SCOFFERS - NUCLEAR ATOMIC POWER From Jack Van Impes Show Sunday July 27, 2008
SCOFFERS
Religion under fire because their not teaching Doctrine.
2 TIMOTHY 4:2-4
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Lots of preachers want nothing to do with the return of JESUS to EARTH LITERALLY.
2 PETER 3:3-4
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep,(GRAND FATHERS) all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
A Lady told Jack that she asked her preacher, when will you ever do a sermon on CHRISTS RETURN. His answer: When pigs learn to fly. A guy like that needs to get out of the Ministry.
Another Woman asked he Minister the same question. His answer was: I don't wanna preach that doom and gloom. Now wait a minute, we did not create 21 judgements in the Book of Revelation, it was JESUS who sanctioned this.
REVELATION 22:16
16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things (these 21 chapters of the Book of Revelation, and want it preached) in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Another preacher was asked: Do you believe in Prophecy! His lunatic answer was: any time the Apostles brought up prophecy, Jesus changed the subject. Thats scoffing, it isn't true. In Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 17+21 and John 14:3, Talk about the signs of his return.
JOHN 14:3
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Its JESUS who said in Matthew 24:27
MATTHEW 24:27
27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Its JESUS who gave all the SIGNS in Matthew 24.
Matthew 24:21 JESUS said.
MATTHEW 24:21
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
CHRIST often quoted the Old Testament Prophecies. Do you know that there are 16 Old Testament Prophets? And Gods word verifies what they taught.
2 PETER 1:19-21
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Who were these Men of old? The New Testament was not written yet. The 16 Old Testament Prophets. There you got sixteen Books. You got 4 by JESUS, theres 18.
The Apostle Paul in all 14 of his books talked about the return of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. So now you have got 18 + 14 more, plus the Book of REVELATION. Thats 33, theres no end to it. Theres 10,385 verses in the Bible about CHRISTS RETURN. One out of every four verses, and you preachers can't find once a month, 1 out of 4 times, to talk about JESUS coming again. Paul rejoyced in it. Its a comforting hope.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:18
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
One of these days, you men are going to give account. Now listen to this again.
2 TIMOTHY 4:2
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Preach the Word they say. Don't ever take a verse out of context, I WON'T. When he says to preach the Word in verse 2, he tells what that Word is in verse 8.
2 TIMOTHY 4:8
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
The return of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. And its only given to those looking for his appearing. So you preachers are not only Scoffers and mockers, but you are robbing your members of a special crown to lay at the feet of JESUS as a reward in REV 4:10-11
REVELATION 4:10-11
10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Because they were looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing, AMEN.
500 PROPHECIES ALREADY FULFILLED IN THE BIBLE
I'm gonna give Jack some questions about Prophecy fulfilled in our days and he will answer by the verse in the BIBLE.
1-THE ALIGNMENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION.
Its out of the REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE (THE EU) that the WORLD DICTATOR comes.
1 JOHN 2:18
18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
And we know its that part of the WORLD (EUROPE) through Daniel Chapters 2 +7
THE EUROPEAN UNION DAN CHAPTERS 2 + 7
Only 7 World Empires in History REV 17: 9-10,
DANIEL 2:31-33,36-43, DAN 7:3-8,17
First From Daniel Chapter 2
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (HEAD OF GOLD) DAN 2:31-32,36-38, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (CHEST & ARMS OF SILVER) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (WAIST & HIPS OF BRONZE) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (2 LEGS OF IRON) DAN 2:33,40, ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) (FEET IRON & CLAY) DAN 2:33,41-43,10 TOES
Now From Daniel Chapter 7
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (LION WITH EAGLES WINGS) DAN 7:4, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (BEAR ON HIND LEGS) DAN 7:5, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (LEOPARD 4 WINGS, 4 HEADS) DAN 7:6, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (HUGE IRON TEETH) DAN 7:7 (10 HORNS), ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) DAN 7:8,19-20,23-25 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS REV 17:9,12, 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS, 7 HILLS ROME. REV 13:1 BEAST WITH 7 HEADS. THE E.U LEADER OF WORLD
GOVERNMENT DAN 2:40-45, 7:7-8,23-25,27, 8:23, REV 13:3,7,8,12,14,16
REVELATION 12:3
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
REVELATION 13:3,7,12,16
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
2-KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION
3-GREAT INCREASES IN TRAVEL
DANIEL 12:4
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
4-FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS.
MATTHEW 24:5,11,24
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
5-WARS AND RUMOURS OF WARS
MATTHEW 24:7
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
6-FAMINES
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
7-EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8-PESTILENCES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
9-INIQUITY ABOUNDING
MATTHEW 24:12
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
10-THE GOSPEL BEING PREACHED IN ALL THE WORLD.
MATTHEW 24:14
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
11-SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON, STARS
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
12-THE INTRODUCTION OF EVIL SPIRITS, OCCULTISM AND APOSTATES
1 TIMOTHY 4:1
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
REVELATION 9:20
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
13-THE HORDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
JAMES 5:1-4
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.
4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
14-FALSE PROPHETS DENYING JESUS IS GOD
2 PETER 2:1-2
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
15-THE INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB
2 PETER 3:10-12
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
TERRORISM
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
DANIEL 12:1
1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
REVELATION 7:14
14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
MATTHEW 24:33-37
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
GENESIS 6:11
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
LUKE 21:9
9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
ROMANS 8:23
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
REVELATION 4:1
1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:52
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
NUCLEAR POWER IN THE LAST DAYS
The BIBLE says Nuclear Power is going to be developed just before the return of the LORD. RUSSIA MARCHES AGAINST ISRAEL.
EZEKIEL 38:11
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
When you study: Daniel 11:40-45
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
EZEKIEL 38:5-7
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
PSALMS 83:5-7
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
17 Nations of the Arab (Muslim) group are the ones that are preparing to create these new Atom Bombs. Its right there in scripture, this is it. There goal is the elimination of ISRAEL.
PSALMS 83:3-4
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
Who wants to do it RUSSIA AND HER ALLIES.
ISRAEL is mentioned 18 times in EZEKIEL 38+39 of being the battle ground.
EZEKIEL 38:8,14-18
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
EZEKIEL 39:2,4,7,9,11-12,17,22-23,25,29
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.
25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;
29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
ATOMIC WARFARE
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
ISAIAH 66:15
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
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.
REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
WE SEE ALL THE SIGNS OF THE END ARE IN THERE BEGGINING STAGES - GET YOUR HEART RIGHT WITH LORD.
PRAY
LORD, JESUS. YOU ARE THE SAVIOUR, YOU DIED FOR ME, AND TODAY I REALIZE IT. I WANT YOU LORD JESUS, COME INTO MY HEART, SAVE ME NOW, I PRAY THIS IN YOUR HOLY NAME, AMEN.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
OBAMA MANIA
THE OBAMA AFFAIR WITH THE PEOPLE.
IF OBAMA IS LOVED AROUND THE WORLD LIKE THIS, JUST THINK HOW DECEPTIVE THE FUTURE EUROPEAN UNION PRESIDENT WILL BE TO BE GIVEN WORLD POLITICAL CONTROL. WE DEFINATELY ARE IN THE LAST DAYS AS DECEPTION IS WORLD WIDE.
OBAMA AT UNITY CONFERENCE IN CHICAGO JULY 27,2008
MALVEAUX: Senator, I want to use a word that you love to use, audacity. A lot of people looked at the trip and they saw the palaces, the world leaders, the 200,000 that were gathered in Berlin, and they said, The audacity of this trip, it looks like he is running for president of the world.
And a lot of people looked and they want to know, what out of this trip did you take away that you feel makes you a stronger candidate to be a leader here?
OBAMA: Well, let me make a couple points. First of all, I basically met with the same folks that John McCain met with after he won the nomination. He met with all these leaders. He also added a trip to Mexico, a trip to Canada, a trip to Colombia, and nobody suggested that that was audacious.
I think people assumed that what he was doing was...
(APPLAUSE)
... talk to world leaders who we may have deal with should we become president. That's part of the job that I'm applying for.
(LAUGHTER)
And so -- so I was puzzled by this notion that somehow what we were doing was in any way different from what Senator McCain or a lot of presidential candidates have done in the past. Now, I admit we did it really well.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
But that shouldn't be a strike against me. You know, if I was bumbling and fumbling through this thing, I would have been criticized for that. And so -- so that's point number one. I don't know the political effect of this when I come back. You know, I think people are worried about gas prices; they're worried about job security; they're worried about their retirement fund, as the stock market goes down. So probably a week of me focusing on international issues doesn't necessarily translate into higher poll numbers here in the United States, because people are understandably concerned about the immediate effects of the economy. And that's what we will be talking about for the duration.
I do think that, in terms of me governing, being an effective president, that that trip was helpful, because I think I've established relationships and a certain bond of trust with key leaders around the world who have taken measure of my positions and how I operate and I think can come away with some confidence that this is somebody I can deal with.
ZAKARIA INTERVIEW OF FRENCH - GERMAN ON OBAMA EUROPEAN TRIP
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/07/28/gps.obama.in.europe.cnn?iref=videosearch
IF OBAMA IS LOVED AROUND THE WORLD LIKE THIS, JUST THINK HOW DECEPTIVE THE FUTURE EUROPEAN UNION PRESIDENT WILL BE TO BE GIVEN WORLD POLITICAL CONTROL. WE DEFINATELY ARE IN THE LAST DAYS AS DECEPTION IS WORLD WIDE.
OBAMA AT UNITY CONFERENCE IN CHICAGO JULY 27,2008
MALVEAUX: Senator, I want to use a word that you love to use, audacity. A lot of people looked at the trip and they saw the palaces, the world leaders, the 200,000 that were gathered in Berlin, and they said, The audacity of this trip, it looks like he is running for president of the world.
And a lot of people looked and they want to know, what out of this trip did you take away that you feel makes you a stronger candidate to be a leader here?
OBAMA: Well, let me make a couple points. First of all, I basically met with the same folks that John McCain met with after he won the nomination. He met with all these leaders. He also added a trip to Mexico, a trip to Canada, a trip to Colombia, and nobody suggested that that was audacious.
I think people assumed that what he was doing was...
(APPLAUSE)
... talk to world leaders who we may have deal with should we become president. That's part of the job that I'm applying for.
(LAUGHTER)
And so -- so I was puzzled by this notion that somehow what we were doing was in any way different from what Senator McCain or a lot of presidential candidates have done in the past. Now, I admit we did it really well.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
But that shouldn't be a strike against me. You know, if I was bumbling and fumbling through this thing, I would have been criticized for that. And so -- so that's point number one. I don't know the political effect of this when I come back. You know, I think people are worried about gas prices; they're worried about job security; they're worried about their retirement fund, as the stock market goes down. So probably a week of me focusing on international issues doesn't necessarily translate into higher poll numbers here in the United States, because people are understandably concerned about the immediate effects of the economy. And that's what we will be talking about for the duration.
I do think that, in terms of me governing, being an effective president, that that trip was helpful, because I think I've established relationships and a certain bond of trust with key leaders around the world who have taken measure of my positions and how I operate and I think can come away with some confidence that this is somebody I can deal with.
ZAKARIA INTERVIEW OF FRENCH - GERMAN ON OBAMA EUROPEAN TRIP
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/07/28/gps.obama.in.europe.cnn?iref=videosearch
STORMS - FLOODS - LANDSLIDES
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.
Typhoon hits Taiwan, markets closed Monday Sun Jul 27, 9:39 PM ET
TAIPEI (Reuters) - A typhoon packing wind gusts of up to 191 kph and forecast to dump up to a metre of rain in places was on course to hit Taiwan on Monday morning, prompting cancellation of work and market closures. Typhoon Fung-Wong, Chinese for phoenix, was moving northwest at 13 kph, set to make landfall late Monday morning near the city of Hualien, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said on its website (http://www.cwb.gov.tw).The storm's approach generated rough sea warnings as markets, offices and schools across the island shut for the day.Transport was disrupted with most domestic flights and rail service suspended, although media reported that international flights were still operating at Taiwan's main international airport at Taoyuan.Heavy rains began to fall in the early hours of Monday morning and were expected to continue throughout the day, with some of the hardest hit areas expected to receive up to 1,000 mm of rain, according to forecasts.Tropical Storm Risk (http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com) said Fung-Wong was a category 2 storm, and would likely be downgraded to a category 1 storm over the next 24 hours as it crossed Taiwan and headed toward China. A category 2 storm is defined as having maximum sustained winds of 154-177 kph.From Taiwan, the storm is expected to cross over the Taiwan Strait and arrive in south China's Fujian province on Monday night or Tuesday morning.In Fujian, authorities evacuated over 270,000 people ahead of the storm's arrival.
Chinese media quoted weather experts as saying Fung-Wong might become the most powerful storm to hit East Asia this year with heavy rain expected to fall over a long period.Fung-Wong is the second typhoon to hit Taiwan in the last two weeks. On July 18, typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 20 people and caused extensive flooding, landslides and crop damage in the south and central part of the island.(Reporting by Doug Young in Taipei and Guo Shipeng in Beijing)
RAW VIDEO - DOLLY IN NEW MEXICO
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300 evacuated from flooding in Ruidoso, N.M., area Sun Jul 27, 6:14 PM ET
About 300 people were evacuated from homes, campgrounds and a recreational vehicle park Sunday after flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Dolly.Meteorologists said more than 6 inches of rain fell in the mountainous area, and flash flood watches were in effect for central and eastern New Mexico.The Rio Ruidoso went over its banks about midnight, said Tom Schafer, Ruidoso's emergency management coordinator.Water's just going everywhere, Schafer said.State officials estimated more than 60 homes have been damaged.A police helicopter was sent to rescue people reported to be standing on buildings and vehicles, but no one was found, state Department of Public Safety spokesman Peter Olson said. A dive team was also sent to rescue people from the flooded areas, he said.
Earlier, four people were rescued after being trapped by rising water, but no one was seriously injured, Schafer said.People evacuated from the Bonito Creek Campground was sent to a nearby church, he said.Most of the 40 or so people who showed up at the Angus Hill Church of the Nazarene were campers who just came up for a nice weekend and were flooded out, said Sue Hutchinson, who operates a first aid clinic at the church.Several campers said they awakened when their tents began floating down the river, Hutchinson said.Several bridges and roads in the area were closed, including part of U.S. 70.Part of the race track at Ruidoso Downs flooded, canceling the entire Sunday race card.The race track is a river. I've never seen it like this here, trainer Joel Marr said.
At least 16 dead in flooding in Ukraine, Romania: governments Sun Jul 27, 2:11 PM ET
KIEV (AFP) - At least 16 people have died in severe storms and flooding in western Ukraine and northern Romania that forced almost 20,000 people to abandon their homes, authorities said Sunday. The government in Kiev said 13 people, including five children, had been killed and two were missing, while authorities in Bucharest issued a toll of three dead and two missing.In Ukraine around 6,700 people were evacuated after 21,000 homes were flooded in regions close to the border with Romania, the emergency situations ministry said.Three hundred towns and villages have lost electricity and about 400 bridges have been damaged, it said.President Viktor Yushchenko arrived in the region on Sunday to assess the damage, his press service said. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was also expected to travel there, Interfax news agency reported.Seven of the dead were in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, and the other six in the Chernivtsy region, the ministry said.Earlier it said two victims died when they were struck by lightning and a third in a landslide.Authorities in Romania said a 30-year-old mother, her son and another youngster, who had taken refuge from the swollen waters in a house built on a hill, died when a landslip swept the building away in the northern district of Maramures.Two other people had also been carried off by the floodwaters, the secretary of state at the interior ministry, Victor Paul Dobre, said.One of those was a 14-year-old boy, separated from his father's hand by the rising waters.Almost 12,900 people had been evacuated and more than 9,200 homes flooded, according to government figures.Almost 19,000 hectares (almost 50,000 acres) have been affected, including 6,200 wells, 500 kilometres (310 miles) of roads and 1,000 bridges.
Some 3,650 security forces and volunteers had been mobilised Sunday to build dykes, help evacuate people and animals in danger and to distribute aid.Authorities expected the torrential rains to ease off later in the day, although a red alert was to remain in force through until Monday afternoon for six north-eastern districts.
Hurricane Dolly remnants bring downpour to El Paso Sat Jul 26, 10:10PM ET
EL PASO, Texas - Heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Dolly is closing streets and flooding homes in El Paso, and is blamed for causing the death of one person in New Mexico. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that a passenger in a sport utility vehicle was killed when the vehicle hit a large puddle and rolled over. The driver and two children were hospitalized.National Weather Service meteorologist says some areas of El Paso have gotten as much as 3 inches of rain.The city says it has received 17 reports of flooding in homes. There are 10 reports of street flooding.The Texas Transportation Department says the Trans Mountain Highway is closed due to rock slides caused by the rain and is expected to reopen Saturday night.
50,000 ordered to evacuate in flooded Japan JULY 28,08
TOKYO - Heavy rain caused floods and mudslides in central Japan Monday, prompting orders to evacuate more than 50,000 people, officials said. The downpour overflowed the banks of the Asano River. Brown water gushed into the city of Kanazawa, flooding houses and leading authorities to issue an evacuation order across the town, said Hiroyuki Tatsuda, spokesman of the city of Kanazawa, about 180 miles northwest of Tokyo.We were inundated just in a couple hours this morning, Tatsuda said. We haven't had such heavy rain for years.The city lifted the evacuation order by midmorning Monday after the rain subsided, Tatsuda said. More than 800 people had taken refuge at community centers. City officials were still assessing the extent of damage to houses and buildings.The flooding also temporarily left 500 households without electricity and caused train delays.Heavy rain also fell in nearby Toyama prefecture, where a 53-year-old man was seriously injured after being swallowed by a mudslide while driving near a tunnel, local police official Shinichi Tomiya said. The man suffered a broken leg, arm, rib and shoulder but was conscious when he was later dug from the mud and taken to a nearby hospital.More than 4 inches of rain fell in the region, the nation's weather agency said.
