Tuesday, February 15, 2011

May 17, 1948 + 70 = 2018 - 7 = 2011



May 17, 1948+70=2018-7=
2011?


In the preview and search of a generation to execute a
timeframe, we can both locate and understand there are two that stand in the
forefront, one is the 40 year wandering in the Wilderness of Sin with the
leadership of Moses, the other is the 70 year captivity and it's end, sought by
Daniel. In our search, we can preclude that any generation short of 70 years is
to be ruled out for the simple reason that no event has taken place over the 60
+ years, so time has made it of non-effect. But what of the 70? First there was
no mention, persay, of the 40 year episode with Moses concerning a prophetic
overtone, with exception of the Song of Moses, however, take a look at Daniel
and it is loaded with prophecy after prophecy, with timeframe's denoted
throughout for Daniel, Daniel's people, and that of the Messiah and that of the
anti-christ. In the first chapter and the first verse, Nebuchadnezzar, the king
of Babylon came unto Jerusalem, and besieged it, now this is important in and of
itself as Nebuchadnezzar is illustrated as to what kingdom would seek to destroy
the Jewish peoples and Jerusalem. In the second verse the Lord has given unto
Nebuchadnezzar not only the king, but the vessels of the house of God, which he
then carried into the land of Shinar (also known as Iraq), so the backdrop is
portrayed as that of Babylon, the same is true in the book of Revelation chapter
16 as "great Babylon came in remembrance before God". The event of all manner of
sin found it's birthplace in Babylon from the tower of Babel in Genesis 11 and
now is come full circle, if you will, to the place where it began and where it
shall end - Babylon. Daniel is relaying this important information unto all
through the dreams, visions, and the visit of the angel Gabriel in chapter nine,
and then in the next chapter Daniel has been mourning for three full weeks (3
years for Israel in the Tribulation Period) and Daniel has eaten no pleasant
bread, no flesh nor wine, has not bathed or anointed himself, this being similar
to that of Israel as they will be made naked and destitute. He is interrupted
with the appearance of a man whose description is similar, if not that of Jesus
Christ, who had been prevented from coming to Daniel by the prince of the
kingdom of Persia, with the "p" in "prince" being a small or lower case
lettering, meaning the prince of Persia is also noted similar to that of the
"prince" in Daniel 9:27. As Israel will be destitute and broken in Tribulation
Period when they approach the end of the 3 full years, only the intervention of
Christ will prevent their total destruction, but make note this does not take
place until after the completeness of the three full weeks to occur. Note
also that the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" is not the only controlling
entity mentioned here, but also that of the "kings of Persia" the same is noted
for the anti-christ as he rules with ten kings over the entire world in the
tribulation period. Perhaps we should insert an interlude here, one that will
cause understanding to those who desire such knowledge.

Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he
revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. Amos 3:7

Daniel makes notice unto Nebuchadnezzar that these
things will take place in the latter days, and then Daniel describes the
statue/image whose head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his
belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron and his feet of part iron and
part of clay. At the time of the fulfillment of this image, a stone that was cut
out without hands or aided by human, brake the image to pieces and the stone
became a mountain and filled the entire earth. At the time of the kingdom of
iron, that kingdom shall be divided and shall become partly iron and partly clay
and shall intermingle with the seed of men, but division will cause them not to
mix one with another. Take a good look at Daniel 2:43 as it states the iron and
the clay will mingle with the "seed of men" so the timeframe by this phrase
alone, could only occur in today's timeframe as the DNA/seed of men, is used in
this event, and remember it did not state that it would be mingled with
men/women, but that it would be mingled with the "seed" of men, and that is used
only to denote offspring, or the children. In Deuteronomy 28:48 Moses instructs
the children of Israel that in their disobedience they shall wear a yoke of iron
upon their neck, another prophetic view of Rome in the latter days. The little
(p) prince in Daniel 9 bears repeating the verses,

"Know
therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince
shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built
again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks
shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the
people of the prince
that shall come shall destroy the city and
the sanctuary;
and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the
end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall
confirm the covenant
with many for one week: and in
the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease,
and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make
it desolate,
even until the consummation, and that determined shall be
poured upon the desolate
." Daniel
9:25-27

The problematic verses are highlighted in purple
for the Messiah and red for the small prince whose identity many have strayed
into confusion, however, just as equally important is what he shall do, and
would this be the same for Christ, in modern slang, WWJD just What Would Jesus
Do? Is this important to you? Only if you choose to want to know the truth, as
opposed to believing a lie, but lets explore what the Bible states about the
truth of God and the lies of men/women:

"If we receive the witness of men, the
witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of
God which he hath testified of his Son." l John 5:9

First, look at
the verse attributed unto the Messiah, there is the timeframe of 70 weeks, but
the Messiah shall be cutoff after 69 weeks, but not for Himself (He came to
offer His life for you, and of course, my state of sin). After threescore and
two weeks or 62 weeks, He is cutoff as the seven weeks are used to restore and
build Jerusalem and then 62 more weeks until the Messiah is to be cutoff, making
a total of 69 weeks.

Second, the
"prince" or his people that is, shall come and shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary - if this is Christ (which it is not) then that would mean the
Christians and the disciples would commit to destruction which flies in the face
of everything Christ taught including, turning the other cheek, and that all the
disciples must die for Christ's sake (even John the Beloved in the Tribulation)
and by the way, the Christians were falsely blamed for the burning of Rome. He
shall confirm the covenant for one week, that being seven years for the people,
and in doing so will make them to sacrifice animals and oblations and then
suddenly make them stop the sacrifices and oblations. Oblations are prayers,
Christ commanded us to pray always, and He stated He was the sacrifice to be
once offered for the sins of the people, if on the other hand He confirmed the
sacrifice by the covenant for one week, then He was the one who started the
animal sacrifice, which He also condemned at His arrival. The sacrifice was
already in place, well before Christ was born by Mary, so He did not confirm
this type of a covenant as told above, He did, however, stop the sacrifice for
those whom accepted Him, as the once and for all perfect sacrifice, however, the
Jews kept sacrifices of the animals going until at least 65 AD.
Now here comes the rub, Christ somehow magically, symbolically, did not
mean the animal sacrifices for the people, after He went to the cross, should
continue and that the Christians should not continue to sacrifice animals, but
He did mean the literal sacrifices of the animals, before His advent to the
cross, but for only a timeframe of three years which He or someone forgot to
tell the Jewish people to hold off sacrifices until His 30th birthday, and then
let Him confirm a covenant with them for sacrifice, so He could stop it when He
turned 33 years old, this is called the children's hour of make believe and
story telling, but it should not be heard of, nor permitted among the sincere
Christians of the world, it is a lie. In other words before the cross it was ok
for the Jews to sacrifice animals, as Christ needed to put a halt to this kind
of sacrifice when He went to the cross, but after He went to the cross the
Christians should no longer sacrifice. So before the cross the effect was on the
Jew and after the cross it became the Christian, but the Jew to whom Daniel
stated that the little "p" prince, would stop the sacrifice in the "midst of the
week" did not stop, but continued in their sacrifice until 65 AD, as I stated
someone forgot to tell Daniel it was not about his people, the Jews, but as soon
as Christ would go to the cross, it would be about the Gentiles, notice how
tangled a lie must become for "religious" groups? However, look at Daniel 9:24
and how these "religious" denominations claim that the angel nor God knew what
they were proclaiming:

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people
and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins,
and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting
righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most
Holy." Daniel 9:24

The entirety of the 70 weeks were for Daniels "people",
Daniels "holy city" but these religious denomination are offended by the literal
translation and have to change them symbolically, but guess what, they have to
change every word in the Bible to symbolic meaning, as they keep stumbling over
the stone of offense.

Third, Christ
did not come to setup another form of sacrifice than that of Himself, and made
this very appearant in Matthew 26 as Christ prays to the Father to show if there
is another way, other than the cross, to reveal it, this, He showed there was no
other way, but the cross. Christ never commanded His followers at anytime to
destroy the city and the sanctuary, and to show that was not symbolic, He stated
that the stones would not be left one upon another in Jerusalem, which also was
semi-concluded, but not all were removed one from another, considering the
Western or Wailing Wall. Christ commanded we should pray always and did not
cause the oblations to cease. Christ did not command animal sacrifice which the
Jews were doing before Christ's birth and 35 years after the cross. Christ did
not make Jerusalem desolate for the "overspreading of abominations" but for the
Jews not accepting Him when He came, was the only reason. Christ did, however,
acknowledge the small "p" prince that would come after He was
gone:

"Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for
the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." John
14:30
Just like Daniel, Christ, identified the "prince" as evil and having
nothing in Christ, the prince is the true anti-Christ, however, as then and now,
men/women try to make this anti-Christ to be that of Christ, irregardless of
what both Daniel and Christ stated about this prince of evil, but Christ
acknowledged this too would occur.

