1. Genes and Environment: Important New Evidence
From: "duncan"
Subject: Environment and Habits reprogram genes

Code 2
ANNE MCILROY

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060311.wxcode0311/BNStory/National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20060311.wxcode0311

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Scientists are rewriting the laws of heredity as they learn more about a
mysterious second genetic code that turns our genes on and off.

The traditional idea that we are the passive carriers of our genes is
being challenged by the notion that we are their custodians. Our
lifestyles ­ what we eat, how much we exercise, whether we smoke ­ may
play a role in a chemical switching system that activates or deactivates
our genes. There are signs that our behaviour may program sections of
our children's DNA, and that how we live may even affect our
grandchildren's genes.

“It introduces the concept of responsibility into genetics,” said Dr.
Moshe Szyf, a researcher at McGill University in Montreal and a pioneer
in the field of epigenetics, the study of genetic changes that don't
involve mutations in DNA.

“It changes the whole way we think about inheritance.”

If DNA is the hardware of inheritance, the epigenetic operating system
is the software, controlling the 30,000 genes that carry instructions
for the proteins that make up our bodies and keep them running.

Scientists are still deciphering what has been described as the second
genetic code. They know, Dr. Szyf said, that a number of chemicals in
our bodies act like dimming switches and determine whether every gene in
each cell produces a lot of a particular protein, very little or none of it.

They suspect this chemical switching system can be affected by diet, the
air pollution we inhale, whether we smoke, and the stress we endure. It
may be a mechanism through which our environment affects our genes.

In mice there is proof some of these changes can be passed down from
generation to generation. There are signs this may be the case for
humans, as well, if the environmental changes affect genes in sperm or eggs.

A recent study found that found men who started smoking before puberty
are more likely to have overweight male children. Dutch women who went
hungry in the Second World War gave birth to small babies, but their
children also had small babies, even though they had enough to eat.

There is also evidence, at least in rats, that a mother can turn genes
on and off in her offspring. Mothers who lick their pups activate a gene
that restricts the production of the stress hormone cortisol. As a
result, their babies are more laid back.

Canadians scientists in Montreal and Hamilton are now doing an
unprecedented experiment in humans, and want to find whether a mother's
behaviour affects similar genes in young children. They should have
preliminary results by the fall.

A recent study in Spain found that as identical twins get older, they
become genetically less similar. They start out with the same genes, but
as they age, the switches that control their genes start to look
different. The changes are barely noticeable in three-year-old twins,
and most pronounced in elderly twins, especially those who have spent
less of their lives together.

This helps explain why, in the Spanish study, a 35-year-old woman
developed breast cancer but her identical twin didn't. It may also
explain why when one identical twin develops schizophrenia, it is
estimated that the other one has only a 50-per-cent chance of developing
the mental illness.

Identical twins can look less similar as they get older, and often act
very differently. Epigenetics may help explain why.

Darrick Antell, a plastic surgeon in Manhattan, began doing face lifts
on identical twins so he could compare the two surgical techniques. But
he found that one twin was always an older version of the other.
Smoking, sun exposure, diet and the amount of stress they had endured
took a toll on their faces. But some of the differences were not so
easily explained. One set of twins lived together, but one smoked and
the other didn't. The smoker had much more grey hair than his twin.

“I think there is more at work here,” said Dr. Antell, who has performed
plastic surgery on more than 30 sets of twins, more than anyone else in
the world.

But epigenetics may help explain more than the differences between
people who are genetically identical.

Scientists are also looking at many common diseases to see if they might
be caused, at least in part, by problems with the switching system that
activates and deactivates genes. In Canada and around the world
researchers are looking at the role epigenetics plays in various kinds
of cancer, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Parkinson's disease,
Alzheimer's disease, lupus and other illnesses.

Genes seem to play a part in all of these diseases, but not always the
starring role. One patient with Alzheimer's can't recognize the faces of
their loved ones, while someone else with the same gene linked to the
disease is lucid at the age of 90.

