by Varda Branfman
My travels with Bob Dylan
When I was transitioning from childhood to adulthood in the late Sixties, Bob Dylan's songs were a lifeline. So much of my time was spent living in the box. I ate, breathed, and slept S.A.T. scores and college applications. I lived in a highly competitive world where I was expected to accomplish great things. And there were those Bob Dylan lyrics talking about the coming times when "the last would be first," about white doves that sleep in the sand, aut a Tambourine Man and other things that resonated with a place in me I was beginning to locate -- called my "inner world."
There weren't too many people who seemed to care about the existence of an inner world, but I didn't give up trying to find them. In my sophomore year of college, I noticed a lot about the inner world in the poems of the French Symbolists, especially in Rimbaud who also happened to be one of Dylan's favorites.
After graduating from college, I worked at a good job in television for two years. Then suddenly, I dropped out and moved to Maine. A number of factors contributed to ...   more »

A strong earthquake could soon rock Lebanon and parts of Israel, authorities said on Monday, urging health officials in northern Israel to make preparations for such an event.
"The probability of an earthquake of a magnitude of up to six on the Richter scale, originating in Lebanon and being felt in Israel has increased," the health ministry said in a letter sent to medical officials in northern Israel.
Since February, abnormal seismic activity has been noted in southern Lebanon, which had suffered some 500 minor earthquakes in a three-month eriod, health ministry director-general Avi Yisraeli said in the letter.
"In May, the tremors have become more intense and were felt in northern Israel," he said adding that "should an earthquake of such magnitude hit northern Israel it may cause substantial infrastructural damage in the area."
"All medical facilities and organisations must do everything they can to enhance the level of readiness," Yisraeli said in the letter published by the ministry on Monday.
Some seismological experts point out quakes historically have rocked the region every eight decades, and the last one was just about 81 years ago. About 300 people were killed in Jerusalem and nearby Jericho by the July 11, ...   more »

Majority of 65 MKs backs motion stating if government, Knesset approve ceding of Israeli land, decision will be brought to referendum within 180 days. MK Katz: Vote sends clear message to Assad that Israel will not cede Golan Heights
Amnon Meranda
A bill stating that a referendum will be held before the ceding of any land belonging to the State of Israel has been approved in its preliminary reading by the Knesset on Monday.
Peace Talks 
Defense minister voices uncertainty about volatile ceasefire with Hamas during trip to Paris, says direct negotiations with Syria unlikely in coming year without American intervention. Israel, he says, is 'ready to consider putting an end' to its control over the Heights 
The motion was approved with a majority of 65 MKs, and was opposed by 18. According to the bill, if the government approves the ceding of Israeli land the decision will be brought before the Knesset, and if it is approved by the Knesset, a referendum will be held within 180 days. However, should a withdrawal be supported by at least 80 MKs, the matter will not be brought to a referendum.
The bill refers to areas that Israel has full sovereignty over, ...   more »

Herb Keinon ,
Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the two soldiers whose kidnapping on July 12, 2006, triggered the Second Lebanon War, are expected to be returned to Israel within 10 days as a result of Sunday's cabinet approval of a swap with Hizbullah.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in a dramatic statement to his ministers at the outset of a six-hour discussion on the deal, said the two men are almost certainly dead.
"As far as we know, the two soldiers - Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev - are no longer alive," he said. "As far as we know, they were killed during the kidnapping or died from their wounds soon after the incident."
Nevertheless, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi came out squarely for the deal at the cabinet meeting, saying the nation owed it to do everything in its power to win its soldiers' return. Ashkenazi was one of a number of top security officials who briefed the ministers.
According to the resolution that was approved by an overwhelming majority of 22-3, Israel will receive Goldwasser and Regev, as well as a Hizbullah report on the disappearance of airman Ron Arad, captured in Lebanon in 1986, and ...   more »

