1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Utilities still struggling after storm. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-House topples, highway closes in Daniel's Harbour. 5-Democrats Easter message censors Christ, Resurrection. 6-CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE BOMBED IN GAZA. 7-ElBaradei sees nuclear-arms-free Mideast as inevitable. 8-Iran Recruiting Israeli Jews as Spies. 9-Drought uncovers Australia's drowned town 10-3 slain at Bible distributor in Turkey. 11-Slain Israeli Professor Saved Others in Va. Tech Massacre. 12-Candlelight vigil at Virginia Tech.
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.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Wed Apr 18 2:00 PM EDT
APR 18,07
MAP 5.5 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.0 OFFSHORE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.3 JUJUY, ARGENTINA
APR 17,07
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.8 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.0 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.6 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.2 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.5 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 5.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 2.6 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.3 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
APR 16,07
MAP 3.7 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.5 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.4 MYANMAR
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.2 TONGA
MAP 3.8 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.2 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 6.4 WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
MAP 4.8 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 4.9 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 4.9 ALBANIA
MAP 3.0 NEBRASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.8 BALLENY ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.1 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
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.
Utilities still struggling after storm By CLARKE CANFIELD, Associated Press Writer APR 18,07
PORTLAND, Maine - Utility crews cut their way through downed trees Wednesday to restore service to thousands of customers still without power since a huge weekend storm battered the East Coast. Communities from New Jersey to Maine were still coping with stream flooding after the storm dumped more than 8 inches of rain in places, along with coastal flooding brought on by astronomical high tides and heavy surf.Seventeen deaths were blamed on the weather system.New Hampshire safety officials made plans Wednesday to breach the 19th century Hayden Mill Pond dam at Hollis to relieve the pressure of high water from the storm and avert a failure. A dozen families living near the six-acre reservoir were evacuated Tuesday evening and National Guard troops closed part of a highway as a precaution.
More than 50,000 businesses and residences remained without power Wednesday in Maine, where Central Maine Power Co. was being helped by repair crews from neighboring New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and as far away as Pennsylvania.Utility officials warned that some people might be without power until the end of the week.
It's a huge number of trees that are down, so it's a big job cutting those away, said CMP spokesman John Carroll. Plus there are 250 broken poles. That's an
enormous number of poles.Utilities in New Hampshire reported nearly 19,000 homes and businesses still had no electricity Wednesday and said some might not be reconnected until the weekend.In many areas, road damage and fallen trees blocked repair crews' access, said New Hampshire Electric Cooperative spokesman Seth Wheeler.There are 18 different tree crews we've hired ... just clearing trees first before the line crews can get in there and do construction, Wheeler said.
About 1,700 New Jersey residents were in emergency shelters Wednesday because of flooding, up slightly from the day before, as more rivers crested. Rescue crews went house to house by boat in a flooded section of Fairfield asking if residents of any of about three dozen homes needed to be evacuated, said State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones.The numbers are fluctuating, actually going down in some places as folks go home, but rising in others as people who had been holding out just give in and go to a shelter, Jones said.Sections of some New Jersey highways were still closed by standing water Wednesday.More than 80 New Hampshire roads remained closed by high water or damage, said Department of Transportation spokesman Bill Boynton. Most were expected to be reopened soon, but it could take weeks to repair landslide damage to Route 101 in Wilton, he said.
New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch had asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to start a preliminary damage assessment in all 10 counties to determine eligibility for federal disaster relief. Many New Hampshire communities have been overwhelmed by all the flooding, he said.Swollen rivers in Massachusetts were receding but waves still crashed over sea walls and flooded coastal roads early Wednesday, authorities said.Two families were evacuated from oceanfront homes in Duxbury, Mass., late Tuesday but were able to return Wednesday morning, fire Capt. Skip Chandler said. Their homes had knee-deep water on the ground floor, he said. Thank goodness it wasn't worse,he said.Most roads had reopened in the suburbs north of New York City, as homeowners in Westchester County piled water-ruined carpets and furniture in heaps outside. On Fire Island, a barrier island along the south side of New York's Long Island, some homes were clinging to narrow beaches atop rickety pilings because the storm's waves had scoured the sand out from beneath them. There's nothing I can do, said homeowner Bill Raymond, 55. You've got to keep your fingers crossed.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Wed Apr 18, 5:55 AM ET
A storm system that dumped rain on parts of the West will continue to move eastward on Wednesday, bringing rain and light snow to parts of the Rockies and high Plains. Northern California and Washington are expected to also experience rain, while scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely in the northern high Plains. Temperatures in the 30s and 40s are expected in the Northwest.
Light to moderate snow and coastal rain are expected in New England, while light snow is also possible over parts of the Great Lakes region, turning into rain later in the day.A low pressure system that caused severe weather over Texas on Tuesday is expected to move through the lower Mississippi Valley and parts of the Southeast on Wednesday, bringing scattered showers and thunderstorms.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected across the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, moving into parts of the Mid-Atlantic region by evening.Temperatures in the lower 48 states Tuesday ranged from a low of 16 degrees at Alpine, Ariz., to a high of 90 degrees at Imperial, Calif.
House topples, highway closes in Daniel's Harbour
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 | 2:02 PM NT - CBC News
Landslides in a town on Newfoundland's west coast claimed their first house Wednesday, as officials restricted traffic on a nearby highway.A series of landslides have caused several structures to tumble down a steep cliff in Daniel's Harbour.(CBC) The house, a bungalow, slid down a steep cliff in Daniel's Harbour.It has toppled off the edge of the embankment … and is now gone, CBC reporter Bernice Hillier said early Wednesday afternoon.People here are pretty upset about this. They, I guess, didn't think that this was going to happen, Hillier said.
Here's a house where a man has worked all his life, and put so much into, raised a family, and now it's gone.RCMP have closed traffic in both directions on Route 430, better known as the Northern Peninsula Highway.Traffic was first closed after midnight, but reopened for a few hours on Wednesday morning.Hillier said crews are now trying to find an alternate route to the Northern Peninsula Highway.The precautions were taken in the wake of a series of landslides — including a large slide on Sunday morning that pushed tonnes of soil into the Gulf of St. Lawrence — that have put a series of Daniel's Harbour structures at risk.Six homes and one business have been cleared because they are in danger of sliding down a cliff.Owners of two of the homes were told earlier this week to evacuate. Orders for the rest had been made last fall, in the wake of a massive landslide last October.
Derrick Biggin, who left his home on Monday, said he salvaged most of his material possessions, but that he is losing much more than that.When those houses do end up in the drink, it's going to be very dramatic to everyone involved. … It's part of you, Biggin said.It's been part of you for 30-plus years and it's hard to get over those things.Biggin said he expects to lose his house before the week is out.
A series of small landslides after Sunday's massive tumble have chewed away at the narrowing safety zone leading to the highway, which runs along the side of a vertical cliff where all the slides have occurred.
Democrats Easter message censors Christ, Resurrection
Fear offending non-Christians
Dear Stan,
First, the politcally correct crowd tried to take Christ out of Christmas. Now, the Democratic Party has taken Christ and the Resurrection out of Easter. On March 30, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued a press statement titled DNC Offers Passover Greetings.
The press statement read: On Monday night, Jews around the world will begin celebrating Passover, a week-long holiday that commemorates the Israelites' freedom from persecution and slavery.A week later, Dean and the DNC issued another statement concerning Easter: Easter Sunday is a joyful celebration. The holiday represents peace, redemption and renewal, a theme which brings hope to people of all faiths.
The DNC refused to even mention Jesus or the Resurrection, the very heart of Easter.The DNC took one of two unique Christian holy days and turned it into a politically correct religious day. The DNC treated Easter as if was not unique to the Christian faith, and made it into a nondescript, universal, nonexclusive religious celebration celebrated by every religion in the world. The DNC greeting had not one word to say about the Resurrection, but said Easter represents peace, redemption and renewal.They define the Jewish holy day correctly, as they should. But to keep from offending any non-Christian, the DNC takes the Christian Easter and defines it in a politically correct manner.
Intentionally offending Christians is something the DNC doesn’t mind doing.
Take Action
Send an e-mail to the Democratic National Committee telling them you expect a public apology. https://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/TakeAction.asp?id=247
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE BOMBED IN GAZA
Joshua Fund offers to help rebuild this lighthouse in the darkness
By Joel C. Rosenberg
(Washington, D.C., April 16, 2007) -- Just a week ago, our Joshua Fund team was in Jerusalem, getting a briefing from Palestinian, Egyptian and Jordanian evangelical leaders, including two brave Christian leaders from Gaza.
They shared with us the intense opposition they face from radical Muslims who will stop at nothing to keep the good news of Jesus's love for all mankind from being heard in the Palestinian-controlled territories. They explained that hundreds of Muslims have turned to faith in Christ over the past year despite such opposition. They also asked us to pray not that the persecution would stop, but that they and their Christian colleagues would have the courage both to endure and to truly love their Muslim neighbors and their jihadist enemies the way Christ loved the lost while on earth. Yesterday just seven days after that meeting I received the following email from an Arab believer in Gaza:
At 2:00 am on Sunday, two cars with masked gunmen parked in front of the Bible Society office in Gaza and kidnapped the security guard. An hour later they returned and placed a large bomb on the doors.
The damage is very big. We thank the Lord that there were no injuries....The team is strong and encouraged in the Lord, [One Palestinian Christian leader] has gone down to Gaza this morning to stand by them and give them support, as well to start the process of fixing and reopening the bookshop. At noon time a group from the Ministry of Culture will come to show their support and their denial towards such an act. This is expected to draw more attention by the media who has been covering this attack since it took place early morning. Many channels including Al-Jazeera have reported this story.
The Associated Press also reported on the story: Three explosions hit Gaza City early Sunday, damaging two Internet cafes and a Christian bookstore. No one was hurt and no group claimed responsibility for the blasts, which took place around 3 a.m. local time, Palestinian security officials said. Several similar attacks on Internet cafes and music stores in recent months have been claimed by a little-known extremist Islamic organization calling itself the Swords of Truth.
The officials would not speculate on the identity of those behind the Sunday attacks, saying only that the incidents were under investigation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Heavy external damage was visible at the three stores. At the bookstore, which is funded by American Protestants and known as the Bible Society, a number of books were also burned in the explosion. In recent months, about three dozen Internet cafes and shops selling pop music have been attacked in the Gaza Strip, with assailants detonating small bombs outside businesses at night, causing damage but no injuries. Palestinian security officials have said they suspect a secret vice squad of Muslim militants.Another Arab ministry leader wrote to me, saying: Our staff and the Bible society staff are all safe, but the challenge is what is coming. Please pray for wisdom to continue the ministry and a protection for staff and their disciples who from [a Muslim] background.
I agree as Jewish and Gentile believers, let us join together to pray for our brothers and sisters and ask the Lord to prevent radical jihadists from being able to silence the gospel as they so desperately desire. And let us remember what Jesus told us in Matthew 16:18: I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. (KJV)
The Joshua Fund has offered to help finance the rebuilding of this lighthouse in the darkness.We'll let you know the details of this project as soon as we can.
UNFORTUNATELY THE BIBLE TELLS ME THE OPPOSITE THAT WW3 STARTS AT THE EUPHRATES RIVER IN IRAQ AND OR SYRIA. NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED AS 1/2 OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE.
ElBaradei sees nuclear-arms-free Mideast as inevitable (Roundup)
Apr 15, 2007, 14:35 GMT
Amman - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Mohamed ElBaradei on Sunday expected the eventua emergence of a Middle East free of nuclear arms that also includes Israel and Iran. Eventually, a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction that also assembles Israel and Iran is inevitable, ElBaradei told reporters after a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan. This will be the last chance for us to set up a Middle East security order that is based on cooperation and confidence rather than on the possession of nuclear arms, he said. The IAEA chief criticized the double standards applied to Israel on the one hand and other countries in the region on the other as far as nuclear programmes were concerned. There has been a mistake in dealing with this (Israeli) nuclear file over the past five decades, he said. ElBaradei blamed Arab countries for joining the nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT) without Israel's joining of the agreement or stipulating that Israel joins it at a later stage.
This was a mistake that led to imbalance, with Israel possessing a nuclear deterrent while Arab states committing themselves to programmes for peaceful uses, he said. However, there is an opportunity for taking the security aspect into account as part of the peace process, he added.
When a just and comprehensive peace is established between the Arab states and Israel, it should be forged in parallel with a security order based on wiping out all weapons of mass destruction, he said. Responding to a question, ElBaradei said he had not so far come to the conclusion that the Iranian nuclear programme was set up for military purposes. We still have enough time ahead for resolving this problem through peaceful means. The Iranian issue cannot be resolved except through dialogue, he added. He said any military solution to the Iranian nuclear standoff will be irrational, catastrophic and will complicate the problem further.ElBaradei said that he would be dispatching an IAEA team to Jordan next week to conduct a serious and comprehensive study to help Jordan set up its own nuclear programme. Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Iran Recruiting Israeli Jews as Spies
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz 29 Nisan 5767, April 17, '07
(IsraelNN.com) The General Security Services (GSS) recently uncovered a new effort to recruit Jews with family or other interests in Iran into the service of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and National Security (VEVAK), the Islamic Republic's chief intelligence agency. According to information released by senior GSS officials on Tuesday, at least ten Israelis have passed the first stage of
recruitment and have received money from Iran. All ten were recruited when visiting relatives in Iran, but none have been indicted, as they had not yet passed any information on to their handlers. According to a senior GSS source, the last year has seen an increase in Iranian intelligence activities targeting Israel, including approximately 100 attempts by Iranian agents to recruit Israeli Jews visiting family members in Iran. In exchange for the promise of information about events in Israel, the Islamic Republic has paid thousands of US dollars to Israeli Jewish collaborators.
Iran, the senior GSS source explained, identified in the trips by Israelis to Iran an opportunity to serve its interests in espionage against Israel.The recruitment process begins at the Iranian Consulate in Turkey, where Israelis who wish to visit Iran go to obtain entry permits. There are no current restrictions on Israelis visiting the Islamic Republic, which has not been legally declared an enemy state. Israelis seeking entry to Iran are grilled for information in Turkey by agents of VEVAK presenting themselves as consular diplomats. The Israelis are asked about their family ties and military service, as well as about political and social issues in the Jewish State, among other topics. In some cases, Israelis have been questioned for hours on end in an isolated room inside the Iranian Consulate. Once in Iran, the visiting Israeli identified by the Iranian agents as a potential recruit is put through a lengthy series of interviews with VEVAK agents. There have been cases of Israelis refusing to cooperate with the Iranian authorities at this stage, leading to their arrest for several months.
Once an Israeli tourist has been successfully recruited, the VEVAK agents may request seemingly innocuous tasks of them upon their return home. Israelis have been asked to do such things as provide Iran with pictures of certain places in Israel, identify key figures in Israeli society and recruit an acquaintance as an agent for Iran, as well. I see Israeli Jews leaving the country for business or family visits in Iran, where they are recruited for the purposes of spying, as a serious phenomenon, the GSS official continued. This time, we did not file charges, but in the future, we will not restrain ourselves from prosecuting such people.Commenting on the reports of Israeli Jewish spies in the employ of Iran, Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad (National Union-NRP) said that the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee must quickly finalize the draft of his legislative bill defining Iran as an enemy state. Eldad submitted the bill several months ago, in an effort to fill the legal lacuna left by Israel's previous friendly relations with the Persian state under the deposed Shah. Eldad said that, if the process is given top priority, the draft law could be completed and brought to the plenum within a week.
Drought uncovers Australia's drowned town by Neil Sands APR 18,07
ADAMINABY, Australia (AFP) - Australia's worst drought in a century has uncovered a town deliberately flooded 50 years ago as part of a massive hydro-electricity scheme, stirring painful memories for former residents. Adaminaby, a small farming town nestled in the Snowy Mountains on the border between New South Wales and Victoria states, was submerged under 30 metres (98.5 feet) of water in 1957 when the local valley was dammed to form the man-made Lake Eucumbene.The settlement was never expected to be seen again but the severity of the drought has evaporated most of the lake, bringing it back to the surface.We couldn't believe it when the old streets started to reappear, said Leigh Stewart, a local history buff who grew up in the old town and once ran a shop there.It brought back a lot of memories, I can still see in my mind's eye how the town was, he adds, gesturing around the muddy wreckage of what was once his family home.Stewart said the town's re-emergence was a striking demonstration of the severity of the drought.It shows how bad the situation is around here, he said.
