1-Strong quake off Samoa generates brief Pacific tsunami threat. 2-Earthquake hits off India's Andaman Islands. 3-Tropical Storm Isaac forms in Atlantic. 4-Manila whipped by storm as it heads for Vietnam. 5-US welcomes EU expansion and calls for more. 6-Iran-EU nuclear talks positive but no accord. 7-Military Intelligence: Syrian Front Now Cause for Concern. 8-Allah imposes on Jerusalem's Jews. 9-Israel, U.N. hope for pullout by October. 10-Ukraine Remembers 34,000 Jews Mass-Murdered at Babi Yar. 11-Energy Ministers From 11 Countries Say Russian Energy Policy Raises Risks for Europe. 12-Vatican: Extremists undermining religion. 13-UN accelerates pace to choose successor to Annan.
EARTHQUAKES
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.
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.
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.
Strong quake off Samoa generates brief Pacific tsunami threat by Marc Lavine Thu Sep 28, 8:12 AM ET
SYDNEY (AFP) - A strong earthquake with a magnitude of up to 7.0 has struck the Pacific's Samoa islands region, sparking a brief tsunami threat that sent ripples but no big waves across the region. The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a bulletin saying a tsunami had been generated by the temblor, which struck at 0622 GMT between the Tongan town of Hihifo and Pago Pago in American Samoa.But the danger and fears about the potential size of the wave -- quickly subsided, with tidal swells of only eight centimetres (3.1 inches) recorded in Pago Pago, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) northeast of the quake's epicenter.
There is no danger and as it turns out, there probably was no danger, said Stuart Weinstein, deputy director of the tsunami warning center in Hawaii.I have not heard any credible story about any large tsunami generated by this quake. All of our sea level readings show that is a small wave of eight centimeters,he told AFP.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had issued a bulletin that a tsunami had been spawned by the undersea temblor, sending officials and journalists across the region scrambling for details.
Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter, the center said in the bulletin on its website, adding that if no wave was sighted within two hours, the risk would have passed.The quake, which the US Geological Survey separately measured at 6.7, struck at 0622 GMT about 195 kilometers (120 miles) east-southeast of Hihifo at a depth of 43.9 kilometres (27.3 miles) below the Pacific.Radio and television stations in Australia interrupted their news programmes with headlines about the possible tsunami, as correspondents raced to follow up, after two major tsunamis in Asia in the past eight years.In July 1998, a huge tidal wave spawned by a 7.0-magnitude quake killed up to 2,000 people in Papua New Guinea in the Pacific.
Then, on December 26, 2004, a 9.3-magnitude quake off Indonesia triggered a massive tsunami in the Indian Ocean that wrought death and destruction in 11 nations, killing some 220,000 people.But Australian and Japanese geoscientists on Thursday quickly said the temblor generated only a small wave and that it was unlikely to cause major damage in coastal regions.It appears not to have caused any damage,Geoscience Australia seismologist David Jepsen told AFP in Sydney.We can't say for certain because we don't know the geography of where the wave hit, but an eight-centimetre surge would not indicate a major tsunami.He said people would most likely have felt a mild shaking from the quake.Officials in the Southeast Asian nations of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia were alerted to the tsunami scare, but all reported that their countries were not expecting any tidal wave.
The Japanese weather agency, which closely monitors earthquakes around the Pacific, also said the tremor was unlikely to cause major destruction to coastal areas near the epicenter.
We've been watching the quake as well, but considering the size of the earthquake we don't think it would be anything like the Sumatra tsunami of December 2004, said Kiyoshi Sakuma of the Japan Meteorological Agency. It would be about 10 centimeters at most, even if the fluctuation of the sea surface gets bigger, he added.
The killer 2004 tidal wave prompted calls for a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean region. Since then, experts at the Pacific tsunami alert center in Hawaii have been quick to warn of possible tidal waves to prevent officials in countries that could be affected from being caught unawares. A tsunami refers to a particular class of ocean waves. It has nothing to do with their height, but people tend to think that these are only really big waves,Weinstein said.
Earthquake hits off India's Andaman Islands 57 minutes ago
NEW DELHI (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale has struck off India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were badly hit by the December 2004 tsunami. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.The intensity of the earthquake was moderate. It was recorded north of the Andaman Islands this evening,an official at the Indian Meteorological Department said Thursday.No tremors were felt in the archipelago a chain of more than 500 islands in the Indian Ocean the official said.The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was 257 kilometers (160 miles) east of Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman Islands and 384 kilometers (238 miles) west of Mergui in Myanmar.The 2004 tsunami was triggered by a massive undersea earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Tropical Storm Isaac forms in Atlantic 1 hour, 46 minutes ago
MIAMI (Reuters) /Tropical Storm Isaac, the ninth of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday but was no immediate threat to land. The center of Isaac was about 665 miles east-southeast of Bermuda at 11 a.m. and the storm's predicted path would keep it out to sea well east of the British territory, the U.S.National Hurricane Center said.Isaac was moving northwest at about 8 mph (13 kph). It had sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph) and was not expected to reach hurricane strength during the next four days.The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June through November, has been milder than experts predicted, partly due to the development of El Nino conditions in the eastern Pacific.
The warm-water phenomenon tends to dampen hurricane activity in the Atlantic by increasing wind shear, which disrupts storm formation.Forecasters had predicted an above-average season following last year's record-breaker, which saw 28 tropical storms, 15 of which became hurricanes. The average season has about 10 tropical storms, six of which develop into hurricanes.One of last year's hurricanes, Katrina, swamped New Orleans, killed 1,500 people on the U.S. Gulf Coast and was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
Manila whipped by storm as it heads for Vietnam By Dolly Aglay
Thu Sep 28, 7:06 AM ET
MANILA (Reuters) Typhoon Xangsane weakened over the Philippines on Thursday but fierce winds and driving rains killed at least eight people, displaced nearly 5,500 and devastated parts of the central islands and Manila. Xangsane, which swept into the center of the country on Wednesday with winds of up to 130 kph (81 mph) and gusts of 160 kph, is expected to strengthen again over the South China Sea, drawing power from its warm waters.The storm roared through the capital Manila, emptying the sprawling streets as most of the city's 12 million residents took shelter from uprooted trees, overturned trucks and cars and other flying debris.It sounded like a train passed on the roof,said one occupant of a fourth-floor apartment.Then the roof in one of our rooms was gone. I can now see the sky.
The center of the storm was about 100 km (60 miles) west of Manila and moving further west out to sea at 22 kph. Xangsane is expected to reach the Vietnam coast early on Sunday.It will likely regenerate to a typhoon when it reaches the South China Sea, weather specialist Renato Molina told Reuters.But the weather bureau said it had spotted a new depression thousands of kilometers to the east of the Philippines which might develop into a storm and enter the country's area of responsibility by Saturday.Violent winds and seas stranded around 3,500 ferry passengers and killed at least eight people. A further five were feared dead after heavy rains triggered a mudslide south of Manila.Rescue efforts have been hampered by power failure, blocked roads and cut communication lines, forcing dozens of people in the central Philippines to take refuge on roofs.Six provinces in the central Bicol region, famed for its coconut plantations, were left without electricity as high winds toppled power lines.
Our people are doing their best to restore power. Hopefully, we will restore electricity by early evening,said Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla. He said the outage was partly due to voluntary shutdown of plants to avoid storm damage.
TOO DANGEROUS
Xangsane brought Manila to a near standstill with all flights and sea travel in and out of the city canceled. The international airport reopened at around 3 pm (0700 gmt) after the runways were cleared of debris.Public offices were shuttered and local trading in the peso and shares was canceled. Government offices and schools will remain closed on Friday while a clean-up gets under way.
Power was interrupted in wide areas of the main island of Luzon, including Manila, forcing the suspension of train services. Taxi drivers were reluctant to take to the road.It's too dangerous, said one cab driver, Armando Legaspi. Trees were falling left and right.
So many things were flying out there. Visibility was also poor and I was so afraid the wind could flip my car.Agriculture officials said an initial estimate showed 60 million pesos ($1.19 million) worth of crops, particularly fruit trees, had been destroyed.Xangsane was the 13th typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, disaster officials said.
Storms regularly hit the archipelago of about 7,000 islands. In the worst disaster in recent years, more than 5,000 people died in the central province of Leyte in 1991 in floods triggered by a typhoon.
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.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
US welcomes EU expansion and calls for more
27.09.2006 - 17:29 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS /The US has welcomed the EU's decision to expand to include Bulgaria and Romania from January and urged the bloc not to stop there but to continue and make good on promises to Balkan states and Turkey.
State department spokesperson Sean McCormack called the green light for Sofia and Bucharest welcome news for those two countries as well as the EU.He went on to say that the EU is wrestling with these issues of expansion and at what pace to take the talks that they have ongoing with a variety of other countries.While noting that enlargement is something for the Europeans to decide on, Mr McCormack stressed that Washington certainly would encourage the EU to continue to keep open a European horizon for a number of states, including those in the Balkans and Turkey, as well.
The US has long been a supporter of Turkey's bid to join the EU causing some anger in 2002 when it openly pushed member states to begin talks with Ankara a NATO member and ally of Washington.Similarly, in April, Nicholas Burns the US under-secretary for political affairs, said Our business in Europe isn't finished because the Balkans remains an island in the heart of Europe that is not connected to the great transatlantic institutions: EU and NATO.Europe has tended to react to the US statements on enlargement with an irritated shrug at what it sees as Washington meddling in internal European affairs. This time around, US enthusiasm for enlargement comes just as the bloc looks set to close the doors for some time after Romania and Bulgaria join.Earlier this week, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said that there should be an enlargement pause from January until the bloc agrees a new institutional settlement.
The current impasse over the EU constitution already looks near impossible to break with countries reluctant to pick out different aspects of the document which was the result of years of haggling and painstaking compromise.Adding two new countries bringing the total to 27 to the decision mix is not going to make the situation any easier.Meanwhile, public opinion across several member states has become sceptical about the benefits of further enlargement with 12 new countries having joined the bloc in under three years by January and several more lining up.Reflecting a general frustration in some quarters at the way Europe is continuing with enlargement despite not having sorted out some of its more fundamental problems, leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, on Wednesday said a true Europe is at risk.He said that the parliament was being hypocritical by saying yes to Bulgaria and Romania although their EU progress report contained a raft of caveats. Mr Cohn-Bendit said MEPs would not have given the green light to Turkey under similar conditions.This latest enlargement, whose terms and rhythm should
have been better thought out, risks a renationalisation of the thoughts, policies and practices of member states, according to the MEP.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Iran-EU nuclear talks positive but no accord by Fabien Novial
2 hours, 15 minutes ago,Sept 28,06
BERLIN (AFP) Talks between Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana have failed to produce an accord but both men said the meeting was positive and constructive.
It has been a long, constructive negotiation,Larijani told reporters at the end of two days of meetings in the German capital.We have been able to arrive at some positive conclusions,he said Thursday.Today we have discussed modalities with the aim of coming back to the main negotiations as soon as possible.In a businesslike press conference, Solana told reporters: We have been progressing. We will have a new contact in the middle of next week.Sources close to the talks said the contact could take place over the phone and did not necessarily mean they would be meeting face to face.
A defiant president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed Iran's stance on its nuclear programme was unyielding.The Iranian nation will not bend one inch against any (international) force and pressure,he told supporters in a speech in the city of Karaj just outside Tehran broadcast on state television.Ahmadinejad said that world powers had been seeking to impose unjust conditions on Iran's enrichment of uranium, a sensitive process that the West wants the Islamic republic to suspend.Why are they insisting that we stop it (enrichment) even for one day? Why should we pretend to stop it even for one day? he asked a cheering crowd of thousands of people packed into a local stadium.
Ahmadinejad claimed that Western powers had initially demanded that Iran must suspend uranium enrichment indefinitely but told the crowd that faced with your resistance they corrected their position.A few months ago they told us 'only a three months (suspension), then we can have negotiations.But we told them why three months? Three months represents a great loss.
Larijani was to hold talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier later on Thursday at the request of Solana.The Berlin talks were the first time Solana and Larijani had met for more than two weeks.During that time European diplomats have tried to ratchet up the pressure by warning that time is running out for Iran to agree to UN Security Council demands to suspend uranium enrichment activities and thus avert possible United Nations sanctions.
Iran defied the Security Council's August 31 deadline for it to stop uranium enrichment, which makes fuel for civilian nuclear power reactors but also, in highly refined form, the raw material for atomic weapons.Iran insists its enrichment work is solely for peaceful purposes.The negotiations were given a fresh chance after Washington, under pressure from Europe and China, backed down on its demand for immediate sanctions against Iran for failing to meet the August deadline. The deal offered by the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany calls on Iran to accept a package of incentives in exchange for it halting enrichment. The Washington Times reported Tuesday that the Islamic republic was close to agreeing a secret deal that would see it suspend enrichment for 90 days to allow it to hold further talks with European nations.
However there was confusion over whether Iran is considering such a step. European diplomats said Larijani made an offer at his last talks with Solana on September 9-10 in Vienna, but several Iranian officials have denied any suspension is on the cards.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said ahead of the latest round of negotiations she had wished Solana luck, but warned that Iran could not prolong the process of negotiations indefinitely. I just said clearly this will not go on very much longer,Rice said.
Obviously, if we can come out of this with an Iranian decision to suspend its enrichment completely and verifiably, then we would be on a course for negotiations. That is the course we would all like to pursue. According to European diplomats, Western powers have set the start of October as a final deadline for Iran to give its definitive response to the Security Council offer.
Military Intelligence: Syrian Front Now Cause for Concern
By Yechiel Spira(INN)
Changing its long-time assessment regarding the Syrian threat, military intelligence now believes Damascus might launch a military action against Israel. For the first time in many years, IDF intelligence officials are signaling concern that President Bashar al-Assad’s administration may be contemplating a military offensive across Israel's northeastern border. Officials emphasize that though Syria has not taken any operational steps towards a military action, the situation cannot be ignored.Meanwhile, Knesset Speaker MK Dalia Itzik (Kadima) says Israel must not miss the opportunity to enter into dialogue with Syria.
Itzik insists that Assad has repeatedly exhibited a willingness to enter into negotiations with Israel, and that if Jerusalem turns her back on such statements, the opportunity for dialogue could be lost forever. Itzik continues to encourage senior government ministers to take Assad’s statements seriously and begin opening diplomatic channels that could lead to a peace agreement.
