Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

U.S. Set to Blame Israel for Failure of Peace Talks
Mar 7th, 2010
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;Peace Process

A message sent from the Obama Administration to the Palestinian Authority last week promised that if indirect peace talks set to be launched between Israel and the Palestinians in the coming weeks do not bear fruit, Washington will call out the party it feels is at fault and take appropriate action.

The Palestinians and the Arab League agreed last week to a US proposal to oversee indirect peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians for a period of four months. Israel believes US President Barack Obama has decided to lower the priority of Middle East peacemaking due to his frustration over not getting the two sides to resume full-scale negotiations and his need to focus on upcoming congressional elections.

The indirect talks will be facilitated by US Middle East envoy George Mitchell. The Palestinians reportedly asked Obama how serious the US involvement would be, and if adequate pressure would be brought to bear on Israel.

Ha'aretz reports that it obtained a copy of Obama's response, which read, "We expect both parties to act seriously and in good faith. If one side, in our judgment, is not living up to our expectations, we will make our concerns clear and we will act accordingly to overcome that obstacle."

Washington has traditionally blamed the existence and continued growth of Israeli communities in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem for the lack of peace, while almost completely ignoring Palestinian violence, incitement and corruption.

Palestinian and Arab leaders were reportedly very pleased with the US response.

The Pressure is Building
Mar 7th, 2010
Weekly CommentaryArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Warning;Prophecy

Over sixty years ago Israel became a nation, ever since that time the Arab nations have sought to eliminate her.  Israel has gone from crisis to crisis, in three major wars God intervened to preserve Israel from destruction.  

The Arab nations have become frustrated as Israel continued to defeat  them in battle, against all odds.  In their frustration the enemies of Israel have turned to negotiations in an attempt to gain a strategic advantage over her. The idea is to gain control of Gaza, which they have done, and over East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the Golan heights and reduce Israel to a narrow strip which would be indefensible. They also intend to flood what is left of Israel with millions of Palestinian refugees who would be a fifth column, rioting and terrorizing from within, or at the least defeating them at the ballot box. Now the Obama administration is preparing to force Israel to surrender to all of the Arab demands.  They have stated that if either side doesn’t cooperate in the new negotiations the US will punish that one. That one could only be Israel, the terms have already been set by Obama, he has plainly stated that the outcome will be a Palestinian State with the borders as they were in 1967. That would include East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state, Judea,  Samaria, including the Temple Mount.

This would amount to a total surrender by Israel with nothing left for them but to await the final assault which would finish off the Jewish state.

Obama’s punishment of Israel, if they do not cooperate, will be the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state without negotiations with Israel. The fact that the Arab League has enthusiastically endorsed these new terms of negotiations is evidence that Israel has been sold down the river.

These are dark clouds on Israel’s horizon.  Yet there are even darker storm clouds brewing  around Israel.  Israel is hopelessly now ringed about with as many as 40,000 missiles in Hizbulluh’s control. Hamas is also building a stockpile of Missiles. Syria also has missiles with possible biological, chemical or even nuclear warheads. 

Iran is developing cruise missiles with ability to carry heavy payloads that can be delivered anywhere in the mid east.  Iran is closing in on the production of nuclear warheads and long range missiles to match them.  It has just been revealed that they are nearing the completion of a launching pad for long range missiles. If Pakistan and North Korea can develop nuclear weapons then certainly Iran has the capacity to do the same.

Another dark cloud on the horizon is a possible shift in the balance of power in the mid east.  Syria and Iran are proposing a new economic zone for the mid east. The problem is that the western powers are failing to contain Iran. Trade sanctions are not working and seem highly unlikely to be implemented in an effective way.  The unwillingness to take military action against Iran is also contributing to Iran’s growing stature among the mid east countries. The Arab nations that fear Iran may decide that it is in their best interests to reconcile with Iran.  We may reach the tipping point when there will be a rush to get on Iran’s bandwagon, rather than be left behind.

In spite of all of these foreboding circumstances, the God of Israel is able to deliver her out of the lion’s mouth. Herein is  the greatest threat to Israel! The danger that the leaders of Israel will disobey the command of God and allow the promised  land to be divided, and that their faith will fail as it did at Kadesh Barnea 3,400 years ago! That failure brought the judgment of God down upon their heads. Israel will not escape God's judgment for the same sin of unbelief in the present circumstances.

