US To Declare October ‘Economic Emergency’, Suspend Elections

By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers (Traducción al Español abajo)

The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) is reporting in the Kremlin today that the Bank of England has received from the United States Federal Reserve Bank a ‘notice’ that President Bush is preparing to declare an ‘Economic Emergency’ during the week of October 5th and will further announce that the American Presidential election due to be held on November 4th will be ‘indefinitely suspended’.

These reports state that the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, had expressed his ‘shock and outrage’ to his American counterparts at the US Federal Reserve after the catastrophic collapse of one of the largest financial banks in the World, Lehman Brothers, and which caused both the Band of England and the European Central Bank to rush $42 billion into the European economy yesterday to keep it from collapsing, and their own banks from running out of money, necessitating the response from the US Central Bank leader Ben S. Bernanke.

As Prime Minister Putin had previously warned, and as we had reported on in our September 13th report “Hurricane Ike To Completely Destroy United States, Says Putin”, the horrific hurricane storm that has devastated the State of Texas, and where a humanitarian crisis is presently unfolding, has, indeed, proved to be the proverbial ‘straw that broke the camels back’ as the catastrophic damage from this storm raced beyond the Gulf of Mexico coast and ravaged the heartland of America to such an extent that the Governors of Ohio and Kentucky have declared States of Emergency as millions have been left without power.

The significance of this historic storm damage to the American economy, these reports say, led to the unprecedented pressures put upon the World’s largest insurance company American International Group (AIG) and its halt in negotiations, during a rare Sunday meeting in New York, to support the near bankrupt Lehman Brothers on Sunday, but which was then allowed to collapse and is now threatening to also destroy AIG itself.

Not being explained to the American people is that AIG, the World’s largest player in the $45 Trillion derivatives market, during the past two weeks had bet heavily on the World Markets against the damage from Hurricane Ike exceeding $2 billion in property damage, lost oil and gasoline production, lost wages and payments to companies forced to close, etc., it is obligated to pay, but which the actual damages are now being estimated will exceed $1 Trillion as the damages throughout the United States are finally tallied.

[Note: Derivatives are financial instruments whose value changes in response to the changes in underlying variables. The main types of derivatives are futures, forwards, options, and swaps. The main use of derivatives is to reduce risk for one party.]

Such a calamitous action by AIG has basically shattered the Western economic system, and as we can read as reported by The Australian Business News Service in their article titled “Global banks brace for derivative blow-up”, and which says:

“So here we are on the morning of D Day. The world's major couterparties on the $US455 trillion derivatives market go into technical default and no one is sure what is going to happen.

Lehman Bros yesterday formally petitioned the State Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District Court of New York for Chapter 11 protection.

Lehman would also have filed what are called "first day motions", which allow the bank to pay salaries and wages, while it continues to market its non-toxic, broker-dealer operations and work out what on earth to do with its highly toxic $US53 billion residential and commercial mortgage portfolio.

But, as scary and Spartan as it might sound, failure is as essential to the workings of an effective marketplace as is success.

Which means only that, given this shattered, battle-weary investment bank is unable to find itself a new owner or think its own way through the current calamitous circumstances, then one of the legendary brands of Wall Street should be left to fail.

In a weekend of unprecedented drama, the Fed seems to have been forced to play Solomon and choose between Merrill Lynch and Lehman. Both were facing mortal threat. But it seems only one could survive intact.”

Even worse for the American people during this unprecedented crisis is that one of their top economic experts, Wilbur Ross, chairman and CEO of WL Ross & Co, is now warning that over 1,000 US banks are nearing collapse, and one of their top economists, Nouriel Roubini, of NYU's Stern School and RGE Monitor, if further warning that “there is already a "slow-motion run on retail banks" occurring nationwide.”

Russian Military Analysts commenting on these reports state that though it is unlikely that the American President can suspend US elections solely on the basis of an Economic Emergency alone, it is entirely probable that he could do so should their Nation suffer another 9/11 type attack, and which they ‘cryptically’ observe could place as early as September 22nd as American Military Forces begin to conduct their World-Wide tests of their new nuclear alert system as they conduct another test of their so-called Star Wars Missile Defense System.

It should be further noted that as their once great Nation continues sliding towards the abyss of total ruin, these American people still refuse to acknowledge the substance of the many warnings being issued to them from all corners of the World as if even with eyes and ears they do not see and do not hear anything other than what they are programmed for by their masters.

How sad for these people, how much sadder for the rest of us these people are now all but lost.

© September 16, 2008 EU and US all rights reserved.

[Ed. Note: The United States government actively seeks to find, and silence, any and all opinions about the United States except those coming from authorized government and/or affiliated sources, of which we are not one. No interviews are granted and very little personal information is given about our contributors, or their sources, to protect their safety.

Consumers to foot bill for Bradford & Bingley bailout in higher bank charges

Full article can be found at www.timesonline.co.uk

Patrick Hosking, Gary Duncan and Miles Costello

Bank charges and insurance premiums are set to rise after high street banks and insurers were ordered to pay up to £14 billion under the terms of Bradford & Bingley’s nationalisation.

