JEWISH GROUPS LOST AT LEAST 150 MILLION TO MADOFF

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

ISAIAH 33:8
8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

Abbas said to soften stance on interim peace agreement

Details leaked earlier this week revealed that PA is keeping a hard line on terms desired by Israel

By Gavriel Fiske and Ilan Ben Zion October 29, 2013, 9:32 am 3-The Times of Israel

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly softened his objection to an interim peace agreement, an option he was known to vehemently resist previously.Abbas is no longer completely opposed to such a deal, which would create a framework for two states but likely postpone the resolution of the toughest issues such as final borders, shared sovereignty over Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees, according to a Tuesday Israel Radio report, which gave no further details.Palestinian Authority officials, and Abbas himself, have repeatedly said they were strongly against an interim peace agreement with Israel. In September, speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Abbas said the current round of negotiations were “the last chance” to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians but rejected “the dizzying exhilaration of interim agreements” in lieu of a permanent resolution.The Oslo Peace Accords, signed by the two sides in 1993, were an interim peace agreement which stipulated that final-status issues must be resolved within five years. The so-called “Oslo Period” ended with the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000, after then-prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat failed to agree on a final deal.On Sunday, a Channel 2 report revealed details on the peace negotiations, leaked by a disgruntled Palestinian official, which indicated that the Palestinians were taking a hard line on terms desired by Israel.According to the report, the Palestinian Authority demanded that any land swap agreement with Israel as part of a peace deal not exceed 1.9 percent of the West Bank, less than half of the land necessary to incorporate the lion’s share of settlers.The Palestinians are also insisting that they gain control over water resources, border crossings and the area on their side of the Dead Sea; that a Palestinian state be able to sign agreements with other states without Israeli intervention; that Israel release all Palestinian prisoners; and that all Palestinian refugees and their descendants be granted the right to choose to live in Israel or the Palestinian territories as part of a final agreement, according to the report.The report made no mention of Israel’s position on these issues, but the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been wary of a Palestinian state exercising full sovereign powers that might threaten Israeli security, and all Israeli governments have rejected the possibility of anything other than a token influx of Palestinian refugees, for fear of changing the demographic balance of the Jewish state.Israel, for its part, according to the TV report, has demanded that any peace deal provide Israel with territorial contiguity, that there be an IDF presence in the Jordan Valley for a prescribed period of time, and that, in addition to border adjustments covered by the land swaps, further land be annexed by Israel to cover the major settlement blocs in return for financial compensation to the Palestinians.In previous rounds of negotiations, the Palestinians agreed in principle to swap some West Bank land for Israeli territory, in order to allow Israel to annex some settled areas adjacent to its border. Israeli peace activist Gershon Baskin has estimated that annexation of 4% of the West Bank would be necessary in order to incorporate the majority of the settler population in a final agreement.The US-brokered peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority reportedly reached an impasse last month due to the Israeli refusal to discuss land-swap and border issues. The recent reports appear to indicate that the sides have broached the subject.

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)

Military graveyard defaced with anti-prisoner release messages

‘Your death was in vain,’ signs read; terror victims’ association submits appeal to Supreme Court to stop release

By Gavriel Fiske October 29, 2013, 2:53 pm 1-The times of Israel

Signs purporting to be from the Israeli government were placed on dozens of military graves at the Mount Hertzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Tuesday, in protest of the impending release of 26 Palestinian prisoners later Tuesday. The release constitutes the second phase of a four-stage deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority meant to keep the US-brokered peace talks on track.The signs, which read in Hebrew, “Sorry we forgot. For us, your death was in vain — [signed] the Israeli government,” were evidently placed by an anonymously run group, “Sorry We Forgot,” which maintains a Facebook page to document its activities. The group uploaded a video of the signs it placed on the graves Tuesday morning.In an interview with Army Radio, a woman who is part of the group and who gave her first name as Ortal said the act represented the “cry of the victims [who were killed by Palestinian terrorists].”“If we hurt anyone, we apologize,” she added.

Eli Ben-Shem, the chairman of Yad Labanim, the association of bereaved families of fallen soldiers, called the act appalling.“This is a very severe act, it’s shameful and it hurts the families of the fallen. It’s an illegitimate protest,” he told Army Radio. “Red lines have been crossed, this is a desecration of graves,” he added.Ben-Shem called for a full investigation into the incident.Peace Now’s Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer called for the perpetrators to be prosecuted. “The use of the fallen soldiers and terror victims in a political campaign is a despicable, low act and it disrespects the deceased. They [the perpetrators] should be put on trial,” he said.Meanwhile, the Almagor Terror Victims’ Association submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon to stop the prisoners’ release scheduled for later in the night.“The government did not bother to discuss the latest wave of terror in the West Bank over the past few weeks. It’s turning the other cheek even as we’re talking about the second phase of the release,” said Naftali Wertzberger, a lawyer working with the bereaved families who submitted the appeal. “Releasing terrorists only adds fuel to the terrorist fire. I’m optimistic and hopeful we’ll stop [the releases] ” he added.Ahead of the first prisoners’ release in August, the organization’s appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court.

Earlier Tuesday, “Israel Forgets” wrote on its Facebook page that the day “will be known as a sad day in the history of Israel. We will do everything we can to stop this evil decree.”The group, which was registered on Facebook last week, wrote in its description that “104 Arab terrorists are going to be released by Israel in the near future… leaving behind victims in cemeteries around the country,” referring to the total number of Palestinian prisoners to be released under the framework of renewed, US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.“We are here to ask forgiveness… from those who were sacrificed, whom the government of Israel sold out cheaply, at the cost of forgotten lives,” the group wrote.

Netanyahu: Prisoner release one of ‘toughest’ decisions as PM

Bennett and Livni continue spat over plan; all 26 inmates moved to Ofer Prison ahead of their release

By Lazar Berman October 28, 2013, 7:26 pm 2-The times of Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the decision to release 26 Palestinian prisoners one of the most agonizing of his career Monday, a day before Israel was set to free the inmates in the framework of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.“The decision to release prisoners is one of the toughest decisions that I’ve taken as prime minister,” Netanyahu told a Likud-Beytenu faction meeting Monday. “I am certain that all the prime ministers who made this decision before me agonized over it as well, due to the injustice of villains being released before they serve the full term of their sentences. My heart is with the bereaved families, and it pains me. This decision is a necessity given the reality in which we live.”The inmates were transferred Monday to Ofer Prison, near Ramallah, from five Israeli prisons ahead of their release.“We are forced to navigate an international arena that is complicated; it is not simple, it is complicated, it is full of challenges, and it requires us to take into consideration a number of factors for the good of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu continued.“From the moment the decision was made in the government, all of its members must act responsibly, with deliberation, and with a long-term perspective,” Netanyahu added, in apparent criticism of ministers from Economy Minister Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home party and MK Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu who voted against the prisoner release.“We cannot dismiss the strategic meaning that gives us space to maneuver for the security of the State of Israel. We will continue to lead Israel in a level-headed manner,” he added.The planned release constitutes the second phase of a four-phase prisoner release deal, agreed to as part of the talks that restarted in July. Israel released a first group of prisoners in August.At a Jewish Home faction meeting Monday, party head Bennett decried the verbal attacks on the party for opposing the impending release. “We have found ourselves under attack over the past day,” said party head Bennett, “but we opposed a Palestinian state and the release of terrorists before the elections, and we will continue to oppose a Palestinian state and release of terrorists now as well.

