CALIFORNIA QUAKE RESULTS
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=7930546&src=news
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)
REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Investing in Palestinian territories supports peace: Fayyad by Ezzedine Said MAY 22,08
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on Thursday told hundreds of foreign investors at a conference that investing in the Palestinian territories would be an investment in peace. By investing in Palestine, you are investing in the promotion of peace and stability... in this part of the world, Fayyad said in a speech on the second day of a conference in Bethlehem seeking to attract private investment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Some 1,200 business people are participating in the event which runs through Friday.Fayyad insisted that investors could find opportunities despite restrictions imposed by Israel in the occupied West Bank.The Palestinian economy, despite the difficulties we face, has great potential to grow and develop in the future, said Fayyad, himself an economist.The Palestinian economy will revive with the creation of a free, competitive and diversified market.He cited, as some of the positive economic aspects in the Palestinian territories, the modern banking system, low taxes on revenue and a low inflation rate.The West Bank's economy however is hampered by more than 500 Israeli roadblocks which restrict movement throughout the occupied territory. Israel claims they are needed for security.
Fayyad admitted that more efforts must be made to overcome the (Israeli) restrictions on the movement of people and merchandise and access to resources.He noted that Israel has cooperated in allowing the hundreds of conference participants to reach Bethlehem.
Conference director Hassan Abu Libdeh said on Wednesday that 109 projects costing about two billion dollars would be presented by Palestinian business leaders to the investors.Among the projects is a 2,000-unit affordable housing development that the Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF) wants to build in the outskirst of Ramallah.
We are looking for a partner and a lot of (foreign) investors have expressed interest, said PIF president Mohammad Mustapha, who estimated the cost of the project at 300 million dollars.On Wednesday the PIF reached a deal with The Land Holding company based in Saudi Arabia to build a commercial and residential centre in Ramallah for 200 million dollars.Since 2000, the Palestinian economy has turned from one driven by investment and private sector productivity to one sustained by government spending and donor aid, according to the World Bank, which predicts economic growth will be stagnant this year.The United States has offered strong backing for the conference seeking to boost the private sector and create jobs. Major US companies Intel and Cisco are among the sponsors.I encourage American companies to explore for themselves the opportunities for investment in the West Bank, said Robert Kimmitt, deputy treasury secretary who is heading the US delegation, on Thursday.Europeans are also lending support and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is set to address the closing session of the conference on Friday. In an interview with Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam published on Thursday, Kouchner echoed Fayyad's sentiments that economy and peace go hand in hand. He said European businesses should invest in the Palestinian territories because there exist real opportunities for them and it is in the interest of peace... creating jobs and improving the daily lives of Palestinians.Kouchner added however that to achieve economic growth of six to eight percent annually, Israel must withdraw from the occupied territories and stop building Jewish settlements.
Washington has been pushing for Israel and the Palestinians to reach a peace accord creating an independent Palestinian state before President George W Bush leaves office in January. France, like the United States and the whole of the international community, officially asks Israel to stop all settlement activity to show its true commitment to the creation of viable Palestinian state and peace in the Middle East, Kouchner told the newspaper, adding that he was sceptical about reaching an agreement this year.
Israel confirms Golan Heights talks with Syria By Josh Mitnick Thu May 22, 4:00 AM ET
Tel Aviv - After an eight-year hiatus, Israel and Syria have resumed negotiations about an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights in return for a normalization of ties with Syria. After weeks of official quiet amid Syrian claims that Turkey was serving as a go between for the sides, a surprise statement from the office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert confirmed a decision to conduct indirect peace talks in a serious and continuous way, in order to achieve the goal of comprehensive peace.In response to the Israeli statement, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mualem said that Israel had already agreed to a full return of the entirety of the territory it captured during the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict, the daily Haaretz reported. That includes not only the Golan's strategic plateau, but also the descending slopes that reach to the eastern shore of Israel's natural water reservoir, the Sea of Galilee.It's pretty dramatic, said Eyal Zisser, an expert on Syria from Tel Aviv University, speaking on Israel Radio.The Syrians have demanded from the beginning of the negotiations in 1991, a full Israeli withdrawal to the shores of the Sea of Galilee as a precondition for peace talks. I have no reason to think that [Syrian President] Bashar Assad is lying in public. If the prime minister of Israel said to him that he's ready to withdraw to the Sea of Galilee, a very serious obstacle has been removed.For Israel, the new track of peace talks marks a departure with its US ally, which for years has preferred to isolate Syria as punishment for giving shelter for the Iraqi insurgency.
Israeli proponents of peace talks with Syria have argued that normalization of ties with Damascus would count as an important reversal of Iran's growing power within the Middle East. Syria serves as an important link to two Iranian allies that have threatened Israel: as a conduit of weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, and as host to the offices of Hamas's political politburo in exile.