Peres: The Syrian Administration Opposes Peace
Vice Premier Shimon Peres, currently in London, stated that Bashar al-Assad is providing refuge for a wanted terrorist Hamas politburo leader Khaled Meshal. It is Meshal who is preventing the release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, Peres explained, adding that even the PA (Palestinian Authority) Hamas-led administration wishes to release Shalit at this point. If his father Hafez [al-Assad] would only have come to Camp David with Sadat, the Golan Heights would have already been in his hands for years.
They are opponents of peace,stated Peres. Military intelligence over the past year has discarded Assad's statements calling for peace. Both the governmental and the intelligence communities were in agreement, during the Sharon administration, that such calls have not been sincere, and were nothing more than Syria’s ploy towards compelling Israel to retreat from the Golan Heights, which Israel liberated in the June 1967 Six Day War.
Itzik’s Statements UndermineAmerican Policy
Some analysts point out that Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik’s calls to open a dialogue with Damascus openly undermine American policy. Her repeated statements come at a time when the United States is working to enlist support for calls to impose sanctions on Syria, seeking to isolate Damascus from the world community.U.S. Secretary of State Rice has been signaling Jerusalem to refrain from such open statements at this time while the State Department is seeking to enlist allies to pressure Assad into backing down. The U.S. accuses Syria of supporting terror,as does Israel. Analysts explain that remarks such as those made by the Knesset Speaker are most unwanted at this time, especially given Syria’s willingness to permit Hizbullah weapons to reach southern Lebanon and thus infuse life into the terror organization. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Amir Peretz has approved the appointment by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz of Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkott as the new Northern District Commander. Eiskenkott is currently the IDF’s Chief of Operations.
The other serious contender for the post was IDF Southern Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Yoav Gallant. At the end of the year, Central Commander Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh will also be resigning from his post. Eisenkott, 46, has been serving in the IDF for 27 years. He spent most of his years in the Golani Brigade, and served as military secretary to Prime Minister/Defense Minister Ehud Barak. He is viewed as a respected member of the General Staff. Some critics oppose the appointment, explaining that Eisenkott is one of a number of senior officers who will be questioned and debriefed by the Winograd Commission investigating the war in Lebanon. This they explain may lead to further embarrassment following his new appointment. Others explain that Eisenkott was a model of stability and professionalism during the war, an anchor on the General Staff who continued acting in a professional fashion despite the chaos that prevailed in senior military circles. Officials in the Northern Command expressed satisfaction over the appointment.
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same
time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
Allah imposes on Jerusalem's Jews
By Ryan Jones,September 27, 2006
Fearing violence by Muslim mobs fired-up by the Ramadan sermons now being delivered daily atop Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Israeli authorities have instructed Jewish residents of parts of the capital's Old City to remain indoors during the evening hours.
Local Jews complained that police should be enforcing the law equally among all citizens, rather than cowering in fear at the mere hint of Muslim hostility.But in a further sign that many Israeli officials are more interested in appeasing the followers of Mohammed than in protecting the religious rights of their fellow Jews, police arrested a Jewish prayer leader for blowing his shofar (ram's horn) at the Western Wall during the recent Rosh Hashanah holiday.
Biblical Lens:
then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord.(Deuteronomy 12:11). As the site where the Almighty chose to make His name abide, the Temple Mount stands at the center of the Middle East conflict.While much of the peace process negotiations that appear in the mainstream media focus on various pieces of land throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza, most in Israel understand that control over the Temple Mount is the final and largest hurdle to reaching a settlement.Israel's enemies who are driven by the enemy believe that solidifying their hold on the Temple Mount, the heart of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel, will end Israel's hopes, rooted in biblical promises, concerning the arrival of a divine savior and the presence of the LORD.
And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. ... And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.(Ezekiel 43:2, 4, 5)
The necessity of a restored Temple prior to the coming of Messiah is also alluded to in the New Testament:Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.(2 Thessalonians 2:1, 3, 4)
This building is often wrongly referred to as the temple of the anti-Christ. While it is occupied for a time by the man of sin, it is still clearly referred to by scripture as the temple of God. And it is clear that this temple, and not Allah's gold dome, must be situated atop the Temple Mount prior to the return of God's manifest glory to that hill.Viewed through this lens, it becomes understandable
why the enemy is investing so much effort in ensuring the Jews never regain full control over the Temple Mount or feel they have a right to rebuild their temple to the God of Israel. Sadly, many spiritually-blind Israeli officials desiring to be accepted by a politically correct world are assisting in this effort by making those Jews faithful to the Word of God feel unwelcome anywhere near His Holy Hill.
But the Psalmist reassures us:
Why do the gentiles rage and the people imagine a vain thing? He Who sits in heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision (and say): Yet have I set My king upon My Holy Hill!'(Psalm 102:16)
Prayer Points:
Pray that those Jews who already today understand the central importance of Jerusalem and God's Holy Hill will be rewarded for their faithfulness with divine protection, blessing and increased courage;
Pray that those Jews who today are blindly assisting the enemy of their people and their God will, sooner rather than later, have their hearts and their eyes opened by the only One who can do so.
Sept. 28, 2006, 7:00AM
Israel, U.N. hope for pullout by October
By LAURIE COPANS Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
JERUSALEM Several disagreements regarding the deployment of Lebanese and U.N. forces in southern Lebanon have delayed a final Israeli troop withdrawal from that country, Israeli military officials said Thursday.But the problems were expected to be quickly worked out in ongoing security talks, and Israeli and U.N. officials said they hoped for a full Israeli pullout next week.The unresolved issues involved security arrangements for an Arab village that straddles the border, and the coordination between U.N. war rooms that will be set up on each side of the border with each country's army, the military officials said on condition of anonymity, since they were not authorized to talk to the press.
The Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon is a key component of a cease-fire that took effect Aug. 14, ending 34 days of fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militia based in southern Lebanon.The truce is outlined in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for an international force of 15,000 troops to join 15,000 Lebanese soldiers in patrolling southern Lebanon to prevent a further outbreak of violence.Alexander Ivanko, a spokesman for the U.N. force known as UNIFIL, denied reports of a disagreement between Israeli and U.N. officers over the international force.Israeli officials said earlier this week that UNIFIL had refused in pre-withdrawal talks to commit to Israel's demand that the U.N. forces stop or disarm any Hezbollah militants who approach the border. UNIFIL has said the Lebanese army was responsible for any efforts to disarm Hezbollah and its job is merely to assist the Lebanese army in that.
Ivanko said the United Nations expected the Israeli withdrawal to be completed by the end of the month.That is the force commander's understanding and we are working very actively on ensuring that that happens,he said.Other Israeli military officials, speaking privately, said that only minor details still need to be worked out, but it would be difficult for Israel to complete the withdrawal by the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, which begins Sunday at sundown.At the height of the fighting, Israel had as many as 30,000 troops in Lebanon, but has pulled most of them out since then cease-fire and withdrawn to the border area. The army declined to say how many troops remained, but the number was reported at several thousand.Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said Wednesday that Israel was still trying to iron out the last details on the deployment of Lebanese and U.N. forces before pulling its last troops out of south Lebanon.
We haven't completed negotiations,Halutz told an Israeli Cabinet meeting Wednesday. We are delaying the transfer of territory until the understandings are worked out.But Halutz said the final details should be concluded in a day or two.Halutz also warned that Hezbollah would not be allowed to use surveillance equipment near the border.
Any military equipment that will be in the hands of Hezbollah, including intelligence gathering equipment, is from Israel's perspective a violation of the agreement,Halutz told the ministers, according to a participant in the meeting. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israel would withdraw as
soon as the U.N. and Lebanese forces fulfill their commitments.We have no interest in staying in Lebanon, Regev said.Israel was primarily concerned about the enforcement of two clauses in Resolution 1701: The international arms embargo on Hezbollah and the ban on the group's armed presence in south Lebanon, Regev said.
Ukraine Remembers 34,000 Jews Mass-Murdered at Babi Yar
By Hillel Fendel(INN)
Some 1,000 religious and political leaders and others took part in an impressive memorial ceremony for the nearly 34,000 Jews massacred in just two days at Babi Yar 65 years ago.
The memorial event took place yesterday (Wednesday) at the infamous ravine outside Kiev, Ukraine, where the myriads of Jews were systematically machine-gunned to death. The slaughter continued for 48 hours, on Sept. 29-30, 1941. The Nazis marched the Jews from Kiev in groups of ten, ordered them to strip naked, and then machine-gunned them to death, leaving them to fall dead into the pit.Among those who took part in the ceremony were witnesses to and survivors of the Nazi massacres at Babi Yar and elsewhere, liberators of Kiev, and those recognized as Righteous Gentiles for their Holocaust-era heroism.A conference entitled Let My People Live! sponsored in part by the Government of Ukraine was held at the memorial ceremony.
The conference was also organized by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation and Yad Vashem. President Moshe Katzav and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko addressed the gathering.The World Holocaust Forum stated that the goals of Let My People Live! include memorializing the victims of Babi Yar and other mass-murder sites, uniting world leaders in confronting manifestations of xenophobia and anti-Semitism, and more. A Pan-European Holocaust Educational Program for Teachers has been inaugurated as well. Yad Vashem, which has collected the names of 3.5 million Holocaust victims thus far, has the names of only 3,000 Jews less than 10% known to have been killed at Babi Yar. Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev told Haaretz that more than 90% of Jewish victims killed in western and central Europe are known, 35-40% of those killed in Romania, Hungary and Poland and only about 20% of those killed in the former Soviet Union.
The Simon Weil Holocaust Research Fund in France, the Holocaust Museums in Paris and Washington, and the Zaka Organization are sponsoring a wide-ranging campaign to find other mass Jewish graves in eastern Europe. Last month, the remains of some 1,800 Jews murdered by Nazis in Ukraine were discovered in the pit that became their mass grave. The memorial events in Kiev were the brainchild of Russian Jewish leader and business magnate Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, JTA reports. Kantor said the idea came to him a few years ago when he noticed young boys playing soccer near the site of the Babi Yar massacre, oblivious to the travesties that occurred there decades before. Most people today simply don’t know what happened there,said Kantor, who is the
founder of the World Holocaust Forum, the president of the Russian Jewish Congress and the chairman of the Board of Governors of the European Jewish Congress. The recent memorial events aim to change that.
Energy Ministers From 11 Countries Say Russian Energy Policy Raises Risks for Europe Created: 28.09.2006,6 hours 7 minutes ago,MosNews
Eleven energy ministers warned of rising political and commercial risks to Europe’s energy markets as President Vladimir Putin issued a warning to unconscientious investors, Agence France Presse reported on Thursday .
The ministers note the recent developments in energy markets and the ever increasing potential risks of a political and commercial nature,the 11 Black Sea-region ministers said.The reliability of access to energy (is) subject at this stage to challenges and threats of both a short-term and long-term nature,they said in a statement.The warnings after a two-day summit of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation organisation (BSEC) came shortly after Russia rattled energy investors by threatening to shut down the world’s largest private oil and gas project.
Russia last week withdrew a crucial environmental permit for the $20bn (15.8bn-euro) Sakhalin-2 project in the Russian far east, citing environmental violations by the foreign companies running the project.Putin added a further warning yesterday, saying that the government would take action against companies that were too slow in developing their projects.I expect the (natural resources) ministry and the government as a whole to take such decisions, including toward companies that work unconscientiously or do not fulfill licence agreements,he said at a meeting with the minister for natural resources in the southern Russian city of Sochi.
Russian officials also hammered foreign firms developing Sakhalin-2 at a separate energy industry conference in Sakhalin yesterday.The warnings from the 11 energy ministers seemed to reflect conflicting interests in the Black Sea region, which Russian Energy Minister called an indispensable energy bridge between Europe and Asia.The region’s clearest conflict has been between Russia and its Western neighbor Ukraine, which have had tense energy relations since Russia cut gas to Ukraine on January 1 during a price dispute.Khristenko’s Ukrainian counterpart Yury Boiko was kept from the Sochi summit by tense talks in Moscow on a new gas supply contract.Analysts have said that Russia’s ultimate goal is gaining control over Ukraine’s gas transport infrastructure, while Khristenko said that achieving predictability was Russia’s main motivation.The worst sort of predictability is better than the best unpredictability,the minister said at a news conference.The Black Sea ministers also faced conflicts over competing pipeline projects, such as Russia’s plans to expand its Blue Stream gas pipeline through Turkey to Israel and possibly Europe, which would rival the planned Nabucco pipeline.
The planned Nabucco pipeline would bring natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to European markets without crossing Russian territory.Khristenko insisted that the Russian-Turkish Blue Stream gas pipeline had “proved its effectiveness both in financial terms and in terms of securing regional energy security.
Russia and Turkey have clashed over Blue Stream since the pipeline came online in 2003, however, and delivery volumes have been growing at a slow pace amid price disputes and lower demand projections from Turkey.The BSEC, which Russia is hosting this year, was formed in 1992 to co-ordinate the economic interests of Black Sea-region states such as Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. The group is one of several regional organisations embracing countries bordering the sea, and holds numerous annual ministerial meetings to coordinate the group’s economic policies.Russia directs 30% of its gas exports to BSEC members. The group’s main members are Russia, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey and Ukraine.COMPANY NEWS,MosNews
Vatican: Extremists undermining religion
Posted 9/28/2006 6:01 AM
UNITED NATIONS (AP) The Vatican's foreign minister said Wednesday that misunderstanding between cultures is breeding a new barbarism and expressed hope that reason and dialogue would stop those who use their faith as a pretext for attacks.In a speech on the closing day of the U.N. General Assembly's ministerial meeting, Giovanni Lajolo said extremists are far from devout and undermine the very religion they claim to defend.Violent reactions are always a falsification of true religion,Lajolo said in a passage devoted to the pope's Sept. 12 speech at Regensburg University in Germany.Benedict XVI quoted words attributed to a 14th century Byzantine emperor: Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.
Muslims angered by the remarks took to the streets in Indonesia, Turkey and Syria. Churches were attacked in the West Bank; an effigy of the pope was burned in Iraq; and a nun was shot dead in Somalia in an apparently related attack.Lajolo reiterated the Vatican's view that Benedict's remarks were misinterpreted. He said the pope has sought only to promote rational dialogue and understanding.Benedict has expressed regret for offending Muslims and said they did not reflect his personal views, but he has not offered a complete apology as some had sought.Lajolo suggested that the anger may also lie in the lack of understanding between religions, and a schism between reason and faith.As the Pope affirmed, were reason to turn a deaf ear to the divine and relegate religion to the ambit of subcultures, it would automatically provoke violent reactions,Lajolo, who also serves as president of the Governatorate of the Vatican City State, told the assembly.
