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
WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/
CNBC VIDEOS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839263/site/14081545/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false
HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS THU JAN 07,2010
09:30 AM -3.88
10:00 AM -56.46
10:30 AM -30.71
11:00 AM +8.99
11:30 AM +5.97
12:00 PM +2.19
12:30 PM +5.52
01:00 PM +2.57
01:30 PM +5.52
02:00 PM +8.61
02:30 PM +13.45
03:00 PM +4.84
03:30 PM +27.36
04:00 PM +33.18 10,606.86
S&P 500 1141.68 +4.54
NASDAQ 2300.05 -1.04
GOLD 1,131.80 -4.70
OIL 82.70 -0.48
TSE 300 11,881.79 -62.75
CDNX 1591.38 +12.79
S&P/TSX/60 698.10 -4.87
MORNING,NEWS,STATS
YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -34 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -66 points at low today.
Dow +41 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,133.20.OIL opens at $83.02 today.
AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -66 points at low today so far.
Dow +41 points at high today so far.
WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -66 points at low today.
Dow +41 points at high today.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
FREEZING COLD-NWO ENVIROMENT NUTS ARE SCAMMERS
CURRENCY NEWS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379498494&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379498463&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1378953907&play=1
CRISIS JUST BEGGINING
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379424998&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379374089&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379247740&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1378789469&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379438998&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1378738025&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1378722594&play=1
HOMESCHOOLERS ARRESTED
http://www.infowars.com/homeschoolers-arrested-in-new-york-slavery-returns-to-amerika/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDyDtYy2I0M&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bOl0EC74Cg&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFwv8AvDgqw&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ_2pmphV7o&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVRSrA8d4fM&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdwYDxruKMg&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WQZALgChFg&feature=player_embedded
Homeschoolers Arrested in New York: Slavery Returns to Amerika
Kurt Nimmo Infowars.com January 6, 2009
In a move designed to send a message to parents, a Montgomery County, New York, couple were arrested and ticketed for homeschooling their children and failing to register their them with the school district.News report on couple arrested for home-schooling.Richard Cressy, 47, and Margie Cressy, 41, both of the town of Glen, never registered their four children or their home-schooling curriculum with the local school district, said the Sheriff’s Office, reports WRGB, a CBS affiliate in Albany, New York.The Superintendent of the Fonda-Fultonville Central School District confirmed the four children, ranging in age from 8 to 14, had not been registered with the school district for the last seven years.The couple may lose custody of their children. The case has been turned over to the Montgomery County District Attorney and the Child Protective Unit.On his radio show today, Alex Jones said the arrest and demand that parents turn their offspring over to the state is like a scene out of Planet of the Apes. In the cult classic, apes hunt humans and intern them in a slave gulag. Police and the CPS are acting like apes on the hunt. Jones pointed out that there is no law in New York criminalizing homeschooling and the arrest was predicated on a color of law regulation.Local and state governments around the country have moved to criminalize homeschooling and force children to attend dangerous public schools. In 2008 in California, an appeals court ruled that parents do not have a constitutional right to home-school their children.
Germany’s mandatory education laws are based on Hitler’s Reichsculpflicht Gesetz (federal compulsory attendance laws) which were passed in 1938. Earlier this year, a German couple asked for asylum in the United States after the German government ruled that homeschooling their children was illegal. Uwe Romeike and his family moved to Tennessee after the state threatened to fine him and take away his children. Romeike, an evangelical Christian, objects to German school textbooks containing language and ideas that conflict with his family’s values.Provisions in the California Education Code require persons between the ages of six and eighteen to be in public full-time day school, or a private full-time day school or instructed by a tutor who holds a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught.The 2nd Appellate Court in Los Angeles argued that keeping the children at home deprived them of situations where they could interact with people outside the family.In other words, that court ruled that parents have no right to decide who their children interact with socially and that decision will be left to the state and bureaucrats.The ruling dramatically affects more than 200,000 homeschooled children in California.The California educational system is notorious for its pro-homosexual curriculum. Children attending California government schools are taught explicitly to avoid discriminatory attitudes and practices toward homosexuals in accordance with state laws that fund revised curriculum and unspecified tolerance programs, writes Julie Foster.In addition to tolerance programs, public education emphasizes sex eduction (teaching children how to be promiscuous) and suicide and death education.
A study conducted in 2002 revealed that public schools are infested with drugs. Half of all teens — and 60 percent of high school teens — report that drugs are used, kept, or sold at their schools. Students at these schools are three times more likely to smoke, drink, or use illicit drugs than students whose schools are substance-free, according to the study.According to officials in New York and California, parents have no right to protect their children from drugs or shelter them from sexual and social brainwashing contrary to their values.As noted by Michael Farris, chairman and general counsel of the Home School Legal Defense Association, judges around the country are responding to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).In the 2002 case of Beharry v. Reno, one federal court said that even though the convention was never ratified, it still has an impact on American law,Farris explained on the LifeSiteNews website.The fact that virtually every other nation in the world has adopted it has made it part of customary international law, and it means that it should be considered part of American jurisprudence.The CRC was adopted by the United Nations in 1989 but not ratified by Congress. If passed, it would have a negative impact on domestic law and practice in the United States. Article VI of our Constitution makes treaties – and remember, conventions are viewed as treaties – the supreme law of the land. The CRC would be treated as superior to laws in every state regarding the parent-child relationship. This would include issues regarding education, health care, family discipline, the child’s role in family decision-making, and a host of other subjects,writes Michael Smith for The Washington Times.Many believe under Obama the treaty will eventually be signed and legally binding for millions of parents in the United States.Article 29 of the CRC limits the right of parents and others to educate children by requiring that all such schools support both the charter and principles of the United Nations and a list of specific values and ideals (for instance, the principle of world government, the demonstrably bogus climate change agenda, population reduction, in short the entire globalist program).Every conceivable sphere of human activity is being analyzed and then planned for so that it will come under the ultimate control of the United Nations. It is becoming a world legislature, world court, world department of education, world welfare agency, world planning center for industry, science and commerce, world finance agency, world police force, and world anything else anyone might want — or might not want, wrote Ezra Taft Benson in An Enemy Hath Done This.The Copenhagen summit on climate change revealed that the United Nations is a front organization for the global elite and its transparent humanist facade will be done away with after world government is established. The United Nations, by and large, is a debating club for leaders and dictators of impoverished third world nations.Charlotte Iserbyt, who served as Senior Policy Adviser in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education during the Reagan administration, has documented how public education is designed to dumb down children and prepare them for socialism, that it is to say a world government dictated by an elite who are not socialist in the commonly held sense of the word. For the elite, socialism is the perfect control mechanism.
Charlotte Iserbyt describes the role of public education.As the late Antony C. Sutton noted, socialism is the most inefficient way to run a society ever conceived by man. It has come to the United States only because it is very much in the interest of the global financial elite to obtain total control of society and the world.Only a dumbed down population, with no memory of America’s roots as a prideful nation, could be expected to willingly succumb to the global workforce training planned by the Carnegie Corporation and the John D. Rockefellers,Iserbyt notes.
Iserbyt cites Rowan Gaither, who wrote that foundations, agencies, especially Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford use their grant-making power to so alter life in the United States that we can be comfortably merged with the Soviet Union, that is to say a global authoritarian government employing the ruse of socialism to control and manage billions of people.Millions of people now understand the globalist agenda and are actively removing their children from the brainwashing and social conditioning – in addition to violence and drug addiction – factories known as public schools.New York and California, operating under the color of law, are attempting in a feeble manner to intimidate home school parents. In order for the CRC and the globalist agenda to work, future generations must be reduced to non-thinking and irrational jellyfish capable of only following orders. The elite are in the process of organizing and formulating a huge planetary Borg Hive. The Endgame is eugenics and a massive culling of the herd. This can only be done if humanity is reduced to a condition of thoughtless slavery.As Alex Jones said on his radio show today, government is a cult and they want to force you to join. In order to do this, they are turning our children into little Manchurian candidates.
January 6th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnaping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
I WONDER IF THIS 3 MONTH SUSPENTION OF THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT TILL MARCH 1,10 IS TO LET THE USA DOLLAR COLLAPSE SO USA,CANA AND MEXICO CAN BLEND A CURRENCY (THE AMERO) IN.WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT 3 MONTHS.
Paris wants pan-European carbon tax
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today JAN 7,10 @ 09:12 CET
France intends to push for a tax on carbon emissions across the European Union, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday (6 December), a week after his country's top court struck down an attempt to introduce just such a tax domestically.Mr Sarkozy also wants to see carbon tariffs slapped on products entering the EU from countries with weaker environmental legislation.We will not accept goods that fail to conform to our environmental standards, the French leader told a group of businessmen in Cholet, French media reports.In future we will levy a climate tax at Europe's borders.Any carbon tariff move is likely to meet with stiff resistance from other EU member states, particularly the more free-trade oriented nations, who would view such a levy as a form of protectionism.When an EU carbon tax imposed at the borders of the bloc was first mooted at a meeting of European environment ministers last July, the idea was given a frosty reception, particularly by Germany.Mr Sarkozy's words come just a week after his flagship carbon tax was struck down by the country's top court as unjust and counterproductive to the fight against climate change.
The Constitutional Court last Wednesday (30 December) ruled that the law, announced in September and originally due to enter into force from 1 January, had included so many loopholes that some 93 percent of industrial greenhouse gas emissions would have been exempt.The judges found that this placed the overwhelming burden of the tax, set at €17 per tonne of CO2 emitted, on households instead of industry.The opposition Socialists as well as the Green Party and some 70 percent of the population were opposed to the law, which would have increased household gas bills and the cost of petrol significantly.In response, the French government is to present a re-edited version of the bill on 20 January, taking into consideration the court's objections.On Tuesday, French finance minister Christine Lagarde said that the new law would would involve a progressive tax, with different brackets similar to income taxation.Left-wing opponents of carbon taxes have argued that they are stealth attempts at introducing flat taxation under the guise of helping the environment.Paris hopes the new bill will enter into force on 1 July.
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.
ITS FREEZING COLD AROUND THE WORLD,THE NWO ENVIROMENTAL CONTROLLING NUT CASES ARE AT THE DECEPTION OF CLIMATE SCAMS,TO FUND THEIR WORLD GOVERNMENT.
Britain digging out after heavy snow, cold snap By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer – JAN 7,10
LONDON – People across Britain dug out Thursday after some of the heaviest snowfalls in decades, as forecasters warned the cold snap brought by an Arctic weather system would continue through next week.The storm shut airport runways, closed roads and led to train delays across the country, with the worst-hit areas receiving a foot and a half (50 centimeters) of snow.About 4,000 people were without electricity in southern England, and drivers faced difficult journeys on icy roads. Major airports including London's Heathrow and Gatwick were open, but hundreds of flights were canceled due to snow and ice.At least two people were killed in road accidents, and a man's body was found under the ice of a frozen pond at a country club in Frimley Green, southwest of London. Police said they were investigating.Many rail services were delayed or canceled, and a Eurostar train from Brussels to London was stuck for two hours in the Channel Tunnel because of a technical problem. The company said it was investigating the cause of the fault, which followed a series of breakdowns last month blamed on dry, powdery snow getting into the trains' engines.
Several thousand schools remained closed across Britain, from Scotland to southern England.Weather service the Met Office said Britain was experiencing its longest cold snap since 1981. The temperature fell to minus 17.7 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight in the village of Benson in southern England.Richard Young, Chief Forecaster at the Met Office, said strong east to northeasterly winds will pick up across many areas later Friday, making it feel bitterly cold.The cold has driven a surge in demand for heating fuel. Authorities on Thursday urged power suppliers to switch temporarily from gas to other fuels such as coal and asked major customers to cut back on gas usage. The measure, known as a gas balancing alert, has only been used twice before — in March 2006 and on Monday.Some sought to nurture the plucky British spirit. The Royal Society of Chemistry said it would award a 300 pound ($475) prize to the person it deemed the most dauntless traveler during the freeze.The society said the prize would recognize outstanding fortitude and resolution or selflessness in the face of meteorological adversity.The award commemorates the centenary of the start of Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated Antarctic voyage. Scott reached the South Pole in January 1912, but perished with four companions on the return trip. The society named its award the Cherry Prize after Apsley Cherry-Garrard, a survivor of Scott's expedition who recorded the trip in a book, The Worst Journey in the World.The society said it was inviting accounts and pictures of people who had showed particular pluck, selflessness, and patience until Jan. 21.
Midwest bracing for heavy snow, wind chills of -50 By MICHAEL CRUMB, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jan 7, 6:35 am ET
DES MOINES – Snow was piled so high in Iowa that drivers couldn't see across intersections and a North Dakota snowblower repair shop was overwhelmed with business as residents braced Thursday for heavy snow and wind chills as low as 50 below zero.Frigid weather also was gripping the South, where a rare cold snap was expected to bring snow and ice Thursday to states from South Carolina to Louisiana. Forecasters said wind chills could drop to near zero at night in some areas.
Dangerously cold wind chills were anticipated in the Midwest overnight, including as low as 35 below in eastern Nebraska, minus 45 in parts of South Dakota and negative 50 in North Dakota, according to National Weather Service warnings.Another 10 inches of snow was expected in Iowa, buried in December by more than 2 feet of snow, while up to 9 inches could fall in southeast North Dakota that forecasters warned would create hazardous zero-visibility driving conditions. Wind gusts of 30 miles per hour were expected in Illinois — along with a foot of snow — while large drifts were anticipated in Nebraska and Iowa.Joe Dietrich said he had to turn away dozens of customers this week from his snowblower repair shop in Bismarck, N.D.
My building is only so big and I can only take so many, Dietrich said.The weather hasn't let up since sweeping into the eastern U.S. earlier this week. Five straight days of double-digit subzero low temperatures, including negative 19, were recorded by the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen, Minn., a Twin Cities suburb.
It's brutally cold, definitely brutal, meteorologist Tony Zaleski said.Several deaths have been blamed on the cold. An 88-year-old woman died of hypothermia Tuesday in her unheated Chicago home, an Alzheimer's sufferer died after wandering into his yard in Nashville, Tenn., and a homeless man was found dead in a tent in South Carolina, authorities said. Kansas City police said a man involved in a multi-car pileup Wednesday died after jumping a barrier wall in the dark, apparently to avoid sliding cars, and falling about 80 feet.In the South, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear declared a state of emergency in Perry County on Wednesday after water line breaks left areas without water.Freeze warnings covered nearly all of Florida with temperatures expected to drop into the 20s overnight. Freezing iguanas were seen falling out of trees in Florida; experts say the cold-blooded reptiles become immobilized when the temperature falls into the 40s and they lose their grip on the tree.Schools in parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri and Oklahoma were among those expected to cancel classes because of weather, while major roads in South Dakota, North Carolina and Virginia were closed.Salt had no effect on the Twin Cities' ice-rutted streets, and the deep snow left over from a Christmas storm has hardened into rock-hard blocks. The conditions helped business at Roger's Master Collision, an auto-body repair shop in Plymouth, Minn.A lot of people sliding on the ice, then hitting the snowbanks. They're frozen up pretty hard, said store manager Kirk Suchomel, estimating the shop is averaging 15 repair estimates a day.I'm sure we're going to stay busy.In Iowa, officials in Des Moines warned that a $3 million annual snow removal budget would likely be exhausted with this week's storm. Another 10 inches of snow was forecast overnight — on top of the more than 28 inches of snow that fell there in December.Public Works Director Bill Stowe said the city would tap a $6 million road maintenance fund to cover snow clearing for the rest of the season. Snow that had been plowed into tall piles at intersections was set to be dumped into a lake.It can be a half-million dollar operation, depending on the amount of snow, Stowe said.
China freeze to continue as power use, food prices rise
Thu Jan 7, 2:36 am ET
BEIJING (AFP) – More regions of China faced power shortages, food prices rose and the government warned of crop damage as a cold front kept its icy grip on the country Thursday with more chilly weather forecast.A vast swathe of the country -- from the interior southwest to its northeastern seaboard -- has seen unprecedented spikes in electricity and coal use as residents sought to keep warm, China National Radio reported.State-run Xinhua news agency quoted power grid officials saying China did not face an energy crunch, but concern appeared to be rising over the situation, which echoed a severe 2008 power shortage caused by cold weather.A historic cold wave in January of that year virtually paralysed China, bringing record low temperatures, transport chaos, fuel shortages and power outages across large parts of the nation.As demand strained power grids, several provinces and regions have begun rationing electricity or imposed other restrictions, state media reported, although few details of the measures were given.The affected areas included Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces, as well as the municipalities of Chongqing and Shanghai, Xinhua said.Agriculture ministry officials said Wednesday food prices were rising as transportation crimped delivery and the cold weather damaged crops.Prices for vegetables had increased as much as 10 percent in recent days in some areas, while the winter wheat industry -- accustomed to years of rising temperatures -- was threatened, the officials said, according to Xinhua.The extreme cold weather conditions this winter pose a new challenge for the winter wheat crop, Zhou Puguo, an official with the ministry's crop division, was quoted as saying.
He however insisted that China did not face a crop crisis.China has endured an unusually early and cold winter, reaching its height over the past week with heavy snow across the north of the country and rare snowfalls further south.A weekend snowstorm was Beijing's heaviest in decades, and Wednesday's low of minus 16.7 degrees Celsius (two degrees Fahrenheit) was the lowest in the capital since 1971.The China Meteorological Administration on Thursday forecast more snow for parts of northern and northwestern China over the next several days.Meanwhile normally warmer southern parts of the country would see temperatures below freezing, accompanied by sleet, it said.
EU staff pay dispute ends up in court HONOR MAHONY
06.01.2010 @ 16:19 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission Wednesday (6 January) said it would take member states to court for blocking a standard pay rise due to EU civil servants.Gathering for a first meeting of the new year, EU commissioners waved through a decision to take the matter to the European Court of Justice.The commission has confirmed its decision to take action before the court to ask for the annulment of the council decision, said a spokeswoman. She added that the commission has asked for a quick decision by the court. The legal move came after member states in late December voted to halve a planned 3.7% annual increase in pay to 1.85%, as ordinary EU citizens are having to tighten their belts in the face of the worst economic crisis in several decades. Gross monthly salaries for EU commission staff run from 2,550 euros for a secretary to almost 18,000 euros for a head of department.
The annual pay adjustment for EU staff, agreed by governments in 2004, is an automatic mechanism and is based on the average of the pay for civil servants in eight member states, including France, Germany, the UK and Italy, in the previous year. The commission has sought to emphasize the legal nature of the dispute which has been going on for several weeks.We are talking here about the respect of agreed rules. It is not an issue where political discretion is at play, said the spokeswoman.But the pay rise has grated in a year which has seen IMF bailouts and street protests in EU states as the full effects of the downturn are felt. Countries such as the UK, which opposed the wage hike, argued that it sent the wrong message to citizens.According to a German government spokesperson quoted by Spiegel Online, the rules should be subject to a critical review.It is precisely in times of crisis that political sensibilities should also play a role,he said on Wednesday. EU civil servants however counter that the same mechanism is likely to lead to a cut in pay when wages - which will be based on 2009 pay scales - are next up for discussion at the end of 2010. The public spat between the EU institutions and member states has been something of an embarrassment coming at the end of a year which saw protracted internal divisions over the bloc's new Lisbon Treaty.
EU parliament staff
However, the staff protests - to date not too disruptive - may not be over. EU parliament staff could get in on the act next week.Scaling back their talk of a full-scale strike, some parliament officials say they are still planning to hinder the MEP hearings of EU commissioner nominees.What we've decided is to organise protest meetings, which would disrupt hearings, including the [Catherine] Ashton hearing, Tom Morgan, of the Syndicat Général du Personnel des Organisations Européennes representing around 500 staff, told EUobserver. The keenly awaited hearing of the EU foreign policy chief is one of the first to take place, on 11 January.The pay activists plan protests in front of the hearing room to preventing people from getting in so the hearings cannot take place.They say they want more public support from parliament chief Jerzy Buzek if their protest is to be called off. We want something which is a little more concrete and public. We want the European Parliament to commit to signing up to the commission's court case.However, it is unclear how many officials will actually support the protest, although all of the parliament's six unions favour next week's action.A spokesman for Mr Buzek said that the president has been vocal in saying the letter of the law governing the pay rise must be obeyed.Any disruption to the hearings timetable could potentially delay the investiture of the next European Commission, which has been in caretaker status since 1 November following delays in ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.The hearings of 26 commissioners have been packed into two weeks with a vote on the entire college pencilled in for 26 January. Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has been keen to get the new commission up and running, with the current delay bad for the EU's image but also causing a backlog in major decisions and policy initiatives.
European parliament selling unused body scanners
VALENTINA POP 06.01.2010 @ 20:46 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The European Parliament is putting its six unused full body scanners up for sale, just as several EU states are buying such devices for their airports in the aftermath of a failed bomb attack on a US flight departing from Amsterdam.Last year, the machines became a bit of an embarrassment for the EU legislature when MEPs found out that their own institution had purchased them in 2005.In October 2008, lawmakers had opposed a bill allowing the use of full body scanners in the EU, unaware of the six unused devices lying around in the basement.
The controversial machines were bought for €725,730 as a precaution measure after the 2001 al Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington.In April last year, the plenum decided to put them up for sale. The tendering procedures are set to kick off next week, after publication in the EU's official journal. The process should be wrapped up by 26 February, according to the parliament's secretary general, Klaus Welle, in a letter seen by Germany's Sueddeutsche newspaper.A parliament spokeswoman said that the selling process took almost a year due to the complex financial regulation procedures applying to both acquisitions and sales of the institution's assets.The bidders will have to have a clean record and prove that they are financially sound, Marjory van den Broeke added. Regarding potential criticism that the EU legislature is selling the devices just as several EU governments are considering introducing mandatory full body scans in airports, Ms van den Broeke said that there was no room for comparison.The Parliament is not an airport, she stressed.Despite the fact that they are not state of the art, the six machines are unlikely to have trouble in finding a buyer.Amsterdam's main airport Schiphol, where the thwarted bomber boarded on Christmas Day, announced it will buy 60 new scanners to boost security. It already employs 15 such devices. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered a study of the possible use of full-body scanners amid growing worldwide security concerns, the interior minister said Wednesday. French lawmakers discussed the introduction of scanners in 2008, but the idea of deploying them was dropped amid privacy concerns.In the UK, full body scans will be introduced within three weeks at Heathrow airport in London and will be carried out on a random basis, home secretary Alan Johnson said on Tuesday.The beefed-up security strategy will rely just as much on spotting unusual behaviour among passengers, the deployment of more sniffer dogs and installing sophisticated explosives-detection equipment in all airports by the year's end.
