by Sara Yoheved Rigler
Passover: Why redemptive things happen to good people.
One day in 1962, something terrible happened to Dick and Judy Hoyt. After nine months of joyful anticipation of the birth of their first child, something went terribly wrong. During the delivery, the umbilical cord coiled around the baby's neck, cutting off oxygen to his brain. The baby was born brain-damaged and quadriplegic, coupled with cerebral palsy. The doctors said that the child would be a vegetable all his life, and recommended putting him into an institution.
Dick and Judy refused. They brought their son Rick home, determined to make the best of the situation. Six years later, when the local public school refused Rick as a student, Dick and Judy themselves taught him the alphabet.
Although Rick could neither talk nor move, Dick and Judy were convinced that he comprehended what was going on around him and that he was as intelligent as his two younger brothers. Rick was 11 years old when his parents raised $5,000 and approached computer engineers at Tufts University to build a computer that would allow Rick to communicate using the only motion he controlled, slight lateral head movements. The engineers refused, ...   more »

By Aaron Klein 
JERUSALEM – Israeli officials here are giving former president Jimmy Carter the cold shoulder for his plans to meet the chief of the Hamas terrorist group, which the U.S. and Israel have been attempting to isolate.   
The State Department and its director, Condoleezza Rice, even criticized Carter for his reported plans to meet Hamas. 
But the Israeli government and Rice have no moral authority whatsoever to judge Carter while they are enabling terrorists far more active than Hamas. 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak all reportedly turned down requests to see Carter, who arrived in Israel today and is due in Syria later this week, where he is likely to meet Hamas chieftain Khaled Meshaal, who resides under protection in Damascus. 
The State Department says it twice advised Carter against meeting any Hamas representative. Rice told reporters this weekend she finds it "hard to understand what is going to be gained by having discussions with Hamas about peace when Hamas is, in fact, the impediment to peace." 
Hamas is listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization. The group is responsible for scores of deadly suicide bombings, and ...   more »

by Hillel Fendel(IsraelNN.com) "When Israel's ideology will collapse, and after we take Jerusalem, Israel's ideology will collapse altogether, and then we will proceed with our own ideology, inshallah [if Allah wills], and we will throw them out of all of Palestine."  So said Abbas Zaki, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to Lebanon on Lebanese television last week, according to a translation by MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute).
Expressing strong support for terror attacks against Israel, Zaki said, "We believe wholeheartedly that the Right of Return [of millions of Arabs and their descendants who left Israel in 1948 and 1967 -ed.] is guaranteed by our will, by our weapons, and by our faith." 
Asked if this means he believes "in weapons, not just in negotiations," Zaki said that neither of them is effective by itself: "The use of weapons alone will not bring results, and the use of politics without weapons will not bring results. We act on the basis of our extensive experience. We analyze our situation carefully. We know what climate leads to victory and what climate leads to suicide."
"We talk politics," Zaki said, "but our principles are clear. It was our pioneering leader, Yasser Arafat, who persevered ...   more »

Tovah Lazaroff ,
Former US president Jimmy Carter called on Monday for Hamas and Syria to be brought into the peace process and for the America to open a dialogue with Iran.
"I think it is absolutely crucial that in a final dreamed-about and prayed-for peace agreement for this region, Hamas be involved and Syria be involved," said Carter as he addressed a technology conference hosted by The Marker at Airport City outside of Tel Aviv.
When asked about the Iranian threat, Carter added that his government must "talk directly to Iran." In spite of his Nobel Prize for Peace and his role during his presidency in brokering the 1979 peace deal between Israel and Egypt, Carter said that his work in the Middle East remained undone.
"One of the un-met needs of my life for the last 30 years has been to help bring permanent peace and security to this country, and also peace and justice to the surrounding communities," said Carter.
He spent Monday explaining that he was simply here on a fact-finding mission for his center.
But throughout the day he spoke of the role he could play in working toward a cease-fire, in the release of ...   more »

Yaakov Katz
Israel is increasingly concerned that the United States will allow the sale of fifth-generation, stealth-enabled Joint Strike Fighter jets - aka the F-35 Lightning II - to Saudi Arabia, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
But while this could pose a major challenge for the IDF, defense officials told the Post on Sunday it also presented Israel with a unique opportunity to ask the Americans for new advanced technology that would not be sold to the Saudis, to enable Israel to retain its qualitative edge in the region.
Two weeks ago, the head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Military Bureau, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, met with Pentagon officials in Washington and reached understandings concerning certain arms purchases. A week earlier, Defense Ministry director-general Pinhas Buchris was at the Pentagon for similar talks.
Defense officials said Sunday that the two visits had been used to present the Americans with a "shopping list" that Israel hoped would be finalized in the coming months. Leading the American side of the talks was Beth McCormick, the acting deputy undersecretary of defense for technology security policy and national disclosure policy.
In June, Gilad met with McCormick to present Israel's objections to a proposed US sale ...   more »

A sermon last Friday by a prominent Muslim cleric and Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament openly declared that "the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital," would soon be conquered by Islam.
The fiery sermon, delivered by Yunis al-Astal and aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV, predicted that Rome would become "an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread though Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, even Eastern Europe."
"Allah has chosen you for Himself and for His religion," al-Astal preached, "so that you will serve as the engine pulling this nation to the phase of succession, security and consolidation of power, and even to conquests through da'wa and military conquests of the capitals of the entire world.
"Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our prophet Muhammad," he added.
Al-Astal last June preached how it was the duty of Palestinian women to martyr themselves by becoming homicide bombers.
"The most exalted form of jihad is fighting for the sake of Allah, which means sacrificing one's soul by fighting the enemies head-on, even if it leads to martyrdom," he said in a ...   more »

