Battalion Of Deborah

Last Fanatic

Publisher — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:04:10 -0500

The Oslo Accords and the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza are now widely recognized as tragic errors of immense proportions. Now, we face an even greater danger as the Israeli government, in the wake of the Annapolis summit, is scrambling to give away parts of Israel piece by piece in the pursuit of yet another false peace. We must respond ....

New Israeli security system will read terrorists' minds

Publisher — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:42:32 -0400

An Israeli technology firm established in 2003 with the express purpose of developing a system to identify individuals intent on causing mayhem is close to releasing a deployable product.
WeCu (text messaging lingo for "we see you") was set up by leading Israeli researchers at the height of the Palestinian suicide bombing campaign in order to find a technological solution to Israel's growing security problems.
The company's new system, as reported by Ha'retz, can be set up in public areas where it would quietly and quickly scan people without their knowledge. The system uses biometric sensors to determine if an individual is planning to carry out a terror attack, even if the suspect is not carrying a bomb or other weapons at that time. Many terrorists case their targets at least once before carrying out an attack.
If successful, the system would greatly ease the pressure on Israel's security forces and private security firms hired to protect public and private establishments from schools to cafes.
Original Source

Rabbi: Israel needs religious PM

Publisher — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:32:27 -0400

Safed's chief rabbi: Turns out that Olmert is more corrupt than we thought, PM with values needed
Efrat Weiss
The State of Israel needs a kippa-wearing prime minister, Safed's Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu wrote in an article titled "A religious prime minister – it's possible" distributed at synagogues over the weekend.
Rabbi Eliyahu's article also addressed the latest investigation against the prime minister, noting that "it turns out that Olmert is more corrupt than we thought."
"So what shall we do? Elect another prime minister without faith? Another one without credibility? Another one without values?…when will we wake up and realize that we need a prime minister with a kippa?"
"We need a prime minister who acts based on genuine faith and values. We've had enough of prime ministers who bought us by just saying 'God willing' and sold out the Sinai…we certainly don't need a prime minister who establishes and then razes communities with the same determination and sensitivity," Eliyahu wrote. "The last prime ministers proved that even if they have good intentions, they are able to sell off the country and Jerusalem in one deal, and they are able to put all of us in ...

Fight of his life

Publisher — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:21:48 -0400

Olmert has faced quite a few tough moments, but latest probe may be the toughest
Sima Kadmon
We will likely never forget Thursday evening, the end of the State of Israel’s 60th Independence Day. And it’s a good thing that we won’t forget it.
Even a cynical and sober public, which in the past few years has become accustomed to acts of corruption by its leaders, found it difficult to hear the suspicions pertaining to the prime minister. It is indeed true that the public treats all politicians as if they are in one boat: All are corrupt, self-interested, and take care of themselves first. Yet the offence Olmert is suspected of belongs to a whole new ballgame and completely changes the way we address this affair.
if he is suspected of accepting a bribe, he won’t be able to rely on the well-known Olmertian technique: A combination of law and spins, arguments and delays. He knows that suspicions of having received large sums of money that went into his pocket, in cash, inside envelopes, for years, are a whole new story, and Olmert made an effort to disprove it Thursday night.
I never accepted a ...

Tehran is here

Publisher — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:09:23 -0400

Israel will eventually have to act, as Lebanon turns into Iranian colony
Alex Fishman Pu
The weekend’s events in Lebanon are a painful reminder that in a year Iran will be officially situated on our northern border. We need to get used to it.
Barring any surprises, in the next parliamentary elections Lebanon will fall into the hands of Hizbullah and turn into an Iranian colony. We are only minor players in this story. This isn’t 1982, and we have no desire or ability to intervene. We also don’t have powerful allies in Lebanon, so we can’t do anything.
Chaos
Fighting in northern Lebanon as Hizbullah ends Beirut takeover
Siniora and Hariri, who head the coalition that pushed Syria out of Lebanon, are currently breathing their last breaths in regional history – and they know it. They reached this situation, among other reasons, thanks to the twisted foreign policy led by Condoleezza Rice.
On one hand, during the months of the presidential crisis the American Administration forbade Siniora to agree to a compromise, which he could have reached, with Hizbullah. On the other hand, the US did not provide Lebanon’s prime minister with the military ...