It falls to all interested parties to civil society as well as to states to promote religious freedom and a sane, social tolerance that will disarm extremists even before they can begin to corrupt others with their hatred of life and liberty,he said.Lajolo referred to the story of the Tower of Babel, saying the confusion of tongues in the Biblical city was a symbol of fracturing and hostilities in the
contemporary world.Human pride hampers the acknowledgment of one's neighbor and the recognition of his or her needs and even more makes people distrusting,he said.Today, that same negative fundamental attitude has given rise to a new barbarism that threatens world peace,the Vatican minister said.Terrorists bent on rejecting the best achievements of our civilization are one example, Lajolo said.Major powers, in their attempt to make the world more fair, may also occasionally slide into believing that this can only be achieved by force, he said.It can go so far as to regard the possession of nuclear weapons as an element of national pride,he said.,The Associated Press.
UN accelerates pace to choose successor to Annan By Evelyn Leopold
Thu Sep 28, 3:23 AM ET
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is moving quickly to select a successor to Secretary-General Kofi Annan in October, a procedure that favors front-runner South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon. A third informal poll is set for Thursday and another, more revealing poll on Monday will indicate which of the seven candidates is backed or opposed by any of the veto-bearing council members the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. A candidate needs at least nine votes and no veto.The campaigning for votes has been intense, with nominees speaking at various forums in New York and traveling around the globe to secure the post of the world's top diplomat.We are at the point where we should make a decision,U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said on Wednesday, saying governments had had all year to nominate a candidate to replace Annan, whose term ends on December 31.
Most diplomats believe the United States favors Ban and a quick vote would confirm his front-runner status.On Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Chris Hill called Ban a very, very consummate professional,after a congressman alleged the South Korean was too pro-China.Only Britain has spoken against the rush to close the process, arguing that two candidates Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and former Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani had entered late and should have the chance in straw polls, council members said.Britain, they said, also wanted to keep the race open for any other candidate who might want to run.
A REAL CHOICE
Using colored ballots to distinguish between the five permanent council members and the 10 nations elected for two-year terms, could, for all practical purposes, end the contest after Monday's poll.But on Thursday afternoon, council ambassadors will mark ballots to encourage, discourage or express no opinion as in the previous two straw polls.In the last informal poll, Ban received 14 out of 15 favorable votes, ahead of Shashi Tharoor, an Indian novelist and the U.N. undersecretary-general for public information, who got 10 positive votes.The other three candidates are Surakiart Sathirathai, Thailand's deputy prime minister; Jordan's U.N. ambassador, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein; and Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka, a former U.N. undersecretary-general for disarmament.
Tharoor said the next balloting would be crucial.
I was second in both the two straw polls because I do believe that many ambassadors and many governments are looking for a real choice,Tharoor said in an interview. But I acknowledge, as a realist, that if Mr. Ban consolidates his lead Thursday, it could be all over.The secretary-general's job has changed over the years, but Bolton said the first priority was to be the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and institute management reforms.Even Ban had some qualms about that. He told the Asia Society on Monday that many of the administrative operations would be left to a deputy. In an interview last week, he spoke of playing a bridging role between developed and developing nations but stressed the need for reform.The Security Council selects the new secretary-general, who then has to be confirmed by the 192-member General Assembly. U.N. tradition deems that the next U.N. leader come from Asia.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
NUCLEAR EGYPT ISRAEL NOT WORRIED
1-Eruption of Alaska volcano possible. 2-Storms Packing Large Hail, Strong Winds Threaten Indiana. 3-Fires Continue To Burn Outside The Mother Lode. 4-Treasures looted by Rome are back in the Holy Land. 5-Ginko, Lapidot discover oil at Dead Sea drilling site. 6-Most Palestinians favor using Hezbollah methods on Israel. 7-Israel not worried about a nuclear Egypt. 8-Olmert Addresses Religious-Zionist Public. 9-Spain floats idea of new Madrid peace summit. 10-US to bolster Jordan trade, eyes Mideast-wide pact.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
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 (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Eruption of Alaska volcano possible Tue Sep 26, 8:20 PM ET
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Vents on Alaska's Fourpeaked Mountain have been spewing volcanic gases and experts at the Alaska Volcano Observatory say an eruption is possible.
Peter Cervelli, a geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey and the observatory,
said it is hard to predict if or when an eruption will occur but nothing is imminent.According to the observatory's Web page, an explosive eruption could occur in the coming days to weeks. Volcanic activity could be ash plumes exceeding 33,000 feet above sea level, with lava flows, or it could be nothing.Even a small eruption can cause floods, debris and mud flows, so the area on remote Cape Douglas is considered hazardous, according to the observatory.Fourpeaked Mountain is about 80 miles northwest of Kodiak and 220 miles southwest of Anchorage across Cook Inlet.
The observatory is installing seismometers around the mountain, a Web camera and instruments that measure how the ground is moving, Cervelli said. The mountain had not been monitored by instruments.Observatory staff who flew over Fourpeaked over the weekend reported linear vents running north from the summit. Many were emitting steam and vapors. Near the vents, a glacier was slumping and pieces had sloughed into the vents, Cervelli said.Staff members detected sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide coming from the vents. Volcanic gases could be smelled far away from the summit.Ash emission Sept. 17, the abundant volcanic gases, the presence of new vents at the summit and the disruption and floods occurring at and below glaciers suggest new magma at shallow levels beneath the volcano, according to the observatory.Fourpeaked Volcano is not known to have erupted in the last 10,000 years. However, geological investigations have been limited and ice covers much of the area, the observatory said.The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a consortium that includes USGS, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and the
state Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.On the Net:Alaska Volcano Observatory: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Storms Packing Large Hail, Strong Winds Threaten Indiana
September 27, 2006
A cold front will swoop through Indiana on Wednesday, bringing a chance of strong to severe thunderstorms to all but the extreme northwestern part of the state.Southerly winds and sunshine will boost temperatures into the mid-70s in advance of the cold front, providing fuel for thunderstorms that are expected to develop during the afternoon and evening.Severe thunderstorms are expected to intensify as the near central Indiana. Strong winds and large hail are the primary threat from the storms as the push southeastward during the evening hours. Tornadoes do not appear likely with this storm system, but severe thunderstorms do have the capability of producing tornadoes.After the front passes, low clouds and shower chances are expected to hang around on Thursday, with temperatures expected to stay below 60 degrees.2006 by TheIndyChannel.com
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Fires Continue To Burn Outside The Mother Lode
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 06:00 AM
Sacramento, CA -- Residents of several southern California mountain communities in the path of the three-week-old Day Fire have been urged to leave their homes.But most have chosen to remain. The northwest flank of the fire jumped a road Tuesday threatening hundreds of homes. C.D.F. officials say six unoccupied structures have been destroyed. The Day Fire is only 42% contained ... it has burned 145,000 acres.To the north of the Mother Lode, the Pigeon Fire in Trinity County has now burned 87,580 acres ... it is only 36% contained.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Treasures looted by Rome are back in the Holy Land
By Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent
A COLLECTION of sacred artefacts looted by the Romans from the Temple of Jerusalem and long suspected of being hidden in the vaults of the Vatican are actually in the Holy Land, according to a British archaeologist. Sean Kingsley, a specialist in the Holy Land, claims to have discovered what became of the collection, which is widely regarded as the greatest of biblical treasures and includes silver trumpets that would have heralded the Coming of the Messiah.The trumpets, gold candelabra and the bejewelled Table of the Divine Presence were among pieces shipped to Rome after the looting in AD70 of the Temple, the most sacred building in the ancient Jewish faith.
After a decade of research into previously untapped ancient texts and archaeological sources, Dr Kingsley has reconstructed the treasure’s route for the first time in 2,000 years to provide evidence that it left Rome in the 5th century.He has discovered that it was taken to Carthage, Constantinople and Algeria before being hidden in the Judaean wilderness, beneath the Monastery of Theodosius.Dr Kingsley said: The treasure resonates fiercely across modern politics. Since the mid-1990s, a heated political wrangle has been simmering between the Vatican and Israel, which has accused the papacy of imprisoning the treasure.The Temple treasure remains a deadly political tool in the volatile Arab-Israeli conflict centred on the Temple Mount [the site of the Jewish Temple and the Muslim Dome of the Rock].
The treasure’s final hiding place ,in the modern West Bank, deep in Hamas territory ,will rock world religions.Emperor Vespasian ordered the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem after a Jewish revolt and Roman forces took about 50 tons of gold, silver and precious art to Rome.The Arch of Titus, built a decade later, depicts Roman soldiers bearing the sacred spoils on their shoulders. The Jews were expelled from Jerusalem and dispersed throughout the world.Between AD75 and the early 5th century, the treasure was on public display in the Temple of Peace in the Forum, in Rome.The Vatican has told Dr Kingsley that there is no evidence in its archives that the treasure resided in Rome from the medieval period onwards.He said: One thing is for sure it is not imprisoned deep in Vatican City.
I am the first person to prove that the Temple treasures no longer languish in Rome.Dr Kingsley’s sources include Josephus, a 1st-century Jewish historian who sometimes exaggerated but is an authority on Roman and Jewish history. Dr Kingsley also found evidence in, among others, the works of Procopius, a court historian of the Emperor Justinian, who died in AD562, and from Theophanes Confessor (c760-817), a Christian monk from Constantinople.
In Chronographia, which spanned AD284 to 813, Theophanes recorded that Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, loaded the treasures that Titus had brought to Rome after the capture of Jerusalem on a boat to Carthage in Tunisia in AD455.In the first holy crusade in AD533, the Byzantine Belisarius seized the treasure from a royal ship fleeing the Algerian harbour of Hippo Regius. It was then shipped to Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium.In the 7th century, Persians sacked Jerusalem, killing thousands of Christians, and dragging the Patriarch, Zacharias, to Persia. Dr Kingsley believes that his replacement, Modestus, spirited away the treasures to their final hiding place in AD614.Dr Kingsley will reveal his findings in God’s Gold: The Quest for the Lost Temple Treasure of Jerusalem, to be published by John Murray on October 5.
Ginko, Lapidot discover oil at Dead Sea drilling site
At drilling site north of Dead Sea, oil struck at depth of 1,800 meters. According to estimates, there are about 6.5 million barrels of crude oil, worth about USD 300 million Oil spurted Monday at a depth of about 1,800 meters during drilling near the Dead Sea. The drilling was planned only to reach 2,000 meters. Drilling partners, Ginko Oil Exploration and Lapidot (20 percent) are expected to carry out a series of tests in the coming days in order to estimate the quantity of oil found in the drilling, and its value. It should be noted that crude oil, about 120,000 barrels, has already been extracted from this same drilling site in 1995. Drilling was renewed following the rise in oil prices, and as a first stage in preparation for drilling in Ginko's licensed drilling areas in the Dead Sea, particularly in the area of Zerach.
Oil drilling at Dead Sea
Ginko declined responding to reports of its renewed oil findings at the site, but notified that the essence of the tests that will be performed in the coming days revolve around checking the static pressure in the oil strata, and its rate of change. Renewal of drilling in areas from which crude oil was extracted in the past has become a new world trend in the face of high price of oil, which increases profitability of such oil extraction. Ginko is prepared for extraction at this particular drilling site and has already acquired pipelines and containers for transporting the extracted fuel.
The drilling site in which oil was discovered lies within the Zerach licensed zone, which is north of the Dead Sea and sits on 400 square kilometers of land. In the past, gas fields were found in a nearby licensed zone. From the collective efforts near the gas and oil fields as well as new seismic findings recently published, it emerges that there is a closed structure in the area that ensures an oil reserve of about 6.5 million barrels of equal or higher value than the oil previously found.
According to geologist Gidon Gab-Am, there is an estimated two strata of oil, one of which contains about 5.5 million barrels of oil, and the other about one million barrels. As per today's crude oil prices, this quantity is worth between USD 300-350 million.
Ginko Oil Exploration is owned by accountant Yair Karni, Nissan Khakshouri, Rami Karmin and Elgadcom Group (owned by the Shushan and Salouk brothers), who recently acquired 8 percent of the company for and investment of USD 1.2 million.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Most Palestinians favor using Hezbollah methods on Israel: poll Wed Sep 27, 7:21 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Most Palestinians favor launching rockets at Israeli cities the way Lebanon's Hezbollah militia did during its 34-day war with Israel, according to a poll. Some 63 percent think that Palestinians should emulate Hezbollah's methods and launch rockets at cities, compared with 35 percent who disagreed, the poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah showed Wednesday.Some 77 percent, however, support the call for a ceasefire between Palestinians and Israelis and 74 percent believe that Palestinians cannot depend on armed action only and must reach a political settlement, the center said.
The survey examined Palestinians' attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the aftermath of the Lebanon war, during which Hezbollah launched nearly 4,000 rockets at Israel, killing 41 civilians.As to the impact of the war on attitudes towards violence, our findings suggest that Hezbollah tactics provide an attractive model for Palestinians' armed resistance,the center wrote.Some 57 percent favor armed attacks on Israeli civilians inside Israel, compared with 41 percent who oppose such attacks, it said.Around 75 percent support operations in which Palestinian militants seize Israeli soldiers for exchange with Palestinian prisoners, compared with 23 percent who oppose.And 59 percent support a Hamas-led Palestinian government negotiating with Israel, compared with 38 percent who oppose holding such talks.The survey was conducted between September 10-19, questioned 1,270 adults in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and has a three percent margin of error.
WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
Israel not worried about a nuclear Egypt
UPI,September 27, 2006
JERUSALEM -- Israel isn't worried about Egypt's plans for nuclear power plants, citing a difference between its friendlier neighbor and Iran, with which it is at odds. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday Egypt's plans for a nuclear power plant, which was announced Sunday, will be for civilian purposes only, the Jerusalem Post has reported. Israel has backed the United States in its huff over Iran's uranium enrichment program which it, along with other countries, says is a precursor to a nuclear-armed Iran.
Tehran insists it is for nuclear energy purposes only, not weapons. Egypt plans to bring a $1.5 billion, 1,000-megawatt nuclear plant online within 10 years. As a signatory to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, Egypt has called for a nuclear weapons-free Middle East. There is no official nuclear state in the area, although Israel neither confirms nor denies allegations it has amassed an arsenal. The treaty ensures member states won't contribute to nuclear weapons proliferation. While Egypt and Turkey, another regional player who is moving toward nuclear energy, aren't attempting to create a uranium enrichment facility, easing weapons fears, the Iran controversy centers on enrichment.
Enriched uranium, available for purchase on the open market, can be used for both civilian and military nuclear purposes, depending on how much it was enriched. Iran claims it has a sovereign right to the program, which was kept secret until recently. While some are concerned any increase in nuclear programs in the Middle East will lead to armed states, Olmert was open to Egypt's plans, saying, It's not similar in any form or manner to what the Iranians are trying to do. Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies, an anti-proliferation organization, told the BBC the plans by Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, let alone Israel, could have a domino effect.