The pressure is building, we are obviously heading to a climax, a climax that has been building for some time now.  I suggest that when the lid blows the end time scenario could unfold very rapidly.

The Trumpet is soon to sound, and the church translated to be with Christ.  Are you ready?

Satellite Photos: North Korea Assisting Iran on Missile Site
Mar 7th, 2010
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Gil Ronen
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Iran's development of a missile launch facility in the northern province of Semnan and its Simorgh missile project both indicate that the militant Shiite theocracy is probably collaborating with North Korea on its missile program. The platforms seen on the Semnan launch pad's new gantry tower – a multi-level tower for servicing missiles before launch – resemble those seen on the gantry tower at North Korea’s new Tongchang launch pad. A drainage pit 170 meters directly in front of the pad also seems like a copy of one at Pyongyang’s new site.

In addition, the first stage of the Simorgh missile strongly resembles the North Korean Unha-2, with four clustered engines and near-identical dimensions.

Photographs and information about the likely collaboration between Iran and North Korea have appeared on security news sites Defense Update and Jane's IHS.

Defense Update also reported that east of the active site, “the Iranians are constructing a new facility that could be supporting the Iranian solid rocket propulsion development, associated with the  Sejjil and Ashura missiles or even larger missiles” – and noted that “according to Jane's Intelligence analysts, the site could be associated with the next-generation Simorgh rocket.”

The Simorgh, unveiled in early February, is officially intended to be used as a space-launch vehicle, but it could be converted for launching long-range ballistic missiles for military purposes.

Satellite images indicate that the launch pad has “a fully constructed flame bucket” – the structure that diverts the missile's exhaust gases from the hillside. The launch site is linked through tubing to a nearby, sheltered underground facility. The gantry tower is approximately 18–20 meters tall, and the flame bucket is nearly as high as the tower. Jane's analysts assume the construction appears midway towards completion.

Missile Threat Growing

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, said at the recent Jerusalem Conference that "the main central military threat against Israel is the missile threat. Israel's security situation changes all the time. Threats of missiles are becoming more severe at an extremely quick pace."

"During the Second Lebanon War," he added, "Hamas had 13,000 missiles. Today, the number of rockets and missiles spread around Israel is in the tens of thousands. The reality has changed. Moreover, if in the past missiles and rockets were weapons possessed by states and were thought of as strategic tools, today they are used also by terror organizations, and the reality is much more severe. This is because these same states removed the obstacles that they imposed before and began transferring missiles to terror organizations they support under their authority."

Revelation 15:8
Mar 7th, 2010
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Inspirational;Prophecy

"And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled."

We have said that chapter 15, is a preparation for the vial judgments, as we come to the last verse of the chapter we catch a glimpse into heaven, into the temple in heaven. We read,"And the temple was filled with smoke", 'smoke' represents the judgment of God. The 'cloud' represents the glory of God. When the Tabernacle in the wilderness was finished, a cloud of glory filled it. (Exodus 40:35)  When the Temple was completed a cloud of glory filled it. (1 Kings 8:10-11)  No smoke was seen in either case because judgment was not associated with the situation.

When God gave the law to Moses, mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the law pronounced judgment on all who failed to keep it.(Exodus 19:18)   John says the temple was filled with smoke because the judgment of God is about to be poured out upon a sinful rebellious world.

The cloud is associated with God's glory and protection and blessing.  Notice it says here, "Smoke from the glory of God".  We bring the two together, God's glory and God`s judgment and we learn that judgment glorifies God. Herein lies a great truth, everything ultimately brings glory to God. We learn from Paul in Ephesians that the believer is to be to the praise of the glory of God`s Grace for all of eternity. We also learn in Romans 9:22-23, that the wicked will be to the praise of  glory of God`s justice for all of eternity. Judgment on sin glorifies God.

Here in our text we see the temple in heaven filled with smoke which speaks both of God`s glory and of God`s judgment.

"And no man was able to enter into the temple," Another great truth is also found in our text, we learn about God's burning anger against sin and the sinner. God's anger will burn for all of eternity against the unrepentant sinner. God created hell to burn forever.This an awesome truth that few seem to realize or understand. In Isaiah 66:24, we have glimpse of the millenial Kingdom, we see men looking directly into hell for all of eternity and viewing the sufferings of the lost. The temple is shut up until the Judgments are poured out, the time for mercy is past, no access to God is now permitted.