For Syria, Israel's most powerful neighbor after Egypt, the peace talks serve to reassert itself as the linchpin of regional peace after years of focus on the Palestinian negotiating track. Engaging Israel in peace talks also helps Syria to avoid become wholly reliant on its alliance with Iran.Because the Golan Heights has a commanding overlook of much of northern Israel, many Israelis argue that they can never risk returning it to Syria.A peace deal with the Syrians is considered a substantially simpler treaty to negotiate compared with one with the Palestinians, as giving back the Golan Heights involves security arrangements, water rights, and resettlement for only a few thousand Israeli settlers.Critics of Israel's government said the timing of the announcement is intended to deflect public discussion of a police investigation into cash sums accepted by Prime Minister Olmert from American Jewish donors.
The announcement sharpened a debate over whether a prime minister under the threat of indictment has the moral authority to make decisions on war and peace.Since the 1991 Madrid Peace conference initiated the first Israeli-Syrian peace talks, talks have occurred intermittently.The last formal negotiations broke off in Shephardstown, Md., when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak rejected Syrian demands that the withdrawal reach the cease-fire lines of June 4, 1967, which come up to the Sea of Galilee.
Israelis express skepticism on Syria peace talks By BETH MARLOWE, Associated Press Writer MAY 22,08
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's dramatic announcement that he is negotiating a peace deal with Syria was greeted Thursday with overwhelming skepticism in Israel. Many Israelis appear to believe the embattled leader made the declaration to divert attention from the corruption allegations that threaten to end his term in office, and opinion polls showed Israelis remained wary of withdrawing from the strategic Golan Heights — even in return for peace with one of Israel's most bitter enemies.The announcement that peace talks had resumed eight years after they broke down came on the same day a court-issued gag order on the new Olmert case was lifted, allowing the publication of new details of the charges that Olmert took money in cash from a Jewish-American businessman. It also came two days before Olmert was set to be questioned again by police.
Competing Israeli newspapers Yediot Ahronot and Maariv shared the same headline on Thursday: Interrogation and Peace.In a published interview Thursday, Olmert tried to focus attention on the historic talks. The peace negotiations with Syria are more important than all the rumor and investigations, he told the Yediot Ahronot daily.
Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said Thursday that talks, which are indirect and mediated by Turkey, are moving ahead, with another round of discussions in the near future.Olmert assured French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner that while negotiating with Syria, Israel intends to continue working toward peace with the Palestinians, with neither coming at the expense of the other, said a statement from the prime minister's office.The statement said Olmert made it clear that the State of Israel aspires to reach peace with the Palestinians in the coming year.In a poll published in Yediot Thursday, only 36 percent said the negotiations with Syria are meant to promote peace, while 49 percent of Israelis said they believe Olmert is trying to draw attention away from the new police investigation.The poll, carried out by the Dahaf Institute, questioned 500 respondents and a margin of error was 4.5 percentage points.Olmert is suspected of illicitly receiving up to $500,000 from American businessman Morris Talansky. Olmert denies wrongdoing and says the money was to fund political campaigns. But police are not ruling out bribery.
Olmert's popularity, low since he was widely seen to have bungled Israel's war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon two years ago, has taken a further drubbing in the past weeks because of the case. His current legal troubles mark the fifth police investigation into his affairs since he took power in 2006. He has never been convicted.A withdrawal from the Golan Heights — Syria's key demand for peace — will be hard to sell in Israel, and it is highly unlikely a leader as unpopular as Olmert will be able to pull it off.The strategic plateau was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War and is considered a valuable buffer against attack. Today the Golan Heights are home to 18,000 Israelis who run thriving wine and tourism industries. Olmert himself vacationed there last month.
According to the poll, only 19 percent of Israelis are willing to cede the entire Golan Heights, down from 32 percent a month ago.
Israelis want peace and security, but they have seen that haphazard efforts in the past have yielded dangerous results, said Dore Gold, the head of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and a former Israeli ambassador to the U.N.Gold mentioned Israel's withdrawals from southern Lebanon in 2000 and from the Gaza Strip in 2005, saying both had eventually resulted in more violence.The burden of proof will be on the Israeli government to convince the Israeli public that this time withdrawal will not lead to more conflict but will lead to stability and peace, he said. A Thursday report in the government-run Syria Times said Syria has good intentions and a strong desire for peace but is skeptical about Israel's seriousness. It said Damascus would not under any circumstances bargain on the Golan Heights' full return. Israel and Syria are bitter enemies whose attempts at reaching peace have failed in the past. The last round of talks collapsed in 2000 because of a disagreement over a narrow strip of land along the Sea of Galilee that Israel wanted to keep in order to preserve its water rights.
