By NEIL GENZLINGER
Published: June 27, 2007
“Hot House,” Shimon Dotan’s absorbing look at Palestinians held in Israeli jails, is full of remarkable interviews. Prisoners talk about how they issue orders to followers on the outside via smuggled cellphones. A former Palestinian newscaster, Ahlam Tamimi, recalls the day she dropped a suicide bomber off at his target, then coolly went on television to report on the resulting bombing. Mr. Dotan, who grew up in Israel, is so successful at revealing the world inside the prisons, where about 10,000 Palestinians are held, that by the end of “Hot House” you may feel more than a little annoyance at the two sides in this endless conflict. These enemies know each other absurdly well. They learn from each other, and talk openly about doing so. Yet they can’t seem to break the cycle: a cat and mouse addicted to their own game. The film, shown tonight on Cinemax, is centered on the 2006 Palestinian elections; some of the prisoners are members of Parliament. And it has a timeliness to it because life in the prisons mimics life outside: there is a Hamas faction, a Fatah faction and so on. Mr. Dotan too often ...   more »

By Gerald A. Honigman
MichNews.com
As I was walking my two-year old Chocolate Labrador Retriever, Tess (Contessa for you royals out there), along the ocean this morning, I found myself daydreaming. Not being able to fish today, I just admired the clear, calm ocean and felt sorry for myself for having my son, Jonathan, and my fishing trip cut short by rain the other day. I don’t get the boat out often…yet we do need the rain (but why then!?!?)Well, in a semi-trance brought on by Mother Nature, I started to think “what ifs?” as Tessa took me for a walk. Like many Labs, she flunked out of obedience school.So, here’s the picture generated by my neurons on this Florida summer day…
Israel carried out new elections later this summer. Olmert and his pathetic crew have been given the boot, and a mixture of old and new faces have come to the fore. A depressed Israeli public, thirsting for peace and tiring of war, finally woke up in August and realized that both parties in a conflict must want peace for it to occur. The painful truth--obvious to some, but avoided by too many others--finally sunk in: The only long-term ...   more »

 Today Hamas consolidates its power in Gaza and plans its next moves in Judea and Samaria. Fatah — its main competitor — has collapsed. Fatah was plunged into a state of organizational shock last month after its US-trained militias surrendered control of Gaza to Hamas and its US-benighted commanders fled the area. Although with sufficient bribes for its angry followers courtesy of Israel and the US, Fatah may be able to temporarily resuscitate itself (at least until its leaders feel secure enough with the size of their Swiss bank accounts to decamp to Borneo), Hamas's consolidation of its control over Gaza has nonetheless sealed Fatah's death warrant. In the course of its jihadist putsch in Gaza, Hamas took control not only of Fatah's US- and European-financed military arsenal and the CIA and MI-6 intelligence gathering equipment Fatah was lavished with. It also took control of Fatah's intelligence files and the personal files of Fatah leaders. This means that Hamas now has complete documentary evidence of Fatah's corruption; its involvement in terrorism; and its double dealing with the West, with rogue regimes like Iran, and with terror groups like Hizbullah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Qaida.
Original Source

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Against the backdrop of the tension between Israel and Syria, the IDF will soon begin a broad series of training exercises on the Golan Heights. Jerusalem sent Damascus a message, according to which there is no plan to attack the Syrians, and that this is only defensive training. The current activity is part of the system of exercises decided on in the framework of the process of drawing lessons from the Second Lebanon War, in an effort to prevent a repeat situation in which forces are insufficiently trained. The Israeli-Syrian tension began to mount a short time after the war in Lebanon, in the wake of statements by Syrian President Bashar al-Asad. At the time, Al-Asad said that if Israel did not heed his calls to conduct negotiations for returning the Golan through peaceful means, Syria would also prepare for the possibility of war. Officials in Israel internalized the statements and, on the order of IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, the IDF is currently completing its preparations in the event of war against Syria as early as this summer. Financial Assistance From the Iranians The Syrian military is also in the midst of efforts to prepare for a possible ...   more »

By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM – Jordan has been quietly purchasing real estate surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in the hope of gaining more control over the area accessing the holy site, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials. Israel's Maariv daily newspaper reported a member of the Jordanian royal family has been leading efforts to purchase properties near the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – as part of the kingdom's plan to solidify its already strong presence there. The Maariv story was first reported by WND four months ago in an exclusive report revealing Jordan has used shell companies during the past year to purchase several apartments and shops located at key peripheral sections of the Temple Mount. Israeli and Palestinian officials told WND Jordan also set up a commission to use the shell companies to petition mostly Arab landowners adjacent to eastern sections of the Temple Mount to sell their properties. They said profits from sales at any purchased shops would be reinvested to buy more real estate near the Mount and in eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods. The Jordanian shell companies at times have presented themselves as acting on behalf of the Waqf, the Muslim custodians of the Temple ...   more »