" But I know you, that ye have not the love of
God in you. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another
shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe,
which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that
cometh from God only?" John 5:42-44
Paul noted that these type of people
come together under "religion" and make for themselves their own form of belief,
and then compare themselves one to another as being affirmed, but this is to
their own destruction, not accepting the truth of God, but accepting the persons
of man/woman as some greater degree of knowledge than that of Christ's own
words.

"For we dare not make ourselves of the number,
or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring
themselves by themselves
, and comparing themselves among
themselves
, are not wise." 2 Corinthians 10:12

Why do men/women perfer other teachers than that
of the Holy Spirit, it can be for only a couple of reasons, both end in
rebellion and denial of God's Word, one is laziness, and the other is the amount
of time and prayer it takes to allow God's Word and understanding to come from
Him only.

"For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves
teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the
truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." 2
Timothy 4:3-5

The problem of Symbolic interpretation is
the same as that of the unknown tongue, you must take someone else's
interpretation, as to what is meant, but if the blind lead the blind. A good
example heard day in and out on the radio is the affirming of a certain word
from the Bible quoted in Greek or Hebrew, from someone whom has no degree in
either Greek or Hebrew, and who have an audience, who neither know Greek nor
Hebrew, nor if the stated interpretation is accurate, just as the speaker
him/herself does not know if the book they are quoting from, and that being an
interpreter's definition of Greek to English and Hebrew to English, is accurate,
these are wasted words spoken wastefully to an audience who do not wish to hear
either the Greek nor the Hebrew, as they speak and hear English, so why do they
do this? Purely to impress others that they know the Greek and the Hebrew which
they know not, did you ever try to bluff your way through a subject matter with
some of the associates or friends, that you have or do communicate with,
only
to have them affirm you are absolutely correct, yet you
know you are both liars, however, you may get by with one or more of these
associates,as your gift of garbled gab convinced them that you knew what you
were talking about, now multiply this with someone who affirms a matter,by
stating that in Revelation,God uses symbolic language and therefore they have
liberty to do the same, and you cannot question them,
because only they can
know what they know, more than you can know, what it
is you think you know. You may as well make an eagle a cow, or a horse a duck,
when one makes "assumptions" that God is a space cowboy riding the range of
heaven and point to Ezekiel chapter one as evidence, but
do
not catch the phrase, " the appearance of the likeness
of the glory of the LORD" but they assume and do not point out the word
"likeness" and they have accomplished an entire posse riding that sky range with
themselves, sound weird and not likely? Not if your name is Applewhite and lying
around your lifeless body are other "heaven's gate" dead wannabes, chasing the
meteor of suicide,
or perhaps you followed a man named Jim
Jones or David Koresh, they did not get such a large following by being totally
ignorant, just devotee's who would not study for themselves, but played that
ever popular game, "Follow the Leader". Remember when you were a child
and there was always one who wanted to be a captain, the leader, the commander
in all your childhood games, he/she is now a minister so-called.

"For such are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of
Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
T
herefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be
transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to
their works."
2 Corinthians
11:13-15
God has given you His Word, and if it is not of literal
interpretation, then how could God judge anyone for not knowing His Word? Now is
the track laid for the blanket salvation crowd, whom also interpret, you are
right - Symbolically!

Christ was unaware of what He
prophesied
?


Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him
privately, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when
all these things shall be fulfilled?

Mark 13 - all

"And the gospel must first be published among all
nations." Mark 13:10

"Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and
the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall
cause them to be put to death." Mark 13:12

"But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that
readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:"
Mark 13:14

"For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not
from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither
shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be
saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the
days." Mark 13:19-20
"But in those days, after that
tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be
shaken. And then shall they see the
Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And
then shall he send his angels, and shall gather
together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to
the uttermost part of heaven." Mark 13:24-27

If these have already occurred then you are awaiting
judgment into hell, as the elect would have already been taken to
heaven.
"For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are
written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them
that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land,
and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and
shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down
of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke
21:22-24

Jews are led away captive into all nations - until the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled - Did you know that the Gentile nations are
still in charge of the world and have been for the past 2000 years, but the Jew
that was led away captive are returning to their homeland from whence they were
dispearsed. Your redemption, if you are a Christian occurs after the sun, moon,
stars,etc.., and the generation that beholds this shall not pass away til all
these come to pass, in 2018 that generation of 70 years will have passed away,
minus 7 years of course for the tribulation period.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

PANGEA: A LIFE REVISITED


AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING
SO SHALL IT BE IN THE END

That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. Ecclesiastes 3:15-16

Christ in HIS return unto earth shall be seen by every eye and all nations shall look upon HIM for fear of that which is to come. They lived their lives in lavish disregard for others and they accepted the person of the man to rule over them which had no attributes of love or any other thing which is known of God or by those to whom HE has ordained that carry forth HIS attributes and love for mankind and mankind's well-being. With total disregard toward those whom have borne the name of Christian and caused the neck of the Christian to be placed beneath the chopping block of death. Beheading their only hope in a world of disaray and total confusion prepared themselves for the following judgement of their Creator and the only Saviour for mankind, now they behold the skies and their demise in awestruck horror unmatchable by any Hollywood visionary or simblance thereunto.
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. Revelation 1:7
Two things stand forth as an oddity for the consumption of mankind and they are the statements, "every eye shall see him" and, "they also which pierced him" how can these things be? for they ring as an impossibility? The last question might bear forth reasoning somewhat for the first as the last question does set the timeframe of the event of HIS return.
And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God. Zechariah 13:6-9
The "house" of my friends is that of the modern day Israel which also did in the first century visit of Jesus Christ demanded the person of Barrabas for that of Christ and when pushed to the point cried out, Crucify him, Crucify him, as they would have Jesus put to the death of crucifixon which was completed by the Romans (Matthew 27:15-18). This would lend weight unto the timeframe being a time for the restoration of Christ's friends -those of HIS own household whom rejected HIM - which began the walk in 1948 and now has developed into a run in our time to swift judgement and destruction of this world that now is, and any associated as the "friend of this world" and are become the enemy of the cross. Having established the timeframe from 1948-founding of Israel as a nation- the second follows suit as "every eye shall behold him" could be inferred as modern man's invention of the television and that of the space telescope - Hubble - which would allow everyone to "see" the coming of Christ in their own living room as they watched his return on their television sets, but this would affirm all to have electricity and TV sets and reception, but perhaps there is another way not often mentioned in today's society?
AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING
The world or all that is the land mass of the world began as one unit or land mass verifiable even by the scientists of the world who called the mass - Pangea.



This too was noted in the Bible and there was a day in the which the land was divided or rather the earth was divided.
And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. Genesis 10:25
God separated the continents by earthquake (the big one) and division of the land, speech, and nations occurred. This began the events of much turmoil in the earth which would erupt volcanoes and earthquakes and made the land to not rest but alway in shifting positions. Alway shifting until...finally during their last stages of movement they would come back together as one land mass again, so as it was in the beginning so shall it be in the end or latter times. The "end" is not the end of this earth, but it is the end of what is known in Biblical language as the "fullfilment of the age of the Gentiles", however, it is a signal of the return of the mass of land as one unit.
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. Revelation 16:16-21
The timeframe here is the time of Armageddon also called; the Time of Jacob's Trouble, Valley of Decision, Hamongog and many other names including War of the Valley of the Kings etc..,. Hamongog here, is not to be confused with the final battle which is the battle of Gog and Magog in Revelation 20:7-8 but this is indeed the battle of Armageddon which so many have received warning of, this battle is listed:
And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog. And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land. And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD. And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. Ezekiel 39:14-21
Here the beasts of the field and the birds shall eat and drink the flesh and blood of the men of battle whether kings or soldiers. Also the mountains are still here at this point as the movement of the earth is culminating at or near this point as the land mass moves back into one and the mountains made low and the valleys made even. The time frame is again illustrated in:
And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD. So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: Ezekiel 39:2-9Again the timeframe is such that the mountains and the isles (or islands) are mentioned and the time is yet to come as the movement is started and will culminate before or at the appearance of Jesus Christ and the saints that come with HIM that have prior to this point been assembled in heaven for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb or the recognition of the saints with the supper which Christ stated HE would not drink with them again until HIS Father's Kingdom had come. There are two verses that apply to this point and one states Christ would drink the fruit of the vine new with them, speaking of the Christians, "in" HIS Father's kingdom while the other states that HE would not drink it with them until the kingdom of God should come. Christ is recognizing two events, the assembly of HIS body (the church) in heaven and the arrival of the kingdom of God. The one stating "in" giving the place of the supper and the other stating "of" as this recognizes the Kingdom of God has indeed begun contrary to what some may affirm as that we are now in the kingdom of God, however, we shall not have been placed into the "kingdom" without the physical presence of the SON. It is much like stating we are now saved however our physical presence is still on earth typing or reading this message and not that we have arrived into heaven but are accounted as to have achieved "into" heaven as though we presently are there. It is much like you are your father's or mother's child even though they are not present to verify you as such, but still you know and are assured you are indeed your mom and dad's child and do not need an appearance on the Maury show to prove such (although there is nothing wrong with that). Just as you were growing up your mom or dad told you that you were their child and you accepted such without doubt and as time went by you began to look and act (perhaps not that you wanted to) like the parents, so it is with the Christian as he/she begin to look and act like their Saviour and to know from whence they have come and to where they should arrive, as in:
But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. - and - For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. Matthew 26:29/Luke 22:18
THE GREAT FALLING AWAY
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. Ecclesiastes 3:16We cannot speak well of the timeframe, that is Israel back into the land, without the notice of the condition of the church of today in this same timed frame. As Israel signals the beginning trump of the latter day so too does the condition of the church signal the "season" of the last time. Paul states this more eloquently than I ever could or would want to in:
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ll Thessalonians 2:1-3But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. I Thessalonians 5:1-5
Paul is affirming that the church would know by the times and the seasons of when the Saviour would return for HIS own as no man would put his new bride or wife in the hands of other men to do that unto her as they would and then come and get her from them. A man is especially jealous over his new bride and would stop no shorter than death for her, so it is with Christ. Christ would not leave HIS church who willingly wanted to enter into HIS marriage with HIM and Christ is known as a jealous God over HIS church. So the "time" of the judgement beginning would be with the founding of Israel in 1948 and the "season" would be when the church, the recognized bride of our LORD would begin to "fall away" or "feel left" much as that of Mary and Martha a time of sadness and paying no attention of the arrival of the Master due to the death of their brother - Lazrus - who is the resemblance of those whom are asleep in Christ or dead. We also have been given the voice of the season as it is a time when they (meaning the world) would begin to say, "Peace and Safety" then it is a time of sudden destruction. We will see and know the world's condition as they may be getting closer to this statement of peace. However, the church is not incumbent upon the statement itself only that the nations of the world would be aligning themselves unto what they would term as a "peaceful co-existence" and it is of no consequence that the leaders keep reaffirming their commitment unto peace and safety with Palestine and Israel. The re-gathering of the church unto Jesus Christ is silent just as the theif is announced when he comes to steal so it is with our LORD when HE returns for the church and catches an awaiting, trusting in a mankind remedy for the world, ever so silently - the church is now - gone!