Israeli flags line streets of London, Manchester during celebratory solidarity event marking Israel's 60th anniversary
Hagit KlaimanSome 45,000 people took part in the 'Salute to Israel' parade in Britain on Sunday, celebrating Israel's 60th anniversary. 
The parade, an annual staple in New York, was brought to the UK through the collaborative efforts of the Zionist Federation and the Israeli Embassy in London.
The parade set off from Piccadilly and ended in Trafalgar Square, with floats, decorated vehicles and a band escorting participants through London's streets.
Guests of honor at the rally in Trafalgar were Israeli Diaspora Minister Isaac Herzog, London Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and British Education Minister Ed Balls. 
Minister Herzog delivered a speech that touched on the Iranian threat and efforts to secure the release of captive Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev, Ehud Goldwasser and Gilad Shalit.
Israeli Ambassador to Britain, Ron Proser, also addressed the assembled crowd. "It warms our hearts to see thousands of blue and white flags filling London's streets," he said.
Original Source   more »

"Presbyterian Action will not stand silent amid these decisions that are blatantly contrary to the Bible and to biblical morality." -- IRD Director of Presbyterian Action Jim Berkley
Contact: Loralei Coyle 202-682-4131, 202-905-6852 cell, lcoyle@ird-renew.org; Radio Interviews: Jeff Walton, jwalton@ird-renew.org; both with the Institute on Religion and Democracy
SAN JOSE, Calif., June 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted Friday to pave the way toward the ordination of practicing homosexual persons to the offices of deacon, elder, or minister. The series of votes begin to reverse the denomination's position on sexual practices that it has held for its entire existence. This highest governing body of the 2.2 million member denomination began a process to amend one of its historic catechisms and its constitution to remove sexual-practice standards for ordination. It also overturned an "authoritative interpretation" that had defined its policy for ordination matters.
Possible amendments to the Heidelberg Catechism and the constitution are not final with this vote of the General Assembly. To become effective, each amendment will require the approval of a majority of the 173 regional governing bodies, called presbyteries. Thus, the General Assembly votes on Friday begin a referendum ...   more »

ELECTION 2008
E-mail addresses, phone numbers provided to 'take urgent action'
By Aaron Klein
"We are all Palestinians" post
JAFFA, Israel – A blog posting on Sen. Barack Obama's official campaign site urged Americans to take action to secure the release of imprisoned terrorist fundraiser Sami Al-Arian, comparing the controversial former professor to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.
The posting, which has been removed since publication of this story, is just a sampling of a large volume of racist, anti-Semitic and pro-Palestinian rhetoric published on the user-friendly MyObama community blog pages. The Obama campaign does not monitor all blog material, which is posted by registered users, but says it removes offending posts that are brought to the attention of the administrators.
In a blog post on Obama's site titled, "We are all Palestinians," user Ulf Erlingsson lamented what he called the "harsh" conditions of Al-Arian's imprisonment – explaining he "lives in segregation … is not allowed any visitors and is given only two phone calls a month."The posting quoted Agha Saeed, chair of the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections, comparing Al-Arian to King and Malcom X, who "symbolized the struggle for human rights in the fifties ...   more »

Wall Street has had its worst June since 1930. How much worse could the world economy get?David Smith and Dominic Rushe
When Wall Street slumped on Thursday, in response to the oil price surging above $140 a barrel and renewed fears about the banking system, the alarm bells rang more loudly than usual.
Barring a miraculous recovery tomorrow, the Dow Jones industrial average is heading for its worst June since 1930, when it plunged by almost 18%.
That month is ingrained in the Wall Street psyche. After the crash of October 1929, the stock market continued to slide through the winter. By the spring the worst seemed to be over. Then shares lurched low in June 1930, signalling deep problems for the economy and the stock market.
America entered depression and the stock market went into a deep freeze that lasted a quarter of a century, taking until 1954 to get back to its precrash high. Are there any parallels with today?
Although it is eight months since the Dow peaked at 14,164, its performance since then has defied gloomy predictions. Despite most economists declaring the economy to be in recession, the index was above 13,000 as recently as last ...   more »

