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CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH

MONDAY MAY 12, 2008

Burma exports rice as cyclone victims starve

Burma is still exporting rice even as it tries to curb the influx of international donations of food bound for the starving survivors of the cyclone that killed up to 116,000 people.
Sacks of rice destined for Bangladesh were being loaded on to a ship at the Thilawa container port at the mouth of the Yangon River at the end of last week, even though Burma's 'rice bowl' region was devastated by the deadly storm a week ago.
The Burmese regime, which has a monopoly on the country's rice exports, said it planned to meet all its contractual commitments.
With rice prices hitting a record high after more than doubling since January, the exports are a valuable source of foreign revenue for the junta and its allies. The fear is that with the rice-growing area in the Irrawaddy delta inundated with salt water from the huge tidal wave, Burma may need to import greater amounts of rice this year. Alarm at the prospect fuelled another spurt in rice prices during the week. The continuing rice sales looked like just another facet of the Burmese regime's insensitivity to the suffering of its own people as it continues to block international relief to cyclone victims and pressed ahead with the constitutional referendum yesterday . . . .
Many of the cyclone's victims have received little aid. International relief from the UN and other agencies has been blocked, and disaster management experts barred from entering even though there has been little evidence that the Burmese military is alleviating the suffering . . . .
. . . While the sacks of rice for export were being loaded on to the freighter at Thilawa last Friday, cyclone survivors from surrounding villages said they had received only hand-outs of spoiled rice from the port's warehouse, where the storm had soaked 40 per cent of the stored rice. [emphasis added]

Source:     guardian.co.uk  MORE

Note: see also Myanmar Exports Rice As Cyclone Victims Suffer  LINK

Hizballah ultimatum demands Druze disarmament as price for ceasefire (Lebanon)

DEBKAfile reports: In the second winning round of its war on the pro-Western Siniora government, Hizballah pounded the Druze strongholds of anti-Syrian Walid Jumblatt in the Mt. Lebanon hills east of Beirut all day Sunday, April 11. When the Druze leader asked his rival Talal Arselan to broker a truce deal, Hizballah laid down an ultimatum: Druze militias must turn in their heavy weapons to the Lebanese army and disarm their troops or the attacks go on.
In the northern town of Tripoli, Hizballah allies continued to fight pro-government Sunni loyalists.
Shiite gunmen continue to man roadblocks on Beirut highways including the airport road, even through Hizballah agreed Saturday, May 10, to take its armed men off the streets after the army surrendered to its two key demands.
DEBKAfile's sources report that Hizballah fighters mingle with Shiite Amal men in order to camouflage their continuing street presence. Lebanese soldiers still do not venture into the districts conquered by Hizballah in four days of fierce fighting. The crisis which has claimed 44 dead and 128 wounded is therefore far from over. Arab League foreign ministers met Sunday in [an] emergency session called by Saudi Arabia and Egypt . . . .
In a broadcast speech, Saturday, May 10, the pro-Western prime minister Fouad Siniora asked the army to defuse the crisis after Hizballah seized control of western Beirut, besieged the government center and attacked pro-government Sunni centers across Lebanon. Government loyalists found no support from Sinora's powerful backers, the United States, France or even Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The pro-Western government was therefore forced to back down.
This meant its acceptance of Hizballah's communication system in central, southern and eastern Lebanon, and its direct link to Syrian and Iranian command centers in Damascus; and the Shiite group's Beirut headquarters online communications link to its Revolutionary Guards bosses in Tehran.
Triumphant, the Hizballah chief Hassan Hasrallah will be a more dangerous enemy than ever. The army rather than the government laid down the condition that Hizballah withdraw from the Sunni districts of Beirut and the rest of the country and remove its armed men from the streets.
Even so, a government minister remarked that the deal awaits approval by Hizballah leaders and the Iranian ambassador in Beirut. It is far from certain that the Shiite terrorists will give up the territory they gained in the last four days.

Source:     debka.com  MORE

Note: see these related stories:

Day 5: Lebanese Dare To Hope Worst Is Over  LINK

Barak Leads Chorus Of Israeli Worries Over Unstable Situation In Lebanon  LINK

High stakes of Lebanon crisis

The more immediate causes of Lebanon's current - and apparently unending - political crisis go back to the war between Israel and the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah in the summer of 2006.
After standing up to the powerful Israeli military for a full month, Hezbollah declared it had achieved a "divine victory".
Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was the new hero of the Arab street.
The movement was determined to turn its success to political advantage within Lebanon itself.
It stepped up the pressure on the government of Fuad Siniora, which it attacked as illegitimate and a tool of western interests in Lebanon.
Shia ministers withdrew from the government, Hezbollah brought its supporters out onto the streets - and the country was plunged into prolonged political paralysis.
As ever in Lebanon, the confrontation had an external as well as an internal dimension.
The United States and its key Arab allies, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, supported Prime Minister Siniora. Iran and Syria backed the Hezbollah-led opposition.
Symptomatic of the depth of the political malaise is the fact that the country has been without a president since November 2007.
After months of haggling, the political factions can agree on who the next president should be - but not on the composition of a new government.
So the deadlock persists, with the constant danger of violent escalation . . . .
In the current context, what is under way is not just a battle for control of one small country, but a wider regional battle between pro-Western and anti-Western forces.
Put starkly, Iran and Syria would regard the containment of Hezbollah as an unacceptable victory for the US and its allies.
Victory for Hezbollah, on the other hand, would be seen in Washington, Paris, Riyadh and Cairo as handing over Lebanon to Iran.
While the central issue is power and the balance of power, there is a dangerous sectarian undercurrent.
The politics are complicated. The stakes are high. [emphasis added]

Source:     bbc.co.uk  MORE

Truce brings peace to Baghdad's Sadr City ... for now

BAGHDAD -- Guns fell silent in Baghdad's militia bastion of Sadr City on Sunday after the movement of hard-line Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr struck a deal with Iraqi officials to end the fighting in the district. The concrete barricade which the US military has been erecting in the southern section of the impoverished area - and which had emerged as a key factor in fierce clashes over the past several weeks - remained in place, however.
US military spokesman Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll said the 14-point agreement between the Sadrists and the government had led to a "decline in operations from last night" in Sadr City.
Since late March, the district - a stronghold of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia - had reverberated with gunfire, shelling and air strikes as militiamen clashed with American and Iraqi government troops. Hundreds of people have been killed and scores wounded.
But on Saturday, Sadrists and Iraqi officials announced that they had reached an agreement to end the fighting.
The clashes had erupted after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on Shiite fighters in the main southern city of Basra. The fighting swiftly spread to other Shiite areas of Iraq, particularly Sadr City.
They intensified in the Baghdad district after American forces began constructing the concrete barricade along al-Quds Street in its southern section in what they said was a bid to stop rocket and mortar fire against the Green Zone compound which houses officers of the Iraqi government and the US Embassy, among others.
US commander Brigadier General James Milano told reporters on Sunday that more than 1,000 rockets or mortar rounds had been fired from Sadr City since late March.
Milano said that the barricade, which was 80 percent complete, had helped control access to the area and reduce the level of violence.
The concrete wall has, however, become an obstacle to residents and businessmen in the immediate neighborhood . . . .
Driscoll said the US military was keenly following Saturday's deal between Sadr's movement and the Iraqi government.
"It is premature to say there is a truce, but a process of negotiations is on," he said, making clear that the military would not let up its operations if the deal was not honored.
Asked what action they might take if the deal breaks down, Driscoll said: "We will support the efforts of the Iraq government, whatever they may be."