Some analysts suggested that the bailout could hasten the end of free banking for current account customers as banks attempt to pass on the cost to their customers.

All banks face huge increases in the levy they pay to the deposit lifeboat, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, after it borrowed £14 billion from the Government to underwrite Bradford & Bingley deposits transferred to Banco Santander.

Banks and building societies will be asked to chip in £900 million a year just to pay the interest on the bill. That works out at more than £100 million each for large banks such as Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays.

“The banks will be in a militant mood after this,” Alex Potter, a banking analyst with Collins Stewart, said. They had already had their arms twisted by regulators to support an earlier £400 million capital raising by Bradford & Bingley last month.

Stephen Hadrill, head of the Association of British Insurers, said that premiums would have to go up. “Insurers are livid at the way that this has been handled. If it’s going to fall on the companies in due course, insurers are going to have to try to find that money from somewhere,” he said.

The anger erupted after the Government confirmed yesterday that it was nationalising the bulk of Bradford & Bingley, seizing £50 billion of assets and bankrolling the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Banco Santander, the Spanish bank that owns Abbey, has bought the £20 billion deposit business and the network of 200 branches.

The remaining assets and liabilities of the former building society, including its £41 billion mortgage book, personal loan book, Yorkshire headquarters, treasury assets and wholesale liabilities, will be taken into public ownership by the transfer of all shares to the Treasury, Alistair Darling said.

Shareholders look likely to be almost entirely wiped out, although the Treasury is expected to appoint an independent valuer to set compensation, if any. Trading in the shares, which last changed hands at 20p on Friday, was suspended.

The victims include more than 800,000 Bradford & Bingley customers who received free shares when Bradford & Bingley became a listed company in 2000.

Branches opened normally yesterday under Santander. Borrowers were urged to continue making their repayments in the normal way.

The Chancellor disclosed that the immediate cost to taxpayers would be a £4 billion payment to Abbey together with the £14 billion loan to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The Government had acted on the advice of the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority, “to maintain financial stability and protect depositors, while minimising the exposure to taxpayers”, the Treasury said.

The Financial Services Authority, which supervises British banks, concluded on Saturday that Bradford & Bingley no longer met threshold conditions for operating as a deposit taker, the Treasury said. “Savers’ money remains absolutely secure,” it added.

The nationalisation could push government borrowing this year to levels not seen since the mid-Nineties, adding to the possibility of huge tax rises after the next general election.

The Treasury insists that it expects to recoup all, or the vast bulk, of the £18 billion paid directly, and indirectly via the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, to Santander within months rather than years, through disposal of Bradford & Bingley assets. The Government has first call on this money as it becomes available.

While most of the £18 billion may well be recovered, the exposure nevertheless adds to already intense stress on the Government’s finances.

The £4 billion paid directly to Santander will have to be added to total government borrowing for 2008-09 – already set to soar far above the Chancellor’s £43 billion forecast as the downturn hits tax revenues. Officials remain uncertain whether the £14 billion transferred to Santander through the compensation scheme also count against borrowing but admit that it may have to. The decision will rest with the Office for National Statistics.

Even before the latest costs, economists expected public borrowing to climb to as much as £60 billion.

The initial impact of Bradford & Bingley may now drive this to £78 billion, which would put the Government’s deficit at more than 5 per cent of GDP. In future years, the Treasury will have to add to its borrowing the cost of any defaults on Bradford & Bingley mortgages. With £1.3 billion worth of Bradford & Bingley’s £41 billion in mortgages already in arrears, those losses could pile up quickly as the housing market slumps and unemployment rises.

Eventually, with the Government so deep in the red, taxes will have to rise to bring down public borrowing to more manageable levels.

In the meantime, Bradford & Bingley’s debts will add to those of Northern Rock in swelling the national debt, lifting this by a further £30 billion or so, Capital Economics estimates.

The impact is likely to push total debt up to some 45 per cent of GDP - smashing the 40 per cent ceiling imposed by the Treasury, which looks set to be formally abandoned by Mr Darling in his autumn PreBudget Report.

Banco Santander will strengthen its position among the giants of British savings and mortgages, becoming No 3 in savings, outsized by the planned Lloyds TSB/HBOS combination and Royal Bank of Scotland. Thanks to the acquisitions of Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, it is No 2 in mortgages, with 13 per cent of the home loans market. It will have 1,300 branches under the Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley brands and will employ 23,000 people in Britain. Yesterday it declined to rule out job losses or branch closures, though none was planned immediately.

eTN Executive Talk: Fannie Mae VP speaks the truth [www.eturbonews.com]

Full article can be found at www.eturbonews.com

By Hazel Heyer, eTN Staff Writer | Sep 29, 2008


Formerly called the Federal National Mortgage Association or FNMA, Fannie Mae was established in 1938. Its initial goal was to stimulate the housing industry following the Great Depression. It also created the first secondary market for residential mortgage loans. In 1968, Fannie Mae became a private, stockholder-owner, government-regulated corporation whose shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Fannie Mae kept low-cost capital flowing to mortgagees across the nation and does not lend directly to homebuyers; it instead do business with lenders to ensure they don’t run out of mortgage funds. Fannie Mae provides large builders and real estate companies master commitments in the amounts of $25 million and more for funds for up to 12 months in advance.