The dam's at about 20 percent capacity now and it's getting worse. We're all hoping it turns around soon and we get some consistent rains that will fill the lake again.
The hills around the lake are topped with green vegetation that stops abruptly at a line mid-way down the valley, replaced with brown mud that marks the old shoreline, some 30 metres above the current water level.
The sloping main street of the old town, its bitumen eroded from decades underwater, is now being used by locals as a boat ramp to access the depleted Lake Eucumbene. Shards of pottery, rusted batteries, bottles and other remnants of everyday life in the old town dry in the sun, with the foundations of old houses covered by a thick layer of silt from what used to be the bed of the lake.The blackened skeletons of trees drowned half a century ago poke out from the water about 50 metres (165 foot) from the current shoreline in a straight row, still marking the route of a road they once lined in the old town.A flight of concrete steps leads up to the remains of the St Mary's Catholic Church, now reduced to a few tilting brick columns and rotten wooden floorboards.It was at the top of these stairs that Greg and Mary Russell were sprinkled with confetti when they were married 60 years ago.Greg, now 82, said he had mixed feelings wandering the streets in the old town where he played as a child.It's sad and it makes me a bit nostalgic, he told AFP. We had some good times there and it's strange to see it this way now.
The creation of Lake Eucumbene was one of the largest projects in the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, a huge post-war engineering project designed to harness the power of the Snowy River.The scheme involved building seven power stations and 16 dams, linked by 145 kilometres (90 miles) of tunnels through the mountains and 80 kilometres (50 miles) of viaducts.
More than 100,000 workers were involved in its construction, many of them refugees from war-ravaged European communities whose arrival permanently altered Australia's demographics, diluting the predominance of those from British roots. Tiny Adaminaby, a hamlet of about 700 people, stood in the way of the ambitious nation-building project and policy-makers in Canberra decided it must be sacrificed in the name of progress. We were told we had to move, said Anne Kennedy, who was still a child when her home was flooded. A lot of us never wanted to go, my father tried to chase them down the street with a gun, but they said it was for the good of the nation and we had no choice in the matter. A contemporary photograph taken at the ceremony to mark commencement of the dam's construction shows the townsfolk dressed in their Sunday best, their sombre, worried expressions contrasting with the official bunting and celebratory placards.
More than 50 buildings from the old town were moved nine kilometres away over a hill to the town that now bears the name Adaminaby. Some timber houses were simply lifted onto the back of trucks and driven to the new settlement, others such as St John's Church of England were dismantled stone-by-stone and rebuilt. Kennedy said only about 250 of Adaminaby's residents resettled in the new town, the rest took compensation packages they regarded as woefully inadequate and moved elsewhere. She said the town, which had once been a thriving local hub, struggled as its regional rivals prospered with the development of ski-fields and other tourism attractions in the area. Many locals developed a deep mistrust of outsiders because they felt they had been betrayed when their community was relocated, she said. We had an influx of new people a few years ago who bought retirement homes here, she said. People weren't very welcoming because they didn't trust outsiders after what happened with the relocation. Adaminaby was starting to get a reputation as an unfriendly place.Kennedy's solution was to begin work on a huge quilt showing the town's history that involved all members of the community working together in the local town hall for two years. She said the plan successfully brought the community together and the re-emergence of the old town now also gave displaced townsfolk a chance to come to terms with the past. It lets people say goodbye to the old town because they never really had a chance to do that originally, she said. She was also hopeful the ruins of the old town could become a tourist attraction to bring visitors to modern Adaminaby. Who knows? she said. At least it would mean something good came from all of this.
3 slain at Bible distributor in Turkey By BENJAMIN HARVEY, Associated Press Writer APR 18,07
ISTANBUL, Turkey - Assailants tied up three people at a publishing house that distributes Bibles in Turkey and then slit their throats Wednesday, adding to a string of attacks apparently targeting the country's tiny Christian minority. The killings occurred in Malatya, a city in central Turkey known as a hotbed of Turkish nationalism and is the hometown of Mehmet Ali Agca, the gunman who tried to
assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981.Malatya Gov. Ibrahim Dasoz said two of the victims at the Zirve publishing house were found already dead and the third died after being taken to the hospital.
All had their throats cut and their hands and legs were bound, he said.Dasoz said police detained four suspects and were investigating whether another man who suffered head injuries when he jumped from the window of the publisher's office may have been involved in the attack. He was reported undergoing surgery for his injury.
The German Embassy said one victim was German. I am shocked that a German citizen is among the victims. Even if the exact circumstances of the crime are not yet known, I most strongly condemn this brutal crime, German Ambassador Eckart Cuntz said in a statement.
Another victim was Turkish, Dasoz said, but he could not confirm the nationality of the third person killed.Zirve's general manager told CNN-Turk television that his employees had recently been threatened. We know that they have been receiving some threats, Hamza Ozant said, but could not say who made the threats.The publishing house had been targeted previously in protests by nationalists who accused it of proselytizing in this overwhelmingly Muslim but officially secular country, Dogan news agency reported.Making up less than 1 percent of Turkey's 70 million people, Christians have increasingly become targets amid what some fear is a rising tide of hostility toward non-Muslims.In February 2006, a teenager fatally shot a Catholic priest as he prayed in his church, and two more Catholic priests were attacked later in the year. A November visit by Pope Benedict XVI was greeted by nonviolent protests, and early this year a gunman killed Armenian Christian editor Hrant Dink.
Associated Press writer Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara contributed to this report.
Slain Israeli Professor Saved Others in Va. Tech Massacre
by Gil Ronen 29 Nisan 5767, 4/17/2007
(IsraelNN.com) As Israel observed Holocaust Day, thousands of miles away, A Rumanian-born Holocaust survivor gave his life in another senseless murder - and apparently in an act of heroism. Among the 32 people killed by a lone gunman at Virginia Tech Monday is 77-year-old engineering professor, Liviu Librescu, a citizen of Israel.
According to eyewitness accounts, Librescu ran to the door of his classroom and blocked it with his body – preventing the gunman from entering but getting shot to death himself as a result. Alec Calhoun, a 20-year-old student who had been in Librescu's class in room 204, told a reporter that at 9:05 a.m. the heard screams and a loud banging sound from the next-door classroom. When the students realized it was gunfire, he said, some hid behind tables, and others leapt from the classroom's windows. Calhoun himself was among the last to jump. Before I jumped from the window, I turned around and looked at the professor, who stayed behind, maybe to block the door. He had been killed.Librescu is survived by his wife of 42 years, Marlena, who was with him in Virginia, and sons Aryeh and Joe who are in Israel. They intend to bury him in Israel.
Asael Arad, an Israeli student who visited the widow after the tragedy, told Army Radio Tuesday that Marlena had been receiving e-mails from students who credited Prof. Librescu with saving their lives. I lost my best friend, the widow told a reporter for NRG at her home near the Blacksburg campus. He was a great person, who loved teaching more than anything. Marlena said someone had initially informed her that her husband was injured in the shooting. I looked for him in the hospitals all day but I didn't find him, she said. The Librescus are Rumanian Jews who came on aliyah (immigrated to Israel) in 1978 – after then-Prime Minister Begin interceded on their behalf with the Rumanian government, according to Marlena. The couple went on a sabbatical to the United States since 1986 and has been living there ever since.
NEW BREAKING NEWS IN THIS CASE, CHO SENT PICTURES AND LETTERS TO NBC BEFORE HE GUNNED DOWN THE 32 STUDENTS AND TEACHERS AT VIRGINIA TECH. NBC WILL BE AIRING THE BREAKING NEWS TONIGHT.
Candlelight vigil at Virginia Tech -By Mike Wereschagin
TRIBUNE-REVIEW - Wednesday, April 18, 2007
BLACKSBURG, Va. Thirty-three bred a gathering of thousands. Here, on the soft grass of the Drill Field, between two pieces of a catastrophe, the heart of Virginia Tech glowed last night. A candlelight vigil, organized by students in remembrance of the 33 students and professors gunned down Monday in the worst shooting in modern U.S. history, drew more than 10,000. Many left campus yesterday to be with family, draining the school of still more students. Last night became a testimony from those who remained a resurrection of place. I plan to go on, said Thomas Connors, 22, a senior from Charlotte, N.C. Leaving was never a thought. All my friends feel that way.For some, it was the first time they'd seen their friends since Monday morning, when the campus was locked down and no one knew who remained alive. It's good to see you, was, for a night, a powerful enough greeting to elicit tears.
This is the way the community is around here, said Crystal Horning, 44, a municipal worker in nearby Christiansburg. Her husband, Leslie, 43, said the size of the gathering came as no surprise.
The challenge is how to recognize and accept (the shooting), and move on with our lives, he said. You can't bury it.Organizers set up six double-sided white, wooden placards which will stand there until Sunday and attached black markers. Well-wishers posted messages of defiance, solidarity and eternity. The crowd began trickling onto the field nearly an hour before the scheduled 8 p.m. start. By the time the vigil began, a shimmering sea of soft orange light coated the field, the participants standing so close and in such numbers that it was difficult to tell where one person stopped and the next began.
We heal. We come back, said Gade Kimsawatde, 21, a bio-technology major from Bangkok, Thailand. She wanted to leave earlier to be with family until university classes resume Monday, but as a resident assistant, she stayed an extra day to make sure people on her dormitory floor were doing all right. This is love, Zenobia Hikes, vice president of student affairs at the school, said, speaking to the crowd. Look after each other.Brief remarks from Hikes, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and student leaders lasted only about nine minutes. For about a half-hour afterward, they stood silently, sang Amazing Grace and broke into a boisterous, spontaneous call-and-response: Let's go! came the cry. Hokies! the reply.
Between speakers, the massive assembly stayed hushed through a moment of silence, and remained still during a long, slow rendition of Taps played by a member of the school's Corps of Cadets. And when it was over, they didn't leave. They raised their candles higher. Mike Wereschagin can be reached at mwereschagin@tribweb.com or (412) 391-0927.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
33 DEAD IN MASSACRE
President George W. Bush APR 17, 2007
Our nation is shocked and saddened by the news of the shootings at Virginia Tech today. The exact total has not yet been confirmed, but it appears that more than 30 people were killed and many more were wounded.I've spoken with Governor Tim Kaine and Virginia Tech President Charles Steger.
I told them that Laura and I and many across our nation are praying for the victims and their families and all the members of the university community who have been devastated by this terrible tragedy. I told them that my administration would do everything possible to assist with the investigation, and that I pledged that we would stand ready to help local law enforcement and the local community in any way we can during this time of sorrow.
President George W. Bush delivers a statement Monday, April 16, 2007, regarding the shooting deaths of more than 30 Virginia Tech students. Today, our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech, said the President. We hold the victims in our hearts, we lift them up in our prayers, and we ask a loving God to comfort those who are suffering today. White House photo by Eric Draper Schools should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community.Today, our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech. We hold the victims in our hearts, we lift them up in our prayers, and we ask a loving God to comfort those who are suffering today.
BRUTAL SHOOTER MASSACRES 32 PLUS SELF AT BLACKSBURG VIRGINIA.
By Stan L Bowman Jr at 3PM APR 17,07
It was just an ordinary day until 7:15 AM at Virginia Tech when Police were called to the Campus about a shooting were 22 year old Ryan Clark and a Female student were found shot dead.
The Police thought it was a domestic dispute and never had a clue of what was to come two hours later. So they were collecting evidence from the crime scene.
Then at 10 AM as the reports go Cho the gunman went a half mile from the first crime scene to Norris Hall were he chained two doors closed and went on a shooting spree that spanned the stairwell as well as four different class rooms before the worst massacre in the U.S history was complete and then Cho the Gunman committed Suicide in one of the four class rooms.
In the German class at least 21 of the 25 students were unconscious or dead a student from the class reported who escaped death by pretending she was dead. If 21 did die in this class room alone as she said then there was a total of 11 deaths plus the gunman in the 3 rooms as well as in the stairwell.
We now need to PRAY TO GOD for healing and miracles in the lives of these students and teachers and family members. Its only JESUS that can heal the wounds and cleanse the soul now. And just pray that Prayer and the ten commandments get back in schools so we don't see this kind of Massacre ever again.
Father we Pray that you heal all the people affected by Cho, and I pray father you protect Chos family from persecussion because of this incident. We all have free will and Cho choose to do this not his family members. We also pray father that lives will be given to you through this incident and that people will realize that their is a GOD who loves and cares for everyone he created. We pray that forgiveness will be done (which is hard in a situation like this) but for your own sake you must forgive Cho and let the Holy Spirit give you life and power to go on. And we Pray this all to be accomplished in JESUS precious name Amen and Amen.
I will put the names of the People affected as I get them.
Guns confirmed connected to both shootings
9MM GLOCK MODEL 19
WALTHER P22
Gunman 23 year old South Korean Cho Seung-Hui. (SHOT SELF AFTER MASSACRE)
SHOT DEAD BY CHO
PROFESSORS
Jamie Bishop (Instructor in German) - 35
Kevin Granata (Science and Mechanics) - 45
Liviu Librescu (Science and Mechanics) (Israeli) - 76
G.V Loganathan (Civil and Enviromental Engineering) - 51
Jocelyn Couture-Nowak (French Instructor) -
STUDENTS
Ross Alameddine - 20
Brian Bluhm - 25
Ryan Clark - 22
Austin Cloyd -
Daniel Perez Cueva - 21
Matt Gwaltney - 24
Caitlin Hammeran - 19
Jeremy Herbstritt - 27
Rachael Hill - 18 *
Emily Hilscher - 19 (2nd shot in 7:15 AM Shooting)
Jarrett Lane - 22
Matthew LaPorte - 20
Henry Lee - 20
Partahi Lumbantoruan - 34
Lauren McCain - 20
Daniel O'Neil - 22
Juan Ortiz - 26
Minal Panchal - 26
Erin Peterson - 18
Michael Pohle Jr - 23
Julia Pryde - 23
Mary Read - 19
Reema Samaha - 18
Waleed Shaalan - 32
Leslie Sherman -
Maxine Turner - 22
Nicole White - 20
THE LIVES LOST IN THE MASSACRE NOT JUST NAMES
Friends mourn loss of Virginia Tech professor (JAMIE BISHOP)
By DORIE TURNER, Associated Press Writer
LaGRANGE, Ga. (AP) — Christopher Jamie Bishop was gentle and creative, often collaborating with his father, an author, on novels and short stories.Bishop, 35, designed the cover for at least one of the books his father, Michael Bishop, wrote, family friends said.Mourners gathered Tuesday at LaGrange College where the elder Bishop teaches creative writing and is writer-in-residence to remember Jamie Bishop, one of 33 people killed at Virginia Tech on Monday in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history.Bishop, who had taught German at Virginia Tech for two years, was in the middle of a class when the gunman entered the classroom and opened fire, killing the instructor.He was a talented artist, said Nina Dulin-Mallory, a co-worker of Michael Bishop. (The Bishops) talked of their children so often — how creative, how bright.
Michael Bishop, an award-winning science fiction writer, and his wife, Jeri, left their home i! n nearby Pine Mountain on Monday when they heard their son might have been injured in the shooting.
While en route, they received a call from their daughter-in-law, Stefanie Hofer, that Bishop had died, said Brenda Thomas, who also works with Michael Bishop.He said their worst fears had been confirmed, said Thomas, who talked with Michael Bishop by telephone shortly after he received the news.The small chapel at the 1,000-student United Methodist college was packed with students, faculty, staff and community members on Tuesday evening. Dozens who could not fit in the chapel sat in chairs outside, listening to the prayers and hymns.
We felt we need to come together in a ritual place as an expression of solidarity with Mike and Jeri, LaGrange College President Stuart Gulley said after the hour-long service.Another memorial service later filled the sanctuary at First United Methodist Church of Pine Mountain but was closed to the media.Joy! Roberson, who grew up with Bishop, described him as a brilliant person. You always knew when we were growing up he would become somebody, she said. I will never forget Jamie.
