The brain is a sensitive organ. 1.4 million people in the US sustain a traumatic injury to the brain each year, whether in a traffic accident, from a blow to the head or assault, and every 45 seconds, on average, someone suffers a stroke - a blood clot in the brain. Both these conditions - and others such as brain cancer or meningitis - can cause permanent neurological damage. A Weizmann Institute of Science researcher is developing a drug that, by removing toxic amounts of a chemical produced during the trauma, could drastically reduce damage to the brain. "My field is neuropharmacology, the influence of drugs on the brain," explains Professor Vivian Teichberg of the Weizmann Institute's Department of Neurobiology, a chemist by training, who searches for drug-mediated solutions to brain diseases. His focus is a neurotransmitter called glutamate, a chemical that relays messages between brain cells. Glutamate plays a vital role in the functioning of the brain, but it also has a dark side: "When you suffer a head trauma or a stroke, the brain reacts in a negative way," Teichberg told ISRAEL21c. "One of the consequences is the release of glutamate: when a cell dies it releases a ...   more »

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU is a realist. The former Israeli prime minister is also confrontational in his statements and considers Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a serious threat to the world's existence.
He also believes Ahmadinejad has his evil eye centered on "wiping Israel off the map" and after annihilating the Little Satan (Israel), the next target would be the Big Satan (the U.S.) and, with nuclear capabilities in the next few years, this may not be just the hallucinations of the former mayor of Tehran, but could become a reality.
On June 17 in Yediot, Netanyahu wrote: "We live in the world of radical Islam and of missiles. This is the gist of the gathering storm around us. Every piece of territory that we unilaterally evacuate is being taken over by radical Muslim forces, who then direct their missiles at us under the guidance of Iran."
Bibi followed this up with appearances on American TV in which he reiterated that Iran and its "apocalyptic" madman was directing the steps of Hamas (meaning "zeal" in Arabic), which as David Dolan described in his informative book, Israel at the Crossroads, was a militant offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood movement called the Islamic Resistance movement.
At ...   more »

Time for friends of the Jewish state — especially Christian Zionists — to make their voices heard http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Ahead of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's trip to the White House on June 19, the Bush administration is pressuring Israel to endanger itself on at least two fronts. First the Americans are pressuring the Olmert government to agree to Palestinian Authority and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas's request to bring millions of bullets, thousands of Kalashnikov assault rifles, RPGs, anti-tank missiles and armored personnel carriers into Gaza from Egypt. The government has yet to respond to the request. Those who oppose it argue that Fatah forces in Gaza are too weak and incompetent to battle Hamas forces and so any weaponry transferred to Fatah militias will likely end up in Hamas's hands. This logic is correct, but incomplete. It is true that Fatah forces are unwilling and presumably unable to defeat Hamas forces. But it is also true that Fatah forces use their arms to attack Israel. So even if there was no chance of Hamas laying its hands on the weapons, allowing Fatah to receive them would still endanger Israel. The same limited logic informs Israel's strenuous objection to the Pentagon's ...   more »

President Hugo Chavez urged soldiers on Sunday to prepare for a guerrilla-style war against the United States, saying that Washington is using psychological and economic warfare as part of an unconventional campaign aimed at derailing his government.Dressed in olive green fatigues and a red beret, Chavez spoke inside Tiuna Fort — Venezuela's military nerve-center—before hundreds of uniformed soldiers standing alongside armored vehicles and tanks decorated with banners reading: "Fatherland, Socialism, or Death! We will triumph!""We must continue developing the resistance war, that's the anti- imperialist weapon. We must think and prepare for the resistance war everyday," said Chavez, who has repeatedly warned that American soldiers could invade Venezuela to seize control of the South American nation's immense oil reserves.U.S. officials reject claims that Washington is considering a military attack. But the U.S. government has expressed concern over what it perceives as a significant arms build-up here.Chavez—a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro—told soldiers the Washington was trying to weaken and divide Venezuelan society, including the armed forces, without resorting to combat."It's not just armed warfare," said Chavez, a former army officer who is leading what he calls the "Bolivarian Revolution," a socialist movement named after 19th-century independence hero Simon ...   more »

WASHINGTON – Resistance to enforcing immigration laws and border security by political elites in the nation’s capital is, at least in part, a result of plans to promote political, social and economic integration of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, charges a new book, “The Late Great USA.”“It’s the only context in which the current immigration travesty makes sense,” says Jerome Corsi, co-author of the best-selling “Unfit for Command,” “and it must be stopped.”Millions of Americans, shocked by the Senate “grand bargain” on immigration that gives the precious gift of legalization to millions of illegal aliens and felons, have taken to the phones to demand no amnesty. But, claims Corsi, there’s far more to the current Senate bill – a story documented in shocking detail in “The Late Great USA: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada,” published by WND Books.“Prior to this ‘grand bargain’ cooked up in a backroom by our so-called representatives, many people had never heard of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, yet several amendments in the Senate bill are designed specifically to further the SPP’s agenda,” explains Corsi.In “The Late Great USA,” Corsi shows how the SPP, an agreement signed in 2005 by Bush, Paul Martin of ...   more »

Backers of the controversial immigration reform bill in the Senate got the 60 votes they needed to clear procedural hurdles and resurrect the bill today.
Two weeks ago, only 45 senators supported a vote for cloture that would cut off debate and proceed to a vote.
Today, the senators who voted 64-35 to move the legislation forward included 24 Republicans, 39 Democrats and independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut. In opposition were 25 Republicans, nine Democrats and independent Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont.
The roll call, showing how each senator voted, can be seen here.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who co-sponsored the bill along with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called the vote "a major step forward for our national security, for our economy, and for our humanity."
"We did the right thing today because we know the American people sent us here to act on our most urgent problems. We know they will not stand for small political factions getting in the way," Kennedy said in a statement.
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The Senate is scheduled to resume debate this afternoon, addressing some of the more than two dozen amendments that could make or break the bill.
A cloture vote ...   more »