Leah Granof -On a Friday afternoon before the start of Shabbat, the smell of freshly baked rugelach will lure even the most resilient shopper into its lively corridors. Shopkeepers bellowing out last minute deals and the sheer energy of a crowd collectively rushing, pushing, bargaining and tussling reverberate through busy alleyways. This is the classic picture of Jerusalem’s famous Machane Yehuda open-air market, otherwise known as the shuk.Venture even deeper into its alleyways, however, and the strong smell of recently sacrificed fish, dank floors and the rank odor of sweat form the hardworking shop-owners, Arab and Jewish alike, will penetrate your senses. Turn a bit to the left or right, and you might find couples relaxing over a gourmet cup of coffee in spite of the bustle or peek into the passageways on a summer evening to discover Jerusalemites dining in upscale restaurants as jazz music penetrates the night air.These somewhat contradictory images all represent the enduring character and flavor of the shuk, a long time symbol of the Jerusalem’s modern character. One shop owner described the shuk as “the soul of Jerusalem,” and many Jerusalemites can not imagine their city without it. The shuk has its origins in what ...   more »

In intelligence parlance it’s called “chatter” – communication by known or suspected terrorists among themselves. When monitoring agents detect intensification in the level of communication, or certain variations in the pattern of interaction – they increase the alert level and brace for a possible attack.
Western intelligence agencies are also consistently monitoring hostile nations for the likelihood of war. In the Middle East, falling down on this job could lead – and has led – to surprise attacks that have threatened the very existence of the State of Israel.
Here in Israel, “ordinary” folk don’t generally have access to this type of “chatter.” Because of the prevailing tensions in our world, however, our “antennae” are probably more sensitive to conditions - and our spirits more quickly alerted – than if we were living elsewhere.
Jerusalem has been my home for nearly 20 years. At some point in almost every one of those years, conjecture has circulated about the possibility of war. In the early 1990s, conflicts seemed to always be anticipated in the autumn. More recent years have seen that time frame shift to the summer.
Of course, there is good reason for the speculation:  Israel has fought or endured ...   more »

By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM – Fresh from bulldozing a synagogue near Judaism's third holiest site, destroying another synagogue near Judaism's second holiest site and calling up 3,000 soldiers to forcibly evict two Jewish families from a Jewish market, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government now has ordered a rabbi and his mobile yeshiva to vacate Hebron, the oldest Jewish city.
Rabbi Danny Cohen, an emissary to Hebron for the Chabad Lubavitch Worldwide Jewish Outreach Movement, says he was surprised when earlier this week he received an eviction notice from the Israeli government demanding he remove his mobile structure from the city.
Cohen teaches Torah and organizes prayer quarams for Hebron residents from his headquarters – a mobile trailer parked in Hebron's Jewish neighborhood. The rabbi says he was forced to set up religious shop in the trailer because of extreme Israeli government regulations against building new Jewish structures in Hebron, an important biblical city that once served as the Jewish capital.
Hebron is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the second holiest site in Judaism. The tomb is believed to be the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah.
While rampant illegal ...   more »

By Aaron Klein
TEL AVIV – Israel's security cabinet, composed of the country's top ministers, today held what was deemed a "very sensitive" closed-door meeting to plan for the possibility of war with Syria.
Ministers were asked to leave their cell phones outside to prevent the possibility of leaks. In attendance were Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman and nine top lawmakers. It was the sixth such security cabinet meeting in recent weeks.
According to security officials, the ministers were briefed on recent Syrian military movements and Damascus' acquisition of missiles and rockets capable of hitting civilian population centers, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The ministers were told Syria recently stepped up the pace of its own rocket production and moved some rockets close to the Israeli border.
The ministers were briefed on possible war scenarios, Israeli military options for countering any Syrian attack and the readiness of Israel's home front, including bomb shelters and anti-missile systems, security sources said.
WND reported last week that with the exception of the north, the Jewish state's home front, Israelis – especially in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv – are unprepared for the ...   more »

By Barak Ravid   
Israel has sent several messages to Damascus in recent weeks reiterating that it has no desire to attack Syria, in an effort to keep Syria from misreading Israel's intentions and therefore deciding to launch a war.
The messages have been sent via various foreign channels, a senior government source said. In addition, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has made public statements to this effect.    
But while doing its best to reassure Syria, the government also has been preparing intensively for the possibility that war might nevertheless break out: Yesterday, the ministerial committee on the northern front held its sixth meeting in the past two months.
As yet, there are no signs of progress that would enable a resumption of Israeli-Syrian negotiations. Nevertheless, a senior European diplomat said, "European officials who have given Olmert messages from Damascus regarding its desire to resume negotiations have received the impression that he is keeping an open mind."
"The situation on the northern border is fragile and sensitive, but the European Union believes there is no danger of war, since neither side wants to start a conflict," the diplomat added. Nevertheless, he said, "in the present atmosphere, it is important that ...   more »