“The goal is to silence us and tame us. If, God forbid, someone thinks a Palestinian state is a mistake, he is called a right-winger, extremist, fascist, and violent. But it doesn’t matter — we will not be silenced. We have clear positions and we are proud of them.”Bennett compared the attacks against him to those directed at Netanyahu during the 1990s when he was a vocal critic of the Oslo peace process.At Hatnua’s faction meeting, members criticized the Jewish Home, which has sought to place the blame for the release in the lap of Hatnua’s party chair, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is leading Israel’s negotiations with the Palestinians. “I have reached a conclusion in the past week,” said Livni, “that hypocrisy, self-righteousness, dirty maneuvers and attempts to shirk responsibility don’t work.”“What the Jewish Home is doing is 100 percent incitement. I recommend that everyone remember where those weeds sprouted from back then,” said Hatnua MK Amram Mitzna, ostensibly referring to the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. “We must view these things with the utmost severity.”Criticism of the release was also sounded in some of Monday’s committee meetings. Likud MK Miri Regev, chairwoman of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, called the decision a sign of “cowardice and weakness on the part of the government. No normal country frees murderers, and in exchange we received a rocket on Ashkelon, a tunnel from Egypt, and the murder of Israelis.”The Israel Prison Service late Sunday night published the names of 26 Palestinian prisoners set to be released over the next 48 hours as part of a deal to keep the US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on course. All are convicted murderers.Six of the inmates have been imprisoned for just under 30 years. All but two were imprisoned for murders committed before the signing of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. A government statement said earlier that 21 of the inmates were from the West Bank and five were from the Gaza Strip.

Jewish groups in new database admit losses of $150 million to Madoff

Washington Post list covers 1,000 organizations in all; history’s biggest Ponzi scheme estimated to have cost $18 billion

By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil October 29, 2013, 4:10 am 0-The times of Israel

WASHINGTON — A new database of non-profit organizations’ tax disclosures sheds light on the scale of the damage inflicted on Jewish community organizations by the Madoff Ponzi scandal. It also paints a picture of organizations changing their regulations to prevent such disasters in the future.Almost two dozen Jewish organizations are included on the list of over 1,000 nonprofit organizations which suffered a “significant diversion” of assets through unauthorized uses or unanticipated losses such as theft, investment fraud and embezzlement between 2008 and 2012. Half of the organizations’ losses can be attributed to the giant investment fraud scheme conducted by Bernard Madoff.The entire database, compiled by the Washington Post, covers a veritable cross-section of American civil society, ranging from local parent-teacher organizations to the Teamsters, from Washington think tanks to small-town fire stations.Investment funds linked to Madoff’s scheme, which targeted portfolios ranging in size from individual shareholders to massive organizations, are documented in the database as defrauding Jewish organizations of over $150 million. This database does not, however, include a number of the organizations also known to have been defrauded by Madoff, including the Women’s Zionist Organization of America and the Elie Wiesel Foundation. Total estimated losses as a result of what is believed to be the largest Ponzi scheme in US history are around $18 billion.Yeshiva University, where Madoff sat on the Board of Directors and even served as treasurer, is prominent in the newly published list of declared losses. Madoff’s investment scam depleted almost $110 million from the New York institution and its affiliate organizations.The database shows that the losses were at times catastrophic, but sporadic in their impact on YU affiliates. The Yeshiva Endowment Foundation alone lost some $2.6 million in 2008, and ended the year with negative revenue figures of over $1.3 million. They did better, relatively, than the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, which had over $10 million invested through Madoff, and finished the year with almost $2.4 million in negative revenue.Following the scandal, Yeshiva University sprang into action to change its business practices. In December 2008, the university hired a law firm “to assist management in reviewing and addressing the then-current policies and procedures relating to corporate governance and oversight.” Following the review, the university toughened up its conflict-of-interest policy under which members of the Board of Trustees “may not be engaged in business with the University or the high schools” and established a waiver committee to review any exceptions.University officials are no longer entitled to manage the money in the university’s investment pool or any individual investments, and the university engaged in a process of divestment from any investments managed by the university’s board of Trustees or Investment Committee. In addition, the Investment Committee was disbanded and reconstituted, university officials were required to fill elaborate conflict-of-interest forms and disclosures, and a professional chief investment officer was hired to oversee investments.The database also gives some sense of the loss to local Jewish federations, the backbone of community life in dozens of states.The Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles disclosed that in 2008, it lost approximately $6.4 million in investments due to the Madoff scandal. In February 2009, it filed a securities investment protection corporation customer claim for $500,000 related to the loss. The Jewish Community Fund of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles reported a more dire loss — $23.9 million, including $5.86 million of alleged earnings on investments that turned out to be fictitious.  Reeling from the loss, the foundation appointed a special committee to investigate the fraud and to attempt to recover funds from Madoff’s liquidated assets.The Los Angeles-based Lee and Herman Ostrow Family Foundation, which is active in Jewish giving, suffered losses as a result of the Jewish Community Foundation’s “common investment pool”, which invested its funds with Madoff. In that case – similar to Yeshiva University – the investment committee was reconstituted, and oversight was drastically increased.

The Jewish Federation of Greater St. Paul, which registered some $3.1 million in revenue in 2009, noted that the organization had $800,000 invested through Madoff, and added that “the organization does not expect to recover these funds.” The Jewish Community Centers Association of North America wrote succinctly that “the organization became aware during the year of one material diversion of the organization’s assets which related to its investments with Bernard L. Madoff Securities.”The organization, which listed total 2008 revenue at $12.6 million, did not enumerate the scale of its losses. Organizations are only required to report such diversions if the total sum is above $250,000 or if they exceed 5% of an organization’s annual gross receipts or assets.The American-Jewish Congress took a large hit, too. It recorded that approximately $2.2 of investiture “were stolen by Mr. Madoff” and that some $16 million in trust funds administered by AJC officers and employees were “also taken by Mr. Madoff.” The AJC’s total revenue that year was slightly over $1.3 million – significantly less than the amount pilfered in the Ponzi scheme.ELEM Youth in Distress also recorded losses in 2008, but its files could not be accessed for further details. In other interviews, Zion Gabbai, Elem’s Israel director, said that the organization which cares for highly at-risk Jewish and Arab youth had invested some $850,000 with Madoff as a “safety net”.The Etzion Foundation said in its disclosure that it had not known that its investment in Ascot Partners LP had been invested in Madoff Securities. The Teaneck-based organization which funds Orthodox educational initiatives in Israel and North America, did not disclose the amount lost for the organization, which had over $2 million in revenue in 2008.

The American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic were also hit by the Madoff scandal, writing tersely on the declaration that “as an investor with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC, AFIPO’s account no longer exists.” The America-Israel Cultural Foundation did not mention Madoff by name at all, but just noted in 2008 that “the custodian of the investment pool did not invest the funds and stole the remaining monies under his custody.”The new database shows how ripples of the Madoff effect spread outside of the framework of Jewish community organizations. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy also took a hit on an investment with Tremont Group Holdings that was a feeder fund to Madoff Securities. The Washington think tank, which recorded slightly over $6 million in revenue in 2008, noted that its market value loss was almost $1.2 million and the principal loss was $250,000. In the shadow of the loss, the Washington Institute noted that in the next year the Board of Directors adopted “a new investment policy with enhanced due diligence standards and procedures.”Not all the losses documented in the database, however, were from Madoff. The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany reported in 2010 losses estimated at $42 million after swindlers created thousands of fake identities of Holocaust survivors based on Russian-speaking elderly people who received kickbacks. The organization first reported the fraud to the FBI in 2009, and in 2010, 11 employees and several other individuals were indicted on fraud and embezzlement charges. Estimates of losses now are closer to $60 million.The New York-based Touro College divulged in its forms that in 2010 “a former construction manager pled guilty to wire fraud for diverting Touro College assets. The perpetrator, with the aid of an unscrupulous contractor, utilized a sophisticated kickback scheme.” The disclosure forms emphasize that the “college aided in the investigation of the matter” but did not reveal the sums purloined.Less-nationally prominent organizations were not immune from major fraud either. The Jewish Community Center of Duchess County (New York) recorded in 2010 that “it was discovered after the fiscal year end that the bookkeeper at the time was involved in an embezzlement scheme and had stolen company assets” and in 2010 the Lubavitch Center of Essex County’s director discovered that former employee Susan Shack had been embezzling money from the center. Shack was obligated by the court to return $220,000, although the organizations believes that the amounts embezzled were higher.