God takes satisfaction in judgment on sin and the sinner. We see that revealed in Isaiah 53:10, "Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin", the sins of the world were placed on Christ, and God poured out His anger against sin upon His Son. It says that, "He shall see of the travail of His soul", the Father looked upon the sufferings of Christ and took satisfaction in it, "He shall see of the travail of His soul and be Satisfied". This is an awesome truth that you ignore at your peril, God will send the sinner who refuses to repent to hell forever!  The sinner will be the objects of God's wrath forever! One infinite man could bear an infinite number of sins in His death. It will take finite men all of eternity to pay for their own sins.

In our text, Rev. 15:8, we see that the ages long patience of God with sinful man has finally run out. The cry of millions of saints over the long ages for justice is about to be answered. A case in point is Revelation 6:10. This is the final and full judgment of God on the earth and it's inhabitants. In verse 1, we read about these judgments, "For in them is filled up the wrath of God", this will be total retribution for sin and rebellion against God.

The Seal judgments were the work of man, allowed by God as judgments upon men. The Trumpet judgments were the work of Satan, allowed by God as judgments upon men. Now we see the judgment of God coming directly from His hand and poured down upon the heads of the wicked, rebellious inhabitants of the earth.

I think I hear you say I do not accept a God that would punish men forever in a burning hell. You had better get over that quickly. It will be tragic if you wait to discover too late that God's anger against sin is justified, and that He would not be a Holy God if he did not judge sin. To discover that there could never be a heaven unless sinners were shut up in hell forever.

Consider the love and mercy of God as revealed in the sacrificial death of His Son on your behalf on the cross of Calvary. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36  "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit"  1 Peter 3:18.

Mideast War in 'very' Near Future?
Mar 7th, 2010
Daily Newswnd.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning;War

Egypt is concerned Israel could be in a conflict in the very near future with Syria or the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, a senior Egyptian security official told WND. 

The security official said in any future war with Syria or Hezbollah, both actors have been preparing to storm the Israeli border with guerillas and commandos, an act unseen here since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the last conflict in which Syria was openly involved. 

In previous conflicts with Hezbollah, the terrorist group fired rockets into Israel. 

In addition, the security official said Syria has separately been contemplating launching low-grade attacks against Jewish communities in the Golan Heights to pressure Israel into negotiations aimed at relinquishing the strategic territory. 

The official said his country is concerned about a coming conflict but did not mention a specific timeframe. 

"It's possible either side may misinterpret moves and launch the opening salvo very soon," he said. 

The official also said Israel is concerned Syria has recently passes advanced weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon. He said his country believes Israel may want to engage in a conflict with Hezbollah to minimize that group's capabilities before any future strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. 

Hezbollah could be used as part of Iran's strategy of retaliation against Iran in a future war, the official said. 

Recent weeks have seen a war of words between Israel and Syria, as well as a dramatic escalation of public cooperation between Israel's foes Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. 

Last month, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned Syria's president, Bashar Assad, that any war with his country would topple his regime. 

"Assad should know that if he attacks, he will not only lose the war. Neither he nor his family will remain in power," Lieberman said. 

Lieberman was responding to a Syrian threat against Israeli cities one day earlier. 

"Israel knows that if it declares war on Syria, such a war will reach its cities as well," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said following a meeting last week with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos. 

Syria has long demanded the Golan Heights as part of any deal with Israel. The Golan looks down on Israeli population centers and twice was used by Damascus to launch ground invasions into the Jewish state. 

Last week, Syria hosted a summit with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Khaled Meshal, head of the Hamas. All participants expressed solidarity with each other and vowed the destruction of Israel. 

The meeting was followed up with another confab in Iran last weekend entitled "Islamic and National Solidarity with the Palestinian People." The summit was attended by the leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria. All three again denounced Israel.

Matthew 1: Pt. 5
Mar 7th, 2010
Weekly Bible StudyArt Sadlier
Categories: Inspirational;Commentary;Book Study

The Geneology of the King

Matthew wrote his gospel to reveal that Christ is the King of Israel. Later in the book Matthew presents the credentials of Christ in the miracles He performed. In the first chapter of the book, Matthew presents another kind of credential of the king.  That credential is His genealogy, that genealogy presents the family tree of Christ as the Royal Family line. There was a Royal line in Israel and it came through David.