Having a nuclear infrastructure is the step which a country needs to accomplish if it decides to embark on the path of nuclear weapons. Pakistan took that route,Fitzpatrick said.
Olmert Addresses Religious-Zionist Public
By Hillel Fendel(INN)
Prime Minister Olmert told top religious-Zionist and other leaders, We must understand the troubles of the religious Zionist public. His words were taken with a grain of political salt. A day-long conference on the role of religious-Zionism in Israel was held yesterday at the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute. One of the participants, Rabbi Avi Gisser of Ofrah, said that Olmert most definitely had political interests in appearing. Everyone does, to some degree,Rabbi Gisser said. We discussed [the question of whether we should participate] amongst ourselves [religious-Zionist rabbis and leaders] beforehand, some 30 of us, and we realized that though there were definitely political overtones, it was clear to us that when you're invited to speak about the Jewish character of the State of Israel, and the role of Religious-Zionism is placed at the center of the national discourse, then that's the right thing to do.
The day-long summit was entitled, The Jewish Character of the State of Israel - Religious Zionism as an element motivating national discourse.Among the topics discussed at length, Rabbi Gisser said, was the importance of finding ways to strengthen public Sabbath observance and the conversion-to-Judaism framework, amidst as wide of a consensus as possible.Olmert, in his remarks, showed understanding for the religious-Zionist sector - known as the orange camp, after the color chosen to symbolize the struggle against last year's expulsion from Gush Katif and northern Shomron - but also had criticism. He said that we must strive towards a new definition of Zionism,though he did not specify what he had in mind.We must understand the troubles of the religious Zionist public and find a path for honest and deep discourse with them,Olmert said. This sector is in deep distress, he said, because of the public conflict which raised basic questions as to the State’s character and outlook. [These people] dealt with the difficult experience of having to reconcile themselves with the concession of the territories and settlements.
However, he said that one's Zionism cannot be based only on whether or not he supports withdrawals. Olmert noted that hundreds of thousands of people served in the territories for over 35 years and participated in enforcing Israel’s policies there, despite their wholehearted belief that the State’s actions were erroneous and severely harmed our social tapestry.
Olmert thus implied that the orange camp must similarly not let the act of the Disengagement affect its feelings towards the State. This, despite the inherent differences between the passive policy of continuing to hold on to territory won in war and the pro-active act of disenfranchising an entire public and thousands of citizens from their homes and lifework.Olmert described the religious-Zionist sector as one that lives on the periphery and has felt neglected for years.
In response, IsraelNationalRadio's Alex Traiman, a self-described religious-Zionist, commented that he doesn't feel peripheral: Even citizens living in Judea and Samaria are doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc., working in the center of the country and in the center of Israeli public life..Public perception within much of the religious-Zionist public is that Olmert has twice betrayed it: once after he left the office of Mayor of Jerusalem, where he had been staunchly in the right-wing camp, and took on a more left-wing stance upon entering national politics, and again when he became Ariel Sharon's chief ally in promoting the unilateral withdrawal plan of 2005.
Rabbi Gisser said that the conference discussions did not center on practical solutions, but rather on an investigation of the issues. Throughout the day, however, there was the background tension of Olmert's diplomatic plans - frozen or suspended or whatever they may be at present. Many of us warned clearly of the dangers we feel they present.Regarding the essential need for religious/secular respect and cooperation, Rabbi Gisser said, It was clear that the boundaries of Jewish dialogue must be broadened so that we can all find our place in Israel on the basis of the importance of strengthening the State's Judaism. This was something that everyone agreed upon, even those who are not religious... For instance, there is an initiative in the Knesset, led by non-religious MKs, to promote public Sabbath observance - not on the basis of religious law, but on the basis of social justice, allowing everyone to have a day off, etc.In addition, Rabbi Gisser said, there was a desire on the part of everyone to promote and strengthen the conversion framework, headed by Rabbi Chaim Druckman, but there was an attempt to find a way to overcome bureaucratic and ideological difficulties on the part of the non-Jewish Russian public and enable and encourage them to come to Jewish law courts for the purpose of conversion.
SPAIN #11 IN THE EU
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.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
Spain floats idea of new Madrid peace summit
Reuters,Wednesday, September 27, 2006; 7:41 AM
WashingtonPost.com
CAIRO (Reuters) - Spain has floated the idea of a second Middle East peace summit along the lines of the Madrid conference which opened the way to direct peace talks between Israel and its neighbors in 1991.Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who served as the European Union's Middle East envoy until 2003, said in an article published on Wednesday that the quartet of Middle East mediators might also be expanded to include new countries.Perhaps it would be timely for all the interested parties to meet again, at the same level as in 1991, to reaffirm their commitment to a comprehensive solution and to the basic principles on which that should be based,he said in the article in the Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat.The Madrid peace conference of 1991 brought together former U.S. President George Bush, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and foreign ministers from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
The conference was based on the principle that Israel should give up occupied land in return for peace with its Arab neighbors, as had already happened between Israel and Egypt.It led to a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan in 1994 and a series of high-level talks between Israel and Syria, which came close to an agreement in 2000.
Moratinos said the war between Israel and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah this summer showed the futility of seeking military solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict or of trying to impose solutions unilaterally.At this stage the important thing is not to invent new solutions but to have the courage, the historic generosity and the political will to apply the formulas..which have already been examined to a very large extent in the course of previous negotiations, such as Camp David and Taba,he added.
At Camp David in 2000 and at the Red Sea resort of Taba in early 2001, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators came close to agreement on the borders of a Palestinian state.Subsequent Israeli governments stepped back from the proposals then on offer and have preferred to try unilateral solutions, such as building a barrier through the West Bank and withdrawing from the Gaza Strip without a formal agreement.On the Quartet, which comprises the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, Moratinos said: (It) could incorporate the added value of some countries which are key to the region.The European Union and the Arab League, seeing an opportunity after the Lebanon war, have floated several proposals for reviving Middle East peace negotiations.The Arab countries tried this month to persuade the U.N. Security Council to initiate a process but the United States, Israel's ally, prevented the council from making a statement.
US to bolster Jordan trade, eyes Mideast-wide pact
The United States has pledged to bolster trade with Jordan, which a senior US official described as a cornerstone for its bid to establish a Middle East-wide free trade pact.
The two sides also agreed to diversify their trade ties as part of their five-year-old free trade agreement, the first between the United States and an Arab country, officials said.According to US trade official Shaun Donnelly, the success of the deal was highlighted last year when Jordanian exports to the United States rose to 1.3 billion dollars from 90 million dollars the year before.
We have also seen in the past two years.... exports diversify beyond the textile and apparel garment sector, and exports in other sectors now total over 100 million dollars, Donnelly said after two days of talks with Jordanian Trade Minister Sharif al-Zohbi. We want to build a comprehensive US-Middle East free trade area.
We want to engage with each of our partner countries in the Middle East and Jordan is a cornerstone of that activity, the American official added.In the Middle East, the United States has signed free trade agreements with Bahrain, Israel, Oman and Morocco, and is also engaged in talks with Egypt.Jordan secured its trade deal with the world’s biggest economy in October 2000, with the accord going into force in December 2001.We have to diversify our exports... [beyond] garments and textiles, the Jordanian minister, Zohbi, told reporters after meeting with Donnelly.Jordan was also seeking to speed up the tariffs reduction period, Zohbi said.According to the agreement, US tariffs on imports from Jordan will be phased out completely by 2010.The United States is Jordan’s second largest trading partner after Saudi Arabia, with 33 percent of our exports going to the American market, Zohbi explained.
Garments and textiles account for 90 percent of all Jordan’s exports to the United States, Zohbi indicated, adding the private sector was working hand in hand with the government to diversify its US-bound exports.We are cooperating with the private sector to diversify the exports to include medicine, jewelry, electrical appliances, electronic goods and cooling systems, according to the minister.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
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 (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Eruption of Alaska volcano possible Tue Sep 26, 8:20 PM ET
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Vents on Alaska's Fourpeaked Mountain have been spewing volcanic gases and experts at the Alaska Volcano Observatory say an eruption is possible.
Peter Cervelli, a geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey and the observatory,
said it is hard to predict if or when an eruption will occur but nothing is imminent.According to the observatory's Web page, an explosive eruption could occur in the coming days to weeks. Volcanic activity could be ash plumes exceeding 33,000 feet above sea level, with lava flows, or it could be nothing.Even a small eruption can cause floods, debris and mud flows, so the area on remote Cape Douglas is considered hazardous, according to the observatory.Fourpeaked Mountain is about 80 miles northwest of Kodiak and 220 miles southwest of Anchorage across Cook Inlet.
The observatory is installing seismometers around the mountain, a Web camera and instruments that measure how the ground is moving, Cervelli said. The mountain had not been monitored by instruments.Observatory staff who flew over Fourpeaked over the weekend reported linear vents running north from the summit. Many were emitting steam and vapors. Near the vents, a glacier was slumping and pieces had sloughed into the vents, Cervelli said.Staff members detected sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide coming from the vents. Volcanic gases could be smelled far away from the summit.Ash emission Sept. 17, the abundant volcanic gases, the presence of new vents at the summit and the disruption and floods occurring at and below glaciers suggest new magma at shallow levels beneath the volcano, according to the observatory.Fourpeaked Volcano is not known to have erupted in the last 10,000 years. However, geological investigations have been limited and ice covers much of the area, the observatory said.The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a consortium that includes USGS, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and the
state Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.On the Net:Alaska Volcano Observatory: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Storms Packing Large Hail, Strong Winds Threaten Indiana
September 27, 2006
A cold front will swoop through Indiana on Wednesday, bringing a chance of strong to severe thunderstorms to all but the extreme northwestern part of the state.Southerly winds and sunshine will boost temperatures into the mid-70s in advance of the cold front, providing fuel for thunderstorms that are expected to develop during the afternoon and evening.Severe thunderstorms are expected to intensify as the near central Indiana. Strong winds and large hail are the primary threat from the storms as the push southeastward during the evening hours. Tornadoes do not appear likely with this storm system, but severe thunderstorms do have the capability of producing tornadoes.After the front passes, low clouds and shower chances are expected to hang around on Thursday, with temperatures expected to stay below 60 degrees.2006 by TheIndyChannel.com
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Fires Continue To Burn Outside The Mother Lode
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 06:00 AM
Sacramento, CA -- Residents of several southern California mountain communities in the path of the three-week-old Day Fire have been urged to leave their homes.But most have chosen to remain. The northwest flank of the fire jumped a road Tuesday threatening hundreds of homes. C.D.F. officials say six unoccupied structures have been destroyed. The Day Fire is only 42% contained ... it has burned 145,000 acres.To the north of the Mother Lode, the Pigeon Fire in Trinity County has now burned 87,580 acres ... it is only 36% contained.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Treasures looted by Rome are back in the Holy Land
By Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent
A COLLECTION of sacred artefacts looted by the Romans from the Temple of Jerusalem and long suspected of being hidden in the vaults of the Vatican are actually in the Holy Land, according to a British archaeologist. Sean Kingsley, a specialist in the Holy Land, claims to have discovered what became of the collection, which is widely regarded as the greatest of biblical treasures and includes silver trumpets that would have heralded the Coming of the Messiah.The trumpets, gold candelabra and the bejewelled Table of the Divine Presence were among pieces shipped to Rome after the looting in AD70 of the Temple, the most sacred building in the ancient Jewish faith.
After a decade of research into previously untapped ancient texts and archaeological sources, Dr Kingsley has reconstructed the treasure’s route for the first time in 2,000 years to provide evidence that it left Rome in the 5th century.He has discovered that it was taken to Carthage, Constantinople and Algeria before being hidden in the Judaean wilderness, beneath the Monastery of Theodosius.Dr Kingsley said: The treasure resonates fiercely across modern politics. Since the mid-1990s, a heated political wrangle has been simmering between the Vatican and Israel, which has accused the papacy of imprisoning the treasure.The Temple treasure remains a deadly political tool in the volatile Arab-Israeli conflict centred on the Temple Mount [the site of the Jewish Temple and the Muslim Dome of the Rock].
The treasure’s final hiding place ,in the modern West Bank, deep in Hamas territory ,will rock world religions.Emperor Vespasian ordered the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem after a Jewish revolt and Roman forces took about 50 tons of gold, silver and precious art to Rome.The Arch of Titus, built a decade later, depicts Roman soldiers bearing the sacred spoils on their shoulders. The Jews were expelled from Jerusalem and dispersed throughout the world.Between AD75 and the early 5th century, the treasure was on public display in the Temple of Peace in the Forum, in Rome.The Vatican has told Dr Kingsley that there is no evidence in its archives that the treasure resided in Rome from the medieval period onwards.He said: One thing is for sure it is not imprisoned deep in Vatican City.
I am the first person to prove that the Temple treasures no longer languish in Rome.Dr Kingsley’s sources include Josephus, a 1st-century Jewish historian who sometimes exaggerated but is an authority on Roman and Jewish history. Dr Kingsley also found evidence in, among others, the works of Procopius, a court historian of the Emperor Justinian, who died in AD562, and from Theophanes Confessor (c760-817), a Christian monk from Constantinople.
In Chronographia, which spanned AD284 to 813, Theophanes recorded that Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, loaded the treasures that Titus had brought to Rome after the capture of Jerusalem on a boat to Carthage in Tunisia in AD455.In the first holy crusade in AD533, the Byzantine Belisarius seized the treasure from a royal ship fleeing the Algerian harbour of Hippo Regius. It was then shipped to Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium.In the 7th century, Persians sacked Jerusalem, killing thousands of Christians, and dragging the Patriarch, Zacharias, to Persia. Dr Kingsley believes that his replacement, Modestus, spirited away the treasures to their final hiding place in AD614.Dr Kingsley will reveal his findings in God’s Gold: The Quest for the Lost Temple Treasure of Jerusalem, to be published by John Murray on October 5.
Ginko, Lapidot discover oil at Dead Sea drilling site
At drilling site north of Dead Sea, oil struck at depth of 1,800 meters. According to estimates, there are about 6.5 million barrels of crude oil, worth about USD 300 million Oil spurted Monday at a depth of about 1,800 meters during drilling near the Dead Sea. The drilling was planned only to reach 2,000 meters. Drilling partners, Ginko Oil Exploration and Lapidot (20 percent) are expected to carry out a series of tests in the coming days in order to estimate the quantity of oil found in the drilling, and its value. It should be noted that crude oil, about 120,000 barrels, has already been extracted from this same drilling site in 1995. Drilling was renewed following the rise in oil prices, and as a first stage in preparation for drilling in Ginko's licensed drilling areas in the Dead Sea, particularly in the area of Zerach.