The scanners themselves aren't the magic bullet here, Mr Johnson said. In Brussels, the EU commission will also examine the issue on Thursday (7 January) with national aviation security experts.If security concerns persist, MEPs might prove more flexible this time around in approving an EU-wide roll-out of such devices. Back in 2008, they called the graphic imagery provided by the machines a virtual strip search.We think that the [EU] parliament in the next round will approve the body scanners,Schiphol Group chief operating officer Ad Rutten said last week in the wake of the US incident.
Belgium to step up security at EU summits
VALENTINA POP Today JAN 7,10 @ 09:19 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Belgian authorities on Wednesday (7 January) said they will step up security at EU summits after being embarrassed by Greenpeace activists who breached the system in December to stage a surprise protest.From now on, there will be two ways in: One for heads of government and another for the rest of their delegations,said Belgian interior ministry spokeswoman Margaux Donckier, according to AFP.She added that the breach had highlighted a system that has not evolved at the same rate as the [enlarged] EU and in which protocol was given priority over security.Eleven Greenpeace activists carrying false VIP accreditations were arrested in December after jumping out of three limousines to the astonishment of waiting leaders, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.One of them unfolded a banner reading EU save Copenhagen in reference to the global climate change summit which was ongoing in the Danish capital. Other Greenpeace activists managed to repeat the stunt one week later in Copenhagen, at a gala dinner hosted by the Danish queen. They were held under arrest for 20 days, causing a heated debate in Denmark as to whether the punishment was too harsh.A report into the Brussels events published by the Belgian interior ministry blamed a certain routine of security officials and a policy that was outdated. Global action plans will from now on be drafted for each high-level meeting, strengthening co-operation between police, the security staff of the building hosting the event and the bodyguards of the various delegations.
Restrictions will be placed on the size of the national delegations, the report adds, in reference to some leaders who like to travel with dozens of aides and ministers when joining EU summits. The first meeting under the new rules will take place on 11 February, when the 27 leaders are set to discuss a new 10-year economic strategy for the bloc. A regular spring council is scheduled for 25-26 March. From July on, when Belgium takes over the rotating presidency of the EU, currently held by Spain, Brussels will also host more meetings with foreign leaders, increasing pressure on security arrangements.
Galileo contracts give boost to delayed project
ANDREW WILLIS Today JAN 7,10 @ 17:33 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Union's much-delayed satellite navigation system, Galileo, received an important boost on Thursday (7 January) with the awarding of several key contracts to European companies. With a combined value of over €1 billion, the contracts to build and launch the first wave of satellites will enable the roll-out of Galileo's services from 2014, said EU transport commissioner Antonio Tajani in Brussels. With this and the upcoming awards for the remaining procurement packages, we are concluding a critical phase of the Galileo programme, he explained. We can now focus on the actual roll-out and demonstrate to European citizens that Europe's own satellite navigation system is firmly underway.Galileo is the EU's answer to the US Global Positioning System (GPS), widely deployed in a broad range of navigational devices such as those used by drivers to find street directions. Under Thursday's announcement, German space technology company OHB-System AG edged out larger rival EADS Astrium to secure the €566 million contract to build the first 14 of a maximum of 32 satellites needed for the system. With the first satellites set to roll off the production line in the second half of 2010, the commission said the two companies would continue to compete for the remaining production tenders. French company Arianespace was awarded a €397 million contract to launch the satellites, to be carried out using Russian-built Soyuz rockets. System support to pull the whole project together will be provided by Italy's Thales Alenia Space, under a contract valued at €85 million.
History of setbacks
The important deals, to be signed by the companies and the European Space Agency on behalf of the commission in the coming weeks, will be welcomed by EU and member state officials working on the Galileo project, whose history has been dogged by both financial and political hiccups.Having overcome initial US concerns that the rival project could be used to attack its armed forces, the project suffered a major setback in 2007 when the public-private partnership designed to develop and run the European initiative collapsed. A subsequent decision by member states to finance Galileo solely from the public purse helped save the project, but also substantially increased the cost to the taxpayer, initially pencilled in at €1.8 billion but now likely to run closer to €5 billion. Despite the greater than anticipated strain placed on public coffers, EU governments expect the project to reap considerable gains for the European economy. Insisting that the project was currently in line with spending forecasts, Mr Tajani refused to rule out the possibility of an eventual overrun. I cannot tell you that we will not run over cost because of the increase in the price of the rocket launchers,he told journalists. The EU has been keen to stress Galileo's role in complementing rather than competing with existing satellite navigation systems.We want Galileo to be an international system, said Mr Tajani, stressing its compatibility with the US's GPS and the ongoing discussions with other countries including Russia and China.
Latvia backs Iceland in debt wrangle
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today JAN 7,10 @ 17:36 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Latvia has sided with Iceland's president in the country's debt dispute with the UK and the Netherlands, saying that threats against Reykjavik in the wake of the president's refusal to sign a bill scheduling debt repayment to London and the Hague would never happen if the debtor had been France instead.Is this reaction due to the fact that Iceland is a small country? It is difficult to imagine that similar comments would be heard if, for example, such a step had been taken by the French president, said Latvian foreign minister Maris Riekstins, denouncing the exaggerated response of some European politicians.London and the Hague have hinted that they may block Iceland's EU accession or obstruct the IMF's $10 billion rescue package for the country. On Tuesday (5 December), Iceland's president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, refused to sign a bill passed by the Althingi, the country's parliament, that would see Reykjavik pay back London and the Hague the €3.8 billion they spent to compensate British and Dutch savers who lost money the previous October when their accounts with the online savings account Icesave were frozen following the collapse of the parent company, Landsbanki.Mr Grimsson made the move following a series of protests against the bill and a petition signed by a quarter of the small country's electorate. The government has called a referendum on the legislation for 20 February.Fitch, the international rating agency, responded by downgrading Iceland's long-term foreign currency credit rating to junk status. Standard and Poor's has also threatened a down-grading.The government has scrambled to limit the damage caused by the president's decision. On Wednesday, finance minister Steingrimur Sigfusson spoke to the UK and Netherlands to try to calm the situation and telephoned his Swedish counterpart on Thursday. Reykjavik has also announced that the minister would meet with the Norwegian and Danish finance ministers on Friday to try to convince them to maintain lines of credit.The country's left-wing government tried to assure markets that Iceland remained creditworthy: Despite the president's decision, the government of Iceland remains fully committed to implementing the bilateral loan agreements and thus the state guarantee provided for by the law, the government said in a statement.
The pro-EU coalition also worries that the dispute is rapidly unravelling its plans to join the bloc. Perceptions that Brussels has sided with the Netherlands and the UK, both EU member states, in the dispute have caused popular support for European adhesion to plummet.Iceland had offered a payment schedule to the British and Dutch governments, but limited to what the country was able to pay. This would amount to an upper limit of four percent of growth in GDP in the case of the UK and two percent in the case of the Netherlands. If the economy did not grow, the country would hold back its payments and after 2024 what remained of the debts would be written off.London and the Hague however refused Iceland's offer, forcing the Icelandic government to narrowly pass a bill that would schedule repayment of the entirety of sums - worth around 40 percent of Iceland's GDP - and without such conditions. Estimates suggest that every household will have to contribute around €45,000. Icelandic critics of the deal say it puts the interests of UK and Dutch creditors ahead of domestic social programmes at a time when public spending is a vital part of the country's recovery and compare the repayment schedule to the reparations Germany was forced to pay after the First World War.Separately, in an unusual move, British and Dutch anti-poverty campaigners, normally focussed on hardship in third-world countries, have rallied behind the Icelandic president.
Jubilee Debt Campaign, the UK-based ecumenical charity that works toward the cancellation of developing country debts, and Both Ends, a Dutch development NGO, has accused London and the Hague of putting the north Atlantic island in the same position as many nations in Africa, forced to cut domestic social expenditure in order to pay back huge debts to creditors.The UK campaign group cheered Mr Grimmson's move:Iceland's president was correct to assert that states in debt have rights that trump the rights of creditors to bleed their economies dry.They argued that the British and Dutch governments share responsibility for not effectively regulating Icesave along with other banks. Instead, [they] have decided to make the ordinary people of Iceland bear sole responsibility for the faults of the bankers.
Iceland has only two choices: to pay its creditors on whatever terms they demand, or to default and see its economy sent into tail spin by unaccountable economic institutions,said the group's director, Nick Dearden.The two groups are calling for independent arbitration of the Icesave dispute by the United Nations or the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379498494&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379498463&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1378953907&play=1
CRISIS JUST BEGGINING
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379424998&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379374089&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379247740&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1378789469&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1379438998&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1378738025&play=1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1378722594&play=1
HOMESCHOOLERS ARRESTED
http://www.infowars.com/homeschoolers-arrested-in-new-york-slavery-returns-to-amerika/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDyDtYy2I0M&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bOl0EC74Cg&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFwv8AvDgqw&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ_2pmphV7o&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVRSrA8d4fM&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdwYDxruKMg&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WQZALgChFg&feature=player_embedded
Homeschoolers Arrested in New York: Slavery Returns to Amerika
Kurt Nimmo Infowars.com January 6, 2009
In a move designed to send a message to parents, a Montgomery County, New York, couple were arrested and ticketed for homeschooling their children and failing to register their them with the school district.News report on couple arrested for home-schooling.Richard Cressy, 47, and Margie Cressy, 41, both of the town of Glen, never registered their four children or their home-schooling curriculum with the local school district, said the Sheriff’s Office, reports WRGB, a CBS affiliate in Albany, New York.The Superintendent of the Fonda-Fultonville Central School District confirmed the four children, ranging in age from 8 to 14, had not been registered with the school district for the last seven years.The couple may lose custody of their children. The case has been turned over to the Montgomery County District Attorney and the Child Protective Unit.On his radio show today, Alex Jones said the arrest and demand that parents turn their offspring over to the state is like a scene out of Planet of the Apes. In the cult classic, apes hunt humans and intern them in a slave gulag. Police and the CPS are acting like apes on the hunt. Jones pointed out that there is no law in New York criminalizing homeschooling and the arrest was predicated on a color of law regulation.Local and state governments around the country have moved to criminalize homeschooling and force children to attend dangerous public schools. In 2008 in California, an appeals court ruled that parents do not have a constitutional right to home-school their children.
Germany’s mandatory education laws are based on Hitler’s Reichsculpflicht Gesetz (federal compulsory attendance laws) which were passed in 1938. Earlier this year, a German couple asked for asylum in the United States after the German government ruled that homeschooling their children was illegal. Uwe Romeike and his family moved to Tennessee after the state threatened to fine him and take away his children. Romeike, an evangelical Christian, objects to German school textbooks containing language and ideas that conflict with his family’s values.Provisions in the California Education Code require persons between the ages of six and eighteen to be in public full-time day school, or a private full-time day school or instructed by a tutor who holds a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught.The 2nd Appellate Court in Los Angeles argued that keeping the children at home deprived them of situations where they could interact with people outside the family.In other words, that court ruled that parents have no right to decide who their children interact with socially and that decision will be left to the state and bureaucrats.The ruling dramatically affects more than 200,000 homeschooled children in California.The California educational system is notorious for its pro-homosexual curriculum. Children attending California government schools are taught explicitly to avoid discriminatory attitudes and practices toward homosexuals in accordance with state laws that fund revised curriculum and unspecified tolerance programs, writes Julie Foster.In addition to tolerance programs, public education emphasizes sex eduction (teaching children how to be promiscuous) and suicide and death education.
A study conducted in 2002 revealed that public schools are infested with drugs. Half of all teens — and 60 percent of high school teens — report that drugs are used, kept, or sold at their schools. Students at these schools are three times more likely to smoke, drink, or use illicit drugs than students whose schools are substance-free, according to the study.According to officials in New York and California, parents have no right to protect their children from drugs or shelter them from sexual and social brainwashing contrary to their values.As noted by Michael Farris, chairman and general counsel of the Home School Legal Defense Association, judges around the country are responding to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).In the 2002 case of Beharry v. Reno, one federal court said that even though the convention was never ratified, it still has an impact on American law,Farris explained on the LifeSiteNews website.The fact that virtually every other nation in the world has adopted it has made it part of customary international law, and it means that it should be considered part of American jurisprudence.The CRC was adopted by the United Nations in 1989 but not ratified by Congress. If passed, it would have a negative impact on domestic law and practice in the United States. Article VI of our Constitution makes treaties – and remember, conventions are viewed as treaties – the supreme law of the land. The CRC would be treated as superior to laws in every state regarding the parent-child relationship. This would include issues regarding education, health care, family discipline, the child’s role in family decision-making, and a host of other subjects,writes Michael Smith for The Washington Times.Many believe under Obama the treaty will eventually be signed and legally binding for millions of parents in the United States.Article 29 of the CRC limits the right of parents and others to educate children by requiring that all such schools support both the charter and principles of the United Nations and a list of specific values and ideals (for instance, the principle of world government, the demonstrably bogus climate change agenda, population reduction, in short the entire globalist program).Every conceivable sphere of human activity is being analyzed and then planned for so that it will come under the ultimate control of the United Nations. It is becoming a world legislature, world court, world department of education, world welfare agency, world planning center for industry, science and commerce, world finance agency, world police force, and world anything else anyone might want — or might not want, wrote Ezra Taft Benson in An Enemy Hath Done This.The Copenhagen summit on climate change revealed that the United Nations is a front organization for the global elite and its transparent humanist facade will be done away with after world government is established. The United Nations, by and large, is a debating club for leaders and dictators of impoverished third world nations.Charlotte Iserbyt, who served as Senior Policy Adviser in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education during the Reagan administration, has documented how public education is designed to dumb down children and prepare them for socialism, that it is to say a world government dictated by an elite who are not socialist in the commonly held sense of the word. For the elite, socialism is the perfect control mechanism.
Charlotte Iserbyt describes the role of public education.As the late Antony C. Sutton noted, socialism is the most inefficient way to run a society ever conceived by man. It has come to the United States only because it is very much in the interest of the global financial elite to obtain total control of society and the world.Only a dumbed down population, with no memory of America’s roots as a prideful nation, could be expected to willingly succumb to the global workforce training planned by the Carnegie Corporation and the John D. Rockefellers,Iserbyt notes.
Iserbyt cites Rowan Gaither, who wrote that foundations, agencies, especially Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford use their grant-making power to so alter life in the United States that we can be comfortably merged with the Soviet Union, that is to say a global authoritarian government employing the ruse of socialism to control and manage billions of people.Millions of people now understand the globalist agenda and are actively removing their children from the brainwashing and social conditioning – in addition to violence and drug addiction – factories known as public schools.New York and California, operating under the color of law, are attempting in a feeble manner to intimidate home school parents. In order for the CRC and the globalist agenda to work, future generations must be reduced to non-thinking and irrational jellyfish capable of only following orders. The elite are in the process of organizing and formulating a huge planetary Borg Hive. The Endgame is eugenics and a massive culling of the herd. This can only be done if humanity is reduced to a condition of thoughtless slavery.As Alex Jones said on his radio show today, government is a cult and they want to force you to join. In order to do this, they are turning our children into little Manchurian candidates.
January 6th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnaping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
I WONDER IF THIS 3 MONTH SUSPENTION OF THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT TILL MARCH 1,10 IS TO LET THE USA DOLLAR COLLAPSE SO USA,CANA AND MEXICO CAN BLEND A CURRENCY (THE AMERO) IN.WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT 3 MONTHS.
Paris wants pan-European carbon tax
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today JAN 7,10 @ 09:12 CET
France intends to push for a tax on carbon emissions across the European Union, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday (6 December), a week after his country's top court struck down an attempt to introduce just such a tax domestically.Mr Sarkozy also wants to see carbon tariffs slapped on products entering the EU from countries with weaker environmental legislation.We will not accept goods that fail to conform to our environmental standards, the French leader told a group of businessmen in Cholet, French media reports.In future we will levy a climate tax at Europe's borders.Any carbon tariff move is likely to meet with stiff resistance from other EU member states, particularly the more free-trade oriented nations, who would view such a levy as a form of protectionism.When an EU carbon tax imposed at the borders of the bloc was first mooted at a meeting of European environment ministers last July, the idea was given a frosty reception, particularly by Germany.Mr Sarkozy's words come just a week after his flagship carbon tax was struck down by the country's top court as unjust and counterproductive to the fight against climate change.
The Constitutional Court last Wednesday (30 December) ruled that the law, announced in September and originally due to enter into force from 1 January, had included so many loopholes that some 93 percent of industrial greenhouse gas emissions would have been exempt.The judges found that this placed the overwhelming burden of the tax, set at €17 per tonne of CO2 emitted, on households instead of industry.The opposition Socialists as well as the Green Party and some 70 percent of the population were opposed to the law, which would have increased household gas bills and the cost of petrol significantly.In response, the French government is to present a re-edited version of the bill on 20 January, taking into consideration the court's objections.On Tuesday, French finance minister Christine Lagarde said that the new law would would involve a progressive tax, with different brackets similar to income taxation.Left-wing opponents of carbon taxes have argued that they are stealth attempts at introducing flat taxation under the guise of helping the environment.Paris hopes the new bill will enter into force on 1 July.
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.
ITS FREEZING COLD AROUND THE WORLD,THE NWO ENVIROMENTAL CONTROLLING NUT CASES ARE AT THE DECEPTION OF CLIMATE SCAMS,TO FUND THEIR WORLD GOVERNMENT.
Britain digging out after heavy snow, cold snap By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer – JAN 7,10
LONDON – People across Britain dug out Thursday after some of the heaviest snowfalls in decades, as forecasters warned the cold snap brought by an Arctic weather system would continue through next week.The storm shut airport runways, closed roads and led to train delays across the country, with the worst-hit areas receiving a foot and a half (50 centimeters) of snow.About 4,000 people were without electricity in southern England, and drivers faced difficult journeys on icy roads. Major airports including London's Heathrow and Gatwick were open, but hundreds of flights were canceled due to snow and ice.At least two people were killed in road accidents, and a man's body was found under the ice of a frozen pond at a country club in Frimley Green, southwest of London. Police said they were investigating.Many rail services were delayed or canceled, and a Eurostar train from Brussels to London was stuck for two hours in the Channel Tunnel because of a technical problem. The company said it was investigating the cause of the fault, which followed a series of breakdowns last month blamed on dry, powdery snow getting into the trains' engines.
Several thousand schools remained closed across Britain, from Scotland to southern England.Weather service the Met Office said Britain was experiencing its longest cold snap since 1981. The temperature fell to minus 17.7 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight in the village of Benson in southern England.Richard Young, Chief Forecaster at the Met Office, said strong east to northeasterly winds will pick up across many areas later Friday, making it feel bitterly cold.The cold has driven a surge in demand for heating fuel. Authorities on Thursday urged power suppliers to switch temporarily from gas to other fuels such as coal and asked major customers to cut back on gas usage. The measure, known as a gas balancing alert, has only been used twice before — in March 2006 and on Monday.Some sought to nurture the plucky British spirit. The Royal Society of Chemistry said it would award a 300 pound ($475) prize to the person it deemed the most dauntless traveler during the freeze.The society said the prize would recognize outstanding fortitude and resolution or selflessness in the face of meteorological adversity.The award commemorates the centenary of the start of Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated Antarctic voyage. Scott reached the South Pole in January 1912, but perished with four companions on the return trip. The society named its award the Cherry Prize after Apsley Cherry-Garrard, a survivor of Scott's expedition who recorded the trip in a book, The Worst Journey in the World.The society said it was inviting accounts and pictures of people who had showed particular pluck, selflessness, and patience until Jan. 21.
Midwest bracing for heavy snow, wind chills of -50 By MICHAEL CRUMB, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jan 7, 6:35 am ET
DES MOINES – Snow was piled so high in Iowa that drivers couldn't see across intersections and a North Dakota snowblower repair shop was overwhelmed with business as residents braced Thursday for heavy snow and wind chills as low as 50 below zero.Frigid weather also was gripping the South, where a rare cold snap was expected to bring snow and ice Thursday to states from South Carolina to Louisiana. Forecasters said wind chills could drop to near zero at night in some areas.
Dangerously cold wind chills were anticipated in the Midwest overnight, including as low as 35 below in eastern Nebraska, minus 45 in parts of South Dakota and negative 50 in North Dakota, according to National Weather Service warnings.Another 10 inches of snow was expected in Iowa, buried in December by more than 2 feet of snow, while up to 9 inches could fall in southeast North Dakota that forecasters warned would create hazardous zero-visibility driving conditions. Wind gusts of 30 miles per hour were expected in Illinois — along with a foot of snow — while large drifts were anticipated in Nebraska and Iowa.Joe Dietrich said he had to turn away dozens of customers this week from his snowblower repair shop in Bismarck, N.D.
My building is only so big and I can only take so many, Dietrich said.The weather hasn't let up since sweeping into the eastern U.S. earlier this week. Five straight days of double-digit subzero low temperatures, including negative 19, were recorded by the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen, Minn., a Twin Cities suburb.
