1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Seven feared missing as storms batter eastern Australia. 3-Severe storms pound Upper Midwest. 4-Flooding threat eases in parts of Western Canada. 5-Report: Olmert signals on Golan Heights. 6-European equities sink amid global equities downturn. 7-Syria ceded part of Golan to Israel in peace talks: Netanyahu. 8-Evangelicals denounce CNN faith and politics forum. 9-Shas Sages Decide: Shimon Peres for President.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Sat Jun 9 12:01 AM EDT
JUNE 8,07
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.9 SOUTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE
MAP 4.9 MID-INDIAN RIDGE
MAP 2.5 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.2 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
JUNE 7,07
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 SOUTHERN GREECE
MAP 2.8 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.5 LAOS
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.0 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 4.7 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.3 FIJI REGION
MAP 4.5 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
MAP 6.2 BISMARCK SEA
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.
Seven feared missing as storms batter eastern Australia Fri Jun 8, 5:51 AM ET
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian emergency services on Friday said seven people were feared missing as fierce storms hit the country's east coast, with five swept away when a highway collapsed in torrential rain. The wild weather, including strong winds that forced a huge freighter to run aground north of Sydney, brought flash floods to areas of New South Wales state, cutting roads and resulting in thousands of calls for assistance.The NSW Ambulance Service said a car carrying two adults and two children was swept away when a section of Old Pacific Highway on the Central Coast collapsed after being undermined by a rain-swollen creek.A would-be rescuer who rushed to help was also believed to have been carried away by the raging waters, police said.
In a separate incident, an elderly couple were believed to have been in a car swept off a bridge in the lower Hunter Valley, also north of Sydney.Police said late Friday that they had been forced to call off the search for the couple until daybreak due to bad weather and darkness.
The storms dumped up to 200 millimetres (7.9 inches) of rain and packed winds exceeding 90 km/h (56 mph), with forecasters predicting conditions would worsen Saturday.With Australia entering a holiday long weekend, the NSW State Emergency Services warned motorists against taking to the roads, advising them to cancel non-essential travel.It said 60,000 homes were without power and it was receiving about 250 calls for assistance every hour.
Severe storms pound Upper Midwest By ROBERT IMRIE, Associated Press Writer JUNE 8,07
WAUSAU, Wis. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes tore through the Upper Midwest on Thursday, damaging homes and a resort, producing baseball-size hail and dropping more than 6 inches of rain in some areas. A twister devastated the Bear Paw Resort near Langlade in northern Wisconsin, and nearby homes might also have been damaged, the Langlade County Sheriff's Department said.The rustic resort, which runs along the Wolf River, allows camping and includes cabins and a kayaking business. There was a report of a kayak slicing through a pine tree.The resort was leveled, said Gina Panzica of Langlade County Rural Fire Control.At least five tornadoes were reported in Wisconsin, and the storms injured at least four people, none seriously, officials said.Hailstones 4 inches wide fell in Wisconsin Rapids, knocking out the windshield of a police car, said Karen Ryun, a dispatcher.
A tornado damaged several lake homes near Elizabeth, in western Minnesota, said Judy Siggerud, dispatch supervisor for Otter Tail County. No injuries were reported.My husband was pulling some lawn furniture off of our deck, when all of a sudden a black cloud came out right in front of us, said Claudia Boelter, who took cover in a neighbor's house. We ran next door, and I looked out their living room window. I could see this cloud that was down on the lake, rotating and pulling water up.
Hail the size of golf balls was reported in parts of Minnesota. Gusty winds knocked out power in parts of the Twin Cities.In North Dakota, where the storms began late Wednesday, heavy rain washed out roads. Bowman County emergency manager Dean Pearson said he had reports of 1 1/2 to 6 1/4 inches of rain overnight.We've got some roads that are washed out and some areas that are still running over the roadway, Pearson said. It's been slow getting started (to assess the damage) because it's so muddy that it's hard to get around.Most of the rain stayed to the west or north of Fargo, which was fighting back the rising Red River, said Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker. The Red River flows northward.Strong winds whipped across Chicago on Thursday, snarling air travel. About 400 flights at O'Hare International Airport were canceled Thursday evening, according to Wendy Abrams, spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation.Associated Press writer Dave Kolpack in Fargo, N.D., contributed to this report.
Flooding threat eases in parts of Western Canada Thu Jun 7, 7:13 PM ET
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canadian forecasters said flooded rivers in northwest British Columbia rose again on Thursday, but officials said the threat of major problems on the Fraser River east of Vancouver had eased.
Officials said the mountain snow pack that threatened to cause major spring flooding along the Fraser and Thompson rivers has now largely melted, but they remain concerned about potential problems if there are heavy rains.The unusually heavy winter snows had kept British Columbia on edge about flooding for weeks, but only the high levels of the Skeena and Buckley rivers in the northwestern area of the Pacific coast province have caused major problems.
Melting snow has produced the biggest waterflow in the Buckley since officials started keeping records more than 70 years ago, and water levels in both it and the Skeena were expected to continue rising through the weekend.Flooding closed the only major highway through the region to the port city of Prince Rupert, and prompted evacuation orders and alerts in several communities.High water also caused Canadian National Railway Co. to stop service to Prince Rupert, which handles both grain and coal exports. The railway said it was talking to the Canadian Grain Commission about diverting traffic to Vancouver.Passenger rail service along the CN line has also been halted.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Report: Olmert signals on Golan Heights By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Jun 8, 4:25 AM ET
JERUSALEM - Israel sent secret messages to Syria recently signaling willingness to give up the captured Golan Heights in return for a peace deal that would require Syria to distance itself from Iran, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had German and Turkish diplomats relay to Syrian President Bashar Assad that Israel is willing to hold direct peace negotiations and give up the strategic plateau, seized in the 1967 Mideast war, the Yediot Ahronot
daily said, quoting officials close to Olmert.Syria did not respond to Olmert's messages, the report said.Assad has recently urged Israel to return to the negotiating table. But he has not publicly indicated a willingness to accommodate Israel's oft-stated insistence that there could be no talks unless Damascus scaled back its ties with Iran, its main ally in the region, and stopped backing Lebanese and Palestinian militants committed to Israel's destruction.Olmert's office had no comment on the Yediot report.
Yediot said President Bush gave Olmert the green light for negotiations with Syria in an hourlong phone conversation last month. The two leaders will further discuss the possibility of talks during their scheduled meeting at the White House on June 19, the report said.A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Tel Aviv was not immediately available for comment on the newspaper report.In the past, Israeli and U.S. officials have said privately that Washington does not want Israel to engage Syria, because of its ties to radical elements and meddling in Lebanon, a former proxy. But the Bush administration is also under pressure from allies, lawmakers and advisers who think Washington should warm ties with Syria in an effort to isolate Iran.Israel and Syria have tried several times in the past to reach a peace accord, which both sides understand would require an Israeli pullout from the Golan. The last round of talks broke down in 2000 over the scope of the withdrawal, and Israel's demand for normalized relations.Relations have steadily deteriorated since.
Syria backed Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in their war with Israel last summer, and harbors the leadership of the militantly anti-Israel Hamas, which shares power in the Palestinian government.After the Lebanon war, Assad offered to renew negotiations, but Israel dismissed his overtures as a tactic to ease his regime's isolation in the West. But abruptly last week, a senior Israeli official said Olmert
was assessing prospects for renewed talks.It is not clear what drove this change. The flawed war made Olmert too politically weak at home to advance his proposed withdrawal from large swaths of the West Bank. New negotiations with Syria could help to dispel the widespread image in Israel that he has no political agenda.
Alternatively, he might have reached the conclusion that Syria is serious about making peace, or that Israel should not, in principle, rebuff peace overtures.
Reports about possible diplomatic movement on the Syrian front have proliferated over the past week in an atmosphere charged by a recent Syrian military buildup and military preparations on both sides of the border. On Wednesday, Olmert, seeking to ease the volatility, said Israel was interested in peace with Damascus and had no belligerent intentions.Giving back the Golan, which Israel annexed in 1981, is not a popular concept in Israel. The heights dominate much of northern Israel, are adjacent to Israel's largest source of drinking water, and are home to wineries and popular tourism sites.
Olmert's weak domestic standing could make it even more difficult to push a withdrawal ahead if the current diplomatic feelers evolved into something more substantial.A poll by the Teleseker company published in the Maariv newspaper on Friday showed that 84 percent of the 500 Israelis surveyed oppose a full withdrawal from the Golan. Forty-four percent opposed any Golan pullback, according to the poll, which had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
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.
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.
European equities sink amid global equities downturn JUNE 8,2007
LONDON (AFP) - European stocks sank again on Friday after a sharp round of losses earlier in Asia and overnight in New York, as fears mounted that the global economy could face higher interest rates, dealers said. The falls came as worries over rising inflation and higher credit costs re-focused attention on economic growth and corporate profits, they added.In early European deals on Friday, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares shed 0.19 percent to 6,492.70 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 lost 0.45 percent to 7,584.32 and in Paris the CAC 40 dipped 0.39 percent to 5,867.35.In the foreign exchange market, the euro dived as low as 1.3352 dollars -- last seen April 10 -- as inflation jitters also prompted investors to consider a possible US rate hike later this year, analysts said.
Wall Street had taken a pounding on Thursday as global interest rate and inflation worries roiled the market, traders said.Japanese share prices also slumped on Friday, slipping below the 18,000-point mark, also after disappointing machinery orders data.Investors track interest rate movements closely because higher borrowing costs increase companies' loan repayments, and they slash the amount of spare cash available for consumers to spend.Interest rates are creeping higher, particularly in the eurozone, where the European Central Bank lifted borrowing costs this week to 4.00 percent.While the Bank of England paused rates at 5.50 percent on Thursday, analysts expect another rate hike in Britain is around the corner.
And although the Federal Reserve has so far kept US interest rates unchanged for a year, it has warned that it stands ready to raise rates if inflation pressures mount.In London on Friday, the mining sector was hit by falling metals prices.Shares in Vedanta Resources plunged 3.19 percent to 1,455 pence, Antofagasta plummeted 1.96 percent to 550.25 pence and BHP Billiton sank 2.0 percent to 1,260.26 pence.In Frankfurt, German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp fell 1.02 percent to 42.67 euros.
In US deals on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down a dramatic 1.48 percent at 13,266.73, marking the third straight day of steep losses.The Nasdaq composite shed a notable 1.77 percent to 2,541.38 and the Standard Poor's 500 index slumped a heavy 1.76 percent to a close of 1,490.72.
Bond prices also took a hit as the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond jumped above five percent amid worries that higher interest rates could squeeze market liquidity.In Asia on Friday, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei-225 index of leading shares tumbled 1.52 percent to close at 17,779.09 points. Hong Kong's key Hang Seng index closed down 1.40 percent at 20,509.15.
Syria ceded part of Golan to Israel in peace talks: Netanyahu Thu Jun 7, 3:04 PM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad said during secret peace talks in the 1990s he was ready to leave a strategic Golan Heights stronghold under Israeli control, ex-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday. People don't know that Assad ceded the Hermon, Netanyahu told the private Radius 100FM radio station, referring to a strategic mountain in the northern Golan plateau which Israel captured 40 years ago during the Six Day War and annexed in 1981.I told him I have a pre-condition, that's what I told him, I have a pre-condition -- the Hermon.
He asked me 'why do need this pre-condition? and I said 'because the Iranian threat... there is a threat from Iran, and I need to have eyes looking east. And he gave me the Hermon, the hawkish MP said. Netanyahu held indirect peace talks with Assad -- the father of current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- between 1998 and 1999, but they did not materialise into a peace treaty.Syria has demanded Israel's complete withdrawal to pre-1967 borders in any peace agreement.US-brokered peace talks between Israel and Syria later collapsed in 2000 after the sides failed to agree on the extent of Israel's withdrawal from the Golan.Netanyahu's statements came amid heightened tensions between Israel and Syria, with both sides declaring their willingness to hold peace talks but also warning of possible war.Earlier on Thursday, a Syrian official said Damascus would like to resume peace negotiations with Israel, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said it did not want to go to war with its arch-foe.
The lukewarm left Democrats and CNN are trying to make the GODLESS Democrats seem like Christians so they get the Christian vote. Don't get conned into this bias malarky.
Evangelicals denounce CNN faith and politics forum
Jim Brown OneNewsNow.com June 7, 2007
Conservative evangelicals are criticizing a recent forum that featured Democratic presidential candidates John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. The head of the National Clergy Council says the CNN special, sponsored by the group Sojourners, tried to portray the three Democrats as being compatible with evangelical beliefs, practices, and politics.
A day after the Faith, Values and Politics forum on Monday, Pastor Rob Schenck moderated a roundtable discussion at the National Press Club called Evangelicals in '08: United or Divided? The event featured panelists who presented historical Christian positions on social and moral issues -- individuals such as theologian Dr. Norm Geisler, Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, and constitutional attorney Bernard Reese.
In contrast, Schenck contends that the Sojourners panelists who asked questions of Edwards, Obama, and Clinton do not hold mainstream evangelical values.Through carefully crafted questions and the responses -- mostly rehearsed -- of the candidates, the sponsoring group hoped to convince who knows who' that issues like world poverty and corporate CEO compensation packages trump the sanctity of human life, the sanctity of marriage and the family, and the public acknowledgement of God, Schenck declared.
Schenck said CNN and Sojourners conspired to create a fictional class of Christians -- so-called liberal evangelicals.Sojourners and their favorite candidates want us to change, to adapt, to a more popular, more acceptable, more congenial list of priorities, the National Clergy Council leader stated.
But Jesus warned, woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you for so did their fathers to the false prophets.Schenck sarcastically referred to the Sojourners forum as the religious revival with Brother Barack, Sister Hillary, and Deacon John.American Family News Network
IF PERES GETS ELECTED FOR SURE PROPHECY OF LAND FOR PEACE WILL BE DONE AND JERUSALEM WILL BE DIVIDED WHICH WILL BRING IN THE LAST 7 YRS OF DANIELS 9:24-27 PROPHECY. AND HELL ON EARTH AS THE EU DICTATOR CONTROLS THE WORLD FOR THE LAST HALF OF THE 7 YEAR TREATY. HES A FALSE PEACE MAKER FOR THE 1ST HALF OF THE 7 YR TREATY.
Shas Sages Decide: Shimon Peres for President
by Hana Levi Julian (INN) JUNE 8,07
The Council of Torah Sages leading the Sephardic religious Shas Party decided Thursday night, in a unanimous vote, to throw its support behind Kadima’s Vice Premier Shimon Peres in his run to become the next president of Israel. The party’s spiritual leader, former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, is joined on the Council by three other rabbis: Rabbis Shalom Cohen, Shimon Baadani and Moshe Maya. The latter two were unable to appear in person and voted instead by phone. The Shas Party Chairman and Minister of Industry and Trade, Eli Yishai, and cabinet minister Ariel Atlas were also present. Rabbi Yosef had been pressured by various people in recent days to support Peres's main opponent in the race, ex-Knesset Speaker Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin, who is also a close friend of the party leadership. The statement issued by the Council following the meeting reflected the dilemma: The High Council has decided to support the Vice Premier. We instruct all Shas faction MKs to vote for Mr. Shimon Peres as president of the state and we wish him luck in his position for the State of Israel. We also honor and respect our dear friend Reuven Rivlin and appreciate him, and wish for him to rise upwards and upwards.That honor and respect does not extend to choosing him as president, however.
