilians have also lost their lives in the conflict. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes.
Mr. Annan stressed that it was vital that we make progress today. Every day that the discussions go on, the death, the killings and the destruction continues in the region, and civilians on both sides continue to suffer.There have been enough discussions, he said.
The issues have been discussed all around and it is time for decision, and I hope the Council will take firm action today. I see no reason why they shouldn’t. Most of the Council members are determined to go ahead. They are frustrated themselves, and I hope today they will have the opportunity to pronounce themselves.The Secretary-General, who has a meeting scheduled today with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, also said he has been in regular contact with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to discuss how to sort out the differences between the parties on the wording of a resolution.
Since the start of hostilities, the Security Council has adopted a resolution temporarily extending the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (known as UNIFIL) through August, as well as two presidential statements on the violence.2006-08-11.
European Commission publishes updated crop yield forecast: July heat waves and drought reduce European crop yields
Brussels, Belgium,August 11, 2006
An updated analysis by the European Commission, through its advanced crop yield forecasting system, shows that the particularly hot weather in July has significantly affected this year’s EU crops productions. Compared to the previous analysis performed at the end of June, the European crop monitoring system now depicts a further reduction of crops. In comparison with the 2005 campaign,
the main crop yields affected are: soft wheat (-4.0%), winter barley (-2.0%), grain maize (-5.1%), potato (-4.3%) and sugar beet (-3.0%). The total cereal production is expected to be about 9 M tonnes (-3.6%) even lower than 2005’s reduced yields. In terms of production, Germany, Poland, UK, France and Italy appear to be most affected. Compared to the 2003 drought, the geographic area affected by the yield reduction is greater, whereas the overall loss in production is less severe. The forecast published today by the Commission provides yield estimates for the main crops throughout the European Union, comparing these with last year’s production and the average harvests over the last five years.
It also identifies the areas most affected by drought and heat stress and compares the situation with past extreme events. Frequent and persistent heat waves associated with dry conditions characterised the whole month of July. At the same time, the drought and the heat stress phenomena moved northward through the continent affecting particularly those areas where the winter crops were still at their sensitive stage (ripening/maturity).
Both in southern and in northern Europe, the spring-summer crops, in full vegetative to flowering phase, were suffering from the above-mentioned conditions. All this also had an impact on water reservoirs, reducing the irrigation resources mainly for grain maize, sugar beet and potatoes.
At EU level, comparing with the 2001-2005 averages, the Commission forecasts a potential yield decrease for soft wheat, barley and maize respectively of 2.3%, 4.6% and 0.1%; for spring barley a potential decrease of 7.4% is forecasted. For durum wheat, instead, the forecast depicts a potential yield increase of 2.0%. The overall yield reduction appears even larger in comparison with the previous campaign.
In terms of production, the most important areas affected by the unfavourable weather conditions are: Germany (-1.8% for wheat yield compared to 2005, -5.6% for barley, -9.0% for potato, -4.6% for sugar beet), Poland (-9.6% for barley yield compared to 2005, -13.4% for soft wheat, -5.0% for potato), UK (-9.0% for wheat yield compared to 2005, -7.9% for potato, -4.5% for barley, -1.3% for rape seed) France (-3.0% for soft wheat compared to 2005, -1.4% for winter barley, -4.0% for rape seed, -1.8% for sugar beet) and Italy (-8.6% for soft wheat yield compared to 2005, -7.5% for grain maize, -9.6% for sunflower and -25.3% for sugar beet).
Compared to the 2003 drought, the geographic area affected by the yield reduction is greater mainly because in the northernmost regions, high temperatures affected the crops earlier and in their more sensitive stages of development. However, water shortage started later and therefore the yield reduction is lower for the majority of crops (except spring barley).Depending on the weather conditions that will prevail in the second half of the summer as well as the possible irrigation restrictions for maize, the total cereals production can still vary by +/- 3-5 M tonnes.Dry conditions in May, which worsened in June and July, also affected permanent forage areas (pastures and grassland), green forage and green maize in most of Europe. Even though some limited areas are severely affected, the overall situation is not as severe as in 2003.
Further information: http://agrifish.jrc.it/marsstat/
Detailed forecasts by crop and country are published in MEMO/06/307.
EVIL INVENTIONS ARE PREDICTED IN THE BIBLE.
ROMANS 1:29-32
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Does anyone find it interesting what the beasts of Revelation are like.
REVELATION 4:6-8
6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
Human-animal mixing going too far, report says
Aug. 9, 2006,Courtesy Scottish Council on Human Bioethics and World Science staff
Scientists are going too far in creating mixed human-animal organisms, a Scottish organization is warning.The Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, a professional group based in Edinburgh, has published a report on the ethical implications of the practice in the journal Human Reproduction and Genetic Ethics. The report is online at www.schb.org.uk.An artist's concept of what a human-dog hybrid might look like.
The strange creatures are part of a sculpture by Australian artist Patricia Piccinini entitled The Young Family,produced to spark reflection on the perils of creating human-animal mixtures.Crossing the human species barrier is a procedure that has always fascinated humanity, noted the report, made public Tuesday and written in light of draft legislation on human embryology being prepared by the U.K. Department of Health, to be published this summer.
Ancient Greek mythology speaks of monsters such as the Minotaur—a man with a bull’s head—and centaurs, mixtures of humans and horses.But creatures of this nature may not remain confined to mythology for long, as scientists have begun tentatively creating mixed organisms. An array of experiments have produced animals with some human cells, for instance.Such procedures mix human and animal biological elements to such an extent that it questions the very concept of being entirely human, the report said. This raises grave and complex ethical difficulties.Some ethicists worry that the experiments might force society to make confounding decisions on whether, say, a human-chimp mix would have human rights. Other concerns are that such a creature could suffer from being outcast as a monster,from having a chimp as its biological father or mother, or from unusual health problems.Some inter-species mixtures are powerful research tools, the report said.
This became clear about a decade ago in a series of dramatic experiments in which small sections of brains from developing quails were taken and transplanted into the developing brains of chickens. The resulting chickens exhibited vocal trills and head bobs unique to quails, proving that the transplanted parts of the brain contained the neural circuitry for quail calls. It also offered astonishing proof that complex behaviours could be transferred across species.Later research has spawned human-animal creations, the report said. These usually die at the embryonic stage, but often survive if the mixtures involve only a few cells or genes transferred from one species to another.
The council cited the following examples:
In 2003, scientists at Cambridge University, U.K. conducted experiments involving fusing the nucleus of a human cell into frog eggs. The stated aim was to produce rejuvenated master cells that could be grown into replacement tissues for treating disease. It was not clear whether fertilization took place, but some kind of development was initiated, the report said.In 2005, U.K. scientists transplanted a human chromosome into mouse embryos. The newly born mice carried copies of the chromosome and were able to pass it on to their own young.The company Advanced Cell Technologies was reported, in 1999, to have created the first human embryo clone by inserting a human cell nucleus into a cow’s egg stripped of chromosomes. The result was an embryo that developed and divided for 12 days before being destroyed.
Panayiotis Zavos, the operator of a U.S. fertility laboratory, reported in 2003 that he had created around 200 cow-human hybrid embryos that lived for about two weeks and grew to several hundred cells in size, beyond the stage at which cells showed the first signs of developing into tissues and organs.
In 2003, Hui Zhen Sheng of Shanghai Second Medical University, China, announced that rabbit-human embryos had been created by fusing human cells with rabbit eggs stripped of their chromosomes. The embryos developed to the approximately 100-cell stage that forms after about four days of development.The council made 16 recommendations, including that it should be illegal to mix animal and human sperm and eggs, or to create an embryo containing cells consisting of both human and animal chromosomes.
The fertilisation of animal eggs with human sperm should not continue to be legal in the U.K. for research purposes,said Calum MacKellar, the council’s director of research.Most people are not aware that these kinds of experiments have been taking place in the U.K. and find it deeply offensive. Parliament should follow France and Germany and prohibit the creation of animal-human hybrid embryos.
