Prominent Zionist-religious rabbi Shmuel Tal talks of how he became alienated from the State of Israel following pullout. 'The disengagement was the result of anti-Semitism and true evil,' he says, slams secular leaders
He says that Independence Day shouldn’t be observed; and he thinks that kippa-wearing army officers are no big deal. No, he’s not some haredi hotshot rabbi. He’s Rabbi Shmuel Tal, head of Yeshivat Torat HaChaim, and until two years ago, he was considered to be a rising star in religious-Zionist circles. In a recent interview with the haredi “Mishpacha” magazine, Tal lays out his new worldview. Referring to the Israeli government as a “kingdom that has transformed into apostasy” and the State of Israel as one “who screams against God”, he insists that “it’s no longer possible to combine holiness and impurity.” According to him, the path of the Torah doesn’t allow for sanctifying the State. In fact, religious-Zionists should forget about trying to “influence from within”. Honoring the secular leadership, Tal claims, only corrupts the secular leaders themselves. “It’s impossible to genuinely advance within the secular system unless you adopt the secular outlook whole-heartedly,” the rabbi observes. “Even if a religious prime minister would be elected, he wouldn’t be ...   more »

Vice Premier Shimon Peres told Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday night that he would seek the presidency, and not cooperate with MKs seeking to topple Olmert and have Peres replace him. Peres had said he would take his time before announcing his candidacy, but he was under pressure from Olmert and Knesset Speaker and Acting President Dalia Itzik to decide soon whether he would run. A long-awaited date for the end of the Moshe Katsav era was set on Wednesday when Itzik decided on a June 13 date for the presidential race, which she will formally announce next week. According to Knesset bylaws, MKs must announce their candidacy by submitting a form with 10 signatures to the Knesset Speaker at least 10 days before the election. As of Wednesday, there were two candidates: MKs Reuven Rivlin (Likud) and Colette Avital (Labor). June 3 would be the last date for Peres, Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau or Itzik to enter the race. In meetings with Olmert and former coalition chairman Avigdor Yitzhaki on Wednesday, Peres said he wanted to know whether his victory would be guaranteed. Yitzhaki, who has endorsed Rivlin, said he would give Peres a list ...   more »

Some groups say plan puts private, personal information at greater risk
By Malaika Fraley, MEDIANEWS STAFF
A federalized ID card plan based on state driver's licenses aims to increase security nationwide, but many fear the opposite at great cost to taxpayers.
The Real ID Act, signed by President Bush in 2005, requires every state to recertify driver's license and identification card holders over a five-year period beginning in May 2008. Recertification calls for an in-person visit to state offices, such as the California Department of Motor Vehicles, with a certified birth certificate, current U.S. Passport, Social Security card and proof of address in hand.
The act was passed by Congress and is supported by the 9-11 Commission and the Department of Homeland Security, said Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke.
"At the end of day, we've seen how state-issued driver licenses are vulnerable — we've been repeatedly exploited by criminals and perpetrators of identity theft," said Knocke, who noted that a number of the terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks carried fraudulently obtained driver's licenses.
"While the implementation of Real ID is going to require some burdensome steps and tough decision-making, it's righteous and something that we have ...   more »

By Jerome R. Corsi
Oklahoma state Sen. Randy Brogdon
The director of North America's SuperCorridor Coalition has gone to war against an Oklahoma state legislator, trying to distance the tri-national group from any identification with a new "NAFTA Superhighway" or any movement to evolve NAFTA into a North American Union.
The conflict began when Republican Oklahoma state Sen. Randy Brogdon entered an amendment to an Oklahoma bill (HB 1819) requiring the state's Department of Transportation "shall be prohibited from participating or entering any negotiations or agreement with NASCO."
Brogdon's amendment further specified, "No state funds or federal funds dedicated for state use, shall be used for any international, integrated, or multi-modal transportation system."
Brogdon also has sponsored Senate Concurrent Resolution 10, an Oklahoma legislature resolution urging the U.S. to withdraw from the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America and any other activity that seeks to create a North American Union, and to oppose any NAFTA superhighways.
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Senate Concurrent Resolution 10 has passed the Oklahoma Senate and is now before the Oklahoma House.
Industry sources tell WND that NASCO Executive Director Tiffany Melvin is traveling to Oklahoma to argue her case directly with Oklahoma legislators, opposing both ...   more »

By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – A deadly attack yesterday against a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip was carried out by an Islamist extremist group, according to a statement faxed to WND claiming the U.N. was targeted because the international body was "spreading Christian missionary activity."
"The UN is spreading Christian missionary activity. We will keep hitting them and trying to kill them. They are trying to convert our Muslims under the cover of an international organization," said the statement, signed by the group Jihadia Salafiya.
Until now, Jihadia Salafiya has operated in Gaza as an Islamic outreach movement seeking to make secular Muslims more religious, but the overall leader of the organization, Abu Saqer, confirmed to WND today his organization recently opened what it called a "military wing" to target individuals, establishments and groups it claims are "corrupting Islam."
One person was killed yesterday when unidentified attackers hurled grenades at a U.N.-run school in the Gaza Strip after announcing on loudspeakers they were angry over the participation of boys and girls in a sports event.
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Six other people, including at least one pupil and a school principal, were wounded in the ...   more »

By SEAN POULTER
Genetically modified crops could be grown commercially in Britain within two years amid official efforts to water down policing of the controversial "Frankenstein food" technology.
Advisers to the Government claimed yesterday that the farming regulatory regime is unfairly weighted against the growing of GM crops.
ACRE - the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment - wants a lighter touch system that concentrates more on the claimed benefits of GM farming rather than any potential harm to the countryside and health.
It suggested GM crops could solve future food famines caused by climate change and population growth.
The committee, largely of scientists, also argued that GM crops could become the only effective alternative to using oil for producing plastics and other chemicals.
The chairman, Professor Chris Pollock, has been in the vanguard of efforts to overturn blanket consumer opposition to GM farming.
He believes that if GM crops with health benefits can be developed - such as wheat protein that protects against heart disease - the technology's negative image among consumers will be reversed.
However, GM critics such as Friends of the Earth dismissed the claimed benefits as "fantasy".
They said UK trials had found that GM ...   more »

With reports coming in about a scourge affecting honeybees, researchers are launching a drive to find the cause of the destruction. The reasons for rapid colony collapse are not clear. Old diseases, parasites and new diseases are being looked at.
Over the past 100 or so years, beekeepers have experienced colony losses from bacterial agents (foulbrood), mites (varroa and tracheal) and other parasites and pathogens. Beekeepers have dealt with these problems by using antibiotics, miticides or integrated pest management.
While losses, particularly in overwintering, are a chronic condition, most beekeepers have learned to limit their losses by staying on top of new advice from entomologists. Unlike the more common problems, this new die-off has been virtually instantaneous throughout the country, not spreading at the slower pace of conventional classical disease.
As an interested beekeeper with some background in biology, I think it might be fruitful to investigate the role of genetically modified or transgenic farm crops. Although we are assured by nearly every bit of research that these manipulations of the crop genome are safe for both human consumption and the environment, looking more closely at what is involved here might raise questions about those assumptions.
The most commonly transplanted ...   more »