2 Samuel 7:12-13, "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." The Messiah, the king of Israel had to be of the line of David's family. This was not fulfilled by Solomon, David's heir, until the time of Christ that promise had never been fulfilled. A king that would reign forever.  If Jesus was that king, as both He and Matthew claimed He was, His right to the throne, His royal lineage, must be proven. The proof of His royal lineage appears in Matthew 1:1-17.

A - The importance of genealogy's in Israel.

The Jews tenaciously valued their pedigrees. Consequently, if anybody was to be presented as their king, it was essential that he have the pedigree to prove it. In fact, prior to Matthews writing his book the pedigree of Jesus had been challenged. "Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, we be not born of fornication; we have one father, even God." John 8:41 This was a clear charge that Jesus was an illegitimate child. If that were true he no credentials to be the king of Israel. Matthew gives the genealogy of Christ to answer that accusation.

Four things Jewsish Genealogy's were used for.

1 - Tribal location - After the conquest of Canaan it was essential to determine a families place of residence according it's tribe. Remember, all of the land had been divided into tribal boundaries. In Numbers 34-35, it is explained how one had to know his tribe and his family line and his father's house so that he could be identified in his right location in the land.

2 - Transaction of land - Under certain circumstances according to Ruth 3-4, transfer of property required accurate knowledge of the family tree, so that tribal land would not be sold outside the tribe.

3 - Testing of lineage - Another interesting thing is indicated in Ezra 2:62. After the Babylonian captivity many Jews began to come back to the land. Many had claimed to be priests  from the tribe of Levi. Because God was serious about having only Levites serving as priests, the people claiming to priests had to prove there genealogy. Those who could not prove by the registration that they were of the tribe of Levi were removed from the priethood.

4 - Taxation Laws - It is interesting to note that even as the new testament begins Joseph and Mary are going to Judea to be registered according their own ancestry. See luke 2:1-4  The genealogical identifcations were still being made at the time of Christ. This explains why there are at least 50 genealogies in the old testament.

Now all of this has been changed, in 70 AD the Romans sacked and burned the Temple and with all of the genealogical records. Consequently from that time onward no Jewish man could claim to be the Messiah, because he could not prove his genealogy and his right to the throne.

B - The Implications of the Genealogies of Christ - We have two genealogies of Christ recorded. In Matthew 1: we have a decending record strating with Abraham and descending down through David and Joseph to Christ. In Luke 3: we have an ascending record. It is reversed, it starts with Jesus and goes back through Mary and ascends all the way back to Adam.  One is traced through Joseph and one is traced through Mary. One begins with Jesus and one ends with Jesus. It is as if the Spirit of God is saying, any way you look at it folks, this is the King!

Mathew is showing the legal descent of Jesus, as the king of Israel through Joseph - the royal line.

Luke is showing the lineal descent through Mary - the blood line.

Through Joseph -  The royal line was passed through Joseph, the father passed on the legal right to rule. Inspite of the fact that Jesus had no earthly father, (Joseph was not His biological father) yet Joseph had legally adopted Christ (The Jews called him the son of Joseph). Consequently, Jesus had a legal right to the throne through Joseph.

Through Mary - Jesus was made a partaker of the blood line of David. He was a physical descendant of David, but not a partaker of Adam's seed, which is physically passed through the man.

Mary descended from David through David's son Nathan.  Joseph descended from David through David's son Solomon.

Notice four things

1 - The Child of Mary - Notice in Matthew 1:16, "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary", it doesn't say, 'Joseph begat Jesus', that word is usedof everyone in  the genealogy. When it comes to Joseph it does not say 'Joseph begat Jesus'. Again notice what it does say, "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary", it plainly  says, "Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ". It could not be clearer! He was born of Mary, not of Joseph.

He was Joseph's child legally, by adoption. To be adopted into the family entitled him to all of the rights and priviledges of His father. Jesus had every right to rule, His father granted Him the Royal line and His mother granted Him the royal blood.