In a report published in 2004, the President’s Council on Bioethics in the United States also advocated prohibiting the creation of animal-human embryos by uniting human and animal eggs and sperm. A draft law introduced in U.S. Congress by Senator Samuel Brownback (R-Kan.) would outlaw the creation of human-animal mixtures.
A 2005 report from the U.K. House of Commons Science and Technology Committee takes a more liberal stance, saying such embryos could be legal for research purposes if they are destroyed within 14 days.While there is revulsion in some quarters that such creations appear to blur the distinction between animals and humans, it could be argued that they are less human than, and therefore pose fewer ethical problems for research than fully human embryos,the committee wrote.
7-European Commission publishes updated crop yield forecast: July heat waves and drought reduce European crop yields. 8-Human-animal mixing going too far, report says.
ON JULY 22,06 GOD BLESSED ME WITH $1000.00 AND SINCE THEN I HAVE BEEN BLESSED ALSO WITH $800.00 MORE, I GIVE THE GOD OF ISRAEL (JESUS) ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY FOR THE BLESSINGS. $180.00 TO GODS KINGDOM, PRAISE GOD.
This guys not for Christians beware. I call him A (LUKEWARM LIBERAL,DEMOCRAT LEFTIST).
Israel, the US, and the Christian Right: The Menage a Trois From Hell
As I reported for the Nation in my most recent article, The Birth Pangs of a New Christian Zionism, the White House has convened a series of meetings over the past few months with leaders of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a newly formed political organization that tells its members that supporting Israel's expansionist policies is a biblical imperative. CUFI's Washington lobbyist, David Brog, told me that during the meetings, CUFI representatives pressed White House officials to adopt a more confrontational posture toward Iran, refuse aid to the Palestinians and give Israel a free hand as it ramped up its military conflict with Hezbollah.
The White House instructed Brog not to reveal the names of officials he met with, Brog said. Brog, the former chief-of-staff to Arlen Specter, is now the first full-time lobbyist for the Christian Zionism movement. He claims that CUFI's lobbying efforts, including organizing 3500 evangelical activists to visit congressional offices as Israel and Hezbollah exchanged their first salvoes of missiles, are having an impact. There is an ongoing debate in Washington over how long to let Israel continue the campaign against Hezbollah--how long will we let Israel fight its war on terror as we fight our own war on terror? Brog told me. And I think the arrival in Washington at that juncture of thousands of Christians who came for one issue and one issue only, to support Israel, sent a very important message to the Administration and the Congress, and I think helped persuade people that they should allow Israel some more time.
But CUFI has more on its agenda than simply supporting Israel.Its founder and president, Pastor John Hagee, is determined to see America and Israel adopt his Armageddon-based worldview as their foreign policy. Consider what Hagee wrote this year in Charisma magazine: The coming nuclear showdown with Iran is a certainty. Israel and America must confront Iran's nuclear ability and willingness to destroy Israel with nuclear weapons. For Israel to wait is to risk committing national suicide.Hagee's desire to doom the now-dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace process is equally disturbing. As I detailed in the Nation, in his book, The Beginning of the End, Hagee celebrated the murder of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy and glorified his assassin, Yigal Amir. More recently, Hagee's allies, like nationally syndicated evangelical radio host Janet Parshall, became ecstatic at the outbreak of violence in Lebanon and Israel. These are the times we've been waiting for,Parshall told her audience on July 21. This is straight out of a Sunday school lesson.
Time and again, Christian Zionists have delighted in events that most Israelis considered grave tragedies. And yet, Israel continually expends more energy cultivating their support than it does on earning much-needed international goodwill.
Case in point: after calling Ariel Sharon's descent into a comatose state God's punishment for the dividing the land, Pat Robertson was granted a personal meeting yesterday with Sharon's successor, Ehud Olmert. Afterwards, Robertson told his 700 Club viewership that the Lebanese people were sheltering a terrorist group and urged them to pray for an Israeli military victory.
Even as Israel alienates the international community by pursuing extreme militaristic solutions to its problems, it can count on unflagging support from America's evangelicals. It has recycled a strategy employed during the Cold War by authoritarian, anti-communist governments waging purportedly existential battles against dark-skinned barbarian hordes. For these regimes, the Bible Belt provided a natural constituency.
When international opinion turned against South Africa's apartheid regime in the 1980's, it presented itself to evangelicals as a final redoubt of Christian civilization in a sea of Afro-militant communism. Robertson responded with repeated denounciations of Mandela and the ANC on the 700 Club. Similarly, when evangelical Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios-Montt initiated a scorched-earth campaign (with Israeli military assistance) to exterminate his country's Mayan population, he called on Robertson for PR help.
Robertson leapt to aid his friend, hosting a telethon for Guatemala's military. He even funded the construction of model villages (read: concentration camps) for the Mayans who survived the massacres. Israel has clearly applied the lessons of the past.But it would be simplistic to expect Israel to continue down the dead-end road paved by regimes like those of P.W. Botha and Rios-Montt.
For all its flaws, Israel has one of the most resilient and politically sophisticated societies in the world. When the dust clears in Lebanon, Israelis will realize that their problems can only be solved through politics. And someday, they will have to deal with the Palestinians again. But then what?
What if a future Israeli government decides, as Yitzhak Rabin did, that Israel can live in the world and survive -- and even thrive? And what if a future American government backs Israel by mobilizing international allies behind a new land-for-peace effort? Most Americans would probably support this as they did in the past. American Jews would back a peace process if convinced there was a viable partner. And polls consistently show Israeli opinion in favor of the establishment of a Palestinian state. But in such a scenario, so-called Christian Zionists would reveal themselves as one of Israel's worst enemies. They have their own agenda and it
has nothing to do with peace.
EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
243 N. American Immigrants Arrive in Israel Thursday
By Ezra HaLevi(INN)
The first chartered plane of a record-setting week of Western Aliyah arrived in Israel Thursday, with not a single one of the 243 immigrants signed up backing out or postponing due to the war. The plane touched down and pulled alongside a special hangar near Ben Gurion Airport’s Terminal 1, where the new immigrants were greeted by hundreds of well wishers, family, friends, IDF soldiers, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and prominent American Aliyah supporter Rabbi Hershel Schachter.The flight was the 18th chartered flight of immigrants organized by the Nefesh b’Nefesh Aliyah assistance organization, together with the Jewish Agency.
A few months ago, 243 people registered to be a part of this flight today,Nefesh b’Nefesh co-founder Rabbi Yehoshua Fass said. They listened to the news and watched the scenes of war on television. But today, that plane landed with 243 olim (immigrants to Israel). We asked G-d to comfort the Jewish people on [the fast of] Tisha B’av last week. Not one person cancelled, and it brings great comfort to all of Israel.At every welcoming ceremony, one of the arriving families takes the stage and receives their Aliyah identity card, holding it up and saying a few words.
Wednesday, as people awoke to the news of 15 fallen reservists in battles in
Lebanon, Harold Sternlicht, one of the new immigrants said: For many years people have come to Israel running away from things the Holocaust, persecution. Today we are running to Israel!. The audience of new and veteran olim cheered and IDF soldiers who had been brought to the ceremony to greet the arrivals looked on in awe. This is extremely emotional,said Rachel, who added that when Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah turns on his television and sees the new arrivals,The will see that the nation of Israel is stronger than he ever imagined.
Judy, another soldier, herself came on Aliyah from Los Angeles almost two years ago. She has been in the IDF for a year, in a soldier/teacher program working with underprivileged kids. She says that the sight of crowds of new immigrants reminds her of why she chose to make Israel her home. Kim Richardson, 21, is arriving from Poughkeepsie, New York. She is joining her sister, Jen, who moved to Israel two years ago. Both sisters say they never thought about moving to Israel while growing up, but attended a program called Netiv their freshman year of college, during which they worked on Kibbutz Saad, studied at Hebrew University and fell in love with the Jewish state. The hair stylist I went to before I boarded the plane yesterday understood why I decided to move here the best,Kim said. His name was Hugo, and he told me, It’s all about your generation – you can change the world.