Source:     AFP / dailystar.com.lb (Lebanon)  MORE

Note: see these related stories:

Sadr City Fighting Eases Under Short-Term Truce  LINK

[Red Flag] Heavy Bombardment On Sadr City Despite Ceasefire - Three large parts of Sadr city were subjected to heavy bombardment that was continuously carried out by U.S. helicopters, starting from Saturday 3:30 p.m. ... despite the Iraqi government and representatives of the Sadr movement having signed an agreement to stop confrontations in the city (Voices of Iraq)  LINK

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NEWS BRIEFS
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'Bush to offer Israel powerful radar'

The US may offer Israel a powerful radar system that would greatly strengthen Israeli defenses against ballistic missiles while incorporating it directly into a growing US missile shield, Reuters reported on Saturday. US President George W. Bush is expected to discuss the issue during his visit to Israel on Wednesday and Thursday to mark the 60th anniversary of the state, people familiar with the matter said, according to the report . . . It would allow Israel's Arrow missile to engage a Shahab-3 ballistic missile about halfway through what would be a 11-minute flight from Iran, or six times sooner than Israel's "Green Pine" radar can, [Illinois Republican Rep. Mark Kirk] told Reuters in a telephone interview on Friday.  MORE

Israel's Olmert vows to impose 'calm' on Gaza

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday blamed the Islamist Hamas movement for all attacks from the Gaza Strip and warned that "calm" would be imposed by force if they did not cease. "Hamas is the dominant force in the Gaza Strip. It is responsible (for all attacks) and will be called to bear the consequences of its activities. We do not intend to accept this reality," he told a weekly cabinet meeting. "This reality has to change ... Either there is calm or Israel will use such force that will lead to calm," he added.  MORE

Hasty U.S. Exit from Iraq a Danger, Iraqi Minister Says

WASHINGTON (CNS News) -- A quick withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq would endanger not only Iraq but the entire Middle East, Fawzi Hariri, Iraq's minister of industry, warned on Wednesday . . . "The removal of (U.S.) forces, especially in a fast and quick way, will not only put Iraq in danger, but it will put the whole region in danger," Hariri said at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. "I don't believe even some of the most outspoken regional countries that are anti-U.S.-presence-in-Iraq will accept a quick and fast withdrawal of the U.S. forces."  MORE

China to modernise nuclear weapons capability
China is undertaking a dramatic overhaul of its nuclear weapons in an effort to modernise and expand its arsenal

One of the world's leading arms control experts has said that the Chinese have realised that their nuclear weaponry has fallen behind those of other major powers and might not survive a first strike. Bates Gill, head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said that as a result it was developing more flexible delivery systems, including from submarines, as well as the capacity to use multiple warheads. "Among the major nuclear powers China stands out in its effort to modernise, expand and improve its nuclear weapons capability," he said at a conference in Beijing . . . A sea-based capability would "make it less likely that an adversary could wipe out the possibility of a response," he said.  MORE

Russian fury at NATO 'air attacks'

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AP) -- Russia's air force chief has accused NATO fighters escorting Russian bombers on patrol flights over neutral waters of violating safety rules. Colonel-General Alexander Zelin said on Saturday that NATO aircraft were approaching Russian bombers too closely and too often, creating risky situations. "They approach our strategic bombers at unacceptable distances and at unacceptable intervals, conduct various maneuvers around them and violate flight safety rules in every way," Zelin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as telling reporters Saturday.  MORE

China eyes overseas land in food push

Chinese companies will be encouraged to buy farmland abroad, particularly in Africa and South America, to help guarantee food security under a plan being considered by Beijing. A proposal drafted by the Ministry of Agriculture would make supporting offshore land acquisition by domestic agricultural companies a central government policy. Beijing already has similar policies to boost offshore investment by state-owned banks, manufacturers and oil companies, but offshore agricultural investment has so far been limited to a few small projects.  MORE [registration required]

Fifty-thousand nabbed while sleeping (Turkey)

Police have taken 49,550 people into custody since a law requiring accommodation facilities to report the identity of individuals renting rooms went into force in 2005, causing concern among rights groups and activists about security concerns taking precedence over human rights. The law in question obliges accommodation facilities and hospitals with more than 30 beds to transmit the identity information of occupants every night to an online police database.  MORE

Counterfeit Chinese Technology: Gateway for Hackers?
FBI investigating if counterfeit computer parts could cause major security breach

The FBI is investigating whether counterfeit routers and computer hardware from China installed in U.S. government computer networks might provide a secret gateway for hackers to tap into secure government databases. Sources told ABC News the counterfeit hardware could represent a major breach to national security. An FBI PowerPoint presentation, which somehow ended up on a website, lays out the concerns and the breadth of what has been a far-reaching investigation . . . According to [FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director James Finch], the FBI "disrupted a large distribution network and recovered approximately 3,500 counterfeit network components with an estimated retail value of over $3.5 million." In total, authorities around the world, including in the United States, Canada and China, made more than 400 seizures with an estimated value of $76 million. In one instance, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seized 1,600 pieces of counterfeit Cisco routers ...  MORE

third-graders asked to help classmate in gender change (Pennsylvania)
Parents given 1-day notice of presentation explaining boy would now wear girl clothes

A Pennsylvania elementary school has angered parents by giving them one-day's notice of planned counseling sessions with 100 third-grade students to explain that one of their male classmates would soon begin wearing girls' clothing and taking a female name, and to ask that they accept him as a girl and not make unkind remarks. The exercise in "social transition" was initiated by the boy's parents who approached the administration at Chatham Park Elementary School in Haverford Township asking that the school help in having their child's female identity find acceptance among his peers. After consulting experts on transgender children, the Haverford School District sent letters to parents advising them the school guidance counselor would meet with their children, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer.  MORE

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MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY
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Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of Christian Media Daily or our host - Christian Media Network. Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

Feds take over [National Cattle Congress] fairgrounds for May training exercise (Iowa)

WATERLOO -- Normal operations on the National Cattle Congress (NCC) fairgrounds have been suspended for most of May as the federal government has leased out virtually the entire facility for a training exercise, NCC general manager Doug Miller said Saturday . . . .
Miller said he has primarily been dealing with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) on the arrangements, and that his physical facilities staff have been cooperating with federal officials on logistics and setup for the exercise.
Miller said that, other than GSA, he could not identify which agencies are involved in the exercise. But an individual on site Saturday who identified himself as an employee of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement referred inquiries to ICE officials in Minneapolis, who could not immediately be reached Saturday . . .
ICE and FEMA are both under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. On April 24, FEMA announced it is conducting a national level exercise in May designed "to exercise national capabilities to prepare and respond to multiple incidents including both natural disasters and terrorist incidents." The exercise is to be conducted every five years.
While the exercise scenarios involved disasters or terrorist attacks on the East or West coasts, the locations where the exercises were to be conducted were not specified. Communications capabilities and interagency coordination were among the items to be tested.

Source:     wcfcourier.com (Waterloo and Cedar Falls, Iowa)  MORE

Note: see also U.S. Lease Of Waterloo Fairgrounds Raises Questions - Spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) declined to say whether an immigration raid is pending that would use the fairgrounds as a detention center  LINK

Financial Analysis: VALLIERE: TAXES WILL RISE, WHOEVER WINS IN FALL (MoneyNews)

Greg Valliere, chief political strategist with Stanford Financial Group, has built his reputation on reporting what Washington politicians will likely do that will impact the value of investors' portfolios.
. . . Valliere says investors should get ready for higher taxes and greater oversight of financial services - regardless of whether a Republican or Democrat wins in the general election in November.
"No matter who sits in the Oval Office next January, the reality of a Democratic-controlled Congress means that taxes on capital gains and dividends are sure to go up and could be enacted as early as January 2009," Valliere told Barron's.
"Even if McCain wins, there is a high likelihood of taxes going up, and obviously if it's Obama, it is certain that they are going up," Valliere said . . . .
"Everybody knows there will be a deal next year to prevent the estate tax from disappearing in 2010. Congress and the president will be setting [a] top rate of between 35 percent and 40 percent with an exemption of [between] $3 million and $4 million.
"That's one of the reasons why there has to be a big tax bill next year, because no one is going to allow the abolition of the estate tax in 2010."
When it comes to corporate taxes, Valliere says everyone agrees they're too high . . . .
So will it make any difference if a Republican or Democrat occupies the White House in 2009?
According to Valliere, "The seminal difference is the role of government in terms of bailouts, moral hazard, things like that … There could be far more aggressive regulation of derivatives and investment banks right across the board."
He added, "That's the No. 1 theme I think of this election for investors: How much should the government do to save us from ourselves."

Source:     moneynews.newsmax.com (4-25-08)  MORE

Financial Analysis: U.S. DOLLAR RALLY NOT BASED ON FUNDAMENTALS (Dan Denning)

"Commodities fell the most in six weeks as a rally in the dollar eroded demand for energy, metals, crops and livestock as alternative investments," reports Bloomberg. We take issue not with the facts - commodity prices have fallen - but with the analysis.

