The American media missed the most important part of Osama bin Laden’s videotape message, according to Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir.[http://hamidmir.com]
    Mr. Mir, the only reporter to interview bin Laden in the wake of 9/11, said that the text of bin Laden’s address may have been redacted by government sources since a significant portion of it was not aired by major American news outlets.
    In the unaltered message, according to Mr. Mir, bin Laden says: “We must sacrifice our lives to attack the enemy.” This statement, Mr. Mir points out, is a call for suicide attacks to take place throughout the United States - - a call that was erased from official transcripts of the videotape.
    These suicide attacks, Mr. Mir believes, may involve the use of radiological devices and/or tactical nuclear weapons.
    Mr. Mir said that he had been informed by leaders of the Taliban in Afghanistan that al Qaeda’s long-planned American Hiroshima - - a nuclear attack on seven to ten U.S. cities - - will occur in 2008 but could come sooner.
    In June, ABC News reported that large teams of al Qaeda suicide bombers had been sent to the United ...   more »

Company didn't tell public of decade-old studies tying device to rat tumors
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients’ medical records almost instantly. The FDA found “reasonable assurance” the device was safe, and a sub-agency even called it one of 2005’s top “innovative technologies.”
But neither the company nor the regulators publicly mentioned this: A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had “induced” malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats.
“The transponders were the cause of the tumors,” said Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, explaining in a phone interview the findings of a 1996 study he led at the Dow Chemical Co. in Midland, Mich.
Leading cancer specialists reviewed the research for The Associated Press and, while cautioning that animal test results do not necessarily apply to humans, said the findings troubled them. Some said they would not allow family members to receive implants, and all urged further research before the glass-encased transponders are widely implanted in people.
To date, about 2,000 of the so-called radio frequency identification, or ...   more »

    BEIJING, Sept. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Using a cutting-edge technique that may someday find applications with humans, U.S. researchers have found a bee virus that appears strongly connected to mysterious devastation of commercial bee colonies nationwide for more than a year.
    Instead of trying to culture bacteria or isolate viruses — often a lengthy process — the researchers ground up the bees and rapidly sifted through all of the genetic material in search of a suspicious microorganism.
    The new study, published online Thursday by the journal Science, revealed nearly all affected colonies contained a recently identified virus called Israel Acute Paralysis Virus, or IAPV. By contrast, only one of 21 unaffected samples tested positive for the virus.
    The innovative method the scientists used may be applicable to the search for unusual germs that might underlie chronic human diseases such as obesity. That could be a lasting legacy of the hunt for the bee culprit, said study co-author Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, director of Columbia University's center for infection and immunity.
    "I really do think these new technologies will revolutionize our approach to epidemiology," Lipkin said. He said that if similar techniques had been applied to the ...   more »

Dems Call for Moratorium on Program, Expressing Privacy and Legal Concerns
By JASON RYAN
Traditionally, powerful spy satellites have been used to search for strategic threats overseas ranging from nuclear weapons to terrorist training camps.
But now the Department of Homeland Security has developed a new office to use the satellites to secure U.S. borders and protect the country from natural disasters.
Department of Homeland Security officials testified Thursday before the House Homeland Security Committee about the program and faced extensive criticism about the privacy and civil liberty concerns of the new office, called the National Applications Office.
The purpose of the National Applications Office is to provide the Department of Homeland Security and civil, state and local emergency planners with imagery and data from satellites run by the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.
Homeland Security Chief Intelligence Officer Charlie Allen said overhead imagery was used extensively after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, and has been used by the Secret Service for security preparations for events such as the Super Bowl.
"Some Homeland Security and law enforcement users also in the past routinely accessed imagery and other technical intelligence directly from the intelligence community, especially ...   more »