On Lebanon, Russian Gambit Focuses Franco-American Minds, Short Term Resolution Goes Blue Amid Flashes of Lightening
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee at the U.N.
UNITED NATIONS, August 10, 8:20 p.m. -- The ranks of Russian chess masters must now be expanded beyond Karpov and Kasparov. After 5 p.m. on Thursday, Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin emerged from 885 Second Avenue, which houses the French and UK missions, and spoke to a throng of reporters. He announced that Russia is putting forth its own resolution on Lebanon, one calling for a 72 hour cessation of hostilities. He said he intended to put this resolution in blue, meaning file it with Security Council Affairs and then Documents Control, which will prepare the text in the UN's six official languages, allowing for a Friday vote. Amb. Churkin indicated that Russia would withdraw its resolution if the French and U.S., who were negotiating upstairs, came to agreement on changes to their resolution.
The full text -- only 130 words -- of the Russian draft resolution is below.
Soon thereafter, just as a thunderstorm began, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton emerged. He called the Russian resolution an unnecessary diversion, declaring that we are not playing games. While heading out onto 47th Street, he said they would continue
working all night. The rain grew harder and a dog began to howl.
A side door opened and gallons of soapy water were swept out onto the pavilion full of wet journalists. The lion lay with the lamb: a famously Zionist reporter held the Al Arabia TV microphone as a favor. Upstairs, French Ambassador de La Sabliere apparently negotiated with himself.
It was reported that Margaret Beckett would arrive from London, if they allowed her on the plane. There were rumors of Condoleeza Rice in the wings. As one wag this one put it, success has many parents, but failure has only the P5 Ambassadors.
Ambassadors Churkin and Wang, right to left, in drier North Korean times
Back at UN headquarters, soaking wet, informed sources indicated that to go blue the plumbing involves Security Council Affairs on the 32nd floor, and Document Control on the 15th. The ascent and descent of elevators was studied. There were sighting of elusive Documents Control staff. Television journalists headed for the exits. If Churkin says it's going blue, that's good enough for us,one said.It was a dark and rainy night... Watching the lightening above Turtle Bay, a reporter turned to news analysis, remembering a side comment by Chinese Ambassador Wang, that there would be repercussions for the U.S.'s obstruction of even a Presidential Statement on the death by bomb of the four UNIFIL staffers. And where was Amb. Wang during Thursday's developments? Since a chess master does not move without thinking several steps ahead, who'd be Amb. Churkin's backers? Developing.
The Russian draft resolution, distributed to Council members:
Russian Federation: draft resolution,The Security Council,Expressing its gravest concern over the increasing escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and Israel since 12 July 2006,Appalled by large numbers of civilian casualties, extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and hundreds of thousands internally displaced persons, Emphasizing the critical need for urgent humanitarian supplies and mindful of the looming threat of even greater humanitarian catastrophe,
1.Calls for an immediate and full cessation of hostilities for humanitarian purposes for a period of 72 hours;
2.Urges all parties concerned and the international community to provide urgently all required humanitarian assistance to civilian
population in Lebanon;
3.Calls for extraordinary diplomatic efforts to arrive without further delay at a political solution to the crisis;
4.Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
UN Office: S-453A, UN, NY 10017 USA Tel: 212-963-1439
Netanyahu Addresses Kinloss Audience
by Devorah Richman - Friday 11th of August 2006
As Jews around the world commemorated the suffering of Jewish people throughout the ages last Thursday, more than 1,500 people flocked to Finchley Synagogue to hear a former Israeli Prime Minister and the Chief Rabbi of Poland discuss the issue from a
historic and contemporary perspective.The Tisha B’Av event, organised by the Kinloss Learning Centre, saw Rabbi Michael Schudrich give an inspiring talk on Our Sorrows of the Past a history on Jewish Conflict, while Benjamin Netanyahu gave a
forthright defence of the actions of the IDF in Lebanon.
He also stressed that the war must be considered in a wider context than simply a Middle East conflict. It’s not that Hezbollah are fighting Israel, he told the audience. This is a war of the western world, of which Israel is a part.Netanyahu went on to praise the pro-Israel stance adopted by US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a sentiment received with rousing applause and a standing ovation.
Kinloss's Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who organised the evening, told TJ: This was a remarkable occasion as it was the largest gathering ever to be held on Tisha B’Av.Meanwhile, speaking to the BBC this week, Netanyahu said Hezbollah saw Israel as the first step on the way to an Islamic empire. It is a mad wisdom.It should not be dismissed because it's mad. Just as Hitler - he started off as an attack on the Jews and this is the same thing.
Olmert talks to Rice: sources 2 hours, 40 minutes ago
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday and was reviewing the latest draft U.N. resolution to halt fighting in Lebanon. The prime minister's office is meeting now about the latest draft,a political source said.Israel's Channel 10 television said the text had been positively received, but political sources said Olmert's office had yet to take a stance.Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, said: We have to wait.When the U.N. Security Council does pass a resolution, it will go to the cabinet and the Israeli government will make a formal decision,he said.Regev said a key issue for Israel was that the cessation of hostilities cannot be a platform for Hizbollah to rearm and regroup and strengthen itself.
ANNAN HOPEFUL SECURITY COUNCIL CAN PASS RESOLUTION ON ISRAEL-LEBANON CONFLICT TODAY New York, Aug 11 2006 1:00PM
Observing that every day Security Council discussions go on, the death, the killings and the destruction continues in the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this morning that he was hopeful the Council can vote on a resolution to halt the conflict in the region before the end of the day.Mr. Annan, <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=917">speaking to reporters as he arrived at UN Headquarters in New York, said: I hope we should be able to do it [adopt a resolution] today. The will is there. We are close.The Council has scheduled a meeting for later today to discuss the violence that has engulfed Lebanon and northern Israel for the past month. As many as 1,000 civilians have been killed in Lebanon alone, according to authorities there, while Israel has said 41 of its civilians have also lost their lives in the conflict. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes.
Mr. Annan stressed that it was vital that we make progress today. Every day that the discussions go on, the death, the killings and the destruction continues in the region, and civilians on both sides continue to suffer.There have been enough discussions, he said.
The issues have been discussed all around and it is time for decision, and I hope the Council will take firm action today. I see no reason why they shouldn’t. Most of the Council members are determined to go ahead. They are frustrated themselves, and I hope today they will have the opportunity to pronounce themselves.The Secretary-General, who has a meeting scheduled today with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, also said he has been in regular contact with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to discuss how to sort out the differences between the parties on the wording of a resolution.
Since the start of hostilities, the Security Council has adopted a resolution temporarily extending the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (known as UNIFIL) through August, as well as two presidential statements on the violence.2006-08-11.
European Commission publishes updated crop yield forecast: July heat waves and drought reduce European crop yields
Brussels, Belgium,August 11, 2006
An updated analysis by the European Commission, through its advanced crop yield forecasting system, shows that the particularly hot weather in July has significantly affected this year’s EU crops productions. Compared to the previous analysis performed at the end of June, the European crop monitoring system now depicts a further reduction of crops. In comparison with the 2005 campaign,
the main crop yields affected are: soft wheat (-4.0%), winter barley (-2.0%), grain maize (-5.1%), potato (-4.3%) and sugar beet (-3.0%). The total cereal production is expected to be about 9 M tonnes (-3.6%) even lower than 2005’s reduced yields. In terms of production, Germany, Poland, UK, France and Italy appear to be most affected. Compared to the 2003 drought, the geographic area affected by the yield reduction is greater, whereas the overall loss in production is less severe. The forecast published today by the Commission provides yield estimates for the main crops throughout the European Union, comparing these with last year’s production and the average harvests over the last five years.
It also identifies the areas most affected by drought and heat stress and compares the situation with past extreme events. Frequent and persistent heat waves associated with dry conditions characterised the whole month of July. At the same time, the drought and the heat stress phenomena moved northward through the continent affecting particularly those areas where the winter crops were still at their sensitive stage (ripening/maturity).