It's brutally cold, definitely brutal, meteorologist Tony Zaleski said.Several deaths have been blamed on the cold. An 88-year-old woman died of hypothermia Tuesday in her unheated Chicago home, an Alzheimer's sufferer died after wandering into his yard in Nashville, Tenn., and a homeless man was found dead in a tent in South Carolina, authorities said. Kansas City police said a man involved in a multi-car pileup Wednesday died after jumping a barrier wall in the dark, apparently to avoid sliding cars, and falling about 80 feet.In the South, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear declared a state of emergency in Perry County on Wednesday after water line breaks left areas without water.Freeze warnings covered nearly all of Florida with temperatures expected to drop into the 20s overnight. Freezing iguanas were seen falling out of trees in Florida; experts say the cold-blooded reptiles become immobilized when the temperature falls into the 40s and they lose their grip on the tree.Schools in parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri and Oklahoma were among those expected to cancel classes because of weather, while major roads in South Dakota, North Carolina and Virginia were closed.Salt had no effect on the Twin Cities' ice-rutted streets, and the deep snow left over from a Christmas storm has hardened into rock-hard blocks. The conditions helped business at Roger's Master Collision, an auto-body repair shop in Plymouth, Minn.A lot of people sliding on the ice, then hitting the snowbanks. They're frozen up pretty hard, said store manager Kirk Suchomel, estimating the shop is averaging 15 repair estimates a day.I'm sure we're going to stay busy.In Iowa, officials in Des Moines warned that a $3 million annual snow removal budget would likely be exhausted with this week's storm. Another 10 inches of snow was forecast overnight — on top of the more than 28 inches of snow that fell there in December.Public Works Director Bill Stowe said the city would tap a $6 million road maintenance fund to cover snow clearing for the rest of the season. Snow that had been plowed into tall piles at intersections was set to be dumped into a lake.It can be a half-million dollar operation, depending on the amount of snow, Stowe said.
China freeze to continue as power use, food prices rise
Thu Jan 7, 2:36 am ET
BEIJING (AFP) – More regions of China faced power shortages, food prices rose and the government warned of crop damage as a cold front kept its icy grip on the country Thursday with more chilly weather forecast.A vast swathe of the country -- from the interior southwest to its northeastern seaboard -- has seen unprecedented spikes in electricity and coal use as residents sought to keep warm, China National Radio reported.State-run Xinhua news agency quoted power grid officials saying China did not face an energy crunch, but concern appeared to be rising over the situation, which echoed a severe 2008 power shortage caused by cold weather.A historic cold wave in January of that year virtually paralysed China, bringing record low temperatures, transport chaos, fuel shortages and power outages across large parts of the nation.As demand strained power grids, several provinces and regions have begun rationing electricity or imposed other restrictions, state media reported, although few details of the measures were given.The affected areas included Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces, as well as the municipalities of Chongqing and Shanghai, Xinhua said.Agriculture ministry officials said Wednesday food prices were rising as transportation crimped delivery and the cold weather damaged crops.Prices for vegetables had increased as much as 10 percent in recent days in some areas, while the winter wheat industry -- accustomed to years of rising temperatures -- was threatened, the officials said, according to Xinhua.The extreme cold weather conditions this winter pose a new challenge for the winter wheat crop, Zhou Puguo, an official with the ministry's crop division, was quoted as saying.
He however insisted that China did not face a crop crisis.China has endured an unusually early and cold winter, reaching its height over the past week with heavy snow across the north of the country and rare snowfalls further south.A weekend snowstorm was Beijing's heaviest in decades, and Wednesday's low of minus 16.7 degrees Celsius (two degrees Fahrenheit) was the lowest in the capital since 1971.The China Meteorological Administration on Thursday forecast more snow for parts of northern and northwestern China over the next several days.Meanwhile normally warmer southern parts of the country would see temperatures below freezing, accompanied by sleet, it said.
EU staff pay dispute ends up in court HONOR MAHONY
06.01.2010 @ 16:19 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission Wednesday (6 January) said it would take member states to court for blocking a standard pay rise due to EU civil servants.Gathering for a first meeting of the new year, EU commissioners waved through a decision to take the matter to the European Court of Justice.The commission has confirmed its decision to take action before the court to ask for the annulment of the council decision, said a spokeswoman. She added that the commission has asked for a quick decision by the court. The legal move came after member states in late December voted to halve a planned 3.7% annual increase in pay to 1.85%, as ordinary EU citizens are having to tighten their belts in the face of the worst economic crisis in several decades. Gross monthly salaries for EU commission staff run from 2,550 euros for a secretary to almost 18,000 euros for a head of department.
The annual pay adjustment for EU staff, agreed by governments in 2004, is an automatic mechanism and is based on the average of the pay for civil servants in eight member states, including France, Germany, the UK and Italy, in the previous year. The commission has sought to emphasize the legal nature of the dispute which has been going on for several weeks.We are talking here about the respect of agreed rules. It is not an issue where political discretion is at play, said the spokeswoman.But the pay rise has grated in a year which has seen IMF bailouts and street protests in EU states as the full effects of the downturn are felt. Countries such as the UK, which opposed the wage hike, argued that it sent the wrong message to citizens.According to a German government spokesperson quoted by Spiegel Online, the rules should be subject to a critical review.It is precisely in times of crisis that political sensibilities should also play a role,he said on Wednesday. EU civil servants however counter that the same mechanism is likely to lead to a cut in pay when wages - which will be based on 2009 pay scales - are next up for discussion at the end of 2010. The public spat between the EU institutions and member states has been something of an embarrassment coming at the end of a year which saw protracted internal divisions over the bloc's new Lisbon Treaty.
EU parliament staff
However, the staff protests - to date not too disruptive - may not be over. EU parliament staff could get in on the act next week.Scaling back their talk of a full-scale strike, some parliament officials say they are still planning to hinder the MEP hearings of EU commissioner nominees.What we've decided is to organise protest meetings, which would disrupt hearings, including the [Catherine] Ashton hearing, Tom Morgan, of the Syndicat Général du Personnel des Organisations Européennes representing around 500 staff, told EUobserver. The keenly awaited hearing of the EU foreign policy chief is one of the first to take place, on 11 January.The pay activists plan protests in front of the hearing room to preventing people from getting in so the hearings cannot take place.They say they want more public support from parliament chief Jerzy Buzek if their protest is to be called off. We want something which is a little more concrete and public. We want the European Parliament to commit to signing up to the commission's court case.However, it is unclear how many officials will actually support the protest, although all of the parliament's six unions favour next week's action.A spokesman for Mr Buzek said that the president has been vocal in saying the letter of the law governing the pay rise must be obeyed.Any disruption to the hearings timetable could potentially delay the investiture of the next European Commission, which has been in caretaker status since 1 November following delays in ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.The hearings of 26 commissioners have been packed into two weeks with a vote on the entire college pencilled in for 26 January. Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has been keen to get the new commission up and running, with the current delay bad for the EU's image but also causing a backlog in major decisions and policy initiatives.
European parliament selling unused body scanners
VALENTINA POP 06.01.2010 @ 20:46 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The European Parliament is putting its six unused full body scanners up for sale, just as several EU states are buying such devices for their airports in the aftermath of a failed bomb attack on a US flight departing from Amsterdam.Last year, the machines became a bit of an embarrassment for the EU legislature when MEPs found out that their own institution had purchased them in 2005.In October 2008, lawmakers had opposed a bill allowing the use of full body scanners in the EU, unaware of the six unused devices lying around in the basement.
The controversial machines were bought for €725,730 as a precaution measure after the 2001 al Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington.In April last year, the plenum decided to put them up for sale. The tendering procedures are set to kick off next week, after publication in the EU's official journal. The process should be wrapped up by 26 February, according to the parliament's secretary general, Klaus Welle, in a letter seen by Germany's Sueddeutsche newspaper.A parliament spokeswoman said that the selling process took almost a year due to the complex financial regulation procedures applying to both acquisitions and sales of the institution's assets.The bidders will have to have a clean record and prove that they are financially sound, Marjory van den Broeke added. Regarding potential criticism that the EU legislature is selling the devices just as several EU governments are considering introducing mandatory full body scans in airports, Ms van den Broeke said that there was no room for comparison.The Parliament is not an airport, she stressed.Despite the fact that they are not state of the art, the six machines are unlikely to have trouble in finding a buyer.Amsterdam's main airport Schiphol, where the thwarted bomber boarded on Christmas Day, announced it will buy 60 new scanners to boost security. It already employs 15 such devices. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered a study of the possible use of full-body scanners amid growing worldwide security concerns, the interior minister said Wednesday. French lawmakers discussed the introduction of scanners in 2008, but the idea of deploying them was dropped amid privacy concerns.In the UK, full body scans will be introduced within three weeks at Heathrow airport in London and will be carried out on a random basis, home secretary Alan Johnson said on Tuesday.The beefed-up security strategy will rely just as much on spotting unusual behaviour among passengers, the deployment of more sniffer dogs and installing sophisticated explosives-detection equipment in all airports by the year's end.
The scanners themselves aren't the magic bullet here, Mr Johnson said. In Brussels, the EU commission will also examine the issue on Thursday (7 January) with national aviation security experts.If security concerns persist, MEPs might prove more flexible this time around in approving an EU-wide roll-out of such devices. Back in 2008, they called the graphic imagery provided by the machines a virtual strip search.We think that the [EU] parliament in the next round will approve the body scanners,Schiphol Group chief operating officer Ad Rutten said last week in the wake of the US incident.
Belgium to step up security at EU summits
VALENTINA POP Today JAN 7,10 @ 09:19 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Belgian authorities on Wednesday (7 January) said they will step up security at EU summits after being embarrassed by Greenpeace activists who breached the system in December to stage a surprise protest.From now on, there will be two ways in: One for heads of government and another for the rest of their delegations,said Belgian interior ministry spokeswoman Margaux Donckier, according to AFP.She added that the breach had highlighted a system that has not evolved at the same rate as the [enlarged] EU and in which protocol was given priority over security.Eleven Greenpeace activists carrying false VIP accreditations were arrested in December after jumping out of three limousines to the astonishment of waiting leaders, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.One of them unfolded a banner reading EU save Copenhagen in reference to the global climate change summit which was ongoing in the Danish capital. Other Greenpeace activists managed to repeat the stunt one week later in Copenhagen, at a gala dinner hosted by the Danish queen. They were held under arrest for 20 days, causing a heated debate in Denmark as to whether the punishment was too harsh.A report into the Brussels events published by the Belgian interior ministry blamed a certain routine of security officials and a policy that was outdated. Global action plans will from now on be drafted for each high-level meeting, strengthening co-operation between police, the security staff of the building hosting the event and the bodyguards of the various delegations.
Restrictions will be placed on the size of the national delegations, the report adds, in reference to some leaders who like to travel with dozens of aides and ministers when joining EU summits. The first meeting under the new rules will take place on 11 February, when the 27 leaders are set to discuss a new 10-year economic strategy for the bloc. A regular spring council is scheduled for 25-26 March. From July on, when Belgium takes over the rotating presidency of the EU, currently held by Spain, Brussels will also host more meetings with foreign leaders, increasing pressure on security arrangements.
Galileo contracts give boost to delayed project
ANDREW WILLIS Today JAN 7,10 @ 17:33 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Union's much-delayed satellite navigation system, Galileo, received an important boost on Thursday (7 January) with the awarding of several key contracts to European companies. With a combined value of over €1 billion, the contracts to build and launch the first wave of satellites will enable the roll-out of Galileo's services from 2014, said EU transport commissioner Antonio Tajani in Brussels. With this and the upcoming awards for the remaining procurement packages, we are concluding a critical phase of the Galileo programme, he explained. We can now focus on the actual roll-out and demonstrate to European citizens that Europe's own satellite navigation system is firmly underway.Galileo is the EU's answer to the US Global Positioning System (GPS), widely deployed in a broad range of navigational devices such as those used by drivers to find street directions. Under Thursday's announcement, German space technology company OHB-System AG edged out larger rival EADS Astrium to secure the €566 million contract to build the first 14 of a maximum of 32 satellites needed for the system. With the first satellites set to roll off the production line in the second half of 2010, the commission said the two companies would continue to compete for the remaining production tenders. French company Arianespace was awarded a €397 million contract to launch the satellites, to be carried out using Russian-built Soyuz rockets. System support to pull the whole project together will be provided by Italy's Thales Alenia Space, under a contract valued at €85 million.
History of setbacks
The important deals, to be signed by the companies and the European Space Agency on behalf of the commission in the coming weeks, will be welcomed by EU and member state officials working on the Galileo project, whose history has been dogged by both financial and political hiccups.Having overcome initial US concerns that the rival project could be used to attack its armed forces, the project suffered a major setback in 2007 when the public-private partnership designed to develop and run the European initiative collapsed. A subsequent decision by member states to finance Galileo solely from the public purse helped save the project, but also substantially increased the cost to the taxpayer, initially pencilled in at €1.8 billion but now likely to run closer to €5 billion. Despite the greater than anticipated strain placed on public coffers, EU governments expect the project to reap considerable gains for the European economy. Insisting that the project was currently in line with spending forecasts, Mr Tajani refused to rule out the possibility of an eventual overrun. I cannot tell you that we will not run over cost because of the increase in the price of the rocket launchers,he told journalists. The EU has been keen to stress Galileo's role in complementing rather than competing with existing satellite navigation systems.We want Galileo to be an international system, said Mr Tajani, stressing its compatibility with the US's GPS and the ongoing discussions with other countries including Russia and China.
Latvia backs Iceland in debt wrangle
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today JAN 7,10 @ 17:36 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Latvia has sided with Iceland's president in the country's debt dispute with the UK and the Netherlands, saying that threats against Reykjavik in the wake of the president's refusal to sign a bill scheduling debt repayment to London and the Hague would never happen if the debtor had been France instead.Is this reaction due to the fact that Iceland is a small country? It is difficult to imagine that similar comments would be heard if, for example, such a step had been taken by the French president, said Latvian foreign minister Maris Riekstins, denouncing the exaggerated response of some European politicians.London and the Hague have hinted that they may block Iceland's EU accession or obstruct the IMF's $10 billion rescue package for the country. On Tuesday (5 December), Iceland's president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, refused to sign a bill passed by the Althingi, the country's parliament, that would see Reykjavik pay back London and the Hague the €3.8 billion they spent to compensate British and Dutch savers who lost money the previous October when their accounts with the online savings account Icesave were frozen following the collapse of the parent company, Landsbanki.Mr Grimsson made the move following a series of protests against the bill and a petition signed by a quarter of the small country's electorate. The government has called a referendum on the legislation for 20 February.Fitch, the international rating agency, responded by downgrading Iceland's long-term foreign currency credit rating to junk status. Standard and Poor's has also threatened a down-grading.The government has scrambled to limit the damage caused by the president's decision. On Wednesday, finance minister Steingrimur Sigfusson spoke to the UK and Netherlands to try to calm the situation and telephoned his Swedish counterpart on Thursday. Reykjavik has also announced that the minister would meet with the Norwegian and Danish finance ministers on Friday to try to convince them to maintain lines of credit.The country's left-wing government tried to assure markets that Iceland remained creditworthy: Despite the president's decision, the government of Iceland remains fully committed to implementing the bilateral loan agreements and thus the state guarantee provided for by the law, the government said in a statement.
The pro-EU coalition also worries that the dispute is rapidly unravelling its plans to join the bloc. Perceptions that Brussels has sided with the Netherlands and the UK, both EU member states, in the dispute have caused popular support for European adhesion to plummet.Iceland had offered a payment schedule to the British and Dutch governments, but limited to what the country was able to pay. This would amount to an upper limit of four percent of growth in GDP in the case of the UK and two percent in the case of the Netherlands. If the economy did not grow, the country would hold back its payments and after 2024 what remained of the debts would be written off.London and the Hague however refused Iceland's offer, forcing the Icelandic government to narrowly pass a bill that would schedule repayment of the entirety of sums - worth around 40 percent of Iceland's GDP - and without such conditions. Estimates suggest that every household will have to contribute around €45,000. Icelandic critics of the deal say it puts the interests of UK and Dutch creditors ahead of domestic social programmes at a time when public spending is a vital part of the country's recovery and compare the repayment schedule to the reparations Germany was forced to pay after the First World War.Separately, in an unusual move, British and Dutch anti-poverty campaigners, normally focussed on hardship in third-world countries, have rallied behind the Icelandic president.
Jubilee Debt Campaign, the UK-based ecumenical charity that works toward the cancellation of developing country debts, and Both Ends, a Dutch development NGO, has accused London and the Hague of putting the north Atlantic island in the same position as many nations in Africa, forced to cut domestic social expenditure in order to pay back huge debts to creditors.The UK campaign group cheered Mr Grimmson's move:Iceland's president was correct to assert that states in debt have rights that trump the rights of creditors to bleed their economies dry.They argued that the British and Dutch governments share responsibility for not effectively regulating Icesave along with other banks. Instead, [they] have decided to make the ordinary people of Iceland bear sole responsibility for the faults of the bankers.
Iceland has only two choices: to pay its creditors on whatever terms they demand, or to default and see its economy sent into tail spin by unaccountable economic institutions,said the group's director, Nick Dearden.The two groups are calling for independent arbitration of the Icesave dispute by the United Nations or the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
STOCK RESULTS JAN 6,2010
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
WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/
CNBC VIDEOS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839263/site/14081545/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false
HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS WED JAN 06,2010
09:30 AM -5.25
10:00 AM -7.64
10:30 AM +17.98
11:00 AM +15.57
11:30 AM +12.62
12:00 PM +10.65
12:30 PM -10.28
01:00 PM -3.25
01:30 PM +2.04
02:00 PM -7.64
02:30 PM +10.27
03:00 PM +16.02
03:30 PM +3.40
04:00 PM +1.66 10,573.70
S&P 500 1137.14 +0.62
NASDAQ 2301.09 -7.62
GOLD 1,138.70 +20.00
OIL 83.04 +1.27
TSE 300 11,944.54 +56.46
CDNX 1577.56 +25.88
S&P/TSX/60 702.97 +1.76
MORNING,NEWS,STATS
YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -9 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -18 points at low today.
Dow +30 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,130.70.OIL opens at $81.71 today.
AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -18 points at low today so far.
Dow +30 points at high today so far.
WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -18 points at low today.
Dow +30 points at high today.
CRUDE OIL +1.3 MILLION BARRELS
GASOLINE +3.7 MILLION BARRELS
DISTILLATE INVENTORIES -300,000 BARRELS
REFINERY UTILIZATION
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
WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/
CNBC VIDEOS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839263/site/14081545/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false
HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS WED JAN 06,2010
09:30 AM -5.25
10:00 AM -7.64
10:30 AM +17.98
11:00 AM +15.57
11:30 AM +12.62
12:00 PM +10.65
12:30 PM -10.28
01:00 PM -3.25
01:30 PM +2.04
02:00 PM -7.64
02:30 PM +10.27
03:00 PM +16.02
03:30 PM +3.40
04:00 PM +1.66 10,573.70
S&P 500 1137.14 +0.62
NASDAQ 2301.09 -7.62
GOLD 1,138.70 +20.00
OIL 83.04 +1.27
TSE 300 11,944.54 +56.46
CDNX 1577.56 +25.88
S&P/TSX/60 702.97 +1.76
MORNING,NEWS,STATS
YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -9 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -18 points at low today.
Dow +30 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,130.70.OIL opens at $81.71 today.
AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -18 points at low today so far.
Dow +30 points at high today so far.
WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -18 points at low today.
Dow +30 points at high today.
CRUDE OIL +1.3 MILLION BARRELS
GASOLINE +3.7 MILLION BARRELS
DISTILLATE INVENTORIES -300,000 BARRELS
REFINERY UTILIZATION
ISRAELI OFFICERS CANCEL UK TRIP
http://www.infowars.com/military-industrial-complex-set-to-make-a-killing-from-body-scanners/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRoloQz6UII&feature=player_embedded
http://www.infowars.com/airports-set-to-become-primary-peddlers-of-child-porn/
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).
EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)
REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
IT WILL NOT BE EUROPES DIMISE,IT WILL BE THE EU DICTATING THE LAWS FOR THE WHOLE EARTH.
Europe's looming demiseRate this story
By Pamela Geller JAN 6,10
The Europe as you know it from visiting, from your parents or friends is on the verge of collapsing, Geert Wilders said in a speech in the United States last year.
The leader of the Netherlands' populist Party for Freedom added: We are now witnessing profound changes that will forever alter Europe's destiny and might send the Continent in what Ronald Reagan called a thousand years of darkness. And not just Europe, but America as well. Been to Europe lately? Thought it was bad? You ain't seen nothing yet. The passage of the Lisbon Treaty, hailed by President Obama, nailed the coffin shut on national sovereignty in Europe. The people of Europe fought it, but were overwhelmed by their political elites and the lack of American leadership in this age of our rather Marxist, collectivist U.S. president. Come Jan. 1, 2010, a disastrous and suicidal pact called the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Europe/Mediterranean) goes into effect with little fanfare or examination. It boggles the mind that such a consequential and seismic cultural shift could be mandated and put into play without so much as a murmur from the mainstream media. Why should Americans care about this? Americans have to care because this global gobbledygook is coming to our shores, thanks to our globalist president. The European human rights group called Stop the Islamization of Europe (SIOE) has been working tirelessly to expose the mass Muslim immigration plan of the Euro-Med Partnership. A statement on the SIOE Web site criticizes the secrecy of the process: It was shocking to hear about the plans and at the same time knowing that Danish politicians and a [cowardly] Danish press - who is otherwise proud to be critical - has told nothing to the Danish people about this project which begins in January.
This also showed clearly at the conference. Only very few politicians showed up and no media. Those politicians who showed up had obviously never heard about the Euro-Mediterranean project. The goal of the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation is to create a new Greater European Union encompassing both Europe and North Africa, with the Mediterranean Sea becoming a domestic Eurabian sea. The goal is to establish a comprehensive political partnership, including a free trade area and economic integration; considerably more money for the partners (that is, more European money flowing into North Africa); and cultural partnership - that is, importation of Islamic culture into post-Christian Europe. According to the SIOE, in the Euro-Med plan Europe is to be islamized. Democracy, Christianity, European culture and Europeans are to be driven out of Europe. Fifty million North Africans from Muslim countries are to be imported into the EU.Skeptical? It's already happening. The British newspaper the Daily Express reported in October 2008 on a controversial taxpayer-funded job centre that opened in Mali at that time as just the first step towards promoting free movement of people in Africa and the EU.Brussels economists claim Britain and other EU states will need 56 million immigrant workers between them by 2050 to make up for the demographic decline due to falling birthrates and rising death rates across Europe.