Sources said that several Shas MKs have quietly expressed their intent to vote according to their conscience, and not necessarily with the party line. At the end of the day, said one, who asked not to be named, the vote is carried out by secret ballot. I will do what I have to do, and so will others.
Many hareidi-religious communities are fiercely opposed to any support for Mr. Peres. A group called The Committee for Jewish Holiness has plastered hareidi religious neighborhoods in numerous communities with posters listing anti-Jewish statements made by Mr. Peres in the past. A list of those, plus several others, includes:
- The economic and social situation in Israel is outstanding. (Israel Radio interview, March 17, 2007)
- [Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is] one of the best prime ministers that there has been. (Israel Radio interview, March 17, 2007)
- We see eye to eye with [Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud] Abbas, because he is really for peace… (Media With Conscience interview, January 31, 2007)
- What King David did was not Jewish. (Yediot Acharonot, February 15, 1994)
- I believe it is fitting that the [Nobel Peace] prize has been awarded to [PLO Chairman and arch terrorist] Yasser Arafat. His quitting the path of confrontation in favor of the path of dialogue has opened the way to peace between ourselves and the Palestinian people… (Speech upon accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, Oslo, December 10, 1994)
- The rabbis are deceivers. (Yediot Acharonot, April 15, 1990)
- There is nothing to be proud of in Jewish history. (UNESCO conference 1990)
Thursday night's statement of support for Mr. Pers by the Shas Council of Torah Sages included a line that said the party’s rabbinical leadership had chosen Mr. Peres for his contributions to Judaism.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Friday, June 08, 2007
POSSIBLE TROOPS IN GAZA - SOLANO
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Cyclone Gonu blamed for 15 deaths. 3-Drought prompts LA mayor to urge cut in water use. 4-North Korea fires missiles off coast. 5-Merkel: G-8 agreement on climate change. 6-Palestinians want to import weapons. 7-One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literal Word of God. 8-Strength in numbers. 9-Knesset Moves to Ban Gay March in Jerusalem. 10-Syria ready for war. 11-EU's Solana says Gaza force a possibility.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Thu Jun 7 17:39:06 UTC 2007
JUNE 7,07
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.1 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 4.7 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.3 FIJI REGION
MAP 4.5 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
MAP 6.2 BISMARCK SEA
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL ALASKA
JUNE 6,07
MAP 5.2 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.1 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 KYUSHU, JAPAN
MAP 5.8 BANDA SEA
MAP 5.1 KYRGYZSTAN
MAP 2.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 OFFSHORE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Cyclone Gonu blamed for 15 deaths By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jun 7, 6:38 AM ET
MUSCAT, Oman - Semi-trucks were trapped in flooded highways here Thursday after Cyclone Gonu battered Oman's coast on its path toward the world's most important crude oil tanker route. At least 15 storm-related deaths were reported. But as the cyclone a rarity in the Middle East headed from Oman to the southeastern Iranian coast, it continued to lose steam, dropping off to tropical storm strength early Thursday, according to the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center.The center predicted Gonu would make landfall on the southeastern Iranian coast late Thursday. But it was likely to spare Iran's offshore oil installations that lie more than 120 miles to the west, the center and oil officials said.
At least 12 people were killed from the storm in Oman, including members of police rescue squads, and others were reported missing, said Oman Royal Police spokesman Abdullah al-Harthi. He did not provide further details.Across the Gulf of Oman, Iranian state television reported that a resident of the port city of Bandar Abbas was killed in a car accident Wednesday due to low visibility from the storm.Two provincial government workers bringing emergency supplies to a flooded area also were killed when a river overflowed and flipped their truck in Jask, a town 155 miles southeast of Bandar Abbas, state TV's Web site said.The storm caused little damage to Oman's relatively small oil fields. But raging seas had prevented tankers from sailing from Omani ports, effectively shutting down the country's oil exports, said Nasser bin Khamis al-Jashimi of the Ministry of Oil and Gas.
Authorities also closed all operations at the port of Sohar and evacuated 11,000 workers, port spokesman Dirk Jan De Vink said.To the north, the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates reopened Thursday after it suspended all refueling and ship-to-ship supply operations at the world's third-largest shipping fuel center.A few ships sailed through the nearby Strait of Hormuz despite 4- to 6-foot swells and strong winds, Suresh Nair of the Gulf Agency Co. shipping firm said Wednesday.
About one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the narrow waterway at the entrance to the Persian Gulf.About 17-21 million barrels a day of oil are coming out of the Persian Gulf. Even if only some of the tankers are delayed, that could reduce the supply of oil and increase prices, said Manouchehr Takin, an analyst at the Center for Global Energy Studies in London.But Tim Evans, an analyst at Citigroup Global Markets, said the storm shouldn't have a major impact on prices because while it may delay oil shipments, they eventually will get to their destinations.On Thursday, the storm sustained winds of 41 mph, less than half its strength of 95 mph just 24 hours earlier, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. It was centered about 98 miles north of Muscat and was projected to weaken over the next several hours to as it moves through the Gulf of Oman toward Iran.Even with the weaker wind speeds, Gonu which means a bag made of palm leaves in the language of the Maldives is believed to be the strongest cyclone here since record-keeping started in 1945.In the capital, Muscat, highways and yards were flooded, and downed trees and power lines were scattered in the high waters. Residents washed cars in the flooded streets, while others snapped pictures.
The capital Muscat became a lake, the police spokesman al-Harthi told Oman TV.In coastal city of Sohar west of Muscat, violent waves continued to crash the shore as several residents returned to their homes Thursday after being evacuated.We all went to the school last night, and I came back to look at the house. Twice the water came into my house, and maybe the tide will come in again, said fisherman Salem Hassan al-Mukblai, 40, as he and his two sons tried to tie a downed fruit tree to a fence surrounding their house. Shareefa bint Khalfan, Omani minister of social development, said more than 20,000 people were evacuated Wednesday and housed in government-provided dwellings stocked with medicine and supplies. Oman's eastern provinces have been cut off, with heavy rains making the roads unusable and communication lines severed. In Iran, authorities evacuated hundreds of people living in the port city of Chabahr on the coast of the Gulf of Oman, believed to be next in the cyclone's path. But the heavy storm, which caused trees to fall and windows to smash, eased Thursday morning, subsiding into light rain and wind. Thanks to God, people are back in the bazaars and streets of the city, said Abbas Jafari, a 47-year-old taxi driver. Yesterday was terrible. I had never seen such a storm in my life.Iran's state broadcasting company said on its Web site that some small villages in Sistan and Baluchistan province, on the Gulf of Oman, were still encircled by floods and authorities used helicopters to drop emergency supplies to them.
The storm affected power and telephone lines elsewhere in the province, but caused no major damage, provincial governor Habibollah Dehmardeh told the official IRNA news agency.
As a precaution, the Bandar Abbas oil refinery, which supplies the local petroleum market, closed jetties that receive oil from tankers, the Web site of Iran's Oil Ministry reported. The refinery was working as usual Thursday, the report said. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Hassan Sarbakhshian in Bandar Abbas, Iran and Kareem Shaheen in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report.
Drought prompts LA mayor to urge cut in water use Wed Jun 6, 10:20 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asked Los Angeles residents on Wednesday to cut water use by 10 percent amid a drought of historic proportions. Less than three inches (eight centimeters) of rain have been recorded in downtown Los Angeles between January and May, the lowest level of rainfall since 1877.The average annual rainfall is 15 inches (38 centimeters) for the Los Angeles area, home to about 16 million people.The shortage could become even more acute as the city braces for an expected hot summer and if the drought persists through next winter, authorities will be forced to introduce water rationing.Los Angeles needs to change course and conserve water to steer clear of this perfect storm, Villaraigosa said.Officials in the second-largest US city urged Angelenos to take shorter showers, fix leaky faucets, water lawns less, stop throwing trash in toilets, replace old washing machines and use brooms instead of water hoses to clean sidewalks and driveways.Water in reserve will meet customer demands this year because last year's snow pack surpassed the average by about 145 percent, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Metropolitan Water District.
2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
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.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
North Korea fires missiles off coast By BO-MI LIM, Associated Press Writer JUN 7,07
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea fired short-range missiles off its western coast in an apparent test Thursday, South Korea's Defense Ministry said, amid a deadlock in international negotiations over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. The United States immediately denounced the launch, saying the activity was not constructive.A South Korean Defense Ministry official said it had intelligence that North Korea launched the short-range missiles into the sea off its western coast.We are trying to confirm how many were fired and what type of missiles they are, the official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.South Korea's Yonhap news agency also cited two unidentified intelligence officials as saying the North fired at least one missile. One of the officials said Pyongyang fired two one in the morning and one in the afternoon which is believed to be part of the communist regime's routine drills, according to Yonhap.The missiles were either land-to-ship or ship-to-ship models with a range of less than 62 miles, and fell into North Korea's territorial waters, the report said.
The news came two weeks after North Korea test-fired at least one short-range missile into eastern coastal waters, which South Korean and U.S. officials played down as part of the communist country's regular military exercises.But Thursday's launch drew criticism from U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.The United States and our allies believe that North Korea should refrain from testing missiles, said Johndroe, accompanying President Bush to the Group of
Eight summit in Heiligendamm, Germany.North Korea should focus on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and fulfill its obligations under the Feb. 13 agreement in which North Korea pledged to shut down its main nuclear reactor in return for financial and diplomatic incentives.This kind of activity is not constructive, Johndroe said.In recent weeks, North Korea has refused to move on its
pledge to shut down its main nuclear reactor over a delay in withdrawing $25 million of its money at a Macau bank that was blacklisted by the U.S. for allegedly helping the North launder and counterfeit money.
The North has made the release of the funds a key condition to disarmament, having boycotted international negotiations for more than a year over the issue, during which it conducted its first nuclear test in October.
In July 2006, North Korea also test-fired a barrage of missiles, including a long-range one believed to be capable of reaching even parts of the U.S.North Korea is believed to have produced enough plutonium to make as many as a dozen or more nuclear bombs, but experts say it likely does not have a bomb design advanced enough to be placed on a missile.
Merkel: G-8 agreement on climate change By JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writer JUNE 7,07
HEILIGENDAMM, Germany - Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that the Group of Eight has agreed on a plan calling for substantial cuts in the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming. The goal is to agree to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050, Merkel said, hailing the decision as a huge success. She said it came after many rounds of talks and negotiations on climate change.Merkel, who has made the issue the centerpiece of her leadership of this year's G-8, had steadily lobbied fellow leaders on the matter since they began arriving in this Baltic Sea resort for their yearly summit.No one can escape this political declaration.
It is an enormous step forward, she told reporters.Details of the agreement were not immediately available, and it was unclear how much binding weight the declaration would carry since it is up to G-8 leaders to keep the promises they make.A final summit communique was not expected until FridayMerkel has long been calling for setting specific targets for reducing the carbon emissions believed to cause global warming, including a two-degree target under which global temperatures would be allowed to increase by no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) before being brought back down.Experts have said that would require a global reduction in emissions of 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.Merkel wanted binding reductions; President Bush opposed them. He instead proposed having the top 15 polluters meet and set a long-term goal, but decide for themselves how much to do toward meeting it.Merkel, the summit host, said Thursday that the toughest point was the halving of emissions ... that was the hardest step. But she said: We agreed that we need reduction goals — and obligatory reduction goals.All parties agreed the process should take place within the U.N. framework and will begin with a meeting of environment ministers at a U.N. climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December.
Earlier Thursday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair held out hope that world leaders would reach such an agreement despite differences between the U.S. and Europe over whether such cuts should be binding.I think that it is possible that we'll leave the summit with a commitment on the part of everyone to a substantial reduction of greenhouse gases by 2050 as a global target that is of the order of the type of figures the Europeans are talking about, said Blair, who leaves office June 27.Blair was saying his goodbyes to Bush and other Group of Eight leaders in this seaside city in northern Germany.Blair and Bush later joined six counterparts for the first working session of the G-8. Besides global warming, the leaders are tackling edgy relations with Russia and Moscow's opposition to Western efforts to secure independence for Serbia's Kosovo province, the crisis in Darfur, poverty aid to Africa, the Middle East and trade talks.North Korea is likely to be another topic of discussion.
The reclusive communist regime on Thursday fired short-range missiles off its western coast in an apparent test, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry.The United States immediately denounced the launch, saying such activity was not constructive in the midst of a deadlock in international negotiations over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Merkel chaired the first working session, with Blair to her left and Bush next to him. Also at the table were Russia's Vladimir Putin, Italy's Romano Prodi, Canada's Stephen Harper, France's Nicolas Sarkozy, Japan's Shinzo Abe and Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission. Afterward, Bush and Putin met privately after days of Cold War-style sparring over U.S. plans to base a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, essentially in Russia's back yard. Putin, bitterly opposed to placing such a system in Europe, told Bush that Russia would drop its objections and not seek to retrain its missiles on Europe if the shield were installed in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet satellite in central Asia. Bush's national security adviser, Steve Hadley, called it an interesting proposal.
Anti-poverty groups, meanwhile, hope the leaders will recommit to promises made during their summit two years ago in Gleneagles, Scotland, to increase international aid to Africa and other poorer countries.
In 2005, the G-8 agreed to increase the amount of aid by $50 billion a year through 2010, with half going to Africa. But since then, the pledge has missed the target by $30 billion, anti-poverty groups say.
This year's gathering is being held under tight security, with Heiligendamm sealed off by a seven-mile, razor wire-topped fence. Thousands of police have been deployed across the northern German region. Protests continued Thursday for a second day, as demonstrators continued to block roads to Heiligendamm and police again resorted to firing water cannons to scatter them. Offshore, Greenpeace environmental activists led police on a boat chase, with one boatload briefly spilling its contents into the Baltic. Associated Press writers Jennifer Loven and Claudia Kemmer in Heiligendamm, David Rising in Hinter Bollhagen and Vanessa Gera in Bad Doberan contributed to this report.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Palestinians want to import weapons By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer JUNE 7,07
JERUSALEM - Security forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have asked Israel's permission to import anti-tank missiles, grenades and millions of bullets to fight the Islamic militant group Hamas, officials said Thursday.
The request comes as a truce halting the latest deadly round of Palestinian infighting teetered on the brink of collapse, with clashes breaking out between Fatah and Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip. One Fatah gunman was killed the first fatality since the truce took hold in mid-May.Under interim peace accords, Israeli permission is necessary for military equipment to enter Palestinian territories, and Palestinian security officials said such a request by forces loyal to Abbas has been on the table for months.Israeli security officials said Israel was discussing the issue with the U.S. security coordinator in the region, Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton.
Officials on both sides spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss confidential military deliberations with the media.A spokesman for Dayton said he had no comment.
A senior Western diplomat said the U.S. was playing no central role in this matter. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss U.S. involvement with the media.
Hamas, which shares power with Fatah in the Palestinians' coalition government, was not immediately available for comment.Israel has given permission for the import of weapons in the past, most recently in March after Palestinian officials made guarantees the weapons would not fall into Hamas' hands and be used against Israeli targets.
There is widespread opposition to this new request for the same reason.The likeliest thing to be approved, if anything, would be the armored personnel carriers that also appeared on the list, the Israeli officials added.Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a violent struggle since the Islamic group unseated Fatah in Palestinian parliamentary elections last year.