Both in southern and in northern Europe, the spring-summer crops, in full vegetative to flowering phase, were suffering from the above-mentioned conditions. All this also had an impact on water reservoirs, reducing the irrigation resources mainly for grain maize, sugar beet and potatoes.
At EU level, comparing with the 2001-2005 averages, the Commission forecasts a potential yield decrease for soft wheat, barley and maize respectively of 2.3%, 4.6% and 0.1%; for spring barley a potential decrease of 7.4% is forecasted. For durum wheat, instead, the forecast depicts a potential yield increase of 2.0%. The overall yield reduction appears even larger in comparison with the previous campaign.
In terms of production, the most important areas affected by the unfavourable weather conditions are: Germany (-1.8% for wheat yield compared to 2005, -5.6% for barley, -9.0% for potato, -4.6% for sugar beet), Poland (-9.6% for barley yield compared to 2005, -13.4% for soft wheat, -5.0% for potato), UK (-9.0% for wheat yield compared to 2005, -7.9% for potato, -4.5% for barley, -1.3% for rape seed) France (-3.0% for soft wheat compared to 2005, -1.4% for winter barley, -4.0% for rape seed, -1.8% for sugar beet) and Italy (-8.6% for soft wheat yield compared to 2005, -7.5% for grain maize, -9.6% for sunflower and -25.3% for sugar beet).
Compared to the 2003 drought, the geographic area affected by the yield reduction is greater mainly because in the northernmost regions, high temperatures affected the crops earlier and in their more sensitive stages of development. However, water shortage started later and therefore the yield reduction is lower for the majority of crops (except spring barley).Depending on the weather conditions that will prevail in the second half of the summer as well as the possible irrigation restrictions for maize, the total cereals production can still vary by +/- 3-5 M tonnes.Dry conditions in May, which worsened in June and July, also affected permanent forage areas (pastures and grassland), green forage and green maize in most of Europe. Even though some limited areas are severely affected, the overall situation is not as severe as in 2003.
Further information: http://agrifish.jrc.it/marsstat/
Detailed forecasts by crop and country are published in MEMO/06/307.
EVIL INVENTIONS ARE PREDICTED IN THE BIBLE.
ROMANS 1:29-32
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Does anyone find it interesting what the beasts of Revelation are like.
REVELATION 4:6-8
6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
Human-animal mixing going too far, report says
Aug. 9, 2006,Courtesy Scottish Council on Human Bioethics and World Science staff
Scientists are going too far in creating mixed human-animal organisms, a Scottish organization is warning.The Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, a professional group based in Edinburgh, has published a report on the ethical implications of the practice in the journal Human Reproduction and Genetic Ethics. The report is online at www.schb.org.uk.An artist's concept of what a human-dog hybrid might look like.
The strange creatures are part of a sculpture by Australian artist Patricia Piccinini entitled The Young Family,produced to spark reflection on the perils of creating human-animal mixtures.Crossing the human species barrier is a procedure that has always fascinated humanity, noted the report, made public Tuesday and written in light of draft legislation on human embryology being prepared by the U.K. Department of Health, to be published this summer.
Ancient Greek mythology speaks of monsters such as the Minotaur—a man with a bull’s head—and centaurs, mixtures of humans and horses.But creatures of this nature may not remain confined to mythology for long, as scientists have begun tentatively creating mixed organisms. An array of experiments have produced animals with some human cells, for instance.Such procedures mix human and animal biological elements to such an extent that it questions the very concept of being entirely human, the report said. This raises grave and complex ethical difficulties.Some ethicists worry that the experiments might force society to make confounding decisions on whether, say, a human-chimp mix would have human rights. Other concerns are that such a creature could suffer from being outcast as a monster,from having a chimp as its biological father or mother, or from unusual health problems.Some inter-species mixtures are powerful research tools, the report said.
This became clear about a decade ago in a series of dramatic experiments in which small sections of brains from developing quails were taken and transplanted into the developing brains of chickens. The resulting chickens exhibited vocal trills and head bobs unique to quails, proving that the transplanted parts of the brain contained the neural circuitry for quail calls. It also offered astonishing proof that complex behaviours could be transferred across species.Later research has spawned human-animal creations, the report said. These usually die at the embryonic stage, but often survive if the mixtures involve only a few cells or genes transferred from one species to another.
The council cited the following examples:
In 2003, scientists at Cambridge University, U.K. conducted experiments involving fusing the nucleus of a human cell into frog eggs. The stated aim was to produce rejuvenated master cells that could be grown into replacement tissues for treating disease. It was not clear whether fertilization took place, but some kind of development was initiated, the report said.In 2005, U.K. scientists transplanted a human chromosome into mouse embryos. The newly born mice carried copies of the chromosome and were able to pass it on to their own young.The company Advanced Cell Technologies was reported, in 1999, to have created the first human embryo clone by inserting a human cell nucleus into a cow’s egg stripped of chromosomes. The result was an embryo that developed and divided for 12 days before being destroyed.
Panayiotis Zavos, the operator of a U.S. fertility laboratory, reported in 2003 that he had created around 200 cow-human hybrid embryos that lived for about two weeks and grew to several hundred cells in size, beyond the stage at which cells showed the first signs of developing into tissues and organs.
In 2003, Hui Zhen Sheng of Shanghai Second Medical University, China, announced that rabbit-human embryos had been created by fusing human cells with rabbit eggs stripped of their chromosomes. The embryos developed to the approximately 100-cell stage that forms after about four days of development.The council made 16 recommendations, including that it should be illegal to mix animal and human sperm and eggs, or to create an embryo containing cells consisting of both human and animal chromosomes.
The fertilisation of animal eggs with human sperm should not continue to be legal in the U.K. for research purposes,said Calum MacKellar, the council’s director of research.Most people are not aware that these kinds of experiments have been taking place in the U.K. and find it deeply offensive. Parliament should follow France and Germany and prohibit the creation of animal-human hybrid embryos.
In a report published in 2004, the President’s Council on Bioethics in the United States also advocated prohibiting the creation of animal-human embryos by uniting human and animal eggs and sperm. A draft law introduced in U.S. Congress by Senator Samuel Brownback (R-Kan.) would outlaw the creation of human-animal mixtures.
A 2005 report from the U.K. House of Commons Science and Technology Committee takes a more liberal stance, saying such embryos could be legal for research purposes if they are destroyed within 14 days.While there is revulsion in some quarters that such creations appear to blur the distinction between animals and humans, it could be argued that they are less human than, and therefore pose fewer ethical problems for research than fully human embryos,the committee wrote.
US LOSING CREDIBILITY IN MIDEAST
1-Earthquakes Shaking Up Garvin County. 2-Moderate earthquake rocks Mexico. 3-Powerful typhoon kills 104 in China. 4-Iran wants 'religious empire' in Middle East: 5-Tornado Hits Marcellus. 6-Palestinians Want Ceasefire with Israel. 7-Spain's Military now Up and Running With Savi Technology's RFID-Based Consignment Management Solution. 8-Israeli Objections to Ceasefire Proposal. 9-Abbas Urged To Dissolve Palestinian Authority. 10-US losing credibility in Mideast.
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Earthquakes Shaking Up Garvin County
Posted: Aug 10, 2006 07:47 PM EDT
In Garvin County, Oklahoma, residents have been rattled recently. The Oklahoma Geological Survey says four earthquakes have been recorded there since Friday. The latest one hit yesterday in Elmore City, where residents say they felt the tremors.
KTEN's Andrea Kurys reports.The latest earthquake was the largest to hit the county, so far. Geologists say the earthquake was a two-point-nine magnitude shaker. Nancy Haley, an Elmore City resident said, I was sitting at my computer and all of a sudden it was just a rumble like, um, distant thunder.Haley thought she might be feeling vibrations caused by heavy artillery at Fort Sill, 55 miles to the west. She said, Then it was just shaking, even the chair I was sitting in was shaking.