Floods strip Midwest of tons of valuable topsoil By DEANNA MARTIN, Associated Press Writer Sun Jul 27, 7:27 PM ET
MARTINSVILLE, Ind. - Jim Lankford's corn crops used to stretch to the White River. Now the river has stretched itself through his crops. The river eroded a new route for itself during June's flooding, a channel with steep 12-foot banks at the edge of some of Lankford's corn fields about 30 miles southwest of Indianapolis. The flood spread rocks in other spots, making it look as if Lankford planted soybeans in a gravel road. Elsewhere, silt is piled up like sand dunes and uprooted trees still litter cornfields more than a month after the floods.It's the worst I've ever seen in my life for this area, the 62-year-old farmer said.The flooding that swamped large areas of the Midwest took with it some of the region's most valuable resource: soil.Now farmers and environmentalists are at odds over what to do with erosion-prone land — take their chances planting crops on marginal land in hopes of good yields and high grain prices, or plant trees, native grasses or ground cover that act as a natural flood buffer.The floods may have caused up to $3 billion in crop losses in Iowa and $800 million in crop damage in Indiana, according to estimates from agriculture secretaries in those states.
Erosion damage is harder to tally.
In Wisconsin, flooding damaged about $2.8 million worth of conservation structures, such as dams, levees, ditches and waterways, said Don Baloun, a farm conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service in Madison, Wis.Some land in Illinois is still submerged.It could be fall for some of our counties on the Mississippi River before we see what kind of damage farmers did experience as far as erosion, said Donald King of Illinois' USDA's Farm Service Agency.Erosion robs farmers of the nutrient-rich topsoil their growing plants need.
It takes thousands of years to form one inch of topsoil, said Jane Hardisty, Indiana's state conservationist. Within a day, we lost it. It's just devastating.It's also an issue downstream, where sediment diminishes water quality. Scientists think the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico — oxygen-depleted water off the Texas-Louisiana coast that can't support kill marine life — is likely to be worse this year partly because of the flood runoff.States have set up programs to keep their soil. Missouri, for example, has nearly halved its rate of soil loss since the mid-1980s, when it dedicated a special tax that generates $42 million a year for soil-conserving practices such as terraces, retention ponds and grazing rotations.The conversion of row-crop land to pastures over the last 20 years in northern Missouri also has helped conserve the precious few inches of top soil left in that part of the state, said Bill Foster, who heads the state's soil and water conservation program.
If we lose very many more inches of soil, we won't be farming, Foster said. It's critical to keep in place.The Farm Service Agency's Conservation Reserve Program also helps. The $2 billion-a-year federal program pays farmers not to plant crops, instead returning land to its native state. That saves an estimated 450 million tons of soil each year.However, that program isn't without controversy. Environmental groups recently sought a federal court injunction to stop hay production and cattle grazing on some conservation land. A judge in Seattle ruled that the USDA did not conduct an appropriate environmental review, but said a reversal would be unfair to farmers and ranchers counting on using that land. Conservation program officials announced earlier this month that farmers in flooded-damaged areas of 16 states could graze livestock on conservation land to help them cope with rising grain prices and flood damage. Our CRP land is vital to the balance we promote at USDA between production and preservation, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said. I commit this resource knowing that we must redouble our conservation effort at every future opportunity.
One of the program's founders, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., wants to also allow farmers to plant crops on more stable conservation land.
Environmental groups say there are risks to opening up conservation program land to planting. Marginal land planted with ground cover or trees acts as a natural flood barrier, said Sara Hopper, director of agricultural policy for the Environmental Defense Fund. Planting crops could mean less protection against floods, she said.
It's going to make a bad situation worse, particularly over the long run, she said. Lankford, the Indiana farmer, faces a difficult decision for his flood-damaged land. He could replant corn in an effort to make money off the field, but that would take cash to rebuild a breached levee and haul hundreds of truck loads of topsoil to replace his lost land. He could also consider the conservation reserve program, or he could simply abandon the affected field. Another big flood could come again next year, he said, or not for another hundred years. Traditionally, farmers are optimists, and I know I'm that way. They always think Well, next year will be better,Lankford said. You know there's risks. Sometimes it's worse than you think.Associated Press writers Robert Imrie in Wausau, Wis., Amy Lorentzen in Des Moines, Iowa, and Cheryl Wittenauer and Jim Suhr in St. Louis contributed to this report.
PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS
JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME
PSALMS 14:1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
ISAIAH 53:4
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
MATTHEW 9:34
34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.
JOHN 8:41
41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
JOHN 10:20
20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?
PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11(JESUS GETS REVENGE)
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.(JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST AND FOR SINNERS, THE GREAT WHITE THRONE FINAL JUDGEMENT).
WE ARE CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE TREATED THE SAME.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5 (WHY WE ARE PERSECUTED BY THE WORLD)
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
MATTHEW 5:10-12
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
MATTHEW 24:9
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
JOHN 15:18-20
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me (JESUS) before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain(BEHEADED) for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
DEADLY CHURCH SHOOTING
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2 DEAD, 7 INJURED IN CHURCH SHOOTING
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Gunman opens fire in Tennessee church, 2 killed By DUNCAN MANSFIELD, Associated Press Writer JULY 27,08
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A gunman opened fire at a church youth performance Sunday and killed two people, including a man who witnesses called a hero for shielding others from a shotgun blast. Seven adults were also injured but no children were harmed at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Church members said they dove under pews or ran from the building when the shooting started.The gunman was tackled by congregants and eventually taken into police custody.Jim D. Adkisson, 58, was charged with first-degree murder and was being held on $1 million bail, according to city spokesman Randy Kenner, who did not know if the suspect had retained an attorney. Authorities were searching Adkisson's home in the Knoxville bedroom community of Powell, Kenner said.
The man slain was identified as Greg McKendry, 60, a longtime church member and usher. Church member Barbara Kemper told The Associated Press that McKendry stood in the front of the gunman and took the blast to protect the rest of us.Linda Kreager, 61, died at the University of Tennessee Medical Center a few hours after the shooting, Knoxville city spokesman Randall Kenner said.Five people remained hospitalized, all in critical or serious condition. Two others were treated and released.The gunman's motive is not yet known. The church, like many other Unitarian Universalist churches, promotes progressive social work, such as desegregation and fighting for the rights of women and gays. The Knoxville congregation has provided sanctuary for political refugees, fed the homeless and founded a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, according to its Web site.Kemper said the gunman shouted before he opened fire.It was hateful words. He was saying hateful things, she said, but refused to elaborate.The FBI was assisting in the case in case it turns out be a hate crime, Police Chief Sterling Owen said. Police were taking statements from witnesses and collecting video cameras from church members who taped the performance.There were about 200 people watching a performance by 25 children based on the musical Annie when the shooting took place.
Church member Mark Harmon said he was in the first row. It had barely begun when there was an incredibly loud bang, he said.
Harmon said he thought the noise was part of the play, then he heard a second loud bang. As he dove for cover, he realized a woman behind him was bleeding. She looked like she was in shock, touching her wound, he said.It seems so unreal, Harmon said. You're sitting in church, you're watching a children's performance of a play and suddenly you hear a bang.Harmon said church members just behind him in the second and third rows were shot. His wife told him that she saw the gunman pull the shotgun out of a guitar case.Witnesses reported hearing about three blasts from the .12-gauge shotgun, which spreads pellets out when the shot leaves the barrel. Witnesses said they did not recognize the gunman.Church members said the gunman was tackled by John Bohstedt, who played Daddy Warbucks in the performance. He declined comment when reached by phone at his home. Friends of McKendry said he was friendly with everyone. Greg McKendry was a very large gentlemen, one of those people you might describe as a refrigerator with a head, said member Schera Chadwick, whose husband, Ted Lollis, arrived at the church just after the shooting. He looked like a football player. He did obviously stand up and put himself in between the shooter and the congregation.McKendry and his wife had recently taken in a foster child. The church's minister was on vacation in western North Carolina at the time of the shooting but returned Sunday afternoon. We've been touched by a horrible act of violence. We are in a process of healing and we ask everyone for your prayers, the Rev. Chris Buice said in a statement outside the church. I will tell you we love Greg McKendry. We are grieving the loss of a wonderful man.Associated Press writers Beth Rucker in Knoxville and Cara Rubinsky and Anna Varela in Atlanta contributed to this report. On the Net: http://www.tvuuc.org
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.
HUGH BRUSH FIRE NEAR YOSIMITE
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RAW VIDEO - CAL WILDFIRE THREATEN HOLMES
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Fire destroys 12 homes near Yosemite National Park By TRACIE CONE, Associated Press Writer JULY 28,08
MARIPOSA, Calif. - An out-of-control wildfire burning Sunday near an entrance to Yosemite National Park has destroyed 12 homes and threatened thousands more as flames forced authorities to cut power to the park. The blaze has charred more than 26,000 acres since Friday as wooded slopes ignited amid hot, dry conditions that have plagued California for months. Besides the homes destroyed, the fire has also engulfed 27 other buildings.There's no fire history in the past 100 hundred years. That's one of the reasons this fire's been able to burn so erratically, said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.In Southern California, about 4,000 visitors were evacuated Sunday from the Los Angeles zoo as a fast-moving brush fire burned nearby in Griffith Park.Flames came within about 1,000 feet of a California condor enclosure in the zoo, forcing the relocation of the condors and two vultures, zoo spokesman Jason Jacobs said.The fire had burned about 25 acres and was contained in under three hours, Los Angeles fire officials said. No injuries were reported.Meanwhile, near Yosemite National Park, the wildfire led officials to order the evacuations of 195 homes under immediate threat. About 2,000 homes faced at least some danger from the fast-spreading flames, fire officials said. No injuries were reported.
State fire spokeswoman Karen Guillemin said the blaze was sparked by someone target shooting but would not elaborate.Most of the evacuated homes are in the town of Midpines, about 12 miles from the park. The southern edge of the blaze was as little as two miles from Mariposa, a town of about 1,800 residents, Berlant said.
Mary Ann Porter, a nursing assistant who lives in Midpines, left her goats, chickens and dog when she evacuated Sunday morning. Porter, who lives with her daughter and grandchildren, said the family took pictures and some computer hard drives.One of the blessings of living up here is that you adapt and learn to accept things, she said, sitting a table reading a newspaper in the evacuation center in Mariposa.Some homeowners defied evacuation orders to stay and defend their properties.My house is about 100 yards from some fire right now and that's freaking me out, said John Romero, who answered his phone during a break from digging trenches and clearing brush with a little tractor.To protect firefighters battling flames beneath power lines, electricity was cut to a wide area, fire officials said. The transmission line that fed power to Yosemite was also destroyed in the fire, said James Guidi Jr., a spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric.Some park buildings were closed because of the power outage, but generators were still providing hotels, stores and other heavily used park facilities with electricity, park spokeswoman Julie Chavez said.
Mobile generators were being set up to restore power to the whole park and about 500 customers nearby by Monday evening. In all, about 1,000 customers had lost power, Guidi said.Authorities reported the death of a second firefighter in as many days.A firefighter believed to be a fire chief from Washington state died Saturday while scouting a blaze in Northern California, Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said Sunday. The 250-acre fire had prevented crews from recovering the body to make a positive identification, but several other firefighters identified the victim as Daniel Packer, 49, of Lake Tapps, Wash., Gravenkamp said. Packer was the immediate past president of the Washington Fire Chiefs Association, according to Brian Schaeffer, assistant fire chief in Spokane, Wash. On Friday, Washington state firefighter Andrew Palmer, 18, died after he was hit by a falling tree while battling another Northern California wildfire. In south-central Montana, the fire in the Custer National Forest had grown to more than 2,500 acres by Sunday evening and burned five summer homes and an outhouse in the historic Camp Senia area. Authorities said a mapping error earlier overestimated the number of acres burned at 3,580. At the Red Lodge Mountain Ski Resort, employees stood by, ready to turn on snowmaking equipment to send cascades of water against the fast-moving fire, said Forest Service fire information officer Jeff Gildehaus. Associated Press writer Jason Dearen contributed to this report from San Francisco.
Israeli defence minister to visit US Sun Jul 27, 7:28 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak is to travel to the United States on Monday for talks with senior officials expected to focus on Iran. Public radio said the talks are expected to focus on the Islamic republic's nuclear programme, which Israel views as a major strategic threat, and on preserving the qualitative advantage of the Jewish state's armed forces.A defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the agenda of the talks, but said Barak planned to meet Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, senior military officials and members of Congress.
Barak is also expected to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, he said.In an interview with public radio Amos Gilad, a senior adviser to Barak, said the defence minister would discuss the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear programme.This is a very important visit. Israel cannot tolerate living under an Iranian nuclear threat, Gilad said. For the moment our priority is the diplomatic track, but Israel has to be prepared to use all options.Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former defence minister involved in US-Israeli strategic relations, is also expected in Washington on Wednesday, and he too will meet Cheney and Rice, his spokesman told AFP.The main subject under discussion will be the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear programme to the entire region, the spokesman said.
Mofaz, who is expected to be a candidate to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a party primary in September, sparked a political firestorm in June when he said Israel would attack Iran if it did not halt its nuclear drive.Israel's army chief of staff said on a visit to Washington last week that he favoured a diplomatic solution to the impasse over Tehran's nuclear programme but that all options must be prepared.The United States and Israel suspect Iran's nuclear drive is aimed at developing an atomic bomb, a claim vehemently denied by Tehran which says its programme is designed for civilian use only.Israel, the region's sole if undeclared nuclear power, considers Iran its main strategic threat because of its nuclear programme and repeated predictions by senior Iranian leaders of the Jewish state's demise.Public radio has quoted Olmert as saying that Iran could have a nuclear weapon by the end of 2009, fuelling speculation that Israel may attempt to set its efforts back with a military strike.
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).
Two-speed Europe may emerge over divorce rules.Some 170,000 out of the 845,000 divorces annually in the EU involve couples of different nationalities (Photo: European Commission)RENATA GOLDIROVA
25.07.2008 @ 17:23 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - In the face of long-lasting deadlock, a group of nine EU states have decided to take the unprecedented path of closer co-operation and apply common rules for divorce between couples of different European nationality. A Friday (25 July) debate between EU justice ministers once again demonstrated that the 27-nation bloc was unable to introduce pan-European rules allowing mixed-nationality couples a certain degree of autonomy in choosing the court and applicable law in case of divorce. Austria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovenia and Spain have teamed up in order to formally request the European Commission launch the so-called enhanced co-operation mechanism - allowing a group of countries to move ahead in one particular area, even though other states are opposed. It is expected that they will make the request on Monday (28 July), one diplomat told the EUobserver. It is the first time such a move has been made.It will then be up to the commission to make a legal proposal based on the request. This proposal will then go back to member states where it needs to be approved by a qualified majority of governments.
A controversial and politically sensitive issue anyway, this route for dealing with the divorce question has further irked some capitals because, under normal procedures, a decision in this area would have to be taken by unanimity. Reacting to the move by the nine member states, EU justice commissioner Jacques Barrot said: The commission will have to examine all the political, legal and practical implications of such an enhanced co-operation.We need to get a clearer idea, he added. Currently, some 170,000 out of the 845,000 divorces annually in the EU involve couples of different nationalities. With free movement, it is surely reassuring for [couples] to know that when something were to happen and they break up then they will have the same rights and they will be protected wherever they are in the EU, French justice minister Rachida Dati said. Under the foreseen rules, if a Czech-German couple living in Belgium decide to divorce, spouses would be allowed to choose the competent court and the law to apply to their case. Should they fail to agree, the couple would be automatically referred to a court in Belgium, their place of residence. Malta and Sweden are widely considered the most reluctant to give the go-ahead to a EU-wide divorce scheme. Strongly Catholic Malta does not recognise divorce, while Stockholm fears that EU harmonisation in the area could threaten its liberal family law. Should the pioneering group achieve closer cooperation in this area, the mechanism must remain open to other countries as well. Germany, Belgium, Portugal and Lithuania are also believed to be considering joining the initiative.
WTO talks on verge of collapse LEIGH PHILLIPS 25.07.2008 @ 17:27 CET
Global trade talks could collapse, the head of the head of the World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy, warned on Friday (25 July).We need to change gears very quickly to turn things around, WTO director-general Lamy told delegations from 153 countries gathered in Geneva for negotiations on a worldwide free trade pact, according to his spokesperson.The situation as I see it is critical, edging between success and failure, he added.Some convergences have been recorded, but progress remains painfully slow after four days of ministerial-level negotiation, he continued. The world outside will not understand if we fail to grasp this opportunity to conclude a round that already has a great deal on the table, he said.He made the comments on the fifth day of what has widely been described as gruelling bargaining largely between two blocks: the developed world and its southern, less developed counterpart. The so-called Doha Round was launched seven years ago, but attempts at a deal have failed over the years. EU negotiators had hoped that a deal could be reached before the end of this year, fearful that a new US Congress and president, of whichever party, will be more protectionist as a result of the troubled American economy.Writing on his blog, the EU's trade chief, Peter Mandelson, described the talks as: some of the most difficult and confrontational negotiation of my time as European Trade Commissioner.
We are finally addressing the crunch issues. Everybody knows it, and the atmosphere ... is tense.The divide boils down to a demand on the part of EU and US, together with Japan, Australia and Canada, that developing world economies further open their markets to northern manufactured goods. In return, the north would reduce their agricultural subsidies, thus allowing farm products from the global south better access to the huge, wealthy American and European markets.Southern nations however, complain that the offers on the table amount to their opening up their protected industries to powerful northern competitors while the US and EU only marginally lower their domestic farm subsidies.Commissioner Mandelson complained of the stubbornness in particular of the larger economies within the global south such as China, India and Brazil.There is little sign of new flexibility from emerging economy negotiators, he wrote on his blog.Brazil offered bilateral deal on bioethanol.The commissioner offered the Brazilian foreign minister, Celso Amorim, a potential bilateral deal on new EU access for Brazil's bioethanol, a proposal currently under discussion in the European Parliament, which is reviewing European biofuels targets.Brazil has been very concerned that the growing consensus against biofuels will harm the potential for export to Europe of one of their most successful commodities, and been strongly lobbying the European institutions in recent months.Getting to that wider deal has to mean greater flexibility from Brazil for our exporters, said Mr Mandelson.