Oil drilling at Dead Sea
Ginko declined responding to reports of its renewed oil findings at the site, but notified that the essence of the tests that will be performed in the coming days revolve around checking the static pressure in the oil strata, and its rate of change. Renewal of drilling in areas from which crude oil was extracted in the past has become a new world trend in the face of high price of oil, which increases profitability of such oil extraction. Ginko is prepared for extraction at this particular drilling site and has already acquired pipelines and containers for transporting the extracted fuel.
The drilling site in which oil was discovered lies within the Zerach licensed zone, which is north of the Dead Sea and sits on 400 square kilometers of land. In the past, gas fields were found in a nearby licensed zone. From the collective efforts near the gas and oil fields as well as new seismic findings recently published, it emerges that there is a closed structure in the area that ensures an oil reserve of about 6.5 million barrels of equal or higher value than the oil previously found.
According to geologist Gidon Gab-Am, there is an estimated two strata of oil, one of which contains about 5.5 million barrels of oil, and the other about one million barrels. As per today's crude oil prices, this quantity is worth between USD 300-350 million.
Ginko Oil Exploration is owned by accountant Yair Karni, Nissan Khakshouri, Rami Karmin and Elgadcom Group (owned by the Shushan and Salouk brothers), who recently acquired 8 percent of the company for and investment of USD 1.2 million.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Most Palestinians favor using Hezbollah methods on Israel: poll Wed Sep 27, 7:21 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Most Palestinians favor launching rockets at Israeli cities the way Lebanon's Hezbollah militia did during its 34-day war with Israel, according to a poll. Some 63 percent think that Palestinians should emulate Hezbollah's methods and launch rockets at cities, compared with 35 percent who disagreed, the poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah showed Wednesday.Some 77 percent, however, support the call for a ceasefire between Palestinians and Israelis and 74 percent believe that Palestinians cannot depend on armed action only and must reach a political settlement, the center said.
The survey examined Palestinians' attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the aftermath of the Lebanon war, during which Hezbollah launched nearly 4,000 rockets at Israel, killing 41 civilians.As to the impact of the war on attitudes towards violence, our findings suggest that Hezbollah tactics provide an attractive model for Palestinians' armed resistance,the center wrote.Some 57 percent favor armed attacks on Israeli civilians inside Israel, compared with 41 percent who oppose such attacks, it said.Around 75 percent support operations in which Palestinian militants seize Israeli soldiers for exchange with Palestinian prisoners, compared with 23 percent who oppose.And 59 percent support a Hamas-led Palestinian government negotiating with Israel, compared with 38 percent who oppose holding such talks.The survey was conducted between September 10-19, questioned 1,270 adults in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and has a three percent margin of error.
WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
Israel not worried about a nuclear Egypt
UPI,September 27, 2006
JERUSALEM -- Israel isn't worried about Egypt's plans for nuclear power plants, citing a difference between its friendlier neighbor and Iran, with which it is at odds. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday Egypt's plans for a nuclear power plant, which was announced Sunday, will be for civilian purposes only, the Jerusalem Post has reported. Israel has backed the United States in its huff over Iran's uranium enrichment program which it, along with other countries, says is a precursor to a nuclear-armed Iran.
Tehran insists it is for nuclear energy purposes only, not weapons. Egypt plans to bring a $1.5 billion, 1,000-megawatt nuclear plant online within 10 years. As a signatory to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, Egypt has called for a nuclear weapons-free Middle East. There is no official nuclear state in the area, although Israel neither confirms nor denies allegations it has amassed an arsenal. The treaty ensures member states won't contribute to nuclear weapons proliferation. While Egypt and Turkey, another regional player who is moving toward nuclear energy, aren't attempting to create a uranium enrichment facility, easing weapons fears, the Iran controversy centers on enrichment.
Enriched uranium, available for purchase on the open market, can be used for both civilian and military nuclear purposes, depending on how much it was enriched. Iran claims it has a sovereign right to the program, which was kept secret until recently. While some are concerned any increase in nuclear programs in the Middle East will lead to armed states, Olmert was open to Egypt's plans, saying, It's not similar in any form or manner to what the Iranians are trying to do. Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies, an anti-proliferation organization, told the BBC the plans by Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, let alone Israel, could have a domino effect.
Having a nuclear infrastructure is the step which a country needs to accomplish if it decides to embark on the path of nuclear weapons. Pakistan took that route,Fitzpatrick said.
Olmert Addresses Religious-Zionist Public
By Hillel Fendel(INN)
Prime Minister Olmert told top religious-Zionist and other leaders, We must understand the troubles of the religious Zionist public. His words were taken with a grain of political salt. A day-long conference on the role of religious-Zionism in Israel was held yesterday at the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute. One of the participants, Rabbi Avi Gisser of Ofrah, said that Olmert most definitely had political interests in appearing. Everyone does, to some degree,Rabbi Gisser said. We discussed [the question of whether we should participate] amongst ourselves [religious-Zionist rabbis and leaders] beforehand, some 30 of us, and we realized that though there were definitely political overtones, it was clear to us that when you're invited to speak about the Jewish character of the State of Israel, and the role of Religious-Zionism is placed at the center of the national discourse, then that's the right thing to do.
The day-long summit was entitled, The Jewish Character of the State of Israel - Religious Zionism as an element motivating national discourse.Among the topics discussed at length, Rabbi Gisser said, was the importance of finding ways to strengthen public Sabbath observance and the conversion-to-Judaism framework, amidst as wide of a consensus as possible.Olmert, in his remarks, showed understanding for the religious-Zionist sector - known as the orange camp, after the color chosen to symbolize the struggle against last year's expulsion from Gush Katif and northern Shomron - but also had criticism. He said that we must strive towards a new definition of Zionism,though he did not specify what he had in mind.We must understand the troubles of the religious Zionist public and find a path for honest and deep discourse with them,Olmert said. This sector is in deep distress, he said, because of the public conflict which raised basic questions as to the State’s character and outlook. [These people] dealt with the difficult experience of having to reconcile themselves with the concession of the territories and settlements.
However, he said that one's Zionism cannot be based only on whether or not he supports withdrawals. Olmert noted that hundreds of thousands of people served in the territories for over 35 years and participated in enforcing Israel’s policies there, despite their wholehearted belief that the State’s actions were erroneous and severely harmed our social tapestry.
Olmert thus implied that the orange camp must similarly not let the act of the Disengagement affect its feelings towards the State. This, despite the inherent differences between the passive policy of continuing to hold on to territory won in war and the pro-active act of disenfranchising an entire public and thousands of citizens from their homes and lifework.Olmert described the religious-Zionist sector as one that lives on the periphery and has felt neglected for years.
In response, IsraelNationalRadio's Alex Traiman, a self-described religious-Zionist, commented that he doesn't feel peripheral: Even citizens living in Judea and Samaria are doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc., working in the center of the country and in the center of Israeli public life..Public perception within much of the religious-Zionist public is that Olmert has twice betrayed it: once after he left the office of Mayor of Jerusalem, where he had been staunchly in the right-wing camp, and took on a more left-wing stance upon entering national politics, and again when he became Ariel Sharon's chief ally in promoting the unilateral withdrawal plan of 2005.
Rabbi Gisser said that the conference discussions did not center on practical solutions, but rather on an investigation of the issues. Throughout the day, however, there was the background tension of Olmert's diplomatic plans - frozen or suspended or whatever they may be at present. Many of us warned clearly of the dangers we feel they present.Regarding the essential need for religious/secular respect and cooperation, Rabbi Gisser said, It was clear that the boundaries of Jewish dialogue must be broadened so that we can all find our place in Israel on the basis of the importance of strengthening the State's Judaism. This was something that everyone agreed upon, even those who are not religious... For instance, there is an initiative in the Knesset, led by non-religious MKs, to promote public Sabbath observance - not on the basis of religious law, but on the basis of social justice, allowing everyone to have a day off, etc.In addition, Rabbi Gisser said, there was a desire on the part of everyone to promote and strengthen the conversion framework, headed by Rabbi Chaim Druckman, but there was an attempt to find a way to overcome bureaucratic and ideological difficulties on the part of the non-Jewish Russian public and enable and encourage them to come to Jewish law courts for the purpose of conversion.
SPAIN #11 IN THE EU
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.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
Spain floats idea of new Madrid peace summit
Reuters,Wednesday, September 27, 2006; 7:41 AM
WashingtonPost.com
CAIRO (Reuters) - Spain has floated the idea of a second Middle East peace summit along the lines of the Madrid conference which opened the way to direct peace talks between Israel and its neighbors in 1991.Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who served as the European Union's Middle East envoy until 2003, said in an article published on Wednesday that the quartet of Middle East mediators might also be expanded to include new countries.Perhaps it would be timely for all the interested parties to meet again, at the same level as in 1991, to reaffirm their commitment to a comprehensive solution and to the basic principles on which that should be based,he said in the article in the Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat.The Madrid peace conference of 1991 brought together former U.S. President George Bush, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and foreign ministers from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
The conference was based on the principle that Israel should give up occupied land in return for peace with its Arab neighbors, as had already happened between Israel and Egypt.It led to a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan in 1994 and a series of high-level talks between Israel and Syria, which came close to an agreement in 2000.
Moratinos said the war between Israel and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah this summer showed the futility of seeking military solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict or of trying to impose solutions unilaterally.At this stage the important thing is not to invent new solutions but to have the courage, the historic generosity and the political will to apply the formulas..which have already been examined to a very large extent in the course of previous negotiations, such as Camp David and Taba,he added.
At Camp David in 2000 and at the Red Sea resort of Taba in early 2001, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators came close to agreement on the borders of a Palestinian state.Subsequent Israeli governments stepped back from the proposals then on offer and have preferred to try unilateral solutions, such as building a barrier through the West Bank and withdrawing from the Gaza Strip without a formal agreement.On the Quartet, which comprises the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, Moratinos said: (It) could incorporate the added value of some countries which are key to the region.The European Union and the Arab League, seeing an opportunity after the Lebanon war, have floated several proposals for reviving Middle East peace negotiations.The Arab countries tried this month to persuade the U.N. Security Council to initiate a process but the United States, Israel's ally, prevented the council from making a statement.
US to bolster Jordan trade, eyes Mideast-wide pact
The United States has pledged to bolster trade with Jordan, which a senior US official described as a cornerstone for its bid to establish a Middle East-wide free trade pact.
The two sides also agreed to diversify their trade ties as part of their five-year-old free trade agreement, the first between the United States and an Arab country, officials said.According to US trade official Shaun Donnelly, the success of the deal was highlighted last year when Jordanian exports to the United States rose to 1.3 billion dollars from 90 million dollars the year before.
We have also seen in the past two years.... exports diversify beyond the textile and apparel garment sector, and exports in other sectors now total over 100 million dollars, Donnelly said after two days of talks with Jordanian Trade Minister Sharif al-Zohbi. We want to build a comprehensive US-Middle East free trade area.
We want to engage with each of our partner countries in the Middle East and Jordan is a cornerstone of that activity, the American official added.In the Middle East, the United States has signed free trade agreements with Bahrain, Israel, Oman and Morocco, and is also engaged in talks with Egypt.Jordan secured its trade deal with the world’s biggest economy in October 2000, with the accord going into force in December 2001.We have to diversify our exports... [beyond] garments and textiles, the Jordanian minister, Zohbi, told reporters after meeting with Donnelly.Jordan was also seeking to speed up the tariffs reduction period, Zohbi said.According to the agreement, US tariffs on imports from Jordan will be phased out completely by 2010.The United States is Jordan’s second largest trading partner after Saudi Arabia, with 33 percent of our exports going to the American market, Zohbi explained.
Garments and textiles account for 90 percent of all Jordan’s exports to the United States, Zohbi indicated, adding the private sector was working hand in hand with the government to diversify its US-bound exports.We are cooperating with the private sector to diversify the exports to include medicine, jewelry, electrical appliances, electronic goods and cooling systems, according to the minister.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
ROYAL DILEMMA FOR SPAIN
1-FORD SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE. 2-Minor earthquake awakens S.C. residents. 3-Atlantic tropical depression could form Tuesday. 4-New MAS Freedom Foundation Human and Civil Rights Director Addresses High-Level United Nations Conference. 5-Russia, Iran agree power station launch date. 6-Palestinian media calls pope stupid, criminal. 7-EU to admit Bulgaria, Romania. 8-Earth may be at warmest point in 1 million years. 9-Israeli intellectuals petition for contacts with Syria, Hamas. 10-Israel withdrawn from 90 per cent of land occupied in Lebanon: army. 11-Royal pregnancy poses political dilemma for Spain.
FORD SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE
September 25, 2006
Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire email list of family and friends.Ford supports homosexual marriage groups as a matter of principle, not economics.Ask new CEO to stop promoting homosexual marriage
Dear Stan,
Ford Motor Company has hired a new CEO. Alan Mulally replaces Bill Ford as CEO, while Ford will remain as chairman. Whether Ford will continue funding groups promoting homosexual marriage is not known. What is clear at this point is that Ford has made financial support for groups promoting homosexual marriage a matter of principle, not economics. Ford supported The Advocate, which bills itself as The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine, with two full-page ads in the September 12 issue. One ad, featuring all the different brands of Ford made autos, states: Standing strong with America's families and communities.What an insult to traditional marriage and families!
Ford has stated that their support for homosexual groups is an effort to secure sales from the 2% who are homosexual. But in securing one sale from the homosexuals, the company is losing hundreds of sales from those who oppose homosexual marriage.
That makes no economic sense at all. It does say that Ford shares the goal of the homosexual groups—which is homosexual marriage—and believes that goal worthy of financial support, even at great financial loss.
Incidentally, in a poll by the homosexual magazine, 52% of respondents said that boycotts (such as AFA's boycott of Ford) can change the pro-gay policies of large corporations. Even the homosexuals are saying our boycott can make a difference. Despite the tremendous amount of money given to the homosexual groups by Ford, not a single homosexual group has publicly supported Ford.
How is that for appreciation?
Take Action
1. Email new CEO Alan Mulally asking him to stop supporting homosexual marriage.
https://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/takeaction.asp?id=213
2. Forward this email to your local Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda or Ford dealer. Find their email address here
Ask him to forward it on to CEO Alan Mulally.
3. Sign the Boycott Ford Pledge if you have not already done so.
http://www.boycottford.com/
4. Print out and distribute the Boycott Ford Petition.
http://www.boycottford.com/ford/paperpetition.pdf
We have been asked if buying a used vehicle from a Ford dealer is ok. Yes, it is. Ford Motor Company does not receive any money on used car sales by the dealer.If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift to help us continue? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
http://www.afa.net/
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.