All over town, residents reported feeling the earth move. Some say things fell off the walls and shattered. Others say they were shaken awake in the middle of the night. Tammy Wiley said, I was in bed about 4 o'clock in the morning, laying there and the bed just kind of jumped, kind of like it just went 'boom.'Officials say yesterday's quake released 164 times as much energy as the three others recorded earlier this week. According to the Oklahoma Geological Survey, 30 to 60 earthquakes occur each year in Oklahoma, it's just that nobody knows about them. Residents say the news is more interesting than concerning...but the city is prepared, should a natural disaster strike.
Lisa Rollings works at City Hall. She said, We have an evacuation committee that just started in you know, being prepared for these types of things, but I don't think we ever actually put earthquake on the list.And in this small town of less than 800 people, word has traveled fast. Nancy Haley said, My husband went to the coffee shop and everybody there was talking a bout it, did you feel that this morning early and so, yeah, it was the talk of the town. It still is.(Andrea Kurys, KTEN News).
Moderate earthquake rocks Mexico City 3 minutes ago
MEXICO CITY - A moderate earthquake rocked Mexico City on Friday, causing skyscrapers to sway and frightening residents.
There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.The U.S. Geological Service estimated the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 and was centered in Michoacan, 125 miles southwest of the capital.There were no initial reports of major damage in the city, and electric and telephone service were not interrupted.
Hundreds of Mexico City residents ran into the streets when the quake hit.Radio reports said the city seemed fine. The quake didn't appear to knock out electricity or phone service.The quake was too small and based too far inland to cause a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
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.
Powerful typhoon kills 104 in China By JOE McDONALD, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 47 minutes ago
BEIJING - Typhoon Saomai, the strongest storm to strike China in 50 years, weakened to a tropical depression Friday but drenched the country's southeast after killing at least 104 people, blacking out cities and wrecking more than 50,000 houses. Another 190 people were missing after Saomai, whose winds peaked at 170 mph, battered areas where more than 1.6 million people were evacuated before it hit late Thursday.Hardest-hit was Wenzhou, a coastal city where at least 81 people were killed and 11 were missing, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said Wenzhou suffered $560 million in damage, including more than 18,000 flattened houses.
In Cangnan County on Wenzhou's outskirts, 43 bodies, including those of eight children, were found in the debris of collapsed houses where they sought shelter from the storm, Xinhua said. News photos showed relatives weeping over bodies covered in sheets and quilts.State television showed cars flipped over on rain-slicked streets, fallen trees and broken road signs. Exhausted evacuees sat in public buildings waiting out the storm.Saomai weakened to a tropical depression Friday, and torrential rains were forecast over the weekend across China's south, from coastal Zhejiang and Fujian inland to the poor rural provinces of Jiangxi and
Anhui.Much of that region was still recovering from Tropical Storm Bilis, which killed more than 600 people last month, many of them in mountain villages and other inland areas.
Saomai, the Vietnamese name for the planet Venus, was the eighth major storm to hit China during an unusually violent typhoon season. It was dubbed a super typhoon by Chinese forecasters due to its huge size and strong winds.
Deaths were reported in Zhejiang province, where Wenzhou is located, and neighboring Fujian province to the south, where power was knocked out in several cities, state media said.More than 32,000 houses were wrecked in Fujian, Xinhua said. The government didn't immediately say how bad the damage was in Zhejiang outside of Wenzhou.Saomai was the most powerful typhoon to hit China since a storm on Aug. 1, 1956, that had winds up to 145 mph, Xinhua said.
It said that typhoon killed 4,900 people in Zhejiang.It is the strongest typhoon that we have ever seen,Xinhua quoted an unnamed official as saying in Fuding, where at least two people were killed. The government said the city got more than a foot of rain in 12 hours.
Ahead of the storm, about 1 million people were evacuated from flood-prone areas of Zhejiang and 620,000 from Fujian, according to the government.More than 20,000 soldiers and paramilitary police reportedly were mobilized for relief work. The Fujian government said it sent 1,500 tents, 3,000 quilts and 50,000 pieces of clothing to storm survivors.Late Friday, the government announced that it was allocating $21 million in disaster aid to regions hit by Saomai and other recent storms.Last week, Typhoon Prapiroon battered Guangdong province and the Guangxi region on China's southern coast, killing at least 80 people.Even as Saomai moved inland, Chinese forecasters were already closely watching Tropical Storm Bopha, which trailed behind it farther out in the Pacific.
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines(PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Iran wants 'religious empire' in Middle East: Israel Thu Aug 10, 8:44 AM ET
PARIS (AFP) Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres has urged the international community to prevent Iran from imposing a religious empire across the Middle East. The problem, once again, lies with the religious ambitions of the Persians, Peres told French television France 3 Thursday.
That is why many people, even among Arabs, are against Hezbollah and the Iranians. They want to maintain the Middle East as an Arab place, not an Iranian religious empire.The world, including France, needs to do something to stop this dangerous behaviour,he said.Israel accuses Iran and Syria of supporting the Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and supplying it with arms, notably its arsenal of thousands of rockets, which is being used to shower Israel with attacks every day.The two countries consistently argue that their support for Hezbollah is purely moral.
Tornado Hits Marcellus
The National Weather Service in Binghamton says a tornado touched down in the village of Marcellus around 4 pm. It's estimated that the tornado was an F-0 on the Fujita Damage Scale, the weakest kind of tornado, with winds up to 70 MPH. The estimated width of the Tornado was about 75 yards. Damage was largely to trees which were uprooted and snapped. A portion of a tin roof on a residence was pulled off the building and flipped. A path of the tornado is visible between Orchard Street and Kinderwood Road, with more damage heading southeast of town. One eyewitness says the tornado passed just to the east of Marcellus Park and the went 3 miles ot the Southeast before going out of view. Additional storm damage was noted in the vicinity of South Onondaga where utility crews are repairing power lines and poles on Nichols Road and Hutchings Road.
Palestinians Want Ceasefire with Israel
August 10, 2006
Many adults in the West Bank and Gaza Strip think it is time to reach a truce with Israel, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion. 57.7 per cent of respondents support enacting a ceasefire.In January, Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council election, securing 74 of the 112 seats at stake. Ismail Haniyeh officially took over as prime minister on Mar. 28.
The Israeli government believes Hamas is directly responsible for the deaths of 377 citizens in a variety of attacks, which include dozens of suicide bombings.
On Jun. 28, Israel launched a military operation in response to a joint raid carried out by Palestinian militants on a military post outside of the Gaza Strip, in which two Israeli soldiers were killed, and one more, Gilad Shalit, was captured.On Jul. 10, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert ruled out any discussions with the Hamas-led government, saying, I will not release prisoners to trade for Gilad Shalit. I don’t negotiate with Hamas, I did not negotiate with Hamas and I will not negotiate with Hamas.On Aug. 9, London-based Al Hayat reported that the three groups that hold Shalit have demanded the release of 12 Palestinian prisoners—including Fatah member Marwan Barghouti and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmad Saadat—in exchange for the Israeli soldier.
Polling Data
Do you support or oppose enacting a ceasefire with Israel?
Support
57.7%
Oppose
38.4%
No reply
3.9%
Source: Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO)
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,000 Palestinian adults in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, conducted from Jul. 22 to Jul. 29, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.,Archive Search,Over 12,000 Polls,Search the Angus Reid Global Scan Polls & Research archive.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(EU) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
Spain's Military now Up and Running With Savi Technology's RFID-Based Consignment Management Solution
By: PR Newswire,Aug. 10, 2006 10:23 AM,Digg This!
SUNNYVALE, California, August 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The Spanish Armed Forces (SAF) active Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) network and software platform is ready to interoperate with compatible RFID networks deployed by NATO and other military
allies.
The RFID networks provided by Savi Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation [NYSE: LMT], now enable SAF and NATO to automatically track and manage national and multi-national, joint force consignments as they are transported through each other's supply chains worldwide. The platform uses the Savi Consignment Management Solution (CMS) and includes Savi's data-rich, active RFID tags, fixed readers and handheld reader kits.
Last year the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A) initiated use of an interoperable RFID backbone when it upgraded to Savi CMS for its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) supply chain.
