Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

U.S. Asked for Construction Freeze in Gilo, Netanyahu Said No
Nov 17th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Hillel Fendel
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

 
U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell reportedly asked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, during one of their recent meetings, to freeze a construction project of dozens of housing units in Gilo. Netanyahu turned him down.

Gilo, one of Jerusalem’s largest neighborhoods with 33,000 people, was founded in 1971 on land in southern Jerusalem that was liberated in the Six Day War. Mitchell reportedly said that the construction risks raising tensions with the Palestinian Authority.

Netanyahu refused the U.S. request, explaining that the construction in Gilo, as in most places of the world, does not require government approval. He also explained that the neighborhood is “an integral part of Jerusalem.”

A government official said that Netanyahu “is ready to show the maximum restraint when it comes to construction in Judea and Samaria to help restart negotiations, but this policy does not apply in Jerusalem, our capital.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also asked for a construction halt in Jerusalem areas liberated in 1967 – but she has also acknowledged that the negotiating process has never before been made contingent upon a construction freeze in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.

Is World Uniting in Copenhagen?
Nov 17th, 2009
Daily NewsWND - Bob Unruh
Categories: Today's Headlines;World Government;Warning

A video explaining the dangers of a U.N. treaty proposal promoted by President Obama that critics say would lead to a world government has received more than 3.5 million views since WND broke the story on the ominous possibilities, and now there is word from the Obama administration the plan might not be going so smoothly.

In the video, Lord Christopher Monckton, a former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, asserts the real purpose of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen Dec. 7-18 is to use concern over "global warming" as a pretext to lay the foundation for a one-world government.

At the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen "this December, weeks away, a treaty will be signed," Lord Christopher Monckton told a Minnesota Free Market Institute audience at Bethel University in St. Paul.

According to the Minnesota Free Market Institute, the video, as originally posted, has collected 2.2 million views and almost 700 pages of comments, but there also are more than 100 other cloned versions of Monckton's comments on YouTube and the aggregate views exceed 3.5 million.

The video helped launch a national petition drive opposing the Copenhagen treaty at NoCapAndTrade.com, with its more than 135,000 messages to Congress opposing the plan. It's been discussed by Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham and Michelle Malkin, among others.

Now there are indications the light of information being spread about the potential problems is casting shadows on the proposal.

"The more people learn about the supposed issue of 'climate change' and how green extremists intend to control our lives, the more skeptical they become," said Jeff Davis, president of the Minnesota Majority.

Further, Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, said in a Bloomberg report today the latest word on Copenhagen is an "assessment by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full, internationally legally binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts."

Davis said the impact of Monckton's warning is becoming apparent in other ways. He cited a decision just days ago by key U.S. Senate Democrats who confirmed it is unlikely there will be any additional action on climate-change legislation this year. Obama had hoped to pass a cap-and-trade

Bloomberg's report confirmed leaders from Asia have admitted a binding global-warming accord isn't likely next month.

Obama attended a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore in which leaders proposed a two-stage approach to follow up the failed Kyoto Protocol, which sought to manage emissions worldwide but never earned the support of several of the world's leading energy-consuming nations.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen told Bloomberg there may be no "legally binding instrument," although a political agreement is possible.

The 1997 Kyoto plan is scheduled to expire in three more years, but years of talks already held have failed to produce agreement on energy restrictions.

Instead, Rasmussen has suggested an agreement to cut greenhouse gases, with an outline for a political agreement that would be the subject of further negotiations.

At the Examiner, a blogger concluded, "The credibility of global warming theories (and sanctimonious theorists) and any international climate controls are fading with each passing day."

Monckton warned in the video that Obama supports the idea and is ready to sign on the dotted line.

"Your president will sign it. Most of the Third World countries will sign it, because they think they're going to get money out of it. Most of the left-wing regimes from the European Union will rubber-stamp it. Virtually nobody won't sign it," Monckton told the audience of some 700 attendees.

"I read that treaty and what it says is this: that a world government is going to be created. The word 'government' actually appears as the first of three purposes of the new entity."

He has warned the proposal would cede U.S. sovereignty, mandate a massive wealth transfer from the United States to pay reparations for "climate debt" to Third World countries and create a new "world government" to enforce the treaty’s provisions.