The difference is not a mutation, or a change to the four chemicals ­
known as nucleotides ­ that make up the long strings of DNA in our
chromosomes that we inherited from our parents. The problem may be an
aberration in the operating system that controls which genes are turned
on and off, and how much protein they produce.

Dr. Petronis characterizes the epigenetics explanation as a promising
theory, one that may answer many perplexing questions about cancer and
other diseases.

But first, he and other researchers caution, many mysteries need to be
solved. No one knows how the switches in all our cells are controlled.
Also unknown is to what extent changes in them are passed down from
generation to generation.

A number of scientists suspect that heavy metals, pesticides, diesel
exhaust and tobacco smoke and other chemicals in the environment may be
interfering with the human genetic switches. They fear that endocrine
disrupters, the so-called gender-bender chemicals, may somehow be
switching genes on and off, resulting in fish with both male and female
sexual organs and male alligators with shrinking penises.

Michael Skinner a professor at Washington State University, briefly
exposed pregnant rats to high levels of two endocrine disrupters, and
insecticide and a fungicide. He and his colleagues found that their male
offspring had lower fertility and sperm production for not one, but four
generations.

Scientists are also intrigued about the role epigenetics may play in
evolution. Switching genes on and off may be a way for animals,
including humans, to adapt to the environment more rapidly than the
glacial speed allowed by evolution, which depends on relatively rare
mutations to DNA.

“You inherit DNA, but it doesn't tell you if you are living in a rich or
a poor environment. If it is rich, you don't have to store fat, don't
need to be anxious,” Dr. Szyf said. “But if you are going to be thrown
in a ghetto, that is a different thing.”

Take the mother rats that don't lick their pups much. They tend to be at
the low end of the rat social hierarchy, and as a result lead more
stressful lives. It is probably a good thing that their pups produce
more cortisol ­ a stress hormone ­ and are more uptight. Cortisol makes
rats less aggressive, and less likely to get into fights they can't win.

Researchers in Montreal have found that the boys in neighbourhoods with
high crime rates who don't get in much trouble tend to have higher
levels of cortisol than boys who join gangs or steal cars. Their higher
stress level seems to make them more fearful, and less likely to engage
in risky business.

As for our modern lifestyles, exercise is good, but not just for burning
calories. It may reprogram our genes, Dr. Szyf said.

Fat may do more than add extra body weight and clog arteries; it may
also switch a number of genes on and off that in the past were helpful
in preparing humans for a long winter without much food.

Epigenetics may revolutionize medicine, said Dr. Szyf, and it also could
change the way we think about daily decisions like whether or not to
order fries with a meal, or to go for a walk or to stay in front of the
television. You aren't eating and exercising for yourself, but for your
lineage.

2. Acting PM Olmert: The Dangers of Drug-Use to Society

From: imra@netvision.net.il
March 12, 2006
Address by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Israel Anti-Drugs Authority
Tel Aviv
Extracts Only:

Distinguished Guests,

You heard the statistics: there are 300,000, some even say 350,000, drug
users in the State of Israel. There are 20,000 to 25,000 addicts - what we
call hard users. The amount of money we refer to per drug addict, is
approximately $3000 per day. Perhaps this is not a lot of money, but it is
over and above the average salary in our economy. Usually, drug addicts do
not work, so in order to be able obtain their daily dosage, they are dragged
into various criminal acts, including damage to property, and often involve
physical injuries. That is, a full circle of social perversion and crime
becomes an inseparable part of the life of an addict and also involves those
who are not addicted to drugs.

There is no simple and easy way to deal with this problem. I assume that
you heard many explanations and analyses regarding psychological aspects and
types of characters who develop dependency for drugs and are dragged into
drug abuse - because of personal psychological causes related to their
background, education, social environment and family and have nothing to do
with any focused external influence. However, we are aware of the fact that
this phenomenon can be examined in the context of social plight, poverty,
hopelessness, of a social surrounding which is criminal, and intentionally
creates a market of users. The market of users increases the profits of
criminals, dealers and all those who run this industry, at the head of which
are extremely cynical people. Perhaps they do not use drugs, but they cause
harm to the lives of thousands of people and thousands of families who fall
apart because of this horrendous deterioration into drug addiction.