To offset this decline, a blue card system is to be created that will allow card holders to travel freely within the European Union and have full rights to work - as well as the full right to collect welfare benefits. A Muslim population from Africa moving freely into Europe threatens America. On Christmas Day, a Nigerian Muslim flew from Amsterdam to Detroit and tried to explode a bomb on the plane - after he was allowed to board the plane without a passport. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership will make jihad attacks like this one all the easier. And once in Europe, Muslims have already begun demanding special privileges and accommodations. IslamOnline reported on Dec. 21 that Muslims activists from 26 European countries have come together to launch the first rights council to enlighten European Muslims about their rights, monitor rising Islamophobia and defend Muslim rights in European courts of law.Ali Abu Shwaima, a Muslim leader in Italy, explained: We think European human rights groups are not doing enough to defend the rights of Muslims. Therefore we thought that we need this new council, especially that all laws and constitutions in Europe respect freedom of religion and oppose all forms of discrimination and racism.Islamophobia,discrimination and racism are all terms Muslims in Europe and America use to confuse people into thinking that the perpetrators of Islamic terrorism are the real victims. And it is working: Mr. Wilders is going on trial in the Netherlands, instead of all the Islamic hate sponsors he is fighting against. It has to be this way, to increase harmony among the Muslim and non-Muslim member states of the Euro-Med Partnership. This internationalism is already destroying what has made Europe free and great. And now Mr. Obama seems to want to do the same to America. Pamela Geller is the editor and publisher of the Atlas Shrugs Web site. She is the author (with Robert Spencer) of the forthcoming book The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America (Simon and Schuster, July 2010).
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
New quakes rock Solomon Islands after tsunami by Evan Wasuka – Wed Jan 6, 2:00 am ET
MUNDA, Solomon Islands (AFP) – A string of fresh earthquakes rocked the western Solomon Islands late Tuesday and through Wednesday but there were no early reports of damage or casualties, officials said.The largest earthquake late Tuesday had a magnitude of 6.8, followed by seven aftershocks measuring at least 5.0 in the isolated region about 300 kilometres (185 miles) west of the capital Honiara.The latest tremors followed a series of quakes on Monday, with the largest of 7.2 causing a tsunami estimated at eight feet (nearly 2.5 metres).The National Disaster Management Office estimated Tuesday that around 1,000 people -- almost a third of the population -- had been made homeless on Rendova island by the earthquake and tsunami damage.Solomon Islands police commissioner Peter Marshall told Radio New Zealand Wednesday that no fresh damage had been reported from the 6.8 quake, which the US Geological Service had earlier measured at 6.9.We feel we would have heard by now if had that been the case. We have people on the ground up there, Marshall said.
There have been no reports of any additional injuries, damage or deaths.Solomon Islands Prime Minister Derek Sikua visited the affected area Wednesday amid criticisms that the distribution of aid had been slow.I don't want this operation to be handicapped by lack of money. I have instructed the Ministry of Finance, money isn't a problem, go ahead and do what you have to do, Sikua told emergency workers in the regional centre of Munda.There have been no deaths or major injuries reported from this week's swarm of quakes, which followed a tsunami in the same region in April 2007 that killed more than 50 people.Residents said the quake prompted people in coastal areas to flee for higher ground, with the memories of the 2007 disaster still fresh.Rendova island bore the brunt of Monday's quakes with some coastal areas inundated by the tsunami and hillsides scarred by large landslides.One of the worst affected villages on the island was Ratova where 11 houses were washed away in the tsunami, leaving at least 30 people homeless, officials said.The numerous landslides had also disrupted water supplies to villages on the island, where rice was being distributed to residents Wednesday.On the nearby largely uninhabited island of Tetepare, 10 foreign holidaymakers were evacuated from an eco-tourism centre on Monday. None was reported hurt.
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.
Cold snap spurs power rationing in China By Chris Buckley – Wed Jan 6, 2:16 am ET
BEIJING (Reuters) – Cities across eastern and central China are rationing power for industry and urging residents to limit gas use after a wave of icy weather sent energy demand soaring while straining supplies of coal that were already tight.Much of China's manufacturing and farming heartland shivered on Wednesday under snow, sleet and unusual cold that drove south after dumping big snowfalls on Beijing and much of the country's north in past days.Daytime temperatures in Shanghai and across the nearby coastal provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang skidded close to 0 degrees Celsius (32 F), and many areas inland were hit by snow or sleet, according to meteorological departments.The harsh weather has pushed energy demand to new peaks, while transport snarls have slowed coal supplies, already low as power and coal companies haggle over prices.The confluence of soaring demand, transport snarls and brinkmanship over coal prices could force power cuts and upset production in some big economic provinces, if conditions worsen.Conditions for thermal coal supply and shipment do not allow for optimism, said the China Electric Power News, mouthpiece of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.In central and eastern China, power plants' inventories of thermal coal remain as tight as they were at the end of last year, and already strained shipment of coal has suffered more hardships after being hit by the snow storms.Even with these worries, the cold snap is unlikely to seriously slow China's economic momentum. Much larger power and transport disruption after icy cold hit parts of southern China in early 2008 barely registered in GDP numbers.Power authorities have said they should be able to surmount the strains by expanding transmission between regions rationing the power and gas use by thousands of factories, with limited disruption to the broader economy.Shandong, a coastal province, limited power going to industry after the cold pushed power generating capacity to its limit. Eastern Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces were also straining to meet power demand, and some cities imposed rations for industry.
The inland province of Hubei has also been rationing power, after some power plants shut for lack of coal, local media said.But China's top exporting province, Guangdong in the south, has enough power to ensure normal operations, the China News Service reported, citing a provincial electricity grid official.China's coal mining is concentrated inland while demand is concentrated on the coast, resulting in long hauls that are often slowed by transport capacity strains and weather.China imports about 5 percent of its natural gas in the form of LNG, but imports are set to grow after the opening of a pipeline from central Asia.While most residents in northern cities, such as Beijing, enjoy centralized heating, cities south of the Yangtze River do not, leaving many to endure the cold or buy their own heaters.But even the Chinese capital, which normally enjoys priority treatment in everything from energy to food, curbed heating to government buildings, shopping malls, office buildings and industry to ensure supplies to residents, the Beijing Daily said.The energy strains are only partly a consequence of the recent cold snap. Demand for power was already running high as quickening economic growth pushed up factory production.
Coal suppliers and power companies are locked in price negotiations, and the freezing weather could work in favor of the suppliers, said the China Electric Power News. The impact of the snowy weather could become another negotiating pawn for big coal firms,it said. (Additional reporting by Jim Bai; Editing by Benjamin Kang Lim)
Hundreds rescued as heavy snow slams Britain By RAPHAEL SATTER, Associated Press Writer – JAN 6,10
LONDON – Unusually heavy snowfall stranded hundreds of motorists, disrupted trains and shut down schools and airports across Britain on Wednesday as the country suffered through its longest cold snap in nearly 30 years.The British military was called in overnight to help rescue motorists when up to 1,000 vehicles were caught in a massive snow-related traffic jam in Hampshire, in southern England. Many people were evacuated to nearby rescue centers but some people slept in their vehicles overnight.The demands on rescue workers in southern England were so overwhelming that coast guard workers turned their skills from sea to land to help out.The runway at London's Gatwick Airport, the second busiest in the country, was closed for snow clearance Wednesday morning while sections of the country's most important highways — such as the M1, which links London and Leeds — were closed.A dozen flights were canceled at London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest, with massive lines building at check-in desks. Similar delays and cancelations were reported at regional airports.Train services were also affected, with lines in southern England reporting reduced services. However London's transport system, which practically ground to a halt when snow hit the capital in February, only suffered minor disruptions. Most of the capital's bus and subway lines were running.
Hundreds of schools also closed down.
British winters are typically mild, and cities and towns are generally ill-equipped to deal with heavy snowfall. With the worst-hit areas seeing up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) of snow, officials and road crews were struggling to keep up.Several local governments were running out of sand and salt — with some reportedly emptying department stores of supplies. The wintry weather has prompted some police forces to urge drivers to stay off the roads and some trash collectors to suspend their rounds.
The national weather office says Britain is experiencing its longest cold snap since 1981. The unusually cold weather is expected to continue for the next two weeks.
Transport disrupted as snow and ice sweep Britain
Tue Jan 5, 4:37 pm ET
LONDON – Airports and highways were shut, hundreds of schools had to close, and even the venerable soap opera Coronation Street was disrupted Tuesday as the worst snow and icy weather in years swept Britain.All flights in and out of London's Gatwick and Luton airports were canceled as workers rushed to clear snow from runways. Other airports across the U.K. — including Manchester Airport, the John Lennon Airport in Liverpool and Southampton Airport — also closed temporarily, while delays and cancelations hit many other international airports, including London's Heathrow.A driver was killed when two trucks collided on a highway near Manchester in northwest England, and scores of accidents were reported on icy roads. The Automobile Association said it had dealt with 15,000 incidents across the country as cars broke down and drivers were stranded.Up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) of snow was forecast later Tuesday in parts of the country as the bad weather headed south from Scotland.
Weather service the Met Office said unusually heavy snow was expected in the south, although London will largely be spared of the worst weather. The office said Britain was experiencing its longest cold snap since 1981.Schools were shut across Scotland and northern England, and many highways and train services were forced to close.
Sports and entertainment also felt the impact. Police in northwest England said Tuesday's soccer game between Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa was being postponed due to severe snow.Filming at the Manchester studios of Coronation Street — a popular TV soap about a working-class community in northwest England — was suspended after cast and crew members were kept away by the snow.Temperatures were just below freezing in most areas, falling as low as -10 C (14 F) in northern Scotland. The unusually cold weather is expected to continue for the next two weeks.This winter has been the coldest for years, driving a surge in demand for heating fuel. Authorities on Monday urged power suppliers to switch temporarily from gas to other fuels such as coal. The measure, known as a gas balancing alert, has only been used once before, in March 2006.
U.S. December weather coldest since 2000: report
Mon Jan 4, 12:47 pm ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The United States experienced its coldest winter in nine years in December as snow storms swept across the country, private weather forecaster Planalytics said on Monday.Every region in the United States trended colder than normal, Planalytics said, which helped boost energy prices as consumers nationwide turned up their heating.Following the warmest November since 2001, the month of December 2009 ended the coldest since 2000, Planalytics said on Monday.The highly populated northeast saw its coldest December since 2005, as did the southeast, Planalytics said. According to the National Weather Service, heating degree days in December for the whole United States were 867, 50 above the norm and 43 more than last year.Degree days, a measure of departure in the mean daily temperature from 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius), are used to reflect demand for energy to heat or cool homes and businesses.Heating oil prices rose nearly 10 percent in December, to $2.14 per gallon and natural gas prices rose 15 percent to above $5.50 per mmBtu, as consumers turned up the heat in their homes.(Reporting by Edward McAllister; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
POISONED WATERS
REVELATION 8:8-11
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)
REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
Dead Octopuses Wash Up on Portuguese Beach- TIME
By LISA ABEND Lisa Abend – JAN 6,10
What is killing the octopus of Vila Nova de Gaia? That question has obsessed the Portuguese city, located just across the Douro river from Porto, since Jan. 2, when 1,100 lbs. (500 kg) of dead octopus were found on a 1.8-mile (3 km) stretch of local beach. The following day, another 110 lbs (50 kg) appeared; today there was just one expired creature.It's very strange that so many should be killed, and in such a confined area, says Nuno Oliveira, director of the Gaia Biological Park, a nature refuge on the outskirts of Vila Nova de Gaia.There's nothing in the scientific literature for this kind of mass mortality among octopus.Twelve hundred pounds is a lot of dead cephalopod, especially when no one seems to know for sure what killed them. Local biologists have ruled out pollution or contamination because no other species were affected. And although some suggest that perhaps a boat, illegally fishing the multilegged creatures, threw them overboard in a panicked attempt to avoid detection, that possibility also seems unlikely.The sea has been very rough, says Oliveira.No one has been out fishing for days.
After issuing multiple warnings that no townspeople should take the carcasses home for dinner (boiled octopus - perhaps sprinkled with a touch of paprika - is a Portuguese delicacy), Vila Nova de Gaia's municipal government had firefighters gather up the dead animals; many will now be sent to Lisbon's veterinary lab for testing, a process expected to take up to two weeks. Until then, evidence points to some sort of disease: a parasite, bacteria or a powerful virus.It affected octopus of all ages and sizes,says Mike Weber, director of the Aguda coastal station, an aquarium and biological research institute located in Gaia.That suggests that it wiped out the entire local population.There is one other option, however. In December 2007, Portuguese police confiscated 9.4 tons of cocaine in a shipment of frozen octopus from Venezuela.I suppose it's possible that someone defrosted the animals, took out the cocaine, then threw their bodies overboard,says Weber. Still, like Oliveira, Weber is betting on a biological cause.We've had swine flu, bird flu, he says, not completely in jest.Why not octopus flu?
Powerboat destroyed in Japan whaling clash
Wed Jan 6, 12:52 am ET
SYDNEY (AFP) – A futuristic powerboat sent to harass Japanese whalers has been sliced in two and is sinking after a clash in Antarctic waters, activists said on Wednesday.All six crew on the Ady Gil trimaran, which holds the round-the-world record, were rescued unharmed, the Sea Shepherd animal rights group said in a statement.The Ady Gil is believed to be sinking and chances of salvage are very grim, the group said, adding the unprovoked attack was captured on film.The Shonan Maru No. 2 suddenly started up and deliberately rammed the Ady Gil ripping eight feet of the bow of the vessel completely off, it said.Crew on the carbon-and-kevlar trimaran had hurled stinkbombs in their first clash with the whalers earlier on Wednesday.The Japanese whalers have now escalated this conflict very violently, said Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin ship.If they think that our remaining two ships will retreat from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the face of their extremism, they will be mistaken.We now have a real whale war on our hands now and we have no intention of retreating.The Ady Gil, a wave-piercing boat formerly known as Earthrace, jetted round the world in just under 61 days last year, beating the previous record by two weeks.The craft was bankrolled by Hollywood businessman Ady Gil to help the anti-whalers, who claim to have saved hundreds of animals by confronting the Japanese ships in recent years.
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:(CHLORES GREEN) 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,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
American mother, baby killed by elephant in Kenya JAN 6,10
NAIROBI, Kenya – Officials say a charging elephant has killed an American woman and the baby daughter she held in her arms while the family was on a nature hike in Kenya.Kenya Wildlife Service official Michael Kipkeu said Sharon Brown, 39, was holding her 1-year-old daughter when the two were trampled by the elephant Monday.
Melia van Laar, owner of the Castle Forest Lodge, where the family was vacationing, says the family was walking with a guide about 2 kilometers (1 mile) from the lodge when an elephant emerged from the bush at full speed.Van Laar says the group tried to run away but Brown was not able to.The father of the family is a teacher in Nairobi. Friends and colleagues held funeral services Wednesday.
Indonesia reports 15 new bird flu deaths in 2009
Wed Jan 6, 5:07 am ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesia on Wednesday reported 15 more bird flu fatalities in 2009, taking the human death toll in the country worst hit by the illness to 134.
Officials recorded 20 cases of the illness last year, 19 of them fatal, the Health Ministry said in a statement.The figures are the first to be released by Indonesia since March, when four deaths were announced. They show that while avian influenza is still active, the number of cases is on the decline.Last year saw the lowest number of human fatalities since 2005, when 13 were reported.The ministry said that the most recent death was on Sept. 23, but gave no details about who had died or where.Bird flu has killed 282 people worldwide since it began ravaging poultry stocks in 2003, the WHO said on its Web site. Indonesia is the worst affected country, with 161 infections since 2005, 134 of them fatal.Indonesia came under strong criticism last year when it stopped announcing individual cases of the disease and ceased sharing virus samples with international health experts working on a vaccine.Indonesia's former health minister had argued that the global system for a vaccine was unfair because her country's bird flu specimens could be used for a cure that would ultimately be too expensive for most Indonesians.
INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.
2 PETER 3:10-11
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,
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
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.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
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.
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.
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.
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.
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).
MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
NKorea began uranium program soon after 1994 deal By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 6, 4:36 am ET
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea appears to have started a uranium enrichment program soon after it agreed in a 1994 deal with the U.S. to dismantle its existing plutonium nuclear weapons program, South Korea's foreign minister said Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan's remark, if accurate, suggests North Korea had no intention of giving up its atomic ambitions when it signed the 1994 pact that defused an earlier crisis over its plutonium-based bomb program.Suspicions about a North Korean uranium program touched off a new nuclear standoff in 2002, when a U.S. official said the North privately admitted having such a secret program.North Korea has long rejected the uranium allegations. But in an attempt to further escalate tensions after its second-ever nuclear test last May, it acknowledged having such a program and said it had succeeded in experimental uranium enrichment. It has not said when the program began.It appears the North started the uranium enrichment program right after the 1994 agreement or at least in 1996, Yu said in an interview with the Yonhap news agency published Wednesday. He did not give specific evidence. His ministry confirmed his remarks.If North Korea did launch the uranium program so soon after the 1994 deal with the U.S., it would suggest that the program may be more advanced than expected because it was not previously thought to have started so early, Yonhap said.Yu said, however, that it is unclear how advanced the program is, how much uranium the North has enriched or how much of it has been turned into weapons.
Atomic bombs can be made with highly enriched uranium or plutonium.
Under the 1994 pact with the U.S., North Korea agreed to freeze and ultimately dismantle its nuclear reactor in exchange for economic aid and diplomatic recognition.The accord fell apart in 2002 when the U.S. accused the North of running a secret uranium enrichment program.In addition to the uranium program, North Korea is also believed to have enough plutonium for at least half a dozen bombs.Since 2003, the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Russia have engaged North Korea in six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear programs, but they have been deadlocked for more than a year.Last month, President Barack Obama's special envoy visited Pyongyang and the two sides agreed on the need to resume the stalled six-nation talks. But the North did not make a firm commitment on when it would rejoin the negotiations, saying there are still unspecified differences to be resolved.At the United Nations, China's ambassador, Zhang Yesui, urged the United States and North Korea on Tuesday to seize the moment and take positive steps so that the six-party talks can resume quickly.The ambassador, who took over the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, called the recent talks between the senior U.S. and North Korean officials a positive development.Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
ISRAEL
Whose Promised Land? Psalm 78:54-55 (ISRAELS)
54 And He brought them to His holy border, This mountain which His right hand had acquired.
55 He also drove out the nations before them,Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.
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.
ZECHARIAH 14:1-9 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
ISRAEL WILL BECOME A NATION. LITERALLY IN THE SPRING.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
EZEKIEL 37:9-28
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,(ALL THE WORLD) O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.(COME TO LIFE)
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.(ISRAEL WILL HAVE A POWERFUL ARMY)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.(BURNED BY HITLER)
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.(THE DRY BONES COME TO LIFE IN ISRAEL)
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
MATTHEW 24:32
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(ISRAEL WAS LITERALLY REBORN JUST BEFORE SUMMER,MAY 14,1948).
MARK 13:28
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
DANIEL 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE LAST GENERATION.
LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
EZEKIEL 47:13-23,48:1-35
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.
14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.
15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;
16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran.
17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.
18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.
19 And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.
20 The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.
22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.
1 Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan.
2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher.
3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali.
4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh.
5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim.
6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.
7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Judah.
8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.
9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth.
10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.
11 It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites.
13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the LORD.
15 And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.
16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.
17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.
18 And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city.
19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.
20 All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.
21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof.
22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.
23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion.
24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion.
25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a portion.
26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion.
27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad a portion.
28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea.
29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord GOD.
30 And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.
31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.
Israel army to seek legal advice during operations By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 6, 2:43 am ET
JERUSALEM – Israel's military will consult more closely with its legal advisers on future offensives, security officials said Wednesday — a move motivated by war crimes accusations that followed last year's war in the Gaza Strip.Officers are also receiving more intensive training in the rules of war and international law, the officials said.Officials said military chief Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has ordered the military to consult with its legal advisers in the course of operations, and not just in the planning stage, as was the case with the Gaza war. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the policy revision with the media.
The Israeli military spokesman's office had no immediate comment.The new policy follows a U.N. panel's conclusion that Israel committed war crimes in connection with the Gaza operation. Both military and political officials have been forced to cancel trips to Britain because of efforts by Palestinian activists to bring them to trial under a war crimes law that breaks down jurisdictional barriers.Israel embarked upon the Gaza offensive to stop militants from launching rockets into southern Israel. But the operation drew widespread international criticism over the high Palestinian civilian death toll: Gaza officials and Palestinian human rights groups say more than 900 civilians were killed, out of an overall toll of more than 1,400.
Thirteen Israelis also were killed.
Visiting British Attorney General Patricia Janet Scotland said in a speech at Jerusalem's Hebrew University on Tuesday that her government was looking urgently at ways in which the U.K. system might be changed to avoid this situation arising again and is determined that Israel's leaders should always be able to travel freely to the U.K.In other news, Israeli defense officials say Barak has received dozens of anonymous death threats since the government decided in November to slow construction in Jewish West Bank settlements.The slowdown has enraged settlers who fear it will be a first step toward dismantling some settlements as part of a still-elusive peace deal with the Palestinians.Security officials said the internal security service, or Shin Bet, was investigating the threats and that Barak's security detail had been reinforced in recent weeks.Such threats are taken seriously in Israel after Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish extremist opposed to his peace moves with the Palestinians.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the slowdown in late November under pressure from Washington, which hopes to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.But the Palestinians have refused to return to the negotiating table, saying they want Netanyahu to freeze all construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and take up negotiations where they broke off under his predecessor.
Israeli officers cancel UK trip for fear of arrest By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jan 5, 12:29 pm ET
JERUSALEM – An Israeli military delegation has canceled an official visit to Britain, officials said Tuesday, the latest in a string of politicians and army officials to put off travel to the U.K. because of fears of war crimes prosecution.
Israel complained that the practice, spearheaded by pro-Palestinian activists, is harming relations, and Britain's visiting attorney general said an urgent solution must be found.The Israelis called off their trip because their British army hosts could not guarantee they would not be arrested, the Israeli officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Neither the Israeli military nor the British government would comment.The incident underlined the effectiveness of a pro-Palestinian legal campaign to harass Israeli officials in the wake of war crimes allegations after Israel's devastating invasion of Gaza a year ago to stop rocket attacks.Israelis brand the tactic lawfare, which they denounce as warfare through distortion of laws and conventions. It has crimped the travel plans of many officials and put Israel on the defensive in international bodies.In Britain, pro-Palestinian groups have forced Israelis to cancel trips for fear of arrest, taking advantage of Britain's universal jurisdiction law that allows prosecution of war criminals whose crimes have no direct connection with Britain.
