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'Hamas in Damascus instructed W. Bank cells to launch mega attack'
Jerusalem
Post (August 26, 2007) - Yahiya Moussa, a member of the Hamas parliament in
Gaza, said the organization did not change its policy regarding
suicide attacks, Israel Radio reported Sunday evening. He said
reports aired in Israeli media earlier Sunday were meant to "set the
ground for renewed Israeli violence against the Palestinians."
Moussa added, however, that Hamas was not in complete control over
its activists and that "pressure against activists in the [West]
Bank could lead bring about an explosion." A Palestinian source in
Ramallah contradicted Moussa, and confirmed that the leadership in
Damascus had indeed instructed West Bank Hamas members to carry out
a large-scale attack. Earlier Sunday, the Shin Bet (Israel Security
Agency) deputy director said at the cabinet meeting that Hamas
leaders in Damascus have told the group's loyalists in the West Bank
to carry out a large-scale terrorist attack inside Israel. Due to
Hamas's current frustrations, he said, there was an increased chance
it would become more actively involved in carrying out attacks here
and abroad. Hamas, the official told the ministers, was irritated it
had not been able to break out of its international isolation and
had been unable to create a mechanism that would bring about
dialogue with Fatah. The organization, he said, was also finding it
increasingly difficult to effectively govern the Gaza Strip. In
addition, he said, there were increasing signs of economic
separation between Gaza and the West Bank, with the economic
situation in Gaza getting worse, while recently there had been some
improvement in the West Bank's private economic sector. "There is no
real threat to Hamas in Gaza," the Shin Bet official added. "Its
situation is stable." He said Hamas was continuing to smuggle large
quantities of arms and explosives from Egypt. In the two months
since it took control of Gaza, he said, some 40 tons of explosives
had been smuggled in, representing half of the amount of explosives
smuggled since Israel left Gaza in 2005. The Shin Bet official said
there had been a recent decrease in Egyptian efforts to stop the
smuggling. more...
Toll rises in South Asia floods
Reuters (August 26, 2007) - Flood victims in eastern India were eating raw
wheat flour to survive as devastating monsoon flooding in South Asia
continued to spread misery among millions. Nearly 2,000 people have
been killed by snake bites, drowning, diarrhea and in house
collapses since July when swollen rivers burst their banks,
inundating huge areas in eastern India and Bangladesh. The toll rose
by 74 over the weekend. In India's impoverished state of Bihar,
villagers were eating wheat flour after mixing it with water because
they could not cook, underlying the inadequacy of government relief
efforts, even after weeks of flooding. "My family has been chewing
flour soaked in water to survive as we do not have access to
firewood to make rotis (bread)," said Genu Sada, 90, in Begusarai
district on Sunday. At least 60 bodies were found by authorities
since Saturday, pushing the death toll to 480 in Bihar since floods
began in mid-July, officials said. Angry at meager relief supplies,
villagers blocked roads on Saturday evening at eight places in the
state, demanding more food, witnesses said. "We are doing whatever
we can to help the people in crisis," said Satish Chandra Jha, a
senior government official. more... "Echo"—an Invaluable Internet Tool to Help Believers Stay in an Attitude of Prayer Breaking Christian News (August 26, 2007) - After hearing about an easy-to-use email prayer reminder service that was available free of charge, I decided to look into it, and visited the Echo Prayer Manager website. I was pleasantly surprised by the simplicity and "lack of busyness" of the site's layout. Within minutes I had set up an account (for free) and took the tour that shows how the service works. I soon began to enter prayers that I wanted to remember to pray, and set up the frequency of the email-reminders. The very next day I received my first reminder in my inbox, and found it easy to take a few minutes to pray over that person and situation. Since then, I've added many more prayer reminders, which I've set to be sent randomly, receiving one each day. It's been very interesting to see how often the reminders show up on just the day that person really needs prayer. There is also a place for journaling if so desired. Creator of the Echo Prayer Manager, Benn Rugg, offers this explanation from his website: It's pretty obvious the Bible calls us to pray for each other. James exhorts us to pray in all circumstances, Paul tells us to pray continually, and Jesus is an example even while he's on the Cross (see James 5:13-18, 1 Thes. 5:17, Luke 23:32-34 for starters). Well I don't know about you, but I promise a lot of people that I'll pray for them. And of course what generally happens is that I pray a couple times and then forget. Once I tried making a list of everything I wanted to pray about, but that just overwhelmed me. There were almost a hundred people and issues on the list, and I felt like I could never pray for all of them. I complained about this to a friend one day and she told me that she sometimes writes people's names on slips of paper and then puts them in a hat. She pulls one name at a time from the hat and prays for that person. That way she prays for everyone and it's not overwhelming. Inspired by that idea, I created this site. It's a virtual "prayer hat" if you will. Instead of passively waiting for you to grab one prayer at a time, though, Echo actively sends you reminders. You customize it in the way that's most useful for you—you can get emails or text messages any time throughout the week—and it reminds you to pray for one person or issue at a time. Echo is a tool to help you pray more diligently. Pray for your coworkers, your friends, your family, your church, your country, your issues. And thank God continually. When you read Paul's letters to the early churches, it's obvious that he prayed for them (some his brothers, some strangers) with passion and with patience. That's how I want to be! Echo is not the end all tool for your Christian walk, but I believe it will be of great value in your relationship with Christ and your relationship with others. Let's change the world. Let's pray for the people around us like we were meant to. And let's show the world that the one true God deserves all the glory. "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." (James 5:16b) If you'd like to find out more about Echo Prayer Manager, or take the tour to see how it works, click here. In a Public Service Announcement, Christian Artist Michael W. Smith Asks Tennesseans to Seek God as to Why There is a Drought in Their State The Tennessean (August 26, 2007) - The Tennessean has published a report saying singer Michael W. Smith believes that God has allowed the state's drought and has recorded a public service announcement for radio stations asking people to pray and fast to end it. "I think we have a real emergency," he said. "There are a lot of droughts in the Bible and talk about people repenting and talking to God about rain. Nobody ever talks about that. Nobody ever says, 'Maybe we should stop and have a day of fasting and prayer.' I feel like that is the answer. I think He has allowed the drought. I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's because of some sort of sin. Wouldn't it be the right thing to do (to ask), 'Hey God, what are You trying to tell us? Whatever it is—if we need to clean up our act— show us what we need to repent. But please give us some rain." According to the report, Smith said he usually doesn't go out on a limb like this unless he really feels like he knows what he's talking about. "I am ready to take whatever hits I may take," said Smith. Smith was quoted as saying that he began reflecting on the possibility that God may have caused the drought after his church prayed for rain. That afternoon, he said, he landed in a rainy Michigan for a show and realized that it had rained at every show location except one. "This last week I started thinking, 'Is there something to this?' If you look at the normal rain pattern, it usually moves through Texas and Arkansas and then hits Tennessee. It has just missed us every time. When you go, 'This is a bit of a mystery,' then you search the Scriptures: 'Let's see if it happened in times past.' It certainly did, and there were some spiritual reasons why there was drought. Is there something going on that is meant for us?" "I just want people to hear my heart on it...It doesn't have anything to do with politics or left-or right-wing," he added. "It's the truth, and the truth sets you free. "I believe God plays into the affairs of mankind on probably more levels than we even think," he concluded. "To blow God off is a big mistake. It's a big mistake to say, 'It's no big deal. This is life; this is nature.' I don't think that is the right answer or response."
