BIBLE DOOM AND GLOOM:A REPUTATION UNDESERVED

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

WE HAVE A SURE WORD OF PROPHECY (THE BIBLE)

2 PETER 1:19-21
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

ISAIAH 46:9-10
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

2 TIMOTHY 3:16
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

ISAIAH 28:9-11
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

EXODUS 20:3-17 THE 10 COMMANDMENTS KJV
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.

MATTHEW 24:3-9 WORD BY WORD

MATTHEW 24:3-9 (LITERALLY FROM STRONGS CONCORDENCE)
03 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives the disciples came unto him privately - saying Tell us when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world (age)
04 And Jesus answered and said unto them Take heed (beware) that no man deceive (go astray) you.
05 For many (lots of seducers) shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many.(much)
06 And ye shall hear of wars (battle, fight, wars) and rumours of wars see (take heed) that ye be not troubled for all these
things must come to pass (be brought to pass) but the end (continual custom) is not yet.
07 For nation (heathen people) shall rise against nation and kingdom (kingdom reign) against kingdom and there shall be
famines (hunger, death) and pestilences (deadly epidemic diseases) and earthquakes (violent or stormy) in divers places (coasts).
08 All these (such) are the beginning (at the first) of sorrows (pain, travail).
09 Then (that time) shall they deliver (betray, put in prison) you up to be afflicted (persecuted) and shall kill you and ye
shall be hated (hateful) of all (manner of) nations (heathen people) for my (mine own) name's sake (called).

The Bible Doom & Gloom Syndrome: A Reputation Undeserved

By Lyn Leahz on June 12, 2013 • ( 1 )

by Wilfred Hahn ((Eternal Value Review) – Rapture Ready

A frustrated comment that we sometimes hear is this: Why all the doom and gloom in sermons and prophecy? Why the heavy admonitions and scare tactics? Following our recent articles, we feel we should respond. As such, we briefly interrupt our series “Burning Alight: 12 End time Fuses.” People appear to be reacting to what they perceive as a heavy weight when reading about worrisome world trends and the Bible’s seemingly incessant apocalyptic prophecies.What’s more, people see themselves trapped to these developments. Given that the Bible is true and it indeed prophesies apocalyptic events, then God must have predetermined that these must happen. They ask: What god would condemn the world of his creation in this way? With such a fatalistic perspective, people will understandably plead that it would be better that they didn’t know about the uncertainties of worldwide developments or the specifics of Bible prophecies. They may reason that one cannot worry about something one doesn’t know about. This does not necessarily mean people only prefer to hear smooth things (Isaiah 30:10). They may simply be weary of the responsibilities of knowledge, so much so, that they identify with the lament of the author of Ecclesiastes, who wrote: “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief” (Ecclesiastes 1:18).We can stop right there in these laments. Why? Because the Bible provides a clear and certain answer to all of them, showing that these expressed concerns are misplaced … and perhaps even the result of wrong teachings.

The World Is No Blissful Place

Jesus plainly said: “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). So, to begin this topic, we first know that there is no such reliable thing as bliss on earth. We cannot change this by living in denial. The fact of the matter is that Christians must expect that they “will have trouble” in this world. This means that many developments on earth, whether prophesied in the Bible or not, will be far from blissful. But isn’t this perspective a pessimistic one?

The Bible Not a Pessimistic Document

We can be thankful that negative reactions to the Bible’s messages and prophecies are certainly not for reasons of what the Bible actually says. To start, the Bible is not a “pessimistic” document. Far from it. Rather, it is a document that testifies to hope.Scripture consistently proclaims salvation, a glorious hope (Ephesians 1:18) and a blessed hope (Titus 2:13). It stands for Truth, the oppressed, the captives, the poor, for justice and unconditional forgiveness. It is a Book that steadfastly points to an end that will be wonderful. It promises reward and eternal life to those whose names are in the “Book of Life,” not ever blotting them out (Revelation 3:5). Is this emblematic of a pessimistic document? he above statements of the Bible testify to a God who throughout mankind’s history has repeatedly stepped in with new dispensations due to mankind’s failures … even regarding that “[...] it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish” (John 11:50). It is in this context that we must view prophecies and their purpose.

Bible Prophecy and Love

Why then do so many people react negatively, feeling such “doom and gloom” when they hear of Bible prophecy … of disasters and trends of “Biblical proportions”? There may be a number of reasons.Firstly, what often is omitted, we think, is the main foundational cornerstone of the Bible-love and mercy.God of the Bible does not want anyone to be lost, much less go through the Tribulation; neither Armageddon nor Hades; nor to be thrown into the eternal “lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).Scripture is clear on this point. For example: “[...] he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Christ himself made this clear, saying “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God wants people to perish. Why? “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).Scripture and prophecy, when taught and preached in a spirit of love-this including the mission of providing warnings-encourages repentance. Cheap emotions born of sensationalist scare tactics will not be so effective or lasting. Sadly, one does encounter so-called Bible teachers who exult in the idea that the wicked will perish. They delight in the notion of Armageddon, of the mass slaughter that is coming to the unbelievers. There is no spirit of love in such sensationalism.A second (and primary) reason why many “turn off” to Bible prophecy, thinking it incessantly pessimistic, is because people (both Christians and non-believers) misinterpret and misuse Bible prophecy. They ignore the warning to “not go beyond what is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6). Doing so, they themselves prophesy in their speculative interpretations of prophetic fulfillments. We noted one publication recently that goes so far as to claim that it is “prophesying” in its interpretations of Bible prophecy. In so doing, they will undoubtedly mislead people and discredit the Bible.

The more there are speculations, the more Bible prophecy is discredited as over-hyped doom & gloom. Such sensationalism can lead to prophecy “burn out” (as happened to this writer early in his adult life).The very last book of the Bible before John’s Apocalypse, Jude, holds this place for a reason, just as Genesis holds the position of the first book of the Bible. And, what is its final message? “Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh” (Jude 1:22-23).In no uncertain terms, Jude tells us to snatch people from the fire, to show mercy and to do this to the very last moment that the Church is on earth. This is diametrically opposite to the scare tactics of “doom and gloom” (apart from the warnings of being lost for eternity because of our sins). Sensationalism born out of commercialism and tactics to pull in crowds to the pew is false love.To conclude these points, the proclaiming of the Gospel, Bible prophecy and its inherent warnings must be done in the spirit of love … the goal being to save the lost. People can only be expected to reject what will be perceived as frustrating condemnations.In all we do, love is to be the overriding motive (this also applying to prophecy teachers). Apostle Paul makes this vital point, saying: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-2).

Prophecy: Foreknowledge or Predestination?