Philadelphia-based Jewish Heritage Programs appeared on the list as well, but no documentation of embezzlement could be seen for 2009, the year cited by the Washington Post. In its 2010 forms, the organization registered as Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community Inc. recorded that approximately $62,000 – over 10% of its annual revenue – was diverted during an 21-month period by an independent contractor. The next year, the organization reported that the individual returned $70,000 to the organization to cover the loss and the related legal fees.Another organization, Chessed Rivka – which, according to the Washington Post, is headquartered in Lakewood, CO, could not be found, and its documents could not be accessed.In at least two cases, the losses were incurred in Israel, not in the United States.The American-registered “Israel Tennis Center” organization recorded that in 2008, “a material diversion of the organization’s assets occurred as it pertains to the leasing agreements for both the Ramat Hasharon Center and the Sajor Center” and in 2009, the American Friends of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art reported that “certain works of art were stolen and destroyed by fire during the current year.”It is possible that losses at Jewish charitable organizations may be even higher. The question that formed the basis of the database is only asked of larger non-profit groups, while smaller organizations and private foundations fill out different – or even no – paperwork documenting such losses.

LUKEWARM CHURCHES

REVELATION 3:15-19
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I(GOD) will spue (VOMIT) thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

10/28/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

Vatican improves transparency and anti-money laundering rating

The Vatican

The Standard Ethics rating agency has elevated the Standard Ethics Rating (SER) attributed to Vatican City State from “EE-” to “EE, putting it on a par with Italy

Andrea Tornielli vatican city The Holy See has received some good news from London: all recent initiatives to get its anti-money laundering measures up to International standards have paid off, as the Standard Ethics rating agency has elevated the Vatican City State’s Standard Ethics Rating (SER).Standard Ethics, the number one independent sustainability rating agency gives ratings to OCSE member nations. Nations with important economies such as Brazil and China have also joined and so did the Vatican City State last 21 February. This morning, Standard Ethics issued a statement informing that it has raised the Standard Ethics Rating (SER) attributed to the Vatican City State from “EE-” TO “EE”.The statement said that the Vatican City State was evaluated as a sovereign State subject to international public law, which is separate from the Holy See and according to standard general parameters, specific to it. Standard Ethics reported that since the Vatican it was given a “positive outlook” last July, the Vatican City State has successfully met international requests to provide greater financial and accounts transparency of its financial institutions.The statement emphasises the significant steps taken against money laundering, illicit financial transactions and financing of terrorism, in great part due to the Vatican’s gradual adherence to criteria laid out by the Financial Action Task Force (Groupe d’action financière FATF-GAFI) and the adoption of recommendations from the Moneyval Division of the Council of Europe – which is necessary for getting on to the OECD’s white list. Essentially, Standard Ethics recognises that the Vatican City State is on the right track and is collaborating with international bodies to adhere to anti-money laundering standards.The new positive rating was made possible thanks to the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State’s approval of Legislation No. XVIII of October 8, 2013. This law provides for a stable body governing transparency, supervision and financial information. The new law follows the constitution a few years ago of the Authority for Financial Information (AIF).Further elements of transparency, the Standard Ethics statement reports, are the publication of the Annual Report on Financial Activity, and the AIF’s Year 1- 2012 publication of the annual report on the website of the Vatican Bank (Istituto per le Opere Religiose IOR) on October 1, 2013.These things help create a system of efficient and sustainable checks in the long run. Meanwhile, changes to the internal legislation regarding child sex-abuse are being monitored.The Vatican City State’s upgrade from “EE-” to “EE”, means it is leaving the group which includes nations such as Brazil, Bulgaria, Estonia, Mexico, Poland, Romania and South Africa and moving to the same country cluster as Japan, Greece, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Vatican still has some way to go before it can make it into the three higher rating groups (EEE, EEE- and EE+) but it is clearly on the right track.

Christians in Iran Reportedly Sentenced to 80 Lashes for Drinking Wine During Communion

By Sharona Schwartz 24 minutes ago-OCT 29,13-yahoonews

A court in Iran has sentenced four Christian men to 80 lashes each for drinking wine during a communion ceremony, a Christian advocacy group and international news outlets reported.The sentencing coincides with a government crackdown on so-called "house churches" -- unofficial spots in which Christians gather in Iran to practice their faith undetected. The arrests and harsh sentences suggest that despite the moderate image of President Hassan Rouhani and the outreach to Iran by the Obama administration, religious persecution of Christians in the Islamic Republic continues.Despite Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's moderate image, the crackdown on Iranian Christians appears to be continuing. (AP).The four men -- Behzad Taalipasand, Mehdi Reza Omidi (Youhan), Mehdi Dadkhah (Danial) and Amir Hatemi (Youhanna) -- were convicted of drinking alcohol and possessing a receiver and a satellite antenna, according to a statement issued by Christian Solidarity Worldwide.They were first arrested during a worship service last year around Christmastime, the U.K. Independent reported.The verdict was handed down Oct. 20 in the city of Rasht, and the men have 10 days to appeal. The names in parenthesis are the biblical names each man has adopted, according to the Jerusalem Post.The Post reported that just this month, the United Nations issued a report detailing the persecution of Christians in Iran.U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran Dr. Ahmed Shaheed said in the report, "At least 20 Christians were in custody in July 2013. In addition, violations of the rights of Christians, particularly those belonging to evangelical Protestant groups, many of whom are converts, who proselytize to and serve Iranian Christians of Muslim background, continue to be reported."
He said further that "authorities continue to compel licensed Protestant churches to restrict Persian speaking and Muslim-born Iranians from participating in services, and raids and forced closures of house churches are ongoing ... More than 300 Christians have been arrested since 2010, and dozens of church leaders and active community members have reportedly been convicted of national security crimes in connection with church activities, such as organizing prayer groups, proselytizing and attending Christian seminars abroad."
Iran responded to the U.N. report with a statement broadcast on Press TV, saying Shaheed "has not paid sufficient notice to Iran's legal system and Islamic culture and considers whatever he sees in the West as an international standard for the entire world."According to National Catholic Register, the men who were sentenced to the lashes are members of the Church of Iran, a Protestant ecclesial community.Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide said in a statement: "The sentences handed down to these members of the Church of Iran effectively criminalize the Christian sacrament of sharing in the Lord's Supper and constitute an unacceptable infringement on the right to practice faith freely and peaceably."
Protestant Pastor Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen, has been in Iran's notorious Evin Prison for more than a year on charges of threatening national security by evangelizing in the Islamic country. His wife said in September that the pastor has been told he would be freed if he denies his Christian faith.As TheBlaze reported last year, two Iranians were sentenced to death for the repeat offense of drinking alcohol.Iranian law is based on Shariah Islamic law, which prohibits the consumption of alcohol.

Banksy Calls World Trade Center Design 'Disaster'

NEW YORK October 29, 2013 (AP)

By ULA ILNYTZKY Associated Press-yahoonews

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The elusive British graffiti artist Banksy, who has been writing and spray painting images on New York City buildings, is causing another sort of sensation with an essay condemning the design of the new World Trade Center as "a disaster."The 104-story skyscraper "clearly proclaims the terrorists won," the artist asserts in an essay posted on his website Sunday. It includes a picture of the tower with the words "replace with better artwork."The essay is designed to resemble a New York Times op-ed column. The artist said he submitted it to the newspaper, which declined to publish it."We couldn't agree on either the piece or the art so it was rejected," Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said Monday.The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the Trade Center site, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Banksy, who refuses to give his real name, could not be reached for comment. He has been visiting the city for the past few weeks.He announced earlier this month that he was undertaking "residency" on the streets of New York in October and has posted pictures on his website of his paintings on city buildings without providing exact locations. But those who spotted the graffiti spread the word through social media.Banksy writes that the tower lacks "any self-confidence." He likened it to a "tall kid at a party, awkwardly shifting his shoulders trying not to stand out from the crowd."He suggests that "a better building" be constructed immediately in front of the nearly completely skyscraper.He ends by saying: "You currently have under construction a one thousand foot tall sign that reads — New York — we lost our nerve."