Are Turkey’s Relations With Israel Crumbling?
Today's Zaman (August
25, 2007) - Just as
Turkey is tackling domestic issues surrounding the election of its
next president, the decision of an influential Jewish group -- the
New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) -- to recognize the
World War I killing of Anatolian Armenians as genocide, kicked the
genocide debates back onto Turkey’s agenda again. Israel and Jewish
lobbyists have so far pursued a policy of siding with Turkey on this
controversial issue, refusing to recognize those incidents as
genocide, but this long-time policy has been reversed with the ADL’s
move, arousing suspicion that something might be askew in
Turkey-Israel relations, which cannot be considered independent from
Jewish groups operating in the US. There is a widely held view that
Turkey’s improving relations with neighboring countries,
particularly Iran, has disturbed both Israel and the US, resulting
in such consequence. Milliyet columnist Taha Akyol speculates about
the possible reasons for such an attitude change among Jewish groups
in the US and connects this to recent political developments. Akyol
thinks it was the politics of yesterday that prompted Jews to take
sides with Turkey on this controversial issue and it is politics
again that has made their stance change. Akyol, for instance, shows
that Turkey’s rejection of a motion in 2003 that would have allowed
US troops to be deployed in Turkey during the Iraq War and Hamas
leader Khaled Mashaal visiting Turkey after winning elections in
Palestine as some of the reasons for deteriorating relations with
the Bush administration neocons, who are in political and economic
alliance with Zionism. He also talks about Turkey’s improving
relations with Iran and Syria as possible reasons for the change in
stance among Jewish groups. “The Jewish groups do no act
independently from Israel. So, their taking a stance against Turkey
will undoubtedly deal a severe blow to Turkish-Israeli relations.
Turkey, Israel and the US will all suffer from the deteriorating
relations,” argues Akyol. more... The New 'NATO of the East' Takes Shape Asia Times (August 25, 2007) - If optimism is a force multiplier, as former US secretary of state Colin Powell once said, it has worked well so far for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. There were times in the past seven years when it seemed doubtful that the SCO would pull through, beating back the all-out US assault on its credibility. It is certainly a measure of the SCO's success that the United States and Japan are knocking at its door, anxious to gain "observer" status. But for Beijing and Moscow, the two capitals that jealously guarded the SCO and nursed it through its infancy, optimism wasn't the entire story behind the success of the organization, which comprises China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Everything depended on their mutual relations, too. In the past half-century, Sino-Russian relations haven't been as fraternal. But fortuitously, Sino-Russian relations have reached an almost unparalleled level of mutual understanding. That indeed helped the SCO gain flesh and blood. To quote from an editorial by The Financial Times, "On the face of it, SCO is everything that Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger - who sought to keep Russia and China apart - tried to prevent." In an overarching way, however, the massive shift in the templates of great-power politics in recent years also has provided impetus for the SCO's growing clout. Matters are moving in such a direction today that, arguably, if the SCO didn't exist, Russia and China would have reason to discover one. more... Wheat prices reach record level BBC News (August 24, 2007) - Wheat prices have hit record highs on global commodity markets, bringing the threat of rising bread prices. Bad weather in key grain growing areas such as Canada and parts of Europe has limited supplies as demand has risen, sparking fears of a supply shortfall. Surging prices are also expected to have widespread fallout for consumers. While it will mean higher bread prices, it could also trigger an increase in meat and dairy prices as farmers battle to pass on rising feed costs. Global wheat stockpiles will slip to their lowest levels in 26 years as a result, official US figures predicted earlier this month. more...
Earth Changes presented by Stan Deyo StanDeyo.com (August
23, 2007)
Re: Coast to Coast AM Show - The following links give you a
quick, bottom line look at today's concerns. There are many other
sources available, but these give you a comprehensive overview
without chasing around the Net. We have included information for our
Canadian friends where available. —Holly Deyo
Infectious diseases spreading faster than ever: U.N. Reuters
(August 22, 2007) - Infectious
diseases are emerging more quickly around the globe, spreading
faster and becoming increasingly difficult to treat, the World
Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday. In its annual World
Health Report, the United Nations agency warned there was a good
possibility that another major scourge like AIDS, SARS or Ebola
fever with the potential of killing millions would appear in the
coming years. "Infectious diseases are now spreading geographically
much faster than at any time in history," the WHO said. It said it
was vital to keep watch for new threats like the emergence in 2003
of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which spread from
China to 30 countries and killed 800 people. "It would be extremely
naive and complacent to assume that there will not be another
disease like AIDS, another Ebola, or another SARS, sooner or later,"
the report warned. Since the 1970s, the WHO said, new threats have
been identified at an "unprecedented rate" of one or more every
year, meaning that nearly 40 diseases exist today which were unknown
just over a generation ago. Over the last five years alone, WHO
experts had verified more than 1,100 epidemics of different
diseases. With more than 2 billion people traveling by air every
year, the U.N. agency said: "an outbreak or epidemic in one part of
the world is only a few hours away from becoming an imminent threat
somewhere else." more...