Bishop was described in news reports as a gentle, outgoing person who rode his bicycle to campus.
He wore his hair long and loved the Atlanta Braves, friends said.He received both his bachelor's and master's from the University of Georgia.
Another Georgian, Ryan Stack Clark of Martinez also was killed in the rampage. The 22-year-old was a resident adviser on the fourth floor of the West Ambler Johnston dormitory, where the shooting spree began at 7:15 a.m. Monday, Clark's brother, Bryan Clark, told the Augusta Chronicle. A memorial service is planned in his honor for Saturday at Lakeside High School, which he had attended.Bryan Clark said his brother would have graduated in May with a triple major in psychology, biology and English. He was in his fifth year in the Marching Virginians band at Virginia Tech.
Kevin Granata: Professor’s reputation in department was growing
Kevin Granata Status: Professor, department of engineering science and mechanics Residence: Blacksburg Family: A wife, two sons and a daughter.Their Norris Hall offices were three doors apart, so after joining Virginia Tech’s faculty in 2003, Kevin Granata and Demetri Telionis became friends.
The fellow engineering professor visited Granata’s house, knew his wife and met his children.They often talked about sports or politics or the business of the department.But as Monday morning stretched into a long, wordless and worry-filled afternoon, Granata, a father of three and a rising star in Virginia Tech’s engineering school, still was missing.
Granata was teaching in Norris Hall when the massacre began inside the building. After the shooting, staffers from the engineering department began driving from hospital to hospital, said Ali Nayfeh, a distinguished professor in the engineering school. They were trying to account for everyone.Granata was not in any of the hospitals. No one received a phone call from the young professor who Telionis guesses was in his 40s. Time passed. Granata’s wife called Telionis’ wife. She was getting worried.
Athletic, confident and good-looking, Granata’s reputation had grown since he moved to Blacksburg from the University of Virginia, Telionis said.Granata and his students worked on human stability and movement dynamics. He sat on committees and supervised graduate students. He would teach almost any course if no one else was willing.He carried that same commitment from his to job to his family.
Telionis tried talking Granata into taking up sailing, but the younger professor was often too busy coaching his kids’ sports teams.When the news was confirmed Monday evening that Granata’s name was on the victims list, many people’s worst fears suddenly came to fruition.I was so much afraid this would be the case, said Telionis, who learned of his friend’s death when Granata’s sister-in-law called his house. He was probably one of the best in the department.— Erinn Hutkin
Canadian professor among Virginia Tech victims
Updated Wed. Apr. 18 2007 8:11 AM ET - CTV.ca News Staff
A Canadian professor, Holocaust survivor, and a renowned biomechanics researcher are among the victims killed Monday in a shooting rampage on the Virginia Tech campus.Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, a French-language professor from Truro, N.S., has been identified as one of the 32 victims of the worst shooting incident in U.S. history.Her husband, Virginia Tech horticulture professor Jerzy Nowak, confirmed her death in brief interviews with The Globe and Mail and The Canadian Press.
Both Couture-Nowak and her husband taught at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) before moving to Virginia Tech where they took teaching posts.He gave us a call to tell us that he and the three NSAC exchange students were fine, and at that time, wasn't aware that his wife had also been shot, Lloyd Mapplebeck, an NSAC professor, told CTV Atlantic.Three NSAC students, two from Nova Scotia and one from Prince Edward Island, are currently studying at Virginia Tech as part of an international academic mobility program. They are confirmed to be safe.In a sign of solidarity and sympathy for its sister institution, Virginia Tech, NSAC lowered its flags Tuesday.
Bernie MacDonald, NSAC's vice-president, described Couture-Novak as a very enthusiastic, vibrant person. She was very kind and warm and loving.Fellow Virginia Tech professor, Craig Brians, says he often had lunch with Nowak as she was friends with his wife. She was a very nice person, he told Canada AM. My wife often described Jocelyn as someone, when she'd walk into a room, just would bring a smile to the room, that even in the darkest of situations, she had something encouraging to say. She would have something uplifting to say. I heard nothing but exemplary comments from her students. When her students would take one of my classes, one of the things we're rated or evaluated on at this university is care and concern about students and she had the highest care and concern for her students.Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his condolences for the victims at the beginning of question period on Tuesday.We learned that a Canadian is among the victims in Virginia and I can say that the prayers thoughts and condolences of each and every one of us here in the House are with that family, Harper said in French.It's really almost impossible to comprehend why an individual would take his own life and that of so many others in this way, but I think we can all say that our thoughts are with all the victims, their families and the community, he said.
Other victims
The names of all the victims will be released only after all the victims have been identified and families have been contacted, police said Tuesday. However, some have already been identified.
Liviu Librescu, 75, an engineering science and mathematics lecturer who survived the Nazi killings and later escaped from Communist Romania, was one of several victims of the shootings, which coincided with Israel's Holocaust remembrance day.Librescu, who taught at Virginia Tech for 20 years, had an international reputation for his work in aeronautical engineering. Librescu's son, Joe, said his father's students sent emails detailing how the professor saved their lives by blocking the doorway of his classroom from the approaching gunman before he was fatally shot. My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee, Librescu's son, Joe Librescu, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv.
Students started opening windows and jumping out.
Professor Kevin Granata was also killed, AP reported. Ishwar K. Puri, the head of the engineering science and mechanics department, called Granata one of the top five biomechanics researchers in the country working on movement dynamics in cerebral palsy.
Indian-born G.V. Loganathan, 51, a lecturer at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was shot and killed by the gunman, his brother G.V. Palanivel told the NDTV news channel. Loganathan won several awards for excellence in teaching, had served on the faculty senate and was an adviser to about 75 undergraduate students.
Ryan Clark, a fifth-year student from Martinex, Ga., who was working toward degrees in biology and English.
Other victims include:
Ross Abdallah Alameddine, 20, of Saugus, Mass., according to his mother, Lynnette Alameddine.
Daniel Perez Cueva, 21, killed in his French class, according to his mother, Betty Cueva, of Peru.
Caitlin Hammaren, 19, of Westtown, N.Y., a sophomore majoring in international studies and French, according to Minisink Valley, N.Y., school officials who spoke with Hammaren's family.
Jeremy Herbstritt, 27, of Bellefonte, Pa., according to Penn State University, his alma mater and his father's employer.
Emily Jane Hilscher, a 19-year-old freshman from Woodville, according to Rappahannock County Administrator John W. McCarthy, a family friend.
Matthew J. La Porte, 20, a freshman from Dumont, N.J., according to Dumont Police Chief Brian Venezio.
Jarrett L. Lane, according to Riffe's Funeral Service Inc. in Narrows, Va.
Daniel O'Neil, 22, according to close friend Steve Craveiro and according to Eric Cardenas of Connecticut College, where O'Neil's father, Bill, is director of major gifts.
Juan Ramon Ortiz, a 26-year-old graduate student in engineering from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, according to his wife, Liselle Vega Cortes.
Mary Karen Read, 19, of Annandale, Va. according to her aunt, Karen Kuppinger, of Rochester, N.Y. With a report from CTV Atlantic's Dan McIntosh
Former Centennial student killed during Virginia Tech shootings (AUSTIN CLOYD)
University police work to prevent similar incidents on campus - By Daily Illini Staff report Posted: 4/17/07 Section: News
Austin Cloyd, a former Centennial High School student, was among those killed during the shootings at Virginia Tech, The Associated Press reports.According to The News-Gazette, Cloyd attended Centennial during her freshman, sophomore and junior years before moving to Virginia with her family. She was an international studies major at Virginia Tech.Cloyd played volleyball and basketball at Centennial.She was a very good student, said Centennial High School principal Judy Wiegand.
Her father, Bryan Cloyd, a professor of accounting and information systems at Virginia Tech, taught at the University from 1999 to 2005, The News-Gazette said. Her younger brother Andrew attended Jefferson Middle School.The Cloyds were active members of the First United Methodist Church in Champaign, Ill., the Rev. Terry Harter said.
Harter, whose church held a prayer service for the family Tuesday night, described Cloyd as a very delightful, intelligent (and) warm young lady.Her father said she wanted to work for the United Nations in hopes of fostering peace in a troubled world.According to a story from The Associated Press, Interim Police Chief Krystal Fitzpatrick says she hopes to prevent tragedies like the one at Virginia Tech.Fitzpatrick says the University has tried to take a proactive approach to find and deal with possible problems, The Associated Press reports. She said the police department and the dean of students office meet monthly to discuss issues and develop coordinated responses.Police also meet with the University's Counseling Center once a month to discuss possible threats, the story said.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Making world better was a goal for slain Middletown student (JULIA PRYDE)
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/19/07
BY ALISON HERGET AND KEVIN PENTON KEYPORT BUREAU
MIDDLETOWN — Like many other students at Virginia Tech, Julia Pryde had a lot of classwork to complete in the days leading up to Monday's tragedy.
Through several e-mails, the 23-year-old who grew up in Middletown communicated with Mary Leigh Wolfe, who served as her academic adviser at the university for more than four years.Pryde wrote no broad ruminations on life but detailed how she was preparing for finals.She was very passionate about her schoolwork, but she was also a very well-rounded person, Wolfe said. She wanted to improve the living conditions of poor people.Pryde was killed in Monday's bloodbath on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va. A graduate student in the biological systems and engineering department, she was one of 33 killed in the tragedy. Three were from New Jersey.
Wolfe said Pryde aspired to either teach or continue research into improving the environment, particularly for those less privileged.
She was a very open-minded person, Wolfe said. She had a wonderful laugh that would not hold back, just like her.Pryde, a 2001 Middletown High School North graduate, also took to the water and had such a passion for swimming that she took a job as a lifeguard and office assistant in the summer of 1999 at the Middletown Swim and Tennis Club. She was also a member there for some time.Jim Kelly, who was club manager at the time, said Pryde loved what she did.She was hard working, always conscientious and really caring, said Kelly, of Middletown.A tight-knit community to which many members have belonged for decades, the swim club will feel the effects of Pryde's death.It brings you back to 9/11 and all the people (Middletown) lost then, he said. She was a part of the swim club family and we will really miss her.Pryde played soccer for several years for the Middletown Youth Athletic Association. Ben Curci, also Middletown's superintendent of recreation, was her coach for three years.She was versatile, often playing midfield, but could also play goalie when needed to help the team, Curci said.She did whatever she needed to help her teammates, he said.
Scholarship in her name
The school community is already taking steps to remember Pryde. A $500 scholarship in her name will be given this year to a North graduating senior.The sign outside High School North on Wednesday read: Julia Pryde in our hearts and thoughts.A member of the National Honor Society and frequently on the high honor roll, Pryde participated in the high school swim team all four years and was captain of the varsity team as a senior, interim Schools Superintendent Karen L. Bilbao said.
There were many, many Middletown staff members who knew her because their children went to school with her, Bilbao said. There were lots of memories, so this has really hit home for us.Even though Pryde graduated from North almost six years ago, the death has still taken its toll on the school community, she said.When something like that happens, it seems so distant, Bilbao said. Then the pieces start to come together . . . and you find out one of the victims is one of your former students that so many people knew. It's just devastating.Alison Herget: (732) 888-2621 or
aherget@app.com
Names of Victims at Virginia Tech
April 19, 2007 - 12:04pm
By The Associated Press
(AP) - A list of the victims of the shootings at Virginia Tech:
_ Brian Roy Bluhm, 25, civil engineering graduate student from Stephens City, Va. He had previously lived in Iowa, Detroit and Louisville, Ky.
_ Matthew Gregory Gwaltney, 24, of Chester, Va., graduate student in civil and environmental engineering, according to his father and stepmother, Greg and Linda Gwaltney.
_ Rachael Hill, 18, of Glen Allen, Va., according to her father, Guy Hill.
_ Henry J. Lee, also known as Henh Ly, 20, first-year student majoring in computer engineering from Roanoke, Va. He had enough advanced-placement credits to be considered a sophomore by Virginia Tech.
_ Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan, 34, of Indonesia, civil engineering doctoral student.
_ Lauren Ashley McCain, 20, of Hampton, Va., freshman international studies major.
_ Minal Hiralal Panchal, 26, of Mumbai, India, graduate student in architecture.
_ Erin Peterson, 18, of Chantilly, Va., an international studies major, according to her father, Grafton Peterson.
_ Michael Steven Pohle Jr., 23, of Flemington, N.J., senior majoring in biology.
_ Reema Joseph Samaha, 18, freshman from Centreville, Va.
_ Waleed Mohammed Shaalan, 32, of Zagazig, Egypt, doctoral student in civil engineering.
_ Leslie Sherman, sophomore history and international studies student from Springfield, Va., according to her grandmother Gerry Adams.
_ Maxine Turner, 22, senior majoring in chemical engineering from Vienna, Va., according to her father, Paul Turner.
_ Nicole White, 20, junior majoring in international studies from Smithfield, Va., according to a family statement released by the Suffolk, Va., Police Department.
Authorities ID gunman in Va. Tech rampage
Student’s writings raised red flags before 33 killed; bomb threat found
MSNBC and NBC News APR 17,07
BLACKSBURG, Va. - A 23-year-old senior from South Korea whose creative writing was so disturbing that he was referred to the school’s counseling service was behind the massacre of 30 people locked inside a university classroom building in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, the university said Tuesday.Ballistics tests found that one of the guns used in that attack was also used in a shooting two hours earlier at a dormitory that left two people dead at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State Police said. Investigators said in a court filing that they had found a bomb threat note near the gunman’s body.Police identified the shooter as Cho Seung-Hui (pronounced Choh Suhng-whee), of Centreville, Va., who was a senior in the English Department at Virginia Tech. Cho, a resident alien who immigrated to the United States from South Korea in 1992, lived on campus in Harper Residence Hall.The bloodbath ended with Cho’s suicide, bringing the death toll from two separate shootings — first at the dormitory, then in a classroom building — to 33 and stamping the campus in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains with unspeakable tragedy.
Note listed gunman’s grievances
Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university’s English department, said she did not personally know the gunman. But she said she spoke with Lucinda Roy, the department’s director of creative writing, who had Cho in one of her classes and described him as troubled. There was some concern about him, Rude told The Associated Press. Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it’s creative or if they’re describing things, if they’re imagining things or just how real it might be. But we’re all alert to not ignore things ike this.She said Cho was referred to the counseling service, but she said she did not know when or what the outcome was. Rude refused to release any of his writings or his grades, citing privacy laws.NBC News Pete Williams reported that police had found a note in which Cho listed random grievances, but few other details were immediately available. That seemed in keeping for a young man who apparently left little impression in the Virginia Tech community.Cho’s fellow residents of Harper Hall said few people knew thegunman, who kept to himself. He can’t have been an outgoing kind of person, Meredith Daly, 19, of Danville, Va., told MSNBC.com’s Bill Dedman.Stephen Scott, a freshman engineering student from Marlton, N.J., said police and FBI agents went through the dorm Monday night showing a picture of Cho and trying to find anybody who recognized or knew him. He did not know whether they were successful.
Very quiet, always by himself
In Centreville, a suburb of Washington where Cho’s family lived in an off-white, two-story townhouse, people who knew Cho concurred that he kept to himself.He was very quiet, always by himself, said Abdul Shash, a neighbor. Shash said Cho spent a lot of his free time playing basketball and would not respond if someone greeted him. He described the family as quiet.Rod Wells, a postal worker, said that characterization of Cho did not fit the man’s parents, who, he described as always polite, always kind to me, very quiet, always smiling. Just sweet, sweet people.I talk to particularly everybody here, Wells told NBC News. So I guess nobody had any intimation that he was like that. I don’t think the parents did, because they were quite the opposite.Cho graduated in 2003 from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., said Jack Dale, superintendent of the Fairfax County schools.I want to express the devastation that we in Fairfax County Public Schools all feel about the news from Blacksburg, Dale said in a statement.This is a time for families and friends to grieve.Dale said the school system had called in psychologists and social workers to work with students and employees who may have been affected by these terrible events.South Korea’s Foreign Ministry expressed its condolences, saying that there was no known motive for the shootings and that South Korea hoped the tragedy would not stir up racial prejudice or confrontation.
