By Rabbi Leiby Burnham 
Black Friday.
The day that dreams begin to come true. The most intense shopping day of the year. The day that stores open at 4 AM to long lines of people who have been waiting outside in the frigid cold for hours, with parking lots converted into campgrounds. The day on which hopes will be fulfilled or broken. Black Friday.
If you missed out on Black Friday, if you were not on line for hours in the cold and rain, don’t worry. Black Friday is not the greatest thrill of the shopping season. It pales in comparison to the Unobtainable Object of the Season (UOS). This is a phenomenon of such great proportion that not every year merits to have one. Only once every two or three years do they surface, quietly at first, but then gathering weight like a sumo wrestler on steroids until you can’t ignore them. Children become hypnotized by them, parents become panic stricken to get them, the media loves them, and most of America loves to hate them.
One of the UOS’s that I watched in full bloom was the Tickle Me Elmo. For those of you who don’t remember this ...   more »

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking after US President George Bush at the Annapolis peace summit, said Israel should end its occupation of all territories captured in the Six Day War, including east Jerusalem the Syrian Golan and certain parts of Lebanon.
Abbas commended the significant participation in the conference of countries from all over the world, including Arab countries and major industrial leaders, in what he called a unique conference in the history of conflict. This, he said, would provide impetus and encouragement for the negotiation process, ending occupation and bringing about the establishment of the state of Palestine side by side with the state of Israel.
"Our region stands at a crossroads that separate two historical phases," Abbas said, adding that such an opportunity might not be repeated. "Let us make peace of the brave, and protect it for the sake of our children and your children."
At the same time, the Palestinian leader gave no indication that his side was willing to concede on any of the flashpoint issues that have derailed previous peace efforts: the status of disputed Jerusalem, refugees, the borders of an independent Palestine and Israeli settlements.
"I have the right here to defend ...   more »

Israeli PM claims holy site not up for talks, but Palestinians say he has already agreed to forfeiture
Aaron Klein, WND
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's statements on Wednesday that Israel's sovereignty over the Temple Mount is not up for negotiation are "false," according to a chief Palestinian negotiator, who told WND the Israeli leader already agreed to forfeit Judaism's holiest site to a coalition of Arab countries.
"What Olmert said (regarding the Mount) is absolutely false. I think he's not yet ready to tell the Israeli public and is waiting for the right time and he fears his coalition with religious extremists will fall apart if he announces it now," said a senior Palestinian negotiator Thursady on condition his name be withheld.
The chief Palestinian negotiator said in months leading up to Annapolis the Palestinian team was "surprised" by Olmert's willingness to give up the Mount.
"We had intense debates on many topics, which remain open and unsettled, but the Harem Al-Sharif (Temple Mount) is not a sticking point. The Israelis didn't argue with us. We were pleasantly surprised Olmert didn't debate about giving the lower section of the Mount either, which was a sticking point in the past."
According ...   more »

Etgar Lefkovits
One out of three new apartments in central Jerusalem were sold to foreigners this year, while 20 percent of all apartments in the downtown area lay empty most of the year, according to a new study released Thursday.
Thousands of Israelis leave Jerusalem every year for better quality of life after being squeezed out of the city, in part by a tight housing market that increasingly caters to affluent foreigners.
The findings are to be presented Sunday in Jerusalem at a conference entitled "The Right to Jerusalem: between a bustling city and a ghost town," organized by The Jerusalem Center for Ethics.
The Romema neighborhood has the most foreign-owned properties, with 30 percent of its flats owned by foreigners.
Talbiyeh, where Beit Hanassi and the Jerusalem Theater are located, is next at 20%, followed by Rehavia and the German Colony at 14%, according to the report. The price of flats in these areas has shot up from $5,000-$7,000 per square meter to $13,000.
The percentage of foreign-owned flats is dramatically lower in the periphery of the city. Former Jerusalem residents have cited better jobs and affordable housing as the primary reasons they left in recent years.
A new ...   more »

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reportedly said in Annapolis this week that her childhood in the segregated South had helped her to understand the suffering on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"I know what its like to hear that you can't use a certain road or pass through a checkpoint because you are a Palestinian. I know what it is like to feel discriminated against and powerless," Rice told a closed meeting of Arab and Israeli representatives, according to the Dutch representative at the summit, Franz Timmermans.
"Like Israelis, I understand what it's like to go to sleep not knowing if you will be hurt in an explosion, the feeling of terror walking around your own neighborhood, or walking to your house of prayer," Timmermans quoted Rice as saying, the Washington Post reported.
Rice described her childhood in Birmingham, Alabama, during the era of segregation and the killing of four young girls in a bombing at a Baptist church in 1963. She reportedly said the bombing, which killed one of her classmates, helps her understand the fear of terrorism felt by Israelis.
Timmermans also told the Post that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had pleaded with Arab representatives at ...   more »