2 - The Curse of Jeconiah -There is a perfect fulfillment in prophecy that is very fascinating. In Matthew 1:11-12, we see that Joseph was a descendant of Jeconiah. Though Jesus was in David's line through Joseph he would have been unable to reign if He had been of Joseph's blood.  There was a divine curse on Jeconiah's offspring. We read about that curse in Jeremiah 22:30a, "Thus saith the Lord, Write this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and rule anymore in Judah."

If Jesus had been a blood son of Joseph He never could have sat on the throne of David, because He would have been under the curse of Jeconiah. According God's plan, Jesus would receive the legal right to the throne through Joseph and the blood line of David through Mary who was not a descendant of Jeconiah, but was a descendant of David through David's son Solomon.

All of this is proof of the virgin birth without which Christ could not be our Savior. Christ was not a partaker of Adam's nature but of the divine nature through conception by the Holy Spirit. If Christ had been a partaker of Adam's nature He would have been a sinner himself and could not even have atoned for his own sin. The sin nature of Adam is passed on through the man, not through the woman. One infinite man could atone for an infinite  number of sins in one sacrifice. A sinful finite man can never atone for even one sin. All of this takes a little sorting out for us, but to theJewish mind the implications are instantly understood.

3 - The Revelation of the Genealogy - Matthew begins his genealogy with these words, "The book of the generation (genealogy) of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham".  'Jesus' - the greek = iesous (hey-soos)  The old testament equivalent - Jeshua or Joshua which means Jehovah is salvation. His name describes what He was sent to do. Matthew 1:21, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." their was a billboard on the main street of Safed, a bastion of Jewish orthodoxy, it read "Yeshua (savior) come now". The problem is that Israel is looking for a political or military savior.

'Christ' = the Greek word Christos = the annointed.   Christ was  divinely commissioned (appointed) as a Prophet, Priest and King.  So this genealogy is about one who will save and who was annointed Prophet, Priest and King.

4 - The Response of Ridicule -Inspite of His credentials Israel rejected Him. See Matthew 13:54-57a. Over and over the Jews rejected Christ as their Messiah, inspite of His credentials. Their is an aspect of this genealogy that is thrilling. Jesus is a king unlike any other king. He does not rule at this time by law but by grace. Understand He did not force Himself on Israel. He offered himself to Israel as a savior and king. They rejected Him and the kingdom was postponed. Understand that Christ will not forceHimself onmen and women today. For those who will not receive Him as their savior and king he will not be their savior and king.

He is a gracious king, he offers himself to those who desire Him as their king.

Israeli Army Chief in U.S. for Series of Meetings
Mar 7th, 2010
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Warning

Israeli Chief of Staff Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi departed for a week-long working visit to the US on Sunday amid increasing speculation that Israel is gearing up for a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Ashkenazi will hold numerous meetings with top US political and military officials while in Washington.

Last week it was reported that Israel had begun practicing rapid refueling, the type of which would only be used in a sustained aerial attack on a distant enemy.

That news corresponded with reports that Iran would have to move its uranium stockpile to less secure facilities in order to conduct planned enrichment, and that the Islamic Republic had nearly completed work on a massive missile launch site.

IHS Jane's, a respected international defense journal, reported on Friday that the new launch site east of Tehran can be easily seen in satellite imagery, and is clearly large enough to launch Iran's newly-introducted Simorgh missile.

The Simorgh is ostensibly a space-launch vehicle (SLV), but Israeli experts have noted that it could easily be converted into a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Jane's believes that North Korea aided Iran in the construction of the new launch site.

Iran Begins Production of Cruise Missiles
Mar 7th, 2010
Daily NewsAP - NASSER KARIMI
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran announced Sunday that it has started a new production line of highly accurate, short range cruise missiles, which would add a new element to the country's already imposing arsenal.

Gen. Ahmad Vahidi told Iranian state TV that the cruise missile, called Nasr 1, would be capable of destroying targets up to 3,000 tons in size.

The minister said the missile can be fired from ground-based launchers as well as ships, but would eventually be modified to be fired from helicopters and submarines.

Western powers are already concerned about Iran's military capabilities, especially the implications of its nuclear program. The U.S. and some of its allies, as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency, fear Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.

The West is considering stiffer sanctions against Tehran to try to force it to halt uranium enrichment, a process that has civilian uses but can be also used for nuclear arms if the uranium is enriched over 90 percent..

Iran also boasts an array of short and medium-range missiles capable of hitting targets in the region, including Israel, U.S. military bases in the region and much of Europe.