Next, we turn to the oft-expressed lament that prophecy is destiny … i.e. that mankind is helplessly condemned to perform all that is prophesied. Since all Bible prophecy will be fulfilled, does this not then mean that mankind is condemned to these events with no choice? This is a serious question to ponder.As God foreknows the future choices of mankind, this does not mean that God is condemning mankind to making such decisions. Bible prophecy in large part is God knowing in advance the choices that we humans will make. As He lives outside the bounds of linear time, God recognizes the freewill choices of mankind in advance. Yes, the prophecies of the Holy Spirit will always be fulfilled, but only because mankind chose these outcomes (rather than being predestined to do so). This is an all-important distinction.For example, living in America, people may feel that God has decreed that the U.S. as a society is irreversibly condemned to greater immorality, godlessness and global decline. Furthermore, that since the end times are here, a decline to greater faithlessness and apostasy must therefore continue uninterrupted. And, since these prophesied trends are all so fatalistic and futile, there is little one can do.That view is not correct. Why? It denies that both individuals and societies have the choice to change their ways. God is not an author of evil, nor does He condemn anyone to do evil. It must not necessarily be our current generation that brings about the unwise choices of mankind that will be fulfilled. What if there was a turning back to God? Would it be possible for America to become a more God-fearing nation? Why not? It would be a matter of choice.In this respect, we were exhilarated to view the courageous speech of Pastor Rabbi Cahn at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast. President Obama was in the room, as were many other politicians. It would be hard to imagine that their convictions weren’t challenged by such a straight-talking, uncompromising, true-to-the-Bible, sermon. This was not the message of a “smiling” nor “want-to-be-everybody’s-friend” preacher. Time will tell if such compelling sermons given at such high levels will have an impact.We return to the main point: At the very least, there is a choice to be made for every person under the aegis of the Holy Spirit. We are not all going to the same place, a view that is maintained by other religions of the world. We are not individually condemned to reject God and to involuntarily suffer the consequences. We can acknowledge that we are sinners; that we must repent; that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who is our Lord.When the Holy Spirit inspired prophets to utter prophecies concerning the future choices of individuals, whether the leaders of nations or mankind overall, these were all the expressions of the foreknowledge of God. We are still given a choice that we are free to make. We are free to rebel or to comply. We are free to worship God and accept his grace through Jesus Christ or not.Therefore, when the Bible says that faith “will wax cold” (Matthew 24:12), or that the nations of the world will collude against God (Psalm 2:1-3), these are not predictions or immutable predestinations for any individual or specific time. These all occur because of the choices of mankind, whether anguished or by default. This may all seem an enigma to the human mind. Yet, it is consistent with a God who indeed loves the world and “rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

A Call to Watch and Preach Prophecy

Salvation is an undeserved gift from He who has “the power [...] that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Roman 1:16). But is this simply an insurance policy that requires nothing more of us? Does salvation provide us the license to slumber … to turn off and drop out … to seek the blissful life here on earth? Not according to the words of Jesus Christ.In the first instance, we note that Jesus castigated the Pharisees and Sadducees because they did not recognize the “season.” He said: “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:2-3).If this was a criticism of people of that earlier time, it would only follow that Christians of today should similarly have an onus to “interpret the signs of the times.” It would be unlikely that the Church, which has been inserted into the salvation timeline by God for an appointed period, should not be able to recognize the “signs of the times.” This perspective confirms that Bible prophecy is indeed given as “a light shining in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19), and that it is required that we study it and “discern the times” (Matthew 16:3).Doing so should not instill fear in the saved Christian, but rather provide confirmation that the “blessed hope” is ever nearer, the time ever shorter to “snatch people from the fire.”Jesus implores his people to “watch.” Just what are we to watch? We are to watch for prophesied events and markers. On at least six occasions, Jesus urged his disciples to “watch” the times in the context of being prepared for his return (Matthew 24:42, 25:13; Mark 13:33, 35; Luke 21:36, 38). We cannot deny Jesus’ emphasis of this command.Yet, the Bible also emphasizes that we cannot know the exact time of Christ’s return (Rapture)-what “hour,” the “day nor hour,” the “time,” whether “at midnight,” or “at the cockcrowing” or “in the morning,” or “the second watch or third watch,” or before “things that shall come to pass.”It is clear, therefore, that Christ calls us to watch … not to predict. And, watching should allow us to assess the trends of our times … to observe the “season” and “the appearance of the sky,” no matter how worrisome.

Points to Ponder

We have responded to the “doom gloom” syndrome by making five main points. Firstly, the Bible commands us to “watch” and to discern the season of the times. It is OK to continue to study prophecy and to watch for the “season.” While none of us are absolved from the task to “watch” and to “discern the times,” some are specifically called to the task of “watching.” Is there proof for this view? Christ tells us of the parable of the man who goes away on a long trip. This man “gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch” (Mark 13:34). Here we see that everyone had their assignments, the porter specifically being called to “watch.” The key message of this parable was this: “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning” (verse 35).Secondly, as Christians, we have been given a great hope, salvation and the promise of eternal life. This is cause for rejoicing, not pessimism, no matter the wickedness of the times. Thirdly, we live in the world only a short time … a time of trouble and striving. There is no escaping this reality.For Christians specifically, there are no promises of peace or final rest in this current dispensation. The original apostles had a diametrically opposite view to the popular blissful message of “Live your best life now” that emanates from some pulpits today. Said Paul: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17). But: “Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses” (2 Corinthians 6:4).Continuing with our five conclusions, fourthly, we are to continue “snatching people from the fire,” not with condemnations of prophecy but with love. We are to pray for the lost, even those committing evil and supposedly the great conspirators, according to the many conspiracy theorists. Finally, the Bible’s prophecies foreknow our choices and that of mankind. We are not condemned to doom and gloom involuntarily. We must diligently make our own choices. If He be God, serve Him.Just as the disciples could not stay awake during the night of Christ’s abduction in the Garden of Gethsemane, so Christ’s Church will likely be found asleep at another very crucial time … that of His Second Return. The very last words of Christ to us in the Book of Mark are these: “What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”“If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping” (Mark 13:36). Let us not let Him find us inactive, but rather snatching people from the fire and looking for the “blessed hope.” By God’s grace and mercy, we will continue doing so. Let us not be “tuned out” nor cause others to “turn off” the gospel message, because of any improper perspectives of Bible prophecy.

BAN KI MOON ISRAEL STOP BUILDING IN JUDEA AND SUMARIA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Perry Criticizes Yaalon for Dismissing 'Arab Peace Initiative'

Science Minister Yaakov Perry says Yaalon's dismissal of the Arab peace initiative "distances us from the negotiating table."