The price of energy, metals, crops, and livestock are rising because the supply of those things is rising less fast than the supply of dollars (and U.S. government debt). The Bloomberg analysis casually suggests that investors rotate their portfolios out of greenbacks and into herds of Black Angus ... and then back again when confidence in the dollar returns.

Inflation, though, begins with the money supply. We reckon that as long as it remains the strategy of the U.S. government to inflate away its long-term debts, commodity prices will rise and the dollar will move lower toward its intrinsic worth.

Nothing fundamental explains the U.S. dollar's recent show of strength. The difference in interest rates is surely not driving the dollar rally (unless you believe the Fed is done cutting rates and the ECB will soon begin). U.S. rates, adjusted for inflation, are negative. And it's certainly not U.S. economic growth driving the buck. While the Saudis ride the increase in the oil price to 5% annual growth, America is barely growing at 0.6% in the first quarter, if the official GDP figures are to be believed . . . .

So why did the dollar rally? The dollar's strength is only relative. Part of its rally could be short-covering by the many traders who've been short the currency. Part of it could be that investors believe the Fed will not be cutting rates and weakening the dollar any more (at least not until the next crisis hits) . . . .

Inflation, oil, and dollar debates aside, the direction of U.S. financial markets comes down to the direction of the U.S. housing market. Bill Gross at PIMCO explains that house prices are critical because they are, "at the forefront of potential asset deflation."

"Because the U.S. and selected other economies are now substantially asset-based and dependent on stable and upward tilting prices, a deflation of an economy's primary financial asset can be ruinous. Its deflationary thrust must be countered, wrote [Hyman] Minsky, or else the battle might be lost."

Housing is America's primary financial asset. If it continues to deflate, there's no doubt the effects will be felt in the real economy. "A continued housing deflation of several trillion more dollars now threatens to impact the real economy which in turn might produce a reversal of financial market fortunes," Gross explains.

This is all dire news for American investors and consumers.

Source:     dailyreckoning.com (5-2-08)  MORE

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ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
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toll from [magnitude 7.8] China quake estimated at 3,000 to 5,000  LINK

News Update: Death toll in China earthquake rises to 7,600  LINK

Biq Quake Takes out Mobile Network in Chengdu  LINK

Aid trickles into Burma ... but toll 'could reach 1 million if disease sets in'  LINK

Massive volcanic cloud creeps over Argentina, Chile  LINK

Kadima ministers prepare to replace Olmert (Israel)  LINK

Gaza plunges into darkness as Israel cuts fuel supplies  LINK

Hizballah received 35 new Iranian speedboats shortly before current crisis  LINK

[analysis]: War With Iran Might Be Closer Than You Think  LINK
It is to be presumed that the attack will be as “pinpoint” and limited as possible, intended to target only al-Qods and avoid civilian casualties

Syria hardens positions ... retracts peace feelers to Israel  LINK

Abkhaz Leaders Meet U.S. Official  LINK

[analysis]: Georgia in Jeopardy  LINK

[analysis]: Russia and Georgia on the brink of armed conflict over Abkhazia  LINK

Sudan Severs Ties With Chad ... Blaming It for Attack on Capital  LINK

Ron Paul's forces quietly plot GOP convention revolt against McCain  LINK

[analysis]: BIG PHARMA, BIG FOOD, BIG FUEL, AND BIG FASCISM  LINK

[insurance company] AIG Posts $7.8 Billion Loss ... Seeks Capital As Damage Mounts  LINK

AIG's Quarterly Loss Depresses Dow  LINK

Citigroup to shed nearly $500 billion in assets  LINK

[State Street Bank] Sub-prime Damages May Surpass Reserve  LINK

Bank of England warns of two years of stagflation  LINK

[analysis]: Beijing and Riyadh will call the shots on ailing dollar's future  LINK

Code Pink Protesters Try Witchcraft at Anti-Marine Rallies (California)  LINK

[analysis]: WHY PSYCHOLOGY DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD  LINK

Balanced pH Necessary for Health  LINK

Blue-Green Algae Good Food Source  LINK

[analysis]: Big Pharma Medications, Deadly?  LINK

Lawsuit Alleging Mercury Causes Autism to Begin in U.S. Court of Claims  LINK

FDA Approves Generic Versions of Restless Legs Drug [!]  LINK [scroll down]

HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS: MAY 11, 2008  LINK

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"Is there anyone who still does not understand that talk of 'inflation' by officialdom is just a red herring intended to distract us from the far more dangerous dragon of deflation?"
Mike Shedlock (Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis)
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CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH

TUESDAY MAY 13, 2008

[Editor Robert's comment: let the partying commence.]

[the presidential conference]: 13 heads of state, 3,500 guests … and one Shimon Peres

U.S. President George W. Bush, former British prime minister Tony Blair and media mogul Rupert Murdoch are among the 13 heads of state and 3,500 guests expected to attend President Shimon Peres' Presidential Conference in Jerusalem.
The conference, which begins Tuesday, is being held in honor of Israel's 60th anniversary.
The conference will bring together people from vastly different fields at the capital's International Convention Center, in what has been called "a celebration of Jewish intellect." Discussion subjects in panels and workshops are to range from medical ethics to "Why the new Middle East is not yet here."
The conference budget, $21 million, has been entirely provided by Jewish donors from Israel and elsewhere. U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who is close to MK Benjamin Netanyahu, contributed $3 million and was named honorary conference president.
In the days leading up to the conference, it has been impossible to find any suites in Jerusalem hotels - eight hotels in the city are already fully booked.
The International Conference Center, where the opening ceremony will take place, has undergone a massive remodeling.
Hundreds of attendants have been hired to cater to the distinguished guests' needs, and a number of special teams have been formed by the Foreign Ministry in order to escort some of the world leaders that will arrive.
Fifty representatives will be on call to answer the press' questions, and 400 hotel rooms have been booked for journalists.
The organizers of the conference are hoping that Peres' stature will not be overshadowed by the investigation against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Olmert is scheduled to speak to the conference twice. It is not clear whether the publication of the suspicions against Olmert will result in a change of plans.

Source:     haaretz.com  MORE

14,000 policemen to secure U.S. president's visit to Jerusalem

In one of the largest security operations in years, 14,000 Israeli police officers will man the streets of Jerusalem, safeguarding US President George Bush and his entourage for their three day visit beginning Wednesday, police have said.
The number of police to be deployed surpasses the 10,000 officers who safeguarded Bush's January visit, his first as president, according to Jerusalem District Police Commander Aharon Franco. Police have not received security threats against Bush, Franco said.
Jerusalemites can expect major traffic jams throughout the city, as police close off central Jerusalem thoroughfares during the visit, dubbed by police "Operation Clear Skies 2."
In an effort to alleviate traffic issues, Bush will arrive in Jerusalem by helicopter. He'll land at the city's Givat Ram stadium, before heading to Jerusalem's landmark King David Hotel, his residence for the duration of his trip.
The main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway will be closed at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday as the president's entourage makes its way to the city, Franco said. Jerusalem's King David Street will be closed for the duration of the visit, while nearby city roads will be periodically closed when Bush leaves his hotel.
Parking cars on certain streets near the hotel will be prohibited during the visit and will result in vehicle tows.
"We are trying to minimize as much as possible the damage done to the public," Franco said.
Police plan to close major streets for shorter periods of time than they did during Bush's previous visit, he said, citing "lessons learned." A police hotline . . . offering residents information about street closures, opened on Monday.
Franco said the police's major concern was terrorist threats, noting that a closure of the West Bank that went into force ahead of Independence Day has been extended until Saturday night.
He said the police will be out in force in east Jerusalem on Thursday as Palestinians mark the Nakba, or catastrophe, on the Gregorian date of Israel's 60th Independence Day.
Bush will meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres during his visit, and attend an international conference hosted by Peres at the International Convention Center. Thursday morning, Bush will head to Masada, before returning to Jerusalem to address a special session of the Knesset at mid-day. On Friday, he'll meet with youth at the city's Bible Lands Museum, before leaving the country at 11:00 a.m.
Bush won't visit the West Bank during his trip, but will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Sharm e-Sheikh after his trip to Israel.
Meanwhile, First Lady Laura Bush, who is accompanying her husband on his trip, will visit the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday, and is scheduled to visit the Western Wall and tour the Western Wall tunnels while her husband goes to his meetings, police said. [no further content]