USS Cole making its way back to Mediterranean as crisis between western-backed coaltion and Hizbullah-led opposition escalates

Publisher — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:25:15 -0400

US warship heads back to Mediterranean amid Lebanon crisis

AS warship, which was deployed off Lebanon in February amid concern over Beirut's political crisis, crossed Egypt's Suez Canal on Sunday on its way to the Mediterranean, an official with the canal authority told AFP.
"The USS Cole has crossed the Suez Canal and is headed to the Mediterranean," the official said, adding he did not know its exact destination.
Lebanon Clashes
The United States sent the guided-missile destroyer to waters off the coast of Lebanon on February 28, in what US officials said was "a show of support for regional stability" amid concerns over Lebanon's protracted political crisis.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had defended the earlier deployment saying it was designed to show Washington's readiness to defend the interests of its allies in the region.
In March the USS Cole had left the region for the Gulf.
Fighting between supporters of the Western-backed ruling coalition and the Hizbullah-led opposition which erupted in Beirut on Wednesday swiftly spread around the country and has killed 42 people.
Lebanon has been without a president since last November amid political feuding between the ruling majority and the ...

History textbooks promoting Islam

Publisher — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:14:37 -0400

New report says Muslim activists 'succeeding' in expunging criticism
History textbooks being used by hundreds of thousands of public school students across the U.S. are blatantly promoting Islam, according to a new report by an independent organization that researches and reviews textbooks.
WND has reported several times on issues involving the promotion of Islam in public school texts, including a recent situation in which California parents complained their children were being taught that "jihad" to Muslims means "doing good works."
The new report is from the American Textbook Council, which was established in 1989 as an independent national research organization to review social studies textbooks and advance the quality of instructional materials in history.
In the two-year project, whose report was authored by Gilbert T. Sewall, the ATC reviewed five junior and five high school world and American history texts, concluding:
"Many political and religious groups try to use the textbook process to their advantage, but the deficiencies in Islam-related lessons are uniquely disturbing. History textbooks present an incomplete and confected view of Islam that misrepresents its foundations and challenges to international security."
The report finds that the texts present "disputed definitions and claims [regarding Islam] … as established facts."...

China preparing for nuclear war

Publisher — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:59:52 -0400

Analysts say Beijing getting ready for ops beyond Far East
Hainan Island
LONDON – Defense analysts for the British intelligence service MI6 believe China is preparing for the "eventuality of a nuclear war." The conclusion follows evidence that Beijing has built secretly a major naval base deep inside caverns which even sophisticated satellites cannot penetrate, says a report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
In an unusual development, the analysts have provided details to the specialist defense periodical, Jane's Intelligence Review, which published satellite images of the base location which is hidden beneath millions of tons of rock on the South China Sea island of Hainan.
The MI6 analysts have confirmed the submarine base hewn out of the rock will contain up to 20 of the latest C94 Jin-Class submarines, each capable of firing anti-satellite missiles and nuclear tipped rockets.
Knocking out the satellites would leave Taiwan, Japan and other countries around the Pacific Rim effectively without a key warning system. An attack also would disrupt vital communications between U.S. battle squadrons in the region and Washington.
Satellite images studied by GCHQ, Britain's spy in the sky intelligence gathering organization based at Cheltenham that works closely with the U.S. National Security ...