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.
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.
Minor earthquake awakens S.C. residents Mon Sep 25, 4:13 PM ET
BLENHEIM, S.C. - A minor earthquake awakened residents early Monday in northeastern South Carolina, the second quake to hit the area in several days. The magnitude 3.7 quake hit at 1:44 a.m. and was centered near Society Hill, about 90 miles southeast of Charlotte, N.C., according to the National Earthquake Information Center in Denver.There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Roy Allison, director of emergency management for Marlboro County, said he and other residents were woken up by their shaking houses.At a furniture and appliance store in Wallace, about 10 miles north of the epicenter, the windows sounded like they were about to bust out,said Valerie Perhealth, daughter of the store's owner. It scared me so bad.
A magnitude 3.5 quake shook the area Friday. The centers of the two quakes were about 10 miles apart.
Jessica Sigala, a geophysicist with the earthquake center, said the area gets small earthquakes now and then because of faults connected to the Appalachians.There's no fear of a bigger earthquake. These (small tremors) just happen,Sigala said.There were no reports of damage from Friday's quake but there were reports of windows cracking and dishes rattling.South Carolina each year has, on average, 10 to 15 earthquakes that register below magnitude 3. An earthquake between 3 and 4 normally is recorded about once every 18 months.The area's most devastating quake on record was a magnitude 7.3 that rumbled near Charleston on Aug. 31, 1886, killing more than 100 people.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Atlantic tropical depression could form Tuesday: NHC Tue Sep 26, 7:39 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tropical depression could form in the Atlantic later Tuesday or Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said in an outlook issued Tuesday. Even if it forms, however, the major weather models forecast the disturbance, which is heading east-northeast, would turn away from the United States near Bermuda and remain over open ocean waters, following the paths of Hurricanes Florence, Gordon and Helene.The NHC said the disturbance is located about 925 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and that atmospheric conditions are expected to become a little more favorable for development.The Leeward Islands include the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, St. Martin, Saba, Saint Eustatius, Saint Barthelemy, Antigua, Barbuda, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe and Dominica.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
New MAS Freedom Foundation Human and Civil Rights Director Addresses High-Level United Nations Conference Date Posted: Friday, September 22, 2006
Ibrahim Ramey, MAS Freedom Foundation Civil and Human Rights Director. In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful/WASHINGTON, DC - Sept. 22, 2006 (MASNET) On the commemoration of World Peace Day, September 21, 2006, more than 200 representatives of United Nations (U.N.) member states, global civil society, and the specialized U.N. agencies, met in New York City for a high level conference organized by the Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace.Ibrahim Ramey, Director of the Human and Civil Rights Division of the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation addressed the international gathering as one of ten representatives of international civil society.The Tripartite Forum, initiated in 2005, also includes U.N. member states and specialized U.N. agencies.
H.E. Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal, delivered the keynote address for the conference. Foreign Ministers and state representatives from Greece, El Salvador, Montenegro, the Philippines, the Holy See (Vatican), and other nations then addressed the delegates, as did representatives of the United Nations Secretariat, UNESCO, and other major U.N. organizations.After offering traditional Islamic greetings of peace to the audience, and saluting the courageous and excellent work of outgoing U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Ramey commented that the promotion of universal human rights and the global commitment to environmental restoration and protection are two pillars that could bring the Tripartite Forum partners together in closer collaboration.However, the biggest applause from the conference came when Ramey informed the delegates about the new cooperation between MAS Freedom Foundation, Pax Christi USA and PAX Christi International as a demonstration of true interfaith dialogue and common work in action.The announcement members of the Catholic faith will join the Muslim community for their annual Ramadan fast has been warmly embraced. Additionally, MAS Freedom will encourage mosques to open their doors in hospitality to Christians, and other faith communities, throughout the sacred month of Ramadan,Ramey stated.Concluding Ramey offered, This is an example of faith over fear, and what real interfaith dialogue and action should look like.Ramey also serves as a member of the Steering Committee of Religious NGO's at the United Nation, a coordinating body for more than 100 faith-based national and international Non-Governmental Organizations.Also: Pax Christi Announces Solidarity with Muslim Community Through Voluntary Fasting for Ramadan
Russia, Iran agree power station launch date by Conor Humphries
Tue Sep 26, 8:44 AM ET
MOSCOW (AFP) Russia and Iran have signed an agreement setting next September as the deadline for the launch of the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power station. The deal reaffirmed a commitment to press ahead with the decades-long construction effort at Bushehr, in southern Iran, in the face of US objections.At a second day of talks between Russian and Iranian officials, an additional agreement to the contract to build the Bushehr station was signed, which fixes September 2007 as the launch date, Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Russia's atomic energy agency, told AFP.The plant will actually produce electricity from November next year, he said, while the nuclear fuel for the plant will be delivered no later than next March.
The agreement was signed at talks between the head of Russian atomic energy agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, and Iranian vice-president Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who heads the country's nuclear energy agency.In all 80 tonnes of fuel will be delivered to the station in March, said Sergei Shmatko, the head of state-run company Atomstroiexport, which is building Bushehr, RIA Novosti reported.The agreement indicates that Russia has decided that the contract, worth an estimated one billion dollars, is worth risking the ire of the United States, which has applied heavy pressure on Moscow to suspend the program.Washington accuses the Islamic republic of trying to use its atomic energy program to help it develop a nuclear weapons capability.Iran has consistently denied the US charges, saying that its nuclear programme is solely for civilian energy purposes, a right it says is enshrined in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The United States has led calls at the United Nations for the Security Council to take enforcement action against Iran after it failed to heed an end of August deadline to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in extended form, the core of an atom bomb.Russia and China, both of which have major economic interests in Iran, have rebuffed the US pressure, and France too has demanded that more talks be held to provide the assurances being sought by the international community that the Islamic republic's nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.In an effort to assuage Western concerns, Russia early last year secured Iran's agreement to an amendment of the Bushehr deal, requiring that all spent nuclear fuel from the reactor be returned to Russia for reprocessing.Igor Ivanov, the head of Russia's security council, said that the latest deal struck a good balance between Iran's rights and the concerns of others that Iran's nuclear energy program is merely a cover for a covert nuclear weapons program.
We think agreements must be made that fully respect Iran's right to peaceful atomic energy, and at the same time take away the anxieties of the world community about non-proliferation,Ivanov said after talks with Aghazadeh at the Kremlin, Interfax reported.
Repeated delays had prompted the Iranians to threaten to freeze Russia out of the project if a fixed timetable for fuel imports was not set.On Monday Aghazadeh told Iran's semi-offical Mehr news agency that Iran could complete the station on its own within six months without Russia's help.
I see theres no respect for other religions in extremist Islam.
Palestinian media calls pope stupid,criminal
Warns pontiff will be judged by Allah 'when eyes stare in terror'
Posted: September 25, 2006,5:00 p.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein,© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – Pope Benedict XVI is arrogant, stupid, and criminal,and will be judged by Allah on the day when eyes will stare in terror, declared a sermon delivered this past weekend on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' state-run television.
The sermon coincided with a cartoon also published this weekend in an official Hamas-run daily newspaper in which the pontiff is depicted holding a swastika while wearing a scarf of American and Danish flags. The pope has been drawing fire from Muslims worldwide for remarks he made earlier this month concerning Islam. To this arrogant Pope criminal and arrogant this message is from Allah the Elevated and the Exalted, as it was said: Think not that Allah is unaware of what the wicked do. He but gives them a respite until a day when eyes will stare (in terror),'stated Gaza preacher Osama Al-Mazini in a sermon broadcast by the official television station of Abbas' Fatah party.
For this ignorant and stupid pope, who has no one to attack besides Islam and the prophet [Muhammad] ... [the pope] characterized Islam as a cruel religion and characterized Muhammad, may the Creator have mercy on him and protect him, as a cruel man, spilling blood, who strove to kill, Al-Mazini said in the sermon, which was translated by Palestinian Media Watch. The Palestinian media was responding to a speech in which the 79-year-old pope quoted Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, who wrote, Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached. The pontiff last week said he was deeply sorry for the reaction to his comments and later explained the emperor's words did not reflect how he himself felt. He said the intent of his remarks was to call for a dialogue on the role of religions in modern life.
Benedict XVI met today with a group of Muslim leaders in a bid to calm anger that has spilled over into international Muslim protests. The envoys invited to the Vatican included leaders from major Muslim countries such as Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and Iraq, and from the Arab League. During today's meeting, the pope expressed his esteem and profound respect for members of the Islamic faith. He spoke of the need for authentic dialogue between faiths and condemned violence. [We must] guard against all forms of intolerance and oppose all manifestations of violence,said the pope. Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See, Albert Edward Ismail Yelda, expressed his hope the pope's speech today will suffice to end the anger ignited by his original remarks. Mario Scialoja, an adviser to the Italian section of the World Muslim League who attended the audience with Benedict, told reporters afterwards he thought it was a very good and warm speech. Still, Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981, warned Benedict not to travel to Turkey, stating his life would be at risk.In an interview with WND last week, a prominent Gaza preacher called for holy war against the pope.
He declared the green flag of Muhammad would soon be raised over the Vatican. We did not need the words of the pope in order to understand that this is a Crusader war against Islam and it is our holy duty to fight all those who support the pope, who follow him and who did not condemn what this small racist had to say,said Abu Saqer, speaking to WND from the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. The day will soon come when the green flag of La Illah Illah Allah (There is no god but Allah) and Muhammad Rasul Allah (Muhammad is the prophet of Allah) will be raised upon the Vatican and all around the world and on the fortresses of those who want to destroy Islam, because they know that this religion obliges them to face the truth that Islam is Allah's favorite religion.
And until they join Islam, hell is their last station, Abu Saqer said. Immediately following the pope's original remarks on Sept. 12, Palestinians wielding guns and firebombs attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including Anglican and Greek Orthodox churches in the north Samaria city of Nablus and a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City. A group calling itself the Lions of Monotheism claimed responsibility for the church attacks, saying the violence was carried out to protest the pope's remarks. Abu Saqer said he rejected the pope's stated apologies. He did not
apologize. He said everything but an apology, which proves these are diplomatic acts and not a feeling of being sorry. Abu Saqer claimed he did not condone violence. He blamed the pope for recent anti-Christian attacks in the Palestinian territories. We are deeply sorry for these acts that we condemn,he said. But I am sorry that this little racist did not think of the consequences upon the Christians in the Arab world when he insulted our prophet. It is an open war – the Muslims against all the others.
Asked to respond directly to Paleologus' observations about Muhammad and Islam, Abu Saqer replied, About your stupid question about our contribution to civilization, did not you read about who were the pioneers in medicine, in mathematics, in astronomy? Did not you hear about Averroes and others? I am not reading poetry, I am saying the truth. Islam, it is not the source of violence. Who is occupying by force and violence Iraq and Afghanistan? Who is occupying Palestine? Who occupied for years the black people and turned them into slaves while one of the first leaders of Islam was the black Bilal Ibn Rabah? Continued Abu Saqer: Violence is a result of lack of faith. See the Western society and culture. See what free sex brings to your Western world and then see the family cell in Islam. Even our problems in Islam come when some parts of the Islamic population want to imitate your way of life.
The Gaza preacher said the pope and the Christian world are panicking because they realize who is winning. See how Islam is progressing and gaining more and more members and see the moral crisis in the West,he said. See today the support of Islam in the Arab and Muslim world and how Islam is gaining more and more adherents in Europe and even in the United States and you understand that Islam is the future and that this dwarf pope was wrong. But I can sympathize with him. He is frustrated because he understands where things are heading.
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.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
EU to admit Bulgaria, Romania
POSTED: 1028 GMT (1828 HKT), September 26, 2006
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) -- Bulgaria and Romania will get the green light on Tuesday to join the European Union in January, rather than a year later. The executive European Commission, however, will set unprecedented entry conditions. The Commission's recommendation, due to be approved by EU leaders in October, will list reforms the Balkan neighbors must complete to avoid being deprived initially of full membership benefits, including EU aid. Bulgaria and Romania have made further progress to complete their preparations for membership, demonstrating their capacity to apply EU principles and legislation from Jan. 1, 2007,said the Commission's draft report.
Toughest ever conditions
It will be the EU's second wave of enlargement into ex-communist eastern Europe, locking the Black Sea duo into the zone of stability and prosperity and promising a boost to their fast-growing economies.
But the toughest conditions ever imposed on entrants reflect concern about the countries' shortcomings, including corruption, organized crime and food safety standards, and doubts over their ability to administer billions of euros in EU aid properly. (Analysis).The conditions are meant partly to reassure critics of enlargement who say the two countries are too poor and too weak administratively to cope with EU membership. Bulgaria and Romania's economic output per capita is around one-third of the EU average and existing member states even those with open labor markets like Britain are hesitant about opening their doors to job seekers from both countries.
Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said on Monday that once Romania and Bulgaria have joined the EU, the bloc should not enlarge further until it has reformed its creaking institutions. The EU could have delayed Romanian and Bulgarian membership until 2008, but some Commission officials say privately that this would have humiliated the two nations, prompted an anti-EU backlash and reduced Brussels' leverage with Bucharest and Sofia.
Sanctions
The countries will be obliged to report regularly on progress in reforms and may face sanctions after entry unless the Commission deems their performance satisfactory. Both states will have to complete mechanisms to allocate billions of euros in farm subsidies and regional aid. If they do not, Brussels may freeze part of the funds. Bulgaria will be required to amend its constitution to remove ambiguity about the independence and accountability of the judicial system. It must also adopt new laws to improve the transparency and efficiency of the judicial process. Romania must strengthen its Superior Council of Magistracy and establish, as promised, an integrity agency that will verify the assets of senior state officials, the draft said. Failure to meet these obligations could mean that other EU members may refuse to recognize judgments of the newcomers' courts. In the farm sector, the EU may keep its ban on pork produced in both countries unless they improve measures to fight swine fever. Some restrictions may also apply to their milk sectors. Bulgaria and Romania will add about 30 million citizens to the bloc's present population of more than 450 million. 2006 Reuters.(CNN)
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
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 (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
OZONE DEPLETION
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Earth may be at warmest point in 1 million years
POSTED: 2101 GMT (0501 HKT), September 25, 2006
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Earth may be close to the warmest it has been in the last million years, especially in the part of the Pacific Ocean where potentially violent El Nino weather patterns are born, climate scientists reported on Monday.This doesn't necessarily mean there will be more frequent El Ninos which can disrupt normal weather around the world but could well mean that these wild patterns will be stronger when they occur, said James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.The El Nino phenomenon is an important factor in monitoring global warming, according to a paper by Hansen and colleagues published in the current Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
El Ninos can push temperatures higher than they might ordinarily be. This happened in 1998 when a so-called super El Nino helped heat the Earth to a record high.What is significant, the scientists wrote, is that 2005 was in the same temperature range as 1998, and probably was the warmest year ever, with no sign of the warm surface water in the eastern equatorial Pacific typical of an El Nino.