LINKS:
http://www.rave.cz/fotky.php?url=2005/fotky/06/fotky-pangea-elmhttp://www.howard.k12.md.us/res/beginnings/pangea.html
http://geography.about.com/library/blank/blxeurasia.htm
http://www.worldmap.org/region.php?region=Eurasia

Continue?

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

VOTE - A NO WINNER AT THE POLLS





WHY HE CANNOT WIN -

John McCain Believes in Personal Responsibility
We must do more to take care of ourselves to prevent chronic diseases when possible, and do more to adhere to treatment after we are diagnosed with an illness.
Childhood obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure are all on the rise. We must again teach our children about health, nutrition and exercise - vital life information.
Public health initiatives must be undertaken with all our citizens to stem the growing epidemic of obesity and diabetes, and to deter smoking.
BORDER PATROL PATRON
Immigration is one of those challenging issues that touch on many aspects of American life.
I have always believed that our border must be secure and that the federal government has utterly failed in its responsibility to ensure that it is secure. If we have learned anything from the recent immigration debate, it is that Americans have little trust that their government will honor a pledge to do the things necessary to make the border secure.
As president, I will secure the border. I will restore the trust Americans should have in the basic competency of their government. A secure border is an essential element of our national security. Tight border security includes not just the entry and exit of people, but also the effective screening of cargo at our ports and other points of entry.
But a secure border will contribute to addressing our immigration problem most effectively if we also:
Recognize the importance of building strong allies in Mexico and Latin America who reject the siren call of authoritarians like Hugo Chavez, support freedom and democracy, and seek strong domestic economies with abundant economic opportunities for their citizens.
Recognize the importance of pro-growth policies -- keeping government spending in check, holding down taxes, and cutting unnecessary regulatory burdens -- so American businesses can hire and pay the best.
Recognize the importance of a flexible labor market to keep employers in business and our economy on top. It should provide skilled Americans and immigrants with opportunity. Our education system should ensure skills for our younger workers, and our retraining and assistance programs for displaced workers must be modernized so they can pursue those opportunities
(Note: immigrants that are not illegal are called Americans, Communism assigns each student with a trade they desire - gene research can further whom is qualified by dna for specific skills)
Recognize the importance of assimilation of our immigrant population, which includes learning English, American history and civics, and respecting the values of a democratic society. (Note: democracy imposes the will of the louder voice of the people)
Recognize that America will always be that "shining city upon a hill," a beacon of hope and opportunity for those seeking a better life built on hard work and optimism.
Border security and our failed immigration system are more examples of an ailing Washington culture in need of reform to regain the trust of Americans. In too many areas -- from immigration and pork barrel spending to Social Security, health care, energy security and tax relief -- business-as-usual politics prevents addressing the important challenges facing our nation.
Rescinds President Bush’s ban on ethical embryonic stem cell research. In 2001, President Bush issued an Executive Order banning federal funding for some of the most promising avenues of stem cell research. And this year – yet again – he vetoed legislation to open up new lines of embryonic stem cells for federal funding. Within these cells may lay the cures for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injuries, diabetes, Huntington’s disease and more. One hundred million Americans live with these diseases – and their families live with them too. The President’s ban damages more than hope – it hurts our chances to lead the world in innovative new fields. Countries like Singapore and the United Kingdom are filling the biotech gap that this president has created, investing in research for cures and jobs of the future. As President, Hillary will end the ban and promote stem cell research that complies with the highest ethical standards.
To achieve this goal, Senator Clinton’s strategy would:
A Groundbreaking National Prevention Initiative to Reduce the Incidence of Such Diseases as Diabetes and Cancer that Impose Huge Human and Financial Costs
Institute a New "Paperless" Health Information Technology System
Transform Care of Today’s Chronically Ill Population to Improve Outcomes and Decrease Costs
Ending Insurance Discrimination to Help Reduce Administrative Costs
Create an Independent "Best Practices" Institute to Empower Consumers, Providers and Health Plans to Make the Right Care Choices
Implement Smart Purchasing Initiatives to Constrain Excess Prescription Drug and Managed Care Expenditures
Put in Place Common-Sense Medical Malpractice
This century’s plague is chronic illness including diabetes, heart conditions, obesity and other chronic conditions. Obesity rates have doubled among adults over the past 20 years; in fact Medicare could save over a trillion dollars over 25 years if obesity among seniors could be returned to levels in the 1980s. One out of three children born in 2000 is at risk of developing diabetes, and today’s children are at risk of having shorter life spans than their parents - for the first time in our nation’s history. Chronic illness accounts for 75 percent of health costs, and two-thirds of recent cost growth. Only half of recommended clinical preventive services are provided to adults, and less than half of adults had their doctors provide them advice on weight, nutrition, or exercisei. Only 38 percent of adults receive recommended colorectal screening and roughly 20 percent of children do not receive recommended immunizations.ii
Senator Clinton will:
Require all insurers participating in federal programs to cover prevention priorities: Senator Clinton would make it a condition of doing business with the Federal government that health plans cover high-priority preventive services. Covered services would be based on recommendations from the U.S. Prevention Services Task Force. Insurers would provide both individuals and providers with the financial incentives, such as eliminating copays for high-priority prevention services. This approach is being taken by such businesses as Safeway, which not only covers all preventive services but provides an integrated health promotion model for many of it employees.
Target prevention by coordinating and pooling public funding: Senator Clinton would coordinate public spending on prevention across federal programs in the Department of Health and Human Services to maximize high-priority prevention. A public-private collaboration would ensure that prevention is pushed outside of the boundaries of the health care system and into schools, workplace, supermarkets and communities through free provision of preventive benefits. It would enlist a new prevention workforce including pharmacists, church leaders and others who can best use funds to ensure 100 percent use of cost-effective prevention.
Billions of dollars and millions of mistakes result from the use of an outdated, paper-based medical records and billing systems. Modernizing our health care system through the use of information technology will empower doctors and other healthcare providers to communicate electronically and will reduce waste and redundancy while improving safety and quality by reducing medical errors. Today, 75 percent of health care claims are submitted electronically. However, only 71 percent of these claims are automatically adjudicated (i.e. processed without any manual intervention). Paper claims that are clean (no manual intervention) cost about $1.60 per claim; however, electronic claims cost almost half that amount ($0.85)iii. And claims that require manual intervention/adjudication cost 40 percent more than an electronic claims.
The largest driver of health care costs in the nation is related to the small numbers of Americans who incur catastrophic expenditures, usually for the care of chronic diseases. These diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, account for 75 percent of our total national health expenditures and are the leading causes of death in the U.Svi. In fact, the 23 percent of Medicare beneficiaries who suffer from five or more chronic illnesses account for 68 percent of total spending in the Medicare programvii. A recent RAND study projected nearly $30 billion in national health expenditure savings per year after implementing disease and lifestyle management programs. Combined with prevention and health information technology, with full participation, the U.S. health system could save $147 billion alone for better care of this vulnerable populationviii.