By Elad Benari, Canada-First Publish: 6/15/2013, 1:50 AM-Israelnationalnews

Science, Technology, and Space Minister Yaakov Perry-Flash 90

Science, Technology, and Space Minister Yaakov Perry (Yesh Atid) criticized Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Friday, after Yaalon dismissed the Arab peace initiative as “a spin.”“It is vital and important that Israel do everything to return to the negotiating table,” Perry said, adding, “The Arab peace initiative is one of the main ways to do this, and it is our duty to consider it seriously."Statements such as Yaalon’s, claimed Perry, “only distance us from the negotiating table.”The Arab Peace Initiative, unveiled in 2002 by Saudi Arabia, says that 22 Arab countries will normalize ties with Israel in return for an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria.It was recently revived when Qatar’s Prime Minister indicated that he supported a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that would be defined by the June 4, 1967 borders, but at the same time backed U.S. President Barack Obama's proposals for a "comparable and mutual agreed minor swap of the land" between Israel and the PA, to reflect the realities of the burgeoning communities on the ground.Yaalon, however, said in Washington on Friday that the initiative is a spin because it is a precondition which dictates to Israel what the final outcome of the negotiations will be.“Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that Israel is ready to return to the negotiating table without preconditions and dictations, but the Arab initiative is a dictation - first we need to give up territory, then the Arabs would consider a relationship with us," said Yaalon."We are ready to come immediately and talk about everything, without preconditions, but not just about territory,” Yaalon added. “The Palestinians have preconditions, and therefore the possibility to begin talks is delayed.”Yesh Atid is a party that claims to be centrist, but is put together from MK's of widely disparate political ideologies.On Wednesday, MK Ofer Shelah from Yesh Atid slammed the Israeli settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria, claiming that the communities in this region are an obstacle to peace and attacking the “Israeli occupation” of lands liberated during the 1967 Six Day War."Settlements are an obstacle to a peace agreement and this obstacle is growing,” charged Shelah. “Israel progresses daily towards becoming like South Africa. It is on the verge of a boycott of products – first of those manufactured in the settlements and then those produced elsewhere in Israel.”Several weeks ago, Welfare Minister Meir Cohen, also of Yesh Atid, said that “isolated settlements should be dismantled right now, without waiting for peace negotiations."Cohen said, "These settlements cost us a lot of money and we can definitely partially dismantle them right now. Everything must be done to ensure that we are not thought of as doing everything possible to avoid negotiations. We must come to the negotiating table and to strive for peace.”Attacking the residents of Judea and Samaria, Cohen charged, "Israel has lost control over the settlers, especially the hilltop youth. We’ve lost control of the settlers in some cases. We need take care of the youths, bring them back to normativeness."The party’s chairman Finance Minister Yair Lapid recently gave an interview to the New York Times in which he said that that Israel should not change its policy on Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria in order to revive the stalemated peace process, and that Jerusalem should not serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.Lapid said he would not stop the so-called “natural expansion” of the Jewish communities, nor curtail the financial incentives offered to Israelis to move there. He said that eastern Jerusalem, liberated by Israel in the Six Day War, must stay Israeli, because “we didn’t come here for nothing.”(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)

CAN MEXICO TELL NEW YORK TO STOP BUILDING HOUSES IN NEW YORK AND GET AWAY WITH IT.SO WHY DOES THE WORLD THINK IT CAN TELL ISRAEL TO QUIT BUILDING ON THEIR LAND.GOD GAVE THE LAND FOR ISRAELIS TO BUILD AND BE PROSPEROUS ON.NOT FOR THE WORLD TO CRY BECAUSE ISRAEL BUILDS HOUSES ON THEIR GOD GIVIN LAND.

Ban: 'Settlements' Undermine Hopes for Peace

UN leader Ban Ki-moon says he is "particularly trouble" by Israel's plans to increase construction in Judea and Samaria.

By Elad Benari, Canada-First Publish: 6/14/2013, 11:02 PM-Israelnationalnews

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon-AFP photo

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday slammed Israel's plans to increase construction in Judea and Samaria, saying they were undermining hopes of ending the Middle East conflict by setting up a Palestinian state."The secretary general is deeply concerned by the continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank in violation of international law," said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky, according to the AFP news agency.Ban was "particularly troubled" at Israel moving forward with plans for more than 1,000 new homes in two communities Judea and Samaria, the spokesman said.He was referring to plans to build 538 new homes in Itamar and to legalize 137 existing units there were submitted to regional authorities this week for review, as well plans to build 550 homes in Bruchin."These are unhelpful decisions that undermine progress towards the two-state solution," Nesirky said, according to AFP."They constitute a deeply worrisome trend at a moment of ongoing efforts to relaunch peace negotiations,” he added. "The secretary general calls on Israel to heed the calls of the international community to freeze settlement activity and abide by its commitments under international law and the Road Map.”On Thursday, the United States also sharply criticized Israel's plans to move ahead with 1,000 new homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria, saying they were unhelpful to U.S. efforts to kickstart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

"We don't accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.“We remain hopeful that both sides will look at the important opportunity we have here to build trust and confidence and move back to the negotiating table, and that's what our focus is on."

Also on Thursday, Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) announced that 1,000 new housing units for Jews will be built in the Etzion Bloc, in Judea. The State Department was apparently not aware of these plans, however.(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)

EZEKIEL 12:25
25  For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass;(LITERALLY) it shall be no more prolonged: will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD.(JESUS MAKES PROPHECIES COME TO PASS)

EZEKIEL 28:25-26
25  Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered,(WORLD NATIONS) and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.(ISRAEL)
26  And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them;(ARAB/MUSLUM NATIONS AROUND ISRAEL) and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.

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,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) 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,(OIL IS IN 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.

EZEKIEL 39:1-8,11-18
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,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) 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.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS) and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)

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

EZEKIEL 35:3-6,11-15
3  And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir,(ARABS) I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4  I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
5  Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred,(AGAINST ISRAEL) and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6  Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
11  Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.
12  And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.
13  Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.
14  Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.(ARAB,MUSLIMS)
15  As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir,(ARABS) and all Idumea,(ARAB,MUSLIMS) even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Russia questions Syrian chemical weapons evidence

Associated Press – 1 hr 58 mins ago JUNE 15,13

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's foreign minister said Saturday that the evidence put forth by the United States of chemical weapons use in Syria apparently doesn't meet stringent criteria for reliability.The Obama administration said this week that it will give lethal aid to Syrian rebels in light of evidence that President Bashar Assad's forces used chemical weapons in the country's civil war.In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the material does not include guarantees that it meets the requirements of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. He said the organization specifies that samples taken from blood, urine and clothing can be considered reliable evidence only if supervised by organization experts from the time they are taken up to delivery to a laboratory.The OPCW is the autonomous body for implementing the international Chemical Weapons Convention that went into effect in 1997. Its website says Syria is one of six countries that have not signed or acceded to the convention.A spokesman for the organization, based in The Hague, Netherlands, could not immediately be reached for comment.Lavrov, after meeting with his Italian counterpart Emma Bonino, scoffed at suggestions that Assad's regime would use chemical weapons now in light of its apparent growing advantage against the rebels."The regime doesn't have its back to the wall. What would be the sense of the regime using chemical weapons, moreover at such a small quantity?" he said.
Russia has blocked proposed U.N. sanctions against Assad's regime and acknowledged last month that it has contracted to supply advanced S-300 air-defense missiles to Syria. But President Vladimir Putin and other officials say the policies do not constitute overt support for Assad.

ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11  In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12  Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13  The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14  And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.

JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23  Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24  Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25  How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26  Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27  And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)

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

JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3  At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4  Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5  Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY) Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6  O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7  How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he appointed it.

DANIEL 11:40-43
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south ( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

Rohani on course for outright Iran election win

By Marcus George and Yeganeh Torbati | Reuters – 1 hr 12 mins ago JUNE 15,13

By Marcus George and Yeganeh Torbati

DUBAI (Reuters) - Moderate cleric Hassan Rohani took a solid lead over conservative rivals on Saturday in preliminary vote counting in Iran's presidential election in what could be the makings of a surprise victory over favored hardliners.The outcome is unlikely to transform relations between Iran and the outside world, the Islamic Republic's disputed policy on developing nuclear power or its support of Syria's president in the civil war there - all sensitive security matters that are the domain of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But the president does wield important influence in decision-making in the sprawling Shi'ite Muslim nation and major OPEC state of 75 million and could bring a change from the confrontational style of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term.Rohani's wide early margin revealed a major reservoir of pro-reform sentiment whereby many voters seized a chance to repudiate the dominant hardline elite over Iran's economic woes, international isolation and crackdowns on personal freedoms despite restrictions on candidate choice and campaigning.If he wins, Rohani, a moderate who is a former chief nuclear negotiator known for his conciliatory approach, has signaled he will promote a foreign policy based on "constructive interaction with the world" and enact a "civil rights charter" at home.In an apparent attempt to convey political continuity to both domestic opponents and Western adversaries, Khamenei said that whatever the result of Friday's election, it would be a vote of confidence in the 34-year-old Islamic Republic."A vote for any of these candidates is a vote for the Islamic Republic and a vote of confidence in the system," the hardline clerical leader's official Twitter account said.With some 23 million votes counted from the 50-million-strong electorate, Rohani had tallied 51.07 percent of all ballots cast, Iran's interior minister said. That would be enough to avoid a second-round run-off on June 21.
Rohani's nearest rival was conservative Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a long way behind with 16.3 percent. Other hardline candidates close to Khamenei, including current nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, scored even lower.British former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who dealt with Rohani during nuclear negotiations between 2003 and 2005, called him a "very experienced diplomat and politician"."This is a remarkable and welcome result so far and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be no jiggery-pokery with the final result," Straw told Reuters, alluding to accusations of widespread rigging in the 2009 election."What this huge vote of confidence in Doctor Rohani appears to show is a hunger by the Iranian people to break away from the arid and self-defeating approach of the past and for more constructive relations with the West," he said."On a personal level I found him warm and engaging. He is a strong Iranian patriot and he was tough, but fair to deal with and always on top of his brief."Suzanne Maloney, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Iran "appears to be on the verge of shocking the world"."With Rohani leading the vote, the regime's calculation now is whether a run-off campaign ... is worth the risk. A second round would entail an additional week of the kind of exhilarated campaigning, replete with young Iranians dancing in the streets and an amplified chorus of demands for social and political reforms, and ultimately pose a greater risk to the system."Excitement was rippling through Rohani's campaign headquarters with workers there preparing for victory, said a source close to the campaign. The Rohani campaign expected an announcement in the coming hours, the source said.Electoral officials did not say from which districts the votes so far counted had come from. Late on Friday, authorities estimated turnout would top 70 percent - relatively high and likely to benefit Rohani.Iran's rial strengthened about 4 percent against the U.S. dollar on Saturday, web sites which track the currency said.
DECISIVE SPLIT
Rohani's campaign was endorsed by centrist former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani after the latter, a veteran rival of Khamenei, was barred from running by a state vetting body."Iran has held the most democratic elections in the world and there are no uncertainties about it," Rafsanjani was quoted by Fars news agency as saying on Saturday.Rohani received another big lift when reformists led by ex-president Mohammad Khatami swung behind him after their own lackluster candidate Mohammad Reza Aref withdrew in his favor.In contrast, several high-profile conservatives with close ties to the ruling clerical or Revolutionary Guards elite failed to unite behind a single candidate, suffering what appeared to be a decisive split in their support base as a result.Voting was extended by several hours at polling stations across the country on Friday as millions turned out to cast their ballot in the first presidential race since the 2009 contest where allegations of fraud led to mass unrest.Rohani came to prominence as Iran's nuclear negotiator in talks with Britain, France and Germany between 2003 and 2005 that Tehran Iran agree to suspend uranium enrichment-related activities, easing Western pressure on Tehran.He left the post when Ahmadinejad came to office in 2005. Enrichment work resumed and there has been virtually no progress in intermittent talks since then. The result has been a punishing expansion of international sanctions against Tehran, seriously damaging its heavily oil-dependent economy.Rohani would be an important bridge between hardliners around Khamenei who oppose any accommodation with the West and reformers sidelined for the last four years who argue the Islamic Republic needs to be more pragmatic in its relations with the outside world and change at home in order to survive.Security was tight during the election and campaigning subdued compared to the euphoric rallies that preceded the last presidential vote in 2009, when reformist backers thought they scented victory and the prospect of democratization.Those hopes were dashed when rapid announcements awarded Ahmadinejad 63 percent of the vote, returning him to office and unleashing a tide of protests that lasted for months and led to dozens of killings and hundreds of arrests.(Additional reporting by Zahra Hosseinian in Zurich; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by William Maclean and Mark Heinrich)