Adult psychiatric drug OK'd for kids Associated
Press (August 22, 2007) - The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday
approved a widely used adult psychiatric drug for the treatment of
schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in children and adolescents. The
action permits use of Risperdal for schizophrenia in youths aged 13
to 17 and for bipolar disorder in those aged 10 to 17, FDA said. It
was approved last fall for treatment of irritability in autism.
Risperdal, manufactured by Janssen, L.P. of Titusville, N.J., is the
No. 3 anti-psychotic drug, with $2.3 billion in sales in 2005,
according to the pharmaceutical data company IMS Health. Janssen is
a unit of Johnson & Johnson. Risperdal was approved for use in
adults in 1993. Until now, FDA said, there has been no approved drug
for the treatment of schizophrenia in youths and only lithium is
approved for the treatment of bipolar disorder in adolescents. The
dose approved for youths is slightly lower than the adult dose, FDA
said. Drowsiness, fatigue, increase in appetite, anxiety, nausea,
dizziness, dry mouth, tremor, and rash were among the most common
side effects reported, the agency said.
more...
Top banks tap Fed discount window Reuters (August
22, 2007) - The four largest U.S.
banks, led by Citigroup and Bank of America Corp., took the unusual
step of borrowing $2 billion directly from the Federal Reserve on
Wednesday, as the Fed tries to stabilize tempestuous financial
markets by adding money to the banking system. U.S. shares rose
after the move, but financial stocks declined slightly. Borrowing
money directly from the Fed is usually seen as a sign of weakness,
but JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America and Wachovia Corp., said they have ample access to funds and made
the move for the sake of the financial system. Citigroup, meanwhile,
said it borrowed funds for customers; but the bank has issued at
least $2.5 billion of corporate bonds this month. The Federal
Reserve on Friday cut the rate at which banks borrow directly from
the central bank by a hefty half a percentage point and signaled it
was willing to take more dramatic action to cushion the economy from
tightening credit. Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York, encouraged banks in a call on Friday to
borrow from the Fed. Deutsche Bank late last week borrowed funds
from the Fed, the Financial Times reported on Monday. The Dow Jones
industrial average was up 70 points or about half of one percentage
point after the announcements, while the Standard & Poor's financial
index
turned modestly negative, trading down 0.43 percent.
Europe, Asia and U.S. inject more cash Associated
Press (August 21, 2007)
- Central banks in Europe, Asia and the U.S. injected more cash into
the markets Tuesday as commercial banks clamored for money. The
European Central Bank placed 275 billion euros ($370.6 billion) in
its normal weekly refinancing as it furthered emergency moves taken
over the last two weeks. That followed a decision by the Bank of
Japan Tuesday to lend another 800 billion yen ($7.01 billion), which
followed a trillion-yen injection ($8.71 billion) the day before.
The U.S. Federal Reserve followed with another $3.75 billion
infusion Tuesday, the latest in a series of cash transfusions that
have topped more than $100 billion since last week. U.S. Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson insisted the nation will move safely through
credit crisis that has spread from Wall Street to Tokyo, Frankfurt
and other financial centers. The Reserve Bank of Australia lent
banks 4.57 billion Australian dollars ($3.64 billion) Tuesday. The
Bank of England, meanwhile, lent 314 million pounds ($622.3 million)
directly to an institution — the first time it has made an emergency
loan since the start of the subprime crisis and the resulting credit
crunch. The ECB said the 275 billion-euro allotment announced
Tuesday was about 46 billion euros ($61.9 billion) more than it had
estimated, in part because banks that use the euro are still seeking
extra cash. Despite that, Tuesday's cash infusion was significantly
lower than the ECB's tender last week, when it lent 310 billion
euros ($417.7 billion), and also less than the 292.5 billion euros
($393.5 billion) it lent the week before.
more...
Bush doesn't deny plans for N. American Union
World Net Daily
(August 21, 2007) - President
Bush today sidestepped a direct question about whether he'd be
willing to categorically deny there is a plan to create the North
American Union. Instead, he ridiculed those who believe that is
taking place as conspiracy theorists. The exchange came at a news
conference held by Bush, Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, and
Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who met at a resort in
Quebec to discuss their latest work on the Security and Prosperity
Partnership. After the trio presented their prepared statement about
the SPP, several reporters who had been selected in advance were
allowed to ask questions. When it came time for a question from a
Fox News reporter, Bush was asked if he would be willing to
categorically deny that there is a plan to create a North American
Union, or that there are plans to create NAFTA Superhighways. "As
you three leaders meet here, there are a growing number of people in
each of your countries who have expressed concern about the Security
and Prosperity Partnership. This is addressed to all three of you.
