Last Days - Roelof's News Reports #2

[Roelof]

(About 3 milliom jobs are at stake - Roelof)

The House approved a $14 billion rescue plan this evening to help struggling U.S. automakers, but Senate Republicans threatened to sink the deal negotiated by the White House and Congressional Democrats.

The bailout measure passed the House on a 237-170 vote as supporters warned that federal aid was needed to prevent the collapse of one or more of the Big Three firms and steep job losses that could plunge the country deeper into recession.
But a last-minute visit by top White House officials to lobby lawmakers failed to win over many GOP senators, who objected to risking taxpayer money on a bailout that might help the auto giants avoid bankruptcy for a only few months.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...politics&tsp=1

[Roelof]

ATHENS (AFP) — Greece slipped deeper into turmoil, with a fifth day of clashes between youths and police, plus a general strike, as two police officers were charged in connection with the killing of a teenager that sparked the unrest.
Despite a vow by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to restore order, demonstrators battled security forces outside the Greek parliament as the nationwide work stoppage halted flights in and out of Greece and closed banks, schools and some hospital services.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...qYpXjVt_5sKIJw

[Roelof]

UCLA report expects 2 million jobs lost in the US, four straight quarters of GDP decline.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The nation is expected to lose 2 million jobs in 2009 and undergo economic contraction through the first half of the year, according to a widely watched report released Thursday.
The quarterly forecast issued by UCLA's Anderson School of Management was peppered with words like "ugly," "nasty" and "abnormalities."
In the report, senior economist David Shulman said the recession will include four quarters of declining real gross domestic product, and unemployment will rise to 8.5% by late 2009 from the 6.7% reported last month.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/11/news/economy/anderson_forecast/?postversion=2008121104

[Roelof]

The fight against global warming will be a cornerstone in creating an One World Government – Roelof)

The world must avoid backsliding in the fight against global warming and work out a "Green New Deal" to solve twin climate and economic crises, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday.
"We must re-commit ourselves to the urgency of our cause," Ban told about 100 environment ministers at December 1-12 UN talks in Poland working on details of a new treaty to fight global warming. The talks are overshadowed by worries about recession.

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/world-must-avoid-backsliding-in-climate-fight-un-2008-12-11

[Roelof]

(Being an active gay is still a sin that can send you to hell when you die – Roelof)

Activists had billed Wednesday as "a day without a gay," when gays and lesbians across the country would call in sick, boycott shopping and show the impact of their absence from everyday life.
Designed to be a protest against the Nov. 4 passage of Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, the day's events drew only scattered support in the Bay Area, the heart of the gay rights movement, and also criticism.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?

[RevLogos]

(Why are extreme Muslims always fighting? - Roelof)

Because the Qur'an tells them to. For Christians, God is a God of love; any judgment rests solely with the Lord. The more fundamental Muslims know that infidels must be punished in this world, and the next. It is a worldview that leaves no room for nonbelievers.

[RevLogos]

Here's a pretty good article about the Greek riots going on now. It touches on many of the problems throughout the EU and beyond. Some of the comments after are also very good. Read between the lines.

We are seeing the fruits of the great falling away. It has just about hit critical mass. Corrupt governments and banks trying to exercise control of their citizens, which in large groups, are also displaying an inability to distinguish right from wrong.

We are seeing shadow forces imposing a socialist new world order, another group fighting jihad to impose a one world theocracy, and people who know nothing but secular humanism, materialism, and moral relativism, caught in the middle.

It's going to be a long year. No matter what happens, stay with Christ. He will lead you through the dark days coming.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ambrose...tarts_to_crack

These violent protests are spreading across Europe like a virus.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ss-Europe.html

These people don't really know what they are protesting. They are so lost. Their faith in government has fallen, and they will not look to the Lord. They need to believe in something, for the Lord plants a knowledge of Him in all of us. They cry out for something to believe in. The answer, the Word, is in front of them if they would only open their eyes and their hearts.

Can they be reached? Could such energy be directed to Christ's service?

[Roelof]

Revolvr

Thanks for a touching post, I pray for Greece and Europe

[Roelof]

(Unfortunately the Muslim neighbours of Israel do not feel the same - Roelof)

Pretoria - Despite the violence in the Middle East, Israel continued to aspire to peace, its new envoy in South Africa said on Thursday.
"Israel aspires for peace. Unfortunately it has become too familiar with conflict and pain. Yet we've never stopped believing that peace is a viable goal towards which we have been working tirelessly for the past six years," said Dov Segev-Steinberg. Segev-Steinberg was handing his letter of credence to President Kgalema Motlanthe in Pretoria.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/N...441010,00.html

[Roelof]

Vatican City - The Vatican's chief spokesperson said on Thursday that the Roman Catholic Church believes homosexuality must not be considered a crime, but added that initiatives aimed at "putting all forms of sexual orientation on the same level" are wrong. Father Federico Lombardi was commenting on controversy triggered by the Holy See's decision to oppose a proposal by France, backed by the 27-nation European Union, for a United Nations resolution calling governments to decriminalise homosexuality.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/N...441036,00.html

[wombat]

wombat And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenixes of barley for a denarius. And do not hurt the oil and the wine. (Rev 6:6) In many African countries millions of people earn less than US1$ per day. What is the price of bread in the US?

Hi, Roelof! The last time I actually bought a loaf (I usually make my own), I think I paid about $4.50. That was a basic whole-wheat style loaf--nothing fancy. You can get cheaper bread here--between $2 and $3--but it is usually the kind filled with high-fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, etc., that I do my very best to stay away from.

[Roelof]

You can get cheaper bread here--between $2 and $3--

Millions of people in Africa earn less than US$1 per day and can not afford a bread
A definite sign of famine

[Roelof]

(Three million people might lose their jobs – Roelof)

What does the future hold for the American auto industry now that Congress failed to pass a bailout package?
Will the White House be forced to reverse course and dip into the emergency TARP funds set aside for the banking and mortgage industry and divert some of it to the automakers?
The White House signaled that door may be reopened when they released a statement Thursday night after the Senate killed the congressional aid package.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=6443946&page=1

[Roelof]

(I support the condemnation of the use of human embrio’s for the production of vaccines, this is the destruction of human live – Roelof)

Vatican City - The Vatican on Friday said new techniques that manipulate embryos undermine human dignity and condemned new forms of birth control that "fall within the sin of abortion".
Human cloning, the therapeutic use of stem cells and producing vaccines from embryo cells are all considered illicit in a new Vatican instruction "on certain bioethical questions (affecting) the dignity of the person".
The document, approved by Pope Benedict XVI, also reprises the Roman Catholic Church's condemnation of in vitro fertilisation, while decrying methods that prevent implantation of the embryo or cause its elimination as "falling within the sin of abortion".

http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2441457,00.html

[Roelof]

The head of the United Auto Workers union lashed out Friday at Senate Republicans -- Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, in particular -- blaming them for scuttling the $14 billion auto bailout package approved earlier in the week by the House.
GOP objections stalled the measure in the Senate Thursday night. Republicans put pressure on the powerful autoworkers union as they tried to squeeze out concessions in exchange for their support.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008...lout-collapse/