We're delighted that the Savi CMS solution is up and running, and we are eager to further test the system, and to collaborate on tracking consignments through compatible networks such as NATO's,said Col. Enrique Porras, technical director of SAF's Logistic Resources Tracking System Program. The timely and accurate information from the Savi CMS solution will improve our ability to efficiently and effectively deliver supplies to our soldiers deployed in the field, and to collaborate closely with allies during more complex joint-force operations.
Porras continued. Savi Technology, a leading provider of RFID supply chain solutions for commercial, defense and civilian agencies, also has extended active RFID networks and support software for the U.S. Department of Defense, United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, Australian Defence Forces, and the Danish Ministry of Defence.
As more defense organizations implement and upgrade RFID networks using the Savi CMS, there will be a multiplier effect in terms of efficiencies, economies of scale, reduced supply losses and improved service deliveries in the field,said Bruce Jacquemard, managing director of Savi's International Public Sector.
Savi CMS is a complete, integrated solution that bridges the visibility gaps of consignments as they move through military supply chains. Savi CMS also provides exception-based management alerts; real-time tracking of assets and their contents as well as monitoring of environmental conditions inside the container. Savi's RFID solutions have been implemented in more than 2,000 locations in over 50 countries: Savi networks track approximately 35,000 consignments a day. Savi Technology www.savi.com.
Savi Technology
Mark Nelson, +1-408-743-8866 mnelson@savi.com, Lockheed Martin www.lockheedmartin.com
Published Aug. 10, 2006 SYS-CON Media.
Israeli Objections to Ceasefire Proposal
By Hillel Fendel and Hana Levi Julian(INN)
Former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom of the Likud has stinging criticism of the ceasefire plan being formulated in the United Nations. He calls it a disgrace and a historic tragedy.Shalom, who served as Foreign Minister under former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for nearly three years until early this year, said that the proposal under consideration by the Security Council mortgages the country's future and would be a weeping for generations. Lebanon, too, has objections, which may cause another delay in the Council vote. Lebanon feels that the Shab'a Farms area, which it still demands from Israel, is not significantly mentioned, nor does it like the fact that the international peacekeeping force would be empowered to open fire. Lebanon also insists that Israel withdraw entirely from south Lebanese territory before any ceasefire is carried out.
Israel initially objected to the ceasefire proposal for its lack of a clause requiring Hizbullah to disarm prior to a ceasefire. Nonetheless, Jerusalem appears willing to accept the proposal. Israel has rejected a Russian proposal to hold a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, says it would only give Hizbullah time to regroup and recover. We think this is a bad idea. Speaking with Voice of Israel Radio on Friday morning, Minister Shalom said if the UN proposal is accepted, Israel's position would be worse than it was at the beginning of the war: It does not call for a large multi-national force in southern Lebanon, Hizbullah would not be disarmed, and a parallel is made between our abducted soldiers and murderous Lebanese terrorists held by Israel such as Samir Kuntar.It could even be, Shalom said, that Syria might conclude that it can get the Golan Heights back by sending over some missiles to Israel.
Shalom's party colleague, former Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Yuval Shteinitz, took an even stronger stance. If Israel accepts this shameful ceasefire, Shteinitz said Friday morning, the government must resign and new elections must be held.
Shteinitz took issue with the fact that the new proposal would replace Resolution 1559 of two years ago, which calls for the Lebanese Army to take over southern Lebanon from Hizbullah:The fact that Israel is willing to significantly erode 1559, and even give Hizbullah a territorial achievement in the form of half of Israel's Mt. Hermon (Shab'a) will be understood as a clear victory for Hizbullah. This will invite a difficult war of rockets and commandos from Syria in the near future.If this is an existential war, as [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert said, then the results of it are dangerous to Israel's existence,Shteinitz concluded.
On the other hand, the left-wing peace forces are pleading with the government to accept the ceasefire proposal. Meretz MK Zahava Gal'on said, It is in Israel's interest to accept this plan and to thus end the warfare. Israel must take advantage of the agreement being formed to call for the inclusion of Syria in the negotiations, and to thus turn it into an entity with which we can reach a
diplomatic agreement.A diplomatic agreement with Syria, almost by definition, would entail ceding the Golan Heights to that country.
Abbas Urged To Dissolve Palestinian Authority
August 11, 2006 7:15 a.m. EST,Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Correspondent
Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - In apparent pressure tactic on Israel, PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is being urged by senior members of the Palestinian leadership to dissolve the Palestinian Authority.A spokesman for PLO Foreign Minister Farouq Kaddoumi, who sees himself, and not Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar, as the true foreign representative of the Palestinians, said the move should be considered in order to force Israel to withdraw its forces to positions held before September 2000, release frozen tax revenues and free jailed members of the Hamas leadership. It would also have the effect of undoing the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement, better known as the Oslo Accords.
Said Kaddoumi aide Ghassan al-Masri to The Jerusalem Post, It's inconceivable that the Palestinians should pay the cost of their occupation by Israel. Why shouldn't Israel, in its capacity as an occupation force, bear the expenses of our education, health and social welfare systems? Why should it be an inexpensive occupation for Israel? The Oslo Accords were signed precisely to give the Palestinians an opportunity to make a better life for themselves. But their leadership has by and large chosen to continue fighting Israel instead, culminating in the outbreak of the Al Aqsa Intifada in September 2000. Things got worse for the Palestinians in January of this year when they overwhelmingly chose the Hamas terrorist organization to lead them, resulting in Israel freezing the transfer of desperately needed funds and, more recently, arresting the bulk of Hamas lawmakers.
Said PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in an address to a truncated gathering of legislators Wednesday, In light of the Israeli measures against our government, I believe that we will have to start looking into the possibility of dismantling the Palestinian Authority.Despite belonging to the rival Fatah and Hamas factions, Kaddoumi, who lives in exile in Tunisia, and Haniyeh agree that Israel's destruction remains the Palestinians' ultimate goal.
US losing credibility in Mideast From correspondents in Cairo
August 11, 2006
EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubarak said the United States and the West were losing credibility in the Middle East because they were dragging their feet on a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
In an interview with the Egyptian magazine October, released today, Mr Mubarak also said it would be impossible to implement quickly a UN resolution which requires Hezbollah to disarm - one of the steps Israel and the United States want to see in a political settlement of the month-old conflict.
He dismissed Washington's talk of a new Middle East, saying it ignored what he called the real problem - the collapse of attempts at peace between Israelis and Palestinians.Foot-dragging on a ceasefire and the continuation of the Israeli aggression detract from the credibility of the United States and the West in the region,Mr Mubarak said.
The United States has not moved to a sufficient extent and with the necessary speed to contain the situation,he said.Washington has said it takes time to negotiate lasting security arrangements for south Lebanon. Analysts and diplomats say the United States has been trying to give Israel more time to damage Hezbollah and claim military success. Israel and the United States want the Lebanese army, backed by international forces, to move into south Lebanon and supervise the disarmament of Hezbollah - one of the steps envisaged in UN Security Council resolution 1559 of 2004. Mr Mubarak said: Long months have passed without full implementation of resolution 1559.
It is inconceivable that what was not achieved in past years and months could be achieved in the midst of the current crisis and within a few weeks. That will not happen by diktats contained in UN Security Council resolutions which lack balance, but by taking into account Lebanese realities and concerns,he said.Regarding the new Middle East concept promoted by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice early in the fighting, Mr Mubarak said: To talk about the 'new Middle East' or, before that, the Greater Middle East, ignores the real problem in the region, which is the suspension of the peace process. That leads to a rise in feelings of despair, frustration and extremism,he said.
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Earthquakes Shaking Up Garvin County
Posted: Aug 10, 2006 07:47 PM EDT
In Garvin County, Oklahoma, residents have been rattled recently. The Oklahoma Geological Survey says four earthquakes have been recorded there since Friday. The latest one hit yesterday in Elmore City, where residents say they felt the tremors.