Can you say today that this is not a prelude to a North American
Union, similar to a European Union? Are there plans to build some
kind of superhighway connecting all three countries? And do you
believe all of these theories about a possible erosion of national
identity stem from a lack of transparency from this partnership?"
was the question, according to a White House transcript. Bush's
answer was, "We represent three great nations. We each respect
each other's sovereignty. You know, there are some who would like to
frighten our fellow citizens into believing that relations between
us are harmful for our respective peoples. I just believe they're
wrong. I believe it's in our interest to trade; I believe it's in
our interest to dialogue; I believe it's in our interest to work out
common problems for the good of our people. And I'm amused by some
of the speculation, some of the old – you can call them political
scare tactics. If you've been in politics as long as I have, you get
used to that kind of technique where you lay out a conspiracy and
then force people to try to prove it doesn't exist. That's just the
way some people operate. I'm here representing my nation. I feel
strongly that the United States is a force for good, and I feel
strongly that by working with our neighbors we can a stronger force
for good. So I appreciate that question. I'm amused by the
difference between what actually takes place in the meetings and
what some are trying to say takes place. It's quite comical,
actually, when you realize the difference between reality and what
some people are talking on TV about." Harper joined in. There's
not going to be any NAFTA Superhighway connecting the three nations,
he said, and it's "not going to go interplanetary either," he said.
However, Jerome Corsi, a Harvard Ph.D. whose newly published book,
"The Late
Great USA," uses the government's own documentation to show the
advance of a North American Union, said ridicule is the "last resort
of someone who is losing an argument." Such tactics, Corsi said,
"underestimate the intelligence of people listening, and people
realize that the argument wasn't answered." At the news conference,
he noted, Bush failed to respond to the Fox News question with a
denial of the plans for a North American Union. And, Corsi said,
"Bush did not address the fact that Texas Gov. Rick Perrry vetoed a
two-year moratorium on the Trans-Texas Corridor project," believed
to be the starting point for an eventual continent-wide grid of
NAFTA Superhighways. "Just to ridicule the idea, when he had a
change to categorically deny it, raises doubts in peoples' minds,
especially when these meetings aren't transparent," Corsi added. The
meeting this week, which focused on economic issues, was attended by
representatives of dozens of multinational corporations anxious to
have their manufacturing and sales processes smoothed. However,
Corsi said, "not one person who objects is permitted inside the
room." more... Second Thoughts Are Real WebMD (August 21, 2007) - The a little voice in your head that warns you not to do something you were just about to do is real, brain researchers say. Well, maybe not the voice. But researchers now say last-minute second thoughts come from a specific part of the brain. A different area of the brain allows us to act voluntarily. That's free will. This is "free won't," suggest Marcel Brass, PhD of Germany's Max Planck Institute and Patrick Haggard, PhD, of England's University College London. "Many people recognize the 'little voice inside the head' that stops you from doing something, like pressing the 'send' button on an angry email," Haggard says in a news release. "Our study identifies the brain processes involved in that last-minute rethink about what we are doing." Brass and Haggard find that a brain region just above and between your eyes -- the dorsal fronto-median cortex or dFMC -- is specifically designed to let you pull back from doing something you were just about to do. University of Pennsylvania researcher Martha Farah, PhD, says the findings have major implications. Farah was not involved in the study. "It is very important to identify the circuits that enable 'free won't' because of the many psychiatric disorders for which self-control problems figure prominently -- from attention deficit disorder to substance dependence and various personality disorders," Farah says in a news release. In their study, Brass and Haggard hooked up 15 healthy young adults to functional MRI machines that did real-time scans of their brain activity. The participants were asked to decide to push a button at times of their own choosing. Some of the time the participants were asked to decide at the last minute not to push the button. Brain scans taken when the participants actually pushed the button were different from those taken when the subjects restrained themselves from pushing the button. This self-control came at a cost. The subjects reported feeling frustrated when they did not push the button as they had intended to do. That fit with their brain scans; a part of the brain linked to feelings of frustration (the anterior ventral insula) lit up along with the dFMC "free-won't" brain region. Interestingly, some of the study participants were less likely to refrain from pushing the button than others. These subjects had relatively weak dFMC activity, while those with better self-control had stronger dFMC activity. "This could be a factor in why some individuals are impulsive, while others are reluctant to act," Haggard says. Brass and Haggard report their findings in the Aug. 22 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
PA - Temple Mount the price for peace
Jerusalem Newswire
(August 21, 2007) - The
Palestine Liberation Organization/Palestinian Authority will enter
into no peace pact with Israel that does not award the Muslim Arabs
who call themselves "Palestinians" full and irreversible control
over the site most sacred to the Jewish people. This is according to
a
WorldNetDaily report published Friday detailing some of the
issues being discussed in secret meetings between officials
representing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Arabs
negotiating on behalf of PLO/PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The meetings
are meant to be setting the stage for the International Middle East
Peace Conference called for by US President George W. Bush and
scheduled to be held in November this year under the chairmanship of
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Headlined with the question,
"Israel to give up the Temple Mount?" the report suggested that the
Olmert government would be willing to consider such a demand, a
suspicion fueled by the fact that three days have passed since its
publication without an outright denial from the Prime Minister's
Office. This "Palestinian" position, long held by the PLO leadership
at the aggressive insistence of the entire Islamic world, remains as
solid and unyielding today as it did when it helped scupper the
talks at Camp David in July 2000. There, under the benevolent eye of
US President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered
PLO chief Yasser Arafat all of Gaza, 97 percent of Judea and Samaria
- with the other two percent exchanged for pieces of land from
"Israel proper" - the Arab-populated eastern parts of Israel's
capital, the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount. What put
an abrupt end to the summit, and caused Arafat to hurl insults in
Barak's direction and storm out of the room, was the Israeli
leader's groveling plea for his nation to be awarded sovereignty
over the rubble from the First and Second Temple periods that lies
buried beneath the Temple Mount platform. Arafat could have
everything possible for the creation of his state, including the
coveted site of the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Barak
said. All Israel wished for was control over the "sub-terrace
spaces" containing dried-out pottery shards and other dusty remains
from an era those who discount the Bible don't even believe existed
at all. The arch-terrorist responded by returning to the Middle East
and igniting the Oslo War - or Al-Aqsa Intifada - that saw gallons
of Jewish blood spilled in Israel. But while the explosion of
terrorism awakened many deluded Israelis to the true goal and nature
of the "Palestinian" leadership and people - who consistently
supported and celebrated "suicide" and other massacres - it drove
dyed-in-the-wool Jewish leftists to advocate even further extremes
and carte blanch appeasement. more...