Syrian jets hit rebels awaiting promised U.S. weapons

By Oliver Holmes | Reuters – 1 hr 54 mins ago JUNE 15,13

By Oliver Holmes

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian artillery and warplanes pounded rebel areas in Damascus on Saturday as President Bashar al-Assad's foes pleaded for advanced weapons from the United States, which has promised them unspecified military aid.Western powers have been reluctant in the past to arm Syrian insurgents, let alone give them sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles that might fall into the hands of Sunni Islamist insurgents in rebel ranks who have pledged loyalty to al Qaeda.Free Syrian Army (FSA) commander Salim Idriss told Reuters on Friday that rebels, who have suffered setbacks at the hands of Assad's forces in recent weeks, urgently needed anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, as well as a protective no-fly zone."But our friends in United States, they haven't told us yet that they are going to support us with weapons and ammunition," he said after meeting U.S. and European officials in Turkey.A source in the Middle East familiar with U.S. dealings with the rebels has said planned arms supplies would include automatic weapons, light mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.Russia, an ally of Damascus and fierce opponent of outside military intervention, warned on Saturday against any attempt to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria using F-16 fighter jets and Patriot air defense missile systems from Jordan."You don't have to be a great expert to understand that this will violate international law," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference with his Italian counterpart in Moscow.Western diplomats said on Friday the United States was considering a no-fly zone over Syria, but the White House said later that it would be far harder and costlier to set up one up there than it was in Libya, stressing that the United States had no national interest in pursuing that option.Outgunned rebels have few ways to counter Assad's air power. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said jets and artillery had attacked Jobar, a battered district where rebels operate on the edge of central Damascus, on Saturday.It said heavy artillery was also shelling opposition fighters in the provinces of Homs, Aleppo and Deir al-Zor.A Turkish official said 71 Syrian army officers, including six generals, had defected to Turkey, in the biggest single mass desertion from Assad's military in months.The United Nations says at least 93,000 people, including civilians and combatants, have died in the Syrian civil war, with the monthly death toll averaging 5,000 in the past year.
MILITARY BALANCE
On Thursday, a U.S. official said President Barack Obama had authorized sending U.S. weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, after the White House said it had proof the Syrian military had used chemical weapons against opposition forces.Abu Nidal, from the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham rebel group, said U.S. help was welcome, but questioned how effective it would be."I doubt the influx of weapons will significantly tip the balance into our favor," he said via Skype. "They might help push back regime offensives of the last few days."Abu Nidal's faction is not part of the more moderate FSA, Washington's chosen channel for military aid, but he said the two groups fight alongside each other on the battlefield."We are not at odds with the Free Syrian Army now. We fight in one formation," the Islamist fighter said.Other opposition sources have also voiced skepticism over what type and quantity of arms the United States would deliver.The surface-to-air missiles that rebels say they need to ward off Assad's air force are particularly worrisome for Western powers as they could be used against commercial jets.Since the anti-Assad revolt erupted in March 2011, Western nations have demanded the Syrian leader's ouster, but have not used force as they did to back Libyans fighting Muammar Gaddafi.Intervening against Assad is considered riskier because Syria has a stronger military, sits on the sectarian faultlines of the Middle East, and is supported by Iran and Russia, which has vetoed three U.N. Security Council resolutions on Syria.Yet an apparent shift in the military momentum in Assad's favor, especially with the arrival of thousands of fighters from Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, has made his swift removal look unlikely without outside intervention.However, Israel's defense minister suggested the pendulum could still swing the other way, despite the capture this month of Qusair, a former rebel stronghold near the Lebanese border."Bashar al-Assad's victory in Qusair was not a turning point in the Syrian civil war, and I do not believe that he has the momentum to win," said Moshe Yaalon, who is visiting Washington."He controls just 40 percent of the territory in Syria. Hezbollah is involved in the fighting in Syria and has suffered many casualties in the battles, and as far as we know, it is more than 1,000 casualties," Yaalon said in a statement."We should be prepared for a long civil war with ups and downs."It was not immediately clear why the group had deserted. Just hours ago, the United States said it would arm Syrian rebels, having obtained proof that Assad's forces used chemical weapons against fighters trying to end the president's rule.(Additional reporting by Jonathon Burch in Ankara, Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, Mark Hosenball in Washington and Thomas Grove in Moscow; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

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

Rain helps firefighters tame Colorado blaze

By Keith Coffman | Reuters – JUNE 15,13

By Keith Coffman

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - Rain and calmer winds helped firefighters tame a deadly wildfire ranked as Colorado's most destructive on record as authorities reported making significant headway on Friday in curtailing a blaze that has destroyed nearly 420 homes outside Colorado Springs.The fire has charred roughly 24 square miles of rolling, wooded terrain northeast of Colorado's second-largest city since it started on Tuesday, killing two people and forcing some 38,000 to flee their homes.A firefighting force estimated to include some 800 personnel - along with air tankers and water-dropping helicopters - had carved containment lines around 30 percent of the blaze's perimeter, up from 5 percent on Thursday.
Fire managers expect it will take nearly another week to fully corral the blaze, but the outlook improved as rain showers moved into the area at midday following an encouraging night on the fire lines that El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa called a "turning point."Overcast skies, cooler temperatures and the absence of strong, erratic winds that stoked the blaze during its first three days also were cited as factors in the subsiding fire."We had a real good day without wind," Maketa told a news conference as he announced that some evacuated areas were being reopened to residents. "The rain made a tremendous impact."If you look at it as a fight, we got our tails kicked for a couple of days ... and I think today we delivered some blows."While officials cautioned that conditions could change again for the worse, Rich Harvey of the U.S. Forest Service said there was "no significant progress by the fire in any direction today."Aerial photos of devastated areas showed large swaths of obliterated neighborhoods with bare, blackened trees and houses reduced to cinders and rubble.Governor John Hickenlooper said after touring the fire zone on Friday that he was struck by the "the randomness" of the destruction."There are places where few trees were left alone and the homes were burned to the ground. And then areas where the trees burned and the houses were fine," he said.The bulk of the destroyed homes were lost in the first 24 hours of the fire, Maketa said. The remains of two people killed on Tuesday night, in the midst of an evacuation attempt as flames closed in, were pulled from the wreckage of their garage on Thursday.
EVACUATION ORDERS LIFTED
But the news was notably more upbeat a day later. Firefighters with bulldozers managed to clear a buffer between the western edge of the blaze and the city limits of Colorado Springs.Officials also lifted evacuation orders for the northern tip of the city, comprising more than 1,000 homes, along with some adjacent communities on its outskirts where some 4,000 to 5,000 people had been forced to flee.Maketa said an investigation into the two fire-related deaths as possible homicides did not necessarily mean authorities suspect arson, although officials said the cause appears to be of human origin."When I say, 'homicide investigation,' it's because we have two deceased people (and) that means we investigate it as a crime until we prove otherwise," he said.Although no additional structures burned overnight, the running tally of confirmed losses climbed by nearly 60 homes on Friday. By Friday evening an El Paso County Sheriff's Office website said 419 homes had been destroyed with another 15 damaged.That figure surpasses the previous record of 346 dwellings destroyed last year on the northwestern fringe of Colorado Springs by the so-called Waldo Canyon fire, then deemed the most destructive blaze in state history.Catastrophe modeling company AIR Worldwide, whose software is used by the insurance industry to predict losses, said the houses within the fire's perimeter had a total value of about $500 million. Ultimate losses could be less than that, depending on how badly damaged the houses were.The estimated cost of fighting the fire through Thursday was put at $2 million, Harvey said.The Black Forest blaze, named for the community near where it started, was the largest of several burning across Colorado this week and has underscored concerns that prolonged drought conditions could intensify this year's fire season in the western United States.(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Eric Walsh and Bill Trott)