Ballistics evidence points to student
Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, said it was reasonable to assume that Cho was the shooter in both attacks but that the link was not yet definitive.
There’s no evidence of any accomplice at either event, but we’re exploring the possibility, he said.An affidavit filed Tuesday in Montgomery County circuit court, said police had found a bomb threat note ... directed at engineering school department buildings near the shooter’s body, The Washington Post reported on its Web site.
The affidavit was filed as part of a request for a warrant to search Cho’s room in Harper Hall, it said. The note is connected with the shooting incident, the affidavit said, according to The Post.Police said that there had been bomb threats on campus over the past two weeks but that they had not determined a link to the shootings.Two law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information had not been officially announced, said Cho’s fingerprints were found on the two guns used in the shootings.
The serial numbers had been filed off, the officials said. Law enforcement officials told NBC News that Cho was carrying a backpack that contained receipts for the purchase of a Glock 9mm pistol in March. As a permanent legal resident, Cho was eligible to buy a handgun unless he had been convicted of any felony criminal charges.Cho renewed his green card in late 2003 and would have undergone a background check at that time, immigration officials told NBC affiliate WSLS-TV of Roanoke. If a criminal record had shown up then, officials would have denied the renewal, they said.
At least 26 people were taken to hospitals after the second attack, some of them seriously injured. Twelve students remained in hospitals in stable condition Tuesday, and most were expected to be released soon, NBC News’ Michelle Kosinski reported from Montgomery Regional Medical Center. After the shootings, all campus entrances were closed, and classes were canceled for the rest of the week. The university set up a spot for families to reunite with their children.President Bush planned to attend a memorial service Tuesday afternoon, the White House said, and Gov. Timothy Kaine was flying back to Virginia from Tokyo for the 2 p.m. convocation.
He didn’t say a single word
Wielding two handguns and carrying multiple clips of ammunition, Cho opened fire about 7:15 a.m. on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston, a high-rise coeducational dorm, then stormed Norris Hall, a classroom building a half-mile away on the other side of the 2,600-acre campus. Some of the doors at Norris Hall were found chained from the inside, apparently by the gunman.Two people died in a dorm room, and 31 others were killed in Norris Hall, including Cho, who put a bullet in his head.
Students jumped from windows in panic. Trey Perkins, who was sitting in a German class in Norris Hall, told MSNBC-TV on Monday that the gunman barged into the room about 9:50 a.m. and opened fire for about a minute and a half, squeezing off 20 to 30 shots.The gunman first shot the professor in the head and then fired on the students, Perkins said, who added: He didn’t say a single word the whole time.He didn’t say, Get down. He didn’t say anything. He just started shooting, said Perkins, 20, of Yorktown, Va., a sophomore studying mechanical engineering. I got on the ground, and I was just thinking, like, there’s no way I’m going to survive this. All I could keep thinking of was my mom.
Mon, April 16, 2007 - U of C will review security in wake of Virginia massacre UPDATED: 2007-04-16 15:55:46 MST - By BILL KAUFMANN, SUN MEDIA
33 killed in Virginia Tech shootings, including gunman who killed himself
Shaken by the campus massacre in the U.S. today, University of Calgary security officials say they may learn some gruesome lessons on halting such an onslaught. In an eerie prelude to the shootings in Virginia, the U of C and Calgary police on April 4 conducted a table-top exercise in responding to just such an incident, said campus Security Director Lanny Fritz. But he said the Virginia Tech attack will be closely studied and the U of C’s strategy possibly overhauled to ensure the campus is as secure as possible. We’ll go through our emergency response plan page by page, it’ll make us stop and reflect and we’ll see if we can learn anything, said Fritz, a former Calgary police officer. Though the multiple murders occurred thousands of kilometres away, Fritz said it nonetheless hit close to home. We can quickly visualize how tough for them it must be to go through...a shooting on campus has to be the most horrific thing,he said. We just hope it’s a scenario we never have to confront, he said.
Though the Virginia gunman’s rampage apparently lasted hours, Fritz said he’s in no position to comment on that university’s security plan or performance. But he said the Calgary plan is for police to bypass victims and go straight for the source of the violence. Going directly to where the shooter is, that’s the first priority, said Fritz. We are prepared for these certain horrific incidents.Central to their strategy, he said, is evacuating buildings and locking them down while communicating with the entire campus. While many U.S. campus security forces carry firearms, the U of C’s 38 officers are equipped only with handcuffs and there’s no plan or desire to holster guns, said Fritz. For now, campus security will rely on cameras that cover 85% of its real estate at any one time and by regular patrols that are to backed up by city police when necessary. They’ll also continue to rely on information fed to a threat assessment committee that evaluates risks posed by certain individuals, said Fritz. We get at these threats at the early stages, said Fritz, adding psychiatric help is sought for many of the individuals. We may have been able to prevent some horrific things.He said about two or three such threats are assessed to be of a serious nature each year.
Our nation is shocked and saddened by the news of the shootings at Virginia Tech today. The exact total has not yet been confirmed, but it appears that more than 30 people were killed and many more were wounded.I've spoken with Governor Tim Kaine and Virginia Tech President Charles Steger.
I told them that Laura and I and many across our nation are praying for the victims and their families and all the members of the university community who have been devastated by this terrible tragedy. I told them that my administration would do everything possible to assist with the investigation, and that I pledged that we would stand ready to help local law enforcement and the local community in any way we can during this time of sorrow.
President George W. Bush delivers a statement Monday, April 16, 2007, regarding the shooting deaths of more than 30 Virginia Tech students. Today, our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech, said the President. We hold the victims in our hearts, we lift them up in our prayers, and we ask a loving God to comfort those who are suffering today. White House photo by Eric Draper Schools should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community.Today, our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech. We hold the victims in our hearts, we lift them up in our prayers, and we ask a loving God to comfort those who are suffering today.
BRUTAL SHOOTER MASSACRES 32 PLUS SELF AT BLACKSBURG VIRGINIA.
By Stan L Bowman Jr at 3PM APR 17,07
It was just an ordinary day until 7:15 AM at Virginia Tech when Police were called to the Campus about a shooting were 22 year old Ryan Clark and a Female student were found shot dead.
The Police thought it was a domestic dispute and never had a clue of what was to come two hours later. So they were collecting evidence from the crime scene.
Then at 10 AM as the reports go Cho the gunman went a half mile from the first crime scene to Norris Hall were he chained two doors closed and went on a shooting spree that spanned the stairwell as well as four different class rooms before the worst massacre in the U.S history was complete and then Cho the Gunman committed Suicide in one of the four class rooms.
In the German class at least 21 of the 25 students were unconscious or dead a student from the class reported who escaped death by pretending she was dead. If 21 did die in this class room alone as she said then there was a total of 11 deaths plus the gunman in the 3 rooms as well as in the stairwell.
We now need to PRAY TO GOD for healing and miracles in the lives of these students and teachers and family members. Its only JESUS that can heal the wounds and cleanse the soul now. And just pray that Prayer and the ten commandments get back in schools so we don't see this kind of Massacre ever again.
Father we Pray that you heal all the people affected by Cho, and I pray father you protect Chos family from persecussion because of this incident. We all have free will and Cho choose to do this not his family members. We also pray father that lives will be given to you through this incident and that people will realize that their is a GOD who loves and cares for everyone he created. We pray that forgiveness will be done (which is hard in a situation like this) but for your own sake you must forgive Cho and let the Holy Spirit give you life and power to go on. And we Pray this all to be accomplished in JESUS precious name Amen and Amen.
I will put the names of the People affected as I get them.
Guns confirmed connected to both shootings
9MM GLOCK MODEL 19
WALTHER P22
Gunman 23 year old South Korean Cho Seung-Hui. (SHOT SELF AFTER MASSACRE)
SHOT DEAD BY CHO
PROFESSORS
Jamie Bishop (Instructor in German) - 35
Kevin Granata (Science and Mechanics) - 45
Liviu Librescu (Science and Mechanics) (Israeli) - 76
G.V Loganathan (Civil and Enviromental Engineering) - 51
Jocelyn Couture-Nowak (French Instructor) -
STUDENTS
Ross Alameddine - 20
Brian Bluhm - 25
Ryan Clark - 22
Austin Cloyd -
Daniel Perez Cueva - 21
Matt Gwaltney - 24
Caitlin Hammeran - 19
Jeremy Herbstritt - 27
Rachael Hill - 18 *
Emily Hilscher - 19 (2nd shot in 7:15 AM Shooting)
Jarrett Lane - 22
Matthew LaPorte - 20
Henry Lee - 20
Partahi Lumbantoruan - 34
Lauren McCain - 20
Daniel O'Neil - 22
Juan Ortiz - 26
Minal Panchal - 26
Erin Peterson - 18
Michael Pohle Jr - 23
Julia Pryde - 23
Mary Read - 19
Reema Samaha - 18
Waleed Shaalan - 32
Leslie Sherman -
Maxine Turner - 22
Nicole White - 20
THE LIVES LOST IN THE MASSACRE NOT JUST NAMES
Friends mourn loss of Virginia Tech professor (JAMIE BISHOP)
By DORIE TURNER, Associated Press Writer
LaGRANGE, Ga. (AP) — Christopher Jamie Bishop was gentle and creative, often collaborating with his father, an author, on novels and short stories.Bishop, 35, designed the cover for at least one of the books his father, Michael Bishop, wrote, family friends said.Mourners gathered Tuesday at LaGrange College where the elder Bishop teaches creative writing and is writer-in-residence to remember Jamie Bishop, one of 33 people killed at Virginia Tech on Monday in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history.Bishop, who had taught German at Virginia Tech for two years, was in the middle of a class when the gunman entered the classroom and opened fire, killing the instructor.He was a talented artist, said Nina Dulin-Mallory, a co-worker of Michael Bishop. (The Bishops) talked of their children so often — how creative, how bright.
Michael Bishop, an award-winning science fiction writer, and his wife, Jeri, left their home i! n nearby Pine Mountain on Monday when they heard their son might have been injured in the shooting.
While en route, they received a call from their daughter-in-law, Stefanie Hofer, that Bishop had died, said Brenda Thomas, who also works with Michael Bishop.He said their worst fears had been confirmed, said Thomas, who talked with Michael Bishop by telephone shortly after he received the news.The small chapel at the 1,000-student United Methodist college was packed with students, faculty, staff and community members on Tuesday evening. Dozens who could not fit in the chapel sat in chairs outside, listening to the prayers and hymns.
We felt we need to come together in a ritual place as an expression of solidarity with Mike and Jeri, LaGrange College President Stuart Gulley said after the hour-long service.Another memorial service later filled the sanctuary at First United Methodist Church of Pine Mountain but was closed to the media.Joy! Roberson, who grew up with Bishop, described him as a brilliant person. You always knew when we were growing up he would become somebody, she said. I will never forget Jamie.
Bishop was described in news reports as a gentle, outgoing person who rode his bicycle to campus.
He wore his hair long and loved the Atlanta Braves, friends said.He received both his bachelor's and master's from the University of Georgia.
Another Georgian, Ryan Stack Clark of Martinez also was killed in the rampage. The 22-year-old was a resident adviser on the fourth floor of the West Ambler Johnston dormitory, where the shooting spree began at 7:15 a.m. Monday, Clark's brother, Bryan Clark, told the Augusta Chronicle. A memorial service is planned in his honor for Saturday at Lakeside High School, which he had attended.Bryan Clark said his brother would have graduated in May with a triple major in psychology, biology and English. He was in his fifth year in the Marching Virginians band at Virginia Tech.
Kevin Granata: Professor’s reputation in department was growing
Kevin Granata Status: Professor, department of engineering science and mechanics Residence: Blacksburg Family: A wife, two sons and a daughter.Their Norris Hall offices were three doors apart, so after joining Virginia Tech’s faculty in 2003, Kevin Granata and Demetri Telionis became friends.
The fellow engineering professor visited Granata’s house, knew his wife and met his children.They often talked about sports or politics or the business of the department.But as Monday morning stretched into a long, wordless and worry-filled afternoon, Granata, a father of three and a rising star in Virginia Tech’s engineering school, still was missing.
Granata was teaching in Norris Hall when the massacre began inside the building. After the shooting, staffers from the engineering department began driving from hospital to hospital, said Ali Nayfeh, a distinguished professor in the engineering school. They were trying to account for everyone.Granata was not in any of the hospitals. No one received a phone call from the young professor who Telionis guesses was in his 40s. Time passed. Granata’s wife called Telionis’ wife. She was getting worried.
Athletic, confident and good-looking, Granata’s reputation had grown since he moved to Blacksburg from the University of Virginia, Telionis said.Granata and his students worked on human stability and movement dynamics. He sat on committees and supervised graduate students. He would teach almost any course if no one else was willing.He carried that same commitment from his to job to his family.
Telionis tried talking Granata into taking up sailing, but the younger professor was often too busy coaching his kids’ sports teams.When the news was confirmed Monday evening that Granata’s name was on the victims list, many people’s worst fears suddenly came to fruition.I was so much afraid this would be the case, said Telionis, who learned of his friend’s death when Granata’s sister-in-law called his house. He was probably one of the best in the department.— Erinn Hutkin
Canadian professor among Virginia Tech victims
Updated Wed. Apr. 18 2007 8:11 AM ET - CTV.ca News Staff
A Canadian professor, Holocaust survivor, and a renowned biomechanics researcher are among the victims killed Monday in a shooting rampage on the Virginia Tech campus.Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, a French-language professor from Truro, N.S., has been identified as one of the 32 victims of the worst shooting incident in U.S. history.Her husband, Virginia Tech horticulture professor Jerzy Nowak, confirmed her death in brief interviews with The Globe and Mail and The Canadian Press.
Both Couture-Nowak and her husband taught at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) before moving to Virginia Tech where they took teaching posts.He gave us a call to tell us that he and the three NSAC exchange students were fine, and at that time, wasn't aware that his wife had also been shot, Lloyd Mapplebeck, an NSAC professor, told CTV Atlantic.Three NSAC students, two from Nova Scotia and one from Prince Edward Island, are currently studying at Virginia Tech as part of an international academic mobility program. They are confirmed to be safe.In a sign of solidarity and sympathy for its sister institution, Virginia Tech, NSAC lowered its flags Tuesday.
Bernie MacDonald, NSAC's vice-president, described Couture-Novak as a very enthusiastic, vibrant person. She was very kind and warm and loving.Fellow Virginia Tech professor, Craig Brians, says he often had lunch with Nowak as she was friends with his wife. She was a very nice person, he told Canada AM. My wife often described Jocelyn as someone, when she'd walk into a room, just would bring a smile to the room, that even in the darkest of situations, she had something encouraging to say. She would have something uplifting to say. I heard nothing but exemplary comments from her students. When her students would take one of my classes, one of the things we're rated or evaluated on at this university is care and concern about students and she had the highest care and concern for her students.Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his condolences for the victims at the beginning of question period on Tuesday.We learned that a Canadian is among the victims in Virginia and I can say that the prayers thoughts and condolences of each and every one of us here in the House are with that family, Harper said in French.It's really almost impossible to comprehend why an individual would take his own life and that of so many others in this way, but I think we can all say that our thoughts are with all the victims, their families and the community, he said.
Other victims
The names of all the victims will be released only after all the victims have been identified and families have been contacted, police said Tuesday. However, some have already been identified.
Liviu Librescu, 75, an engineering science and mathematics lecturer who survived the Nazi killings and later escaped from Communist Romania, was one of several victims of the shootings, which coincided with Israel's Holocaust remembrance day.Librescu, who taught at Virginia Tech for 20 years, had an international reputation for his work in aeronautical engineering. Librescu's son, Joe, said his father's students sent emails detailing how the professor saved their lives by blocking the doorway of his classroom from the approaching gunman before he was fatally shot. My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee, Librescu's son, Joe Librescu, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv.
Students started opening windows and jumping out.
Professor Kevin Granata was also killed, AP reported. Ishwar K. Puri, the head of the engineering science and mechanics department, called Granata one of the top five biomechanics researchers in the country working on movement dynamics in cerebral palsy.