The nations have fought three wars, their forces have clashed in Lebanon, and more recently, Syria has given support to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and Palestinian militant groups. The sides' demands in any peace deal are well-known. Syria wants a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan, and Israel wants Syria to end its support for militants, curb its ties with Iran, and establish full diplomatic relations. But that isn't likely to happen on Olmert's watch, most Israeli commentators seem to agree. It does not matter what Olmert does in the months he has left in office, wrote Yossi Verter in Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Everything will be considered spin. That is his fate.
Israel sets demands in new Syrian peace track By Jeffrey Heller MAY 22,08
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel set terms for concluding a peace deal with Syria on Thursday, closing ranks with Washington in demanding Damascus distance itself from Iran and stop supporting Palestinian and Lebanese militants. Coordinated announcements on Wednesday by Israel and Syria that they had begun indirect talks in Turkey, the first confirmation of negotiations between the long-time enemies in eight years, drew a lukewarm response from the United States.Many analysts say U.S. hostility to Damascus, and to its Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah allies, makes a Syria-Israel deal unlikely before President George W. Bush steps down in January.Summing up three days of discussions in Istanbul, Turkish Foreign Minister Ala Babacan said both sides were satisfied they had found shared ground. He said future talks would be held periodically in Turkey.
The Syrians know what we want and we know what they want, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in Jerusalem. Olmert revealed the talks two days before he faces a second round of police interrogation over graft allegation.Syria is demanding the return of the Golan Heights, a plateau overlooking Damascus on one side and the Sea of Galilee on another, since Israel captured the strategic territory in the 1967 Middle East war.Syrian Information Minister Muhsin Bilal condemned Israel's setting of any prior conditions.These conditions have already been rejected as is the phrase difficult concessions as what the Syrians are demanding is their right, Bilal told Al Jazeera television.Olmert, who recently took a vacation on the Golan Heights, has not said publicly that Israel would give up all of the area. But he has spoken of difficult concessions Israel would have to make in any land-for-peace accord with Syria.Echoing U.S. comments, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Syria needed to distance itself completely from problematic ties with Iran.Syria, she told reporters, must also stop supporting terror -- Hezbollah, Hamas, groups backed by the Islamic Republic.Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who as prime minister in 2000 took part in U.S.-hosted talks with Syria that failed over the key issue of the future of the Golan Heights, said in a speech that both sides would have to make painful concessions.
No U.S. OBJECTION
The United States, in its initial public reaction to Israeli-Syrian contacts, said it did not object to talks but repeated its criticism of Syria's support of terrorism.The United States and Israel consider Hamas a terrorist organization. The Islamist group, which seized control of the Gaza Strip last June, opposes statehood talks between Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Washington hopes can result in a deal by year's end.Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, speaking in the occupied West Bank, said he was not worried Israel would pursue peace with Syria at the expense of progress in the U.S.-brokered negotiations with the Palestinians.The concern is if the (Israeli-Palestinian) political process ... does not proceed at the pace necessary, Fayyad told reporters. I hope other tracks are moving and moving well.Olmert, who revealed the discussions with Syria two days before he faces a police interrogation over bribery allegations he has denied, said peace efforts would be lengthy and complex. A television poll found 70 percent of Israelis oppose giving back the Golan Heights to Syria, and a majority also believed Olmert was using the talks to distract from the criminal investigation that could force him from office. Everyone knows that Olmert wants to end his term on a diplomatic note, not a criminal one. The question is, what will come first -- an indictment or a peace treaty, columnist Yossi Verter wrote in newspaper Haaretz. Barak, leader of Israel's centre-left Labor Party, said peace with Syria could be achieved only from a position of strength and self-confidence. Eight months ago, Israeli jets bombed what U.S. officials described as a North Korean-built nuclear facility in Syria.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said Israel had shown that it might return the plateau. Without this commitment we cannot conduct any negotiation, he told Reuters. The Israeli-Syrian talks in Shepherdstown, West Virginia in 2000 broke down over control of the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where Israel draws much of its water. Among Olmert's vast army of domestic critics, supporters of the 18,000 Jewish settlers in the Golan Heights threatened to bolt his fragile coalition if he tries to give up the territory. Others wondered aloud if Wednesday's announcement was not timed to divert attention from Olmert's troubles with the police. They will interview him for a second time, on Friday, over suspicions he took bribes from an American businessman. Olmert has said he would resign if indicted. (Additional reporting by Daren Butler in Istanbul and Lin Noueihed in Dubai; Editing by Sami Aboudi)
Palestinian truck bomber attacks border crossing By Nidal al-Mughrabi MAY 22,08
GAZA (Reuters) - A truck laden with four tonnes of explosives blew up near an Israeli border crossing with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Thursday but only the suicide bomber was killed in the blast heard 30 km (18 miles) away. Israeli media reports said soldiers fired at the vehicle as it approached Erez Crossing. An army spokeswoman said it had exploded on the Palestinian side of the frontier, blowing out windows in nearby buildings.In other violence, Israeli soldiers shot and killed one Palestinian and wounded 10 others, medical workers said, after youths taking part in a Hamas rally against Gaza border closures approached Israel's Karni Crossing, medical workers said.An Israeli army spokesman said troops shot a gunman in an exchange of fire with armed men in the crowd.Egyptian efforts to secure a Gaza truce to end Israeli raids and cross-border rocket attacks by militants have so far been unsuccessful. Hamas said Israel's refusal to agree to reopen borders as soon as a truce goes into effect was delaying a deal.