The waters of the western equatorial Pacific are warmer than in the eastern equatorial Pacific, and the difference in temperature between these two areas could produce greater temperature swings between the normal weather pattern and El Nino, they wrote.They blamed this phenomenon on global warming that is affecting the surface of the western Pacific before it affects the deeper water.
EL Nino and global warming
Overall, Earth is within 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) of its highest temperature levels in the past million years, Hansen and the others wrote. They noted a recent steep rise in average temperatures, with global surface temperatures increasing about 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.2 degrees Celsius) for each of the last three decades.Scientists attribute this rise to human activities, notably the release into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases notably carbon dioxide which let in sunlight and trap its heat like the glass walls of a greenhouse.
Human-caused global warming influences El Ninos much as it sways tropical storms, the scientists wrote.The effect on frequency of either phenomenon is unclear, depending on many factors, but the intensity of the most powerful events is likely to increase as greenhouse gases increase, they wrote.Slowing the growth rate of greenhouse gases should diminish the probability of both super El Ninos and the most intense tropical storms.
Weak El Nino conditions were present this month in the tropical Pacific, and could strengthen to a moderate event by winter, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors the phenomenon.In the United States, private forecaster WSI Corp. predicted warmer-than-normal weather over the Northeast and Midwest for the rest of this year, spelling sluggish energy demand for the start of the heating season.The warm outlook, after the mildest winter on record last year, is due to uncertainty over the El Nino a warming of Pacific waters around the equator that can drive weather patterns around the globe, WSI Corp. said.2006 Reuters.(CNN)
Israeli intellectuals petition for contacts with Syria, Hamas Mon Sep 25, 11:24 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Dozens of Israeli university lecturers, writers and reserve officers have signed a petition calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to open contacts with Syria and the Palestinians, including Hamas. Among the 71 signatories were well-known writers Amoz Oz and A.B. Yehoshua, as well as Aaron Ciechanover, who won the Nobel prize for chemistry in 2004, and retired general Shlomo Gazit, a former head of military intelligence.The war in Lebanon is behind us, but its results have significantly increased the risk of another war: a new war in south Lebanon, a war with Syria or even a conflict involving the Iranian army,said the petition seen by AFP.Everything should be done to avoid that,it continued.
The petition urged the prime minister to examine any appeal for dialogue emanating from an Arab country and to sound out the possibility of secret negotiations.According to the signatories,Israel should act on the three axes of Syria, the Palestinians and Lebanon to consolidate the ceasefire and UN resolution 1701 that ended Israel's recent 34-day war with Shiite militia Hezbollah.
On the Palestinian front, the intellectuals said the idea of talking to officials from the ruling Islamist movement Hamas should not be ruled out.The petition was delivered to Olmert and five of his cabinet ministers, said Naphtali Raz, a teacher behind the initiative.
Middle East News
Israel withdrawn from 90 per cent of land occupied in Lebanon: army
Sep 26, 2006, 10:43 GMT
Tel Aviv Israel has withdrawn from more than 90 per cent of the area it occupied in southern Lebanon during its 33-day war with the Shiite militant Hezbollah movement, Israel Radio reported Tuesday. The last Israeli troops, however, will not leave before the end of the week, the radio said, quoting a senior military official. Lebanese army sources said Monday that Israeli troops are still manning positions in ten different locations in southern Lebanon, stretching from Yarin in the east to Kfar Kila in the central sector. The Israeli troops are still in positions like Kfar Kila, Markaba, Blida, Maroun al-Ras, Rmeish, Ramiyeh, Marwaheen and Yarin,the sources said.
The Israeli military official said Israel was pleased with the performance of the United Nations forces and Lebanese Army troops who have deployed in southern Lebanon. The forces are displaying 'seriousness,' setting up roadblocks and conducting searches, said the official. Some 5,000 UN troops - a third of the total which is to deploy eventually - are now in southern Lebanon, along with Lebanese soldiers who have taken up positions in the southern border area for the first time since 1968.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Royal pregnancy poses political dilemma for Spain
By Sinikka Tarvainen Sep 26, 2006, 15:11 GMT
Madrid - Spanish media are agog over the news that Crown Princess Letizia, 34, is expecting her second child, but the glossy photographs, smiles and congratulations hide a serious constitutional problem. If the child due in May is a boy, Spain will find it increasingly difficult to dodge a long and complicated constitutional reform establishing the equality of the sexes in the succession to the throne. Nobody is calling into question that King Juan Carlos will be succeeded by Crown Prince Felipe, 38, even if he has an older sister. But with all the political parties agreeing that the constitutional principle of sexual equality must apply to the throne, what will happen with Felipe's children?
Felipe married television journalist Letizia Ortiz in May 2004, and the couple's first child Leonor was born in October 2005.
She is second in line to the throne after her father and could become the first female head of state in Spain since 19th century Queen Isabella II. If, however, the couple's new baby is a boy, the 1978 constitution would give him precedence over Leonor.
Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government has made the equality of the sexes one of its flagship causes.
None of the other parties oppose Spain following the example of liberal northern European countries such as Sweden or Belgium, where it is birth order and not sex that determines the right to the throne. The primacy of male succession should never have been written into the constitution,constitutional expert Javier Perez Royo says. It contravenes the basic principle of sexual equality.
The only problem is that the process of amending the constitution is very complicated. Changing the rules governing the right of succession would require nothing less than two-thirds approval by the lower house of parliament and senate, dissolution of parliament, new elections, two- thirds approval by the new parliament and senate, and, finally, a referendum.
The government fears that the referendum could become a popularity test for the monarchy, which does not traditionally enjoy strong backing in Spain and whose current popularity is largely based on the personalities of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.
The government is hoping to dodge the problem by submitting several constitutional amendments to the referendum simultaneously, but that could lead to problems with the opposition conservatives, who are against some of the proposed amendments, such as a reform of the senate. Posing in the arms of her radiant mother, baby Leonor is still unaware of the political debates that will determine her future. The best solution, many experts are suggesting, could be to put the issue on ice until Felipe becomes king and the question of his succession will become more current. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
FORD SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE
September 25, 2006
Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire email list of family and friends.Ford supports homosexual marriage groups as a matter of principle, not economics.Ask new CEO to stop promoting homosexual marriage
Dear Stan,
Ford Motor Company has hired a new CEO. Alan Mulally replaces Bill Ford as CEO, while Ford will remain as chairman. Whether Ford will continue funding groups promoting homosexual marriage is not known. What is clear at this point is that Ford has made financial support for groups promoting homosexual marriage a matter of principle, not economics. Ford supported The Advocate, which bills itself as The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine, with two full-page ads in the September 12 issue. One ad, featuring all the different brands of Ford made autos, states: Standing strong with America's families and communities.What an insult to traditional marriage and families!
Ford has stated that their support for homosexual groups is an effort to secure sales from the 2% who are homosexual. But in securing one sale from the homosexuals, the company is losing hundreds of sales from those who oppose homosexual marriage.
That makes no economic sense at all. It does say that Ford shares the goal of the homosexual groups—which is homosexual marriage—and believes that goal worthy of financial support, even at great financial loss.
Incidentally, in a poll by the homosexual magazine, 52% of respondents said that boycotts (such as AFA's boycott of Ford) can change the pro-gay policies of large corporations. Even the homosexuals are saying our boycott can make a difference. Despite the tremendous amount of money given to the homosexual groups by Ford, not a single homosexual group has publicly supported Ford.
How is that for appreciation?
Take Action
1. Email new CEO Alan Mulally asking him to stop supporting homosexual marriage.
https://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/takeaction.asp?id=213
2. Forward this email to your local Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda or Ford dealer. Find their email address here
Ask him to forward it on to CEO Alan Mulally.
3. Sign the Boycott Ford Pledge if you have not already done so.
http://www.boycottford.com/
4. Print out and distribute the Boycott Ford Petition.
http://www.boycottford.com/ford/paperpetition.pdf
We have been asked if buying a used vehicle from a Ford dealer is ok. Yes, it is. Ford Motor Company does not receive any money on used car sales by the dealer.If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift to help us continue? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
http://www.afa.net/
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.
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.
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.
Minor earthquake awakens S.C. residents Mon Sep 25, 4:13 PM ET
BLENHEIM, S.C. - A minor earthquake awakened residents early Monday in northeastern South Carolina, the second quake to hit the area in several days. The magnitude 3.7 quake hit at 1:44 a.m. and was centered near Society Hill, about 90 miles southeast of Charlotte, N.C., according to the National Earthquake Information Center in Denver.There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Roy Allison, director of emergency management for Marlboro County, said he and other residents were woken up by their shaking houses.At a furniture and appliance store in Wallace, about 10 miles north of the epicenter, the windows sounded like they were about to bust out,said Valerie Perhealth, daughter of the store's owner. It scared me so bad.
A magnitude 3.5 quake shook the area Friday. The centers of the two quakes were about 10 miles apart.
Jessica Sigala, a geophysicist with the earthquake center, said the area gets small earthquakes now and then because of faults connected to the Appalachians.There's no fear of a bigger earthquake. These (small tremors) just happen,Sigala said.There were no reports of damage from Friday's quake but there were reports of windows cracking and dishes rattling.South Carolina each year has, on average, 10 to 15 earthquakes that register below magnitude 3. An earthquake between 3 and 4 normally is recorded about once every 18 months.The area's most devastating quake on record was a magnitude 7.3 that rumbled near Charleston on Aug. 31, 1886, killing more than 100 people.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Atlantic tropical depression could form Tuesday: NHC Tue Sep 26, 7:39 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tropical depression could form in the Atlantic later Tuesday or Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said in an outlook issued Tuesday. Even if it forms, however, the major weather models forecast the disturbance, which is heading east-northeast, would turn away from the United States near Bermuda and remain over open ocean waters, following the paths of Hurricanes Florence, Gordon and Helene.The NHC said the disturbance is located about 925 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and that atmospheric conditions are expected to become a little more favorable for development.The Leeward Islands include the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, St. Martin, Saba, Saint Eustatius, Saint Barthelemy, Antigua, Barbuda, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe and Dominica.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
New MAS Freedom Foundation Human and Civil Rights Director Addresses High-Level United Nations Conference Date Posted: Friday, September 22, 2006
Ibrahim Ramey, MAS Freedom Foundation Civil and Human Rights Director. In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful/WASHINGTON, DC - Sept. 22, 2006 (MASNET) On the commemoration of World Peace Day, September 21, 2006, more than 200 representatives of United Nations (U.N.) member states, global civil society, and the specialized U.N. agencies, met in New York City for a high level conference organized by the Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace.Ibrahim Ramey, Director of the Human and Civil Rights Division of the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation addressed the international gathering as one of ten representatives of international civil society.The Tripartite Forum, initiated in 2005, also includes U.N. member states and specialized U.N. agencies.
H.E. Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal, delivered the keynote address for the conference. Foreign Ministers and state representatives from Greece, El Salvador, Montenegro, the Philippines, the Holy See (Vatican), and other nations then addressed the delegates, as did representatives of the United Nations Secretariat, UNESCO, and other major U.N. organizations.After offering traditional Islamic greetings of peace to the audience, and saluting the courageous and excellent work of outgoing U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Ramey commented that the promotion of universal human rights and the global commitment to environmental restoration and protection are two pillars that could bring the Tripartite Forum partners together in closer collaboration.However, the biggest applause from the conference came when Ramey informed the delegates about the new cooperation between MAS Freedom Foundation, Pax Christi USA and PAX Christi International as a demonstration of true interfaith dialogue and common work in action.The announcement members of the Catholic faith will join the Muslim community for their annual Ramadan fast has been warmly embraced. Additionally, MAS Freedom will encourage mosques to open their doors in hospitality to Christians, and other faith communities, throughout the sacred month of Ramadan,Ramey stated.Concluding Ramey offered, This is an example of faith over fear, and what real interfaith dialogue and action should look like.Ramey also serves as a member of the Steering Committee of Religious NGO's at the United Nation, a coordinating body for more than 100 faith-based national and international Non-Governmental Organizations.Also: Pax Christi Announces Solidarity with Muslim Community Through Voluntary Fasting for Ramadan
Russia, Iran agree power station launch date by Conor Humphries
Tue Sep 26, 8:44 AM ET
MOSCOW (AFP) Russia and Iran have signed an agreement setting next September as the deadline for the launch of the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power station. The deal reaffirmed a commitment to press ahead with the decades-long construction effort at Bushehr, in southern Iran, in the face of US objections.At a second day of talks between Russian and Iranian officials, an additional agreement to the contract to build the Bushehr station was signed, which fixes September 2007 as the launch date, Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Russia's atomic energy agency, told AFP.The plant will actually produce electricity from November next year, he said, while the nuclear fuel for the plant will be delivered no later than next March.
The agreement was signed at talks between the head of Russian atomic energy agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, and Iranian vice-president Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who heads the country's nuclear energy agency.In all 80 tonnes of fuel will be delivered to the station in March, said Sergei Shmatko, the head of state-run company Atomstroiexport, which is building Bushehr, RIA Novosti reported.The agreement indicates that Russia has decided that the contract, worth an estimated one billion dollars, is worth risking the ire of the United States, which has applied heavy pressure on Moscow to suspend the program.Washington accuses the Islamic republic of trying to use its atomic energy program to help it develop a nuclear weapons capability.Iran has consistently denied the US charges, saying that its nuclear programme is solely for civilian energy purposes, a right it says is enshrined in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The United States has led calls at the United Nations for the Security Council to take enforcement action against Iran after it failed to heed an end of August deadline to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in extended form, the core of an atom bomb.Russia and China, both of which have major economic interests in Iran, have rebuffed the US pressure, and France too has demanded that more talks be held to provide the assurances being sought by the international community that the Islamic republic's nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.In an effort to assuage Western concerns, Russia early last year secured Iran's agreement to an amendment of the Bushehr deal, requiring that all spent nuclear fuel from the reactor be returned to Russia for reprocessing.Igor Ivanov, the head of Russia's security council, said that the latest deal struck a good balance between Iran's rights and the concerns of others that Iran's nuclear energy program is merely a cover for a covert nuclear weapons program.
We think agreements must be made that fully respect Iran's right to peaceful atomic energy, and at the same time take away the anxieties of the world community about non-proliferation,Ivanov said after talks with Aghazadeh at the Kremlin, Interfax reported.