Tehran frequently makes announcements about new advances in military technology that cannot be independently verified.

Gen. Vahidi said the production of the cruise missiles, which took two years to develop, showed that sanctions on Iran have failed. He said the cruise missiles would strengthen Iran's naval power.

Cruise missiles are highly advanced, usually subsonic rocket-powered weapons that can hug the ground and hit targets with great precision. The U.S. used large numbers of cruise missiles in its attack on Baghdad in 2002, launching most of them from warships in the Persian Gulf.

Iranian state TV showed a video of boxes in a warehouse containing several missiles. It also showed footage of Iran's cruise missile test in 2007. That missile was apparently imported.

Tehran began a military self-sufficiency program in 1992, under which it produces a large range of weapons, including tanks, missiles, jet fighters, unmanned drone aircraft and torpedoes.

I will Instruct Thee and Teach Thee in the Way Which Thou Shalt Go - Psalm 32:8
Mar 7th, 2010
Morning MeditattionF.B. Meyer
Categories: Meditation;Inspirational;Book Study

"Learn of Me," said the Master: and indeed there is no teacher like Him; no school like his. We stand at the door of the school-house, saying, "What I know not, teach Thou me"; and He does not hesitate to undertake our case. But there are several points of difference from our methods. In Christ's school there is but one Master for all the scholars, and they all learn from the same books; the pupils begin with the upper classes and end with the lowest; and those that are most proficient, and have been longest under his tuition, are most conscious of their ignorance. There are no holidays; but every day is a holy day. The school never breaks up; but the students leave it for Home, and the prizes are sent after them, and given when they arrive.

We need more than personal instruction; we are travelling through an unknown land, and require direction for the way. This also is guaranteed; but not as in the cases of tourists, who extract all information from their friends before they start from home, as to the places they are about to visit. Our Guide accompanies us. He counsels us with his eye upon us, detecting every pitfall and chasm, and warning us; perhaps even guiding us by the movement of his eye.

How greatly then are we in need of the quickened sense! The eye fixed on his eye; the ear open to his slightest whisper; the foot quick to place itself down in his footprints. The horse and mule need bit and bridle; but it is enough for us if the heart fears to miss the least indication of the Master's will. Be willing to know; it then becomes his part to make thee know somehow. If not in one way, then in another.

Head of Imf Proposes New Reserve Currency
Mar 7th, 2010
Daily Newsabcnews.go.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, suggested Friday the organization might one day be called on to provide countries with a global reserve currency that would serve as an alternative to the U.S. dollar.

"That day has not yet come, but I think it is intellectually healthy to explore these kinds of ideas now," he said in a speech on the future mandate of the 186-nation Washington-based lending organization.

Strauss-Kahn said such an asset could be similar to but distinctly different from the IMF's special drawing rights, or SDRs, the accounting unit that countries use to hold funds within the IMF. It is based on a basket of major currencies.

He said having other alternatives to the dollar "would limit the extent to which the international monetary system as a whole depends on the policies and conditions of a single, albeit dominant, country."

Strauss-Kahn, a former finance minister of France, said that during the recent global financial crisis, the dollar "played its role as a safe haven" asset, and the current international monetary system demonstrated resilience.

"The challenge ahead is to find ways to limit the tension arising from the high demand for precautionary reserves on the one hand and the narrow supply of reserves on the other," he said.

Several countries, including China and Russia, have called for an alternative to the dollar as a reserve currency and have suggested using the IMF's internal accounting unit.

Fears of Violence Overshadow Indirect Israeli - Pa Talks
Mar 7th, 2010
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Categories: Today's Headlines;Peace Process

Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell Saturday night amid doubts and fears that overshadow prospects of this week’s planned indirect talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. 

The failure of Mitchell to convince the PA to resume direct talks with Israel reflect PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ refusal to compromise on his pre-conditions. Mediated talks are expected to begin this week, with Mitchell shuttling between PA negotiator Saeb Erekat and Israeli negotiator Yitzchak Molcho.

“While both sides continue to say they hold out hopes for resumption of talks, privately they admit that while they were enthusiastic in the first months of the Obama presidency, they believe that window has shut,” noted the Australian newspaper Saturday night. “Also, privately, they say they fear an increase in violence and tension."