Stop moaning or leave the EU, Britain is told
Telegraph UK
(August 20, 2007) - Elmar Brok,
a centre-Right MEP and close ally of German chancellor Angela
Merkel, effectively told Britain to sign up to the so-called
reforming treaty or consider pulling out of the EU. He insisted that
the new draft was substantially different from the "old"
constitution and that Britain had "got what it wanted" with a series
of opt-outs and "red lines". "Gordon Brown's government has said
there is no justification for a referendum and the UK should stick
to this commitment," said Brok, the European parliament's
representative on inter-governmental negotiations on the treaty. "It
would be very unfair of the UK if, having more or less got what it
wanted in the new treaty, it would then turn round and put this to a
popular vote." Brok, a member of the European convention that
drafted the old constitution, asked: "The UK got its various
opt-outs so what's the problem? How would it seem to other EU member
states if Britain were now to hold a referendum? For me, that would
undermine the negotiations on the treaty and even go as far as to
question Britain's credibility as an EU member. "Britain is a valued
member of the EU but we should perhaps remember that the treaty
contains an article which gives any member state the right to leave
the EU if it so wishes." Those campaigning for a British referendum
were motivated "solely" by their opposition to the EU, he claimed.
Brok, who was chairman of parliament's foreign affairs committee,
said there was "no reason to renegotiate something you agreed on".
He added: "The chapter is closed. "We should be able to have a new
treaty as soon as possible. We have a commitment from all to meet
these requirements." The political veteran said MEPs will resist any
attempt to "water down" the treaty, which aims to revive the
constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. President Putin Scrambles Bombers Telegraph UK (August 20, 2007) - Russia has resumed long-range patrols by its bomber planes for the first time since the end of the Cold War, President Vladimir Putin announced yesterday. Mr Putin said the bombers - which can carry conventional or nuclear weapons - would again circle the world, 15 years after their flights were suspended. He claimed that the move was a response to the threat posed to Russia by other nations - a clear reference to the United States - which has continued its own long-range missions. "Today 14 strategic bombers took to the air from seven airfields across the country, along with support and refuelling aircraft," Mr Putin told reporters at joint military exercises with China in the Ural mountains. "In 1992, Russia unilaterally ended flights by its strategic aircraft to distant military patrol areas. Unfortunately, our example was not followed by everyone. "Flights by other countries' strategic aircraft continue and this creates certain problems for ensuring the security of the Russian Federation. "Patrolling will take place in areas of busy shipping and (areas key to the) economic activities of the Russian Federation," he said. The resumed flights have an element of political theatre but will nonetheless set alarm bells ringing in Western capitals. Soviet bombers routinely flew such missions in the dark days of the Cold War. Mr Putin chose to make his announcement at the climax of military exercises put on by the increasingly powerful central Asian alliance, the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, which Russia believes could be a second Warsaw Pact. The response from the US State Department was in keeping with Washington's efforts not to be drawn into a war of words, though officials are concerned about Russia's increasingly provocative military activities. "If Russia feels as though they want to take some of these old aircraft out of mothballs and get them flying again that's their decision," Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman, said. "That is a decision for them to take - it's interesting. We certainly are not in the kind of posture we were with what used to be the Soviet Union. It's a different era." more...
Top alert on Indonesia volcano
Reuters
(August 20, 2007) -
Lava and hot gas clouds have begun erupting from an
Indonesian volcano, threatening hundreds of people living in nearby
villages, an official said on Monday. Saut Simatupang, the head of
Indonesia's Vulcanology Survey, said nearly 600 people had evacuated
their homes in an area south-east of Mount Karangetang. Simatupang
said the alert status for the volcano was raised to maximum at the
weekend after hot clouds started moving eastwards, posing a threat
to hundreds of people. The 1,827 meter (5,994 feet) peak, on the
diving resort island of Siau off Sulawesi and 2,325 km (1,445 miles)
north-east of the capital Jakarta, is one of Indonesia's most active
volcanoes. "At least hundreds of the 30,000 people living on the
island are at grave risk," Simatupang said by telephone from his
office in the city of Bandung. "We have recommended evacuation for
entire districts and we are pushing for the complete evacuation of
at least two villages located 5 km (3 miles) from the volcano's
crater." Simatupang said he received reports saying lava had already
spread more than 1 km down the volcano's slopes. Another volcano 175
km south of Mount Karangetang has also been spewing ash and sending
debris down its slopes. But Simatupang said that Mount Soputan,
which lies on the northern tip of the Sulawesi island, was no threat
to nearby villages. Indonesia has the highest number of active
volcanoes of any country, sitting on a belt of intense volcanic and
seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire."
Saudi
Arabia accuses Syria of spreading chaos in the Mideast
Haaretz (August 18, 2007) - Saudi Arabia
accused Syria on Thursday of attempting to destabilize the region
and spread chaos, in response to Syrian accusations that its role in
the Middle East was waning. A government spokesman in the Saudi
capital Riyadh rejected the Syrian claims as "lies and fallacies" in
a widely broadcast statement Thursday evening, signaling a new low
in diplomatic ties already strained over Lebanon and Iraq. In an
unusually scathing statement, the conservative Muslim kingdom, which
has been trying to bolster its regional role, was lashing out
against criticism made by Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara
earlier this week. "They believe they can deceive the Arab and
Muslim nation, but their actions are proof of their malicious
intentions," the statement said. Saudi Arabia is a close ally of the
United States in the Middle East, and has just signed an arms deal
with it for an estimated $20 billion of sophisticated weaponry.
