By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.      
 It is fitting that Condoleezza Rice chose the U.S. Naval Academy for the venue of today's so-called Mideast peace conference. The reputation of that extraordinary institution in Annapolis has been sullied in recent years by a succession of rapes of young women. Despite official efforts to low-ball its significance, Ms. Rice's conclave is shaping up to be a gang-rape of a nation on a scale not seen since Munich in 1938, when the British and French allowed Hitler and Mussolini to have their violent way with Czechoslovakia.
This time, the intended victim is Israel. As with the effort to appease the Nazis and Fascists nearly sixty years ago, however, the damage will not be confined to the rapee. The interests of the Free World in general and the United States in particular will suffer from what the Saudis and most of the other attendees have in mind for the Jewish State — namely, its dismemberment and ultimate destruction.
As it happens, millions Americans have lately been introduced to the Saudis' attitude towards gang-rape, pursuant to the theocratic code known as Shari'a that they seek to impose on us all. We learned that a 19-year-old ...   more »

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia's growing rapid reaction force to protect energy resources has installed radars, sensors and night-vision systems to prevent attacks by Al Qaida and Iranian-aligned Shi'ite insurgents. 
Saudis are not saying whether the Nov. 18 at Aramco's Hawiyah gas liquids recovery plant (above) which killed at least 28 people was the result of an Al Qaida attack.  
Officials said the Interior Ministry has been organizing a 35,000-member force with a separate budget to protect energy facilities.
"Have you heard of any attacks lately?" Saudi Deputy Oil Minister Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Salman asked in mid-November.
"We believe we have taken every measure necessary to protect facilities and pre-empt any attempt. We take a great deal of pride in being a secure and reliable producer."
Arab nations finally agree to attend Mideast talks
Darfur rebels unite for talks with UN, AU   
In February 2006, Saudi forces repulsed an Al Qaida strike on the world's largest oil processing plant at Abqaiq. Officials said the new rapid reaction force has recruited nearly 10,000 troops. They said the force would reach its full strength by 2011.
The security force was meant to protect the state-owned Saudi Aramco, which produces ...   more »

Secret Warrants Granted Without Probable Cause
By Ellen Nakashima
Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers.
In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime. Privacy advocates fear such a practice may expose average Americans to a new level of government scrutiny of their daily lives.
Such requests run counter to the Justice Department's internal recommendation that federal prosecutors seek warrants based on probable cause to obtain precise location data in private areas. The requests and orders are sealed at the government's request, so it is difficult to know how often the orders are issued or denied.
The issue is taking on greater relevance as wireless carriers are racing to offer sleek services that allow cellphone users to know with the touch of a button where their friends or families are. The companies are hoping to recoup investments they have made to meet a ...   more »

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran said Tuesday it has manufactured a new missile with a range of 1,200 miles capable of reaching Israel and U.S. bases in the Mideast, the official news agency IRNA reported.
Iran's Defense Minister Gen. Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said the Ashoura missile was produced by factories affiliated with the ministry, according to IRNA. He did not say whether Iran has test fired the missile or has plans to do so.
Many of Iran's weapons development claims have not been independently verified.
Iran launched an arms development program during its war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has reportedly produced its own jets, torpedoes, radar-avoiding missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers.
Recent weapons development has been motivated by Iran's standoff with the U.S. over its controversial nuclear program, which Washington claims is a cover for weapons development - a charge Tehran denies.
Iran is known to possess a medium-range ballistic missile known as the Shahab-3, with a range of at least 800 miles. In 2005, Iranian officials said they had improved the range of the Shahab-3 to 1,200 miles, equal to the new missile announced Tuesday.
Najjar did not elaborate about ...   more »

NEW YORK,
(CBS/AP) A United Nations committee said Friday that use of Taser weapons can be a form of torture, in violation of the U.N. Convention Against Torture.
Use of the electronic stun devices by police has been marked with a sudden rise in deaths - including four men in the United States and two in Canada within the last week.
Canadian authorities are taking a second look at them, and in the United States, there is a wave of demands to BAN them.
The U.N. Committee Against Torture referred Friday to the use of TaserX26 weapons which Portuguese police has acquired. An expert had testified to the committee that use of the weapons had "proven risks of harm or death."
"The use of TaserX26 weapons, provoking extreme pain, constituted a form of torture, and that in certain cases it could also cause death, as shown by several reliable studies and by certain cases that had happened after practical use," the committee said in a statement.
"Well, it means that it's a very serious thing," Amnesty International USA Executive Director Larry Cox told CBS Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen. "These are people that have seen torture around the world, all ...   more »

Early talks focus on private support to link programs, regions
By KAREN AYRES SMITH
Leaders of the University of North Texas are considering launching a center for Islamic studies on campus in hopes of fostering a greater connection to the Muslim world for students and scholars.
UNT president Gretchen Bataille said officials are exploring the level of interest among supporters because the university would need to raise private funds to pay for the center. She stressed that talks are very preliminary.
Such a center, Dr. Bataille said, would help connect the university's existing programs in the Arabic language, Islamic studies and other areas. It could also allow students and staff to work with scholars from the Middle East.
In today's political climate, the university needs to be aware of ideological issues, she said.
"The important thing is that these are not religious or political entities. They are academic entities," Dr. Bataille said. "It's very important that these not be organizations that are promoting an ideology that is a litmus test for anyone who participates. We can't be beholden to a funding source who expects us to promote one or another ideology."
She said she was approached about the idea of ...   more »

Wants euro-style currency to avoid exchange problems
By Jerome R. Corsi
Stephen Jarislowsky, a billionaire money manager and investor the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail bills as the Canadian Warren Buffet, has told a parliamentary committee Canada and the United States both should abandon their national dollar currencies and move to a regional North American currency as soon as possible.
"I think we have to really seriously start thinking of the model of a continental currency just like Europe," Jarislowsky told the Canadian House of Commons' finance committee, according to the Globe and Mail in Toronto.
Jarislowsky's call for immediate action belied an article published in the Boston Globe on Sunday that said the call for the amero to become the new North American regional currency was "purely theoretical."
In an exclusive telephone interview with WND, Jarislowsky repeated his call for a European Union-style currency to be created between Canada and the United States.
"The idea would be a European Union-type set-up," Jarislowsky said, "with a North American Central Bank that would issue the new currency and sit over the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States."
"An alternative would be to create a peg ...   more »

We know what George Bush thinks.
We know what the Minutemen say.
We even sort of know what Hillary Clinton believes about illegal immigration.
But what does God have to say about it?
That should be of paramount concern to any believer before taking a position. Yet, I seldom hear it discussed. Some might even suggest the Bible is silent on the issue.
So let's take a look at this issue from a biblical perspective.
Nations were first established by God as a judgment in Genesis 11. Remember the Tower of Babel story? It seems there was a man named Nimrod who attempted to set up the first world government and the first false religion.
After the Flood, God decreed that man should scatter across the whole earth and be fruitful and multiply. But, about 100 years later, a large contingent of men, under the leadership of Nimrod, whose very name means "let us revolt or rebel," decided they would settle in Shinar and build a tower to make a name for themselves.
God foiled this plan by scattering them around the world and creating new languages among the new nations that were thus established.
Make no mistake about it: ...   more »