One dead, several hurt in second Louisiana plant blast: police

By Kathy Finn | Reuters – June 15,13

By Kathy Finn

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - An explosion at a nitrogen plant in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, killed at least one worker and injured seven others on Friday, authorities said, one day after a deadly blast at another chemical plant about 10 miles away.The blast hit the CF Industries plant in Donaldsonville, a small port city on the Mississippi River about 60 miles northwest of New Orleans, about 6 p.m. local time after a nitrogen vessel ruptured, the company said in a statement.One person died at the scene. Seven people had injuries ranging "from minor to severe" and were transported to several hospitals, Louisiana State Police trooper Jared Sandifer said."Workers were filling some type of vessel using nitrogen. It was overpressurized, causing it to rupture, causing the injuries and fatality," Sandifer said. "Because it was nitrogen, there was no flame, just a rupture, like a balloon popping."The CF Industries plant produces and ships about 5 million tons of ammonia and other nitrogen fertilizers annually for agricultural and industrial uses, according to the company website. The plant was built in the 1960s.The blast followed the rupture of a "inert vessel" while unloading nitrogen in an area of the plant that was closed for maintenance, the company said in a statement.CF Industries said there was no fire or chemical release and the incident posed no threat or hazard to the community."An investigation into the root cause of the incident is under way," the company said. "We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our employees."The explosion in Donaldsonville, a town of about 8,000 residents, came a day after a blast at a Williams Olefins petrochemical plant about 10 miles north in Geismar that has left two people dead and injured more than 100.The Geismar blast sent a huge fireball and column of smoke over the plant along the Mississippi River.A fire and massive blast at a nitrate fertilizer plant in West, Texas, in April, killed 14 people and injured more than 200, focusing attention on the hazards of handling chemicals.That explosion flatted an apartment building, nursing home and school in West. Most of those killed were firefighters and paramedics responding to a blaze that preceded the explosion.(This story corrects the name of the plant in the second paragraph to CF Industries, not CFI)(Additional reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Writing by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Steve Gorman and Bill Trott)

EVER SINCE I STARTED LISTENING TO ALEX JONES 6 YEARS AGO.HE SAID GOOGLE, MICROSOFT,FACEBOOK,YAHOO,HOTMAIL ETC AND ALL THE BIG COMPANIES SPY ON EVERYTHING YOU SAY AND DO.SO THIS SCANDAL I KNEW WOULD BE COMING SOME TIME.SO ALL THE BIG COMPANIES IN CANADA WILL BE SPYING ON OUR EVERY MOVE ALLSO.BECAUSE WERE CONNECTED TO THE STATES CLOSELY.

Web giants get broader surveillance revelations

Associated Press – 1 hr 46 mins ago JUNE 15,13

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook and Microsoft Corp. representatives said that after negotiations with national security officials their companies have been given permission to make new but still very limited revelations about government orders to turn over user data.The announcements Friday night come at the end of a week when Facebook, Microsoft and Google, normally rivals, had jointly pressured the Obama administration to loosen their legal gag on national security orders.Those actions came after Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old American who works as a contract employee at the National Security Agency, revealed to The Guardian newspaper the existence of secret surveillance programs that gathered Americans' phone records and other data. The companies did not link their actions to Snowden's leaks.Ted Ullyot, Facebook's general counsel, said in a statement that Facebook is only allowed to talk about total numbers and must give no specifics. But he said the permission it has received is still unprecedented, and the company was lobbying to reveal more.Using the new guidelines, Ullyot said Facebook received between 9,000 and 10,000 government requests from all government entities from local to federal in the last six months of 2012, on topics including missing children investigations, fugitive tracking and terrorist threats. The requests involved the accounts of between 18,000 and 19,000 Facebook users.The companies were not allowed to make public how many orders they received from a particular agency or on a particular subject. But the numbers do include all national security related requests including those submitted via national security letters and under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which companies had not previously been allowed to reveal.The companies remain barred from revealing whether they've actually received FISA requests, and can only say that any they've received are included in the total reported figures.Microsoft released similar numbers for the same period, but downplayed how much they revealed."We continue to believe that what we are permitted to publish continues to fall short of what is needed to help the community understand and debate these issues," John Frank, Microsoft's vice president and deputy general counsel said in a statement.Frank said Microsoft received between 6,000 and 7,000 criminal and national security warrants, subpoenas and orders affecting between 31,000 and 32,000 accounts.Both attorneys emphasized in their statements that those affected by the orders represent a "tiny fraction" of their huge user bases.
Google did not release its own numbers, saying late Friday that it was waiting to be able to reveal more specific and meaningful information."We have always believed that it's important to differentiate between different types of government requests," Google said in a statement. "We already publish criminal requests separately from national security letters. Lumping the two categories together would be a step back for users. Our request to the government is clear: to be able to publish aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures, separately."Facebook repeated recent assurances that the company scrutinizes every government request, and works aggressively to protect users' data. Facebook said it has a compliance rate of 79 percent on government requests."We frequently reject such requests outright, or require the government to substantially scale down its requests, or simply give the government much less data than it has requested," Ullyot said." And we respond only as required by law."

ALL THE GIGANTIC COMPANIES PAY LESS TAXES.AGAIN 6 YRS AGO ALEX JONES SAID THIS ON HIS SHOW.HE KNOWS WHAT HES TALKING ABOUT.AND WHO IS OBAMAS BEST PALS AT THE WHITEHOUSE-GOOGLE OF COURSE.

Lawmaker accuses Google of dodging taxes

By DANICA KIRKA | Associated Press – Thu, Jun 13, 2013

LONDON (AP) — An influential committee of British lawmakers accused search company Google of dodging its taxes on Thursday in a scathing report that said the U.S. Internet company took on highly contrived arrangements serving no purpose other than to avoid paying its fair share.The report came after testimony by Google Inc. Vice President Matt Brittin, who tried to persuade members of parliament's Public Accounts Committee that his company was transparent and fair. Committee chair Margaret Hodge rejected arguments that Google's advertising sales take place in Ireland and not the U.K."Google brazenly argued before this committee that its tax arrangements in the U.K. are defensible and lawful," she wrote, adding that the "argument is deeply unconvincing and has been undermined by information from whistleblowers, including ex-employees of Google, who told us that U.K.-based staff are engaged in selling."Hodge said the government needs to act to shut down loopholes."The company's highly contrived tax arrangement has no purpose other than to enable the company to avoid U.K. corporation tax," she said.Google countered on Thursday that while it welcomed the call to make the system simpler and more transparent, the company was honoring the law."As we've always said, Google complies with all the tax rules in the U.K., and it is the politicians who make those rules," the company said in a statement. "It's clear from this report that the Public Accounts Committee wants to see international companies paying more tax where their customers are located, but that's not how the rules operate today."Britain is in tough economic times, struggling with austerity measures that have led to cuts in welfare programs, public-sector jobs and government spending.
Like several other multinational corporations, including Amazon, Facebook and Starbucks, Google's complex corporate structures and disproportionately low tax bills have drawn the ire of a public facing one of the worst economic crises since the Great Depression.Google has paid less than 0.1 percent of its billions in U.K. revenue back to the government in tax. In the first quarter of this year, it made $1.3 billion in revenue from the U.K., according to a Google release. The company argues that the overwhelming majority of sales actually occur at the company's European head office in Dublin.The location is important. In Ireland, the corporate tax rate is a bargain-basement 12.5 percent.An investigation by the Reuters news agency cast doubt on those claims, and the committee asked to speak to Brittin for a second time.Brittin acknowledged that Google Inc. employed "people with sales skills," but insisted that those doing the sales are in Ireland.
Hodge rejected the characterization."Google's reputation has been damaged by these revelations of aggressive tax avoidance," she said. "That damage will not be repaired until the company arranges to pay its fair share of tax in the country where it earns the profits from the business it conducts."

