News for July 24, 2007

Other Stuff:+

Should Jews build the Third Temple? The Jerusalem Post (July 24, 2007) - Traditionally the Temple Mount Faithful attempt to set up a foundation stone for the Third Temple on Tisha Be'av, and the police routinely prevent them from doing so. The occasion for this street theater is the anniversary of the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and that of the Second Temple in 70 CE, both said to have occurred on the same calendar date. It is certainly right that the date be commemorated; but would rebuilding the Temple be an appropriate act for the State of Israel today? Assuming there were no Dome of the Rock and no Muslim presence on the Temple Mount, no Wakf and no Aksa Mosque, the pressure to rebuild the Temple would be enormous - but would it, in historical terms, be sound? The last time such an opportunity occurred was in the time of Julian the Apostate, in 362 CE. That Roman Emperor, who succeeded Constantine, reversed his predecessor's decision to turn the empire into a Christian state and returned to the former pagan religions, which were permissive of other cults, including the Jewish one. It seems that he gave permission for the Temple to be rebuilt, and then went off to fight his enemies. In Jerusalem work commenced on reconstructing the altar, but hardly had a few stones been put one on another, when a massive earthquake hit the area and the work collapsed. Worse still, Julian was killed in Persia and his place was taken by the Emperor Jovian, who reinstalled Christianity as the official religion. Any hope of rebuilding the Temple ceased, never to return. IN 638 CE, the hordes of Islam conquered Jerusalem and by 692 the Caliph Abd al-Malik had completed the Dome of the Rock, which stood on the mountain inviolate for the following 1,315 years. During the Crusader years it was converted to Christian use, and most Crusaders thought it had been built originally as the Temple of Solomon, but it was not changed structurally and returned to the Muslims on expulsion of the Crusaders in 1187. However, it did not return as a mosque, as it had never been one. more...
| Israel | Temple Mount |

This article has a negative slant toward the rebuilding of the temple, viewing it more as welcoming another tragedy. I think these kinds of views will change after the attempted Magog invasion, even if they are correct. Rebuilding the temple will play into Bible prophecy and some terrible things will happen surrounding it. That is where the antichrist will declare himself God. Soon after that, he will try to kill all the Jews. Only those who run to the mountains will be safe within the time of Jacob's trouble. However, if the HIStory, Our Future Bible studies are accurate, it will also be the point five years from today (9th of Av) when Christ returns in glory to set up His eternal kingdom, starting for the 1,000 year millennium. Keep watching!

Syrian Official: War with Israel will be Ballistic Israel National News (July 23, 2007) - Syria sees the next war with Israel as involving missile attacks on civilian infrastructure and front-line guerilla warfare, an anonymous senior official in the Syrian Ministry of Defense told Defense News Weekly, in an interview appearing Monday. Syria prefers to avoid a direct, "classic" confrontation with Israel, he said. Instead, the next war will involve Katyusha rocket and ballistic missiles that will target strategic points in Israel, especially civilian infrastructure. The official said that the war will not be limited to a single strike, but will be protracted in nature. "This will be a war of attrition, which the Israelis are not good at," he explained. The conflict, he said, "will be more like a war between cities than a war on the battlefield." According to Arab affairs expert Dr. Guy Bechor, the Syrian assessment is a result of the Second Lebanon War. After that war, the Syrians understood that they do not need a large ground force to defeat Israel, but rather missiles aimed at dense Israeli population centers. For the past two years the Syrians have been engaged in massive acquisitions from Russia, after an $11 billion debt was partially forgiven by Russia in 2005, and partially covered by Iran. Following the unimpressive performance by the IDF in last year’s war, Bechor explains, Syria began equipping itself with advanced anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank missiles and cruise missiles. The Syrian army numbers 650,000 soldiers, including 354,000 reservists, according to Defense News. Its tanks are outdated Soviet models, however, and its air force is inferior to Israel's. more...
| Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |

Just a guess, but perhaps they want Israel to make the first strike so in the eyes of the world they are not the aggressors. If they can keep spinning things to make Israel look bad, they'll have valid reason for the Magog invasion. I have no doubt that those trying to push the destruction of Israel could care less about losing people if it means they can get at Israel. If they get Israel so worried about war that they act first to prevent it, maybe they think they will look like the victims, something they're continually trying to portray in the world even if it is a lie.

Javier Solana & The Larger Plan News With Views: Dennis L. Cuddy (July 23, 2007) - In my July 2 NewsWithViews.com column, I gave a specific example of how the power elite’s dialectical process worked (a micro analysis). In this new article here, I’ll look at the larger picture (macro analysis) of how a single incident or individual fits into the power elite’s larger plan. To do this, I’ll refer to Constance Cumbey’s excellent June 17 NWV column regarding Javier Solana, Canada, and other elements. As I’ve mentioned before, one of the primary power elitists was Cecil Rhodes, whose secret Society of the Elect was “to take the government of the whole world.” Canadian P.E. Corbett was a member of this group, and in his Post-War Worlds (1942) described their plan to form a world government by linking regional arrangements which would involve trade, investment, distribution of food and raw materials, migration, etc. After World War II, Rhodes scholars packed the Canadian external affairs office of Lester Pearson, who probably had a great deal to do with President Truman’s firing of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur. This is because MacArthur had displeased Canada (and Britain) by his efforts to win the Korean War. Thus, Canada has played an important role in the power elite’s plans. Constance Cumbey began her article by stating, “In March of 1995, there was a near shooting war. . . between Spain and Canada.” She then referred to Solana’s “BIG plans” involving “mutually advantageous trading terms over the area’s resources leading to a Mediterranean Free Trade Zone by 2010.” To accomplish this, the larger plan was to get rid of Yugoslavia’s Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, who was standing in the way of linking the European Union’s trade corridor to the power elite’s desired Mediterranean regional arrangement because of his conflict with Croatia and Kosovo. In Washington Post columnist William Raspberry’s interview of me on the subject on December 18, 1995, he wrote: “Cuddy says he is tempted more and more to look for economic explanations for what seems otherwise inexplicable. . . . . Cuddy notes that the United States is now involved in negotiating a Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement with Europe.” In early June 1995, Secretary of State Warren Christopher announced regarding the Transatlantic Free Trade Area: “We intend to give it the serious study it deserves, with its considerable potential to form an element of our overall strategy. . . . The long-term objective is the integration of the economies of North America and Europe, consistent with the World Trade Organization.” In Constance Cumbey’s article, she referred to Solana chairing the “Transatlantic Alliance,” and in my June 12, 2006 NWV column on “Global Integration,” I spelled out the details of the “New Transatlantic Agenda,” not only involving education (portability of academic credits, etc.) but the Agenda further stated that “governments too are obliged to adapt their economic training and social welfare programs.” Constance Cumbey concluded her article referring to the New Age influence on Canadians Maurice Strong and former Prime Minister Paul Martin. The power elite’s larger plan regarding spirituality involves a synthesis of all religions into “A Common Faith” (the title of humanist John Dewey’s 1934 book). And prominent Canadians have played a significant part in the plan. Dorothy MacLean, formerly with British Intelligence, in the 1990s was president of the New Age Canadian Lorian Association. The first head of the World Health Organization (WHO) was Canadian psychiatrist Brock Chisholm (1959 Humanist of the Year), who wrote in Psychiatry (February 1946): “We have swallowed all manner of poisonous certainties fed us by our parents, our Sunday and lay school teachers, our politicians, our priests. . . . the reinterpretation and eventual eradication of the concept of right and wrong which has been the basis of child training, the substitution of intelligent and rational thinking for faith in the certainties of old people, these are the belated objectives. . . for charting the changes in human behavior.” Just 3 months later, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on May 5, 1946 aired a speech by Dr. Ewen Cameron, who would in 1953 become president of the American Psychiatric Association and later receive CIA funds to conduct horrible LSD and control experiments on people. In the speech titled “The Building of the Coming World Order,” he declared: “. . . What we call morals, are simply the customs, prohibitions and rules which a society maintains at any given time. . . . What we have once set up, we can set up again, and better. . . . The United Nations Organization deserves the support of all who are concerned with the building of a New World Order. . . . There can be only one education anywhere on earth and that is education for world citizenship.” Maurice Strong was former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s right-hand man. And long-time U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Robert Muller has based the curriculum for his many Robert Muller schools around the world on the underlying teachings of Luciferian Alice Bailey. Muller and former Canadian parliament member Douglas Roche in 1995 co-authored a book advocating a “common security agenda as the basis for a new world order.” This was after Roche at the World Conference of Religion for Peace in Louvain, Belgium (August 28-September 3, 1974) delivered a report titled “We can achieve a New World Order,” thus showing the power elite’s larger plan to use religion to bring about their New World Order of a World Socialist Government and One World Religion. Check out Constance Cumbey's latest article on Javier Solana and the UN.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder | America |