Those superstitious types who freaked out last year when the calendar read 06/06/06 will have something to smile about on the 7th day of the 7th month, 2007.
Believing the triple appearance of the number 7 will bring luck, many people are planning important events for this first Saturday in July. Brides and grooms, especially, looking for a little extra dose of marital fortune, are flocking to the altar in droves on 07/07/07, according to wedding watchers.
If they only knew what the Chinese were thinking.
The number seven is considered lucky due to its frequent and favorable appearance in the Bible, say historians.
"As the number of the days of God's first week, of the levels of heaven...of the numbers of angels and trumpets, etc., the number came in the last few centuries BCE to represent divine perfection," said David Frankfurter, professor of religious studies and history at the University of New Hampshire. "Something organized seven-fold meant that it corresponded to God's own arrangement."
Numbers control our fate?
Just as some people wouldn't dare get married on a Friday the 13th or live in a house with the address 666, believing in the positive influence of the number seven ...   more »

By Jackie Farwell, AP Business Writer 
Dollar Falls to 26-Year Low Against British Pound Ahead of Central Bank Meeting NEW YORK (AP) -- The dollar fell to a 26-year low against the British pound Monday ahead of an expected rate hike by the Bank of England later this week.
The pound rose to $2.0173 -- its highest level versus the dollar since June 1981 -- in New York trading before retreating to $2.0165. The dollar also dropped to within a cent of its all-time low versus the euro, as rising global interest rates made the currency less attractive to investors.The 13-nation euro rose to $1.3637, just shy of its April 27 all-time high of $1.3682, before dipping back to $1.3623.The Bank of England and European Central Bank meet separately Thursday to discuss interest rates. The BOE is expected to raise its key rate a quarter-point from 5.5 percent, while the ECB is expected tighten monetary policy later this year.The U.S. Federal Reserve, meanwhile, has left its key rate unchanged at 5.25 percent for the past year.Higher interest rates, a weapon against inflation, can bolster a currency by giving better returns on fixed-income investments.The dollar has been especially weak for so ...   more »

WASHINGTON - Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman asserted Monday that the Iranian government has in effect declared war on the United States.Lieberman commented after a U.S. military spokesman said Tehran's senior officials were aware of efforts to encourage violence against Americans in Iraq."The fact is that the Iranian government has by its actions declared war on us," said Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats. As a result, he continued, "The United States government has a responsibility to use all instruments at its disposal to stop these terrorist attacks against our soldiers and allies in Iraq, including keeping open the possibility of using military force against the terrorist infrastructure inside Iran."He stopped short of advocating a military strike, but said that "while I sincerely hope that diplomacy alone can convince the Iranian government to stop these attacks, our diplomatic efforts are only likely to succeed if backed by a credible threat of force."Lieberman said he hoped the latest news about Iran would help quash calls in Congress to withdraw U. S. troops.Withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq at this time, he added, "will give Iranians exactly what they want most" -- an "epic victory" for forces of terrorism."Iran's purpose in ...   more »

Frank J. Gaffney Jr.
July 3, 2007
In the wake of this weekend's spate of actual and attempted car-bombings in the United Kingdom, I watched the uncut version of "The Path to 9/11" — ABC's dramatic portrayal of the events that contributed to, and culminated in, the deadliest attacks on U.S. soil to date. As the brilliantly crafted segments (written by Cyrus Nowrasteh) rolled by showing addled thinking, failed policies and missed opportunities to prevent those attacks, I kept thinking: What mistakes are being made today that will form the backdrop to the next, possibly far more horrific, terrorist strikes in this country?When they occur, the official investigation will doubtless chronicle similar sorts of problems. Warnings ignored or not acted upon in time. Failures by government agencies to learn from past mistakes and take corrective action. Decisions by the perpetrators, by those trying to defeat them and by innocent victims that produced tragedies, potentially on an unimaginable scale.My guess is the single most important contributor to our vulnerability to future attacks, however, will prove to be the result of a systematic failure by our government to understand the nature of our enemies, and to deal with these foes appropriately. A ...   more »

By Parisa Hafezi-ASSALOUYEH, Iran (Reuters) - The presidents of Iran and Venezuela launched construction of a joint petrochemical plant on Monday, strengthening an "axis of unity" between two oil-rich nations staunchly opposed to the United States.Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who both often rail against Washington, also signed a series of other deals to expand economic cooperation, ranging from setting up a dairy factory in Venezuela to forming an oil company."The two countries will united defeat the imperialism of North America," a beaming Chavez told a news conference during an official visit to the Islamic Republic, which the United States has labeled part of an "axis of evil"."When I come to Iran Washington gets upset," he said.The two presidents -- whose countries are members of the OPEC oil producing cartel -- earlier attended the ceremony to start building a methanol facility with an annual capacity of 1.65 million tons on the Islamic Republic's Gulf coast."Iran and Venezuela -- the axis of unity," read one of many official posters at the site near the port town of Assalouyeh, showing the two leaders hugging each other and shaking hands.Ahmadinejad -- who came to power two years ago pledging to revive ...   more »