Britain is one of the pioneers of the universal jurisdiction concept, but the British government is concerned that its application to Israel is badly straining relations between the two countries and has vowed to solve the problem.Visiting British Attorney General Patricia Janet Scotland heard a stiff protest Tuesday from deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who called the situation intolerable.
Later Tuesday, in a speech at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, she noted that the British government is looking urgently at ways in which the U.K. system might be changed to avoid this situation arising again and is determined that Israel's leaders should always be able to travel freely to the U.K.In Britain, pro-Palestinian groups have condemned moves to reform the law.We believe no attempt should be made (to change the law), said Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain.There's no reason why Israel should be singled out for special treatment. If they're accused of war crimes, we have a duty — and legislation — to prosecute.Israelis charge the Palestinian use of the universal jurisdiction law is a distortion of its original intention — to prosecute war criminals whose own justice systems were incapable or unwilling to investigate their deeds. Though it has not satisfied international rights groups, Israel's military has investigated its own activities in the Gaza war and says it is still looking into a handful of cases.
Israeli experts charge that other examples of lawfare are condemnations by human rights groups and the U.N. of Israeli actions against Palestinian militants, especially last winter's military operation in Gaza that left about 1,400 Palestinians dead, including many civilians, and caused widespread destruction.Last month, pro-Palestinian activists persuaded a London judge to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli politician Tzipi Livni, who was foreign minister during the war in Gaza. The warrant was withdrawn after Livni canceled her trip, but the matter strained relations between Britain and Israel.The threat of arrest has forced several former security officials to call off trips to London, including a former general who had to hole up on an airplane at Heathrow Airport in 2005 to avoid arrest. Last fall, Defense Minister Ehud Barak fended off an arrest attempt by successfully arguing he had diplomatic immunity.Additional reporting by AP correspondents Jill Lawless in London and Diaa Hadid in Jerusalem.
Saudi, Jordan kings meet on Palestinian issue
Tue Jan 5, 3:29 pm ET
RIYADH (AFP) – King Abdullah II of Jordan and Saudi King Abdullah discussed the Palestinian problem on Tuesday, the official news agency SPA said, amid a swirl of regional diplomacy aimed at restarting Middle East peace talks.During the meeting they discussed the overall situation in the Arab world, particularly developments in the Palestinian case and efforts to achieve peace in the region, SPA said.The Jordanian leader's one-day visit came in the wake of visits to regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.
The Saudis hoping to push the two into a pact of reconciliation that would enhance their position in possible peace negotiations with Israel, according to Arab diplomats.Other meetings appeared to be aimed at gathering support from other Arab states for a deal.Meshaal met on Tuesday with officials in Bahrein while Abbas was in Qatar and Kuwait.Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal flew to Damascus on Tuesday to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He will then travel to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose government has overseen reconciliation talks between the two leading Palestinian factions.On Sunday, Meshaal told journalists in Riyadh a pact was very near, but that Hamas still had differences with some of Egypt's proposals. He did not offer details.
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 RUSSIA-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 (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
DANIEL 11:40-43
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.
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 president opens new Turkmenistan-Iran gas link
Wed Jan 6, 3:48 am ET
ASHGABAT (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday inaugurated a new gas pipeline link to Iran from its energy-rich neighbour Turkmenistan, which he said would take ties to a new level.Ahmadinejad, on his first trip abroad since a crackdown on opposition supporters in Tehran left at least eight dead, launched the pipeline which will more than double the supply of Turkmen gas to Iran to 20 billion cubic metres annually.The gas pipeline that is being opened today will take our relations to a new level,the Iranian leader said at the launch, also attended by his counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
Time not right for new Iran sanctions: Chinese envoy
Tue Jan 5, 6:33 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – China's UN ambassador Zhang Yesui said Tuesday it is too early to contemplate new sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work, and called for more diplomacy.His comments came after the United States on Monday said the door is still open for Iran to meet world demands on its nuclear aims, but warned it was discussing with its allies the next steps, which could include sanctions.China and Russia have been more reluctant to impose sanctions on Iran than the other UN Security Council members -- the United States, Britain and France -- or Germany, which works with the five to try to curb Iran's ambitions.This is not the right moment for sanctions, said Zhang, who chairs the UN Security Council this month.He told reporters here that current diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful settlement still need some more time and patience, echoing a view expressed by the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing.Zhang said sanctions themselves are not an end and a diplomatic solution would be the best option.
In Beijing, meanwhile, foreign ministry spokesman Jiang Yu told reporters: We believe that dialogue and negotiation are the proper way to resolve the Iran nuclear issue.We still have room for diplomatic efforts and we hope all parties will adopt more flexible and pragmatic policies to enhance the diplomatic efforts so as to promote an early resumption of talks, he added.Tehran dismissed a US-set deadline of December 31 to agree to a UN-brokered nuclear fuel swap deal and instead issued the West a one-month ultimatum expiring January 31 to accept a counter-proposal.The deal involves a US-backed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) proposal to ship abroad low-grade nuclear fuel so it can be further enriched and returned to refuel a Tehran medical research reactor.Such a move would offer breathing room as the big powers try to halt Iran's uranium enrichment -- which the West fears masks a drive to build a nuclear bomb. Denying the charge, Iran says it seeks peaceful uses of nuclear energy.In Washington, State Department spokesman PJ Crowley suggested the United States still hoped China would change its position.It's no secret that China and the United States look at the utility of sanctions differently, Crowley told reporters when asked for comment on the Chinese remarks.Nonetheless, we will continue to work on this, he said, referring to an ongoing process of dialogue.At any particular time a country might say this is a good idea, this is a bad idea. We are going to continue our discussions, and we would expect to move forward with this in the coming weeks,he said.
Dubai's demise sees Abu Dhabi's rise By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 6, 4:17 am ET
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – There's no greater symbol of the shifting fortunes in the Gulf than the surprise renaming of the world's tallest building in Dubai after the leader of neighboring Abu Dhabi, who bailed out the faltering city state.
For years, the United Arab Emirates' capital Abu Dhabi played the role of rich but bland neighbor as flashy Dubai strutted to international stardom. That all changed when the bills came due.Abu Dhabi — awash in oil wealth — sent a total of $25 billion to Dubai last year to help the former boomtown fend off creditors after the global recession brought growth to a standstill. The white knight rescue further reinforced Abu Dhabi's image as a hub of serious power and ambitions — a place that forged deals for satellite branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim while Dubai plotted fantasy cities in the desert.But Monday's fireworks-and-laser extravaganza to open the more than half-mile (nearly 830-meter) tower offered the first hints that the bailout money to Dubai may come with strings attached. Abu Dhabi's more conservative rulers now hold the leverage to exert more control over Dubai's economic policies, its free-spirited social rules and its international dealings.It is the most public acknowledgment thus far of Dubai's political subordination to Abu Dhabi in the wake of the ... debt crisis last month, said Hani Sabra, Middle East expert with the New York-based consultancy Eurasia Group.Abu Dhabi literally stole the thunder from Dubai during the booming opening for the tower. It was long referred to as the Burj Dubai — Arabic for the Dubai Tower. But the name was secretly switched and unveiled to the public as the Burj Khalifa — after the emir of Abu Dhabi and UAE president Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.It's a golden opportunity for Abu Dhabi to increase political control over Dubai and the whole federation, said Christopher Davidson, an expert on Gulf affairs at Britain's Durham University.
Abu Dhabi has long tried to become the undisputed center of gravity for the country, a collection of seven semiautonomous emirates. Dubai has put up the most resistance to any outside supervision or control.But Abu Dhabi's cash injection may change the way Dubai is doing business with the West and — more important — could affect the sheikdom's massive trade with Iran. Dubai has served as a transshipment and banking hub for Iranian merchants, enabling the government in Tehran to try to circumvent U.S. sanctions.Abu Dhabi's rulers — like many other Arab leaders — are much more suspicious toward Persian Iran and its efforts to expand influence in the region.And Abu Dhabi has remained more faithful to Gulf's traditional values — unlike Dubai, which has sped up its development and loosened many of Gulf's strict Islamic codes to become one of the world's most multinational cities.
Abu Dhabi, however, has begun to look outward.
It's raised its profile internationally by hosting high-profile events such as the finale of the 2009 Formula 1 racing season and by using its estimated $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund on global shopping sprees.Abu Dhabi's various investment arms have in the past years purchased landmarks such as New York's Chrysler Building, acquired significant stakes in companies like Mercedes-Benz and explored new frontiers by pouring money into commercial space travel startup Virgin Galactic.The investment plan is strategically thought out and whether the money is spent aboard or at home, its returns are always channeled into the development of Abu Dhabi, said Mohammed Shakeel, a Dubai-based analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit.Abu Dhabi also has commissioned world's renowned architects to design a cultural and educational hub, hosting regional branches of Guggenheim and Louvre museums and top U.S. schools like the New York University.Abu Dhabi does not want to be about oil and petrochemicals, but also about art and education, said Jean-Francois Seznec, a Gulf specialist at Georgetown University in Washington.With almost no oil left, Dubai several years ago believed it had to act fast if it wanted to attracted foreign investment and become a tourist destination. The ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, plowed ahead with dozens of megaprojects such as the palm-shaped island pushing into the Gulf as well as some dazzling follies such as a now-stalled city in the desert with imitations of the Eiffel Tower and Egypt's Pyramids.
Abu Dhabi, with its huge oil revenue, took it slow. They could afford to be more cautious and develop slowly because they are not worried they will be left behind, said Shakeel of the Economist Intelligence Unit. Abu Dhabi's plans also have the benefit of a direct pipeline to one powerful ruling family. Dubai's Sheik Mohammed has to share wealth with the emirate's influential merchant families to rule. The new relationship between the two sheikdoms is based on Dubai's subordination to Abu Dhabi, analyst say. Abu Dhabi views political dominance of the UAE as an important goal, and sees its current pre-eminence in the federation as permanent. Dubai's leadership, however, still views Abu Dhabi's dominance as matter of short term expedience,Sabra of Eurasia Group said. With virtually no pressure to democratize and with no urgency to diversify its economy, Abu Dhabi is pressing ahead with developments while Dubai is suffering from a fiscal hangover. Unlike Dubai, Abu Dhabi is going forward quietly, with no sign that decision on policy and economy will be anything but a family affair among its ruling clan. Abu Dhabi does not broadcast its potential and ambitions to anybody, said Shakeel, adding that those who hoped Dubai's debt fiasco will push Gulf's other oil economies to be less secretive when acquiring prized assets abroad will have to wait for sometime.
3 KINGS PARADE IN MADRID
http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/17481243
Polish and Chinese groups in road-building squabble
ANDREW WILLIS Today JAN 6,10 @ 09:31 CET
EU-China business tensions look set to continue following complaints from Polish motorway constructors that a Chinese group unfairly won a recent tender to build an important stretch of road in the large EU member state. In a letter to European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, Poland's constructors' lobby group, the OIGD, urged the EU executive to take action against the Chinese group on the grounds it received competition-distorting state aid from Beijing. We note that the bid by the Chinese consortium is based on a price far below the value of the tender, which constitutes unfair competition,reads the letter, obtained by AFP. The Polish lobby group says the commission, EU watchdog on competition matters, should initiate anti-dumping measures against the China Overseas Engineering Group Company (COVEC).The value of COVEC's successful bid to build the stretch of road was 1.3 billion zloty (319 million euros).That was 48 percent less than the estimated cost of the tender. It was also 23 percent less than the second-lowest bid, says the Polish lobby group, claiming that the Chinese government will simply cover the cost of COVEC's losses.
After decades of underdevelopment, Poland is pushing hard to upgrade its infrastructure in time to co-host the 2012 European football championships In September, COVEC's bid beat several European competitors who were also vying to upgrade the 49 kilometres of motorway linking the Polish and German capitals, Warsaw and Berlin.
EU staff to head to Greece amid deficit reports
ANDREW WILLIS 05.01.2010 @ 06:51 CET
EU officials are preparing to make their way to Greece this week amid reports that the country's 2009 budget deficit may have topped already dire earlier forecasts.
With an expected touchdown in Athens this Wednesday (6 January), staff from the European Commission and the European Central Bank will be keen to hear how the eurozone country with the largest deficit plans to rectify the problem. The probing visit comes amid reports that the southeastern EU country has exceeded an already gloomy budget forecast for 2009. According to Greek financial website Ta Nea, the country's deficit last year may have reached 14.5 percent of GDP, largely due to falling tax revenues. The deficit figure is even higher than the 12.7 percent revealed by the Greek Socialist government in November. Athens is due to submit a budget report - known as a stability report - to the European Commission before the end of this month, as eurozone finance ministers prepare to discuss the issue at their regular monthly meeting on 15-16 February. Under EU rules, member state deficits are not permitted to exceed three percent of GDP, although the vast majority are currently in breach of this threshold due to the financial crisis. There is close cooperation with the European Commission to avoid any danger of rejecting our stability programme, something which would be catastrophic, said Greek government spokesman George Petalotis.The finance ministers' meeting comes just days after a planned informal reunion of EU heads of state, which the new permanent president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has announced will take place on 11 February.Economic issues are set to dominate the meeting, with the subject of deficits likely to be aired.
The government of Prime Minister George Papandreou, elected in October following promises of higher spending and wages, is trying to persuade investors it can cut its deficit over the coming year. An upward revision of the country's expected 2009 deficit by the new government shortly after the elections sent investors into a panic, prompting credit rating agencies to cut the Greece's debt rating. Athens has promised to cut its deficit by four percent this year, hinting recently it may make further cuts of one billion euros.However analysts point to the one-off nature of the government's initiatives, including asset sales, sin taxes, a 90 percent levy on bank bonuses, and a clamp-down on tax-evasion – rather than measures to tackle the country's bloated structure of state spending.
Iceland's referendum decision provokes angry UK and Dutch response
HONOR MAHONY Today JAN 6,10 @ 09:27 CET
Iceland's EU membership bid was seen as at stake on Tuesday after a shock decision by the country's president to block legislation on paying billions of euros to Britain and the Netherlands to compensate investors in the collapsed Icelandic bank Icesave.In a televised speech, President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson acknowledged the strength of popular opposition to the deal among ordinary Icelanders, many of whom are questioning why they have to pay for the actions of their country's banks. His move means the issue will now be put to a referendum.Last June, Iceland made an agreement with London and the Hague to pay them back €3.8 billion they used to compensate British and Dutch savers who lost money in October 2008 when their accounts with the online savings account Icesave were frozen, following the collapse of the parent company Landsbanki.The president said an overwhelming majority wanted a direct say over the issue after a petition objecting to the terms of paying back the loan gathered the support of one fifth of the population. Under the terms of the agreement the loan will be paid back over 15 years with interest, with estimates suggesting every household will have to contribute around 45,000 euros. Feelings in Iceland have been running high, particularly after the heavy handed tactics at the height of the crisis used by Britain which invoked an anti-terrorism law to freeze the country's assets in the UK.It is the cornerstone of the constitutional structure of the Republic of Iceland that the people are the supreme judge of the validity of the law, said Mr Grimsson. The president's decision, which comes just a week after the parliament narrowly approved legislation to pay back the loan following months of wrangling, has prompted an immediate and angry response.Fitch, the international rating agency, downgraded Iceland's longterm foreign currency credit rating to junk status on the back of the move and called it a significant setback to Iceland's efforts to restore normal financial relations with the rest of the world.
The Times newspaper reported that Britain's financial services minister Lord Myners said that if the referendum decision was allowed to stand then Iceland would be frozen out of the international financial system and would not be able to join the European Union.The UK Government stepped in to ensure that all retail depositors with Icesave were fully paid out, and now we expect the Icelandic Government to ensure that we are repaid that amount which Iceland owes us, he said.
The Netherlands has also reacted with anger.We are very disappointed about the decision,said a Dutch finance ministry spokesman, according to the Wall Street Journal.Iceland has the obligation to pay back the money.With recent polls showing that Icelanders would likely reject the terms of the repayment in any referendum, the country's EU path is also set to be affected.Each member state may veto an attempt by another country to join the European Union. Iceland submitted a formal application for membership in July 2009. Once hailed as a probable EU member shoo-in, the banking situation as well as Icelanders more ambivalent feelings about joining the 27-nation bloc is likely to complicate the negotiation process.
Giant offshore grid to link up north-western Europe
VALENTINA POP Today JAN 6,10 @ 09:26 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Nine north-western European countries are planning a giant underwater energy grid in the North Sea linked to wind farms, tidal power stations and hydroelectric plants.Thousands of kilometers of high-tech energy cables are set to be laid on the seabed of the North Sea in the coming ten years, in what will become Europe's groundbreaking energy park, Germany's Sueddeutsche newspaper reports.
The cables would link existing and new windmills off the German and British coasts with Belgian and Danish tidal power stations and Norwegian hydroelectric plants. The €30-billion project would compensate for the irregular nature of renewable energy and provide a steady flow to the countries involved.Germany, Great Britain, France, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Luxembourg are behind the project. Their respective energy ministers - except for Norway which is not an EU member - last month signed a so-called North Seas' countries offshore initiative, just as the international climate change summit in Copenhagen was kicking off.We're already the world leader in offshore wind here in the UK and today's announcements bring new funding and expert direction to grow this vital new industry, Philip Hunt, the British sustainability minister, said in December.Berlin sees itself as the driving motor behind the scheme. For Germany, as a country with ambitious offshore-development plans, this initiative has great importance. It focuses on network connection and integration, which is crucial for wind energy to reach consumers and to make offshore energy generation a success,German minister for economy and technology Rainer Bruderle said on Wednesday (5 January) in a press release.He added that the idea came about during a meeting of French, German and Benelux representatives on energy issues.
After initial meetings in Ireland last year, officials from the nine countries will meet in the February, and aim to sign a binding agreement by the end of 2010. The project is mainly going to be funded by energy firms, which will be drawn into the negotiations. It is expected to produce 100 gigawatts of power.The EU hopes to generate a fifth of its electricity needs from renewable energy sources by 2020, a move which requires new modern energy grids, capable of absorbing the fluctuations of wind and solar energy.
European stocks edge down ahead of key US news By Pan Pylas, Ap Business Writer – JAN 6,10
LONDON – European stock markets edged down Wednesday despite modest gains in Asia, as investors remained reluctant to stake out new positions ahead of some key economic news out of the U.S.The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 23.85 points, or 0.4 percent, at 5,498.65 while Germany's DAX fell 27.13 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,004.73. The CAC-40 in France was 8.2 points, or 0.2 percent, lower at 4,004.71.Wall Street was also poised for a subdued opening — Dow futures were down 29 points, or 0.3 percent, at 10,486 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 4.1 points, or 0.4 percent, 1,128.20.Since Monday, when investors charged into the New Year in a buoyant mood, trading has been lackluster — disappointing U.S. housing figures Tuesday dented some of the optimism and U.S. stocks ended more or less flat.Analysts said this Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for December could be the catalyst for renewed direction — the jobs data often set the stock market tone for a week or two.
However, there's some economic news later that could prompt some positioning for Friday's data, including the monthly jobs figures from private payrolls firm ADP. In addition, the monthly services sector survey from the Institute for Supply Management will be pored over to see if it is as buoyant as the equivalent manufacturing report on Monday.The publication of the minutes to the last rate-setting meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve could also excite interest as investors try to get a clearer idea about the growing tensions between the doves and the hawks on the Federal Open Market Committee.Meanwhile in London, Europe's busiest financial center, trading activity was affected by big snowfalls in counties around the capital, where many traders live.We have still been plagued by lower volume since the return from the Christmas break and things may be similar today as the big freeze continues to disrupt across Britain, said James Hughes, market analyst at CMC Markets.Many will not be able to travel to the city today and this added disruption could further dent volumes and cause a degree of volatility, he added.Earlier in Asia, Japanese stocks shrugged off speculation the country's finance minister, one of the few experienced hands in the new government's Cabinet, will resign because of ill health. Hirohisa Fujii, 77, checked into hospital on December 28 for rest and health checks.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 49.62 points, or 0.5 percent, at a new 15-month high of 10,731.45.Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 137.09, or 0.6 percent, to 22,416.67 and South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.9 percent to 1,705.32. Australia's benchmark advanced 0.2 percent and Singapore's market gained 0.2 percent but China's Shanghai index dropped 0.9 percent.Oil prices hovered below $82 a barrel after a report showed U.S. crude supplies fell more than expected last week. Benchmark crude for February delivery was down 4 cents at $81.73 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract rose 26 cents to settle at $81.77, a 14-month high.The dollar recouped most of the previous day's losses against the yen amid the growing talk of Fujii's status, rising 0.8 percent to 92.43 yen.Though any new finance minister would still face the same deflationary concerns that occupy Fujii, the currency markets are skeptical that any successor could be as effective in resisting calls for a bigger fiscal boost.Any suggestion of additional Japanese government bond issuance to fund such fiscal adventures would likely weigh on the yen, said Gareth Berry, a currency strategist at UBS.The euro was steady at $1.4360.
Harper says economy on mend; jobs needed By Randall Palmer – Wed Jan 6, 2:40 am ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday he was much more optimistic economically about 2010 but he would not be satisfied until the jobless rate starts to come down.Economic indicators were almost universally moving a bit in the right direction though the unemployment rate has barely budged, the Conservative leader said in a CBC television interview.When my fellow economists say, Well the economy's out of recession now, I tend to qualify that. We can argue that technically, he said.But we all know that while the unemployment situation has stabilized, we haven't yet recouped some of the job losses that we saw last year. Until we start to see that, I won't be satisfied we're on the road to recovery.He noted that Canada's jobless rate had plateaued earlier and at a lower rate than in the United States but the current level around 8.5 percent was too high and needed to be closer the pre-recession range of 5.5 to 6.5 percent.The main thing is the direction. We'd like to see it start to fall, he said.Statistics Canada will release its December jobless report at 7 a.m. EST (1200 GMT) on Friday and analysts predict the unemployment rate will stay at 8.5 percent while 20,000 jobs will be added.
