Friday, May 02, 2008

JOEL ROSENBERG ON GLEN BECK

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.

Cyclone to hit Bangladesh and Myanmar coast: official MAY 1,08

DHAKA (AFP) - A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal is expected to slam into the coast of southeast Bangladesh and Myanmar within a day, a government meteorologist warned Thursday, as officials met for urgent talks.The warning came less than six months after cyclone Sidr caused massive devastation in southern Bangladesh, leaving more than 3,000 people dead.Cyclone Nargis is intensifying and is heading towards the coast, said Shah Alam, assistant director of the Meteorological Department, adding it was likely to hit the coast of Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district and neighbouring Myanmar from Friday afternoon.Disaster management ministry officials had been summoned to an urgent meeting to assess the potential danger, an official told AFP.Alam said the cyclone was moving at a maximum speed of 115 kilometres (71 miles) per hour, about half the speed of Sidr.We think it will hit about 150 kilometres (93 miles) of the Bangladesh coastline and 150 kilometres of the Myanmar coast, he added.The department had issued warning signal four for Cox's Bazar and Chittagong coastal districts, indicating that a storm was expected but that extreme precautionary measures were not yet required.Fishing crews have already been told to stay close to the shore and not to venture into the Bay of Bengal.Half a million people perished in a cyclone in 1970. Some 138,000 died in 1991 in a tidal wave caused by a cyclone.

No need to declare state of emergency, N.B. officials say MAY 1,08

NEW.BRUNSWICK (CBC) - As water levels in the St. John River approach record highs, New Brunswick safety officials say declaring a state of emergency would not change the assistance already being provided to residents in the soggy province.Dick Isabelle, the executive director of police, fire and emergency services for the Department of Public Safety, explained during a public briefing Wednesday that the purpose of declaring a state of emergency is to force a reaction if governments or organizations are not working together to address a situation.In this case, he said, public safety, the government and emergency organizations are all working together to help those in need without a declaration.As long as people are reacting appropriately ... there is really no need to enact [a state of emergency], he said.Andy Morton, deputy director of the province's Emergency Measures Organization, said a state of emergency is meant to be used in response to a sudden catastrophic event. Officials all said the floods, while an emergency, were not unexpected. Morton noted there is no need to have a state of emergency declared for EMO to enact measures to ensure the safety of New Brunswickers.

He also said that declaring a state of emergency would do little to change the level of emergency response already being provided.We are consistently monitoring the response to the event, he said.
Earlier Wednesday, as water lapped near the legislature, the opposition called for the government to declare a state of emergency.Before the legislature was closed for the weekend due to the water, Public Safety Minister John Foran said, We're certainly not at a state of emergency level, but noted the province is in an emergency situation.Declaring a state of emergency would allow the province to move people out of their homes against their will if necessary. Tory MLA Wayne Steeves, who called for the declaration, later said he would not want to force anyone to move.Heavy rainfall earlier this week in parts of northern New Brunswick, Maine and southern Quebec has put more than 1,300 Fredericton area homes at risk from the surging St. John River. More than 460 people had registered with the Red Cross by Thursday morning after voluntarily leaving their homes.New Brunswick's Emergency Measures Organization has issued a major flood warning for all people living along the basin.Maine declared a state of emergency on Tuesday night and more than 100 homes were evacuated in the Fort Kent area.

Hundreds evacuated in Maine amid record flood Thu May 1, 10:17 AM

BOSTON (Reuters) - A river swollen by heavy rain and melting snow overflowed its banks along the U.S.-Canadian border, forcing hundreds of people to flee homes and businesses in Fort Kent, Maine, and closing two border crossings.The St. John River rose 30 feet and spilled into the town leaving stores and homes on Main Street under seven to eight feet of water, said John Bannen, Fort Kent's director of Community Development. Police and Border Patrol blocked off downtown Fort Kent on Thursday morning.Less than 24 hours earlier about 600 people were forced to leave the town in a hurry when the river threatened to rise above a 30-foot dike built to protect the area. The town is 430 miles north of Boston.Town and state officials called it the worst flood in 80 years of record keeping.We have never seen anything of this magnitude, Bannen said, adding that the town is virtually cut off with only one road open.

The Fort Kent and Van Buren border crossings between the United States and Canada were also closed after the 78-year-old steel truss Clair-Fort Kent bridge spanning the St. John River, was submerged, Lynette Miller, a spokeswoman for the Main Emergency Management Agency said.(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss, editing by Jackie Frank)

Flooding, landslide fears ease in parts of Quebec Thu May 1, 8:07 AM

MONTREAL (CBC) - Dozens of people forced from their homes by landslides in the town of La Malbaie northeast of Quebec City are waiting for soil test results to find out whether they can return home.Three apartment buildings and a hotel were evacuated after a series of mudslides caused by nearly 60 millimetres of rain in the area this week.Authorities are testing soil on the hill to verify its stability, explained civil security spokeswoman H?l?ne Chagnon.

I think [the soil] could move a little bit again because the rain was very strong, and the type of soil is very specific in this area, she said Thursday.Meanwhile residents in the small Eastern Townships community of Weedon are still waiting for word from officials about flooding.More than 250 permanent and summer homes were ordered evacuated this week after water levels in nearby Lake Louise rose following Tuesday's rainfall.Concerns about possible flooding in the Quebec City and Mont?r?gie regions subsided after officials confirmed water levels remained fairly stable, despite the rain.Officials in Quebec City issued more than 80 voluntary evacuation notices after some basements flooded. Authorities in western Quebec are still monitoring the Petite-Nation River in Saint-Andr?-Avellin, where 14 homes were evacuated Monday night as a precaution.A wall of sandbags was erected to protect the community's main road.The rain moved east Wednesday, dumping 110 millimetres on Baie-Comeau before pushing toward the Maritimes, where a major flood warning is in effect in New Brunswick after the St. John River spilled its banks, submerging several roads.Heavy rainfall and high waters forced authorities in Maine to declare a state of emergency earlier his week.

JESUS RETURNS TO EARTH BODILY TO RULE AND REIGN FROM DAVIDS THRONE FOREVER AND WE COME BACK WITH HIM ON WHITE HORSES.

ACTS 1:10-11
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

ZECHARIAH 14:4
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

REVELATION 19:11-16
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

JUDE 14-16
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

NOW THIS IS ABSOLUTLY AMAZING BECAUSE I BELIEVE THE 7 YEAR PEACE TREATY SIGNING OF DANIEL 9:27 WILL OCCUR ON ROSH-HASHANA IN THE FUTURE AND THEN 3 1/2 YEARS LATER ON PASSOVER I BELIEVE THE EU DICTATOR WILL HAVE THE FALSE RESURRECTION. AND THESE LUNAR AND SOLAR ECLIPSES OCCUR ON PASSOVER AND ROSH-HASHANA APSOLUTLY AMAZING.

TESTING THE FAITH Blood moon eclipses: 2nd Coming in 2015?
Minister uses NASA forecasting to study signals of Jesus' return
April 30, 2008 11:49 pm Eastern By Joe Kovacs 2008 WorldNetDaily


Total lunar eclipses often make the moon appear red
Will Jesus Christ return to Earth in the year 2015?

And can studying NASA's website provide evidence for such a scenario?

A minister who promotes the Old Testament roots of Christianity suggests a rare string of lunar and solar eclipses said to fall on God's annual holy days seven years from now could herald what's come to be known as the Second Coming of Jesus.God wants us to look at the biblical calendar, says Mark Biltz, pastor of El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, Wash. The reason we need to be watching is [because] He will signal His appearance. But we have to know what to be watching as well. So we need to be watching the biblical holidays.In a video interview on the Prophecy in the News website, Biltz said he's been studying prophecies that focus on the sun and moon, even going back to the book of Genesis where it states the lights in the sky would be be for signs, and for seasons.It means a signal, kind of like one if by land, two if by sea. It's like God wants to signal us, he said. The Hebrew word implies ... not only is it a signal, but it's a signal for coming or His appearing.

Biltz adds the word seasons implies appointed times for God's feasts and festivals.When we hear the word feast, we think food. But the Hebrew word has nothing to do with food. It has to do with a divine appointment, as if God has a day timer, and He says, 'OK, I'm gonna mark the day and the time when I'm going to signal My appearance.In the Old Testament, the prophet Joel states, The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.(Joel 2:31)

In the New Testament, Jesus is quoted as saying, Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light ... And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.(Matthew 24:29-30).Gary Stearman of Prophecy in the News noted, When we think of the sun being darkened and the moon not giving her light, we usually think of some astronomical catastrophe – perhaps the sun sputtering and the moon being affected by all this. But maybe it's time to rethink this a little bit and think of it as a natural cycle, the cycle of the eclipses.Phases of lunar and solar eclipses on NASA's eclipse website .Thus, Biltz began focusing on the precise times of both solar and lunar eclipses, sometimes called blood moons since the moon often takes on a bloody color. He logged onto NASA's eclipse website which provides precision tracking of the celestial events.

He noted a rare phenomenon of four consecutive total lunar eclipses, known as a tetrad.He says during this century, tetrads occur at least six times, but what's interesting is that the only string of four consecutive blood moons that coincide with God's holy days of Passover in the spring and the autumn's Feast of Tabernacles (also called Succoth) occurs between 2014 and 2015 on today's Gregorian calendar.The fact that it doesn't happen again in this century I think is very significant, Biltz explains. So then I looked at last century, and, believe it or not, the last time that four blood red moons occurred together was in 1967 and 1968 tied to Jerusalem recaptured by Israel.He then started to notice a pattern of the tetrads.What's significant to me is that even before 1967, the next time that you had four blood red moons again was right after Israel became a nation in 48, it happened again in 1949 and 1950 ... on Passover and Succoth. You didn't have any astronomical tetrads in the 1800s, the 1700s, the 1600s. In the 1500s, there were six, but none of those fell on Passover and Succoth.When checking the schedule for solar eclipses, Biltz found two – one on the first day of the Hebrew year and the next on the high holy day of Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the seventh Hebrew month. Both of these take place in the 2014-2015 year.

The sun's corona becomes visible during a solar eclipse

Biltz says, You have the religious year beginning with the total solar eclipse, two weeks later a total lunar eclipse on Passover, and then the civil year beginning with the solar eclipse followed two weeks later by another total blood red moon on the Feast of Succoth all in 2015.If you think that this is a coincidence, I want you to know that it's time! exclaimed Prophecy in the News host J.R. Church. There are no more of these for the rest of the century.
The prospect of eclipses pinpointing the time of Jesus' return is getting mixed reaction in Christian circles.After seeing Biltz's interview, Jim Bramlett, an author and former vice president for the Christian Broadcasting Network, expressed excitement. I have just watched the program two times and do not think I have ever been more encouraged or excited about the soon return of the Lord! Bramlett said.But Hal Lindsey, a well-known biblical analyst and author of The Late Great Planet Earth, says while he hasn't heard of Biltz's theory, he called it pure speculation.In my 50-something years of studying prophecy, to me the greatest indication of the time of Christ's return is based around the general things of prophecies coming together in the same time frame.He mentioned not only Israel's birth as a political state in 1948, but the increase in tensions with Muslims, the rise of Russia, China and the European Union, which he says is even calling itself the revived Roman Empire.I see the whole sweep and panorama spinning together in a precise scenario, he said.During a second video interview, Biltz was presented with Bible quotes that many think suggest Jesus' return will be a complete surprise, or at least not specifically known.The 25th chapter of Matthew features a parable where Jesus likens His kingdom to ten virgins all waiting for the arrival of their bridegroom.Jesus said in the story, ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. (Matthew 25:13) Biltz says people need to examine the quote in its proper context.

When He says you don't know the day or the hour, He's speaking to the foolish virgins, not the wise virgins, he explained.Biltz was also asked about the famous statement in Matthew 24:36 when Jesus was discussing the signs of His coming, and of the end of the world: But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.(Matthew 24:36)He responded by referring to the annual Feast of Trumpets holiday, saying Israelites never knew the precise moment it began, because it was based on the sighting of the new moon.When He (Jesus) says you won't know the day or the hour, He's telling you it's the Feast of Trumpets because that was known as the feast where no one knew the day or the hour that it would begin, said Biltz. So it's kind of like if I told you, I'm not going to tell you when I'm coming, but Gobble, gobble, gobble,[pointing to] Turkey Day.Church stressed despite the information suggesting 2015 could be a pivotal time, We don't know that that will be the concluding year of the tribulation period ... so we're not setting a date and saying this is a warning. We're introducing the possibility of a watch.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Fire near rim of Grand Canyon keeping state firefighters busy 2,000-acre fire 60% contained; no evacuations likely
Lindsey Collom The Arizona Republic May. 1, 2008 12:00 AM


Fire crews hope a forecast of lighter winds proves true today as they continue to battle a roughly 2,000-acre wildfire burning outside Grand Canyon National Park.Despite wind gusts of up to 50 mph Wednesday, firefighters kept the X Fire from consuming little more than an additional 30 acres of Kaibab National Forest.Smoke from the fire, one of the largest that has broken out in Arizona so far this year, produced a haze noticeable to Grand Canyon visitors.

The blaze was 60 percent contained by Wednesday afternoon. It remained 3 miles east of the Tusayan community and more than a mile away from the southern end of Grand Canyon National Park.Officials did not expect any evacuations because winds were driving the fire northeast away from structures.Sean Murphy, a fire-information officer for the U.S. Forest Service, said the fire has been useful for land management. The flames helped clean out material that fuel fires, such as grass and brush, while sparing most trees. There wasn't a whole lot at stake, fortunately, Murphy said. The X Fire was spotted about noon Tuesday and is believed to have originated from a campfire that wasn't extinguished. There were reports that several people had been arrested in connection with the blaze, but neither forest officials nor the U.S. Attorney's Office would confirm it.