China quake prompts evacuation of 8,250 Reuters (July 22, 2007) - An earthquake in a remote region of northwest China brought down more than 2,100 houses and prompted the evacuation of 8,250 people, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday. The 5.7-magnitude quake jolted a county in the north of the vast Xinjiang region, bordering Kazakhstan, on Friday. Xinhua quoted an official as saying no one had died. The quake hit Tekes county, with its epicentre in a mountainous region 430 km (270 miles) from Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. "Rescuers have displaced 8,250 residents as their houses, most of which are mud-brick, either collapsed or became dangerous," the official was quoted as saying. China is struck by frequent earthquakes, most hitting remote rural areas.
| Earth Changes |

Floods kill at least 100 across China Reuters (July 22, 2007) - More than 100 people have died in floods and landslides in China, and tens of thousands have fled their homes in the east, where dykes are in danger of being breached by a swollen river. Severe flooding has hit about half of China since the start of the summer, killing hundreds in what has become the deadliest rainy season in years. Natural disasters, mostly floods, have killed more than 800 people so far this year. Television pictures for days have shown villagers wading chest high through muddy water and old people being carried from their inundated homes. Fifty-nine people have died after rainstorms in mountainous Yunnan province in the southwest, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday. Rain has destroyed more than 4,000 houses and damaged thousands of hectares of crops. A 176-km (110-mile) highway linking Tengchong county in Yunnan and Myanmar has been severed by flows of mud and rock. At least 40 people have died in storms in Shandong province on the east coast. Dozens have died in the central Chongqing region which President Hu Jintao visited at the weekend, urging the local government to ensure victims had clothing, food, shelter, power and drinking water. The already swollen middle and lower reaches of the Huai river, China's third longest, face a severe test in the east with the water level expected to stay dangerously high for at least a further 10 days, Xinhua said. more...
| Earth Changes |

Floods Cause More Misery Across Britain Sky News (July 21, 2007) - The emergency services are taking the strain tonight as many parts of Britain remain under water. It is more than 24 hours since storms swept across the country, dumping huge amounts of rain on already saturated ground, leading to widespread flooding in dozens of towns. Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire have been worst hit counties. But other areas have also suffered. The Prime Minister has praised the emergency services, and insisted no one could have predicted the extent of the deluge. Gordon Brown said the emergency services and armed forces were doing all they could to help the victims and are doing a "superb" job. The Environment Agency has issued five flood warnings for the River Avon - people stranded in Stratford-upon-Avon have had to be evacuated by helicopter. Around 200 people are still in emergency accommodation in Gloucester after being stranded by the flood waters. That figure is down from 2,000. Worcestershire and Herefordshire have been badly hit, with the fire service receiving more than 1,000 calls in the past 24 hours. Lifeboat crews were called in to help with the rescue operation. Local officials in Evesham have appealed for volunteers to help fill sandbags to hold back floodwater that forced 800 people from their homes. Hundreds of families who spent the night in their cars on the M5 should soon be on the move after the motorway finally reopened. Train passengers were stranded in Oxford and Banbury and flooded residents were moved into council offices. Seventy homes and offices have been evacuated in Buckingham because of rising waters. Emergency services in Gloucestershire have confirmed that one month's rain fell in just two hours. They received 1,600 emergency calls in nine hours - five times the normal amount - and a "major incident" was declared. Baroness Young, chief executive of the Environment Agency, told Sky News: "These are the sorts of rain falls we experience in the past every 100 years, every 150 years, sometimes every 200 years - they're very extreme." more...
| Earth Changes |

Is Javier Solana going to speak for EU at UN? News With Views: Constance Cumbey (July 21, 2007) - If a very recent British newspaper article is to be believed, Great Britain may soon surrender its permanent Security Council seat at the UN to the European Union's Javier Solana. According to EU Referendum blogspot, Great Britain won't lose their Security Council seat, nor will France, but the EU will instead have its own seat. Britain and/or France will have to defer to the EU and remain silent at the UN Security Council, should an issue arise on which the EU has taken a "common position."[1] Which ever version of this is true, it will unquestionably mean a much greater role for him (or any successor) on the world stage. Since October 1999, Solana has headed European foreign and military policy. He also serves as Secretary General of the European Union Council of Ministers. Also, since November 20, 1999, Solana has headed the Western European Union, a ten permanent member military federation. That was to have been a "temporary" one year stint, but I cynically note that the "year" has lasted a very long time and that job is still in existence. Solana uses the WEU job for holding military-industrial confabs that might not be as non-controversially available to him in other venues.[2] Since assuming his initial EU governmental roles, his powers have steadily grown. He now is playing an obviously prominent role in "global governance" as well. Quoting from that article as it appears in the British Telegraph on line today, July 20, 2007: The British government had claimed that powers for the EU foreign policy supremo, rechristened a High Representative, have been reduced and his UN role stripped from the new treaty. However, an EU official confirmed: "We retain, except for the name of the minister, the Constitutional Treaty text of 2004 including the provisions on the UN. "There is a provision which provides for the representative of the EU to state the position of the EU at the UN Security Council." The Government had insisted that negotiations on the treaty had ensured that the British presence on the Security Council would never be replaced by an EU representative. However, the text provides for the British seat to be occupied by an EU minister when the bloc has a united position on issues. Mr Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, has criticised Gordon Brown for allowing "one of the most damaging and important provisions in the rejected EU Constitution" to be resurrected after referendums by the French and Dutch two years ago voted against it [i] [3] My personal tracking of Javier Solana began in late November, 1995 – November 22 to be precise. As a culmination of his dual six month rotating presidencies of the European Union and Western European Union, Solana executed and signed a comprehensive Treaty of Association with Israel on November 20, 1995.[4] Only one week later, he would preside over the first Barcelona Conference designed to battle religious fundamentalism, set the stage for a Mediterranean Free Trade zone to be launched in 2010, and eliminate and/or reduce USA presence in the Mediterranean. Two days after the conclusion of that conference, he would be unanimously selected as a "dark horse candidate" to the disappointment of former Dutch president Ruud Lubbers who aspired to the job, to be the new Secretary General of NATO.[5] More surprisingly still was that this NATO job came to him only a scant few months after he dispatched Spanish warships against the Canada he declared a virtual state of war against. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana |

Solana talks of revival The European Weekly (July 21, 2007) - The European Union has vowed full support for US President George W Bush’s renewed drive to revive stalled Middle East peace talks and seek a two-state solution to the conflict. EU foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana said the 27-nation bloc also backed Bush’s call for an international conference to explore moves to create an independent Palestinian state. “The European Union will continue to work side by side with the United States ... in a determined effort to bring about an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict,” said Solana. Solana said the proposed international meeting would also give substantial support to the parties in negotiations towards a permanent settlement. The diplomatic Quartet - whose members include the US and the EU as well as Russia and the United Nations - would have a “major part” to play in such a gathering, he added. Solana is also expected to underline EU support for the Bush initiative in talks with the new Quartet envoy and former British premier Tony Blair who was in Brussels for meetings with key EU officials. The Quartet was to meet in Lisbon for the first time since the appointment of Blair. It was also the first encounter of the group since Hamas captured the Gaza Strip in June and the subsequent nomination of a non-Hamas interim government led by Palestinian prime minister-designate Salam Fayyad. Bush has said the US will provide full backing to Blair’s peace efforts but several EU officials and ministers, including Solana, were taken aback by the US push to give the former British premier the Quartet job. Like the US, the EU has pledged to improve the clout and standing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his moderate Fatah movement. But unlike Washington, the EU has yet to release millions of dollars in direct aid to the Fatah-led Palestinian government. The funds were frozen after last year’s Hamas electoral victory. The militant group is black-listed as a terrorist organisation by the EU and the US. The EU has, however, been channelling aid for the Palestinian health and security sector through non-governmental aid groups. Officials said an estimated 700 million Euro in such emergency aid was sent to Gaza and the West Bank last year. The money was used to pay the salaries of teachers, doctors and health workers and for supplies of fuel, water and electricity to the territories. Bush has announced USD 190 million in direct aid to the Palestinian government, with an additional USD 80 million for security. The amount includes funding humanitarian causes in Gaza. “We are showing the Palestinian people that a commitment to peace leads to the generous support of the United States,” Bush said.
| Israel | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | 1st Seal | Dividing the Land | America |

DEBKAfile reports: Problem of Jews and Christians expelled from Arab lands must be dealt with in any Middle East peace process – US Congressional caucus states DEBKAfile (July 21, 2007) - Of the million-strong, 2,500-year old Jewish communities of the Middle East, only 8,000 remain in 10 Arab countries, said former Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada Dr. Irwin Cotler in his briefing to the bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus in Washington co-headed by Frank R. Wolf (R.-VA) and Tom Lantos (D-CA), Thursday, July 19. Yet against the 101 UN resolutions passed on the Palestinian refugees since 1947, not one addressed the forcible expulsion of Jews from Arab countries by state-orchestrated oppression, persecutions and pogroms. This raises serious questions about the appropriateness of the United Nations having a role in the Middle East Quartet meeting in Lisbon Thursday, said Cotler, counsel to former prisoners of conscience Andrei Sakharov and Nelson Mandela. he whole question of refugees and refugee claims is at the forefront of the Peace Process, and integral to the Roadmap. Rights for Jewish refugees from Arab countries, 600,000 of whom were absorbed in Israel, have to be part of any peace process with a claim to integrity. The Caucus, after hearing four speakers on behalf of the Justice for Jews from Arab Countries organization, decided to promote two Middle East refugee resolutions already before Congress. They would instruct the President to ensure that in all international forums dealing withMiddle East refugees, US representatives must ensure that reference to Palestinian refugees is matched with explicit reference to Jewish, Christian and other refugees expelled from Arab lands. Stanley Urman, Executive Director of JJAC said, "When the issue of 'refugees' is raised within the context of the Middle East, people invariably refer to 'Palestinian refugees', virtually never to the plight and flight of Jews, Christians and other minority populations from Arab countries. As a matter of law and equity, history records two refugee populations – not one - created as a result of the longstanding dispute in the Middle East. Regina Bublil-Waldman, whose family escaped Libya in 1967, said that forgetting the nearly one-million Jews who were indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa means that we have a distorted view of the Middle East Refugee Problem today. Prof. Henry Green noted that the Jewish legacy in Arab lands is eight times older than American Jewry, going back 2,800 years and including periods of Jewish sovereign statehood in the Babylonian and Roman eras. The campaign to secure rights and redress for Jews forced to flee Arab countries is not a campaign against Palestinian refugees but a quest for truth and justice. It is also a call for other minorities to be recognized and addressed. Today, Christians are exiting the Middle East in greater numbers than ever before.
| Israel | Islam | America |

Jersey City Woman Finds Missile Launcher On Lawn WCBS TV News (July 20, 2007) - A Jersey City woman made what to her and her neighbors was a shocking discovery Friday morning when she noticed a military rocket launcher lying in the grass. Niranjana Besai was leaving her house, located at 88 Nelson Street, to go to work just after 8 a.m. when she spotted the launcher on her front lawn. "I read it and it [said] 'missile,'" Besai told CBS 2 HD. "There was little 'missile' [writing] on it." She immediately called police. Sources tell CBS 2 HD that the device is an AT-4 missile launcher that is used to fire against tanks and buildings. The device was first approved by the U.S. Army in 1985 and its very powerful warheads can penetrate through more than a foot of armor. Each launcher can be used only once, however, and the device found on Besai's lawn was said to have been used previously. It was deemed inoperable and turned over U.S. Army officials at the New Jersey's Fort Monmouth. Investigators were trying to determine when and where the launcher had been fired. Officials initially expressed concern after discovering that Besai's house is located along a flight path for Newark Liberty International Airport. They later learned that used, inoperable AT-4 tubes are sold to the public through military surplus Web sites and other outlets. Residents along Nelson Street were alarmed by the discovery. Besai's neighbor, Joe Quinn, told CBS 2 HD he was outside of his home when he noticed Besai pointing at the device from her front porch. When he walked over to see what the fuss was about, he was just as shocked to see weapon, said to be about three or four feet long and weighing about 15 pounds. "She's pointing that there's something in the front," he said. "I said, 'Let me come down and take a look,' and I saw a little soldier on it and I said, 'Whoa, that's a missile launcher or something!'" Quinn says he originally thought the launcher was just a pipe, but after noticing the picture of the soldier -- which he described as a soldier kneeling and holding a launcher -- he realized it looked similar to a missile launcher he'd seen on television. "I got scared myself," he said. "It looked like a bazooka, and right away you think what does somebody want with something like that?"
| America |