The commissioner demanded that Brazil provide greater market access for European cars and chemicals but Brazil has yet to react positively.Surprisingly, given the importance of [the biofuels] question in Brasilia, [Mr] Amorim seemed to dismiss the value of such an offer for Brazil, Mr Mandelson said.If certain people who are negotiating will not show any flexibility at all then it takes the rest of the negotiations hostage, complained the commissioner, according to AFP.The US, for its part, offered to limit its subsidy to $15 billion for its farmers on Tuesday. India, however, described the offer as welcome but not enough. Other developing nations complained that its current subsidy was already lower than that. Saturday is the last scheduled day for negotiations, although talks may continue if participants feel they are close to a deal.
Obama rallies Europe for war on terror
PHILIPPA RUNNER 25.07.2008 @ 09:14 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama urged Europe and a strong EU to stand by the US in a war on extremism in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, in a poetic speech delivered to 200,000 people in Berlin's Tiergarten Park on Thursday (24 July) evening. We must defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it. This threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it, he told the huge crowd. We can...dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman, in London and Bali, in Washington and New York.
Speaking at times of a new global security partnership that would involve Russia, Mr Obama focused on a traditional Atlanticist model in which the US and Europe use a mixture of warfare, diplomacy and aid to bring democracy and a market economy to strategic regions.
America has no better partner than Europe, he said, adding we need a strong European Union that deepens the security and prosperity of this continent, while extending a hand abroad, and calling NATO the greatest alliance ever formed to defend our common security.On Afghanistan, the presidential hopeful said the Afghan people need our troops and your troops to defeat the Taliban. More ambiguously on Iraq, he called for European support in order to pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close.Mr Obama urged Europe to send a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions and to back pro-democracy movements in Lebanon. He also appealed for help for refugees and dissidents in Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow, said Mr Obama, whose father was Kenyan.
Mea culpa
Walking a tightrope between the sensibilities of US voters and his anti-Iraq war, anti-Guantanamo Bay European audience, he admitted We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.
Mr Obama also apologised for America's past refusal to join international agreements on climate change, saying Let us resolve that all nations - including my own - will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere.In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe's role in our security and our future. Both views miss the truth.
Pop-star status
The event saw Mr Obama greeted like a pop-star in a festival atmosphere, with young people pressed against barriers trying to shake his hand and the crowd roaring its approval when he spoke of nuclear disarmament, common humanity or the improbable hope for a better world. A muted silence descended when he spoke of your troops in Afghanistan.A recent poll showed that between 74 and 82 percent of German, French and British people back the Democrat against Republican candidate John McCain. But US surveys show Mr Obama leads by just one to seven points ahead of the 4 November American elections. He will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on Friday and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London on Saturday, having travelled to Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Israel and the Palestinian territories in the past week.
Not president yet
Mr McCain, who ate in a German restaurant in Ohio the same day, criticised his rival for posing as a leader before the November vote. I'd love to give a speech in Germany but I'd much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate, he said.Left-wing commentators in the US were also taken aback by Mr Obama's tone, with New York Times reporter Katherine Q. Seelye writing One unusual thing about this speech: can anyone recall another time when an American who is not president has gone overseas and asked another country for its troops? European reactions also focused on the hawkish nature of the address. He went onto German turf and asked for more troops in Afghanistan...This will probably create some embarrassment, especially among Europe's progressive forces, which already consider Obama a symbol, Rome's Center for Strategic Studies analyst Germano Dottori told AP.
New space race heats up with unveiling of aircraft By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer Sun Jul 27, 6:36 AM ET
LOS ANGELES - Aerospace engineers have been holed up in a Mojave Desert hangar for four years, fashioning a commercial spaceship to loft rich tourists some 62 miles above Earth. Now the wraps come partially off the top-secret project. British billionaire Sir Richard Branson and American aerospace designer Burt Rutan are due Monday to show off their mothership, which is designed to air launch a passenger-toting spaceship out of the atmosphere.The rollout — a year after a deadly accident at Rutan's test site — marks the start of a rigorous flight test program that space tourism advocates hope will climax with the first suborbital joy rides by the end of the decade. More than 250 wannabe astronauts have paid $200,000 or put down deposits for a chance to float weightless for a mere five minutes.Having invested all my faith in it, I'm so excited to see the actual thing, said artist Namira Salim, a customer who is lined up for a ride on Branson's Virgin Galactic.The last time there was this level of buzz in the high desert north of Los Angeles was in 2004, when throngs of spectators gathered to witness SpaceShipOne capture the $10 million Ansari X Prize by becoming the first private, manned craft to reach space. It was designed by Rutan and bankrolled by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen.SpaceShipOne ushered in a new space age dominated by deep-pocketed entrepreneurs with dreams of making space voyages as mundane as airplane travel. That vision remains unfulfilled.Among the new space entrepreneurs is the swashbuckling Branson, who teamed with Rutan's publicity-shy Scaled Composites LLC to commercialize SpaceShipOne. Its successor, SpaceShipTwo, is being designed out of the public eye, along with the carrier aircraft White Knight Two.
They've been hyping this and selling tickets, said Alan Radecki, a helicopter mechanic and aviation photographer who follows the private space race. This is the first time they're going to have hardware to show people.Branson previously heralded 2008 as the Year of the Spaceship. In January, he and Rutan offered a sneak peek of their commercial partnership, showing off scale models of the mothership and the spacecraft it will launch.Though technical details remain guarded, tidbits about the vehicles have trickled out: The twin-fuselage White Knight Two will have the same wingspan — 140 feet — as the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the World War II bomber.It will launch SpaceShipTwo, which will be the size of a corporate Gulfstream capable of carrying six passengers and two pilots. Both will be built wholly from ultra-light composite materials.Only White Knight Two will be unveiled at Monday's rollout, expected to be attended by politicians, government regulators and space tourism customers. Flight testing is slated for the end of September after ground tests in August.Meanwhile, SpaceShipTwo is only about 70 percent complete, said Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn.Observers of the infant private spaceflight industry are encouraged by the progress, but note that the main attraction — the actual spaceship that will carry passengers — is yet to come.It's a positive step forward, said space analyst John Logsdon of George Washington University. The real indication of progress will be showing a spaceship that's on the path that's ready to fly.Monday's unveiling comes a year after an explosion at Scaled Composites' test site killed three technicians. The company, now owned by Northrop Grumman Corp., is appealing a state fine of $28,870 for workplace violations in connection with the blast, which occurred during the development of SpaceShipTwo's propellant system.Exactly when tourists will experience zero gravity or see Earth's curvature is unknown, but the project already lags Virgin Galactic's 2004 prediction that passengers would be in space last year.Whitehorn declined to set a date for commercial travel, but he said the earliest flights to space could be late 2009 or early 2010. The maiden voyage has been reserved for Branson and his family; Virgin Galactic plans to rename the aircraft Eve after Branson's mother, a former glider pilot instructor and flight attendant.
Plans call for White Knight Two to carry SpaceShipTwo 50,000 feet in the air, tucked beneath its single 140-foot wing, before releasing it. SpaceShipTwo will then power its hybrid rocket and climb into space. Before gliding back to Earth, it will use a Rutan-designed feathering technique — in which the wings are rotated upward from the fuselage to reduce the heat of re-entry. The 2 1/2-hour trip is expected to include about five minutes of weightlessness. Unlike the space shuttle that orbits Earth, early space tourism plans involve flights that simply go up and come back down. Virgin Galactic has pledged more than $250 million toward the project; about $100 million has been spent so far, Whitehorn said.
Virgin Galactic already has lofty plans for White Knight Two besides space tourism. Company executives envision the aircraft can be used as a launcher of small satellites into low Earth orbit. With the proper permits, the craft can also be adapted to fight wildfires or be used as an emergency rescue vehicle. First, though, it needs to emerge from its secret hangar before it can get off the ground. On the Net: Virgin Galactic: http://www.virgingalactic.com
Scaled Composites: http://www.scaled.com
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)
CREDIT CRUNCH AND THE ECONOMY
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DO THE RICH FEEL THE ECONOMIC CRUNCH
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Inflation's next front is retailers as costs rise By ELLEN SIMON, AP Business Writer JULY 28,08
NEW YORK - Coming to a store near you: Even higher prices.
Most inflation this year has come from food and fuel, as retailers resisted passing along to strapped consumers the higher prices manufacturers charged them, but coming increases from companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Hasbro Inc. may leave them with no choice.While these increases have not for the most part been passed on at the retail level, it is inevitable that they will be at some point, said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Car dealers and other retailers cannot continue to absorb rising costs at the wholesale level and not pass some of these increases on to consumers.Sherwin Williams Co. on July 17 announced its third price increase in eight months. The company has been having difficult discussions with retailers, Chris Connor, chairman and CEO, said on its quarterly conference call.The price increases are well supported with facts in terms of why the company needs them, he said. Our customers, to the best of their ability, are passing them on.Hasbro said the retailers it sells to didn't like price increases the company announced Monday but they recognize that their own private-label costs are going up and they've accepted it.The increases leave retailers in a bind: They can keep prices steady and cut profit margins or raise prices and risk losing sales.Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been in the lead of aggressively keeping prices down, pressuring its competitors to do the same.
We have seen inflation and we have passed some of that through, said John Simley, a Wal-Mart spokesman. We have, wherever possible, worked with our suppliers to reduce the inflationary impact as much as possible.Costco Wholesale Corp. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter earnings would be well-below Wall Street estimates of $1 a share as it delays price increases. Stock in rival BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. fell more than 10 percent as investors feared the competitor would have to match Costco's prices.Some economists say that once Americans spend their $106.7 billion in tax rebate checks, consumer spending may shrivel, sparking a round of price cuts to entice shoppers. Others think price increases may be postponed, but they're on their way.Much of this depends on how much money consumers have after buying gas and groceries — and what kind of mood they're in once they've filled their tanks. On Friday, The Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment for July came in at 61.2, beating expectations and slightly better than the 28-year low of 56.4 hit in June. Still, the confidence index was at 90.4 a year ago.Even Costco said it won't swallow price increases from suppliers on key items, but would postpone passing them along to consumers, if only for a few weeks, because it wants to be the last retailer to raise prices.The company raised its prices for rotisserie chicken from $4.99 to $5.49 about three months ago. Last week, the prices rose to $5.99.I think the consumer is just starting to see, not only with us, rising commodity costs and rising general merchandise costs in a much bigger way then they've seen other than with gasoline itself, said Richard Galanti, Costco's chief financial officer, during a conference call Wednesday.Inflation hit 5 percent for the year in June, the highest it's been since 1991, but the price increases hitting manufacturers have been far worse.Prices manufacturers paid for crude materials rose 70 percent for the three months ended in June, but companies weren't able to pass all those increases along. Prices for the intermediate goods made from those materials rose much less, about 27 percent. The prices for finished products made from those goods rose 14 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index.Kimberly-Clark Corp., which makes Kleenex, Huggies diapers and Viva paper towels, said Thursday that energy and commodity cost increases this year would total as much as $900 million, double its prediction at the beginning of the year. Saying the company might raise prices for the second time this year, Chief Executive Thomas Falk added, The reality is that the rapid run-up in commodity costs has outpaced our ability to offset inflation in the near-term with price increases and other actions.
The increases keep coming.
Dow Chemical Co., the second largest chemical company in the world after Germany's BASF, is raising some prices by as much as 25 percent this month, following June price increases that were as high as 20 percent on all products. The increase is sure to put more pressure on manufacturers, since Dow's chemicals are used in everything from packing peanuts to frozen-food trays to diapers.
Associated Press Business Writer Anne D'Innocenzio contributed to this report. Ellen Simon covers the economy. She can be reached at esimon(at)ap.org.
Oil rises on Iran nuclear concerns By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer JULY 28,08
SINGAPORE - Oil prices rebounded Monday in Asia on comments by Iran's president suggesting a significant increase in the country's nuclear program, but worries about the faltering U.S. economy and crude demand continued to weigh on futures. Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 13 cents to $123.39 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore.The contract fell $2.23 to settle at $123.26 a barrel on Friday — oil's lowest point in weeks — as investors questioned whether crude has cooled enough to reflect a serious deterioration in demand.But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcement on Saturday that Iran now possesses 6,000 centrifuges raised concerns about an increase in tensions between Western powers and OPEC's second-largest producer over its nuclear program.The higher number, which is double the 3,000 uranium-enriching machines Iran had previously said it was operating, is certain to further rankle the United States and others who fear Tehran is intent on developing weapons.The comments by the Iranian president are a reminder that the Iranian situation remains fluid, said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consulting firm Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.In Nigeria, eight foreign oil workers who were kidnapped at gunpoint by six unidentified men in a speed boat on Saturday were released unharmed hours later, according to a Nigerian military spokesman. The abduction highlighted the risks of operating in the African nation, a major supplier to the U.S. Earlier in the week, Nigerian militants threatened to blow up pipelines in the region within a month.These events really remind the market that the geopolitical risks regarding Nigeria and Iran remain, Shum said. Overall, the market has weakened due to concerns over the faltering U.S. economy and slackening oil demand in the U.S., but supply side risks will still provide a high floor for pricing.
The magnitude of the sell-off over the past two weeks is stark. Crude has fallen in seven of the last nine sessions, and is down more than 16 percent from its peak above $147 a barrel earlier this month. Still, prices remain about 65 percent higher than at this time last year.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 1.68 cents to $3.5397 a gallon while gasoline prices added 0.67 cent to $3.039 a gallon. Natural gas futures added 9.9 cents to $9.183 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, Brent crude for September delivery rose 8 cents to $124.70 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
WORLD TERRORISM
2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
EXPLOSIONS HIT ISTANBUL
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Bombs strike Istanbul neighborhood, killing 16 By C. ONUR ANT, Associated Press Writer JULY 28,08
ISTANBUL, Turkey - Two bombs exploded minutes apart in a packed Istanbul square Sunday night, killing 16 and injuring more than 150 in the deadliest attack against civilians in Turkey in almost five years. The city's governor called it a terror attack but officials did not blame any specific group and no one immediately claimed responsibility. CNN-Turk television, citing security sources, said police suspect Kurdish rebels may be behind it because intelligence reports had suggested the rebels were planning a bombing campaign in Turkish cities.There is no doubt that this is a terror attack, Gov. Muammer Guler told reporters.The first bomb went off in the residential neighborhood of Gungoren in a busy square closed to traffic where people congregate at night, witnesses said. A number of people had rushed over to see what happened and help the victims when a second, more powerful blast hit close by about 10 minutes after the first. Many of the casualties were from the second explosion, witnesses said.The fact that there was a crowd in the area has increased the number of casualties, the governor said.
Government officials said 16 people were killed and 154 injured.
An Associated Press reporter who arrived to the scene shortly after the explosions saw at least 12 people lying on the ground. Broken glass, clothing, shop mannequins and other debris were strewn on the ground and bomb squads in white overalls were inspecting the scene.Many of the injured waited for medical treatment, their faces and bodies covered with blood. Several people who appeared seriously wounded were wrapped in blankets and carried to ambulances waiting near the site of the blasts.The first explosion was in a telephone booth, said Huseyin Senturk, who owns a shoe shop yards away from where the blasts occurred. The second explosion was some 40 meters (yards) away.The first explosion was not very strong, Senturk added. Several people came to see what was going on. That's when the second explosion occurred and it injured many onlookers.The second explosion could be heard a mile away, witnesses said. The governor said the bombs were planted in trash cans.The attack was the country's worst since November 20, 2003 when al-Qaida linked suicide bombings struck the British consulate and a British bank, killing at least 30 people. Five days earlier, suicide truck bombs attacked two Istanbul synagogues, killing 27.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul strongly condemned Sunday's bombings.No goals can be achieved with violence, killing innocent people and terrorism, Gul said in a written statement. These attacks show how inhumane and miserable the instigators are.
Police were investigating who was behind the blasts.
We know it is a terrorist attack, but which organization is responsible — we don't yet have that information, Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici told journalists at the scene of the attacks.
Kurdish, leftist and Islamic militants are active in Istanbul and have carried out past bombings in the city.On July 9, gunmen believed to be inspired by al-Qaida opened fire on police guarding the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, killing three officers. Three attackers also died in a shootout with police. Kurdish rebels belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, have been fighting for self-rule in southeastern Turkey since 1984. The violence has killed tens of thousands of people since then. Turkey has conducted frequent air raids on suspected rebel positions in northern Iraq, including one earlier Sunday. Earlier this year, it launched a weeklong ground offensive against the rebels. Although most of the fighting in concentrated in rural areas of southeastern Turkey, the rebels occasionally launch bombing campaigns in Turkish cities and tourist resorts. Sunday's attack also came a day ahead of the scheduled start of a top court's deliberations on whether to ban the Islamic-oriented ruling party because of its alleged attempts to undermine secularism. The legal case has raised political tensions in Turkey, where the government is locked in a power struggle with elements of the secular establishment backed by the military and judiciary. But it was not clear whether the bombings were linked to the case.
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.
Typhoon hits Taiwan, markets closed Monday Sun Jul 27, 9:39 PM ET
TAIPEI (Reuters) - A typhoon packing wind gusts of up to 191 kph and forecast to dump up to a metre of rain in places was on course to hit Taiwan on Monday morning, prompting cancellation of work and market closures. Typhoon Fung-Wong, Chinese for phoenix, was moving northwest at 13 kph, set to make landfall late Monday morning near the city of Hualien, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said on its website (http://www.cwb.gov.tw).The storm's approach generated rough sea warnings as markets, offices and schools across the island shut for the day.Transport was disrupted with most domestic flights and rail service suspended, although media reported that international flights were still operating at Taiwan's main international airport at Taoyuan.Heavy rains began to fall in the early hours of Monday morning and were expected to continue throughout the day, with some of the hardest hit areas expected to receive up to 1,000 mm of rain, according to forecasts.Tropical Storm Risk (http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com) said Fung-Wong was a category 2 storm, and would likely be downgraded to a category 1 storm over the next 24 hours as it crossed Taiwan and headed toward China. A category 2 storm is defined as having maximum sustained winds of 154-177 kph.From Taiwan, the storm is expected to cross over the Taiwan Strait and arrive in south China's Fujian province on Monday night or Tuesday morning.In Fujian, authorities evacuated over 270,000 people ahead of the storm's arrival.