KTEN's Andrea Kurys reports.The latest earthquake was the largest to hit the county, so far. Geologists say the earthquake was a two-point-nine magnitude shaker. Nancy Haley, an Elmore City resident said, I was sitting at my computer and all of a sudden it was just a rumble like, um, distant thunder.Haley thought she might be feeling vibrations caused by heavy artillery at Fort Sill, 55 miles to the west. She said, Then it was just shaking, even the chair I was sitting in was shaking.
All over town, residents reported feeling the earth move. Some say things fell off the walls and shattered. Others say they were shaken awake in the middle of the night. Tammy Wiley said, I was in bed about 4 o'clock in the morning, laying there and the bed just kind of jumped, kind of like it just went 'boom.'Officials say yesterday's quake released 164 times as much energy as the three others recorded earlier this week. According to the Oklahoma Geological Survey, 30 to 60 earthquakes occur each year in Oklahoma, it's just that nobody knows about them. Residents say the news is more interesting than concerning...but the city is prepared, should a natural disaster strike.
Lisa Rollings works at City Hall. She said, We have an evacuation committee that just started in you know, being prepared for these types of things, but I don't think we ever actually put earthquake on the list.And in this small town of less than 800 people, word has traveled fast. Nancy Haley said, My husband went to the coffee shop and everybody there was talking a bout it, did you feel that this morning early and so, yeah, it was the talk of the town. It still is.(Andrea Kurys, KTEN News).
Moderate earthquake rocks Mexico City 3 minutes ago
MEXICO CITY - A moderate earthquake rocked Mexico City on Friday, causing skyscrapers to sway and frightening residents.
There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.The U.S. Geological Service estimated the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 and was centered in Michoacan, 125 miles southwest of the capital.There were no initial reports of major damage in the city, and electric and telephone service were not interrupted.
Hundreds of Mexico City residents ran into the streets when the quake hit.Radio reports said the city seemed fine. The quake didn't appear to knock out electricity or phone service.The quake was too small and based too far inland to cause a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
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.
Powerful typhoon kills 104 in China By JOE McDONALD, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 47 minutes ago
BEIJING - Typhoon Saomai, the strongest storm to strike China in 50 years, weakened to a tropical depression Friday but drenched the country's southeast after killing at least 104 people, blacking out cities and wrecking more than 50,000 houses. Another 190 people were missing after Saomai, whose winds peaked at 170 mph, battered areas where more than 1.6 million people were evacuated before it hit late Thursday.Hardest-hit was Wenzhou, a coastal city where at least 81 people were killed and 11 were missing, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said Wenzhou suffered $560 million in damage, including more than 18,000 flattened houses.
In Cangnan County on Wenzhou's outskirts, 43 bodies, including those of eight children, were found in the debris of collapsed houses where they sought shelter from the storm, Xinhua said. News photos showed relatives weeping over bodies covered in sheets and quilts.State television showed cars flipped over on rain-slicked streets, fallen trees and broken road signs. Exhausted evacuees sat in public buildings waiting out the storm.Saomai weakened to a tropical depression Friday, and torrential rains were forecast over the weekend across China's south, from coastal Zhejiang and Fujian inland to the poor rural provinces of Jiangxi and
Anhui.Much of that region was still recovering from Tropical Storm Bilis, which killed more than 600 people last month, many of them in mountain villages and other inland areas.
Saomai, the Vietnamese name for the planet Venus, was the eighth major storm to hit China during an unusually violent typhoon season. It was dubbed a super typhoon by Chinese forecasters due to its huge size and strong winds.
Deaths were reported in Zhejiang province, where Wenzhou is located, and neighboring Fujian province to the south, where power was knocked out in several cities, state media said.More than 32,000 houses were wrecked in Fujian, Xinhua said. The government didn't immediately say how bad the damage was in Zhejiang outside of Wenzhou.Saomai was the most powerful typhoon to hit China since a storm on Aug. 1, 1956, that had winds up to 145 mph, Xinhua said.
It said that typhoon killed 4,900 people in Zhejiang.It is the strongest typhoon that we have ever seen,Xinhua quoted an unnamed official as saying in Fuding, where at least two people were killed. The government said the city got more than a foot of rain in 12 hours.
Ahead of the storm, about 1 million people were evacuated from flood-prone areas of Zhejiang and 620,000 from Fujian, according to the government.More than 20,000 soldiers and paramilitary police reportedly were mobilized for relief work. The Fujian government said it sent 1,500 tents, 3,000 quilts and 50,000 pieces of clothing to storm survivors.Late Friday, the government announced that it was allocating $21 million in disaster aid to regions hit by Saomai and other recent storms.Last week, Typhoon Prapiroon battered Guangdong province and the Guangxi region on China's southern coast, killing at least 80 people.Even as Saomai moved inland, Chinese forecasters were already closely watching Tropical Storm Bopha, which trailed behind it farther out in the Pacific.
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines(PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Iran wants 'religious empire' in Middle East: Israel Thu Aug 10, 8:44 AM ET
PARIS (AFP) Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres has urged the international community to prevent Iran from imposing a religious empire across the Middle East. The problem, once again, lies with the religious ambitions of the Persians, Peres told French television France 3 Thursday.
That is why many people, even among Arabs, are against Hezbollah and the Iranians. They want to maintain the Middle East as an Arab place, not an Iranian religious empire.The world, including France, needs to do something to stop this dangerous behaviour,he said.Israel accuses Iran and Syria of supporting the Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and supplying it with arms, notably its arsenal of thousands of rockets, which is being used to shower Israel with attacks every day.The two countries consistently argue that their support for Hezbollah is purely moral.
Tornado Hits Marcellus
The National Weather Service in Binghamton says a tornado touched down in the village of Marcellus around 4 pm. It's estimated that the tornado was an F-0 on the Fujita Damage Scale, the weakest kind of tornado, with winds up to 70 MPH. The estimated width of the Tornado was about 75 yards. Damage was largely to trees which were uprooted and snapped. A portion of a tin roof on a residence was pulled off the building and flipped. A path of the tornado is visible between Orchard Street and Kinderwood Road, with more damage heading southeast of town. One eyewitness says the tornado passed just to the east of Marcellus Park and the went 3 miles ot the Southeast before going out of view. Additional storm damage was noted in the vicinity of South Onondaga where utility crews are repairing power lines and poles on Nichols Road and Hutchings Road.
Palestinians Want Ceasefire with Israel
August 10, 2006
Many adults in the West Bank and Gaza Strip think it is time to reach a truce with Israel, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion. 57.7 per cent of respondents support enacting a ceasefire.In January, Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council election, securing 74 of the 112 seats at stake. Ismail Haniyeh officially took over as prime minister on Mar. 28.
The Israeli government believes Hamas is directly responsible for the deaths of 377 citizens in a variety of attacks, which include dozens of suicide bombings.
On Jun. 28, Israel launched a military operation in response to a joint raid carried out by Palestinian militants on a military post outside of the Gaza Strip, in which two Israeli soldiers were killed, and one more, Gilad Shalit, was captured.On Jul. 10, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert ruled out any discussions with the Hamas-led government, saying, I will not release prisoners to trade for Gilad Shalit. I don’t negotiate with Hamas, I did not negotiate with Hamas and I will not negotiate with Hamas.On Aug. 9, London-based Al Hayat reported that the three groups that hold Shalit have demanded the release of 12 Palestinian prisoners—including Fatah member Marwan Barghouti and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmad Saadat—in exchange for the Israeli soldier.
Polling Data
Do you support or oppose enacting a ceasefire with Israel?
Support
57.7%
Oppose
38.4%
No reply
3.9%
Source: Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO)
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,000 Palestinian adults in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, conducted from Jul. 22 to Jul. 29, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.,Archive Search,Over 12,000 Polls,Search the Angus Reid Global Scan Polls & Research archive.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(EU) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
Spain's Military now Up and Running With Savi Technology's RFID-Based Consignment Management Solution
By: PR Newswire,Aug. 10, 2006 10:23 AM,Digg This!
SUNNYVALE, California, August 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The Spanish Armed Forces (SAF) active Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) network and software platform is ready to interoperate with compatible RFID networks deployed by NATO and other military
allies.