The fire was named after the Ten-X Campground, which remains closed because of fire activity. It was scheduled to open today. Nearly 140 firefighters are battling the blaze, with support from 10 fire engines, three bulldozers, five hotshot crews and two air tankers. The young wildfire season has already been a busy one for crews in Arizona, with a handful of human-caused fires dominating the landscape.Just days after Gov. Janet Napolitano called on Congress to create a fund for fighting wildland fires, crews worked to put out the Kansas Settlement Fire, a blaze that broke out south of Willcox in mid-April and quickly spread through the area's dry grass, consuming more than 750 acres.A few days later, hundreds of firefighters amassed in a remote area near the U.S.-Mexican border to battle the Alamo Fire, a human-caused blaze that grew larger than 4,000 acres before crews got it under control late last week. By then, crews were tending to another human-caused fire in southern Arizona that charred about 325 acres west of Nogales. Fire administrators expect to have the blaze fully contained this week.

Also this week, fire officials warned of potential disaster in southeastern Arizona because of dry conditions. Analysts with the Eastern Arizona Incident Management Team said the potential for extreme fire conditions in that portion of the state is the worst it has been in 23 years.The X Fire has been somewhat of an anomaly. Murphy said. The Tusayan area rarely sees fires of this magnitude; most are quickly contained. Also, fire activity typically doesn't pick up until late May or early June.Little more than a month ago, snow was still covering parts of the Kaibab, including newly charred areas. Murphy said high winds and lack of precipitation that followed in April quickly dried out any vegetation.Tinder-dry conditions and high winds made for quite a show Tuesday, Murphy said. By Wednesday, much of the flame activity had died down. Firefighters paced the blackened landscape to seek out hotspots and ensure that fire hadn't crossed a boundary forged by bulldozers.

The smoke stayed close to the ground Wednesday, and much of it had funneled into the Grand Canyon. Some tourists seemed not to notice. A couple from the Netherlands were happy with the view.Maria and Louis Silverio said they noticed bright-orange signs warning of smoke on the drive into Grandview Point, a popular South Rim overlook, but no actual smoke.Karen Williams of Beaumont, Texas, was disappointed by the haze.I'm a photographer, and I'd like to get better shots, Williams said. It took me 60 years to get here, and I don't know how long it will take to get back.Staff reporter JJ Hensley contributed to this article.

N.M. fire jumps containment line in Manzano Mountains
Updated 56m ago By Cathleen Allison, Nevada Appeal, via AP Fire crews discuss how to protect the homes along Highway 395 on Washoe Hill, between Carson City and Reno on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, as the Skinner Fire raced through the area.
The Associated Press

A second consecutive day of fierce wind is hampering firefighters battling a blaze that more than doubled in size within hours in central New Mexico's Manzano Mountains.The Trigo Fire had been 95% contained at 4,500 acres before a spot fire flared on the north side Wednesday afternoon and wind gusting to more than 50 mph drove the flames about 3 miles to the northeast.By early Thursday morning, fire officials estimated the acreage at 11,368, or almost 18 square miles.We're pretty much going to have a carbon copy of yesterday again today, Peter D'Aquanni, a U.S. Forest Service public information officer, said Thursday.Residents of the small communities of Torreon and Tajique and surrounding areas were asked to evacuate, he said. The request affects roughly 400 to 500 people, D'Aquanni said.A shelter was set up for residents at the community center in Estancia.Firefighters' top priority will be protection of structures, he said.A couple of air tankers were dropping fire retardant on the blaze Thursday morning, when wind was already blowing at a sustained 30 mph, D'Aquanni said.The wind, which was shifting from the south-southwest to the north-northwest, grounded a pair of helicopters which had been used to drop buckets of water on the blaze, he said.

Dropping water at this point would be fairly ineffective. By the time it hits the ground it would evaporate or wind up in another county, D'Aquanni said.The fire threatened a University of New Mexico observatory and a fire lookout on Capilla Peak.There was no word on any damage, but D'Aquanni said a Forest Service employee who had been at the lookout was able to wait out the flames and was fine Wednesday night.The human-caused fire began April 15 in the Cibola National Forest. Strong wind fanned the fire April 20, sending it racing toward Manzano and Torreon before firefighters were able to catch it.The blaze burned nine weekend or summer homes and several outbuildings last week.Before Wednesday's flareup, crews had been working on rehabilitating some of the burned areas on the east and west ends of the fire.On Thursday, we'll be trying to just put in some line anywhere we can along the eastern side of the fire before the wind shift happens because when it happens, we can't have our people in front of the fire, D'Aquanni said.There were 182 people assigned to the blaze, but more firefighters have been ordered in, he said.The strong wind was caused by a dry cold front sweeping across New Mexico.Nothing would have happened had we not had those kinds of winds, D'Aquanni said. But that's Mother Nature.Wind gusting to 45 mph also pushed a fire that scorched some 45 square miles of grassland Wednesday in southeastern New Mexico, 15 miles northwest of Tatum.Flames sped toward the New Mexico-Texas line before firefighters stopped it at N.M. 125, said Dan Ware, state Forestry Division spokesman.The fire burned one structure, which was not a house, Ware said.Crews were mopping up hot spots Thursday, he said.

Investigators are trying to determine a cause of the fire, Ware said.Elsewhere in the Southwest, fire crews in Arizona that initially feared hot, windy weather would inflame a wildfire that burned lazily on the edge of Grand Canyon National Park expressed confidence that the blaze, one of several dotting the West, would not grow.Firefighters were able to hold their 3.2-square-mile blaze behind containment lines despite wind gusts as high as 30 mph on Wednesday; it was 60% contained.It's looking good, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Susan Brown said. The winds weren't as bad as what they were predicting.Gusts as high as 45 mph had been predicted, and a wind advisory had been issued. The 2,030-acre fire has been burning ponderosa pine and has come within a mile of the park's southern boundary.Crews felt confident the fire would not grow any further, Brown said.The blaze was about 10 miles southeast of the Grand Canyon Village but was moving away from the popular tourist site. No homes were threatened, and businesses and freeways remained open.The fire was spotted Tuesday afternoon and grew rapidly. Authorities believe it was caused by humans and were investigating.Firefighters reported progress against wildfires near Reno, and in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles.Diminished wind and temperatures near freezing during the night helped firefighters working on a brush and grass blaze south of Reno. On Tuesday, the fire had closed a highway and led to evacuation of an elementary school.With lower temperatures the fire cooled down really well, Steve Frady, spokesman for the Reno Fire Department, said early Wednesday.The fire was estimated at 962 acres, about 1.5 square miles, and was 75% contained, Frady said. It was moving away from homes after burning right around four hillside houses Tuesday when the flames were fanned by wind gusting to 70 mph.Busy U.S. 395, the main thoroughfare between Reno and Carson City, was briefly closed during Tuesday's evening rush hour, but by daybreak Wednesday no flames or smoke were visible from the highway.In Southern California, which also had higher humidity and lower temperatures, the wildfire that threatened hundreds of homes in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains was reduced to mostly embers and was nearly contained, fire officials said Wednesday.

It is looking real good, said Cliff Johnson, a fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service. He estimated containment at 88%, with the blaze expected to be fully surrounded by Friday.The last evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday for the 1,000 people forced from homes in Sierra Madre, a small city about 15 miles northeast of Los Angeles.Another 700-acre blaze burned uncontained in the San Jacinto Wilderness of the San Bernardino National Forest. The fire was on the remote Apache Peak near Pacific Crest Trail, about 6 miles east of the Riverside County community of Mountain Center, according to the U.S. Forest Service.Only hand crews were fighting the fire, which erupted Tuesday 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Firefighters gain upper hand on wildfire
www.chinaview.cn 2008-04-30 01:31:12


LOS ANGELES, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Firefighters have gained an upper hand on a wildfire burning since the weekend in northeastern Los Angeles, authorities said on Tuesday. The fire was 57 percent contained as of Tuesday, and about 700 of the 1,000 evacuated residents have been allowed back into their homes, officials said.

Authorities expect to have full containment of the 218-hectare blaze by Friday, said Barbara Croonquist of the Angeles National Forest. Firefighters planned to take advantage of cooler temperatures and increased humidity to tame the wildfire. It will be a much better day for the firefighters, National Weather Service Meteorologist Andrew Rorke said. Things will shift from an offshore flow to a more typical onshore flow, lowering temperatures by about 15 degrees.An increase of humidity to about 20 percent will also improve conditions for containing the blaze, he added. Rorke noted that marine area clouds were expected to roll in Wednesday along with increased humidity, cooling temperatures considerably for the remainder of the week. Early Monday, fiery debris threatened some homes along the western perimeter of the fire, that were nearly scorched, said Robert Brady, fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service.

Croonquist said Tuesday morning that the fire, which started along a popular trail and creek in Santa Anita Canyon Saturday, was 57 percent contained, and the number of scorched acres had not increased. About 1,000 people in 400 homes in the canyon were evacuated over the weekend as the fire scorched vegetation that had not burned in 30 years. Late Monday, mandatory evacuation orders were lifted for residents living in the area. By Tuesday morning, about 300 people were still evacuated from their homes, Croonquist said. More than 1,000 personnel from city, county, state and federal fire agencies were battling the blaze, Croonquist said. Four firefighters have suffered heat fatigue and other injuries considered minor. One outbuilding was damaged. It was unclear how the fire started, but stricken area is popular with picnickers and weekend hikers.

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

Official says Iran quits using US dollar for oil deals
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI The Associated Press MAY 1,08


TEHRAN, Iran — Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, has stopped conducting oil transactions in U.S. dollars, a top Oil Ministry official said Wednesday, a concerted attempt to reduce reliance on Washington at a time of tension over Tehran's nuclear program and suspected involvement in Iraq.Iran has dramatically reduced dependence on the dollar over the past year in the face of increasing U.S. pressure on its financial system and the fall in the value of the American currency.Oil is priced in U.S. dollars on the world market, and the currency's depreciation has concerned producers because it has contributed to rising crude prices and eroded the value of their dollar reserves.The dollar has totally been removed from Iran's oil transactions, Oil Ministry official Hojjatollah Ghanimifard told state-run television Wednesday. We have agreed with all of our crude oil customers to do our transactions in non-dollar currencies.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the depreciating dollar a worthless piece of paper at a rare summit last year in Saudi Arabia attended by state leaders from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Iran put pressure on other OPEC countries at the meeting to price oil in a basket of currencies, but it has not been able to generate support from fellow members — many of whom, including Saudi Arabia, are staunch U.S. allies.Iran has a tense relationship with the U.S., which has accused Tehran of using its nuclear program as a cover for weapons development and providing support to Shiite militants in Iraq that are killing American troops. Iran has denied the allegations.The U.S. is sending a second U.S. aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, a deployment that Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday could serve as a reminder to Iran. But he said it's not an escalation of force.Speaking to reporters after meeting with Mexican leaders, Gates said the number of ships there rises and falls continuously. He said he doesn't expect there to be two carriers there for a long time.Asked if the carrier move went hand in hand with the rising U.S. rhetoric against Iran, Gates said, I don't see it as an escalation. I think it could be seen, though, as a reminder.Iranian oil officials have said previously that they were shifting oil sales out of the dollar into other currencies, but Ghanimifard indicated Wednesday that all of Iran's oil transactions were now conducted in either euros or yen.In Europe, Iran's oil is sold in euros, but both euros and yen are paid for Iranian crude in Asia, said Ghanimifard.Iran's central bank has also been reducing its foreign reserves denominated in U.S. dollars, motivated by the falling value of the greenback and U.S. attempts to make it difficult for Iran to conduct dollar transactions.

U.S. banks are prohibited from conducting business directly with Iran, and many European banks have curbed their dealings with the country over the past year under pressure from Washington.However, the U.S. has been wary of targeting Iran's oil industry directly, apparently worried that such a move could drive up crude prices that are already near record levels.Iranian analysts say Tehran can withstand U.S. pressure as long as it can continue its oil and gas sales, which constitute most of the country's $80 billion in exports.2008 The Seattle Times Company.

FAMINE

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

Soaring prices for food, gas push consumer spending higher By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer MAY 1,08

WASHINGTON - Soaring prices for food, gas and other everyday needs pushed consumer spending to a faster pace than expected in March. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that consumer spending was up 0.4 percent, double the increase that economists had forecast.However, once inflation was removed, spending edged up a much slower 0.1 percent. The March figures represent the fourth straight lackluster performance as consumers have been battered by record gasoline prices, a deep slump in housing and rising job layoffs.In other economic news, construction spending dropped by 1.1 percent in March. That was the fifth decline in the past six months and was led by a record 4.6 percent plunge in spending on housing.Housing construction had fallen for 23 straight months before a small 0.2 percent increase in February. But it remains in a steep slump as builders are still struggling to reduce record inventories in the face of the worst housing downturn in more than two decades.Meanwhile, a closely watched gauge of manufacturing activity posted a reading of 48.6 for April, unchanged from March. That was a slightly better showing than economists had been expecting for the Institute for Supply Management index.

The Labor Department reported that claims for unemployment benefits rose by 35,000 to 380,000 last week. That was a much bigger increase than the 18,000 that private economists had expected, and it highlights the strains that the weak economy is putting on the labor market.The report on jobless claims came a day ahead of a report on unemployment for April. Economists expect that report will show that the unemployment rate edged up to 5.2 percent, from 5.1 percent in March. The economy is expected to lose 70,000 jobs, for the fourth straight month of job losses.The White House said the weekly jobless claims are a volatile marker of the economy's health.The bottom line is that they're higher than we'd like to see them, White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said. He added that a slight rise in the Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter was modestly encouraging news, and was in the range of what the administration had expected.Consumer spending is being carefully watched out of concerns that too big of a slowdown will push the country into a recession, since two-thirds of economic activity comes from consumers.The government reported Wednesday that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, eked out a tiny 0.6 percent growth rate in the first three months of this year as consumer spending slowed to the weakest pace since the second quarter of 2001, when the country was slogging through the last recession.Despite the slightly positive GDP performance, many economists believe that the economy has fallen into a recession and it will be reflected by a negative GDP figure in the current April-June quarter.The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut a key interest rate for the seventh time in the past eight months, although it signaled the quarter-point move may be the last for awhile.The Fed, worried about rising inflation pressures, is hoping that its previous moves, combined with 130 million rebate payments that started going out this week, will be enough to keep the country from tumbling into a deep recession.On the inflation front, a price gauge tied to consumer spending rose by 0.3 percent in March, triple the 0.1 percent rise in February. Much of that jump reflected higher food and energy costs. Core inflation, which excludes those categories, rose by 0.2 percent in March and is up 2.1 percent over the past 12 months, higher than the Fed's 1 percent to 2 percent comfort zone.Personal incomes rose by 0.3 percent in March, slightly slower than the 0.5 percent rise in February.The personal savings rate, savings as a percent of after-tax income, slipped to 0.2 percent in March from 0.4 percent in February.

