By: Newsmax  
The Israeli army has announced a new campaign to prepare the nation’s citizens for an attack with chemical or biological weapons.
The campaign will offer civilians detailed information on how to protect their homes against weapons of mass destruction — how to choose a protected room and how to seal doors and windows against a WMD attack.
Information will be provided in a guidebook to be distributed to every household, as well as through television broadcasts, a Web site, and a telephone information center.
The Israeli army in recent months has collected hundreds of thousands of gas masks it had distributed to civilians following the outbreak of the 1991 Gulf War, according to the Web site spacewar.com.
Israelis had feared that the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein would fire missiles at Israel loaded with WMDs.
 Original Source

   more »

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent   
Tags: Syria, Hamas, Israel  
The Foreign Ministry has placed the Syrian issue as one of its central objectives for 2008. A document published by the ministry states its intention to "formulate a strategic plan to remove Syria from the radical axis."
Senior officials in the Foreign Ministry indicated that there is still no clear program for reaching this goal, but that a list of ideas includes the distancing of Syria from Iran, Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorist organizations.
This objective is in line with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's recent "checking" with different Israel-Syria mediators to examine Damascus' willingness to start political negotiations with Israel.  
The Foreign Ministry's list of objectives for 2008, which was approved this week by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, also includes promoting the Annapolis process, continuing the isolation of Hamas in the international arena, and improving the standard of living within the Gaza Strip.
Moreover, the plan calls for the normalization of relations with Arab countries and for the "opening of new channels of communication with countries with which Israel has no diplomatic relations."
The plan also states the importance of thwarting Iran's nuclear developments and assisting Jewish communities in distress. ...   more »

By Jessica Ravitz
LDS Church's Jerusalem Center. (Mark A. Philbrick)JERUSALEM - For many in Israel, the building and its inhabitants are shrouded in mystery. Some even call it "the secret place."
    "What is it, these Mormons?" a man with a thick Hebrew accent asks. "Do you know what they believe?" asks a woman in a downtown restaurant. "Why are they here?" a Palestinian taxi driver wonders aloud.
    Nestled atop Mount Scopus, with sweeping views of the Kidron Valley, the Mount of Olives and the Old City of Jerusalem, Brigham Young University's Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies sits on real estate that would make any Middle Eastern Donald Trump drool. Here, students who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spend from two to four months immersed in study of the new and old, the ancient and the modern - whether that be the testaments of the Bible or near eastern history.
    But what the students and couples doing volunteer service at the center don't do is talk about their faith with others. That's right: They are Latter-day Saints who keep their beliefs quiet and lips sealed.
    "We do not proselytize. Even ...   more »

In January 2006, when Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had a stroke, permanently incapacitating him, the American evangelical leader Pat Robertson attributed Sharon's medical condition to divine intervention resulting from Sharon's withdrawal from Gaza a few months earlier.
The book of Joel, the prophet Joel, makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who, quote, "divide my land." God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible and he says "this is my land," and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says "No, this is mine." Here, he‘s at the point of death. He was dividing God‘s land. And I would say, woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the United Nations or the United States of America. God says, "This land belongs to me." You better leave it alone.
Pat Robertson, leading American evangelist.
These remarks drew criticism from many sources, ranging from the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America to the Anti-Defamation League to the People for the American Way ("Once again, Pat Robertson leaves us speechless with his insensitivity ...   more »

By Stan Goodenough
Dec 28, 2007
Only a settlement imposed by the United States can save Israel, which is politically a "failed state," according to the chief editor of Ha'aretz, one of Israel's most influential left wing newspapers.
Israel National News and The Jerusalem Post Friday reported that David Landau admitted to conveying this message to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a confidential briefing she gave while visiting Israel last September.
Landau allegedly used obscene imagery in his conversation with Rice, telling her the Israeli government wanted to be "raped" by the United States, and saying he would be sexually gratified if this actually happened.
The British-born yeshiva-educated journalists confirmed the statements in a telephone conversation with the Jewish Week.
"I did say that in general, Israel wants to be raped — I did use that word — by the US, and I myself have long felt Israel needed more vigorous US intervention in the affairs of the Middle East," he said.
Makor Rishon quoted him as also telling Rice "that it had always been my wet dream to see this [US 'rape' of Israel] happen."
Rice’s response had been "fantastic [in that she was] completely unfazed" by ...   more »