By Aaron Klein
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been lashing out publicly the past few days at the U.S.-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian summit in Annapolis, denouncing the meeting as a Zionist conspiracy and slamming fellow Arab countries for participating.
But if anyone is sitting happy after yesterday's events, it's the little man in Iran, whose country and its proxies have emerged more empowered.
First let's look at the Palestinian side. President Bush read a joint declaration that committed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to conclude negotiations by the end of next year aimed at an Israeli evacuation of much of the strategic West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem, handing the territories over to Abbas' U.S.-backed security forces.
The idea this can lead to peace is predicated on the false U.S. notion Abbas is moderate when indeed his Fatah organization and its declared military wing, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, is responsible for more terrorism than Hamas. Fatah terrorists took responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel the past three years and for thousands of shooting and rocket attacks.
Just days before Abbas departed for Annapolis, members of his security forces shot and killed a Jew in ...   more »

DEBKAfile’s military sources report the Iranian Navy is in the process of deploying two submarine fleets – mini-subs in Persian Gulf waters for attacks on US shipping and Gulf oil facilities, and the long-range Kilo class sub of Russian, Chinese and home manufacture, for long-range targets in the Mediterranean, such as the US Sixth Fleet and Israel coastal towns, primarily Tel Aviv.
Iran’s defense minister Mostafa Najiar announced Tuesday, Nov. 27, that a new Iranian-built submarine would be delivered to the navy Wednesday. He offered no details of the new item. However, two days earlier, Iran’s navy chief. Adm. Habibollah Sayyari disclosed that the new submarine would operate in Persian Gulf waters in the Strait of Hormuz area. He also declared that Tehran has no intention of blocking the Strait in a flare-up with the US military.
DEBKAfile’s military sources note that Iran’s strategic thinking has undergone a change. Hitherto, the rulers of Tehran viewed the blockage of the narrow waterway to shipping that carries one-third of the world’s oil needs, as its most effective reprisal for a military attack. They have revised their thinking for two reasons: First, Iran has made great strides in expanding its influence in Gulf ...   more »

By ARTHUR MAX
After more than 60 years, Nazi documents stored in a vast warehouse in Germany were unsealed Wednesday, opening a rich resource for Holocaust historians and for survivors to delve into their own tormented past.
The treasure of documents could open new avenues of study into the inner workings of Nazi persecution from the exploitation of slave labor to the conduct of medical experiments. The archive's managers planned a conference of scholars next year to map out its unexplored contents.
The files entrusted to the International Tracing Service, an arm of the International Committee of the Red Cross, have been used until now to help find missing persons or document atrocities to support compensation claims. The U.S. government also has referred to the ITS for background checks on immigrants it suspected of lying about their past.
Inquiries were handled by the archive's 400 staff members in the German spa town of Bad Arolsen. Few outsiders were allowed to see the actual documents, which number more than 50 million pages and cover 16 linear miles of gray metal filing cabinets and cardboard binders spread over six buildings.
On Wednesday, the Red Cross and the German government announced that the ...   more »

GOP candidates at debate asked if they believe all of Good Book
By Joe Kovacs
Do the Republicans running for president believe every word of the Holy Bible?
That issue was the focus of a portion of tonight's CNN/You Tube debate, as a questioner brought it to the forefront.
Republican candidates square off in CNN/YouTube Debate in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"How you answer this question will tell us everything we need to know about you," said Joseph Dearing from Dallas, Texas. As he held a Holy Bible up to the camera, he asked, "Do you believe every word of this Book?"
"The reality is, I believe it, but I don't believe it necessarily literally true in every single respect," said former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is Catholic. "I think there are parts of the Bible that are interpretive; I think there are parts of the Bible that are allegorical; I think there are parts of the Bible that are meant to be interpreted in a modern context."
"I don't believe every single thing in the literal sense of Jonah being in the belly of the whale," he added.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon, drew applause when ...   more »

Candidate addressing AIDS summit at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church
By Art Moore
Rick Warren speaking yesterday at his conference "AIDS and the Church" at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. (WND photo)
LAKE FOREST, Calif. – One year after Sen. Barack Obama's controversial appearance, Sen. Hillary Clinton is preparing to take the stage here today at pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Church to address the highly influential evangelical congregation's third annual "Global Summit on AIDS and the Church."
Responding to a question from WND at a news conference, Warren alluded to protests last year that Obama – a pro-choice Democrat – was being given the pulpit of an evangelical church that opposes abortion.
"The first thing is that this is not a church service, and, second, there isn't a pulpit on stage," said Warren, author of the best-seller "The Purpose-Driven Life." "And it's not a worship service. This is a summit, which does include people from every kind of background."
Warren and his wife, Kay, invited all of the major Republican and Democratic candidates to come and speak, but only Clinton accepted. Five candidates, however, will present taped messages today via satellite: Republicans Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Mitt Romney; and ...   more »