06/14/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

The Vatican Bank’s media “war”

The main offices of the IOR

As interviews with the Vatican Bank’s president, Ernst Von Freyberg, multiply, general director, Paolo Cipriani, says the Church needs the IOR because without it, it would lack freedom. Meanwhile, the Vatican is choosing to invest money in consultants and advisors

ANDREA TORNIELLI vatican city The Church’s financial independence is not only “essential”, it is “an obligation”, the Vatican Bank (IOR)’s general director Paolo Cipriani said in a surprise comment to Italian newspaper Il Giornale. The interview was part of the IOR’s media strategy, featuring the bank’s new German president, Ernst von Freyberg, as a protagonist on more than one front. After Ettore Gotti Tedeschi’s brutal dismissal, the Vatican hired prestigious global executive search firm Spencer Stuart to select the IOR’s leaders and chose von Freyberg as top man.Von Freyberg was selected at the last minute, after Benedict XVI had announced his resignation. According to Vatican Radio, three months after he was hired, von Freyberg started holding “a series of interviews with qualified representatives of the international press,” including newspapers and news agencies such as the Financial Times, Le Figaro, Reuters and Associated Press.Three key messages emerged from the interviews with von Freyberg. Firstly, the President of the IOR has not spoken to the new Pope in person about the bank, despite the fact that he stays at St. Martha’s House when he is in Rome. Secondly, the Vatican Bank’s main problem is not to do with its previous management (the bank’s operations were picked to pieces by the judiciary) or its suspicious accounts. Its real problem is its image and communication. This is why one of the first decisions von Freyberg took was to hire an external company to help with Vatican communications, despite the fact that the Holy See already has a Press Office, a Pontifical Council for Communication, a newspaper, a radio and television broadcaster and as of last year, a communications advisor for the Secretariat of State, the American journalist Greg Burke. CNC - Communications & Network Consulting was chosen as the Vatican’s communications company.In the interviews, von Freyberg has revealed that thousands of IOR bank accounts were closed down over the past year and that these are currently undergoing inspection, by American giant Promonotory, which has also done work for the White House.Another important piece of information von Freyberg communicated during his interviews is that he is working well and is totally in tune with the Vatican Bank’s current management. Not everyone in the Holy See sees this as a positive thing. And Cipriani’s comments about how “essential” the IOR is to the Church’s mission and about the Church’s obligation to have a bank, added to this.It is worth remembering that both before and after the Conclave, certain influential cardinals claimed the opposite. The Honduran, Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, whom the Pope appointed as head of the group of eight cardinals who are supposed to help him govern the universal Church and advise him on Curia reform, publicly stated that the group would also lend a hand with the IOR. As rumours spread about the Italian judiciary introducing legal measures that could apply to IOR managers in the context of the open inquiry into the bank’s activities, it is impossible to ignore the constant references being made to these issues, even by the Pope himself, in his homilies.The general impression one gets from this media frenzy, is that despite the messages being sent out to the public and within the Vatican (Cipriani’s comments on how essential the IOR is for the Church seems to belong to the second category) the full picture is not being given. Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano recently revealed that the Vatican Financial Information Authority’s director, René Bruelhart, receives a salary of 35,000 Euros a month, plus 5,000 Euros for expenses.  The Vatican Secretariat of State hired Mr. Bruelhart last November to solve the IOR’s transparency issues.

06/12/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

Francis, Ratzinger and the Pelagianism risk

Bergoglio and Ratzinger

The two concerns Chilean website “Reflexión y Liberación” claims Francis expressed in his conversation with Latin American clerics echo the words of his predecessor

ANDREA TORNIELLI vatican city Although it was Pope Francis’ comments on the existence of a gay lobby and corruption in the Vatican and the fact that clerics should not be discouraged when they end up in the cross-hairs of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, that attracted the media’s attention, the summary of the conversation which took place between Francis and CLAR’s clerics last 6 June, contains some interesting passages relating to today’s Church. CLAR’s leaders made it clear they had nothing to do with the publication of the text, which is essentially a reconstruction of what was said, based on participants’ recollections.The two concerns the Pope apparently expressed in his conversation with Latin American clerics are to do with the risk of “Pelagianism” and “pantheist” gnosis. The first was regarding the doctrines of the Irish monk Pelagius, which were contested by St. Augustine and condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 451. According to Pelagian heresy, original sin did not really contaminate human nature and so humans are apparently able to choose the path of goodness and avoid sin without the help of mercy. In recent decades some were averse to a return to Pelagianism because hyperactivism in the Church, trusting in human plans and projects and believing that human action is what makes the Church what it is, ends up nullifies the action of mercy and reduces everything to human ability.According to the summary of the Pope’s conversation with CLAR, which was published on the Reflexión y Liberación website, Francis talked about the existence of a “Pelagian current in the Church at this moment” and that “there are some restorationist groups.” “I know some, it fell upon me to receive them in Buenos Aires. … And one feels as if one goes back 60 years! Before the Council…,” the Pope apparently said. Francis is said to have added: “when I was elected, I received a letter from one of these groups, and they said: "Your Holiness, we offer you this spiritual treasure: 3,525 rosaries." Why don't they say, 'we pray for you, we ask...', but this thing of counting...” The Pope stressed that he did not in any way intend to make this example sound ridiculous with his description.
The reference to traditionalism sparked an immediate reaction among professed Ratzingerians who pointed to a discontinuity with Benedict XVI.  But these censors got it wrong. It was the then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger himself who spoke about the “Pelagianism of the pious”. During the Spiritual Exercises of 1986 (in the book “Guardare Cristo: esempi di fede, speranza e carità” [Looking at Christ: Examples of faith, hope and charity]; published by Jaka Book), Ratzinger said:  “the other face of the same vice is the Pelagianism of the pious. They do not want forgiveness and in general they do not want any real gift from God either. They just want to be in order. They don’t want hope they just want security. Their aim is to gain the right to salvation through a strict practice of religious exercises, through prayers and action. What they lack is humility which is essential in order to love; the humility to receive gifts not just because we deserve it or because of how we act…”Francis’ second concern is also interesting because it seems to call attention to the declarations made by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith against philosophies and currents of thought that end up “wiping out” incarnation. The current Francis was referring to was “the Gnostic current…Those Pantheisms…”. Gnosticism is a philosophical and religious current that became particularly popular between the second and the fourth centuries and still exists in some religious tendencies like the “New Age”. Both Pelagianism and Gnosticism are “elite currents”, the Pope is said to have stated, “but the latter is of a more educated elite... I heard of a superior general that prompted the sisters of her congregation to not pray in the morning, but to spiritually bathe in the cosmos, things like that... They concern me because they ignore the incarnation! And the Son of God became our flesh, the Word was made flesh, and in Latin America we have flesh abundantly [de tirar al techo]! What happens to the poor, their pains, this is our flesh... The Gospel is not the old rule, nor is it this Pantheism. If you look at the periphery; the destitute... the drug addicts! Human trafficking... This is the Gospel. The poor are the Gospel...”