Israel hopes inmate release boosts Abbas Associated Press (July 20, 2007) - Family and friends joyously hugged 255 Palestinians freed by Israel on Friday, hoisting them on shoulders for a boisterous heroes' welcome meant to give President Mahmoud Abbas a political boost in his power struggle with Hamas. But thousands more Palestinians remained in Israeli jails, and aides to Abbas said Israel must do more to help the moderate leader after years of failed peace efforts. The Islamic militant Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip by force last month, belittled the prisoner release. Most of those let go were members of Abbas' largely secular Fatah movement and none belonged to Hamas. Elation reigned at Abbas' West Bank headquarters. Thousands of whistling, cheering and clapping Palestinians greeted the freed men as their buses rolled into the walled compound in Ramallah. Shaded from the fierce sun by a big Palestinian flag, Mohammed Abdullah scoured the buses for a glimpse of his 27-year-old son, Majdi, who served half of a 10-year sentence for anti-Israeli activities as a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent Fatah offshoot. After spotting Majdi, Abdullah and his wife, Fatima, embraced their son, showered him with candy and said they had slaughter a calf in his honor. "This is the beginning of a new stage, when we can live in two countries next to each other in peace," Abdullah said later, after taking Majdi home. Abdullah, a father of 11, said he was jailed by Israel as a young man and four of his sons had been locked up. Some of the prisoners suggested the era of armed attacks on Israel is over. "We want to send a message to the rest of the world that we want peace for our people," Majdi Abdullah said. Others said they were eager to take revenge against Hamas for the Gaza takeover. more...
| Israel | Islam |

Ahmadinejad Meets Assad, Nasrallah, Hopes there will be Victories this Summer Naharnet News (July 20, 2007) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out Thursday at the region's enemies and called for Lebanese unity during meetings in Damascus with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. "The enemies of the region should abandon plans to attack the interests of this region, or they will be burned by the wrath of the region's peoples," the hardline Iranian leader said at a joint press conference with Assad. Both Iran and Syria face U.S. accusations of fueling violence in Iraq and supporting Hizbullah. They are also accused of supporting anti-Israeli militant Palestinian groups, like the Islamic Hamas. In a joint statement, the two leaders said that it "is necessary to consolidate national unity and harmony among all Lebanese to assure the stability and security of Lebanon." They expressed their "support for all decisions taken by all Lebanese," and called on the international community to help "stop repeated Zionist aggression against Lebanese sovereignty." The statement also referred to the "right of the Lebanese people to resist repeated Israeli aggressions ... and to recover land occupied" by Israel, calling on the international community to force a halt to those alleged aggressions. Later Thursday, Ahmadinejad met Nasrallah in what was believed to be the first encounter of the two since last summer's war between Israel and Hizbullah. Nasrallah vowed to "suppress any Zionist conspiracy." Nasrallah also declared that he would thwart any plot aimed at stirring inter-Lebanese strife. "We will not let this happen," he said. His remarks were carried by Lebanese newspapers on Friday. At the news conference, Ahmadinejad voiced support for Hizbullah, alluding to the 2006 war. "We hope that the hot weather of this summer would coincide with similar victories for the region's peoples, and with consequent defeat for the region's enemies," Ahmadinejad said. He described Syrian-Iranian relations as "amicable, excellent and extremely deep," adding that the two countries have common stands on regional issues and face common enemies. Assad mentioned those relations and said the "farsighted policies" of both governments have proven to be correct. The Syrian leader said they also discussed "ways of restoring dialogue among all Palestinian factions." Syria also backed Iran's right to pursue a nuclear program and the two called for the "departure of all occupation forces" from Iraq — a reference to U.S. troops. The Iranian president also held a meeting Thursday with a delegation from Hamas led by Khaled Meshaal, a senior Palestinian official told Agence France Presse.
| Iran | Israel | Islam |

'Syrian Officials Interested in Renewing Talks with Israel' YNet News (July 20, 2007) - London-based al-Hayat reports Syrian officials told Denmark's foreign minister Damascus ready to revive negotiations with Israel. Senior Syrian officials told the Danish foreign minister, Per Stig Møller, that their country was "ready to renew negotiations with Israel under the auspices of the international Quartet," London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat reported Friday. The paper reported that Møller has expressed his willingness to act "in order to expand the Road Map to include the Syrian channel as well." According to al-Hayat, a Danish mediation was needed due to Israel's hesitancy to revive the talks, and because of the US' lack of willingness to get involved in such a process. Syrian President Bashar Assad said this week that Turkey and other European countries have been involved in third-party negotiations between Israel and Damascus. Diplomats in Damascus commented on Assad's statements by saying that "the Syrian president's speech about negotiations for peace with Israel was clear and threw the ball in Israel's court and in the face of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert." The diplomats said it was possible for Israel and Syria to hold talks in Turkey if Israel agreed to Syrian demands that a withdrawal from the Golan Heights would be the basis for any peace agreement.
| Israel | Islam |

'Iran-Syria Ties Prevent Damascus Peace Talks' The Jerusalem Post (July 20, 2007) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Damascus proves that Israel must not open negotiations with Syria, GIL Chairman Rafi Eitan said Friday. "[Syrian President Bashar] Assad is not showing any indication that he will cut his strong ties with Iran, Hamas and Hizbullah even after he starts peace talks with Israel," Eitan told Israel Radio.
| Iran | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |

Israel Slams Iran-Syria Alliance Africasia.com (July 20, 2007) - Israel on Friday denounced an alliance between Iran and Syria that it said cast doubts on Syrian peace intentions, following a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Damascus. "The fact that the Damascus regime chose Ahmadinejad as a partner in a strategic alliance raises serious doubt on recent statements from Syria on its intentions for peace," foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev told AFP. "You cannot be friends with someone who embodies the most extreme refusal of peace (with Israel) and expect the international community to consider Syria a country working for peace," he added. Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit said the visit by Ahmadinejad -- who has caused fear and alarm in Israel over calls for the Jewish state to be wiped off the map -- had "weakened Syria's position as a partner for peace." Pensioner Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan, also member of the powerful security cabinet, ruled out an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights and said the visit was "further proof that Syria does not really want peace." Any withdrawal from the Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981, would see the Jewish state "find itself without peace and without the Golan," Eitan said. During meetings in Damascus on Thursday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Ahmadinejad openly mocked Israel, saying the Jewish state was "becoming weaker every day." The Iranian president also held talks with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a delegation from Hamas led by Khaled Meshaal, its exiled head in Damascus and another sworn enemy of Israel. Assad on Tuesday told Syria's parliament after being sworn in for a second seven-year term that he wanted direct and open talks with the Jewish state. Direct peace talks with Israel have been frozen since January 2000. Damascus demands the return of the Golan Heights.
| Iran | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |

Israel Releases 250 Palestinian Prisoners as Goodwill Gesture Fox News (July 20, 2007) - Israel released more than 250 Palestinian prisoners Friday in a gesture to embattled President Mahmoud Abbas, who pledged not to rest until Israel's jails were emptied of its thousands of Palestinians. The release was meant to bolster Abbas in his power struggle with the Islamic militant Hamas, which took control of Gaza by force last month. Several thousand chanting, clapping Palestinians greeted the prisoners as their buses rolled into Abbas' headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Prisoners were hoisted onto the shoulders of dancing supporters, before they performed noon prayers in a large, open-sided tent. "This is the beginning," said Abbas, wearing a black-and-white checkered baseball cap, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism. "Efforts must continue. Our work must continue until every prisoner returns to the his home," he said. Israeli and officials of Abbas' government said they hoped the release marked a new chapter in relations, following seven years of bloody fighting. "All the suffering, all the pain is gone," said released prisoner Iyad Milhem, 30, as he rode on one of the buses. "But we still hope for the release of all the other prisoners." Most of those freed were from Abbas' Fatah movement. Prominent among them was 61-year-old Abdel Rahim Malouh, second-in-command in a small PLO faction, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which assassinated an Israeli Cabinet minister in 2001. Friday's release began shortly after daybreak when the shackled prisoners left the Ketziot prison camp in southern Israel and boarded buses with darkened windows that took them to the West Bank. At an Israeli military checkpoint in the West Bank, the prisoners got off the buses, some kissing the ground, and boarded Palestinian buses that took them to Ramallah. Israel had agreed to release 256 prisoners, but one was held back for further security checks, said Eli Gadizon, of the Israel Prisons' Service. All the inmates were required to sign an undertaking not to engage in anti-Israel violence. Amjad Namura, 24, Hebron, who was freed after serving half of a four-year sentence, said he was happy to comply with any agreement signed off by Abbas. "We are with the decisions of the president no matter what. Whatever Fatah tells me to do I will do it," he said. more...
| Israel | Islam |