Davis also warned that while the apparent uncertainty over the treaty has bought some time, it's not enough.

"Green extremists will be back in force trying to advance both domestic cap-and-trade legislation and an international climate treaty that will rob us of our liberties and grant government more control over our lives," he said

If Pa Declares State, Israel will Annex Settlements'
Nov 17th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Tzvi Ben Gadalayhu
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Warning

 
A government minister publicly advised the Palestinian Authority on Monday that if it unilaterally declares a new Arab state, Israel may annex parts of Judea and Samaria. Unlike eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria remain under military rule, although all Jewish residents have the same basic rights as other Israelis.

"If the Palestinians take such a unilateral line, Israel should also consider ... passing a law to annex some of the settlements," Environment Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) said on Voice of Israel government radio.

In the video below, Cabinet Minister Dr. Uzi Landau (Israel Our Home) and MK Danny Danon (Likud) take a similarly hard line. Landau blames Netanyahu's "generosity" in accepting the "two state solution" - albeit with a demilitarized PA state - for the situation, and believes that the PA threats for a unilateral declaration of a state are a result of the concessional declarations and the building freeze in Judea and Samaria.

Minister Erdan also said Israel has the option of tightening up travel restrictions for Arabs and stopping the transmission of tax money that the Israeli government currently transfers to the Palestinian Authority - money that is collected by Israel for the PA.

Meanwhile, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) and Minister Landau have taken action to introduce bills for annexing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

Eu Top Jobs Summit Could Drag on for Days
Nov 17th, 2009
Daily NewsEUobserver - VALENTINA POP
Categories: Today's Headlines;Revived Roman Empire

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – A deal on the EU top jobs remains far from reach ahead of a special summit on Thursday (19 November) that could require a follow-up meeting the next day.

"There are still some days to go. I wouldn't say it's a complete mess, but there's no agreement still," Swedish minister for EU affairs Cecilia Malmstrom said during a press conference on Monday

EU leaders are set to convene on Thursday for an 'early' working dinner starting at 6pm Brussels time to reach a political consensus on the top three posts created by the Lisbon Treaty once it comes into force on 1 December. The decision will be formalised by so-called written procedure on 1 December, by the member states' ambassadors in Brussels.

First is the permanent president of the Council, who will chair all the EU summits and be a more constant presence on the international stage on behalf of the 27 member states. The UK is still officially pressing for former PM Tony Blair for the job, while Belgian Prime Minister Hermann van Rompuy is said to have the support of other big member states such as Germany and France. Eastern candidates for the job are Estonian President Toomas Ilves and former Latvian head of state Vaira Vika-Freiberga.

But an agreement on the president cannot be reached until there is also a deal on the future top foreign policy job. This post is more complicated, as the candidate will also need to pass a grilling in the European Parliament along with the other EU commissioners in early January.

People in the frame for the job range from British foreign secretary David Miliband, who strongly denies he is a candidate, to Italian former PM Massimo D'Alema, who could be blocked by Poland for his Communist past and by Germany for his lukewarm backing of Israel. Mr Ilves also threw his hat into the ring for the foreign policy job, while Greece has touted education minister Anna Diamantopoulou as a candidate for the position.

Eu Rejects Palestinian Statehood Appeal
Nov 17th, 2009
Daily NewsAssociated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

The European Union rejected requests Tuesday that it support a Palestinian plan for gaining recognition as an independent state at the UN Security Council without Israeli consent.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters "the conditions are not there as of yet" for such a move. "I would hope that we would be in a position to recognize a Palestinian state, but there has to be one first, so I think that is somewhat premature."

The EU's foreign ministers on Tuesday were discussing ways to coordinate with the United States to get Palestinians and Israelis back to peace talks, said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's external relations commissioner.

"The most important thing until now is to really help the Americans bring both sides to the table," she said.

The 27-nation bloc has taken a back-seat approach to recent efforts by President Barack Obama and his special envoy for Mideast peace, George Mitchell, to restart peace talks between the two sides.

Bildt said he could understand why the Palestinians were suggesting such a move, as a way to break the current deadlock. "It is clearly an act borne by a difficult situation where they don't see any road ahead and I can understand that," said Bildt.