As the market has seen recently, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac experienced trouble. In the last weeks, the government decided to put Fannie Mae in conservatorship to provide the association liquidity at a time of unprecedented stress. More importantly, the government addressed its issues on capital, treasury and Fannie’s regulator, Federal Housing Finance Agency which agreed to set up a preferred stock purchase agreement to fund up to $100 billion of each above-mentioned entity, according to Kenneth Bacon, executive vice president of Housing and Community Development for Fannie Mae.

“As we have experienced a lot of losses, an investor with debt in a mortgage-backed securities, would feel confident about capital available and the staying power of our agency. The second step they took was create a new secured lending facility not only for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but also for the Federal Home Loan Bank System, because the government was concerned that if the agency goes out to issue debt, and the debt markets overflows, we cannot access funding anymore,” said Bacon, explaining that due to these events, Fannie Mae now has sources of capital, assured liquidity, and the promise from the government to buy up their mortgage-backed securities, from time to time, if the agency would price them right in the marketplace.

Since the government put up the funds, it has now decided to have managerial control over Fannie Mae. To the investor, this means the agency is very much in business, said Bacon. “We would like to see our portfolio grow this year. More importantly, how the market has reacted, tightening its spread on our debt is the key. We were able to save $7 billion of debt with the issuance, over-subscribed to $9 billion -- the biggest offerings we’ve ever done. Initial indications say this is working,” said Fannie Mae’s VP.

According to the mortgage bankers association, the delinquency rates with single-family homes stand at 64 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of June 2008, up 129 points up from last year. Loans on foreclosures this year reached 2.75 percent, double of last year’s rate. Fannie Mae’s single-family foreclosure rate was lower at 1.36 percent at the end of the second quarter, but rates are still double the rate of last year. “Clearly, the market is in trouble. We initially expected to see prices decline 7 to 9 percent, but after some follow-up, we see the upper-ended range climb to 15 to 19 percent. If it did, it is still critical that credit might freeze up. More needs to be done with liquidity and that Fannie’s underwriting is done right. We also see that the era of ‘no-money down or little money down on mortgages’ is over. Also putting layers of risks on single-family loans, when they had a second loan, or adjustable rate mortgage or interest only, and so many things consumers did not understand, are a thing of the past,” said Bacon.

He added they will spend more time on weeding out fraud.

It is equally important to shed light likewise on the rental market, a huge market which had a multifamily debt outstanding at $850 billion at the end of 2007. Its dominant player was the commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) with $36 billion in multi-family mortgages financed. Fannie Mae expects the amount to be less than $2 billion this year.

“This market has fallen off the face of the earth because with delinquency rates on multifamily loans of CMBS about 120 basis points; the delinquency on Fannie Mae’s portfolio $170 billion business is only 11 basis points. While overall volume is up, since Fannie and Freddie have dominated this market, our volume is up. This year, we did $22 billion on multifamily financing on the first half of the year. Other players like Wachovia, Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo or PNC, delivered $18 billion of that $20 billion - they considered it to be a good business model; they have recourse on the loan and shared the risk with us. Since there were enough commercial mortgage market blow-ups, people adjusted the system to avoid that from happening,” said Bacon addressing the fact that since many had been burnt by the commercial mortgage problem in the past, they were prepared for this event. Whereas the single-family market, people relaxed their underwriting because people have no memory of 1990 when similar events took place. The reason why delinquency rates have been so low is because the average loan-to-value was 67 percent on new originations; debt service coverage ratios are north of 120. “And the way we underwrite at Fannie Mae, we don’t look at rent but past collections. We’ve very conservative as our programs started from the ashes of the 1980s, keeping the portfolio running,” he said.

Assessing the current market, Bacon thinks multifamily market vacancy’s below 7 percent. “We feel good about the market, thinking that the US population is still increasing birth rates and immigration. Fannie Mae sees a demographic profile moving into rental status more and more in the next two years. We will also see a lot of older people sell their homes and accept to move in independent-living facility which has less maintenance and less wear and tear issues for them as they get older,” he added.

What concerns Fannie Mae the most are the “questionable” job growth at times like these, more “acts of God” such as hurricanes, recession, and the rates of transaction (the great divide between buyers and sellers due to capitalization rates which had been extremely low between 6-7 percent which were unsustainable). “We’re beginning to see the reverse into the mean, that is cap rates edging lower than debt rates, making a huge difference between buyer’s and seller’s perspectives of values sometimes reaching 15 percent difference in price due to the gap. There’s lot of equity capital out there, for all the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) booming countries, that investors would rather go for overseas equity better than what the US can offer. That is why investors think twice,” he said.