Quake jolts San Francisco Bay area Associated Press (July 20, 2007) - An earthquake jolted San Francisco Bay area residents awake early Friday, breaking glass and rattling nerves, although there were no immediate reports of injuries. The earthquake was recorded about 2 miles east of Oakland and had a preliminary magnitude of 4.2, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It could be felt for up to 10 seconds on both sides of the San Francisco Bay after striking shortly after 4:40 a.m. More than 1,000 customers in the Oakland area lost power, a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. spokesman said. Crews were investigating the outages. A dispatcher at the Oakland Police Department said police were getting calls about alarms going off. In Berkeley, an employee at a Safeway grocery store said two large windows broke but there were no injuries.
| Earth Changes |

Rabbis: 'Peres must repent' WorldNet Daily (July 19, 2007) - A group of hundreds of prominent Israeli rabbis today urged veteran politician Shimon Peres to immediately "repent" for calling on the Jewish state to evacuate strategic territory the they fear will be used by terrorists to attack Israel. Peres officially was installed as Israeli president earlier this week. Upon his inauguration, he immediately stated Israel must withdraw from the West Bank, which borders Jerusalem and is within rocket range of Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport. "We call on Shimon Peres to publicly retract his 'shameful' remarks on the day of his inauguration calling for Israel to 'rid itself of the territories,' referring to the biblical Judea and Samaria (West Bank)," read a statement by the Rabbinical Congress for Peace, a coalition of more than 350 Israeli rabbinic leaders and pulpit rabbis. "Our sages tell us in the Talmud that when a person assumes an exalted position, all of his sins previously committed are forgiven. But you, Mr. Peres, missed the opportunity to rectify your historical blunders when you declared so blindly that Israel must rid itself of the territories. You caused tremendous damage not only to Jews in Israel but to the status of the Jewish people the world over." The rabbis called on Peres to "repent, stand up and proclaim with authentic Jewish pride that you no longer support the hazardous and futile formula of 'territory for peace.'" The rabbinic leaders blasted Peres for leading the 1993 Oslo Accords, in which Israel evacuated strategic territory in exchange for pledges from the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to refrain from terror and make peace with the Jewish state. "Today it is crystal clear to everyone the Oslo Accords and Israeli evacuations lead to spilling of Jewish blood in all parts of Israel. This is exactly why the Jewish Code of Law forbids Jews to give up a border town – it opens the way for enemies to conquer the land," the rabbis stated. more...
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land

Ahmadinejad: It will be a 'hot' summer Jerusalem Post (July 19, 2007) - It's going to be a "hot" summer in the Middle East, said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad following a surprise meeting with Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in Damascus on Thursday evening, Channel 10 reported. Nasrallah allegedly entered Syria via an underground tunnel, the television channel said. "We hope that the hot weather of this summer will coincide with similar victories for the region's peoples, and with consequent defeat for the region's enemies," Ahmadinejad added, in an apparent reference to Israel. During his one-day trip to Damascus, Ahmadinejad held talks with counterpart Bashar Assad which focused on the Iraq situation, Palestinian territories and Lebanon, where both Teheran and Damascus wield influence. "The enemies of the region should abandon plans to attack the interests of this region, or they would be burned by the wrath of the region's peoples," the hardline Iranian leader said at a joint press conference with Assad. Ahmadinejad, accompanied by a high-level delegation, was greeted at Damascus airport by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem ahead of the official reception by Assad at the People's Palace. Assad was sworn in Tuesday for a second seven-year term. He described Syrian-Iranian relations as "amicable, excellent and extremely deep," adding that the two countries have common stands on regional issues and face common enemies. Assad said Ahmadinejad's visit came in the context of the continuous developing relations between the two nations whose "farsighted policies" have proven to be correct. more...
| Iran | Gog/Magog | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |

We know that God brings the Magog invasion with hooks in their jaws, implying a snaring into attack. We also know that Damascus, the oldest continually inhabited city will be a ruinous heap at some time in the future and the Assyrians will leave their cities "because of the children of Israel." Ahmadinejad's warning to the "enemies of the region" speaks to this vengeance that it would seem brings on the Magog invasion if indeed it is the result of the destruction of Damascus. We see his attitude currently is one of counterattack and I doubt that will change. One of the prerequisites for the Magog invasion though, is that Israel is dwelling in safety. Now even though they are living without gates and walls, they are dealing with missile attacks from the surrounding Muslim nations and threats of greater attacks. This doesn't really describe the peace that is described just before the attack. So if the current time truly is not considered peaceful living for Israelis, we should expect that peace to develop first before Damascus is destroyed and before the Magog invasion of Israel. This is currently in the works with America, the EU, Israel and Turkey mediating for Syria and Israel. I have a feeling that to everyone's shock, a peace agreement will be developed that will divide the land of Israel, giving away the Golan Heights and create a Palestinian State. At some point, it may be that Israel catches wind of what Syria is planning attack-wise and preemptively strikes, bringing the wrath of Turkey, Russia, Libya and Iran on them. This in turn brings God's wrath on the attackers in the mountains of Israel and the nation of Israel recognizes the God of their fathers, focusing on rebuilding the temple and a return to worship Him as a nation the only way they believe, through the daily sacrifice at the temple. This is all my best estimation from what I've learned so far, seen in the news, and studied in Bible prophecy so I could be wrong, but that's how I see it for now. Keep watching!

Beit Hanassi: The Peace President The Jerusalem Post (July 19, 2007) - President Shimon Peres, Israel's eldest statesman known for his vision of "a new Middle East," proclaimed in his inaugural speech in the Knesset on Sunday that he was leaving divisive politics after six decades to devote himself "to unifying the nation." But, the 83-year-old declared defiantly, he would not shy away from using the presidency to promote peace in the region. "When the opportunity for peace is created, it must not be missed," Peres told a packed house after taking the oath of office. "[The president] must encourage peace processes. At home. With our neighbors. In the entire region." Five Arab MKs chose to attend a poetry reading in Haifa by Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish instead of the inauguration, but the gallery was full of VIPs and invited guests. The ceremony ushering in Peres as the country's ninth president capped a momentous career that included international acclaim and a Nobel Peace Prize but also a string of embarrassing electoral defeats - including his last presidential race against Moshe Katsav seven years ago. In a half-hour interview with the Associated Press on the day of his inauguration, Peres pledged to fight poverty and global warming and even expressed the hope of making peace with Iran. "After such a long career, let me just say something: My appetite to manage is over. My inclination to dream and to envisage is greater," he said, looking vigorous and discounting age as a factor that could slow him down. He wasted no time in getting down to business, moving into Beit Hanassi a day later. He told staff at the presidential residence: "Remember, we are the servants of the people, and not their masters." He then began a flurry of diplomatic meetings, most notably welcoming EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Wednesday. Peres told him that those residents of Gaza who voted Hamas into power must not be allowed to determine the future of the whole Palestinian people. He commended Solana for the work he has done over the years to try to bring peace to the region and argued that despite the current difficulties, there are "new opportunities." "Europe can play a major role," he said. Solana concurred, saying he hoped that the peace that they had discussed "so many times together" would one day become a reality. Then, addressing Peres directly, he said: "Mr. President and my dear friend, it is a moving moment to see you here." Solana was plainly confident that as president Peres would be able to do much more to advance the peace process than anyone else. more...
| Israel | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | 1st Seal | Dividing the Land