Indian-born G.V. Loganathan, 51, a lecturer at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was shot and killed by the gunman, his brother G.V. Palanivel told the NDTV news channel. Loganathan won several awards for excellence in teaching, had served on the faculty senate and was an adviser to about 75 undergraduate students.
Ryan Clark, a fifth-year student from Martinex, Ga., who was working toward degrees in biology and English.
Other victims include:
Ross Abdallah Alameddine, 20, of Saugus, Mass., according to his mother, Lynnette Alameddine.
Daniel Perez Cueva, 21, killed in his French class, according to his mother, Betty Cueva, of Peru.
Caitlin Hammaren, 19, of Westtown, N.Y., a sophomore majoring in international studies and French, according to Minisink Valley, N.Y., school officials who spoke with Hammaren's family.
Jeremy Herbstritt, 27, of Bellefonte, Pa., according to Penn State University, his alma mater and his father's employer.
Emily Jane Hilscher, a 19-year-old freshman from Woodville, according to Rappahannock County Administrator John W. McCarthy, a family friend.
Matthew J. La Porte, 20, a freshman from Dumont, N.J., according to Dumont Police Chief Brian Venezio.
Jarrett L. Lane, according to Riffe's Funeral Service Inc. in Narrows, Va.
Daniel O'Neil, 22, according to close friend Steve Craveiro and according to Eric Cardenas of Connecticut College, where O'Neil's father, Bill, is director of major gifts.
Juan Ramon Ortiz, a 26-year-old graduate student in engineering from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, according to his wife, Liselle Vega Cortes.
Mary Karen Read, 19, of Annandale, Va. according to her aunt, Karen Kuppinger, of Rochester, N.Y. With a report from CTV Atlantic's Dan McIntosh
Former Centennial student killed during Virginia Tech shootings (AUSTIN CLOYD)
University police work to prevent similar incidents on campus - By Daily Illini Staff report Posted: 4/17/07 Section: News
Austin Cloyd, a former Centennial High School student, was among those killed during the shootings at Virginia Tech, The Associated Press reports.According to The News-Gazette, Cloyd attended Centennial during her freshman, sophomore and junior years before moving to Virginia with her family. She was an international studies major at Virginia Tech.Cloyd played volleyball and basketball at Centennial.She was a very good student, said Centennial High School principal Judy Wiegand.
Her father, Bryan Cloyd, a professor of accounting and information systems at Virginia Tech, taught at the University from 1999 to 2005, The News-Gazette said. Her younger brother Andrew attended Jefferson Middle School.The Cloyds were active members of the First United Methodist Church in Champaign, Ill., the Rev. Terry Harter said.
Harter, whose church held a prayer service for the family Tuesday night, described Cloyd as a very delightful, intelligent (and) warm young lady.Her father said she wanted to work for the United Nations in hopes of fostering peace in a troubled world.According to a story from The Associated Press, Interim Police Chief Krystal Fitzpatrick says she hopes to prevent tragedies like the one at Virginia Tech.Fitzpatrick says the University has tried to take a proactive approach to find and deal with possible problems, The Associated Press reports. She said the police department and the dean of students office meet monthly to discuss issues and develop coordinated responses.Police also meet with the University's Counseling Center once a month to discuss possible threats, the story said.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Making world better was a goal for slain Middletown student (JULIA PRYDE)
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/19/07
BY ALISON HERGET AND KEVIN PENTON KEYPORT BUREAU
MIDDLETOWN — Like many other students at Virginia Tech, Julia Pryde had a lot of classwork to complete in the days leading up to Monday's tragedy.
Through several e-mails, the 23-year-old who grew up in Middletown communicated with Mary Leigh Wolfe, who served as her academic adviser at the university for more than four years.Pryde wrote no broad ruminations on life but detailed how she was preparing for finals.She was very passionate about her schoolwork, but she was also a very well-rounded person, Wolfe said. She wanted to improve the living conditions of poor people.Pryde was killed in Monday's bloodbath on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va. A graduate student in the biological systems and engineering department, she was one of 33 killed in the tragedy. Three were from New Jersey.
Wolfe said Pryde aspired to either teach or continue research into improving the environment, particularly for those less privileged.
She was a very open-minded person, Wolfe said. She had a wonderful laugh that would not hold back, just like her.Pryde, a 2001 Middletown High School North graduate, also took to the water and had such a passion for swimming that she took a job as a lifeguard and office assistant in the summer of 1999 at the Middletown Swim and Tennis Club. She was also a member there for some time.Jim Kelly, who was club manager at the time, said Pryde loved what she did.She was hard working, always conscientious and really caring, said Kelly, of Middletown.A tight-knit community to which many members have belonged for decades, the swim club will feel the effects of Pryde's death.It brings you back to 9/11 and all the people (Middletown) lost then, he said. She was a part of the swim club family and we will really miss her.Pryde played soccer for several years for the Middletown Youth Athletic Association. Ben Curci, also Middletown's superintendent of recreation, was her coach for three years.She was versatile, often playing midfield, but could also play goalie when needed to help the team, Curci said.She did whatever she needed to help her teammates, he said.
Scholarship in her name
The school community is already taking steps to remember Pryde. A $500 scholarship in her name will be given this year to a North graduating senior.The sign outside High School North on Wednesday read: Julia Pryde in our hearts and thoughts.A member of the National Honor Society and frequently on the high honor roll, Pryde participated in the high school swim team all four years and was captain of the varsity team as a senior, interim Schools Superintendent Karen L. Bilbao said.
There were many, many Middletown staff members who knew her because their children went to school with her, Bilbao said. There were lots of memories, so this has really hit home for us.Even though Pryde graduated from North almost six years ago, the death has still taken its toll on the school community, she said.When something like that happens, it seems so distant, Bilbao said. Then the pieces start to come together . . . and you find out one of the victims is one of your former students that so many people knew. It's just devastating.Alison Herget: (732) 888-2621 or
aherget@app.com
Names of Victims at Virginia Tech
April 19, 2007 - 12:04pm
By The Associated Press
(AP) - A list of the victims of the shootings at Virginia Tech:
_ Brian Roy Bluhm, 25, civil engineering graduate student from Stephens City, Va. He had previously lived in Iowa, Detroit and Louisville, Ky.
_ Matthew Gregory Gwaltney, 24, of Chester, Va., graduate student in civil and environmental engineering, according to his father and stepmother, Greg and Linda Gwaltney.
_ Rachael Hill, 18, of Glen Allen, Va., according to her father, Guy Hill.
_ Henry J. Lee, also known as Henh Ly, 20, first-year student majoring in computer engineering from Roanoke, Va. He had enough advanced-placement credits to be considered a sophomore by Virginia Tech.
_ Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan, 34, of Indonesia, civil engineering doctoral student.
_ Lauren Ashley McCain, 20, of Hampton, Va., freshman international studies major.
_ Minal Hiralal Panchal, 26, of Mumbai, India, graduate student in architecture.
_ Erin Peterson, 18, of Chantilly, Va., an international studies major, according to her father, Grafton Peterson.
_ Michael Steven Pohle Jr., 23, of Flemington, N.J., senior majoring in biology.
_ Reema Joseph Samaha, 18, freshman from Centreville, Va.
_ Waleed Mohammed Shaalan, 32, of Zagazig, Egypt, doctoral student in civil engineering.
_ Leslie Sherman, sophomore history and international studies student from Springfield, Va., according to her grandmother Gerry Adams.
_ Maxine Turner, 22, senior majoring in chemical engineering from Vienna, Va., according to her father, Paul Turner.
_ Nicole White, 20, junior majoring in international studies from Smithfield, Va., according to a family statement released by the Suffolk, Va., Police Department.
Authorities ID gunman in Va. Tech rampage
Student’s writings raised red flags before 33 killed; bomb threat found
MSNBC and NBC News APR 17,07
BLACKSBURG, Va. - A 23-year-old senior from South Korea whose creative writing was so disturbing that he was referred to the school’s counseling service was behind the massacre of 30 people locked inside a university classroom building in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, the university said Tuesday.Ballistics tests found that one of the guns used in that attack was also used in a shooting two hours earlier at a dormitory that left two people dead at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State Police said. Investigators said in a court filing that they had found a bomb threat note near the gunman’s body.Police identified the shooter as Cho Seung-Hui (pronounced Choh Suhng-whee), of Centreville, Va., who was a senior in the English Department at Virginia Tech. Cho, a resident alien who immigrated to the United States from South Korea in 1992, lived on campus in Harper Residence Hall.The bloodbath ended with Cho’s suicide, bringing the death toll from two separate shootings — first at the dormitory, then in a classroom building — to 33 and stamping the campus in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains with unspeakable tragedy.
Note listed gunman’s grievances
Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university’s English department, said she did not personally know the gunman. But she said she spoke with Lucinda Roy, the department’s director of creative writing, who had Cho in one of her classes and described him as troubled. There was some concern about him, Rude told The Associated Press. Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it’s creative or if they’re describing things, if they’re imagining things or just how real it might be. But we’re all alert to not ignore things ike this.She said Cho was referred to the counseling service, but she said she did not know when or what the outcome was. Rude refused to release any of his writings or his grades, citing privacy laws.NBC News Pete Williams reported that police had found a note in which Cho listed random grievances, but few other details were immediately available. That seemed in keeping for a young man who apparently left little impression in the Virginia Tech community.Cho’s fellow residents of Harper Hall said few people knew thegunman, who kept to himself. He can’t have been an outgoing kind of person, Meredith Daly, 19, of Danville, Va., told MSNBC.com’s Bill Dedman.Stephen Scott, a freshman engineering student from Marlton, N.J., said police and FBI agents went through the dorm Monday night showing a picture of Cho and trying to find anybody who recognized or knew him. He did not know whether they were successful.
Very quiet, always by himself
In Centreville, a suburb of Washington where Cho’s family lived in an off-white, two-story townhouse, people who knew Cho concurred that he kept to himself.He was very quiet, always by himself, said Abdul Shash, a neighbor. Shash said Cho spent a lot of his free time playing basketball and would not respond if someone greeted him. He described the family as quiet.Rod Wells, a postal worker, said that characterization of Cho did not fit the man’s parents, who, he described as always polite, always kind to me, very quiet, always smiling. Just sweet, sweet people.I talk to particularly everybody here, Wells told NBC News. So I guess nobody had any intimation that he was like that. I don’t think the parents did, because they were quite the opposite.Cho graduated in 2003 from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., said Jack Dale, superintendent of the Fairfax County schools.I want to express the devastation that we in Fairfax County Public Schools all feel about the news from Blacksburg, Dale said in a statement.This is a time for families and friends to grieve.Dale said the school system had called in psychologists and social workers to work with students and employees who may have been affected by these terrible events.South Korea’s Foreign Ministry expressed its condolences, saying that there was no known motive for the shootings and that South Korea hoped the tragedy would not stir up racial prejudice or confrontation.
Ballistics evidence points to student
Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, said it was reasonable to assume that Cho was the shooter in both attacks but that the link was not yet definitive.
There’s no evidence of any accomplice at either event, but we’re exploring the possibility, he said.An affidavit filed Tuesday in Montgomery County circuit court, said police had found a bomb threat note ... directed at engineering school department buildings near the shooter’s body, The Washington Post reported on its Web site.
The affidavit was filed as part of a request for a warrant to search Cho’s room in Harper Hall, it said. The note is connected with the shooting incident, the affidavit said, according to The Post.Police said that there had been bomb threats on campus over the past two weeks but that they had not determined a link to the shootings.Two law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information had not been officially announced, said Cho’s fingerprints were found on the two guns used in the shootings.
The serial numbers had been filed off, the officials said. Law enforcement officials told NBC News that Cho was carrying a backpack that contained receipts for the purchase of a Glock 9mm pistol in March. As a permanent legal resident, Cho was eligible to buy a handgun unless he had been convicted of any felony criminal charges.Cho renewed his green card in late 2003 and would have undergone a background check at that time, immigration officials told NBC affiliate WSLS-TV of Roanoke. If a criminal record had shown up then, officials would have denied the renewal, they said.
At least 26 people were taken to hospitals after the second attack, some of them seriously injured. Twelve students remained in hospitals in stable condition Tuesday, and most were expected to be released soon, NBC News’ Michelle Kosinski reported from Montgomery Regional Medical Center. After the shootings, all campus entrances were closed, and classes were canceled for the rest of the week. The university set up a spot for families to reunite with their children.President Bush planned to attend a memorial service Tuesday afternoon, the White House said, and Gov. Timothy Kaine was flying back to Virginia from Tokyo for the 2 p.m. convocation.
He didn’t say a single word
Wielding two handguns and carrying multiple clips of ammunition, Cho opened fire about 7:15 a.m. on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston, a high-rise coeducational dorm, then stormed Norris Hall, a classroom building a half-mile away on the other side of the 2,600-acre campus. Some of the doors at Norris Hall were found chained from the inside, apparently by the gunman.Two people died in a dorm room, and 31 others were killed in Norris Hall, including Cho, who put a bullet in his head.
Students jumped from windows in panic. Trey Perkins, who was sitting in a German class in Norris Hall, told MSNBC-TV on Monday that the gunman barged into the room about 9:50 a.m. and opened fire for about a minute and a half, squeezing off 20 to 30 shots.The gunman first shot the professor in the head and then fired on the students, Perkins said, who added: He didn’t say a single word the whole time.He didn’t say, Get down. He didn’t say anything. He just started shooting, said Perkins, 20, of Yorktown, Va., a sophomore studying mechanical engineering. I got on the ground, and I was just thinking, like, there’s no way I’m going to survive this. All I could keep thinking of was my mom.
Mon, April 16, 2007 - U of C will review security in wake of Virginia massacre UPDATED: 2007-04-16 15:55:46 MST - By BILL KAUFMANN, SUN MEDIA
33 killed in Virginia Tech shootings, including gunman who killed himself
Shaken by the campus massacre in the U.S. today, University of Calgary security officials say they may learn some gruesome lessons on halting such an onslaught. In an eerie prelude to the shootings in Virginia, the U of C and Calgary police on April 4 conducted a table-top exercise in responding to just such an incident, said campus Security Director Lanny Fritz. But he said the Virginia Tech attack will be closely studied and the U of C’s strategy possibly overhauled to ensure the campus is as secure as possible. We’ll go through our emergency response plan page by page, it’ll make us stop and reflect and we’ll see if we can learn anything, said Fritz, a former Calgary police officer. Though the multiple murders occurred thousands of kilometres away, Fritz said it nonetheless hit close to home. We can quickly visualize how tough for them it must be to go through...a shooting on campus has to be the most horrific thing,he said. We just hope it’s a scenario we never have to confront, he said.
Though the Virginia gunman’s rampage apparently lasted hours, Fritz said he’s in no position to comment on that university’s security plan or performance. But he said the Calgary plan is for police to bypass victims and go straight for the source of the violence. Going directly to where the shooter is, that’s the first priority, said Fritz. We are prepared for these certain horrific incidents.Central to their strategy, he said, is evacuating buildings and locking them down while communicating with the entire campus. While many U.S. campus security forces carry firearms, the U of C’s 38 officers are equipped only with handcuffs and there’s no plan or desire to holster guns, said Fritz. For now, campus security will rely on cameras that cover 85% of its real estate at any one time and by regular patrols that are to backed up by city police when necessary. They’ll also continue to rely on information fed to a threat assessment committee that evaluates risks posed by certain individuals, said Fritz. We get at these threats at the early stages, said Fritz, adding psychiatric help is sought for many of the individuals. We may have been able to prevent some horrific things.He said about two or three such threats are assessed to be of a serious nature each year.
Monday, April 16, 2007
ISRAEL MARKS HOLOCAUST DAY
BREAKING NEWS - BLACKSBERG VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTINGS 7-12AM EDT BY STAN BOWMAN JR
A LONE GUNMAN OR MORE SHOT DEAD 21 AND INJURED 21 STUDENTS AT VIRGINIA TECH TODAY. IT ALL HAPPENED AT 2 DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CAMPASS IN VIRGINIA. AT VIRGINIA TECH AND NORRIS HALL, BUT REPORTS SAY THERE COULD BE 4 DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE SCHOOL WERE THE SHOOTING OCCURED. THE 1 GUNMEN IF ONLY 1 WAS SHOT DEAD.
