Sunday, August 31, 2008

HANNA CHURNING UP AS WELL AS GUSTAV

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.

HERES HURRICANE NUMBER 2 CHURNING UP HANNA.

Storm Hanna, off Florida, keeps experts guessing By Michael Christie AUG 31,08

MIAMI (Reuters) - While powerful Hurricane Gustav bore down on the U.S. Gulf Coast on Sunday, Tropical Storm Hanna swirled east of Florida, embedded in a complicated climatic environment that made it impossible to forecast its destination and likely strength. The eighth tropical storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season could just as easily end up over Cuba, bring heavy rainfall to citrus country in central Florida or drift northward toward South Carolina. It was not possible to say if the storm might eventually end up in the U.S. oil patch in the Gulf of Mexico, hurricane experts said.Unfortunately there is still considerable uncertainty with the forecast, said Jamie Rhome, a hurricane specialist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. It's impossible to say that this system is going to do this or that.

The cyclone was tangled up in a middle to upper level low that was making it difficult for Hanna to develop, and was likely to slow down in two days when it came across conditions of weak steering current that could make it meander.Another trough would then swoop over the tropical storm, bringing with it considerable uncertainty as to the likely wind shear as Hanna drifted near the Bahamas. Wind shear -- the difference in wind speed at different levels of the atmosphere -- can tear storms apart.At the end of the forecast track the wind shear could let up a bit, Rhome said.

None of the computer models used to predict storm tracks actually took Hanna into the southeastern United States at this point, Rhome said.Some oil analysts reported on Friday that one of the myriad computer models available to forecasters had indicated that Hanna could eventually make landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast near New Orleans where Hurricane Gustav was expected to come ashore on Monday as a dangerous storm.Those reports triggered concerns in energy markets of a potential one-two punch by Gustav and Hanna on some of the 4,000 Gulf of Mexico offshore platforms that provide a quarter of U.S. crude oil and 15 percent of its natural gas.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed more than 100 oil rigs in 2005 when they roared through, causing oil prices to soar to then record highs. Katrina went on to swamp New Orleans, kill 1,500 people on the U.S. Gulf Coast and cause $80 billion in damages.Rhome said it was folly to highlight a single computer model, especially so far out. It's a mistake, and often a grave one, to focus on a single model, he said.

The accuracy of hurricane forecasting has come a long way since the days when entire fleets of Spanish galleons sank in unexpected storms as they carried South American gold and treasure back to Europe.But even with the start of hurricane hunter flights in 1944 and the advent of satellite imagery in the 1960s, long-range forecasts are prone to enormous margins of error.The National Hurricane Center estimates the average error in its track forecasts is near 260 miles by day four and 345 miles by day five. The hurricane center does not project a storm's track beyond day five.

Intensity forecasts are even more difficult. The hurricane center calculates that the error in its forecasts for a storm's top sustained winds averages 23 miles per hour (37 km per hour) per day.The last official forecast for Hanna takes it in five days to minimal Category 1 hurricane strength with 80-mile-per-hour (130 km per hour) winds by next Friday.It might then be somewhere off central Florida. But its potential position at that point also encompasses the southern Bahamas, eastern Cuba, south Florida and South Carolina.(Editing by Tom Brown)

WELL WE EVEN HERE THE WORDS THE BIBLES SAYS WOULD BE SAID ABOUT THESE LAST DAYS STORMS.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.

Gulf Coast braces, flees as deadly Gustav takes aim at US by Glenn Chapman AUG 31,08

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) - More than a million people fled Louisiana as killer Hurricane Gustav on Sunday churned toward New Orleans, a fragile US coastal city still healing from the devastating 2005 Katrina storm. Highways out of New Orleans have been crammed since before dawn as people scurried to escape a monster storm that could slam the Louisiana coast as early as midday Monday.The state's governor, Bobby Jindal, said that more than a million people are on the move because of Gustav.

Officials are carefully watching whether Gustav strengthens as it crosses the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico.A slightly weakened Gustav -- still a dangerous Category 3 storm with winds near 125 miles (205 kilometers) per hour -- battered Cuba Sunday after claiming at least 81 lives in its tear across the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, desperate to avoid a replay of the 2005 Katrina catastrophe, ordered the city emptied in the face of what he called the storm of the century and roads quickly filled with fleeing residents.Get out of town, Jefferson parish president Aaron Broussard said in a public announcement Sunday morning. Have the courage to disconnect yourself from your material things. You cannot protect yourself against what Mother Nature is going to throw at us.

Jefferson Parish includes the West Bank, where a storm surge of water pushed ashore by hurricane winds is expected to easily wash over levees guarding that area.Weather models indicate a surge could be more than 20 feet (almost three meters) high, double the height of levees on the West Bank.We are going to see storm surge on the West Bank like we have never seen before, said Jefferson parish councilman Chris Roberts. Now is the time to sound the alarm.In Cuba, Gustav tore off roofs, flattened buildings and plunged communities into darkness as it smashed through the Isle of Youth, then tore across mainland Cuba southwest of Havana, which has a population of more than two million. There were no immediate reported deaths in Cuba.

The storm lost some of its punch in the process, with US officials downgrading it from four to three.At 1200 GMT, the US National Hurricane Center said Gustav's eye was about 375 miles (605 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, as the storm moved northwest about 16 mph (26 km/h) and was expected to strengthen.On this track Gustav will be moving across the central Gulf of Mexico today (Sunday) and make landfall on the northern Gulf coast on Monday, the NHC added, warning an extremely dangerous storm surge of 18 to 25 feet (more than six meters) above normal tidal levels is expected near and to the east of where the center of Gustav crosses the northern Gulf Coast.President George W. Bush is unlikely to travel to the Republican Convention Monday as Hurricane Gustav closes in on the US Gulf Coast, the White House said in Washington. The Katrina catastrophe was a major political disaster for his administration.Republican White House hopeful John McCain and his running-mate Sarah Palin also said they would suspend their normal election campaign and visit to Mississippi to inspect preparations for Gustav's arrival.Major oil producers BP, ConocoPhillips and Shell on Thursday evacuated workers from their facilities in the Gulf where nearly a quarter of US crude oil installations are located.If one major deep-water production platform is destroyed, you're talking about a billion dollar or more loss, said Rice University engineering professor Satish Nagarajaiah. If it's multiple rigs and platforms in a variety of water depths, then we're talking billions of dollars.Cuban national television reported that the scene on the Isle of Youth was one of devastation after the monster storm ground its way across the low-lying island of fishing villages, factories and citrus farms. Homes were under water, warehouses toppled, and roads washed away on the Isle, state television said, adding there were some injuries though no immediate reports of deaths. More than 250,000 were evacuated from western parts of mainland Cuba before the storm hit, the Cuban weather service said. Used to fairly frequent smaller tropical storms, Havana residents ran around town Saturday gathering candles and food, boiling water and taping up windows. Really, I just did not expect this -- it has been a long time since we have been hit by such a powerful hurricane, and this Gustav looks like it will be quite strong, retired actress Gliseria Farinas said in Havana. A key concern was for the crowded and charming colonial-era Old Havana, which UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site in 1982. Most of Cuba's housing stock is old and fragile. Cuban authorities have said that in Havana alone there are 1,000 buildings in critical condition. These include about 8,000 structures housing some 26,000 people, many of them in Old Havana. Earlier Gustav's path of destruction left 66 dead and 10 missing in Haiti. In neighboring Dominican Republic, the death toll stood at eight, while in Jamaica the toll stood at seven, with many thousands displaced. Gustav loomed just after the third anniversary of Katrina, the deadliest US natural disaster in almost eight decades. More than 1,800 people were killed by the hurricane and related flooding, authorities say.

Powerful Gustav rips across Cuba, 250,000 evacuate By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press Writer AUG 31,08

HAVANA - Cubans returned from shelters to find flooded homes and washed-out roads Sunday, but no deaths were reported after a monstrous Hurricane Gustav roared across the island and into the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico. About 250,000 Cubans were evacuated before Gustav made landfall on Cuba's Isla de la Juventud, then again on the Cuban mainland in the region that produces much of the tobacco used to make the nation's famed cigars.It was just short of top-scale Category 5 hurricane with screaming 140 mph (220 kph) winds as it moved across the island, toppling telephone poles and fruit trees, shattering windows and tearing off the tin roofs of homes.A Cuban television reporter on the Isla de la Juventud said the storm had felt like the blast wave from a bomb.Buildings without windows, without doors, he said. Few trees remain standing.Cuban Civil defense chief Ana Isa Delgado said there were many people injured on the island of 87,000 people. Nearly all the island's roads were washed out and some regions were heavily flooded.It's been very difficult here, she said on state television.But there were no reports of deaths, there or on the mainland.Gustav earlier killed 81 people by triggering floods and landslides in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.The hurricane weakened slightly after crossing Cuba, slowing to Category 3 status before sunrise Sunday. But it still packed top winds near 120 mph (195 kph) and forecasters predicted it would increase to a Category 4 before making landfall Monday along the U.S. Gulf coast.

More than 1 million Americans made wary by Hurricane Katrina took buses, trains, planes and cars as they streamed out of New Orleans and other coastal cities, where Katrina killed about 1,600 people in 2005.Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans, which was devastated by Katrina, issued a mandatory evacuation order and warned that anyone found off their own property after it takes effect can be arrested. Police and National Guard troops were on the streets, preparing to patrol evacuated neighborhoods.Nagin called Gustav the mother of all storms and told residents to get out of town. This is not the one to play with.Cuba's top meteorologist, Jose Rubiera, said the storm brought hurricane-force winds to much of the western part of Havana, where power was knocked out as winds blasted sheets of rain sideways though the streets and whipped angry waves against the famed seaside Malecon boulevard.

But Sunday morning no flooding could be seen in central Havana, and state radio said the damage was minimal in the capital of 2 million people, although southeastern Havana remained without power and natural gas.Public transportation began running again Sunday morning, as did buses and trains from Havana to the provinces. State radio said schools would open Monday everywhere except Pinar del Rio.In the fishing town of Batabano, 31 miles (50 kilometers) south of Havana, evacuees returned to their pastel-colored homes to find many surrounded by knee-deep water.My house is full of water, said Aldo Tomas, 43, pulling palm branches from his living room. But we expected more. We expected worse.Tourist Lidia Morral of Barcelona, Spain, said Gustav forced officials to close beaches the couple wanted to visit earlier this week in Santiago, on the island's eastern tip. The storm also prevented them from catching a ferry from Havana to the Isla de la Juventud on Saturday. It's been following us all over Cuba, ruining our vacation, said Morral, who was in line at a travel agency, trying to make other plans. They have closed everything — hotels, restaurants, bars, museums. There's not much to do but wait.At 8 a.m. EDT Sunday, the U.S. hurricane center said Gustav was centered about 375 miles (605 kilometers) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving northwest near 16 mph (26 kph). Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna was projected to move north of the Turks and Caicos Islands by late Sunday, then curl through the Bahamas by early next week before possibly threatening Cuba. As it spun over open waters, Hanna strengthened slightly and had sustained winds near 60 mph (95 kph) early Sunday. The hurricane center warned that it could kick up dangerous rip currents along parts of the southeastern U.S. coast.

Russia warns it will respond to aggression
By Christian Lowe AUG 31,08


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia does not want confrontation with the West but will hit back if attacked, Kremlin leader Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday, a day before EU leaders meet to draft a response to Moscow's actions in Georgia.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would press fellow European Union leaders to review ties with Russia in retaliation for Moscow's decision to send troops to Georgia and recognize two Georgian breakaway regions.But underlining the differences in approach inside the 27-member EU, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier took a softer line, saying isolating Russia would harm the interests of the bloc.A senior U.S. diplomat said Washington hoped the EU would express concrete support for Georgia's territorial integrity, and urged Europe to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.Medvedev faces growing condemnation from the West, which accuses Russia of occupying parts of Georgia, while the Kremlin said it acted to prevent what it called genocide against the separatist regions.Russia does not want confrontation with any country. Russia does not plan to isolate itself, Medvedev said in an interview with Russia's three main television stations.But he added: Everyone should understand that if someone launches an aggressive sortie, he will receive a response. He said Russian law allowed the Kremlin to impose sanctions on other states, though it preferred not to go down that path.

GEORGIAN CALL

Georgia urged the European Union to impose sanctions against those doing business with the two separatist regions, authorize a civilian mission to monitor buffer zones around them and give Tbilisi about $2 billion to help to help repair damage.

Europe can do a lot, starting with sending a mission of civilian monitors, which would lead to an international peacekeeping mechanism that would replace the presence of Russian troops, Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze told Reuters in Brussels.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Russia's intervention in Georgia was dangerous and unacceptable.In the light of Russian actions, the EU should review -- root and branch -- our relationship with Russia, Brown wrote in a comment published in Britain's Observer newspaper.The German foreign minister said Moscow deserved criticism but Europe needed cooperation with Russia.Europe would only be hurting itself if we were to get full of emotion and slam all the doors shut to the rooms that we will want to enter afterwards, Steinmeier said.Russia supplies more than a quarter of Europe's gas needs. Some observers say this makes tough EU sanctions unlikely.Thousands of Georgians are expected to join a human chain in Tbilisi on Monday, with people joining hands through the capital in a show of unity.Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, in an address to the nation, said he hoped the EU leaders would not give up faced with this dirty attempt at aggression.