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(TAKE OVER 3 WORLD REGIONS)

EU gets deal on trans-Atlantic trade pact mandate

By RAF CASERT | Associated Press – 15 hrs ago JUNE 15,13

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — The European Union worked around French objections on Friday to agree on a free trade negotiating mandate for sweeping talks with the United States that President Barack Obama wants to officially open next week.Under Friday's deal, trade ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg agreed to France's demand to keep its movie and television industry out of the hotly anticipated trans-Atlantic talks. But, they said they could possibly come back to debate it at a later time, meaning the deeply divisive issue could resurface.The outcome should allow Obama and his EU counterparts to announce the start of negotiations for a deal expected to provide a big boost to growth and jobs by eliminating tariffs and other barriers that have long plagued economic relations.A free trade pact would create a market with common standards and regulations across countries that together account for nearly half the global economy.

France's longstanding objections, which turned a simple ministerial meeting into a 12-hour negotiating marathon, showed the challenges ahead. Within the EU alone, there is a rift with some nations big on protecting struggling sectors with subsidies and more pro-free-trade member states.Beyond the audiovisual sector, major problems are expected to emerge over agriculture and transport.Friday night though, Finland's European Affairs Minister Alexander Stubb tweeted optimistically about the prospect of trans-Atlantic negotiations: "Play ball!" he wrote.All other EU nations have vowed to protect the culture industry as well, but the large majority nevertheless wanted it to be part of the talks. They fear that removing it would set off tit-for-tat claims on both sides.France's Trade Minister Nicole Bricq said though that the Americans already had staked out an issue which was off limits."Frankly, I met the Americans in Washington and it is clear that they too want exclusions — on the financial services," she said.Even though EU negotiator Karel De Gucht could try bring back the audiovisual sector into the talks, France would always have a veto to keep it out if it wanted.An EU-commissioned study shows that a trade pact could boost the 27-country bloc's economic output by 119 billion euro ($159 billion) a year and the U.S. economy's by 95 billion euros ($127 billion). Another estimate showed eliminating tariffs alone would add $180 billion to U.S. and EU gross domestic product in five years' time while boosting exports on both sides by about 17 percent. That could add about 0.5 percent annually to the EU's GDP and 1 percent to the U.S.For Europe in particular, that extra growth would be crucial to help pay high public debt and bring down unemployment, which is at record highs.
"An EU-U.S. agreement could potentially represent 400,000 jobs in the EU, so that's a prize really worth working for," said Irish Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton, who chaired Friday's EU meeting."It is an opportunity both for the United States and the EU. It's time is now," Bruton said.Tariffs between the EU and the U.S. are already relatively low, averaging 5 percent to 7 percent. But the pact would have huge benefits because of the sheer size of the market — bilateral trade is worth $1 trillion annually, the largest commercial relationship in the world.The prospects sounded so good that all seemed aligned for a launch of the talks during Obama's European visit. Both the U.S. and Britain said they wanted to announce the opening of negotiations by the G-8 summit on June 17-18, with talks expected to start around the beginning of July.
But France and Hollywood have long had a fraught relationship. Paris has for years sought to protect its cultural industries with lavish subsidies and quotas as competition grew from other countries — particularly the U.S., whose exporters are helped by having a massive domestic market and the use of English, the world's pre-eminent language.And since the EU is a patchwork of often tiny countries with their own languages and cultures, such protection has become a fully acceptable practice in the bloc.Because of this, France insisted the EU is so unlikely to give up such protection that there is no point in even including it in the negotiations.EU Trade Commissioner De Gucht, who will negotiate on behalf of the 27 countries based on a unanimous mandate, said the mandate would have included enough guarantees that protection for the cultural industry would be maintained.As the G-8 summit drew closer, however, some of the most divisive issues in trade relations appeared as intractable as ever. Besides the issue of culture, deep differences remained over agriculture, food safety, climate change legislation, financial deregulation and intellectual property enforcement.The best-case timetable for completing the pact is the end of 2014. However, for many experts, that is overly optimistic and the consensus is it will take a few years.___Associated Press writer Marjorie Olster contributed from Washington____Follow Raf Casert on Twitter at https://twitter.com/rcasert

EARTHQUAKES

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

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

1 Day, Magnitude 2.5+ Worldwide

23 earthquakes - DownloadUpdated: 2013-06-15 10:54:08 UTC-04:00Showing event times using Local System Time (UTC-04:00)

1. 2.6 9km W of Anchor Point, Alaska 2013-06-15 10:19:53 UTC-04:00 52.7 km
2. 4.6 56km SW of Champerico, Guatemala 2013-06-15 10:00:05 UTC-04:00 51.7 km
3. 4.3 60km SSW of Champerico, Guatemala 2013-06-15 09:58:48 UTC-04:00 51.9 km
4. 4.4 34km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador 2013-06-15 09:08:45 UTC-04:00 86.0 km
5. 4.5 97km ENE of Ndoi Island, Fiji 2013-06-15 07:48:17 UTC-04:00 481.6 km
6. 6.0 South of the Kermadec Islands 2013-06-15 07:20:34 UTC-04:00 172.4 km
7. 2.6 8km SSW of Calistoga, California 2013-06-15 05:27:20 UTC-04:00 8.2 km
8. 2.5 32km SW of Rio Dell, California 2013-06-15 04:33:41 UTC-04:00 7.9 km
9. 2.7 15km NNE of Anchor Point, Alaska 2013-06-15 03:01:44 UTC-04:00 12.8 km
10. 2.7 111km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-06-15 02:27:20 UTC-04:00 50.0 km
11. 4.6 6km ENE of Tejutla, Guatemala 2013-06-15 00:21:49 UTC-04:00 140.4 km
12. 4.4 South of Panama