Defense officials fuming at secretary's meddling
By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM – The removal of a series of Israeli anti-terror roadblocks yesterday was overseen directly by the U.S. and was carried out under heavy pressure from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, defense officials in Jerusalem told WND.
The removals also may have enabled an attempted terrorist attack against two Jewish civilians. The foiled attack yesterday, in the northern West Bank, was carried out just hours after Israel began lifting the roadblocks and was in an area where a major roadblock had been removed.
Defense officials here strongly opposed the roadblock removals, saying the obstacles impede the mobility of terrorists. Palestinians complain the roadblocks also make it more difficult for them to travel throughout the West Bank. The majority of West Bank roadblocks were established in the late 1990's following repeated terrorist attacks from the territory.
In yesterday's incident, an Israeli man shot and killed a Palestinian armed with a knife after he approached the Israeli and a teenager at a popular hitchhiking stop between the West Bank Jewish communities of Shiloh and Eli, about 20 miles from Jerusalem. 
Senior leaders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the so-called military ...   more »

By:  Elyakim Haetzni
                       Complaints we have in Israel against American Jews are not directed at the various George Soroses or Noam Chomskys, or at those Jews uninterested in the fate of the Jews in the Jewish state. We address our cries to those for whom Eretz Yisrael still holds a place in their hearts – and to their organizations and institutions. We ask them the following: Where are you in our hour of need? Don’t you know that if we sink, the ground beneath your own feet will quake? Have you not yet learned that the very fact that the Jews have their own country has buttressed your status in the Diaspora?  
                       Until this very day you regret your silence during the Holocaust, which derived from your great admiration for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and from the fear of being accused of dual loyalties. Today when you weigh those fears against the annihilation of the millions, you see matters in their proper proportions. Yet today your conscience is called upon once more to make a similar decision – albeit one much simpler, for today’s America is not like the anti-Semitic America of that time.
                       Don’t you ...   more »

By Dana G Smith
Keywords: Iran, US, Bush, Nuc’s, War
In recent developments, the Bush administration seems to be preparing for an assault on Iran. That is according to the latest military data from Russian Military Intelligence. The report was cited on the Russian news and Information agency news sites, one of the most authoritative and professional sources of prompt information in Russia and abroad, that is according to their own website. The RIA Novosti has a correspondent network in the Russian Federation, CIS and over 40 non CIS countries. It reported that: The latest military intelligence data point to heightened U.S. military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran,' the official said, adding that the Pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched.
He said the Pentagon is looking for a way to deliver a strike against Iran 'that would enable the Americans to bring the country to its knees at minimal cost.'
He also said the U.S. Naval presence in the Persian Gulf has for the first time in the past four years reached the level that existed shortly before the invasion of Iraq in March ...   more »

'Least prepared for chemical attack we've been in 20 years'
Defense Ministry, National Emergency Administration to upgrade atomic, biological, chemical protection kits; MK Steinitz warns redistribution plan lacks deadlines, endangers public
Roni Sofer
"The cabinet's decision to upgrade the kits without clearly setting any deadlines is a farce that repeats all the mistakes made in the neglect of the home front during the Second Lebanon War. I can already see the committee of inquiry into the next war, and it will be far worse than Winograd," MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said on Wednesday.
Home Front Readiness  
Barak authorizes nationwide emergency drill / Hanan Greenberg  
Defense establishment, government and cabinet all to participate in exercise simulating crisis situation as part of upcoming national emergency drill to be held in April. Drill part of implementation of lessons from Second Lebanon War     
The defense establishment announced earlier in the day that the atomic, biological, and chemical protection kits recently collected from the public will be upgraded and redistributed. 
The decision to redistribute the kits was made by the Defense Ministry, in view of the recent ground-to-ground missile threats made evident against Israel and in an attempt to boost home front ...   more »

Prominent jurist Prof. Kremnitzer warns Knesset committee that civil war may break out over proposed referendum on status of Jerusalem, Golan Heights
Zvi Lavi
Could a referendum on the future of contested Israeli land end in civil war? Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer, a renowned legalist, stated during a Knesset committee meeting, that “a referendum on the future of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights may very well end in bloodshed.”  
City United   
MK Netanyahu: I will not allow for the division of Jerusalem / Roni Sofer  
Likud chairman says he informed Rice that he would not endorse declaration of principles calling for a return to 1967 borders. 'Israel would be taking a great risk if it currently commits to territorial concessions,' Netanyahu says      
During the Knesset committee meeting, deliberating a privately sponsored bill to establish a referendum on governmental territorial concessions, Professor Kremnitzer warned that “if such a referendum comes down to an extremely close vote, especially if the Arab public is allowed to take part in it, then certain segments of the Israeli public might very well dispute the legitimacy of the referendum results and resist them through violent means.”.  
Following committee deliberations, however, the government ...   more »