Provide incentives for participation in chronic care management programs: Services provided would include: care coordination among and between providers, drug management, diet and exercise counseling, lifestyle management, and the promotion of patient responsibility for self-management. Medicare beneficiaries and federal employees could choose to opt-in to this program and many would do so because of the additional services (many of which would have no cost-sharing requirements) and the potential for higher-quality care and outcomes. Physicians providing services within these programs would receive management bonus payments to compensate for their cost-effective coordination services.
Patients, providers and payers would benefit from getting better information on what works in health care and how treatments compare to one another. Little is known about how these procedures stack up, so we end up paying for them all, even when they may do nothing to improve health. Researchers at Dartmouth have found that more care is not better care, and that inefficient care may do more harm than good. Health care providers and patients are being bombarded with information. In the past decade, there has been an 80 percent growth in the number of drugs prescribed, 100 percent growth in new device patents, 300 percent growth in teaching hospital procedures, and 1,500 percent growth in diseases with gene testsxi.
Allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. Eliminate the prohibition in federal law that prohibits the Secretary of HHS from negotiating prescription drug prices in Medicare.
In order to ensure greater stability and predictability for physicians to continue to practice, we need common-sense medical malpractice reforms. While some have overstated the role that malpractice insurance plays in the health care crisis, it is clear that we have to find a way that works for everyone, doctors and patients alike.
Senator Clinton will:
Promote medical error disclosure and provider-patient trust:Senator Clinton has introduced the National Medical Error Disclosure and Compensation (MEDiC) Act. It would encourage the adoption of a model that provides liability protections for physicians who disclose medical errors to patients and who offer to enter into negotiations for fair compensation. Overall, these policies have resulted in greater patient trust and satisfaction, more patients being compensated for injuries, fewer numbers of malpractice suits being filed, and significantly reduced administrative and legal defense costs. At the University of Michigan, this program has saved $1-3 million in litigation costs.
Preventing and Managing Disease
Epidemic of chronic illness: An estimated 45 percent of Americans had a chronic illness in 2000. This is projected to rise to 50 percent by 2020xxv.
Diabetes: The number of people with diabetes has doubled in the past fifteen years, with the expectation that one-third of the people born in 2000 can expect to have diabetes in his or her lifetimexxvi. And this trend is even more disturbing for African Americans: the rate of diabetes is 50 to 80 percent higher for this group compared to non-Hispanic whites.
Obesity and health: About 24 percent of Americans were obese in 2005, up from 15 percent in 1995xxvii. Obesity contributes to a wide range of chronic conditions, from diabetes to stroke to cancer. If trends continue, children’s life spans may be shorter than that of their parents for the first time in about a centuryxxviii.
Chronic diseases drive costs. Chronic diseases, some of which can be prevented, account for more about 75 percent of health care costs. In addition, about two-thirds of the rise in health care spending is associated with a rise in the prevalence of treated disease-more diabetics, more pulmonary disorders, etcxxix. Medicare is particularly affected: chronic diseases account for 68 percent of program costs, and 23 percent of beneficiaries have 5 or more chronic diseasesxxx.
Obesity and costs: About 30% of the rise in health care spending is linked to the doubling of obesity among adults over the past 20 yearsxxxi. Had the prevalence of obesity remained the same today as it was in 1987, we would spend 10 percent less per person - approximately $200 billion - on health care today.
Impact on employers: About 30 percent of total cost of diabetes results from work loss, disability, and premature death and the effects of preventable influenza present a major cost to employers in terms of sick days and reduced productivityxxxii.
Proven prevention is underused and undervalued
Low use: Only half of recommended clinical preventive services are provided to adults and less than half of adults had their doctors provide them advice on weight, nutrition, or exercisexxxiii. Only 38 percent of adults receive recommended colorectal screening and roughly 20 percent of children do not receive recommended immunizationsxxxiv. Additionally, the percent of elderly people who received an influenza vaccine in 2003 was 64 percent in the U.S., well below Australia at 79 percent and the United Kingdom at 71 percentxxxv.
Difficult to provide only through insurance: Health insurers typically do not cover the full range of recommended services. An employer survey found that only 57 percent cover flu vaccines, 20 percent cover tobacco cessation services and only 18 percent cover alcohol problem preventionxxxvi. Since people frequently change insurers, insurers have little incentive to invest in them. The average person in their 40s has already had 11 jobsxxxvii.
Difficult to provide only through doctors: One study estimates that it would take over 7 hours per day to deliver all of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force-recommended clinical prevention to a typical patient panel of 2,500xxxviii. Moreover, our payment system does not value prevention. Reimbursement for a diagnostic, surgical, or imaging procedure often is three times as much as a thirty-minute visit with a patient involving management and counselingxxxix.
Low spending: The U.S. spends only an estimated 1 to 3 percent of national health expenditures on preventive health care services and health promotionxl. This is an estimated $70 billion per yearxli.
Primary prevention can reduce costs and improve lives
Immunization: Fully vaccinating all seniors against the flu could save nearly $1 billion per yearxlii. Full vaccination of seniors against pneumococcal disease could save $10 for every $1 spentxliii.
Obesity intervention: If obesity among the elderly were to return to the level in the 1980s, then savings could total a trillion dollars over a 25 year periodxliv.
Workplace wellness: A systematic review of this literature evaluating workplace health promotion programs found that 88% of the 32 studies found that these initiatives reduced healthcare costs, and virtually all found they reduced absenteeism. The mean return on investment of the initiatives was $3.93 for health care costs and $5.07 for absenteeism savingsxlv.
Safeway example: Safeway covers all preventive care services appropriate for a patient's age group. It offers other benefits, such as a 24-hour hot line staffed by registered nurses, services to help people manage chronic conditions and incentives designed to promote healthier lifestyles. Safeway has integrated a health promotion/prevention model with care management. According to Safeway’s analysis, overall, health coverage costs for Safeway employees enrolled in the new plan fell 11 percent in 2006, its first year of operation. It has projected that their 2007 spending will be flatxlvi.
Chronic care management can produce savings:
Example of diabetes care management: A comprehensive program to achieve and maintain weight reduction of 7% among adults with elevated blood sugar produced results so dramatic and quick, randomized trial was stopped a year early. The incidence of diabetes was 58 percent lower among at-risk individuals enrolled in the lifestyle intervention than the control group. The results were most pronounced among those aged 60 and older - a 71 percent reduction in the incidence of diabetes. These results have been replicated in studies in Finland and Chinaxlvii.
Example of warranty for care: Geisinger Clinic has experimented with a model that provides all follow-up care for up to 90 days after surgery through a "warranty". This has resulted in more aggressive follow-up (e.g., ensuring antibiotics or aspirin are used) and fewer subsequent hospitalizationsxlviii.
Example of the VA’s use of HIT and chronic care management: Between 1993 and 1999, the VA adopted electronic medical records, developed explicit evidence-based treatment protocols for chronic disease, and provided financial incentives to VA health centers to improve care outcomes. Quality of care indicators improved dramatically: VA patients received 67 percent of clinically recommended care compared to 51 percent nationallyxlix. Moreover, use of hospital services declined dramatically—total hospital bed days declined by:
51 percent for those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
49 percent for those with pneumonia,
43 percent for those with heart failure, and
49 percent among diabetics.
Health Information Technology
Medical mistakes: In part due to our lack of health information technology, an estimated 195,000 Americans die each year due to medical mistakes. At least 1.5 million people - are ere given the wrong medication each yearli.
