BELTSVILLE, Md. -- Unless someone or something stops it soon, the mysterious killer that is wiping out many of the nation's honeybees could have a devastating effect on America's dinner plate.Honeybees don't just make honey; they pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest flowering crops Americans have.Among them: apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash and cucumbers. And lots of the really sweet and tart stuff, too, including citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and other melons.About one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80% of that pollination, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture.Even cattle, which feed on alfalfa, depend on bees. So if the collapse worsens, people could end up being "stuck with grains and water," said Kevin Hackett, national program leader for the USDA bee and pollination program. "This is the biggest general threat to our food supply."While not all scientists foresee a food crisis, noting that large-scale bee die-offs have happened before, this one seems particularly alarming.U.S. beekeepers in recent months have lost one-quarter of their colonies -- about five times the normal winter losses -- because of Colony Collapse Disorder.The problem started in November ...   more »

by Lori Palatnik
Personal reflections on preparing ahead -- so that it all comes together.
"The week does not carry Shabbat ... Shabbat carries the week."
You get out of Shabbat what you put into Shabbat -- from the clothes you wear to the sheets on which you sleep.
Preparing is part of Shabbat, to the point where even if one has help to do all the cooking and cleaning, one must still personally prepare something in honor of the day.
If you are a guest at someone's home and arrive Friday night, you will probably notice things sparkling and shining, from the silver to the smiles on the children's faces (on a good night). How did it all happen, and why is it all for this day?
Here are some personal reflections:
* * *
The first Shabbat that I made myself was a nightmare. I had left everything until Friday -- you just can't imagine the scene.
So now I've spread it out for the week. On Monday my cleaning lady comes to give the place a good scrubbing. On Wednesday I think of menus and shop, and usually make my chicken soup so I know that it's ...   more »

by Rabbi Pinchas Stolper
Many puzzling questions surround the little understood holiday of Lag B'Omer -- the thirty third day of the counting of the Omer.
Thirty-three days following the first day of Passover, Jews celebrate a "minor" holiday called Lag B'Omer, the thirty-third day of the Omer. It is an oasis of joy in the midst of the sad Sefirah period which is almost unnoticed by most contemporary Jews. Yet it contains historic lessons of such great severity -- that this generation must not only unravel the mystery of Lag B'Omer but will discover that its own fate is wrapped in the crevices of its secrets.
The seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot are the days of the "Counting of the Omer," the harvest festivities which were observed in the Land of Israel when the Temple stood on Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem.
This fifty-day period should have been a time of joyful anticipation. Having experienced the Exodus from Egypt on Pesach, every Jew literally "counts the days" from the first night of Passover until Mattan Torah -- the revelation of Torah at Mt. Sinai which took place on Shavuot, exactly fifty days after the Exodus. While the Exodus marks ...   more »

Jewish group devoted to rebuilding Temple in Jerusalem to send letters to all world leaders, including Arab ones, inviting them to take part in project, attend conference on Temple Mount in Israel
Kobi Nahshoni
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has been gearing up for an Israeli offensive in recent months, is bound to be surprised by the peace feelers he is set to receive from Jerusalem soon.  
Animal Sacrifice  
'Renew animal sacrifices on Mount' says radical rabbi / Yaakov Lappin  
Member of Sanhedrin says sacrifices 'were not possible when the people of Israel were in the Diaspora, but now they are.' Adds: Jerusalem Temple should be rebuilt, Israeli government standing in our way    
Without Saudi mediation or diplomatic procedures, the president will get a “Letter of Love and Peace”, accompanied by a historic invitation to visit Jerusalem, from The Supreme Judicial Court of the Jewish People, better known as the Sanhedrin.  
After having tried their luck with the High Court of Justice and the government, the members of the Jewish group have set out on a new track in their struggle for the Temple Mount, aimed at rebuilding the Temple in the Jewish capital.  ...   more »