But tried to prevent Christian students from expressing faith
Murrieta Valley High School
A number of school-sponsored clubs are holding a World AIDS Day "event" at a California church that will be opened with "remarks" from Rev. Benita Ramsey, but school officials are denying it is in any way school sponsored or religious, even though the same "event" a year ago included a "prayer" meeting.
The dispute arose over the announcement on school stationery from the Murrietta Valley Unified School District, which said the "Murrieta Valley High School will hold an event at St. Catherine's Catholic Church in Temecula to commemorate World AIDS Day."
"Students from several school clubs will take part in the event including the Gay Straight Alliance, Black Student Union, Ballet Folklorico, Si Si Puede, MVHS Dance and members of the MVHS Choir, Temecula Valley Choir and Riverside City College Choir," the school said.
The announcement provided a contact name and number for Murrieta Valley High School teacher Mary Byun-Kallevig.
The announcement drew the attention of Richard Ackerman, of the Pro-Family Law Center, who suggested to the district a separation of the school from the "event," especially in light of the fact the district previously had tried ...   more »

'We wish we had some provision that you can't pass stupid laws'
By Bob Unruh
Absent a provision in the California Constitution that would ban "stupid" laws, the non-profit Advocates for Faith and Freedom has filed a lawsuit challenging a new state law that would ban "mom" and "dad" from public schools.
WND has reported that experts fear the socially groundbreaking legislative plan, signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, will impose a radical pro-homosexual indoctrination agenda on all California public schools.
"Realize that SB 777 affects all school 'instruction' (textbooks, classroom instruction, homework, videos, and other instructional materials) and every school-sponsored 'activity' (sex education classes, school assemblies, dramas, music, dances, proms, sports teams, homecoming games, etc.). To opt out of SB 777, you would have to opt out your child from the entire school day," said Randy Thomasson, of the Campaign for Children and Families, a California-based pro-family group.
His organization has concluded a state constitutional amendment would be the best way to remove the objectionable requirements, while the Capitol Resource Institute is working on a separate effort to have voters overturn SB 777.
Robert Tyler, the general counsel for Advocates for Faith and Freedom, said the lawsuit his ...   more »

 DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-1 Reaches Full Operational Capability With National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Industry: Remote Sensing & Image Processing, Satellite Image Data
LONGMONT, Colo.,DigitalGlobe, provider of the world's highest-resolution commercial satellite imagery and geospatial information products, today announced that WorldView-1 has completed its commissioning, meets all of its requirements, and is delivering imagery to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) as part of the NextView program. Full Operating Capability (FOC) with NGA began on November 17th. Following a controlled roll-out with NGA, DigitalGlobe will begin taking orders for WorldView-1 imagery from its global resellers, partners and customers on January 3, 2008. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on September 18, and delivered its first sample set of high-resolution images on October 15.
"We are thrilled to announce that we have started delivering WorldView-1 imagery to NGA and we are excited for the general availability of WorldView-1 imagery" said Jill Smith, chief executive officer of DigitalGlobe. "This is truly a fabulous milestone for DigitalGlobe, we are proud to be serving the NextView contract and excited to be operating a new imaging satellite that addresses the worldwide demand for map accurate satellite imaging capacity."
WorldView-1 is part of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's (NGA) ...   more »

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- Two Hungarians and a Ukrainian arrested in an attempted sale of uranium were peddling material believed to be from the former Soviet Union, and it was enriched enough to be used in a radiological "dirty bomb," police said Thursday.
The three, who were arrested Wednesday in eastern Slovakia and Hungary, were trying to sell about a pound of uranium in powder form, said First Police Vice President Michal Kopcik.
"It was possible to use it in various ways for terrorist attacks," Kopcik said.
Investigators were still working to determine who ultimately was trying to buy the uranium, which the three allegedly was selling for US$1 million.
He said police had intelligence suggesting that the suspects -- whose names were not released -- originally had planned to close the deal sometime between Monday and Wednesday. Police moved in when the sale did not occur as expected, he said.
One of the Hungarians had been living in Ukraine.
Kopcik said three other suspects -- including a Slovak national identified only as Eugen K. -- were detained in the neighboring Czech Republic in mid-October for allegedly trying to sell fake radioactive materials. It was unclear to what degree, if any, ...   more »

European Space Agency provesArticle from: Font size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print
VENUS is looking a bit more Earth-like with frequent bursts of lightning confirmed.
For nearly three decades, since a 1978 NASA probe showed signs of electrical activity, astronomers have said Venus probably had lightning.
However experts weren't sure because of signal interference.
Now, a magnetic antenna on the European Space Agency's Venus Express probe has proved the lightning was real.
It is cloud-to-cloud and about 55km above the surface, said University of California professor C.T. Russell, lead author of a paper to be published in today's Nature journal.
Bursts of electrical energy from lightning are something scientists have long theorised could provide the spark of life in primordial ooze . . . but not on Venus.
"If life was ever something serious to talk about on Venus, it would be early in its history, not in its current state," Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, who was not involved in this research, said.
Original Source

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