Chinese media quoted weather experts as saying Fung-Wong might become the most powerful storm to hit East Asia this year with heavy rain expected to fall over a long period.Fung-Wong is the second typhoon to hit Taiwan in the last two weeks. On July 18, typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 20 people and caused extensive flooding, landslides and crop damage in the south and central part of the island.(Reporting by Doug Young in Taipei and Guo Shipeng in Beijing)
RAW VIDEO - DOLLY IN NEW MEXICO
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300 evacuated from flooding in Ruidoso, N.M., area Sun Jul 27, 6:14 PM ET
About 300 people were evacuated from homes, campgrounds and a recreational vehicle park Sunday after flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Dolly.Meteorologists said more than 6 inches of rain fell in the mountainous area, and flash flood watches were in effect for central and eastern New Mexico.The Rio Ruidoso went over its banks about midnight, said Tom Schafer, Ruidoso's emergency management coordinator.Water's just going everywhere, Schafer said.State officials estimated more than 60 homes have been damaged.A police helicopter was sent to rescue people reported to be standing on buildings and vehicles, but no one was found, state Department of Public Safety spokesman Peter Olson said. A dive team was also sent to rescue people from the flooded areas, he said.
Earlier, four people were rescued after being trapped by rising water, but no one was seriously injured, Schafer said.People evacuated from the Bonito Creek Campground was sent to a nearby church, he said.Most of the 40 or so people who showed up at the Angus Hill Church of the Nazarene were campers who just came up for a nice weekend and were flooded out, said Sue Hutchinson, who operates a first aid clinic at the church.Several campers said they awakened when their tents began floating down the river, Hutchinson said.Several bridges and roads in the area were closed, including part of U.S. 70.Part of the race track at Ruidoso Downs flooded, canceling the entire Sunday race card.The race track is a river. I've never seen it like this here, trainer Joel Marr said.
At least 16 dead in flooding in Ukraine, Romania: governments Sun Jul 27, 2:11 PM ET
KIEV (AFP) - At least 16 people have died in severe storms and flooding in western Ukraine and northern Romania that forced almost 20,000 people to abandon their homes, authorities said Sunday. The government in Kiev said 13 people, including five children, had been killed and two were missing, while authorities in Bucharest issued a toll of three dead and two missing.In Ukraine around 6,700 people were evacuated after 21,000 homes were flooded in regions close to the border with Romania, the emergency situations ministry said.Three hundred towns and villages have lost electricity and about 400 bridges have been damaged, it said.President Viktor Yushchenko arrived in the region on Sunday to assess the damage, his press service said. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was also expected to travel there, Interfax news agency reported.Seven of the dead were in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, and the other six in the Chernivtsy region, the ministry said.Earlier it said two victims died when they were struck by lightning and a third in a landslide.Authorities in Romania said a 30-year-old mother, her son and another youngster, who had taken refuge from the swollen waters in a house built on a hill, died when a landslip swept the building away in the northern district of Maramures.Two other people had also been carried off by the floodwaters, the secretary of state at the interior ministry, Victor Paul Dobre, said.One of those was a 14-year-old boy, separated from his father's hand by the rising waters.Almost 12,900 people had been evacuated and more than 9,200 homes flooded, according to government figures.Almost 19,000 hectares (almost 50,000 acres) have been affected, including 6,200 wells, 500 kilometres (310 miles) of roads and 1,000 bridges.
Some 3,650 security forces and volunteers had been mobilised Sunday to build dykes, help evacuate people and animals in danger and to distribute aid.Authorities expected the torrential rains to ease off later in the day, although a red alert was to remain in force through until Monday afternoon for six north-eastern districts.
Hurricane Dolly remnants bring downpour to El Paso Sat Jul 26, 10:10PM ET
EL PASO, Texas - Heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Dolly is closing streets and flooding homes in El Paso, and is blamed for causing the death of one person in New Mexico. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that a passenger in a sport utility vehicle was killed when the vehicle hit a large puddle and rolled over. The driver and two children were hospitalized.National Weather Service meteorologist says some areas of El Paso have gotten as much as 3 inches of rain.The city says it has received 17 reports of flooding in homes. There are 10 reports of street flooding.The Texas Transportation Department says the Trans Mountain Highway is closed due to rock slides caused by the rain and is expected to reopen Saturday night.
50,000 ordered to evacuate in flooded Japan JULY 28,08
TOKYO - Heavy rain caused floods and mudslides in central Japan Monday, prompting orders to evacuate more than 50,000 people, officials said. The downpour overflowed the banks of the Asano River. Brown water gushed into the city of Kanazawa, flooding houses and leading authorities to issue an evacuation order across the town, said Hiroyuki Tatsuda, spokesman of the city of Kanazawa, about 180 miles northwest of Tokyo.We were inundated just in a couple hours this morning, Tatsuda said. We haven't had such heavy rain for years.The city lifted the evacuation order by midmorning Monday after the rain subsided, Tatsuda said. More than 800 people had taken refuge at community centers. City officials were still assessing the extent of damage to houses and buildings.The flooding also temporarily left 500 households without electricity and caused train delays.Heavy rain also fell in nearby Toyama prefecture, where a 53-year-old man was seriously injured after being swallowed by a mudslide while driving near a tunnel, local police official Shinichi Tomiya said. The man suffered a broken leg, arm, rib and shoulder but was conscious when he was later dug from the mud and taken to a nearby hospital.More than 4 inches of rain fell in the region, the nation's weather agency said.
Floods strip Midwest of tons of valuable topsoil By DEANNA MARTIN, Associated Press Writer Sun Jul 27, 7:27 PM ET
MARTINSVILLE, Ind. - Jim Lankford's corn crops used to stretch to the White River. Now the river has stretched itself through his crops. The river eroded a new route for itself during June's flooding, a channel with steep 12-foot banks at the edge of some of Lankford's corn fields about 30 miles southwest of Indianapolis. The flood spread rocks in other spots, making it look as if Lankford planted soybeans in a gravel road. Elsewhere, silt is piled up like sand dunes and uprooted trees still litter cornfields more than a month after the floods.It's the worst I've ever seen in my life for this area, the 62-year-old farmer said.The flooding that swamped large areas of the Midwest took with it some of the region's most valuable resource: soil.Now farmers and environmentalists are at odds over what to do with erosion-prone land — take their chances planting crops on marginal land in hopes of good yields and high grain prices, or plant trees, native grasses or ground cover that act as a natural flood buffer.The floods may have caused up to $3 billion in crop losses in Iowa and $800 million in crop damage in Indiana, according to estimates from agriculture secretaries in those states.
Erosion damage is harder to tally.
In Wisconsin, flooding damaged about $2.8 million worth of conservation structures, such as dams, levees, ditches and waterways, said Don Baloun, a farm conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service in Madison, Wis.Some land in Illinois is still submerged.It could be fall for some of our counties on the Mississippi River before we see what kind of damage farmers did experience as far as erosion, said Donald King of Illinois' USDA's Farm Service Agency.Erosion robs farmers of the nutrient-rich topsoil their growing plants need.
It takes thousands of years to form one inch of topsoil, said Jane Hardisty, Indiana's state conservationist. Within a day, we lost it. It's just devastating.It's also an issue downstream, where sediment diminishes water quality. Scientists think the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico — oxygen-depleted water off the Texas-Louisiana coast that can't support kill marine life — is likely to be worse this year partly because of the flood runoff.States have set up programs to keep their soil. Missouri, for example, has nearly halved its rate of soil loss since the mid-1980s, when it dedicated a special tax that generates $42 million a year for soil-conserving practices such as terraces, retention ponds and grazing rotations.The conversion of row-crop land to pastures over the last 20 years in northern Missouri also has helped conserve the precious few inches of top soil left in that part of the state, said Bill Foster, who heads the state's soil and water conservation program.
If we lose very many more inches of soil, we won't be farming, Foster said. It's critical to keep in place.The Farm Service Agency's Conservation Reserve Program also helps. The $2 billion-a-year federal program pays farmers not to plant crops, instead returning land to its native state. That saves an estimated 450 million tons of soil each year.However, that program isn't without controversy. Environmental groups recently sought a federal court injunction to stop hay production and cattle grazing on some conservation land. A judge in Seattle ruled that the USDA did not conduct an appropriate environmental review, but said a reversal would be unfair to farmers and ranchers counting on using that land. Conservation program officials announced earlier this month that farmers in flooded-damaged areas of 16 states could graze livestock on conservation land to help them cope with rising grain prices and flood damage. Our CRP land is vital to the balance we promote at USDA between production and preservation, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said. I commit this resource knowing that we must redouble our conservation effort at every future opportunity.
One of the program's founders, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., wants to also allow farmers to plant crops on more stable conservation land.
Environmental groups say there are risks to opening up conservation program land to planting. Marginal land planted with ground cover or trees acts as a natural flood barrier, said Sara Hopper, director of agricultural policy for the Environmental Defense Fund. Planting crops could mean less protection against floods, she said.
It's going to make a bad situation worse, particularly over the long run, she said. Lankford, the Indiana farmer, faces a difficult decision for his flood-damaged land. He could replant corn in an effort to make money off the field, but that would take cash to rebuild a breached levee and haul hundreds of truck loads of topsoil to replace his lost land. He could also consider the conservation reserve program, or he could simply abandon the affected field. Another big flood could come again next year, he said, or not for another hundred years. Traditionally, farmers are optimists, and I know I'm that way. They always think Well, next year will be better,Lankford said. You know there's risks. Sometimes it's worse than you think.Associated Press writers Robert Imrie in Wausau, Wis., Amy Lorentzen in Des Moines, Iowa, and Cheryl Wittenauer and Jim Suhr in St. Louis contributed to this report.
PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS
JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME
PSALMS 14:1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
ISAIAH 53:4
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
MATTHEW 9:34
34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.
JOHN 8:41
41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
JOHN 10:20
20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?
PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11(JESUS GETS REVENGE)
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.(JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST AND FOR SINNERS, THE GREAT WHITE THRONE FINAL JUDGEMENT).
WE ARE CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE TREATED THE SAME.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5 (WHY WE ARE PERSECUTED BY THE WORLD)
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
MATTHEW 5:10-12
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
MATTHEW 24:9
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
JOHN 15:18-20
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me (JESUS) before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain(BEHEADED) for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
DEADLY CHURCH SHOOTING
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2 DEAD, 7 INJURED IN CHURCH SHOOTING
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Gunman opens fire in Tennessee church, 2 killed By DUNCAN MANSFIELD, Associated Press Writer JULY 27,08
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A gunman opened fire at a church youth performance Sunday and killed two people, including a man who witnesses called a hero for shielding others from a shotgun blast. Seven adults were also injured but no children were harmed at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Church members said they dove under pews or ran from the building when the shooting started.The gunman was tackled by congregants and eventually taken into police custody.Jim D. Adkisson, 58, was charged with first-degree murder and was being held on $1 million bail, according to city spokesman Randy Kenner, who did not know if the suspect had retained an attorney. Authorities were searching Adkisson's home in the Knoxville bedroom community of Powell, Kenner said.
The man slain was identified as Greg McKendry, 60, a longtime church member and usher. Church member Barbara Kemper told The Associated Press that McKendry stood in the front of the gunman and took the blast to protect the rest of us.Linda Kreager, 61, died at the University of Tennessee Medical Center a few hours after the shooting, Knoxville city spokesman Randall Kenner said.Five people remained hospitalized, all in critical or serious condition. Two others were treated and released.The gunman's motive is not yet known. The church, like many other Unitarian Universalist churches, promotes progressive social work, such as desegregation and fighting for the rights of women and gays. The Knoxville congregation has provided sanctuary for political refugees, fed the homeless and founded a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, according to its Web site.Kemper said the gunman shouted before he opened fire.It was hateful words. He was saying hateful things, she said, but refused to elaborate.The FBI was assisting in the case in case it turns out be a hate crime, Police Chief Sterling Owen said. Police were taking statements from witnesses and collecting video cameras from church members who taped the performance.There were about 200 people watching a performance by 25 children based on the musical Annie when the shooting took place.
Church member Mark Harmon said he was in the first row. It had barely begun when there was an incredibly loud bang, he said.
Harmon said he thought the noise was part of the play, then he heard a second loud bang. As he dove for cover, he realized a woman behind him was bleeding. She looked like she was in shock, touching her wound, he said.It seems so unreal, Harmon said. You're sitting in church, you're watching a children's performance of a play and suddenly you hear a bang.Harmon said church members just behind him in the second and third rows were shot. His wife told him that she saw the gunman pull the shotgun out of a guitar case.Witnesses reported hearing about three blasts from the .12-gauge shotgun, which spreads pellets out when the shot leaves the barrel. Witnesses said they did not recognize the gunman.Church members said the gunman was tackled by John Bohstedt, who played Daddy Warbucks in the performance. He declined comment when reached by phone at his home. Friends of McKendry said he was friendly with everyone. Greg McKendry was a very large gentlemen, one of those people you might describe as a refrigerator with a head, said member Schera Chadwick, whose husband, Ted Lollis, arrived at the church just after the shooting. He looked like a football player. He did obviously stand up and put himself in between the shooter and the congregation.McKendry and his wife had recently taken in a foster child. The church's minister was on vacation in western North Carolina at the time of the shooting but returned Sunday afternoon. We've been touched by a horrible act of violence. We are in a process of healing and we ask everyone for your prayers, the Rev. Chris Buice said in a statement outside the church. I will tell you we love Greg McKendry. We are grieving the loss of a wonderful man.Associated Press writers Beth Rucker in Knoxville and Cara Rubinsky and Anna Varela in Atlanta contributed to this report. On the Net: http://www.tvuuc.org
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.
HUGH BRUSH FIRE NEAR YOSIMITE
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RAW VIDEO - CAL WILDFIRE THREATEN HOLMES
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Fire destroys 12 homes near Yosemite National Park By TRACIE CONE, Associated Press Writer JULY 28,08
MARIPOSA, Calif. - An out-of-control wildfire burning Sunday near an entrance to Yosemite National Park has destroyed 12 homes and threatened thousands more as flames forced authorities to cut power to the park. The blaze has charred more than 26,000 acres since Friday as wooded slopes ignited amid hot, dry conditions that have plagued California for months. Besides the homes destroyed, the fire has also engulfed 27 other buildings.There's no fire history in the past 100 hundred years. That's one of the reasons this fire's been able to burn so erratically, said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.In Southern California, about 4,000 visitors were evacuated Sunday from the Los Angeles zoo as a fast-moving brush fire burned nearby in Griffith Park.Flames came within about 1,000 feet of a California condor enclosure in the zoo, forcing the relocation of the condors and two vultures, zoo spokesman Jason Jacobs said.The fire had burned about 25 acres and was contained in under three hours, Los Angeles fire officials said. No injuries were reported.Meanwhile, near Yosemite National Park, the wildfire led officials to order the evacuations of 195 homes under immediate threat. About 2,000 homes faced at least some danger from the fast-spreading flames, fire officials said. No injuries were reported.
State fire spokeswoman Karen Guillemin said the blaze was sparked by someone target shooting but would not elaborate.Most of the evacuated homes are in the town of Midpines, about 12 miles from the park. The southern edge of the blaze was as little as two miles from Mariposa, a town of about 1,800 residents, Berlant said.
Mary Ann Porter, a nursing assistant who lives in Midpines, left her goats, chickens and dog when she evacuated Sunday morning. Porter, who lives with her daughter and grandchildren, said the family took pictures and some computer hard drives.One of the blessings of living up here is that you adapt and learn to accept things, she said, sitting a table reading a newspaper in the evacuation center in Mariposa.Some homeowners defied evacuation orders to stay and defend their properties.My house is about 100 yards from some fire right now and that's freaking me out, said John Romero, who answered his phone during a break from digging trenches and clearing brush with a little tractor.To protect firefighters battling flames beneath power lines, electricity was cut to a wide area, fire officials said. The transmission line that fed power to Yosemite was also destroyed in the fire, said James Guidi Jr., a spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric.Some park buildings were closed because of the power outage, but generators were still providing hotels, stores and other heavily used park facilities with electricity, park spokeswoman Julie Chavez said.
Mobile generators were being set up to restore power to the whole park and about 500 customers nearby by Monday evening. In all, about 1,000 customers had lost power, Guidi said.Authorities reported the death of a second firefighter in as many days.A firefighter believed to be a fire chief from Washington state died Saturday while scouting a blaze in Northern California, Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said Sunday. The 250-acre fire had prevented crews from recovering the body to make a positive identification, but several other firefighters identified the victim as Daniel Packer, 49, of Lake Tapps, Wash., Gravenkamp said. Packer was the immediate past president of the Washington Fire Chiefs Association, according to Brian Schaeffer, assistant fire chief in Spokane, Wash. On Friday, Washington state firefighter Andrew Palmer, 18, died after he was hit by a falling tree while battling another Northern California wildfire. In south-central Montana, the fire in the Custer National Forest had grown to more than 2,500 acres by Sunday evening and burned five summer homes and an outhouse in the historic Camp Senia area. Authorities said a mapping error earlier overestimated the number of acres burned at 3,580. At the Red Lodge Mountain Ski Resort, employees stood by, ready to turn on snowmaking equipment to send cascades of water against the fast-moving fire, said Forest Service fire information officer Jeff Gildehaus. Associated Press writer Jason Dearen contributed to this report from San Francisco.
Israeli defence minister to visit US Sun Jul 27, 7:28 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak is to travel to the United States on Monday for talks with senior officials expected to focus on Iran. Public radio said the talks are expected to focus on the Islamic republic's nuclear programme, which Israel views as a major strategic threat, and on preserving the qualitative advantage of the Jewish state's armed forces.A defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the agenda of the talks, but said Barak planned to meet Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, senior military officials and members of Congress.
Barak is also expected to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, he said.In an interview with public radio Amos Gilad, a senior adviser to Barak, said the defence minister would discuss the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear programme.This is a very important visit. Israel cannot tolerate living under an Iranian nuclear threat, Gilad said. For the moment our priority is the diplomatic track, but Israel has to be prepared to use all options.Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former defence minister involved in US-Israeli strategic relations, is also expected in Washington on Wednesday, and he too will meet Cheney and Rice, his spokesman told AFP.The main subject under discussion will be the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear programme to the entire region, the spokesman said.