Russian expels 4 British diplomats Associated Press (July 19, 2007) - Russia said Thursday it will expel four British diplomats and suspend counterterrorism cooperation with London, the latest move in a mounting confrontation over the radiation poisoning death of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko. President Vladimir Putin said he was certain both nations would overcome what he called "a mini-crisis." A spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the Russian move "completely unjustified." "It's necessary to balance one's actions with common sense, to respect the legal rights and interests of partners — then everything will develop in the best way," the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Putin as saying. "I'm sure we will overcome this mini-crisis, too." Britain had announced Monday the expulsion of four Russian diplomats and restrictions on visas issued to Russian government officials after Moscow refused to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, accused of killing Litvinenko in London last November. The dispute marks a new low in relations between Moscow and London, which had already been troubled by Russia's opposition to the war in Iraq, Britain's refusal to extradite exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky to face embezzlement charges, and by Kremlin allegations last year of spying by British diplomats. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin announced the expulsions after summoning British Ambassador Anthony Brenton to the ministry and informing him. Kamynin described Russia's response as "targeted, balanced and the minimum necessary." He contended that Russia was forced to respond, saying Britain had made a "conscious choice of worsening relations with our country." more...
| Gog/Magog | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom |

Turkey shells Northern Iraq after attack Reuters UK (July 19, 2007) - Turkey's army heavily shelled Kurdish rebel targets just inside the border of northern Iraq on Wednesday, a Kurdish official said on Thursday, adding there were no casualties. Jabar Yawer, deputy minister for Peshmerga security forces in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, said the barrage followed the killing of three Turkish soldiers when their vehicle hit a rebel landmine near the border with Iraq. Yawer said about 100 shells were fired at an area near the town of Zakho inside northern Iraq and residents were forced to flee. Kurdish officials denied reports Turkish war planes carried out bombing raids. Turkey accuses militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) of using bases in the mountains of northern Iraq to hit its forces. The Turkish army has raised troop levels in the country's restive southeast to 200,000, security sources say, and refuses to rule out the possibility of a cross-border operation. Turkey's military is known to sometimes shell PKK targets inside Iraq, as well as stage small raids across the border. The PKK took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic Kurdish homeland. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
| Islam |

The European Security and Defense Policy: A Challenge to the Transatlantic Security Alliance Heritage Foundation by Sally McNamara (July 18, 2007) - NOTE: The original link to the Heritage Foundation is no longer working. The most text I could find was from the link in the title. The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in 2001, Madrid in 2004, and London in 2005 pro­foundly demonstrate the new security threats facing the West. Transnational terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and unstable or failed states present daunting challenges to the entire Euro-Atlantic community and require a long-term sustained response. It is essential that Europe rise to the challenge of these new threats. Finding the right strategic and structural balance is equally imperative. A strong Europe of independent self-determining nation-states invested in NATO and protected by NATO will con­tribute far more to transatlantic security than will a deeply integrated European Union (EU) usurping NATO's role. The European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) has emerged as one of the biggest attempts to expand EU power to date, centralizing the most important tools of nation-statehood. The militarization of the European Union marks one of the greatest geopolitical shifts in the transatlantic alliance since the end of the Second World War. As a political initiative, it embod­ies the worst elements of European animosity toward the United States and would fundamentally under­mine the NATO alliance and the Anglo-American Special Relationship. A Challenge to the Transatlantic Alliance Since its establishment in 1998, the ESDP has been fashioned by EU elites into a military identity distinct from and independent of NATO. It has become a tool for projecting European power in the world and promoting the EU as a global actor. The EU has long used institutional program-building to advance its centralizing and integrationist policies, and the ESDP is critical to achieving "ever closer union." The ESDP's Franco-British Foundations. When British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac heralded the ESDP at St. Malo, France, in 1998, it was reasonable to assume that Blair envisioned an ESDP very different from the one envisioned by Chirac--an ESDP that would complement NATO, not rival it. On the other hand, the French have long coveted a European defense identity specifically to counter American global power. Through a supranational foray into foreign policy areas such as military operations, the ESDP became Chirac's latest ruse to rival America. When EU elites talk about the balance of power, they mean that the EU should balance American hyperpuis­sance.[1] As Lady Margaret Thatcher stated: France has for many years wanted to see an alternative military power to an American-led NATO. The European Union's plans for a separate integrated European defence pro­vided the French with a unique opportunity to achieve this goal.[2] Rather than meaningfully address shared transat­lantic security challenges, the militarization of the EU through the ESDP actually presents a number of challenges by itself. The U.S. should not confuse its desire to see European countries take on more secu­rity and defense responsibilities, both in Europe and in the wider world, with the ramifications of further European military integration--especially in terms of America's ability to build alliances. The potential to destabilize the successful transatlantic security alliance has never been greater, and in that respect, the ESDP should not be viewed as an effective stra­tegic partnership. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder |

Sex Ed for Kindergarteners 'Right Thing to Do,' Says Obama ABC News (July 18, 2007) - ABC News' Teddy Davis and Lindsey Ellerson Report: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told Planned Parenthood Tuesday that sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is "age-appropriate," is "the right thing to do." "I remember Alan Keyes . . . I remember him using this in his campaign against me," Obama said in reference to the conservative firebrand who ran against him for the U.S. Senate in 2004. Sex education for kindergarteners had become an issue in his race against Keyes because of Obama’s work on the issue as chairman of the health committee in the Illinois state Senate. "'Barack Obama supports teaching sex education to kindergarteners,'" said Obama mimicking Keyes' distinctive style of speech. "Which -- I didn’t know what to tell him (laughter)." "But it’s the right thing to do," Obama continued, "to provide age-appropriate sex education, science-based sex education in schools." Watch the video Speaking to a young woman who asked a question about sex education, Obama said, "You, as a peer, can have enormous power over your age cohort but you’ve got to have some support from the schools. You certainly should not have to be fighting each and every instance by providing accurate information outside of the classroom because inside the classroom the only thing that can be talked about is abstinence." "Keep in mind: I honor and respect young people who choose to delay sexual activity," Obama continued. "I’ve got two daughters, and I want them to understand that sex is not something casual. That's something that we definitely want to communicate and should be part of any curriculum. But we also know that when the statistics tell us that nearly half of 15 to 19 year olds are engaging in sexual activity, that for us to leave them in ignorance is potentially consigning them to illness, pregnancy, poverty, and in some cases, death." When Obama's campaign was asked by ABC News to explain what kind of sex education Obama considers "age appropriate" for kindergarteners, the Obama campaign pointed to an Oct. 6, 2004 story from the Daily Herald in which Obama had "moved to clarify" in his Senate campaign that he "does not support teaching explicit sex education to children in kindergarten. . . The legislation in question was a state Senate measure last year that aimed to update Illinois' sex education standards with 'medically accurate' information . . . 'Nobody's suggesting that kindergartners are going to be getting information about sex in the way that we think about it,' Obama said. 'If they ask a teacher 'where do babies come from,' that providing information that the fact is that it's not a stork is probably not an unhealthy thing. Although again, that's going to be determined on a case by case basis by local communities and local school boards.'" more...
| America |