FOLKS I FIND THIS INTERESTING THAT THE ISRAELIS CELEBRATE THE DEATH OF 6 MILLION JEWS ON THIS DAY TODAY WHEN A MASSACRE NOW OCCURS TO GENTILES (WORLD) ON THIS VERY DAY. LIKE I SAID GOD IS GIVING A WAKE UP CALL TO THE WORLD TO REPENT AND GET BACK TO PRAYER IN SCHOOLS AND THE 10 COMMANDMENTS.
THIS IS THE DEADLIEST SCHOOL MASSCRE IN US HISTORY. THE HOLOCAUST WAS THE WORST MASSACRE OF ISRAELIS IN HISTORY AND ALSO ANOTHER COMPARISON YET. AT 10AM THE ISRAELIS WERE MARKING THEIR MASSACRE WHILE IN VIRGINIA THE GUNMEN MURDERED MOST OF THE VICTOMS AROUND THE SAME TIME THIS MOURNING.
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Small quake strikes Southern California. 3-Storm pummels East Coast with rain, wind. 4-The Nation's Weather. 5-Israel, Poland mark Holocaust day. 6-Sirens Wail in Israel and Echo Around the World for 6 Million. 7- Iran: Sanctions could push nuclear drive. 8-Teething polar bear cub off display. 9-Britain and the Constitutional Treaty.
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.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Mon Apr 16 10:48 AM EDT
APR 16,07
MAP 6.2 WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
MAP 4.8 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 4.9 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 4.9 ALBANIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.1 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
APR 15,07
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.2 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.8 SOUTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.9 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.0 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
MAP 5.1 KYRGYZSTAN
MAP 3.3 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.7 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 2.8 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.1 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 4.4 TONGA
MAP 4.7 WESTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 2.5 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 5.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.7 WESTERN IRAN
MAP 5.4 WESTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 4.6 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
MAP 2.8 WASHINGTON
Small quake strikes Southern California Sun Apr 15, 8:04 PM ET
SAN DIEGO - A small earthquake shook a tiny desert town Sunday near the Mexican border, but no injuries or damage were reported, officials said. The magnitude 4.2 quake struck at 3:57 p.m. PDT, 5 miles southwest of the tiny town of Ocotillo, according to seismologists at the California Institute of Technology.It shook the building some but it didn't knock anything down, said Helen Lynch, an employee at Ocotillo's Old Highway Cafe. It lasted about five seconds.Lynch said no one at the cafe was unnerved because earthquakes are fairly common in the area.Last year we had eight or ten, she said.Ocotillo, about 85 miles east of San Diego, has a population of fewer than 300 people.
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.
Storm pummels East Coast with rain, wind By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer APR 16,07
NEW YORK - People were evacuated from flooded homes Monday and hundreds of thousands had no electricity as a fierce nor easter drenched the Northeast with record rainfall. Residents in at least one New York City neighborhood paddled through streets in boats.
And in suburban Mamaroneck, Nicholas Staropoli said a truck near his home actually floated up on the riverbank.Rain was still falling Monday morning in the New York area and New England after it began early Sunday along the East Coast from Florida to New England. The National Guard was sent to help with rescue and evacuation efforts in the suburbs north of New York City.Firefighters plucked Kathleen Reale and her twin boys from their window in suburban Mamaroneck using a front-end-loader. Water reached up to her knees in her garage and basement and her family was evacuated to a shelter.I mean everything will be ruined, she said Monday. Everything will be gone. It's unbelievable.The shelter was filled to capacity Monday morning with about 300 people sleeping on cots. Mamaroneck, in Westchester County, called for voluntary evacuations of areas on Long Island Sound.The rain totaled 7.81 inches in Central Park from early Sunday to Monday morning, the National Weather Service said. The previous record in the park for April 15 was just 1.8 inches, set in 1906.
Snow fell in inland areas, including 17 inches in Vermont, with flakes still falling Monday across sections of Pennsylvania, upstate New York and Maine.Nearly 300,000 homes and businesses had lost power from Maryland to Maine.
In Westchester County, north of New York City, all public schools were closed Monday. Cars were stalled in water on numerous roads and several major highways were closed at times by flooding. New Jersey also had school closings, highways blocked by water and dozens of residents being evacuated from homes, authorities said. Hundreds of people had been evacuated from their homes in southern West Virginia as crews worked to pump water from a private lake near Hamlin to keep an unstable earthen dam from collapsing.If the dam breaks, millions of gallons of water could pour into Hamlin, Mayor Brian Barrett said Monday. We're being told it could be eight or nine feet of water, Barrett told the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington.Coastal residents were urged to evacuate in parts of Maine, and a nursing home in Portland was evacuated as a precaution, state officials said. In southeastern New Hampshire, parts of downtown Newmarket were evacuated because of flooding.
Flights were delayed Monday at the New York area's three major airports, where airlines canceled more than 500 flights Sunday as wind gusted to 48 mph, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Dozens more flights were canceled in Philadelphia, Boston and elsewhere in New England. We came up to see the city, said Amby Lewis, the leader of a girl scout troop from North Carolina who was stranded at LaGuardia airport. And the lovely weather rolled in and we've been stuck ever since.The storm about 20,000 runners in Monday's Boston Marathon something to worry about besides Heartbreak Hill as the course was doused with several inches of rain driven by wind gusting to more than 30 mph.When you live in the Northeast, you've got to respect this kind of weather, said marathoner Rob Comitz, 31, from Harleysville, Pa. Power outages affected more than 10,000 households and businesses in the New York area and more than 55,000 customers elsewhere in the state, more than 30,000 in Maryland, 50,000 in Pennsylvania, more than 43,000 across Connecticut, at least 46,000 in New Hampshire, 17,000 in Maine, 25,000 in Vermont and 12,000 in Massachusetts, utility officials said.
At least three tornadoes touched down Sunday in South Carolina. One cut a 14-mile-long, 300-yard-wide swath through Sumter County in the central part of the state, killing a woman and seriously injuring four other people. One person was killed by a tornado in South Carolina, and two died in car accidents one in upstate New York and one in Connecticut. The storm rattled the Gulf states Friday and Saturday with violent thunderstorms after taking Texas with at least two tornadoes, and it was blamed for five deaths in Texas and Kansas.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Mon Apr 16, 7:24 AM ET
The storm that battered the mid-Atlantic and Northeast was swirling over the New Jersey and Long Island coasts early Monday morning. Strong wind gusts and coastal flooding were feared. Storm surge levels were forecast to reach up to 6 feet above normal high tide levels across western portions of the Long Island Sound. Elsewhere along the coast, water levels could rise at least 2 feet above their already high spring tide heights.
Heavy snows continue to be a threat across the interior of the region, especially in New England. Parts of New Hampshire could see more than a foot of snow.Across the rest of the nation, much calmer weather was anticipated, with only a few showers and thunderstorms in the central Rockies breaking up a swath of dry conditions from the western Great Lakes to the West Coast.A low pressure system was moving into the Northwest, bringing rain to coastal portions of Washington and Oregon. Aside from these two areas of precipitation, the West was expected to experience a quite pleasant day.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Sunday ranged from a low of 15 degrees at Moriarty, N.M., to a high of 88 degrees at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
ISRAEL WILL BECOME A NATION. LITERALLY IN THE SPRING.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
EZEKIEL 37:9-28
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,(ALL THE WORLD) O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.(COME TO LIFE)
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.(ISRAEL WILL HAVE A POWERFUL ARMY)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.(BURNED BY HITLER)
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.(THE DRY BONES COME TO LIFE IN ISRAEL)
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
MATTHEW 24:32
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(ISRAEL WAS LITERALLY REBORN JUST BEFORE SUMMER,MAY 14,1948).
MARK 13:28
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
DANIEL 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE
LAST GENERATION.
LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
I BELIEVE THE VERSES ABOVE LITERALLY SAY FROM THE DRY BONES OF THE HOLOCAUST CAME THE MIRACULAS MIRACLE OF THE REBORN NATION OF ISRAEL.
Israel, Poland mark Holocaust day By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer APR 16,07
JERUSALEM - Sirens sounded across Israel Monday morning, bringing life to a standstill as millions of Israelis observed a moment of silence to honor the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The two-minute siren at 10 a.m. is an annual tradition marking Israel's Holocaust remembrance day, which began Sunday evening and ends at sundown Monday. Pedestrians froze in their tracks, buses stopped on busy streets, and cars on major highways pulled over as the country paused to pay respect to the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis.All day, television stations devoted their broadcasts to historical documentaries and movies, and radio stations played somber music and interviews with survivors.
Schools held memorial services, places of entertainment were shut down and the Israeli flag was waved at half staff.
At Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial and museum, the nation's leaders gathered along with Holocaust survivors for the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Warsaw Ghetto Square. Later, ordinary Israelis flocked to the museum's hall of remembrance to recite names of victims. Other ceremonies, prayers and music performances were planned.In Poland, thousands of Jews from around the world, many draped in blue-and-white Israeli flags, gathered at Auschwitz.About 8,000 people walked amid the barracks at the former Nazi death camp for the annual March of the Living, a two-mile walk from the notorious Auschwitz wrought-iron gates, reading Arbeit Macht Frei, or Work Sets You Free, to the death camp of Birkenau, where most of the gas chambers were located.
A shofar, or ram's horn, sounded the event's start.We are all very proud to walk with our flags, said Zohar Cohen, a 16-year-old visiting from Ashkelon, Israel. Especially in this place in Poland, where the Germans tried to exterminate all Jews.The U.S. military said Monday that 34 Jews who died serving as slave laborers for the Nazis were honored with the dedication of gravestones in a ceremony at the U.S. Army airfield in Germany where their mass grave was recently discovered.More than 200 mourners were on hand for Sunday's ceremony to dedicate the gravestones to the anonymous victims of the Echterdingen concentration camp that were discovered in September 2005 during construction at the airfield.At Sunday night's opening ceremony at Yad Vashem, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert noted that Israel celebrates its 59th independence day next week.
The renewal of the Jewish people, its shaking off the ashes of the Holocaust for a new life and national rebirth in its historic birthplace, is the pinnacle of its victory, he said.But the plight of the Holocaust survivors in Israel has been difficult. Many arrived directly from Europe to fight in the Jewish state's war of independence in 1948, and have since struggled to cope with the physical and emotional burdens of World War II.Recent data reveals that about a third of the remaining Holocaust survivors in Israel live under the poverty line, drawing widespread outrage.We must never accept a reality in which even one of the Holocaust survivors in Israel is living without dignity, Acting President Dalia Itzik said in a speech Sunday.The government announced it was establishing a commission to solve the matter, but hundreds gathered in front of parliament Monday to protest what they called the state's neglect of survivors.
With the passing years fewer and fewer survivors remain. There are some 250,000 survivors in Israel, about half of the worldwide total. Nearly 10 percent of the aging population dies each year.In Israel, 2,000 die each month, a rate of 65 daily, according to experts cited in Israeli newspapers Monday.
With each passing day, the world loses its last live voices who can directly attest to the horrors of the Holocaust and confront a growing tide of worldwide Holocaust denial. To this purpose, Yad Vashem has led a vigorous campaign in recent years to complete its database of names of Holocaust victims, encouraging survivors to come forth and fill out pages of testimony for those murdered, before their names and stories are lost forever. Even so, Yad Vashem has only managed to gather just 3.1 million names. In the museum's vast Hall of Names, half the folders remain empty. Reading from her list of names on Monday, Michal Beer halted to choke back the tears. The 78-year-old survivor of the Terezin concentration camp has submitted more pages of testimony than anyone else, documenting the lives of 450 friends and relatives, including her father and almost all the Jews in her hometown of Prostejov, in the Czech Republic. I feel as if a great weight has lifted from my heart, she said of the pages of testimony. No one would have remembered them, if I hadn't done this, who would have?
Soon, I will no longer be around. We really are the last ones.
Sirens Wail in Israel and Echo Around the World for 6 Million
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu APR 16,07
Sirens wailed in Israel for 2 minutes at 10 a.m. Monday in memory of six million victims of Nazi terror while communities around the world stand united with the Jewish People at Holocaust remembrance ceremonies. In Israel, the entire country came to a halt as cars and buses stopped and people in buildings and on the streets stopped in their tracks and stood silently to unite in prayer and remember the six million who were butchered by Nazis. During the memorial services which followed, survivors related the horrible past with some breaking a 60-year-silence to bring to light new episodes of horror. In the Knesset and at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Museum and Remembrance Authority, names of victims are being read aloud. In Europe, several thousand young Jews are participating in the traditional three-kilometer March of the Living. The march begins from the site of the former German concentration camp Auschwitz and retraces the steps that Jews were forced to take on their way to the gas chambers at the Birkenau death camp, the largest that the Nazis operated. In major cities and rural towns in American and around the world, survivors are revealing the nightmares that still haunt them.
In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said at a memorial service in Ottawa Sunday, There are still people who would perpetrate another Holocaust if they could. Implying but not directly referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Prime Minister Harper added, Politicians... must stand up to those who advocate the destruction of Israel and its people today, and they must be unequivocal in their condemnation of anti-Semitic despots, terrorists and fanatics.Israeli Ambassador to Canada Alan Baker was more direct and said, Any attempt to resurrect such designs, as we are presently witnessing emanating from the president of Iran and others, must be firmly dealt with by all responsible nations and peoples of the world.In Austria, a project in coordination with Yad Vashem provides a video link between school children and Holocaust survivors, who will answer questions after telling the stories of the nightmares of the Nazi era. Recent studies have shown that anti-Semitism is on the rise again in Europe, and the Austrian program is designed to educate the younger generation to the threat of another genocide against Jews. Henry Golde, age 77 and one of the last survivors in the state of Wisconsin, has launched a tour of schools in the state. He published his memoirs in the Ragdolls three years ago.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger related stories related by his mother, who told him of bodies she saw lying on the side of the road, shot to death because they were Jews.As time takes its toll and blurs the past, children of survivors are concerned about the new wave of Holocaust denial.
They had no graves, no names it is important to remember they were once here, said Eda Yardeni Taylor of Macon, Georgia, whose mother survived Auschwitz. Henry Freidman of Atlanta related that he worked in a German munitions factory and didn't hear of the concentration camps until after the war because the German propaganda was very, very good. Learning the extent of the persecution and seeing the devastation was shocking and horrifying. Friedman moved to the United States after the war and married and had a son, but like many survivors, For many, many years, I wasn't able to talk about it. It was very painful. He says that now he feels an obligation to pass down to generations the stories of the Nazi era. If you forget, its destined to happen again, said a young non-Jewish girl who participated in a memorial ceremony in Kentucky. Its our generations duty to stop it.
Iran: Sanctions could push nuclear drive By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer APR 16,07
TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday warned that Iran would respond to additional U.N. sanctions with new nuclear advances, in yet another show of defiance to international demands that the country roll back its atomic program. The U.N. Security Council has set a deadline of late May for Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, warning it will gradually ratchet up its punishments. The council imposed limited sanctions in December and strengthened them slightly last month because of Iran's refusal to suspend enrichment.
The enrichment process can produce fuel for nuclear reactors or if taken to a higher degree the material for atomic bombs. Iran, however, denies accusations from the U.S. and some of its allies that the country is secretly developing nuclear weapons.After the first resolution, we undertook the nuclear fuel cycle; after the second one, we began the industrial phase of nuclear fuel; and if another resolution is issued, new capabilities of the Iranian nation will surface, the state broadcasting company's Web site quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in a speech in the southern city of Kazeroun.
The U.N.'s latest sanctions ban Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of 28 individuals and companies involved in Iran's nuclear or ballistic missile programs.
Iran has rejected the sanctions and announced a partial suspension of cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Association.The Iranian president did not specify how the country would ramp up its development in response to a third set of sanctions.Last week, Iran said it had begun operating 3,000 centrifuges at its Natanz plant — nearly 10 times the previously known number. The U.S., Britain, France and others criticized the announcement, but experts expressed skepticism that Iran's claims were true.During Monday's speech, Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iran would not back down from its right to pursue nuclear development and maintained the peaceful nature of the country's program.The Iranian nation will use all capacities of nuclear energy in agriculture, industry, medicine and generating electricity, he said.Iran's defiance has heightened concerns in the region that the U.S. or Israel could respond with a military strike against the country's nuclear facilities.