Israel minister rejects Gaza truce as Hamas chief killed by Beth O'Connell MAY 1,08

JERUSALEM (AFP) - A senior Israeli minister rejected on Thursday a proposed truce in the Gaza Strip, as the air force killed a Hamas commander suspected of involvement in the 2006 capture of an Israeli soldier. Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit insisted that Israel could not accept an Egyptian-brokered proposal on Gaza, claiming it would only give the Islamist movement Hamas the opportunity to boost its military capabilities.No deal whatsoever should be reached with Hamas because this terrorist movement would exploit any truce to gain strength, perfect its weapons and prepare for the next confrontation, the security cabinet member told public radio.Sheetrit's comments came as the air force targeted and identified hitting Nafiz Mansur, a Hamas terror operative who was involved in terror attacks against Israel, the military said.The military said Mansur had been involved in the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit, seized by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid from Gaza claimed by Hamas and two other militant groups.

It said Mansur was also responsible for the killing of two Israeli soldiers in a July 2006 attack, and took part in setting up a suicide assault on a border post on April 19.Hamas confirmed Mansur's death and said it would respond to this crime at the appropriate time and place.Mansur, 40, was killed near his home in Rafah, according to Muawiyah Hassanein, who heads the Gaza emergency services. Three more people, including a child, were wounded in the air strike, he said.Following the strike, Gaza militants retaliated, firing at least eight rockets and three mortar rounds at southern Israel. The attacks caused some damage to property but no casualties, a military spokeswoman said.Sheetrit, who is also a deputy prime minister, said Israel's goal should be to break up Hamas, which European Union and the United States join with Israel in blacklisting as a terror group.We must break Hamas, not hold negotiations with them, because their demands are unacceptable, he said. The armed forces must attack those terrorists night and day to break their arms and their legs.Public radio said several other ministers had also opposed a Gaza truce at Wednesday's security cabinet meeting.In the face of the near-daily violence on its doorstep, Egypt has again stepped in as a mediator in the impoverished Palestinian territory.

It brought together Hamas, the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and nearly a dozen other factions, hammering out with them a proposal for a comprehensive, simultaneous and reciprocal period of calm to be applied progressively, first in Gaza and then in the West Bank.The pointman in the talks, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, is expected to deliver the offer to Israel in the coming days.Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev has already said that to be sustainable and real, the calm must contain three vital elements -- total absence of fire from Gaza against Israel, complete cessation of terrorist attacks and the end of arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip.Hamas has insisted that, as part of any truce, Israel must lift the blockade it imposed after the Islamists seized power in Gaza in June.Israel allows only very limited humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza. It says the blockade is intended to put pressure on the Hamas authorities to stop militants firing rockets on its territory. In another Israeli military operation in Gaza on Thursday, a Palestinian civilian in his sixties, Mohammed Abu Daqqa, was killed and three other people wounded, Palestinian medics said. The deaths brought to 447 the number of people killed since Israel and the Palestinians relaunched peace negotiations at a US-hosted conference in November, according to an AFP tally.

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

Med states can compete with Asia together -Sarkozy
Tue 29 Apr 2008, 16:15 GMT


TUNIS, April 29 (Reuters) - Europe should work with its southern Mediterranean neighbours to challenge Asia economically, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on a visit to Tunisia on Tuesday.
Sarkozy told a gathering of 500 French and Tunisian business people that European and southern Mediterranean countries should harness their complementary strengths as Asian states had done, rather than opposing and excluding each other.Combining European know-how and North African manpower would be mutually beneficial, he said, adding there could be no decent future for Europe if North Africa does not develop.Together -- with your workforce, with our schools and universities, with what we exchange -- we can create a model that will triumph throughout the entire world, he said.

More than 1,000 French firms have operations in Tunisia, a former French colony and one of France's closest Arab world allies. Textiles and industrial components businesses have provided new jobs in North Africa but many have struggled in recent years as lean Asian competitors muscle into their traditional European markets.Sarkozy was forced last month to water down a plan for a full Mediterranean Union linking neighbours from the north and south after fierce resistance from Germany, which feared the new body would split the European Union and siphon off common funds.

Last month, EU leaders agreed to a limited form of union involving a regular summit between EU and Mediterranean leaders with a joint presidency and a small secretariat. The new union is due to be launched at a summit in Paris on July 13.Sarkozy and his Tunisian counterpart Zine al Abidine Ben Ali oversaw on Monday the signing of accords on nulcear cooperation, migration and aid.State airline Tunisair reached a $1.57 billion deal to buy 19 planes from Airbus, a unit of French-German aerospace and defence group EADS . French engineering firm Alstom also won a 360 million euro deal to equip a Tunisian power plant. (Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; Editing by Lamine Ghanmi and Catherine Evans) Reuters 2008.

Professor: EU works well even without Lisbon Treaty
Published: Monday 28 April 2008


The EU continues to function just as well as before enlargement, according to Professor Anand Menon from the European Research Institute at the University of Birmingham. Speaking to EurActiv.sk in an interview, he said an important innovation of the Lisbon Treaty is the yellow card procedure, which would give national parliaments a say on draft Commission proposals. Professor Anand Menon has worked on various aspects of European politics for some 15 years. He is the author of a recently published book entitled Europe: The State of the Union.

What is the most important innovation of the Lisbon Treaty compared to the current institutional setting?

There are some important innovations, but we cannot be sure how they'll work. Nobody knows how the permanent Presidency of the European Council will work. The external service could be an important innovation, if it is professional, recruited on the principle of the merit, without regard to nationality. For me the most interesting innovation is the so-called yellow card procedure, whereby national parliaments get a say, however limited, on draft Commission proposals. I do not know how the system will work, but I think it is a welcome step in connecting national politicians with what is going on in the EU. This is an idea that could be developed over the years and could provide a much-needed link between the national and the European level. You also mean Europeanising the national political debates?

Yes, partly to Europeanise national political debates but also partly to make it clear to the national politicians and their publics that the European Union is something that they are very much involved in shaping, that national politicians are very much involved in the EU decision-making. In other words, there is no centre that imposes things on member states but, rather, the Union is organically linked to national political systems. In an age when people are very skeptical about Europe, this kind of link is very important. If you look at the political debate in the EU, often you see that the European institutions are likened to the national ones – sometimes with fears, sometimes with expectations. Don't you think that this just does not fit? I think that a lot of people fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the European Union and fundamentally misunderstand the limits of this sort of co-operation between the nation states. And that I think is dangerous. Ultimately, one of the problems we have is a lack of faith in the supranational institutions. If you listen to political rhetoric in the member states, you find lots of things said about the undemocratic nature of the European Central Bank or the European Commission. But the principal thing is that the central institutions of the European Union have to be trusted by all members and seen as impartial by all members. Otherwise the things that the EU had already achieved - notably the market - will be put under threat. It is a unique system – it is not like a nation state and it is not like a traditional international organisation – which blends national interests and the European interest.

Sometimes we hear that without a Lisbon Treaty, the only alternative is some kind of disintegration to the core and periphery, the creation of a multi-speed Europe or some kind of catastrophe. How would you comment? I was one of the people writing and arguing against the enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe because I thought it would lead to gridlock. I was totally wrong. Even under the procedures of the Nice Treaty, the enlarged European Union is functioning fine. Insofar as there have been disputes about specific pieces of legislation, these have been between old member states. There would have been rows about Iraq even without enlargement. The same goes for the Services Directive. These were debates dividing the old member states, not dividing old and new. For me, what the figures about voting in the Council indicate is that the EU has not slowed down at all. It is producing the legislation with the same speed as before. There isn't an institutional crisis to be addressed. Or at least there isn't an institutional crisis that is more serious than what existed prior of enlargement. Still there are some areas where there is a clear conflict between those who want to integrate more, and those who want to keep power on the national level. Take defence policy, as an example? I don't think that there are many member states that want defence policy to be more supranational. There are several that want ESDP to be more effective and efficient. There is a provision in the Lisbon Treaty that would allow some states to move ahead in the defence policy. As of now we have a situation whereby the EU assembles missions comprising of those nation states that want to participate. So we have that to some degree already.

I think what has been striking on the ESDP is the extent to which all member states want to contribute something. I think all member states have pledged to contribute something to one of the new battle groups. While there is a potential for a smaller group of member states to take a lead, no member state is particularly keen on being left on the sidelines. Certainly, there is a tension in the ESDP between the bigger member states - particularly France and the UK who want to take a lead - and the smaller member states who oppose that kind of leadership. That is a debate that we will have to have. But as the situation stands now, everybody has committed, everybody has a say on whether to take on a mission, and ultimately everybody can decide to participate in a mission. But let's take another example. The other big issue from the British perspective has always been the Eurogroup - to what extent it will develop to some kind of a leadership group in the Union. That has been one fear quite often expressed. The UK is, I would argue, doing quite well in the European Union now in terms of shaping its nature, but that might cease to be the case if non-membership of the Eurozone leads to a loss of influence over key debates. As of yet I see no signs of this happening. And one of the reasons why it is not happening is because the Eurogroup itself is internally divided. As long as that is the case, Britain can rest easy.

Let's go back to enlargement. How has it affected the EU?

Diversity is good, especially if you view the EU in instrumental terms. If you see the EU as some kind of a homogenising project that tries to become some kind of a nation state, then diversity may be bad. And what is the impact of enlargement? Well, take the simple fact that since enlargement EU GDP has become larger than US GDP. That matters in the sense that it increases EU influence in, for example, international trade negotiations. In terms of decision-making, there is no evidence that it has slowed down.

Interestingly, evidence from systems such as the United States suggests that when a system enlarges, more power tends to migrate to the centre. The central institutions play a greater role – albeit just an informational or coordination role. Let me give you one example. British Presidencies have traditionally not relied much on the Brussels institutions for support. During the 2005 Presidency, there was far more contact between London and the Council Secretariat General. The reason? Because in an EU of 25, even large member states struggle with the complexity of the work. It just became too complicated to co-ordinate so many member states, or to anticipate their positions on all dossiers. And the Secretariat General is an important source of such information.

In this sense, even without Treaty changes you might see that the member states will start to lean more towards the central institutions. Consequently, the system will continue to function. That might be a hopelessly optimistic point of view, but it seems to me that this is the way the system reacts. It might also mean that the long-fought battle over the Lisbon Treaty was not as necessary as we thought.

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Obama adviser: Israel must give up its nukes.Calls nonsense U.S. claims Jewish state struck Syrian nuclear reactor May 01, 2008 12:15 am Eastern By Aaron Klein
2008 WorldNetDaily


Joseph Cirincione

JERUSALEM – Israel should give up its nuclear weapons to ensure Iran halts its illicit nuclear program, argues an adviser on nuclear issues to Sen. Barack Obama.Joseph Cirincione, director of nuclear policy at the Center for American Progress, also previously dismissed reports Israel's Sept. 6 airstrike targeted a Syrian nuclear reactor as nonsense and called Damascus' nuclear program miniscule.Immediately following Israel's air raid, Cirincione listed Israelis [who] want to thwart any dialogue between the U.S. and Syria as among those spreading rumors Syria was constructing a nuclear facility.Cirincione was commenting on a Sept. 13 Washington Post story about possible links between Syria and North Korea.

His statements have been circulating around the blogosphere the past few days after the U.S. government last week released what it said was photographic evidence Syria was constructing a nuclear reactor with the help of North Korea.Once again, this appears to be the work of a small group of officials leaking cherry-picked, unvetted intelligence to key reporters in order to promote a pre-existing political agenda, Cirincione wrote in September on the blog of Foreign Policy magazine.If this sounds like the run-up to the war in Iraq, it should. This time it appears aimed at derailing the U.S.-North Korean agreement that administration hardliners think is appeasement, Cirincione wrote.In a September interview with National Public Radio, Cirincione stated certain hard-line Israelis who are aimed at preventing a U.S.-Syrian or an Israeli-Syrian dialogue were using the Syrian nuclear story to affect talks with Damascus.He called reports Israel struck a Syrian nuclear site the most overblown story I've seen since before the buildup to the war in Iraq.There's precious little information available, but it hasn't stop people with political agendas from spinning it at such an absurd level as if these claims are facts, Cirincione said.

The Obama adviser characterized Syria's nuclear program as not amount[ing] to much. Begun almost 40 years ago, the Syrian program is a rudimentary research program built around a tiny 30-kilowatt research reactor that produces isotopes and neutrons.Syria does not have the financial, technical or industrial base to develop a serious nuclear program anytime in the foreseeable future. Cirincione's assessment and his claims about false leaks to the media directly contradict a U.S. government briefing to select congressional committees last week on some details of the Sept. 6 Israeli airstrike.The U.S. released video of the targeted Syrian building showing what the CIA said was a soon-to-be completed nuclear reactor similar to one in Yongbyon, 55 miles north of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.Also, the U.S. released photographs that show what appears to be the inside of the nuclear reactor and a picture of a Syrian official standing with a well-known nuclear engineer for the North Korean government.White House press secretary Dana Perino issued a statement last week explaining the Syrian regime was building a covert nuclear reactor in its eastern desert capable of producing plutonium.We are convinced, based on a variety of information, that North Korea assisted Syria's covert nuclear activities. We have good reason to believe that reactor, which was damaged beyond repair on Sept. 6 of last year, was not intended for peaceful purposes.