EARTHQUAKES

ISAIAH 42:15
15  I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

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,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

1 Day, Magnitude 2.5+ Worldwide

25 earthquakes - DownloadUpdated: 2013-10-29 09:30:42 UTC-05:00Showing event times using Local System Time (UTC-05:00)25 earthquakes in map area

1. 2.5 19km W of Lompoc, California 2013-10-29 08:38:30 UTC-05:00 0.0 km
2. 5.0 25km NW of Chivay, Peru 2013-10-29 07:51:03 UTC-05:00 119.2 km
3. 4.5 60km S of Chirilagua, El Salvador 2013-10-29 07:44:57 UTC-05:00 52.3 km
4. 2.5 6km E of East Foothills, California 2013-10-29 06:42:41 UTC-05:00 6.6 km
5. 3.2 23km NNW of Leavenworth, Washington 2013-10-29 06:24:14 UTC-05:00 10.9 km
6. 5.1 81km NNE of Ndoi Island, Fiji 2013-10-29 06:01:54 UTC-05:00 571.3 km
7. 6.0 Balleny Islands region 2013-10-29 05:37:55 UTC-05:00 10.0 km
8. 4.3 14km NW of Kendari, Indonesia 2013-10-29 05:16:21 UTC-05:00 35.1 km
9. 5.0 South of the Fiji Islands 2013-10-29 03:21:53 UTC-05:00 71.7 km
10. 3.0 51km WNW of Fort Yukon, Alaska 2013-10-29 02:58:34 UTC-05:00 46.3 km
11. 4.6 74km S of Mawlaik, Burma 2013-10-29 02:51:27 UTC-05:00 95.1 km
12. 4.5 Prince Edward Islands region 2013-10-29 02:41:34 UTC-05:00 10.0 km
13. 2.6 71km N of Tierras Nuevas Poniente, Puerto Rico 2013-10-29 01:34:25 UTC-05:00 13.0 km
14. 3.1 106km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-10-28 23:57:05 UTC-05:00 72.0 km
15. 4.6 17km SSW of Ovalle, Chile 2013-10-28 22:40:50 UTC-05:00 47.8 km
16. 4.3 60km NNW of Coquimbo, Chile 2013-10-28 22:35:02 UTC-05:00 55.1 km
17. 4.7 85km W of Kuripan, Indonesia 2013-10-28 18:27:46 UTC-05:00 63.0 km
18. 3.0 89km SSE of King Salmon, Alaska 2013-10-28 17:38:23 UTC-05:00 119.8 km
19. 5.0 297km SSE of Kushiro, Japan 2013-10-28 15:59:42 UTC-05:00 35.5 km
20. 5.0 56km NNW of Visokoi Island, 2013-10-28 15:36:01 UTC-05:00 116.5 km
21. 2.8 64km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2013-10-28 15:02:36 UTC-05:00 10.0 km
22. 5.3 61km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2013-10-28 15:01:27 UTC-05:00 57.6 km
23. 3.0 44km NW of Rincon, Puerto Rico 2013-10-28 12:17:20 UTC-05:00 15.0 km
24. 4.6 184km ENE of Angoram, Papua New Guinea 2013-10-28 11:23:28 UTC-05:00 34.5 km
25. 5.3 294km SW of Longyearbyen, Svalbard and Jan Mayen 2013-10-28 09:54:27 UTC-05:00 10.0

EU TO PROBE BAILOUTS

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

10/28/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

Pope Francis meets World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim

Jim Yong Kim

In today’s meeting with the president, Francis spoke of the importance of including the poor in a development plan that respects nature and communities

Luca ROlandi Rome In a meeting with Francis in the Vatican this morning, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said the Pope’s message about the need to include the poor in plans for growth is the same as that which the World Bank wishes to communicate. The meeting between the two leaders lasted half an hour and did not focus on economic issues but moral ones. They talked about what the two could do together. “We feel that if we can find ways of working together we could build a social movement that could accelerate progress,” in putting an end to poverty said Korean-American physician and World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim. President Obama chose Yong Kim as the representative of a World Bank that is breaking with the past, paying a greater attention to poverty in the world.Yong Kim said he was touched and moved by the warmth and kindness shown by the Pope, revealing that he spoke to the Pope in Spanish. Yong Kim learnt the language during his long experience as a doctor in Latin America. This led him to meet many of Francis’ friends, particularly in Peru.Yong Kim recalled that for the World Bank, growth is key but it also needs to be inclusive. If there are high levels of inequality, growth loses impetus and stops, he added.  The president described the Pope as an inspiring figure that could strengthen these efforts and said he would like the Pope to visit Washington.Yong Kim said he and Pope Francis did not go into details but agreed on the concept of inclusive growth and the Pope apparently expressed an eagerness to work with the World Bank to put an end to poverty. The Pope underlined that growth is necessary but needs to have a goal and this goal needs to be people not money oriented. Yong Kim revealed to Francis that twenty years ago he used to participate in anti-World Bank demonstrations which called for its closure.The World Bank has changed “dramatically”, Yong Kim said, adding that whereas the Bank once saw growth alone was all that mattered, today it believes that growth cannot be attained without investing in people.Whilst recalling the importance of the strong support of important leaders such as Barack Obama and David Cameron, in combating poverty, Yong Kim also underlined how precious support from world religious leaders is.The World Bank president said that in order to achieve this, it was evaluating reviving the Bank’s inter-religious consulting committee. He added that the committee has an excellent working relationship with the Catholic Church, addressing a number of issues.Yong Kim said that although there have been differences over doctrine-related issues, the Bank and the Holy See have managed to work together on areas that both agree on and most importantly, they agree on the importance of combating poverty.

EU parliament to probe bailout troikas

Today @ 13:04-Oct 28,13-euobserver

By Valentina Pop

Berlin - MEPs dealing with economic affairs are to launch an inquiry into the "non-transparent" work of EU Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund officials overseeing spending cuts in bailout countries.After more than three years since the first 'troikas' were sent to Greece and Ireland to "advise" the governments and oversee implementation of promised budget cuts, the European Parliament is seeking to shed some light on the work of these non-elected officials.The coordinators of the main groups in the European Parliament's economics committee on Monday (28 October) agreed to launch an inquiry into the work of the troika in Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus."The troikas of ECB, EU commission and IMF are playing a key role in the eurocrisis. Their work continues to be non-transparent to a large extent," said German Green MEP Sven Giegold, the main force behind the initiative.He explained that the inquiry would consist of hearings of troika officials as well as independent economic studies challenging the assumptions of the troika - assumptions that were proved to be wrong in all bailed-out countries.
Unemployment turned out to be higher, the economy shrunk more dramatically and public debt rose more than predicted by the troika in the four countries."That is why many European citizens are expecting a comprehensive probe into why these dramatic results came about. We need to look carefully at potential breaches of law or abuses," Giegold added.The political groups are still negotiating the exact scope of the inquiry, which needs the overall approval of group leaders and committee chairs early next month. According to parliament sources, the centre-right EPP group wants to water down the probe, simply listing what the troikas had recommended throughout the years.The query will be led by Austrian EPP MEP Othmar Karas and his Social-Democratic colleague from France Liem Hoang Ngoc, while Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts from the Greens and his Dutch colleague Derk Jan-Eppink from the Conservatives will be "shadow rapporteurs."One area that may come under scrutiny is the work of private consultancies involved with the troika.