Source:     jpost.com  LINK

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ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
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Death toll reaches 12,000 in China  LINK
In one city, Mianyang, 18,000 people are believed to be buried under rubble

Day 6: Army warns armed groups to stay off streets (Lebanon)  LINK

Arab [Foreign Ministers] divided over Lebanon  LINK

[Red Flag]
Al-Qaeda 'declares war on Hezbollah'  LINK

Olmert: 'We'll Give Up a Large Part of the Territories'  LINK

Iran Brokers Truce Between Sadr, Iraqi Forces  LINK

[analysis]: IRAQ: The elusive Iranian weapons  LINK

[analysis]: Five ways to think about Iran under the gun  LINK

[analysis]: The prime directive  LINK
U.S. war plans targeting Iran are all about "protecting" Israel

Abkhaz Claim Downing Two More Drones  LINK

[analysis]: Georgia on my mind  LINK

U.S. Downplays Set of Diplomatic Expulsions with Russia  LINK

New U.S. Fourth Fleet raises question: gunboat diplomacy? (Followup)  LINK

[north korea] accuses South Korea of intruding [in] west territorial waters  LINK

Sharif's party pulls out of Pakistan government  LINK

U.S. distances itself from Musharraf  LINK
Negroponte says Washington keeping close contacts with Zardari

[analysis]: U.S. tightens its grip on Pakistan  LINK

Chavez Accuses U.S. of Fomenting Bolivian Crisis  LINK

Purchases Linked North Korean to Syria (Followup)  LINK
Pyongyang company funneled reactor parts to Damascus, intelligence officials say

U.S. Tests Response To Set of Calamities  LINK
Executive branch 'runs' government from outside D.C. as mock crises mount

[analysis]: The Republican Dictatorship  LINK

Stop-loss Army Tours Increase Greatly  LINK

State Department Renews Blackwater [contract]  LINK

Many Using Credit Cards For Groceries  LINK

Americans are driving less for the first time in nearly 30 years  LINK

[analysis]: The Bernanke Monetary Policy Conundrum Heading for a Crash  LINK

[analysis]: The Global Slump of '08-09 has begun as poison spreads  LINK

[analysis]: The dollar's dominance called into question  LINK
What are the chances that a day of reckoning is coming, when the dollar would be so weak that America would have to play by the rules that apply to every other country?

Brazil wants to join OPEC  LINK

Egypt expands food rations to extra 17 million  LINK

Food Emergency Declared by Latin American Leaders  LINK

[britain is running out of food]  LINK

[Australian] drought may be permanent  LINK

World's giants to alter food equation  LINK
As China and India rise, diets change and demands soar

U.N. rights council to hold special session on food crisis  LINK

Evidence That Colony Collapse Disorder Is a Disease (Followup)  LINK
Expert: Pesticide poisoning wouldn't roll through colonies this way

Honeybee Colony Collapse to Devastate Food Companies ... Result in Food Scarcity  LINK

MicroFueler Makes Gasoline at Home  LINK

Huge Texas Sinkhole's Appetite Decreasing, Officials Say  LINK

Cold Water Thrown on Antarctic Warming Predictions  LINK

Iraqis Running Out of Water in Rising Heat  LINK

Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano (Chile)  LINK

Magnitude 5 and greater earthquakes in the last week (Resource)  LINK

Britain: Welfare Reform Act to force sick and vulnerable into work  LINK

Psychiatry's Prescription for Violence (Video)  LINK

Dental Work Made in China Might Contain Lead (Followup)  LINK
Crowns and bridges from China may be cheaper, but at what cost?

Patients Taking Cholesterol Drug Risk  LINK
Patients who take the cholesterol drug torcetrapid have a 58 percent higher risk of death

Chemical Additives and Their Effects on Children  LINK

Do your kids have 'nature deficit disorder'?  LINK
The desire to sit inside and be entertained by electronic babysitters instead of getting into the great outdoors

Court Hears More Claims of Vaccine-Autism Link  LINK

Munchkin Baby Bottle and Food Warmers Recalled  LINK [scroll down]
May overheat and pose a fire hazard

HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS: MAY 12, 2008  LINK

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COMMENTARY
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Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of Christian Media Daily or our host - Christian Media Network. Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

Analysis: Lebanese army will not step in before Hizballah fights pro-government forces to the finish

DEBKAfile's military sources report: After six days of fighting between government loyalists and Hizballah leave close to 100 dead and 200 wounded, the Lebanese army's demand that all combatants lay down their arms will go unheeded until the Shiite terrorists decide they have achieved their goals.

Hizballah is now focusing on the northern Tripoli region and the central mountains east of Beirut in line with those goals after deciding there is no need at this stage to topple the pro-Western Siniora government:
(1) The northern port of Tripoli is important to Hizballah and Syria - both as the largest pro-Syrian Sunni stronghold in Lebanon and as a supply hub for incoming Iranian arms for Tehran's Shiite proxy. The arms are unloaded from Iran freighters at the Syrian ports of Latakiya and Tartous and trucked to Tripoli.
(2) Hizballah has a strategic interest in crushing the Druze militias of the anti-Syrian pro-government Walid Jumblatt, which control the Chouf mountains east of Beirut. Over and above this goal, DEBKAfile's military sources stress that, after capturing most of Beirut last Saturday, Hizballah has focused on isolating and disarming the Sunni supporters of the Siniora government.

After a series of fierce clashes, Hizballah slapped down an ultimatum for Jumblatt: Pull your militiamen out of their bases and hand over your heavy weapons (i.e. cannon, mortars, heavy machine guns, RPG's and explosives) to the Lebanese army, or face the consequences. Hizballah then brought in heavy artillery, with Syrian help, and set about pounding Druze mountain positions. It is hard to see them holding out for long before Hizballah seizes control of the hills which command the entire Beirut plateau.
After the Druze militias fall, Hizballah may be expected to focus on vanquishing majority leader Saad Hariri's Sunni forces in Sidon. This would isolate the only armed force left in Lebanon, the Christian Phalangists led by Samir Geagea.
In the face of the Iranian surrogate army's lightning conquest of Lebanon, US president George W. Bush's statement in Washington, on the even of his Middle East trip, that the United States would not let Syria and Iran undermine Lebanon's sovereignty comes very much after the fact. His offer to help Siniora by strengthening his armed forces is equally belated. The Lebanese army is by now more an operational arm of Hizballah than an armed force that serves the government. [no further content]

Source:     debka.com  LINK

Note: see these related stories:

Are The Clashes In Beirut A Signal Of The Inception Of A New War For The 'New Middle East'?  LINK

Hezbollah 'Redrawing' Mideast Map - Hezbollah's dramatic gains in Lebanon last week are just part of a regional process that began last year in the Gaza Strip and will continue in Jordan and Egypt, a Hamas official in the West Bank said  LINK

'Iran's Support For Hizbullah Will Affect Foreign Relations' - Iran's support for Hizbullah's "coup" in Lebanon will affect Teheran's relations with Arab and Islamic countries, said Saudi Arabia on Tuesday  LINK

Syrian Daily: Hizbullah Foiled U.S.-Planned Coup [In Lebanon]  LINK

Commentary: DID [BARBRA STREISAND] GET BASHFUL ABOUT BEING WITH BUSH AT ISRAEL BIRTHDAY BASH? (Israel Insider)

Organizers of Israel's upcoming 60th anniversary celebrations were surprised and disappointed when entertainer Barbra Streisand abruptly pulled out [of] the jubilee event. She had accepted an invitation by Israeli President Shimon Peres to perform at a festive Jerusalem conference [this week]. She had been expected to sing the Hebrew prayer Avinu Malkeinu (Our Father, Our King) . . . .
World Net Daily [citing] sources at the Jerusalem municipality involved in planning the event said workers suspect the singer backed out once she learned Bush was going to attend the gala event at which she was scheduled to be a headliner. "From what we understand, when she first accepted, Streisand didn't know she would sing at an event where Bush would be involved," said one municipality source . . . .
Pressed about whether Bush's attendance played a role in Streisand's cancellation, Guttman replied, "We assure you that that is not the case." Streisand has fiercely opposed Bush and America's war in Iraq, once comparing the Bush administration to "witches."