TEST OF UNITY

The emergency summit is a test of unity for the EU, which struggles to reconcile differences between states which want punitive action and others, including European heavyweights France and Germany, which favor a more calibrated approach.It is likely to produce a stern words-soft action response from the EU, said Chris Weafer, Chief Strategist with Russia's Uralsib investment bank.The bloc is likely to stop well short of any action that might escalate into a damaging tit-for-tat sequence of economic and political sanctions, Weafer wrote in a research note.Russia sent in its troops after Georgia's military tried to retake South Ossetia, like Abkhazia a Moscow-backed region which rejects Tbilisi's rule.Moscow has pulled out most of its forces in line with a ceasefire deal but has kept soldiers and equipment in security zones, which include undisputed Georgian territory around South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Western governments have demanded that Moscow pull its troops back to pre-conflict positions. The Kremlin says the troops are peacekeepers needed to protect the separatist regions from new Georgian aggression.In a last-minute round of diplomacy before Monday's emergency EU summit, both Medvedev and U.S. President George W. Bush spoke to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is seen as sympathetic to the Kremlin.U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said it was up to the EU to decide what measures it adopts against Russia, but the bloc should throw its weight behind Georgia and make itself less dependent on Russian energy.What happened in Georgia shows even more why it is crucial that Europe begins to move more quickly to diversify its supply of gas, Bryza told Reuters on the sidelines of an international energy conference in Bled, Slovenia.(Reporting by Giles Elgood in London, Thomas Grove in Istanbul, Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin, Guy Faulconbridge and Conor Sweeney in Moscow, Marja Novak and Zoran Radosvljevic in Bled, Slovenia, Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington and Mark John and Marcin Grajewski in Brussels; editing by Philippa Fletcher).

TORAH PORTION FROM AUG 31 - SEPT 6, 2008

SINCE WHAT ISRAEL READS WILL BE FULFILLED IN THAT WEEK I WILL BE PUTTING THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION ON FOR ALL OF US TO KEEP TRACK OF ISRAEL HAPPENINGS.

TORAH PORTION FROM AUG 31, 2008 6PM TO SEPT 06,2008

Devarim
Book 5: Deuteronomy SHOFTIM


DEUTORONOMY 16:18 - 21:09
Chapter 16
Verse 18: Judges and police officers you shall appoint for yourself in all of your cities that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you for your tribes; who will judge the people righteous justice.
Verse 19: Do not pervert justice; do not display favoritism; and do not accept bribery, for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and distorts words that are just.
Verse 20: Pursue absolute justice so that you may live and inherit the land that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you.
Verse 21: Do not plant an Asherah for yourself [or] any tree near the altar of Ad-noy, your G-d, that you will make for yourself.
Verse 22: And do not erect for yourself a monument that Ad-noy, your G-d, detests.

Chapter 17
Verse 1: Do not sacrifice to Ad-noy, your G-d, an ox or a lamb that has a blemish, any bad thing; for it is abominated by Ad-noy, your G-d.
Verse 2: If there is found among you, in one of your cities that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the eyes of Ad-noy, your G-d, by violating His covenant.
Verse 3: He goes and serves other gods and bows to them--- whether to the sun or to the moon or to any of the host of heaven that I did not command.
Verse 4: When you are told and you understand, you are to inquire thoroughly. If in fact the report is authenticated and accurate--- this abomination was committed within Yisroel.
Verse 5: You are to take out that man or that woman who did this evil thing to your city--- the man or the woman--- and you are to stone them with stones so that they die.
Verse 6: By the speech of two witnesses or three witnesses is the guilty one to be executed; he is not to be executed by the oral testimonoy of one witness.
Verse 7: Let the hand of the witnesses be against him first to execute him, and the hand of the entire people afterward; and you will eliminate the evil from within you.
Verse 8: If a matter of law is too abstruse for you--- between blood and blood, between decision and decision, or between leprosy and leprosy matters under dispute in your city; you shall rise and ascend to the place that Ad-noy, your G-d, will have chosen.
Verse 9: You are to come before the kohanim-the Levites and the judge officiating during those days; you will inquire and they will tell you the legal decision.
Verse 10: You are to act according to the word that they tell you from that place that Ad-noy will have chosen; and you are to be careful to fulfill exactly as they instruct you.
Verse 11: In accord with the Torah that they instruct you and upon the law that they state to you, are you to act; do not deviate from the word they tell you, neither right or left.
Verse 12: But the man who acts deliberately to not heed the kohein who stands to serve there Ad-noy, your G-d, or the judge; that man is to be executed and you will eliminate the evil from Yisroel.
Verse 13: Let all the people hear and fear, and not sin deliberately again.

Sheini (Second Aliyah)
Verse 14: When you arrive in the land that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you and inherit it and live in it, and you say, Let me appoint over me a king like all the nations around me;
Verse 15: Appoint are you to appoint over yourself a king whom Ad-noy, your G-d, will choose. From among your brothers are you to appoint over yourself a king; you may not place over yourself a foreigner who is not your brother.
Verse 16: However, he must not aquire an abundance of horses for himself so that he will not return the people to Egypt in order to aquire an abundance of horses, because Ad-noy told you, You are not to proceed to return along this route again.
Verse 17: And he is not to aquire an abundance of wives for himself so that his heart will not veer; and silver and gold he may not accumulate for himself in great abundance.
Verse 18: It shall be, that when he occupies the throne of his kingdom, he must write for himself a duplicate of this Torah in a scroll form [the scroll] before the kohanim--- the Levites.
Verse 19: It is to accompany him and he is to read in it all the days of his life, in order that he learn to fear Ad-noy, his G-d, to guard every word of this Torah and these statutes to fulfill them;
Verse 20: That his pride not increase over his brothers and he does not stray from the commandment right or left; so that the days of his reign are lengthy over his kingdom, he and his sons within Yisroel.

Sh'lishi (Third Aliyah)
Chapter 18
Verse 1: They will not have--- the kohanim, the Levites, the entire tribe of Levi--- a portion or an inheritance with Yisroel; Ad-noy's fire-offerings and His inheritance will they eat.
Verse 2: But he will have no territory among his brothers; Ad-noy is his territory, as He said to him.
Verse 3: And this will be the stipend of the kohanim from the people from the slaughterers of [permitted] meat, whether an ox or a sheep; he will give the kohein the foreleg and the jaw and the [fourth] stomach.
Verse 4: The first portion of your grain, your wine, and your olive oil, and the first of the shearing of your sheep are you to give him.
Verse 5: For him did Ad-noy, your G-d, choose from all your tribes to stand and perform the service in the name of Ad-noy, he and his sons for all time.

Revi'i (Fourth Aliyah)
Verse 6: If a Levite should come from one of your cities throughout Yisroel where he sojourns, coming will all his soul's desire to the place that Ad-noy chooses.
Verse 7: He shall perform the service in the name of Ad-noy, his G-d, like all his brother Levites who stand there in Ad-noy's presence.
Verse 8: They shall eat equal portions, except for what the families sold [to one another.]
Verse 9: Because you are entering the land that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you; do not learn to perpetrate the abominations of those nations.
Verse 10: Let there not exist among you anyone who passes his son or daughter through fire, who practices the kosem-occult; who practices time-frame-occult or who divines portentuous events or a sorcerer.
Verse 11: Or a snake charmer, or one who invokes the spirit of Ov or yidoni, or communicates with the dead.
Verse 12: For Ad-noy's abomination is anyone perpetrating this and because of these abominations, Ad-noy, your G-d, is expelling them from before you.
Verse 13: Walk in perfect trust with Ad-noy, your G-d.

Chamishi (Fifth Aliyah)
Verse 14: Although these nations whom you are inheriting heed augurers and sorcerers, but as to you--- Ad-noy, your G-d, has not given you their status.
Verse 15: A prophet from your midst, of your brethren, like me, will Ad-noy, your G-d, establish for you; heed him.
Verse 16: Exactly as you requested from Ad-noy, your G-d, at Choreiv, on the day of assembly, saying, Let me not continue to hear the voice of Ad-noy, my G-d, and this great fire let me not see any more as that I will not die.
Verse 17: Ad-noy said to me, What they said is excellent.
Verse 18: A prophet will I establish for them from among their brethren like you, and I will place My words in his mouth and he will tell them everything that I command him.
Verse 19: Now, the man who does not heed My words that he speaks in My Name; I will demand from him.
Verse 20: But the prophet who will malevolently make a statement in My Name, something that I did not instruct him to say, or which he says in the name of foreign gods, that prophet must die.
Verse 21: If you should say to yourself, How can we know [which is] the statement that Ad-noy did not speak?
Verse 22: Should the prophet speak in Ad-noy's Name, and the matter does not happen and is not fulfilled, that is the statement that Ad-noy did not speak. The prophet spoke it malevolently; do not fear him.

Chapter 19
Verse 1: When Ad-noy, your G-d, annihilates the nations whose land Ad-noy, your G-d is giving you; and you inherit them and live in their cities and in their houses;
Verse 2: Separate three cities for yourself, within your land that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you to inherit.
Verse 3: Ready the route for yourself and divide the borders of your land into three sections that Ad-noy, your G-d, will allot you; this will serve for any murderer to flee there.
Verse 4: And this is the matter of the murderer who may flee there to survive: whoever smites his peer without intent, and he had not been his enemy yesterday [or] the day before;
Verse 5: And whoever comes with his peer into the woods to chop trees, and as his hand swung the axe downward to cut the wood the iron flew off the wooden handle and encounters his peer and he dies; he is to flee to one of these cities to survive.
Verse 6: Lest the blood-redeemer pursue the murderer when his heart grows heated, and he catches up with him over the length of the road and he smite him dead when he has no death sentence because he had not been his enemy yesterday [or] the day before.
Verse 7: Therefore am I commanding you the following: three cities shall you separate for yourself.
Verse 8: And when Ad-noy, your G-d, expands your boundary, in accordance with His oath to your forefathers, and He give you the entire land that He promised to give to your forefathers,
Verse 9: When you will be guarding this entire mitzvah to fulfill it, that I am commanding you today, to love Ad-noy, your G-d, and to go in His ways for all time; then you shall add three more cities to these three.
Verse 10: And let innocent blood not be shed within your land that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you as territory, [otherwise] you will bear liability for the blood.
Verse 11: If there is a man who hates his neighbor, and will ambush him, arising against him and smiting him dead, and he will flee to one of these cities;
Verse 12: The elders of his city will send for and take him from there, and will hand him over to the blood-redeemer, and he will be executed.
Verse 13: Do not view him with compassion. You are to eliminate the [shedding of] innocent blood from Yisroel, and you will have it good.

Shishi (Sixth Aliyah)
Verse 14: Do not move back the boundary of your neighbor that the first [settlers] determine in your territory that you will inherit in the land that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you to inherit.
Verse 15: One witness may not arise against a man about any sin or for any transgression or transgression that he transgresses; by the word of two witnesses or by the word of three witnesses let a matter be established.
Verse 16: If false witnesses arise against a man and bear fallacious testimony against him;
Verse 17: The two men shall stand, who are involved in the dispute, before Ad-noy, before the kohanim and the judges who are in those days.
Verse 18: When the judges shall investigate thoroughly and behold, the witness testified falsely, they testified falsely against their brother;
Verse 19: You are to do to [each of] them as he conspired to do to his brother, and eliminate the evil from among you;
Verse 20: And the remainder will hear and be fearful, and they will not repeat this evil thing among you.
Verse 21: You are not to have compassion: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Chapter 20
Verse 1: When you go to war against your enemy, and you see horse and chariot, people who outnumber you; do not be afraid of them, for Ad-noy, your G-d, is with you, He Who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Verse 2: Now, as you near the battle the kohein shall approach and speak to the people.
Verse 3: He will say to them, Hear, Yisroel! You are setting out today to battle against your enemies. Do not be faint hearted; or intimidated and do not panic, and do not be crushed before them;
Verse 4: Because Ad-noy, your G-d, marches with you to do battle for you with your enemies to save you.
Verse 5: The officers will address the people as follows, Whichever man has built a new house and did not inaugurate it as a dwelling, let him go and return home lest he die in battle and another man will inaugurate it.
Verse 6: And whichever man has planted a vineyard and did not redeem it[s fruit,] let him go and return home, lest he die in battle and another man redeem it.
Verse 7: And whichever man has betrothed a woman and not married her, let him go and return home, lest he die in battle and another man marry her.
Verse 8: The officers will further address the people and say. Whoever is afraid or faint hearted, let him go and return home, and let him not destroy the resolve of his brothers like his own resolve.
Verse 9: When the officers finish addressing the people; they will appoint army commanders at the head of the people.

Shevi'i (Seventh Aliyah)
Verse 10: When you near a city to do battle against it, you are to offer it peace.
Verse 11: Should it respond, Peace! and open for you, then all the people found in it will become your payers of tribute, and your servants.
Verse 12: And if it does not settle for peace with you but engages in war against you, you shall lay siege to it.
Verse 13: Ad-noy, your G-d, will deliver it into your hand, and you will smite all its males by the sword.
Verse 14: However, the women and the children, and the animals, and everything that will be in the city--- all its booty---are you to plunder for yourself; you will eat the booty of your enemies that Ad-noy, your G-d, gave you.
Verse 15: So will you do to all the cities, that are very distant from you, that are not among the cities of these nations.
Verse 16: However, from the cities of these peoples that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you as inheritance, you are not to leave any person alive.
Verse 17: Rather annihilate are you to annihilate them: the Chittites and the Emorites, the Canaanites and the Perizites, the Chivites and the Yevusites; as Ad-noy, your G-d, commanded you.
Verse 18: In order that they do not teach you to do any of their abominations that they did for their gods, and you will sin to Ad-noy, your G-d.
Verse 19: If you besiege a city many days to wage war against it, to capture it, do not harm [any of] its trees by chopping it with an ax, because you eat from it you are not to cut it down; For, is the tree in the field a man to join the besieged to escape you?
Verse 20: Only a tree that you know that it is not a fruit tree may you harm or cut down; and you will build battlements against the city that is waging war against you until it is conquered.

Chapter 21
Verse 1: If a corpse is found in the land that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you to inherit, fallen in the field, it is not known who smote him.
Verse 2: Your elders shall go out--- and your judges--- and measure in the direction of the cities around the corpse.
Verse 3: Now, the city nearest the corpse--- the elders of that city are to take a calf-heifer that has not been worked, that has not drawn a yoke.
Verse 4: The elders of that city will take down the calf to a stony valley that is not to be tilled and not to be seeded, and they shall decapitate the calf in that valley.
Verse 5: The kohanim, descendants of Levi, will approach; because them did Ad-noy, your G-d, choose to serve Him and to bless in Ad-noy's Name; and they will decide every dispute and every nega.
Verse 6: And all the elders of that city, those near the corpse, will wash their hands over the calf beheaded in that valley.