The RFID networks provided by Savi Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation [NYSE: LMT], now enable SAF and NATO to automatically track and manage national and multi-national, joint force consignments as they are transported through each other's supply chains worldwide. The platform uses the Savi Consignment Management Solution (CMS) and includes Savi's data-rich, active RFID tags, fixed readers and handheld reader kits.
Last year the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A) initiated use of an interoperable RFID backbone when it upgraded to Savi CMS for its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) supply chain.
We're delighted that the Savi CMS solution is up and running, and we are eager to further test the system, and to collaborate on tracking consignments through compatible networks such as NATO's,said Col. Enrique Porras, technical director of SAF's Logistic Resources Tracking System Program. The timely and accurate information from the Savi CMS solution will improve our ability to efficiently and effectively deliver supplies to our soldiers deployed in the field, and to collaborate closely with allies during more complex joint-force operations.
Porras continued. Savi Technology, a leading provider of RFID supply chain solutions for commercial, defense and civilian agencies, also has extended active RFID networks and support software for the U.S. Department of Defense, United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, Australian Defence Forces, and the Danish Ministry of Defence.
As more defense organizations implement and upgrade RFID networks using the Savi CMS, there will be a multiplier effect in terms of efficiencies, economies of scale, reduced supply losses and improved service deliveries in the field,said Bruce Jacquemard, managing director of Savi's International Public Sector.
Savi CMS is a complete, integrated solution that bridges the visibility gaps of consignments as they move through military supply chains. Savi CMS also provides exception-based management alerts; real-time tracking of assets and their contents as well as monitoring of environmental conditions inside the container. Savi's RFID solutions have been implemented in more than 2,000 locations in over 50 countries: Savi networks track approximately 35,000 consignments a day. Savi Technology www.savi.com.
Savi Technology
Mark Nelson, +1-408-743-8866 mnelson@savi.com, Lockheed Martin www.lockheedmartin.com
Published Aug. 10, 2006 SYS-CON Media.
Israeli Objections to Ceasefire Proposal
By Hillel Fendel and Hana Levi Julian(INN)
Former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom of the Likud has stinging criticism of the ceasefire plan being formulated in the United Nations. He calls it a disgrace and a historic tragedy.Shalom, who served as Foreign Minister under former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for nearly three years until early this year, said that the proposal under consideration by the Security Council mortgages the country's future and would be a weeping for generations. Lebanon, too, has objections, which may cause another delay in the Council vote. Lebanon feels that the Shab'a Farms area, which it still demands from Israel, is not significantly mentioned, nor does it like the fact that the international peacekeeping force would be empowered to open fire. Lebanon also insists that Israel withdraw entirely from south Lebanese territory before any ceasefire is carried out.
Israel initially objected to the ceasefire proposal for its lack of a clause requiring Hizbullah to disarm prior to a ceasefire. Nonetheless, Jerusalem appears willing to accept the proposal. Israel has rejected a Russian proposal to hold a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, says it would only give Hizbullah time to regroup and recover. We think this is a bad idea. Speaking with Voice of Israel Radio on Friday morning, Minister Shalom said if the UN proposal is accepted, Israel's position would be worse than it was at the beginning of the war: It does not call for a large multi-national force in southern Lebanon, Hizbullah would not be disarmed, and a parallel is made between our abducted soldiers and murderous Lebanese terrorists held by Israel such as Samir Kuntar.It could even be, Shalom said, that Syria might conclude that it can get the Golan Heights back by sending over some missiles to Israel.
Shalom's party colleague, former Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Yuval Shteinitz, took an even stronger stance. If Israel accepts this shameful ceasefire, Shteinitz said Friday morning, the government must resign and new elections must be held.
Shteinitz took issue with the fact that the new proposal would replace Resolution 1559 of two years ago, which calls for the Lebanese Army to take over southern Lebanon from Hizbullah:The fact that Israel is willing to significantly erode 1559, and even give Hizbullah a territorial achievement in the form of half of Israel's Mt. Hermon (Shab'a) will be understood as a clear victory for Hizbullah. This will invite a difficult war of rockets and commandos from Syria in the near future.If this is an existential war, as [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert said, then the results of it are dangerous to Israel's existence,Shteinitz concluded.
On the other hand, the left-wing peace forces are pleading with the government to accept the ceasefire proposal. Meretz MK Zahava Gal'on said, It is in Israel's interest to accept this plan and to thus end the warfare. Israel must take advantage of the agreement being formed to call for the inclusion of Syria in the negotiations, and to thus turn it into an entity with which we can reach a
diplomatic agreement.A diplomatic agreement with Syria, almost by definition, would entail ceding the Golan Heights to that country.
Abbas Urged To Dissolve Palestinian Authority
August 11, 2006 7:15 a.m. EST,Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Correspondent
Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - In apparent pressure tactic on Israel, PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is being urged by senior members of the Palestinian leadership to dissolve the Palestinian Authority.A spokesman for PLO Foreign Minister Farouq Kaddoumi, who sees himself, and not Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar, as the true foreign representative of the Palestinians, said the move should be considered in order to force Israel to withdraw its forces to positions held before September 2000, release frozen tax revenues and free jailed members of the Hamas leadership. It would also have the effect of undoing the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement, better known as the Oslo Accords.
Said Kaddoumi aide Ghassan al-Masri to The Jerusalem Post, It's inconceivable that the Palestinians should pay the cost of their occupation by Israel. Why shouldn't Israel, in its capacity as an occupation force, bear the expenses of our education, health and social welfare systems? Why should it be an inexpensive occupation for Israel? The Oslo Accords were signed precisely to give the Palestinians an opportunity to make a better life for themselves. But their leadership has by and large chosen to continue fighting Israel instead, culminating in the outbreak of the Al Aqsa Intifada in September 2000. Things got worse for the Palestinians in January of this year when they overwhelmingly chose the Hamas terrorist organization to lead them, resulting in Israel freezing the transfer of desperately needed funds and, more recently, arresting the bulk of Hamas lawmakers.
Said PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in an address to a truncated gathering of legislators Wednesday, In light of the Israeli measures against our government, I believe that we will have to start looking into the possibility of dismantling the Palestinian Authority.Despite belonging to the rival Fatah and Hamas factions, Kaddoumi, who lives in exile in Tunisia, and Haniyeh agree that Israel's destruction remains the Palestinians' ultimate goal.
US losing credibility in Mideast From correspondents in Cairo
August 11, 2006
EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubarak said the United States and the West were losing credibility in the Middle East because they were dragging their feet on a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
In an interview with the Egyptian magazine October, released today, Mr Mubarak also said it would be impossible to implement quickly a UN resolution which requires Hezbollah to disarm - one of the steps Israel and the United States want to see in a political settlement of the month-old conflict.
He dismissed Washington's talk of a new Middle East, saying it ignored what he called the real problem - the collapse of attempts at peace between Israelis and Palestinians.Foot-dragging on a ceasefire and the continuation of the Israeli aggression detract from the credibility of the United States and the West in the region,Mr Mubarak said.
The United States has not moved to a sufficient extent and with the necessary speed to contain the situation,he said.Washington has said it takes time to negotiate lasting security arrangements for south Lebanon. Analysts and diplomats say the United States has been trying to give Israel more time to damage Hezbollah and claim military success. Israel and the United States want the Lebanese army, backed by international forces, to move into south Lebanon and supervise the disarmament of Hezbollah - one of the steps envisaged in UN Security Council resolution 1559 of 2004. Mr Mubarak said: Long months have passed without full implementation of resolution 1559.
It is inconceivable that what was not achieved in past years and months could be achieved in the midst of the current crisis and within a few weeks. That will not happen by diktats contained in UN Security Council resolutions which lack balance, but by taking into account Lebanese realities and concerns,he said.Regarding the new Middle East concept promoted by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice early in the fighting, Mr Mubarak said: To talk about the 'new Middle East' or, before that, the Greater Middle East, ignores the real problem in the region, which is the suspension of the peace process. That leads to a rise in feelings of despair, frustration and extremism,he said.
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