Syria, however, is accused by the U.S. of supporting terrorism and
aiding the insurgency in Iraq. The Saudi royal house accused Syrian
Vice-President Farouq al-Sharaa of spreading "lies" about Saudi
Arabia. Al-Sharaa had said on Tuesday at a press conference in
Damascus that Saudi Arabia was not playing an active role in
regional politics. He also said that in its foreign policy, the
Islamic kingdom was paralyzed - pointing to the failure of a
Palestinian unity deal forged in the Saudi holy city of Mecca in
February. more...
Evangelical pastor told to leave Israel
Haaretz
(August 18, 2007) -
An American evangelical
pastor and his wife who have been living in Israel for
nearly two decades have been ordered to leave the country
within two weeks, after their request for permanent
residency was turned down, officials said on Thursday.
Ron Cantrell, 59, and his wife Carol, 54, have run
a small Jerusalem-based ministry,
Shalom
Shalom Jerusalem, for the past four years. Cantrell
previously worked for
Bridges for Peace,
an evangelical organization, for 14 years. Two of the
couple’s children have married Israelis and have Israeli ID
cards. Interior Ministry officials said the decision was
made following suspicions that Cantrell was involved in
missionary work. The pastor categorically denied the
allegations as baseless. Cantrell, who has been active in
raising money for Israel as well as working on behalf of
Soviet Jews, had resided in Israel on a special clergy visa
during his work for Bridges for Peace, but then went back to
a regular tourist visa, which needed to be renewed every
three or six months, he said. The highly-coveted but
sparsely-distributed clergy visa is primarily given to
officials from mainstream Christian organizations. Cantrell,
who travels extensively on lecture tours, could have
continued living in Israel if he had left the country at
least once every three months, but said that was an
“unworkable solution” for his wife. Cantrell said the
Interior Ministry had cited no reason for rejecting the
residency request. Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine
Haddad said that the couple’s request to receive residency
status, after residing in Israel for years on various
temporary permits, had been brought before all ministry
levels up to the acting head of the population authority,
who was also the director-general of the office. The request
was turned down last month, she said. Ministry officials
cited suspicions of missionary work. The Shalom Shalom
Jerusalem Web site says that the couple “encourages
Christians and
Messianic Jewish believers in their understanding of the
prophetic Scriptures” and “encourages believers to
participate in God’s end-time plans by being involved in
positive support for the nation of Israel and Jewish
communities worldwide … in the regathering of the Jewish
people to their homeland.” The issue underscored the
delicate balancing act
evangelical Christian supporters of Israel face, between
proselytizing, which is banned in Israel, and their
fundamental belief that the return of the Jews to the Holy
Land was foretold in the Scriptures and heralds the return
of the messiah.
Arctic
Sea Ice Coverage Drops to Record Low
Fox News
(August 18, 2007) -
There was less sea
ice in the Arctic on Friday than ever before on record, and the
melting is continuing, the
National Snow and Ice Data Center reported.
"Today is a historic day," said Mark Serreze,
a senior research scientist at the center. "This is the least sea
ice we've ever seen in the satellite record and we have another
month left to go in the melt season this year." Satellite
measurements showed 2.02 million square miles of ice in the Arctic,
falling below the Sept. 21, 2005, record minimum of 2.05 million
square miles, the agency said.
Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Natural Science Center. Sea
ice is particularly low in the East Siberian side of the Arctic and
the Beaufort Sea
north of Alaska, the center reported. Ice in
the Canadian Archipelago is also quite low. Along the Atlantic side
of the Arctic Ocean, sea ice extent is not as unusually low, but
there is still less than normal, according to the center located in
Boulder, Colo. The snow and ice center is part of the
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at
the University of Colorado. It receives support from NASA,
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National
Science Foundation. Scientists began monitoring the extent of Arctic
sea ice in the 1970s when satellite images became available. The
polar regions have long been of concern to climate specialists
studying global warming because those regions are expected to feel
the impact of climate change sooner and to a greater extent than
other areas. more...
Strong earthquake strikes eastern Indonesia
The Jerusalem Post
(August 17, 2007) - A strong
undersea earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Friday, the US
Geological Survey and local officials said. No tsunami warning was
issued and there were no immediate reports of damage. The temblor
had a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 and hit 230 kilometers (145
miles) southeast of Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, said
Suhardjono, an official at Indonesia's Meteorological and Geophysics
Agency who goes by only one name. The USGS said the quake struck 10
kilometers (6 miles) beneath the Banda Sea, but local officials put
the depth at around 60 kilometers (40 miles). The reason for the
discrepancy was not clear. "We have not received any reports of
damage," Suhardjono said, adding that the agency did not issue a
tsunami warning because the quake was not strong enough to trigger
waves. Leaders from China, Russia, Central Asia to show off military might Breitbart (August 16, 2007) - Presidents Vladimir Putin, Hu Jintao and four other heads of state were to attend unprecedented military exercises on Friday by the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), intended as a display of strength before the Western world. The event is the culmination of a nine-day exercise dubbed "Peace Mission 2007" that began in the north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang and involves some 6,000 military personnel from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It comes after SCO leaders underlined their opposition to perceived US hegemony at a summit on Thursday in the ex-Soviet Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also attended as an observer, lashing out at US "interference." The SCO grew out of a regional effort in the mid-1990s to reduce military forces along common borders and has evolved into military and economic cooperation, with the focus on Central Asia. While Russia has mostly footed the bill for the exercises in the Ural Mountains province of Chelyabinsk, they mark a new level of military cooperation with China. Beijing has contributed 1,700 personnel and has sent war planes and helicopters to the Chebarkul training ground, said the official newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Under the exercises' "scenario," a massive show of fire power is to be directed against some 1,000 insurgents who have taken over a village, seized hostages and who then try to flee across a nearby border. Russian media have highlighted the resemblance to an uprising in the Central Asian state of Uzbekistan in 2005, when Uzbek security forces' heavy-handed response was criticised by the West and human rights campaigners alleged that hundreds of civilians had been killed. Putin rallied to Uzbekistan's side on that occasion and has likened US moves to foster democracy in Central Asia to "a bull in a china shop." more...