Maftir
Verse 7: They will loudly declare, Our hands have not spilled this blood and our eyes did not see.
Verse 8: [The kohanim will say,] Forgive Your people Yisroel, whom You, Ad-noy, have redeemed; and do not allow innocent blood [liability] within Your people Yisroel. The blood shall thus be atoned for in their behalf.
Verse 9: Still, you must eradicate the [liability for] innocent blood from within you, when you do what is upright in Ad-noy's eyes.

PROPHET PORTION

ISAIAH 51:12 - 53:12
12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;
13 And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.
16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.
18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.
19 These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.
21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
22 Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

ISAIAH 52:1-15
1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.
4 For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.
12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

ISAIAH 53:1-12
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

NEW TESTAMENT PORTION

MATTHEW 5:38-42
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

MATTHEW 18:15-20
15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

ACTS 3:13-26
13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

ACTS 7:35-53
35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.
38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.
45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
46 Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
47 But Solomon built him an house.
48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
50 Hath not my hand made all these things?
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

1 CORINTHIANS 5:9-13
9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

1 TIMOTHY 5:17-22
17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.
19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.
22 Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.

HEBREWS 10:28-31
28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

GUSTAV CATAGORY 4 HURRICANE

KEEP UP TO DATE ON HURRICANE WITH VIDEOS

CNN NEWS VIDEO
http://edition.cnn.com/video/

YAHOO NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video

MIDEAST CONFLICT NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/1874;_ylt=A0wNcxFdg6xIgbkAwD6z174F

ABC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461

FOX NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3074

FOX BUSINESS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3045

AP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2529

BBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2918

REUTERS VIDEO NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2704

AFP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3091

CNBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3245

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

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

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.

Death toll in China quake rises to 22 Indo-Asian News Service Saturday, August 30, 2008, (Panzhihua (China

The death toll in the earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale that hit southwest China's Sichuan province on Saturday rose to 22, officials said.At least 17people were killed and more than 100 injured in Sichuan province, while five people were reportedly killed and 26 injured in neighbouring Yunnan province, according to provincial authorities. Huge damage to properties in both the provinces has also been reported.The quake struck at 4.30 p.m. with its epicentre some 50 km southeast of Panzhihua city, at a depth of 10 km, the National Seismograph Network Center said. The tremor was felt in Yunan's capital, Kunming, about 300 km from the epicentre, and Sichuan's capital of Chengdu.Sichuan province had been hit by a magnitude 8.0 earthquake May 12, killing up to 70,000 people and devastating an area of 40,000 sq km. More than 42 million people have been affected by the quake.

Meanwhile, another earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale hit northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur region Saturday evening, but there is no immediate reports of any casualty. The quake struck northwest of Hejing county at 8.45 p.m. with its epicentre at a depth of 10 km, the National Seismograph Network Centre said.

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.

WHY CAN'T AMERICA LISTEN TO GOD AND NOT THEMSELVES ABOUT DIVIDING JERUSALEM. NOW AS I WRITE THIS AT 2:45 PM GUSTAV IS A CATAGORY 4 HURRICANE BARELLING DOWN TO NEW ORLEANS.

Hurricane Gustav strengthens to Category 4 storm AUG 30,08

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Gustav strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 storm on Saturday with winds of 145 miles per hour (230 km per hour) as it surged toward western Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. (Reporting by Jane Sutton; Editing by Chris Wilson)

Killer hurricane Gustav strengthens ahead of striking Cuba AUG 30,08

HAVANA (AFP) - Deadly hurricane Gustav bore down on Cuba headed to the Gulf of Mexico Saturday, threatening to intensify into a category-four storm after leaving a trail of death and destruction across the Caribbean.Even before strengthening to a dangerous category three storm early Saturday, Gustav killed up to 85 people in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica and causing major damage in the Cayman islands, according to officials.Evacuations were underway in coastal areas from northwest Cuba to Louisiana in the United States, where Gustav was predicted make landfall Monday or early Tuesday, three years after superstorm Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans.Civil defense authorities in Cuba's Pinar del Rio province and most of northern Cuba said they were moving 190,000 people to safety, mainly from coastal towns vulnerable to flooding before Gustav hits shore.The eye of the hurricane was expected to pass over the Isla de la Juventud, or Isle of Youth, to the south of the mainland early afternoon Saturday, before directly striking Pinar del Rio and battering the capital Havana to the east.Early Saturday a Caymans official reported heavy damage from Gustav on Cayman Brac, the large eastern island of the Caymans group, with power and water supplies down.We're hoping that it's going to settle down enough that we can do some damage assessment, said Ernie Scott, District Commissioner of the Sister Islands.I'm expecting the HMS Iron Duke early and they're going to be providing significant assistance in our damage assessment operations, he said, referring to the British Royal Navy frigate in the area.

Hundreds of people fled into shelters on Grand and Little Cayman islands as some areas were affected by flooding.The US National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that Gustav, already blowing 205 kilometer (125 miles) per hour maximum sustained winds could further intensify before striking mainland Cuba.The center said tides could surge as much as 5.8 meters (19 feet) above normal in areas under the eye of the storm as it passes the Isle of Youth and mainland western Cuba.The center was giving the storm a nearly 40 percent chance of intensifying into a category-four hurricane, with sustained winds topping 210 kilometers (131 miles) per hour as it enters the Gulf of Mexico.At 11:00 am (1500 GMT) the center of the hurricane was located about 85 kilometers (55 miles) east-southeast of the Isle of Youth and moving toward the northwest at 22 kilometers (14 miles) per hour.Earlier this week Gustav left a path of destruction through Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.In Haiti, it left 66 dead plus 10 missing. In the neighboring Dominican Republic, the death toll stood at eight.Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding told reporters Friday that the storm had killed up to 11 and displaced between 3,500 and 4,000 people in his Caribbean island nation. The death toll remained unconfirmed on Saturday.I am concerned that there are still a number of persons who are still unaccounted for, Golding said.Although the heaviest of the rains had subsided, many Jamaicans worried about returning home. It is all wet and I am afraid to sleep inside there, said Kingston housewife Charlene Markland.Anxiety meanwhile grew on the US Gulf Coast over Gustav's trajectory, with New Orleans beginning mandatory evacuations of low-lying areas Saturday.Roads out of New Orleans were jammed with people fleeing a potentially disastrous strike on the city just three years after Katrina left some 1,800 dead along the coast.Major oil producers BP, ConocoPhillips and Shell on Thursday evacuated workers from their facilities in the gulf where nearly a quarter of US crude oil installations are located.Meanwhile another tropical storm in the Atlantic well north of Puerto Rico was forecast to head to the west and strike the central Bahamas by Tuesday and then travel directly toward central Cuba.

New Orleans begins evacuations ahead of Gustav by Glenn Chapman
Sat Aug 30, 11:35 AM ET


NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) - Desperate to avoid a repeat of the Katrina catastrophe in 2005, New Orleans prepared to begin mandatory evacuations Saturday as another deadly hurricane, Gustav, bore down on the city. Bumper-to-bumper traffic clogged roads leading north and east out of New Orleans, as the dangerous category three hurricane barreled toward the Gulf of Mexico after leaving 85 people dead in Caribbean nations.The National Hurricane Center said Gustav could strengthen to a category four storm before hitting the US coast late Monday or early Tuesday.

Coastal parishes in New Orleans were due to begin the first mandatory evacuations at noon (1600 GMT), as residents boarded up windows and piled sandbags to build temporary levees, three years after Hurricane Katrina breached levees protecting the low-lying city, killing some 1,500 people.We can take about five-and-a-half feet (1.67 meters) of water above sea level, but we can't take the nine to 12 feet (2.7 to 3.7 meters) they're talking about, Tim Kerner, mayor of Jean Lafitte in lower Jefferson Parish, told the New Orleans Time Picayune.The overall population of greater New Orleans is estimated at more than one million people. It was not immediately clear how many people would be affected by Saturday's mandatory evacuation orders.The New Orleans airport said it would shut down Sunday evening, and area hotels advised customers to leave town.Voluntary and assisted evacuations began Friday, but not all residents were eager to pack up and leave.I'm supposed to be leaving but I keep waiting just a little longer to see what the storm is going to do. I know it's a risk, New Orleans resident Sheile Robertson told AFP.

She said she escaped a day before Katrina struck, destroying her home, and now lives in an apartment with a half dozen people.Another city resident, Maggie Hawkins, brought her tiny dog, Bubbles, with her as she prepared to board a bus leaving the city.I'm a native who was born here. My parents were born here. If I can I will return and will rebuild and it will be stressful and it will be a challenge but this is my home and I love it, she said on CNN television.She added that she thought the government was doing a better job than three years ago, and was very happy that she could bring her pet.US President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana and Texas, empowering federal authorities to lead disaster relief efforts in the two states.Saturday Bush called the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas to discuss preparations for Gustav, which could make landfall anywhere from western Florida to eastern Texas, said spokesman Scott Stanzel.

President Bush called to make sure the states were receiving all the assistance they needed from the federal government, Stanzel said.The president pledged the full support of the federal government.Bush's approval ratings in 2005 plummeted amid widespread criticism that he paid too little attention to Katrina, whose floodwaters rose as high as 15 feet (4.5 meters) and swallowed around 80 percent of New Orleans.

In the aftermath of that storm, tens of thousands of people spent days stranded without food or sanitation on rooftops, highways overpasses and temporary shelters which became scenes of chaos and fear as federal, state and local officials failed to adequately coordinate rescue plans. Some 20,000 people were forced to shelter in the city's Superdome sports arena amid scenes of rape, child molestation and shootings. Elsewhere in the city a number of patients were left to die in hospitals because of inadequate measures to evacuate them.

High waters, heavy rain hamper Indian flood relief Sat Aug 30, 9:10 AM ET

PATNA, India (Reuters) - Indian authorities, hampered by heavy rain and damaged roads, were struggling on Saturday to get aid to millions of displaced villagers in the eastern state of Bihar, hit by the worst flooding in 50 years. The Kosi river burst a dam in neighboring Nepal earlier this month, deluging Bihar and drowning village after village in its path as authorities failed to evacuate millions in time.

About 85 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced by floodwaters that have smashed houses and destroyed 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of farmland.

Rains are killing our rescue and relief efforts, Bihar disaster management department minister Nitish Mishra told Reuters.Our helicopters were barely able to fly for most of the day yesterday as it continued raining heavily till 4 p.m., he said.On Friday, an overcrowded army boat carrying dozens of flood victims overturned in the swollen river, drowning at least 20 people and leaving 10 unaccounted for.

Some 350,000 people have been evacuated over the past 10 days and thousands are marooned, said Pratyay Amrit, a Bihar disaster management official.Army officers were putting up sandbags and wire mesh along roads in an attempt to fix embankments and prevent the swift flowing river from inundating new areas, said a Reuters witness in the flood-hit district of Saharsa.The witness also saw more than 1,000 people from nearby villages walking to the city, where they hoped to find food and shelter. Some villagers who chose to stay, built temporary bamboo shelters on high ground, eating uncooked rice and flour mixed with polluted water.We keep sitting here the whole night and wondering what to do. How will life go on? Will we survive or not? said Virender Kumar Saga.Floods have killed more than 1,000 people in South Asia since the monsoon began in June, mainly in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where 785 people died, and deaths were also reported in Nepal and Bangladesh.These are some of the worst floods in generations and they present a huge challenge for governments and humanitarian organizations, said Daniel Toole, UNICEF's regional director for South Asia on Friday.

EXTENSIVE DAMAGE

UNICEF said more than 1,000 villages in 13 districts had been affected by the surging waters, which have caused extensive damage to roads and water and electricity supplies.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party, flew over devastated areas by helicopter on Thursday and announced $228 million in aid.The London-based humanitarian organization Oxfam said it was providing those affected with temporary shelter, water purification tablets, buckets and oral rehydration sachets.The rapid changes in the river's course have forced many harried villagers to move shelters many times and to sell their precious livestock to buy food.I sold my goat for just 50 rupees which on any other day could have brought me 2,000 rupees, said Sabia Devi. UNICEF believes it will be months before the displaced families can return to their homes and expressed concerned over the hygiene conditions of the government-run relief camps. Cases of diarrhea were reported from many relief camps in the state. (Additional reporting by Sunil Kataria in Saharsa; writing by Melanie Lee, editing by Tim Pearce)

1/3RD OF SHIPS DESTROYED

REVELATION 8:8-9
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

Boat sinks in flooded northern India, killing 20 By GAVIN RABINOWITZ, Associated Press Writer Sat Aug 30, 2:40 AM ET

PATNA, India - A rescue boat filled with panicked flood victims capsized and killed 20 people in northern India, where monsoon flooding grew worse because of heavy rain and water flowing from neighboring Nepal, officials said Saturday. The boat accident happened on Friday night in Madhepura district, 95 miles northeast of Patna, the capital of impoverished Bihar state, said O.N. Bhaskar, the superintendent of police. Those killed included one army rescue worker. Eight people swam to safety and 32 were rescued by troops, he said.The boat was overcrowded because people panicked to be rescued and clambered on board, Bhaskar told The Associated Press.

The death toll from this year's monsoon season across India has surpassed 800. Some 1.2 million people have been marooned and about 2 million more affected in Bihar state, where the Kosi river has burst its banks and submerged all roads leading to the region.India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the flooding as a national calamity.Rising waters have swept away and drowned at least 75 people in Bihar state since June, the start of the monsoon season, said Prataya Amrit, secretary of the state's disaster management department.Authorities have rescued nearly 140,000 people and put most of them in state-run relief camps, Amrit said.

The situation was getting worse because of heavy rain in the region and a Kosi river breach on the Nepalese side, Amrit said Saturday.We can't assess the extent of the damage. It is colossal, he said. But we will only be able to tell the extent after the water recedes.The Indian government has made more than $200 million available to combat monsoon flooding. Nearly 1,500 soldiers have boosted rescue efforts in Bihar state and air force helicopters were dropping food to hundreds of thousand of people stranded by the rampaging river.India's monsoon season, which lasts from June to September, brings rain vital for the country's farmers but often also causes massive destruction.Despite the rescue operations under way, officials in Bihar have warned that the real danger is still ahead.When the swollen Kosi river burst its banks in Nepal just north of the Indian border, it changed course, flowing through a fresh channel 75 miles to the east that has no protective embankments.The river traditionally swells to a flood peak in October.In 2007, monsoon floods killed more than 2,200 people across South Asia and left 31 million others homeless, short of food or with other problems. The United Nations called last year's floods the worst in living memory.