It is sort of surreal to see high delinquency in people’s houses. “But when you look at offices and apartments, it is not as bad. In essence, multi-family homes are performing well but we expect to see a smaller market where people look at a common ground for cap rates. With the credit crunch, we would see cap rates outside of New York running up to 6 to 6.5 percent at the end of the year,” said Bacon.

There is a real reason to be concerned about the state of the American credit market. “But I believe, if you dissect the market, all the statements/generalizations are not quite true. We have single family markets that are bad, but some segments are doing alright in some parts of the country. Long-term fundamentals in terms of population growth are in place. There are lot of positives out there including the government deciding to act on our issues in a forceful and clear way. Hence, I believe there will be strong liquidity to come in the housing mortgages through Fannie Mae,” he said.

In closing, the Fannie Mae VP said, “I hope this ignites the attitude that we saw after 9/11, because at the end of the day, markets move by people’s emotions. If people are gloomy and negative, markets are never going to get better. Hopefully, people rekindle their optimism in the true characteristic of the American market and lead people to step back in and start doing transactions."

Al-Qaeda planning to bomb Atlantis - report [arabianbusiness.com]

For full article at arabianbusiness.com


by Dylan Bowman on Monday, 29 September 2008

The Atlantis hotel’s grand opening party is at the centre of a terrorism scare after British spies uncovered plans to target the lavish event in Dubai, to be attended by 2,000 VIPs.

There are fears Al-Qaeda is planning to bomb the event on Nov. 20 because it is seen by Islamic extremists as a symbol of decadence in a Muslim country, according to the UK's Sky News television.

Business leaders, politicians, actors, musicians and members of the Dubai royal family have all been invited to the grand opening, which is estimated to be costing $28 million and will be headlined by pop princess Kylie Minogue.

British spies are reportedly monitoring talk of an attack in internet chatrooms and have a number of suspects who pose a credible threat under surveillance.

Neither Atlantis or the British embassy in Dubai were immediately available for comment when contacted by Arabian Business.

The resort, located on the Palm Jumeirah, officially opened on Sept. 24, despite a recent fire on Sept. 2 that destroyed the hotel lobby roof and caused smoke damage to the outside of the main hotel building.

The launch of Atlantis has become one of the most talked about events on the Dubai calendar, with several global superstars linked with the grand opening, including Michael Jackson and Madonna.

The 1,539-room resort encompasses a 46-hectare site with 17 hectares of water-themed amusement parks, an open air marine habitat, beaches, boutiques and restaurants.

The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in June raised its terrorism threat level in the UAE to "high", warning that terrorists could target places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers such as residential compounds, military, oil, transport and aviation interests.

"We believe terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks in the UAE," the FCO said.

"Attacks could be indiscriminate and could happen at any time," it said.

The FCO said people should "maintain a high level of security awareness, particularly in public places".

How to protect your PC

A House of Lords select committee recently branded the internet as a lawless Wild West. Users must guard against viruses, spyware (which allows crooks to access your data or even hijack and use your computer) and a plethora of scams. With a little research, however, keeping safe online is straightforward and free. Here is Times Money's guide to protecting your PC.

Upgrade your system

The newest version of an operating system is the safest. Windows users with ancient hardware should upgrade to Windows Vista orWindows XP with Service Pack 2. It may be more cost-effective to buy a new computer with this included. All users should download free security updates at www.windowsupdate.com. Set your PC to download them automatically by navigating to "control panel", then "system", then "automatic updates". You should also download the latest version of Internet Explorer or Firefox, which offer some built-in virus protection.

Install a firewall

Mircrosoft gives Windows users a free firewall, which is an adequate first line of defence for most people. This keeps out bad hackers, some viruses and some spyware. Go to "control panel" then "security centre" to activate it.

Use antivirus and anti-spyware software

Most new PCs come with a free trial of Symantec's Norton AntiVirus. Updates cost about £20 a year when this ends. However, Andrew Ferguson, ofThinkbroadband.com, the specialist website, says that free alternatives, such as Grisoft's AFG, available for download at free.grisoft.com, are adequate. Once virus protection is in place, you must tackle spyware. Microsoft's free Defender software should suffice. Look for this in your PC's "all programmes" folder. If it is not there, go towww.microsoft.com/download for a free copy. You should set all antivirus and anti-spyware software to receive "automatic updates". User feedback on security products can be found here.

Secure your wireless network

If you have a WiFi, or wireless, network, secure it by switching on the built-in encryption, renaming the network and switching on "MAC filtering" to restrict access to trusted computers. Get Safe Online, a government website, has detailed guidance here.

Back up your data

However well-protected your PC, it is important to back up your data to CD or DVD at regular intervals. This means that you will not lose important files if your computer is stolen or damaged. Keep these discs, as well as the operating system discs that came with your computer, and any software discs, in a safe place away from your terminal. For more advice on how to back up your data, click here.