The role of consultancies

The most recent bailed-out country, Cyprus, is currently in turmoil after leaked documents showed that the central bank governor approved a "success fee" of 0.10 percent for the New York-based private consultancy Alvarez and Marsal out of the entire recapitalisation sum for the Cypriot banking sector.
The consultancy is advising the central bank on restructuring the Bank of Cyprus.The fee, almost €5 million, would have included private deposits above €100,000 from the defunct Laiki bank and the Bank of Cyprus. These deposits were seized as part of the "bail-in" required by the troika in return for the €10 billion worth of loans from the EU and IMF.Members of the central bank's board said they were unaware of the fee, agreed by the governor, Panicos Demetriades.For his part, Demetriades claimed he was forced into agreeing to it. He said the consultancy threatened to quit one day before Cypriot banks re-opened after a week of bailout negotiations.The Cypriot authorities have launched criminal proceedings into the matter.The US consultancy meanwhile has said it is up to the Cypriot central bank to decide if and how much to pay as a "success fee."
"Alvarez and Marsal has also informed the Central Bank of Cyprus that, in their opinion, the events that have arisen during the past few days concerning the recapitalisation fee are unfortunate," the firm, who is also involved in the Spanish bank restructuring, said in a press release.

EU virtual border scheme based on 'creative' figures

28.10.13 @ 18:32-euobserver

By Nikolaj Nielsen

BRUSSELS - A European Parliament civil liberties report suggests the European Commission used misleading arguments to back its billion-euro plus proposal to finger print non-Europeans on visit to the EU.
“It’s really amazing that the commission has been so creative with figures, I find it really shocking,” German Green MEP Ska Keller told this website on Monday (28 October).A commission impact assessment report, used by policy-makers to gauge the merits of a proposal, is said to have spun the best possible scenarios in its so-called ‘smart borders’ package.The commission says the package, which includes the Entry/Exit System and the Registered Travellers Programme, would cost around €1.3 billion.Building the two systems on the same technical platform could knock it down to €1.1 billion, it says.The system, which would replace the current method of having a border guard stamp a passport, would also shave several seconds off every border crossing, potentially saving millions of man-hours, says the Brussels executive.The figures are based on two separate studies by a global information technology firm called Unisys.The 2010 Unisys study included a total cost estimate with a 25 percent margin of error, positive or negative.But the commission’s assessment report published in February, based on the Unisys study, did not mention the margin of error when it cited the budget figure.The commission told this website that it did not see the need to replicate the wording of the study.“The commission's approach was to base its final cost assumptions on maximal values for each individual section of costs, to avoid to the best extent possible any budget overruns,” it said in an email.It added that the precise figure would be known only when the contracts are in place to develop the systems. It noted that the Unisys study is considered an essential accompanying document to the assessment report.Speeding up border control checks is also put forward as an argument in support of the system.
A 2008 Unisys feasibility study notes it takes about five seconds to scan four fingerprints.All ten fingers, rather than four, are to be scanned under the smart border package.But the commission, when speaking about saving millions of man hours on the two hand scans, is basing its analysis on the four fingerprint slap cited by the firm.Industry estimates put a ten print scan at around 15 seconds.“Its [European Commission] own models are absolutely flawed, it's based on four fingers and not ten, and if you use the industry best case scenario estimate on ten fingers, then the commission’s own model contradict what the commission says is going to happen,” said one of the parliament report authors at the UK-based civil rights group Statewatch.
The commission has not provided any evidence on its own to substantiate its efficiency claim, aside from the Unisys report, but intends to launch a pilot project in the near future.The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), for its part, says the commission stated aims of replacing a 'slow and unreliable' system with its finger print system do not sufficiently justify the expense and intrusions into privacy.Police want access to the future database, a proposition that the commission’s proposal does not entirely rule out.

10/28/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

Pell dismisses traditionalist leader's attack on Pope

George Pell

In this interview the cardinal comments on the recent meeting of the Council of Cardinals with Francis, the reform of the Roman Curia, and Lefebvrist leader Bishop Fellay's attack on the Pope

gerard o'connell rome The Australian cardinal George Pell, one of the eight cardinals that Pope Francis has chosen to advice  him, agreed to talk about his experience of their historic meeting (October 1-3) with the Holy Father on the understanding that “the only substantial information” available about that gathering is what Fr Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, gave to the media. “Anything that I might say will be peripheral to that”, he said; and “as one of the Pope’s councilors, I see that part of my task is to defend and explain the Holy Father, to support him in his role”.  
 
On that basis, I interviewed him in Rome, October 17, five days after Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior-General of the Society of Saint Pius X, speaking in Kansas City, had launched a harsh attack on Pope Francis. I began by asking him to comment on that attack.
 
Q.  Bishop Fellay has denounced Pope Francis as “a genuine modernist”, and charged that while the Church was “a disaster” before he was elected, he is making it “10,000 times worse”. What do you say to this?
A.  To put it politely, I think that’s absolute rubbish!   Francis said he’s a loyal son of the Church, and his record shows that.  He’s very, very concerned for the day-to-day life of the people, and for those who are suffering, those not well off and those in difficult situations.  He’s a completely faithful exponent of Christ’s teaching and the Church’s tradition.   
 
Q.  So people like Fellay have completely misread Pope Francis?
A.  Yes, it is a gigantic misreading!  In actual fact, the Lefebvrists – many of them - have misread the situation for decades.  It was to Benedict’s great credit that he tried to reconcile with them, but they didn’t respond. Now the Church today accepts the Second Vatican Council. You don’t have to accept every jot and tittle of it, but it is part of Church’s life now, there’s no way around that.
 
Q. An Argentinean theologian, Father Carlos Galli, recently told me that he sees “the elder brother syndrome” emerging in the Church as Pope Francis goes out more and more to meet the prodigal sons.  What do you say to that?
A.  Well I think it is up to us elder-brothers, unlike the elder-brother in the parable, to get behind the father as he goes to meet the prodigal son.   It’s our task to help him in that, to defend him.
 
Q.  You and the other seven cardinal advisors had an unprecedented opportunity to sit and discuss with the Pope for three days on matters relating to the governance of the universal Church and the reform of the Roman Curia. What did it feel like being in that meeting?
A.  I think we were all very much aware of the significance of the occasion.  Nobody seems to know how long ago it is since a Pope has had such a regular group of advisors outside the Roman Curia, or what you might call a regular consistory. 
 
In the Council of 8 Cardinals, and also in the Council of the Synod of Bishops of which I am also a member, the discussions were substantial, frank and friendly.  The Pope didn’t have a great deal to say but he is a very good listener.  He asked people to speak freely, he wanted us to speak our mind. He doesn’t like flattery, and I suspect he sees through it quite efficiently.   We didn’t waste time; the discussions were useful and substantial, and he didn’t take offense at anything we said.
 
We are councilors. We are there to offer advice, and he is certainly free to accept, reject or modify it.  We all realize this and we appreciate the opportunity that the Holy Father has given to us cardinals from all around the Church. I think all this will be for the long term benefit of the Church. I don’t think it is good for popes to be isolated. 
 
Our terms of reference are brief, not highly developed.  We are to talk about the governance of the universal Church and the reform of the Roman Curia.  Obviously other things will come up; he mentioned the topic of marriage and family life.
 
Q. The 8 Cardinals will have another meeting with Pope Francis on December 3-5, and again in February 2014.  One gets the impression that the Pope is pushing ahead to reach a rapid conclusion at least on the reform of the Roman Curia.   Is that a correct read?
A.  I think that’s a reasonable expectation, whether it will work out like that I don’t know.  I think we’ll probably meet every two months, at least until the middle of next year.
 
It’s no secret that the cardinals in the pre-conclave meetings wanted very significant improvements in the life of the Roman Curia, and I believe that Pope Francis is completely committed to that.
 