WOMAN PUTS BABY IN MICROWAVE

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.

BI BIG BABY
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?rn=222561&cl=9501713&ch=222562

A hurricane again, Gustav plows toward Caymans By MAURA AXELROD, Associated Press Writer AUG 29,08

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands - Gustav became a hurricane again on Friday as it plowed toward Cayman Islands resorts, the start of a buildup that could take it to the U.S. Gulf Coast as a fearsome Category-3 storm three years after Hurricane Katrina.

Gustav, which killed 71 people in the Caribbean, was expected to swirl through the Cayman Islands, a tiny offshore tax haven studded with resorts and cruise-ship souvenir shops, before crossing Cuba's cigar country and heading into the Gulf of Mexico by Sunday.Well-heeled tourists fled Cayman hotels by air, while Katrina victims in Mississippi still living in emergency cottages and trailers were told to evacuate beginning this weekend.Hotels on the Cayman Islands asked guests to leave, then after the airport closed prepared to shelter those who remained. Chris Smith, of Frederick, Maryland, said his hotel handed out wrist bands marked with guests' names and room numbers so that if something happens they can quickly identify us.

That was a little bit sobering, he said, standing outside the hotel with his luggage.

About 20 islanders waited for the storm in a high school gym.If people give you a shelter, you should take it, said Pamela Hall, 52.The storm killed four people in a day-long march across the length of Jamaica, where it ripped off roofs and downed power lines. Prime Minister Bruce Golding said the government sent army helicopters Friday to rescue 31 people trapped by floods. At least 59 people died in Haiti and eight in the Dominican Republic.The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Gustav could grow to a Category 3 storm, with winds above 111 mph (180 kph), by the time it hits the U.S. Gulf coast next week. Gustav could strike anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to Texas, but forecasters said there is a better-than-even chance that New Orleans will get slammed by at least tropical-storm-force winds.As much as 80 percent of the Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas production could be shut down as a precaution if Gustav enters as a major storm, weather research firm Planalytics predicted. Oil companies have already evacuated hundreds of workers from offshore platforms.Retail gas prices rose Friday for the first time in 43 days as analysts warned that a direct hit on Gulf energy infrastructure could send pump prices hurtling toward $5 a gallon. Crude oil prices ended slightly lower in a volatile session as some traders feared supply disruptions and others bet the government will release supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.The hurricane center said top winds increased to near 80 mph (130 kph). Gustav was centered 90 miles (130 kms) east of Grand Cayman, moving northwest near 11 mph (18 kph).It was projected to hit Cuba's Isle of Youth, then cross the main island into the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday night or Sunday.Gustav could become a major hurricane near the time it crosses western Cuba, the hurricane center said.Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna was projected to curl westward into the Bahamas by early next week. It had sustained winds near 50 mph (85 kph).Along the U.S. Gulf Coast, most commemorations of the Katrina anniversary were canceled because of Gustav, but in New Orleans a horse-drawn carriage took the bodies of Katrina's last seven unclaimed victims to burial.

President Bush declared an emergency in Louisiana, a move that allows the federal government to coordinate disaster relief and provide assistance in storm-affected areas.New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said an evacuation order was likely, though not before Saturday, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it expects a huge number of Gulf Coast residents will be told to leave the region this weekend. Closer to the storm, workers at the Westin Causarina Hotel on Grand Cayman island shored up ground-floor rooms with sandbags. We've taken in all the balcony furniture, all the pool furniture, the marquees, tied up what needs to be tied up, cut down any coconuts, said hotel manager Dan Szydlowski. Thunderstorms associated with Gustav already were bringing heavy downpours Friday to parts of central Cuba and evacuations were ordered in flood-prone areas. Authorities in the tobacco-rich western Cuba, where Gustav is expected to cross the island, hauled 465,000 sacks of tobacco to higher ground for safekeeping and began distributing extra rations of milk and bread.

Gustav headed for current that fuels big storms By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Fri Aug 29, 3:57 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The difference between a monster and a wimp for Gulf of Mexico hurricanes often comes down to a small patch of warm deep water that's easy to miss. It's called the Loop Current, and hurricane trackers say Gustav is headed right for it, reminiscent of Katrina. Gustav is likely to reach this current late Saturday, experts say. What happens next will be crucial, maybe deadly.If Gustav hits the Loop Current and lingers in that hot spot, watch out. If the storm misses it or zips through the current, then Gustav probably won't be much of a name to remember.The meandering Loop Current, located in the southeastern gulf, provides loads of hurricane fuel. It was a key stopover for nearly all the Gulf Coast killers of the past, including Katrina and Camille, said Florida International University professor Hugh Willoughby, former director of the government's hurricane research division.

Lynn Nick Shay, University of Miami meteorology and oceanography professor, flew over the gulf Thursday in a federal hurricane research plane to measure the Loop Current. He saw Gustav's forecast track going right down the throat of it.That's kind of the scary part here, Shay said. You look at this and say, Boy I hope this thing doesn't really explode, but it probably will.It happened in 2005. Katrina went over the Loop Current and intensified rapidly, said Mark DeMaria, a Colorado-based expert on hurricane strength with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Then less than a month later a weak tropical storm named Rita followed Katrina into the Loop Current. Thirty hours later it was a Category 5 monster.Both Katrina and Rita later weakened — which often happens_ to Category 3 storms by landfall.In the last several years, meteorologists have focused more attention on the Loop Current, which is only a couple of hundred miles long and not even 100 miles wide. The evidence linking it to the worst storms is beyond circumstantial, Shay said.What's crucial is the depth of warm water in the current — several hundred feet — because it provides continuous high-octane fuel for a storm. Hurricanes use the heat from the water to grow stronger and in the process they churn up cooler water from below, which then slows or stops the feeding process. But in the Loop Current, the deeper water is also warm and it further feeds the storm.

The Loop Current constantly shifts, growing and shrinking and sending out smaller eddies. It's now starting to contract, but not soon enough.On Friday, the National Hurricane Center warned: Gustav is expected to be a large powerful hurricane as it approaches the northern gulf coast.The one hopeful sign is that on his hurricane flight Thursday, Shay saw a pool of extra cool water north and west of the Loop Current. That could help counteract what he fears will be rapid strengthening.On the Net:An image of the current loop current by the University of Miami:
http://isotherm.rsmas.miami.edu/heat/data/h26_latest.zoom.gif
NASA on how in 2005 the Loop Current strengthened Hurricane Katrina:
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/katrina_seaheight.html

Deadly Gustav lashes Jamaica, eyes Cuba, US AUG 29,08

KINGSTON (AFP) - Tropical Storm Gustav regained hurricane strength as it churned toward Cuba Friday, leaving 78 people dead in its wake, as New Orleans began voluntary evacuations ahead of the storm's projected arrival next week. Jamaica was rocked by the storm which killed at least 11 people on the mountainous island, as people on the US Gulf Coast hurried storm preparations exactly three years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the region.The system ripped through the Dominican Republic and Haiti earlier this week, then thrashed Jamaica, beginning its rampage as a Category One hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm, then regaining hurricane strength.At 5 pm (2100 GMT) the eye of Gustav was located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Grand Cayman island and 610 kilometers (380 miles) east-southeast of the western tip of Cuba.The storm was packing winds of 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour, with higher gusts. Gustav is a Category One hurricane on the (five-level) Saffir-Simpson scale. Strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days... and Gustav could become a major hurricane near the time it crosses western Cuba.Gustav was moving in a north-west direction at 19 kilometers (12 miles) per hour, and on this track will pass near or over the Cayman islands... over the western portions of Cuba on Saturday, and into the southern Gulf of Mexico (late) Saturday or Sunday.It is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of six to 12 inches (15 to 30.5 centimeters) across Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and western Cuba, with isolated deluges of up to 25 inches (63 centimeters) possible.

These rains will likely produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides, the National Hurricane Center said.In Jamaica, Prime Minister Bruce Golding told reporters Friday that the storm killed 11 and displaced between 3,500 and 4,000 people.I am concerned that there are still a number of persons who are still unaccounted for, Golding said.He added that some schools would begin the school year a few days late because they were being used to house displaced people.Streets in the normally bustling capital Kingston were soaked and reeking with the stench from overflowing sewer water.Gustav's powerful gusts sent metal roofs flying and threatened to wreak havoc on the island's banana industry, officials said.Even though the heaviest of the rains had subsided, many Jamaicans worried about returning home. It is all wet and I am afraid to sleep inside there, said Kingston housewife Charlene Markland.Gustav was now bearing down on Cuba, where a fragile and aging housing stock is highly vulnerable to hurricanes. More than two million people live in the capital Havana, where many colonial era buildings, crowded with families, are prone to cave-ins after heavy rains.Authorities in Cuba, the only communist country in the Americas, are famed for well-organized evacuation operations but acknowledge the dangers precarious homes pose.Anxiety also was mounting on the hurricane-ravaged US Gulf Coast on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.Authorities in New Orleans began bussing out residents on a voluntary basis, and considered ordering mandatory evacuations to prevent a repeat of the devastation and deaths of 2005. President George W. Bush declared states of emergency in Louisiana and Texas Friday ahead of Gustav's forecast landfall late Monday, when it could strike as a major storm of Category Three or higher. Katrina, also a Category Three when it struck the Gulf Coast, killed some 1,800 people, most of them in New Orleans. Civil defense officials in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince said Friday that 59 people died, seven went missing and 22 had been injured from the ravages of the storm and subsequent flooding. Gustav on Tuesday struck the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where eight people were killed, officials said. British oil group BP, US ConocoPhillips and Anglo-Dutch Shell on Thursday evacuated workers from their energy installations in the Gulf as Gustav loomed. ExxonMobil said it was preparing by identifying personnel for possible evacuation to shore. About a quarter of US crude oil installations are located in the Gulf of Mexico. And the US Department of Energy said Friday that the government was prepared to tap its strategic oil reserve if a storm damages oil installations in the Gulf. Meanwhile a separate system, Tropical Storm Hanna, churned northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and could become a hurricane in a few days, the NHC said. On its current path Hanna could be over Cuba by the middle of next week.

Hurricane-force winds, heavy rain hit Phoenix area By TERRY TANG, Associated Press Writer Fri Aug 29, 4:49 PM ET

PHOENIX - A series of fast-moving thunderstorms packing winds of up to 100 mph plowed through the Phoenix area, leaving tens of thousands without power, damaging several airliners and collapsing a brand-new college football facility. There were no immediate reports of injuries from Thursday's storms, which were a particularly intense episode of Arizona's summer monsoon season.About 500 travelers were forced to spend the night at Sky Harbor International Airport, where damage was reported to terminals, cargo areas, electrical systems, jetways and aircraft, spokeswoman Deborah Ostreicher said.The airport was shut down for about an hour during the height of the storm, which dumped up to 1 1/2 inches of rain and three-quarter-inch hail in some areas.Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said three of the company's Boeing 737 jets were damaged. Two were quickly repaired and put back in service. A third, damaged when a baggage belt blew into the side of the plane, was still being repaired Friday afternoon.Airport officials said three United Airlines jets, an Aeromexico plane and aircraft from commuter carrier Mesa airlines also were damaged.Flight delays were likely to continue Friday afternoon because flight crews were kept late and may have worked the maximum number of hours allowed.

National Weather Service meteorologist Leslie Wanek said Sky Harbor recorded peak winds of 75 mph, but radar indicated gusts of up to 100 mph in parts of the metro area.In Tempe, Arizona State University officials said the storm damaged the school's new $8.4 million indoor practice facility, which is used mostly for football.A witness said the fabric roof on the structure was shredded and the bubble dome had completely deflated.The 103,500-square-foot facility was completed this month.At the state Capitol, a statue of World War I pilot Frank Luke Jr. was toppled from its pedestal. Hundreds of trees in central and uptown Phoenix were downed, and windows were blown out of at least one high-rise building downtown.Jeremy Solem was huddled by the stairs in his sixth-floor loft on Central Avenue when the storm destroyed 12 windows.It was kind of like a tornado. I just started hearing a pop, pop, pop, Solem said. I guess that's the price you pay for a really great view of the city.A large section of roofing from a new condominium complex was torn off and thrown hundreds of feet, landing on the lines powering the city's soon-to-open light rail line. James Allan, a light rail worker helping with the cleanup, said the roofing piece had brought the power lines down six to eight feet. Workers cleared most of the debris and were repositioning the wires.More than 20,000 customers remained without power Friday, utility companies said. At the height of the storm, about 100,000 homes and businesses were without power.

DISEASES

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

One dead, 87 ill, as salmonellosis cases reported across Quebec Fri Aug 29, 4:26 PM By The Canadian Press

MONTREAL - One person is dead and 87 people have fallen ill from a salmonellosis outbreak that has struck in several regions of Quebec. Provincial health officials have recalled three cheese products they suspect are the source of the outbreak. The announcement comes only days after the province's Food and Agriculture Department recalled Quebec-made cheese that tested positive for Listeria, another potentially deadly bacteria. In Ontario, there are eight confirmed deaths in a listeriosis outbreak linked to meat from a Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto. Horacio Arruda of Quebec's public health department said Friday the listeriosis and salmonellosis outbreaks are not linked. Arruda said that in one week this month there were as many salmonellosis cases reported in the province's Eastern Townships as there are in an average year. He said about 40 per cent of those who contracted the bacteria were hospitalized for at least 24 hours to treat symptoms and dehydration. Fortunately, most people recover, Arruda told a news conference. The epidemic's curve appears to show that we have not yet reached the end of the outbreak because. . . there have still been recent cases.He said about 1,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported each year in Quebec. Arruda said the victim is an elderly person who lives in the Chaudiere-Appalaches region, south of Quebec City. The Food and Agriculture Department, meanwhile, has issued recalls for cheese brands La Chaudiere, Polo and Tradition, which are suspected sources of the outbreak. All three products are manufactured by Fromages La Chaudiere, which is based in Lac-Megantic, Que. The tainted cheese was discovered by agriculture department inspectors at stores in the affected regions. Food and Agriculture spokesman Guy Auclair said products made between July 24 and Aug. 24 have been recalled, but most of the tainted cheese was manufactured on Aug. 21 and Aug. 22. He said inspectors have not found any traces of the bacteria at the Fromages La Chaudiere's production facilities. Still, he said the tainted cheese was made from a water source that is no longer at the plant. It is reasonable to believe that these products could pose a threat to public health, he told reporters. Auclair also said the Listeria recalls are not related to the Salmonella outbreak.