Mofaz, who is expected to be a candidate to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a party primary in September, sparked a political firestorm in June when he said Israel would attack Iran if it did not halt its nuclear drive.Israel's army chief of staff said on a visit to Washington last week that he favoured a diplomatic solution to the impasse over Tehran's nuclear programme but that all options must be prepared.The United States and Israel suspect Iran's nuclear drive is aimed at developing an atomic bomb, a claim vehemently denied by Tehran which says its programme is designed for civilian use only.Israel, the region's sole if undeclared nuclear power, considers Iran its main strategic threat because of its nuclear programme and repeated predictions by senior Iranian leaders of the Jewish state's demise.Public radio has quoted Olmert as saying that Iran could have a nuclear weapon by the end of 2009, fuelling speculation that Israel may attempt to set its efforts back with a military strike.
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).
Two-speed Europe may emerge over divorce rules.Some 170,000 out of the 845,000 divorces annually in the EU involve couples of different nationalities (Photo: European Commission)RENATA GOLDIROVA
25.07.2008 @ 17:23 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - In the face of long-lasting deadlock, a group of nine EU states have decided to take the unprecedented path of closer co-operation and apply common rules for divorce between couples of different European nationality. A Friday (25 July) debate between EU justice ministers once again demonstrated that the 27-nation bloc was unable to introduce pan-European rules allowing mixed-nationality couples a certain degree of autonomy in choosing the court and applicable law in case of divorce. Austria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovenia and Spain have teamed up in order to formally request the European Commission launch the so-called enhanced co-operation mechanism - allowing a group of countries to move ahead in one particular area, even though other states are opposed. It is expected that they will make the request on Monday (28 July), one diplomat told the EUobserver. It is the first time such a move has been made.It will then be up to the commission to make a legal proposal based on the request. This proposal will then go back to member states where it needs to be approved by a qualified majority of governments.
A controversial and politically sensitive issue anyway, this route for dealing with the divorce question has further irked some capitals because, under normal procedures, a decision in this area would have to be taken by unanimity. Reacting to the move by the nine member states, EU justice commissioner Jacques Barrot said: The commission will have to examine all the political, legal and practical implications of such an enhanced co-operation.We need to get a clearer idea, he added. Currently, some 170,000 out of the 845,000 divorces annually in the EU involve couples of different nationalities. With free movement, it is surely reassuring for [couples] to know that when something were to happen and they break up then they will have the same rights and they will be protected wherever they are in the EU, French justice minister Rachida Dati said. Under the foreseen rules, if a Czech-German couple living in Belgium decide to divorce, spouses would be allowed to choose the competent court and the law to apply to their case. Should they fail to agree, the couple would be automatically referred to a court in Belgium, their place of residence. Malta and Sweden are widely considered the most reluctant to give the go-ahead to a EU-wide divorce scheme. Strongly Catholic Malta does not recognise divorce, while Stockholm fears that EU harmonisation in the area could threaten its liberal family law. Should the pioneering group achieve closer cooperation in this area, the mechanism must remain open to other countries as well. Germany, Belgium, Portugal and Lithuania are also believed to be considering joining the initiative.
WTO talks on verge of collapse LEIGH PHILLIPS 25.07.2008 @ 17:27 CET
Global trade talks could collapse, the head of the head of the World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy, warned on Friday (25 July).We need to change gears very quickly to turn things around, WTO director-general Lamy told delegations from 153 countries gathered in Geneva for negotiations on a worldwide free trade pact, according to his spokesperson.The situation as I see it is critical, edging between success and failure, he added.Some convergences have been recorded, but progress remains painfully slow after four days of ministerial-level negotiation, he continued. The world outside will not understand if we fail to grasp this opportunity to conclude a round that already has a great deal on the table, he said.He made the comments on the fifth day of what has widely been described as gruelling bargaining largely between two blocks: the developed world and its southern, less developed counterpart. The so-called Doha Round was launched seven years ago, but attempts at a deal have failed over the years. EU negotiators had hoped that a deal could be reached before the end of this year, fearful that a new US Congress and president, of whichever party, will be more protectionist as a result of the troubled American economy.Writing on his blog, the EU's trade chief, Peter Mandelson, described the talks as: some of the most difficult and confrontational negotiation of my time as European Trade Commissioner.
We are finally addressing the crunch issues. Everybody knows it, and the atmosphere ... is tense.The divide boils down to a demand on the part of EU and US, together with Japan, Australia and Canada, that developing world economies further open their markets to northern manufactured goods. In return, the north would reduce their agricultural subsidies, thus allowing farm products from the global south better access to the huge, wealthy American and European markets.Southern nations however, complain that the offers on the table amount to their opening up their protected industries to powerful northern competitors while the US and EU only marginally lower their domestic farm subsidies.Commissioner Mandelson complained of the stubbornness in particular of the larger economies within the global south such as China, India and Brazil.There is little sign of new flexibility from emerging economy negotiators, he wrote on his blog.Brazil offered bilateral deal on bioethanol.The commissioner offered the Brazilian foreign minister, Celso Amorim, a potential bilateral deal on new EU access for Brazil's bioethanol, a proposal currently under discussion in the European Parliament, which is reviewing European biofuels targets.Brazil has been very concerned that the growing consensus against biofuels will harm the potential for export to Europe of one of their most successful commodities, and been strongly lobbying the European institutions in recent months.Getting to that wider deal has to mean greater flexibility from Brazil for our exporters, said Mr Mandelson.
The commissioner demanded that Brazil provide greater market access for European cars and chemicals but Brazil has yet to react positively.Surprisingly, given the importance of [the biofuels] question in Brasilia, [Mr] Amorim seemed to dismiss the value of such an offer for Brazil, Mr Mandelson said.If certain people who are negotiating will not show any flexibility at all then it takes the rest of the negotiations hostage, complained the commissioner, according to AFP.The US, for its part, offered to limit its subsidy to $15 billion for its farmers on Tuesday. India, however, described the offer as welcome but not enough. Other developing nations complained that its current subsidy was already lower than that. Saturday is the last scheduled day for negotiations, although talks may continue if participants feel they are close to a deal.
Obama rallies Europe for war on terror
PHILIPPA RUNNER 25.07.2008 @ 09:14 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama urged Europe and a strong EU to stand by the US in a war on extremism in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, in a poetic speech delivered to 200,000 people in Berlin's Tiergarten Park on Thursday (24 July) evening. We must defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it. This threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it, he told the huge crowd. We can...dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman, in London and Bali, in Washington and New York.
Speaking at times of a new global security partnership that would involve Russia, Mr Obama focused on a traditional Atlanticist model in which the US and Europe use a mixture of warfare, diplomacy and aid to bring democracy and a market economy to strategic regions.
America has no better partner than Europe, he said, adding we need a strong European Union that deepens the security and prosperity of this continent, while extending a hand abroad, and calling NATO the greatest alliance ever formed to defend our common security.On Afghanistan, the presidential hopeful said the Afghan people need our troops and your troops to defeat the Taliban. More ambiguously on Iraq, he called for European support in order to pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close.Mr Obama urged Europe to send a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions and to back pro-democracy movements in Lebanon. He also appealed for help for refugees and dissidents in Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow, said Mr Obama, whose father was Kenyan.
Mea culpa
Walking a tightrope between the sensibilities of US voters and his anti-Iraq war, anti-Guantanamo Bay European audience, he admitted We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.
Mr Obama also apologised for America's past refusal to join international agreements on climate change, saying Let us resolve that all nations - including my own - will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere.In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe's role in our security and our future. Both views miss the truth.
Pop-star status
The event saw Mr Obama greeted like a pop-star in a festival atmosphere, with young people pressed against barriers trying to shake his hand and the crowd roaring its approval when he spoke of nuclear disarmament, common humanity or the improbable hope for a better world. A muted silence descended when he spoke of your troops in Afghanistan.A recent poll showed that between 74 and 82 percent of German, French and British people back the Democrat against Republican candidate John McCain. But US surveys show Mr Obama leads by just one to seven points ahead of the 4 November American elections. He will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on Friday and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London on Saturday, having travelled to Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Israel and the Palestinian territories in the past week.
Not president yet
Mr McCain, who ate in a German restaurant in Ohio the same day, criticised his rival for posing as a leader before the November vote. I'd love to give a speech in Germany but I'd much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate, he said.Left-wing commentators in the US were also taken aback by Mr Obama's tone, with New York Times reporter Katherine Q. Seelye writing One unusual thing about this speech: can anyone recall another time when an American who is not president has gone overseas and asked another country for its troops? European reactions also focused on the hawkish nature of the address. He went onto German turf and asked for more troops in Afghanistan...This will probably create some embarrassment, especially among Europe's progressive forces, which already consider Obama a symbol, Rome's Center for Strategic Studies analyst Germano Dottori told AP.
New space race heats up with unveiling of aircraft By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer Sun Jul 27, 6:36 AM ET
LOS ANGELES - Aerospace engineers have been holed up in a Mojave Desert hangar for four years, fashioning a commercial spaceship to loft rich tourists some 62 miles above Earth. Now the wraps come partially off the top-secret project. British billionaire Sir Richard Branson and American aerospace designer Burt Rutan are due Monday to show off their mothership, which is designed to air launch a passenger-toting spaceship out of the atmosphere.The rollout — a year after a deadly accident at Rutan's test site — marks the start of a rigorous flight test program that space tourism advocates hope will climax with the first suborbital joy rides by the end of the decade. More than 250 wannabe astronauts have paid $200,000 or put down deposits for a chance to float weightless for a mere five minutes.Having invested all my faith in it, I'm so excited to see the actual thing, said artist Namira Salim, a customer who is lined up for a ride on Branson's Virgin Galactic.The last time there was this level of buzz in the high desert north of Los Angeles was in 2004, when throngs of spectators gathered to witness SpaceShipOne capture the $10 million Ansari X Prize by becoming the first private, manned craft to reach space. It was designed by Rutan and bankrolled by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen.SpaceShipOne ushered in a new space age dominated by deep-pocketed entrepreneurs with dreams of making space voyages as mundane as airplane travel. That vision remains unfulfilled.Among the new space entrepreneurs is the swashbuckling Branson, who teamed with Rutan's publicity-shy Scaled Composites LLC to commercialize SpaceShipOne. Its successor, SpaceShipTwo, is being designed out of the public eye, along with the carrier aircraft White Knight Two.
They've been hyping this and selling tickets, said Alan Radecki, a helicopter mechanic and aviation photographer who follows the private space race. This is the first time they're going to have hardware to show people.Branson previously heralded 2008 as the Year of the Spaceship. In January, he and Rutan offered a sneak peek of their commercial partnership, showing off scale models of the mothership and the spacecraft it will launch.Though technical details remain guarded, tidbits about the vehicles have trickled out: The twin-fuselage White Knight Two will have the same wingspan — 140 feet — as the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the World War II bomber.It will launch SpaceShipTwo, which will be the size of a corporate Gulfstream capable of carrying six passengers and two pilots. Both will be built wholly from ultra-light composite materials.Only White Knight Two will be unveiled at Monday's rollout, expected to be attended by politicians, government regulators and space tourism customers. Flight testing is slated for the end of September after ground tests in August.Meanwhile, SpaceShipTwo is only about 70 percent complete, said Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn.Observers of the infant private spaceflight industry are encouraged by the progress, but note that the main attraction — the actual spaceship that will carry passengers — is yet to come.It's a positive step forward, said space analyst John Logsdon of George Washington University. The real indication of progress will be showing a spaceship that's on the path that's ready to fly.Monday's unveiling comes a year after an explosion at Scaled Composites' test site killed three technicians. The company, now owned by Northrop Grumman Corp., is appealing a state fine of $28,870 for workplace violations in connection with the blast, which occurred during the development of SpaceShipTwo's propellant system.Exactly when tourists will experience zero gravity or see Earth's curvature is unknown, but the project already lags Virgin Galactic's 2004 prediction that passengers would be in space last year.Whitehorn declined to set a date for commercial travel, but he said the earliest flights to space could be late 2009 or early 2010. The maiden voyage has been reserved for Branson and his family; Virgin Galactic plans to rename the aircraft Eve after Branson's mother, a former glider pilot instructor and flight attendant.
Plans call for White Knight Two to carry SpaceShipTwo 50,000 feet in the air, tucked beneath its single 140-foot wing, before releasing it. SpaceShipTwo will then power its hybrid rocket and climb into space. Before gliding back to Earth, it will use a Rutan-designed feathering technique — in which the wings are rotated upward from the fuselage to reduce the heat of re-entry. The 2 1/2-hour trip is expected to include about five minutes of weightlessness. Unlike the space shuttle that orbits Earth, early space tourism plans involve flights that simply go up and come back down. Virgin Galactic has pledged more than $250 million toward the project; about $100 million has been spent so far, Whitehorn said.
Virgin Galactic already has lofty plans for White Knight Two besides space tourism. Company executives envision the aircraft can be used as a launcher of small satellites into low Earth orbit. With the proper permits, the craft can also be adapted to fight wildfires or be used as an emergency rescue vehicle. First, though, it needs to emerge from its secret hangar before it can get off the ground. On the Net: Virgin Galactic: http://www.virgingalactic.com
Scaled Composites: http://www.scaled.com
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)
CREDIT CRUNCH AND THE ECONOMY
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8986519&ch=4226720&src=news
DO THE RICH FEEL THE ECONOMIC CRUNCH
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8968745&ch=4226720&src=news
Inflation's next front is retailers as costs rise By ELLEN SIMON, AP Business Writer JULY 28,08
NEW YORK - Coming to a store near you: Even higher prices.
Most inflation this year has come from food and fuel, as retailers resisted passing along to strapped consumers the higher prices manufacturers charged them, but coming increases from companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Hasbro Inc. may leave them with no choice.While these increases have not for the most part been passed on at the retail level, it is inevitable that they will be at some point, said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Car dealers and other retailers cannot continue to absorb rising costs at the wholesale level and not pass some of these increases on to consumers.Sherwin Williams Co. on July 17 announced its third price increase in eight months. The company has been having difficult discussions with retailers, Chris Connor, chairman and CEO, said on its quarterly conference call.The price increases are well supported with facts in terms of why the company needs them, he said. Our customers, to the best of their ability, are passing them on.Hasbro said the retailers it sells to didn't like price increases the company announced Monday but they recognize that their own private-label costs are going up and they've accepted it.The increases leave retailers in a bind: They can keep prices steady and cut profit margins or raise prices and risk losing sales.Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been in the lead of aggressively keeping prices down, pressuring its competitors to do the same.
We have seen inflation and we have passed some of that through, said John Simley, a Wal-Mart spokesman. We have, wherever possible, worked with our suppliers to reduce the inflationary impact as much as possible.Costco Wholesale Corp. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter earnings would be well-below Wall Street estimates of $1 a share as it delays price increases. Stock in rival BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. fell more than 10 percent as investors feared the competitor would have to match Costco's prices.Some economists say that once Americans spend their $106.7 billion in tax rebate checks, consumer spending may shrivel, sparking a round of price cuts to entice shoppers. Others think price increases may be postponed, but they're on their way.Much of this depends on how much money consumers have after buying gas and groceries — and what kind of mood they're in once they've filled their tanks. On Friday, The Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment for July came in at 61.2, beating expectations and slightly better than the 28-year low of 56.4 hit in June. Still, the confidence index was at 90.4 a year ago.Even Costco said it won't swallow price increases from suppliers on key items, but would postpone passing them along to consumers, if only for a few weeks, because it wants to be the last retailer to raise prices.The company raised its prices for rotisserie chicken from $4.99 to $5.49 about three months ago. Last week, the prices rose to $5.99.I think the consumer is just starting to see, not only with us, rising commodity costs and rising general merchandise costs in a much bigger way then they've seen other than with gasoline itself, said Richard Galanti, Costco's chief financial officer, during a conference call Wednesday.Inflation hit 5 percent for the year in June, the highest it's been since 1991, but the price increases hitting manufacturers have been far worse.Prices manufacturers paid for crude materials rose 70 percent for the three months ended in June, but companies weren't able to pass all those increases along. Prices for the intermediate goods made from those materials rose much less, about 27 percent. The prices for finished products made from those goods rose 14 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index.Kimberly-Clark Corp., which makes Kleenex, Huggies diapers and Viva paper towels, said Thursday that energy and commodity cost increases this year would total as much as $900 million, double its prediction at the beginning of the year. Saying the company might raise prices for the second time this year, Chief Executive Thomas Falk added, The reality is that the rapid run-up in commodity costs has outpaced our ability to offset inflation in the near-term with price increases and other actions.
The increases keep coming.
Dow Chemical Co., the second largest chemical company in the world after Germany's BASF, is raising some prices by as much as 25 percent this month, following June price increases that were as high as 20 percent on all products. The increase is sure to put more pressure on manufacturers, since Dow's chemicals are used in everything from packing peanuts to frozen-food trays to diapers.
Associated Press Business Writer Anne D'Innocenzio contributed to this report. Ellen Simon covers the economy. She can be reached at esimon(at)ap.org.
Oil rises on Iran nuclear concerns By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer JULY 28,08
SINGAPORE - Oil prices rebounded Monday in Asia on comments by Iran's president suggesting a significant increase in the country's nuclear program, but worries about the faltering U.S. economy and crude demand continued to weigh on futures. Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 13 cents to $123.39 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore.The contract fell $2.23 to settle at $123.26 a barrel on Friday — oil's lowest point in weeks — as investors questioned whether crude has cooled enough to reflect a serious deterioration in demand.But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcement on Saturday that Iran now possesses 6,000 centrifuges raised concerns about an increase in tensions between Western powers and OPEC's second-largest producer over its nuclear program.The higher number, which is double the 3,000 uranium-enriching machines Iran had previously said it was operating, is certain to further rankle the United States and others who fear Tehran is intent on developing weapons.The comments by the Iranian president are a reminder that the Iranian situation remains fluid, said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consulting firm Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.In Nigeria, eight foreign oil workers who were kidnapped at gunpoint by six unidentified men in a speed boat on Saturday were released unharmed hours later, according to a Nigerian military spokesman. The abduction highlighted the risks of operating in the African nation, a major supplier to the U.S. Earlier in the week, Nigerian militants threatened to blow up pipelines in the region within a month.These events really remind the market that the geopolitical risks regarding Nigeria and Iran remain, Shum said. Overall, the market has weakened due to concerns over the faltering U.S. economy and slackening oil demand in the U.S., but supply side risks will still provide a high floor for pricing.
