It is not really possible to exaggerate why David Ben Gurion’s declaration – 60 years ago this May, of the independence of the State of Israel for the people of Israel – is one of the most important historical happenings ever to impact the world.
Why was the creation of Israel on May 14, 1948 so significant?
It was important on many levels for the Jews themselves, but not only for the Jews:
It marked the arrival of the Jewish people at a – for them – long-feared unreachable milestone in their millennia-old history – the end of their worldwide Diaspora or dispersion.
It signified the total failure of Adolf Hitler – and the myriad antisemites before him: the Vatican, the Crusaders, the Inquisition, the Cossacks, the rulers of Austria, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Belgium, Slovakia, The Netherlands, France, England, Poland, Bohemia, Russia and all the other nations that expelled their Jews – to do away with God’s Chosen People.
It established a port of safety – a haven – for a nation whose people for 2000 years had been denied acceptance and lived precariously virtually wherever they sought to dwell among the gentiles.
It gave a long-scattered people a ...   more »

Sara Goudarzi
for National Geographic News 
April 23, 2008  
An ancient Greek tomb thought to have held the body of Alexander the Great's father is actually that of Alexander's half brother, researchers say.
This may mean that some of the artifacts found in the tomb—including a helmet, shield, and silver "crown"—originally belonged to Alexander the Great himself. Alexander's half brother is thought to have claimed these royal trappings after Alexander's death.
The tomb was one of three royal Macedonian burials excavated in 1977 by archaeologists working in the northern Greek village of Vergina (see map of Greece).
Excavators at the time found richly appointed graves with artifacts including a unique silver headband, an iron helmet, and a ceremonial shield, along with a panoply of weapons and an object initially identified as a scepter.
"[Archaeologists] announced that the burial in the main chamber of the large rich [tomb] was that of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, who was assassinated in 336 B.C," said Eugene N. Borza, professor emeritus of ancient history at Pennsylvania State University.
But recent analyses of the tombs and the paintings, pottery, and other artifacts found there, suggest that the burials are in fact one ...   more »

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin in Denver in just 111 days.
Merely the announced intention of the Democrat high command to exclude all of the delegates from Florida and Michigan for their states' disobedience in holding primaries early suggests that Denver may be as wild as Chicago in 1968 – though with much less actual blood in the streets.
What is even more politically explosive is the growing possibility that neither candidates Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton will arrive in Denver with enough votes to win the nomination before the balloting begins.
That and reported threats from polled backers of both these candidates that if the other is nominated, they will not support the nominee. 
This is why there are reports of G.O.T.S.B. (Gore on the Second Ballot) with the former vice president and now Nobel Prize winner thought of as possibly prestigious enough to unite a savagely divided party.
Given the result of the Pennsylvania Primary and the latest in Sen. Obama's Wright Crisis, there might be a possibility that the senator from Illinois will withdraw.
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer asks:
"How does one explain campaigning throughout 2007 on a platform of transcending racial divisions, while ...   more »

By Jen Haberkorn
U.S. Coast Guard cutters sit unused at the shipyard in Baltimore after the costly Deepwater project encountered problems with extensions and cracked hulls. Commandant Adm. Thad Allen said problems were too numerous to repair when the vessels were decommissioned in 2006. (Katie Falkenberg/The Washington Times)
Eight ships that were supposed to be the government's latest, best weapon for stopping terrorists, illegal immigrants and smugglers now float unused in a U.S. Coast Guard shipyard in Baltimore, the symbol of a nearly $100 million taxpayer debacle. 
Instead of patrolling, the ships were deemed unfit for the high seas after just a couple of months of use and eventually will be dismantled without ever fulfilling their promise. 
The Coast Guard hopes to finally put the problems with its much maligned "Deepwater" program behind it, taking ownership this month of a brand new 418-foot national security cutter that was built from scratch after contractors bungled the modernization of the earlier eight ships. 
Commissioning of the USCGC Bertholf will be the next major step in a 25-year, $24 billion project to extend the Coast Guard's reach further than ever before beyond U.S. shores. Taxpayers, however, won't see much benefit until the Bertholf ...   more »

MICHAL LANDO,
Jewish activists are hailing the overwhelming decision by the United Methodist Church to abandon efforts to divest from companies that allegedly contribute to Israel's occupation of the West Bank.
Five divestment resolutions were shot down at the United Methodist Church General Conference in Texas last week, after a protracted campaign by Jews to halt the effort.
The resolutions called on the denomination to identify companies that profit from sales of products or services that "harm the Palestinians and Israelis" and begin a phased divestment from them. Firms targeted included Caterpillar, which manufactures tractors used to raze Palestinian homes and olive groves, and Motorola, which manufactures security systems.
"I think this general conference is an important and positive milestone," said Ethan Felson, the associate executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a public policy umbrella group. "We clearly have many friends and have made many friends community by community, and that's a lot of what this is about."
Though the recent decision is a "turning point," said Felson, the divestment campaign, once thought to be dormant, is still active among mainstream Protestant churches. A 2004 decision to begin a phased divestment by the Presbyterian Church was amended ...   more »