The U.S. statement accused Syria of hiding the reactor from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and said after the Israeli airstrike, Damascus moved quickly to bury evidence of the reactor's existence.Even after the U.S. briefings last week, Cirincione held strong to his conspiracy theories.We should learn first from the past and be very cautious about any intelligence from the U.S. about other country's weapons, he told the Guardian newspaper last Friday.Cirincione has been described in media reports as a top nuclear advisor to Obama. But he characterizes his role as writing occasional memos to Obama's campaign.Cirincione did not return phone call requests for an interview with WND.Ed Lasky of American Thinker notes Cirincione outlines in his book, Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons, that he favors Israel giving up its nuclear weapons to ensure Iran doesn't obtain nukes.Cirincione is optimistic that Israel with its vast and superior conventional forces could be encouraged to incrementally reduce or even eliminate its nuclear capability, perhaps starting by shutting down its production reactor at Dimona, one reviewer of Cirincione's book notes.Circincione has argued in papers the U.S. should have an evenhanded approach toward a nuclear-free Middle East and that Israel should make public its nuclear weapons program as part of nuclear negotiations.The Obama adviser was also quoted in 2006 calling Israel's 1981 raid on Iraq's nuclear reactor a failure.The raid was widely credited with completely halting deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's nuclear programs.Of Cirincione's views toward Syria, Gabriel Schoenfeld writes on the Commentary Magazine blog, Cirincione sounds remarkably similar to Syria's ambassador to the United Nations. There was no Syria-North Korea cooperation whatsoever in Syria. We deny these rumors,' Bashar Ja'afari said.

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * *
MY CONVERSATION WITH CNN'S GLENN BECK


Is there an intersection between geopolitical events and Bible prophecy? By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., April 29, 2008) -- Well, it was a fascinating week. Hard to summarize, but fascinating, to say the least. Glenn Beck of CNN Headline News had me on his program every night last week to discuss geopolitical events in light of Bible prophecy. Then on Friday, he had me on for a one-hour, prime time special entitled, Honest Questions About The End of Days. He asked great questions -- tough, but fair. He admitted he would probably be a lot more popular if he had me on his show to mock me. But he was honestly curious. I think he, like many in the U.S. and around the world, increasingly sees events accelerating in the Middle East that simply do not make sense if they are viewed only through political or economic lenses. He wants answers. And there aren't many around offering the Bible as a credible sources of answers. There are certainly others more knowledgeable and academically trained to discuss Mideast events in light of Bible prophecy than me. But it was an honor to answer Glenn's questions as best I could. For those who watched, I hoped it was as intriguing and fun for you as it was for Glenn and me. For those who weren't able to see the broadcast, here are excerpts. The full transcript is available on my weblog.

TRANSCRIPT FROM THE GLENN BECK SHOW
CNN Headline News Honest Questions about the End of Days
April 25, 2008

GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): Hillary Clinton says she will retaliate with force against Iran if they attack Israel. Then Russian President Vladimir Putin embraces one religion. Jimmy Carter meets with Hamas to forge Middle East peace.

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If there is success between Abu Mazen and the prime minister of Israel...

BECK: Could these current world events be signs that we`re closer to the end of days? Author Joel Rosenberg, hailed as a modern Nostradamus, has a new book out. It`s called Dead Heat. It takes you inside a presidential race and asks what role, if any, does the U.S. play in the last days? It may be fiction, but tonight it will seem a little more real. Tonight, honest questions about the end of days, with Joel Rosenberg for the full hour. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Well, hello, America. I -- it`s one of these shows that -- I mean, this puts me into Crazytown. It really does. I want to spend a full hour with you talking about stuff that people just don`t talk about. You know? Because the people who talk about it and think, jeez, some of these things look familiar in the news today. Could we be at the end of the day? You know, or end of days? The chaos in the world looks eerily familiar. And somebody who has written about current events in his novels and knows how it relates to Bible prophecy is Joel Rosenberg. He is the founder of The Joshua Fund and author of Dead Heat, a work of fiction that veers scarily close to fact, I think. In fact, let me just give some of the -- some of the things that you have not really -- you wouldn`t call these predictions. I mean, you`re not Nostradamus.

JOEL ROSENBERG, AUTHOR, DEAD HEAT: No.

BECK: Yes, you`re just -- you`re writing about them because they make sense, right?

ROSENBERG: Right.

BECK: You have written -- about nine months before 9/11, you said -- you wrote a story that had a kamikaze plane attack on a U.S. city. Five months before there was actual war with Iraq, you had a story line that included war with Saddam. Arabian leader vowing to annihilate Israel and Russia and Iran forming an unprecedented military alliance, this one happened the date of publishing the book. Right?

ROSENBERG: Right.

BECK: And I know what books are like. I mean, I`ve got a book coming out this Christmas. It`s due next week.

ROSENBERG: Absolutely.

BECK: The death of Yasser Arafat, radical Islamic terrorist, trying to seize the West Bank and Gaza. Thirteen months later, Arafat was dead and that`s exactly what they did. Does it ever spook you that...?

ROSENBERG: It does. I don`t know what you`re going to say. But yes.

BECK: You know, it must spook you that you -- you feel like, this is the logical thing. If I know prophecy and, this should happen. And you write about it. And then it does.

ROSENBERG: Yes. Because when people say, You`re basing your political thrillers on Bible prophecy. But, Yasser Arafat isn`t mentioned in Bible prophecy.

BECK: Right.

ROSENBERG: Saddam Hussein isn`t; kamikazes aren`t. No, that`s true. So I start with end-times Bible prophecies and I say, OK, these are things we know. Now let`s back them up and say what`s a plausible geopolitical scenario that gets us from where we are today...

BECK: Sure.

ROSENBERG: ... to where these prophecies are? And then I just do some guess work. I mean, I`m not trying to predict it. This is the way it`s going to happen. I`m just saying this is a way it could happen. Because I think a good political thriller starts with what if? What if these events the Bible says will happen, happens in our lifetime?

BECK: I don`t know if you`ve ever heard of a guy named Vilakovsky, but he was a discredited scientist, you know, some of it wrongly so, back in the 30s and 40s. And what he did was he said, Let`s stop dismissing the Bible. Why don`t we look at the scriptures, sacred scriptures from all over the world. Instead of saying, he couldn`t have parted the Red Sea, why don`t we look for natural causes that may have caused those things? Was there anything else that was happening on the planet at the same time in somebody else`s religious scripture that might tie into these things? And I think that`s the problem with scriptures. So many people just dismiss it. Oh, well that`s nothing but, you know, spooky stuff or whatever. They dismiss it. Instead of saying, OK, I read Revelations, I read Ezekiel, they were describing it in the terms that they understood at the time.

ROSENBERG: Right.

BECK: So what could cause those things today? And unfortunately, today there`s a lot of those things.

ROSENBERG: There certainly are.

BECK: That are coming our way. And it`s the -- is it the first time really -- people have been talking about this for 2,000 years. The first time, really, that we can say -- a lot of the big ones are now in play?

ROSENBERG: Absolutely. You know, we say on Passover, why is this night different from all other nights? And people ask me, Joel, why is this period of history different from all other periods of history? I mean, Jesus said, In the last days there will be wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famine. We`ve had that for all of the last 2,000 years. So why is this period different? And the answer is Israel. The only document on the face of the planet that said Israel would be reborn as a country in the last days and Jews would re-gather into the holy land after centuries of exile, was the Bible. And this Bible prophecy, most people in the world didn`t believe it. Actually, many Christians didn`t even believe it. It`s a whole replacement theology that got developed. God was done with the Jews. But May 14, 1948, almost exactly 60 years ago, Israel was reborn. And now we`ve got a situation that makes this period of history different, because Israel is what Bible scholars call the super sign. The fact that it has been reborn sets into motion all of the other prophecies.

BECK: Right. You know the reason why I like you, Joel, is you`re normal. You`re a political guy. Your background was much more political. You`re not a Bible-thumping preacher or anything like that, right? What made you turn? What...

ROSENBERG: It wasn`t easy. I mean, first of all, failure. I had helped a lot of political candidates lose their elections. Helped Steve Forbes lose twice. You know, I was on former Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu`s, comeback campaign team in 2000.

BECK: You were good.

ROSENBERG: Oh, yes. I worked for Natan Sharansky, the former deputy prime minister of Israel. He got so frustrated with politics he just retired completely. So after that, I said to myself, All right. I need to do something else with my life. I had two tracks in my life, and I kept them separate. I had my political track. And I had my interest as an evangelical Christian studying Bible prophecy. My father`s family was orthodox Jewish and escaped out of Russia. My mother`s side is Gentile, English. But because of that Jewish background, because of my interest in the scriptures, and because Saddam Hussein in 1990 was invading Kuwait, and Babylon, that country was suddenly in the news again after thousand of years of not being in the news, all of these things were happening in two separate tracts. Once I kind of got -- went through political detox -- I`m out, I`m clean. I`m going to do something else with my life.

BECK: Right.

ROSENBERG: I said, what do I really love? What I really love or I`m fascinated with is Bible prophecy and how it could come true in my lifetime. Since we`ve seen Israel come true -- come to pass, and since Jews are returning to the holy land. And I thought, you know what? People say write the novel that you know. That`s not really true. I think you should write the novel where you live in your mind. Where I lived in my mind was what if? What if in my lifetime or the lifetime of my children this could happen? What would it look like? What would it feel like? Would I and my wife and kids have the courage to go through it?

BECK: When you first started writing it, then, was it more of a what if -- was it fiction? And now it`s more of -- don`t want to put words in your mouth -- more of a watchman on the wall kind of a Ezekiel 34 kind of thing?

ROSENBERG: It has accelerated into the second point, for sure. What happened was this prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39, where Russia will form an alliance with Iran and Libya and these other countries in the last days. I`d always been fascinated with that. But I was on a plane from Washington, D.C., to New York City in the fall of 2000 with Natan Sharansky, the former deputy prime minister of Israel. And while we were chatting, I said to him -- we got chatting, and he said -- he started telling me the story of how, when Benjamin Netanyahu was the prime minister and Sharansky was a cabinet minister, Netanyahu sent him to Russia to meet with then KGB chief Vladimir Putin to talk about the threat of Russia selling nuclear technology and weapons to countries like Iran and Iraq. And that Netanyahu as prime minister was worried about a Russian-Iranian alliance, in particular. Well, here is my political track. I`m just helping Sharansky get his message out. But now suddenly my prophetic side kind of clicked in. And I don`t mean I`m a prophet. I mean that -- my interest in prophecy. And I thought, Wait a minute. Did he just say that the prime minister of Israel is getting worried about a Russian-Iranian military alliance? Because that has never happened in 2,500 years. And when that...

BECK: That`s Gog and Magog.

ROSENBERG: That`s Gog and Magog. That`s Ezekiel 38 and 39, which I thought for many years, I believe it`s going to be true. But that must be 1,000 years off. I mean, it`s not close to happening back in the 1990s when the Soviet Union was collapsing. And that moment on that plane on the way to New York City, I began to think, Wait a minute.

BECK: OK.

ROSENBERG: I might be living in a time where this could accelerate. I want to write a novel that looks at how this could play out.

BECK: OK. When we come back, we`re going to do a couple of things. We`re going to take you through the news of the day. We`re going to talk to you all about, you know, food and crisis, and political leaders, and what things might actually be coming our way. And what plays into the end of days. All this week, by the way, Joel has been writing exclusive articles for the end of days, only available in my free daily e-mail newsletter. You can go over to GlennBeck.com and sign up. Get your free copy today at GlennBeck.com. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

--------------------------------------
MORE HEADLINES TO TRACK:
* CIA director: Syrian site could have produced fuel for 1 or 2 nuclear weapons in a year
* Bush to visit Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt in May
* Israeli Cabinet Minister: 'Land-for-peace will put Iran in Golan'
* Musharraf, Ahmadinejad hold talks: Islamabad, Apr 28: Pakistan and Iran today agreed to sign an agreement to kick-start the multi-billion gas pipeline project, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf.
* Ahmadinejad's visit to take Indo-Iranian ties to a new heights
---------------------------------------

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, the question was, if Iran were to launch a nuclear attack on Israel, what would our response be? And I want the Iranians to know that, if I`m the president, we will attack Iran. We would be able to totally obliterate them. That`s a terrible thing to say, but those people who run Iran need to understand that. Because that perhaps will deter them from doing something that would be reckless, foolish and tragic. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Continuing our conversation on end of -- on the end of days. And, you know, I know a lot of people are like, Oh, jeez. This is really something you should listen to. Author Joel Rosenberg grounds his stuff in reality that is important and accurate. And that statement, Joel, we talked earlier this week -- that statement by Hillary Clinton is -- it shows, it demonstrates what so many people don`t understand. Ahmadinejad -- correct me if I`m wrong -- and the leadership, not the people but the leadership of Iran would almost welcome us to vaporize all of Iran, because it would fulfill their end-times prophecy that the Great Satan, known as us, just slaughters Muslims wholesale, right?

ROSENBERG: And vice versa. The -- Ahmadinejad is not a Soviet or Chinese leader who is a megalomaniac, maniacal dictator, but who wants to preserve his own skin because he doesn`t believe in an afterlife.

BECK: Right.

ROSENBERG: No. Ahmadinejad is a Shiite, Islamic fascist. He`s a Shiite Islamic fanatic. And what he believes is that....

[This is just a portion of the one-hour special. To read the full transcript -- or watch the video clips on YouTube -- please visit my weblog at www.joelrosenberg.com]

Thursday, May 01, 2008

WORLD PRAYER DAY TODAY

On this World prayer day we should:
PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.

PRAY FOR THE REBUILDING OF THE 3RD TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM.

PRAY FOR ALL THE WORLDS LEADERS TO GO BY GODS LAWS SO WE CAN HAVE A PEACEFUL WORLD.

PRAY THAT GODS WILL, WILL BE DONE AND THAT YOU CAN BE COUNTED WORTHY TO GO UP AT THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH.

PRAY THAT PRAYER WILL BE PUT BACK IN SCHOOLS.

PRAY THAT ABORTIONS WILL BE STOPPED (MURDERING OF GODS CREATED BABBIES).

PRAY FOR THE IMMORAL LIFESTYLES TO CHANGE TO GODS WAYS.

PRAY COME QUICKLY LORD JESUS THE GOD OF ISRAEL AND THE WORLD.

My Personal prayer requests:
PRAY FOR ALL THE STRIPPERS TO BE SAVED AND DELIVERED FROM DRUGS, ALCOHOL, AND SEXUAL SINS.

Especially PRAY for Nathalie from Quebec to be delivered from Stripping. And Stephanie a JEWISH dancer to be saved as well.

PRAY THAT ISRAEL WILL FINALLY ACCEPT THEIR MESSIAH JESUS AS TRUE KING TO RULE OVER THEM IN JERUSALEM.