The magnitude of the sell-off over the past two weeks is stark. Crude has fallen in seven of the last nine sessions, and is down more than 16 percent from its peak above $147 a barrel earlier this month. Still, prices remain about 65 percent higher than at this time last year.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 1.68 cents to $3.5397 a gallon while gasoline prices added 0.67 cent to $3.039 a gallon. Natural gas futures added 9.9 cents to $9.183 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, Brent crude for September delivery rose 8 cents to $124.70 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
WORLD TERRORISM
2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
EXPLOSIONS HIT ISTANBUL
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9005218&ch=4226714&src=news
Bombs strike Istanbul neighborhood, killing 16 By C. ONUR ANT, Associated Press Writer JULY 28,08
ISTANBUL, Turkey - Two bombs exploded minutes apart in a packed Istanbul square Sunday night, killing 16 and injuring more than 150 in the deadliest attack against civilians in Turkey in almost five years. The city's governor called it a terror attack but officials did not blame any specific group and no one immediately claimed responsibility. CNN-Turk television, citing security sources, said police suspect Kurdish rebels may be behind it because intelligence reports had suggested the rebels were planning a bombing campaign in Turkish cities.There is no doubt that this is a terror attack, Gov. Muammer Guler told reporters.The first bomb went off in the residential neighborhood of Gungoren in a busy square closed to traffic where people congregate at night, witnesses said. A number of people had rushed over to see what happened and help the victims when a second, more powerful blast hit close by about 10 minutes after the first. Many of the casualties were from the second explosion, witnesses said.The fact that there was a crowd in the area has increased the number of casualties, the governor said.
Government officials said 16 people were killed and 154 injured.
An Associated Press reporter who arrived to the scene shortly after the explosions saw at least 12 people lying on the ground. Broken glass, clothing, shop mannequins and other debris were strewn on the ground and bomb squads in white overalls were inspecting the scene.Many of the injured waited for medical treatment, their faces and bodies covered with blood. Several people who appeared seriously wounded were wrapped in blankets and carried to ambulances waiting near the site of the blasts.The first explosion was in a telephone booth, said Huseyin Senturk, who owns a shoe shop yards away from where the blasts occurred. The second explosion was some 40 meters (yards) away.The first explosion was not very strong, Senturk added. Several people came to see what was going on. That's when the second explosion occurred and it injured many onlookers.The second explosion could be heard a mile away, witnesses said. The governor said the bombs were planted in trash cans.The attack was the country's worst since November 20, 2003 when al-Qaida linked suicide bombings struck the British consulate and a British bank, killing at least 30 people. Five days earlier, suicide truck bombs attacked two Istanbul synagogues, killing 27.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul strongly condemned Sunday's bombings.No goals can be achieved with violence, killing innocent people and terrorism, Gul said in a written statement. These attacks show how inhumane and miserable the instigators are.
Police were investigating who was behind the blasts.
We know it is a terrorist attack, but which organization is responsible — we don't yet have that information, Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici told journalists at the scene of the attacks.
Kurdish, leftist and Islamic militants are active in Istanbul and have carried out past bombings in the city.On July 9, gunmen believed to be inspired by al-Qaida opened fire on police guarding the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, killing three officers. Three attackers also died in a shootout with police. Kurdish rebels belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, have been fighting for self-rule in southeastern Turkey since 1984. The violence has killed tens of thousands of people since then. Turkey has conducted frequent air raids on suspected rebel positions in northern Iraq, including one earlier Sunday. Earlier this year, it launched a weeklong ground offensive against the rebels. Although most of the fighting in concentrated in rural areas of southeastern Turkey, the rebels occasionally launch bombing campaigns in Turkish cities and tourist resorts. Sunday's attack also came a day ahead of the scheduled start of a top court's deliberations on whether to ban the Islamic-oriented ruling party because of its alleged attempts to undermine secularism. The legal case has raised political tensions in Turkey, where the government is locked in a power struggle with elements of the secular establishment backed by the military and judiciary. But it was not clear whether the bombings were linked to the case.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
IRAN NOW 6000 CENTRIFUGES
TOVIA SINGER INTERVIEW 26 REASONS JEWS DON'T BELIEVE JESUS IS GOD(MESSIAH)THATS WHY BELIEVERS ARE HATED SO MUCH. JEWS WHO BELIEVE JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, THE TRUTH
Twenty-Six Reasons Why Jews don't Believe in Jesus (part 1). The Tovia Singer Show for Wednesday - Hour 1
http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/3323226
Twenty-Six Reasons Why Jews don't Believe in Jesus (part 1). The Tovia Singer Show for Wednesday - Hour 2
http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/3323227
Ohio prisons label them Protestants, deny them more-costly kosher meals Friday, July 18, 2008 3:16 AM By Meredith Heagney THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Messianic Jews believe in Jesus. But they still consider themselves as faithful to Judaism as anyone else.They want to eat kosher meals, avoiding pork and shellfish and not mixing meat and dairy products. But if they are inmates in Ohio prisons, they are out of luck. Kosher meals are a privilege afforded only to traditional Jews.In Ohio prisons, Messianic Jews are labeled Protestants.At least four prisoners at Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield have filed grievances, alleging discrimination by a Christian-led prison system.They also contend that they're denied a consistent place to worship on their Sabbath, which lasts from Friday at sundown to Saturday at sundown.This grievance is all about discrimination of a religious sect, and the conspiracy for the deprivation of rights secured by the Constitution, wrote Richland inmate Ronald Lutz, 64. He is serving 17 years for attempted theft, forgery, extortion and other crimes.The prison argues that kosher meals aren't a basic tenet of faith for Messianic Jews. And with a tight budget, the prison system is opting to feed them the cheaper non-kosher meals.Federal law says the government cannot impede the religious exercise of a prisoner unless those restrictions support a compelling governmental interest. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld that law in 2005 when it came under attack by Ohio prison officials.Nobody is being discriminated against, said the Rev. Gary Sims, religious-services administrator for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.He revoked kosher privileges for Messianic Jews in 2004 after consulting with Messianic Jewish rabbis, who told him the special meals weren't essential.
Prison budgets are tight, Sims said. A non-kosher meal costs about 95 cents; a kosher one, between $5 and $6.The Messianic Jews at the Richland prison have to meet on Sundays because there's no volunteer to serve them on their Sabbath, and the regular chaplains are off, Sims said.The prison system is re-evaluating its religious-accommodation policies, said Sims, who couldn't say whether any of the rules regarding Messianic Judaism might change.Rabbi Howard Silverman of Beth Messiah Congregation in Gahanna, a Messianic congregation, acknowledges that although keeping kosher is an important tradition, it is not a law for Messianic Jews.Sims doesn't know how many Messianic Jews are among Ohio's 50,000 inmates because they're classified as Protestants.The inmates have an ally on the outside. The Rev. Mark Butler teaches three Bible classes a week at the Marion prison and said inmates there have the same complaints. Butler practices Messianic Judaism.It feels like a part of them is being denied, Butler said.The Messianic Jews receive kosher meals on Jewish holidays, Sims said.The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and the Rutherford Institute, a Virginia civil-liberties organization, are investigating the Messianic Jews' complaints.But for now, the Messianic Jews must eat what's on their plates.mheagney@dispatch.com
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
FDIC takes over 2 more banks, closing 28 branches Jul 26, 6:41 AM (ET)By BRENDAN RILEY
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - The 28 branches of 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank, operating in Nevada, Arizona and California, were closed Friday by federal regulators.The banks, owned by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based First National Bank Holding Co., were scheduled to reopen on Monday as Mutual of Omaha Bank branches, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.The FDIC said the takeover of the failed banks was the least costly resolution and all depositors - including those with funds in excess of FDIC insurance limits - will switch to Mutual of Omaha with the full amount of their deposits.The FDIC also said accountholders can access their funds during the weekend by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards.As of June 30, the closed banks had total assets of $3.6 billion. That's down from $4.1 billion six months earlier. Most of the assets are in 1st National while First Heritage accounts for $254 million.Calls to 1st National were referred by a receptionist to Joe Martony, an executive vice president in Scottsdale, Ariz. Martony didn't return repeated calls to his office.In Nevada, 1st National has 10 branches and employs about 350 people. Five of its branches are in Las Vegas, three are in the Reno-Sparks area, one is in Carson City and one is in Laughlin. Notices of the closure were being posted late Friday.Fifteen 1st National branches are in Arizona, while Newport Beach-based First Heritage has three branches in Southern California.Bill Uffelman of the Nevada Bankers Association said Friday the FDIC action is a reflection of the times for the banks. It's a poor economy.
Uffelman cautioned against the sort of consumer concern that prompted many customers of IndyMac Bank branches to wait for hours in line to withdraw funds across Southern California last week after that bank was seized by federal regulators. All FDIC-insured bank deposits are guaranteed by the FDIC up to $100,000, he noted.
Gov. Jim Gibbons said the bank takeover will be closely monitored in Nevada to ensure there's minimal disruption to business and that employees' jobs are protected as much as possible.Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano spokeswoman Shilo Mitchell said in a statement that the FDIC's takeover of 1st National is not indicative of the overall banking climate in Arizona.It's very important that Arizonans know that their deposits are secure, said Felecia Rotellini, superintendent of Arizona Department of Financial Institutions. They are well-managed and the 1st National Bank of Arizona issues should not cause any panic in Arizona.On the Net:
FDIC: http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2008/pr08063.html
1st National Bank of Nevada: http://www.fnbaonlinehb.com
First Heritage Bank: http://www.firstheritage.net
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
05:24 26/07/2008 Report: PA mulling unilateral declaration of statehood By News Agencies
The Palestinian Authority is considering cutting off its diplomatic contacts with Israel and unilaterally declaring statehood, the Arabic-language a-Sharq al-Awset daily reported on Friday. In light of the crisis we have encountered in talks with Israel, the Authority is testing a number of options, one Palestinian official told the daily. According to the report, the Palestinian Authority is also re-evaluating how to proceed with consolidating its security services. Salah Rafat, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) council told the daily that The Palestinian leadership will be able to make a clear and serious decision regarding the peace process, following trilateral talks in Washington next week. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday there was still time to reach a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of 2008. Rice said the trilateral peace talks next week between the United States, Israel and the Palestinian Authority should be closed to offer the best hope of progress. Rice said the latest round of talks which began in Annapolis in the United States in November 2007 had laid a firm foundation on which these two parties can finally end their conflict.There is still time for them, in accordance with the Annapolis, to reach agreement by the end of the year and we will keep working towards that goal, Rice told a news conference in Perth in western Australia on Friday.
The United States revived Palestinian statehood negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, last November, with the hope of completing a deal by the time President George W. Bush leaves office. But disputes over settlement expansion in the West Bank land, the
corruption scandal involving Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinan leader Mahmoud Abbas' own political troubles, and security issues have all undercut U.S. efforts. Rice plans to host peace talks between chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia and his Israeli partner, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in Washington on July 30.
Rice said the Washington talks should remain confidential, adding that the most successful peace talks between Israel and Palestine occurred in Oslo and nobody even knew they were talking. We won't be providing details of what goes on in the trilateral. The Israelis and Palestinians have their first serious peace process in seven years and they are discussing very sensitive and difficult issues, said Rice. I think they are wise to negotiate seriously, to work with each other to see if they can overcome differences, without having a daily accounting of how well they are doing or how badly, or who is up and who is down, she said. The work now is to keep pressing ahead, but pressing ahead in a way that preserves the workability of this process and that really means preserving the confidentiality of this process.
British MPs urge Quartet to include Hamas in peace talks JULY 24,08 YNET
Cross-party committee in British parliament calls on Quartet's Mideast envoy Tony Blair to use ceasefire between Israel, Hamas to include latter in peace process, facilitate reconciliation between Palestinian factions. After a long period of politically sequestering the Hamas government ruling the Gaza Strip, a group of British statesmen are willing to reestablish official relations with the group.According to a report in the British Guardian, a cross-party group has called on the Quartet's Middle East envoy Tony Blair to open a dialogue with Hamas, saying until now there has been no engagement between the Quartet and Hamas, but now we think it is time. The international community, said the Members of Parliament, should seize the opportunity presented by the ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas to try and include the later in the peace process.Liberal Democrat MP Malcolm Bruce said that MPs believed it was time for the Quartet – which is made up of the US, the EU, Russia and the UN – to allow Hamas to be heard. The MPs noted that Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza Strip was neither justified nor acceptable, but added that including the group in the peace talks was imperative, urged the Quartet to use the opportunity provided by the truce to try and facilitate a solution to the rift between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.
The Quartet is adamant that Hamas adheres to three principles –recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and abiding by previous agreements – before it allows it to be involved in the peace process. Bruce added that food, petrol and water were in short supply in the Strip, and that the public health system was under severe pressure following the closure of border crossings with Israel. Israel has obligations to ensure the health and welfare of the Palestinian population, which it has not met, he said, We believe the situation was allowed to continue for too long, and that the Quartet did not exert sufficient pressure on Israel to open the crossings.
AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)
EZEKIEL 39:21
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
ISAIAH 18:1-2
1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
JEREMIAH 50:11,37,12
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;(BACKSLIDERS)
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.(A NATION OF MINGLED PEOPLE)
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed:(MOTHER ENGLAND) behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
JEREMIAH 51:13,7,53
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.
REVELATION 18:3,5,7
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK ATTACK)
REVELATION 18:10
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.
Report: Surviving EMP to depend on preparation Many people may die for lack of basic elements necessary July 26, 2008 12:00 am Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily
A report from the federal Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack has painted a bleak picture for America under such attack: Electricity grids down, uncontrolled fires from exploding gas transport systems, no communication to summon firefighters and if they could come, no water to battle fires. All in city after city after city.The 200-page report says Americans should look to past incidents, then multiply those impacts by the number of cities that could be hit by such an attack. For example:San Diego County Water Authority and San Diego County Gas and Electric companies experienced severe electromagnetic interference. … Both companies found themselves unable to actuate critical valve openings and closings. This inability necessitated sending technicians to remote locations to manually open and close water and gas valves, averting, in the words of a subsequent letter of complaint by the San Diego County Water Authority to the Federal Communications Commission, a potential catastrophic failure of the aqueduct system.
The report explained the potential impact could have included an aqueduct rupture with disruption of service, severe flooding and related damage to private and public property. The source of the 1999 problem? Errant radar on a ship 25 miles off the coast of San Diego, the report said.The report, published on the commission website, cited other scenarios that should be expected to develop subsequent to an EMP attack on the U.S.On Aug. 19, 2000, an explosion occurred on one of three adjacent large natural gas pipelines near Carlsbad, N.M., … Twelve people, including five children, died. The explosion left an 86-foot-long crater. … The explosion happened because of failures in maintenance and loss of situational awareness, conditions that would be replicated by data acquisition disruptions caused by an EMP event.The report also cited a 1994 refinery disaster in the United Kingdom in which lightning strikes resulted in a half-second power loss.
Consequently, numerous pumps and overhead fin-fan coolers tripped repeatedly, resulting in the main crude column pressure safety valves lifting and major upsets in the process units in other refinery units … There was an explosion in the FCC unit and a number of isolated fires. … As a result of this incident, an estimated 10 percent of the total refining capacity in the United Kingdom was lost until this complex was returned to service.WND has reported several times on the threat of EMP attacks, including just two weeks ago when William R. Graham, chairman of the commission, told the House Armed Services Committee an EMP attack is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences.Not taking the steps necessary to reduce the threat in the next three to five years can both invite and reward attack, Graham told the committee.The scariest and most threatening kind of EMP attack is initiated by the detonation of a nuclear weapon at high altitude in the range of 25 to 250 miles above the Earth's surface. The immediate effects of EMP are disruption of, and damage to, electronic systems and electrical infrastructure. Such a detonation over the middle of the continental U.S. has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures that support the fabric of U.S. society and the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power, said Graham.Several potential adversaries have the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse, and others appear to be pursuing efforts to obtain that capability, said Graham. A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication. For example, an adversary would not have to have long-range ballistic missiles to conduct an EMP attack against the United States. Such an attack could be launched from a freighter off the U.S. coast using a short- or medium-range missile to loft a nuclear warhead to high altitude. Terrorists sponsored by a rogue state could attempt to execute such an attack without revealing the identity of the perpetrators. Iran, the world's leading sponsor of international terrorism, has practiced launching a mobile ballistic missile from a vessel in the Caspian Sea. Iran has also tested high-altitude explosions of the Shahab-III, a test mode consistent with EMP attack, and described the tests as successful. Iranian military writings explicitly discuss a nuclear EMP attack that would gravely harm the United States. While the commission does not know the intention of Iran in conducting these activities, we are disturbed by the capability that emerges when we connect the dots.The committee's report analyzes the impact of an attack on electrical supplies, telecommunications, banking and finance, petroleum and natural gas, transportation, food, water, emergency services, space systems and government.The news was dire throughout. The electrical grid, for example, is needed to distribute water, food, fuel, communications, transport, financial transactions, emergency services and government services.Should significant parts of the electrical power infrastructure be lost for any substantial period of time, the commission believes that the consequences are likely to be catastrophic, and many people may ultimately die for lack of the basic elements necessary to sustain life in dense urban and suburban communities, the report said.In fact, the commission is deeply concerned that such impacts are likely in the event of an EMP attack unless practical steps are taken to provide protection for critical elements of the electric system and for rapid restoration of electric power, particular to essential services, the report said.Current disaster preparedness and recovery plans may be of little or no value under an EMP attack because of the length of time it would take to obtain and install replacement parts or repair other damage.
The cascade of trouble would be significant. No electricity would mean out-of-control water, natural gas or fuel flows through distribution systems. Some explosions likely would happen, fires could ignite. But no emergency services could be contacted for help, and if they already were on scene, it's unlikely water would be ready. Even worse, when such fires burn themselves out, and repairs are begun, supplies could neither be ordered nor delivered because of communications and fuel disruptions, and the critical workers needed for repairs might not be able to get to the location.
At some point, repair and recovery simply become impossible, the report said.There is a point in time at which the shortage or exhaustion of critical items like emergency power supply, batteries, standby fuel supplies, replacement parts, and manpower resources which can be coordinated and dispatched, together with the degradation of all other infrastructures and their systemic impact, all lead toward a collapse of restoration capability.
Society will transition into a situation where restoration needs increase with time as resources degrade and disappear, the report warned.It is the first report from the commission since 2004 and identifies vulnerabilities in the nation's critical infrastructures, which are essential to both our civilian and military capabilities.Graham also had warned Congress such an attack could come without the backing of an international power, such as China or Russia.