Pastors Urged to Preach About Politics, in Hopes of Toppling IRS Ban

Publisher — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:53:30 -0400

NEW YORK — Conservative legal advocates are recruiting pastors nationwide to defy an IRS ban on preaching about politicians, in a challenge they hope will abolish the restriction.
The Alliance Defense Fund, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., will ask the clergy to deliver a sermon about specific candidates Sept. 28. If the action triggers an IRS investigation, the legal group will sue to overturn the federal rules, which were enacted in 1954.
Under the IRS code, churches can distribute voter guides, run voter registration drives, hold forums on public policy and invite politicians to speak at their congregations.
However, they cannot endorse a candidate, and their political activity cannot be biased for or against a candidate, directly or indirectly.
The Alliance Defense Fund said Friday that the regulations amount to an unconstitutional limit on free speech and government intrusion into religion.
“It certainly does have a chilling effect,” said Mike Johnson, senior counsel for the fund. “I think that there is a lot of fear and intimidation and disinformation about the parameters that do exist.”
Johnson said about 100 pastors have expressed interest in participating so far.
The IRS has stepped up monitoring of nonprofit political activity during the 2008 election. ...

SmartMetric Announces That Your Fingerprint Will Make Credit Card Signatures

Publisher — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:45:04 -0400

ATM PIN Numbers a Thing of the Past
SmartMetric, Inc. (OTCBB: SMME) said today that its new Biometric Card will make signing a credit card or inputting a PIN number for your ATM card a thing of the past. With Identity Theft becoming the largest crime in the United States, a new and safer way of using credit and debit cards has become a quest for Banks around the World. After more then 8 years of R&D, SmartMetric has announced today that it now can replace signatures and PIN numbers with a person's fingerprint thereby providing a 100% guarantee that the person making the transaction is who they say they are.
Inside your credit card is the smallest fingerprint scanner and reader in the world. Powered by an internal battery as thin as tissue paper the SmartMetric Biometric Fingerprint Card will only work when the card scans and reads the card owner's fingerprint. You become the key. Only the person authorized to use the card can turn it on. The company President, Mr. Colin Hendrick, said this represents a revolution in credit card security that has the potential to make his company, SmartMetric, Inc., a world leader in the credit ...

'Lost' Christians Greatest Crisis in American Church, says Author

Publisher — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:41:38 -0400

PORTLAND, Ore. - The inability of the church to discuss a topic that has become taboo among many Christians is one of the root causes why millions of Americans are leaving the church and never to return, says one author.
It's not that these Christians lost their salvation, but that they have lost their faith in the Bible, the church and Christian beliefs, said the author, who was addressing attendants at the annual convention of the Evangelical Press Association in Portland, Ore.
Over 31 million Americans are part of this exodus from the church, Samford said, citing a Barna Group study.
"Any business that is losing 31 million customers is going out of business," he told a room of Christian journalists and editors. "[It] is the greatest crisis among Christians today in the U.S., Canada and some parts of Europe…We must break the silence in our publications.”
In his upcoming book, If God Disappears: 9 Faith Wreckers and What to Do About Them, Samford details nine reasons he uncovered through listening to stories of those who exited the church on why Christians abandon faith.
Most of the time, Christians leave because of a "wounded" experience. They either deliberately walk away ...

It's Islamic Jihad, Not Extremism, Uncle Sam

Publisher — Sun, 11 May 2008 17:25:25 -0400

A few years ago, Harvard psychiatric instructor Kenneth Levin wrote "The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege." In this illuminating book, Levin examines the Israeli experience of concessionary negotiations with a "peace partner" openly dedicated to Israel's destruction. He also examines the historical Jewish Diaspora experience in which Jewish populations typically identified with their tormentors and even echoed their antisemitism.
Such interactions are driven by a permanent condition of siege mentality, Levin explains, and clearly manifest two kinds of delusional thinking.
First, there is the fantasy about the intentions of the aggressor (Arab Muslim or European Christian); then, there is the fantasy about changing the aggressor's intentions. Such thinking, Levin says, is common to victims of chronic abuse, particularly children. They fool themselves into thinking that they, the victims, control the abuser by linking the abuse they suffer to their own behavior.
In other words, they believe they cause their own abuse. This mind game, Levin says, actually gives victims a sense of control over situations beyond their control (an abusive parent, for instance). This allows them to avoid feelings of helplessness and despair.
And so the besieged victim pretends: Daddy doesn't really want to hurt me; if ...