By Charlie Reese -
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then
campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are
against deficits, we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and
high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.
The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred Senators, 435 C ongressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court
justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally,
morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague
this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was
created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty
to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and ...   more »

By Tom Cain
Earlier this week the Government's terrorism adviser, Lord Carlile QC, warned there was 'real anxiety' that private jets might be used as 'vehicle bombs' in terrorist attacks on Britain.  But what form would such attacks take? Best-selling thriller writer Tom Cain, whose latest book centres on just such a plot, has talked to defence experts, academics, military personnel, atomic scientists and civil servants to create a chilling picture of what might happen . . .
The order came from the mountains of North Waziristan, the bleak, lawless tribal area of Pakistan which borders Afghanistan, where the leaders of Al Qaeda have spent the past five years hiding, rebuilding and planning their next atrocities.
It was given by the leader, known to his followers as The Sheik  -  a tall, slender figure with long beard and soft brown eyes  -  whose ruthless tactics had become known, and feared, the whole world over.
The plan was made possible by the 40kg of enriched, weapons-grade uranium 235 that The Sheik's most trusted associates had bought, at a cost of $150 million, with the profits of the opium trade that was flourishing once more. 
This week the Government's terrorism adviser, Lord ...   more »

The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran.
by Seymour M. Hersh
Iran; Bush, George W. (Pres.) (43rd); Foreign Policy; Presidential Findings; Covert Operations; Fallon, William (Admiral); Congressional Oversight L ate last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership. The covert activities involve support of the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations. They also include gathering intelligence about Iran’s suspected nuclear-weapons program.
Clandestine operations against Iran are not new. United States Special Operations Forces have been conducting cross-border operations from southern Iraq, with Presidential authorization, since last year. These have included seizing members of Al Quds, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and taking them to Iraq for interrogation, and the pursuit of “high-value targets” in the President’s war on terror, who may be captured or killed. But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which ...   more »

WASHINGTON – Federal officials responsible for coping with the aftermath of a possible nuclear attack in the United States are not fully confident of the government’s readiness to deal with such a disaster, they told a Senate hearing Thursday.
 “A nuclear event is exponentially more challenging than anything else,” Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul McHale told the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
 McHale rated the government’s preparation level at five on a scale of one to 10 in response to a question from committee chairman Joseph Lieberman, independent of Connecticut.
 That’s better than the government’s state of readiness before Sept. 11, McHale said, but worse than that for other disaster scenarios, including an attack using weapons of mass destruction.
 W. Craig Vanderwagen, assistant secretary of health and human services, pegged preparedness at “six, maybe five,” while Arlington County Fire Chief James Schwartz was even less ositive.
 Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator R. David Paulison described a nuclear attack as “the greatest danger facing the U.S.,” but also gave the most upbeat assessment – seven or eight – because “we know where we need to go.”
 Lieberman called the hearing, the fifth in a series scrutinizing the nation’s ability to ...   more »

By Deborah Tate
The United States has begun preparing for the possibility that a terrorist could detonate a nuclear device in a major American city. U.S. officials appeared before a Senate panel Thursday to discuss the effort. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill. 
The Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee heard sobering testimony about the impact of a nuclear attack on the United States.
Senator Joe Lieberman, who calls himself an independent Democrat, is committee chairman:
"A nuclear attack on our homeland would be sudden and swift. It would be devastating and deadly. Failure to develop and test a comprehensive plan for dealing with the aftermath would only magnify its impact," he noted.
U.S. authorities began preparing for such a scenario following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary for Preparedness and Response Craig Vanderwagen says the detonation of an improvised nuclear device (IND) would be one of the most catastrophic events the United States could endure.
"An IND would kill, indeed, tens of thousands of individuals with blast, burn, and traumatic effects, not to mention radiation," he noted.
Vanderwagen says there would be many thousands more victims with injuries and radiation sickness. He ...   more »