Official: 'Logistical Trans-Corridor of North America' open for business
By Jerome R. Corsi
The first Mexican truck authorized by a Bush administration program opening U.S. highways to trucking companies from south of the border crossed into the U.S. this morning at approximately 1:50 a.m. EDT at Laredo, Texas, headed for North Carolina, according to a report from Trucker.com.
WND research indicates Transportes Olympic, the Mexican trucking firm sending this morning's tractor trailer north, was actually selected to be the first across the border nearly six months ago, despite the administration's "last-minute" announcement of the carrier earlier this week – a revelation that has been described as an example of "stealth."
The designation of Transportes Olympic actually was made at a Feb. 22, 2007, ceremony held in Apodaca, a municipality of the city of Monterrey in the Mexican state Nuevo Leon, the headquarters location of Transportes Olympic.
The government ceremony in Mexico went virtually unreported in the U.S. media.
In attendance were Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, together with her Mexican counterpart, Luis Téllez, secretary of communications and transportation, and José Natividad Gonzáles Parás, governor of Nuevo Leon.
There Peters officially blessed Transportes Olympic as the first Mexican trucking company that ...   more »

Replica of the King Abdullah Economic City to be built at a pristine location off the Red Sea in the north of Jeddah. / Courtesy of Saudi Arabian Embassy
In what is considered the single largest private sector investment in Saudi Arabia, the announcement of the 'King Abdullah Economic City' to be built at a pristinelocation off the Red Sea in the north of Jeddah with an investment of $26.6 billion, is a signal of the dawn of a new era of economic prosperity for the citizens of the kingdom.
The project, which will be a New Age City being built today for tomorrow's generation of Saudi citizens, was officially launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin AbdulAziz AlSaud in the presence of Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz AlSaud, Saudi Crown Prince, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, and General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defense Minister and several dignitaries.
"The King Abdullah Economic City will be another jewel in the crown for Saudi Arabia and a shining example of what can be achieved for the common good when two brotherly nations get together for ever closer ...   more »

Syria began calling up its reserve army units on Sunday, as tensions continue to rise between Syria and Israel over the violation of Syria's airspace last week. According to the An Nahar daily newspaper, Syria has begun "calling up its reserve force."
Meanwhile Prime Minister Ehud Olmert praised the IDF for its courageous and unusual operation, but refrained from divulging details or referring directly to the alleged Israeli flyover. "I want to express my appreciation of the security forces courageous and unusual operations aimed at impeding the activities of terror groups," Olmert said at Sunday's cabinet meeting.
Speculation in the media over the reason Israeli war planes flew over Syria last week continues. Some reports claim that Israel wanted to film the sophisticated missiles Syria recently received from Russia, and others claimed that the aim was to film a secret Syrian military instillation. Whatever the reason, the fact that Israel chose to carry out an operation at such a sensitive time, shows that Prime Minister Olmert's government and the IDF have chosen determination and daring, over a waiting game and restraint.
Syria continues to mull over its response, however one cannot rule out the possibility that it will deploy its ...   more »

By AMY TEIBEL
JERUSALEM (Sept. 9) - Under threat from Romans ransacking Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, many of the city's Jewish residents crowded into an underground drainage channel to hide and later flee the chaos through Jerusalem's southern end unnoticed.  
Muhammed Muheisen, AP The channel is estimated to be six-tenths of a mile long, stretching from the Shiloah Pool to the disputed site known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Al Aqsa Mosque, above. Source: AP
The ancient tunnel was recently discovered buried beneath rubble, a monument to one of the great dramatic scenes of the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 A.D.
The channel was dug beneath what would become the main road of Jerusalem, the archaeology dig's directors, Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa and Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said Sunday. Shukron said excavators looking for the road happened upon a small drainage channel that led them to the discovery of the massive tunnel two weeks ago.
"We were looking for the road and suddenly we discovered it," Shukron said. "And the first thing we said was, 'Wow.'"
The walls of the tunnel - made of ...   more »

"Top [Syrian] political and military men are examining a series of potential responses. The results will come soon enough," Syrian Vice President Farouk a-Shara said Saturday evening, referring to the alleged IAF foray into Syrian airspace undertaken, so Syria claims, Wednesday overnight.
A-Shara, speaking to the Italian La Republica, revealed no other details, saying the matter was of "top national security."
Earlier Saturday, a Syrian government newspaper accused the US of encouraging Israel's reported violation of Syrian airspace by remaining silent on the issue.
"This new Israeli hostile operation was carried out in coordination between Washington and Tel Aviv," the Tishrin newspaper said in a front-page editorial. US silence can only be interpreted as an "overt and scandalous encouragement of Israel," it said.
Damascus has said that Israeli jets broke the sound barrier flying over northern Syria before dawn Thursday, then "dropped munitions" onto deserted areas after being shot at by Syria's air defenses.
It is still unclear exactly what happened, and Syria has stopped short of accusing Israel of purposely bombing its territory. An Israeli spokesman has said he could not comment on military operations.
"How could a superpower call for the establishment of peace and send invitations to ...   more »

