The Oslo Accords and the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza are now widely recognized as tragic errors of immense proportions. Now, we face an even greater danger as the Israeli government, in the wake of the Annapolis summit, is scrambling to give away parts of Israel piece by piece in the pursuit of yet another false peace. We must respond ....   more »

by Efraim Karsh
What chance for an agreement with Abbas and the PLO?
In August 1968, shortly before seizing control of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasir Arafat urged "the transfer of all resistance bases" into the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, conquered by Israel during the June 1967 war, so as to launch a sustained terrorist campaign that would undermine Israel's way of life by "preventing immigration and encouraging emigration...destroying tourism...weakening the Israeli economy and diverting the greater part of it to security requirements...[and] creating and maintaining an atmosphere of strain and anxiety that will force the Zionists to realize that it is impossible for them to live in Israel."
Forty years later, with salvos of Gaza-fired missiles raining down on Israeli towns and villages on a daily basis, Arafat's words seem prophetic. Yet his plan for victory would have remained a chimera had it not been for the Rabin government, which in 1993 invited the PLO, a group formally committed to Israel's destruction by virtue of its covenant, to establish a firm political and military presence on its doorstep.
More than this, Israel was prepared to arm thousands of (hopefully reformed) terrorists, who would be incorporated into ...   more »

by Hillel Fendel(IsraelNN.com) Two Jerusalem organizations have sent a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, reminding him that discussions with US President Bush or PA Chairman Abbas regarding a possible division of Jerusalem are in violation of Israeli law.
A prominent lawyer for the Victims of Arab Terror (VAT) and Twenty-Four Shifts organizations penned the letter, warning Olmert that if he does not announce an end to all talks over the future of Jerusalem, he will be considered in violation of the law.
In his letter, Attorney Baruch Ben-Yosef makes the point that Clauses 5 and 6 of one of Israel's cardinal laws - Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel - mean that Jerusalem's status as the united and sole capital of Israel may not be compromised.
The first clause of the law in question, passed in 1980 under Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Yitzchak Navon, states, "Jerusalem, whole and united, is the capital of Israel."  Clause 5 stipulates the precise area of Jerusalem, while Clause 6 states, "No authorities relating to the area of Jerusalem and that is in the legal purview of the State of Israel or the Municipality of Jerusalem shall be transferred to any foreign ...   more »

By Shahar Ilan
Yisrael Beitenu is proposing a reform to the current system of conversion that would allow several hundred rabbis to become involved in the process, thus expediting the bottleneck that is experienced by those wishing to become Jewish.
Yisrael Beiteinu MK David Rotem will submit his proposal Sunday to the Ministerial Committee on Legislation. Unless Shas, the main religious party in the coalition, supports the bill it will be shelved.
Rotem says the Chief Rabbinate once permitted all municipal rabbis to conduct conversions, but it withdrew that authority. Rotem wants to restore it and to expand it to rabbis in moshavim and kibbutzim.
The Yisrael Beitenu MK argues that, "If we do not resolve the conversion problem, the Jewish state is done for. The nation of Israel will be divided into two and they will start keeping books of yuhasin [family trees]. I want to preserve the unity of the nation of Israel."
Nearly 300,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union are classified as non-Jews or as having no religion. For years Israeli governments have considered their incorporation into the Jewish community as a national goal, investing large sums in programs to encourage conversion. But these efforts have ...   more »

By ANNA JOHNSON
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Al-Qaida's American spokesman called on the terror network's fighters to greet President Bush with "bombs and booby-trapped vehicles" when he visits the Middle East later this week, according to a video posted Sunday.
The rhetoric-packed video also featured the California-born Adam Gadahn tearing up his U.S. passport as part of a "symbolic" protest against Washington and marked the terror network's first message of 2008.
"Now we direct an urgent call to our militant brothers in Muslim Palestine and the Arab peninsula ... to be ready to receive the Crusader slayer Bush in his visit to Muslim Palestine and the Arab peninsula in the beginning of January and to receive him not with flowers or clapping but with bombs and booby-trapped vehicles," Gadahn said in Arabic, though he spoke mostly in English during the video.
Bush is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday for a weeklong regional trip that will also bring him to the West Bank, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Most of the 50-minute long video, titled "An Invitation to Reflection and Repentance," appeared to be aimed at ordinary Americans, with Gadahn saying al-Qaida felt the ...   more »