Be savvy

The precautions above should be combined with common sense. You should keep your PC in a secure location, not by an exposed ground-floor window, for example. And once online, be wary of scam e-mails. If something sounds too good to be true, it is. Likewise, avoid giving out personal details that could facilitate burglary or identity fraud. When you must disclose your address and credit card details to make a purchase, do so over a secure server at a trusted website. Avoiding pornography and offensive material should be straightforward. If you do stumble across content that you believe to be illegal, however, report it here. And if your PC is used by children, read these safety tips.

If things go wrong

All PCs connected to the internet are vulnerable to viruses and spyware. These can cause numerous problems, including a general slowing or failure of your system. Firewalls and antivirus and anti-spyware software cut the risk, but they cannot remove it. If you suspect that your computer is infected, follow this advice or, for £70-plus, call a geek on a scooter to fix it.

See the Metropolitan Police website for advice on reporting internet crime. Be aware, however, that British investigators have no authority to pursue most scammers based overseas. Scambaitingoffers some consolation.

Why the fascination with the end of the world?

By Finlo Rohrer

BBC News Magazine

A huge particle accelerator experiment is about to start and a tiny group of people believe it could spell the end of the world. But why are we so obsessed with the possibility of apocalypse?

The world will end. That much is a certainty. But it may not be soon. And in all probability it will not come to a shuddering, fiery, boiling, cataclysmic end on Wednesday this week.

That is when the Large Hadron Collider on the Swiss/French border has its first full beam. The collider is a giant particle accelerator which, by smashing one particle into another, will tell us amazing things about the birth of the universe, scientists hope.

But there are a small but significant group of naysayers who worry that the LHC is not 100% safe. Opponents say it is possible the collider could produce micro black holes and dangerous "strangelets", and that catastrophic effects from these cannot be ruled out.

In this worst case scenario the earth could very well have had its chips.

However, the consensus of physicists is that the collider is perfectly harmless. Micro black holes would vanish almost instantaneously.

But when you see a headline in a newspaper that says "Are we all going to die next Wednesday?", one can't help but wonder at our fascination with the idea of the end of the world.

Whether you refer to it as eschatology (religious theory of the end of the world), millenarianism, end time belief, apocalypticism, or disaster scenario, it is one of humanity's most powerful ideas, and it goes way back.

"It is a very ancient pattern in human thought. It is rooted in ancient, even pre-biblical Middle Eastern myths of ultimate chaos and ultimate struggle between the forces of order and chaos," says cultural historian Paul S Boyer, author of When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture.

"It is deeply appealing at a psychological level because the idea of meaninglessness is deeply threatening. Human societies have always tried to create some kind of framework of meaning to give history and our own personal lives some kind of significance."

And although end of the world thinking crops up in many religions, those in the West are probably most aware of Christian eschatology. In the early days of the church it was taken as a given by many believers that the Second Coming and the end of the world were imminent.

Mainstream Christianity moved away from this type of thought, but large numbers of believers returned to it at various times.

"It isn't just the lunatic fringe, it's an integral part of all Christianity. But [in mainstream Christianity] it is put into perspective that it may happen 'one day'," says Stephen J Hunt, a sociologist of religion and author of Christian Millenarianism: From the Early Church to Waco.

"But certain groups and movements believe it is in their generation. They are saying we have got the truth and nobody else has."

Cataclysmic scenarios

There have been many groups that have predicted the end of the world, or Tribulation, or Rapture, dealt with it not coming to pass and then issued new ones.

Jehovah's Witnesses have issued predictions about cataclysmic scenarios that have manifestly failed to come to pass, only ceasing predictions of the end in recent years. Failed predictions seem not to have alienated core believers. Indeed, it is denied by some that specific predictions - as opposed to speculation based on scripture - have ever been made.

No such luck applied to the 19th Century Millerite sect, led by William Miller. He didn't just predict the end would be soon. He nailed the day - 22 October 1844. As the day neared the sect's popularity snowballed, with thousands of newspapers sold. Only one thing was able to derail the movement's popularity - the safe and unexpected arrival of 23 October 1844. The failure of the world to end was known as the "Great Disappointment" and followers left in droves.

"The current prophecy popularisers are much shrewder," says Prof Boyer. "They say no man knoweth the day or the hour, but it's coming soon."

Carlos Roa thought he kneweth the hour. The Argentinian goalkeeper, best known for his penalty heroics against England in the 1998 World Cup, refused to countenance a new contract at Real Mallorca as the year 2000 approached because he believed the world was going to end and he needed to prepare. When it didn't he was soon donning the gloves back in Mallorca.

And for all it is easy to mock those who have tried and failed, thinking about the ways the world might end, or the timing, may be fulfilling a basic human need.

"It comes down to an issue of power," says Michael Molcher, editor of the magazine The End is Nigh. "What you get during times of particular discontent or war or famine or during general bad times is a rise in apocalyptic preaching and ideas.