Bush's, Peres's rosy scenario The Jerusalem Post (July 18, 2007) - There is something touching about the naivete of presidents George W. Bush and Shimon Peres, who this week outlined the steps needed to achieve the long-sought-after peace settlement in the Middle East. Perhaps they genuinely believe, or at least hope, that we can reach a settlement. Perhaps they are just going through the motions because, after all, politicians have to strive for peace and promise a better future even if they know in their hearts that it is not really feasible. There is no chance for peace because there will always be those among the Palestinians and Arab countries and in the Muslim world who will obstruct any attempt to reach a settlement that recognizes the existence of Israel as a Jewish state, to say nothing of one that does not guarantee the "right of return" of the Palestinian refugees. Anyone who claims that the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan prove that peace is possible is forgetting that peace does not end with the signing of an agreement. The peace in Jordan is being maintained, with great difficulty, by the royal family and the elite surrounding it. They do this contrary to the view held by the majority of the Jordanian public and despite vehement opposition from the Jordanian intelligentsia: academics and students, writers and journalists, doctors and lawyers. The situation in Egypt is similar: President Hosni Mubarak maintains relations with Israel the way porcupines make love: very carefully. And that too evokes intense opposition from both the general public and the intellectuals. The Jordanian crown is somewhat shaky, and the Egyptian regime could be overthrown by an uprising of the Muslim Brotherhood - and Israel could find itself surrounded by enemies in the south and east. The difficult reality is that there will never be true peace here, and it is important to internalize that fact so as not to set out on paths from which there is no return. more...
| Israel | Islam | America |

Oslo Accords Redux Israel National News (July 18, 2007) - Israel is poised to re-establish a joint committee with the Palestinian Authority to discuss the legal status of land in Judea and Samaria, according to a report published Tuesday in the London-based Arabic-language newspaper, Al-Hayat. The interview quoted Chief PA Negotiator Saeb Erekat, a veteran of numerous talks held with Israel over the years, as saying the committee will renew discussions on the issues that preceded the Oslo War, also known as the second intifada, which broke out in September 2000. Among the items to be discussed, according to a report on the interview posted by the Bethelehem-based Ma’an news agency, is the determination of the legal status of land in Judea and Samaria. “The committee has [already] started dealing with the issue of the intifada activists, the ‘wanted’ fighters and also the issue of the nativity church deportees,” said Erekat. A Quick Primer on the Oslo Accords: Israel and the PA came to the agreement known as the Oslo Accords in the Norwegian capital on August 20, 1993. The deal was signed by arch-terrorist and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat and then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. This was the document that handed jurisdiction over large parts of Judea, Samaria and Gaza to the PA, defining those areas as a single territorial unit. According to the Oslo Accords, a five-year transitional period ending in a permanent status agreement was to begin with Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho. The establishment and structure for a PA government, including a PA Legislative Council, and a PA police force began with this document as well. Ultimately, upon the establishment of the council, Israel’s civil administration over Judea, Samaria and Gaza (“Yesha”) was to be dissolved and the IDF was to be withdrawn. A joint Israeli-PA Liaison Committee was established to deal with coordination on security and other issues, and various agreements on Israeli-PA economic cooperation were signed as well. The final agreement was to include establishment of a PA state, covering the status of Jerusalem, a Law of Return for millions of the descendants of Arabs who fled the state during the 1948 wars and those who became residents of post-1967 Israeli-controlled areas, Jewish communities in the disputed Yesha areas, security arrangements and borders. more...
| Israel | Islam | 1st Seal | See also, Dividing the Land

Bear Stearns Hedge Funds Wiped Out Telegraph UK (July 18, 2007) - Two struggling Bear Stearns hedge funds that ran into difficulties after making large bets on the troubled US sub-prime mortgage market now contain "very little" or "effectively no value" for investors, according to the Wall Street firm. In a letter to clients, Bear Stearns, which had to pump $1.6bn (£800m) into the funds last month to stop them collapsing, said that it was seeking "an orderly wind-down of the funds over time". In what it described as "a difficult development for investors", the bank said "there is effectively no value left" for investors in its Enhanced Leverage Fund and "very little value left" for investors in its High-Grade Fund. A spokesperson for Bear Stearns said the letter was sent to investors in the fund yesterday after markets closed in New York. The two funds, which borrowed heavily to invest in securities known as collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) that were linked to sub-prime mortgages, started to come unstuck in June when investors asked for their money back. The funds had borrowed so much money that they could not afford to pay back their investors, despite selling assets to try to raise additional cash. The Bear Stearns letter explained: "As you know, in early June, the funds were faced with investor redemption requests and margin calls that they were unable to meet. The funds sold assets in an attempt to raise liquidity but were unable to generate sufficient cash to meet the outstanding margin calls." It continued: "As a result, counterparties moved to seize collateral or otherwise terminate financing arrangements they had with the funds." The bank stressed to its clients that it has "taken action to restore investor confidence" in its asset management arm, bringing in Mike Winchell, its former head of risk management, to advise on the company's "hedge fund risk management structure". Bear Stearns also sought to reassure clients that it remained "financially strong and committed to meeting your investment needs". The dollar slumped to a record low against the euro as the news sparked fears that investors could spurn US assets as the woes related to the sub-prime market deepen.
| America |

Proposals sought to train journalists in European neighbourhood Media for Freedom (July 17, 2007) - The European Commission is seeking an organisation to design, develop and implement a regional training and networking project for journalists and media professionals from 16 countries in the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument's (ENPI) southern and eastern regions: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Moldova, Morocco, Palestinian Territories, the Russian Federation, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine. The project aims to train at least 200 journalists, editors, producers and other media professionals to develop the professional skills required to report on EU affairs; to support them in using their newly acquired skills and knowledge by developing a complementary program for at least 50 of their editors, managers and owners; and to develop a network of trained journalists and other media specialists across the beneficiary countries. The maximum budget available is 4 million Euros (US$ 5.5 million). Applications (in English) must be submitted by 8 August 2007. Four to eight short-listed candidates will be invited to submit detailed project proposals. For further information, see: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/tender/data/d70/AOF77970.htm
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom |

Pacific Quake Series Intrigues Scientists The Honolulu Advertiser (July 17, 2007) - Scientists are intrigued by a cluster of earthquakes that circled the Pacific during the past two days, but seismologists don't believe most of them are related. From late Saturday night, the edges of the Pacific Ocean felt tremors of magnitude 5.0 or greater in the area of Japan and the Philippines to the west, the Aleutians to the north, the Galapagos to the east, and Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea to the south. "It's been pretty exciting," said Charles "Chip" McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in 'Ewa Beach. Only a quake Sunday afternoon, Hawai'i time, off Japan caused local damage. At least nine people were reported killed. None of the recent shakers generated Pacificwide tsunami likely to affect Hawai'i. Most of the earthquakes were comparatively weak, but it is unusual to see so many in the 5 and 6 range clustered together. McCreery said it is unlikely that quakes in, say, Japan and in the Aleutian chain thousands of miles away are related. "We think these are random clusters" and that it was just happenstance that a dozen of them occurred within two days, he said. For some in the quake-watching community, what's more interesting is what hasn't been happening. It's been an unusually long time — nearly four months — since there has been a big earthquake of magnitude 7 or more anywhere in the world. The last one was a 7.1 quake March 25 in Vanuatu. Again, that doesn't necessarily mean a bigger one is coming, or that one isn't. There was a four-month lag last year, which ended with a 7.1 quake that killed two people in Taiwan on Dec. 26, 2006. more...
| Earth Changes |

Ankara says all Turkish-US relations would be shattered if America were proved to have given arms to PKK Kurdish terrorists DEBKAfile (July 17, 2007) - Asked whether Ankara had evidence to support the claim, deputy prime minister and foreign minister Abdullah Gul said in a television interview there was no confirmation but there is an allegation and convincing confessions, which must be investigated. Ankara has asked Washington for clarifications. On July 6, DEBKA-Net-Weekly 308, shed light on the occurrence which has caused such consternation in Ankara. That American weapons are flowing to more than one unforeseen destination was revealed this week by chance, DEBKA-Net-Weekly revealed 11 days ago. Four defectors of the Turkish separatist Kurdish party, the PKK, stood up in Ankara and announced that two armored vehicles had been sighted carrying American weapons to PKK hideouts in the Qandil Mountain of northern Iraq. Attempting to calm the Turkish government, the US ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson strenuously denied the claim. He said “the US was the first country after Turkey to designate the PKK a terrorist organization. We continue to classify it as such, and on the basis of that, we do not and will not negotiate with the PKK or its leaders, supply weapons to the organization or its personnel or assist them in any way,” the ambassador stressed. He was telling no more than the truth. However, rather than assuming that the right hand does not know what the left is doing, DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military sources report that the arms and war materials supplied through the American army posted in Kurdistan to the biIranian Kurdish separatist movementib, the PEJAK (Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan) appear to have been diverted at some point and by an unknown hand to the anti-Turkish Kurdish PKK.
| Islam | America |

Goldman, JPMorgan Saddled With Debt They Can't Sell Bloomberg (July 17, 2007) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the rest of Wall Street are stuck with at least $11 billion of loans and bonds they can't readily sell. The banks have had to dig into their own pockets to finance parts of at least five leveraged buyouts over the past month because of the worst bear market in high-yield debt in more than two years, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Bankers, who just a few months ago boasted that demand for high-yield assets was so great that they would have no problem raising debt for a $100 billion LBO, are now paying for their overconfidence. The cost of tying up their own capital may curb earnings and stem the flood of LBOs, which generated a record $8.4 billion in fees during the first half of 2007, according to Brad Hintz, the former chief financial officer at New York-based Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. "The private equity firms, being very tough negotiators, are unlikely to let the banks off the hook,'' said Martin Fridson, chief executive officer of high-yield research firm FridsonVision LLC in New York. "They'll say that's your problem and that's why we're paying you: To take risk." As the market began to turn sour last month, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Inc., Lehman and Wachovia Corp. had to buy $725 million of bonds that Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based Dollar General Corp. was selling to finance Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. purchase of the company for $6.9 billion. All of the securities firms are based in New York, except Wachovia, which is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. more...
| America |

Concessions package for Olmert-Abbas meeting Monday promises big prize: IDF withdrawal from West Bank DEBKAfile (July 16, 2007) - A parade of 178 wanted Palestinian terrorists handed in their weapons to the Palestinian Authority Sunday, July 15, and signed a non-violence pledge, earning generous personal remuneration. Less than 100 had turned up by end of day Monday. still, three days earlier, Israeli defense forces and Shin Bet suspended their pursuit of all Palestinian gunmen on the West Bank. This happens to be the key proviso of Mahmoud Abbas’ archenemy, Hamas-Gaza, for halting its missile campaign on Israeli towns and villages. DEBKAfile’s exclusive military sources disclose: These steps launch a new Saudi-backed Bush administration master plan for a phased Israel’s military pullback from the West Bank as the basis for reconciliation between Abbas’ defeated Fatah and Hamas in Gaza. Israeli prime minister Olmert and Abbas are playing their assigned roles in the US project, which many security experts regard as a reckless gamble with Israel’s national security. More about the new US-Palestinian master-plan in DEBKAfile’s Exclusive Report. more...
| Israel | Islam | 1st Seal |

Alzheimer's Care Center to Carry Out VeriChip Pilot RFID Journal (May 25, 2007) - This summer, Alzheimer's Community Care (ACC), a West Palm Beach, Fla., provider of support to Alzheimer's patients and their caretakers, will implant RFID chips in about 200 volunteers who are clients of the organization. The two-year project, says Mary M. Barnes, president and CEO of ACC, will employ VeriChip Corp.'s VeriMed system to help identify patients who arrive at an emergency room in an unresponsive state. ACC provides support to about 2,000 patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. That includes a daycare center for some patients, as well as visiting registered nurses, caregiver education programs and support groups. One safety concern, Barnes says, involves the lack of information available to medical personnel when patients unable to speak for themselves are admitted to a hospital during an emergency, unaccompanied by caregivers. In such circumstances, the patients may receive inappropriate treatment because doctors are unaware of any existing medical conditions. "I really am concerned about the situation with Alzheimer's patients dealing with losing the ability to remember," Barnes says. "This [loss of memory] is so isolating that the effect on the patient and the caregiver is very dramatic. In an acute situation, such as emergency medical services, it can be even worse. There comes a point in a person's illness when you have to look at every safety measure available." Alzheimer's Community Care considered a multitude of resources to reduce this risk, says Barnes, including MedicAlert wristbands. Such wristbands, however, can be removed or damaged, rendering them useless. Therefore, 10 months ago, Barnes began speaking with Scott Silverman, now chairman and CEO of VeriChip, about an RFID solution. Alzheimer's Community Care has formed a review board to generate the proper paperwork for the participants, as well as other basic protocols, before beginning the project. Once the board finishes its work and the project is launched, hospitals that have VeriChip-trained staff and have implemented the procedures will be able to access the medical histories of the 200 participating patients. When an unresponsive patient enters the hospital, the staff can use an RFID interrogator to scan that person's arm. If the patient has had a VeriMed chip embedded, the reader will indicate its ID number. That number can then be inputted manually, or directed wirelessly to the VeriMed Web-based database. If the hospital is an approved care provider, it can immediately access the patient's identification and health records. more...
| America |

Thanks to Kimberly for the referral! In today's security-conscious world, imagine instead of hospital information, a system where money was now obsolete and payment was automatic and mindless. Nobody takes cash anymore because there's no longer a system in place to handle it. That time is coming and already possible. With RFID taking off for so many applications that makes life easier, the system is probably already close to being in place. I actually believe that the mark of the beast in Bible prophecy will be RFID ink so that it will be impossible to remove it from under the skin adding to the security. But this prepares the world to accept what is coming more readily. Ultimately I believe that the "mark" will be made as a pledge of allegiance to the antichrist as well as buying into his system. I think many people won't have a problem with that when the time comes.