Link to First Temple found [Excerpts]Archeologists overseeing contested Islamic infrastructure work on Jerusalem's Temple Mount have stumbled upon a sealed archeological level dating back to the First Temple period, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced.The find marks the first time that archeological remains dating back to the First Temple period have been found on the contested holy site, the state-run archeological body said.No archeological excavations have ever been carried out on the Temple Mount, which is Judaism's holiest and Islam's third-holiest site, due to opposition from religious leaders.The sealed archeological level, dated from the eighth to the sixth centuries BCE, was exposed at the end of August in the area close to the southeastern corner of the raised platform surrounding the Dome of the Rock, and includes fragments of ceramic tableware and animal bone."The layer is a closed, sealed archeological layer that has been untouched since as early as the eighth century BCE," said Yuval Baruch, the Jerusalem District archeologist for the Israel Antiquities
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It can run for hours at 20 metres per minute without getting tired. It lives longer, has more sex, and eats more without gaining weight. Could the science that created this supermouse be applied to humans?
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Scientists have been astounded by the creation of a genetically modified "supermouse" with extraordinary physical abilities – comparable to the performance of the very best athletes – raising the prospect that the discovery may one day be used to transform people's capacities.
The mouse can run up to six kilometres (3.7 miles) at a speed of 20 metres per minute for five hours or more without stopping. Scientists said that this was equivalent of a man cycling at speed up an Alpine mountain without a break. Although it eats up to 60 per cent more food than an ordinary mouse, the modified mouse does not put on weight. It also lives longer and enjoys an active sex life well into old age – being capable of breeding at three times the normal maximum age.
American scientists who created the mice – they now have a breeding colony of 500 – said that they were stunned by their abilities, especially ...   more »

Extremists are grooming children and teenagers to plot terrorist attacks against Britain, the director of the domestic spy agency said Monday.
But Jonathan Evans, making his first public speech since becoming director-general of Britain's MI5 agency in April, said vital resources needed to tackle terrorism are being diverted to counter the espionage threat from Russia and China.
"Terrorists are methodically and intentionally targeting young people and children in this country," Evans said, according to a text of his speech in Manchester, England. "They are radicalizing, indoctrinating and grooming young, vulnerable people to carry out acts of terrorism."
Testimony from a U.S. terrorist-turned-witness in British court cases has revealed how young Britons are trained for attacks at terrorist camps in tribal areas of Pakistan.
Evans said though Pakistan remains a key training ground for Britons, similar centers are emerging elsewhere. Al Qaeda in Iraq is attempting to stage attacks outside Iraq and parts of East Africa, particularly Somalia, have become a key area for training and planning of attacks on Britain, he said.
Evans said thwarting plots alone is not enough to stop the threat of extremist terrorism, and urged the government and society to counter the message of radical preachers....   more »

'Satan's' appearance prompts man to drop drug habit
The anniversary reception photo capture on a screenshot from Fox News seems unremarkable, but got the attention of Joe and Patty Martinez
A Colorado man reports he was able to kick his drug habit after a photograph of him at a relative's anniversary celebration showed – literally – a demon on his shoulder.
Joe Martinez told Fox 31 News in Denver that drugs were killing his soul.
But he's now on the road to recovery because of the photograph.
"I look at it and I carry it wherever I go," he told the television station.
The photo showed a typically smiling couple at a anniversary reception. What it also shows is what Martinez's wife, Patty, describes as "Satan."
"Right away I really thought, I said, 'You're really walking with Satan'," she said.
The photo was taken at a family anniversary celebration several years ago. It was in an album until just months ago, but Martinez says he won't be without it now because of the reminder it provides.
What appears to be a dog is looking over Joe's shoulder, in a closer view of the anniversary reception photo
"There's good and evil ...   more »

By Alexandra Marks 
New York
The federal government's efforts to create a standardized, secure driver's license that would also serve as a national ID card have hit some significant stumbling blocks.
Chief among them: Eight states have voted in the past year not to participate in the program. Nine others are on the record opposing the proposal. In total, legislation opposing the plan has been introduced in 38 states.
Behind much of the state legislative opposition to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plan is Missouri state Rep. Jim Guest, a conservative Republican. His primary concern: REAL ID, as DHS has dubbed the initiative, would not deter terrorists. Instead, he believes, it would be an unprecedented invasion of individual privacy, creating a databank of personal information to which officials on the local, state, and federal levels would have access.
"I love my freedom, I love my country, and we're heading down a road here that would take away many of the things we take for granted," says Representative Guest. "If we had to start carrying a card around – if we lost our freedom not to – I don't think we could ever get that back."
Passed by Congress in ...   more »

By Peter Cohan
Bloomberg News reports that Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen refuses to be paid in dollars. In addition to landing undefeated (9-0) New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady -- although that relationship could be on the rocks -- she is one savvy currency trader.
Gisele Bundchen is proving to be a shrewd analyst of the U.S. dollar's weakness. When Bundchen signed a contract in August to represent Pantene hair products for Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), she demanded payment in euros. She'll also get euros for the deal she reached last October with Dolce & Gabbana SpA in Milan to promote the Italian designer's new fragrance.
"Contracts starting now are more attractive in euros because we don't know what will happen to the dollar," Patricia Bundchen, the model's twin sister and manager in Brazil, said in a telephone interview in September from Sao Paulo.
Those Bundchens are smart cookies! Too bad I can't say the same for Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and his strong dollar policy.
On an mildly related note -- Boston is clearly the hub of the sports universe. With the Red Sox having won the World Series in 2004 and 2007 and the New England ...   more »

Paul Tibbets stands in front of the Enola Gay
We hardly make them like him anymore, and now he's gone.
Paul Tibbets died last week at his Columbus, Ohio home. He was 92.
There are people who are glad he's gone because they don't like what he did in 1945. They're idealistic fools. They're alive and free today because of Tibbets' skill and courage.
I've no hesitation in saying we need more like him, with his attitude about doing what needs to be done in time of war when so much is at stake.
In a 1975 interview he said, "You've got to take stock and assess the situation. … We were at war. … You use anything at your disposal."
That's the attitude – realistically facing the need to defeat the enemy!
His full name: Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr.
Shame on you if you don't know who he is, because Paul Tibbets changed history in 1945. He piloted the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb in war.
In fact, he planned the missions, leading the first of two that definitively ended the bloody and costly war against Japan.
The Japanese surrender came after a second mission, three days ...   more »

It can certainly understand why neo-pagans like Al Gore believe, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, man-made, catastrophic global warming is the gravest threat to the planet.
What I can't understand is why people who claim to believe in the Bible as the inerrant, inspired Word of God do so.
Even more difficult to comprehend is why some evangelical Christians are caught up in the notion that government and international action are the proper methods to fight this phantom threat.
First of all, in Genesis 8:22, we're told of a promise by God never to use global floodwaters again as a means of destroying life on Earth. In that promise, the Bible explicitly states: "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
In other words, no more cataclysmic floods – the result Al Gore promises in the near future as a consequence of global warming. Just as importantly, there is another promise there that cold and heat shall not cease.
What does that mean?
It means God controls the world's temperature, not man. God controls the climate, not man. God controls the earth's "eco-system," not ...   more »