The big question is: how do we create a reality which seriously decreases
exposure and danger? I do not wish to mislead you. I wish I could be as
optimistic as Ronny Douek, and believe that we could clean up everything. I
do not know of any society on the face of this earth which succeeded in
doing that. However, I think we could achieve a serious decrease.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a saying which reflects the Jewish tradition,
"He who saves one soul, it is as if he saves the entire whole world." That
is, if we truly succeed in making a difference in a few thousand cases, then
there is no limit to the contribution we would make to the quality of those
lives - to society as well as to those individuals.

This effort cannot focus on only one authority, but should be a
comprehensive social and national effort led by the Government.

Prime Minister Sharon recognized the seriousness of the threat and the
importance of the struggle. We discussed it often....
We will continue in this path. We will set perennial and
multi-layered estimations to deal with this. There is not only one
component. It could always be claimed that it is the responsibility of the
State, and not voluntary bodies. However, there are hardly any fields in
which the third sector is not involved, and I view it as a very positive
phenomenon, that a section of the public which has capabilities and means
says: "I can give something back to society and my way of doing it is to
invest in fields which could influence the quality of life of various
sectors and tackle various predicaments." There is an increasing number of
such people and I am proud of them.

3. Steven Collins: New Update from South Dakota
From: Steve Collins <scollins@ll.net>
Subject: Re: Jerusalem News-420
ShalomYair,

As a follow-up to my commentary on my state's strict anti-abortion law, FOX-News released a poll of South Dakotans who were asked questions about it. While the responses confirm majorities in our state are pro-life, the question about how people would vote in a state-wide referendum shows how the measure has split the pro-life people. FOX News' poll found the sentiment was split evenly (45% to 45%) on whether people would vote to approve the measure without an exemption for rape and incest victims.

Steve

4. Archaeologists Find Ancient Israel Tunnels
From: James Trimm <jstrimm@nazarene.net>

Archaeologists Find Ancient Israel Tunnels
By LAURA RESNICK
Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM
Underground chambers and tunnels used during a Jewish revolt against
the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago have been uncovered in northern
Israel, archaeologists said Monday.
The Jews laid in supplies and were preparing to hide from the Romans
during their revolt in A.D. 66-70, the experts said. The pits, which
are linked by short tunnels, would have served as a concealed
subterranean home.

Yardenna Alexandre of the Israel Antiquities Authority said the find
shows the ancient Jews planned and prepared for the uprising,
contrary to the common perception that the revolt began
spontaneously.
"It definitely was not spontaneous," Alexandre said. "The Jews of
that time certainly did prepare for it, with underground hideaways
here and in other sites we have found."
The underground chambers at the Israeli Arab village of Kfar Kana,
north of Nazareth, were built from housing materials common at the
time and hidden directly beneath the floors of aboveground homes _
giving families direct access to the hideouts. Other refuges found
from the time of the revolt are hewn out of rock.
"This construction was very well camouflaged inside one of the
houses," Alexandre said. "There are three pits under this house and
one tunnel leading to another pit. There are 11 storage jars in that
pit."
Built like igloos, the chambers are wide at the base and small at
the top. The tunnels between them are short and the ceilings are too
low for standing upright.
Zeev Weiss, a professor of archaeology at Hebrew University in
Jerusalem not connected to the discovery, said the find "can give us
more information about life in the Galilee in the first century and
the preparations Jews were making on the eve of the revolt." Weiss
is director of excavations at Sepphoris, which was the largest city
in the Galilee at the time of the revolt.
The Jewish revolt against Roman rule ended in A.D. 70, when the
Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple.
The ancient Jews at the Kfar site built their houses over the ruins
of a fortified Iron Age city, reusing some of the stones from the
original settlement. Then they dug through 5 feet of debris from the
ruins to build their hideaway complex. "It was quite a lot of work,"
Alexandre said.
The original settlement, which dates from the 10th and 9th centuries
B.C., is also a new discovery.
Alexandre attributes current dating of the original city as an Iron
Age settlement to pottery remains, which are plentiful. The
excavators have also found large quantities of animal bones, a
scarab depicting a man surrounded by two crocodiles and a ceramic
seal bearing the image of a lion.
The excavation of the city's architecture has uncovered fortified
walls which still stand 5 feet tall in some places. "It's
magnificent," said Alexandre. "You can walk among them."