Source:     israelinsider.com (4-28-08) [link has been retired]

Commentary: FBI LOSES NATIONAL SECURITY LETTER CASE AGAINST INTERNET ARCHIVE (Tom Burghardt)

When the Internet Archive, a project founded in 1996 to create a digital library of the web, was served an illegal National Security Letter (NSL) by the FBI, Archive founder and Digital Librarian, Brewster Kahle, did what any self-respecting defender of free expression would do: he got pissed.

But Kahle did more. He sued the FBI - and won. After a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in federal district court in San Francisco, the Bureau was forced to withdraw the NSL and unseal the case, allowing the Archive's founder to speak out about his battle with autocratic Bushist agents.

The NSL was served on the Archive - a library recognized as such by the state of California - and Kahle's attorneys in November 2007. The Bureau demanded personal information about one of the library's patrons, including the individual's name, address, and any electronic communication records pertaining to the user.

A National Security Letter, an onerous tool deployed by the Bureau to root out suspected "terrorists" and other malefactors, is a covert means by which the state obtains access to personal customer records from Internet Service Providers, banks, other financial institutions and credit reporting agencies without the approval of a judge. In other words, under the guise of a "national security investigation," NSLs are very sharp hooks for government fishing expeditions . . . .

According to a joint press release by the ACLU and EFF, Kahle said,

"The free flow of information is at the heart of every library's work. That's why Congress passed a law limiting the FBI's power to issue NSLs to America's libraries. While it's never easy standing up to the government - particularly when I was barred from discussing it with anyone - I knew I had to challenge something that was clearly wrong. I'm grateful that I am able now to talk about what happened to me, so that other libraries can learn how they can fight back from these overreaching demands." ('FBI Withdraws Unconstitutional National Security Letter after ACLU and EFF Challenge', Press Release, Electronic Frontier Foundation, May 7, 2008) . . . .

While the Internet Archive's victory against the FBI puts an end to the government's challenge in this case, the settlement prevents Kahle or his attorneys from discussing what the Bureau was so intent on perusing, even though the FBI was seeking public information - not "state secrets," nor "evidence" of a "terrorist plot."

But these days, as the post-Constitutional "New Order" continues to cast a tyrannical pall across the American landscape, even a small victory against those who "work ... the dark side," has merit.

The partially redacted documents on the Internet Archive case are available [see LINK.]

[Also see LINK for more information on NSLs.]

Source:     globalresearch.ca (5-8-08)  MORE

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"If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security."
Samuel Adams 
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CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH

WEDNESDAY MAY 14, 2008

U.S. Confession: Weapons Were Not Made In Iran After All

In a sharp reversal of its longstanding accusations against Iran arming militants in Iraq, the US military has made an unprecedented albeit quiet confession: the weapons they had recently found in Iraq were not made in Iran at all.
According to a report by the LA Times correspondent Tina Susman in Baghdad: "A plan to show some alleged Iranian-supplied explosives to journalists last week in Karbala and then destroy them was cancelled after the United States realized none of them was from Iran. A U.S. military spokesman attributed the confusion to a misunderstanding that emerged after an Iraqi Army general in Karbala erroneously reported the items were of Iranian origin. When U.S. explosives experts went to investigate, they discovered they were not Iranian after all." [So now they're blaming the Iraqis for the 'mistake'? - Ed.]
The US, which until two weeks ago had never provided any proof for its allegations, finally handed over its "evidence" of the Iranian origin of these weapons to the Iraqi government. Last week, an Iraqi delegation to Iran presented the US "evidence" to Iranian officials. According to al-Abadi, a parliament member from the ruling United Iraqi Alliance who was on the delegation, the Iranian officials totally refuted "training, financing and arming" militant groups in Iraq. Consequently the Iraqi government announced that there is no hard evidence against Iran.
In another extraordinary event this week, the US spokesman in Iraq, Major General Kevin Bergner, for the first time did not blame Iran for the violence in Iraq and in fact did not make any reference to Iran at all in his introductory remarks to the world media on Wednesday when he described the large arsenal of weapons found by Iraqi forces in Karbala . . . .
In the past year, the US leaders have been relentless in propagating their charges of Iranian meddling and fomenting violence in Iraq, and since the release of the key judgments of the US National Intelligence Estimate in December that Iran does not have a nuclear weaponisation programme, these accusations have sharply intensified.
The US charges of Iranian interference in Iraq too have now collapsed. Any threat of [a] military strike against Iran is in violation of the UN charter, and the IAEA's continued supervision on Iran's uranium enrichment facilities means there is no justification for sanctions. [emphasis added]

Source:     campaigniran.org (Press Release from CASMII - Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran)  MORE

Israel encourages Egyptian Hamas ceasefire effort … against military advice

Egyptian intelligence minister General Omar Suleiman Monday, May 12, presented the truce plan he negotiated with Hamas leaders in Cairo to Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert, defense minister Ehud Barak and foreign minister Tzipi Livni . . . .

These are the main points of Suleiman's truce plan, according to our sources:
(1) Israel must lift its blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and open all the crossings.
(2) Israel should heed Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal's words to the Egyptian general in private rather than his public rhetoric. He quoted Meshaal as saying on the quiet that Hamas is not a political, military or religious organization; its decisions are not political and not governed by clerics. Hamas therefore deserves to be encouraged in its pursuit of this path.
(3) The way to "stifle" Hamas is not by confrontation, but rapprochement through a long-tem informal truce (hudna).
(4) Once afoot, the truce will develop its own dynamic and start a process of change in Hamas.
(5) A ceasefire is the only way to restore Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas to any sort of foothold in the Gaza Strip. Abbas' Fatah and Hamas must be encouraged to bury the hatchet . . .
(6) Egyptian guarantees are on offer to halt the smuggling of arms and fighting men into the Gaza Strip through Sinai.
(7) Israel's insistence on including the Gilead Shalit issue in the truce package will put paid to the entire deal. It should therefore be held separate and approached after the truce is up and running smoothly.

The prime minister told the Egyptian visitor that he accepts the Egyptian truce plan in principle, but it needs further sweetening before he can bring it before the security cabinet for approval.
Heads of the IDF's southern command found it hard to see the Israeli prime minister dickering over Hamas concessions when a 70-year old Israeli woman was being murdered by a Palestinian missile from Gaza at Mosha Yesha. But, above all, they wished to remind the government that while Suleiman's offer was smoothly presented and may have sounded reasonable to some, Meshaal's promises and Egyptian guarantees have never stood up in the past.

Source:     debka.com  MORE

Spread of Nuclear Capability Is Feared
Global interest in energy may presage a new arms race

VIENNA -- At least 40 developing countries from the Persian Gulf region to Latin America have recently approached U.N. officials here to signal interest in starting nuclear power programs, a trend that concerned proliferation experts say could provide the building blocks of nuclear arsenals in some of those nations.
At least half a dozen countries have also said in the past four years that they are specifically planning to conduct enrichment or reprocessing of nuclear fuel, a prospect that could dramatically expand the global supply of plutonium and enriched uranium, according to U.S. and international nuclear officials and arms-control experts . . . .
"We are concerned that some countries are moving down the nuclear [weapons] path in reaction to the Iranians," a senior U.S. government official who tracks the spread of nuclear technology said in an interview . . . .
Although the United Arab Emirates has a proven oil reserve of 100 billion barrels, the world's sixth-largest, in January it signed a deal with a French company to build two nuclear reactors. Wealthy neighbors Kuwait and Bahrain are also planning nuclear plants, as are Libya, Algeria and Morocco in North Africa and the kingdom of Jordan.
Even Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, last year announced plans to purchase a nuclear reactor, which it says is needed to produce electricity; it is one of 11 Middle Eastern states now engaged in starting or expanding nuclear power programs.
Meanwhile, two of Iran's biggest rivals in the region, Turkey and Egypt, are moving forward with ambitious nuclear projects. Both countries abandoned any pursuit of nuclear power decades ago, but are now on course to develop seven nuclear power plants - four in Egypt and three in Turkey - over the next decade . . . .
Mohammed ElBaradei, the director general of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency and a winner with the IAEA of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for his work preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, has likened the pursuit of "latent" nuclear capability to buying an insurance policy.
"You don't really even need to have a nuclear weapon," ElBaradei said at a recent international conference of security officials in Munich. "It's enough to buy yourself an insurance policy by developing the capability, and then sit on it. Let's not kid ourselves: Ninety percent of it is insurance, a deterrence."