High cost of paper-based payment: Today, 75 percent of health care claims are submitted electronically. However, only 71 percent of these claims are automatically adjudicated (i.e. processed without any manual intervention). Paper claims that are clean (no manual intervention) cost about $1.60 per claim. Claims that require manual intervention/ adjudication cost over $2 per claim. However, it costs 85 cents for an electronic claimlii.
Lowers medical errors: If all hospitals used a computerized physician order entry system, an estimated 200,000 fewer adverse drug events would occur, saving roughly $1 billion per yearliii.
Savings from duplication of tests: A local study in Santa Barbara found that one in five lab tests and x-rays were ordered solely because the previous results could not be foundliv.
System-wide savings from full use of HIT: RAND estimates net savings of $77 billion per year with 90 percent adoption. If efficiency in the nation's healthcare system increased by an additional 1.5 percent per year - what economists generally agree was the impact of information technology on the wholesale and retail industry - savings could be as high as $346 billion annually-over 15% of health care spendinglv.
Example of the VA: The HIT system, known as the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA), provides clinical, financial and management systems for the VA. The health record component of VistA, the computerized patient record system (CPRS), is used in outpatient, inpatient, mental health, intensive care unit, emergency department, clinic, home care, nursing home and other settings. CPRS contains all components of a patient’s health record, such as laboratory test results, medical images, bar code medication administration, progress notes, and appointments. CPRS permits VHA clinicians to access a patient's record from anywhere within the health enterprise, at the point of care. The CPRS is fully operational at all medical centers and most other VHA sites of care. The VA efficiently delivers some of the best quality health care in the United States. Between 1999 and 2003, the number of patients enrolled in the VHA system increased by 70 percent, yet funding (not adjusted for inflation) increased by only 41 percent. Health care spending per capita averages $6,300 in the U.S.; at the VA, however, the per-patient cost is $5,000, 21% lower than the national averagelvi.
SHADES OF GEORGE ORWELL'S 1984 - BIG BROTHER WATCHING YOU
Clinton unveils mandatory health care insurance plan
Clinton's $110 billion plan would require all Americans to have health insurance
Clinton unveils mandatory health care insurance plan
Story Highlights
NEW: Edwards says he's flattered by the Clinton plan's similarities to his plan
Obama: My health care plan goes further
Dodd slams Clinton "mismanagement of the effort in 1993 and 1994"
Clinton's $110 billion plan would require all Americans to have health insurance
DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton announced a $110 billion health care reform plan Monday that would require all Americans to have health insurance. Clinton unveiled her "American Health Choices Plan," during a high-profile speech at a hospital in the key campaign state of Iowa, surrounded by supporters, American flags and campaign banners. "Here in America people are dying because they couldn't get the care they needed when they were sick." "I'm here today because I believe it is long past time that this nation had an answer," Clinton said. "I believe America is ready for change. "It's time to provide quality affordable health care for every American," Clinton said. "And I intend to be the president who accomplishes that goal finally for our country." A Clinton adviser compares the plan's "individual mandate" -- which requires everyone to have health insurance -- to current rules in most states that require all drivers to purchase auto insurance, according to The Associated Press. Watch Clinton outline her health care proposal » In her plan, Clinton said families would receive tax credits to help pay for coverage. The tax credit would be designed to limit the premiums to a percentage of a family's income. Federal subsidies would be provided for those who are not able to afford insurance, and large businesses would be expected to provide or help pay for their employees' insurance. Clinton said her plan would not require small businesses to take part, but will offer tax credits to encourage them to do so. About 46.6 million people in the United States were without health care insurance in 2005, including 8.3 million children, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released last year. "I know my Republican opponents will try to equate this plan with government-run health care. Well don't let them fool you again," Clinton said, explaining that her plan would allow participants to "keep the doctors you know and trust" while it would expand "personal choice" and keep costs down. Clinton's package would also require insurers to provide coverage for anyone who applies for it and would also bar insurance companies from charging people with greater health care costs more for their premiums. Under Clinton's plan, Americans would be offered the same health care benefits of private health care plans offered to Congress through the federal employee benefits program as well as a public program similar to Medicare. Americans satisfied with their current coverage will be allowed to keep it, the Clinton campaign said. To help pay for the plan, Clinton would also eliminate the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000 and limit the amount employers can exclude from taxes for health care benefits paid for those making over $250,000. Clinton's announcement marks her return to the health care game, nearly a decade and a half after her first foray. As first lady, Clinton spearheaded the Clinton administration's attempt to overhaul the country's health care system in 1993 and 1994. But critics attacked the Clintons' plan as socialized medicine, and it was killed by opposition from congressional Republicans and many in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. It was Clinton's biggest political defeat. Now Clinton is the third of the front-running Democratic White House hopefuls to formally unveil her plan, following Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and former Sen. John Edwards. Supporters defend Clinton by saying that she has already made parts of her proposals public, and she often speaks out publicly about her health care plans. Clinton's Democratic rivals wasted no time in reminding voters of her timing. "I commend Senator Clinton for her health care proposal," said Obama in a statement. "It's similar to the one I put forth last spring, though my universal health care plan would go further in reducing the punishing cost of health care than any other proposal that's been offered in this campaign." Edwards, speaking Monday to the Laborers' International Union of North America in Chicago, Illinois, echoed Obama. "I'm glad that, today, the architect of the 1993 plan has another care proposal -- and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then I'm flattered," said Edwards, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina. "The lesson Senator Clinton seems to have learned from her experience with health care is, 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.' I learned a very different lesson from decades of fighting powerful interests -- you can never join 'em, you just have to beat 'em." Edwards' proposal would cut off health care for the president, Congress and all political appointees in mid 2009, if a universal health care plan for all Americans has not been passed by then. Clinton's Democratic rival, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, used her past attempts at health care reform in criticizing Clinton's proposal. "The mismanagement of the effort in 1993 and 1994 has set back our ability to move toward universal health care immeasurably," Dodd said in a statement. "We've known what the problems have been for nearly 15 years and what the solutions could be. What's been missing is leadership that knows how to bring people together and get the job done." Clinton also took hits from GOP presidential hopefuls, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose criticism sounded like a movie review. "If you liked Michael Moore's 'Sicko,' you're going to love HillaryCare 2.0," said the Giuliani statement. "Senator Clinton's latest health scheme includes more government mandates, expensive federal subsidies and more big bureaucracy -- in short, a prescription for an increase in wait times, a decrease in patient care and tax hikes to pay for it all." Another Republican White House hopeful, Mitt Romney, accused Clinton of taking "her inspiration from European bureaucracies." "Instead we should take our inspiration from the American people," said the former Massachusetts governor. "Hers is a plan which I think underscores the fact that she fundamentally does not believe in markets and in the states. And I believe that our inspiration should come from American families."
GOOGLE TO POST ALL MEDICAL RECORDS ON LINE - GEORGE ORWELL REVISITED