The U.S. stoked these fears last month when it held a military exercise off Iran's coast that included two aircraft carrier groups, its largest show of force in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Mullen attempted to quell concerns Monday by saying the U.S. had no plan to attack Iran and the heightened naval presence was meant to reassure its regional allies.I'm aware of no plans that involve any kind of attack on Iran, Mullen told reporters in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. All efforts with respect to Iran, I believe, need to be handled through the diplomatic channels.
MY FAVORITE POLAR BEAR KNUT HAS TEETHING TROUBLES BOOO, THE POOR CUTE KID.
Teething polar bear cub off display APR 16,07
BERLIN - Knut, the Berlin Zoo's lovable polar bear cub, was taken off display Monday because of teething pains. He is getting his right upper canine, zoo veterinarian Andre Schuele told The Associated Press.Earlier, the 4 1/2-month old cub's daily public appearance was cut short after only 30 minutes and he was put on antibiotics.At the moment he is resting on his blanket and sleeping, Schuele said, adding that despite his lethargy Knut did eat his regular meal in the morning. Thousands of people line up daily to see the cub, and his button-eyed face has been a fixture for newspapers, television and the Internet.Born at the zoo on Dec. 5, Knut was rejected by his mother and hand-raised by zookeepers. So potent is his appeal that zoo attendance has roughly doubled to 15,000 on average daily since his debut, officials said. He has his own blog and TV show and appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair.Schuele did not know if Knut would be strong enough for public appearances in the next days.We don't know yet — the little one is not a machine, he said.
Britain and the Constitutional Treaty
16.04.2007 - 09:24 CET | By Richard Corbett
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - As discussions recommence on what to do about the Constitutional Treaty, now ratified by two thirds of the member states of the European Union, the question arises as to what is the position of the UK.
Anyone following such debates across Europe rapidly finds that the UK is lumped together with Poland and the Czech Republic as the opponents of the draft Constitution, a position seized on with relish by some French politicians who are keen to point the finger at somebody else and make us forget that it was France that (not for the first time) has blocked reform of the European Union.Naturally, eurosceptics in Britain like to portray the Constitutional Treaty as something that is not in Britain's interests or has even been foisted on a reluctant Britain.
This is in fact far from being the case. Britain was central to the negotiations that agreed the text, the government signed the treaty and, as Tony Blair said to the House of Commons in June 2004:This constitutional treaty represents a success for the new Europe that is taking shape, is a success for Britain.Of course, the British government is realistic enough to know that the current text of the Constitutional Treaty is unlikely to be ratified as it stands by all member states without further ado.
France alone will see to that. One of the leading French presidential candidates has called instead for a mini-treaty. The other one has called for a complete re-negotiation of the Constitutional Treaty. In such circumstances the British government is being realistic in holding fire and not holding a referendum on a text that may well be moribund, or at least subject to additions or modifications. If it were a matter for simple parliamentary ratification, the government could well consider adding Britain to the list of countries that have endorsed the Constitution as a political gesture. However, the requirement for a referendum on the text as it stands - or, presumably, on anything approaching its scope and carrying the name Constitution - precludes such an approach.
Needless to say, the results of the referendums in France and the Netherlands, notwithstanding the positive outcomes of referendums elsewhere, have almost certainly made it more difficult to win referendums in some of the other member states. Voting on a text that very few people will have read leaves the debate very vulnerable to superficial perceptions. One of the strongest perceptions that will linger in people's minds is the rejection by people in France and the Netherlands - and never mind that many of those voters were really expressing opposition to the government of the day rather than to the text itself.
Securing a compromise will not be easy
Perceptions are political reality, and there is no way around the fact that securing a compromise around a text that will be acceptable to all 27 governments and capable of ratification will not be easy. Among the options available, it is not yet clear what is likely to achieve consensus. These options include:
* Treaty-plus options: keeping the text intact but adding protocols to it or declarations interpreting it in order to respond to concerns that have been expressed.
* Re-negotiating the text: re-examining the content, the style and name of the Constitutional Treaty, if possible without re-opening some of the complex bargains which were struck.
* A mini-treaty: bringing in the emergency repairs needed for the institutional system to enable the union to cater for an ever growing number of members.
Of course, a mix of additional protocols, some re-writing and some deletions is also conceivable - but the more complex the approach, the longer it is likely to take. Nor should we forget that some 22 countries attended the Friends of the Constitution meeting in Madrid in January and expressed their attachment to keeping the current text as intact as possible.Whichever option is chosen, there will have to be an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to negotiate and endorse whatever the new package entails. Such an IGC could, in theory at least, be short and sweet, and be held over this summer and early autumn enabling a new text to emerge by the end of the year. Whether that is feasible as a timetable will depend on the degree of consensus that emerges at the European Council meeting in June.Already, some British voices are attempting to identify what are the essential elements that should be salvaged from a British perspective. Lord Kerr, formerly Britain's ambassador to the EU and former Secretary General of the Convention, whose knowledge on these matters is vast, writing in the Financial Times at the end of February, identified seven vital elements:
* Replacing the six monthly rotating "Buggin's turn" Presidency of the European Council with a full-time fixed term president, chosen by the heads of government to chair their meetings.
* Empowering the EU's High Representative for foreign policy with co-ordinating all external relations of the EU Commission and Council, on both of which he would sit.
* Introducing the reformed qualified majority voting system envisaged under the Constitutional Treaty which is more proportionate to the size of each country.
* Introducing the subsidiarity mechanism for involving national parliaments in prior scrutiny of all EU legislative proposals.
* Subjecting the Commission President to election by the European Parliament.
* Making more visible the principle of conferral, whereby the EU may only act within the powers given to it by the Member States.
* Introducing a secession clause, explicitly empowering Member States to leave the European Union if they so wish.
To the list I would, myself, add some others -
* Cutting the size of the Commission.
* Making all EU legislation subject to the double scrutiny of requiring approval by national ministers in the Council and elected MEPs in the European Parliament.
* Giving more prominence to the treaty article obliging the union to respect the national identities of Member States.
The charter of rights
More tricky is what to do about Part II of the Constitutional Treaty - the charter of rights.Intended as a limitation on the powers of the Union, by obliging it to respect rights that, for the most part, member states themselves already have to respect, it has become embroiled in a debate about whether national courts would defer to the EU court when deliberating on rights cases under national law.Perhaps the solution here would be to have a single article saying that the EU institutions are obliged to respect the charter on rights approved in 2000 in Nice, but that this would not apply to Member States (except when they are applying European law).Another complex matter is the ambition of the Constitutional Treaty to codify all previous treaties into a single document.This worthy idea led to a hasty re-casting of the original set of treaties which, whilst shorter, still represented a constitutional text of inordinate length.Perhaps, here too, an answer might be to have a single article empowering the European Council, by unanimity, to codify and reorganise the existing treaties and to delete redundant articles, provided that the Court of Justice certifies that, in so doing, they are not increasing the competences or powers of the European Union.
Finally, there will no doubt be many suggestions for other additions to the treaty. Some of these should be looked upon favourably: articles on tackling climate change, respecting social security systems of member states and others may well make the text of the treaty more acceptable in some or all the Member States.Negotiating these aspects may well be tricky but will inevitably be part of the final package.All in all, it is high time that British politicians and others start thinking carefully about the details of this debate. Above all, they should not abandon this terrain to the tangential cliches that the eurosceptics are determined to push it down. Their unrealistic and sensationalist portrayal of the issues is already leading the debate in a direction that is totally divorced from what the Constitutional Treaty actually says and from the political reality of what is likely to be negotiated among the 27 Member States. This must be countered by a measured, factual and intelligent contribution to the debate by the true eurorealists - those who know that Britain's interests are best served if we and our neighbouring countries can agree on a settled, well functioning, democratically accountable European framework, better able to address those issues where a joint approach is mutually advantageous.The author is a Labour MEP
A LONE GUNMAN OR MORE SHOT DEAD 21 AND INJURED 21 STUDENTS AT VIRGINIA TECH TODAY. IT ALL HAPPENED AT 2 DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CAMPASS IN VIRGINIA. AT VIRGINIA TECH AND NORRIS HALL, BUT REPORTS SAY THERE COULD BE 4 DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE SCHOOL WERE THE SHOOTING OCCURED. THE 1 GUNMEN IF ONLY 1 WAS SHOT DEAD.
FOLKS I FIND THIS INTERESTING THAT THE ISRAELIS CELEBRATE THE DEATH OF 6 MILLION JEWS ON THIS DAY TODAY WHEN A MASSACRE NOW OCCURS TO GENTILES (WORLD) ON THIS VERY DAY. LIKE I SAID GOD IS GIVING A WAKE UP CALL TO THE WORLD TO REPENT AND GET BACK TO PRAYER IN SCHOOLS AND THE 10 COMMANDMENTS.
THIS IS THE DEADLIEST SCHOOL MASSCRE IN US HISTORY. THE HOLOCAUST WAS THE WORST MASSACRE OF ISRAELIS IN HISTORY AND ALSO ANOTHER COMPARISON YET. AT 10AM THE ISRAELIS WERE MARKING THEIR MASSACRE WHILE IN VIRGINIA THE GUNMEN MURDERED MOST OF THE VICTOMS AROUND THE SAME TIME THIS MOURNING.
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Small quake strikes Southern California. 3-Storm pummels East Coast with rain, wind. 4-The Nation's Weather. 5-Israel, Poland mark Holocaust day. 6-Sirens Wail in Israel and Echo Around the World for 6 Million. 7- Iran: Sanctions could push nuclear drive. 8-Teething polar bear cub off display. 9-Britain and the Constitutional Treaty.
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.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Mon Apr 16 10:48 AM EDT
APR 16,07
MAP 6.2 WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
MAP 4.8 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 4.9 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 4.9 ALBANIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.1 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
APR 15,07
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.2 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.8 SOUTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.9 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.0 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
MAP 5.1 KYRGYZSTAN
MAP 3.3 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.7 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 2.8 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.1 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 4.4 TONGA
MAP 4.7 WESTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 2.5 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 5.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.7 WESTERN IRAN
MAP 5.4 WESTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 4.6 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
MAP 2.8 WASHINGTON
Small quake strikes Southern California Sun Apr 15, 8:04 PM ET
SAN DIEGO - A small earthquake shook a tiny desert town Sunday near the Mexican border, but no injuries or damage were reported, officials said. The magnitude 4.2 quake struck at 3:57 p.m. PDT, 5 miles southwest of the tiny town of Ocotillo, according to seismologists at the California Institute of Technology.It shook the building some but it didn't knock anything down, said Helen Lynch, an employee at Ocotillo's Old Highway Cafe. It lasted about five seconds.Lynch said no one at the cafe was unnerved because earthquakes are fairly common in the area.Last year we had eight or ten, she said.Ocotillo, about 85 miles east of San Diego, has a population of fewer than 300 people.
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.
Storm pummels East Coast with rain, wind By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer APR 16,07
NEW YORK - People were evacuated from flooded homes Monday and hundreds of thousands had no electricity as a fierce nor easter drenched the Northeast with record rainfall. Residents in at least one New York City neighborhood paddled through streets in boats.
And in suburban Mamaroneck, Nicholas Staropoli said a truck near his home actually floated up on the riverbank.Rain was still falling Monday morning in the New York area and New England after it began early Sunday along the East Coast from Florida to New England. The National Guard was sent to help with rescue and evacuation efforts in the suburbs north of New York City.Firefighters plucked Kathleen Reale and her twin boys from their window in suburban Mamaroneck using a front-end-loader. Water reached up to her knees in her garage and basement and her family was evacuated to a shelter.I mean everything will be ruined, she said Monday. Everything will be gone. It's unbelievable.The shelter was filled to capacity Monday morning with about 300 people sleeping on cots. Mamaroneck, in Westchester County, called for voluntary evacuations of areas on Long Island Sound.The rain totaled 7.81 inches in Central Park from early Sunday to Monday morning, the National Weather Service said. The previous record in the park for April 15 was just 1.8 inches, set in 1906.
Snow fell in inland areas, including 17 inches in Vermont, with flakes still falling Monday across sections of Pennsylvania, upstate New York and Maine.Nearly 300,000 homes and businesses had lost power from Maryland to Maine.
In Westchester County, north of New York City, all public schools were closed Monday. Cars were stalled in water on numerous roads and several major highways were closed at times by flooding. New Jersey also had school closings, highways blocked by water and dozens of residents being evacuated from homes, authorities said. Hundreds of people had been evacuated from their homes in southern West Virginia as crews worked to pump water from a private lake near Hamlin to keep an unstable earthen dam from collapsing.If the dam breaks, millions of gallons of water could pour into Hamlin, Mayor Brian Barrett said Monday. We're being told it could be eight or nine feet of water, Barrett told the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington.Coastal residents were urged to evacuate in parts of Maine, and a nursing home in Portland was evacuated as a precaution, state officials said. In southeastern New Hampshire, parts of downtown Newmarket were evacuated because of flooding.
Flights were delayed Monday at the New York area's three major airports, where airlines canceled more than 500 flights Sunday as wind gusted to 48 mph, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Dozens more flights were canceled in Philadelphia, Boston and elsewhere in New England. We came up to see the city, said Amby Lewis, the leader of a girl scout troop from North Carolina who was stranded at LaGuardia airport. And the lovely weather rolled in and we've been stuck ever since.The storm about 20,000 runners in Monday's Boston Marathon something to worry about besides Heartbreak Hill as the course was doused with several inches of rain driven by wind gusting to more than 30 mph.When you live in the Northeast, you've got to respect this kind of weather, said marathoner Rob Comitz, 31, from Harleysville, Pa. Power outages affected more than 10,000 households and businesses in the New York area and more than 55,000 customers elsewhere in the state, more than 30,000 in Maryland, 50,000 in Pennsylvania, more than 43,000 across Connecticut, at least 46,000 in New Hampshire, 17,000 in Maine, 25,000 in Vermont and 12,000 in Massachusetts, utility officials said.
At least three tornadoes touched down Sunday in South Carolina. One cut a 14-mile-long, 300-yard-wide swath through Sumter County in the central part of the state, killing a woman and seriously injuring four other people. One person was killed by a tornado in South Carolina, and two died in car accidents one in upstate New York and one in Connecticut. The storm rattled the Gulf states Friday and Saturday with violent thunderstorms after taking Texas with at least two tornadoes, and it was blamed for five deaths in Texas and Kansas.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Mon Apr 16, 7:24 AM ET
The storm that battered the mid-Atlantic and Northeast was swirling over the New Jersey and Long Island coasts early Monday morning. Strong wind gusts and coastal flooding were feared. Storm surge levels were forecast to reach up to 6 feet above normal high tide levels across western portions of the Long Island Sound. Elsewhere along the coast, water levels could rise at least 2 feet above their already high spring tide heights.
Heavy snows continue to be a threat across the interior of the region, especially in New England. Parts of New Hampshire could see more than a foot of snow.Across the rest of the nation, much calmer weather was anticipated, with only a few showers and thunderstorms in the central Rockies breaking up a swath of dry conditions from the western Great Lakes to the West Coast.A low pressure system was moving into the Northwest, bringing rain to coastal portions of Washington and Oregon. Aside from these two areas of precipitation, the West was expected to experience a quite pleasant day.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Sunday ranged from a low of 15 degrees at Moriarty, N.M., to a high of 88 degrees at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
ISRAEL WILL BECOME A NATION. LITERALLY IN THE SPRING.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
EZEKIEL 37:9-28
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,(ALL THE WORLD) O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.(COME TO LIFE)
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.(ISRAEL WILL HAVE A POWERFUL ARMY)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.(BURNED BY HITLER)
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.(THE DRY BONES COME TO LIFE IN ISRAEL)
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
MATTHEW 24:32
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(ISRAEL WAS LITERALLY REBORN JUST BEFORE SUMMER,MAY 14,1948).
MARK 13:28
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
DANIEL 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE
LAST GENERATION.
LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
I BELIEVE THE VERSES ABOVE LITERALLY SAY FROM THE DRY BONES OF THE HOLOCAUST CAME THE MIRACULAS MIRACLE OF THE REBORN NATION OF ISRAEL.