Source:     washingtonpost.com  MORE

Invoking history, Bush wants court out of subpoena fight

WASHINGTON (AP) -- If there's one thing Congress and the Bush administration can agree on, it's that they've got a fight of historic proportions on their hands.
The House Judiciary Committee is demanding documents and testimony from President Bush's closest advisers about the firing of federal prosecutors.
When the White House refused, the Democrat-led committee went to court. Lawyers called the president's actions the most expansive view of presidential authority since Watergate.
Late Friday night, the Bush administration responded with court documents of its own, similarly steeped in history. Lawyers called the lawsuit unprecedented. Citing George Washington and Grover Cleveland, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, they said these types of clashes get resolved without going to court.
"For over two hundred years, when disputes have arisen between the political branches concerning the testimony of executive branch witnesses before Congress, or the production of executive branch documents to Congress, the branches have engaged in negotiation and compromise," Justice Department lawyers wrote.
The idea the Congress can't order the president or his advisers to do something is a principle known as executive privilege. That privilege isn't spelled out in the Constitution and courts are rarely asked to decide exactly what it means. And when they have been asked, judges have tried to avoid getting too specific . . . .
The stakes are high in a court fight.
Bush, who has prided himself on taking strong views on presidential authority, risks a legacy as the president who forever diminished that power in disputes with Congress. Congress risks having its subpoena authority - one of its most powerful oversight tools - permanently curtailed.

Source:     Associated Press / ap.google.com  MORE

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NEWS BRIEFS
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News Alert: China says troops rush to plug dangerous cracks in dam

DUJIANGYAN, CHINA -- Chinese state media says troops are rushing to plug "extremely dangerous" cracks in a dam upriver from an earthquake-hit city. Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday that 2,000 troops had been sent to work on the Zipingku Dam, upriver from Dujiangyan in Sichuan province. Dujiangyan saw buildings collapse and services cut off in Monday's magnitude 7.9 quake earthquake.  MORE

[Editor Robert's comment: sounds just like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina passed over.]

Peres Calls For Palestinian State in Opening Address

(Israel National News) -- President Shimon Peres took the opportunity at the opening of the 'Tomorrow Conference' he organized to call for the establishment of a state of Palestine. "If only the proposal in 1948 of two states for two people were accepted it would have saved the lives of so many young men and women," Peres said. "There is no reason to wait a single day longer to establish that state, which will be better for all the peoples of the Middle East." Peres later said that if not for Hamas, there would already be a Palestinian state.  MORE

Israel PM says agreements reached with Palestinians

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday that "real progress" had been made in talks with the Palestinians and "understandings and agreements have been reached on very important matters". "The discussions we are conducting with the Palestinian Authority are serious and very significant," Olmert said on the eve of a visit to Israel by US President George W. Bush. "We are making real progress and understandings and agreements have been reached on very important matters, although not on all of them." Olmert said he hoped a comprehensive agreement could be reached with the Palestinians although he made no explicit mention of the January 2009 target date set by Bush. "I hope an agreement between us will be reached, the realisation of which will be gradual and in accordance with the roadmap," he said.  MORE

Note: see also Blair Touts New Israeli Commitments In West Bank  LINK

Israel eyes dangers, opportunities in Hizbullah takeover of Lebanon

If Hizbullah takes over Lebanon and uses it to stage attacks on Israel, Jerusalem would have no compunction about striking at Lebanon's infrastructure, something it was hesitant to do during the Second Lebanon War for fear of toppling the democratic government in Beirut, diplomatic sources said Sunday. According to the officials, while Hizbullah control of Lebanon would pose enormous challenges for Israel, it would provide opportunities for the IDF in that infrastructure targets considered out of bounds while Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora was in control would suddenly be fair play if Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah were making the decisions . . . [Israel's] Vice Premier Haim Ramon told the ministers that "Lebanon must be treated as a Hizbullah state. Everything that happens there is the responsibility of Hizbullah. The country is controlled by this terrorist organization, and its government has become irrelevant." The idea of an independent government apart from Hizbullah in Lebanon was "entirely fictitious," Ramon said.  MORE

Note: see these related stories:

Relative Normalcy Returns To Most Of Lebanon After Bloodshed - Military makes good on pledge to increase vigilance  LINK

Bush Warns Syria, Iran Over Lebanon Violence  LINK

Bush Offers Help For Lebanon Army  LINK

Druze Plead For U.S. Help In Lebanon  LINK

Shas [party]: We'll bolt Olmert coalition if draft deal reached with PA

The Shas party on Monday significantly broadened its threat to bolt Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government, stating that it would bring down the coalition if a draft agreement is reached with the Palestinians, or if the government offered to cede any land . . . This threat goes beyond previous Shas warnings that it would leave the government if Olmert, his aides or cabinet ministers discussed the future status of Jerusalem with the Palestinian Authority. The threat was spelled out in a special press release issued by Shas Chair Eli Yishai ahead of the scheduled arrival in Israel Wednesday of President George Bush. "Any unbridled dash toward a virtual agreement will bring about a deterioration in the security situation," Eli said in the statement.  MORE

[Editor Robert's comment: this next story is the followup to Monday's story Feds Take Over [National Cattle Congress] Fairgrounds For May Training Exercise (Iowa)  LINK. The fairgrounds were used as a temporary detention camp.]

300 arrested in Iowa immigration raid at largest U.S. kosher meat plant

Federal immigration agents today raided the nation's largest kosher slaughterhouse and meat-packing plant and arrested more than 300 people in northeastern Iowa. Most are accused of identity theft and of being in the country illegally. The Des Moines Register reports that according to search warrants unsealed today, federal authorities had received information about alleged immigration violations for the past two years at Agriprocessors Inc. in Postsville. One source, a former plant supervisor, told agents the plant hired foreign nationals from Mexico, Guatemala and Eastern Europe. Around 80% were in the United States illegally, said a supervisor with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The source also reported that some employees were running a methamphetamine lab in the plant and were bringing weapons into the plant, which employs about 1,000. He said he was fired after he told his superiors.  MORE

Note: see also Claims Of ID Fraud Lead To Largest Raid In State History - [One] plant worker told federal officials that undocumented workers were paid $5 an hour for their first few months before receiving a pay increase to $6 per hour ... The minimum wage in Iowa is $7.25 an hour  LINK

[Red Flag]
Doctors Condemn 'Threatening' Taser Court Ruling
Physicians speak out on bullying tactics of Taser International over its "less than lethal" weapons

Doctors have condemned as corporate "intimidation" a court decision ordering a chief medical examiner to remove any reference to the use of a Taser as an antecedent in the deaths of three men. Ohio examiner Dr. Lisa Kohler had noted in her autopsy reports that electrical shocks from Tasers were partially to blame for the deaths of individuals in three separate confrontations with police.  MORE

Note: see also Why The Police Wouldn't Tase Me When I Asked Them To (Canada) - Police explain to a journalist who wants to know what being Tasered feels like, "we really don't fully understand and know the risks"  LINK

Genetically modified human embryo stirs criticism

NEW YORK (AP) -- News that scientists have for the first time genetically altered a human embryo is drawing fire from some watchdog groups that say it's a step toward creating "designer babies." But an author of the study says the work was focused on stem cells. He notes that the researchers used an abnormal embryo that could never have developed into a baby anyway. "None of us wants to make designer babies," said Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.  MORE

Parents losing custody for home-schooling kids (Germany)
'Law seen as logical step in carving up family rights'

A German couple already being threatened with jail time because they have been home-schooling their children say their nation has taken a turn for the worse, with a new federal law that gives family courts the authority to take custody of children "as soon as there is a suspicion of child abuse," which is how that nation's courts have defined home-schooling. "The new law is seen as a logical step in carving up family rights after a federal court had decided that home-schooling was an abuse of custody," said a letter from Jurgen Dudek to officials with the U.S.-based Home School Legal Defense Association, an international advocacy organization in support of home-schooling.  MORE