How Bush lost the war

Publisher — Sun, 11 May 2008 17:13:15 -0400

By Joseph Farah
President Bush faced one of the greatest challenges of any leader in American history – and came up short.
Not since 1812 had the mainland of the U.S. been attacked by a foreign enemy – and never before Sept. 11, 2001, were so many civilians killed in such an attack.
Nearly seven years later, despite invasions of two foreign countries, the mastermind of the attack has not been caught or killed. Half of America doesn't even remember why we're engaged in those seemingly endless wars. And Americans have still not been enlisted in what the president himself has characterized as one of the gravest threats to the nation's security it has ever faced.In fact, the enemy has not even been defined.
Well, that's not quite true.
It has been defined, redefined, misnamed, changed, mischaracterized, misunderstood and mislabeled.
First, the enemy was "terrorism." Then those we battled were "cowards." Then Bush got closer by referring to "Islamo-fascists." Later, his State Department prohibited the use of that term as well as "jihadists."
From the beginning, Bush made it clear this was a war the government would handle. Washington didn't need any help from the people. Famously, Bush told Americans ...

Flu vaccine doses to make record numbers

Publisher — Sun, 11 May 2008 17:02:07 -0400

Companies that make flu vaccine for the U.S. plan to make at least 143 million doses
140 million doses were made for the current season, the worst in four years
Manufacturers anticipate delivering most vaccines by the end of September
Each year, the flu results in 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths
ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Flu vaccine manufacturers expect to make a record number of doses for the next flu season despite concerns that demand may drop because this year's vaccine was largely ineffective.
This flu season was the worst in four years for adult deaths from flu and pneumonia.
The five companies that make flu vaccine for the U.S. market plan to make at least 143 million doses for the 2008-09 season. They made 140 million doses for the current season, the worst in four years for adult deaths from flu and pneumonia.
Part of the problem was that the vaccine didn't work well against the viruses that ended up circulating.
Each year, health officials essentially make an educated guess and formulate a vaccine against three viruses. Their guess usually works well.
But two of the three strains for the current season were not good matches, and the ...

Jews can’t vote for Obama and be pro-Israel at the same time

Publisher — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:49:47 -0400

By Ted Belman
In the poll of Jewish voters (conducted April 1-30), it showed Obama getting 61% of the Jewish vote against John McCain (32%). Yet in the same poll Hillary Clinton beat Obama among Jewish voters 62% - 38%. So obviously Jews are lifelong democrats who would vote for Obama, whom they rejected in the primaries, rather than vote for McCain. Thus, for them, party loyalty is preferable to Israel loyalty.
Recently I posted two articles by Yarom Ettinger, former Israeli Ambassador to the US, The Prospects of a Palestinian State and National Interests of the United States and It’s American interests, stupid, both of which clearly demonstrate that keeping Israel strong is to keep America strong. Thus to be pro-Israel is to be pro-America.
Now some would argue that most Jewish Americans are not one issue voters but they must realize that to favour a basket of issues or the Democratic Party above favouring Israel, makes them less pro-Israel and thus less pro-American. This I am sure will get howls of protest from the J-Street Lobby which represents progressive Jewry, who would have you believe that by forcing Israel to capitulate, they are acting in the best interests ...