PRAY for a WOMAN NAMED SARAH FROM THE USA, TO BE DELIVERED FROM DRUGS AND ALCOHOL AND TO BE SAVED SO SHE CAN BE A CHILD OF THE KING (WITH KING JESUS FOREVER ON EARTH).

AND FINALLY PRAY GOD WILL GIVE US STRENGTH TO MAKE IT THROUGH ALL THE HARDSHIPS THAT WILL BE COMING ON THE EARTH. AND THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL LEAD US TO BE USED SO PEOPLE WILL BE SAVED TO GO UP AT THE RAPTURE WITH US.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

IS LAKE OF FIRE BLACK HOLES

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.

Scientists seek clues as Reno earthquakes keep shaking By SANDRA CHEREB, Associated Press Writer Tue Apr 29, 8:26 PM ET

RENO, Nev. - Scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno are scrutinizing seismic readings and studying damage at residents' homes to try to figure out what's happening beneath the earth's surface under a northwest Reno neighborhood rocked by a seemingly endless string of earthquakes. What they can't say is whether the hundreds of temblors that have rattled the area for two months — the largest a magnitude 4.7 Friday night — are subsiding or a prelude to bigger things to come.You're not going to get an earthquake prediction today, John Anderson, director of Seismology Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno, said Tuesday during a briefing with Gov. Jim Gibbons and emergency managers on the seismic activity.Scientists are calling the swarm of temblors that began Feb. 28 the Mogul earthquake sequence, in reference to the neighborhood where hundreds of mostly minor earthquakes have occurred.But the shaking is unusual, seismologists say, because the intensity of the quakes has increased over the past few weeks. Generally, earthquakes tend to occur and are followed by smaller aftershocks.In this case, the earth's rumblings have continued unabated, with barely negligible bumps occurring often minutes apart, followed by occasional larger shakers.It's impossible to know if the temblors are foreshocks of a bigger quake to come, or aftershocks of what has been, experts said.

Up until April 15, sizable quakes that could be felt were occurring about once every third day.Then, the rate increased, with about three, 2.0 or larger incidents occurring daily.On April 24, when the first 4.2 quake was registered, all of a sudden we were seeing 20 (of the magnitude) 2s and larger per day, said state geologist Jon Price.This is an exceptionally vigorous sequence of earthquakes, Price said.During the past week alone, more than 500 occurrences have been recorded.Most recently, two measuring 3.1 and 3.2 in magnitude occurred around 11 p.m. Monday. Another 3.1 was recorded at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday.The largest so far was a 4.7 quake that was registered at 11:40 p.m. Friday. It was preceded 11 seconds earlier by a 3.3 quake, and followed 3 minutes later by one registering 3.4.The temblors sent goods flying off shelves, cracked walls, broke glass and collapsed part of a water flume west of Reno. There were no injuries.They are mostly shallow, occurring just beneath the surface to within a mile or two.Shallow makes us believe this is absolutely not volcanic, Price said.

Mapping of the quakes shows they are clustered around the Mogul and Somersett neighborhoods in northwest Reno, in an area about 2.5 miles long and 1/3 of a mile wide. Craig dePolo with the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, said he understands the anxiety of residents who have lived with the persistent shaking. What's going on is extraordinary, he agreed. People are being needled by little earthquakes ... for months.And the best we can say is we don't know what going to happen.DePolo, who said he's been through many earthquakes, acknowledged that he, too, is a little nervous.The governor and emergency managers urged residents to be prepared by strapping down water heaters or any heavy items that could fall and injure people and to have first aid and food provisions on hand.

Frank Siracusa, head of the Nevada Division of Emergency Management, said state, regional and local agencies train constantly for disasters and have been in daily contact. I'd like to say we're prepared, but we can never be too prepared, he said. The governor said he's very concerned about the safety of the public, and stressed that residents need to be prepared to minimize risk in the event of a disaster. Gibbons, himself a geologist, said the earth's movement is what makes the mountains and Nevada landscape so special. I find it fascinating about our earth and how it continually evolves over time, he said. But with Nevada being the second most seismically active state in the continental U.S., he echoed the advice of experts who said large earthquakes are inevitable. At some point ... we are going to have a magnitude 6 or 7, Gibbons said. Earthquake magnitudes are calculated according to ground motion recorded on seismographs. An increase in one full number — from 5.5 to 6.5, for example — means the quake's magnitude is 10 times as great. A quake with a magnitude of 6 can cause severe damage, while one with a magnitude of 7 can cause widespread, heavy damage. On the Net: UNR Seismological Laboratory: http://www.seismo.unr.edu U.S. Geological Survey: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/latestfault.htm

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.

Bangladesh trawlers warned as cyclone nears APR 30,08

DHAKA (AFP) - Authorities in Bangladesh on Wednesday warned fishing crews to stay close to shore as a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal churned towards the southeastern coast, with a direct hit possible later in the week.Thousands of people in the disaster-prone country are still struggling to cope with the devastation caused by Cyclone Sidr last November. More than 3,000 people died when the storm slammed into the southern coast.We have warned all fishing boats not to venture into the deep sea for fishing until further notice, said the assistant director of Bangladesh's Meteorological Department, Shah Alam.Officials said the cyclone was still around 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the southeastern port city of Chittagong.The present strength of severe cyclone Nargis indicates that it will hit the Bangladesh-Myanmar coast, but we will not be sure until Thursday afternoon when and where it will make landfall, added the head of the meteorological department, Arjumand Habib.

Heavy rains force evacuations in various regions of Quebec
Tue Apr 29, 6:19 PM
By The Canadian Press

QUEBEC - Swollen rivers caused by heavy rains forced the evacuation of some homes throughout Quebec on Tuesday. People in some 40 residences in Saint-Alexis-des-Monts in central Quebec were forced out of their homes because a local river overflowed its banks.

Another 35 residences were evacuated north of Quebec City. Many people were also on standby in the Montreal area.

Rescuers amazed that 6 twisters caused no deaths in Virginia Tue Apr 29, 6:14 PM By Sonja Barisic, The Associated Press

SUFFOLK, Va. - It was a scene of haphazard destruction that stretched for 40 kilometres: Row upon row of homes reduced to sprays of splintered lumber, shopping centres stripped to bare metal, parking lots turned into junk yards. And yet no one died. The only thing I can say is we were watched over and blessed, fire Chief Mark Outlaw said. As shaken residents and rescuers returned Tuesday to survey what's left, they were amazed by both the scope of the damage and their good fortune. Even among the 200 people who were injured, most suffered only cuts and scrapes. Authorities said people in the tornado's path had plenty of warning and were fortunate that the twister struck in the late afternoon, rather than at night, when most residents would have been sleeping. The extra few minutes provided enough time for people in the storm's path to huddle in bathrooms or crouch in the back of stores as the strongest of six twisters zigzagged for 40 kilometres across central and southeast Virginia. Gov. Timothy Kaine, who declared a state of emergency in the hardest-hit areas, said about 145 homes were severely damaged in Suffolk, a city of 80,000 people west of Norfolk. Most of the injured had been released from hospitals. It is kind of amazing there weren't more significant injuries, Kaine said on WTOP radio in Washington, D.C. You are talking about 145 homes; that is probably five to six hundred people directly affected by this tornado.

At least a dozen people remained hospitalized, six of them in critical condition. The tornado that hit Suffolk touched down repeatedly between 4:30 and 5 p.m. Monday, when many people were still at work or on their way home. Brenda Williams, 43, had been getting a manicure at a nail shop in the strip when the lights went out and she saw debris flying in the wind around the parking lot. She rushed to the back of the shop for safety, but the ceiling collapsed, burying her. She wasn't sure how long she was trapped.

She prayed, then hollered when she heard footsteps. A stranger pulled her out. I'm not lucky, I'm blessed, said Williams, who had a five-centimetre gash stitched above her left eyebrow and stitches on her right forearm. I'm fine. I'm here. I'm in the land of the living.On Tuesday, she went to a shopping centre to retrieve possessions from her car, which was flipped on its roof in the parking lot. Other cars and SUVs were strewn about, some stacked on top of others. The high winds had tossed two smashed cars inside the shopping centre, which had been stripped of its facing, leaving its steel skeleton exposed. Wiring and bits of insulation hung from metal beams. Shattered glass covered the carpeting, which was soaked from the heavy rains. A lone black hiking boot lay in a parking spot. Inside a military recruiting centre at the strip mall, a phone remained in place on a desk, its cord ripped out of a wall that no longer exists. Naomi Britt, who cares for an 87-year-old woman, was at the woman's home in a Suffolk subdivision when she heard what she thought was an 18-wheeler. I grabbed her by the hand and said, Let's go, said Britt, 60. She led the woman into a bathroom just as the lights failed. I got down as far as I could and we just held hands and prayed, she said.

After the roar had quieted and the house had stopped quaking, Britt opened the door to find rubble around her. Nothing remained of a neighbour's house but a cinderblock foundation. If we hadn't been in that tub, we could have been sucked out of that attic and out of that roof, and we'd be gone, said Britt, who was at the nondenominational Open Door Church, where out-of-state relief workers were being fed and sheltered. The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes also hit Brunswick County, about 100 kilometres west, and Colonial Heights, about 100 kilometres northwest. Three other twisters hit in Isle of Wight and Surry counties, and along the line separating Gloucester and Mathews counties, all in southeastern Virginia. The other tornadoes caused far less damage than the twister that ravaged Suffolk.

Windy and stormy Wayne Verno Wed Apr 30, 6:07 AM ET

West

An upper-level tough will keep rain and snow showers over the Northwestern States today, along with cool, below average temperatures. As this trough shifts east Thursday, cooler air will spread into the Rockies, bringing some accumulating snow into the mountains. Another disturbance will move into the Pacific Northwest with some showers, Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, an onshore flow will bring some low clouds, fog, and drizzle into the southern California costal areas this morning, while gusty winds bring a high fire danger to parts of the interior Southwest today, and again Thursday.

Midwest

A southerly flow of warm air will take hold of the Central and Midwestern States today, ahead of a developing storm system east of the Rockies. This southerly flow will also bring gusty winds through the Central Plains, resulting in a high fire danger over the far western Plains, into the Front Range of the Rockies (see Storm Watch for more details). This developing storm system will deepen, and track across the northern Plains Thursday and Friday. Rain, perhaps heavy at times, will spread across the northern Plains, along with windy conditions. Rain may mix with and change to snow later Friday, bringing some accumulation. Meanwhile, showers and thunderstorms will increase across the eastern Plains late Thursday, and spread into the Mississippi Valley and Midwest Friday. Heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms will be possible (see Storm Watch for more details). The threat for rain and thunderstorms should decrease by Saturday into Sunday, as the storm system moves east, with showery weather lingering over the Great Lakes. Cooler, below average temperatures will spread across the northern Plains and Midwest late this week.

South

After a chilly and frosty start over parts of the Southeastern States today, high pressure overhead will allow for sunny skies and warm temperatures by afternoon over all of the Southern States. Over Texas, into the southern Plains, gusty winds can be expected today as the southerly flow increases in this area. A high fire danger will also exist over parts of western Texas and the western Plains (see Storm Watch for details). Attention will then turn toward a developing storm system over the Plains, which will bring showers and thunderstorms across the eastern Plains, into the Mississippi Valley Thursday night and Friday. A few storms could be severe (see Storm Watch for more details). Showers and a few thunderstorms will spread across the Southeastern States Saturday and Sunday, as the storm system pushes a cold front east across the area. Generally, warm temperatures will dominate the Southern States through the weekend.

Northeast

High pressure will dominate the Northeastern States today, allowing for sunny and dry conditions, along with afternoon temperatures 5 to 10 degrees below average for this time of year. As a storm system develops over the central Plains, a warm front will be pushed into the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England States Thursday and Friday, bringing a chance for scattered showers. Warmer temperatures will also move into these areas, with afternoon readings at, to slightly above average. Widespread showers and thunderstorms are expected Saturday, as the storm system pushes a cold front east onto the area. Showers and expected to linger Sunday and Monday.

Baghdad dust storm disrupts road, air traffic APR 30,08

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A blinding dust storm hit Baghdad for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, forcing pedestrians to stay indoors and bringing road and air traffic to a halt, officials said.Fine dust from the storm, which is expected to continue for several days, has seeped into homes, depositing a thin film of yellow powder.People are afraid of storms. They do not want to leave their homes and they prevent their children from attending school, an official at an emergency department of a hospital in Baghdad said.

With traffic accidents reportedly rising due to the lack of visibility, traffic police Colonel Walid Ammar went on state television urging people to drive slowly.Flights into and out of Baghdad have been cancelled, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.I am on leave and I do not have much time, said Paul Benson, a security guard with a foreign company said who has been stuck at the airport since Tuesday.I have already spent two days at the airport but right now I am thinking of getting to Jordan as from there everything is possible.Another passenger, Sandy Mitchell, was also frustrated.This sucks, she said, but you can't do anything about a dust storm.For Baghdadis, the storm was yet another peril in the ongoing struggle of daily life in the war-ravaged capital.This may be a divine retribution, but we already had a lot and this is enough, said Haitham, a trader, who did not give his full name.As summer approaches, a dust storm is the last thing Baghdadis want, in addition to the lack of regular electricity and water supplies.These sand storms also cause asthma and allergies, Doctor Mohammed Abdel Baki said, adding there had been an increase in cases since last month.Meanwhile, militants were reportedly taking advantage of the storm and fighting security forces in and around Baghdad's Sadr City, the bastion of Mahdi Army militia of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.The storm has largely grounded the US helicopters and drones that have normally been tracking these fighters during the fierce battles of the past few weeks.The US military refused to specify the measures taken to overcome difficulties causes by the bad weather, but said ground operations were not disrupted.Regardless of the weather, that doesn't impact our requirement or objective to protect the people of Baghdad, Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover said.

We will kill or capture the enemy, who continues to display a complete and utter lack of concern for the welfare and well-being of the Iraqi people.Whenever (a militant) engages a US patrol or outpost with small-arms fire ... he is either killed, wounded or flees like the mangy cur they represent.Under the cover of the dust, dozens of rockets and mortar rounds have been fired since Tuesday at the Green Zone, the seat of Iraqi government and the US embassy.