By Jason Maoz
Arizona Sen. John McCain, the early front-runner for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, had a potential John Connally/Mike Dukakis/John Kerry moment earlier this month, and hardly anyone seems to have noticed.
What McCain did was make some disturbing informal remarks to the Israeli daily Haaretz – informal only in the sense that as a still undeclared candidate, his comments, as Haaretz’s Amir Oren wrote, "reflect the personal opinion of a senior and influential figure in the area of defense policy in the United States Senate, rather than an attempt to formulate policy guidelines for his administration."
McCain told Haaretz that as president, he would "micromanage" U.S. policy toward Israel and the Palestinians and would dispatch "the smartest guy I know" to the region, presumably to jump-start a new push for a comprehensive accord.
Asked who that "smartest guy" might be, McCain responded: "Brent Scowcroft, or James Baker, though I know that you in Israel don’t like Baker."
McCain foresaw "concessions and sacrifices by both sides" and indicated that Israel would be expected to "Defend itself and keep evacuating." Asked whether that meant "movement toward the June 4, 1967 armistice lines, with minor modifications," McCain, reported Haaretz, "nodded ...   more »

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer
The National Rifle Association has hired private investigators to find hundreds of people whose firearms were seized by city police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, according to court papers filed this week.
The NRA is trying to locate gun owners for a federal lawsuit that the lobbying group filed against Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley over the city's seizure of firearms after the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.
In the lawsuit, the NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation claim the city violated gun owners' constitutional right to bear arms and left them "at the mercy of roving gangs, home invaders, and other criminals" after Katrina.
The NRA says the city seized more than 1,000 guns that weren't part of any criminal investigation after the hurricane. Police have said they took only guns that had been stolen or found in abandoned homes.
NRA lawyer Daniel Holliday said investigators have identified about 300 of the gun owners and located about 75 of them. Some of them could be called to testify during a trial, he added.
"Finding these folks has been a nightmare," Holliday said. "That is really the guts of our case ...   more »

2007 demands from Congress will be implemented in 2009
The U.S. Mint has announced that it will spend a year implementing a new requirement from Congress that instructs the motto "In God We Trust" be moved from the edge of the $1 coins to either the front or the back.
Congress has approved a consolidated spending bill, and President Bush signed it into law in just the past few days, that includes a provision for the motto to be placed on either the front or back of new coins in the series, which honor U.S. presidents and are scheduled now to run thru 2016.
The motto had been placed on the edge of the coins when the series was launched in 2007.
The U.S. Mint placed the "In God We Trust" motto on the edge of the $1 presidential coins, not on the face, triggering an outcry from Americans
"The United States Mint proudly produces the coins that Congress authorizes and will promptly take steps to make these changes," Greg Hernandez, public affairs deputy director for the Mint, told WND. "This legislation directs the Secretary of the Treasury to move the inscription as soon as 'practicable' after enactment of the ...   more »

Biblical defense of bearing arms by man who fought terrorists attacking church
What would you do if armed terrorists broke into your church and starting attacking your friends with automatic weapons in the middle of a worship service?
Would you be prepared to defend yourself and other innocents?
Would you be justified in doing so?
Is it time for Americans to consider such once-unthinkable possibilities?
There is one man in the world who can address these questions with first-hand experience.
His name is Charl Van Wyck – a South African who was faced with just such a shocking scenario.
In "Shooting Back: The Right and Duty of Self-Defense," Van Wyk makes a biblical, Christian case for individuals arming themselves with guns, and does so more persuasively than perhaps any other author because he found himself in a church attacked by terrorists.
"Grenades were exploding in flashes of light. Pews shattered under the blasts, sending splinters flying through the air," he recalls of the July 25, 1993, St. James Church Massacre. "An automatic assault rifle was being fired and was fast ripping the pews – and whoever, whatever was in its trajectory – to pieces. We were being attacked!"
But Van ...   more »

By Sara A. Carter - A strict policy to arrest, prosecute and jail illegal aliens who cross into the U.S. has shown significant success in reducing crossings and crime along the Texas border, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials said this month.
The first 45 days of Operation Streamline — a collaborative effort of local, state and federal agencies in Texas — has resulted in decreased illegal border crossings and crime since its implementation Oct. 31 compared with last year's numbers, said Laredo Border Patrol Sector chief patrol agent Carlos X. Carrillo.
"As more and more illegal aliens are prosecuted and incarcerated under Streamline-Laredo, the word is spreading quickly that illegal entry has its consequences," Mr. Carrillo said. "Those found guilty of violating this statute face penalties that can include fines and up to six months in prison."
During the first 45-day period of Operation Streamline in the Laredo sector only 2,833 illegal entries were reported, compared with last fiscal year, when 4,424 illegal entries were reported during a similar period.
The operation covers a 60-mile span along the U.S.-Mexico border at Laredo. Mr. Carrillo also noted that there was an overall reduction of 33 percent in apprehensions along the ...   more »