Israel's Predicament at 60: World's worst neighbourhood

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:25:05 -0400

by Daniel Pipes
Two religiously-identified new states emerged from the shards of the British empire in the aftermath of World War II. Israel, of course, was one; the other was Pakistan.
They make an interesting, if infrequently-compared pair. Pakistan's experience with widespread poverty, near-constant internal turmoil, and external tensions, culminating in its current status as near-rogue state, suggests the perils that Israel avoided, with its stable, liberal political culture, dynamic economy, cutting-edge high-tech sector, lively culture, and impressive social cohesion.
But for all its achievements, the Jewish state lives under a curse that Pakistan and most other polities never face: the threat of elimination. Its remarkable progress over the decades has not liberated it from a multi-pronged peril that includes nearly every means imaginable: weapons of mass destruction, conventional military attack, terrorism, internal subversion, economic blockade, demographic assault, and ideological undermining. No other contemporary state faces such an array of threats; indeed, probably none in history ever has.
The enemies of Israel divide into two main camps: the Left and the Muslims, with the far Right a minor third element. The Left includes a rabid edge (International ANSWER, Noam Chomsky) and a more polite centre (United Nations General Assembly, Canada's ...

'Olmert must resign!'

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:10:46 -0400

By Stan Goodenough
Israeli lawmakers and others across the political spectrum are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert after police revealed Thursday he is under investigation for allegedly receiving large amounts of cash in bribes.
Responses have ranged from outrage at the fact that Olmert is undergoing yet another criminal probe - his fifth since taking office - to the conviction that he is paying the price for pushing ahead with plans to divide the Land of Israel and give half to the Palestinian Arabs.
The Labor Party, the largest coalition partner after Olmert's Kadima Party, has said it will remain in the government for now and "see what happens."
While a number of Kadima officials have indicated that it will be difficult for them to remain supportive of Olmert, they were not jumping ship just yet.
A Knesset Member in the opposition Likud Party, MK Gideon Sa'ar, described Olmert as "unworthy" and not fit to continue as prime minister. "The Kadima government is up to their necks in investigations of corruptions and is failing to run the state properly," he charged. Israel is demanding that elections be held, so that the people can "choose a different leadership." ...

Condi flares at Israel: 'Get it done already!'

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:07:52 -0400

By Stan Goodenough
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, appearing
increasingly desperate to see an Israeli-Palestinian
Arab agreement signed before her president leaves
office at the end of the year, reportedly used less
than diplomatic language speaking to a reporter last
Monday.
Both sides "need to draw a map [showing their
agreed-upon borders of Israel and "Palestine"] and get
it done," she said tersely, according to a report in
The Jerusalem Post Friday.
Rice was on her way back to Washington from a two-day
visit to Israel when she let her irritation show.
She appears to have failed in her quest on that visit,
where her brief was supposedly to try and get
something substantial for President George W. Bush to
work with when he arrives in Jerusalem next week.
Instead, after meeting with a newly-scandal-plagued
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and ineffectual PLO
terror chief Mahmoud Abbas, Rice was forced to leave
empty-handed.
Bush is due to arrive Wednesday on a 60-hour visit.
His schedule has him addressing the Knesset, meeting
with Olmert and Israeli President Shimon Peres, taking
a tour of Masada, hosting a reception in honor of
Israel's 60th Anniversary, which on the Gregorian
Calendar falls on ...

Iran, via Hizb'allah, moves in on Lebanon

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:06:04 -0400

By Stan Goodenough
Lebanon appeared to be sliding into chaos Friday as the Iranian-backed, Syrian-supplied Hizb'allah moved to dramatically upgrade its role in the running of Israel's sorely-troubled northern neighbor.
At least 11 people were reportedly killed and dozens wounded in three days of clashes which saw armed Hizb'allah fighters - who are Shia Muslims - clash with Sunni Muslim and other government-supporting Lebanese and take over most the Muslim western part of Beirut.
Government-run media outlets were seized and the Lebanese army - reportedly wanting to remain "neutral" - handed control of its offices over to Hizb'allah forces.
Some analysts said the terrorist organization would not try to directly install itself as the new government - a step that could easily ignite a new civil war - but instead was likely to ask the military to assume control.
From his new position of strength Hizb'allah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah dismissed calls by other Lebanese political leaders to quell his belligerence, and demanded the US-backed government of Prime Minister Fuoad Siniora agree to sit down to "talks" with his organization.
But while the immediate ramifications of what seemed undeniably to be a violent putsch attempt were not clear, the quickly-forming ...