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert survived the day-after-Winograd better than expected, but faces another rough day Thursday: The Knesset will convene to discuss the Winograd report, and later, a large protest is scheduled in Tel Aviv, demanding the government’s resignation.
The Knesset session is considered an emergency session, taking place during the spring recess at the request of 27 Members of Knesset.  It will consist of five-minute speeches by a representative of each party. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, sure to be the target of most of the recrimination and outrage, has said he will not be addressing the session or responding to any accusations.
In addition, when the Knesset recess officially ends Monday, four no-confidence motions await the Kadima-led government.
On the other hand, PM Olmert’s government coalition - which appeared to be crumbling yesterday following the resignations of two members and a call for his own resignation by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni - is doing much better this morning. The vast majority of his Kadima Knesset faction voted to support Olmert last night, saying that strengthening the coalition is the charge of the hour.
One of Olmert's aides seemed overjoyed at the fact that his man, the Prime Minister ...   more »

IsraelNN.com) Israel's Ambassador in Washington says Syria is developing its most serious threat against Israel since it attacked Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
"We see Syria developing a very serious threat on the northern border," Ambassador Sallai Meridor told journalists in Washington on Wednesday.  He said the threat is manifest in military activity, training, great investments in military equipment - and the build-up of a large arsenal of Scud missiles.
"In the past," Meridor said, "the assumption was that the Syrians' tanks and air force were not among the most advanced. Nowhowever, we are concerned that they might think that with a large arsenal of rockets that can reach everywhere in Israel, they have the capacity... to threaten us."
The last time Israel's north-eastern neighbor threatened Israel so fiercely build-up was the 1973 Yom Kippur War.  That war was set off when Syria and Egypt simultaneously attacked Israel on the holiest day of the Jewish year.
"We hope they do not have offensive intentions," Meridor said, "but we cannot be sure." The ambassador said that Israel is attempting to pass "calming messages" to Syria, but that Syria continues to "thwart attempts to create attempts to create an ...   more »

Were it not for its “reserve currency” status, slowly turning into a post-World War II relic, the US dollar would have already collapsed by now. A string of $4.4 trillion of US trade deficits since 1996, and a heavy reliance on foreign money to fund its external imbalance, has severely weakened America’s global economic leadership over the past five years. The US dollar survives, due to America’s political stability, its military might in the Persian Gulf, its large $12.5 trillion economy (28% of global GDP), and deep and liquid financial markets for bonds and stocks. Last week, the US dollar fell to an all-time low against the Euro, a new milestone in a steep decline that began more than six years ago. The Euro hit a record high of $1.3682 on April 27th, up from $1.20 a year ago and as little as 83 cents in October 2000, when the rally against the dollar began. The British pound is hovering near $2 area, and the Australian dollar fetches 82.50 US-cents, both at 15-year highs.
Since the beginning of the year, 50 of the world’s currencies have risen against the dollar while only eight have declined. Behind the falling US dollar ...   more »

By SAM HODGES / The Dallas Morning News
samhodges@dallasnews.com
For the first time, a Muslim woman is the keynote speaker for the interfaith National Day of Prayer breakfast put on by Thanks-Giving Square.
Daisy Khan, executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, will address the annual gathering. The breakfast is at 7:30 a.m. Thursday at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church.
"I will speak primarily about how as an American Muslim, I believe that American values and Islamic values are very much in sync," she said Wednesday.
Though sometimes described as a "Muslim feminist," Ms. Khan said she prefers to be recognized as one seeking social justice for women and others, based on principles derived from the Quran.
Ms. Khan was born in Kashmir, India, and was educated in the United States, where she has long lived. She's the wife of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.
Her organization, based in New York City, is a nonprofit that seeks to develop an American Muslim identity and build ties with the public through dialogues about faith, culture and the arts.
Thanks-Giving Square, the interfaith shrine to gratitude in downtown Dallas, has had a wide range of speakers for its National Prayer Day ...   more »