People who eat food contaminated by the Salmonella bacteria can contract salmonellosis. The infection poses a greater risk to the elderly, young children and those with weakened immune systems. The bacteria are found naturally in the environment and the intestines of animals, birds, and some humans. Salmonellosis symptoms, which can include diarrhea, fever and vomiting, usually surface 24 to 72 hours after the consumption of contaminated food. The health department is urging people to wash their hands thoroughly with soap, to refrigerate meat as soon as possible after purchase and to thaw meat in the refrigerator, especially chicken.

They are also asking the public to ensure meat is cooked all the way through and knives and cutting boards are washed after use.

SINS OF PEOPLE

2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

DECIEVERS WAXING WORSE AND WORSE.

2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

MORE SIN SIGNS

EPHESIANS 5:5-8
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

HOW CAN A MOTHER POSSIBLY FRY THEIR CHILD IN A MICROWAVE, INCREDIBLE.

Ohio jury convicts mother of killing month-old daughter in microwave
Fri Aug 29, 3:05 PM By The Associated Press


DAYTON, Ohio - A mother was convicted Friday of killing her month-old daughter by burning her in a microwave oven, with jurors rejecting a defence attorney's claims there was evidence that someone else was responsible. China Arnold, 28, showed no reaction when the jury's verdict was announced and then lowered her head, looking down at the defence table. Relatives in the courtroom cried and covered their faces with their hands. She was found guilty of aggravated murder and faces the death penalty when sentenced. Arnold was accused of killing daughter Paris Talley in 2005. A judge declared a mistrial in February, and the retrial began Aug. 18. Jury deliberations started Thursday following closing arguments. Prosecutors said Arnold intentionally put her baby in the microwave oven and cooked the child to death after a fight with her boyfriend. Arnolds' cellmate testified that Arnold confessed to putting the baby in the microwave and turned it on because she was worried her boyfriend would leave her if he found out the child wasn't his. The baby's DNA was found inside the microwave in Arnold's apartment, prosecutors said. Defence attorney Jon Paul Rion told the court there was evidence that someone else was responsible.

He cited testimony from an eight-year-old boy who said he saw another boy walk into the kitchen of a nearby apartment with the baby, heard the microwave go on, and then later saw the burned baby in the microwave. Judge John Kessler declared a mistrial Feb. 11 after he privately heard testimony from the juvenile. In rebuttal, however, the eight-year-old's mother testified Wednesday that they lived some distance away and they were not at Arnold's apartment complex when the baby died. Her former live-in boyfriend also testified that he was certain the boy was not at the location.

Harper likely to call Oct. 14 election, PMO officials say By Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press AUG 29,08

OTTAWA - Love him or hate him, Stephen Harper is a less risky choice for prime minister than Liberal Leader Stephane Dion in these turbulent economic times. That's the prosaic choice Conservative strategists want Canadians to make when they cast ballots in an election the prime minister is poised to call next week for Oct. 14.

At a briefing for reporters Friday, senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office said Harper is likely to pull the plug on his minority Tory government sometime between Sept. 2 and Sept. 7. And they said the most likely voting day is Oct. 14, one day after Thanksgiving. Although they insisted no final decision has been made on election timing, the officials also laid out the broad strokes of the Conservative party's campaign narrative and the so-called ballot question they want Canadians to answer. We think it will be a choice between certainty and risk, one official said on condition of anonymity. They characterized Dion as a novice and a ditherer who has failed to take decisive stands on crucial issues and who would bankrupt the nation's treasury with his half-baked carbon tax and unaffordable promises. By contrast, they touted Harper as a decisive leader who would provide stability and sound management as the economy teeters on the brink of a recession.

Love him or hate him, our prime minister knows where he stands on the issues and will offer Canadians certainty, the official said. We're in rough waters and a steady hand at the wheel is what our economy needs.Officials said Harper will offer some new and interesting ideas during the campaign but will not make wild promises to spend billions or make any further big tax cuts. Harper will not raise taxes, they added. They contrasted that with the centrepiece of the Liberal platform - Dion's risky proposal to impose a $15.3-billion carbon tax on fossil fuels, offset by equivalent income tax cuts and tax benefits. Conservatives pounced on reports that some Liberal MPs are still hoping to make adjustments to the so-called green shift to respond to concerns raised by truckers, fishermen, farmers, rural residents and others who stand to be hardest hit by a tax on carbon. And they ridiculed Liberal MPs for contradicting their leader on aspects of the plan. The PMO officials said Canadians should be wary of handing Dion the keys to the treasury when his own MPs can't explain or are worried about its economic impact. All of that is more risk and it's more uncertainty around our economy.Earlier Friday, Harper met for about a half hour with Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, ostensibly to help determine if there is any possibility of productive fall session of Parliament. Duceppe said he suggested ways in which the government could continue to function, with issue-by-issue support from one or more opposition parties. But he said it seemed clear that Harper had already made up his mind to call an election, pre-empting the scheduled return of Parliament on Sept. 15. I think his plan is made. He wants an election, period.Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for the prime minister, said Duceppe opened the meeting indicating that the Bloc does not have confidence in the government, which is not a good starting point for a productive fall session. Harper is to hold a similar meeting - likely with similar results - with NDP Leader Jack Layton on Saturday. PMO officials said he's unlikely to wait for Dion, who has said he's too busy for an immediate conference with Harper. Liberal insiders were pointing out Friday that the Tories' preferred election date of Oct. 14 falls on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. They suggested Harper may court a backlash from the Jewish community, which he has courted assiduously for two years. A PMO official said Sukkot, along with Thanksgiving and several other religious holidays during October, does present challenges in choosing an election day. But he noted that people can vote in advance polls if they can't or don't want to cast a ballot on election day.

While Conservatives were touting Harper as a paragon of certainty, there was some uncertainty Friday about their own plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At a news conference, Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multiculturalism, called on Dion to clarify whether there will be any changes to the green shift. But asked about the indirect costs to consumers of the Tory plan to regulate emissions, Kenney said that calculation will have to wait until later this fall, when the regulations are published. Environment Minister John Baird later told The Canadian Press that the regulations will not be published during an election campaign. However, he said the government has already estimated the cumulative cost of reducing emissions to be 0.4 per cent to one per cent of gross domestic product by 2020.

TEXT OF OBAMA SPEECH IN FRONT OF 84,000 PEOPLE
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73784

VIDEO RON PAUL - MCCAIN, OBAMA THE SAME
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/08/28/ron.paul.dnc.unity.cnn

WELL JOHN MCCAIN IS SMARTER THAN I THOUGHT, GETTING A WOMAN AS VP IS JUST THE CURE FOR HILLARY CLINTON NOT GETTING VP OF THE LUKEWARM DEMOCRATES.

McCain picks Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate
By Liz Sidoti And And And Beth Fouhy, The Associated Press AUG 29,08


DAYTON, Ohio - Republican John McCain introduced first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate Friday, a stunning selection of a fellow maverick designed to get an edge in the increasingly competitive White House race.

She's exactly who I need. She's exactly who this country needs to help me fight the same old Washington politics of Me first and country second, McCain declared as the pair stood together for the first time at a boisterous rally in Ohio just days before the opening of the party's national convention. Palin, the first Republican woman on a presidential ticket, promised: I'm going to take our campaign to every part of our country and our message of reform to every voter of every background in every political party, or no party at all. ... Politics isn't just a game of competing interests and clashing parties, added the Palin, 44, who has built her career in large measure by challenging fellow Republicans. In the increasingly intensive presidential campaign, McCain made his selection six days after his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, named Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, as his No. 2 on the ticket. The contrast between the two announcements was remarkable - Obama, 47, picked a 65-year-old running mate with long experience in government and a man whom he said was qualified to be president. The timing of McCain's selection appeared designed to limit any political gain Obama derives from his own convention, which ended Thursday night with his nominating acceptance speech before an estimated 84,000in Invesco Field in Colorado. Public opinion polls show a close race between Obama and McCain, and with scarcely two months remaining until the election, neither contender can allow the other to jump out to a big post-convention lead. On his 72nd birthday, McCain chose a woman younger than two of the Arizonan's seven children and a person who until recently was the mayor of small-town Wasilla, Alaska and has been governor less than two years. The Obama campaign immediately questioned whether she would be prepared to step in and be president if necessary.

Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency, Adrianne Marsh, a spokeswoman for Obama, said in a written statement. President George W. Bush complimented McCain for an exciting decision.Governor Palin is a proven reformer who is a wise steward of taxpayer dollars and champion for accountability in government, a presidential statement said. By selecting a working mother with a track record of getting things done, Senator McCain has once again demonstrated his commitment to reforming Washington.Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who came so close to being the first major party woman presidential candidate, said in a statement: We should all be proud of Gov. Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Sen. McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Gov. Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.It's an absolutely brilliant choice, said Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law. This will absolutely energize McCain's campaign and energize conservatives, he predicted. Palin's name had not been on the short list of people heavily reported upon by the news media in recent days, and McCain's decision was a well-kept secret until just a couple hours before Friday's rally. McCain's campaign said that Palin and a top aide met with senior McCain advisers in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Wednesday night. The next morning, the campaign said McCain formally invited Palin to join the ticket on the deck of McCain's home near Sedona, Ariz., and later Thursday the governor flew to Middletown, Ohio, with staff to await Friday's event in Dayton. Sharyl Odenweller, a retired teacher from Delphos, Ohio who was visiting the store, said she was pleased that McCain had chosen a woman and someone very pro life. But, Odenweller also said, I'd like to know more about her experience. If something happened to him, would she be qualified to step into the presidency? With his pick, McCain passed over more prominent contenders like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, as well as others such as former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, whose support for abortion rights might have sparked unrest at the convention that opens Monday in St. Paul, Minn. A self-styled hockey mom and political reformer, Palin became governor after ousting a state chief executive of her own party in a primary.

More recently, she has come under the scrutiny of an investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that she ordered the dismissal of Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper. Palin has a long history of run-ins with the Alaska GOP hierarchy, giving her genuine maverick status and reformer credentials that could complement McCain's image. Her husband, Todd Palin, is part Yup'ik Eskimo, and is a blue-collar North Slope oil worker who competes in the Iron Dog, a 1,900-mile snowmobile race. The couple lives in Wasilla. They have five children, the youngest of whom was born in April with Down syndrome. Associated Press Writer Liz Sidoti reported for this story from Denver.

VIDEO ON THE STORY
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73679

ELECTION 2008 Dem cops cuff, stuff Christian girls.Sidewalk chalk messages challenged Obama's moral positions August 29, 2008 12:30 am Eastern
By Bob Unruh 2008 WorldNetDaily


DENVER – Two teenagers who had been given city permission to write their messages protesting Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's support for abortion on public sidewalks during the Democratic National Convention this week were shoved to the sidewalk, cuffed and arrested for doing just that.Jayne White, 17, was arrested for chalking sidewalk messages critical of Barack Obama's support for abortion .The two are part of the Survivors organization, a Christian, pro-life activism group dedicated to educating and activating high school and college age individuals.It is called Survivors because those born after 1972 are survivors of the abortion holocaust, the group said. One-third of your generation has been killed by abortion in America.Spokeswoman Danielle Versluys told WND the group had consulted with Denver city officials as well as police prior to the DNC, and had been told that chalk messages on sidewalks would be allowed. Even though the city's deputy chief was in the meeting, that message apparently didn't get forwarded to officers on the street.Just about the time Obama, an ardent abortion supporter whose advocacy for the procedure has gone even further than that of the National Abortion Rights Action League, was making a surprise visit to the DNC meeting at which vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden was speaking to the crowds, the girls were participating in A Prayer for Change protest outside the hotel where Obama was staying.I was peacefully sidewalk chalking when I was forcefully pushed to ground by a police officer from behind, Jayne White, 17, described. As I was being cuffed on the ground, the police officer pushed his knee into the back of my neck. I was pulled roughly off the ground and taken away. I was given no warning to stop and was completely shocked when I was arrested.Julia Giacopuzzi, 15, had her arms twisted behind her, and then was lifted off the ground by her arms, by police during the Democratic National Convention in Denver .Julia Giacopuzzi, age 15, was surprised by a police officer twisting her arms behind her back and using them to lift her off the ground to be handcuffed.I was rushed by a police officer without warning and lifted up off the ground and was cuffed. I was then dragged by the police into the Westin Hotel, she said.Throughout the DNC, the youthful members of the organization have been using sidewalk chalk to raise attention to the issue of life with the permission of City Attorney David Fine and Denver Deputy Chief of Police John Lamb.

It was understood by the young women that sidewalk chalk was an accepted medium, and they were given no warning by the police before being cuffed and dragged away, the group said.Versluys told WND the two later were released, and it was unclear whether they will face a prosecution in Denver yet.It blows my mind, she said. I think the officers were keyed up. We're not sure whether they acted of their own accord or had orders.Also arrested in the incident was Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington. Officials said he was threatened with a felony for leading the event.I am horrified and outraged at the treatment of these two girls. Not only were they legally expressing their opinions on the public sidewalk, but they were doing so peacefully and without incident. The officers acted without provocation, and should be ashamed of themselves for terrorizing two young women, Versluys said.I am also appalled that the city of Denver boasted of the city's preparation for the convention but clearly neglected to train their police force to respect the First Amendment and the rights of citizens to peacefully demonstrate, she said.The city of Denver sent a clear message to civic-minded young people this week: the First Amendment doesn't apply here, she said. The arrests can be seen on the following video:I am shocked at how cowardly these police officers behaved by attacking little girls without warning or provocation, said Troy Newman, chief of the Operation Rescue campaign in Wichita, Kan.. There was absolutely no reason for [any violence.]He said his organization the chalk protesters "conducted themselves peacefully and appropriately at all times.