THE WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL - Ambassador Ryan Crocker, a veteran of more than three and a half decades in the U.S. Foreign Service, chooses his words with great care and is not given to bombast. So, when the United States ambassador to Iraq suggests that a precipitous withdrawal of American troops from that country could lead to a bloodbath on the scale of the Rwandan genocide of of the 1990s, serious people need to listen.
Mr. Crocker, who is expected to retire in January when the next president of the United States is sworn in, speaks bluntly about the need for a mature discussion in this country about what will happen if U.S. troops are withdrawn before Iraq is stabilized. "I hear people say: Bring the troops home and end the war," Mr. Crocker said Friday at a roundtable with journalists at the State Department. "My g-d... It's going to give you a... war of significantly greater proportions. I remember how we reacted to Rwanda," Mr. Crocker said, referring to the genocide that occurred in 1994, in which an estimated 800,000 people were slaughtered.
If American forces in Iraq are seen to be "heading for the doors" not because conditions ...   more »

 BY HARRY DUNPHY,
The president of the World Bank on Sunday urged immediate action to deal with mounting food prices that have caused hunger and deadly violence in several countries.
Robert Zoellick said the international community has "to put our money where our mouth is" and act now to help hungry people. "It is as stark as that."
He called on governments to rapidly carry out commitments to provide the U.N. World Food Program with $500 million in emergency aid it needs by May 1.
"It is critical that governments confirm their commitments as soon as possible and others begin to commit," Zoellick said. Prices have only risen further since the WFP issued that appeal, so it is urgent that governments step up, he said.
After a meeting of the bank's policy-setting committee, Zoellick said that the fall of the government in Haiti over the weekend after a wave of deadly rioting and looting over food prices underscores the importance of quick international action. A U.N. police officer was killed Sunday in Haiti's capital.
He said the bank is granting an additional $10 million to Haiti for feeding programs, "and I understand others are looking to help."
Zoellick said the ...   more »

By Alice Lipowicz
Sponsored By 
The Homeland Security Department today published notice it will begin testing an International Registered Traveler program at three airports starting June 10 to expedite airport clearances for prescreened travelers.
Initially, the pilot program is available only to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. The eventual goal is to coordinate with other international trusted traveler programs around the globe to allow pre-screened, low-risk foreign visitors to participate as well, according to the notice published today in the Federal Register.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency will operate the six-month pilot program at JFK International in New York; George Bush Intercontinental in Houston; and at Washington Dulles. Applications to participate are due by May 12.
Under the program, travelers who are registered in the program may bypass passport control when returning to the United States. Instead, they may verify their identities at automated kiosks at the Federal Inspection Services area of each airport. The program will use fingerprint biometric technology for the verifications.
At the kiosk, the traveler will insert into a reader either their machine-readable passport or machine-readable permanent-resident card. Then, the traveler must provide fingerprints electronically, pose for a digital photograph and respond to questions ...   more »

Allie Martin -
The former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court is calling for more Christians in America to be educated and informed about activist judges and the liberal agenda to remove the mention of God from the public square.
In 2003, Roy Moore was kicked out of office for refusing to obey a federal judge's order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building in Montgomery. Now, Moore is chairman of the Foundation for Moral Law -- which represents individuals involved in religious liberty cases, and holds seminars about the Godly heritage of America. 
Moore says Americans are becoming increasingly aware of the true liberal agenda, and the attempts by governmental authorities to play thought police. "Five years ago, people did not understand what the true issue was," he explains. "I think more and more people are coming to the realizations that ... government [is] attempting to control your mind, control what you think." 
According to Moore, a good example of this "thought control" is a proposed hate crimes law in Pennsylvania, which would punish people for what they think. He says according to that law, if a person committed a crime they could also ...   more »

BY GARY FINEOUT
Even though Florida now has more than 100 specialized license tags, the Republican-controlled Legislature may soon add one more: a colorful license plate that features the words ''I Believe'' set among a resplendent sunrise and the image of a cross in front of stained-glass window.
Florida already has tags that feature manatees, the Challenger space shuttle, panthers, and football teams. In 1999, lawmakers approved a controversial ''Choose Life'' tag that was seen by some critics as promoting a religious anti-abortion message and was initially challenged in the courts.
time to give something to motorists who care about their faith, not their favorite football team.
''They may not be into the manatee, they may not be into Challenger,'' Bullard said. ``That segment, which is a large segment of the population, can now get a tag that they like and can express their beliefs.''
Sen. Mike Fasano, a New Port Richey Republican who is sponsoring a measure that would create four different plates -- including the ''I Believe'' tag as well as a lighthouse tag and a ''In God We Trust'' plate -- said he saw no problem with letting motorists decide if they want to pay the extra ...   more »

By VERENA DOBNIK
NEW YORK (AP) — A man who worked in the admissions department at a prestigious Manhattan hospital has been charged with stealing and selling information on nearly 50,000 patients.
Dwight McPherson, 38, a former worker at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, was arrested Friday night, shortly after the hospital announced the security breach.
McPherson was arraigned Saturday in federal court in Manhattan. He is charged with computer fraud, identity document fraud, transmission of stolen property and sale of stolen property. U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV ordered McPherson not to leave the New York area before his next scheduled court appearance May 12.
Prosecutors said McPherson exploited his access to the hospital's computer registration system to acquire lists of patient names, phone numbers and Social Security numbers over a two-year period.
Authorities became aware that something was amiss when printouts of patient records were discovered in Atlanta during an investigation by postal inspectors, according to a complaint filed by prosecutors Saturday.
McPherson confessed to a role in the identity-theft scheme when he was interrogated by agents on Friday, an inspector said in the complaint.
McPherson told agents that in 2006 he was approached by someone ...   more »