by Hana Levi Julian(IsraelNN.com) Cinnamon may spice up more than cuisine, perfume, air fresheners and pharmaceutical products, according to a study by Tel Aviv University Professor Michael Ovadia.
The Israeli scientist began his research into the medicinal properties of cinnamon after pondering the weekly Torah reading he heard at synagogue seven years ago.
"There is a passage that explains how the High Priests, the [Kohanim] would prepare a holy oil used to be on their bodies before they made a ritual animal sacrifice," recalled Ovadia in an interview published by Israel21c. "I had a hunch that this oil, which was prepared with cinnamon and other spices, played a role in preventing the spread of infectious agents to people."
Research by the university's Department of Zoology found the fragrant spice, used in everything from cooking to aromatherapy and perfume, could neutralize viruses and immunize against certain infections.
Avian Flu H9, Sendai virus, HIV and Herpes Simplex 1, and Newcastle disease virus were all found to respond in Ovadia's experiments. It is important to note, however, that the cinnamon extract used in the studies was from a particular variety of cinnamon using coumarin and cinnamon aldehyde, which are byproducts of the actual ...   more »

The Israeli army will hold a major exercise simulating an explosion of Palestinian terrorist activity in Judea and Samaria (the so-called West Bank) next week, reported Ha'aretz.
Army officials stressed that the exercise is not necessarily an anticipation that the upcoming US-hosted Israeli-Palestinian peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland will fail, though top military sources have been predicting for months that the talks will break down resulting in a new outbreak of Palestinian terrorism.
The simulation will pit limited Israeli forces against widespread Palestinian violence in the West Bank, while the remainder of the Israeli army is pinned down in the north and south of the country in response to ongoing threats from Syria and Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Similar exercises in the past have predicted outbreaks of Arab violence with astonishing accuracy, despite the fact that they are designed to be an exaggeration of expected reality. For instance, Ha'aretz noted, a June 2006 exercise simulated the abduction of Israeli soldiers to Gaza and Hizballah-controlled southern Lebanon. Several weeks later, that exact scenario became a reality.
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The Palestinian negotiating team has rejected the option of referring to Israel as a Jewish state in the Annapolis Declaration. Jerusalem is worried that the Palestinians will renege on their commitment to fight terror after the conference.
A meeting between the two negotiating teams set for Sunday evening was cancelled when the lead Palestinian negotiator, Former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala) was delayed at a military checkpoint on his way to Jerusalem. It now appears that the groups will meet on Monday. (Roni Sofer)
Original Source
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by Hillel Fendel(IsraelNN.com) A dozen Jewish organizations have united to hold a "summit" calling for Jewish sovereignty over all of the Land of Israel, meeting on the same day as the Annapolis summit.  The title: Sovereignty for the Jewish Nation Over the State of the Land of Israel.
Spokesperson Susie Dym explained, "What is happening in Israel, and consequently among passive Jewish leaders elsewhere, is that our political leadership has abandoned the goal of furthering the Jewish people in the Jewish state, and has gone towards the goal of building a Palestinian state and advancing the Palestinians' interests. The situation has become absurd, in that our government is working towards the antithesis of what it should be."
"Recognizing that the Jewish Nation does not have a representative body," the formative statement begins, "and greatly fearing that the government in Israel is undermining the fundamental interests of Jewish existence (based on its declarations and actions in anticipation of the Annapolis summit), we - many right-wing movements and organizations - have united together to convene a counter-summit.  Our goal is to emphasize what we stand 'for,' not 'against.'"
"Our door is open to all those who want to further the interests of ...   more »

Palestinian, Israeli presidents, along with Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul, sign deal for establishment of industrial parks in West Bank to provide 5,000 new jobs for Palestinians. Abbas promises peace if Israel ends occupation
Aviram Zino
ANKRA - "If peace comes and the occupation comes to an end, Israel will live in a sea of peace," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas promised the citizens of Israel in anticipation of the US-sponsored Mideast peace conference scheduled to take place in Annapolis, Maryland at the end of the month.
Israeli President in Turkey  
Peres: Israel is not Iran's enemy  / Aviram Zino  
Israeli President meets with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, who says he will not deny Iran ability to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Peres: Iran does not need nuclear energy, and is developing long-range missiles which it apparently intends to use    
Abbas spoke at a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Shimon Peres, in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Tuesday.  
Peres also sounded optimistic regarding the prospects for peace, stating his belief that peace with the Palestinians and al interested countries was a definite possibility, but warned that peacemaking is a slow, cautious process.
The ...   more »