More than 50 Palestinians died in two weeks of internal strife last month that eased after Hamas stepped up its rocket attacks on Israel, drawing dozens of Israeli airstrikes and unifying the Palestinian groups against their common enemy.But the factions' brittle truce threatened to crumble Thursday, when a Fatah gunman was killed in a shootout with Hamas fighters in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. The battle led to a daylong fight between the groups, with gunmen firing rocket-propelled grenades and lobbing explosives at rival targets.Fatah and Hamas blamed each other for the fatal shootout outside a house belonging to Fatah supporters. Medical officials said at least 17 people were injured, two seriously. Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had been scheduled to meet in the West Bank on Thursday to discuss the latest round of violence, but the Palestinians called it off, accusing Israel of rejecting all their proposals in preparatory talks.In lieu of that meeting, the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators the U.S., European Union, Russia and the U.N. invited the two leaders for talks in Egypt on June 25, Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr said. Representatives of the 22-member Arab League, which is pushing a sweeping peace plan, will also attend, Abu Amr said.
Associated Press Writer Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report in Gaza City, Gaza Strip.
One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literal Word of God JUNE 7,07
by Kim Trobee
According to a new Gallup Poll, Protestants are the most likely to credit the Bible as the inerrent word of God. The rest of the population feels the Bible might be inspired by God, but not literally so. Do you believe the Bible is the literal word of God? Since 1991, the Gallup Organization has asked Americans that question, yet their answers remain remarkably unchanged. About 31% of people believe the Good Book is infallible. Frank Newport with Gallup says we still live in a country where God’s word is taken seriously. Religious people around the world who believe that a religious document is inerrant will engage in behaviors and support types of policies which are significantly different than others might and those have real implications for society.Year after year, the other constant is that belief in the infallible word correlates with church attendance and a Protestant Christian theology. Dr. Richard Land with the Southern Baptist Convention is not surprised.
People who take the Bible seriously are going to go to church. And if they go to church they’re going to hear sermons and they’re going to have Sunday school lessons that are going to teach them that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God.If you add together the people who think the whole Bible is the direct word of God and those who see it as divinely inspired, but not all parts are to be taken literally, you arrive at about 80% of the public believing it to be a major source of truth in their lives. This is a very religious country and it’s getting more so, not less so.Nineteen percent of Americans surveyed say the Bible is a book of ancient fables, legends or history written by man.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
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: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
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.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
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.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
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.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Strength in numbers JUNE 7,07
Europe is still an economic giant but politically it is a dwarf. For member states to defend their interests the union must be strong. Joschka Fischer
Europe today presents a contradictory picture. It is a land of peace, democracy, and the rule of law. It is also a land of prosperity: its economy is competitive, its currency strong, inflation is low, and its standards of living are among the highest in the world. Europeans benefit from very high levels of social protection, inexpensive, high-quality education, strict environmental standards, and excellent
infrastructure. In addition, Europe has unmatched cultural diversity and great natural beauty. It all sounds like a utopian dream.With its 500 million people and the world's largest single market, Europe, even if not seen by the world as a real union, is still an economic giant. But politically it is a dwarf - and shrinking. Ours is a century of large states, and the further rise of China, India, the United States, and Japan will soon make the largest European powers look puny. Even today the three largest EU members barely manage to offset Europe's loss of political weight, much less to stem the tide.
Without a strong EU, this development will only intensify.The world outside Europe is changing rapidly, and it won't wait for Europeans mired in an agonising process of self-discovery. The alternatives are clear: keep up or be left behind.
In America, despite the current obsession with Iraq, a strategic view is taking hold that defines the 21st century mainly in terms of the triad of China, India, and the US. Japan's role as an American ally is viewed as a given. The relationship with Russia is placed somewhere between partnership and renewed rivalry, but Russia is not really seen as a strategic challenge. And, in strategic terms, the rest is silence - which applies also to Europe.The bottom line for America is that while Europe no longer creates problems, for the foreseeable future, Europe, due to its lack of unity, will not be willing or able to contribute to solving the world's problems. Europe's involvement in Nato's efforts to stabilise Afghanistan only emphasises this ambiguity.On the one hand, Europe's role in Afghanistan is appreciated by the US, but on the other, it also exposes the Europeans' weakness and the Alliance's limited capabilities. While the US political elite has not written off Nato, expectations about its crisis-solving competence are fast being scaled down. This view of Europe as a negligible political entity is fully shared in Beijing, Moscow, and New Delhi.
This is the starting point at which a new generation of leaders is taking over the reins in the EU's three largest member states. Gerhard Schröder, Jacques Chirac, and Tony Blair are history. In Germany, the government of Angela Merkel has been in power for one and a half years. Nicolas Sarkozy has just assumed the French presidency. Gordon Brown will soon take over as prime minister in the UK.Within just a few weeks, this trio will be called on to make a vital decision on the future of the EU.
That decision concerns the constitutional treaty and its prospects. What the new foundational document is called in the end is a minor point; what is essential for Europe's future is that constitutional reform is revived and gives Europe a strong foundation. The question, then, is whether the new leaders, as early as next month, succeed in a new effort to adopt the vital institutional reforms that the enlarged union requires.The best way to proceed is to focus on the essentials. Part III of the blocked constitutional treaty is merely a compendium of the existing EU treaties, which - because these treaties will remain in force regardless of whether they are part of the new document - can be decoupled from the rest.Part II of the stalled document, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, can be postponed. To be sure, this would be painful because, as the EU bureaucracies gain more authority, the EU's democratic deficit will widen without clearly defined fundamental rights. If Part II is postponed, the European court will have to define these fundamental rights for the time being. This is only a second-best solution, but it is better than nothing.
Part I of the treaty, however, is indispensable, as is the new voting procedure, with its double majority rule balancing the role of the states and the population. To reopen this part of the debate, and thus to allow a dilution of its substance, would be a historic failure and a major setback for Europe's future. If this is the price of going ahead with the treaty, it is better to do nothing at all and bide one's time.The stakes are thus very high for Europe in the coming weeks. If the substance of the constitutional treaty is saved, Europe will increasingly develop into a global player. Only then will the transatlantic alliance also have a future. To be sure, this process will take time, and there will be other setbacks. But the
fundamental direction will be correct, and there will be real cause for optimism. If, on the other hand, this attempt, too, should fail, or end in a lazy, useless compromise, Europe's decline will accelerate and transatlantic relations will become increasingly turbulent.It is now up to Merkel, Sarkozy, and Brown to prove - despite all the differences that may exist between them - that they understand the challenges that globalisation poses for Europe: the EU member states will be able to defend their interests in the world of the 21st century only to the extent that the EU itself is strong. In cooperation with Project Syndicate, 2007.
2 TIMOTHY 3:3
3 Without natural affection,
ROMANS 1:24-27
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:(HOMOSEXUALITY,AND ALL SEX SINS)
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:(LESBIENS)
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly,(SODOMITES) and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.(AIDS ETC)
Knesset Moves to Ban Gay March in Jerusalem
by Hillel Fendel (INN) JUNE 7,07
With tensions rising again as homosexuals prepare to parade in Jerusalem, the Knesset passes a preliminary reading of an amendment that would ban future such marches. At the same time, opponents of the march have begun a series of protest actions.The Knesset voted by a 40-23 margin on Wednesday afternoon to approve an early reading of an amendment to the current Jerusalem Bill.
The amendment will be discussed in the Knesset Law Committee; if it is passed there, it will be returned to the Knesset for two additional votes and final passage.The amendment reads as follows: The Jerusalem City Council is authorized to ban marches and parades in the city for reasons of disturbance of the peace, offense to public sensitivities, or for religious reasons.
MK Gabbai Explains
MK Eli Gabbai (National Religious Party), who submitted the bill twice - in the previous Knesset and in the current one - offered two explanations for proposing the bill. One explanation is that Jerusalem is a unique city in the world, holy to the three religions. The holding of a gay-pride parade specifically in Jerusalem is offensive to the believers of all the religions all over the world... This law authorizes the City Council to bar an event that is liable to offend millions of believers around the world, as well as the residents of the city itself.In his second explanation, Gabbai adds, ...Jerusalem's special national and international status stems, inter alia, from the fact that it is holy to the three religions. This legislation comes to strengthen Jerusalem's status via its City Council representatives, enabling them to set its policies while taking into account the special sensitivities in light of the unique religious and social composition of the population.MK Gabbai told Arutz-7 he hopes to have the bill passed completely in time for the scheduled gay march two weeks from now.
Some observers in the Knesset feel this is unrealistic, but it should be ready in time for gay events that are planned for the future, however, said Gabbai's spokesman Yair Givati.Meretz faction leader MK Zahava Gal'on condemned the proposed amendment, saying that every group must have the right of expression. She and party colleague MK Chaim Oron warned that the sword that is aimed at one group today could be aimed at another tomorrow. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert consented to allow the coalition MKs - specifically those of Shas - to vote their conscience on the bill. Olmert said that he himself personally opposes the bill, though he agrees that Jerusalem is not the natural place for a parade by homosexuals because of the special sensitivity in the holy city.MK Moshe Sharoni (Pensioners) said he feels the homosexuals can march in any other city: Why Jerusalem? What, do they want to get the Christians and the Moslems angry at us? Do they want the whole world to hate us even more? They're a small minority, and this is the law.
Once certain rabbis give the word, their followers will understand that an abomination march cannot be allowed to happen in the holy city, and will do practically anything to stop it Posters and Prayer Rallies. The hareidi-religious and religious sectors in Jerusalem are beginning a series of actions designed to prevent the parade from taking place. A body calling itself The Committee to Stop the Abomination Parade, backed by the Yesha Rabbis Council, the Sanhedrin, Jerusalem City Councilwoman Mina Fenton and others, has taken the following steps: Posters and billboards against the parade, road-blockings against a gay parade taking place in Haifa today (Wednesday), a possible protest rally against a planned march in Tel Aviv this Friday, and a protest tent at the entrance to Jerusalem beginning this week.In addition, the group has filed for a police permit to hold a mass prayer-and-protest rally at the entrance to Jerusalem on the day of the planned march. A donor has already agreed to pay for 1,000 buses to bring participants from all over the country. The event will be gender-separate; women will congregate at the beginning of Herzl Blvd., while men will occupy the road leading to Ramot.
Organizers say they will not sanction violence at these events. However, one organizer told Arutz-7 that once certain rabbis give the word to approve protests, their followers will understand that an abomination march is something that cannot be allowed to happen in the holy city, and they will do practically anything to stop it.Police have authorized the parade in principle, but have hinged the actual permit on their check of the actual route and other considerations of public security.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Syria ready for war
Officials: Troops at Israeli border, could launch surprise attack
June 7, 2007 - By Aaron Klein - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Syrian President Bashar Assad
TEL AVIV – Syria, aided by Iran, has deployed a strengthened army along Israel's northern border and is prepared to launch a surprise war against the Jewish state, according to senior Israeli security officials. The development comes as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday told the Knesset he is ready for direct negotiations with Syria aimed at an Israeli retreat from the Golan Heights, strategic mountainous territory that looks down on Israeli population centers twice used by Damascus to attack the Jewish state. With Israelis this week commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Six-Day War – when neighbors Egypt, Jordan and Syria attacked the Jewish state – Israeli security officials told WND Syria has prepared for a confrontation and is capable of launching an immediate war.
The officials say the Syrian army is deployed along the Syrian side of the Golan Heights with strengthened forces after carrying out the past few weeks stepped-up training of troops. The officials noted the open movement of Syrian Scud missiles near the border with Israel and said Syria recently increased production of rockets and acquired missiles capable of hitting central Israeli population centers.
The Syrian army has improved its fortifications, according to the Israeli security officials, and has received modern, Russian-made anti-tank missiles similar to the ones that devastated Israeli tanks during the last Lebanon war, causing the highest number of Israeli troop casualties during the 34 days of military confrontations. Syria also received from Russia advanced anti-aircraft missiles. The officials noted Syria stepped up the pace of weapons, including rockets, being shipped from the
Syrian border to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. Just yesterday, a truckload of weaponry meant for Hezbollah was confiscated by the Lebanese army. Yossi Baidatz, chief of military intelligence for the Israel Defense Forces, said the Syrian-backed Hezbollah is rebuilding its forces in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border in areas where international forces are deployed with the specific charge of preventing the Lebanese militia's rearming.
The security officials said the greatest threat Syria poses to the Jewish state are the country's missiles and rockets. They noted Syria recently test-fired two Scud-D surface-to-surface missiles, which have a range of about 250 miles, covering most Israeli territory. The officials said the Syrian missile test was coordinated with Iran and is believed to have been successful. It is not known what type of warhead the missiles had. In addition to longer-range Scuds, Syria is in possession of shorter-range missiles such as 220 millimeter and 305 millimeter rockets, some of which have been passed on to Hezbollah. Israel also has information Syria recently acquired and deployed Chinese-made C-802 missiles, which were successfully used against the Israeli navy during Israel's war against the Lebanese Hezbollah militia last July and August. The missiles were passed to Syria by Iran, Israeli security officials told WND.
Israeli security officials said Syria is preparing for a summer war. But they said there was an argument within the Israeli intelligence community whether the military build-up is for an attack or is meant by Syria to pressure Israel into vacating the Golan Heights.
Some officials said Syria estimates the U.S. or Israel will attack Iran, and Syria will be drawn into a larger military confrontation by opening up a front against northern Israel. Also, the officials said, Syria may believe Israel will attack first and its preparations are defensive in nature. The Israeli army is not taking any chances. The Israel Defense Forces Tuesday carried out a mock attack on a Syrian village during a major exercise in the Negev.
The Israeli soldiers besieged and occupied the village, designed to be similar to towns on the Syrian side of the Golan. Similar war exercises were carried out in Israel the past few months, including a mock attack on Damascus.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has multiple times told his state-run media the past few months Damascus is preparing for war. He warned Israel to evacuate the Golan Heights. This past weekend, Assad called for better cooperation between Damascus and Tehran in the confrontation with the Zionist regime and the USA, according to a report published Sunday by Iran's official state news agency, IRNA. Yesterday, an official from Assad's Baath party warned in a WND interview if Israel doesn't vacate the Golan, residents in the strategic territory would launch resistance operations against Israeli communities. Meanwhile, Olmert yesterday told the Israeli Knesset he is willing to hold peace talks with Syria without any preconditions. At the same Knesset hearing, Israel's security cabinet decided to establish a ministerial committee to discuss the security threat posed by Syria. The committee, led by Olmert, is made up largely of the same war lawmakers who helped shape Israel's war against Hezbollah last summer. Those lawmakers were slammed in a recent government war probe for multiple failures during the war.
Olmert – faced with devastatingly low poll numbers and calls from the public and senior officials to resign – reportedly directed staffers at Israel's Foreign Ministry to prepare for the possibility of talks with Syria. Some analysts here have speculated in the Israeli media Olmert's ratings could rise if he reached out to his leftist base and conducted negotiations with the Palestinians or Syria. According to
the Israeli media, Olmert tapped third parties to approach Syria to feel out whether Damascus is seriously interested in negotiations. Syria, which signed a military alliance with Iran, openly hosts Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. The U.S. accuses Syria of fueling and aiding the insurgency in Iraq.