"It is a way for people to control the way their world works. The one thing we can never predict is the time and manner of our own deaths."

The great periods of millenarianism - Europe around the year 1000, the English Civil War, the Industrial Revolution on both sides of the Atlantic, and the 20th Century - have been periods of intense turbulence. Putting an eschatological spin on current events is extremely tempting.

"A lot of fundamentalists are what we call 'sign watching'. If there's another tornado in Florida it must be a punishment," says Dr Hunt.

Sometimes the links to the temporal world can be tortuous to say the least. A common theme on the fringes of Christian millenarianism is a revived Roman Empire led by the Antichrist and consisting of 10 European nations. The theme is drawn out from the description of a beast with 10 horns in the book of Revelation.

It was historically linked to the EU, but now there are 27 members attention has shifted to the 10-nation Western European Union.

And these end times beliefs seem easily to find their way into popular culture. The Left Behind series of novels have sold millions and cinema-goers have happily trooped in to see three instalments of the Omen.

But it is wrong to say that belief that the world could be about to end is entirely confined to religious people. When the Cold War was going on, the likely culprit was nuclear weapons, at the moment it might be a catastrophic climate change scenario that leaves the world intact, but humanity gone. And Mr Molcher's favourite prediction of recent years involved a woman who was convinced that Chinese plans to build a base on the moon would throw its orbit out and send it hurtling towards earth.

And end of the world believers, whether religious or not, have one thing going for them. The world will, one day, end.

And there are still plenty willing to name a date.

Preacher Ronald Weinland's book 2008 - God's Final Witness, predicts that the US will be destroyed within two years.

Sadly anybody wanting to find out more by e-mail receives an automated response. One can only assume he is too busy preparing for the end that is nigh.

THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER

• At Cern on French-Swiss border
  
• One of biggest and most expensive experiments in human history
  
• Critics say micro black holes could be created, that could swallow the earth
  
• Cern says any black holes will evaporate quickly and harmlessly
  
• Effects will be less than cosmic ray collisions in atmosphere
  
• LHC collisions could shed light on creation of universe
  
• First beam on Wednesday
  
• First collision later in year
  
• Action ongoing at European Court of Human Rights to stop experiments
  
• LHC Kritiks lead opposition

FAILED PREDICTIONS

• Jehovah's Witnesses have predicted end several times, but have stopped
  
• Millerites predicted end of world for 22 October 1844 - day known to followers as Great Disappointment
  
• Edgar C Whisenant wrote 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Could Be in 1988 - followed up with predictions for 1989, 1993, and 1994
  
• Argentinian goalie Carlos Roa gave up football in anticipation of end of world in 2000
  
• Hal Lindsey in 1970's The Late, Great Planet Earth linked end of world to the EU
  

RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR

"End of world" concepts include:

• Destruction of planet
  
• Extinction of human race
  
• Significant change in situation of human race
  

Secular scenarios include:

• Catastrophic climate change
  
• Asteroid or comet strike
  
• Massive nuclear war
  
• Destabilisation of earth or moon orbit
  

Religious scenarios include:

• Islam refers to "last judgement"
  
• Some Buddhists believe in disappearance of Buddha's teachings
  
• Christian end of world linked to second coming of Jesus
  
• Hindus believe in cycle of ages
  
• Zoroastrians may have had first codified end of world theory
  

UK 'sex on beach' pair in court

A British man and woman are appearing in court in Dubai to face charges of having sex on a beach.

Vince Acors, 34, of Bromley, south-east London, and Michelle Palmer, 36, are due to stand trial at the Dubai Court of First Instance.

The pair were arrested after allegedly being seen having sex on a public beach in Dubai on 5 July.

They deny charges of public indecency and having unmarried sex but admit consuming alcohol.

Mr Acors and Miss Palmer arrived separately at court.

If found guilty they could face a prison sentence of up to six years but senior prosecutor Faisal Abdelmalek Ahli says they are more likely to be jailed for between six months and a year as well as being fined and deported.

'I'm sorry'

In a statement to the court at a previous hearing, Miss Palmer said: "We were just kissing and hugging. We didn't have sex together. I was lying on top of him.

"I have been in Dubai for two-and-a-half years without committing any kind of offence. I'm sorry."

The pair, who are both on bail, met hours before their arrest at a £60 all-you-can-drink champagne brunch at the Le Meridien Hotel, close to Dubai Airport.

One witness, a 21-year-old Palestinian man, told police he saw them "start kissing" after getting out of a taxi.

Mr Ahli said the police officer who made the arrests described seeing Miss Palmer with her "shirt off" and "sitting on" Mr Acors.

The officer said the couple had not noticed him until he shone his torch in their direction.

Miss Palmer, who worked for ITP Publishing Group, was sacked following her arrest.

"Following an internal review of this incident, the company has dismissed the member of staff in question," said a company spokeswoman.

Virgin Radio to become Absolute

Virgin Radio is to be rebranded as Absolute Radio as its Indian owner aims to turn it into a global business.