The problem will be just the opposite later, he predicted.I do think that it won't be long after the recession is over that we're going to start to see the longer-term problem, which is labor shortage in our economy, he said, noting that this had hit some sectors and areas before the recession.Harper was reelected in October 2008 to a second minority government, one in which he requires the support of at least one of the three opposition parties to stay in power.There is little sign the opposition would team up to defeat him in the near future, given his substantial polling lead, and Harper said Canadians expected the economy rather than another election to be the focus.The consensus out there would be nobody wants an election. I don't think anybody would see a reason for one. We continue to have economic challenges. As I say, we're more optimistic (but) I don't think the challenges have completely gone away and we're still in a period of considerable uncertainty,he said.(Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson)
Oil hovers below $82 amid US crude inventory drop By PABLO GORONDI, Associated Press Writer JAN 6,10
Oil prices hovered below $82 a barrel Wednesday after a report showed U.S. crude supplies fell more than expected last week.By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for February delivery was down 24 cents to $81.53 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract rose 26 cents to settle at $81.77 a barrel, a 14-month high.Traders closely study U.S. inventory data for signs of consumer demand trends, and crude supplies fell 2.3 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday.Analysts had expected a drop of 1.6 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration plans to announce its inventory report — the market benchmark — later Wednesday.Oil has surged about 15 percent since mid-December as colder weather in the U.S. boosts demand for crude products such as heating oil.Tuesday's API report, however, showed a buildup in such products, which could be a sign that the falling temperatures may not continue supporting the market as much as some have expected.
The latest build in distillate stocks should provide a slap in the face of bulls who relied on cold temperatures as a wonder cure, said JBC Energy in Vienna.Oil prices were also being kept from rising for the 10th straight session by the stronger dollar, which make dollar-denominated oil more expensive for investors holding other currencies.In midday European trade, the euro was down to $1.4348 from $1.4369 late Tuesday in New York, while the British pound fell to $1.5979 from $1.6002 and dollar rose to 92.44 Japanese yen from 91.74 yen.In other Nymex trading in February contracts, heating oil fell 1.62 cents to $2.1779 a gallon and gasoline slid 1.87 cents to $2.1063 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 9.8 cents to $5.735.In London, Brent crude for February delivery fell 31 cents to $80.26 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.Associated Press writer Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.
Stock futures point to lower Wall Street open By IEVA M. AUGSTUMS, AP Business Writer JAN 6,10
Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street Wednesday as investors refrain from any major moves ahead of a stream of economic data.Traders will receive a handful of economic data from December in the morning, including the ADP National Employment Report on private companies and the Institute for Supply Management's index of service industry activity. The Federal Reserve will also release the minutes from its December meeting later in the day.Dow futures fell 17, or 0.2 percent, to 10,498. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 2.60, or 0.2 percent, to 1,129.70, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 2.50, or 0.1 percent, at 1,882.75.
Asian stocks were up, while European markets edged lower.Many analysts said investors were holding back while they wait for Friday's Labor Department report on employment.The ADP report is often used as a forecasst for the government's report, which economists expect to say that the nation's unemployment ticked up to 10.1 percent in December from 10 percent in November.The private sector report is expected to show a loss of 73,000 jobs in December, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters. That's far better than the 169,000 jobs lost in November.
The report is due out at 8:15 a.m. Eastern Time.
The Institute for Supply Management will issue its non-manufacturing index for December. Economists forecast that the index hit 50.5 in December, up from 48.7 in November. A reading of 50 marks the dividing line between growth and contraction in the service sector, which includes more than 80 percent of U.S. economic activity.
The monthly services sector survey is expected at 10 a.m. EST.The Federal Reserve will also release the minutes from its December meeting at 2 p.m. EST.Stock trading was quiet Tuesday after a strong start the first day of trading in the new year.New data from November did little to move the markets. The Commerce Department reported that factory orders rose by more than twice what had been expected. The National Association of Realtors said the number of buyers who agreed to purchase previously occupied homes fell 16 percent.Meanwhile Wednesday, bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.79 percent from 3.76 percent late Tuesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.7 percent from 0.05 percent.The dollar mostly rose against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.5 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.2 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 0.1 percent, and France's CAC-40was down less than 0.1 percent.
EU to test new university ranking in 2010
HELENA SPONGENBERG Today JAN 6,10 @ 10:03 CET
EUOBSERVER – The European Union is developing a new worldwide ranking system of universities to rival currently established league tables in a bid to improve the ranking of European universities and improve Europe's economic power.National league tables have been common since the 1990s but as higher education has increasingly become globalised with many students opting to take part of their studies abroad, the focus has shifted to worldwide university rankings.This means the rankings are increasingly receiving more attention for different specific purposes: Students use them to short-list their choice of university; public and private institutions use them to decide on funding allocations; universities use them to promote themselves; while some politicians use them as a measure of national economic achievements or aspirations.Europe's around 4,000 higher education institutions have over 19 million students and 1.5 million staff. However, European universities have time and again failed to make it big in the current world university rankings.
The upcoming European league table
The European ranking project will be developed over a two-year period with planned implementation at the beginning of 2011.Earlier this year, a German/Dutch/Belgian/French consortium for Higher Education and Research Performance Assessment – called CHERPA – won an EU call for tender to develop and test an alternative design for a global ranking of universities.While planning has been taking place throughout the second half of 2009, the European league table will be tested on 150 higher education institutions around the world in the first half of 2010, initially focussing on engineering and business studies. The project has a budget of €1.1 million.Although the number of ranking tables increase every year, there are at the moment two main – and rivalling – world university rankings: the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) in the UK and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities (SJTU) in China.Both rankings have been compiled annually since the mid-2000s and generally show US universities to be well ahead of continental European universities when it comes to the top spots.In the past six Jiao Tong rankings, 17 US universities were each year placed in the top 20, with Cambridge and Oxford Universities the only European higher education institutions among the top 20. Over the same period, the THES league table generally has 12 US institutions in the top 20 together with four UK universities and occasionally a French institution.
Europe criticises global rankings
The European Commission as well as some EU member states have been criticising the way the established rankings have been compiled, saying that they contain many biases and that they fail to represent the diverse and multifunctional nature of universities and their research activities accurately.The commission is of the opinion that many existing rankings do not really fulfil this purpose, for example because they focus on research aspects rather than teaching, and on entire institutions rather than programmes and departments, the Commission stated when calling for a European alternative to the current global league tables.The call came after a 2008 Commission study questioned the substance of statistics on which the Jiao Tong ranking is based and concluded that neither the Jiao Tong nor the THES system succeed in effectively ranking Europe's universities.France has long called for a European alternative to current global league tables, arguing that the selection criteria of existing rankings favour Anglo-Saxon higher education institutions to the disadvantage of French and other European universities. French Minister for Higher Education and Research Valérie Pécresse has made a new European rankings system one of her priorities. According to the EU Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Maros Sefcovic, the European ranking project's so-called multi-dimensional approach to the mapping of universities would create a better balance between research indicators and quality of education indicators when it comes to the ranking of universities.
The battle for brainpower
The aim to draw up an EU university ranking system forms part of a broader modernisation agenda, which seeks to improve higher education across Europe as part of an overall economic growth strategy.In the global market, universities have become a barometer of global competition measuring the knowledge-producing and talent-catching capacity of higher education institutions, argues Ellen Hazelkorn from the Dublin Institute of Technology.Knowledge has become the foundation of economic, social and political power, where the scramble for students … or battle for brainpower now complements traditional geo-political struggles for natural resources,she adds.
A FALSE PROPHET COMES FROM THE VATICAN ALSO AT THIS TIME.
REVELATION 13:11-18
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
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.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
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
REVELATION 17:1-18
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Pope greets faithful in basilica By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer JAN 6,10
VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI greeted faithful and kissed babies in St. Peter's Basilica amid new security measures following the Christmas Eve scare.Benedict celebrated Mass to mark Epiphany, the Jan. 6 holy day commonly referred to as the feast of the Three Kings, or Magi, during the last main public ceremony of the Vatican's holiday season.As the pope, wearing gold colored vestments, a long, lacy cassock and red shoes, made his way to the main altar, he strode up a central aisle widened as part of heightened security precautions that were put in place after a young woman scrambled over a barrier during his entrance procession on the night of Dec. 24, when the basilica was packed with thousands of people for Christmas Eve Mass.The woman, who lived in Switzerland and has a history of psychological problems, grabbed the pope's vestments, pulling him down to the marble floor in that incident. The 82-year-old pope was shaken but unhurt, while an elderly French cardinal, who fell during the commotion, broke his hip. The Italian-Swiss woman is being treated at a psychiatric clinic near Rome while the Vatican investigates.
Following the security breach, the basilica's main aisle was widened by pushing back the red-curtained barriers that separates the passage from the rows of faithful . The measure gives pope's security detail more space to maneuver and puts him at a greater distance from the public.Still, the pope seemed determined to give his flock the message that despite security worries, he intends to keep in physical contact with the faithful.Arriving and leaving the basilica, the pope moved to the left and right of the aisle to shake some of the many hands stretching out to him. At one point he patted a pacifier-sucking baby on the head, then kissed the infant, before kissing the hand of the woman holding the child out to him.Benedict smiled broadly as he moved his hand in blessing or waved to the public.In his homily, Benedict blamed lack of authentic humility and courage for what he said was a shortage of faith.After the Mass, as he greeted the public in St. Peter's Square from his studio window, offering good wishes for those in Eastern Churches celebrating Christmas on Jan. 7. He describe the three kings as models for authentic searchers of the truth.
Thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans, including many children, turned out to cheer the pope as they strolled the cobblestone square, made festive by a towering Christmas tree and a life-sized creche. In many European countries, the Epiphany is the feast day when children receive holiday presents.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRoloQz6UII&feature=player_embedded
http://www.infowars.com/airports-set-to-become-primary-peddlers-of-child-porn/
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).
EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)
REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
IT WILL NOT BE EUROPES DIMISE,IT WILL BE THE EU DICTATING THE LAWS FOR THE WHOLE EARTH.
Europe's looming demiseRate this story
By Pamela Geller JAN 6,10
The Europe as you know it from visiting, from your parents or friends is on the verge of collapsing, Geert Wilders said in a speech in the United States last year.
The leader of the Netherlands' populist Party for Freedom added: We are now witnessing profound changes that will forever alter Europe's destiny and might send the Continent in what Ronald Reagan called a thousand years of darkness. And not just Europe, but America as well. Been to Europe lately? Thought it was bad? You ain't seen nothing yet. The passage of the Lisbon Treaty, hailed by President Obama, nailed the coffin shut on national sovereignty in Europe. The people of Europe fought it, but were overwhelmed by their political elites and the lack of American leadership in this age of our rather Marxist, collectivist U.S. president. Come Jan. 1, 2010, a disastrous and suicidal pact called the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Europe/Mediterranean) goes into effect with little fanfare or examination. It boggles the mind that such a consequential and seismic cultural shift could be mandated and put into play without so much as a murmur from the mainstream media. Why should Americans care about this? Americans have to care because this global gobbledygook is coming to our shores, thanks to our globalist president. The European human rights group called Stop the Islamization of Europe (SIOE) has been working tirelessly to expose the mass Muslim immigration plan of the Euro-Med Partnership. A statement on the SIOE Web site criticizes the secrecy of the process: It was shocking to hear about the plans and at the same time knowing that Danish politicians and a [cowardly] Danish press - who is otherwise proud to be critical - has told nothing to the Danish people about this project which begins in January.
This also showed clearly at the conference. Only very few politicians showed up and no media. Those politicians who showed up had obviously never heard about the Euro-Mediterranean project. The goal of the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation is to create a new Greater European Union encompassing both Europe and North Africa, with the Mediterranean Sea becoming a domestic Eurabian sea. The goal is to establish a comprehensive political partnership, including a free trade area and economic integration; considerably more money for the partners (that is, more European money flowing into North Africa); and cultural partnership - that is, importation of Islamic culture into post-Christian Europe. According to the SIOE, in the Euro-Med plan Europe is to be islamized. Democracy, Christianity, European culture and Europeans are to be driven out of Europe. Fifty million North Africans from Muslim countries are to be imported into the EU.Skeptical? It's already happening. The British newspaper the Daily Express reported in October 2008 on a controversial taxpayer-funded job centre that opened in Mali at that time as just the first step towards promoting free movement of people in Africa and the EU.Brussels economists claim Britain and other EU states will need 56 million immigrant workers between them by 2050 to make up for the demographic decline due to falling birthrates and rising death rates across Europe.
To offset this decline, a blue card system is to be created that will allow card holders to travel freely within the European Union and have full rights to work - as well as the full right to collect welfare benefits. A Muslim population from Africa moving freely into Europe threatens America. On Christmas Day, a Nigerian Muslim flew from Amsterdam to Detroit and tried to explode a bomb on the plane - after he was allowed to board the plane without a passport. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership will make jihad attacks like this one all the easier. And once in Europe, Muslims have already begun demanding special privileges and accommodations. IslamOnline reported on Dec. 21 that Muslims activists from 26 European countries have come together to launch the first rights council to enlighten European Muslims about their rights, monitor rising Islamophobia and defend Muslim rights in European courts of law.Ali Abu Shwaima, a Muslim leader in Italy, explained: We think European human rights groups are not doing enough to defend the rights of Muslims. Therefore we thought that we need this new council, especially that all laws and constitutions in Europe respect freedom of religion and oppose all forms of discrimination and racism.Islamophobia,discrimination and racism are all terms Muslims in Europe and America use to confuse people into thinking that the perpetrators of Islamic terrorism are the real victims. And it is working: Mr. Wilders is going on trial in the Netherlands, instead of all the Islamic hate sponsors he is fighting against. It has to be this way, to increase harmony among the Muslim and non-Muslim member states of the Euro-Med Partnership. This internationalism is already destroying what has made Europe free and great. And now Mr. Obama seems to want to do the same to America. Pamela Geller is the editor and publisher of the Atlas Shrugs Web site. She is the author (with Robert Spencer) of the forthcoming book The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America (Simon and Schuster, July 2010).
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
New quakes rock Solomon Islands after tsunami by Evan Wasuka – Wed Jan 6, 2:00 am ET
MUNDA, Solomon Islands (AFP) – A string of fresh earthquakes rocked the western Solomon Islands late Tuesday and through Wednesday but there were no early reports of damage or casualties, officials said.The largest earthquake late Tuesday had a magnitude of 6.8, followed by seven aftershocks measuring at least 5.0 in the isolated region about 300 kilometres (185 miles) west of the capital Honiara.The latest tremors followed a series of quakes on Monday, with the largest of 7.2 causing a tsunami estimated at eight feet (nearly 2.5 metres).The National Disaster Management Office estimated Tuesday that around 1,000 people -- almost a third of the population -- had been made homeless on Rendova island by the earthquake and tsunami damage.Solomon Islands police commissioner Peter Marshall told Radio New Zealand Wednesday that no fresh damage had been reported from the 6.8 quake, which the US Geological Service had earlier measured at 6.9.We feel we would have heard by now if had that been the case. We have people on the ground up there, Marshall said.
There have been no reports of any additional injuries, damage or deaths.Solomon Islands Prime Minister Derek Sikua visited the affected area Wednesday amid criticisms that the distribution of aid had been slow.I don't want this operation to be handicapped by lack of money. I have instructed the Ministry of Finance, money isn't a problem, go ahead and do what you have to do, Sikua told emergency workers in the regional centre of Munda.There have been no deaths or major injuries reported from this week's swarm of quakes, which followed a tsunami in the same region in April 2007 that killed more than 50 people.Residents said the quake prompted people in coastal areas to flee for higher ground, with the memories of the 2007 disaster still fresh.Rendova island bore the brunt of Monday's quakes with some coastal areas inundated by the tsunami and hillsides scarred by large landslides.One of the worst affected villages on the island was Ratova where 11 houses were washed away in the tsunami, leaving at least 30 people homeless, officials said.The numerous landslides had also disrupted water supplies to villages on the island, where rice was being distributed to residents Wednesday.On the nearby largely uninhabited island of Tetepare, 10 foreign holidaymakers were evacuated from an eco-tourism centre on Monday. None was reported hurt.
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.
Cold snap spurs power rationing in China By Chris Buckley – Wed Jan 6, 2:16 am ET
BEIJING (Reuters) – Cities across eastern and central China are rationing power for industry and urging residents to limit gas use after a wave of icy weather sent energy demand soaring while straining supplies of coal that were already tight.Much of China's manufacturing and farming heartland shivered on Wednesday under snow, sleet and unusual cold that drove south after dumping big snowfalls on Beijing and much of the country's north in past days.Daytime temperatures in Shanghai and across the nearby coastal provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang skidded close to 0 degrees Celsius (32 F), and many areas inland were hit by snow or sleet, according to meteorological departments.The harsh weather has pushed energy demand to new peaks, while transport snarls have slowed coal supplies, already low as power and coal companies haggle over prices.The confluence of soaring demand, transport snarls and brinkmanship over coal prices could force power cuts and upset production in some big economic provinces, if conditions worsen.Conditions for thermal coal supply and shipment do not allow for optimism, said the China Electric Power News, mouthpiece of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.In central and eastern China, power plants' inventories of thermal coal remain as tight as they were at the end of last year, and already strained shipment of coal has suffered more hardships after being hit by the snow storms.Even with these worries, the cold snap is unlikely to seriously slow China's economic momentum. Much larger power and transport disruption after icy cold hit parts of southern China in early 2008 barely registered in GDP numbers.Power authorities have said they should be able to surmount the strains by expanding transmission between regions rationing the power and gas use by thousands of factories, with limited disruption to the broader economy.Shandong, a coastal province, limited power going to industry after the cold pushed power generating capacity to its limit. Eastern Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces were also straining to meet power demand, and some cities imposed rations for industry.
The inland province of Hubei has also been rationing power, after some power plants shut for lack of coal, local media said.But China's top exporting province, Guangdong in the south, has enough power to ensure normal operations, the China News Service reported, citing a provincial electricity grid official.China's coal mining is concentrated inland while demand is concentrated on the coast, resulting in long hauls that are often slowed by transport capacity strains and weather.China imports about 5 percent of its natural gas in the form of LNG, but imports are set to grow after the opening of a pipeline from central Asia.While most residents in northern cities, such as Beijing, enjoy centralized heating, cities south of the Yangtze River do not, leaving many to endure the cold or buy their own heaters.But even the Chinese capital, which normally enjoys priority treatment in everything from energy to food, curbed heating to government buildings, shopping malls, office buildings and industry to ensure supplies to residents, the Beijing Daily said.The energy strains are only partly a consequence of the recent cold snap. Demand for power was already running high as quickening economic growth pushed up factory production.
Coal suppliers and power companies are locked in price negotiations, and the freezing weather could work in favor of the suppliers, said the China Electric Power News. The impact of the snowy weather could become another negotiating pawn for big coal firms,it said. (Additional reporting by Jim Bai; Editing by Benjamin Kang Lim)
Hundreds rescued as heavy snow slams Britain By RAPHAEL SATTER, Associated Press Writer – JAN 6,10
LONDON – Unusually heavy snowfall stranded hundreds of motorists, disrupted trains and shut down schools and airports across Britain on Wednesday as the country suffered through its longest cold snap in nearly 30 years.The British military was called in overnight to help rescue motorists when up to 1,000 vehicles were caught in a massive snow-related traffic jam in Hampshire, in southern England. Many people were evacuated to nearby rescue centers but some people slept in their vehicles overnight.The demands on rescue workers in southern England were so overwhelming that coast guard workers turned their skills from sea to land to help out.The runway at London's Gatwick Airport, the second busiest in the country, was closed for snow clearance Wednesday morning while sections of the country's most important highways — such as the M1, which links London and Leeds — were closed.A dozen flights were canceled at London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest, with massive lines building at check-in desks. Similar delays and cancelations were reported at regional airports.Train services were also affected, with lines in southern England reporting reduced services. However London's transport system, which practically ground to a halt when snow hit the capital in February, only suffered minor disruptions. Most of the capital's bus and subway lines were running.
Hundreds of schools also closed down.
British winters are typically mild, and cities and towns are generally ill-equipped to deal with heavy snowfall. With the worst-hit areas seeing up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) of snow, officials and road crews were struggling to keep up.Several local governments were running out of sand and salt — with some reportedly emptying department stores of supplies. The wintry weather has prompted some police forces to urge drivers to stay off the roads and some trash collectors to suspend their rounds.
The national weather office says Britain is experiencing its longest cold snap since 1981. The unusually cold weather is expected to continue for the next two weeks.
Transport disrupted as snow and ice sweep Britain
Tue Jan 5, 4:37 pm ET
LONDON – Airports and highways were shut, hundreds of schools had to close, and even the venerable soap opera Coronation Street was disrupted Tuesday as the worst snow and icy weather in years swept Britain.All flights in and out of London's Gatwick and Luton airports were canceled as workers rushed to clear snow from runways. Other airports across the U.K. — including Manchester Airport, the John Lennon Airport in Liverpool and Southampton Airport — also closed temporarily, while delays and cancelations hit many other international airports, including London's Heathrow.A driver was killed when two trucks collided on a highway near Manchester in northwest England, and scores of accidents were reported on icy roads. The Automobile Association said it had dealt with 15,000 incidents across the country as cars broke down and drivers were stranded.Up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) of snow was forecast later Tuesday in parts of the country as the bad weather headed south from Scotland.
Weather service the Met Office said unusually heavy snow was expected in the south, although London will largely be spared of the worst weather. The office said Britain was experiencing its longest cold snap since 1981.Schools were shut across Scotland and northern England, and many highways and train services were forced to close.
Sports and entertainment also felt the impact. Police in northwest England said Tuesday's soccer game between Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa was being postponed due to severe snow.Filming at the Manchester studios of Coronation Street — a popular TV soap about a working-class community in northwest England — was suspended after cast and crew members were kept away by the snow.Temperatures were just below freezing in most areas, falling as low as -10 C (14 F) in northern Scotland. The unusually cold weather is expected to continue for the next two weeks.This winter has been the coldest for years, driving a surge in demand for heating fuel. Authorities on Monday urged power suppliers to switch temporarily from gas to other fuels such as coal. The measure, known as a gas balancing alert, has only been used once before, in March 2006.