Israel, Poland mark Holocaust day By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer APR 16,07
JERUSALEM - Sirens sounded across Israel Monday morning, bringing life to a standstill as millions of Israelis observed a moment of silence to honor the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The two-minute siren at 10 a.m. is an annual tradition marking Israel's Holocaust remembrance day, which began Sunday evening and ends at sundown Monday. Pedestrians froze in their tracks, buses stopped on busy streets, and cars on major highways pulled over as the country paused to pay respect to the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis.All day, television stations devoted their broadcasts to historical documentaries and movies, and radio stations played somber music and interviews with survivors.
Schools held memorial services, places of entertainment were shut down and the Israeli flag was waved at half staff.
At Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial and museum, the nation's leaders gathered along with Holocaust survivors for the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Warsaw Ghetto Square. Later, ordinary Israelis flocked to the museum's hall of remembrance to recite names of victims. Other ceremonies, prayers and music performances were planned.In Poland, thousands of Jews from around the world, many draped in blue-and-white Israeli flags, gathered at Auschwitz.About 8,000 people walked amid the barracks at the former Nazi death camp for the annual March of the Living, a two-mile walk from the notorious Auschwitz wrought-iron gates, reading Arbeit Macht Frei, or Work Sets You Free, to the death camp of Birkenau, where most of the gas chambers were located.
A shofar, or ram's horn, sounded the event's start.We are all very proud to walk with our flags, said Zohar Cohen, a 16-year-old visiting from Ashkelon, Israel. Especially in this place in Poland, where the Germans tried to exterminate all Jews.The U.S. military said Monday that 34 Jews who died serving as slave laborers for the Nazis were honored with the dedication of gravestones in a ceremony at the U.S. Army airfield in Germany where their mass grave was recently discovered.More than 200 mourners were on hand for Sunday's ceremony to dedicate the gravestones to the anonymous victims of the Echterdingen concentration camp that were discovered in September 2005 during construction at the airfield.At Sunday night's opening ceremony at Yad Vashem, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert noted that Israel celebrates its 59th independence day next week.
The renewal of the Jewish people, its shaking off the ashes of the Holocaust for a new life and national rebirth in its historic birthplace, is the pinnacle of its victory, he said.But the plight of the Holocaust survivors in Israel has been difficult. Many arrived directly from Europe to fight in the Jewish state's war of independence in 1948, and have since struggled to cope with the physical and emotional burdens of World War II.Recent data reveals that about a third of the remaining Holocaust survivors in Israel live under the poverty line, drawing widespread outrage.We must never accept a reality in which even one of the Holocaust survivors in Israel is living without dignity, Acting President Dalia Itzik said in a speech Sunday.The government announced it was establishing a commission to solve the matter, but hundreds gathered in front of parliament Monday to protest what they called the state's neglect of survivors.
With the passing years fewer and fewer survivors remain. There are some 250,000 survivors in Israel, about half of the worldwide total. Nearly 10 percent of the aging population dies each year.In Israel, 2,000 die each month, a rate of 65 daily, according to experts cited in Israeli newspapers Monday.
With each passing day, the world loses its last live voices who can directly attest to the horrors of the Holocaust and confront a growing tide of worldwide Holocaust denial. To this purpose, Yad Vashem has led a vigorous campaign in recent years to complete its database of names of Holocaust victims, encouraging survivors to come forth and fill out pages of testimony for those murdered, before their names and stories are lost forever. Even so, Yad Vashem has only managed to gather just 3.1 million names. In the museum's vast Hall of Names, half the folders remain empty. Reading from her list of names on Monday, Michal Beer halted to choke back the tears. The 78-year-old survivor of the Terezin concentration camp has submitted more pages of testimony than anyone else, documenting the lives of 450 friends and relatives, including her father and almost all the Jews in her hometown of Prostejov, in the Czech Republic. I feel as if a great weight has lifted from my heart, she said of the pages of testimony. No one would have remembered them, if I hadn't done this, who would have?
Soon, I will no longer be around. We really are the last ones.
Sirens Wail in Israel and Echo Around the World for 6 Million
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu APR 16,07
Sirens wailed in Israel for 2 minutes at 10 a.m. Monday in memory of six million victims of Nazi terror while communities around the world stand united with the Jewish People at Holocaust remembrance ceremonies. In Israel, the entire country came to a halt as cars and buses stopped and people in buildings and on the streets stopped in their tracks and stood silently to unite in prayer and remember the six million who were butchered by Nazis. During the memorial services which followed, survivors related the horrible past with some breaking a 60-year-silence to bring to light new episodes of horror. In the Knesset and at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Museum and Remembrance Authority, names of victims are being read aloud. In Europe, several thousand young Jews are participating in the traditional three-kilometer March of the Living. The march begins from the site of the former German concentration camp Auschwitz and retraces the steps that Jews were forced to take on their way to the gas chambers at the Birkenau death camp, the largest that the Nazis operated. In major cities and rural towns in American and around the world, survivors are revealing the nightmares that still haunt them.
In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said at a memorial service in Ottawa Sunday, There are still people who would perpetrate another Holocaust if they could. Implying but not directly referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Prime Minister Harper added, Politicians... must stand up to those who advocate the destruction of Israel and its people today, and they must be unequivocal in their condemnation of anti-Semitic despots, terrorists and fanatics.Israeli Ambassador to Canada Alan Baker was more direct and said, Any attempt to resurrect such designs, as we are presently witnessing emanating from the president of Iran and others, must be firmly dealt with by all responsible nations and peoples of the world.In Austria, a project in coordination with Yad Vashem provides a video link between school children and Holocaust survivors, who will answer questions after telling the stories of the nightmares of the Nazi era. Recent studies have shown that anti-Semitism is on the rise again in Europe, and the Austrian program is designed to educate the younger generation to the threat of another genocide against Jews. Henry Golde, age 77 and one of the last survivors in the state of Wisconsin, has launched a tour of schools in the state. He published his memoirs in the Ragdolls three years ago.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger related stories related by his mother, who told him of bodies she saw lying on the side of the road, shot to death because they were Jews.As time takes its toll and blurs the past, children of survivors are concerned about the new wave of Holocaust denial.
They had no graves, no names it is important to remember they were once here, said Eda Yardeni Taylor of Macon, Georgia, whose mother survived Auschwitz. Henry Freidman of Atlanta related that he worked in a German munitions factory and didn't hear of the concentration camps until after the war because the German propaganda was very, very good. Learning the extent of the persecution and seeing the devastation was shocking and horrifying. Friedman moved to the United States after the war and married and had a son, but like many survivors, For many, many years, I wasn't able to talk about it. It was very painful. He says that now he feels an obligation to pass down to generations the stories of the Nazi era. If you forget, its destined to happen again, said a young non-Jewish girl who participated in a memorial ceremony in Kentucky. Its our generations duty to stop it.
Iran: Sanctions could push nuclear drive By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer APR 16,07
TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday warned that Iran would respond to additional U.N. sanctions with new nuclear advances, in yet another show of defiance to international demands that the country roll back its atomic program. The U.N. Security Council has set a deadline of late May for Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, warning it will gradually ratchet up its punishments. The council imposed limited sanctions in December and strengthened them slightly last month because of Iran's refusal to suspend enrichment.
The enrichment process can produce fuel for nuclear reactors or if taken to a higher degree the material for atomic bombs. Iran, however, denies accusations from the U.S. and some of its allies that the country is secretly developing nuclear weapons.After the first resolution, we undertook the nuclear fuel cycle; after the second one, we began the industrial phase of nuclear fuel; and if another resolution is issued, new capabilities of the Iranian nation will surface, the state broadcasting company's Web site quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in a speech in the southern city of Kazeroun.
The U.N.'s latest sanctions ban Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of 28 individuals and companies involved in Iran's nuclear or ballistic missile programs.
Iran has rejected the sanctions and announced a partial suspension of cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Association.The Iranian president did not specify how the country would ramp up its development in response to a third set of sanctions.Last week, Iran said it had begun operating 3,000 centrifuges at its Natanz plant — nearly 10 times the previously known number. The U.S., Britain, France and others criticized the announcement, but experts expressed skepticism that Iran's claims were true.During Monday's speech, Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iran would not back down from its right to pursue nuclear development and maintained the peaceful nature of the country's program.The Iranian nation will use all capacities of nuclear energy in agriculture, industry, medicine and generating electricity, he said.Iran's defiance has heightened concerns in the region that the U.S. or Israel could respond with a military strike against the country's nuclear facilities.
The U.S. stoked these fears last month when it held a military exercise off Iran's coast that included two aircraft carrier groups, its largest show of force in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Mullen attempted to quell concerns Monday by saying the U.S. had no plan to attack Iran and the heightened naval presence was meant to reassure its regional allies.I'm aware of no plans that involve any kind of attack on Iran, Mullen told reporters in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. All efforts with respect to Iran, I believe, need to be handled through the diplomatic channels.
MY FAVORITE POLAR BEAR KNUT HAS TEETHING TROUBLES BOOO, THE POOR CUTE KID.
Teething polar bear cub off display APR 16,07
BERLIN - Knut, the Berlin Zoo's lovable polar bear cub, was taken off display Monday because of teething pains. He is getting his right upper canine, zoo veterinarian Andre Schuele told The Associated Press.Earlier, the 4 1/2-month old cub's daily public appearance was cut short after only 30 minutes and he was put on antibiotics.At the moment he is resting on his blanket and sleeping, Schuele said, adding that despite his lethargy Knut did eat his regular meal in the morning. Thousands of people line up daily to see the cub, and his button-eyed face has been a fixture for newspapers, television and the Internet.Born at the zoo on Dec. 5, Knut was rejected by his mother and hand-raised by zookeepers. So potent is his appeal that zoo attendance has roughly doubled to 15,000 on average daily since his debut, officials said. He has his own blog and TV show and appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair.Schuele did not know if Knut would be strong enough for public appearances in the next days.We don't know yet — the little one is not a machine, he said.
Britain and the Constitutional Treaty
16.04.2007 - 09:24 CET | By Richard Corbett
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - As discussions recommence on what to do about the Constitutional Treaty, now ratified by two thirds of the member states of the European Union, the question arises as to what is the position of the UK.
Anyone following such debates across Europe rapidly finds that the UK is lumped together with Poland and the Czech Republic as the opponents of the draft Constitution, a position seized on with relish by some French politicians who are keen to point the finger at somebody else and make us forget that it was France that (not for the first time) has blocked reform of the European Union.Naturally, eurosceptics in Britain like to portray the Constitutional Treaty as something that is not in Britain's interests or has even been foisted on a reluctant Britain.
This is in fact far from being the case. Britain was central to the negotiations that agreed the text, the government signed the treaty and, as Tony Blair said to the House of Commons in June 2004:This constitutional treaty represents a success for the new Europe that is taking shape, is a success for Britain.Of course, the British government is realistic enough to know that the current text of the Constitutional Treaty is unlikely to be ratified as it stands by all member states without further ado.
France alone will see to that. One of the leading French presidential candidates has called instead for a mini-treaty. The other one has called for a complete re-negotiation of the Constitutional Treaty. In such circumstances the British government is being realistic in holding fire and not holding a referendum on a text that may well be moribund, or at least subject to additions or modifications. If it were a matter for simple parliamentary ratification, the government could well consider adding Britain to the list of countries that have endorsed the Constitution as a political gesture. However, the requirement for a referendum on the text as it stands - or, presumably, on anything approaching its scope and carrying the name Constitution - precludes such an approach.
Needless to say, the results of the referendums in France and the Netherlands, notwithstanding the positive outcomes of referendums elsewhere, have almost certainly made it more difficult to win referendums in some of the other member states. Voting on a text that very few people will have read leaves the debate very vulnerable to superficial perceptions. One of the strongest perceptions that will linger in people's minds is the rejection by people in France and the Netherlands - and never mind that many of those voters were really expressing opposition to the government of the day rather than to the text itself.
Securing a compromise will not be easy
Perceptions are political reality, and there is no way around the fact that securing a compromise around a text that will be acceptable to all 27 governments and capable of ratification will not be easy. Among the options available, it is not yet clear what is likely to achieve consensus. These options include:
* Treaty-plus options: keeping the text intact but adding protocols to it or declarations interpreting it in order to respond to concerns that have been expressed.
* Re-negotiating the text: re-examining the content, the style and name of the Constitutional Treaty, if possible without re-opening some of the complex bargains which were struck.
* A mini-treaty: bringing in the emergency repairs needed for the institutional system to enable the union to cater for an ever growing number of members.
Of course, a mix of additional protocols, some re-writing and some deletions is also conceivable - but the more complex the approach, the longer it is likely to take. Nor should we forget that some 22 countries attended the Friends of the Constitution meeting in Madrid in January and expressed their attachment to keeping the current text as intact as possible.Whichever option is chosen, there will have to be an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to negotiate and endorse whatever the new package entails. Such an IGC could, in theory at least, be short and sweet, and be held over this summer and early autumn enabling a new text to emerge by the end of the year. Whether that is feasible as a timetable will depend on the degree of consensus that emerges at the European Council meeting in June.Already, some British voices are attempting to identify what are the essential elements that should be salvaged from a British perspective. Lord Kerr, formerly Britain's ambassador to the EU and former Secretary General of the Convention, whose knowledge on these matters is vast, writing in the Financial Times at the end of February, identified seven vital elements:
* Replacing the six monthly rotating "Buggin's turn" Presidency of the European Council with a full-time fixed term president, chosen by the heads of government to chair their meetings.
* Empowering the EU's High Representative for foreign policy with co-ordinating all external relations of the EU Commission and Council, on both of which he would sit.
* Introducing the reformed qualified majority voting system envisaged under the Constitutional Treaty which is more proportionate to the size of each country.
* Introducing the subsidiarity mechanism for involving national parliaments in prior scrutiny of all EU legislative proposals.
* Subjecting the Commission President to election by the European Parliament.
* Making more visible the principle of conferral, whereby the EU may only act within the powers given to it by the Member States.
* Introducing a secession clause, explicitly empowering Member States to leave the European Union if they so wish.
To the list I would, myself, add some others -
* Cutting the size of the Commission.
* Making all EU legislation subject to the double scrutiny of requiring approval by national ministers in the Council and elected MEPs in the European Parliament.
* Giving more prominence to the treaty article obliging the union to respect the national identities of Member States.
The charter of rights
More tricky is what to do about Part II of the Constitutional Treaty - the charter of rights.Intended as a limitation on the powers of the Union, by obliging it to respect rights that, for the most part, member states themselves already have to respect, it has become embroiled in a debate about whether national courts would defer to the EU court when deliberating on rights cases under national law.Perhaps the solution here would be to have a single article saying that the EU institutions are obliged to respect the charter on rights approved in 2000 in Nice, but that this would not apply to Member States (except when they are applying European law).Another complex matter is the ambition of the Constitutional Treaty to codify all previous treaties into a single document.This worthy idea led to a hasty re-casting of the original set of treaties which, whilst shorter, still represented a constitutional text of inordinate length.Perhaps, here too, an answer might be to have a single article empowering the European Council, by unanimity, to codify and reorganise the existing treaties and to delete redundant articles, provided that the Court of Justice certifies that, in so doing, they are not increasing the competences or powers of the European Union.
Finally, there will no doubt be many suggestions for other additions to the treaty. Some of these should be looked upon favourably: articles on tackling climate change, respecting social security systems of member states and others may well make the text of the treaty more acceptable in some or all the Member States.Negotiating these aspects may well be tricky but will inevitably be part of the final package.All in all, it is high time that British politicians and others start thinking carefully about the details of this debate. Above all, they should not abandon this terrain to the tangential cliches that the eurosceptics are determined to push it down. Their unrealistic and sensationalist portrayal of the issues is already leading the debate in a direction that is totally divorced from what the Constitutional Treaty actually says and from the political reality of what is likely to be negotiated among the 27 Member States. This must be countered by a measured, factual and intelligent contribution to the debate by the true eurorealists - those who know that Britain's interests are best served if we and our neighbouring countries can agree on a settled, well functioning, democratically accountable European framework, better able to address those issues where a joint approach is mutually advantageous.The author is a Labour MEP
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