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).

Transport in the European Union. Europe's half a billion people depend on the more than 200,000 km of motorways that criss-cross the bloc (Photo: EUobserver.com)HELENA SPONGENBERG 29.08.2008 @ 15:20 CET

EUOBSERVER / FOCUS – Transport of people and goods are crucial for the European economy and its competitiveness as well as for bringing citizens and cultures closer to each other. But the sector is in desperate need of a makeover to deal with its growth, its environmental impact and Europe's dependency on oil imports - which currently costs the bloc one billion euros a day.More than 500 airports, 190,000 km of railways, 200,000 km of motorways. 35,000 km of waterways and 1200 seaports caters for the European Union's half a billion people every single day. The transport sector accounts for some €1000 billion – or over 10 percent of the EU total gross domestic product (GDP) – and employs 10 million people.But the increase in traffic in the last few decades has created serious congestion problems in urban areas across the bloc, which in turn cause health problems and delays that could at the present rate cost the 27-member bloc one percent of its GDP by 2010 and therefore dent Europe's economic competitiveness on the global market.

Oil dependence

Every day, the EU imports an amount of oil worth over €1 billion, according Transport & Environment (T&E) – a group campaigning for sustainable transport. Cars are the single biggest consumer of oil in the EU, using around 40 percent of imports – or 4.4 million barrels every day – and costing €140 billion a year in oil imports or €750 for every EU citizen each year.The European Union depends on foreign oil for 79 percent dependent of its needs, says T&E, with Russia and the Middle East each responsible for a third of the bloc's imports. Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia are each more than 90 percent dependent on oil from Russia, while Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain are more than 40 percent dependent on the Middle East.EU oil from the North Atlantic have already peaked and with a rising energy demand, EU foreign oil imports are rising at a time when energy-rich Russia is flexing its military muscle and political insecurity continues in the Middle East.

As the single largest user of petroleum and the most rapidly growing source of CO2 emissions, the transport sector is facing stringent environmental restrictions.The European inland transport sector accounts for 21 percent of all EU CO2 emissions. Emissions from road transport rose 0.7 percent in 2006, while overall emissions in the 27 EU member states fell by 0.3 percent.Aviation in the EU accounts for three percent of greenhouse gas emissions, while the figure for sea transport is relatively low in the EU. However, sea transport has lately become more of a worry as the sector is not covered by the Kyoto Protocol and has been lagging behind in cleaning up its act.

Major Achilles heel

Greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector continue to rise steadily. A growing transport – linked to a growing economy – demand has outweighed improvements made in the energy efficiency of various transport modes and the introduction of non-fossil fuels.Transport is today one of the major Achilles heels in the efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. While most other sectors have reduced their emissions, the transport sector has increased its emissions, Danish climate and energy minister Connie Hedegaard said earlier this year.She will be chairing the global climate conference to be held in Copenhagen in December next year, where it is hoped the world's industrialised countries will reach a new global climate deal to replace the current Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012.Industrialised countries that are signatories to the Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997, are required to reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride) to on average 5.2 percent below their 1990 level, over the period 2008 to 2012. However, the Kyoto Protocol does not provide for emissions from international flights and maritime transport - which are fast becoming big polluters.The air traffic sector has by far had the biggest growth in the last decade with now 10 million flights a year. Last year the air traffic in the EU continued to grow by 5.3 percent despite high fuel prices and its greenhouse gas emissions increased by 87 percent between 1990 and 2006.

Commission White Paper

In 2001, the European Commission published a White Paper proposing 60 measures to revamp the EU's transport policy by 2010 in order to make it more sustainable and avoid massive economic losses resulting from pollution, congestion and accidents.

Since then the bloc has adopted regulations and recommendation on road safety, infrastructure and transport pollution, to mention a few.A mid-term update in 2006 attempted to shift the policy more towards economic interests, which took into account recent objectives such as globalisation, enlargement, the Kyoto Protocol, energy efficiency, urban transport and the diversification of transport use.The update looked at the more than 35,000 kilometres of waterways that connect hundreds of cities and industrial regions and the share of river transport, which accounts for seven percent of the total inland transport in the bloc. However, the share of inland waterway transport has the potential to reach up to 43 percent, argues the EU executive.Sustainable and safe transport in Europe will be the subject of the informal meeting of European transport ministers gathering in France on 1-2 September. The topics include EU's future action plan on urban mobility, which will be drawn up on the basis of the green paper presented last year by Jacques Barrot, the then European commissioner for transport.The ministers will also discuss the commission's proposal for amending the green toll or Eurovignette directive, as well as looking at the conditions for making more use of sea transport in Europe by creating a so-called motorway of the sea.

Spats over who gets to go to EU summit break out in Poland, Finland
LEIGH PHILLIPS 29.08.2008 @ 09:30 CET


The emergency European summit called to tackle the Georgian crisis and forge a common European position on the issue is itself causing divisions - but over who gets to go to the extraordinary meeting of EU leaders.The Polish prime minister and president are scrapping over who gets to attend the meeting, while the decision by the Finnish president to go has pushed aside the country's foreign minister, Alexander Stubb, who is also the current chair of the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic, although there is no tussle over who gets to attend, President Vaclav Klaus nonetheless has an opposing view to his prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, as to who is responsible for the Georgian conflict.Conservative Polish president Lech Kaczynski has demanded he be the one to head to Brussels for the summit, rather than the more liberal prime minister, Donald Tusk.Speaking on Polish radio, the president's aide, Piotr Kownacki, on Thursday (28 August) said: If the president is in the Polish delegation, it is obvious that he lead it due to his office, according to AFP.The previous day, the deputy prime minister, Grzegorz Schetyna, had said that if the president attended, it was not going to help matters, the French news agency also reported.Moreover, the two leaders have a slightly differing perspective on the crisis. The president has attacked the peace plan between Russia and Georgia negotiated by French President Nicholas Sarkozy for making no mention of Georgia's right to territorial integrity.Mr Tusk, for his part, has not criticised the plan, although he hopes to see a strong position taken by the EU on Russia's actions.

Messrs Tusk and Kaczynski are to meet on Friday to attempt to resolve the disagreement.Over in Finland, President Tarja Halonen has announced she is to attend the summit, meaning that foreign minister Alexander Stubb would have to wait outside while the president and prime minister talk with other EU leaders.The bumping of the foreign minister this time is causing a bit of a headache for the delegation, as Mr Stubb is also the current chairperson of the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with which the EU has been closely working on the Georgian crisis. The foreign minister and former MEP also played a key role in the negotiation of the Sarkozy peace plan as chair of the OSCE.President Halonen's chief of staff said on Wednesday that the starting point is that the OSCE chairperson will attend and that Finland would have a third seat in the meeting, instead of the normal two, the Helsingin Sanomat reported.However, Brussels officials have all said that a third seat is impossible, according to the Finnish daily.Mr Stubb may yet be invited to attend separately in his capacity as OSCE chair, but in which case, he would only be able to participate for the length of his presentation.Elsewhere, although Czech President Vaclav Klaus has been invited, he will not be heading to the summit, with prime minister Mirek Topolánek attending instead, alongside the foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg.The Czech leaders have diametrically opposed views on the conflict, with President Klaus of the opinion that Georgia is responsible for starting the war, while the prime minister blames Russia.Mr Schwarzenberg said that such differences are nothing unusual in the government of a democratic state. The main thing, he said, is that it is the government that determines foreign policy, reports the Prague Post.

I KNEW THESE HURRICANES WERE NO ACCIDENT. RICE WAS PRESSURING ISRAEL TO DIVIDE JERUSALEM.

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Palestinian media: Rice urging division of Jerusalem. Follows WND report revealing status of secret negotiations August 29, 2008
12:30 am Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily


Condoleezza Rice

JERUSALEM – In her visit here earlier this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Israel to sign a document by the end of the year that would divide Jerusalem by offering the Palestinians a state in Israel's capital city as well as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to multiple reports yesterday in major official Palestinian Authority media outlets.The information, verified by top diplomatic sources, first was reported Tuesday by WND.Al Ayam, an official PA newspaper, quoted top Palestinian sources stating Rice asked the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams to meet at the highest levels on a daily basis and to keep the meetings private. The newspaper claimed Rice spoke to PA officials about eastern Jerusalem becoming part of a Palestinian state as well as sections of the Jordan Valley.Al Ayam's editor-in-chief, Akram Heniyeh, is one of PA President Mahmoud Abbas' closest advisers.Official PA television yesterday quoted sources close to Abbas stating Rice's short-term goal is to produce an interim Israeli-Palestinian paper before a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly next month.WND reported exclusively Aug. 1 that Olmert told the PA he intends to accelerate negotiations to reach some understanding on paper as soon as September.Also in the official Palestinian media yesterday, a high-level Palestinian source told the Al Quds daily that Rice for the first time discussed with Abbas the need to create a Palestinian state alongside the 1967 borders, meaning an Israeli evacuation of the Gaza Strip, West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.Israel recaptured eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – during the 1967 Six Day War. The Palestinians have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital. About 244,000 Arabs live in Jerusalem, mostly in eastern neighborhoods. Jerusalem has an estimated total population of 724,000, the majority Jewish.Top diplomatic sources involved in the Israeli-Palestinian talks confirmed to WND the goal is to create a Palestinian state on paper by January.

Secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations revealed

The Israeli team, led by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has been negotiating the division of Jerusalem – despite claims to the contrary – but would rather conclude an agreement on paper by the end of the year that would give the Palestinians a state in the West Bank, Gaza and some Israeli territory, leaving conclusions on Jerusalem for a later date, the informed diplomatic sources told WND.The sources said the Palestinian team has been pushing to conclude a deal by January on all core issues, including Jerusalem, and has been petitioning the U.S. to pressure Israel into signing an agreement on paper that offers the Palestinians eastern Jerusalem.

Rice, the sources said, has asked Israeli leaders to bend to what the U.S. refers to as a compromise position, concluding an Israeli-Palestinian agreement by the end of the year that guarantees sections of Jerusalem to the Palestinians. But Israel would not be required to withdraw from Jerusalem for a period of one to five years.The diplomatic sources told WND the plan is that once an Israeli-Palestinian deal is reached on paper by January, Bush would issue an official letter guaranteeing that the U.S. supports the conclusions of the document.Any Israeli-Palestinian paper agreement is to finalize a process that began at last November's U.S.-backed Annapolis conference, which seeks to create a Palestinian state, at least on paper, before Bush leaves office.One Palestinian negotiator speaking to WND described as crazy the intensity and frequency of Israeli-Palestinian talks in recent weeks, saying both sides have been meeting on a daily basis, usually at the highest levels. The negotiator said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Chief Palestinian Negotiator Ahmed Queri have been leading the talks.The negotiator said Jerusalem is being discussed by both sides and that the two teams are closer than ever on coming to an agreement on the status of the city.This claim was verified to WND by other diplomatic sources involved in the negotiations.The Palestinian negotiator said Jerusalem would be divided along the framework of the 2000 U.S.-brokered Camp David accords. He said the general philosophy for dividing Jerusalem would be Arab for Arab and Jew for Jew, meaning that most Arab-majority eastern sections of Jerusalem would be granted to the Palestinian Authority while Israel would retain Western, Jewish-majority sections.A number of Arab-majority eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods widely regarded as slated for a Palestinian state include large numbers of Arabs who live on Jewish-owned land illegally. The Jewish National Fund, a U.S.-based nonprofit, owns hundred of acres of eastern Jerusalem land in which tens of thousands of Arabs illegally constructed homes the past few decades. Arabs are now the majority on the Jewish-owned land in question.Asked by WND whether Jerusalem is currently being negotiated, Mark Regev, Olmert's spokesman, simply stated, No.

Olmert has several times denied Jerusalem is being negotiated. Members of his government coalition have promised to bolt his government and precipitate new elections if Jerusalem is discussed in talks.Olmert, facing several criminal investigations described as serious, recently announced he will resign after his Kadima party holds primaries next month to choose a new leader. That leader is widely expected to continue Israeli-Palestinian talks, especially if frontrunner Livni takes Olmert's place.The diplomatic situation in Israel is such that many commentators believe Olmert has an interest in concluding some sort of agreement quickly. Many believe he would like his input in an Israeli-Palestinian agreement to be among his final achievements.Over the weekend, the Israeli media quoted officials close to Olmert stating the prime minister is working for an interim document as soon as next month to be presented to the United Nations. The document likely will not be the conclusion of negotiations but an outline of some of the breakthroughs regarding the West Bank and Gaza.One PA negotiator told WND of the planned paper: Papers are very important. It puts limits on the new prime minister. For example, the weak point of Israeli-Syrian negotiations are papers signed by former prime ministers that now must be abided during current negotiations.

U.S.-influenced plan splits nation

Regarding the expected agreement on the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the general plan, according to top diplomatic sources, is to create a Palestinian state in the vast majority of the West Bank, but for Israel to retain large West Bank Jewish community blocs of Ma'aleh Adumim, Gush Etzion and the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and some land in the northern West Bank adjacent to Israel.A plan being floated and heavily influenced by the U.S. grants the Palestinians passage between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on territory that would be jointly patrolled by Israel and the PA. The passageway would give the Palestinians access to areas close to central Israeli population centers.An area from the Israeli Negev nearly equivalent in land mass to the territory Israel would retain in the West Bank would be transferred to the West Bank – marking the first official Israeli plan that calls for pre-1967 land to be given to the Palestinians. Pre-1967 refers to Israeli territory that was not reconquered in the 1967 Six Day War. Much of the plan previously was published by WND in a series of articles in recent months and was published last week by Israel's Haaretz daily.The plan would be set out on paper and implemented on the Israeli side in stages, while the PA would need to first retake control of the Gaza Strip from Hamas before Israel would give them most of the West Bank.