JUDE 5-13
5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

I BELIEVE BLACK HOLES COULD BE THE LAKE OF FIRE THAT THE SINNERS GET THROWN IN AT THE FINAL JUDGEMENT AFTER THE 1000 YEAR REIGN OF CHRIST ON EARTH. AS WELL THE EU DICTATOR AND THE FALSE POPE GET THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE ALIVE AT JESUS RETURN TO EARTH BODILY AT THE END OF THE 7 YEAR PEACE TREATY OF DANIEL 9:27

REVELATION 20:11-15
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Powerful Black Hole Jet Explained Clara Moskowitz
Staff Writer SPACE.com Mon Apr 28, 10:31 AM ET


While we may never know what it looks like inside a black hole, astronomers recently obtained one of the closest views yet. The sighting allowed scientists to confirm theories about how these giant cosmic sinkholes spew out jets of particles travelling at nearly the speed of light.Ever since the first observations of these powerful jets, which are among the brightest objects seen in the universe, astronomers have wondered what causes the particles to accelerate to such great speeds. A leading hypothesis suggested the black hole's gigantic mass distorts space and time around it, twisting magnetic field lines into a coil that propels material outward.Now researchers have observed a jet during a period of extreme outburst and found evidence that streams of particles wind a corkscrew path away from the black hole, as the leading hypothesis predicts.We got an unprecedented view of the inner portion of one of these jets and gained information that's very important to understanding how these tremendous particle accelerators work, said Boston University astronomer Alan Marscher, who led the research team. The results of the study are detailed in the April 24 issue of the journal Nature.

The team studied a galaxy called BL Lacertae (BL Lac), about 950 million light years from Earth, with a central black hole containing 200 million times the mass of our Sun. Since this supermassive black hole's jets are pointing nearly straight at us, it is called a blazar (a quasar is often thought to be the same as a blazar, except its jets are pointed away from us).The new observations, taken by the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope, along with NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and a number of optical telescopes, show material moving outward along a spiral channel, as the scientists expected.These data support the suggestion that twisted magnetic field lines are creating the jet plumes. Material in the center of the galaxy, such as nearby stars and gas, gets pulled in by the black hole's overwhelming gravity and forms a disk orbiting around the core (the material's inertia keeps it spiraling in a disk rather than falling straight into the black hole). The distorted magnetic field lines seem to pull charged particles off the disk and cause them to gush outward at nearly the speed of light.We knew that material was falling in to these regions, and we knew that there were outbursts coming out, said University of Michigan astronomer Hugh Aller, who worked on the new study. What's really been a mystery was that we could see there were these really high-energy particles, but we didn't know how they were created, how they were accelerated. It turns out that the model matches the data. We can actually see the particles gaining velocity as they are accelerated along this magnetic field.

The astronomers also observed evidence of another phenomenon predicted by the leading hypothesis — that a flare would be produced when material spewing out in the jets hit a shock wave beyond the core of the black hole.That behavior is exactly what we saw, Marscher said.

Visit SPACE.com and explore our huge collection of Space Pictures,

FAMINE

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

Fed expected to cut key interest rates one more time By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer APR 30,08

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve, which began the year aggressively fighting a severe credit crunch and economic weakness, may push the pause button after delivering perhaps one more quarter-point cut in interest rates. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues were to wrap up a two-day meeting Wednesday and financial markets widely expected that the discussions will end with an announcement that the Fed will cut a key interest rate by a quarter-point.That would be the seventh reduction in the federal funds rate since the central bank began battling against the credit squeeze and the growing possibility of a recession last September.The Fed delivered two three-quarter-point moves and one half-point cut over an eight-week period from mid-January to mid-March that represented the central bank's most aggressive rate cuts in a quarter-century.

However, the central bank is expected to respond with a less aggressive quarter-point move at this meeting, in part because the financial turmoil seems to have eased and because there are growing concerns about inflation.While there is some thought that the Fed might decide to forgo a rate cut, most analysts believe that the greater likelihood is a quarter-point move.My best guess is that they want to buy a little more insurance against an economy that looks like it is in recession, said Lyle Gramley, a former Fed board member with the Stanford Financial Group.A quarter-point cut would move the funds rate to 2 percent, a full 3 percentage points below where it was on Sept. 18 when the Fed started cutting rates.

A quarter-point move would trigger a similar reduction in banks' prime lending rate, the benchmark for millions of consumer and business loans, which now stands at 5.25 percent.The Fed's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, composed of Fed board members in Washington and regional Fed bank presidents, is split into two camps. One group is concerned that the severe credit crisis and prolonged housing slump could be pushing the country into a deep recession while a smaller faction is worried that the Fed could be running the risk of letting inflation get out of control even as the economy slows.Whatever the Fed does at the conclusion of this week's meeting, private economists believe it will leave the door open for further rate cuts, seeking to avoid the mistake made at the October meeting when it sent a pause signal, only to have to backtrack.They made a big mistake after the October meeting, implying that they would pause, and then had egg all over their face when they had to begin cutting rates aggressively because the economy weakened more than they thought and the credit crisis turned out to be more severe, said David Jones, head of DMJ Advisors, a private economic consulting firm.

While leaving the door open this time for further rate cuts if needed, the Fed may well be done, many analysts believe, if financial markets continue to improve and the economy starts to rebound with the help of the previous Fed rate cuts and 130 million economic stimulus payments, which started showing up in Americans' bank accounts this week.While many economists believe the country is in a recession, the expectation is that it will be a short one ending this summer. If that turns out to be correct, the Fed may hold rates steady for the rest of this year with the next move being a rate increase sometime next year when the economy is on sounder footing.The Fed won't start raising interest rates until the unemployment rate has peaked and started coming back down, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. He said he was looking for the jobless rate, now at 5.1 percent, to climb to 6 percent early next year before starting to fall.

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Rights group: Zimbabwe's army unleashing terror By DONNA BRYSON, Associated Press Writer Wed Apr 30, 5:58 AM ET

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - A leading human rights group accused Zimbabwe's army Wednesday of working with ruling party militants to unleash terror and violence against dissent. New York-based Human Rights Watch joined other rights groups and Zimbabwe's opposition party in linking violence since last month's presidential vote to the security forces and so-called war veterans — groups loyal to autocratic President Robert Mugabe.Mugabe's regime has countered that the opposition groups are responsible for the violence, even arresting scores of people last week, including women and their nursing babies, who the opposition says had taken shelter from the violence at its headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital.

Lawyers for Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change said the Harare High Court ordered late Monday that everyone arrested at its headquarters last week should be freed. On Tuesday, police released the last of those still being held.Mugabe has been accused of using violence and intimidation and plotting fraud to hold onto power after March 29 presidential elections he is believed to have lost.Results from those elections have yet to be released, and ruling party officials have said a runoff would likely be necessary. Opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai says he won outright, though independent observers say Tsvangirai won the most votes, but not the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff.The army and its allies — war-veterans and supporters of the ruling party Zanu-PF — are intensifying their brutal grip on wide swathes of rural Zimbabwe to ensure that a possible second round of presidential elections goes their way, Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in the group's statement released Wednesday.Neither the army chief nor a government spokesman could be reached for immediate comment.The African Union and U.N. Security Council should take immediate steps to help prevent a further escalation in violence, Gagnon said.The opposition also has appealed to African leaders and to the U.N. for help.

On Tuesday, a Zimbabwe opposition leader urged the U.N. Security Council to appoint a special envoy to his country. But the deeply divided council, which was briefed on situation behind closed doors, took no action.While the United States, Britain and France back council engagement and sending a U.N. envoy to Zimbabwe, diplomats said South Africa, Russia, China and other members oppose any action now.In the hearing, Britain's deputy U.N. ambassador Karen Pierce said U.N. political chief B. Lynn Pascoe had spoken of a level of political intimidation and violence that I think many council members found quite chilling.U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said he was struck by Pascoe's characterization of the situation in Zimbabwe as the worst humanitarian crisis since independence in 1980.Human Rights Watch said war veterans were being given guns and trucks by the army and were collaborating with the army in unleashing a campaign of terror and violence against (opposition) MDC members and supporters.The veterans groups are fiercely loyal to Mugabe and have roots in the nation's independence struggle but increasingly include militants too young to have been guerrilla fighters.In one example in the eastern province of Manicaland, Human Rights Watch said, opposition members went to an informal torture center set up by war veterans and saw 12 of their colleagues who had been abducted, bound and beaten. The war veterans fired on those who had come asking questions, hitting three and killing one as they fled. The current whereabouts of the 12 abductees were not known, Human Rights Watch said.When the victims informed the local police about the incident, the police refused to take action, claiming that such an incident could not have happened since they had no knowledge of any civilians in the area who were allowed to keep firearms, Human Rights Watch said.

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

Stocks rise ahead of Federal Reserve's rate decision By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer APR 30,08

NEW YORK - The stock market rose Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates and its assessment of the economy. Most investors expect the central bank to again lower its benchmark fed funds rate, this time by a quarter point, to 2 percent. However, many also believe policymakers will signal their intention to put rates on hold to fight inflation. The Fed is scheduled to announce its decision at 2:15 p.m. EDT.Though inflation appears to be a growing threat, that's not to say economic weakness is not a risk, either. The Commerce Department estimated that the U.S. gross domestic product rose at a very modest seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.6 percent during the first quarter, while the U.S. Chicago purchasing managers' index showed a second straight month of contraction in Midwest manufacturing.However, both readings were better than anticipated — economists had forecast a 0.5 percent rise in first-quarter GDP, and a reading of 48.0 for the April purchasing managers' index instead of the reported 48.2.Investors also pored over a mix of earnings reports from a number of consumer-oriented companies — particularly General Motors Corp., SAP AG and Procter & Gamble Co.

In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 50.07, or 0.39 percent, to 12,882.01.Broader stock indicators also advanced. The Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.95, or 0.28 percent, to 1,394.89, while the Nasdaq composite index added 6.33, or 0.26 percent, to 2,432.43.Bond prices lifted as well. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.80 percent from 3.82 percent late Tuesday.The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices edged higher.Oil prices moved higher after sliding of more than $3 a barrel in the previous session on a strengthening dollar and data showing a dramatic drop in American fuel demand. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 60 cents to $116.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.GM lost $3.3 billion in the first quarter as strong overseas growth was offset by a strike at a supplier and weak U.S. sales. However, the loss was smaller than Wall Street analysts expected, and shares jumped $2.01, or 9.5 percent, to $23.21.Software maker SAP AG said its profit slipped in the first quarter because of the weaker dollar and its takeover of another software company, Business Objects. Though sales were higher and SAP raised its 2008 outlook, SAP shares fell $1.63, or 3.1 percent, to $50.82.

And meanwhile, Procter & Gamble Co. said price increases and cost controls helped offset higher commodity costs, pushing its third quarter profit up 8 percent. P&G also lifted its full-year outlook, and its shares rose $2.03, or 3.1 percent, to $67.93.Meanwhile, Citigroup Inc. said late Tuesday it plans to sell $3 billion of common stock to boost its capital levels. The largest U.S. bank is raising more capital to offset more than $45 billion of write-downs and credit losses it has taken since June 30. Citigroup shares fell 66 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $25.66.The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.15, or 0.44 percent, to 722.08.Advacing issues outnumbered decliners by about 9 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 189.7 million shares.Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.32 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.14 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.48 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.11 percent.On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Obama Tries to Dig Out By KAREN TUMULTY
Wed Apr 30, 3:30 AM ET


There was little nuance in Barack Obama's news conference Tuesday, as he pronounced himself saddened, angered and even outraged by the antics of his former pastor at the National Press Club a day earlier. I find these comments appalling, he said. It contradicts everything that I'm about and who I am. It was a far different tone from the finely tuned speech on race that he had given in Philadelphia in March, shortly after some of Jeremiah Wright's most inflammatory comments had first come to light. And it reflected the new political reality that Obama has confronted in what have been the rockiest weeks yet for his presidential campaign. The most important audience Obama was trying to reach in that news conference was not the voters in the upcoming Democratic primary states of Indiana and North Carolina. He was speaking most directly to 300 or so remaining undecided Democratic superdelegates, the party regulars who are likely to determine the eventual nominee - and who have become increasingly concerned in recent days that the Democratic frontrunner lacks the fire and the fight he will need to prevail in November. As one Democratic strategist put it: You could sense, if not a turning of the tide over the past couple of days, that people were getting back on the fence. Indeed, on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton picked up the endorsement of one important superdelegate: North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, who is backing her despite the fact that much of the rest of the state's political establishment has lined up behind Obama, considered a strong bet to win the state's primary next week. There's been lots of Yes we can, yes we should, Easley said in a dig at Obama. Hillary Clinton is ready to deliver.

The setbacks for Obama's seemingly charmed presidential campaign have come one on top of the other lately. There was his admittedly clumsy comments in a private fundraiser about bitter small-town voters who cling to religion and guns, questions about his association with a 1960s-era terrorist and nit-picking in a recent debate over why he doesn't wear an American flag pin on his lapel.

But potentially worst of all was his association with Wright, particularly after the retired pastor launched what amounted to a media tour, and suggested that any efforts that Obama had made to distance himself was posturing. Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls, Wright said dismissively of his former congregant. Even former President Jimmy Carter, who normally avoids commenting on the presidential race, told CNN that Wright had really been damaging to Obama's presidential campaign. Obama's campaign was dismayed as well by the timing of those comments, which came just as their candidate had begun to regain his political footing after being defeated by Clinton in last week's Pennsylvania primary. In particular, they overshadowed campaign events that were aimed at connecting better with senior citizens and blue-collar whites, two groups that Obama has been losing to Clinton. It's harder to break through if you're spending a lot of time on Reverend Wright, lamented one of Obama's top strategists. How combative to get in response has been a dilemma for Obama, who has built his entire candidacy on the idea that he represents a new, less corrosive brand of politics. Nor does the roughness of ordinary politics seem to fit Obama's personal style. But increasingly, Democrats have been worried about how well that style will wear if Obama gets the nomination and has to face even tougher attacks at the hands of Republicans. Sometimes, he sounds like he is writing a Ph.D., said one adviser. He has to show some passion. View this article on Time.com

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

A Europe of blocs? (TRADE BLOCKS....YES)
Mark Mardell 30 Apr 08, 12:01 AM


The French President nearly upset the EU apple-cart when he proposed a Mediterranean Union including EU and non-EU countries around that sea. How far will the Poles go when they make proposals for a similar Baltic-to-the-Black-Sea Union? The idea was a little noticed result of the European Council meeting back in March. Then, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk suggested that if Turkey and the countries of North Africa could link up with the EU countries bordering the Med, it was only fair the East should have the same opportunities.