U.S. December weather coldest since 2000: report
Mon Jan 4, 12:47 pm ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The United States experienced its coldest winter in nine years in December as snow storms swept across the country, private weather forecaster Planalytics said on Monday.Every region in the United States trended colder than normal, Planalytics said, which helped boost energy prices as consumers nationwide turned up their heating.Following the warmest November since 2001, the month of December 2009 ended the coldest since 2000, Planalytics said on Monday.The highly populated northeast saw its coldest December since 2005, as did the southeast, Planalytics said. According to the National Weather Service, heating degree days in December for the whole United States were 867, 50 above the norm and 43 more than last year.Degree days, a measure of departure in the mean daily temperature from 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius), are used to reflect demand for energy to heat or cool homes and businesses.Heating oil prices rose nearly 10 percent in December, to $2.14 per gallon and natural gas prices rose 15 percent to above $5.50 per mmBtu, as consumers turned up the heat in their homes.(Reporting by Edward McAllister; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
POISONED WATERS
REVELATION 8:8-11
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)
REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
Dead Octopuses Wash Up on Portuguese Beach- TIME
By LISA ABEND Lisa Abend – JAN 6,10
What is killing the octopus of Vila Nova de Gaia? That question has obsessed the Portuguese city, located just across the Douro river from Porto, since Jan. 2, when 1,100 lbs. (500 kg) of dead octopus were found on a 1.8-mile (3 km) stretch of local beach. The following day, another 110 lbs (50 kg) appeared; today there was just one expired creature.It's very strange that so many should be killed, and in such a confined area, says Nuno Oliveira, director of the Gaia Biological Park, a nature refuge on the outskirts of Vila Nova de Gaia.There's nothing in the scientific literature for this kind of mass mortality among octopus.Twelve hundred pounds is a lot of dead cephalopod, especially when no one seems to know for sure what killed them. Local biologists have ruled out pollution or contamination because no other species were affected. And although some suggest that perhaps a boat, illegally fishing the multilegged creatures, threw them overboard in a panicked attempt to avoid detection, that possibility also seems unlikely.The sea has been very rough, says Oliveira.No one has been out fishing for days.
After issuing multiple warnings that no townspeople should take the carcasses home for dinner (boiled octopus - perhaps sprinkled with a touch of paprika - is a Portuguese delicacy), Vila Nova de Gaia's municipal government had firefighters gather up the dead animals; many will now be sent to Lisbon's veterinary lab for testing, a process expected to take up to two weeks. Until then, evidence points to some sort of disease: a parasite, bacteria or a powerful virus.It affected octopus of all ages and sizes,says Mike Weber, director of the Aguda coastal station, an aquarium and biological research institute located in Gaia.That suggests that it wiped out the entire local population.There is one other option, however. In December 2007, Portuguese police confiscated 9.4 tons of cocaine in a shipment of frozen octopus from Venezuela.I suppose it's possible that someone defrosted the animals, took out the cocaine, then threw their bodies overboard,says Weber. Still, like Oliveira, Weber is betting on a biological cause.We've had swine flu, bird flu, he says, not completely in jest.Why not octopus flu?
Powerboat destroyed in Japan whaling clash
Wed Jan 6, 12:52 am ET
SYDNEY (AFP) – A futuristic powerboat sent to harass Japanese whalers has been sliced in two and is sinking after a clash in Antarctic waters, activists said on Wednesday.All six crew on the Ady Gil trimaran, which holds the round-the-world record, were rescued unharmed, the Sea Shepherd animal rights group said in a statement.The Ady Gil is believed to be sinking and chances of salvage are very grim, the group said, adding the unprovoked attack was captured on film.The Shonan Maru No. 2 suddenly started up and deliberately rammed the Ady Gil ripping eight feet of the bow of the vessel completely off, it said.Crew on the carbon-and-kevlar trimaran had hurled stinkbombs in their first clash with the whalers earlier on Wednesday.The Japanese whalers have now escalated this conflict very violently, said Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin ship.If they think that our remaining two ships will retreat from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the face of their extremism, they will be mistaken.We now have a real whale war on our hands now and we have no intention of retreating.The Ady Gil, a wave-piercing boat formerly known as Earthrace, jetted round the world in just under 61 days last year, beating the previous record by two weeks.The craft was bankrolled by Hollywood businessman Ady Gil to help the anti-whalers, who claim to have saved hundreds of animals by confronting the Japanese ships in recent years.
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:(CHLORES GREEN) 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,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
American mother, baby killed by elephant in Kenya JAN 6,10
NAIROBI, Kenya – Officials say a charging elephant has killed an American woman and the baby daughter she held in her arms while the family was on a nature hike in Kenya.Kenya Wildlife Service official Michael Kipkeu said Sharon Brown, 39, was holding her 1-year-old daughter when the two were trampled by the elephant Monday.
Melia van Laar, owner of the Castle Forest Lodge, where the family was vacationing, says the family was walking with a guide about 2 kilometers (1 mile) from the lodge when an elephant emerged from the bush at full speed.Van Laar says the group tried to run away but Brown was not able to.The father of the family is a teacher in Nairobi. Friends and colleagues held funeral services Wednesday.
Indonesia reports 15 new bird flu deaths in 2009
Wed Jan 6, 5:07 am ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesia on Wednesday reported 15 more bird flu fatalities in 2009, taking the human death toll in the country worst hit by the illness to 134.
Officials recorded 20 cases of the illness last year, 19 of them fatal, the Health Ministry said in a statement.The figures are the first to be released by Indonesia since March, when four deaths were announced. They show that while avian influenza is still active, the number of cases is on the decline.Last year saw the lowest number of human fatalities since 2005, when 13 were reported.The ministry said that the most recent death was on Sept. 23, but gave no details about who had died or where.Bird flu has killed 282 people worldwide since it began ravaging poultry stocks in 2003, the WHO said on its Web site. Indonesia is the worst affected country, with 161 infections since 2005, 134 of them fatal.Indonesia came under strong criticism last year when it stopped announcing individual cases of the disease and ceased sharing virus samples with international health experts working on a vaccine.Indonesia's former health minister had argued that the global system for a vaccine was unfair because her country's bird flu specimens could be used for a cure that would ultimately be too expensive for most Indonesians.
INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.
2 PETER 3:10-11
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,
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
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.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
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.
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.
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.
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.
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).
MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
NKorea began uranium program soon after 1994 deal By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 6, 4:36 am ET
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea appears to have started a uranium enrichment program soon after it agreed in a 1994 deal with the U.S. to dismantle its existing plutonium nuclear weapons program, South Korea's foreign minister said Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan's remark, if accurate, suggests North Korea had no intention of giving up its atomic ambitions when it signed the 1994 pact that defused an earlier crisis over its plutonium-based bomb program.Suspicions about a North Korean uranium program touched off a new nuclear standoff in 2002, when a U.S. official said the North privately admitted having such a secret program.North Korea has long rejected the uranium allegations. But in an attempt to further escalate tensions after its second-ever nuclear test last May, it acknowledged having such a program and said it had succeeded in experimental uranium enrichment. It has not said when the program began.It appears the North started the uranium enrichment program right after the 1994 agreement or at least in 1996, Yu said in an interview with the Yonhap news agency published Wednesday. He did not give specific evidence. His ministry confirmed his remarks.If North Korea did launch the uranium program so soon after the 1994 deal with the U.S., it would suggest that the program may be more advanced than expected because it was not previously thought to have started so early, Yonhap said.Yu said, however, that it is unclear how advanced the program is, how much uranium the North has enriched or how much of it has been turned into weapons.
Atomic bombs can be made with highly enriched uranium or plutonium.
Under the 1994 pact with the U.S., North Korea agreed to freeze and ultimately dismantle its nuclear reactor in exchange for economic aid and diplomatic recognition.The accord fell apart in 2002 when the U.S. accused the North of running a secret uranium enrichment program.In addition to the uranium program, North Korea is also believed to have enough plutonium for at least half a dozen bombs.Since 2003, the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Russia have engaged North Korea in six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear programs, but they have been deadlocked for more than a year.Last month, President Barack Obama's special envoy visited Pyongyang and the two sides agreed on the need to resume the stalled six-nation talks. But the North did not make a firm commitment on when it would rejoin the negotiations, saying there are still unspecified differences to be resolved.At the United Nations, China's ambassador, Zhang Yesui, urged the United States and North Korea on Tuesday to seize the moment and take positive steps so that the six-party talks can resume quickly.The ambassador, who took over the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, called the recent talks between the senior U.S. and North Korean officials a positive development.Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
ISRAEL
Whose Promised Land? Psalm 78:54-55 (ISRAELS)
54 And He brought them to His holy border, This mountain which His right hand had acquired.
55 He also drove out the nations before them,Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.
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.
ZECHARIAH 14:1-9 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
ISRAEL WILL BECOME A NATION. LITERALLY IN THE SPRING.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
EZEKIEL 37:9-28
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,(ALL THE WORLD) O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.(COME TO LIFE)
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.(ISRAEL WILL HAVE A POWERFUL ARMY)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.(BURNED BY HITLER)
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.(THE DRY BONES COME TO LIFE IN ISRAEL)
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
MATTHEW 24:32
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(ISRAEL WAS LITERALLY REBORN JUST BEFORE SUMMER,MAY 14,1948).
MARK 13:28
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
DANIEL 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE LAST GENERATION.
LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
EZEKIEL 47:13-23,48:1-35
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.
14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.
15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;
16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran.
17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.
18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.
19 And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.
20 The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.
22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.
1 Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan.
2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher.
3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali.
4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh.
5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim.
6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.
7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Judah.
8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.
9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth.
10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.
11 It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites.
13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the LORD.
15 And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.
16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.
17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.
18 And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city.
19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.
20 All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.
21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof.
22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.
23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion.
24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion.
25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a portion.
26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion.
27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad a portion.
28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea.
29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord GOD.
30 And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.
31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.
Israel army to seek legal advice during operations By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 6, 2:43 am ET
JERUSALEM – Israel's military will consult more closely with its legal advisers on future offensives, security officials said Wednesday — a move motivated by war crimes accusations that followed last year's war in the Gaza Strip.Officers are also receiving more intensive training in the rules of war and international law, the officials said.Officials said military chief Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has ordered the military to consult with its legal advisers in the course of operations, and not just in the planning stage, as was the case with the Gaza war. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the policy revision with the media.
The Israeli military spokesman's office had no immediate comment.The new policy follows a U.N. panel's conclusion that Israel committed war crimes in connection with the Gaza operation. Both military and political officials have been forced to cancel trips to Britain because of efforts by Palestinian activists to bring them to trial under a war crimes law that breaks down jurisdictional barriers.Israel embarked upon the Gaza offensive to stop militants from launching rockets into southern Israel. But the operation drew widespread international criticism over the high Palestinian civilian death toll: Gaza officials and Palestinian human rights groups say more than 900 civilians were killed, out of an overall toll of more than 1,400.
Thirteen Israelis also were killed.
Visiting British Attorney General Patricia Janet Scotland said in a speech at Jerusalem's Hebrew University on Tuesday that her government was looking urgently at ways in which the U.K. system might be changed to avoid this situation arising again and is determined that Israel's leaders should always be able to travel freely to the U.K.In other news, Israeli defense officials say Barak has received dozens of anonymous death threats since the government decided in November to slow construction in Jewish West Bank settlements.The slowdown has enraged settlers who fear it will be a first step toward dismantling some settlements as part of a still-elusive peace deal with the Palestinians.Security officials said the internal security service, or Shin Bet, was investigating the threats and that Barak's security detail had been reinforced in recent weeks.Such threats are taken seriously in Israel after Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish extremist opposed to his peace moves with the Palestinians.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the slowdown in late November under pressure from Washington, which hopes to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.But the Palestinians have refused to return to the negotiating table, saying they want Netanyahu to freeze all construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and take up negotiations where they broke off under his predecessor.
Israeli officers cancel UK trip for fear of arrest By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jan 5, 12:29 pm ET
JERUSALEM – An Israeli military delegation has canceled an official visit to Britain, officials said Tuesday, the latest in a string of politicians and army officials to put off travel to the U.K. because of fears of war crimes prosecution.
Israel complained that the practice, spearheaded by pro-Palestinian activists, is harming relations, and Britain's visiting attorney general said an urgent solution must be found.The Israelis called off their trip because their British army hosts could not guarantee they would not be arrested, the Israeli officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Neither the Israeli military nor the British government would comment.The incident underlined the effectiveness of a pro-Palestinian legal campaign to harass Israeli officials in the wake of war crimes allegations after Israel's devastating invasion of Gaza a year ago to stop rocket attacks.Israelis brand the tactic lawfare, which they denounce as warfare through distortion of laws and conventions. It has crimped the travel plans of many officials and put Israel on the defensive in international bodies.In Britain, pro-Palestinian groups have forced Israelis to cancel trips for fear of arrest, taking advantage of Britain's universal jurisdiction law that allows prosecution of war criminals whose crimes have no direct connection with Britain.
Britain is one of the pioneers of the universal jurisdiction concept, but the British government is concerned that its application to Israel is badly straining relations between the two countries and has vowed to solve the problem.Visiting British Attorney General Patricia Janet Scotland heard a stiff protest Tuesday from deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who called the situation intolerable.
Later Tuesday, in a speech at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, she noted that the British government is looking urgently at ways in which the U.K. system might be changed to avoid this situation arising again and is determined that Israel's leaders should always be able to travel freely to the U.K.In Britain, pro-Palestinian groups have condemned moves to reform the law.We believe no attempt should be made (to change the law), said Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain.There's no reason why Israel should be singled out for special treatment. If they're accused of war crimes, we have a duty — and legislation — to prosecute.Israelis charge the Palestinian use of the universal jurisdiction law is a distortion of its original intention — to prosecute war criminals whose own justice systems were incapable or unwilling to investigate their deeds. Though it has not satisfied international rights groups, Israel's military has investigated its own activities in the Gaza war and says it is still looking into a handful of cases.
Israeli experts charge that other examples of lawfare are condemnations by human rights groups and the U.N. of Israeli actions against Palestinian militants, especially last winter's military operation in Gaza that left about 1,400 Palestinians dead, including many civilians, and caused widespread destruction.Last month, pro-Palestinian activists persuaded a London judge to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli politician Tzipi Livni, who was foreign minister during the war in Gaza. The warrant was withdrawn after Livni canceled her trip, but the matter strained relations between Britain and Israel.The threat of arrest has forced several former security officials to call off trips to London, including a former general who had to hole up on an airplane at Heathrow Airport in 2005 to avoid arrest. Last fall, Defense Minister Ehud Barak fended off an arrest attempt by successfully arguing he had diplomatic immunity.Additional reporting by AP correspondents Jill Lawless in London and Diaa Hadid in Jerusalem.
Saudi, Jordan kings meet on Palestinian issue
Tue Jan 5, 3:29 pm ET
RIYADH (AFP) – King Abdullah II of Jordan and Saudi King Abdullah discussed the Palestinian problem on Tuesday, the official news agency SPA said, amid a swirl of regional diplomacy aimed at restarting Middle East peace talks.During the meeting they discussed the overall situation in the Arab world, particularly developments in the Palestinian case and efforts to achieve peace in the region, SPA said.The Jordanian leader's one-day visit came in the wake of visits to regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.
The Saudis hoping to push the two into a pact of reconciliation that would enhance their position in possible peace negotiations with Israel, according to Arab diplomats.Other meetings appeared to be aimed at gathering support from other Arab states for a deal.Meshaal met on Tuesday with officials in Bahrein while Abbas was in Qatar and Kuwait.Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal flew to Damascus on Tuesday to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He will then travel to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose government has overseen reconciliation talks between the two leading Palestinian factions.On Sunday, Meshaal told journalists in Riyadh a pact was very near, but that Hamas still had differences with some of Egypt's proposals. He did not offer details.
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 RUSSIA-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 (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
DANIEL 11:40-43
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.
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 president opens new Turkmenistan-Iran gas link
Wed Jan 6, 3:48 am ET
ASHGABAT (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday inaugurated a new gas pipeline link to Iran from its energy-rich neighbour Turkmenistan, which he said would take ties to a new level.Ahmadinejad, on his first trip abroad since a crackdown on opposition supporters in Tehran left at least eight dead, launched the pipeline which will more than double the supply of Turkmen gas to Iran to 20 billion cubic metres annually.The gas pipeline that is being opened today will take our relations to a new level,the Iranian leader said at the launch, also attended by his counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
Time not right for new Iran sanctions: Chinese envoy
Tue Jan 5, 6:33 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – China's UN ambassador Zhang Yesui said Tuesday it is too early to contemplate new sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work, and called for more diplomacy.His comments came after the United States on Monday said the door is still open for Iran to meet world demands on its nuclear aims, but warned it was discussing with its allies the next steps, which could include sanctions.China and Russia have been more reluctant to impose sanctions on Iran than the other UN Security Council members -- the United States, Britain and France -- or Germany, which works with the five to try to curb Iran's ambitions.This is not the right moment for sanctions, said Zhang, who chairs the UN Security Council this month.He told reporters here that current diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful settlement still need some more time and patience, echoing a view expressed by the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing.Zhang said sanctions themselves are not an end and a diplomatic solution would be the best option.
In Beijing, meanwhile, foreign ministry spokesman Jiang Yu told reporters: We believe that dialogue and negotiation are the proper way to resolve the Iran nuclear issue.We still have room for diplomatic efforts and we hope all parties will adopt more flexible and pragmatic policies to enhance the diplomatic efforts so as to promote an early resumption of talks, he added.Tehran dismissed a US-set deadline of December 31 to agree to a UN-brokered nuclear fuel swap deal and instead issued the West a one-month ultimatum expiring January 31 to accept a counter-proposal.The deal involves a US-backed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) proposal to ship abroad low-grade nuclear fuel so it can be further enriched and returned to refuel a Tehran medical research reactor.Such a move would offer breathing room as the big powers try to halt Iran's uranium enrichment -- which the West fears masks a drive to build a nuclear bomb. Denying the charge, Iran says it seeks peaceful uses of nuclear energy.In Washington, State Department spokesman PJ Crowley suggested the United States still hoped China would change its position.It's no secret that China and the United States look at the utility of sanctions differently, Crowley told reporters when asked for comment on the Chinese remarks.Nonetheless, we will continue to work on this, he said, referring to an ongoing process of dialogue.At any particular time a country might say this is a good idea, this is a bad idea. We are going to continue our discussions, and we would expect to move forward with this in the coming weeks,he said.
Dubai's demise sees Abu Dhabi's rise By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 6, 4:17 am ET
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – There's no greater symbol of the shifting fortunes in the Gulf than the surprise renaming of the world's tallest building in Dubai after the leader of neighboring Abu Dhabi, who bailed out the faltering city state.
For years, the United Arab Emirates' capital Abu Dhabi played the role of rich but bland neighbor as flashy Dubai strutted to international stardom. That all changed when the bills came due.Abu Dhabi — awash in oil wealth — sent a total of $25 billion to Dubai last year to help the former boomtown fend off creditors after the global recession brought growth to a standstill. The white knight rescue further reinforced Abu Dhabi's image as a hub of serious power and ambitions — a place that forged deals for satellite branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim while Dubai plotted fantasy cities in the desert.But Monday's fireworks-and-laser extravaganza to open the more than half-mile (nearly 830-meter) tower offered the first hints that the bailout money to Dubai may come with strings attached. Abu Dhabi's more conservative rulers now hold the leverage to exert more control over Dubai's economic policies, its free-spirited social rules and its international dealings.It is the most public acknowledgment thus far of Dubai's political subordination to Abu Dhabi in the wake of the ... debt crisis last month, said Hani Sabra, Middle East expert with the New York-based consultancy Eurasia Group.Abu Dhabi literally stole the thunder from Dubai during the booming opening for the tower. It was long referred to as the Burj Dubai — Arabic for the Dubai Tower. But the name was secretly switched and unveiled to the public as the Burj Khalifa — after the emir of Abu Dhabi and UAE president Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.It's a golden opportunity for Abu Dhabi to increase political control over Dubai and the whole federation, said Christopher Davidson, an expert on Gulf affairs at Britain's Durham University.
Abu Dhabi has long tried to become the undisputed center of gravity for the country, a collection of seven semiautonomous emirates. Dubai has put up the most resistance to any outside supervision or control.But Abu Dhabi's cash injection may change the way Dubai is doing business with the West and — more important — could affect the sheikdom's massive trade with Iran. Dubai has served as a transshipment and banking hub for Iranian merchants, enabling the government in Tehran to try to circumvent U.S. sanctions.Abu Dhabi's rulers — like many other Arab leaders — are much more suspicious toward Persian Iran and its efforts to expand influence in the region.And Abu Dhabi has remained more faithful to Gulf's traditional values — unlike Dubai, which has sped up its development and loosened many of Gulf's strict Islamic codes to become one of the world's most multinational cities.
Abu Dhabi, however, has begun to look outward.
It's raised its profile internationally by hosting high-profile events such as the finale of the 2009 Formula 1 racing season and by using its estimated $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund on global shopping sprees.Abu Dhabi's various investment arms have in the past years purchased landmarks such as New York's Chrysler Building, acquired significant stakes in companies like Mercedes-Benz and explored new frontiers by pouring money into commercial space travel startup Virgin Galactic.The investment plan is strategically thought out and whether the money is spent aboard or at home, its returns are always channeled into the development of Abu Dhabi, said Mohammed Shakeel, a Dubai-based analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit.Abu Dhabi also has commissioned world's renowned architects to design a cultural and educational hub, hosting regional branches of Guggenheim and Louvre museums and top U.S. schools like the New York University.Abu Dhabi does not want to be about oil and petrochemicals, but also about art and education, said Jean-Francois Seznec, a Gulf specialist at Georgetown University in Washington.With almost no oil left, Dubai several years ago believed it had to act fast if it wanted to attracted foreign investment and become a tourist destination. The ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, plowed ahead with dozens of megaprojects such as the palm-shaped island pushing into the Gulf as well as some dazzling follies such as a now-stalled city in the desert with imitations of the Eiffel Tower and Egypt's Pyramids.