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah II discussed the division of Israel's capital during a brief visit Olmert held with the monarch Thursday, the London based Al Hayat reported Friday.
Quoting Jordanian sources, the prime minister and the king discussed at length issues relating to a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Apart from the possibility of ceding parts of Jerusalem, the two also addressed the issue of Palestinian refugees.
Reportedly, during the meeting which was aimed at coordinating positions ahead of a visit by US President George W. Bush slated for next week, Abdullah told Olmert that the latter had to stand up to commitments he made in the past, and begin making public statements regarding the division of Jerusalem.
Israel Radio reported earlier that official statements from Jordan said that the monarch wanted to avoid unilateral actions and that Olmert clarified that Israel was not intending to build new settlements.
The meeting, in the southern Jordanian seaside resort of Aqaba, went unreported in the press until it was already underway due to security concerns.
A day earlier, Abdullah met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Original Souece

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Jerusalemites are accustomed to waiting in traffic jams as convoys of black sedans shuttle visiting dignitaries around the city, the seat of Israel's government. But Bush, who arrives for three days beginning Wednesday, constitutes a VIP of a different order. He is the first American president to come since Bill Clinton a decade ago.
Israel is pulling out all the stops to impress a president who is perhaps its staunchest foreign ally.
Jerusalem is spending nearly $400,000 to spruce itself up for the visit, said Jacob Avishar, the city official in charge of coordinating preparations. Garbage teams are engaged in a furious race to clean its often dusty streets and walls tagged with spray paint, he said.
During the visit, the Old City's five-century-old ramparts will be illuminated with floodlights until 2 a.m. instead of midnight, Avishar said. That way Bush will have more time to enjoy the view from his window at the nearby King David hotel.
Eight truckloads of gear for the Bush visit have already arrived at the historic hotel, bearing everything from security equipment to printer paper and fax machines, said assistant general manager Benny Olearchik.
Bush will be staying in a suite that costs $2,600 ...   more »

By Anshel Pfeffer
U.S. President George Bush, set to arrive in Israel on Wednesday, is likely to visit a second time later this year, Haaretz has learned.
Bush is expected to attend an international convention which President Shimon Peres will hold in May to mark Israel's 60th anniversary. Bush was invited a few months ago, but only recently has Washington confirmed his participation.
The event is being organized by a special team of The Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, an independent academic body affiliated with the Jewish Agency. It will deal with diverse issues ranging from the future of the Jewish people, to geo-politics, technology and environment.
Numerous world leaders and leading scientists will be invited over the next few days.
U.S. announces substantial boost in economic aid to Jordan
The United States will substantially increase its economic assistance to Jordan in fiscal year 2008 by 48 percent to reach $363.5 million, A U.S. embassy statement said Friday.
The 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush last week provides Jordan with US$363.5 million in Economic Support Funds and $300 million in military assistance.
The statement said the act includes the authority for the ...   more »

mark weiss
US President George W. Bush will work with Middle East allies to develop a security plan to counter Iran during his upcoming visit to the region.
In his weekly radio address, Bush said that curtailing Iran's "aggressive ambitions" will be one of the key aims of his trip to the region this week.
He did not provide details about the plan, but Arab diplomats said they expected the US president to offer closer military cooperation with moderate allies in the Persian Gulf, Egypt and Jordan.
Bush said Iran remained a threat because it continued to develop missiles that could deliver nuclear weapons and had resisted international demands to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a reactor or fissile material for a bomb.
The president urged the international community to keep up the pressure on Iran despite a recent US intelligence report saying Teheran suspended nuclear weapons development in 2003 and had not restarted it.
"It's important for the people in the region to know that while all options remain on the table, I believe we can solve this problem diplomatically, and the way to do that is to continue to isolate Iran in the ...   more »

Uzi Mahnaimi
ISRAELI security officials are to brief President George W Bush on their latest intelligence about Iran’s nuclear programme - and how it could be destroyed - when he begins a tour of the Middle East in Jerusalem this week.
Ehud Barak, the defence minister, is said to want to convince him that an Israeli military strike against uranium enrichment facilities in Iran would be feasible if diplomatic efforts failed to halt nuclear operations. A range of military options has been prepared.
Last month it was revealed that the US National Intelligence Estimate report, drawing together information from 16 agencies, had concluded that Iran stopped a secret nuclear weapon programme in 2003.
Israeli intelligence is understood to agree that the project was halted around the time of America’s invasion of Iraq, but has “rock solid” information that it has since started up again.
While security officials are reluctant to reveal all their intelligence, fearing that leaks could jeopardise the element of surprise in any future attack, they are expected to present the president with fresh details of Iran’s enrichment of uranium - which could be used for civil or military purposes - and the development of missiles that could ...   more »