William R. Graham
Theoretically, an EMP attack is devastating because of the unprecedented cascading failures of major infrastructures that could result. Because of America's heavy reliance on electricity and electronics, the impact would be far worse than on a country less advanced technologically.Graham took the EMP debate out of the realm of science fiction by reminding the committee that as recently as May 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Russian leaders threatened a U.S. congressional delegation with the specter of an attack that would paralyze the U.S.He also quoted James J. Shinn, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security, who several weeks ago told the same House committee that China's arms buildup includes exotic experiments with electromagnetic weapons that can devastate electronics with bursts of energy similar to those produced by a nuclear blast.The consequence of EMP is that you destroy the communications network, Shinn said. And we are, as you know, and as the Chinese know, heavily dependent on sophisticated communications, satellite communications, in the conduct of our forces. And so, whether it's from an EMP or it's some kind of a coordinated [anti-satellite] effort, we could be in a very bad place if the Chinese enhanced their capability in this area.Graham says terrorists who get their hands on one or a few unsophisticated nuclear weapons might well calculate they could get the most bang for their buck from attempting an EMP attack.Ultimate recovery from an EMP attack could end up taking years, during which time America very well may have to exist without many high-tech services, from cell phones inoperable due to damaged towers unrepaired because of parts shortages to a disruption in the food supply path because of fuel shortages.A serious national commitment to address the threat of an EMP attack can lead to a national posture that would significantly reduce the payoff for such an attack and allow the United States to recover from EMP, and from other threats, man-made and natural, to the critical infrastructures, Graham told the committee.
WORLD TERRORISM
2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Iran has up to 6,000 enrichment centrifuges: Ahmadinejad
TEHRAN, July 26 (AFP) Jul 26, 2008 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that Iran has boosted the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges to up to 6,000, in an expansion of its nuclear drive that defies international calls for a freeze.
Today they (the West) have agreed that the existing 5,000 to 6,000 centrifuges do not increase and that there is no problem if this number of centrifuges work, Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state radio.Ahmadinejad said in April that Iran was working to install 6,000 more centrifuges at an underground hall in a plant at its nuclear facility in Natanz, where it already had 3,000 running.
It is a major expansion of Iran's nuclear programme, which the West fears could be aimed at making atomic weapons.Iran is already under three sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, which makes nuclear fuel as well as the fissile core of an atomic bomb.World powers, seeking to resolve the standoff, have offered to start pre-negotiations during which Tehran would add no more uranium-enriching centrifuges and in return face no further sanctions.Iran was given a two-week deadline to give a final answer to world powers seeking a breakthrough in the crisis after talks a week ago in Geneva with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana ended in stalemate.The United States, which took the unprecedented step of sending a top diplomat to meet Iran's chief negotiator at the Geneva talks, has warned Tehran of punitive measures if it spurns the offer and presses on with enrichment.Ahmadinejad said the US presence in at the Geneva talks was a success for Iran regardless of its outcome, state radio reported.They said a few years ago that talks without a US participation has no results and the US condition is suspending enrichment but it has happened today without satisfying the US condition.Ahmadinejad had vowed on Wednesday that Iran would make no concessions and that further sanctions would not force it to back down.Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, insisting that its programme is designed to provide energy for its growing population when the leading OPEC member's reserves of fossil fuels run out.
Permanent Security Council members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany have made Iran an offer, which includes trade incentives and help with a civilian nuclear programme in return for suspending enrichment.The New York Times on Tuesday released what it said was a two-page informal document that outlined Tehran's approach to talks in Geneva and was distributed by Iranian negotiators.The paper called for seven more rounds of talks, stressed the need for an end to sanctions, and made no mention of an incentives package.Iranian officials have repeatedly said they have no intention of freezing enrichment and that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has the right to make its own nuclear fuel.Vice President Reza Aghazadeh said on Thursday that the negotiations with the world powers could be used to resolve wider Middle East problems from the conflict in Iraq to surging oil prices.The standoff has stirred fears of Israeli or US military strikes against Iran, as US President George W. Bush has insisted Washington would keep all options on the table. It has also sent oil prices spiralling upward.
Iran has repeatedly vowed a crushing response to any aggression against its soil, with Iranian officials warning that the military would target Israel and dozens of US bases in the region in retaliation.
US Warns Iran Time Running Out for Nuclear Deal
By Sonja Pace London 25 July 2008
U.S. officials are warning Iran that time is running out for Tehran to respond to proposals by the EU and the Security Council to resolve the nuclear stand-off. Iran was given two weeks to reply before risking yet another round of sanctions. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from London.U.S. officials say it's time Iran offers a serious response to EU and U.N. proposals.The latest package of incentives was discussed July 19 in Geneva, in a closed door meeting that represented Iran, the five permanent members of the Security Council, (the P5), Germany and the European Union. Taking part for the first time was a senior American envoy, Undersecretary of State William Burns.Greg Schulte is the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. in Vienna and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA. Speaking with VOA in London, Ambassador Schulte said Iran's response at that meeting turned into a meandering lesson in Iranian history and culture. We weren't there for a lesson, he said. The P5 was there to see if Iran was willing to negotiate seriously.On the table were a series of proposals delivered to the Iranians by EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana in June.
Schulte outlined some of the proposals.
We have offered Iran's leaders a very generous package that would give them access to state of the art technology for nuclear power plants, that would give them assurances of fuel supply, that would address some of the security issues that they've raised, that would allow for cooperation in areas of common interest like fighting against narcotics, he said. And, we've looked for a way to get them into those negotiations and we said we would be there.A way to entice the Iranians into negotiating is the freeze-for-freeze offer, meaning Iran would freeze its uranium enrichment at current levels and the U.N. and EU would freeze their current levels of sanctions. This period would last six weeks, to build confidence and allow for more substantive negotiations to begin.The bottom line demand remains, however that Iran must actually suspend the enrichment of uranium, the nuclear fuel source that can be used for generating energy, but also for making nuclear weapons.The United States has said it would not negotiate directly with the Iranians until they suspend uranium enrichment. So, the presence of Undersecretary Burns at the Geneva meeting was widely seen as a shift in U.S. policy.
Not so, insists Schulte.
The reason why Undersecretary Burns went to this meeting was not a change in U.S. policy, but was rather to send a strong signal, he said. It was to send a signal that we backed -- we supported the package that was put on the table.Iran was given two weeks to respond to the latest proposals or face further sanctions.The United States, the U.N. and the EU have already imposed a series of sanctions on Iran and are threatening more.Iranian leaders continue to say they will not suspend uranium enrichment and on Wednesday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted Iran would continue its nuclear program. And yet Iran says it is ready to talk.Many believe Iran is simply buying time, especially given the upcoming presidential election in the United States and a change in administration.That would be a waste of time, says Schulte. If they try to outwait us, if they try to just buy time, they're only going to buy continued sanctions and more sanctions, he said. And, whoever goes into the White House on January 21st is not going to look favorably at an Iran that has spent six more months violating Security Council resolutions.Iran has all along said it wants to develop nuclear power for peaceful means, to provide energy. However, many in the international community believe Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons.
Muslim group declares war on Olympics July 27, 2008
A CHINESE terrorist organisation has warned it will create havoc at next month's Olympics and has claimed responsibility for a deadly Shanghai bus bombing in May.A group monitoring terrorism threats on the internet said Commander Seyfullah of the Turkestan Islamic Party claimed responsibility for several attacks in China less than a fortnight out from the Olympics.Through this blessed jihad in Yunnan this time, the Turkestan Islamic Party warns China one more time, Seyfullah said in a video dated July 23, a transcript from a US-based intelligence centre shows.Our aim is to target the most critical points related to the Olympics. We will try to attack Chinese central cities severely using the tactics that have never been employed, he said.The warnings come just a day after Chinese police claimed they cracked a terrorist cell planning to attack Shanghai Stadium where the Australian men's soccer team will open its Olympic campaign on August 7.Seyfullah claimed responsibility for the May 5 Shanghai bus bombing, which killed three; another Shanghai attack; an attack on police in Wenzhou on July 17 using an explosives-laden tractor; bombing of a Guangzhou plastics factory on July 17, and bombings of three buses in Yunnan province on July 21.
New Cuban nuke crisis threat by Martin Sieff
Washington (UPI) Jul 23, 2008
Is Russia serious about deploying its nuclear bombers in Cuba to retaliate against U.S. ballistic missile defense deployments in Poland or Lithuania? The story broke Monday this week when the Russian newspaper Izvestia, citing what it described as a high placed source in the Russian government, said if the United States went ahead with its plans to deploy Ground-based Mid-course Interceptors in Poland or Lithuania, the Kremlin could retaliate by basing its Tupolev Tu-160 White Swan supersonic nuclear bombers -- NATO codename Blackjack -- in Cuba.The U.S. government took the threat seriously and lost no time in responding to it. On Tuesday, Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, head of USAF Transport Command who has been nominated to succeed Gen. T. Michael Moseley as chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, told his confirmation hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russia would cross a red line if it made such a move.I certainly would offer best military advice that we should engage the Russians not to pursue that approach, he said. And if they did, I think we should stand strong and indicate that that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America.It should be noted the Russian government has carefully sought to avoid making any open threat or incendiary comments about the potential threat and it has carefully avoided being drawn out on the issue. The Defense Ministry in Moscow issued a statement saying the Izvestia story was palpably false and that it was even written under a pseudonym and quoted a non-existent organization among its sources.Nevertheless, the very possibility that Russia would deploy first-line strategic weapons systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons to the U.S. homeland from bases in Cuba, only 90 miles from the coast of Florida, would throw the entire strategic calculus of successive U.S. governments -- Republican and Democrat alike -- into complete disarray.Such a possibility has never been seriously threatened in the 46 years since the world came closer than ever before or since in its history to all-out thermonuclear war in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Then U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reached a deal whereby the successive U.S. administrations left communist Cuba alone and in return the Soviets refrained from basing any offensive nuclear weapons systems or offensive weapons capable of delivering nuclear warheads to the U.S. mainland on the island.But all of a sudden this cornerstone agreement of Cold War and post-Cold War stability and security looks as if it might disappear overnight.The Tu-160 Blackjack is arguably the most formidable heavy nuclear bomber in the world. It carries a far larger payload and can fly far faster than its nearest U.S. counterpart, the B-1 Lancer. It does not have the stealth capabilities of the gigantic B-1, but it is far faster and more maneuverable. It can carry 99,000 pounds of munitions -- far more than the B-1 -- and its weapons payload options include stand-off supersonic, ground-hugging cruise missiles. The Tu-160 is unarmed, but it can fly at 1,380 miles per hour -- well over twice the speed of the U.S. Air Force's venerable old lumbering Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses.The Tu-160 is still in production, and it is believed that about five new ones per year are currently being delivered to the Russian air force. The total number of such aircraft currently deployed is believed to be quite high -- between 50 and 60 in all, assuming the older ones have been well maintained.
It may be that the Izvestia report was just unfounded speculation, but Schwartz did not act in his testimony as if it was.The world may have just entered a dangerous new era of escalating bluff, threat and counter-threat between the two main thermonuclear powers. The world of our fathers' nightmares may be coming back.
Twenty-Six Reasons Why Jews don't Believe in Jesus (part 1). The Tovia Singer Show for Wednesday - Hour 1
http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/3323226
Twenty-Six Reasons Why Jews don't Believe in Jesus (part 1). The Tovia Singer Show for Wednesday - Hour 2
http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/3323227
Ohio prisons label them Protestants, deny them more-costly kosher meals Friday, July 18, 2008 3:16 AM By Meredith Heagney THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Messianic Jews believe in Jesus. But they still consider themselves as faithful to Judaism as anyone else.They want to eat kosher meals, avoiding pork and shellfish and not mixing meat and dairy products. But if they are inmates in Ohio prisons, they are out of luck. Kosher meals are a privilege afforded only to traditional Jews.In Ohio prisons, Messianic Jews are labeled Protestants.At least four prisoners at Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield have filed grievances, alleging discrimination by a Christian-led prison system.They also contend that they're denied a consistent place to worship on their Sabbath, which lasts from Friday at sundown to Saturday at sundown.This grievance is all about discrimination of a religious sect, and the conspiracy for the deprivation of rights secured by the Constitution, wrote Richland inmate Ronald Lutz, 64. He is serving 17 years for attempted theft, forgery, extortion and other crimes.The prison argues that kosher meals aren't a basic tenet of faith for Messianic Jews. And with a tight budget, the prison system is opting to feed them the cheaper non-kosher meals.Federal law says the government cannot impede the religious exercise of a prisoner unless those restrictions support a compelling governmental interest. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld that law in 2005 when it came under attack by Ohio prison officials.Nobody is being discriminated against, said the Rev. Gary Sims, religious-services administrator for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.He revoked kosher privileges for Messianic Jews in 2004 after consulting with Messianic Jewish rabbis, who told him the special meals weren't essential.
Prison budgets are tight, Sims said. A non-kosher meal costs about 95 cents; a kosher one, between $5 and $6.The Messianic Jews at the Richland prison have to meet on Sundays because there's no volunteer to serve them on their Sabbath, and the regular chaplains are off, Sims said.The prison system is re-evaluating its religious-accommodation policies, said Sims, who couldn't say whether any of the rules regarding Messianic Judaism might change.Rabbi Howard Silverman of Beth Messiah Congregation in Gahanna, a Messianic congregation, acknowledges that although keeping kosher is an important tradition, it is not a law for Messianic Jews.Sims doesn't know how many Messianic Jews are among Ohio's 50,000 inmates because they're classified as Protestants.The inmates have an ally on the outside. The Rev. Mark Butler teaches three Bible classes a week at the Marion prison and said inmates there have the same complaints. Butler practices Messianic Judaism.It feels like a part of them is being denied, Butler said.The Messianic Jews receive kosher meals on Jewish holidays, Sims said.The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and the Rutherford Institute, a Virginia civil-liberties organization, are investigating the Messianic Jews' complaints.But for now, the Messianic Jews must eat what's on their plates.mheagney@dispatch.com
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
FDIC takes over 2 more banks, closing 28 branches Jul 26, 6:41 AM (ET)By BRENDAN RILEY
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - The 28 branches of 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank, operating in Nevada, Arizona and California, were closed Friday by federal regulators.The banks, owned by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based First National Bank Holding Co., were scheduled to reopen on Monday as Mutual of Omaha Bank branches, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.The FDIC said the takeover of the failed banks was the least costly resolution and all depositors - including those with funds in excess of FDIC insurance limits - will switch to Mutual of Omaha with the full amount of their deposits.The FDIC also said accountholders can access their funds during the weekend by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards.As of June 30, the closed banks had total assets of $3.6 billion. That's down from $4.1 billion six months earlier. Most of the assets are in 1st National while First Heritage accounts for $254 million.Calls to 1st National were referred by a receptionist to Joe Martony, an executive vice president in Scottsdale, Ariz. Martony didn't return repeated calls to his office.In Nevada, 1st National has 10 branches and employs about 350 people. Five of its branches are in Las Vegas, three are in the Reno-Sparks area, one is in Carson City and one is in Laughlin. Notices of the closure were being posted late Friday.Fifteen 1st National branches are in Arizona, while Newport Beach-based First Heritage has three branches in Southern California.Bill Uffelman of the Nevada Bankers Association said Friday the FDIC action is a reflection of the times for the banks. It's a poor economy.
Uffelman cautioned against the sort of consumer concern that prompted many customers of IndyMac Bank branches to wait for hours in line to withdraw funds across Southern California last week after that bank was seized by federal regulators. All FDIC-insured bank deposits are guaranteed by the FDIC up to $100,000, he noted.
Gov. Jim Gibbons said the bank takeover will be closely monitored in Nevada to ensure there's minimal disruption to business and that employees' jobs are protected as much as possible.Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano spokeswoman Shilo Mitchell said in a statement that the FDIC's takeover of 1st National is not indicative of the overall banking climate in Arizona.It's very important that Arizonans know that their deposits are secure, said Felecia Rotellini, superintendent of Arizona Department of Financial Institutions. They are well-managed and the 1st National Bank of Arizona issues should not cause any panic in Arizona.On the Net:
FDIC: http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2008/pr08063.html
1st National Bank of Nevada: http://www.fnbaonlinehb.com
First Heritage Bank: http://www.firstheritage.net
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
05:24 26/07/2008 Report: PA mulling unilateral declaration of statehood By News Agencies
The Palestinian Authority is considering cutting off its diplomatic contacts with Israel and unilaterally declaring statehood, the Arabic-language a-Sharq al-Awset daily reported on Friday. In light of the crisis we have encountered in talks with Israel, the Authority is testing a number of options, one Palestinian official told the daily. According to the report, the Palestinian Authority is also re-evaluating how to proceed with consolidating its security services. Salah Rafat, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) council told the daily that The Palestinian leadership will be able to make a clear and serious decision regarding the peace process, following trilateral talks in Washington next week. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday there was still time to reach a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of 2008. Rice said the trilateral peace talks next week between the United States, Israel and the Palestinian Authority should be closed to offer the best hope of progress. Rice said the latest round of talks which began in Annapolis in the United States in November 2007 had laid a firm foundation on which these two parties can finally end their conflict.There is still time for them, in accordance with the Annapolis, to reach agreement by the end of the year and we will keep working towards that goal, Rice told a news conference in Perth in western Australia on Friday.
The United States revived Palestinian statehood negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, last November, with the hope of completing a deal by the time President George W. Bush leaves office. But disputes over settlement expansion in the West Bank land, the
corruption scandal involving Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinan leader Mahmoud Abbas' own political troubles, and security issues have all undercut U.S. efforts. Rice plans to host peace talks between chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia and his Israeli partner, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in Washington on July 30.
Rice said the Washington talks should remain confidential, adding that the most successful peace talks between Israel and Palestine occurred in Oslo and nobody even knew they were talking. We won't be providing details of what goes on in the trilateral. The Israelis and Palestinians have their first serious peace process in seven years and they are discussing very sensitive and difficult issues, said Rice. I think they are wise to negotiate seriously, to work with each other to see if they can overcome differences, without having a daily accounting of how well they are doing or how badly, or who is up and who is down, she said. The work now is to keep pressing ahead, but pressing ahead in a way that preserves the workability of this process and that really means preserving the confidentiality of this process.