Abu Dhabi, with its huge oil revenue, took it slow. They could afford to be more cautious and develop slowly because they are not worried they will be left behind, said Shakeel of the Economist Intelligence Unit. Abu Dhabi's plans also have the benefit of a direct pipeline to one powerful ruling family. Dubai's Sheik Mohammed has to share wealth with the emirate's influential merchant families to rule. The new relationship between the two sheikdoms is based on Dubai's subordination to Abu Dhabi, analyst say. Abu Dhabi views political dominance of the UAE as an important goal, and sees its current pre-eminence in the federation as permanent. Dubai's leadership, however, still views Abu Dhabi's dominance as matter of short term expedience,Sabra of Eurasia Group said. With virtually no pressure to democratize and with no urgency to diversify its economy, Abu Dhabi is pressing ahead with developments while Dubai is suffering from a fiscal hangover. Unlike Dubai, Abu Dhabi is going forward quietly, with no sign that decision on policy and economy will be anything but a family affair among its ruling clan. Abu Dhabi does not broadcast its potential and ambitions to anybody, said Shakeel, adding that those who hoped Dubai's debt fiasco will push Gulf's other oil economies to be less secretive when acquiring prized assets abroad will have to wait for sometime.
3 KINGS PARADE IN MADRID
http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/17481243
Polish and Chinese groups in road-building squabble
ANDREW WILLIS Today JAN 6,10 @ 09:31 CET
EU-China business tensions look set to continue following complaints from Polish motorway constructors that a Chinese group unfairly won a recent tender to build an important stretch of road in the large EU member state. In a letter to European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, Poland's constructors' lobby group, the OIGD, urged the EU executive to take action against the Chinese group on the grounds it received competition-distorting state aid from Beijing. We note that the bid by the Chinese consortium is based on a price far below the value of the tender, which constitutes unfair competition,reads the letter, obtained by AFP. The Polish lobby group says the commission, EU watchdog on competition matters, should initiate anti-dumping measures against the China Overseas Engineering Group Company (COVEC).The value of COVEC's successful bid to build the stretch of road was 1.3 billion zloty (319 million euros).That was 48 percent less than the estimated cost of the tender. It was also 23 percent less than the second-lowest bid, says the Polish lobby group, claiming that the Chinese government will simply cover the cost of COVEC's losses.
After decades of underdevelopment, Poland is pushing hard to upgrade its infrastructure in time to co-host the 2012 European football championships In September, COVEC's bid beat several European competitors who were also vying to upgrade the 49 kilometres of motorway linking the Polish and German capitals, Warsaw and Berlin.
EU staff to head to Greece amid deficit reports
ANDREW WILLIS 05.01.2010 @ 06:51 CET
EU officials are preparing to make their way to Greece this week amid reports that the country's 2009 budget deficit may have topped already dire earlier forecasts.
With an expected touchdown in Athens this Wednesday (6 January), staff from the European Commission and the European Central Bank will be keen to hear how the eurozone country with the largest deficit plans to rectify the problem. The probing visit comes amid reports that the southeastern EU country has exceeded an already gloomy budget forecast for 2009. According to Greek financial website Ta Nea, the country's deficit last year may have reached 14.5 percent of GDP, largely due to falling tax revenues. The deficit figure is even higher than the 12.7 percent revealed by the Greek Socialist government in November. Athens is due to submit a budget report - known as a stability report - to the European Commission before the end of this month, as eurozone finance ministers prepare to discuss the issue at their regular monthly meeting on 15-16 February. Under EU rules, member state deficits are not permitted to exceed three percent of GDP, although the vast majority are currently in breach of this threshold due to the financial crisis. There is close cooperation with the European Commission to avoid any danger of rejecting our stability programme, something which would be catastrophic, said Greek government spokesman George Petalotis.The finance ministers' meeting comes just days after a planned informal reunion of EU heads of state, which the new permanent president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has announced will take place on 11 February.Economic issues are set to dominate the meeting, with the subject of deficits likely to be aired.
The government of Prime Minister George Papandreou, elected in October following promises of higher spending and wages, is trying to persuade investors it can cut its deficit over the coming year. An upward revision of the country's expected 2009 deficit by the new government shortly after the elections sent investors into a panic, prompting credit rating agencies to cut the Greece's debt rating. Athens has promised to cut its deficit by four percent this year, hinting recently it may make further cuts of one billion euros.However analysts point to the one-off nature of the government's initiatives, including asset sales, sin taxes, a 90 percent levy on bank bonuses, and a clamp-down on tax-evasion – rather than measures to tackle the country's bloated structure of state spending.
Iceland's referendum decision provokes angry UK and Dutch response
HONOR MAHONY Today JAN 6,10 @ 09:27 CET
Iceland's EU membership bid was seen as at stake on Tuesday after a shock decision by the country's president to block legislation on paying billions of euros to Britain and the Netherlands to compensate investors in the collapsed Icelandic bank Icesave.In a televised speech, President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson acknowledged the strength of popular opposition to the deal among ordinary Icelanders, many of whom are questioning why they have to pay for the actions of their country's banks. His move means the issue will now be put to a referendum.Last June, Iceland made an agreement with London and the Hague to pay them back €3.8 billion they used to compensate British and Dutch savers who lost money in October 2008 when their accounts with the online savings account Icesave were frozen, following the collapse of the parent company Landsbanki.The president said an overwhelming majority wanted a direct say over the issue after a petition objecting to the terms of paying back the loan gathered the support of one fifth of the population. Under the terms of the agreement the loan will be paid back over 15 years with interest, with estimates suggesting every household will have to contribute around 45,000 euros. Feelings in Iceland have been running high, particularly after the heavy handed tactics at the height of the crisis used by Britain which invoked an anti-terrorism law to freeze the country's assets in the UK.It is the cornerstone of the constitutional structure of the Republic of Iceland that the people are the supreme judge of the validity of the law, said Mr Grimsson. The president's decision, which comes just a week after the parliament narrowly approved legislation to pay back the loan following months of wrangling, has prompted an immediate and angry response.Fitch, the international rating agency, downgraded Iceland's longterm foreign currency credit rating to junk status on the back of the move and called it a significant setback to Iceland's efforts to restore normal financial relations with the rest of the world.
The Times newspaper reported that Britain's financial services minister Lord Myners said that if the referendum decision was allowed to stand then Iceland would be frozen out of the international financial system and would not be able to join the European Union.The UK Government stepped in to ensure that all retail depositors with Icesave were fully paid out, and now we expect the Icelandic Government to ensure that we are repaid that amount which Iceland owes us, he said.
The Netherlands has also reacted with anger.We are very disappointed about the decision,said a Dutch finance ministry spokesman, according to the Wall Street Journal.Iceland has the obligation to pay back the money.With recent polls showing that Icelanders would likely reject the terms of the repayment in any referendum, the country's EU path is also set to be affected.Each member state may veto an attempt by another country to join the European Union. Iceland submitted a formal application for membership in July 2009. Once hailed as a probable EU member shoo-in, the banking situation as well as Icelanders more ambivalent feelings about joining the 27-nation bloc is likely to complicate the negotiation process.
Giant offshore grid to link up north-western Europe
VALENTINA POP Today JAN 6,10 @ 09:26 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Nine north-western European countries are planning a giant underwater energy grid in the North Sea linked to wind farms, tidal power stations and hydroelectric plants.Thousands of kilometers of high-tech energy cables are set to be laid on the seabed of the North Sea in the coming ten years, in what will become Europe's groundbreaking energy park, Germany's Sueddeutsche newspaper reports.
The cables would link existing and new windmills off the German and British coasts with Belgian and Danish tidal power stations and Norwegian hydroelectric plants. The €30-billion project would compensate for the irregular nature of renewable energy and provide a steady flow to the countries involved.Germany, Great Britain, France, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Luxembourg are behind the project. Their respective energy ministers - except for Norway which is not an EU member - last month signed a so-called North Seas' countries offshore initiative, just as the international climate change summit in Copenhagen was kicking off.We're already the world leader in offshore wind here in the UK and today's announcements bring new funding and expert direction to grow this vital new industry, Philip Hunt, the British sustainability minister, said in December.Berlin sees itself as the driving motor behind the scheme. For Germany, as a country with ambitious offshore-development plans, this initiative has great importance. It focuses on network connection and integration, which is crucial for wind energy to reach consumers and to make offshore energy generation a success,German minister for economy and technology Rainer Bruderle said on Wednesday (5 January) in a press release.He added that the idea came about during a meeting of French, German and Benelux representatives on energy issues.
After initial meetings in Ireland last year, officials from the nine countries will meet in the February, and aim to sign a binding agreement by the end of 2010. The project is mainly going to be funded by energy firms, which will be drawn into the negotiations. It is expected to produce 100 gigawatts of power.The EU hopes to generate a fifth of its electricity needs from renewable energy sources by 2020, a move which requires new modern energy grids, capable of absorbing the fluctuations of wind and solar energy.
European stocks edge down ahead of key US news By Pan Pylas, Ap Business Writer – JAN 6,10
LONDON – European stock markets edged down Wednesday despite modest gains in Asia, as investors remained reluctant to stake out new positions ahead of some key economic news out of the U.S.The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 23.85 points, or 0.4 percent, at 5,498.65 while Germany's DAX fell 27.13 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,004.73. The CAC-40 in France was 8.2 points, or 0.2 percent, lower at 4,004.71.Wall Street was also poised for a subdued opening — Dow futures were down 29 points, or 0.3 percent, at 10,486 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 4.1 points, or 0.4 percent, 1,128.20.Since Monday, when investors charged into the New Year in a buoyant mood, trading has been lackluster — disappointing U.S. housing figures Tuesday dented some of the optimism and U.S. stocks ended more or less flat.Analysts said this Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for December could be the catalyst for renewed direction — the jobs data often set the stock market tone for a week or two.
However, there's some economic news later that could prompt some positioning for Friday's data, including the monthly jobs figures from private payrolls firm ADP. In addition, the monthly services sector survey from the Institute for Supply Management will be pored over to see if it is as buoyant as the equivalent manufacturing report on Monday.The publication of the minutes to the last rate-setting meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve could also excite interest as investors try to get a clearer idea about the growing tensions between the doves and the hawks on the Federal Open Market Committee.Meanwhile in London, Europe's busiest financial center, trading activity was affected by big snowfalls in counties around the capital, where many traders live.We have still been plagued by lower volume since the return from the Christmas break and things may be similar today as the big freeze continues to disrupt across Britain, said James Hughes, market analyst at CMC Markets.Many will not be able to travel to the city today and this added disruption could further dent volumes and cause a degree of volatility, he added.Earlier in Asia, Japanese stocks shrugged off speculation the country's finance minister, one of the few experienced hands in the new government's Cabinet, will resign because of ill health. Hirohisa Fujii, 77, checked into hospital on December 28 for rest and health checks.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 49.62 points, or 0.5 percent, at a new 15-month high of 10,731.45.Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 137.09, or 0.6 percent, to 22,416.67 and South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.9 percent to 1,705.32. Australia's benchmark advanced 0.2 percent and Singapore's market gained 0.2 percent but China's Shanghai index dropped 0.9 percent.Oil prices hovered below $82 a barrel after a report showed U.S. crude supplies fell more than expected last week. Benchmark crude for February delivery was down 4 cents at $81.73 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract rose 26 cents to settle at $81.77, a 14-month high.The dollar recouped most of the previous day's losses against the yen amid the growing talk of Fujii's status, rising 0.8 percent to 92.43 yen.Though any new finance minister would still face the same deflationary concerns that occupy Fujii, the currency markets are skeptical that any successor could be as effective in resisting calls for a bigger fiscal boost.Any suggestion of additional Japanese government bond issuance to fund such fiscal adventures would likely weigh on the yen, said Gareth Berry, a currency strategist at UBS.The euro was steady at $1.4360.
Harper says economy on mend; jobs needed By Randall Palmer – Wed Jan 6, 2:40 am ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday he was much more optimistic economically about 2010 but he would not be satisfied until the jobless rate starts to come down.Economic indicators were almost universally moving a bit in the right direction though the unemployment rate has barely budged, the Conservative leader said in a CBC television interview.When my fellow economists say, Well the economy's out of recession now, I tend to qualify that. We can argue that technically, he said.But we all know that while the unemployment situation has stabilized, we haven't yet recouped some of the job losses that we saw last year. Until we start to see that, I won't be satisfied we're on the road to recovery.He noted that Canada's jobless rate had plateaued earlier and at a lower rate than in the United States but the current level around 8.5 percent was too high and needed to be closer the pre-recession range of 5.5 to 6.5 percent.The main thing is the direction. We'd like to see it start to fall, he said.Statistics Canada will release its December jobless report at 7 a.m. EST (1200 GMT) on Friday and analysts predict the unemployment rate will stay at 8.5 percent while 20,000 jobs will be added.
The problem will be just the opposite later, he predicted.I do think that it won't be long after the recession is over that we're going to start to see the longer-term problem, which is labor shortage in our economy, he said, noting that this had hit some sectors and areas before the recession.Harper was reelected in October 2008 to a second minority government, one in which he requires the support of at least one of the three opposition parties to stay in power.There is little sign the opposition would team up to defeat him in the near future, given his substantial polling lead, and Harper said Canadians expected the economy rather than another election to be the focus.The consensus out there would be nobody wants an election. I don't think anybody would see a reason for one. We continue to have economic challenges. As I say, we're more optimistic (but) I don't think the challenges have completely gone away and we're still in a period of considerable uncertainty,he said.(Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson)
Oil hovers below $82 amid US crude inventory drop By PABLO GORONDI, Associated Press Writer JAN 6,10
Oil prices hovered below $82 a barrel Wednesday after a report showed U.S. crude supplies fell more than expected last week.By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for February delivery was down 24 cents to $81.53 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract rose 26 cents to settle at $81.77 a barrel, a 14-month high.Traders closely study U.S. inventory data for signs of consumer demand trends, and crude supplies fell 2.3 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday.Analysts had expected a drop of 1.6 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration plans to announce its inventory report — the market benchmark — later Wednesday.Oil has surged about 15 percent since mid-December as colder weather in the U.S. boosts demand for crude products such as heating oil.Tuesday's API report, however, showed a buildup in such products, which could be a sign that the falling temperatures may not continue supporting the market as much as some have expected.
The latest build in distillate stocks should provide a slap in the face of bulls who relied on cold temperatures as a wonder cure, said JBC Energy in Vienna.Oil prices were also being kept from rising for the 10th straight session by the stronger dollar, which make dollar-denominated oil more expensive for investors holding other currencies.In midday European trade, the euro was down to $1.4348 from $1.4369 late Tuesday in New York, while the British pound fell to $1.5979 from $1.6002 and dollar rose to 92.44 Japanese yen from 91.74 yen.In other Nymex trading in February contracts, heating oil fell 1.62 cents to $2.1779 a gallon and gasoline slid 1.87 cents to $2.1063 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 9.8 cents to $5.735.In London, Brent crude for February delivery fell 31 cents to $80.26 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.Associated Press writer Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.
Stock futures point to lower Wall Street open By IEVA M. AUGSTUMS, AP Business Writer JAN 6,10
Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street Wednesday as investors refrain from any major moves ahead of a stream of economic data.Traders will receive a handful of economic data from December in the morning, including the ADP National Employment Report on private companies and the Institute for Supply Management's index of service industry activity. The Federal Reserve will also release the minutes from its December meeting later in the day.Dow futures fell 17, or 0.2 percent, to 10,498. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 2.60, or 0.2 percent, to 1,129.70, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 2.50, or 0.1 percent, at 1,882.75.
Asian stocks were up, while European markets edged lower.Many analysts said investors were holding back while they wait for Friday's Labor Department report on employment.The ADP report is often used as a forecasst for the government's report, which economists expect to say that the nation's unemployment ticked up to 10.1 percent in December from 10 percent in November.The private sector report is expected to show a loss of 73,000 jobs in December, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters. That's far better than the 169,000 jobs lost in November.
The report is due out at 8:15 a.m. Eastern Time.
The Institute for Supply Management will issue its non-manufacturing index for December. Economists forecast that the index hit 50.5 in December, up from 48.7 in November. A reading of 50 marks the dividing line between growth and contraction in the service sector, which includes more than 80 percent of U.S. economic activity.
The monthly services sector survey is expected at 10 a.m. EST.The Federal Reserve will also release the minutes from its December meeting at 2 p.m. EST.Stock trading was quiet Tuesday after a strong start the first day of trading in the new year.New data from November did little to move the markets. The Commerce Department reported that factory orders rose by more than twice what had been expected. The National Association of Realtors said the number of buyers who agreed to purchase previously occupied homes fell 16 percent.Meanwhile Wednesday, bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.79 percent from 3.76 percent late Tuesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.7 percent from 0.05 percent.The dollar mostly rose against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.5 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.2 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 0.1 percent, and France's CAC-40was down less than 0.1 percent.
EU to test new university ranking in 2010
HELENA SPONGENBERG Today JAN 6,10 @ 10:03 CET
EUOBSERVER – The European Union is developing a new worldwide ranking system of universities to rival currently established league tables in a bid to improve the ranking of European universities and improve Europe's economic power.National league tables have been common since the 1990s but as higher education has increasingly become globalised with many students opting to take part of their studies abroad, the focus has shifted to worldwide university rankings.This means the rankings are increasingly receiving more attention for different specific purposes: Students use them to short-list their choice of university; public and private institutions use them to decide on funding allocations; universities use them to promote themselves; while some politicians use them as a measure of national economic achievements or aspirations.Europe's around 4,000 higher education institutions have over 19 million students and 1.5 million staff. However, European universities have time and again failed to make it big in the current world university rankings.
The upcoming European league table
The European ranking project will be developed over a two-year period with planned implementation at the beginning of 2011.Earlier this year, a German/Dutch/Belgian/French consortium for Higher Education and Research Performance Assessment – called CHERPA – won an EU call for tender to develop and test an alternative design for a global ranking of universities.While planning has been taking place throughout the second half of 2009, the European league table will be tested on 150 higher education institutions around the world in the first half of 2010, initially focussing on engineering and business studies. The project has a budget of €1.1 million.Although the number of ranking tables increase every year, there are at the moment two main – and rivalling – world university rankings: the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) in the UK and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities (SJTU) in China.Both rankings have been compiled annually since the mid-2000s and generally show US universities to be well ahead of continental European universities when it comes to the top spots.In the past six Jiao Tong rankings, 17 US universities were each year placed in the top 20, with Cambridge and Oxford Universities the only European higher education institutions among the top 20. Over the same period, the THES league table generally has 12 US institutions in the top 20 together with four UK universities and occasionally a French institution.
Europe criticises global rankings
The European Commission as well as some EU member states have been criticising the way the established rankings have been compiled, saying that they contain many biases and that they fail to represent the diverse and multifunctional nature of universities and their research activities accurately.The commission is of the opinion that many existing rankings do not really fulfil this purpose, for example because they focus on research aspects rather than teaching, and on entire institutions rather than programmes and departments, the Commission stated when calling for a European alternative to the current global league tables.The call came after a 2008 Commission study questioned the substance of statistics on which the Jiao Tong ranking is based and concluded that neither the Jiao Tong nor the THES system succeed in effectively ranking Europe's universities.France has long called for a European alternative to current global league tables, arguing that the selection criteria of existing rankings favour Anglo-Saxon higher education institutions to the disadvantage of French and other European universities. French Minister for Higher Education and Research Valérie Pécresse has made a new European rankings system one of her priorities. According to the EU Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Maros Sefcovic, the European ranking project's so-called multi-dimensional approach to the mapping of universities would create a better balance between research indicators and quality of education indicators when it comes to the ranking of universities.
The battle for brainpower
The aim to draw up an EU university ranking system forms part of a broader modernisation agenda, which seeks to improve higher education across Europe as part of an overall economic growth strategy.In the global market, universities have become a barometer of global competition measuring the knowledge-producing and talent-catching capacity of higher education institutions, argues Ellen Hazelkorn from the Dublin Institute of Technology.Knowledge has become the foundation of economic, social and political power, where the scramble for students … or battle for brainpower now complements traditional geo-political struggles for natural resources,she adds.
A FALSE PROPHET COMES FROM THE VATICAN ALSO AT THIS TIME.
REVELATION 13:11-18
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
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.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
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
REVELATION 17:1-18
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Pope greets faithful in basilica By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer JAN 6,10
VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI greeted faithful and kissed babies in St. Peter's Basilica amid new security measures following the Christmas Eve scare.Benedict celebrated Mass to mark Epiphany, the Jan. 6 holy day commonly referred to as the feast of the Three Kings, or Magi, during the last main public ceremony of the Vatican's holiday season.As the pope, wearing gold colored vestments, a long, lacy cassock and red shoes, made his way to the main altar, he strode up a central aisle widened as part of heightened security precautions that were put in place after a young woman scrambled over a barrier during his entrance procession on the night of Dec. 24, when the basilica was packed with thousands of people for Christmas Eve Mass.The woman, who lived in Switzerland and has a history of psychological problems, grabbed the pope's vestments, pulling him down to the marble floor in that incident. The 82-year-old pope was shaken but unhurt, while an elderly French cardinal, who fell during the commotion, broke his hip. The Italian-Swiss woman is being treated at a psychiatric clinic near Rome while the Vatican investigates.
Following the security breach, the basilica's main aisle was widened by pushing back the red-curtained barriers that separates the passage from the rows of faithful . The measure gives pope's security detail more space to maneuver and puts him at a greater distance from the public.Still, the pope seemed determined to give his flock the message that despite security worries, he intends to keep in physical contact with the faithful.Arriving and leaving the basilica, the pope moved to the left and right of the aisle to shake some of the many hands stretching out to him. At one point he patted a pacifier-sucking baby on the head, then kissed the infant, before kissing the hand of the woman holding the child out to him.Benedict smiled broadly as he moved his hand in blessing or waved to the public.In his homily, Benedict blamed lack of authentic humility and courage for what he said was a shortage of faith.After the Mass, as he greeted the public in St. Peter's Square from his studio window, offering good wishes for those in Eastern Churches celebrating Christmas on Jan. 7. He describe the three kings as models for authentic searchers of the truth.
Thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans, including many children, turned out to cheer the pope as they strolled the cobblestone square, made festive by a towering Christmas tree and a life-sized creche. In many European countries, the Epiphany is the feast day when children receive holiday presents.
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