5. Rationale for Wall
The Strategic Logic of Israel’s Security Barrier
http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/news/article.php?id=6883

This article shows that Israel in its present state needs the
"Wall" for security reasons.
This point is valid and it may be that the Present Israeli Government's
course is the only long-term option UNTIL they realize that:

a. Israel Needs More People to Survive.
This should be achieved by:
(1). Strengthening and intensifying Jewish religious observance.
(b) Increased "aliya" immigration of Jews to Israel.
(c) Increased birthrate through encouraging large families and abolishing abortion
and changing social attitudes on this issue in general.
(d) Massive conversion programs for descendants of "Joseph" who are suitable and
really already WANT to join Judah at this stage and on Judah's terms.
[JOSEPH has his OWN role which is just as important if not more so
but there are those at present amongst Joseph who would gladly join themselves with
Judah even at this stage if encouraged to do so.]
If Israeli society was more Jewish-conscious in the religious sense it would actually
make it easier for Joseph.

b. The "Arabs" must leave Israel.

Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 13:40:00 +0200
Jerusalem News-423
Contents:
1. Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson calls radical Muslims 'satanic'
2. Police Cars Attacked: Beginning of The Payback?
3. Israeli Forces Capture Murderers of Zeevi
4. Conspiracy: Protest from Charles Voss and Brit-Am Reply
5. Coffee: Good or Bad?

1. Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson calls radical Muslims 'satanic'
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/693718.html
By The Associated Press

Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson said Monday on his live "700 Club" television program that Islam wants to take over the world and is not a religion of peace, and that radical Muslims are "satanic."

After watching a news segment about radical Islam in Europe, Robertson remarked that the outpouring of rage elicited by cartoon drawings of the Prophet Mohammed "just shows the kind of people we're dealing with. These people are crazed fanatics, and I want to say it now: I believe it's motivated by demonic power. It is satanic and it's time we recognize what we're dealing with."

Robertson also said that "the goal of Islam, ladies and gentlemen whether you like it or not, is world domination."

Unknown vandals sabotage car of senior police commander

By <mailto:ratner_d@haaretz.co.il>David Ratner, Yuval Azoulai and <mailto:elia@haaretz.co.il>Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service

2. Police Cars Attacked: Beginning of The Payback?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/694067.html
Unknown vandals sabotaged the car of the police commander of the Judea and Samaria District Major General Yisrael Yitzhak near his Yavneh home, in a predawn attack Tuesday.

The damage included smashed car mirrors, and was performed despite police patrols near Yitzhak's house, implemented for fear of such actions. Police forensics experts were to examine the car.

This has been the third vandalism attack within a month on cars of senior police officers from the Judea and Samaria District.

Police said they will investigate whether the vandalism was linked to Yitzhak's involvement in the evacuation of the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona in early February.

On Friday the car of the Judea and Samaria District's head of intelligence, Chief Superintendent Haim Padlon, was torched in Hadera.

It is believed the arsons were right wing activists who protested Padlon's involvement in the evacuation and the investigation of rioters. The arson came after Padlon was threatened.

The arson came less than a month after the <http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/ http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/683169.html>torching of the car of the commander who oversaw the Amona evacuation, Brigadier General Meir Bokovza.