Q.  Do you think that with the help of the 8 cardinal advisors, Pope Francis will have a project for the reform of the Roman Curia by mid 2014?
A.  Who knows?  I think the Pope wants to keep the thing moving because everybody realizes it’s not good to unnecessarily prolong uncertainty and the anxiety that accompanies the uncertainty.
 
Q.  You’re a member of both the Council of Cardinal Advisors and the Commission of 15 cardinals that oversees Vatican finances and organization. Are you confident the problems related to Vatican finances can be resolved soon?

A.  Basically yes! Sometimes there’s a slip betwixt cup and lip, but I think very good progress is being made with the IOR  – “the Vatican Bank”; very good progress is being made by the lay committee of seven experts, which is a very competent group.
 
Q.  What’s the bottom line in this in-depth review of Vatican finances?
A.   Our aim is that business is conducted according to international norms, that there are regular annual independent audits, and that the muddle diminishes.
 
Q.  Pope Francis has called an extraordinary synod to focus on the pastoral challenges to the family. Why?
A.  He called this extraordinary synod –only the third of its kind, to emphasize the sorts of challenge there are to the family and married life just about everywhere in the world today.  The statistics are quite striking. The more marriages deteriorate, the more there is marriage and family break-up and the more you are undermining the foundations for human flourishing in society.  So it’s a very, very profound challenge and it shouldn’t just be taken up by the Church, it should also be taken up by governments – even if they are only concerned for the financial consequences, but obviously good governments are concerned for the human consequences too.  
 
Q. Did Pope Francis consult the Council of 8 cardinal advisors and the Council of the Synod before calling the synod?
A.  Yes, it was discussed in both places. The need for it was clear to everyone. The Pope took the decision; he’s the only one who can take the decision.
 
Q.  He seems to have started a new synod process: he called an Extraordinary Synod on the pastoral challenges to the family for October 2014. The results of that event will be fed back to the local churches for further discussion.  After that it will all come back to an Ordinary synod in 2015.
A.  I think there will be a slightly different topic in 2015 but, yes, there will be a substantial overlap between the two synods.
 
Q.  Therefore the family will feature big in both synods?
A.  That’s what I anticipate.
 
Q.  So the Pope is changing the way the synod works?
A.  I’ve been on the synod council three or four times and we’ve never had a Pope come, sit down and talk with us for two half-days as Francis did. The bishops are very grateful for this and for having the chance to make their input and be heard.
 
Q.  Does this new process give you a lot of hope?  
A.  Every process has to be well managed to succeed. I anticipate this  will be, and whatever temporary problems there might be I think that in the middle and long term this will very much strengthen Catholic life.
 
Q. What most impressed you on the Assisi visit?
A.  Many things were impressive but the thing that most impressed me was the Pope spending an hour with a hundred disabled young adults, youngsters, children and babies. He greeted every one of them individually, embraced or kissed and blessed every one of them, as well as their parents and carers.  It was a moving and Christ-like time.  Everybody was very patient, and you had the groans and the cries of the disabled kids.  He’s got a great empathy for the sick and the suffering and people sense that.
 
Q.  He went from that Institute to the room in the bishop’s residence where St Francis stripped himself.  There, abandoning his prepared text, he spoke from the heart.   How did that talk strike you?
A.  I was very pleased to hear him say that it wasn’t just cardinals and clergy that shouldn’t be attached to ‘worldliness’, to the values of this world, it’s an obligation for all Christians. 
 
Q.  After these days of sharing with Pope Francis, what is your overriding impression of him?
A.  He’s a very good man!  He’s a man who practices what he preaches in terms of simplicity and poverty, and has done so for very many years.  I think he’s a very good example of the old-style Jesuit - very well educated, formidable self-control, self-discipline, and a long experience in a variety of positions , and certainly prayerful.  The Jesuits are not famous for liturgical niceties, but he says a beautiful, beautiful mass.
 
Q. Does he inspire you?

A.  Yes, he does. He does, and I think he will be able to make a profound and beneficial contribution to the life of the Church. 

VANCOUVERS FIRST BITCOIN ATM TRANACTION OPENS

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

World's first Bitcoin ATM goes live in Vancouver next week

CBC News Posted: Oct 25, 2013 1:44 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 25, 2013 1:44 PM ET

The world's first Bitcoin kiosk, made by Robocoin, begins operation in Vancouver next week. (Robocoin/Canadian Press)

What's believed to be the first Bitcoin ATM in the world will go live next week in Vancouver, operated by Nevada-based Robocoin and Vancouver's Bitcoiniacs.Mitchell Demeter, co-founder of Vancouver bitcoin trading company Bitcoiniacs and part-owner of Robocoin, has invested in five such machines to be placed across Canada.Bitcoins are an emerging digital currency that isn't controlled by any authority such as a central bank. It’s an idea that is moving into the mainstream, despite the scandal surrounding Silk Road, an anonymous online marketplace for illegal drugs and other illicit goods that used Bitcoins.

• Bitcoin will bounce back from Silk Road scandal, users say
• Bitcoin kiosks coming to five Canadian cities
  

Silk Road was shut down and its owner arrested on narcotics charges earlier this month.
The new ATM, to operate near downtown Vancouver coffee house Waves, will trade Canadian dollars for online Bitcoins. Users are required to do a palm scan and are permitted to exchange up to $3,000 per a day.
Canadian cash is exchanged  on Canada’s VirtEx exchange for Bitcoins, which are then entered in your online bitcoin wallet. Transactions will be anonymous.The palm scan is to limit people to less than $3,000 worth of transactions, and avoid tangling with Canada’s anti-money-laundering laws, says Demeter, who adds that he believes he is complying with all Canadian laws.Bitcoins currently trade for close to $200, but have swung widely in value from $13 to $250 in the past year. Until now, most have been traded person-to-person in individual transactions or through various unregulated exchanges that exist mostly online.
Last year, a bitcoin exchange in Europe, Bitcoin-Central, was authorized to operate as a bank.  Robocoin, which showed the ATMs at a California conference earlier this year, says the Vancouver ATM is the first to begin operation.Bitcoiniacs says it's eyeing major Canadian cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Ottawa for the other four machines, to come in December."Basically, it just make it easier for people to buy and sell Bitcoins and hopefully will drive the adoption of Bitcoin, and make it more accessible for people," Demeter told CBC News.Bitcoins are mathematically generated through a series of commands executed by computers in a peer-to-peer network. The process is called Bitcoin "mining" and is set up so that the total number of Bitcoins that can ever be generated is limited to about 21 million.While some have doubted Bitcoin's validity and others have raised concerns that the unregulated currency is being used for nefarious means, a U.S. judge ruled last month that Bitcoin, which has been around since 2009, is a real currency.

ISRAEL RELEASES 26 PALESTINIAN MURDERERS IN THE NAME OF PEACE

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36  And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37  For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)

IAEA chief calls for ‘concrete progress’ in Iran talks

Tehran says it has a ‘new approach’ ahead of back-to-back meetings with UN inspectors and world powers in Vienna

By Stuart Winer October 28, 2013, 3:52 pm 0-The Times of Israel

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog called Monday for Iran and Western negotiators to produce real results from the round of meetings that began on Monday.Yukia Amano, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called on representatives to make “concrete progress.” He was meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Vienna, Reuters reported.Araqchi, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, met with Amano ahead of two days of technical talks between Iranian representatives and the UN’s watchdog.

Amano described his meeting as important in addressing “the outstanding issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program.”Iranian officials are scheduled to hold multiple meetings to try and resolve international concerns that the Islamic Republic is developing nuclear weapons.On Wednesday, Iran will hold low-level technical talks with representatives from the six world powers engaged in parallel talks over curbing Tehran’s nuclear program.Several rounds of talks between Tehran and the IAEA over opening up suspected nuclear sites to international oversight have failed to produce any headway, but Araqchi said Iran would bring new tactics to the table.The talks “will focus on Iran’s new approach to negotiations with this international body,” Araqchi said according to a Sunday report from Iranian Press TV.The two men also planned to talk about recent developments in meetings between Tehran and the P5+1 world powers, the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, plus Germany.Shortly after the Araqchi-Amano meeting, technical and legal experts from Iran and the IAEA were scheduled to begin two days of talks about Iran’s nuclear program. IAEA experts are looking to investigate suspicions that Iran for years worked secretly on developing a nuclear weapons program.