He was given the go-ahead, perhaps to both balance President Sarkozy's brainwave, and perhaps to further down-grade it. Perhaps a rather brutal move, as it had already been thoroughly and efficiently eviscerated by Chancellor Merkel.Polish diplomats do not see their plan as ambitious as the Mediterranean, but argue that if the French, Italian, Spanish and Greeks can link up with countries in North Africa and negotiate with the rest of the European union as a bloc, then they should be allowed to do the same alongside Georgia and Ukraine. I presume the link-up would be between the 10 former communist countries of the East and those six in the relevant European neighbourhood policy.As far as I know, there will be no invitation to Russia to join this would-be new power bloc. The Poles point out that at the moment they, and the EU members in the region, can only talk to the European Union as individual nations. The suggestion is those next to the Med would get an unfair advantage. Part of this is no doubt there's gold in them there hills: such an organisation would of course get more EU money for the region. More cash is a reasonable goal in itself, but I wonder about the consequences.

Sometimes countries do argue within the European Union as regional blocs, but more often they don't. Mr Tusk's report, to be presented to the other leaders in June, is probably of not much moment in itself but is it the beginning of a trend? And would that trend be a dangerous undermining of EU solidarity, or a realistic recognition of other identities and alliances ?

EU attempts to woo Serbia with pre-accession deal
29.04.2008 - 17:44 CET | By Elitsa Vucheva


EUOBSERVER / LUXEMBOURG – With just over a week to go until what is being billed as decisive elections in Serbia, the EU on Tuesday (29 April) sent a strong political signal to the western Balkan country that its future belongs in the European Union.In a piece of political manoeuvring that gives the pro-EU forces in Belgrade something to use at home but upholds a key European demand, both sides signed a pre-membership deal at a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg.The deal came after the Netherlands and Belgium dropped their opposition to the move but on condition that the implementation of the agreement depends on Belgrade's cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal.This is a good day, a happy day for both Serbia and the EU, Slovenian foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said after signing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) in Luxembourg.Europe is ready to go a common way with Serbia and now the European future of Serbia is in the hands of the Serbian people, he added.Serbian President Boris Tadic, who flew from Belgrade especially for the signing ceremony after a call from Mr Rupel earlier on Tuesday, said he was also extremely pleased that Serbia is entering a contractual relationship with the EU.

Signing the SAA constitutes an important step towards eventual EU membership and this in turn will ultimately bring about a final reconciliation of the peoples of the western Balkans, he added.The decision was taken on Tuesday morning after Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to sign the SAA.The two countries had originally said that Serbia must first fully cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and arrest war crimes indictee Ratko Mladic.

Signing but not implementing

They yielded to the pressure of other EU states – who have been prepared to sign the agreement for weeks - on condition that Serbia will not get any concrete benefits from the agreement until Belgrade is judged as fully cooperating with the ICTY.Normally, ratification of such documents is launched immediately after they are signed.But in this case, the lengthy process will not start until all EU member states unanimously agree that Belgrade's cooperation with the ICTY is sufficient.This could happen at the earliest in July, with a report on the matter by UN war crimes prosecutor Serge Brammertz expected in June.

Rejection by Serbia's prime minister

Meanwhile, the party of Serbia's prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, has reiterated its opposition to signing the SAA and said the country's parliament would never ratify the document, according to Russian news agency Itar-Tass.On Monday, Mr Kostunica himself said again that the SAA undoubtedly represents an act against the state, an anti-constitutional act.The Serbian premier argues that the fact that a majority of EU countries has recognised Kosovo's independence has changed the political situation, and has called for talks with the EU on this new reality.Whether the EU's concession has worked will become evident on 11 May when President Boris Tadic's pro-Western Democrats will face off against the radical and nationalist parties in Serbia.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

VIRGINIA TORNADOES INJURE 200

HOW TORNADOES FORM
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/specials/interactives/_science/tornadoes_primer/index.html?SITE=YAHOO&SECTION=HOME

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.

YOU GOTTA BE BLIND TO NOT SEE THE HAND OF GOD INVOLVED IN THESE TORNADOES. IT FLYS THROUGH A STRIPMALL LIKE A DRILL BIT OR A BLENDER, IT DRILLED A CORE OF DESTRUCTION THROUGHT THE MIDDLE OF THE BUILDING. AND TOSSING AND THROWING CARS AROUND LIKE TOYS. SMASHING AND PULVERISING WINDSHIELDS. THEN IT GOT TO A CERTAIN POINT AND JUST HEADED RIGHT.

THIS WAS JUST A MIRACLE OF GODS PROTECTION WITH ALL THE DESTRUCTION AND NOT ONE PERSON DEAD. ALL THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA GIVE GOD THE GLORY (KING JESUS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL AND THE WORLD)FOR THESE AWESOME MIRACLES DONE YESTERDAY.


3 tornadoes rip through Va.; more than 200 people hurt By SONJA BARISIC, Associated Press Writer APR 29,08

SUFFOLK, Va. - Officials say search-and-rescue operations following three destructive tornadoes in southeast Virginia have not uncovered any dead or additional injured. Suffolk Fire Chief Mark Outlaw told a news conference Tuesday that teams with search dogs found nothing more than torn up lumber and torn up houses.The storms on Monday resulted in more than 200 injuries but no deaths.

Gov. Timothy Kaine says the tornadoes caused very, very serious devastation. But Kaine told WTOP Radio in Washington that it's kind of amazing there were not more significant injuries.Kaine was to tour the area later Tuesday.

Tornadoes hit Virginia, 200 injured
Mon Apr 28, 11:05 PM


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three tornadoes swept through central and southeastern Virginia on Monday, injuring about 200 people and damaging dozens of homes and businesses, officials said.The city of Suffolk in the southeastern part of the state was hardest hit by the late afternoon storms, said Virginia Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Laura Southard. She said earlier reports of a fatality in linked to the severe weather were incorrect.Injuries and damage were also reported in Colonial Heights in central Virginia, Southard said.The National Weather Service (NWS) said three confirmed tornadoes plowed through the region.One of the tornadoes hit the Lawrenceville area in Brunswick County, said NWS meteorologist Brian Hurley. The second tornado developed to the north of Colonial Heights ... The other more significant tornado occurred in the city of Suffolk.Television pictures showed extensive property damage -- flattened homes, and lawns and streets covered in piles of debris and toppled trees.There are trees down everywhere and I've seen a half-dozen vehicles flipped over, Richard Hicks of Suffolk told the Virginian-Pilot newspaper.Another witness in Suffolk, Robert Brinkley, told the newspaper: There are tops blown off the roofs of many, many houses.More than 3,000 Dominion Virginia Power customers were without service, most in scattered outages throughout the southeastern part of the state, the newspaper said.Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine declared a statewide emergency to coordinate the state's response to what his office said was widespread damage in the wake of storms.

N.B. premier says governments will help should flooding cause major damage By The Canadian Press APR 29,08

FREDERICTON - Officials in New Brunswick remain on emergency footing with a forecast of rain expected to swell the flood-prone St. John River this week. Premier Shawn Graham says government help will be available in the event of major flood damage, if the province declares a natural disaster. There are a number of programs that (would) kick into effect in partnership with the federal government under the disaster assistance program, Graham said in an interview Monday night. Graham also praised provincial officials for their work so far. The Department of Public Safety has done a tremendous job, putting in place support groups and resources and command centres around the province where flooding is being expected.Meanwhile, more than 100 people in some low-lying areas have already left their homes voluntarily. Significant flooding is expected in areas like Maugerville and Sheffield with river levels expected to rise another 20 to 40 centimetres by Thursday. A number of roads remain under water and are closed to larger vehicles. Andy Morton, deputy director of the province's EMO, said Monday that rain forecast to begin today will likely have a significant effect on the river. There will be an increase on Wednesday and probably a further increase on Thursday and maybe even into Friday, said Morton. A lot will depend on what actual rainfall occurs. Obviously, at this point we're working off forecasted rainfall amounts.The flooding - caused by melting snow and rain - is an annual event and Morton expected a lot of people would stay in their homes despite the high water. Anybody who chooses to stay in their home should be prepared for at least a week in terms of things like drinking water, food, medications or any prescription products, and be prepared to last it out, he said.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Battle against stubborn California wildfire enters 4th day APR 29,08

SIERRA MADRE, Calif. - Firefighters battling a stubborn wildfire northeast of Los Angeles were expecting help Tuesday from cooler temperatures and calmer winds. As the dramatic blaze entered its fourth day, most of the more than 1,000 people evacuated from their homes at the foot of the rugged San Gabriel Mountains have been allowed to return. On Tuesday, public schools in the community of about 11,000 residents were scheduled to reopen.The 538-acre blaze burned dangerously close to homes early Monday, but firefighters stood their ground and turned the flames back.No homes have been lost in the blaze in the foothill suburb of Sierra Madre, 15 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The fire was 21 percent contained Monday.

Helicopters and airplanes bombarded the fire with water and retardant drops Monday while firefighters labored in temperatures in the 90s. Nearly 700 firefighters were on the lines.Temperatures were expected to reach the mid 70s Tuesday, with high humidity and little wind.Four firefighters had minor injuries — a bee sting, a strained knee, and two cases of heat exhaustion, authorities said. A small outbuilding was destroyed.The cause of the blaze remained under investigation.The fire broke out Saturday afternoon in a popular hiking area as unseasonable extreme heat and low humidity set in over Southern California. By late that night it was a bright orange line descending like slow-moving lava down the steep mountainside, triggering evacuations along the interface between the city and wilderness.

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

Stocks edge lower with investors wary of consumer data, Fed By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer APR 29,08

NEW YORK - Stocks edged lower in early trading Tuesday ahead of a report that's expected to show another decline in consumer confidence this month. The Conference Board releases its April survey of consumer confidence at 10 a.m. EDT. The consensus estimate of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR is that the research group's index of consumer confidence fell to 62 from March's 64.5 amid rising prices for energy and food. In March, the index, which is approaching a five-year low, fell nearly 12 points from February.Wall Street remains worried that inflation could accelerate and curtail consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy. That's also of paramount concern for the Federal Reserve, which begins a two-day policy meeting Tuesday afternoon.The Fed is expected to cut interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday, but then hold firm for the remainder of the year. The Fed is facing a difficult juggling act of trying to shore up the faltering economy without triggering inflation.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 5.21, or 0.04 percent, to 12,866.54.Broader markets were narrowly lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 2.02, or 0.14 percent, to 1,394.35; and the Nasdaq composite index fell 3.97, or 0.16 percent, to 2,420.43.On Monday, Wall Street finished narrowly mixed on light volume as investors were unwilling to take big bets ahead of the Fed decision. The same kind of trading environment was expected during Tuesday's session.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.81 percent from 3.82 percent late Monday.Oil prices fell amid expectations that a supply disruption in Britain would soon be resolved and as the U.S. dollar strengthened further against the euro. Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell $2.65 to $116.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.In corporate news, MasterCard Inc. spiked $17.37, or 7.2 percent, to $260.00 after the company reported profit more than doubled in the first quarter. The company said more customers overseas used their credit and debit cards for purchases, though spending within the U.S. rose at a moderate pace.However, rival Visa Inc. sunk $3.05, or 3.9 percent, to $72.55 after it reported late Monday that first-quarter profit rose 28 percent. However, shares plunged in electronic trading amid concern that the world's biggest credit card processor will have a difficult time managing choppy U.S. economic conditions.There was also further anxiety about the global credit crisis' impact on financial institutions. Deutsche Bank AG said Tuesday it wrote down $4.2 billion in leveraged loans, commercial real estate and mortgage-backed securities, during the first quarter, pushing Germany's biggest bank to its first quarterly loss since 2003 amid trading losses, lower revenue and global market jitters.The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.23, or 0.31 percent, to 723.14.Declining issues surpassed advancers by 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 61.2 million.Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.22 percent. In morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.16 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.50 percent, and France's CAC-40 shed 0.26 percent.On the Net:New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Palestinian groups want truce to include West Bank By Alaa Shahine APR 29,08

CAIRO (Reuters) - Several Palestinian groups said on Tuesday a possible truce with Israel must include all Palestinian territories simultaneously, opposing a Hamas suggestion that it start in the Gaza Strip. Any reasonable Palestinian should assume that this is essential, Abou Adnan al-Baba, a member of the central command of the Popular Resistance Committees, said in Cairo before a meeting between the groups and Egyptian intelligence officials to reach a Palestinian consensus on the ceasefire proposal.Egypt invited the groups for talks after Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, proposed a six-month truce between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza, with an option to extend it to Palestinians in the West Bank.Hamas, which was not at Tuesday's meeting, said the ceasefire would also include an end to the Israeli-led blockade of the coastal strip.Israel has dismissed the proposal as a Hamas ploy to gain time and prepare for more fighting.The truce proposal emerged from several rounds of talks between Egypt and Hamas, with the blessing of the United States, which calls Hamas a terrorist group.

The failure of Palestinians to reach common ground or Israeli rejection of the truce would complicate Egyptian efforts to end violence in the Gaza Strip.The talks in Cairo were overshadowed by the killing of six Palestinians, including four children and their mother, as they were having breakfast on Monday in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.Israel said the deaths were tragic and occurred when an aircraft fired at two Palestinian militants carrying munitions, which exploded and destroyed the home of the family.Maher al-Tahir, politburo member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, told Reuters his group doubted any truce with Israel was viable.Israel launches aggressions against the Palestinian people every day and has not committed to any truce, he said.Hamas said several Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad and leftist groups based in Syria, had preliminarily approved the offer.But Ramzi Rabah, a senior member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said starting the truce only in the Gaza Strip would leave the West Bank prey to settlement activities and aggressions.Israel pulled troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in 2005 but still controls its borders and has tightened its restrictions since Hamas seized control there last year.

