Passover is often described as the holiday of freedom. And in liberal democracies freedom is often misunderstood as the ability to do whatever you like with no oppressive authority telling you what to do. But that is not how the Bible and Judaism define freedom. The Jewish idea of freedom is best summarized by that very famous expression -- "Praise the servants of God who are not servants of Pharaoh." 1That is, freedom is seen a means to an end, not an end in and of itself-True freedom means to be free of outside influences and pressures so that we can be free to pursue ultimate meaning-relationship with God. 2 In the specific context of the Exodus story it means being free from an oppressive authority in order to stand at Mount Sinai and commit to a certain responsibility.What happened at Mount Sinai?To answer quite simply, the Jewish people -- every man, woman and child -- had an encounter with God.It was a totally unique event in all of human history. The Bible itself states in Deuteronomy 4:33 that this never happened any place else. You can check all history books; you'll never find a similar story of God speaking ...   more »

Israel scheduled to request status equal to that of Switzerland and Norway
Itamar EichnerIsrael is trying to upgrade its standing in the European Union to be equal to that of Switzerland and Norway.  Although the two countries are not members of the EU, they have free passage for people, capital and merchandise between them and the rest of the EU countries. The Israel-EU Association Council – a council of European foreign ministers who monitor European-Israeli relations – is scheduled to convene in Brussels in March, with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. The Foreign Ministry is examining options of promoting Israel's standing in the EU at the meeting. The Israeli National Security Council, representatives from ministries, the academia and NGOs are collaborating with the foreign ministry in preparation for the appeal. Among the suggestions that are being examined are allowing Israelis and European nationals to travel freely between the countries, to start businesses and open European companies in Israel and Israeli companies in Europe, ensuing from the Norwegian and Swiss relations with the rest of the EU countries."We are looking into several options to find the best way to improve our relations with the EU," senior foreign ministry staff said. "It will require authorization of all ...   more »

WORLD leaders would be guilty of "gross dereliction" not to use an opportunity in the Middle East to push forward peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said today.Ms Beckett told journalists in Jerusalem she hoped common ground could be found now that all sides of the conflict saw peace as necessary for their own interests. "Despite the difficult and long-standing nature of those many problems there is perhaps an opportunity available to us now if we try to work to identify a common ground," she said. "Success is by no means guaranteed. But it would be a gross dereliction on the part of all the international community not to take advantage of such an opportunity," she told a joint news conference with Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni. Ms Beckett said her visit to the region was an opportunity to find out what practical help Britain could offer to get the two sides back on track in talks on the so-called road map to peace. A breakthrough would be a huge boost for British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Battling bruising opinion polls and public criticism over his support for the US-led war in Iraq, ...   more »

RESTON, Va., Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Traffic jams at U.S. border crossings aggravated by new passport laws could be eased by a new system that can read a personal ID card in a moving vehicle.
The system developed by Raytheon uses ultra high-frequency radio signals to tie the personalized identification cards in with an automated reader that would be installed at border crossings.
Raytheon said Monday the Personal Authentication Device (PAD) would be able to validate the identities of travelers and truck drivers entering the United States from Canada and Mexico, who must now carry a passport under new U.S. security regulations.
"Last week's passport requirement ... underscores how U.S. border travel is becoming increasingly more serious and complicated," said Guy Swope, senior biometrics architect for Raytheon Information Solutions in Reston. "With an estimated 13,000 trucks alone crossing through the Mexican border daily, Raytheon set out to create the next generation of travel ID card that not only secures the person's identity but also is sufficiently portable to track people quickly and efficiently through a busy border or customs gate."
The system is based on fingerprint data stored in the card that is both read and tracked by the sensor, ...   more »

CBS4) PHOENIX, AZ Nearly a decade after the highly publicized ‘Phoenix Light Phenomenon’, more strange lights have appeared in the night sky over downtown Phoenix.Tuesday night, mysterious lights lit up the western skies over Phoenix and soon after, phones began ringing off the hook at radio, television and police stations from witnesses wondering what the lights were.The Yuma Marine Base claims it has the answer. Base officials said the amber-colored flares came from training flights on the Goldwater Gunnery Range. They went on to explain that the amber flares are used as targets.Witnesses said it appeared the flares were flying in a formation and base officials explained that the flares float down to Earth attached to parachutes.Back in March of 1997, a huge object was spotted over parts of Arizona that many witnesses believed to be an extraterrestrial spacecraft that was drifting slowly and silently over the region. The ‘Phoenix Light Phenomenon” became one of the most publicized and well-documented UFO sightings in recent history.The Air Force said they were flares from an A-10 but many critics said flares couldn’t fly on their own over such a large distance.The Discovery Channel has done a special on the lights. A movie ...   more »