Richard C. Dujardin / Providence Journal 
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- When Naomi Mitchell told her mother, several months ago, that she was thinking of signing up as a soldier in the Israeli army, Francine Mitchell suggested she do more research to decide if that was really what she wanted to do.
By May, the 19-year-old had decided. Returning home after spending nine months studying and volunteering in Israel, she announced she would follow in the footsteps of her older brother, Gabi, who joined the Israeli army, except that she might go into the Israeli navy instead. Military service is compulsory for young men and women in Israel.
Naomi Mitchell this week boarded one of 13 chartered flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York that have been set aside this summer to carry 2,200 American Jews on one-way flights to Israel to become permanent Israeli residents
"This is something I've dreamed about for a very long time," Naomi Mitchell said. "I believe in the state of Israel."
The trips are paid for by the Israeli government and are organized by the Jerusalem-based group Nefesh B'Nefesh, which means "soul to soul." Aside from arranging flights, the organization provides help in ...   more »

The head of the former Soviet nation's navy hints at a plan for a permanent Mediterranean base. 
JERUSALEM -- Days after Russia sent the diplomatic world reeling with its audacious flag-planting beneath the ice of the North Pole, the Kremlin is moving to reassert itself in warmer climes as well, plotting the return of the Russian fleet to a Syrian port on the Mediterranean Sea.
The head of the Russian navy announced that he wanted next to plant the white-blue-and-red Russian banner in the Middle East. The new Russian strategy envisions returning warships to a Soviet-era naval base at the port of Tartus.
"The Mediterranean Sea is very important strategically for the Black Sea fleet," Admiral Vladimir Masorin said as he toured a Russian base in the Ukrainian port city of Sevastopol. "I propose that, with the involvement of the Northern and Baltic fleets, the Russian navy should restore its permanent presence there."
It would mark the first time Russia has established a military presence outside the borders of the former Soviet Union since the USSR fell apart in 1991.
"It's a symbol, the planting of a flag. Just like the one Russia put under the North Pole," said Alexei ...   more »

Chuck Baldwin
That today's Christians appear to be among the most gullible people on the planet seems to be a gigantic understatement. For example, it was just a couple or three decades ago when the largest and most influential churches in America were pastored by strong Bible men: men who preached hard against sin; men who didn't try to tickle ears and didn't mind stepping on toes; men who were not afraid to call civil and business leaders to account; men who called a spade a spade. Those days are gone.
Today, the largest and most influential churches are pastored by fluff-daisies such as Joel Osteen, Bill Hybels, and Rick Warren: men who preach entertainment evangelism, political correctness, and feel-goodism. Today's largest churches share absolutely nothing in common with America's historic revival-style churches. How can Christians be so gullible to fall for these snake oil salesmen?
Consider, too, how so many Christians seem to consider President George W. Bush's "war on terror" to be bona fide and legitimate. Yet, this escalating and never-ending "war on terror" is doing more to ruin America than anything Osama bin Laden could ever dream about.
The war in Iraq is not only depleting our ...   more »

A US web firm is preparing to launch an ambitious Internet search engine that it hopes will eventually track down the names of the world's six billion people.
Spock.com says it has already indexed 100 million people and is adding a million names per day on the invitation-only, beta version of its website, which will be made available to the public in mid-August.
The emergence of people search engines has sparked concerns over privacy rights. The sites Wink.com and Zoominfo.com already have 200,000 and 37,000 profiles, respectively.
These websites seek to carve their own territory in the search engine world dominated by Internet giant Google, which already has the distinction of becoming a verb, as anyone who has "googled" information would know.
"We are a search engine organizing information about people," Spock.com co-founder Jay Bhatti told AFP.
"How Google allows you to type anything and gives you a web document result, we give you results around people," he said. "That's how we differentiate ourselves from other search applications, because we are solely focused on people."
The founders of Spock.com, which has been under development since 2006 in Redwood City, California, hope the website will eventually provide a search result for ...   more »