Lowering Costs Through Investment in Electronic Health Information Technology Systems: Most medical records are still stored on paper, which makes it hard to coordinate care, measure quality or reduce medical errors and which costs twice as much as electronic claims. Obama will invest $10 billion a year over the next five years to move the U.S. health care system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, including electronic health records, and will phase in requirements for full implementation of health IT. Obama will ensure that patients' privacy is protected.
(See: Hillary Clinton model of HIT)


BORDER PATROL PATRON
Barack Obama's Record
Crack Down on Employers: Obama championed a proposal to create a system so employers can verify that their employees are legally eligible to work in the U.S.
Fix the Bureaucracy: Obama joined Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) to introduce the Citizenship Promotion Act to ensure that immigration application fees are both reasonable and fair. Obama also introduced legislation that passed the Senate to improve the speed and accuracy of FBI background checks.
Respect Families: Obama introduced amendments to put greater emphasis on keeping immigrant families together.
Bring People Out of the Shadows: America has always been a nation of immigrants. There are millions of people living in the shadows who would like to fully embrace our values and become full members of our democracy. For the millions living here illegally but otherwise playing by the rules, we must encourage them to come out of hiding and get right with the law. Barack Obama supports a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, not violate the law, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.
(NOTE: OBAMA HAS THE SAME HEALTHCARE PLAN AS HILLARY CLINTON - SEE: CLINTON)
Variant #1:
Subject:Fwd: Be careful, be very careful.Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama Sr. (black muslim) of Nyangoma-Kogelo, Siaya District, Kenya, and Ann Dunham of Wichita, Kansas. (white atheist ).When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced and his father returned to Kenya. His mother married Lolo Soetoro -- a Muslim -- moving to Jakarta with Obama when he was six years old. Within six months he had learned to speak the Indonesian language. Obama spent "two years in a Muslim school, then two more in a Catholic school" in Jakarta. Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim while admitting that he was once a Muslim, mitigating that damning information by saying that, for two years, he also attended a Catholic school.Obama's father, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was a radical Muslim who migrated from Kenya to Jakarta, Indonesia. He met Obama's mother, Ann Dunham-a white atheist from Wichita, Kansas-at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Obama, Sr. and Dunham divorced when Barack, Jr. was two.Obama's spinmeisters are now attempting to make it appear that Obama's introduction to Islam came from his father and that influence was temporary at best.In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya immediately following the divorce and never again had any direct influence over his son's education.Dunham married another Muslim, Lolo Soetoro who educated his stepson as a good Muslim by enrolling him in one of Jakarta's Wahabbi schools. Wahabbism is the radical teaching that created the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad on the industrialized world.Since it is politically expedient to be a Christian when you are seeking political office in the United States, Obama joined the United Church of Christ to help purge any notion that he is still a Muslim.Handsome . . . Charming . . . Winsome . . . Dangerous . . . Deceptive . . . Determined
Obama sworn in on his Bible
An anonymous e-mail says Barack Obama took the oath of office for the U.S. Senate on a Koran, the holy book of Islam. We thought it would be odd if that were true, since Obama is a Christian. In fact, it is wrong.
The e-mail also spells the book's name "Kuran," though usually it is spelled Koran or Quran.
Two press reports from Obama's swearing-in ceremony in January 2005 mention specifically that Obama took the oath of office by placing his hand on his own copy of the Bible. The Barack Obama campaign also confirmed that it was a Bible and that the book belonged to Obama. Vice President Dick Cheney, in his role as president of the Senate, administered the oath.
After being raised outside of any particular faith tradition, Obama became a Christian in his mid 20s and is a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. (Obama gave what are arguably his most extended remarks on his faith at the "Call to Renewal" religious conference in 2006; read the speech here.)
We suspect this false claim was inspired by the 2007 swearing-in of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., an American convert to Islam and the first Muslim elected to Congress. Ellison used a Koran that once belonged to Thomas Jefferson, borrowing the rare book from the Library of Congress.
It goes without saying that Ellison is not Obama. And with its intent to inflame, we find the e-mail's allegation not only false, but Pants-on-Fire wrong.
Obama's Ties To Church Examined
CHICAGO, March 20, 2007
(AP) A then 26-year-old Barack Obama walked down the aisle of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, knelt beneath a cross suspended from its rafters and, as he later explained it, committed himself to God after years as a religious skeptic. In those early days at the self-described "unashamedly black" church, the future Democratic presidential candidate was moved to tears by a sermon from its activist pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., whom he has portrayed as his spiritual mentor. Two decades later, Obama himself would be Wright's topic of the day — but not for reasons either man would have hoped. At a recent Sunday service, following media coverage of Obama's last-minute decision not to have Wright speak at the senator's presidential announcement last month, Wright warned his flock not to believe any reports of a rift between him and the church's best-known member. "Barack and I are fine," Wright, 65, on an out-of-state trip, said in a recorded message played to about 2,000 attendees. "The press is not to be trusted. ... Don't let somebody outside our camp divide us." The erudite if blunt-speaking pastor also said Obama had apologized for withdrawing the invitation to speak at the Feb. 10 announcement in Springfield. Obama had taken "some bad advice from some of his own campaign people who thought it would not be a good idea for me to be in front of the cameras on the day he announced," Wright said, adding that he and Obama had "moved on." Wright attended the announcement, but he did not speak. His impassioned comments came after some conservatives questioned Obama's links to Trinity, which embraces what it calls a "Black Value System." Others criticized Obama for appearing to distance himself from the church and its leader. Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said that's not the case. "The senator appreciates the continued prayers of his pastor," Burton said, adding in a statement that the invitation to Wright was withdrawn because Obama wanted to "avoid having statements and beliefs being used out of context and forcing the entire church to defend itself." Wright declined to comment. But in an interview with PBS's "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly" recorded just before Obama's February announcement, Wright said he warned the senator that their association could pose political problems, partly because of his history of supporting Palestinian causes. Wright also told The New York Times in an interview published March 6: "When his (Obama's) enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli" with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to visit Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, "a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell." The roughly 8,000-member church has often championed liberal causes, from gay rights to opposition to the Iraq war. It also emphasizes its African roots and asks parishioners to accept the "Black Value System," which includes tenets such as "commitment to the black family," "dedication to the pursuit of education" and one critics have seized upon - "disavowal of the pursuit of 'middleclassness."' Obama seemed to preach some of the church's teachings earlier this month at a commemoration of the 1965 civil rights march in Selma, Ala. He said his generation of blacks needs to strive for something beyond getting "some of that Oprah money" and that "materialism alone will not fulfill the possibilities of your existence." At Trinity's lively, music-oriented services, some members wear African-style dress. A red, black and green flag of the pan-African movement stands by the pulpit. On a nearby plaque, Trinity's motto reads, "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian." For nearly two decades, Obama has identified strongly with Trinity and hasn't been shy about discussing his closeness to its pastor. Wright's use of "audacity of hope" in one sermon inspired Obama to borrow those words as the title of his best-selling book, "The Audacity of Hope." In an earlier memoir, "Dreams From My Father," Obama also tells how he was moved to tears during that sermon by Wright, an early proponent of the black liberation and black theology movements that gained ground in the 1960s. Obama describes what he calls "a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters" and how he "felt for the first time how that spirit carried within it, nascent, incomplete, the possibility of moving beyond our narrow dreams." The son of a white mother from Kansas, who was skeptical of organized religion, and a Kenyan father, Obama was raised in a secular household. He spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, where he attended a Catholic school and a public school where he took Islamic religion classes. He explained how his spiritual journey culminated that day he walked toward the altar at Trinity in a 2006 article on the United Church of Christ's Web site, writing that as he knelt beneath that cross, "I submitted myself to (God's) will and dedicated myself to discovering His truth." He added that he was drawn to activist churches like Trinity because, in them, "I was able to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world." Trinity's critics, though, say it emphasizes black causes to a fault. Fran Eaton, who writes for the conservative blog Illinois Review, singled out Trinity's 12-point value system, which includes a commitment to "pledge allegiance to all black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System." "I would feel uncomfortable with a church that used the word 'white' instead of 'black' when it talked about these things," she said. "It seems to me we are going backward if we're basing our churches and the help they give on skin color." Melissa Harris-Lacewell, a politics and African studies professor at Princeton University and an Obama supporter who attended Trinity when she lived in Chicago, dismisses such criticism, saying it only shows "most white Americans, most of the time, can be utterly ignorant of how black people worship on Sunday." She added that pinning Wright's left-leaning politics on Obama isn't fair. "The question is what Barack Obama believes, not what Reverend Wright believes," she said, "because Barack Obama and Reverend Wright may be in agreement on some issues and deeply in disagreement on others."
Play Video
YouTube - Rev Jeremiah Wright's Message
"Journey's End"A message from Rev Jeremiah Wright..."God's sick of this shit" ... A message from Rev Jeremiah Wright... "God's sick of this shit" (less) Added: ...www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfNEfEBYIZs

ADVERTISEMENT
This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," March 1, 2007, that has been edited for clarity.
SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been inundated with coverage about his Mormon faith, LDS. In light of this, last night we reported on the controversial teachings of Democratic candidate Barack Obama's Chicago-based church. A guest on our program likened Trinity Unity Church of Christ to a separatist movement, drawing comparisons to Branch Davidians.
Joining us now for a response to these claims from Trinity United is the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright.
Reverend, welcome to the program. Thank you for being with us.
REV. DR. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, TRINITY UNITY CHURCH OF CHRIST: Thank you for having me.
HANNITY: OK, this is the same church. You do have the Web site, right, where it says commitment to the black community, commitment to the black...
WRIGHT: The black value system, which was developed by the congregation, by laypersons of the congregation, 26 years ago, very similar to the gospel (INAUDIBLE) developed by laypersons in Nicaragua during the whole liberation theology movement, 26, 28, 30 years ago, yes.
HANNITY: All right, but we're not dealing with — this is on the Web site today. Let me just inform our audience, and I want you to respond, if you can.
It says, "Commitment to God." By the way, I'm with you, and I hope you'll pray for me, Reverend. Commitment to the black community, commitment to the black family, adherence to the black work ethic. It goes on, pledge, you know, acquired skills available to the black community, strengthening and supporting black institutions, pledging allegiance to all black leadership who have embraced the black value system, personal commitment to the embracement of the black value system.
Now, Reverend, if every time we said black, if there was a church and those words were white, wouldn't we call that church racist?
WRIGHT: No, we would call it Christianity. We've been saying that since there was a white Christianity; we've been saying that ever since white Christians took part in the slave trade; we've been saying that ever since they had churches in slave castles.
We don't have to say the word "white." We just have to live in white America, the United States of white America. That's not the issue; you're missing the issue.
As I was trying to say to you, liberation theology — and I thought Eric Rush has studied at a theological seminary that was conservative — I've come to find out he doesn't know anything more about theology than I know about brain surgery.
HANNITY: So here's my point to you, though.
WRIGHT: No, let me finish. No, here's my point to you.
HANNITY: I'm waiting.
WRIGHT: If you're not going to talk about theology in context, if you're not going to talk about liberation theology that came out of the ‘60s, (INAUDIBLE) black liberation theology, that started with Jim Cone in 1968, and the writings of Cone, and the writings of Dwight Hopkins, and the writings of womanist theologians, and Asian theologians, and Hispanic theologians...
HANNITY: Reverend, I've got to get this in.
WRIGHT: Then you can talk about the black value system.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I'm going to tell you this. Listen...
WRIGHT: Do you know liberation theology, sir? Do you know liberation theology?
HANNITY: I studied theology; I went to a seminary. And I studied Latin.
WRIGHT: Do you know black liberation theology?
HANNITY: I'm very aware of what you're calling black liberation, but let me get my question out.
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: I said, do you know black theology?
HANNITY: Reverend, I'm going to give you a chance to answer my question.
WRIGHT: How many of Cone's books have you read? How many of Cone's book have you read?
HANNITY: Reverend, Reverend?
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: How many books of Cone's have you head?
HANNITY: I'm going to ask you this question...
WRIGHT: How many books of Dwight Hopkins have you read?
HANNITY: You're very angry and defensive. I'm just trying to ask a question here.
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: You haven't answered — you haven't answered my question.
HANNITY: And it seems to be, when you say the black community, black family, black work ethic, black community...
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: It seems arrogant, ignorant...
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: I'm asking you...
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: ... how many books of Dwight Hopkins have you read?
HANNITY: Sir, I'm going to say this whether you like it or not. I'm going to get my words in, and I'm going to tell you right now...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: As a Christian, sir, I think, as a Christian, you should not separate by race in this day and age. And that's why a lot of people are going to look at that and say, "We're all supposed to be united under Christ, aren't we?"
ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Dr. Wright, it's Alan Colmes. First of all, I think Barack Obama put it correctly to the "Chicago Tribune" when he said that he'd be puzzled that the conservatives would object or quibble with the bulk of a document — which is your church's document — that espouses profoundly conservative values of self-reliance and self-help. That's what you're talking about on your Web site, self-reliance and self-help for the committee that your church serves. I don't see what the problem should be with that.
WRIGHT: That comes out of the perspective of liberation theology and black liberation theology. And I keep asking him, how many books of Cone's has he read? How many books of Dwight Hopkins? How many liberation theologians does he know?
(CROSSTALK)
COLMES: But I want to ask you about your church that the public understands. I want the public to understand where your church is coming from, because you're being accused of being a black separatist church, and thus Obama is being accused by default of being a black separatist. Can you straighten that out for us, please?
WRIGHT: OK. The African-centered point of view does not assume superiority, nor does it assume separatism. It assumes Africans speaking for themselves as subjects in history, not objects in history.
It comes from the principles of Kawaida, the second principle being Kuji Salawi (ph), which is self-determination, us naming ourselves, and not saying we are superior to anybody. We have no hierarchical arrangement.
When you say an African-centered way of thinking, African-centered philosophy, African-centered theology, you're talking about one center. We're talking about something that's different. And different does not mean deficient...
COLMES: Aren't there black churches...
WRIGHT: ... nor does it mean superior or inferior. The whole notion of hierarchal, one's superior, we must be separate because we're better, that has absolutely nothing to do with...
(CROSSTALK)
COLMES: But aren't there black churches all over America that say pretty much what your church says? They serve the African-American community. They say very similar things to what you say on your Web site.
WRIGHT: Yes, they do. Yes, they do.
COLMES: And your church is being singled out, simply because it has congregants, like Barack Obama, but it also has people from all walks of life, welfare recipients, Oprah Winfrey, as I understand it, and a whole bunch of people?
WRIGHT: Correct. That's correct. We've been singled out ever since the audacity of hope speech, ever since the Democratic convention, ever since the book "Audacity of Hope," ever since journalists found out that Barack was one of our members. Yes, we've been singled out.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I've got to run. We're on a hard break. But may I suggest that we talk about the American community, instead of black, the American family, instead of black...
WRIGHT: Let me suggest that you do some reading before you come and talk to me about my field. I'm not trying to talk to you about — no, no, no.
HANNITY: ... that would bring us together.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... Martin Luther King...
WRIGHT: Martin Luther King was from the black church. He was not from the white church. He was not from Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, the Christian conservative...
HANNITY: He said, "I judge people by the content of their character."
WRIGHT: Yes, and he also said that war is wrong.
HANNITY: I've got to run.
WRIGHT: He also said that the president lied to take us into Vietnam.
HANNITY: I've got to run. Thank you for being with us.
WRIGHT: Why don't you quote everything? Thank you for having me, sir.
Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He completed his elementary education in that city and then went to Virginia Union University. After three and a half years at Virginia Union, Pastor Wright left school and entered the United States Marine Corps. He transferred from the USMC into the United States Navy where he served as a cardiopulmonary technician.
After six years in the military, Pastor Wright transferred to Howard University where he completed his undergraduate studies and received his first Master’s Degree. His second Master’s Degree was from the University of Chicago Divinity School. His Doctorate was received from the United Theological Seminary under Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor. In addition to Pastor Wright’s four earned degrees, he has been the recipient of eight honorary doctorates.
Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. became Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ (TUCC) on March 1, 1972. Within a matter of months he demonstrated an understanding and deep commitment to help TUCC achieve its motto and vision. The motto, "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian", was a phrase coined by his predecessor, the Reverend Dr. Reuben Sheares, and was officially adopted by the congregation shortly after Pastor Wright began his ministry.
Since 1972, under Dr. Wright’s leadership, the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ grew from 87 members; and currently exceeds 6,000! The membership continues to grow numerically and spiritually with large numbers of members tithing, studying in bible classes and serving in over 70 ministries offered to enhance the Christian journey.
Dr. Wright has lectured at seminaries and universities across the United States and has represented TUCC and The United Church of Christ around the world. He is recognized as a leading theologian and pastor and has published four books and numerous articles.
Dr. Wright shares his life and his ministry with his wife, Rev. Ramah Reed Wright, and is the father of four daughters: Janet Marie Moore, Jeri Lynne Wright, Nikol D. Reed and Jamila Nandi Wright; and one son, Nathan D. Reed. He is also the grandfather of three grandchildren; Jeremiah Antonio Haynes, Jazmin Lynne Hall and Steven L. Moore, Jr.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

WHAT THE COOK SAID-WHAT THE GOV. DID


VERY STRANGE NEWS FROM ISRAEL

Eateries go on spring roll strike
Israel's Asian restaurants went on a one-day spring roll strike Tuesday in protest over government plans to rid kitchens of foreign chefs, and said sushi and noodles would be the next items off the menu. The restaurants are angry at government plans to purge Japanese, Chinese and Thai eateries of Asian cooks and replace them with Israelis as part of a broader program to cut the number of foreigners working in the Jewish state. The Israeli Ethnic Restaurant Organization said the country's 300 Asian restaurants refused to serve spring, or egg, rolls -- among their most popular dishes -- Tuesday, and planned a follow-up strike in two weeks for sushi and noodles. "Today there is no egg roll and in two weeks time there will be no sushi and noodles," Arnon Volosky, head of the organization, told Reuters. Israel attracts virtually no immigrants from Asia since anyone seeking citizenship here must prove they have Jewish family or links to the country. Seeking to plug a gap in the labor market during the first Palestinian uprising, Israel allowed foreigners to work in the Jewish state. But now it is trying to limit those numbers to create more jobs for Israelis. This year the government is granting 500 permits to Asian chefs compared with 900 last year. Next year no permits will be issued, although restaurants willing to pay twice the average national salary will be allowed to employ chefs as "experts." The government argues Israelis can be trained. "Everyone can make Chinese food it's not impossible to learn," said Shoshana Strauss, a lawyer working on foreign worker issues for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. Asian restaurants first started dishing up chicken chow mein and Thai green curry to Israelis about 30 years ago and have evolved into a 1-billion-shekels-a-year ($275 million) industry. Sushi has proved a massive hit, particularly in the secular coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv and the city's 100th sushi restaurant opened last month. Volosky said his organization had asked Israel's Supreme Court to force the government to rethink the decision, arguing it could force many out of business or make them inflate prices to cover the salaries needed to secure "expert" visas for chefs.

CHRONIC PAIN


Chronic Pain Harms Brain's Wiring
Fri Feb 8, 11:48 PM ET
FRIDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic pain can disrupt brain function and cause problems such as disturbed sleep, depression, anxiety and difficulty making simple decisions, a U.S. study finds. Researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago used functional MRI to scan brain activity in people with chronic low back pain while they tracked a moving bar on a computer screen. They did the same thing with a control group of people with no pain. In those with no pain, the brain regions displayed a state of equilibrium. When one region was active, the other regions calmed down. But in people with chronic pain, the front region of the cortex mostly associated with emotion "never shuts up," study author Dante Chialvo, an associate research professor of physiology, said in a prepared statement. This region remains highly active, which wears out neurons and alters their connections to each other. This constant firing of neurons could cause permanent damage. "We know when neurons fire too much they may change their connections with other neurons or even die, because they can't sustain high activity for so long," Chialvo said. "If you are a chronic pain patient, you have pain 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every minute of your life. That permanent perception of pain in your brain makes these areas in your brain continuously active. This continuous dysfunction in the equilibrium of the brain can change the wiring forever and could hurt the brain," Chialvo explained. These changes "may make it harder for you to make a decision or be in a good mood to get up in the morning. It could be that pain produces depression and the other reported abnormalities, because it disturbs the balance of the brain as a whole," he said. The study was published in the Feb. 6 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Chialvo said the findings show that, along with finding new ways to treat pain, it's also important to develop methods to evaluate and prevent disruption of brain function caused by chronic pain.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about chronic pain.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