Israel says Syria has been allowing large quantities of weapons to be transported from its borders to Hezbollah. Syria has been widely blamed for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria is accused by Israel and pro-Democratic Lebanese politicians of fueling instability in Lebanon the past few weeks by backing Fatah al-Islam, a group claiming connections to al-Qaida that has been battling the Lebanese Army since May 20, killing some 107 people, including 47 soldiers and 60 terrorists. The clashes erupted just before the U.N. was set to call for the establishment of an international tribunal to try the killers of Hariri. Syria has been widely blamed for the assassination and for a string of subsequent attacks that have rocked Lebanon.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (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.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: 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 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
EU's Solana says Gaza force a possibility
By David Brunnstrom Reuters - Wednesday, June 7 07:02 pm
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - An international peacekeeping force for the Gaza strip is a possibility, even though it would probably be difficult for Egypt to accept, the European Union's foreign policy chief said on Wednesday.Javier Solana told the European Parliament in Brussels that for the first time in many, many years, the idea of an international force was not out of the question.Solana said two groups in the Israeli parliament had said it may be the moment to call for such a force, at least to start with, in the south of the region where the Rafa border crossing to Egypt is located.We are working on that, he said. The Israelis are also considering that possibility, the Palestinians are considering that possibility, the Egyptians are considering that possibility.
Solana said it would probably be difficult for Egypt as deployment of such a force might give the impression it was not able to control that part of the border. However, he added:I think we can still get into discussions on these issues and maybe eventually get a solution.The EU's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told the same hearing an international mechanism set up last year to provide aid to Palestinians while bypassing the government would be extended for a further three months until the end of September.She said humanitarian conditions remained dire and appealed to EU members states to provide additional funds.
The United Nations special envoy to the Middle East called last month on Israel, the Palestinians and the United Nations to consider an international force for Gaza.Israel has long resisted Palestinian calls for peacekeepers in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, saying their deployment would interfere with Israeli security measures.But it has signalled flexibility since last year's Lebanon war, which ended
with a boosted United Nations peacekeeper force in former Hezbollah guerrilla strongholds.Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005, but cross-border violence has continued and last month it launched an air campaign to try to stop militants from firing rockets at southern Israeli towns.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Thu Jun 7 17:39:06 UTC 2007
JUNE 7,07
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.1 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 4.7 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.3 FIJI REGION
MAP 4.5 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
MAP 6.2 BISMARCK SEA
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL ALASKA
JUNE 6,07
MAP 5.2 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.1 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 KYUSHU, JAPAN
MAP 5.8 BANDA SEA
MAP 5.1 KYRGYZSTAN
MAP 2.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 OFFSHORE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Cyclone Gonu blamed for 15 deaths By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jun 7, 6:38 AM ET
MUSCAT, Oman - Semi-trucks were trapped in flooded highways here Thursday after Cyclone Gonu battered Oman's coast on its path toward the world's most important crude oil tanker route. At least 15 storm-related deaths were reported. But as the cyclone a rarity in the Middle East headed from Oman to the southeastern Iranian coast, it continued to lose steam, dropping off to tropical storm strength early Thursday, according to the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center.The center predicted Gonu would make landfall on the southeastern Iranian coast late Thursday. But it was likely to spare Iran's offshore oil installations that lie more than 120 miles to the west, the center and oil officials said.
At least 12 people were killed from the storm in Oman, including members of police rescue squads, and others were reported missing, said Oman Royal Police spokesman Abdullah al-Harthi. He did not provide further details.Across the Gulf of Oman, Iranian state television reported that a resident of the port city of Bandar Abbas was killed in a car accident Wednesday due to low visibility from the storm.Two provincial government workers bringing emergency supplies to a flooded area also were killed when a river overflowed and flipped their truck in Jask, a town 155 miles southeast of Bandar Abbas, state TV's Web site said.The storm caused little damage to Oman's relatively small oil fields. But raging seas had prevented tankers from sailing from Omani ports, effectively shutting down the country's oil exports, said Nasser bin Khamis al-Jashimi of the Ministry of Oil and Gas.
Authorities also closed all operations at the port of Sohar and evacuated 11,000 workers, port spokesman Dirk Jan De Vink said.To the north, the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates reopened Thursday after it suspended all refueling and ship-to-ship supply operations at the world's third-largest shipping fuel center.A few ships sailed through the nearby Strait of Hormuz despite 4- to 6-foot swells and strong winds, Suresh Nair of the Gulf Agency Co. shipping firm said Wednesday.
About one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the narrow waterway at the entrance to the Persian Gulf.About 17-21 million barrels a day of oil are coming out of the Persian Gulf. Even if only some of the tankers are delayed, that could reduce the supply of oil and increase prices, said Manouchehr Takin, an analyst at the Center for Global Energy Studies in London.But Tim Evans, an analyst at Citigroup Global Markets, said the storm shouldn't have a major impact on prices because while it may delay oil shipments, they eventually will get to their destinations.On Thursday, the storm sustained winds of 41 mph, less than half its strength of 95 mph just 24 hours earlier, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. It was centered about 98 miles north of Muscat and was projected to weaken over the next several hours to as it moves through the Gulf of Oman toward Iran.Even with the weaker wind speeds, Gonu which means a bag made of palm leaves in the language of the Maldives is believed to be the strongest cyclone here since record-keeping started in 1945.In the capital, Muscat, highways and yards were flooded, and downed trees and power lines were scattered in the high waters. Residents washed cars in the flooded streets, while others snapped pictures.
The capital Muscat became a lake, the police spokesman al-Harthi told Oman TV.In coastal city of Sohar west of Muscat, violent waves continued to crash the shore as several residents returned to their homes Thursday after being evacuated.We all went to the school last night, and I came back to look at the house. Twice the water came into my house, and maybe the tide will come in again, said fisherman Salem Hassan al-Mukblai, 40, as he and his two sons tried to tie a downed fruit tree to a fence surrounding their house. Shareefa bint Khalfan, Omani minister of social development, said more than 20,000 people were evacuated Wednesday and housed in government-provided dwellings stocked with medicine and supplies. Oman's eastern provinces have been cut off, with heavy rains making the roads unusable and communication lines severed. In Iran, authorities evacuated hundreds of people living in the port city of Chabahr on the coast of the Gulf of Oman, believed to be next in the cyclone's path. But the heavy storm, which caused trees to fall and windows to smash, eased Thursday morning, subsiding into light rain and wind. Thanks to God, people are back in the bazaars and streets of the city, said Abbas Jafari, a 47-year-old taxi driver. Yesterday was terrible. I had never seen such a storm in my life.Iran's state broadcasting company said on its Web site that some small villages in Sistan and Baluchistan province, on the Gulf of Oman, were still encircled by floods and authorities used helicopters to drop emergency supplies to them.
The storm affected power and telephone lines elsewhere in the province, but caused no major damage, provincial governor Habibollah Dehmardeh told the official IRNA news agency.
As a precaution, the Bandar Abbas oil refinery, which supplies the local petroleum market, closed jetties that receive oil from tankers, the Web site of Iran's Oil Ministry reported. The refinery was working as usual Thursday, the report said. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Hassan Sarbakhshian in Bandar Abbas, Iran and Kareem Shaheen in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report.
Drought prompts LA mayor to urge cut in water use Wed Jun 6, 10:20 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asked Los Angeles residents on Wednesday to cut water use by 10 percent amid a drought of historic proportions. Less than three inches (eight centimeters) of rain have been recorded in downtown Los Angeles between January and May, the lowest level of rainfall since 1877.The average annual rainfall is 15 inches (38 centimeters) for the Los Angeles area, home to about 16 million people.The shortage could become even more acute as the city braces for an expected hot summer and if the drought persists through next winter, authorities will be forced to introduce water rationing.Los Angeles needs to change course and conserve water to steer clear of this perfect storm, Villaraigosa said.Officials in the second-largest US city urged Angelenos to take shorter showers, fix leaky faucets, water lawns less, stop throwing trash in toilets, replace old washing machines and use brooms instead of water hoses to clean sidewalks and driveways.Water in reserve will meet customer demands this year because last year's snow pack surpassed the average by about 145 percent, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Metropolitan Water District.
2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
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.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
North Korea fires missiles off coast By BO-MI LIM, Associated Press Writer JUN 7,07
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea fired short-range missiles off its western coast in an apparent test Thursday, South Korea's Defense Ministry said, amid a deadlock in international negotiations over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. The United States immediately denounced the launch, saying the activity was not constructive.A South Korean Defense Ministry official said it had intelligence that North Korea launched the short-range missiles into the sea off its western coast.We are trying to confirm how many were fired and what type of missiles they are, the official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.South Korea's Yonhap news agency also cited two unidentified intelligence officials as saying the North fired at least one missile. One of the officials said Pyongyang fired two one in the morning and one in the afternoon which is believed to be part of the communist regime's routine drills, according to Yonhap.The missiles were either land-to-ship or ship-to-ship models with a range of less than 62 miles, and fell into North Korea's territorial waters, the report said.
The news came two weeks after North Korea test-fired at least one short-range missile into eastern coastal waters, which South Korean and U.S. officials played down as part of the communist country's regular military exercises.But Thursday's launch drew criticism from U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.The United States and our allies believe that North Korea should refrain from testing missiles, said Johndroe, accompanying President Bush to the Group of
Eight summit in Heiligendamm, Germany.North Korea should focus on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and fulfill its obligations under the Feb. 13 agreement in which North Korea pledged to shut down its main nuclear reactor in return for financial and diplomatic incentives.This kind of activity is not constructive, Johndroe said.In recent weeks, North Korea has refused to move on its
pledge to shut down its main nuclear reactor over a delay in withdrawing $25 million of its money at a Macau bank that was blacklisted by the U.S. for allegedly helping the North launder and counterfeit money.
The North has made the release of the funds a key condition to disarmament, having boycotted international negotiations for more than a year over the issue, during which it conducted its first nuclear test in October.
In July 2006, North Korea also test-fired a barrage of missiles, including a long-range one believed to be capable of reaching even parts of the U.S.North Korea is believed to have produced enough plutonium to make as many as a dozen or more nuclear bombs, but experts say it likely does not have a bomb design advanced enough to be placed on a missile.
Merkel: G-8 agreement on climate change By JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writer JUNE 7,07
HEILIGENDAMM, Germany - Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that the Group of Eight has agreed on a plan calling for substantial cuts in the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming. The goal is to agree to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050, Merkel said, hailing the decision as a huge success. She said it came after many rounds of talks and negotiations on climate change.Merkel, who has made the issue the centerpiece of her leadership of this year's G-8, had steadily lobbied fellow leaders on the matter since they began arriving in this Baltic Sea resort for their yearly summit.No one can escape this political declaration.
It is an enormous step forward, she told reporters.Details of the agreement were not immediately available, and it was unclear how much binding weight the declaration would carry since it is up to G-8 leaders to keep the promises they make.A final summit communique was not expected until FridayMerkel has long been calling for setting specific targets for reducing the carbon emissions believed to cause global warming, including a two-degree target under which global temperatures would be allowed to increase by no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) before being brought back down.Experts have said that would require a global reduction in emissions of 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.Merkel wanted binding reductions; President Bush opposed them. He instead proposed having the top 15 polluters meet and set a long-term goal, but decide for themselves how much to do toward meeting it.Merkel, the summit host, said Thursday that the toughest point was the halving of emissions ... that was the hardest step. But she said: We agreed that we need reduction goals — and obligatory reduction goals.All parties agreed the process should take place within the U.N. framework and will begin with a meeting of environment ministers at a U.N. climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December.
Earlier Thursday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair held out hope that world leaders would reach such an agreement despite differences between the U.S. and Europe over whether such cuts should be binding.I think that it is possible that we'll leave the summit with a commitment on the part of everyone to a substantial reduction of greenhouse gases by 2050 as a global target that is of the order of the type of figures the Europeans are talking about, said Blair, who leaves office June 27.Blair was saying his goodbyes to Bush and other Group of Eight leaders in this seaside city in northern Germany.Blair and Bush later joined six counterparts for the first working session of the G-8. Besides global warming, the leaders are tackling edgy relations with Russia and Moscow's opposition to Western efforts to secure independence for Serbia's Kosovo province, the crisis in Darfur, poverty aid to Africa, the Middle East and trade talks.North Korea is likely to be another topic of discussion.
The reclusive communist regime on Thursday fired short-range missiles off its western coast in an apparent test, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry.The United States immediately denounced the launch, saying such activity was not constructive in the midst of a deadlock in international negotiations over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Merkel chaired the first working session, with Blair to her left and Bush next to him. Also at the table were Russia's Vladimir Putin, Italy's Romano Prodi, Canada's Stephen Harper, France's Nicolas Sarkozy, Japan's Shinzo Abe and Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission. Afterward, Bush and Putin met privately after days of Cold War-style sparring over U.S. plans to base a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, essentially in Russia's back yard. Putin, bitterly opposed to placing such a system in Europe, told Bush that Russia would drop its objections and not seek to retrain its missiles on Europe if the shield were installed in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet satellite in central Asia. Bush's national security adviser, Steve Hadley, called it an interesting proposal.
Anti-poverty groups, meanwhile, hope the leaders will recommit to promises made during their summit two years ago in Gleneagles, Scotland, to increase international aid to Africa and other poorer countries.
In 2005, the G-8 agreed to increase the amount of aid by $50 billion a year through 2010, with half going to Africa. But since then, the pledge has missed the target by $30 billion, anti-poverty groups say.
This year's gathering is being held under tight security, with Heiligendamm sealed off by a seven-mile, razor wire-topped fence. Thousands of police have been deployed across the northern German region. Protests continued Thursday for a second day, as demonstrators continued to block roads to Heiligendamm and police again resorted to firing water cannons to scatter them. Offshore, Greenpeace environmental activists led police on a boat chase, with one boatload briefly spilling its contents into the Baltic. Associated Press writers Jennifer Loven and Claudia Kemmer in Heiligendamm, David Rising in Hinter Bollhagen and Vanessa Gera in Bad Doberan contributed to this report.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Palestinians want to import weapons By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer JUNE 7,07
JERUSALEM - Security forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have asked Israel's permission to import anti-tank missiles, grenades and millions of bullets to fight the Islamic militant group Hamas, officials said Thursday.
The request comes as a truce halting the latest deadly round of Palestinian infighting teetered on the brink of collapse, with clashes breaking out between Fatah and Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip. One Fatah gunman was killed the first fatality since the truce took hold in mid-May.Under interim peace accords, Israeli permission is necessary for military equipment to enter Palestinian territories, and Palestinian security officials said such a request by forces loyal to Abbas has been on the table for months.Israeli security officials said Israel was discussing the issue with the U.S. security coordinator in the region, Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton.
Officials on both sides spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss confidential military deliberations with the media.A spokesman for Dayton said he had no comment.
A senior Western diplomat said the U.S. was playing no central role in this matter. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss U.S. involvement with the media.
Hamas, which shares power with Fatah in the Palestinians' coalition government, was not immediately available for comment.Israel has given permission for the import of weapons in the past, most recently in March after Palestinian officials made guarantees the weapons would not fall into Hamas' hands and be used against Israeli targets.
There is widespread opposition to this new request for the same reason.The likeliest thing to be approved, if anything, would be the armored personnel carriers that also appeared on the list, the Israeli officials added.Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a violent struggle since the Islamic group unseated Fatah in Palestinian parliamentary elections last year.