The Arab world already has given notice that it is allowing only four months for an agreement based on its demands for a new PA state to include all of eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. The Arab League stated on al Jazeera television, “We intend in four months time to bring back the whole of the peace process to the Security Council, thus ending the role of honest broker role played so far by the US and to put an end to the peace process.”

U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, responding to reporters’ doubts about the upcoming talks, said that “our guess is that it will probably take more time than that.”

Reuter’s Arshad Mohammed questioned Crowley, “The reality is they’re not going to enter into [direct] discussions. And it’s almost as if one has gone backwards in time, two decades, to the pre-Oslo period when they wouldn’t even sit in the same room and talk to one another.”

Crowley replied, “They will ultimately need to talk directly to each other…. If it starts through indirect talks and then creates momentum that leads to confidence that eventually gives the leaders a sense that there’s now an understanding – a common understanding – that should lead to direct talks."

The PA demands for sovereign territory include the Temple Mount, all of the Jewish-populated Old City and suburban Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, More than 300,000 Jews live in the areas, including Ramot (pictured), French Hill, Gilo and Pisgat Ze’ev. Nearly the same number live in Judea and Samaria, which the PA also wants to take over.

The Mitchell-Barak meeting Saturday night came two days before U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is to make his first visit to Israel since taking office last year. Police have geared up for massive protection and escorts for Biden, who is to arrive on Monday for a three-day visit.

Motorists are advised that there several main arteries will be closed to private vehicles several times during the visit.

Economists Warn Another Financial Crisis on the Way
Mar 7th, 2010
Daily Newsabcnews.go.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Even as many Americans still struggle to recover from the country's worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, another crisis – one that will be even worse than the current one – is looming, according to a new report from a group of leading economists, financiers, and former federal regulators. 

In the report, the panel, that includes Rob Johnson of the United Nations Commission of Experts on Finance and bailout watchdog Elizabeth Warren, warns that financial regulatory reform measures proposed by the Obama administration and Congress must be beefed up to prevent banks from continuing to engage in high risk investing that precipitated the near collapse of the U.S. economy in 2008. 

The report warns that the country is now immersed in a "doomsday cycle" wherein banks use borrowed money to take massive risks in an attempt to pay big dividends to shareholders and big bonuses to management – and when the risks go wrong, the banks receive taxpayer bailouts from the government. 

"Risk-taking at banks," the report cautions, "will soon be larger than ever." 

Without more stringent reforms, "another crisis – a bigger crisis that weakens both our financial sector and our larger economy – is more than predictable, it is inevitable," Johnson says in the report, commissioned by the nonpartisan Roosevelt Institute. 

The institute's chief economist, Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz, calls the report "an important point of departure for a debate on where we are on the road to regulatory reform." 

The report blasts some of Washington's key players. Johnson writes, "Our government leaders have shown little capacity to fix the flaws in our market system." Two other panelists, Simon Johnson, a professor at MIT, and Peter Boone of the Centre for Economic Performance, voiced similar criticisms. 

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner "oversaw policy as the bubble was inflating," write Johnson and Boone, and "these same men are now designing our 'rescue.'" 

The study says that "In 2008-09, we came remarkably close to another Great Depression. Next time we may not be so 'lucky.' The threat of the doomsday cycle remains strong and growing," they say. "What will happen when the next shock hits? We may be nearing the stage where the answer will be – just as it was in the Great Depression – a calamitous global collapse."

Chilean Earthquake Hints At Dangers of 'big One' for U.S.A.
Mar 7th, 2010
Daily Newsusatoday.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

One of the really "Big Ones" to shake the United States was a magnitude-9.0 earthquake along the Pacific Northwest coast more than 300 years ago, before the arrival of huge numbers of people and development, that sent a catastrophic tsunami to Japan.

Were something like that 1700 quake to occur today — and it certainly could, seismologists say — enormous destruction and loss of life would result in a region that is home now to big cities and millions of people.

The magnitude-8.8 earthquake that rocked Chile and sent tsunami fears across the Pacific on Saturday — nearly seven weeks after the enormously deadly quake that destroyed parts of Haiti— serves as a vivid reminder of the perils posed to the United States by countless fault lines and shifting plates.

"It's not a matter of if, only of when an event like this strikes the people of the United States," says Marcia McNutt, director of the U.S. Geological Survey. "Shame on us if we don't prepare