By Miguel Angel Gutierrez
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Archeologists have discovered the ruins of an 800-year-old Aztec pyramid in the heart of the Mexican capital that could show the ancient city is at least a century older than previously thought.
Mexican archeologists found the ruins, which are about 36 feet high, in the central Tlatelolco area, once a major religious and political centre for the Aztec elite.
Since the discovery of another pyramid at the site 15 years ago, historians have thought Tlatelolco was founded by the Aztecs in 1325, the same year as the twin city of Tenochtitlan nearby, the capital of the Aztec empire, which the Spanish razed in 1521 to found Mexico City, conquering the Aztecs.
The pyramid, found last month as part of an investigation begun in August, could have been built in 1100 or 1200, signaling the Aztecs began to develop their civilization in the mountains of central Mexico earlier than believed.
"We have found the stairs of this, much older pyramid. The (Aztec) timeline is going to need to be revised," archaeologist Patricia Ledesma said at the site on Thursday.
Tlatelolco, visited by thousands of tourists for its pre-Hispanic ruins and colonial-era Spanish church ...   more »

The North Korean government is reportedly setting up fake underground churches and disguising national security agents as defectors to expose Christians, reported a North Korea-focused online news agency.
The North Korean government is reportedly setting up fake underground churches and disguising national security agents as defectors to expose Christians, reported a North Korea-focused online news agency.
The Daily NK, established by long-time activists who have been working to change North Korea, claims that a portion of underground churches existing in North Korea are disguised churches controlled by North Korea’s National Security Agency.
“The fact that North Korea government formed a fake underground church with National Security Agency agents was revealed as the truth,” an inside source told the Daily NK.
According to the source, NSA agents disguise themselves as defectors and approach Korean church organizations based in China to receive Bibles and money. After they receive funds by claiming to church organizations that they are engaging in mission activities, they start up secret churches beginning with NSA agents and then concentrate their efforts to arrest real secret churches connected with China.
The Daily NK’s inside source said they verified this fact with an NSA-related member. Among NSA agents, the operation ...   more »

One by one, the sacred relics - a medal of the Virgin Mary, a crucifix and other revered objects - are taken from a cupboard and placed on an altar for a Christmas Eve rite passed down through centuries from Japan's earliest Christians.
Then, kneeling in the simple hall built where martyrs are said to have been burned on this tiny, remote island 400 years ago, five elders murmur chants as they bow and make the sign of the cross.The kimono-clad deacons are descendants of "Kakure Kirishitan", or Hidden Christians, who kept their religion alive on Ikitsuki and in other isolated pockets of Japan during 250 years of suppression, adapting their rites to the demands of secrecy and blending them with local beliefs.
These days, the religion faces a modern threat of extinction as young people, like those elsewhere in rural Japan, leave their homes in search of jobs, drifting away from their gods and the rituals that honour them.
"It's sad. The tradition of our ancestors is disappearing," said Ayuzo Matsuyama, one of those gathered to observe "Osanmachi" and "Gotanjo" - Christmas Eve and Christmas - last weekend, the last Saturday and Sunday before the winter solstice.
"We inherited ...   more »

Deal gives synagogue privileges for $1 a year
Boulder soon will feature an eruv, a thin filament strung on utility poles, to accommodate Orthodox Jews
BOULDER, Colo. – The city of Boulder has given permission for a string to be connected to utility poles so members of an Orthodox Jewish congregation to carry on their lives while following the multitude of Sabbath laws they believe come from God.
The city has approved a plan that will encompass an area of about one square mile, between Canyon Boulevard and Iris Avenue, and between 9th and 29th streets, according to a report in the Denver Post. It will allow Jews to treat the entire area as their "home."
Rachel Sacks told the newspaper the 5-2 city council approval of the plan means she will be able to tend her children better, and her family will be able to attend the synagogue on "a day of rest instead of a day of extreme stresses."
"The most wonderful thing in the world would be for my family to take walks with the children in the stroller on the Sabbath," she told the council.
The feature is called an eruv and it is a symbolic ...   more »

The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, by Naomi Wolf
"So it turns out that we are at war -- a long war, a global war, a war for our civilization."
The line might well have been written by Norman Podhoretz but in fact it comes from Naomi Wolf in her new book, The End of America. It would seem, on first glance, a welcome sign of intellectual maturity from the feminist critic whose most famous contribution to American political discourse is advising Al Gore to wear "earth tones" during the 2000 presidential election.
But any suspicion that Wolf has become a clear-eyed observer of the political scene does not survive the first chapter of this book. For the existential threat that she has in mind isn't the Islamic terrorism that murdered nearly 3,000 Americans in one day and untold thousands across the globe. Rather, it is a supposed "fascist shift" that has seen the United States become the heir to Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, Stalin's Russia, and indeed just about any other despotic regime that Wolf's Dictatorship for Dummies reading of 20th century history can turn up. Her book, an expanded version of an April ...   more »