Proposal considers taxes, fees, restrictions on numbers, sizes
By Bob Unruh
A regulatory plan being considered by a Toronto suburb would put churches in the crosshairs of an assault that would include dramatically higher taxes and fees as well as restrictions on the sizes and numbers of worship centers.
A series of reports by the No Apologies website featuring WND columnist Tristan Emmanuel has revealed the stunning proposals in Brampton that one source confirmed would be used in multiple cities should the Brampton effort prove successful.
WND already has reported how many Biblical standards of behavior are under attack by the "bastardized courts" of Canada, where activists who claim they have "hurt feelings" are demanding – and getting – penalties imposed against those who oppose the homosexual lifestyle.
That description of the courts, also known as the provincial and national Human Rights Commissions, comes from the Canada Family Action Coalition, which is warning that the United States is not far from having similar assaults on traditional family values.
Now comes the report from the site launched by Emmanuel, the founder and president of the ECP Centre – Equipping Christians for the Public-Square as well as the host of "No Apologies," ...   more »

Energy-saving devices called so dangerous everyone must leave for at least 15 minutes
Thomas Edison, inventor of mercury-free light bulb
Thomas Edison must be rolling over in his grave.
Less than a month after the U.S. Congress passed an energy bill banning the incandescent light bulb by 2014, the UK Environment Agency issued guidelines calling for evacuation of any room where an energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulb is broken, releasing toxic mercury.
The warning comes a month before the British government begins its phase-out of tungsten bulbs, scheduled to be completed in 2011. The switchover to CFL bulbs will save at least five million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, the government said.
Health experts warned this week that people with certain skin ailments will suffer from the new eco-friendly bulbs which cause conditions such as eczema to flare up. Additionally, the bulbs have been linked to migraine headaches in some people.
The Environment Agency's latest advice focuses on the 6 to 8 milligrams of toxic mercury in each bulb.
Users who break a bulb should vacate the room for at least 15 minutes, the new guidelines say. The debris should not be removed with a vacuum cleaner, which ...   more »

By Audrey M. Marks , 
 By 2014 the Army may issue more than combat gear to deploying soldiers. University of Connecticut researchers are developing an implantable chip that would be injected under soldiers' skin to help monitor vital health information while they are out in the field.
“It sounds like science fiction but it's not,” said Fotios Papadimitrakopoulos, professor of chemistry and associate director of the Institute of Materials Science at UConn. “We're taking components from traditional biology and nanotechnology and trying to marry them.”
Six UConn faculty members have been working to create a nanosensor, just millimeters in length and width, that will be used to monitor soldiers' glucose and lactose to make sure the soldiers are not exhausted and are receiving proper nutrition.
While the research has been ongoing for the last decade, the Army has become involved over the past five years in helping develop the technology. The $471 billion defense spending bill that President Bush signed on Nov. 13 included $1.6 million for UConn's program.
“The Army has a tremendous interest in the well-being of their soldiers and they want to make sure they are in tip-top shape,” Papadimitrakopoulos said. “The Army has made a big ...   more »

by Jonathan Rosenblum
An assault on the concept of the sanctity of life.
A Winnipeg case currently winding its way to its grim conclusion pits the children of Samuel Golubchuk against doctors at the Salvation Army Grace General Hospital. According to the pleadings, Golubchuk's doctors informed his children that their 84-year-old father is "in the process of dying" and that they intended to hasten the process by removing his ventilation, and if that proved insufficient to kill him quickly, to also remove his feeding tube. In the event that the patient showed discomfort during these procedures, the chief of the hospital's ICU unit stated in his affidavit that he would administer morphine.
Golubchuk is an Orthodox Jew, as are his children. The latter have adamantly opposed his removal from the ventilator and feeding tube, on the grounds that Jewish law expressly forbids any action designed to shorten life, and that if their father could express his wishes, he would oppose the doctors acting to deliberately terminate his life.
In response, the director of the ICU informed Golubchuk's children that neither their father's wishes nor their own are relevant, and he would do whatever he decided was appropriate. Bill Olson, counsel ...   more »

by Alan Stang
Recent passage by the District of Criminals of the legislation known colloquially as the Veteran Disarmament bill raises the question of why the conspiracy for world government would want to disarm returning veterans. The conspiracy trusted these men to use the most devastating ordinance abroad; it does not trust them to keep and bear much smaller weapons here at home. The obvious answer is that these are the millions of well trained military men I was talking about in my recent piece about a possible assassination threat to Dr. Ron Paul.
These are the men the psychos at the top are afraid of, the men who can stick the red dot in their eye from a mile away. The psychos know these men are out there, watching, stewing, temperatures rising every day; they are beginning to understand that they are dying now because the psychos have poisoned them with Depleted Uranium in the field.
They are beginning to realize that the buddies and the limbs they left behind in Iraq were lost not in defense of this beloved country but in behalf of the megalomaniacal nightmare of conquest the psychos think is “normal.” Now the veterans understand ...   more »