ISLAMISTS THREATEN TO TEAR DOWN CHURCH IN INDONESIA

Muslim extremists and local government authorities in North Sumatra, Indonesia, last week threatened to tear down a church building under construction in Sumatra even though church leaders say they have met requirements of Indonesia's draconian law on worship places. Emboldened by local authorities' unwillingness to grant a church building permit to Protestant Bataks Christian Church, some 100 Muslim extremists accompanied by government officials on Tuesday, April 29, tried to destroy the building under construction in Jati Makmur village, North Binjai. Pastor Monang Silaban said about 100 members of the Islamic extremist Front Pembela Islam, some armed with "sharp weapons," arrived at 4:30 p.m. accompanied by Binjai municipal officials who brought a bulldozer. Police met with church and Muslim extremist group leaders following the confrontation and reached an agreement that construction on the building would cease until the permit is approved - something that hasn't happened in the two years since the church first applied. [no further content]  LINK

ARMED MEN THREATEN CHURCH, PASTOR IN ANKARA, TURKEY

Three men, one of them armed with a gun and wearing gloves, threatened a Protestant church and its pastor in the Turkish capital city of Ankara Tuesday, May 6. The culprits fled in a car before police could be summoned. The attempted attack marked the seventh incident in the past four months of threatened violence against Turkey's tiny Protestant community. Most Turkish believers are former Muslims who converted to Christianity. [no further content]  LINK

Archaeologists find Queen of Sheba's palace at Axum, ETHIOPIA

HAMBURG -- Archaeologists believe they have found the Queen of Sheba's palace at Axum, Ethiopia and an altar which held the most precious treasure of ancient Judaism, the Ark of the Covenant, the University of Hamburg said Wednesday. Scientists from the German city made the startling find during their spring excavation of the site over the past three months. The Ethiopian queen was the bride of King Solomon of Israel in the 10th century [BC]. The royal match is among the memorable events in the Bible. Ethiopian tradition claims the Ark, which allegedly contained Moses' stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, was smuggled to Ethiopia by their son Menelek and is still in that country.  MORE

Note: see also 'Ark Of The Covenant Altar' Found In Sheba's Palace - Remains of animal sacrifices discovered at home of Ethiopian queen  LINK

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MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY
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Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of Christian Media Daily or our host - Christian Media Network. Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

Overlooked in the global food crisis: A problem with dirt

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Science has provided the souped-up seeds to feed the world, through biotechnology and old-fashioned crossbreeding. Now the problem is the dirt they're planted in.
As seeds get better, much of the world's soil is getting worse and people are going hungry. Scientists say if they can get the world out of the economically triggered global food crisis, better dirt will be at the root of the solution.
Soils around the world are deteriorating with about one-fifth of the world's cropland considered degraded in some manner. The poor quality has cut production by about one-sixth, according to a World Resources Institute study. Some scientists consider it a slow-motion disaster . . . .
A generation ago, through better types of plants, Earth's food production exploded in what was then called the "green revolution." Some people thought the problem of feeding the world was solved and moved on. However, developing these new "magic seeds" was the easy part. The crucial element, fertile soil, was missing.
"The first thing to do is to have good soil," said Hans Herren, winner of the World Food Prize. "Even the best seeds can't do anything in sand and gravel." . . . .
In Africa, farmers are forced to use practices that rob nutrients from the soil, not put it back, said Herren, who heads an Arlington, Virginia, nonprofit. Fertilizer is a quick, short-term fix, but even that isn't being done, he said . . . .
But there are success stories, [Pedro Sanchez, Columbia University tropical agricultural director] said, pointing to the small African country of Malawi. Three years ago, the country's new president invested 8 percent of Malawi's national budget in a subsidy program to get fertilizer and better seeds to small farmers. Each farmer got two bags of fertilizer and 4 1/2 pounds of seeds at less than half the cost . . . .
"In two years, the country has changed from a food aid recipient to a food aid donor and is self-sufficient," Sanchez said. "if Malawi can do it, richer countries like Nigeria, Kenya can do it."

Source:     Associated Press / apnews.myway.com  MORE

Opinion: JOHN HAGEE: DEVIANT THEOLOGY, DANGEROUS FOREIGN POLICY (John Taylor)

Pastor John Hagee gleefully anticipates the death of hundreds of millions of people in a series of wars preparing the world for the second coming of Christ: "The end of the world is rapidly approaching . . . Rejoice and be exceeding glad."
Worse, Hagee wants to jump start what he sees as the inevitable battle between Israel and the US and an alliance of the Islamic states and Russia: "The United States must join Israel in a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West." Hagee's bizarre interpretation of the Bible sees war with Iran as a "biblically prophesized End Time confrontation . . . which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation and the Second Coming." . . . .
Not only does Hagee advocate aggressive war against Iran, he is a strong supporter of our continuing misadventure in Iraq and he opposes any Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, arguing that God has given all of Palestine to the Israelis.
John Hagee's end time theology transmogrifies Christianity into little more than a death cult in which the State of Israel is worshipped like a latter day Golden Calf. Despite his weird views, Hagee has access to senior politicians in the US and Israel; he likes to brag that he has met every Israeli prime minister since Menachem Begin.
President Bush praised Hagee's CUFI for "spreading the hope of God's love and the universal gift of freedom." How to square "spreading . . . God's love" and the "gift of freedom" with bombing the Iranians is hard to fathom, but, in any event, evangelicals like Hagee have been among President Bush's strongest supporters and the president is not about to abandon them now.

Source:     onlinejournal.com (5-7-08)  MORE

Commentary: THE SEPARATION OF TRUTH AND STATE (Coach Dave Daubenmire)

. . . . While they have had all of us scrabbling over the removal of the 10 Commandments in public buildings, the lack of morality in our populace, and the degenerating condition of our public schools, we have once again missed the real agenda.
You see it is not really about religion. The battle really isn't about Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, or the non-constitutional "separation between the church and state."

No, my friends, it isn't about prayer in schools, or Bibles in schools, about Christmas Carols or the Pledge of Allegiance, nor about homosexuals or metrosexuals. The battle in America is over one issue. And it is an issue that we are all going to have to come to grips with - hopefully sooner, rather than later . . . .
The separation between the TRUTH AND THE STATE is what they were after. It wasn't religion they had to remove. It was the Truth that stood in the way.
. . . They told us truth was relative, and that ethics were "situational." They chided our children, "don't judge," and chastised those who did. They removed from the school house wall the scales by which all morality was weighed and soon everyone was doing "what was right in their own eyes."
"If it feels good do it. Tune-in, turn-on, drop-out. Go for the gusto. You only pass this way once. Live and let live. Go for it. You deserve it. Did God really say that? Everyone lies about sex …"

We are a nation of liars. We expect lying from our leaders. They don't even blush.
We hire teachers to teach us lies and elected politicians to tell us lies. We pay them to teach lies, tell lies, so we can believe lies. Lies make us feel better.
How else can you explain what is being taught to our children in our schools with our permission and dollars?

But it didn't start there. It started in the ivory towers of academia first. Communism, masquerading as liberalism, snuck into positions of authority. Communism is a God-less system of government where absolute Truth does not exist. Right and wrong was no longer defined by the God of the Bible, but by public opinion, or worse yet, the university-trained terrorists in black robes.

With the Christian God and His unmovable standards out of the way, the God-haters were able to manipulate the minds of the people to accept things their Forefathers would have found reprehensible . . . .
"Separation of church and state, separation of church and state" the goats bleat every time the Christian God and His standards are mentioned. But it is not the Church they are afraid of. No, my friends, it is not the Church. Again, it is the Truth they must change.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:" "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Does it seem like we are losing freedom in America? We have let them change the standards. It is Jesus they want removed. Not Buddha, not Mohammed, not environmentalism. The Truth brings freedom, lies bring bondage. Are we truly free? [emphasis added]

Source:     newswithviews.com (5-1-08)  MORE

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ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
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Kings of the earth in Israel for 'event of the century' (Followup)  LINK
Not since the funeral of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin have so many heads of state been in Israel at one time

Bush headed to Middle East facing repudiation of policies  LINK

Bush Tempers Optimism About Middle East Peace  LINK

[analysis]: Low hopes for Bush Mid east trip  LINK

Fears of civil war loom large over Lebanese city (Tripoli)  LINK

[analysis]: Hezbollah Shows Decline [in] U.S. Influence  LINK

Saakashvili: Russia Tries 'to Revise World Order'  LINK

Moscow Slams U.S. Official for 'Incorrect Statements'  LINK

7 Bombs Kill Scores in Indian City of Jaipur  LINK

China preparing for nuclear war  LINK
Analysts say Beijing getting ready for ops beyond Far East

Spy-Agency Revision Triggers Turf War  LINK

Pentagon biggest obstacle to Democrats' GI bill  LINK

CDO [Collateralized debt obligation] DEBT COULD POSE RENEWED DANGER FOR BANKS  LINK

[book excerpt]: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes from and Why We Need to Get It Back  LINK

[Chilean volcano] Ash cloud stretches across South America (Followup)  LINK

Vatican: Space aliens might actually exist  LINK
'This is not in contradiction with our faith, because we cannot establish limits on God'

Muslim threats force out disabled teacher with dog  LINK
Islamic students reportedly taunted 'unclean' animal

Canada Urged To Open For Iraq's Christian Refugees  LINK
A Canadian religious advocacy group has called for Canada to open its doors to Iraqi Christians, amid reports of persecution

Campaign Urges U.S. Churches to Cancel Services, Help the Poor  LINK

Pastors called to defy IRS censorship rules  LINK
New campaign challenges 1954 tax law banning speech on candidates' positions
[Didn't they read the rules before they signed up for tax exempt 501(c)3 status, and made the Beast government the head of their 'church'? - Ed.]

