by Jonathan Milner
My spiritual journey of a thousand miles began with a single click.
I fondly remember my first Google. The summer of 1999. It was a typically balmy Australian afternoon. Well, probably. I don't recall even glancing outside that day. Or for weeks afterwards, to be honest.
Our shiny new family computer had just been installed, and the world was at the fingertips of a inquisitive 16 year old. Of all the knowledge mankind had collected throughout our existence, there was practically nothing out of reach. What were my most innermost desires?
"C-H-E-A-T-S F-O-R N-I-N-T-E-N-D-O G-A-M-E-S"
And there they were, like magic. Nice one, Google.
We became the best of friends. He'd help me through school biology essays, no matter how late at night (or early in the morning!). Choosing the right university was simple -- he knew all about them! My adventures through South American jungles would have been a mess if it wasn't for his advice. And graduate opportunities? No problem. He even suggested the quickest ways to the interviews.
Life was running smoothly. For a typical 22 year old male, all the boxes were ticked. Career? Check. Car? Check. Fun in the sun? Check, check. ...   more »

Ancient ruins, beachfront views, interactive sound-and-light shows, conversations with historical figures, and even great food: Caesarea has it all
The year is 22 BCE. Herod, crowned King of the Jews by the Romans, aspires to expand his realm. He begins by building a port, punctuating the ambitious enterprise with finely wrought structures.  
In order to prove his loyalty to his Roman masters, Herod calls his dream city “Caesarea” and incorporates Roman monuments and motifs  מודעה    
throughout.  
When he reconstructed the Jewish Holy Temple in Jerusalem, Herod did so – ostensibly, at least – in the service of God and as a means of acquiring a religious image. But in Caesarea, a gleaming Mediterranean port city, the omnipotent king designed a private playground, which reflected his keen admiration of Roman culture, adding a pagan temple for good measure.  
The port was a model of engineering ingenuity which took 12 years to complete. Built in the same style as the Holy Temple, Caesarea was considered one of the major cities of the ancient world.  
Today, vestiges of the port, the temples, the hippodrome, the amphitheater, and more are all part of the well-preserved Caesarea National Park.
King ...   more »

Millions of dollars in donations from Evangelical Christian supporters of Israel raised in the United States have been earmarked to renovate bomb shelters, but much of the funding has been held up for months due to bureaucratic wrangling, officials said Sunday.
The money, raised by the Chicago-based International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, includes $10 million allocated to refurbish more than 2,500 private building shelters in northern Israel, and $1.5m. to repair all 60 public shelters in Sderot, which has been hit by thousands of Kassam rockets from the Gaza Strip over the last six years.
While the funding earmarked for Sderot shelters was accepted last month by municipal officials, the funding allocated for the shelters in the North is still pending final agreement with officials in the Prime Minister's Office, the officials said.
"The situation in terms of the government's relationship with the home front is a failure," said IFCJ founder and president Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein.
After months of negotiations, an agreement was announced last month whereby the government allocated NIS 55 million to repair over 3,000 public shelters in northern Israel, while the IFCJ was charged with fixing more than 2,500 private building shelters for NIS 45m.
However, ...   more »

Haredim clash with police; 8 injured
10,000 haredim rally on Jerusalem street in protest of upcoming gay pride parade in city. Protestors confront police, seven officers and one protestor lightly injured; at least 10 people arrested
About 10,000 haredim took to Jerusalem’s streets Sunday evening in protest of the gay pride parade scheduled to take place in the city Thursday. At least eight people, seven of them policemen, were injured in clashes between the protestors and the police; 10 people were arrested.  
About 1,300 police officers secured the scene of the rally. According to rally organizers, dozens of elite police unit officers dressed as haredim were planted inside the crowd.  
Rabbi Yitzhak Weiss warned participants of the rally, “Anyone who helps the evil will be judged.” Another rabbi told the crowd, “If we protest with all our hearts, maybe some of the evil will be dissuaded from doing their evil.”
During the demonstration, a few haredim torched a dumpster, and dozens confronted police forces after the rally ended.  
In recent nights, haredim were caught burning trash bins and stoning police officers in haredi neighborhoods. On Sunday afternoon, police caught four 10-year-old haredi children stoning private vehicles.  ...   more »