Jerusalem division plan revealed

Regarding the division of Jerusalem, top diplomatic sources said both sides are close to agreements on specific issues.One PA negotiator claimed the U.S. has guaranteed the Palestinians that sensitive areas in eastern Jerusalem in which what he termed extremist Jews are purchasing real estate would be handed to the Palestinians.The Israelis had no problem with this, the PA negotiator claimed. We were also told not to worry too much about scattered Jewish properties in Arab neighborhoods, or yeshivas (Jewish seminaries) in the Old City.The PA negotiator's claim could not be verified by sources in Jerusalem.According to informed Israeli and Palestinian sources, officials from the State Department in 2008 presented both negotiating sides with several proposals for consideration regarding the future status of Jerusalem. It was unclear whether the U.S. proposals were accepted.One U.S. plan for Jerusalem obtained by WND was divided into timed phases, and among other things called for Israel eventually to consider forfeiting parts of the Temple Mount.According to the first stage of the U.S. proposal, Israel would initially give the PA some municipal and security sovereignty over key Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem. The PA would be allowed to open some official institutions in Jerusalem, could elect a mayor for the Palestinian side of the city and would deploy some kind of so-called basic security force to maintain law and order. The specifics of the force were not detailed in the plan.The initial stage also calls for the PA to operate Jerusalem municipal institutions, such as offices to oversee trash collection and maintenance of roads.After five years, if both sides keep specific commitments called for in a larger principal agreement, according to the U.S. plan, the PA would be given full sovereignty over agreed-upon eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods and discussions would be held regarding an arrangement for the Temple Mount. The plan doesn't specify which parts of the Temple Mount could be forfeited to the Palestinians or whether an international force may be involved.The PA also could deploy official security forces in Jerusalem separate from a non-defined basic force after the five-year period and could also open major governmental institutions, such as a president's office, and offices for the finance and foreign ministries.The U.S. plan leaves Israel and the PA to negotiate which Jerusalem neighborhoods would become Palestinian.According to diplomatic sources familiar with the plan, while specific neighborhoods were not officially listed, American officials recommended sections of Jerusalem's Old City as well as certain largely Arab Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Jabal mukabar, Beit Hanina, Abu Dis, and Abu Tur become part of the Palestinian side. Also recommended were the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Shoafat, Kfar Akev and Qalandiya.

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

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

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

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

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

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

Israeli police question Olmert for 7th time Fri Aug 29, 3:35 PM ET

JERUSALEM - Police questioned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Friday for a seventh time in connection with one of the multiple corruption probes that have driven him to announce his resignation. Olmert was questioned for 2 1/2 hours over a house he bought in Jerusalem before becoming prime minister in 2006, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.The premier is suspected of having received the house at a discount in exchange for promoting a Jerusalem construction project while he was the city's mayor. Police suspect irregular building permits were granted.

Rosenfeld said Olmert's wife, Aliza, was also questioned for the first time in connection with the probes targeting the Israeli leader. He said he did not know whether she would be questioned further.The prime minister denies any wrongdoing in any of the cases and he has not been charged. Olmert has said he plans to step down after his Kadima Party holds leadership elections next month so he can fight the allegations — all of which concern events that predated his premiership.The main probe concerns tens of thousands of dollars in cash he allegedly took from Jewish-American businessman Morris Talansky. Olmert's lawyers will continue cross-examining Talansky on Sunday and Monday, in an effort to refute his accusations. But Talansky's Israeli lawyer, Jacques Chen, said Friday that a Jerusalem court has put off the questioning until an undetermined date.Talansky's U.S. lawyers had recommended that he refuse to testify again before an Israeli court because the Israeli investigation mirrors a probe in the U.S., and by testifying further in Israel, Talansky could incriminate himself.

Abbas to hold further talks with Israel's Olmert Fri Aug 29, 6:31 AM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet again with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. The next round of talks in Jerusalem will come days after a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that made little progress toward a goal of a limited peace accord before President George W. Bush leaves office in January.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters on Friday Abbas and Olmert would meet to review the negotiations and the final status issues.The leaders would also discuss a Western-backed peace road map that demands Israel halt settlement building in occupied territory and that Palestinians rein in militants, Erekat said.An Israeli official confirmed the talks would take place, saying they would be held in Jerusalem.The leaders last met on August 6. Israel freed 198 Palestinian prisoners from its jails on Monday, in a gesture that sought to boost the Western-backed Abbas, who faces challenges from the Islamist Hamas group that seized control of Gaza last year.Analysts doubt Washington's goal of a quick peace deal will be met, as Olmert, weakened by a corruption probe, has vowed to step down once his Kadima party chooses a new leader next month.Though Olmert could remain in power for weeks afterwards as a caretaker prime minister, his weakened political stature would likely hamper his clout to make critical diplomatic decisions.(Reporting by Adam Entous in Jerusalem; writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; editing by Mary Gabriel)

I WISH I COULD FIGURE OUT WHY OLMERTS SETS FREE AT LEAST 900 PRISONERS IN THE LAST WHILE, AND ONLY GETS 2 DEAD BODIES AND CAN'T EVEN GET THE 3RD SOLDIER, THIS IS NONESCENSE AT ITS WORST.

Israel PM willing to free 450 Palestinians in swap: report Fri Aug 29, 3:45 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is willing to release 450 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a soldier held by militants in the Gaza Strip, a newspaper reported on Friday. Olmert has asked the five ministers dealing with the proposed swap with Hamas to draw up the list which would increase from about 80 the number of prisoners Israel is willing to release in exchange for Gilad Shalit, the Haaretz newspaper said.The Israeli corporal, who turned 22 on Wednesday, was captured in a deadly cross-border raid from Gaza in June 2006 and is believed to be held by Hamas, the Islamist movement which rules the tiny Palestinian territory.

Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev would not confirm or deny the report. Giving such information does not facilitate his release, he said.Haaretz said the ministers are to meet on Sunday to discuss ways of easing the criteria that determines which prisoners can be released.Israel and Hamas have been holding indirect negotiations through Egyptian mediators on a deal to exchange Shalit for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.Israel blacklists Hamas a terrorist organisation, but the two sides agreed on June 19 to a truce in Gaza, also through Egyptian mediation.Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, violently seized power in Gaza in June 2007, routing forces loyal to secular Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas who now only holds sway in the West Bank.On Monday, Israel freed 198 Palestinian prisoners in a gesture to Abbas as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the region to spur US-backed peace talks. Most of those prisoners were from Abbas's Fatah party and none from Hamas.

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Putin Accuses U.S. Pushing Georgia Conflict to Influence Elections Back Home
Thursday, August 28, 2008 AP


Aug. 28: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin tells CNN the United States urged George to invade South Ossetia.Aug. 28: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin tells CNN the United States urged George to invade South Ossetia.

WASHINGTON — The White House is rejecting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's claim that the United States pushed Georgia to war, calling the allegation patently false.Putin had suggested that U.S. involvement was intended to affect its own domestic politics.Spokeswoman Dana Perino responded Thursday by saying that to suggest the U.S. orchestrated [the crisis] on behalf of political candidates is not rational.Putin made the claims in an interview Thursday with CNN, and Russian news agencies report he said the U.S. seemingly encouraged Georgia to use force to resolve its dispute with separatist South Ossetia.The American side in fact armed and trained the Georgian army, ITAR-Tass quoted Putin as saying in the interview. Why hold years of difficult talks and seek complex compromise solutions in interethnic conflicts? It's easier to arm one side and push it into the murder of the other side, and it's over.According to ITAR-Tass, he also said: If my guesses are confirmed, then the suspicion is raised that somebody in the United States purposefully created this conflict with the aim of aggravating the situation and creating an advantage ... for one of the candidates in the battle for the post of U.S. president.

EU sanctions would be grave mistake, Russia says
RENATA GOLDIROVA 29.08.2008 @ 09:25 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - As the European Union considers imposing sanctions against Russia over its recognition of independence for Georgia's rebel regions, Moscow has said that any punitive measures would be a grave mistake, harming the 27-nation bloc as much as Russia itself. First of all, I highly doubt that [sanctions] might ever happen, but hypothetically speaking, this would be to the detriment of the European Union as much, if not more, than to Russia, Russia's ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said on Thursday (28 August). The comment comes shortly ahead of an emergency EU summit scheduled for 1 September in order to reassess the union's ties with Moscow in the face of its actions in the South Caucasus. France, the current EU president, has warned that sanctions are being considered and many other means as well - words that were quickly denounced by Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who said the idea showed the workings of a sick imagination.In practice, just a few countries - mainly the UK, Sweden, Poland and three Baltic EU states - are pushing for a tough line against Russia. Even if achieved, punitive measures could be limited to no more than suspension of visa-free travel talks or postponement of negotiations on a new EU-Russia treaty, currently scheduled for 16 September, EU diplomats said.I can only express the wish that European leaders will be able to rise above the emotions of the day and consider seriously and without prejudice the perspectives of strategic partnership with their important partner, the Russian Federation, ambassador Chizhov told journalists in Brussels. We need the new agreement as much as the EU does - not less, not more, he concluded.The French EU presidency itself will not table punitive measures, while Germany - which is heavily reliant on Russian oil and gas - also has little appetite for punishing Moscow.

We are strongly committed to keeping open channels to Russia. We have to look at who will be hurt by sanctions, what will be the costs and benefits, one senior German official was cited as saying by the Financial Times.German Socialist MEP Martin Schulz told Financial Times Deutschland: [Sanctions] would play into the hands of radical elements in Moscow, who want an escalation of the conflict.

An isolated Russia?

Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin - widely seen as the man driving Kremlin policy - has accused Washington of playing a role in the current conflict in Georgia to benefit one of the US presidential candidates. The suspicion arises that someone in the United States especially created this conflict with the aim of making the situation more tense and creating a competitive advantage for one of the candidates fighting for the post of US president, Mr Putin said in a CNN interview on Thursday (28 August). He explained that US citizens had been present in the area during hostilities, following direct orders from Washington, which also trained and supplied the Georgian army. The White House dismissed the allegations by describing them as not rational and patently false.Another round of verbal attacks took place at the United Nations last night (28 August), with Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin accusing the US of hypocrisy. He cited the US-led invasion of Iraq and Kosovo's unilateral secession from Serbia, backed by major Western powers, as examples.I would like to ask the distinguished representative of the United States [about] weapons of mass destruction. Have you found them yet in Iraq or are you still looking for them? Mr Churkin said, according to Reuters. So far, no country has followed Russia in recognising South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, although Moscow's Ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said he expected a number of countries to do so, with Belarus suggesting it may take the step before the weekend.

Virtual integrity

Mr Chizhov referred to Georgia's territorial integrity as a virtual concept rather than reality, even arguing that Russia's moves are justified under the peace plan brokered two weeks ago by French leader Nicolas Sarkozy - a deal seen as too vague and too Russia-friendly. Let me refer to the six-point plan of Presidents Medvedev and Sarkozy, which does not include a reference of territorial integrity and it's not a mistake ... it was deliberate I would say, the Russian diplomat said. But Russia has failed to win backing from its allies within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, comprising China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, whose leaders limited themselves to supporting Russia's active role in promoting peace in the post-conflict phase.

Islamic Jihad warns of rising Fatah-Hamas tensions Fri Aug 29, 11:37 AM ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - A top Islamic Jihad leader said on Friday a rift between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas could trigger more violence if it is not resolved by January, the target date for a presidential poll. The groups disagree on dates for holding parliamentary and presidential elections.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement says the polls should be held on the same date. Hamas, which won parliamentary elections in 2006, says Abbas's term ends on January 9 but parliamentary elections are not due until 2010.If we get to January 9 without reaching an agreement that would end the state of schism, then we would certainly be heading to a new chapter of conflict that will be more tragic, Ramadan Shallah of the Islamic Jihad militant group was quoted as saying in the London-based al-Hayat newspaper.Shallah, who was in Cairo attending the most recent round of reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas, urged Arabs, in particular Egypt, to help the two sides resolve their differences.Previous attempts by Arab leaders to reconcile Abbas and Hamas have ended in disagreement over whether Hamas should cede control of Gaza. Hamas also opposes Abbas's U.S.-brokered peace talks with Israel.

Hamas Islamists seized control of Gaza in June 2007 after routing Fatah forces. Abbas later dismissed a Hamas-led government and appointed a new administration in the occupied West Bank, where Fatah holds sway.Abbas argues that Palestinian election law, approved before Hamas's rise to power, allows for the contests to be held at the same time.Egyptian officials have recently been meeting with representatives from different Palestinian factions to settle the Fatah-Hamas rift, but officials familiar with the talks said they did not expect the sides to reach agreement.Many Palestinians fear a failure to end the factional division soon could make it more permanent and in turn render Abbas's talks with Israel on Palestinian statehood close to irrelevant.(Writing by Mohammed Assadi; Editing by Caroline Drees)

Georgia to cut diplomatic ties with Moscow By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI, Associated Press Writer Fri Aug 29, 5:57 PM ET

TBILISI, Georgia - Georgia severed diplomatic ties with Moscow on Friday to protest the presence of Russian troops on its territory. Russia said the move would only make things worse. With European Union leaders set to discuss on Monday in Brussels how to deal with an increasingly assertive Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin angrily warned Europe not to do America's bidding and said Moscow does not fear Western sanctions.Russia has faced isolation over its offensive in Georgia and stands alone in its recognition of breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The U.S. and Europe have closed ranks in condemning Russia's actions but are struggling to find an effective response.EU leaders are not expected to impose sanctions on Russia at their summit but may name a special envoy to Georgia to ensure that a cease-fire is observed, French and Belgian officials said.Georgia's diplomats in Russia will leave Moscow on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said. Georgia's leadership followed through on a call from lawmakers who voted late Thursday to break off ties with Russia.Russia criticized the move, saying it would not help mend ruined ties.