'Revisionist' historian's '1948' places current and past conflicts in perspective

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:03:43 -0400

Still Fighting the Same War

By Jonathan Tobin

In the course of a lengthy essay in The Atlantic, writer Jeffrey Goldberg quotes an encounter he had with a Gazan imam named Ibrahim Mudeiris, who had just delivered a sermon in which he had described the Jews as "the sons of apes and pigs."
Mudeiris summed up the current standoff between Israel and the Hamas movement which currently runs Gaza by saying, "It does not matter what the Jews do. We will not let them have peace."
He went on to describe the futility with which generations of Israelis have sought to deal with the Palestinians succinctly: "They can be nice to us or they can kill us, it doesn't matter. If we have a cease-fire with the Jews, it is only so that we can prepare ourselves for the final battle."
What can the Israelis do when faced with such intransigence?
ARE THEY FINISHED?
Goldberg's lengthy and disquieting ruminations on this question provide no easy answers, but the question in the title of the piece, "Is Israel Finished?" provides the decided noncelebratory feel to a piece published to coincide with Israel's 60th birthday.
Prime ...

Iranian president: Israel heading for destruction

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:52:29 -0400

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad chooses to mark Israel's 60th Independence Day by warning Zionist regime of its 'impending doom'
AFP
"Israel is nothing but a stinking corpse," said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Thursday, speaking with the Iranian news agency IRNA.
Unlike other world leaders who sent Israel their congratulations on its 60th Independence Day, Ahmadinejad chose to convey a radically different message.
"Those who think they can resuscitate the stinking corpse of the Zionist regime on its birthday are sorely mistaken… the very existence of the Zionist entity is questioned. It is heading for destruction.
"Israel has come to its end like the dead rat it became after it was beaten in the (Second) Lebanon War," added Ahmadinejad.
The small Jewish community in Iran did not celebrate Israel's independence. Siamak Morsedah, head of the Jewish community in Iran told AFP that the community saw no need to celebrate, especially since Israel was "killing innocent Palestinians" in theGaza Strip.
The Jewish community in Iran, he added, does not agree with Israel's conduct in the Strip since it constituted what he called "inhumane behavior"; nor does the community feel the need to mark the Jewish State's independence – "We are ...

Texas caught off guard as more seek handgun permits

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:40:54 -0400

Some point to anti-gun politics as applications rise 39 percent and swamp the state
By JANET ELLIOTT
ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK
During the week that ended Friday, DPS said, it processed 1,043 original and renewal applications but received 1,871 requests.
AUSTIN — Demand for concealed handgun licenses has risen nearly 40 percent in Texas in a year, an increase being attributed to many factors, even presidential politics.
Though the exact cause may be unclear, what's certain is that the spike in applications has caught the Department of Public Safety unprepared.
The state is taking a month longer than the 60 days allowed by law to process original applications and 80 days longer on renewals, which are supposed to be handled within 45 days.
"We're trying really hard, but there have been delays because of the tremendous increase in applications," said Tela Mange, a DPS spokeswoman.
She said the department is paying overtime and hiring temporary workers to reduce the backlog. Mange said she doesn't know why applications last month were 39 percent higher than they were in April 2007.
But Ross Bransford, who trains 1,000 Texans a year to qualify for a concealed handgun license, said he believes ...