Quoting anonymous Israeli official, Al-Arabiya news channel says Israeli aircraft that entered Syrian airspace on Thursday were sent to destroy Russian-made missile systems recently acquired by Damascus
Roee Nahmias and AP
Israeli aircraft that reportedly flew over Syrian territory two days ago were sent on a mission to destroy Russian-made missile systems recently acquired by Damascus, the Al-Arabiya news channel reported on Saturday.
The satellite channel attributed its report to an Israeli official who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue. 
A Hizbullah representative in the Lebanese parliament, said the purpose of the Israeli overflights was aimed at exerting military pressure on Iran over its controversial nuclear program.
"The aim of the infiltration of Syrian airspace was to identify a aggressive aerial passage to pressure Iran and members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ahead of discussions of Iran's nuclear program in the organization," Lebanese MP Mohammad Ra'ad.
"This in addition to sending aggressive messages to Syria after it was declared that it will not take part in the international peace conference to defend Israel. It is an attempt to alienate Syrian from all the diplomatic channels," he added. 
On Thursday, the Syrian ...   more »

An unnamed Turkish official demanded explanations from Israel, Saturday, after fuel tanks allegedly dropped by Israel F-151 planes who were conducting a foray into Syrian airspace Wednesday overnight, were found on the Turkish Syrian border.
Syrian claims of the incident remained unconfirmed in Israel, which remained absolutely mum on the incident.
Earlier Saturday, the Syrian government mouthpiece Tishrin accused the US of encouraging Israel by keeping in line with its media silence and refusing to issue its own statement on the issue.
The Turkish paper Hurriyet published blurry photos of what it claimed were detachable fuel tanks of the Israeli planes. The tanks were found near the Turkey-Syria border.
Reportedly Turkey was demanding whether the Israeli planes also passed over its own airspace.
It should be noted that IAF jets regularly practice in Turkish airspace with Turkish consent, and that the Turkish air force conducts joint drills with the IAF and the American Air Force (USAF) on a regular basis.
Earlier Saturday, Tzahi Hanegbi, chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee told Israel Radio that "Israel and Syria don't have an interest in conflict, and the United States, along with Arab countries, are making sure not to cause ...   more »

Israeli police announced on Sunday the arrest of a gang of alleged neo-Nazis, all immigrants from the former Soviet Union, accused of waging attacks on foreigners and religious Jews, in a case that has deeply shocked the Jewish state.
The eight men, aged 16 to 21 and including the suspected leader of the group, were arrested after a year-long investigation, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
One of the members of the group has left the country and remains at large, he said, adding that the first suspect was arrested on July 23 and the last on September 6 when he returned to the country from a trip abroad.
A court in Ramle ordered seven of the suspects to be held for another 48 hours pending a review of the police evidence against them, and was to rule on the eighth suspect on Monday, judicial sources said.
"We want them to be charged with being involved in neo-Nazi activities," Rosenfeld said.
The youths are suspected of carrying out "attacks on religious Jews, Asians and foreigners" and having contacts with neo-Nazi groups abroad, Rosenfeld said.
"It is difficult to believe that Nazi ideology sympathisers can exist in Israel, but it is ...   more »

by Diane Faber Veitzer
Having just turned 43, never married, no kids, I was having a tough time getting up the enthusiasm to pray for these same things once again
Two years ago, I approached the High Holidays with a certain sense of "here we go again." Having just turned 43, never married, no kids, I was having a tough time getting up the enthusiasm to pray for these same things. How many times can you ask for the same thing, and get the same answer?
In shul Rosh Hashanah morning, I saw that two of the young women in our community were standing up throughout the repetition of the Musaf service. These two girls, Sara and Tova, were the daughters of close friends my age. Both about 18 or 19, they were each just back from a post-high-school year studying in Jerusalem, and now, according to our community's custom, "ready to get married." I knew that these girls would be praying fervently to find their basherts (soul mates) quickly and easily.
I had some understanding of why they stood through Musaf. It is an especially long prayer service, and one is not required to stand throughout, but it is ...   more »