More than 50 Palestinians died in two weeks of internal strife last month that eased after Hamas stepped up its rocket attacks on Israel, drawing dozens of Israeli airstrikes and unifying the Palestinian groups against their common enemy.But the factions' brittle truce threatened to crumble Thursday, when a Fatah gunman was killed in a shootout with Hamas fighters in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. The battle led to a daylong fight between the groups, with gunmen firing rocket-propelled grenades and lobbing explosives at rival targets.Fatah and Hamas blamed each other for the fatal shootout outside a house belonging to Fatah supporters. Medical officials said at least 17 people were injured, two seriously. Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had been scheduled to meet in the West Bank on Thursday to discuss the latest round of violence, but the Palestinians called it off, accusing Israel of rejecting all their proposals in preparatory talks.In lieu of that meeting, the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators the U.S., European Union, Russia and the U.N. invited the two leaders for talks in Egypt on June 25, Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr said. Representatives of the 22-member Arab League, which is pushing a sweeping peace plan, will also attend, Abu Amr said.
Associated Press Writer Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report in Gaza City, Gaza Strip.
One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literal Word of God JUNE 7,07
by Kim Trobee
According to a new Gallup Poll, Protestants are the most likely to credit the Bible as the inerrent word of God. The rest of the population feels the Bible might be inspired by God, but not literally so. Do you believe the Bible is the literal word of God? Since 1991, the Gallup Organization has asked Americans that question, yet their answers remain remarkably unchanged. About 31% of people believe the Good Book is infallible. Frank Newport with Gallup says we still live in a country where God’s word is taken seriously. Religious people around the world who believe that a religious document is inerrant will engage in behaviors and support types of policies which are significantly different than others might and those have real implications for society.Year after year, the other constant is that belief in the infallible word correlates with church attendance and a Protestant Christian theology. Dr. Richard Land with the Southern Baptist Convention is not surprised.
People who take the Bible seriously are going to go to church. And if they go to church they’re going to hear sermons and they’re going to have Sunday school lessons that are going to teach them that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God.If you add together the people who think the whole Bible is the direct word of God and those who see it as divinely inspired, but not all parts are to be taken literally, you arrive at about 80% of the public believing it to be a major source of truth in their lives. This is a very religious country and it’s getting more so, not less so.Nineteen percent of Americans surveyed say the Bible is a book of ancient fables, legends or history written by man.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
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: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
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.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
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.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
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.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Strength in numbers JUNE 7,07
Europe is still an economic giant but politically it is a dwarf. For member states to defend their interests the union must be strong. Joschka Fischer
Europe today presents a contradictory picture. It is a land of peace, democracy, and the rule of law. It is also a land of prosperity: its economy is competitive, its currency strong, inflation is low, and its standards of living are among the highest in the world. Europeans benefit from very high levels of social protection, inexpensive, high-quality education, strict environmental standards, and excellent
infrastructure. In addition, Europe has unmatched cultural diversity and great natural beauty. It all sounds like a utopian dream.With its 500 million people and the world's largest single market, Europe, even if not seen by the world as a real union, is still an economic giant. But politically it is a dwarf - and shrinking. Ours is a century of large states, and the further rise of China, India, the United States, and Japan will soon make the largest European powers look puny. Even today the three largest EU members barely manage to offset Europe's loss of political weight, much less to stem the tide.
Without a strong EU, this development will only intensify.The world outside Europe is changing rapidly, and it won't wait for Europeans mired in an agonising process of self-discovery. The alternatives are clear: keep up or be left behind.
In America, despite the current obsession with Iraq, a strategic view is taking hold that defines the 21st century mainly in terms of the triad of China, India, and the US. Japan's role as an American ally is viewed as a given. The relationship with Russia is placed somewhere between partnership and renewed rivalry, but Russia is not really seen as a strategic challenge. And, in strategic terms, the rest is silence - which applies also to Europe.The bottom line for America is that while Europe no longer creates problems, for the foreseeable future, Europe, due to its lack of unity, will not be willing or able to contribute to solving the world's problems. Europe's involvement in Nato's efforts to stabilise Afghanistan only emphasises this ambiguity.On the one hand, Europe's role in Afghanistan is appreciated by the US, but on the other, it also exposes the Europeans' weakness and the Alliance's limited capabilities. While the US political elite has not written off Nato, expectations about its crisis-solving competence are fast being scaled down. This view of Europe as a negligible political entity is fully shared in Beijing, Moscow, and New Delhi.
This is the starting point at which a new generation of leaders is taking over the reins in the EU's three largest member states. Gerhard Schröder, Jacques Chirac, and Tony Blair are history. In Germany, the government of Angela Merkel has been in power for one and a half years. Nicolas Sarkozy has just assumed the French presidency. Gordon Brown will soon take over as prime minister in the UK.Within just a few weeks, this trio will be called on to make a vital decision on the future of the EU.
That decision concerns the constitutional treaty and its prospects. What the new foundational document is called in the end is a minor point; what is essential for Europe's future is that constitutional reform is revived and gives Europe a strong foundation. The question, then, is whether the new leaders, as early as next month, succeed in a new effort to adopt the vital institutional reforms that the enlarged union requires.The best way to proceed is to focus on the essentials. Part III of the blocked constitutional treaty is merely a compendium of the existing EU treaties, which - because these treaties will remain in force regardless of whether they are part of the new document - can be decoupled from the rest.Part II of the stalled document, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, can be postponed. To be sure, this would be painful because, as the EU bureaucracies gain more authority, the EU's democratic deficit will widen without clearly defined fundamental rights. If Part II is postponed, the European court will have to define these fundamental rights for the time being. This is only a second-best solution, but it is better than nothing.
Part I of the treaty, however, is indispensable, as is the new voting procedure, with its double majority rule balancing the role of the states and the population. To reopen this part of the debate, and thus to allow a dilution of its substance, would be a historic failure and a major setback for Europe's future. If this is the price of going ahead with the treaty, it is better to do nothing at all and bide one's time.The stakes are thus very high for Europe in the coming weeks. If the substance of the constitutional treaty is saved, Europe will increasingly develop into a global player. Only then will the transatlantic alliance also have a future. To be sure, this process will take time, and there will be other setbacks. But the
fundamental direction will be correct, and there will be real cause for optimism. If, on the other hand, this attempt, too, should fail, or end in a lazy, useless compromise, Europe's decline will accelerate and transatlantic relations will become increasingly turbulent.It is now up to Merkel, Sarkozy, and Brown to prove - despite all the differences that may exist between them - that they understand the challenges that globalisation poses for Europe: the EU member states will be able to defend their interests in the world of the 21st century only to the extent that the EU itself is strong. In cooperation with Project Syndicate, 2007.
2 TIMOTHY 3:3
3 Without natural affection,
ROMANS 1:24-27
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:(HOMOSEXUALITY,AND ALL SEX SINS)
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:(LESBIENS)
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly,(SODOMITES) and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.(AIDS ETC)
Knesset Moves to Ban Gay March in Jerusalem
by Hillel Fendel (INN) JUNE 7,07
With tensions rising again as homosexuals prepare to parade in Jerusalem, the Knesset passes a preliminary reading of an amendment that would ban future such marches. At the same time, opponents of the march have begun a series of protest actions.The Knesset voted by a 40-23 margin on Wednesday afternoon to approve an early reading of an amendment to the current Jerusalem Bill.
The amendment will be discussed in the Knesset Law Committee; if it is passed there, it will be returned to the Knesset for two additional votes and final passage.The amendment reads as follows: The Jerusalem City Council is authorized to ban marches and parades in the city for reasons of disturbance of the peace, offense to public sensitivities, or for religious reasons.
MK Gabbai Explains
MK Eli Gabbai (National Religious Party), who submitted the bill twice - in the previous Knesset and in the current one - offered two explanations for proposing the bill. One explanation is that Jerusalem is a unique city in the world, holy to the three religions. The holding of a gay-pride parade specifically in Jerusalem is offensive to the believers of all the religions all over the world... This law authorizes the City Council to bar an event that is liable to offend millions of believers around the world, as well as the residents of the city itself.In his second explanation, Gabbai adds, ...Jerusalem's special national and international status stems, inter alia, from the fact that it is holy to the three religions. This legislation comes to strengthen Jerusalem's status via its City Council representatives, enabling them to set its policies while taking into account the special sensitivities in light of the unique religious and social composition of the population.MK Gabbai told Arutz-7 he hopes to have the bill passed completely in time for the scheduled gay march two weeks from now.
Some observers in the Knesset feel this is unrealistic, but it should be ready in time for gay events that are planned for the future, however, said Gabbai's spokesman Yair Givati.Meretz faction leader MK Zahava Gal'on condemned the proposed amendment, saying that every group must have the right of expression. She and party colleague MK Chaim Oron warned that the sword that is aimed at one group today could be aimed at another tomorrow. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert consented to allow the coalition MKs - specifically those of Shas - to vote their conscience on the bill. Olmert said that he himself personally opposes the bill, though he agrees that Jerusalem is not the natural place for a parade by homosexuals because of the special sensitivity in the holy city.MK Moshe Sharoni (Pensioners) said he feels the homosexuals can march in any other city: Why Jerusalem? What, do they want to get the Christians and the Moslems angry at us? Do they want the whole world to hate us even more? They're a small minority, and this is the law.
Once certain rabbis give the word, their followers will understand that an abomination march cannot be allowed to happen in the holy city, and will do practically anything to stop it Posters and Prayer Rallies. The hareidi-religious and religious sectors in Jerusalem are beginning a series of actions designed to prevent the parade from taking place. A body calling itself The Committee to Stop the Abomination Parade, backed by the Yesha Rabbis Council, the Sanhedrin, Jerusalem City Councilwoman Mina Fenton and others, has taken the following steps: Posters and billboards against the parade, road-blockings against a gay parade taking place in Haifa today (Wednesday), a possible protest rally against a planned march in Tel Aviv this Friday, and a protest tent at the entrance to Jerusalem beginning this week.In addition, the group has filed for a police permit to hold a mass prayer-and-protest rally at the entrance to Jerusalem on the day of the planned march. A donor has already agreed to pay for 1,000 buses to bring participants from all over the country. The event will be gender-separate; women will congregate at the beginning of Herzl Blvd., while men will occupy the road leading to Ramot.
Organizers say they will not sanction violence at these events. However, one organizer told Arutz-7 that once certain rabbis give the word to approve protests, their followers will understand that an abomination march is something that cannot be allowed to happen in the holy city, and they will do practically anything to stop it.Police have authorized the parade in principle, but have hinged the actual permit on their check of the actual route and other considerations of public security.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Syria ready for war
Officials: Troops at Israeli border, could launch surprise attack
June 7, 2007 - By Aaron Klein - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Syrian President Bashar Assad
TEL AVIV – Syria, aided by Iran, has deployed a strengthened army along Israel's northern border and is prepared to launch a surprise war against the Jewish state, according to senior Israeli security officials. The development comes as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday told the Knesset he is ready for direct negotiations with Syria aimed at an Israeli retreat from the Golan Heights, strategic mountainous territory that looks down on Israeli population centers twice used by Damascus to attack the Jewish state. With Israelis this week commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Six-Day War – when neighbors Egypt, Jordan and Syria attacked the Jewish state – Israeli security officials told WND Syria has prepared for a confrontation and is capable of launching an immediate war.
The officials say the Syrian army is deployed along the Syrian side of the Golan Heights with strengthened forces after carrying out the past few weeks stepped-up training of troops. The officials noted the open movement of Syrian Scud missiles near the border with Israel and said Syria recently increased production of rockets and acquired missiles capable of hitting central Israeli population centers.
The Syrian army has improved its fortifications, according to the Israeli security officials, and has received modern, Russian-made anti-tank missiles similar to the ones that devastated Israeli tanks during the last Lebanon war, causing the highest number of Israeli troop casualties during the 34 days of military confrontations. Syria also received from Russia advanced anti-aircraft missiles. The officials noted Syria stepped up the pace of weapons, including rockets, being shipped from the
Syrian border to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. Just yesterday, a truckload of weaponry meant for Hezbollah was confiscated by the Lebanese army. Yossi Baidatz, chief of military intelligence for the Israel Defense Forces, said the Syrian-backed Hezbollah is rebuilding its forces in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border in areas where international forces are deployed with the specific charge of preventing the Lebanese militia's rearming.
The security officials said the greatest threat Syria poses to the Jewish state are the country's missiles and rockets. They noted Syria recently test-fired two Scud-D surface-to-surface missiles, which have a range of about 250 miles, covering most Israeli territory. The officials said the Syrian missile test was coordinated with Iran and is believed to have been successful. It is not known what type of warhead the missiles had. In addition to longer-range Scuds, Syria is in possession of shorter-range missiles such as 220 millimeter and 305 millimeter rockets, some of which have been passed on to Hezbollah. Israel also has information Syria recently acquired and deployed Chinese-made C-802 missiles, which were successfully used against the Israeli navy during Israel's war against the Lebanese Hezbollah militia last July and August. The missiles were passed to Syria by Iran, Israeli security officials told WND.
Israeli security officials said Syria is preparing for a summer war. But they said there was an argument within the Israeli intelligence community whether the military build-up is for an attack or is meant by Syria to pressure Israel into vacating the Golan Heights.
Some officials said Syria estimates the U.S. or Israel will attack Iran, and Syria will be drawn into a larger military confrontation by opening up a front against northern Israel. Also, the officials said, Syria may believe Israel will attack first and its preparations are defensive in nature. The Israeli army is not taking any chances. The Israel Defense Forces Tuesday carried out a mock attack on a Syrian village during a major exercise in the Negev.
The Israeli soldiers besieged and occupied the village, designed to be similar to towns on the Syrian side of the Golan. Similar war exercises were carried out in Israel the past few months, including a mock attack on Damascus.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has multiple times told his state-run media the past few months Damascus is preparing for war. He warned Israel to evacuate the Golan Heights. This past weekend, Assad called for better cooperation between Damascus and Tehran in the confrontation with the Zionist regime and the USA, according to a report published Sunday by Iran's official state news agency, IRNA. Yesterday, an official from Assad's Baath party warned in a WND interview if Israel doesn't vacate the Golan, residents in the strategic territory would launch resistance operations against Israeli communities. Meanwhile, Olmert yesterday told the Israeli Knesset he is willing to hold peace talks with Syria without any preconditions. At the same Knesset hearing, Israel's security cabinet decided to establish a ministerial committee to discuss the security threat posed by Syria. The committee, led by Olmert, is made up largely of the same war lawmakers who helped shape Israel's war against Hezbollah last summer. Those lawmakers were slammed in a recent government war probe for multiple failures during the war.
Olmert – faced with devastatingly low poll numbers and calls from the public and senior officials to resign – reportedly directed staffers at Israel's Foreign Ministry to prepare for the possibility of talks with Syria. Some analysts here have speculated in the Israeli media Olmert's ratings could rise if he reached out to his leftist base and conducted negotiations with the Palestinians or Syria. According to
the Israeli media, Olmert tapped third parties to approach Syria to feel out whether Damascus is seriously interested in negotiations. Syria, which signed a military alliance with Iran, openly hosts Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. The U.S. accuses Syria of fueling and aiding the insurgency in Iraq.