The militant Islamic Jihad group said it carried out the Erez operation in cooperation with the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah group, to avenge Israeli attacks on Palestinians.Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad's armed wing, said the truck carried four tonnes of explosives. He identified the suicide bomber as 23-year-old Ibrahim Nasser from Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli and Gaza Strip residents living up to 30 km (18 miles) from the crossing reported hearing the blast.An Israeli army spokeswoman said two other men involved in the attack were hit by missiles fired by an Israeli helicopter at their getaway vehicle. Islamic Jihad said the men had managed to leap from the vehicle before it was struck.The spokeswoman said there were no Israeli casualties.
Separately, but at the time of the bombing, Israeli troops raided a village in the central Gaza Strip and shot dead a 63-year-old man, medical workers and Hamas said.
U.N. CONDEMNATION
Robert Serry, the U.N.'s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, condemned the Erez attack.Incidents of this kind are totally unacceptable. They also act against the interests of the population of the Gaza Strip, because aid workers and medical cases must pass through Erez, Serry said.He also called on Israel to ensure its military operates with care and restraint, ensuring its actions are in full conformity to international humanitarian law.
Israel tightened its restrictions on the movement of Palestinian people and goods through its border crossings with the Gaza Strip when Hamas seized the territory from Fatah in fighting last June.An Israeli government official said Hamas, by continuing to attack these humanitarian crossing points was demonstrating its complete disregard for the welfare of its own people.(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)
US welcomes Lebanon deal, but admits Hezbollah gains MAY 22,08
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States welcomed Wednesday's deal to end an 18-month deadly feud between Lebanon's pro-Western government and the Iranian-backed opposition, but warned the crisis was not over yet. The United States welcomes the agreement reached by Lebanese leaders in Doha, Qatar, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a statement, as she renewed support for the central government to extend its authority nationwide.We view this agreement as a positive step towards resolving the current crisis by electing a president, forming a new government, and addressing Lebanon's electoral law, consistent with the Arab League initiative.
Under Arab League auspices, rival Lebanese leaders clinched a deal on Wednesday to end the political feud that exploded into deadly sectarian fighting May 5 and nearly drove the country into a new civil war.The agreement, announced after days of tense talks in Doha, will see the election of a president for Lebanon within days and the creation of a unity government in which the Hezbollah-led opposition will have the power of veto.
Lebanese lawmakers will gather on Sunday to elect army chief Michel Sleiman president following the deal, a senior advisor to Prime Minister Fuad Siniora told AFP in Beirut.The deal calls for fresh negotiations to allow the Western-backed Lebanese government to extend its authority throughout the country after the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah used its weapons to seize much of west Beirut.Rice told reporters later that she had telephoned Siniora to tell him she was pleased for the Lebanese and reiterated US support for him.David Welch, the assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs, echoed Rice's points in a press briefing earlier and suggested the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah may have shot itself in the foot, even if it has made some political gains.Yes, because there is a blocking minority, the (Hezbollah-led) minority is able to block major decisions if they chose to do so, Welch said.Some have argued that they are accomplishing political objectives by intimidation and violence, he said.But he added that the average Lebanese reacted very badly to that, suggesting Hezbollah had undermined its political standing not only in Lebanon but with other Arab countries, which are dominated by Sunni Muslims.And he added that Hezbollah's use of violence is deeply disturbing.Welch said the Doha agreement also re-emphasized UN Security Council resolutions calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah and extending the writ of the central government.The deal is a setback for the Hezbollah is because now it has been inscribed again on the national agenda with some prominance that something's got to be done about this bid to establish central government authority, he said.But he admitted the Lebanese still have very delicate political issues to resolve.This is not the end of this crisis. Lebanon still has to go through implementing this agreement, Welch said.