Both nations' consulates, however, will remain open — important for the many Georgian citizens living in Russia. Under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, breaking off diplomatic ties does not automatically lead to a cut in consular relations.The diplomatic break will require Georgia and Russia to negotiate through third countries if they negotiate at all — a sticky situation because Russia sees Western nations as biased in Georgia's favor. Georgia, which had pushed for a greater role for international organizations, could see it as an advantage.We found ourselves in an awkward situation when a country militarily invading and occupying our country, then recognizing part of its territories, is trying to create a sense of normalcy by maintaining diplomatic relations, Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili said in Sweden.But the move may bring little practical change, because there were few signs of any productive diplomacy even before the war. Trade between Russia and Georgia is also minimal, following Russian bans in 2006 on Georgia's major exports — wine and mineral water — and other products.Only a fraction of foreign investment in Georgia comes from Russia, while a Russian ban on direct flights to and from Georgia was lifted this year but flights were halted again as the war erupted. Overland travel is already severely restricted because of impassable mountain ranges, and main routes linking Georgia and Russia pass through South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The five-day war broke out Aug. 7 when Georgia attacked South Ossetia in a bid to wrest control from separatists. Russia sent in tanks, troops and bombers, and has maintained a powerful military presence.Kurt Volker, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, said Georgia shouldn't be blamed for sparking the crisis.It wasn't a Georgian attack on Tskhinvali that launched all of this, Volker said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., referring to South Ossetia's capital. It was Russian pressure over a long period of time and then shelling coming from South Ossetians.

Still, he said Georgia's attack on South Ossetia was not a wise thing to do because as we've seen Russia was prepared to launch a major invasion.Russia further angered the West and startled its supporters by recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Tuesday.Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili applauded the lack of global support for recognition of the breakaway regions.Today it is a fight between the civilized and the uncivilized worlds, Saakashvili said on visit to Poti, a Black Sea port still shadowed by Russian forces who have set up positions nearby. Putin said Russia defended the lives of its citizens during the war in Georgia. Such a country will not be in isolation, Putin said in an excerpt of an interview with Germany's ARD television shown on state-run Russian television. Associated Press writers Yuras Karmanau in Tskhinvali; Jim Heintz in Tbilisi; Maria Danilova, David Nowak and Steve Gutterman in Moscow, Laurent Pirot in Paris and Malin Rising in Stockholm contributed to this report.

Opinion Russia trifles with genocide By the Monitor's Editorial Board
Fri Aug 29, 4:00 AM ET


Of Russia's many excuses for invading Georgia, its claim of preventing genocide has set back a new idea in human history. In 2005, the UN said the international community must intervene in countries suffering mass atrocities – putting mercy before sovereignty. Russia abused this idea in Georgia. The world now needs to save this humanitarian impulse to prevent real genocides. No mass atrocities were occurring, or were likely to occur, in Georgia's breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on the night of Aug. 7-8 when Russia invaded. Later reports by journalists indicated Georgian forces had been attacked first by Russian-backed insurgents. A few hundred civilians on both sides were killed in the crossfire and bombardments. While tragic, the killings hardly rise to the level of genocide. And Russia had other means to calm or prevent the situation. The fact that Russia didn't first use diplomacy or didn't restrict its forces to South Ossetia only reinforces reports that Moscow instigated the conflict in order to send a message. It really wanted the West to acknowledge its territorial imperium and its ability to command the region's oil reserves.Instead, Russia claims the same moral and legal authority to intervene to protect South Ossetians as did NATO in 1999 to rescue Kosovo's ethnic Albanians. But the two conflicts are very different. And the distinctions are important in order to preserve the UN's 2005 mandate, which is often called responsibility to protect, or R2P.

In Kosovo, Serb forces were massacring innocent ethnic Albanians, just as Serbian forces in Bosnia had killed 8,000 men from the town of Srebrenica in 1995 and committed ethnic cleansing in other parts of former Yugoslavia. The UN refused to act. NATO then decided to bomb Serbia into submission to prevent another Srebrenica-type atrocity.NATO's action, while not legal without UN authority, was widely considered legitimate. Russia's action in Georgia is neither. And it fails to meet justification for humanitarian intervention. The gravity of the threat to human rights was not high enough and other options were not pursued.The UN has yet to be specific on the exact criteria to trigger such interventions. That has left many small countries afraid that large countries will misuse the concept. Just ask the Georgians.The moral imperative for R2P arose out of the failure to prevent the 1994 Rwanda genocide. It had a precedent in the 1993 US intervention in Somalia. The 2005 mandate limits such interventions to those cases where a government fails to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.A global consensus on its use, however, remains fragile. After all, the idea challenges the centuries-old concept of the inviolability of borders. But R2P is rooted in the idea that individuals deserve as much sovereignty as a nation and that a massive loss of life requires a massive response by humanity.Before Russia's excuse for its invasion becomes accepted, the world must renew its commitment to R2P with more clarity and precision. Mercy must not be abused by bullies cloaked in false motives.

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

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

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

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

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

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

Gas prices up as Gustav threatens Gulf refineries By STEVENSON JACOBS, AP Business Writer Fri Aug 29, 5:30 PM ET

NEW YORK - Retail gas prices swung higher Friday — the first increase in 43 days — as analysts warned that a direct hit on U.S. energy infrastructure by Hurricane Gustav could send pump prices hurtling toward $5 a gallon. Meanwhile, oil prices ended the day slightly lower, falling for a second straight session. But prices fluctuated sharply as some traders feared supply disruptions and others bet the government will release supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if Gustav wreaks havoc in the Gulf of Mexico area — home to a quarter of U.S. crude supplies and 40 percent of refining capacity.Gustav, which regained hurricane strength Friday, was spinning away from Jamaica on a course toward Gulf Coast states including Louisiana — three years to the day since Hurricane Katrina slammed into the state and tore up oil rigs and refineries.Fears of another monster storm have sent wholesale gasoline prices shooting up in the Gulf region, forcing filling stations to pass on the costs by raising pump prices ahead of Labor Day weekend.

A gallon of regular gasoline jumped about a penny overnight to a national average of $3.669, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.That's the first increase since prices peaked at an average $4.114 a gallon on July 17, an all-time high.Jeff Rubin, chief economist at investment bank CIBC World Markets, said that record could be shattered if Gustav seriously disrupts offshore energy production.In 2005, pump prices jumped from slightly more than $2 a gallon to above $3 after Katrina and Hurricane Rita destroyed more than 100 oil platforms and damaged several refineries.The price consequences could be even worse this time, Rubin said in a report, noting that oil and gasoline inventories are lower than when Katrina and Rita hit. Any replays of the 2005 storm season could see gasoline prices soar to $5 per gallon.Gustav was moving northwest of Jamaica toward the Cayman Islands after triggering floods and killing 59 people in Haiti and eight more in the Dominican Republic.Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell 13 cents to settle $115.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier rising as high as $118.76. On Thursday, prices fell $2.56 at $115.59 a barrel, the first time this week it closed lower.Analysts attributed the volatility to doubts over whether Gustav will affect offshore energy production, as well as speculation that the Energy Department will tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve should the storm threatens supplies.Until this hurricane hits, the trend has to be higher toward the $120 level, said Jonathan Kornafel, Asia director for brokerage Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. If this turns out to be a nonevent, the market could really come roaring back down.As Gustav advanced, oil companies were pulling employees off installations.Royal Dutch Shell PLC has evacuated nearly 670 workers. BP PLC was also removing personnel from the region, while Exxon Mobil said it was bracing its structures for heavy wind and rain.Transocean Inc., the world's largest offshore drilling contractor, said Friday it had evacuated about 400 workers from 11 offshore drilling rigs in the Gulf. Transocean still has 1,150 workers in the region.Weather research firm Planalytics predicted as much as 80 percent of the Gulf's oil and gas production could be shut down as a precaution if Gustav enters the region as a major storm.Forecasters said Gustav might slip between Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the western tip of Cuba on Sunday, then march toward a Tuesday collision with the U.S. Gulf Coast — anywhere from south Texas to the Florida panhandle.

It seems there will be at the very least a slight hit to production, Kornafel said. But everything is up in the air until Monday or Tuesday.Gustav is the first storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season to pose a serious threat to offshore oil and gas installations in the Gulf. Some analysts, however, noted that lower appetite for oil products in the United States could well dampen Gustav's effect on the Gulf area's oil output. U.S. oil demand is currently 1.6 million barrels a day lower than when Katrina struck, said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland. There is today more U.S. refining capacity offline for economic reasons than can be destroyed by Gustav.In other Nymex trading, heating oil lost 0.07 cent to settle at $3.1819 a gallon, while gasoline fell 1.15 cents to settle at $3.0099 a gallon. Natural gas fell 10.7 cents to settle at $7.943 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, October Brent crude fell 12 cents to settle at $114.05 a barrel. Associated Press writers Pablo Gorondi in Budapest, Hungary and Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.

Ancient gold treasure puzzles Greek archaeologists By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS, Associated Press Writer Fri Aug 29, 11:10 AM ET

ATHENS, Greece - A priceless gold wreath has been unearthed in an ancient city in northern Greece, buried with human bones in a large copper vase that workers initially took for a land mine. The University of Thessaloniki said in a statement Friday that the astonishing discovery was made during its excavations this week in the ruins of ancient Aigai. The city was the first capital of ancient Macedonia, where King Philip II — father of Alexander the Great — was assassinated.Gold wreaths are rare and were buried with ancient nobles or royalty. But the find is also highly unusual as the artifacts appear to have been removed from a grave during ancient times and, for reasons that are unclear, reburied in the city's marketplace near the theater where Philip was stabbed to death.This happened quite soon after the original burial; it's not that a grave robber took it centuries later and hid it with the intention of coming back, excavator Chryssoula Saatsoglou-Paliadeli told The Associated Press. It probably belonged to a high-ranking person.The impressively large copper vessel contained a cylindrical golden jar with a lid, with the gold wreath of oak leaves and the bones inside.The young workman who saw it was astounded and shouted land mine! the university statement said.Saatsoglou-Paliadeli, a professor of archaeology at the university, said the find probably dates to the 4th century B.C., during which Philip and Alexander reigned.Archaeologists must explain why such a group ... was found outside the extensive royal cemetery, the university statement said. (They must also) work out why the bones of the unknown — but by no means insignificant — person were hidden in the city's most public and sacred area.

During the 4th century B.C., burials outside organized cemeteries were very uncommon.

In a royal cemetery at Vergina, just west of Aigai, Greek archaeologists discovered a wealth of gold and silver treasure in 1977. One of the opulent graves, which contained a large gold wreath of oak leaves, is generally accepted to have belonged to Philip II. The location of Alexander's tomb is one of the great mysteries of archaeology.The sprawling remains of a large building with banquet halls and ornate mosaics at Aigai — some 520 kilometers (320 miles) north of Athens — has been identified as Philip's palace.Aigai flourished in the 6th and 5th centuries B.C., attracting leading Greek artists such as the poet Euripides, who wrote his last tragedies there. The Macedonian capital was moved to Pella in the 4th century B.C., and Aigai was destroyed by the Romans in 168 B.C.

INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.

2 PETER 3:10-11
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

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

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).

MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Demand for military bomb techs at all-time high By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Fri Aug 29, 4:12 PM ET

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Many things have gone wrong for Navy Senior Chief Tommy Gura while disarming nearly 200 improvised explosive devices in Iraq. He's been shot at and targeted for mortar attacks. His robots have blown up and he's lost communication to call for backup. But the veteran instructor at the military's explosive ordnance disposal school tells his young students to be confident in the chaos. Bombs hidden along the roadside and elsewhere remain the top threat to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, accounting for about a third of all deaths, and it will be the trainees' job to defuse them.If something goes wrong and you pout or get upset and people see it, then they are going to be uncomfortable, Gura tells his students. You are the calming influence.That real world advice is more important than ever as the Armed Forces push to graduate more and younger bomb technicians, one of the most intense jobs in the military.The Navy recently began allowing recruits to become bomb technicians as their initial job rather than requiring two years of service, a waiver that Army and Air Force already grant; Marines still have to serve two years before learning to defuse bombs.Meanwhile, the Army wants to double the number of soldiers graduating the military's multibranch school for bomb technicians to 1,000 a year.That all puts added pressure on war-weary bomb technicians like Gura, who has served three tours in Iraq, to perform overseas and share their knowledge back home.We are the busiest we've ever been — period, all four services. All of our instructors have done multiple deployments, said Lt. Patrick Gerhardstein, the school's training officer, who's missed three of his son's four birthdays because of military duties.The op tempo is going, going, going. We bring the veterans here because they have the knowledge of what's going on in theater. We also try to give them time to decompress.Instructors say the loosened requirements let students learn the craft earlier, but sometimes those students lack the discipline that comes from serving two years in another Navy job. It falls to veteran instructors to teach the recruits the ins and outs of Navy life, Gura said.

For students, the school is a busy and competitive place — to gain admission, they must excel on aptitude tests and meet stringent physical standards. Dozens of soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors attend classes together, spending a year learning how to disarm land mines, unexploded rockets, IEDs and other explosives. About a third don't graduate, but about 1,000 a year do.Those who drop out often do well on written exams but struggle in timed bomb disposal tests, or the other way around. Others quit when they realize how demanding the career will be on their personal lives, Gerhardstein said.

Successful students must be well-rounded and focused.

It is inherently a physical exercise but it's also intellectual, said Ensign Brian Smith, 23 and a Naval Academy graduate who entered the bomb school after obtaining his master's degree from Georgetown University.His toughest challenge has been learning to disarm explosives while wearing a bomb suit.If you are in 80 pounds of Kevlar and ceramic plates, it will take its toll on you, he said. It's like a workout — you are soaked in sweat and your ability to think and act is inhibited. It's something you have to work through, the physical exhaustion and the heat.

Instructors remind students that the craft has no room for error by ordering them to polish the names of 232 bomb technicians killed in combat and listed on a memorial wall at the school's entrance. Since 2001, 56 technicians have died on the job in Iraq and Afghanistan.Veteran instructors like Gura knew many of the dead — he has six friends whose names are now on the wall. Gerhardstein also knew several of the dead. You drive past that wall, run past it every day and it's a reminder that I have to do my best every day to limit the number of names up there, Gerhardstein said.

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