Israel says Syria has been allowing large quantities of weapons to be transported from its borders to Hezbollah. Syria has been widely blamed for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria is accused by Israel and pro-Democratic Lebanese politicians of fueling instability in Lebanon the past few weeks by backing Fatah al-Islam, a group claiming connections to al-Qaida that has been battling the Lebanese Army since May 20, killing some 107 people, including 47 soldiers and 60 terrorists. The clashes erupted just before the U.N. was set to call for the establishment of an international tribunal to try the killers of Hariri. Syria has been widely blamed for the assassination and for a string of subsequent attacks that have rocked Lebanon.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (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.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: 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 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
EU's Solana says Gaza force a possibility
By David Brunnstrom Reuters - Wednesday, June 7 07:02 pm
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - An international peacekeeping force for the Gaza strip is a possibility, even though it would probably be difficult for Egypt to accept, the European Union's foreign policy chief said on Wednesday.Javier Solana told the European Parliament in Brussels that for the first time in many, many years, the idea of an international force was not out of the question.Solana said two groups in the Israeli parliament had said it may be the moment to call for such a force, at least to start with, in the south of the region where the Rafa border crossing to Egypt is located.We are working on that, he said. The Israelis are also considering that possibility, the Palestinians are considering that possibility, the Egyptians are considering that possibility.
Solana said it would probably be difficult for Egypt as deployment of such a force might give the impression it was not able to control that part of the border. However, he added:I think we can still get into discussions on these issues and maybe eventually get a solution.The EU's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told the same hearing an international mechanism set up last year to provide aid to Palestinians while bypassing the government would be extended for a further three months until the end of September.She said humanitarian conditions remained dire and appealed to EU members states to provide additional funds.
The United Nations special envoy to the Middle East called last month on Israel, the Palestinians and the United Nations to consider an international force for Gaza.Israel has long resisted Palestinian calls for peacekeepers in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, saying their deployment would interfere with Israeli security measures.But it has signalled flexibility since last year's Lebanon war, which ended
with a boosted United Nations peacekeeper force in former Hezbollah guerrilla strongholds.Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005, but cross-border violence has continued and last month it launched an air campaign to try to stop militants from firing rockets at southern Israeli towns.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
ISRAEL RECAPTURES JERUSALEM 40 YRS AGO TODAY
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 CAPTURES JERUSALEM JUNE 5-10 1967. THE FINAL GENERATION COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE AGE. (40 YEARS AGO TODAY)
June 6, 2007 - Forty Years
We are now marking the 40th anniversary of the Six Day War. It is a war that is still studied in war colleges. Some -- myself included -- see it as a modern day miracle.In May 1967, Egyptian president Gamel Nasser ordered the UN peacekeeping forces that had been in place in the Sinai since 1956 to withdraw and began to amass Egyptian troops. He closed the Straits of Tiran, in defiance of international law, blocking Israeli exit from the port of Eilat. On May 28, he said, The existence of Israel is in itself an aggression...We will not accept any coexistence with Israel...The war with Israel is in effect since 1948.On June 1, PLO representative Ahmed Shukairy declared, with regard to what would happen to Israelis if there was a war, Those who survive will remain in Palestine. I estimate that none of them will survive.By June 5, Egypt, Syria and Jordan had over 300,000 soldiers poised to wipe out Israel, with promised back-up from other Arab nations.If you are old enough (as I am), you will remember this: the sense of terror for what seemed about to unfold.
~~~~~~~~~~
Then the IDF did a lightning pre-emptive attack, demolishing the Egyptian airforce on the ground in a matter of hours. Within six days Israel took eastern Jerusalem (The Temple Mount is in our hands), Judea and Samaria -- the cradle of Jewish heritage, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai.
It should be noted that the IDF wanted to avoid fighting on several fronts at the same time and sent a message to King Hussein of Jordan that if he stayed out of the war, Israel would not attack Jordan. But Nasser misled Hussein into believing the Arabs were winning, and he rushed to join, attacking during the very first day of the war.
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel, vulnerable, beleaguered, and threatened, overnight became a victor of astounding proportions. Deterrence power had been established, the narrow boundaries within which she had existed so vulnerably had been extended, areas that were traditionally Jewish had been acquired. The celebrating was joyous, the relief and gratitude beyond measure.
~~~~~~~~~~
But the war wasn't actually over in six days. It has gone on for 40 years, and continues now. Still we face Arabs who blatantly declare that they wish to destroy us totally. We face, as well, a Palestinian Arab propaganda war that has turned us into aggressors, so that our astounding victory has in many eyes become a negative. Thus it is that Israel is labeled an occupier. A loaded term, and one used inappropriately here. But it sticks, and it makes the Israelis the bad guys -- we are the people who make all of those poor innocent Palestinians suffer. Our occupation is the cause of that terrorism, which is a fight for freedom. This, most certainly, is the perspective of the British, for example, who are prepared to boycott our institutions.The onus is put on us, rather than where it belongs. People forget that we went to war to prevent our destruction, not to acquire territory. People forget that the Palestinians have had multiple opportunities to have a state, but rejected them because destroying us was higher on their list of priorities. And I say, ENOUGH!
~~~~~~~~~~
There is no occupation. Occupation occurs when one sovereign power moves into the land of another sovereign power. This is not the case in Judea and Samaria. The world needs to be reminded. Jews need to be reminded. The Mandate for Palestine gave this land to us for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. The Mandate has never been superseded in international law.
Why was our homeland not established in the first place from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, if that is what the Mandate gave us? Because the Arabs carried on. And the international community deferred to their protests and suggested dividing Palestine. The notion of dividing Palestine between the river and the sea was actually an outrage, because Palestine had already been divided once. The original Mandate for Palestine included what is today Jordan. Some 70% of the mandated land was lopped off and given by the British to the Hashemites. The Palestinian Arabs had their nation. But -- hey! -- what did the world care about Jewish rights?
And so -- even though the Arabs ultimately declined the offer of half of Palestine between the river and the sea, because they wanted the whole thing -- the Jews accepted the proposal of a nation to be established in less than what had been promised. But according to international law, the remainder of the land -- Mandate land -- was still ours.When Israel declared independence in 1948, the Arabs states attacked immediately. When the war was over in 1949, Israel had boundaries (truce lines) that extended beyond the boundaries that had been in place at the time of independence. But Israel did not have to annex these areas, she simply had to extend civil law to them. This, of itself, is proof of the fact that the land is ours and was accepted as so. The principle in force then continues to pertain today -- nothing has superseded it. When we took Judea and Samaria in 1967, we took our own land.
~~~~~~~~~~
There is no occupation of the Palestinian people, either. (I would like to say that there is no Palestinian people -- and historically it's easy to prove this case -- but they have invented themselves so that they believe it and the world believes it, so it's pointless to go in that direction.) At present, the Palestinians manage their own affairs -- schools, press, police, etc. If there are incursions by the IDF into Palestinian cities, it is for security reasons. If there are checkpoints set up by Israel that inhibit the free movement of Palestinians, it is, likewise, for security reasons. If they stopped trying to kill us, they'd be left to do their own thing.NOWHERE it is written that we must give this Palestinian people a state of their own on a portion of our land. Once they stop trying to kill us, we have an obligation to accord them a variety of civil rights, and it would be possible to do so drawing on one of a variety of different paradigms.
~~~~~~~~~~
It's time for us to hold our heads high and know who we are. To stop apologizing for our existence and our need to defend ourselves. It's time to remind the world that Israel also has rights! It's also time to remind the world that -- hysterical and manipulative Palestinian propaganda to the contrary -- we are the most humane of people. Look at the concern for civilian life exhibited as we take limited actions against the Kassam attacks. Look at the story of an Israeli hospital treating Palestinian children with heart problems, even as the Palestinians shoot at us. Where else does this sort of thing happen? see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Cyclone lashes Oman as Iran battens down. 3-Israel displays rare Old Testament text. 4-Bigotry against Israel. 5-Man tries to jump into popemobile. 6-High-level group writes new-look EU treaty. 7-PA Satisfied With the Clash With Israel. 8-IDF Holds Exercise Simulating War With Syria. 9-
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Cyclone lashes Oman as Iran battens down by Laith Abou-Ragheb JUN 6,07
MUSCAT (AFP) - Cyclone Gonu lashed Oman on Wednesday as thousands of people were evacuated in the Gulf state and neighbouring Iran for the strongest tropical storm to hit the region in 30 years. As Gonu -- the Maldives word for a bag made of palm fronds -- hit the Omani capital strong winds snapped tree branches and blew over street signs. Roads were flooded and thick fog blanketed out the mountains encircling the city.Heavy rain and wind led to flights being suspended at Muscat airport, but the cyclone has so far not affected shipping in the Strait of Hormuz through which at least a quarter of world oil supplies passes, officials said.
Oil experts said any impact on world oil prices would be temporary provided facilities in the area stayed intact.If shipping is halted through Hormuz, I think there is going to be a panic in world oil markets and prices could shoot to as high as 80 dollars, but of course for a very short period, Kuwaiti oil expert Kamel al-Harami said.The streets of Muscat were almost deserted save for all-terrain vehicles after police asked people to stay indoors and thousands of residents were evacuated, but the storm weakened steadily after making landfall.Omani television showed rising seawater advancing some 500 metres (yards) inland, flooding coastal roads in the Sohar region 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Muscat.
The ministry of transport said the ports of Sohar and Qabus in Muscat were closed.Cyclone Gonu initially packed winds of 260 kilometres (160 miles) an hour but they have now dropped dramatically to some 90 kilometres (50 miles), weather officials said.They said the cyclone was expected to be the strongest to hit the Arabian peninsula since 1977.However OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia while lies west of Oman, said it did not expect the storm to affect its oil-producing regions.Maritime activities in the Strait of Hormuz are as usual. We have no indication of any disruption, an Omani transport ministry official told AFP.Iran evacuated residents living on the coast or alongside river banks in its southern provinces as the storm approached, and downpours were already drenching coastal areas. The southern ports of Bandar-e Jask and Chahbahar were set to be the worst affected.
In neighbouring Pakistan, fishermen in the southwest were told to stay ashore for the next 24 hours. Rough seas have already damaged dozens of fishing boats in the southwestern Baluchistan province, officials said.The army, police and civil defence were all mobilised in Oman and police said about 18,000 people been evacuated. There were no reports of any deaths or injuries, although there was some damage.Schools and businesses were ordered to stay shut until Sunday to weather the storm.
A power cut in one Muscat hotel forced guests to huddle in corridors with torches as the storm raged outside. John Watt, a 50-year-old energy consultant from Scotland, said he tried but failed to visit an oil facility on Wednesday. Driving conditions were atrocious. There must have been two to three feet of water on the road, he said. Markus and Bettina Kollman from Germany were stranded with their two children, Alana, 13, and Janik, 10. The family had attempted to drive to Dubai in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates but they were turned back at the border. My daughter is disappointed as she'll miss an appointment to have some henna tattoos. But my son is excited because it means he'll probably miss some schooldays, Bettina Kollman said. High waves also washed the east coast of OPEC member the UAE, official media said. But the meteorology department said it expected the cyclone to have a minimal impact. Yemen, at the southern end of the Arabian peninsula, sent civil defence teams to coastal areas ahead of the storm.
Israel displays rare Old Testament text By BEN HUBBARD, Associated Press Writer June 6, 3:57 PM ET
JERUSALEM - A rare Old Testament manuscript some 1,300 years old is on display for the first time, after making its way from a secret room in a Cairo synagogue to the hands of an American collector. The manuscript, containing the Song of the Sea section of the Old Testament's Book of Exodus and dating to around the seventh century A.D., comes from what scholars call the silent era a span of 600 years between the third and eighth centuries from which almost no Hebrew manuscripts survive.It is now on public display for the first time at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
It comes from a period of almost darkness in terms of Hebrew manuscripts, said Stephen Pfann, a textual scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem. Scholars have long noted the lack of original biblical manuscripts written between the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the latest of which come from the third century, and texts written in the ninth and 10th centuries, Pfann said.Scholars can only piece together scraps of information on the period using translations into Greek and other languages, he said, so to have a piece of the original text from this period is quite remarkable.The parchment is believed to have been left in the Cairo Genizah, a vast depository of medieval Jewish manuscripts discovered in the late 1800s in a previously unknown room at Cairo's ancient Ben Ezra Synagogue. It was in private hands until the late 1970s, when its Lebanese-born American owner turned it over to the Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Special Collections Library at Duke University.
The manuscript is now on extended loan to the Israel Museum and is on display in the museum's Shrine of the Book, which also houses the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Bigotry against Israel June 6,07
Dear Stan,
We want to alert you to a very important Israel-related issue that has arisen—and to tell you how you can play a critical role in addressing it.In 2005, the Association of University Teachers in Britain (AUT) called for a boycott of two leading Israeli universities. And in 2006, another British teachers union, the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE), followed suit.These two unions merged last year—and, as you might expect, the new organization that was formed, the University and College Union (UCU), is a hotbed of anti-Israel activism. Last week, the UCU passed two motions calling for a boycott of all Israeli academics.
Learn how you can send a message to the UCU today.
What is the UCU's problem with Israel? Israel is, after all, a democratic country where access to education and academic freedom flourish. If the UCU were to single out any nation in the Middle East for criticism, one would think it would be one of Israel's neighbors—the Arab and Muslim countries where freedom and access to education are often greatly restricted and, in some cases, nonexistent, especially for women. But the UCU has not called for a boycott of any other nation in the world—not China, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, Iran, Sudan, or any other country where gross violations of human rights occur routinely.While the UCU is silent about oppression in these countries, it has harsh words for democratic Israel. In these motions it maintains that Israel's 40-year occupation has seriously damaged the fabric of Palestinian society. No mention is made of the brutal fighting between rival Palestinian factions that has turned Gaza into a war zone. The UCU also maintains that Israel denies Palestinians educational rights through shootings and arrests of teachers, lecturers and students a scurrilous lie so far removed from reality that it can only be explained by a deep-seated anti-Israel prejudice.
Today, we need you to add your voice to the growing chorus of those speaking out against the outrageous, prejudiced actions of the UCU. Your response can make a difference—we saw this in 2005, when public outcry ultimately led the AUT to drop their call for a boycott. We've made it easy for you to send a message to UCU leadership telling them that Israel's friends will not stand by and see her treated unfairly. Send a message to the UCU today—and take a stand for Israel!
Send message to UCU
https://secure2.convio.net/ifcj/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr009=8k8uvm2vj6.app5b&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=189
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Man tries to jump into popemobile By DANIELA PETROFF, Associated Press Writer JUN 6,07
VATICAN CITY - A German man tried to jump into Pope Benedict XVI's uncovered popemobile as the pontiff began his general audience Wednesday and held onto it for a few seconds before being wrestled to the ground by security officers. The pope was not hurt and didn't even appear to notice that the man — who was between 20 or 30 years old — had jumped over the protective barrier in the square and had grabbed onto the white popemobile as it drove by. The pontiff kept waving to the crowd and didn't even look back.At least eight security officers who were trailing the vehicle as it moved slowly through the square grabbed the man and wrestled him to the ground.The man was a 27-year-old German who showed signs of mental imbalance, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman.
His aim was not an attempt on the pope's life but to attract attention to himself, Lombardi told reporters.The man, whom Lombardi declined to identify, was interrogated by Vatican police and then taken to a hospital for psyciatric treatment, he said.The man wore a pink T-shirt and dark shorts, a beige baseball cap and sunglasses. He vaulted up and over the barricade from the second or third row back. He got as far as the back of the jeep, holding onto it for a few seconds, before being wrestled to the ground.The jeep kept moving, and the German-born Benedict kept waving, then proceeded with the audience as if nothing had happened. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Vatican has tightened security in St. Peter's Square when the pope is present. All visitors must pass by police to get into the square, with some walking through metal detectors or being searched with metal- detecting wands.