British MPs urge Quartet to include Hamas in peace talks JULY 24,08 YNET
Cross-party committee in British parliament calls on Quartet's Mideast envoy Tony Blair to use ceasefire between Israel, Hamas to include latter in peace process, facilitate reconciliation between Palestinian factions. After a long period of politically sequestering the Hamas government ruling the Gaza Strip, a group of British statesmen are willing to reestablish official relations with the group.According to a report in the British Guardian, a cross-party group has called on the Quartet's Middle East envoy Tony Blair to open a dialogue with Hamas, saying until now there has been no engagement between the Quartet and Hamas, but now we think it is time. The international community, said the Members of Parliament, should seize the opportunity presented by the ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas to try and include the later in the peace process.Liberal Democrat MP Malcolm Bruce said that MPs believed it was time for the Quartet – which is made up of the US, the EU, Russia and the UN – to allow Hamas to be heard. The MPs noted that Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza Strip was neither justified nor acceptable, but added that including the group in the peace talks was imperative, urged the Quartet to use the opportunity provided by the truce to try and facilitate a solution to the rift between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.
The Quartet is adamant that Hamas adheres to three principles –recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and abiding by previous agreements – before it allows it to be involved in the peace process. Bruce added that food, petrol and water were in short supply in the Strip, and that the public health system was under severe pressure following the closure of border crossings with Israel. Israel has obligations to ensure the health and welfare of the Palestinian population, which it has not met, he said, We believe the situation was allowed to continue for too long, and that the Quartet did not exert sufficient pressure on Israel to open the crossings.
AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)
EZEKIEL 39:21
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
ISAIAH 18:1-2
1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
JEREMIAH 50:11,37,12
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;(BACKSLIDERS)
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.(A NATION OF MINGLED PEOPLE)
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed:(MOTHER ENGLAND) behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
JEREMIAH 51:13,7,53
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.
REVELATION 18:3,5,7
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK ATTACK)
REVELATION 18:10
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.
Report: Surviving EMP to depend on preparation Many people may die for lack of basic elements necessary July 26, 2008 12:00 am Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily
A report from the federal Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack has painted a bleak picture for America under such attack: Electricity grids down, uncontrolled fires from exploding gas transport systems, no communication to summon firefighters and if they could come, no water to battle fires. All in city after city after city.The 200-page report says Americans should look to past incidents, then multiply those impacts by the number of cities that could be hit by such an attack. For example:San Diego County Water Authority and San Diego County Gas and Electric companies experienced severe electromagnetic interference. … Both companies found themselves unable to actuate critical valve openings and closings. This inability necessitated sending technicians to remote locations to manually open and close water and gas valves, averting, in the words of a subsequent letter of complaint by the San Diego County Water Authority to the Federal Communications Commission, a potential catastrophic failure of the aqueduct system.
The report explained the potential impact could have included an aqueduct rupture with disruption of service, severe flooding and related damage to private and public property. The source of the 1999 problem? Errant radar on a ship 25 miles off the coast of San Diego, the report said.The report, published on the commission website, cited other scenarios that should be expected to develop subsequent to an EMP attack on the U.S.On Aug. 19, 2000, an explosion occurred on one of three adjacent large natural gas pipelines near Carlsbad, N.M., … Twelve people, including five children, died. The explosion left an 86-foot-long crater. … The explosion happened because of failures in maintenance and loss of situational awareness, conditions that would be replicated by data acquisition disruptions caused by an EMP event.The report also cited a 1994 refinery disaster in the United Kingdom in which lightning strikes resulted in a half-second power loss.
Consequently, numerous pumps and overhead fin-fan coolers tripped repeatedly, resulting in the main crude column pressure safety valves lifting and major upsets in the process units in other refinery units … There was an explosion in the FCC unit and a number of isolated fires. … As a result of this incident, an estimated 10 percent of the total refining capacity in the United Kingdom was lost until this complex was returned to service.WND has reported several times on the threat of EMP attacks, including just two weeks ago when William R. Graham, chairman of the commission, told the House Armed Services Committee an EMP attack is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences.Not taking the steps necessary to reduce the threat in the next three to five years can both invite and reward attack, Graham told the committee.The scariest and most threatening kind of EMP attack is initiated by the detonation of a nuclear weapon at high altitude in the range of 25 to 250 miles above the Earth's surface. The immediate effects of EMP are disruption of, and damage to, electronic systems and electrical infrastructure. Such a detonation over the middle of the continental U.S. has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures that support the fabric of U.S. society and the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power, said Graham.Several potential adversaries have the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse, and others appear to be pursuing efforts to obtain that capability, said Graham. A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication. For example, an adversary would not have to have long-range ballistic missiles to conduct an EMP attack against the United States. Such an attack could be launched from a freighter off the U.S. coast using a short- or medium-range missile to loft a nuclear warhead to high altitude. Terrorists sponsored by a rogue state could attempt to execute such an attack without revealing the identity of the perpetrators. Iran, the world's leading sponsor of international terrorism, has practiced launching a mobile ballistic missile from a vessel in the Caspian Sea. Iran has also tested high-altitude explosions of the Shahab-III, a test mode consistent with EMP attack, and described the tests as successful. Iranian military writings explicitly discuss a nuclear EMP attack that would gravely harm the United States. While the commission does not know the intention of Iran in conducting these activities, we are disturbed by the capability that emerges when we connect the dots.The committee's report analyzes the impact of an attack on electrical supplies, telecommunications, banking and finance, petroleum and natural gas, transportation, food, water, emergency services, space systems and government.The news was dire throughout. The electrical grid, for example, is needed to distribute water, food, fuel, communications, transport, financial transactions, emergency services and government services.Should significant parts of the electrical power infrastructure be lost for any substantial period of time, the commission believes that the consequences are likely to be catastrophic, and many people may ultimately die for lack of the basic elements necessary to sustain life in dense urban and suburban communities, the report said.In fact, the commission is deeply concerned that such impacts are likely in the event of an EMP attack unless practical steps are taken to provide protection for critical elements of the electric system and for rapid restoration of electric power, particular to essential services, the report said.Current disaster preparedness and recovery plans may be of little or no value under an EMP attack because of the length of time it would take to obtain and install replacement parts or repair other damage.
The cascade of trouble would be significant. No electricity would mean out-of-control water, natural gas or fuel flows through distribution systems. Some explosions likely would happen, fires could ignite. But no emergency services could be contacted for help, and if they already were on scene, it's unlikely water would be ready. Even worse, when such fires burn themselves out, and repairs are begun, supplies could neither be ordered nor delivered because of communications and fuel disruptions, and the critical workers needed for repairs might not be able to get to the location.
At some point, repair and recovery simply become impossible, the report said.There is a point in time at which the shortage or exhaustion of critical items like emergency power supply, batteries, standby fuel supplies, replacement parts, and manpower resources which can be coordinated and dispatched, together with the degradation of all other infrastructures and their systemic impact, all lead toward a collapse of restoration capability.
Society will transition into a situation where restoration needs increase with time as resources degrade and disappear, the report warned.It is the first report from the commission since 2004 and identifies vulnerabilities in the nation's critical infrastructures, which are essential to both our civilian and military capabilities.Graham also had warned Congress such an attack could come without the backing of an international power, such as China or Russia.
William R. Graham
Theoretically, an EMP attack is devastating because of the unprecedented cascading failures of major infrastructures that could result. Because of America's heavy reliance on electricity and electronics, the impact would be far worse than on a country less advanced technologically.Graham took the EMP debate out of the realm of science fiction by reminding the committee that as recently as May 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Russian leaders threatened a U.S. congressional delegation with the specter of an attack that would paralyze the U.S.He also quoted James J. Shinn, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security, who several weeks ago told the same House committee that China's arms buildup includes exotic experiments with electromagnetic weapons that can devastate electronics with bursts of energy similar to those produced by a nuclear blast.The consequence of EMP is that you destroy the communications network, Shinn said. And we are, as you know, and as the Chinese know, heavily dependent on sophisticated communications, satellite communications, in the conduct of our forces. And so, whether it's from an EMP or it's some kind of a coordinated [anti-satellite] effort, we could be in a very bad place if the Chinese enhanced their capability in this area.Graham says terrorists who get their hands on one or a few unsophisticated nuclear weapons might well calculate they could get the most bang for their buck from attempting an EMP attack.Ultimate recovery from an EMP attack could end up taking years, during which time America very well may have to exist without many high-tech services, from cell phones inoperable due to damaged towers unrepaired because of parts shortages to a disruption in the food supply path because of fuel shortages.A serious national commitment to address the threat of an EMP attack can lead to a national posture that would significantly reduce the payoff for such an attack and allow the United States to recover from EMP, and from other threats, man-made and natural, to the critical infrastructures, Graham told the committee.
WORLD TERRORISM
2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Iran has up to 6,000 enrichment centrifuges: Ahmadinejad
TEHRAN, July 26 (AFP) Jul 26, 2008 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that Iran has boosted the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges to up to 6,000, in an expansion of its nuclear drive that defies international calls for a freeze.
Today they (the West) have agreed that the existing 5,000 to 6,000 centrifuges do not increase and that there is no problem if this number of centrifuges work, Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state radio.Ahmadinejad said in April that Iran was working to install 6,000 more centrifuges at an underground hall in a plant at its nuclear facility in Natanz, where it already had 3,000 running.
It is a major expansion of Iran's nuclear programme, which the West fears could be aimed at making atomic weapons.Iran is already under three sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, which makes nuclear fuel as well as the fissile core of an atomic bomb.World powers, seeking to resolve the standoff, have offered to start pre-negotiations during which Tehran would add no more uranium-enriching centrifuges and in return face no further sanctions.Iran was given a two-week deadline to give a final answer to world powers seeking a breakthrough in the crisis after talks a week ago in Geneva with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana ended in stalemate.The United States, which took the unprecedented step of sending a top diplomat to meet Iran's chief negotiator at the Geneva talks, has warned Tehran of punitive measures if it spurns the offer and presses on with enrichment.Ahmadinejad said the US presence in at the Geneva talks was a success for Iran regardless of its outcome, state radio reported.They said a few years ago that talks without a US participation has no results and the US condition is suspending enrichment but it has happened today without satisfying the US condition.Ahmadinejad had vowed on Wednesday that Iran would make no concessions and that further sanctions would not force it to back down.Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, insisting that its programme is designed to provide energy for its growing population when the leading OPEC member's reserves of fossil fuels run out.
Permanent Security Council members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany have made Iran an offer, which includes trade incentives and help with a civilian nuclear programme in return for suspending enrichment.The New York Times on Tuesday released what it said was a two-page informal document that outlined Tehran's approach to talks in Geneva and was distributed by Iranian negotiators.The paper called for seven more rounds of talks, stressed the need for an end to sanctions, and made no mention of an incentives package.Iranian officials have repeatedly said they have no intention of freezing enrichment and that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has the right to make its own nuclear fuel.Vice President Reza Aghazadeh said on Thursday that the negotiations with the world powers could be used to resolve wider Middle East problems from the conflict in Iraq to surging oil prices.The standoff has stirred fears of Israeli or US military strikes against Iran, as US President George W. Bush has insisted Washington would keep all options on the table. It has also sent oil prices spiralling upward.
Iran has repeatedly vowed a crushing response to any aggression against its soil, with Iranian officials warning that the military would target Israel and dozens of US bases in the region in retaliation.
US Warns Iran Time Running Out for Nuclear Deal
By Sonja Pace London 25 July 2008
U.S. officials are warning Iran that time is running out for Tehran to respond to proposals by the EU and the Security Council to resolve the nuclear stand-off. Iran was given two weeks to reply before risking yet another round of sanctions. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from London.U.S. officials say it's time Iran offers a serious response to EU and U.N. proposals.The latest package of incentives was discussed July 19 in Geneva, in a closed door meeting that represented Iran, the five permanent members of the Security Council, (the P5), Germany and the European Union. Taking part for the first time was a senior American envoy, Undersecretary of State William Burns.Greg Schulte is the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. in Vienna and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA. Speaking with VOA in London, Ambassador Schulte said Iran's response at that meeting turned into a meandering lesson in Iranian history and culture. We weren't there for a lesson, he said. The P5 was there to see if Iran was willing to negotiate seriously.On the table were a series of proposals delivered to the Iranians by EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana in June.
Schulte outlined some of the proposals.
We have offered Iran's leaders a very generous package that would give them access to state of the art technology for nuclear power plants, that would give them assurances of fuel supply, that would address some of the security issues that they've raised, that would allow for cooperation in areas of common interest like fighting against narcotics, he said. And, we've looked for a way to get them into those negotiations and we said we would be there.A way to entice the Iranians into negotiating is the freeze-for-freeze offer, meaning Iran would freeze its uranium enrichment at current levels and the U.N. and EU would freeze their current levels of sanctions. This period would last six weeks, to build confidence and allow for more substantive negotiations to begin.The bottom line demand remains, however that Iran must actually suspend the enrichment of uranium, the nuclear fuel source that can be used for generating energy, but also for making nuclear weapons.The United States has said it would not negotiate directly with the Iranians until they suspend uranium enrichment. So, the presence of Undersecretary Burns at the Geneva meeting was widely seen as a shift in U.S. policy.
Not so, insists Schulte.
The reason why Undersecretary Burns went to this meeting was not a change in U.S. policy, but was rather to send a strong signal, he said. It was to send a signal that we backed -- we supported the package that was put on the table.Iran was given two weeks to respond to the latest proposals or face further sanctions.The United States, the U.N. and the EU have already imposed a series of sanctions on Iran and are threatening more.Iranian leaders continue to say they will not suspend uranium enrichment and on Wednesday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted Iran would continue its nuclear program. And yet Iran says it is ready to talk.Many believe Iran is simply buying time, especially given the upcoming presidential election in the United States and a change in administration.That would be a waste of time, says Schulte. If they try to outwait us, if they try to just buy time, they're only going to buy continued sanctions and more sanctions, he said. And, whoever goes into the White House on January 21st is not going to look favorably at an Iran that has spent six more months violating Security Council resolutions.Iran has all along said it wants to develop nuclear power for peaceful means, to provide energy. However, many in the international community believe Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons.
Muslim group declares war on Olympics July 27, 2008
A CHINESE terrorist organisation has warned it will create havoc at next month's Olympics and has claimed responsibility for a deadly Shanghai bus bombing in May.A group monitoring terrorism threats on the internet said Commander Seyfullah of the Turkestan Islamic Party claimed responsibility for several attacks in China less than a fortnight out from the Olympics.Through this blessed jihad in Yunnan this time, the Turkestan Islamic Party warns China one more time, Seyfullah said in a video dated July 23, a transcript from a US-based intelligence centre shows.Our aim is to target the most critical points related to the Olympics. We will try to attack Chinese central cities severely using the tactics that have never been employed, he said.The warnings come just a day after Chinese police claimed they cracked a terrorist cell planning to attack Shanghai Stadium where the Australian men's soccer team will open its Olympic campaign on August 7.Seyfullah claimed responsibility for the May 5 Shanghai bus bombing, which killed three; another Shanghai attack; an attack on police in Wenzhou on July 17 using an explosives-laden tractor; bombing of a Guangzhou plastics factory on July 17, and bombings of three buses in Yunnan province on July 21.
New Cuban nuke crisis threat by Martin Sieff
Washington (UPI) Jul 23, 2008
Is Russia serious about deploying its nuclear bombers in Cuba to retaliate against U.S. ballistic missile defense deployments in Poland or Lithuania? The story broke Monday this week when the Russian newspaper Izvestia, citing what it described as a high placed source in the Russian government, said if the United States went ahead with its plans to deploy Ground-based Mid-course Interceptors in Poland or Lithuania, the Kremlin could retaliate by basing its Tupolev Tu-160 White Swan supersonic nuclear bombers -- NATO codename Blackjack -- in Cuba.The U.S. government took the threat seriously and lost no time in responding to it. On Tuesday, Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, head of USAF Transport Command who has been nominated to succeed Gen. T. Michael Moseley as chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, told his confirmation hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russia would cross a red line if it made such a move.I certainly would offer best military advice that we should engage the Russians not to pursue that approach, he said. And if they did, I think we should stand strong and indicate that that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America.It should be noted the Russian government has carefully sought to avoid making any open threat or incendiary comments about the potential threat and it has carefully avoided being drawn out on the issue. The Defense Ministry in Moscow issued a statement saying the Izvestia story was palpably false and that it was even written under a pseudonym and quoted a non-existent organization among its sources.Nevertheless, the very possibility that Russia would deploy first-line strategic weapons systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons to the U.S. homeland from bases in Cuba, only 90 miles from the coast of Florida, would throw the entire strategic calculus of successive U.S. governments -- Republican and Democrat alike -- into complete disarray.Such a possibility has never been seriously threatened in the 46 years since the world came closer than ever before or since in its history to all-out thermonuclear war in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Then U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reached a deal whereby the successive U.S. administrations left communist Cuba alone and in return the Soviets refrained from basing any offensive nuclear weapons systems or offensive weapons capable of delivering nuclear warheads to the U.S. mainland on the island.But all of a sudden this cornerstone agreement of Cold War and post-Cold War stability and security looks as if it might disappear overnight.The Tu-160 Blackjack is arguably the most formidable heavy nuclear bomber in the world. It carries a far larger payload and can fly far faster than its nearest U.S. counterpart, the B-1 Lancer. It does not have the stealth capabilities of the gigantic B-1, but it is far faster and more maneuverable. It can carry 99,000 pounds of munitions -- far more than the B-1 -- and its weapons payload options include stand-off supersonic, ground-hugging cruise missiles. The Tu-160 is unarmed, but it can fly at 1,380 miles per hour -- well over twice the speed of the U.S. Air Force's venerable old lumbering Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses.The Tu-160 is still in production, and it is believed that about five new ones per year are currently being delivered to the Russian air force. The total number of such aircraft currently deployed is believed to be quite high -- between 50 and 60 in all, assuming the older ones have been well maintained.
It may be that the Izvestia report was just unfounded speculation, but Schwartz did not act in his testimony as if it was.The world may have just entered a dangerous new era of escalating bluff, threat and counter-threat between the two main thermonuclear powers. The world of our fathers' nightmares may be coming back.
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