Two rockets fired at northern town of Kiryat Shmona Sunday afternoon; no injuries reported, one rocket hits car. Hizbullah denies responsibility, Palestinian group may be behind attack. IDF: Rockets launched from area close to UN outposts
Two 107 millimeter-diameter Katyusha rockets landed in the northern town of Kiryat Shmona Sunday afternoon. No injuries were reported.  
At around 5:20 pm, residents of the northern town reported the sound of explosions. Rescue teams were dispatched to both locations where the rockets landed. It remains unclear who launched the rockets towards Israel.
One of the rockets hit a car in the town's northern industrial area, and the other landed in the southern part of town.  
IDF officials said that the rockets were apparently launched from an area very close to UN outposts in southern Lebanon.   
Residents were instructed to carry on with their day following an IDF evaluation, which concluded there appeared to be no further threat. 
The Lebanese media reported that the rockets were launched from villages in the Marjayoun
District in south Lebanon. Hizbullah’s Al Manar television station briefly reported the attack based on Israeli news outlets; Hizbullah denied it was behind the attack.  
Al Manar also ...   more »

Humor writer Dave Barry compiled a list of things it took him 50 years to learn. I have selected a handful of Barry’s observations.
1. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight-savings time.
2. The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.
3. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background,is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers.
4. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
5. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."
6. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
I am also a slow learner. But one thing I have learned in my journey is that every dad leaves a legacy. The only question is whether that legacy will be good, bad, or indifferent. Over the next few days I am going to write about some things I have learned about leaving a legacy that, hopefully, is ...   more »

A national anti-abortion group is pushing legislation in U.S. states aimed at making sure pregnant women and girls view sonograms before having abortions, hoping that what they see will persuade them against having the procedure.
Such proposals have gained little attention so far from lawmakers in Kansas or Missouri. But the National Right to Life Committee says 11 states have enacted laws requiring abortion providers to tell patients they have the right to see an ultrasound image of the embryo or fetus they are carrying.
Right to Life had its annual, three-day convention in Kansas City this week, attracting more than 1,000 leaders of local and state anti-abortion groups from across the nation. Mary Balch, director of the group's state legislative efforts, predicted that ultrasound legislation will be a growing trend.
"We believe the more information a woman has about the development of a child, the more likely she is to choose life," Balch said during an interview.
Original Source
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A council is to hide a camera in a bin bag to catch residents who do not follow new rules about putting out the rubbish.   
A spy camera will be put in a rubbish bag left in an alleyway 
Householders in a seaside town have been told to put their bins out at the front of their homes and not in an alleyway to the rear.
They must also leave their rubbish out between set times to ensure it does not attract pests or miss the dust cart.
To enforce the new rules, a camera will be placed in a rubbish bag and left in an alleyway to blend in with the surroundings to catch offenders. Those filmed breaking the rules will be given a ticking off.
Repeat offenders could be handed a fixed penalty notice or even be taken to court and fined up to £1,000.
The tiny covert camera, which has cost Weymouth and Portland Council, Dorset, up to £10,000, will also help catch householders who put their rubbish out too early or too late.
The initiative has shocked local taxpayers. The spy camera is being introduced in the Park district in Weymouth, an area that suffers ...   more »

By ERIC GORSKI
SAN ANTONIO --Folded into the Rev. Frank Page's wallet is a yellow scrap of paper with the date and time he is to speak with yet another Republican candidate for the White House.
He already has visited one GOP front-runner over breakfast at a country club and met another at the headquarters of a car dealership in his home state.
The South Carolina pastor seems taken aback by the attention, but he shouldn't be: He leads a large congregation in a state with an early primary and is president of the 16.3 million-strong Southern Baptist Convention, perhaps the largest single bloc of evangelical voters and a must-have Republican constituency.
Page, in an interview at his denomination's annual meeting here last week, said he offers his thoughts about salvation to candidates but never an endorsement. And he talks to Democrats, too. He sees the political courtship as a duty: The nation's leaders need to hear a Christian viewpoint, he believes.
But some Southern Baptists would rather stay out of politics altogether. A small but vocal number of pastors believe the denomination is too cozy with Republicans and too political in general. By flirting with the line separating good ...   more »

The eighth time was a charm for Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., when the House passed his amendment to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill yesterday to withhold federal emergency-services funding from "sanctuary cities" that protect illegal aliens.
The 234-to-189 tally included 50 Democrats voting in favor.
"The issue has come to fruition," Tancredo told the Rocky Mountain News. "The people of the country really have spoken. It's a really good indicator of just how much closer to the people the House is than the Senate is."
Tancredo has offered the similar amendments at least seven times since 2004 and all have failed, some by wide margins.
The amendment passed yesterday does not include a definition of "sanctuary city." The Homeland Security appropriations bill now goes to the Senate.  
Known for his fierce opposition to illegal immigration and the failure of the federal government to secure U.S. borders, Tancredo has focused particular criticism on local governments across the country that have declared themselves sanctuary cities, refusing in varying degrees to allow law enforcement and city personnel to inquire about individuals' legal status.
As WND reported, Tancredo cited Miami, a sanctuary city, when criticizing President Bush's views on immigration.
"People ...   more »