US volcano may hold key to UK oil reserves

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:32:02 -0400

By Roland Gribben
An extinct volcano in the US may hold the key to extending the life of North Sea oilfields and squeezing an extra 17pc of untapped reserves out of them.
Artist's impression of the volcano near Jackson City
Malcolm Wicks, the energy minister, is visiting the site near Jackson City in Mississippi to see how carbon dioxide is extracted deep underground before being piped 60 miles to force out oil from an old field.
With an estimated 25bn barrels of oil equivalent left to exploit in the North Sea, Mr Wicks said it would be increasingly challenging and would need innovative technologies to tap the remaining reserves.
More on oil
Denbury Resources homepage
He added: "This project uses pressurised carbon dioxide which could also be captured from industrial plants so it would mean a plus for the environment too."
advertisementDenbury Resources, the biggest oil and gas operator in the state, has successfully exploited carbon injection techniques in Mississippi and elsewhere to recover significant quantities of reserves from mature reservoirs, and it believes the technology can be successfully developed in the North Sea.
The Government is anxious to see Britain break into the carbon market to squeeze oil ...

Disaster preparedness drill kicks off at depot

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:18:49 -0400

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer
Emergency sirens sounded just after 9 a.m. after a mock fire and explosion at the Umatilla Chemical Depot sent a plume of toxic smoke toward Benton County.
Residents around the depot were evacuated, along with Benton County residents north of the Columbia River in the Paterson and Plymouth areas.
Evacuation shelters were opened in Kennewick and Prosser.
About 30 minutes after the disaster drill, Benton County's Emergency Operations Center in Richland activated to coordinate evacuation plans and set up decontamination shelters so officials would be prepared for whatever happened next.
Monday's emergency drill was the first scenario for emergency responders to deal with during a three-day disaster preparedness drill.
Benton, Umatilla and Morrow county officials, along with officials from both states, are participating in the annual Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program drill.
The local drill is being done as part of a national training exercise coordinating local, state and federal agencies.
At Benton County's Emergency Operations Center on Monday, everyone appeared calm as they answered phones, received weather updates and monitored events online at other regional emergency centers and the state's emergency center.
"A lot of information used to be on telephones and there'd ...

Arkansas governor urges schools to build safe rooms

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:14:29 -0400

Tornado-safe rooms shielded students in Carlisle, Arkansas, from storm last week
Gov. Mike Beebe urges schools statewide to use funds to build safe rooms
State law does not require schools to install safe tornado-safe rooms
CARLISLE, Arkansas (AP) -- Just before the tornado sirens sounded, school superintendent Floyd Marshall got the warning from police -- a twister was coming right for the town's elementary and high school.
But Marshall had a weapon of his own: Unlike most other schools in Arkansas, the two Carlisle schools have specially designed interior hallways -- dubbed tornado-safe rooms -- where 750 students cowered until the storms passed by Friday.
"You may never need it, but that one time that you do that you don't have it, it's something you can't recover from," Marshall said.
The tornado eventually veered away from the shared campus of the schools at the last moment, but Gov. Mike Beebe acknowledged the importance of the rooms on a visit to the city Monday.
"I'd like to see them everywhere. I'd like to see them as much as possible," Beebe said. "But at this juncture, we're not in a position to mandate them everywhere, unless you have the money to be ...

Archaeologists Find Altar Of Ark Of The Covenant, Queen Of Sheba's Palace, Evidence Of Sirius Worship

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:28:27 -0400

Archaeologists believe they have found the Queen of Sheba's palace at Axum, Ethiopia and an altar which held the most precious treasure of ancient Judaism, the Ark of the Covenant, the University of Hamburg said Wednesday. Scientists from the German city made the startling find during their spring excavation of the site over the past three months. The Ethiopian queen was the bride of King Solomon of Israel in the 10th century before the Christian era. The royal match is among the memorable events in the Bible. Ethiopian tradition claims the Ark, which allegedly contained Moses' stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, was smuggled to Ethiopia by their son Menelek and is still in that country. The University said scientists led by Helmut Ziegert had found remains of a 10th-century-BC palace at Axum-Dungur under the palace of a later Christian king. There was evidence the early palace had been torn down and realigned to the path of the star Sirius. The team hypothesized that Menelek had changed religion and become a worshipper of Sirius while keeping the Ark, described in the Bible as an acacia-wood chest covered with gold. Remains of sacrifices of bullocks were evident around ...