The name change will be completed by 1 October, and comes after TIML, part of the Times of India media group, bought the radio station for £53.2m in May.

The change in name was also needed for legal reasons, as Times of India chose not to purchase the Virgin Radio brand.

An Absolute spokesman said the radio station wanted to target US listeners and those in mainland Europe.

Diversification plans

The spokesman explained that "when TIML bought the radio station a decision was taken not to buy the brand licence".

"The Virgin Radio brand licence came with the restriction that the radio station had to remain a UK radio business," he continued.

"In the changing digital media landscape that was not a viable business option for us."

The spokesman said that in addition to its global plans, the company intended to diversify the Absolute Radio brand into live music, ticketing, TV, mobile phones and gaming.

The Times of India Group already owns 30 Indian radio stations.

"Absolute is a brand that is unapologetic, cheeky and infectious with a long-term brand building and investment strategy behind it," said Absolute chief executive Donnach O'Driscoll.

TIML bought Virgin Radio from Scottish media group SMG.

Google launches internet browser

Google is launching an open source web browser to compete with Internet Explorer and Firefox.

The browser is designed to be lightweight and fast, and to cope with the next generation of web applications that rely on graphics and multimedia.

Called Chrome, it will launch as a beta for Windows machines in 100 countries, with Mac and Linux versions to come.

"We realised... we needed to completely rethink the browser," said Google's Sundar Pichai in a blog post.

The new browser will help Google take advantage of developments it is pushing online in rich web applications that are challenging traditional desktop programs.

Google has a suite of web apps, such as Documents, Picasa and Maps which offer functionality that is beginning to replace offline software.

"What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build," Mr Pichai, VP Product Management, wrote.

The launch of a beta version of Chrome on Tuesday will be Google's latest assault on Microsoft's dominance of the PC business. The firm's Internet Explorer program dominates the browser landscape, with 80% of the market.

Putin: U.S. Staged Georgian Conflict

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Friday, August 29 2008

In an interview with CNN, Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has stated that the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict may have been manufactured by the White House for domestic political reasons. Putin also says that preliminary reports show U.S. citizens may have been present in the combat zone.

"We have serious reason to believe that American citizens were right at the heart of the military action. This would have implications for American domestic policy." Putin told CNN.

"If this is confirmed, then it raises the suspicion that someone in the US specially created this conflict to worsen the situation and create an advantage in the competitive struggle for one of the candidates for the post of president of the United States." he continued.

"They needed a short, victorious war."

"And if it didn't work out, they could always put the blame on us, make us look like the enemy and against the background of this surge of patriotism, once more rally the country around a particular political force." Putin explained.

Watch a Russia Today report on Putin's comments:

In addition to the remarks broadcast by Russia Today, Putin charged that Americans on the ground in Georgia were “implementing orders” from their “leader” during the conflict.

"The fact is that US citizens were indeed in the area in conflict during the hostilities. It should be admitted that they would do so only following direct orders from their leaders," Putin said.

"Therefore, they were acting in implementing those orders, doing as they were ordered, and the only one who can give such orders is their leader," he added.

The comments come in the wake of news that a U.S. passport was found in a building in South Ossetia occupied by Georgian troops.

As we have documented, reports of American mercenaries being captured and found dead inside South Ossetia and Georgia circulated in the days after the conflict began.

Putin also told the CNN interviewer that the Georgian army was armed and trained for the conflict.

"Why hold years of difficult talks and seek complex compromise solutions in inter-ethnic conflicts? It's easier to arm one side and push it into the murder of the other side, and it's over," he said.

"It seems like an easy solution. In reality it turns out that it's not always so."

Putin may have been referring to the military exercise Immediate Response 2008, which took place last month, involving no less than one thousand U.S. troops working with Georgian troops in a war game scenario. It was also well documented that Georgian troops were flown out of Iraq by the U.S. to join the conflict in South Ossetia. Aside from these facts, it is common knowledge that Washington provides training and equipment to the Georgian military, one of its coalition allies.

However, the White House responded by describing Putin's comments as "patently false."

The western corporate media coverage has consistently toed the line that the U.S. and NATO-backed client state Georgia is a helpless victim in the conflict with Russia the evil aggressor. The origins of the conflict were completely flipped around and misreported. to hide the fact that a far more complex geopolitical strategy is being played out in the region.

Related video - Alex Jones explains the real motives behind the conflict on Russia Today:

Dead Sea Scrolls go from parchment to the Internet

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- More than 2,000 years after they were written, the Dead Sea Scrolls are going digital as part of an effort to better preserve the ancient texts and let more people see them than ever before.The high-tech initiative, announced Wednesday, will also reveal text that was not visible to the naked eye.

Over the next two years, the Israel Antiquities Authority will digitally photograph and scan every bit of crumbling parchment and papyrus that makes up the scrolls, which include the oldest written record of the Bible's Old Testament.The images eventually will be posted on the Internet for anyone to see.