By Jerome R. Corsi
The U.S. has built nine navigation systems for Mexico and Canada under the controversial Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America in an apparent first step toward establishing the satellite infrastructure needed to create a North American air traffic control system.
The defining vision for North American air traffic control was articulated by then-Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta in a Sept. 27, 2004, statement announcing, "We must make flying throughout North America as seamless as possible if we are to truly reap the rewards of the expanding global economy."
Wide Area Augmentation System 
The "2006 Report to Leaders" posted on the SPP website proclaimed, "In order to increase navigational accuracy across the region, five Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) stations were installed in Canada and Mexico in 2005."
WAAS is a space-based augmentation system that provides precision navigation information to aircraft equipped with Global Positioning Satellite/WAAS receivers through all phases of flight.
Working through the North American Aviation Trilateral, the U.S. has built for Mexico WAAS stations at five locations: Mexico City, San Jose del Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Merida and Tapachula.
Additionally, the U.S., working through NATT, has built four Canadian WAAS stations, at Iqaluit, ...   more »

By Bill Wilson, KIN Senior Analyst
WASH—Aug 6—KIN-- The federal government and the mainstream news media may be missing a key factor in reporting that several events in recent months are either not related to terrorist activities in the U.S. or are isolated incidents of radical Islamic groups. The plot to blow up JFK Airport in New York was publicly positioned as an isolated event by federal and local law enforcement agencies, as was the plan by Islamic extremists to attack Ft. Dix in New Jersey. And even the most recent gunning down of an Oakland newspaper editor in broad daylight is being smoothed over as an isolated Islamic extremist incident.
And these are just the Islamic terrorist events that the public finds out about. There are many others that occur on a regular basis that are foiled by excellent law enforcement and homeland security efforts that protect Americans every day. Americans should be aware that these increasing terrorist events on U.S. soil are likely a part of an overall strategy to bring the war of Islamic aggression to Main Street—to your house and mine. Subversive groups operate in independent cells where members outside their cell rarely know one another ...   more »

A judge in New York has ruled evidence of "hatred" is unnecessary for a prosecutor to pursue a "hate crimes" case against three men arrested for the death of a homosexual man.
The written ruling came from Judge Jill Konviser of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, and concluded prosecutors only need to show that the man, who was beaten and then hit by a vehicle in a robbery attempt, was picked because of his sexual orientation, according to a report in the New York Times.
The judge said that is enough for prosecutors to seek enhanced penalties for the defendants, if convicted, under the state's Hate Crimes Act of 2000.
That type of law, which as WND has reported now is being proposed at the federal level, allows for higher penalties – sometimes dramatically higher – for the same crime based on the characteristics of a victim, in this case his homosexuality.  
The newspaper report said the case involves the death of Michael Sandy, 29, who allegedly was lured to a meeting place where he was abducted. He then was taken to another location, beaten, and when he tried to flee was chased into traffic. He died of ...   more »

By Ian McPhedran
Newcastle cars targetted for 43 seconds
Lasers the Air Force's most powerful
Danger of permanent eyesight damage
IT was not quite a Star Wars death ray, but air force Top Guns accidentally focused high-powered lasers on to a civilian car in May this year - potentially endangering the eyesight of peaceful earthlings.
RAAF F/A-18 fighters from the Williamtown base north of Newcastle were conducting exercises near the NSW mid-north coast town of Forster when the incident happened.
The pilots thought their laser targeting system was turned off for the training flight.
Unfortunately it wasn't and the powerful light beams, known as class four lasers, were shone twice on to a road intersection for a total of 43 seconds.
The incidents happened at 11.25am and 4.13pm at the corner of Lakes Way and Seal Rocks Rd.
One car was targeted and eight others passed close to the beam.
The lasers used by Hornet fighters as target designators are the most powerful laser beams used by the air force.
The Defence department confessed to the mistake by press release yesterday without any prompting from the public.
It said RAF and US Air Force specialists had advised they were not ...   more »

WASHINGTON, DC, AUGUST 7, 2007 - In his recent announcement of the replacement of Gen. Peter Pace with Adm. Mike Mullen as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said it was Mullen’s response to a senior military assistant when asked what he was most concerned about that cinched Mullen’s appointment. Gates said “the chief of Naval Operations said the Army.”
And that, Gates told lawmakers, shows Mullen “has a broad view of what the needs and requirements of the services are and of the nation.”
The outgoing military chief, Gen. Pace, had earlier warned Congress that America's ability to deal with another crisis in the world is steadily being eroded. Pace said a classified report determined that there is a “significant” risk that the US will not be able to adequately respond to military conflicts with North Korea, China, Iran … or even Cuba.
Former Secretary of State and JCS Chairman Colin Powell said the active Army is just “about broken.”
Andrew Krepinevich, president of the Centre for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said the signs of strain on America's armed forces are equivalent to dead “canaries in the mineshaft” warning of impending death.
The global ...   more »