He reiterated EU calls that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu move to freeze all Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, a key Palestinian demand it is pushing for before it will return to negotiations.

Netanyahu, who refuses to halt settlement construction, has repeatedly urged the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table without conditions.

Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, told reporters that moving to set up a viable Palestinian state "has to be done with time and with calm and in an appropriate moment." He added no one is "looking for that today."

Palestinian officials launched an appeal to EU countries on Monday to back their plan while the idea of seeking UN intervention has gained support in the Arab world, as a way to break the impasse in peacemaking.

The Palestinian UN plan also has been rejected by Washington, which along with the EU backs a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Israeli government has threatened to nullify past accords with the Palestinians if they take any unilateral action.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Monday that any Palestinian move on independence "will be countered by a unilateral move on our part."

The Palestinians have not set a timetable for presenting a formal proposal to the Security Council. But with the backing of the Arab League, they have been lobbying UN member states to support such a proposal when it is submitted.

Eu Foreign Minister Has 'impossible' Task Ahead
Nov 17th, 2009
Daily NewsEUobserver - Honor Mahony
Categories: Today's Headlines;Revived Roman Empire

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The tasks of the proposed new EU foreign minister look relatively clear-cut and powerful on paper but analysts and politicians in Brussels suggest the person will need to be superhuman to manage all that is foreseen under the Lisbon Treaty.

Formally known as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the beefed-up position puts foreign policy clout and the financial means to implement it into the hands of one person.

Until now, the two strands have been split between the foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and the EU external relations commissioner, Benita Ferrero Waldner.

The set-up proposed under the EU's new institutional rules, due to come into place on 1 December, says the foreign minister will chair the monthly meetings of his national counterparts, be a vice-president of the European Commission, and run the nascent diplomatic service.

Full agenda

The additional baggage that comes with the position, however, suggests that the new foreign minister will not have much time for tasks essential to making a success of the job, including building up contacts across member states and in places like Russia, the US and China.

"Most of his month is already fixed," an EU official pointed out, noting that the minister will have to attend the weekly meeting of EU commissioners, chair the foreign affairs councils, attend bilateral summits and appear before the European Parliament. He will also have to co-ordinate the commissioners with external action powers, such as those in charge of trade, development and neighbourhood policy.

In the first months on the job, the top diplomat will also have to fine-tune the outline of the external diplomatic service, as well as set up his own immediate team of staff. Later administrative tasks will include agreeing the personnel of the service - expected to run into the thousands.

In addition to the lengthy to-do list, the person is likely to spend much of their time fighting their corner in an already very crowded EU foreign policy patch. "You've got a president of the [European] commission who loves foreign affairs and a president of the European Council who may or may not be interested," said the EU official.

Antonio Missiroli, from the European Policy Centre think-tank, said it is an "almost impossible job description."

He noted that one of the main assets of the current situation was that Mr Solana "had very little staff, so could be a roving diplomat and could establish relations all over the world."

The new job will mean "a lot of internal work, a lot of money to decide how to spend and a lot of people to co-ordinate."

'no' to Jesus, 'yes' to Allah
Nov 17th, 2009
Daily NewsChad Groening - OneNewsNow
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

The nation's largest public policy women's organization is calling on members of the United States Senate to reject the appointment of President Barack Obama's first judicial nominee who has said 'no' to Jesus, but 'yes' to Allah.

Judge David Hamilton is being voted on by the Senate on Tuesday, November 17 for a seat on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

Many conservatives are concerned about Hamilton's appointment because of his rocky history. Hamilton has served as a fundraiser for ACORN, a liberal group plagued with voter fraud charges and other questionable practices. He also once gave the order to stop prayers at the Indiana State House in the name of Jesus, but later stated that praying in the name of Allah was okay.

 “It's totally nonsensical and fitting that we are talking about it this moment when we have seen some tragedies coming from people from the Muslim religion," he says. "And we see in the media how they can't make the connection. They don't want to say anything bad about the Muslim religion of Allah or anything, but to Christians, it's okay to say bad things about them. Political correctness brings liberals to think everybody is good, except us. We are the problem."

This is the mindset Diaz believes Judge Hamilton employs.