Representatives of the two sides have already met 11 times since January as the IAEA tries to negotiate access to some of Iran’s nuclear facilities in order to monitor activity within the sites.The sides are scheduled to hold diplomatic-level meetings in Vienna on November 7 and 8.The flurry of activity comes amid intensified efforts by the West to curb enrichment in Iran. A meeting in mid-October between Iran and the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany, known as the P5+1, produced cautious optimism that a deal could be reached to limit Iranian nuclear enrichment in exchange for eased sanctions.The optimism came after years of inconclusive meetings. The talks in Geneva were focused on limiting Iranian nuclear programs that can be used both to generate power and make fissile warhead material.The key elements of the talks are Iran’s uranium enrichment program and its plutonium heavy-water facility. Western nations argue that the 20 percent enriched uranium and the plutonium Iran is producing are not necessary for generating nuclear power and therefore must be halted with all such material removed from the country.In an effort to pressure Tehran to agree to the demands, a series of suffocating sanctions has been enforced on Iran’s oil and financial sectors over the past couple of years. Tehran hopes to negotiate an easing of the sanctions without giving up its enrichment program.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi (photo credit: Screen capture YouTube/Press TV)

On Sunday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani told China’s Phoenix news network that he believes a deal can be reached within a year, but Tehran will not halt the program if talks fail..“The settlement of nuclear issues completely depends on the approaches and if a positive approach rules the negotiations and there exist some seriousness, one can hope for the settlement of issues in less than a year,” Larijani said according to a report in the state-run Fars news agency. “If the negotiations fail to yield results, we will continue the present path and approach that we are paving now.”Israel has called for enrichment to cease completely, saying even low-grade uranium could be made suitable for a nuclear weapon in a short time with enough centrifuges running.A report last week by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security, which has been tracking Iran’s nuclear program, estimated that Tehran could have enough material for a bomb in a number of weeks, should it choose to build one.Iran says it has no nuclear arms and denies working toward one, claiming all its atomic activities are peaceful. While the talks with the IAEA and the P5+1 are formally separate, they are linked by concerns over Iran’s nuclear aspirations, and progress in one may result in advances in the other.The diplomatic atmosphere between Iran and Western powers improved following the August installation of President Hassan Rouhani who is considered more moderate than his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. During the United Nations General Assembly meetings at the beginning of September Iranian officials, including Rouhani, held ground-breaking meetings with Western leaders after years of diplomatic severance.However, Israeli officials maintain that regardless of its diplomatic overtures to the West, Iran is still hell-bent on achieving nuclear weapons.The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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)

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

Israel names 26 Palestinian prisoners to be freed in 48 hours

All were convicted of murder, including brutal killings such as 1990 Rosh Hashanah lynch of IDF reservist in Gaza; 21 inmates are from West Bank, 5 from Gaza

By Times of Israel staff October 28, 2013, 12:48 am 9-The Times of Israel

The Israel Prison Service published the names late Sunday night of 26 Palestinian prisoners set to be released over the next 48 hours as part of a deal to keep the US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on course. All are convicted murderers.Six of the inmates have been imprisoned for just under 30 years, one of whom was due to be released in four years. All were imprisoned for murders committed before the signing of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. A government statement said earlier that  21 of the inmates were from the West Bank and five were from the Gaza Strip.Among the prisoners to go free is Damouni Saad Mohammed Ahmed, who was convicted in the 1990 lynch of IDF reservist Amnon Pomerantz in the Gaza Strip; Pomerantz’s car was set on fire while he was inside. The other convicted murderer of Pomerantz is not among those set to be released.In a list of Pre-Oslo prisoners released by the Almagor Terror Victims Association, it is noted that Ahmed “did not express regret for his acts.”

Gila Molcho, center, holds a picture of her brother Ian Feinberg, who was killed in 1993 in Gaza, at a demonstration against the release of Palestinian prisoners outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on August 11, 2013. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The killer behind the 1993 murder of South-African-born Ian Feinberg, a 30-year-old lawyer and activist working with Palestinians in Gaza, will also be set free. Masoud Issa Rajeb Amer, a member of the PFLP, was sentenced to three life sentences for the killing, which was perpetrated with a hatchet. On April 18, 1993, Feinberg participated in a meeting in the Gaza offices of a European-funded NGO involved in aid projects when terrorists burst in, ordered everyone, except Feinberg, to the floor, and proceeded to kill him.

Massalha Awwad Mohammed Yusuf and Amawi Hamed Alabad Halmi, both Hamas members who killed 22-year-old Yigal Vaknin in 1993, are also on the list. Vaknin was lured with a plea for help and stabbed to death. His body was found in a field near his home in Moshav Bazra in the Sharon region, two hours before the start on Yom Kippur that year. Yusuf was originally sentenced to two life terms for the killing.Also included is Haga Salim Mahmud Mo’id who in May 1992 swam from Aqaba, Jordan to Eilat along with three other terrorists and shot 62-year-old Yosef Shirazi to death. Various weapons were found on Mo’id which led authorities to believe they planned a much larger attack.

Relatives of Israelis killed in terror attacks holding signs as they demonstrate outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on August 11, 2013. (Photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The planned release constitutes the second phase of a four-stage prisoner release deal, agreed to as part of the talks which restarted in July. Israel released a first group of prisoners in August.Earlier Sunday, a ministerial committee headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved on the names of those Palestinians set to go free on Tuesday.“A list of the prisoners is to be published Sunday night on the website of the Israel Prisons Service, after the bereaved families have been informed,” the statement said.

The releases were expected to be accompanied by the announcement of new plans for West Bank settlement construction, a senior Israeli official said.The religious, nationalist Jewish Home party has bitterly attacked the planned prisoner releases in recent days. On Sunday, the party proposed legislation to prevent future releases. Opposed by Netanyahu, the bill was rejected by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation in an 8-5 vote.The Jewish Home’s decision to push forward with the bill drew harsh criticism from Likud ministers and other coalition partners.Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnua), who is heading off negotiations with the Palestinians, criticized Jewish Home and said that the committee vote showed which coalition parties truly had the nation’s needs at heart.“Today it has once again been made clear that the government, in contrast to one of its member parties, is acting in the national interest and not according to the instructions of the rabbis in the West Bank,” she said.Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar (Likud) denounced the Jewish Home ministers for failing to toe the government line.“You are responsible just like all the other members of the government,” he said to Pensioners Minister Uri Orbach (Jewish Home). “If you don’t like it, you can resign.”Although the prisoner release deal was approved by Netanyahu, Jewish Home, led by Economics Minister Naftali Bennett, blamed Livni for it.MK Ayelet Shaked of Jewish Home told Channel 2 Saturday that Jewish Home had made its opposition clear to Netanyahu. ”We told the prime minister that we are against the release of terrorists. It’s immoral. No other country in the world does it,” she said.Jewish Home also made plain it was not appeased by news of further homes to be built in the settlements. In a statement on Thursday, the party said that “the attempt to link the release of the murderers to construction tenders is manipulative and morally wrong. It will be better if the prime minister does not release murderers and does not build. This looks like a despicable attempt to free murderers and tarnish the settlement enterprise.”

