Merkel and Rice discussed breathing new life
into the Middle East peace process -
AP Photo - showing Condolezza Rice and Andrea Merkel - can not be
displayed because of our group setting.

Rice meets with German Chancellor Andrea Merkel Thursday

Rice Pushes for Palestinian State Throughout the Middle East and
Europe...

Hurricane-force winds and heavy downpours hammered northern Europe;
the storms were among the fiercest to batter northern Europe in years

Winds of up to 133 mph swept off the Atlantic and cut a swathe across
Britain, northern France, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Poland,
Belgium, the Czech Republic and into Russia

Rice cuts short visit to Berlin in order to leave before winds
worsened

More than 200 flights in and out of Frankfurt airport were cancelled
because of the winds

German meteorologists recorded gusts up to 125 mph

Hans-Georg Zimmermann, spokesman for Deutsche Bahn: "We are still at
a standstill nationwide, with only a few trains running"

Hartmut Mehdorn, chief executive of Deutsche Bahn: "We have never yet
had such a situation in Germany"

Rice travels to London for a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony
Blair

Rice's plane landed in gusts of up to 80 mph at London's Heathrow
Airport

Heathrow Airport, Europe's largest, canceled 280 flights. Other major
airports - including Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam and Vienna -
reported delays and cancellations.

In London, harried commuters struggled through a gauntlet of road
closures caused by falling debris blown from glass-paneled office
buildings and medieval churches.

London's Millennium Bridge was closed after the suspension structure
began swaying dangerously in the wind.

Rail stations across London also were closed, and the evening commute
melted into chaos.

Hundreds of thousands of homes in several countries had power cut as
the hurricane force winds ripped up trees and power lines.

The Druzhba pipeline carrying Russian oil to the European Union via
Ukraine was shut off after high winds caused power problems and
forced the closure of a pumping station

More than one million people were without power in the Czech
Republic. Some 100,000 homes in northern France, 20,000 households in
Austria and more than 30,000 households across northeast England lost
electricity -- nearly all because falling trees downed power lines.

Ferries canceled or delayed in Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, the
Netherlands and Finland, and trains delayed in the Netherlands,
Germany and Austria.

Billion Dollar Record Setting US Storms....

·A storm carrying the threat of more snow and ice moved across the
Southern Plains on Friday as more than 100,000 homes and businesses
remained in the dark from earlier blasts of cold, wet weather.

Winter storm warnings covered much of New Mexico and parts of Texas
and Oklahoma, with a half-foot to more than a foot of snow and sleet
expected. In Texas, 90 National Guard members were activated.

At a plaza in El Paso, where large crowds usually gather near bus
stops and restaurants, only a few people braved the biting wind.

The latest winter blast has led to reports of at least 74 deaths in
nine states in the past week, including 25 in Oklahoma, 14 in
Missouri and 12 in Texas. Car wrecks or carbon monoxide poisoning
from portable generators caused many of the deaths.

More than 77,000 Missouri homes and businesses remained without
power, mainly in the state's southwestern section.

Eastern Oklahoma, including the hard-hit cities of McAlester and
Muskogee, still had nearly 60,000 homes in the dark after ice snapped
hundreds of power poles and transmission lines.

The US Department of Defense already identifies climate change as
more threatening to US security than global terrorism. This is
because resulting shortage of food and water threatens survival.

Looking at all the natural disasters, I would say the world is in
chaos. It seems to me that throughout the Bible G-d always uses
nature to punish the nations coming against Israel. Does anyone else
connect the dots?