Nevertheless, virtually anyone can attend the audience. While tickets are required, they can often be obtained at the last minute — particularly in good weather when the audience is held outside in the piazza.When the pope uses the popemobile in St. Peter's, it is usually uncovered; when he travels overseas or outside the Vatican, he usually uses one outfitted with bulletproof glass.The pope is protected by a combination of Swiss Guards, Vatican police and Italian police.On Wednesday, the head of the Swiss Guards, Col. Elmar Maeder, walked along one side of the popemobile while the pontiff's personal bodyguard, Domenico Giani, took the other side. Several plainclothes security officials trailed them.Benedict stood up behind the driver, holding onto a bar to steady himself, with his personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Ganswein, seated behind him.St. Peter's is cordoned off with wooden barriers to create "routes" that the popemobile can drive along to make the pontiff more visible to the crowd, which on Wednesday numbered about 35,000.
From his perch on the jeep, the pope waves and blesses the crowd, and occasionally will bless a baby handed up to him by a security guard. The jeep, though, never stops, with security officials walking or jogging alongside the whole way.Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was shot in the abdomen and seriously wounded on May 13, 1981, as he was riding in St. Peter's Square at the start of his general audience. The gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca of Turkey, was caught and served his sentence in Italy before being transferred to his native land.
High-level group writes new-look EU treaty
04.06.2007 - 17:30 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A small group of politicians from around the EU have published a repackaged treaty for the bloc, hoping to feed into the emerging consensus among member states that a simplified treaty has to be extracted from the ashes of the rejected EU constitution.Unofficially known as the Amato Group - it is headed by former Italian prime minister Giuliano Amato - the outfit's contribution comes at a crucial time in negotiations on creating a new-look treaty after the original EU constitution was rejected mid 2005.The 16-strong group, containing several former prime ministers as well as two current European Commissioners, has stripped the rejected constitution of its constitutional elements - including the article on the EU's symbols and the controversial God-less preamble - reduced the charter of fundamental rights to one legally binding article and say they do not mind if the proposed EU foreign minister ends up with another name.Essentially, however, the main elements of the original constitution have been kept in. We do not exclude that you reach the same final result, said Mr Amato at the unveiling of the document on Monday (4 June).
70 articles
The treaty has been reduced to 70 articles (12,800 words) plus two protocols, one containing institutional changes and one containing policy innovations - by contrast the original EU constitution contained 448 articles and around 63,000 words.The chopped down dimensions come from only taking the innovations contained in the third part of the treaty - which essentially ties together former EU treaties - and putting them into additional protocols.Structurally speaking, the two protocols would be attached to the existing Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community.The Amato treaty is the latest in a long line of proposals – MEPs and several academics have also been busy on this front – intending to provide the perfect solution for getting the EU out of the political impasse it has been in since French and Dutch voters said no to the EU constitution two years ago.Mr Amato and his co-authors argue the strength of their position lies with being thorough and following through changes in one part of the text, with the technical and legal implications in another part of the text.
A bird in the hand…
Their re-packaged but pared down EU constitution also fits in with the current trend of discussion in member states toward a simplified treaty Pushed by Nicolas Sarkozy, the new French president, and recently given backing by Spain and Italy, the phrase has been much bandied about but so far has only been elaborated on at press conferences.When asked how his treaty differed from Mr Sarkozy's ideas – as it takes up much of what Mr Sarkozy has said is crucial for any new treaty - the former Italian prime minister replied our treaty has been written.Still, it is unclear how it is supposed to fit into the ongoing treaty discussions being run by the German EU presidency. For its part, Berlin is conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations to try and prepare the path ahead of the 21-22 June summit.At the June meeting, they hope to be able to extract a concrete mandate for a new look treaty which will retain as much of the original constitution as possible but introduce enough changes to allow French and Dutch leaders to return to their parliaments with a text that looks different.
PA Satisfied With the Clash With Israel
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz (INN JUNE 6,07)
The Palestinian Authority is pleased with the course of its current warfare against Israel, according to IDF intelligence. The PA is further convinced that Israel will not send serious ground forces deep into Gaza. Reporting to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday, the head of the IDF Intelligence Corps' research division, Brigadier-General Yosef Beiditz, said, The recent escalation began as an internal clash between Hamas and Fatah, with Hamas prevailing.When the Hamas recognized that the clash with Fatah was fomenting dissatisfaction among the Gaza populace, Brig.-Gen. Beiditz explained, the Hamas decided to redirect the violence towards Israel.... They are thus far pleased with the results of the conflict with us. They understand that Israel will not undertake a ground operation deep into Gaza. And they are also pleased with the emptying of the towns in the south [of Israel].
The IDF officer concluded his report on developments in Judea, Samaria and Gaza with a warning that the Hamas is still intent on carrying out a high-quality terrorist attack, such as another kidnapping.
Also present at the committee meeting was Defense Minister Amir Peretz. He said that the IDF operations in Gaza will continue as planned. The Hamas, Peretz declared, would not determine when there will be a ceasefire. We will cease our forces' operations only if we come to the conclusion that the Hamas has ceased using Israel as a the solution to all of its problems.
The Hizbullah is Preparing a Possible Summer Offensive
Regarding the threat from Lebanon's Hizbullah, Brig.-Gen. Beiditz said that the terrorist organization was continuing to improve its physical position and abilities. Armed Hizbullah forces are located in open areas south of the Litani River, according to Beiditz, where they are operating out of sight of United Nations troops stationed in the region. The Hizbullah is preparing itself for a move that may take place in the summer, the Brig.-Gen. said, adding that there is also evidence that Syria is preparing for just such an eventuality. Included in the Syrian preparations, Beiditz suggested, was the possibility of a direct clash with Israel. Syria is increasing weapons purchases and training exercises. While there is no change in the deployment in the Golan Heights, which is a defensive array, [Syria] could improve its positions and deploy offensive capabilities.Defense Minister Peretz noted that the change from defensive to offensive deployment on the Golan can be accomplished within days, not months. ...We are prepared for any eventuality. At the same time, Peretz said that Israel should not shut the door on Syria's intimations that it is prepared to negotiate with the Jewish State.
MK Eitam Calls for an Emergency National Unity Government
At the conclusion of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, Knesset Member Effie Eitam (NRP-National Union) suggested that the serious security challenges Israel faces at this time justify an emergency two-year national unity government.Our region is facing a strategic threat in the form of an Iran determinedly proceeding towards a nuclear bomb.... Therefore, Eitam said, I propose a national emergency government for the next two years, due to these regional strategic developments. We are wasting the abilities of the IDF due to political weakness.
IDF Holds Exercise Simulating War With Syria
by Ezra HaLevi (INN) JUNE 6,07
The IDF held a large-scale exercise Tuesday simulating the invasion of Syria in the context of a war with the hostile Arab country to Israels north. Infantry units, tank divisions and the Air Force took part in the exercise. It took place at the Shizafon IDF installation, in the southern Negev. Asked about the exercise by Army Radio, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that the IDF was indeed preparing for the possibility of war with Syria, but said this does not mean that Israel would initiate such a war. Our preparedness is not an indication of any decision by either us or Syrians to go to war - these are purely defensive measures, he said. IDF Intelligence Chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin said Syria will not attack Israel and that this upgrading of military and troop movements is merely precautionary. He said Syria saw what happened during the Second Lebanon War and our deterrence became more effective.A similar IDF drill conducted last year was meant to simulate a Gaza invasion which took place on a limited scale soon after when Cpl. Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Gaza terrorists. This year, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi made reference to both Gaza and the northern front in his briefing before the IDF Officers Training School. The IDF is preparing for an escalation on both the Palestinian and the northern fronts, he said. The IDF's goal is to improve its readiness while simultaneously continuing to fight terror.
Syria Confirms: Planning For War
Syrian MP Muhammad Habash told Al-Jazeera Arabic world news satellite television network Tuesday that Syria is indeed actively preparing for war with Israel, and that Syria expects the war will start this summer. He claimed it was Israels government, however, that wants the war, in order to survive politically.
Officials Weigh in on Whether to Negotiate With Syria
Peretz said that he hopes that the upgrading of military preparedness on both sides will not preclude Syria and Israel engaging in negotiations. IDF Chief of Staff Ashkenazi has also reportedly advocated secret negotiations with Syria. Mossad Chief Meir Dagan, however, strongly opposed talk of responding to Bashar Assads public overtures saying they are aimed purely at alleviating pressure on Syria to curb its support for various terrorist groups.
Gaza Warnings
In his briefing of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yadlin warned that Israel must prepare for the possibility that Katyusha rockets with a 40 km (25 mile) range will be obtained and used by terror groups in Gaza.
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 CAPTURES JERUSALEM JUNE 5-10 1967. THE FINAL GENERATION COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE AGE. (40 YEARS AGO TODAY)
June 6, 2007 - Forty Years
We are now marking the 40th anniversary of the Six Day War. It is a war that is still studied in war colleges. Some -- myself included -- see it as a modern day miracle.In May 1967, Egyptian president Gamel Nasser ordered the UN peacekeeping forces that had been in place in the Sinai since 1956 to withdraw and began to amass Egyptian troops. He closed the Straits of Tiran, in defiance of international law, blocking Israeli exit from the port of Eilat. On May 28, he said, The existence of Israel is in itself an aggression...We will not accept any coexistence with Israel...The war with Israel is in effect since 1948.On June 1, PLO representative Ahmed Shukairy declared, with regard to what would happen to Israelis if there was a war, Those who survive will remain in Palestine. I estimate that none of them will survive.By June 5, Egypt, Syria and Jordan had over 300,000 soldiers poised to wipe out Israel, with promised back-up from other Arab nations.If you are old enough (as I am), you will remember this: the sense of terror for what seemed about to unfold.
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Then the IDF did a lightning pre-emptive attack, demolishing the Egyptian airforce on the ground in a matter of hours. Within six days Israel took eastern Jerusalem (The Temple Mount is in our hands), Judea and Samaria -- the cradle of Jewish heritage, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai.
It should be noted that the IDF wanted to avoid fighting on several fronts at the same time and sent a message to King Hussein of Jordan that if he stayed out of the war, Israel would not attack Jordan. But Nasser misled Hussein into believing the Arabs were winning, and he rushed to join, attacking during the very first day of the war.
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Israel, vulnerable, beleaguered, and threatened, overnight became a victor of astounding proportions. Deterrence power had been established, the narrow boundaries within which she had existed so vulnerably had been extended, areas that were traditionally Jewish had been acquired. The celebrating was joyous, the relief and gratitude beyond measure.
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But the war wasn't actually over in six days. It has gone on for 40 years, and continues now. Still we face Arabs who blatantly declare that they wish to destroy us totally. We face, as well, a Palestinian Arab propaganda war that has turned us into aggressors, so that our astounding victory has in many eyes become a negative. Thus it is that Israel is labeled an occupier. A loaded term, and one used inappropriately here. But it sticks, and it makes the Israelis the bad guys -- we are the people who make all of those poor innocent Palestinians suffer. Our occupation is the cause of that terrorism, which is a fight for freedom. This, most certainly, is the perspective of the British, for example, who are prepared to boycott our institutions.The onus is put on us, rather than where it belongs. People forget that we went to war to prevent our destruction, not to acquire territory. People forget that the Palestinians have had multiple opportunities to have a state, but rejected them because destroying us was higher on their list of priorities. And I say, ENOUGH!
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There is no occupation. Occupation occurs when one sovereign power moves into the land of another sovereign power. This is not the case in Judea and Samaria. The world needs to be reminded. Jews need to be reminded. The Mandate for Palestine gave this land to us for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. The Mandate has never been superseded in international law.
Why was our homeland not established in the first place from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, if that is what the Mandate gave us? Because the Arabs carried on. And the international community deferred to their protests and suggested dividing Palestine. The notion of dividing Palestine between the river and the sea was actually an outrage, because Palestine had already been divided once. The original Mandate for Palestine included what is today Jordan. Some 70% of the mandated land was lopped off and given by the British to the Hashemites. The Palestinian Arabs had their nation. But -- hey! -- what did the world care about Jewish rights?
And so -- even though the Arabs ultimately declined the offer of half of Palestine between the river and the sea, because they wanted the whole thing -- the Jews accepted the proposal of a nation to be established in less than what had been promised. But according to international law, the remainder of the land -- Mandate land -- was still ours.When Israel declared independence in 1948, the Arabs states attacked immediately. When the war was over in 1949, Israel had boundaries (truce lines) that extended beyond the boundaries that had been in place at the time of independence. But Israel did not have to annex these areas, she simply had to extend civil law to them. This, of itself, is proof of the fact that the land is ours and was accepted as so. The principle in force then continues to pertain today -- nothing has superseded it. When we took Judea and Samaria in 1967, we took our own land.
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There is no occupation of the Palestinian people, either. (I would like to say that there is no Palestinian people -- and historically it's easy to prove this case -- but they have invented themselves so that they believe it and the world believes it, so it's pointless to go in that direction.) At present, the Palestinians manage their own affairs -- schools, press, police, etc. If there are incursions by the IDF into Palestinian cities, it is for security reasons. If there are checkpoints set up by Israel that inhibit the free movement of Palestinians, it is, likewise, for security reasons. If they stopped trying to kill us, they'd be left to do their own thing.NOWHERE it is written that we must give this Palestinian people a state of their own on a portion of our land. Once they stop trying to kill us, we have an obligation to accord them a variety of civil rights, and it would be possible to do so drawing on one of a variety of different paradigms.
~~~~~~~~~~
It's time for us to hold our heads high and know who we are. To stop apologizing for our existence and our need to defend ourselves. It's time to remind the world that Israel also has rights! It's also time to remind the world that -- hysterical and manipulative Palestinian propaganda to the contrary -- we are the most humane of people. Look at the concern for civilian life exhibited as we take limited actions against the Kassam attacks. Look at the story of an Israeli hospital treating Palestinian children with heart problems, even as the Palestinians shoot at us. Where else does this sort of thing happen? see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Cyclone lashes Oman as Iran battens down. 3-Israel displays rare Old Testament text. 4-Bigotry against Israel. 5-Man tries to jump into popemobile. 6-High-level group writes new-look EU treaty. 7-PA Satisfied With the Clash With Israel. 8-IDF Holds Exercise Simulating War With Syria. 9-
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Cyclone lashes Oman as Iran battens down by Laith Abou-Ragheb JUN 6,07
MUSCAT (AFP) - Cyclone Gonu lashed Oman on Wednesday as thousands of people were evacuated in the Gulf state and neighbouring Iran for the strongest tropical storm to hit the region in 30 years. As Gonu -- the Maldives word for a bag made of palm fronds -- hit the Omani capital strong winds snapped tree branches and blew over street signs. Roads were flooded and thick fog blanketed out the mountains encircling the city.Heavy rain and wind led to flights being suspended at Muscat airport, but the cyclone has so far not affected shipping in the Strait of Hormuz through which at least a quarter of world oil supplies passes, officials said.
Oil experts said any impact on world oil prices would be temporary provided facilities in the area stayed intact.If shipping is halted through Hormuz, I think there is going to be a panic in world oil markets and prices could shoot to as high as 80 dollars, but of course for a very short period, Kuwaiti oil expert Kamel al-Harami said.The streets of Muscat were almost deserted save for all-terrain vehicles after police asked people to stay indoors and thousands of residents were evacuated, but the storm weakened steadily after making landfall.Omani television showed rising seawater advancing some 500 metres (yards) inland, flooding coastal roads in the Sohar region 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Muscat.