"These are the earliest copies of the Bible ever found," said Pnina Shor, head of treatment and conservation at the Antiquities Authority.

"The Bible is sacred to us and to you and to all the monotheisticreligions, and therefore [the scrolls] are national treasures and world treasures, and therefore it is our duty to preserve them at least for 2,000 years more."It is widely believed that the first set of Dead Sea Scrolls was discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd who ventured into a cave in the Judean Desert in search of a lost sheep or goat. The texts were found wrapped in linen inside earthenware jars.

Eventually, 11 caves were found to contain scrolls, some dating more than 2,000 years.

The texts shed light on life in the Holy Land around the time of Jesus, in the early days of Christianity and at a time of great upheaval for the Jewish people.

"They show the connection between Christianity, Judaism and how everything evolved from the God -- the God is one God," Shor said. "The scrolls are meant to bring us all together."

The thousands of scroll fragments were photographed in their entirety only once, in the 1950s, but some of those images have themselves disintegrated, the Antiquities Authority said.For years, there have been complaints that only a handful of scholars have been able to examine the scrolls, The Associated Press reported.

Now, Israel has assembled an international team not of archaeologists and linguists but technical wizards to reveal them as never before.

Their imaging of the extremely brittle scrolls will allow people to read scores of fragments that were blackened or erased over the years.

"Just by applying the latest infrared technologies and shooting at very high detail, lots of resolution, we are already opening up new characters from the scrolls that are either extremely indistinct or you just couldn't see them before," said Simon Tanner, director of King's Digital Consultancy Services.

Tanner, who has worked on previous digital projects involving antiquities, is on a team that also includes Greg Bearman, who recently retired as principal scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Bearman pioneered archaeological digital imaging and owns a company, Snapshot Spectra, that makes the imagers.

"To switch over to digital is really the way to go, and people were resistant to it initially, because it was a new way of doing stuff," he said. "They want their light table and their magnifying glass."

But with digital imaging, Bearman said, "You can see where the ink has broken away and you can see the texture of the animal skin, so you can see more detail than you can see with the naked eye."

Another benefit of the imaging process, Bearman said, is that it enables scientists to determine the amount of water present in the parchment. That will help authorities determine whether the parchment is too wet or too dry, and enable them to keep the scrolls in conditions that are perfect for conservation.

Americans who want an even closer look at the texts will be able to do so next month, when six of the scrolls will go on exhibit at the Jewish Museum of New York, according to The New York Times.

Eight bad reasons to have sex

(The Frisky) -- As I'm sure you're well aware, there are many good reasons to have sex. In fact, sometimes you don't need any reason at all -- other than, say, loving your partner.

However, sometimes a lady finds herself doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons. That's what we're here to cover. So if you find yourself in any of the following situations, please extricate yourself as quickly as possible:

Revenge: The most popular very-wrong reason to have sex, revenge sex never ends well.
Hooking up with his best friend because you're angry at your boyfriend will get you nowhere. If you do manage to break up their friendship, then you're stuck with an untrustworthy dude (if he did it to him, he'll do it to you).

Even worse, there's always the (strong) possibility that he went right back and told his buddy and the two of them are now comparing notes over high-fives and hot wings.

Ego gratification: You must be fine if that scorching hot bartender took you home. Or not.
Men have been known to do some unsavory things for physical gratification. The fact that he's willing and able doesn't say squat about your appeal.

Appliance envy: Your roommate "doesn't believe" in air conditioning. You can't afford premium cable and are addicted to "Weeds." You're desperate to try out Wii Fit. All of these
desires are perfectly rational.

However, they are absolutely not worth the price of waking up next to someone you otherwise cannot stand. (Well, except for the AC, but that's only if it's above 100 Fahrenheit.)

Weight loss: Yes, you may have read those women's magazine articles about how being physically intimate can help you shed pounds. However, a 120-pound woman burns only 57 calories during 15 minutes of sex. That's less than half a Hostess Ho-Ho. The sweat could do nice things for your skin, but your waist will remain the same size.

Clarity: Ever since you were nine years old and saw that topless Kate Moss Calvin Klein ad, you've had a hunch you were same-sex oriented.

Unfortunately, the thought of sharing this with anyone scares you, so you get yourself a boyfriend. But you can't stop thinking about that ad....

Mercy: Empathy for a sad soul is one thing; holding an intimate pity party is quite another. Oh, and you know that saying, "no good deed goes unpunished?" It goes triple in this instance. Misery loves company -- good luck getting him out of your apartment.

Quid pro quo: I'm not knocking or talking about the sex professionals out there -- this is for the amateurs among us. Just because he bought you a lobster doesn't mean you need to give
up dessert. Catch my drift?

Fame by association: He's famous, you want to be. Contrary to what you might've surmised
from that old Pamela Des Barres book, "I'm With The Band: Confessions Of A Groupie," fame is not transmissible through intimate contact. However, lots of other things are, so watch out.