It's radioactive, and it's missing,'9 items alone could create a dirty bomb'

Publisher — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:24:34 -0400

Dirty bomb ingredients: They're radioactive, and
they're missing

--WND Exclusive--
================================

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=63749
Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from
Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium online
newsletter published by the founder of WND.
Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials,
just $9.95 per month for credit card users, and
provide instant access for the complete reports.
Harwell Atomic Energy Center
LONDON -- Britain's intelligence service MI5 has
launched a high priority search for more than 1,000
pieces of missing radioactive medical equipment used
in the treatment of cancers and other illnesses in
British hospitals, says a report in Joseph Farah's G2
Bulletin.
The loss was discovered after Britain's understaffed
National Health Service hospitals made their quarterly
inventory returns to the government Environmental
Agency -- responsible for the safety of all medical
radioactive materials.

In all, some 10,000 items -- mostly used in nuclear
medicine -- were accounted for. Those past their
use-by date were destroyed at one of Britain's nuclear
reactors.
But the missing 1,000, all of which the last inventory
check show contained radioactive material, remain
unaccounted for.
"So far nine items are definitely believed to have
been stolen or lost. But theft is the most ...

Only in Israel

Publisher — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:20:41 -0400

by Sara Yoheved Rigler The joys of living with the family.
Jews in Israel live in the midst of their mishpacha -- their family. We are an unruly, bickering, sometimes dysfunctional family, but we are one family nonetheless. And that family in action shines from these true vignettes.
Only in Israel:
On the minor holiday of Lag B'Omer, almost 10% of the population of Israel flocks to the tomb of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mt. Meron in the north. A few years ago, my friend Uriela Sagiv joined the pilgrimage. Around 9:30 p.m. she caught a public bus for the 3-4 hour trip home to Jerusalem. Confident that the last stop would be Jerusalem's Central Bus Station, from where she would catch a cab to her home, Uriela fell soundly asleep.
Hours later, she was awoken by a voice, "This is the last stop." She looked up. It was not the Central Bus Station, but rather a totally unfamiliar Jerusalem neighborhood.
"Where is the Central Bus Station?" she asked in bewilderment.
"Oh, that was three stop ago," the driver of the now empty bus answered. "The bus is on its way to the yard -- ...

US Secret Service 'raids' Israeli Knesset

Publisher — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:10:21 -0400

A contingent of 30 US Secret Service agents meticulously inspected security arrangements at Israel's Knesset this week in preparation for the upcoming visit of President George W. Bush.
Israel's Ynet news portal reported that the Secret Service insisted that Israel put up a special fence around the Knesset to prevent eye contact between Bush and external elements.
All of the other security arrangement were apparently deemed suitable by the American agents.
Bush is scheduled to arrive in Israel on May 15 to take part in events marking the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state's rebirth, including an address to the Knesset.
Original Source

Should Olmert quit, Kadima and Shas may back Livni to prevent early elections

Publisher — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:07:59 -0400

Attila Somfalvi
Even if most politicians continue to remain silent in front of the cameras when they are asked about the new investigation against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the question faced by the political system at this time is “what’s going to happen?” The gag order on the affair prevents the politicians from embarking on significant political moves, mostly based on bitter past experience of probes against politicians that started with a bang and ended with a whimper.
Yet everyone knows that soon we may see a political earthquake, particularly if an indictment is served against the prime minister. Should Olmert be forced to leave the Prime Minister’s Office, all eyes will turn to one person: Ehud Barak. If this scenario comes true, the Labor Party’s chairman would have to take a dramatic decision that means early elections.
Labor Party officials estimate that Barak would not be able to miss out on another opportunity to go to elections over a moral issue. He indeed stayed in the government in the wake of the Winograd Commission report, yet shying away from new elections in case the prime minister resigns will place him in the position of being perceived as ...