The ministry of transport said the ports of Sohar and Qabus in Muscat were closed.Cyclone Gonu initially packed winds of 260 kilometres (160 miles) an hour but they have now dropped dramatically to some 90 kilometres (50 miles), weather officials said.They said the cyclone was expected to be the strongest to hit the Arabian peninsula since 1977.However OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia while lies west of Oman, said it did not expect the storm to affect its oil-producing regions.Maritime activities in the Strait of Hormuz are as usual. We have no indication of any disruption, an Omani transport ministry official told AFP.Iran evacuated residents living on the coast or alongside river banks in its southern provinces as the storm approached, and downpours were already drenching coastal areas. The southern ports of Bandar-e Jask and Chahbahar were set to be the worst affected.
In neighbouring Pakistan, fishermen in the southwest were told to stay ashore for the next 24 hours. Rough seas have already damaged dozens of fishing boats in the southwestern Baluchistan province, officials said.The army, police and civil defence were all mobilised in Oman and police said about 18,000 people been evacuated. There were no reports of any deaths or injuries, although there was some damage.Schools and businesses were ordered to stay shut until Sunday to weather the storm.
A power cut in one Muscat hotel forced guests to huddle in corridors with torches as the storm raged outside. John Watt, a 50-year-old energy consultant from Scotland, said he tried but failed to visit an oil facility on Wednesday. Driving conditions were atrocious. There must have been two to three feet of water on the road, he said. Markus and Bettina Kollman from Germany were stranded with their two children, Alana, 13, and Janik, 10. The family had attempted to drive to Dubai in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates but they were turned back at the border. My daughter is disappointed as she'll miss an appointment to have some henna tattoos. But my son is excited because it means he'll probably miss some schooldays, Bettina Kollman said. High waves also washed the east coast of OPEC member the UAE, official media said. But the meteorology department said it expected the cyclone to have a minimal impact. Yemen, at the southern end of the Arabian peninsula, sent civil defence teams to coastal areas ahead of the storm.
Israel displays rare Old Testament text By BEN HUBBARD, Associated Press Writer June 6, 3:57 PM ET
JERUSALEM - A rare Old Testament manuscript some 1,300 years old is on display for the first time, after making its way from a secret room in a Cairo synagogue to the hands of an American collector. The manuscript, containing the Song of the Sea section of the Old Testament's Book of Exodus and dating to around the seventh century A.D., comes from what scholars call the silent era a span of 600 years between the third and eighth centuries from which almost no Hebrew manuscripts survive.It is now on public display for the first time at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
It comes from a period of almost darkness in terms of Hebrew manuscripts, said Stephen Pfann, a textual scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem. Scholars have long noted the lack of original biblical manuscripts written between the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the latest of which come from the third century, and texts written in the ninth and 10th centuries, Pfann said.Scholars can only piece together scraps of information on the period using translations into Greek and other languages, he said, so to have a piece of the original text from this period is quite remarkable.The parchment is believed to have been left in the Cairo Genizah, a vast depository of medieval Jewish manuscripts discovered in the late 1800s in a previously unknown room at Cairo's ancient Ben Ezra Synagogue. It was in private hands until the late 1970s, when its Lebanese-born American owner turned it over to the Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Special Collections Library at Duke University.
The manuscript is now on extended loan to the Israel Museum and is on display in the museum's Shrine of the Book, which also houses the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Bigotry against Israel June 6,07
Dear Stan,
We want to alert you to a very important Israel-related issue that has arisen—and to tell you how you can play a critical role in addressing it.In 2005, the Association of University Teachers in Britain (AUT) called for a boycott of two leading Israeli universities. And in 2006, another British teachers union, the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE), followed suit.These two unions merged last year—and, as you might expect, the new organization that was formed, the University and College Union (UCU), is a hotbed of anti-Israel activism. Last week, the UCU passed two motions calling for a boycott of all Israeli academics.
Learn how you can send a message to the UCU today.
What is the UCU's problem with Israel? Israel is, after all, a democratic country where access to education and academic freedom flourish. If the UCU were to single out any nation in the Middle East for criticism, one would think it would be one of Israel's neighbors—the Arab and Muslim countries where freedom and access to education are often greatly restricted and, in some cases, nonexistent, especially for women. But the UCU has not called for a boycott of any other nation in the world—not China, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, Iran, Sudan, or any other country where gross violations of human rights occur routinely.While the UCU is silent about oppression in these countries, it has harsh words for democratic Israel. In these motions it maintains that Israel's 40-year occupation has seriously damaged the fabric of Palestinian society. No mention is made of the brutal fighting between rival Palestinian factions that has turned Gaza into a war zone. The UCU also maintains that Israel denies Palestinians educational rights through shootings and arrests of teachers, lecturers and students a scurrilous lie so far removed from reality that it can only be explained by a deep-seated anti-Israel prejudice.
Today, we need you to add your voice to the growing chorus of those speaking out against the outrageous, prejudiced actions of the UCU. Your response can make a difference—we saw this in 2005, when public outcry ultimately led the AUT to drop their call for a boycott. We've made it easy for you to send a message to UCU leadership telling them that Israel's friends will not stand by and see her treated unfairly. Send a message to the UCU today—and take a stand for Israel!
Send message to UCU
https://secure2.convio.net/ifcj/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr009=8k8uvm2vj6.app5b&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=189
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Man tries to jump into popemobile By DANIELA PETROFF, Associated Press Writer JUN 6,07
VATICAN CITY - A German man tried to jump into Pope Benedict XVI's uncovered popemobile as the pontiff began his general audience Wednesday and held onto it for a few seconds before being wrestled to the ground by security officers. The pope was not hurt and didn't even appear to notice that the man — who was between 20 or 30 years old — had jumped over the protective barrier in the square and had grabbed onto the white popemobile as it drove by. The pontiff kept waving to the crowd and didn't even look back.At least eight security officers who were trailing the vehicle as it moved slowly through the square grabbed the man and wrestled him to the ground.The man was a 27-year-old German who showed signs of mental imbalance, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman.
His aim was not an attempt on the pope's life but to attract attention to himself, Lombardi told reporters.The man, whom Lombardi declined to identify, was interrogated by Vatican police and then taken to a hospital for psyciatric treatment, he said.The man wore a pink T-shirt and dark shorts, a beige baseball cap and sunglasses. He vaulted up and over the barricade from the second or third row back. He got as far as the back of the jeep, holding onto it for a few seconds, before being wrestled to the ground.The jeep kept moving, and the German-born Benedict kept waving, then proceeded with the audience as if nothing had happened. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Vatican has tightened security in St. Peter's Square when the pope is present. All visitors must pass by police to get into the square, with some walking through metal detectors or being searched with metal- detecting wands.
Nevertheless, virtually anyone can attend the audience. While tickets are required, they can often be obtained at the last minute — particularly in good weather when the audience is held outside in the piazza.When the pope uses the popemobile in St. Peter's, it is usually uncovered; when he travels overseas or outside the Vatican, he usually uses one outfitted with bulletproof glass.The pope is protected by a combination of Swiss Guards, Vatican police and Italian police.On Wednesday, the head of the Swiss Guards, Col. Elmar Maeder, walked along one side of the popemobile while the pontiff's personal bodyguard, Domenico Giani, took the other side. Several plainclothes security officials trailed them.Benedict stood up behind the driver, holding onto a bar to steady himself, with his personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Ganswein, seated behind him.St. Peter's is cordoned off with wooden barriers to create "routes" that the popemobile can drive along to make the pontiff more visible to the crowd, which on Wednesday numbered about 35,000.
From his perch on the jeep, the pope waves and blesses the crowd, and occasionally will bless a baby handed up to him by a security guard. The jeep, though, never stops, with security officials walking or jogging alongside the whole way.Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was shot in the abdomen and seriously wounded on May 13, 1981, as he was riding in St. Peter's Square at the start of his general audience. The gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca of Turkey, was caught and served his sentence in Italy before being transferred to his native land.
High-level group writes new-look EU treaty
04.06.2007 - 17:30 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A small group of politicians from around the EU have published a repackaged treaty for the bloc, hoping to feed into the emerging consensus among member states that a simplified treaty has to be extracted from the ashes of the rejected EU constitution.Unofficially known as the Amato Group - it is headed by former Italian prime minister Giuliano Amato - the outfit's contribution comes at a crucial time in negotiations on creating a new-look treaty after the original EU constitution was rejected mid 2005.The 16-strong group, containing several former prime ministers as well as two current European Commissioners, has stripped the rejected constitution of its constitutional elements - including the article on the EU's symbols and the controversial God-less preamble - reduced the charter of fundamental rights to one legally binding article and say they do not mind if the proposed EU foreign minister ends up with another name.Essentially, however, the main elements of the original constitution have been kept in. We do not exclude that you reach the same final result, said Mr Amato at the unveiling of the document on Monday (4 June).
70 articles
The treaty has been reduced to 70 articles (12,800 words) plus two protocols, one containing institutional changes and one containing policy innovations - by contrast the original EU constitution contained 448 articles and around 63,000 words.The chopped down dimensions come from only taking the innovations contained in the third part of the treaty - which essentially ties together former EU treaties - and putting them into additional protocols.Structurally speaking, the two protocols would be attached to the existing Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community.The Amato treaty is the latest in a long line of proposals – MEPs and several academics have also been busy on this front – intending to provide the perfect solution for getting the EU out of the political impasse it has been in since French and Dutch voters said no to the EU constitution two years ago.Mr Amato and his co-authors argue the strength of their position lies with being thorough and following through changes in one part of the text, with the technical and legal implications in another part of the text.
A bird in the hand…
Their re-packaged but pared down EU constitution also fits in with the current trend of discussion in member states toward a simplified treaty Pushed by Nicolas Sarkozy, the new French president, and recently given backing by Spain and Italy, the phrase has been much bandied about but so far has only been elaborated on at press conferences.When asked how his treaty differed from Mr Sarkozy's ideas – as it takes up much of what Mr Sarkozy has said is crucial for any new treaty - the former Italian prime minister replied our treaty has been written.Still, it is unclear how it is supposed to fit into the ongoing treaty discussions being run by the German EU presidency. For its part, Berlin is conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations to try and prepare the path ahead of the 21-22 June summit.At the June meeting, they hope to be able to extract a concrete mandate for a new look treaty which will retain as much of the original constitution as possible but introduce enough changes to allow French and Dutch leaders to return to their parliaments with a text that looks different.
PA Satisfied With the Clash With Israel
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz (INN JUNE 6,07)
The Palestinian Authority is pleased with the course of its current warfare against Israel, according to IDF intelligence. The PA is further convinced that Israel will not send serious ground forces deep into Gaza. Reporting to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday, the head of the IDF Intelligence Corps' research division, Brigadier-General Yosef Beiditz, said, The recent escalation began as an internal clash between Hamas and Fatah, with Hamas prevailing.When the Hamas recognized that the clash with Fatah was fomenting dissatisfaction among the Gaza populace, Brig.-Gen. Beiditz explained, the Hamas decided to redirect the violence towards Israel.... They are thus far pleased with the results of the conflict with us. They understand that Israel will not undertake a ground operation deep into Gaza. And they are also pleased with the emptying of the towns in the south [of Israel].
The IDF officer concluded his report on developments in Judea, Samaria and Gaza with a warning that the Hamas is still intent on carrying out a high-quality terrorist attack, such as another kidnapping.
Also present at the committee meeting was Defense Minister Amir Peretz. He said that the IDF operations in Gaza will continue as planned. The Hamas, Peretz declared, would not determine when there will be a ceasefire. We will cease our forces' operations only if we come to the conclusion that the Hamas has ceased using Israel as a the solution to all of its problems.
The Hizbullah is Preparing a Possible Summer Offensive
Regarding the threat from Lebanon's Hizbullah, Brig.-Gen. Beiditz said that the terrorist organization was continuing to improve its physical position and abilities. Armed Hizbullah forces are located in open areas south of the Litani River, according to Beiditz, where they are operating out of sight of United Nations troops stationed in the region. The Hizbullah is preparing itself for a move that may take place in the summer, the Brig.-Gen. said, adding that there is also evidence that Syria is preparing for just such an eventuality. Included in the Syrian preparations, Beiditz suggested, was the possibility of a direct clash with Israel. Syria is increasing weapons purchases and training exercises. While there is no change in the deployment in the Golan Heights, which is a defensive array, [Syria] could improve its positions and deploy offensive capabilities.Defense Minister Peretz noted that the change from defensive to offensive deployment on the Golan can be accomplished within days, not months. ...We are prepared for any eventuality. At the same time, Peretz said that Israel should not shut the door on Syria's intimations that it is prepared to negotiate with the Jewish State.
MK Eitam Calls for an Emergency National Unity Government
At the conclusion of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, Knesset Member Effie Eitam (NRP-National Union) suggested that the serious security challenges Israel faces at this time justify an emergency two-year national unity government.Our region is facing a strategic threat in the form of an Iran determinedly proceeding towards a nuclear bomb.... Therefore, Eitam said, I propose a national emergency government for the next two years, due to these regional strategic developments. We are wasting the abilities of the IDF due to political weakness.
IDF Holds Exercise Simulating War With Syria
by Ezra HaLevi (INN) JUNE 6,07
The IDF held a large-scale exercise Tuesday simulating the invasion of Syria in the context of a war with the hostile Arab country to Israels north. Infantry units, tank divisions and the Air Force took part in the exercise. It took place at the Shizafon IDF installation, in the southern Negev. Asked about the exercise by Army Radio, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that the IDF was indeed preparing for the possibility of war with Syria, but said this does not mean that Israel would initiate such a war. Our preparedness is not an indication of any decision by either us or Syrians to go to war - these are purely defensive measures, he said. IDF Intelligence Chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin said Syria will not attack Israel and that this upgrading of military and troop movements is merely precautionary. He said Syria saw what happened during the Second Lebanon War and our deterrence became more effective.A similar IDF drill conducted last year was meant to simulate a Gaza invasion which took place on a limited scale soon after when Cpl. Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Gaza terrorists. This year, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi made reference to both Gaza and the northern front in his briefing before the IDF Officers Training School. The IDF is preparing for an escalation on both the Palestinian and the northern fronts, he said. The IDF's goal is to improve its readiness while simultaneously continuing to fight terror.
Syria Confirms: Planning For War
Syrian MP Muhammad Habash told Al-Jazeera Arabic world news satellite television network Tuesday that Syria is indeed actively preparing for war with Israel, and that Syria expects the war will start this summer. He claimed it was Israels government, however, that wants the war, in order to survive politically.
Officials Weigh in on Whether to Negotiate With Syria
Peretz said that he hopes that the upgrading of military preparedness on both sides will not preclude Syria and Israel engaging in negotiations. IDF Chief of Staff Ashkenazi has also reportedly advocated secret negotiations with Syria. Mossad Chief Meir Dagan, however, strongly opposed talk of responding to Bashar Assads public overtures saying they are aimed purely at alleviating pressure on Syria to curb its support for various terrorist groups.
Gaza Warnings
In his briefing of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yadlin warned that Israel must prepare for the possibility that Katyusha rockets with a 40 km (25 mile) range will be obtained and used by terror groups in Gaza.
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