How would you feel about this: Tracking chips in kids' school clothing so that school officials can know their whereabouts during the school day?
Oh, it's happening. Ten students in a secondary school in the United Kingdom are being tracked through RFID implants in their school uniforms in a pilot program. Information Week reports that the kids attend Hungerhill School for ages 11-16 in Edenthorpe, England.
Add the RFID chips to increased video surveillance and fingerprinting of kids, and this is a heavily tracked generation—for safety's sake.
That extra peace of mind for adults comes with a heavy loss of privacy for kids. Do you agree with David Clouter, a parent and founder of the children's advocacy group Leave Them Kids Alone, who says taking all these precautions has the effect of treating kids like criminals? Or do you agree with the parents who have OKed the pilot program who do not find it egregiously intrusive?
One possible side effect: Uniform sales may pick up as kids try to procure extra non-RFID-tagged clothing. As security expert Bruce Schneier writes on his blog: "So now it's easy to cut class; just ask someone to carry your shirt around the building while ...   more »

By PETE YOST
A federal judge ordered the White House to preserve copies of all its e-mails, a move that Bush administration lawyers had argued strongly against.
U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy on Monday directed the Executive Office of the President to safeguard the material in response to two lawsuits that seek to determine whether the White House has destroyed e-mails in violation of federal law.
In response, the White House said it has been taking steps to preserve copies of all e-mails and will continue to do so. The administration is seeking dismissal of the lawsuits brought by two private groups, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive.
The organizations allege the disappearance of 5 million White House e-mails. The court order issued by Kennedy, an appointee of President Clinton, is directed at maintaining backup tapes which contain copies of White House e-mails.
The Federal Records Act details strict standards prohibiting the destruction of government documents including electronic messages, unless first approved by the archivist of the United States.
Justice Department lawyers had urged the courts to accept a proposed White House declaration promising to preserve all backup tapes.
"The judge decided that wasn't ...   more »

Rice, lawmakers met with Muslim sheik known for justifying attacks on Israelis for Islam'
Sheik Taysir Tamimi
A senior Muslim cleric who is a prominent justifier of suicide bombings met last week with senators and congressmen and consulted last month with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, WND has learned.
Sheik Taysir Tamimi, chief Palestinian justice, also claimed in a recently released book for which he was interviewed that the Torah was "falsified," Jewish and Christian history were "invented," the Jewish Temples never existed and the Al Aqsa Mosque was built by angels.
"I am very glad to have this occasion to speak to Congress and the Senate and have access to groups and individuals that form American policy," said Tamimi in a statement.
"I emphasized in the meetings the importance of religious coexistence and that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be solved without creating a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," the he said.
Tamimi is considered the second most important Palestinian cleric after Muhammad Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.
He met in Washington last week with a slew of lawmakers as part of a new interfaith religious organization – the Council for Religious Institutions in the Holy Land ...   more »

Russia's armed forces chief on Tuesday compared a US plan to station an anti-missile shield in central Europe to Moscow deploying missiles in Latin America.
Chief of Staff Yury Baluyevsky said on Russia Today television that the US plan to station a radar in the Czech Republic and interceptors in Poland amounted to meddling in Russia's backyard.
"When one of the viewers asked about (Russia) deploying missiles in Venezuela, to defend Venezuela from Iranian and other missiles, I would like to note that our partners from the United States are doing exactly what our viewer suggested us to do," Baluyevsky said.
Washington says it needs the missile shield to defend against possible threats from Iran and says the limited system could not threaten Russia's vast nuclear arsenal.
But Baluyevsky insisted that "those anti-missile rockets and that radar will be definitely aimed at Russia."
"Iran has no potential to manufacture an intercontinental ballistic missile able to reach the territory of the United States... at least until 2020," Baluyevsky said.
He said that "someone" in the United States still hoped "to secure the impunity of using weapons without getting something in return."
During an EU-Russia summit in Portugal last month, President Vladimir ...   more »

U.S. engaging in 5-year 'game-play' exercise for terror attacks, major disasters
By Jerome R. Corsi
President Bush at NORTHCOM command center
Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, and USNORTHCOM, the United States Northern Command, invited WND staff reporter Jerome R. Corsi to visit Peterson Air Force base to observe Day Three of the NORAD-USNORTHCOM exercise Vigilant Shield 2008.
Corsi was the first outside news reporter allowed inside the Joint Interagency Coordination Group, or JIACG, to observe command center operations during a real-time national training exercise.
This article is the second of a five-part, exclusive WND series, based on an interview at the NORAD/USNORTHCOM headquarters with Eugene G. Pino, a member of the Senior Executive Service, who serves as director of Joint Training and Exercise at NORAD-USNORTHCOM.
Under the direction of the Department of Homeland Security, NORAD-USNORTHCOM has begun planning comprehensive, multi-year exercises aimed at involving every U.S. state in game-playing designed to simulate national emergencies.
The emergencies planned in the exercise scenarios range from natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, to terrorist attacks and health emergencies, as envisioned in a possible avian flu epidemic or pandemic influenza.
The exercises are designed to involve a ...   more »