Repeated delays had prompted the Iranians to threaten to freeze Russia out of the project if a fixed timetable for fuel imports was not set.On Monday Aghazadeh told Iran's semi-offical Mehr news agency that Iran could complete the station on its own within six months without Russia's help.
I see theres no respect for other religions in extremist Islam.
Palestinian media calls pope stupid,criminal
Warns pontiff will be judged by Allah 'when eyes stare in terror'
Posted: September 25, 2006,5:00 p.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein,© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – Pope Benedict XVI is arrogant, stupid, and criminal,and will be judged by Allah on the day when eyes will stare in terror, declared a sermon delivered this past weekend on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' state-run television.
The sermon coincided with a cartoon also published this weekend in an official Hamas-run daily newspaper in which the pontiff is depicted holding a swastika while wearing a scarf of American and Danish flags. The pope has been drawing fire from Muslims worldwide for remarks he made earlier this month concerning Islam. To this arrogant Pope criminal and arrogant this message is from Allah the Elevated and the Exalted, as it was said: Think not that Allah is unaware of what the wicked do. He but gives them a respite until a day when eyes will stare (in terror),'stated Gaza preacher Osama Al-Mazini in a sermon broadcast by the official television station of Abbas' Fatah party.
For this ignorant and stupid pope, who has no one to attack besides Islam and the prophet [Muhammad] ... [the pope] characterized Islam as a cruel religion and characterized Muhammad, may the Creator have mercy on him and protect him, as a cruel man, spilling blood, who strove to kill, Al-Mazini said in the sermon, which was translated by Palestinian Media Watch. The Palestinian media was responding to a speech in which the 79-year-old pope quoted Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, who wrote, Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached. The pontiff last week said he was deeply sorry for the reaction to his comments and later explained the emperor's words did not reflect how he himself felt. He said the intent of his remarks was to call for a dialogue on the role of religions in modern life.
Benedict XVI met today with a group of Muslim leaders in a bid to calm anger that has spilled over into international Muslim protests. The envoys invited to the Vatican included leaders from major Muslim countries such as Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and Iraq, and from the Arab League. During today's meeting, the pope expressed his esteem and profound respect for members of the Islamic faith. He spoke of the need for authentic dialogue between faiths and condemned violence. [We must] guard against all forms of intolerance and oppose all manifestations of violence,said the pope. Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See, Albert Edward Ismail Yelda, expressed his hope the pope's speech today will suffice to end the anger ignited by his original remarks. Mario Scialoja, an adviser to the Italian section of the World Muslim League who attended the audience with Benedict, told reporters afterwards he thought it was a very good and warm speech. Still, Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981, warned Benedict not to travel to Turkey, stating his life would be at risk.In an interview with WND last week, a prominent Gaza preacher called for holy war against the pope.
He declared the green flag of Muhammad would soon be raised over the Vatican. We did not need the words of the pope in order to understand that this is a Crusader war against Islam and it is our holy duty to fight all those who support the pope, who follow him and who did not condemn what this small racist had to say,said Abu Saqer, speaking to WND from the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. The day will soon come when the green flag of La Illah Illah Allah (There is no god but Allah) and Muhammad Rasul Allah (Muhammad is the prophet of Allah) will be raised upon the Vatican and all around the world and on the fortresses of those who want to destroy Islam, because they know that this religion obliges them to face the truth that Islam is Allah's favorite religion.
And until they join Islam, hell is their last station, Abu Saqer said. Immediately following the pope's original remarks on Sept. 12, Palestinians wielding guns and firebombs attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including Anglican and Greek Orthodox churches in the north Samaria city of Nablus and a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City. A group calling itself the Lions of Monotheism claimed responsibility for the church attacks, saying the violence was carried out to protest the pope's remarks. Abu Saqer said he rejected the pope's stated apologies. He did not
apologize. He said everything but an apology, which proves these are diplomatic acts and not a feeling of being sorry. Abu Saqer claimed he did not condone violence. He blamed the pope for recent anti-Christian attacks in the Palestinian territories. We are deeply sorry for these acts that we condemn,he said. But I am sorry that this little racist did not think of the consequences upon the Christians in the Arab world when he insulted our prophet. It is an open war – the Muslims against all the others.
Asked to respond directly to Paleologus' observations about Muhammad and Islam, Abu Saqer replied, About your stupid question about our contribution to civilization, did not you read about who were the pioneers in medicine, in mathematics, in astronomy? Did not you hear about Averroes and others? I am not reading poetry, I am saying the truth. Islam, it is not the source of violence. Who is occupying by force and violence Iraq and Afghanistan? Who is occupying Palestine? Who occupied for years the black people and turned them into slaves while one of the first leaders of Islam was the black Bilal Ibn Rabah? Continued Abu Saqer: Violence is a result of lack of faith. See the Western society and culture. See what free sex brings to your Western world and then see the family cell in Islam. Even our problems in Islam come when some parts of the Islamic population want to imitate your way of life.
The Gaza preacher said the pope and the Christian world are panicking because they realize who is winning. See how Islam is progressing and gaining more and more members and see the moral crisis in the West,he said. See today the support of Islam in the Arab and Muslim world and how Islam is gaining more and more adherents in Europe and even in the United States and you understand that Islam is the future and that this dwarf pope was wrong. But I can sympathize with him. He is frustrated because he understands where things are heading.
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.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
EU to admit Bulgaria, Romania
POSTED: 1028 GMT (1828 HKT), September 26, 2006
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) -- Bulgaria and Romania will get the green light on Tuesday to join the European Union in January, rather than a year later. The executive European Commission, however, will set unprecedented entry conditions. The Commission's recommendation, due to be approved by EU leaders in October, will list reforms the Balkan neighbors must complete to avoid being deprived initially of full membership benefits, including EU aid. Bulgaria and Romania have made further progress to complete their preparations for membership, demonstrating their capacity to apply EU principles and legislation from Jan. 1, 2007,said the Commission's draft report.
Toughest ever conditions
It will be the EU's second wave of enlargement into ex-communist eastern Europe, locking the Black Sea duo into the zone of stability and prosperity and promising a boost to their fast-growing economies.
But the toughest conditions ever imposed on entrants reflect concern about the countries' shortcomings, including corruption, organized crime and food safety standards, and doubts over their ability to administer billions of euros in EU aid properly. (Analysis).The conditions are meant partly to reassure critics of enlargement who say the two countries are too poor and too weak administratively to cope with EU membership. Bulgaria and Romania's economic output per capita is around one-third of the EU average and existing member states even those with open labor markets like Britain are hesitant about opening their doors to job seekers from both countries.
Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said on Monday that once Romania and Bulgaria have joined the EU, the bloc should not enlarge further until it has reformed its creaking institutions. The EU could have delayed Romanian and Bulgarian membership until 2008, but some Commission officials say privately that this would have humiliated the two nations, prompted an anti-EU backlash and reduced Brussels' leverage with Bucharest and Sofia.
Sanctions
The countries will be obliged to report regularly on progress in reforms and may face sanctions after entry unless the Commission deems their performance satisfactory. Both states will have to complete mechanisms to allocate billions of euros in farm subsidies and regional aid. If they do not, Brussels may freeze part of the funds. Bulgaria will be required to amend its constitution to remove ambiguity about the independence and accountability of the judicial system. It must also adopt new laws to improve the transparency and efficiency of the judicial process. Romania must strengthen its Superior Council of Magistracy and establish, as promised, an integrity agency that will verify the assets of senior state officials, the draft said. Failure to meet these obligations could mean that other EU members may refuse to recognize judgments of the newcomers' courts. In the farm sector, the EU may keep its ban on pork produced in both countries unless they improve measures to fight swine fever. Some restrictions may also apply to their milk sectors. Bulgaria and Romania will add about 30 million citizens to the bloc's present population of more than 450 million. 2006 Reuters.(CNN)
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
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 (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
OZONE DEPLETION
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Earth may be at warmest point in 1 million years
POSTED: 2101 GMT (0501 HKT), September 25, 2006
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Earth may be close to the warmest it has been in the last million years, especially in the part of the Pacific Ocean where potentially violent El Nino weather patterns are born, climate scientists reported on Monday.This doesn't necessarily mean there will be more frequent El Ninos which can disrupt normal weather around the world but could well mean that these wild patterns will be stronger when they occur, said James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.The El Nino phenomenon is an important factor in monitoring global warming, according to a paper by Hansen and colleagues published in the current Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
El Ninos can push temperatures higher than they might ordinarily be. This happened in 1998 when a so-called super El Nino helped heat the Earth to a record high.What is significant, the scientists wrote, is that 2005 was in the same temperature range as 1998, and probably was the warmest year ever, with no sign of the warm surface water in the eastern equatorial Pacific typical of an El Nino.
The waters of the western equatorial Pacific are warmer than in the eastern equatorial Pacific, and the difference in temperature between these two areas could produce greater temperature swings between the normal weather pattern and El Nino, they wrote.They blamed this phenomenon on global warming that is affecting the surface of the western Pacific before it affects the deeper water.
EL Nino and global warming
Overall, Earth is within 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) of its highest temperature levels in the past million years, Hansen and the others wrote. They noted a recent steep rise in average temperatures, with global surface temperatures increasing about 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.2 degrees Celsius) for each of the last three decades.Scientists attribute this rise to human activities, notably the release into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases notably carbon dioxide which let in sunlight and trap its heat like the glass walls of a greenhouse.
Human-caused global warming influences El Ninos much as it sways tropical storms, the scientists wrote.The effect on frequency of either phenomenon is unclear, depending on many factors, but the intensity of the most powerful events is likely to increase as greenhouse gases increase, they wrote.Slowing the growth rate of greenhouse gases should diminish the probability of both super El Ninos and the most intense tropical storms.
Weak El Nino conditions were present this month in the tropical Pacific, and could strengthen to a moderate event by winter, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors the phenomenon.In the United States, private forecaster WSI Corp. predicted warmer-than-normal weather over the Northeast and Midwest for the rest of this year, spelling sluggish energy demand for the start of the heating season.The warm outlook, after the mildest winter on record last year, is due to uncertainty over the El Nino a warming of Pacific waters around the equator that can drive weather patterns around the globe, WSI Corp. said.2006 Reuters.(CNN)
Israeli intellectuals petition for contacts with Syria, Hamas Mon Sep 25, 11:24 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Dozens of Israeli university lecturers, writers and reserve officers have signed a petition calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to open contacts with Syria and the Palestinians, including Hamas. Among the 71 signatories were well-known writers Amoz Oz and A.B. Yehoshua, as well as Aaron Ciechanover, who won the Nobel prize for chemistry in 2004, and retired general Shlomo Gazit, a former head of military intelligence.The war in Lebanon is behind us, but its results have significantly increased the risk of another war: a new war in south Lebanon, a war with Syria or even a conflict involving the Iranian army,said the petition seen by AFP.Everything should be done to avoid that,it continued.
The petition urged the prime minister to examine any appeal for dialogue emanating from an Arab country and to sound out the possibility of secret negotiations.According to the signatories,Israel should act on the three axes of Syria, the Palestinians and Lebanon to consolidate the ceasefire and UN resolution 1701 that ended Israel's recent 34-day war with Shiite militia Hezbollah.
On the Palestinian front, the intellectuals said the idea of talking to officials from the ruling Islamist movement Hamas should not be ruled out.The petition was delivered to Olmert and five of his cabinet ministers, said Naphtali Raz, a teacher behind the initiative.
Middle East News
Israel withdrawn from 90 per cent of land occupied in Lebanon: army
Sep 26, 2006, 10:43 GMT
Tel Aviv Israel has withdrawn from more than 90 per cent of the area it occupied in southern Lebanon during its 33-day war with the Shiite militant Hezbollah movement, Israel Radio reported Tuesday. The last Israeli troops, however, will not leave before the end of the week, the radio said, quoting a senior military official. Lebanese army sources said Monday that Israeli troops are still manning positions in ten different locations in southern Lebanon, stretching from Yarin in the east to Kfar Kila in the central sector. The Israeli troops are still in positions like Kfar Kila, Markaba, Blida, Maroun al-Ras, Rmeish, Ramiyeh, Marwaheen and Yarin,the sources said.
The Israeli military official said Israel was pleased with the performance of the United Nations forces and Lebanese Army troops who have deployed in southern Lebanon. The forces are displaying 'seriousness,' setting up roadblocks and conducting searches, said the official. Some 5,000 UN troops - a third of the total which is to deploy eventually - are now in southern Lebanon, along with Lebanese soldiers who have taken up positions in the southern border area for the first time since 1968.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Royal pregnancy poses political dilemma for Spain
By Sinikka Tarvainen Sep 26, 2006, 15:11 GMT
Madrid - Spanish media are agog over the news that Crown Princess Letizia, 34, is expecting her second child, but the glossy photographs, smiles and congratulations hide a serious constitutional problem. If the child due in May is a boy, Spain will find it increasingly difficult to dodge a long and complicated constitutional reform establishing the equality of the sexes in the succession to the throne. Nobody is calling into question that King Juan Carlos will be succeeded by Crown Prince Felipe, 38, even if he has an older sister. But with all the political parties agreeing that the constitutional principle of sexual equality must apply to the throne, what will happen with Felipe's children?
Felipe married television journalist Letizia Ortiz in May 2004, and the couple's first child Leonor was born in October 2005.
She is second in line to the throne after her father and could become the first female head of state in Spain since 19th century Queen Isabella II. If, however, the couple's new baby is a boy, the 1978 constitution would give him precedence over Leonor.
Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government has made the equality of the sexes one of its flagship causes.
None of the other parties oppose Spain following the example of liberal northern European countries such as Sweden or Belgium, where it is birth order and not sex that determines the right to the throne. The primacy of male succession should never have been written into the constitution,constitutional expert Javier Perez Royo says. It contravenes the basic principle of sexual equality.
The only problem is that the process of amending the constitution is very complicated. Changing the rules governing the right of succession would require nothing less than two-thirds approval by the lower house of parliament and senate, dissolution of parliament, new elections, two- thirds approval by the new parliament and senate, and, finally, a referendum.
The government fears that the referendum could become a popularity test for the monarchy, which does not traditionally enjoy strong backing in Spain and whose current popularity is largely based on the personalities of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.
The government is hoping to dodge the problem by submitting several constitutional amendments to the referendum simultaneously, but that could lead to problems with the opposition conservatives, who are against some of the proposed amendments, such as a reform of the senate. Posing in the arms of her radiant mother, baby Leonor is still unaware of the political debates that will determine her future. The best solution, many experts are suggesting, could be to put the issue on ice until Felipe becomes king and the question of his succession will become more current. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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