Roman Catholic Bishop Wants Everyone to Call God 'Allah'
Fox News
(August 16, 2007) - A proposal
by a Roman Catholic bishop in the Netherlands that people of all
faiths refer to God as "Allah" is not sitting well with the Catholic
community. Tiny Muskens, an outgoing bishop who is retiring in a few
weeks from the southern diocese of Breda, said God doesn't care what
he is called. "Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn't we
all say that from now on we will name God Allah? ... What does God
care what we call him? It is our problem," Muskens told Dutch
television. "I'm sure his intentions are good but his theology needs
a little fine-tuning," said Father Jonathan Morris, a Roman Catholic
priest based in Rome. Morris, a news analyst for FOX News Channel,
also called the idea impractical. "Words and names mean things,"
Morris said. "Referring to God as Allah means something." Ibrahim
Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a
Washington, D.C.-based Islamic civil liberties and advocacy group,
backs the idea as a way to help interfaith understanding. "It
reinforces the fact that Muslims, Christians and Jews all worship
the same God," Hooper told FOXNews.com. "I don't think the name is
as important as the belief in God and following God's moral
principles. I think that's true for all faiths." Christians who are
Arabic speakers speak of Allah when they speak of God, Hooper added.
"There's not a theological leap to make on the part of Christians,"
Hooper said. The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago
supports the idea. “I think it will open up doors,” said Janaan
Hashim, a spokeswoman for the group representing more than 400,000
Muslim Americans in the Chicago area. “Language is a man-made
limitation. I think what God cares about is how we fulfill our
purpose in life.” The nation’s largest Catholic civil rights group
says Catholics won't get behind the proposal. “Bishop Martinus
“Tiny” Muskens can pray to “Allah” all he wants, but only addlepated
Catholics will follow his lead,” Bill Donohue, president of the
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said in a statement.
“It is not a good sign when members of the Catholic hierarchy
indulge in a fawning exchange with Muslims, or those of any other
religion.” more...
European Parliament to Host Anti-Israel Hate-Fest
UN Watch (August 16, 2007)
- Under the auspices of the UN's Committee
on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People,
a "Conference of Civil Society in Support of Israeli-Palestinian
Peace" will take place on August 30-31 in Belgium. These meetings
are part of a round-robin of anti-Israel gatherings organized
year-round by the UN's 16-member Division
for Palestinian Rights. It all dates back to 1975,
when these mechanisms were installed within the UN on the same day
that the General Assembly adopted its infamous "Zionism is Racism"
resolution. What is new, however, is the venue: the European
Parliament in Brussels. What the conference will pronounce is
pre-determined. Carefully pre-determined: the UN's Palestinian
Division runs a tightly-controlled operation that accredits only
anti-Israel NGOs and speakers. And recently they've become quite
clever. Without altering the virulently anti-Israel nature of their
meetings, the organizers instead seek to mask their
activities — under such innocent-sounding titles as "support for
Israeli-Palestinian peace." Moreover, to add credence to their
cover, they invite specially approved "Israelis" — a select group of
radicals who openly espouse hatred of Israel, claiming the license
to do so because of their citizenship. Both tactics give conference
organizers the cover they need for their allies and enablers to then
use the material. Among the speakers at the conference are Michel
Warschawski, who proudly describes himself as a "well-known
anti-Zionist activist." Others speakers include Nurit
Peled Elhannan, Amira Hass, Raji Sourani, Jamal Jumaa
(Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign), Mohammed Khatib (Popular Committee
of Bilin Coordinator), and David Shearer (OCHA). See the recent
meeting in South Africa, featuring Gideon Levy and
others, to get a sense of what to expect in Brussels. None of the
radical Israeli Jews at the Brussels conference represents even a
tiny segment of the Israeli Jewish population. So it's like holding
a conference on U.S.-Islamic rapprochement and inviting John Walker
Lindh—the American who joined the Taliban—to represent America's
position. Technically, Walker is as American as Warschawski and Hass
are Israeli. But only a scoundrel or a fool would treat either
exercise as anything but a sham. Who was behind the European
Parliament's decision to play host to this poorly disguised
hate-fest? With the conference façade removed, who in Europe will
now have the courage to speak out?
'Terrorist' label means U.S. set for Iran attack, experts say Ottawa
Citizen (August 16, 2007)
- A U.S. decision to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a
foreign terrorist organization fuelled speculation yesterday that
the White House is laying the groundwork for air strikes against the
hardline Islamic nation before President George W. Bush leaves
office. Foreign policy analysts were surprised yesterday by the
reported White House decision, which would mark the first time in
history that the U.S. has formally declared the armed forces of a
sovereign nation to be terrorists. "The United States has chosen to
up the ante against Iran. This is a warning, or an indicator, that a
major policy shift is unfolding within the Bush administration,"
said retired U.S. air force colonel Sam Gardiner, an Iran policy
specialist and former war games planner at the National War
College. "From a policy perspective, it's huge. Never in the history
of warfare has another country declared another's armed forces to be
a separate instrument from the state." In Crawford, Texas, White
House spokeswoman Dana Perino said "it would be inappropriate for me
to comment on any possible actions" the U.S. is planning to curb the
activities of the Revolutionary Guard, an elite military force that
operates outside Iran's regular army. But several high-ranking U.S.
officials said Mr. Bush has already made a decision to sign an
executive order classifying the Revolutionary Guard a "specially
designated global terrorist" group that threatens the U.S. The
administration could formally announce the move as early as next
month ahead of United Nations Security Council meetings in New York,
when the U.S. will seek tougher sanctions against Tehran over its
nuclear program. The U.S. military has also repeatedly accused
Iran's Revolutionary Guard, particularly its covert al-Quds Force,
of supplying weapons to aid Shia insurgents fighting American troops
in Iraq. Iran's Revolutionary Guard "is well-known to be engaged in"
terrorist activities and the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction,
said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. more...