Bill cuts off funds, but Bush insists program can continue
By Jerome R. Corsi
A constitutional crisis is developing between Congress and the Department of Transportation over the federal government's decision to continue its project allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. roads, in defiance of new legislation.
"The DOT response is both arrogant and wrong!" Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., wrote in a letter yesterday to Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials told the San Diego Union Tribune the cross-border Mexican truck demonstration project would continue because the program was established in September and the amendment allows programs that have already begun to continue.
But Dorgan insisted a provision in the 2008 omnibus spending bill was "clearly written and designed to put the brakes on the current pilot program."
"Failure to end the pilot program, I believe, will put the Department of Transportation in direct violation of federal law," the senator charged.  
As WND reported in September, the amendment championed by Dorgan to remove funding for the project from the 2008 DOT appropriations bill passed the Senate by a bipartisan majority of 74-24.
The amendment survived into the Consolidated Appropriations Act which President Bush signed Dec. ...   more »

France has called for the euro to pack a diplomatic punch to rival the power of the dollar internationally.
The French European Affairs Secretary, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, said the 15-nation eurozone needed better governance and better international representation.
"Just as there is a diplomacy of the dollar, we should have a diplomacy of the euro," he wrote in France's Le Monde newspaper.
France takes over the EU's rotating presidency in July, after Slovenia.
A senior European Commission official said that for Mr Jouyet's wish to be fulfilled the eurozone would need to speak with one voice - but that was not yet the case.
EU stability Mr Jouyet hailed the eurozone as a centre of stability amid financial turbulence.
In recent months, France has complained that the European Central Bank (ECB) has kept interest rates too high and Mr Jouyet himself has said the strong euro is causing problems for French exporters.
 What we do say for there to be better governance is for the eurozone to speak with one voice
Amelia Torres
European Commission official 
But in the article he said the currency had significantly protected the purchasing power of Europeans in the face of an increase in prices of ...   more »

BMO strategist Donald Coxe warns credit crunch and soaring oil prices will pale in comparison to looming catastrophe
Scott Olson
A new crisis is emerging, a global food catastrophe that will reach further and be more crippling than anything the world has ever seen. The credit crunch and the reverberations of soaring oil prices around the world will pale in comparison to what is about to transpire, Donald Coxe, global portfolio strategist at BMO Financial Group said at the Empire Club's 14th annual investment outlook in Toronto on Thursday.
"It's not a matter of if, but when," he warned investors. "It's going to hit this year hard."
Mr. Coxe said the sharp rise in raw food prices in the past year will intensify in the next few years amid increased demand for meat and dairy products from the growing middle classes of countries such as China and India as well as heavy demand from the biofuels industry.
"The greatest challenge to the world is not US$100 oil; it's getting enough food so that the new middle class can eat the way our middle class does, and that means we've got to expand food output dramatically," he said.
The impact of ...   more »

Butterflies Trick Ants Into Adopting and Raising Butterfly Larvae
Call it the cuckoo of butterflies. Like the well-known birds, the Alcon blue butterfly has found a way to get others to raise its offspring.
Researchers in Denmark report that the large blue butterfly has managed to produce larvae with a chemical coating similar to that of the local Myrmica rubra ants.
The butterflies deposit their larvae on marsh gentian plants where exploring ants find them, identify the chemical coating, and take the butterfly larvae back to the ant colony and feed them until they grow up and leave, the researchers report in Thursday's edition of the journal Science.
The researchers, led by David R. Nash of the University of Copenhagen, added that elsewhere in Europe the Alcon butterfly uses a different ant species to raise its young.
Original Source


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The U.S. Treasury Department is set to offer a prepaid debit card for Social Security recipients, and has chosen Dallas-based Comerica Bank as the card issuer, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The report said the card is targeted at Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients who don't have bank accounts, and is also aimed at providing cheaper and more secure payments by shifting away from paper checks.
Comerica Bank is a subsidiary of Comerica Inc.
Original Source
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By DAVID KOENIG
DALLAS (AP) - Up to three American Airlines jets will be outfitted this spring with laser technology being developed to protect planes from missiles fired by terrorists.
Officials said Friday the anti-missile systems won't be tested on passenger flights. But the tests, which could involve more than 1,000 flights, will determine how well the technology holds up under the rigors of flight, they said.
The first Boeing 767-200 will be equipped in April or later, American spokesman Tim Wagner said. American operates that Boeing model mostly between New York and San Francisco and Los Angeles.
American said it is "not in favor" of putting anti-missile systems on commercial planes but agreed to take part in the tests to understand technologies that might be available in the future.
The anti-missile technology was developed for military planes, and U.K.-based BAE Systems PLC said Friday it won a $29 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security to test it on passenger planes.
The technology is intended to stop a missile attack by detecting heat from the rocket, then responding in a fraction of a second by firing a laser beam that jams the missile's guidance system.
The device on ...   more »