IRAN WILL NOT CLOSE NUKE PLANTS



Syria agrees to attend Mideast talks
Israel says Arab nations can’t dictate terms of this week’s Mideast summit
updated 2:18 p.m. ET, Sun., Nov. 25, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration was able to declare a clean sweep when Syria, the last Arab world holdout, said Sunday it would attend this week’s high-stakes Mideast peace conference. Top negotiators awaited a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to finalize details. The White House reacted to Syria’s last-minute announcement by trying to keep the focus on the broad list of participants. "We welcome the attendance of so many countries from the region and around the world," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for President Bush’s National Security Council. "This large number signals broad support for Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts." As 16 Arab nations and the Arab League prepared to sit down with Israel for the first time in more than a decade, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni made it clear they should not expect to dictate the contours of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. League members grudgingly agreed a few days ago to send their foreign ministers to the conference, meant to renew Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after a violent, seven-year lull in negotiations. Most members do not have ties with the Jewish state. Syria had threatened to skip the three-day meetings in Annapolis, Md., and Washington, if they did not address the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. But with that issue added to the agenda, the deputy foreign minister, Faysal Mekdad, will participate, according to Syria’s state-run news agency. White House press secretary Dana Perino, however, said the Golan Heights issue is "not specifically on the agenda." Participants can raise various issues, she said. Rice has said the United States would give room for other regional conflicts to be aired at the conference, including the Golan Heights. "If Syria chooses to come and wants to speak to its issues ... certainly nobody is going to rule it out of order," she said last week.
Israel PM welcomes Syria attendanceNonetheless, the absence of Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem appeared to indicate that Syria was not entirely confident the conference would address its concerns over the territory. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert saw the appearance of a high-ranking Syrian official as a positive development. "The meetings are clearly about the Israeli-Palestinian process, but could be the beginning of new avenues to peace in the Middle East," said the prime minister’s spokeswoman, Miri Eisin. On the flight to Washington with Livni, Olmert said Israel would "favorably" consider negotiations with Syria if conditions ripened. Israel first wants Syria to break out of Iran’s orbit and stop harboring Palestinian and Lebanese militants opposed to Israel’s existence. Surveying past peace efforts, Livni suggested that a lack of Arab backing contributed to the failure of the last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks, which collapsed amid bloodshed in early 2001. The Arab world, she said, "should stop sitting on the fence." "There isn’t a single Palestinian who can reach an agreement without Arab support," she said. "That’s one of the lessons we learned seven years ago." But, Livni added, "it is not the role of the Arab world to define the terms of the negotiations or take part in them."
Preparations to be finalized SundayRice planned to host the top negotiators, Livni and Palestinian envoy Ahmed Qureia, on Sunday evening in an effort to finalize preparations, according to Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo. He hoped to work out a joint document, but said an agreement was not essential because of assurances received in the U.S. invitation to the conference. That invitation, he said, "includes all the terms of reference for the future negotiation" and "confirms that both sides are committed" to putting in place the peace process. "This is enough to launch negotiations after the conference."
Reluctance to attend summitArab states had been reluctant to attend the gathering, which starts Monday in Washington. They feared it would give Israel a public-relations boost while yielding little political benefit for the Palestinians. But they decided to come to the first large-scale Arab-Israeli gathering since a 1996 meeting in Egypt. That is largely because they wanted to bolster moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and keep him from making damaging concessions to Israel in talks that are to follow the conference. Abbas has been badly weakened by the Islamic Hamas group’s violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June, which left him in control of just the West Bank. A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said Hamas would have preferred if the Arabs collectively did not go to the conference, but he refused to criticize Syria. "The Syrian leadership is the one to evaluate its own interests, the way it sees fit," he said. The Arab League has proposed offering normalized ties with Israel if the Jewish state cedes all land captured in the 1967 Mideast war and agrees to a solution for Palestinian refugees who lost their homes in Israel following the country’s founding in 1948. Israel opposes a complete territorial pullback and the repatriation of Palestinian refugees to Israel. It initially rejected the Arab proposal, first presented in 2002. But over the past year Olmert has said it could be useful in new talks.
Last-ditch effortAhead of the conference, Israeli and Palestinian delegations were making a last-ditch effort to nail down agreement on where the talks would head after this week. The Palestinians want the joint statement to address, at least in general terms, the central issues of final borders, claims to Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees. Israel wants a broader and vaguer statement that would allow more room for maneuvering. It says the haggling on those issues should take place in the private talks that are to begin after the conference concludes on Wednesday. "I hope Annapolis will allow the launching of serious negotiations on all the core issues that will lead to a solution of two states for two peoples," Olmert told reporters on the plane. Abbas acknowledged that negotiations on the joint statement were in trouble. "The positions with the Israelis before Annapolis are still far apart, and the negotiations are still ongoing," Abbas said in comments published Sunday in the Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam. Despite the differences, Abbas said he was committed to doing everything possible to hammer out an agreement in the coming year. Both Israel and the U.S. have said they hope to clinch a deal before Bush leaves office in January 2009.
Iran says it created nuke pellets
Pellets for use in heavy water reactor, which could be used for plutonium
updated 10:03 p.m. ET, Sat., Nov. 24, 2007
TEHRAN, Iran - The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said Saturday that the country had produced its first nuclear fuel pellets for use in a heavy water reactor, which is still under construction. The uranium oxide pellets are made using a process separate from the uranium enrichment at the heart of a standoff between Iran and the U.S., which accuses the clerical government of secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons program. But the Arak reactor, which began construction in central Iran in 2004, is a concern to the West because the spent fuel from a heavy-water facility can be used to produce plutonium, which in turn can be used for a nuclear weapon. U.N. inspectors last visited the reactor in July, and Iran has said it hopes to have Arak up and running by 2009. "Fuel pellets to be used in the 40-megawatt Arak research reactor have been produced," Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh said, according to the official IRNA news agency. Iran is developing Arak parallel to its better-known light-water reactor program, like the one being built with Russian help at Bushehr. Such light-water reactors use enriched uranium that, at far higher levels of enrichment, can also be used to produce the fissile material for a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes including generating electricity. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, had no comment Saturday.
Iran leader: No nuke concessions
National newspaper blasts Ahmadinejad for his attacks on Iranian critics
updated 9:27 p.m. ET, Wed., Nov. 21, 2007
ARDABIL, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed again Wednesday not to make concessions to the West over Iran’s nuclear program, while an Iranian newspaper reproached the hard-line leader for his attacks on critics in the country’s conservative camp. Iranians overwhelmingly back Iran’s right to make use of nuclear energy, but criticism of Ahmadinejad has been growing in recent months over his confrontational approach to the U.S. and its allies in the dispute. Many people are also discontented over the poor economy. Jomhuri-e-Eslami, a daily aligned with Iran’s Islamic establishment, ran an editorial taking Ahmadinejad to task for calling former nuclear negotiator Hossein Mousavian a "traitor." It said the president was "wrong," and added that only courts should make such judgments. Although the president named Mousavian, his attack was widely viewed as being aimed at the envoy’s ally, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is thought to be arguing for a more moderate stance in Iran’s dealings with the West. Rafsanjani has emerged as a leader of conservatives who once supported Ahmadinejad but have increasingly gone public with criticism of government policies. He also likely worries the president because he has some influence with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ultimate say over all issues, including the nuclear program. Earlier this month, Ahmadinejad branded critics of his handling of the nuclear issue as "traitors" and warned he would take action against them — a warning many saw as a volley against Rafsanjani’s camp. "It is not correct to take judgment about such issues to the press, universities and the public," Jomhuri-e-Eslami said in its editorial. It said Ahmadinejad should not interfere in judicial matters and suggested legal action should be taken against those who make allegations against individuals — a comment believed directed at the president.
Leader says Iran will work with U.N.Speaking at a rally in Ardabil, a city in the northwest, Ahmadinejad stood firm in rejecting calls for moderation in grappling with international pressure over the nuclear program. He said concessions would only result in more concessions being demanded further down the road. "They want to get a small concession from us — for instance, that we won’t go beyond a certain point within the next four years or we annually make just a certain amount of progress," he said. "This will become a legal precedent. Then, they will come and threaten us to obtain another concession." Ahmadinejad said Iran will not go beyond its current work with the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Vienna, Austria. An IAEA report last week said Iran had cooperated in answering some questions about its past nuclear activities, but added that little is known about current work and that Tehran continues to defy a U.N. Security Council demand that it suspend uranium enrichment. Iran contends its enrichment program is meant solely for the production of fuel for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity. But the U.S. and its allies suspect the Iranians are secretly trying to develop atomic weapons.
Further meetingsIran’s state news agency, IRNA, said Wednesday that the country’s top nuclear negotiator and the European Union’s foreign policy chief would meet Nov. 30 in London for another round of talks. However, EU officials in Brussels, Belgium, suggested it was unlikely a meeting would be held that day. Earlier EU-Iranian talks have often been preceded by a series of dates floated by Tehran. EU envoy Javier Solana has been meeting with Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili on behalf of the five Security Council members and Germany, which have led international efforts to persuade Tehran to curb its nuclear program in return for a package of economic incentives. In Vienna, an American diplomat expressed confidence Wednesday that the IAEA’s 35-nation board will urge Iran this week to obey the Security Council demands on enrichment as well as open its nuclear facilities fully to international scrutiny. Gregory L. Schulte, chief delegate to the U.N. agency, commented on the eve of the board’s two-day meeting to discuss the Iran situation. The U.S., Britain and France are pushing for a third round of U.N. sanctions over Iran’s failure to halt enrichment. But Russia and China, the Security Council’s two other veto-holding permanent members, argue that negotiations should be pursued further before more penalties are imposed.