Sarkozy flies to Tunisia to push business, Mediterranean Union Posted : Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:56:07 GMT Author : DPA Category : Europe (World)

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy was expected to arrive later Monday in the Tunisian capital Tunis to begin a three- day state visit during which he will push French business interests and try to shore up support for his plan for a Union for the Mediterranean. Sarkozy will be accompanied by his wife, Carla, seven ministers and the heads of some 120 companies, underscoring the economic importance of relations between the two countries.

France is by far Tunisia's most important trading partner, with bilateral commerce reaching some 7 billion euros (10.94 billion dollars) in 2007. A number of deals, worth about 2 billion euros, are expected to be finalized Monday evening, between Sarkozy's meeting with Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and a scheduled state dinner. The contracts to be signed include the sale of Airbus aircraft to Tunisian carrier Tunisair and for the construction of a conventional power station by the French firm Alstom at Ghannouch, in southern Tunisia. Sarkozy's proposal for a Union for the Mediterranean, which is to comprise the 27 EU member nations and countries situated along the Mediterranean rim, will be the main issue of bilateral discussions. One sore point between the two nations is the question of human rights under Ben Ali. On Saturday, two editors for the opposition weekly al-Mawkef said they would go on an unlimited hunger strike to protest what they called the government's harassment of their publication. Sarkozy's office said that the French president would raise human rights issues both in his talks with Ben Ali and in his public declarations.

Egypt looks for leading role in Mediterranean Union, minister says Posted : Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:42:00 GMT Author : DPA Middle East (World)

Luxembourg - Egypt wants to play a leading role in the planned Union for the Mediterranean, coordinating the states around the south of the sea, its foreign minister said on Monday at a meeting with European Union officials. Egypt accepts and endorses the idea of the union originally proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and it is eager to enter high-level discussions with the EU as Egypt, the coordinator of the south, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Ghreit said. Egypt will also organize meetings around the southern Mediterranean to forge a common view with Arab neighbours on issues important to the proposed union, he said at a meeting in Luxembourg. Whatever we put on the table (on the issue of the proposed union) is very much spoken about, talked about and prepared with Egypt, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana replied.

Sarkozy initially proposed the idea for a Mediterranean Union modelled on the EU in early 2007. However, EU member states without a coastline on the sea rejected the creation of a major new structure, approving instead a strengthened version of current policies. The talks in Luxembourg were the fourth in an annual series set up under the so-called Association Agreement between the EU and Egypt, which came into force in 2004, and were marked by their constructive and friendly tone, participants said. The two sides discussed Egypt's mediating role in the Middle East Peace Process, agreeing that the immediate prerequisites for progress would be a ceasefire, the exchange of prisoners and the implementation of a 2005 agreement on crossings into the Gaza Strip. They also discussed the global problem of world food prices, while Egypt presented EU Foreign-Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero- Waldner with a list of proposals for improving aspects of cooperation, Aboul-Ghreit said. They also touched on the question of the crackdown on banned opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood ahead of April 8 municipal elections in the country. When you have an illegal organization acting, trying to be legal, you arrest its operators, Aboul-Ghreit said. There are still a lot of questions that we would have to tackle in the future, but ... the fact that the (April) elections were held was certainly important, Ferrero-Waldner said. She hoped that future cooperation would allow Egypt to build on the experience of its first-ever contested presidential elections in 2005, she said.

Dear Stan, APR 29,08MIKE EVANS

I am writing you from Israel after having an emergency meeting with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom I have known since he was 26 years old. I was horrified to learn that when President Bush comes to Israel for its 60th Anniversary in May, he has made the decision to mobilize Arab nations to come for a summit on the 17th & 18th of May.The purpose of this summit is to move forward with the Annapolis Road Map, the plan that will force Israel to give up a large percentage of Judea and Samaria, which they call occupied territories, and divide the Holy City of Jerusalem.It is extremely humiliating to think this would be America’s way of honoring Israel’s 60th year of prophetic rebirth. Even more outrageous, I saw the document confirming that the plan is to have this finalized by November 12, 2008.

I am asking you to vote and let President Bush know that you oppose him organizing a summit to divide Jerusalem on Israel’s 60th Anniversary. http://tool.donation-net.net/JPT_Area/Vote/Vote_ap1.cfm?dn=1032&source=3035&id=256310&commid=80783715&CFID=4988642&CFTOKEN=34083737

He needs to hear from you loudly and clearly immediately.Send this to all of your friends and ask them to do the same. God’s words say that I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee.

Your Ambassador to Jerusalem,
Mike Evans Your Jerusalem World News: www.myjwn.com
Your Save Jerusalem Site: www.savejerusalem.org

Insights into life, ideas for personal growth APR 29,08

GOOD MORNING! This Shabbat coincides with the Seventh Day of Pesach, a full-fledged holiday which extends to Sunday evening, the April 27th. The crossing of the Yam Soof, usually translated as the Red Sea, more correctly translated as The Reed Sea or Sea of Reeds, took place on this day. And thus continued the 50 day journey of self-perfection until the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai.How do we begin to improve ourselves? It starts with a decision to change. What if you had a special clock on top of your television that was counting down the hours and minutes until you were to die? When would you get up, turn off the TV and do all the things that you planned to do, hoped to do or in passing thought about doing?

And what if in addition to your special clock, you had a special bank account where every morning you were credited in your bank account with $86,400 dollars on condition that you had to spend it all or lose it? What would you do? Spend it!! Well, you do have a special bank account called the Bank of Time! Each day you have exactly 86,400 seconds. What you don't invest wisely is written off each night. You can reap dividends, but you can't go into overdraft!

One has to value his time and know that it is limited in order to change. The Sephirat HaOmer period is about valuing time and about changing.

Q & A: WHAT IS SEPHIRAT HA-OMER?

On the second day of Pesach, the Omer offering from the new barley crop was brought in the Temple in Jerusalem. It began a period of counting and preparation for Shavuot, the anniversary of the giving of the Torah and the yearly celebration of re-accepting the Torah upon ourselves. This period is called Sephirat HaOmer, the counting of the Omer.Forty-nine days are counted and on the fiftieth day is Shavuot, the Yom Tov celebrating the giving of the Torah. There is actually a mitzvah to count each specific day which is done at the completion of Ma'ariv, the evening service.

This is a period of national semi-mourning (no weddings or even haircuts). It was during this period that Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students died for not showing sufficient respect for each other. It is a time for us to reflect how we look upon and treat our fellow Jews as well as the tragedies that have befallen us because of unfounded (self-justified) hatred. It is a wonderful time to undertake to do an extra act of kindness; this will help to help bring perfection to the world and unity amongst Jews.This is a period of national semi-mourning (no weddings or even haircuts). It was during this period that Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students died for not showing sufficient respect for each other. It is a time for us to reflect how we look upon and treat our fellow Jews as well as the tragedies that have befallen us because of unfounded (self-justified) hatred. It is a wonderful time to undertake an extra act of kindness; this will help to bring perfection to the world and unity amongst Jews.

These 50 days also correspond to the seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt when the Jewish people prepared themselves to receive the Torah at Mt. Sinai. When we left Egypt we were on the 49th level of Tuma, spiritual degradation. Each day we climbed one step higher in spirituality and holiness. Many people study one of the 48 Ways to Wisdom (Ethics of the Fathers, 6:6) each day as a means to personal and spiritual growth. Rabbi Noah Weinberg, the great educator and founder of Aish HaTorah, has his flagship series of lectures of the 48 Ways available on cassette, cd or mp3 download. You can even buy them on a specially pre-loaded mp3 player or Ipod! - available by calling (800) 864-2373 or at http://www.ShabbatShalomAudio.com! I think of this series as the Jewish Dale Carnegie Course for getting the most out of life! It will be one of the great purchases in your life! For more on Sephirat HaOmer and the 48 Ways go to http://www.aish.com/omer.

For more on Counting the Omer go to ShabbatShalomAudio.com!

Torah Portion of the Week Pesach

The Torah reading for this Shabbat is Exodus 13:17-15:26 which tells the story of the Egyptians, having changed their minds about letting the Jewish people go, pursuing us unto the Yam Soof (Red/Reed Sea), the splitting of the sea, the salvation of the Jewish people, the drowning of the Egyptians, the song of rejoicing and thanks to the Almighty. We also read Shir HaShirim, The Song of Songs, the Megillah (scroll) which describes metaphorically the love affair of the Almighty and the Jewish people.On the last day of Pesach, Sunday, we read Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17 from the Torah portion of Re'eh including the Second Tithe, remission of loans every seven years, directive to open your hand to the poor, laws of a Jewish bondsman and ending with details of the three Pilgrim Festivals - Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot - when all of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel would come to the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate. Also, on Sunday is Yizkor, memorial prayers for parents who have passed on.

* * *

Dvar Torah

The Torah states regarding the splitting of the Yam Soof (the Sea of Reeds which is commonly translated as the Red Sea) that:The Children of Israel came within the sea on dry land; and the water was a wall for them, on their right and on their left. (Ex. 14:22)
Seven verses later the Torah states The Children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea; the water was a wall for them, on their right and on their left. Why the change in the two reports of what happened? And why in the first report is the Hebrew word for wall spelled with the letter Vov and in the second report, it is spelled without the letter Vov? (There is significance and meaning to every word and every letter in the Torah.)The Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer, comments that there were two groups of people amongst the Jews at the Yam Soof. There were those who trusted implicitly in the Almighty and who jumped into the sea and found themselves on dry land. The other group did not have such a high level of trust in the Almighty - even though they had seen the Ten Plagues afflict the Egyptians and had witnessed the miracles accompanying the Exodus from Egypt; they waited until they saw the dry land and then went on the dry land in the midst of the sea.

Evidence for this interpretation, writes the Vilna Gaon, can be found in the Hebrew spelling of wall. Though it can be spelled and pronounced properly with or without the Hebrew letter Vov, without the Vov the word can be pronounced either Choma, wall or Chaima, anger. Thus, with the second group which expressed the lower level of trust in G-d, the continuation of the verse hints at the Almighty's anger at them for their lack of trust in Him.Our lessons: (1) realize that everything in the Torah is exact and intentional, has depth and must be studied for lessons in life and (2) We should strive to develop trust in the Almighty in our daily living.

I NTERCESSORS for the RESTORATION of ISRAEL An Intercessory Ministry Connecting Israel and the Nations A ministry of Out of Zion Ministries Mt Carmel, Israel.Website : www.iri.out-of-zion.com

Shalom Intercessors,

Deuteronomy 32:1,2 - Listen O heavens and I will speak, hear O earth the words of my mouth, let my teaching fall like the rain, and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants, for I will proclaim the name of the Lord.David is preparing to leave to travel to Germany on Tuesday April 29th for a week of ministry in Pforzheim, Munich and Bonn ( Germany )He will return late Monday May 5th.Would you once again stand with me to cover him in prayer and prepare the way..............

Please pray

1) For travelling mercies, air, road and rail
2) Good health
3) Anointing on the message and the word of the Lord as it goes forth from Zion, into German hearts
4) The anointing to bring breakthrough in peoples hearts and minds
5) As the name and the word of the Lord is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit will bring awareness and revelation
6) Words of knowledge, and for people to be healed and delivered
7) Protection on our home, and family while David is away

Two people (who do not know one another) have given an exact word for David over the last two days.

They both heard the Lord say that His banner is over David..............A banner is a proclamation, a sign, an advertisement, , something that stands out with a fact or statement or message that people will become aware of or take notice of, something that attracts peoples attention, something that will generate interest in peoples lives...........So let us pray that as David goes forth once again with the banner of the God of Israel over Him, that His word and His name would be magnified, that it will bring awareness and generate interest, curiosity, it will draw people, it will bring revelation, it will accomplish His purposes ........... pray that the Lord's name and truth would bring fruit in peoples lives ... and His word would fall like the rain to soften hard hearts, and water hearts that are already open.

Thank you all so much for your faithfulness....................
Love and blessings to each of you
Josie.

David & Josie Silver Out of Zion Ministries Mt Carmel Israel
www.out-of-zion.com

New Zealand scientists thaw 1,000-pound squid corpse By RAY LILLEY, Associated Press Writer Tue Apr 29, 3:33 AM ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Marine scientists in New Zealand on Tuesday were thawing the corpse of the largest squid ever caught to try to unlock the secrets of one of the ocean's most mysterious beasts. No one has ever seen a living, grown colossal squid in its natural deep ocean habitat, and scientists hope their examination of the 1,089-pound, 26-foot long colossal squid, set to begin Wednesday, will help determine how the creatures live. The thawing and examination are being broadcast live on the Internet.The squid, which was caught accidentally by fishermen last year, was removed from its freezer Monday and put into a tank filled with saline solution. Ice was added to the tank Tuesday to slow the thawing process so the outer flesh wouldn't rot, said Carol Diebel, director of natural environment at New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa.After it is thawed, scientists will examine the squid's anatomical features, remove the stomach, beak and other mouth parts, take tissue samples for DNA analysis and determine its sex, Diebel said.If we get ourselves a male it will be the first reported (scientific) description of the male of the species, Steve O'Shea, a squid expert at Auckland's University of Technology, told National Radio. He is one of the scientists conducting the examination.The squid is believed to be the largest specimen of the rare deep-water species Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, or colossal squid, ever caught, O'Shea has said.Colossal squid, which have long been one of the most mysterious denizens of the deep ocean, can grow up to 46 feet long, descend to 6,500 feet into the ocean and are considered aggressive hunters.

At the time it was caught, O'Shea said it would make calamari rings the size of tractor tires if cut up — but they would taste like ammonia, a compound found in the animals' flesh.Fishermen off the coast of Antarctica accidentally netted the squid in February 2007 while catching Patagonian toothfish, which are sold under the name Chilean sea bass.The squid was eating a hooked toothfish when it was hauled from the deep. Recognizing it as a rare find, the fishermen froze the squid on their vessel to preserve it. The national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, later took possession of it.

The previous largest colossal squid ever found was a 660 pound female squid discovered in 2003, the first ever landed.Researchers plan to eventually put the squid on display in a 1,800 gallon tank of formaldehyde at the museum in the capital, Wellington.Colossal squid are found in Antarctic waters and are not related to giant squid found round the coast of New Zealand. Giant squid grow up to 39 feet long, and are not as heavy as colossal squid.On the Net:
http://www.r2.co.nz/20080427/rotate-1.asx

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