Hatnua’s Environment Minister Amir Peretz said earlier Sunday that Jewish Home could have prevented the release by agreeing to a halt in settlement building, but is instead trying to paper over its own involvement in the government move.“What is happening in front of our eyes is the biggest dance of hypocrisy I’ve ever seen by a party,” Peretz, a former defense minister, told Army Radio. “On the one hand it sits within the government, and on the other hand it takes advantage of the convenience of being in the government to fulfill its objectives; participates in the vote on the prisoner release, and prevents any way of discussing another option.”A senior Israeli official said the Americans and Palestinians were aware of Israel’s intentions to build more settlement homes, which had been made clear before talks resumed. The official said that any new construction would take place inside the major blocs Israel aims to keep in any future peace deal. In previous rounds of negotiations, the Palestinians agreed in principle to swap some West Bank land for Israeli territory to allow Israel to annex some settled areas adjacent to the 1967 lines.Netanyahu has faced pressure from hawkish ministers to delay or cancel the prisoner releases in the wake of a series of violent incidents in the West Bank in recent weeks, including the killing of two IDF soldiers and an attack that wounded a 9-year-old girl in the settlement of Psagot.Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud) also slammed the planned prisoner release, saying it only strengthened terror. ”We’ll see the celebrations in Gaza, in Ramallah, in Nablus. This only strengthens those who seek to harm [us],” he told Army Radio Saturday. ”Any approval of settlement construction should not be linked to these releases,” he added.

Mahmoud Abbas celebrating the return of Palestinian prisoners in August. (photo credit: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)

Netanyahu has resisted the pressure from the right and plans to release the prisoners on schedule, the prime minister’s representative in the peace talks, attorney Yitzhak Molcho, assured Palestinian and American officials in recent days.In July, Israel agreed to the four-phase release of 104 prisoners, many of whom were convicted of brutal murders, serving sentences for acts of terror committed before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Twenty-six prisoners were released in the first wave on August 13, just after talks started.

The deal was intended as a sign of good faith ahead of the renewed American-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Op-Ed: PLEASE NOT AGAIN: Releasing Terrorists for "Peace"

Published: Monday, October 28, 2013 6:56 AM-Israelnationalnews

An internationally acclaimed Professor of Political Science and International Law writes that this flawed plan is not only indecent; it is also unlawful - and asks: What is wrong with us?

Prof. Louis René Beres

Credo quia absurdum. "I believe because it is absurd." Yet again, a plainly desperate government in Jerusalem is preparing to sacrifice Israel's self-respect and its security in a grotesque "gesture." Although the prime minister seeks to justify the impending terrorist release as a sorely lamentable but still necessary condition for  "peace talks" with the Palestinian Authority, it is perfectly obvious that no such talks could produce meaningful results.What, exactly,  is Benjamin Netanyahu thinking? On the Palestinian Authority's maps, all of Israel is already included within "Palestine."Hillary Clinton, John Kerry.....it makes not a bit of difference. In this self-evident matter, the sitting American Secretary of State is beside the point. Yet again, however unwittingly, Washington's "good offices" will represent little more than an officially opened American back door for the next massacre of Israeli women and children by terrorist murderers.Credo quia absurdum.  For the past several years, U.S. General Keith Dayton has been training Fatah "security service forces" in nearby Jordan. Supported by tens of millions of U.S. tax dollars, this uniquely incoherent program will only add to the corollary harms of the Israeli prisoner release. Somehow, in an utterly incomprehensible expression of "cooperation," Jerusalem and Washington will have managed to implement a "peace plan" with no conceivable chance of success.Significantly, this flawed plan is not only indecent; it is also unlawful.
All countries coexist under the indisputable authority of a planet-wide law of nations. A core element of this longstanding international law is the  rule of Nullum crimen sine poena, or "No crime without a punishment." This principle was reaffirmed at the post-War Nuremberg Trials (1945-46). It remains a fully conspicuous part of all national legal systems.President Barack Obama's evident concurrence in the impending Israeli terrorist release represents an incontestable act of U.S. complicity with major international crimes.  Here, the U.S. is in violation not only of international law, but also the law of the United States.  This is because international law is already part of US law (the "supreme law of the land") by virtue of Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution, and also by virtue of a number of landmark Supreme Court decisions.Back in June 2003, the Shurat HaDin, Israel Law Center, in an astute anticipation of then-planned terrorist releases, had properly condemned Israel's intended freeing of 100 Palestinian prisoners. Later, almost five times that number were actually set loose by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.  Then, in her letter to the Prime Minister, and to members of his Cabinet, Shurat HaDin Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner  had written that releasing terrorists as a "goodwill gesture" would only reignite Arab terrorism against defenseless Jewish men, women, and especially children.Of course, Director Darshan-Leitner was correct.  Soon thereafter, at least two newly-released Fatah-linked terrorists went on to launch suicide bomb attacks in Israel. In one of these attacks, an alleged "military target" of the heroic Palestinian fighters was a cafe filled with mothers and their young children.
Every state has an obligation under international law to prosecute and punish terrorists. This obligation derives in part from the vital expectation, "No crime without a punishment." It is codified directly in many basic sources, and is also deducible from the binding Nuremberg Principles (1950). According to Principle 1: "Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefore and liable to punishment."

These are Nuremberg-category crimes so egregious that the perpetrators are known in law as Hostes humani generis, or "Common enemies of humankind."
Terrorism is a serious crime under international law. The precise offenses that comprise this crime can be found, inter alia, at The European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism. Notwithstanding Israeli government assurances to the contrary at the time, some of the Palestinian terrorists previously released in “good will gestures” were also guilty of related crimes of war and crimes against humanity. These are Nuremberg-category crimes so egregious that the perpetrators are known in law as Hostes humani generis,  or "Common enemies of humankind."International law presumes solidarity between all states in the fight against  crime, including the crime of terrorism. This presumption is mentioned as early as the seventeenth century in Hugo Grotius, "The Law of War and Peace" (1625). Although Israel has unequivocally clear jurisdiction to punish crimes committed on its own territory, it may sometimes also have the right to act under certain broader principles of "universal jurisdiction."Its particular case for such wider jurisdiction, which would derive from a reasonable expectation of interstate solidarity, is found at the four Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949. These Conventions impose upon the High Contracting Parties the sober obligation to punish "Grave Breaches.”No government has the legal right to free terrorists as a "goodwill gesture.”  Terrorism is a criminally sanctionable violation of international law, one that is not subject even to well-intentioned manipulations by individual countries. Moreover, in the United States, it is clear from the Constitution that the President's power to pardon does not encompass violations of international law.  Rather, this power is always limited very narrowly to "Offenses against the United States."In its original capture and punishment of Arab terrorists, Israel had acted unambiguously on behalf of all states. Because some of these terrorists had also committed crimes against other states, Israel cannot now permissibly pardon these offenses against assorted other sovereigns. Although Prime Minister Netanyahu's anticipated terrorist release does not, strictly speaking, represent a "pardon," it would have exactly the same legal consequence.No state possesses any sort of authority to pardon violations of international law, especially the uniquely cruel violations generated by Palestinian Arab terrorism. No matter what might be permissible under its own Basic Law, any political freeing of terrorists by Israel would always be impermissible. A fundamental principle is established in law that, by virtue of any such releases, the releasing state itself must assume responsibility for pertinent past criminal acts, and for future ones.Under international law, Prime Minister Netanyahu's intended release of more Palestinian Arab terrorists, effectively analogous to a mass pardoning of international criminals, would implicate the Jewish State for a "denial of justice." This implication could have profound practical consequences. Although it is arguable that punishment, which is always central to justice, does not always deter future crimes, any such Israeli freeing of terrorists would nonetheless undermine the Jewish State's legal obligation to incapacitate violent criminals.What sort of people and government would agree to free the murderers of its own women and children, and without any plausible expectations of  a reciprocal peace or justice? Please, it should not be the people and government of Israel. Not again.
LOUIS RENÉ BERES was educated at Princeton (Ph.D., 1971), and is Professor of Political Science and International Law at Purdue University. He is the author of many major books and articles dealing with international law and terrorism