By JOHN RICHARDSON, Staff Writer-The minister of a Baptist church in South Portland asked for forgiveness Monday for frightening members of the Jewish community with a provocative newspaper advertisement that promoted his Sunday sermon about anti-Semitism.
The ad for the First Baptist Church appeared on the Religion & Values page of the Portland Press Herald on Saturday, touting a sermon titled, "The Only Way to Destroy the Jewish Race."
The sermon was supportive of Jews but the words in the ad generated fear and anger, as well as complaints to the church and the newspaper.
"Dear friends, please forgive me for causing alarm in your hearts," the Rev. Philip Andrukaitis wrote in a statement released Monday afternoon. "No doubt, several folks have already jumped to conclusions about me and this church."
Andrukaitis' sermon, the text of which he gave to Jewish leaders and the news media, called for Christians to support Jews and the nation of Israel. He said the sermon title was intended to spark discussion and referred to his message that God will never allow the destruction of his chosen people. "I never expected it," Andrukaitis said of the uproar caused by the ad.
The newspaper also apologized ...   more »

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science EditorORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Exxon plans to keep some refinery workers living in the plants to keep them going. A small Southern grocery chain is thinking about drive-through pickup of soup and bread.The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration urged employers to develop plans to cope with a possible flu pandemic on Tuesday, suggesting letting employees work from home and encouraging sick workers to stay home without reprisals.But a few international companies and small regional firms were already making bird flu planning a full-time job, and said on Tuesday they have had to prepare for the unthinkable.Jay Schwartz, vice president of information systems at North Carolina-based Alex Lee Inc., is worried about what will happen when food supplies begin to get scarce as people become ill, stay home to care for children when schools close or tend to ill relatives."Security is a huge issue," Schwartz, whose company owns a chain of grocery stores and an institutional food supplier, told a conference in Orlando.Big food trucks may be targeted by bandits. "Maybe we'll have someone riding shotgun for added security," Schwartz told the Business Preparedness for Pandemic Influenza summit, sponsored by the Center ...   more »

OLYMPIA, Wash. - An initiative filed by proponents of same-sex marriage would require heterosexual couples to have kids within three years or else have their marriage annulled. Initiative 957 was filed by the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance. That group was formed last summer after the state Supreme Court upheld Washington's ban on same-sex marriage.
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Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance
Under the initiative, marriage would be limited to men and women who are able to have children. Couples would be required to prove they can have children in order to get a marriage license, and if they did not have children within three years, their marriage would be subject to annulment. All other marriages would be defined as "unrecognized" and people in those marriages would be ineligible to receive any marriage benefits. “For many years, social conservatives have claimed that marriage exists solely for the purpose of procreation ... The time has come for these conservatives to be dosed with their own medicine," said WA-DOMA organizer Gregory Gadow in a printed statement. “If same-sex couples should be barred from marriage because they can not have children together, it follows that all couples who cannot or will not have ...   more »

Courtroom oaths could be taken on the Koran and other sacred texts besides the Bible in a bill filed in the state Senate on Wednesday. The issue drew national attention last month when the first Muslim elected to US Congress took a ceremonial oath with a Koran once owned by Thomas Jefferson. In North Carolina, the issue appeared in 2003 when a Muslim woman sued the state because she was not allowed to swear an oath on the Koran when she was called as a witness in a court case. State law allows witnesses to use only the Bible for oaths. Three weeks ago, a state appeals court agreed to let her lawsuit continue. The new bill would allow an oath-taker to place a hand "upon the Bible or any text sacred to the party's religious faith." The court system would not be required to provide such texts, but it could accept donations. The bill also would make clear that oaths could be performed without the words "so help me God" if appropriate to the person's faith.

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TEHRAN, Iran: Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards test fired its new Russian defense missile system Wednesday near the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, state radio reported.The two-day maneuvers are Iran's second since the United Nations Security Council approved economic sanctions against it Dec. 23, which ban selling to Iran materials and technology that it could use in its nuclear and missile programs.As tensions rise over Iran's nuclear standoff with the West, the United States and Iran have pursued an escalating series of military moves, with Washington sending a second aircraft carrier battle group to the region and Iran responding with more frequent maneuvers.The Revolutionary Guards' began the games Wednesday in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, which flank the strait, through which some 20 percent of the world's oil transits daily.The goal of the maneuvers, dubbed Saegheh and Badr, is to improve the "defense, stamina and operation" of participating units, state radio reported. The first word of the games' name means lightening, while the second refers to a decisive battle in the early days of Islam.Today in Africa & Middle East U.S. blames Iran for Iraqi arms surge
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The Revolutionary ...   more »