The Kingdom 'braces for nuclear war'  
Saudi Arabia is reportedly preparing to counter any 'radioactive hazards' which may result from a US strike on Iran's nuclear plants.
Popular government-guided Saudi newspaper Okaz recently reported that the Saudi Shura Council approved of nuclear fallout preparation plans only a day after US Vice President Dick Cheney met with the Kingdom's high ranking officials, including King Abdullah.
As a result of the Shura ruling, the Saudi government will start the implementation of 'national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the Kingdom following expert warnings of possible attacks on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactors'.
As the details of Cheney's recent discussions with his Arab allies remain unclear, pundits have begun to question the timing of the drastic measure by the Shura.
Analysts claim the Bush administration had long rattled sabers with Iran over its nuclear program and is now informing its Arab allies of a potential war, in turn, allowing them to take precautionary measures.
With the sudden resignation of Admiral William Fallon, a high-ranking US military official who was a fierce critic of White House war rhetoric against Iran, and reports of the recent deployment of ...   more »

By Stan Goodenough
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrapped up a two day visit to Israel and the Middle East Monday, but warned the Israelis that she will be monitoring them even more closely to ensure that they carry out their obligations under the Annapolis agreement.
Her visit - the third this year - was aimed at tightening the screws on Israel in order to be able to nail down a framework agreement by May 14 for the establishment of a Palestinian state on historical Jewish land.
US President George W. Bush is scheduled to be in Israel on that date, which marks - on the Gregorian calendar - the 60th anniversary of Israel's Declaration of Independence.
For the American administration, the dates appear to be part of the strategy. The Annapolis Conference was held on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations vote partitioning Palestine between Jews and Arabs.
At that event, under intense pressure from host Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to set November 4 this year as a deadline for reaching a final agreement with PLO Chief Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority.
And Bush said Sunday, according to the German newspaper Die Welt: ...   more »

'The bigger question is why are we doing business with a communist-based country'
By Michael Howe 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – China is advancing quickly on the U.S. trucking industry with its dominating presence at the world's largest trucking trade show, held here this weekend.
Signs were posted identifying exhibits run by between 120 and 140 individuals as representatives of some 40 Chinese companies at this year's Mid-America Trucking Show.
"What we are seeing is a manifestation of the Pacific Rim Market. But their products are inferior and do not hold up. They are cheaper, but the quality is not there," Collin Genge, an American truck driver for Bay Area Transport, said.
It is more than just inferior products that bothers Genge.
"The bigger question is why are we doing business with a communist-based country with such human rights violations and basic disregard for labor rights," he wonders.
While the Chinese booths sit empty much of the time, there is the occasional contact. Kevin Hu is a manager for Shenzhen BYF Semi-trailer Parts from South ShenZhen China. He says the trip was well worth it. 
"We are here to make contacts so we can compete on the global market," he told WND....   more »

By Mitch Albom    
Spirituality without religion can be deadly
Prayer is good. But it doesn't mean you can just sit there.
An 11-year-old Wisconsin girl grew deathly ill recently while her parents prayed for her recovery. They weren't in a hospital. They weren't in an emergency room. They were in their home. Although the girl had probably, for about a month, shown symptoms such vomiting, nausea and extreme thirst — all signs of a diabetic condition — they refused to call a doctor.
G-d, they felt, would take care of it.
"We stayed fast in prayer," the mother told the media. "We believed that she would recover."
Instead, the girl died.
The parents say they follow the Bible. But someone has to show me where in the Bible it says that doctors are evil, a heathen concept, an insult to your faith. Until then, these cases of adults allowing children to suffer — in some cases, die — in the name of true believing is nothing more than killing while on your knees.
The girl, Madeline Neumann, reportedly had not seen a doctor since she was 3. Three? That alone is a serious concern. How many of your kids ...   more »