Chavez foes attack push to end term limits Reuters (August 16, 2007) - Venezuela's leading opposition politician on Thursday attacked President Hugo Chavez's bid to scrap presidential term limits as an attempted coup and a sign of "puerile egomania." Chavez proposed a raft of legal changes on Wednesday that increase the presidential term from six to seven years, end limits on re-election and strengthen the state's expropriation powers as he consolidates his hold over the OPEC nation. The changes would have to be approved by a popular referendum. Critics of the Venezuelan leader say he has steadily edged his oil-producing nation to a dictatorship but, through use of petroleum dollars, Chavez has secured strong support among the poor majority with free health and education projects. "This is an attempted coup because it weakens the republic," said former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales, who lost to Chavez when the president won a landslide re-election last year. "And he's doing this amid his narcissistic illness, his personal ambition ... his puerile egomania." Justice First opposition party leader Julio Borges dismissed Chavez's reforms as a thinly veiled attempt to advance his "continuous re-election, re-election for life, permanent re-election." Under the current constitution, Chavez is in his second and final term and could not be elected again after it ends in 2012. The reform proposal would allow him to stay as long as he keeps winning elections. Opposition leaders and U.S. officials frequently accuse Chavez, an anti-U.S. leader with close ties to Cuba's Fidel Castro, of concentrating power and controlling institutions, such as the central bank and oil company PDVSA. more...
Earthquake in Peru kills hundreds Reuters
(August 16, 2007) - Rescuers
searched collapsed homes and churches in Peru on Thursday for more
victims of a massive earthquake that killed hundreds, cracked and
cut off roadways and left thousands without power. Peru's civil
defense agency said at least 337 people perished and 1,300 were
injured in the 7.9-magnitude quake and the death toll was expected
to rise. Many people were forced to sleep outside in the hardest-hit
region of Ica on the coast south of the capital, Lima. The area was
hit by several strong aftershocks. The huge tremor cracked highways
and cut power and telephones. Rockslides blocked some roads, as
well. "The first impression of the team is that damage is severe,
especially to houses," said Giorgio Ferrario, the South America
representative for the International Federation of the Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies. "We know for the moment, according to local
authorities, that at least 35O people are dead, but the toll will
certainly rise as search and rescue operations continue," he said. A
fire department official said at least four people were trapped when
the main tower of the Senor de Luren church in the city of Ica, home
to some 120,000 people, was toppled. Rescuers struggling to move
south toward Ica were initially hampered by gaping crevasses that
fractured portions of the Pan-American Highway, a major coastal
route. Radio reports on Thursday said traffic was getting through to
the damaged area. "I was with my children when the movement started
and then the walls collapsed. My house was destroyed," Milagros
Meneses, 35, told Reuters in the city of Canete, south of Lima,
where at least two people were killed. "The hospital gave me a tent
for my kids to sleep in." more...
First hurricane of 2007 season forms in Atlantic Reuters
(August 16, 2007) - Tropical
Storm Dean strengthened into the 2007 Atlantic storm season's first
hurricane on Thursday as it revved up over warm waters and raced
toward the Caribbean, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The
hurricane, with top sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (130 kph)
by 8 a.m EDT/1200 GMT, was expected to strengthen further in the
next few days and could pass to the south of Jamaica on its way to
Mexico's Yucatan peninsula as a powerful and dangerous Category 4
storm. Category 3 to 5 hurricanes on the five-step Saffir-Simpson
scale, such as Katrina, Rita and Wilma in the devastating 2005
Atlantic storm season, are generally the most destructive storms.
Dean was expected to pass the French islands of Martinique and
Guadeloupe as it entered the Caribbean, the Miami-based hurricane
center said. Hurricane warnings were posted for the islands of
Dominica and St. Lucia by their governments, and hurricane watches
were set for Martinique and Guadeloupe. A hurricane watch means
hurricane conditions can be expected within 36 hours and a warning
means hurricane conditions are possible in 24 hours. Barbados was
put under a tropical storm warning, the hurricane center said and
Montserrat, Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis, Barbuda, St. Vincent and
St. Maarten under tropical storm watches. At 8 a.m. EDT/1200 GMT,
Dean's center was about 415 miles east of Barbados and about 510
miles east of Martinique. The hurricane was moving west at about 24
mph (39 kph).
Mind Controlled Gun Confiscation
By
Bill Schnoebelen The
Prophecy Club meeting e-mail
(August 17, 2007) - Are the
shootings of the Stockton schoolyard, Mc Donald’s, Columbine,
Jonesborough, Pennsylvania Amish School, and Virginia Tech simply
the work of mad, out-of-control gun owners of which the only answer
is to confiscate all citizen weapons, or could it be the work of a
secret mind control program called MK Ultra?
Bill Schnoebelen, former member of the Illuminati and Master's level counselor, rips the mask off the cause of the recent tragic shootings. He shows how MK Ultra began and exactly how it could be used to kill time and time again until we surrender our freedom-keeping weapons our forefathers died to give us. Topics include:
This is from an e-mail from the Prophecy Club regarding a meeting that happened on the 17th. I do believe that those behind the New World Order would like to get rid of guns. It will make the future great tribulation easier to implement when people can't fight back. Not everyone will want to take a mark and worship the antichrist even if they aren't Christians and those who kill by the sword will die by the sword. The time is coming whether we like it or necessarily believe it or not, the Bible is 100% true. While I don't believe the bride of Christ will be here for that time, we also need to realize that in some places in the world that persecution of Jews and Christians is happening right now! It's easy to get comfortable because of the blessings we have been given, so let us keep the body of Christ in prayer, for some of our brothers and sisters in Christ are going through very difficult times right now. We can learn a lot about faith and belief through them.
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