'Intimidation' of pastors at issue  LINK
Protecting pastors' constitutionally protected right to preach on biblical issues related to politics is the motive behind one Christian law firm's "Pulpit Initiative"

Rising Food Prices Increase Risk of Child Malnourishment  LINK [scroll down]

'CFC-Free' Asthma Inhalers Proving Difficult for Millions  LINK [scroll down]
As of January 1, 2009, CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) inhalers will have to be replaced with inhalers that use propellants called HFAs (hydrofluoroalkanes) ... But many asthma patients and doctors haven't been educated about the changes

HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS: MAY 13, 2008  LINK

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Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servant ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Romans 6:16 KJV
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CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH

THURSDAY MAY 15, 2008

Bush Sets Out Vision for Middle East

JERUSALEM -- Painting a picture of the future Middle East as a place of "tolerance and integration," President Bush told the Israeli Parliament on Thursday that the United States would stand by Israel in its fight against extremism, and predicted that in decades to come, Palestinians would "have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved." . . . .
. . . Mr. Bush laid out what he called "a bold vision" for how the Middle East might look on Israel's 120th anniversary, a vision that bears little resemblance to the way the region looks today.
Drawing parallels to the transformations of Europe and Japan after World War II, Mr. Bush touched on themes familiar to him, including the triumph of democracy over terrorism. He predicted "free and independent societies" across the region. "Iran and Syria," he said, "will be peaceful nations, where today's oppression is a distant memory." Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas "will be defeated," he said.
"Overall, the Middle East will be characterized by a new period of integration and tolerance," Mr. Bush said. "This does not mean that Israel and its neighbors will be best friends. But when leaders across the region answer to their people, they will focus their energies on schools and jobs, not on rocket attacks and suicide bombings." . . . .
If it sounded overly optimistic, White House officials insisted it was realistic as well.
"For 60 years from now, the 120th anniversary? Yes," said Gordon Johndroe, deputy White House press secretary, asked if Mr. Bush believed his predictions.

Source:     nytimes.com  MORE

Note: see also President Bush Says America Is Proud To Be Israel's Ally  LINK

Israel's Northern Border Turns Iranian, as Arab League Arrives

(Israel National News) -- Foreign Ministers of the Arab League countries arrived in Beirut Wednesday, planning to hold meetings designed to find a solution to the latest civil war in Lebanon. Meanwhile, however, Israel fears that Iran, via its proxy Hizbullah, is settling in on its northern border . . . .
Hizbullah's strengthening in Lebanon means that Israel's mortal enemy, Iran, has a stronger presence on Israel's northern border. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Gillerman explained, "Weapons are flowing to Hizbullah, Lebanon is being torn apart and is bleeding ... Iran is on our northern border, and, to some extent, on our southern border as well."
Gillerman said that the international community had better take action "for the benefit of Lebanon and the entire region."
The ceasefire that ended the Second Lebanon War - in which Prime Minister Olmert took great pride - has not been fully implemented, Gillerman charged: "The captive soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser have not been released, the embargo on weapons to Hizbullah and the other militias is not in effect, and Hizbullah has not been disarmed." . . . .
Ron Ben-Yishai, the military commentator for the daily Yediot Acharonot, says that Hizbullah chieftain Nasrallah currently has no interest in taking over Lebanon.
"The events of the past few days in Lebanon have not worsened the situation," Ben-Yishai wrote, "but merely reveal to all the current situation. Nasrallah simply did us all a favor by revealing to all that the Lebanese government is just one of several forces operating in Lebanon - and not the most important of them. It is now clear to everyone that Hizbullah is running a state within a state, and that the Seniora government is serving Hizbullah and Iran by giving them a cover of international legitimacy."
That is why Hizbullah did not complete its takeover of Lebanon, Ben-Yishai feels: "Both Nasrallah and Iran know that it was only the cries for help by Seniora that saved the Shiite population in Lebanon from massive infrastructure attacks by the Israel Air Force during the war. They also see what happened to Gaza after Hamas took over there, and they fear similar international sanctions if they officially take over Lebanon. In addition, Hizbullah does not now want a full-scale war in Lebanon, which would weaken [Hizbullah] and would hamper the efforts by Syria and Iran to rebuild its rocket arsenals."
In light of this, Ben-Yishai predicts, Israel need not fear an imminent attack by Hizbullah against Israel, as the terrorists have no current interest in shaking up the status-quo.
Timor Goksel, a former spokesman for United Nations Interim Forces (UNIFIL), similarly told the San Francisco Chronicle that Hizbullah has the wherewithal to take over if it wanted: "There is no civil authority in the country now. If they [Hizbullah] had used their weapons during the clashes, tomorrow there would be no army and no country."

Source:     israelnationalnews.com  MORE

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ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
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China quake death toll could rise to 50,000  LINK

state TV: Myanmar cyclone death toll passes 43,000  LINK

Latest Cyclone Death Toll Estimated at 200,000  LINK
Myanmar generals say they don't need help

Suicide blast kills at least 18 near Baghdad  LINK

official: suicide bomber kills 12 in Afghanistan  LINK

Bush hails Israel as rocket attack wounds 14  LINK

Up to 100 injured by Iran-made rocket which wrecks crowded Ashkelon shopping mall  LINK

Rice says Mid east peace improbable, not impossible  LINK

[analysis]: Analyze this: Is Tzipi Livni man enough to be prime minister?  LINK

[analysis]: Tzipi the Knife  LINK

Siniora government reverses steps aimed at pressuring Hizbullah (Lebanon)  LINK
Move meets key demand as Arab league delegates begin mediation

[analysis]: Weapons speak louder in Lebanon  LINK
Still another crisis is empowering radical Islamists and undercutting Western friends and interests

Ahmadinejad says Israel doomed  LINK
Ahmadinejad used an Arabic word, ismihlal, that can also be translated as destruction, death and collapse

Ahmadinejad: Mid east hates Israel  LINK
"They should know that regional nations hate this fake and criminal regime and if the smallest and briefest chance is given to regional nations they will destroy it"

[Red Flag]
Gates: U.S. will teach Iran a lesson  LINK

Illegal, unilateral, preemptive military action against Iran: Chairman of House Judicial Committee Speaks Out  LINK
Text of letter asking President Bush to seek congressional authorization before launching any possible military strike against Iran

Tehran maps out initiative to resolve host of key international disputes  LINK

'No War Thanks to Kouchner' - Georgian Minister Says  LINK
"We managed to avoid a very serious provocation due to interference of the French Foreign Minister ... Mr. Kouchner has personally intervened"

Pakistan Coalition Teeters Over Removing Musharraf  LINK

Turks eye carrying Kazakh oil  LINK

[analysis]: The Tortured Law on Torture  LINK
How has our government managed to justify one of the most egregious assaults on the rule of law?

Fox commentator: Ron Paul revolt could be 'disaster' for Republicans (Video)  LINK

Officials: 'Good possibility' McCain will pick Rice  LINK

Obama adviser: Divide Jerusalem  LINK
Mideast pointman blasted by Israeli leaders as 'hostile' to Jewish state

Bush Says Electing Democratic President Could Lead to New Attack On