Christianity Today Magazine On 'Spiritual Disaster Preparedness': Will Christians Show The Will To Pursue Prevention Of Pending Threats?
At 10:13 a.m. on Sunday, May 25, 2008, a 14-foot U-Haul truck will abruptly come to an inexplicable stop in the middle of the 900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. There, in the heart of downtown Washington, D.C., only yards away from the FBI and the Justice Department, the nuclear warhead hidden in the truck's cargo bed will explode... at 15 kilotons, the blast radius will cover 1.5 miles, encompassing and destroying the White House, the Capitol Building and Congressional offices, and the Supreme Court; the buildings housing the IRS and the Departments of Energy, Commerce, and Transportation; and the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian, and the National Mall and Museums. That morning the district will be bustling with workers clearing their inboxes prior to the long Memorial Day weekend and tourists who are already making the rounds. Tens of thousands of people will die in the first minutes. The dead include the majority of all nationally elected officials, including the President and Vice-President, as well as the core employees in each branch of the government. Additional tens of thousands will die both quickly ...   more »

By Bob Unruh
Park Church in Elmira, N.Y.
A United Church of Christ congregation in upstate New York is pursuing a felony criminal mischief charge against a Christian who allegedly protested a homosexual festival by anointing its church building with cooking or baking oil.
A status hearing was held today in the case brought by the Park Church of Elmira, N.Y., against Holly Somers. Prosecutors confirmed Somers had been charged but not yet indicted and there had been discussions with a public defender representing her.
It is the second criminal case to emerge from the city's promotional event for "gay" pride in 2007. WND previously reported a case against four Christians fined for praying in Wisner Park, the public park adjacent to Park Church, during the pride festival.
A notice of appeal now has been filed in that case by the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal alliance that defends the right to hear and speak the truth.
"Christians shouldn't be punished for expressing their religious beliefs," said Joel Oster, a senior legal counsel for the ADF. "They have the same First Amendment rights as anyone else in America."
That case stems from a visit by seven Christians to the "gay" ...   more »

Food stamps are the symbol of poverty in the US. In the era of the credit crunch, a record 28 million Americans are now relying on them to survive – a sure sign the world's richest country faces economic crisis
By David Usborne in New York
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
We knew things were bad on Wall Street, but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families.
Dismal projections by the Congressional Budget Office in Washington suggest that in the fiscal year starting in October, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.
The increase – from 26.5 million in 2007 – is due partly to recent efforts to increase public awareness of the programme and also a switch from paper coupons to electronic debit cards. But above all it is the pressures being exerted on ordinary Americans by an economy that is suddenly beset by troubles. ...   more »

By Chuck Baldwin
America's most celebrated jurist, Daniel Webster (himself a dedicated
Christian man), said, "God grants liberty only to those who love it,  and
are always ready to guard and defend it." Obviously, Christian men  down
through our history have personally and collectively shown  themselves more
than willing to "guard and defend" our liberties. From  Bunker Hill to the
Alamo, Christian men stood tall in the defense of  America's freedom. So, it
is more than a little disconcerting to  realize that there is a sizeable
percentage of today's Christians who  seem completely unwilling to "guard
and defend" liberty in these  United States of America.
Oh, I know that almost all of our pastors and church leaders will laud  and
honor a young Christian man's decision to join our armed forces  and go
overseas to fight enemies abroad. But when it comes to opposing  those
within our own country who seek to dismantle constitutional  government or
the principles of liberty, their support for resistance  turns to apathy and
indifference. (The reason for this couldn't be  because they simply don't
want to do the hard work, could it? Please  tell me it ain't so!)
I have even had Christians tell me ...   more »

Yes, says author of new bilingual children's book 
LOS ANGELES – It's a publishing first. In his new kids' book, "Joey Gonzalez, Great American," author Tony Robles takes on one of today's most polarizing issues – affirmative action.
Using words and pictures that kids can easily understand, "Joey Gonzalez" shows how government programs designed to "help" children are often the ones that do the most harm.
In fact, the idea for "Joey Gonzalez" came about because of the author's own educational experience – one based on merit, not race.
"I attended Boys' High School in New York in the '60s," says Tony Robles. "Even though the students were primarily minority and low-income, we were held to strict academic standards. The principal and staff were committed to helping us succeed by showing us that we could compete with anyone."
It was this strong foundation in part that led to Robles' successful career in law enforcement.
In today's schools, however, competition has become a dirty word, he says. Affirmative action is a policy, says Robles, that pits kids against each other in all the wrong ways. Instead of being challenged and prepared to compete in the real world, Robles contends that "minority ...   more »