3. Israeli Forces Capture Murderers of Zeevi
Arutz Sheva News Service -
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
Wednesday, March 15, 2006, 15 Adar 5766
ZE'EVI MURDERERS SURRENDER FOLLOWING IDF SIEGE OF PA PRISON
By Hana Levi Julian

The six murderers of former Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi
surrendered Tuesday evening to IDF forces after a day-long siege on
the Jericho prison where they were being held.

A special anti-terror police unit and the IDF Nahal Brigade charged
the prison Tuesday morning after U.S. and Britain withdrew their
observers "out of concern for the monitors' safety."

Ze'evi's killers surrendered along with 202 other prisoners after nine
hours of shelling with heavy artillery and machine gunfire. The six
will be taken to a prison in Israel.

Three Arabs were killed and several others wounded during the day-long
siege. The IDF released 76 prisoners after it was determined they had
not been involved in terrorist activity.

IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz made a personal call
to Ze'evi's family to inform them of the capture. "This is a great
day for Israelis," said Palmach Ze'evi, the son of the murdered
Tourism Minister. He also said, however, that Israel should have
"settled the score right then and there" on the day his father was
assassinated.

Arabs protested the action with riots and kidnappings throughout
Palestinian Authority-controlled areas. During the day, 17 foreign
nationals were kidnapped. Two Australians, an American lecturer and a
Red Cross official were released shortly after they were abducted.

According to Israel Radio, armed terrorists were hunting for
foreigners in local hotels. The Gaza police chief ordered his
officers to fire on anyone who attempted to kidnap foreigners.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called for an immediate
release of foreigners who were kidnapped.

Some 15,000 Arabs protested in Gaza City against the Jericho
operation, the British Cultural Center was torched and approximately
300 rioting Arabs broke into the European Union compound. In
addition, gunmen burst into the German television network (ARD)
offices, the same building that houses the British Broadcasting
Company (BBC) studios. The office of AMIDEAST, a private nonprofit
organization that provides educational support services, was also a
target for armed Arab attackers. "We don't want to see any Americans
here," one shouted at police who arrived on the scene.

The UN and the Red Cross both announced they were pulling their
representatives out of Palestinian Authority-controlled areas
temporarily in the wake of the kidnappings and other violence. Red
Cross officials in Geneva later denied they had told their staff to
leave.

European Union monitors also fled their posts at the Rafah and Kerem
Shalom crossings with Gaza Tuesday afternoon at the instruction of
their governments. Both crossings were closed as armed Arabs gathered
at the sites. In addition, the Karni crossing was closed due to
specific warnings of impending terror attacks.

Meanwhile, PA security forces did nothing to prevent the disorders
taking place at the crossings. There was also concern that Arabs
might try to break through the fence separating Egypt and Gaza.
Egyptian and Israeli officials were continuing to exchange information
on the situation.

The six assassins who were targeted on Tuesday in "Operation Pay a
Visit" were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP), led by mastermind and PFLP leader Ahmed Sa'adat.

Israel had warned the PA numerous times that it would capture Sa'adat
if he was freed. When the monitors pulled out, the Defense Ministry
decided to act immediately in the wake of comments by PA Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas, who said last week that he had "no problem releasing
Ahmed Sa'adat."

PA officials angrily said they were not informed in advance of the
decision by the U.S. and Britain to pull their observers. British
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the British Parliament, "We were
afraid that if we announced that our forces were leaving, we would put
them at risk of being kidnapped." He said neither Israel nor the PA
was warned in advance of the move.

The PA and the PFLP both accused the U.S. and Britain of "collusion"
with Israel, and
IDF Central Command head Yair Naveh pointedly squelched rumors of an
international conspiracy when speaking to reporters late in the day.
"There was no coordination here with the Brits or the Americans," he
said. "We began preparations several weeks ago," he added, and said
the PA had received a letter from the British a week ago warning of
the impending withdrawal of the observers.

Former Prime Minister Shimon Peres held Hamas responsible for the IDF
action. He told reporters on Tuesday that the terrorist organization
which now leads the PA government planned to break previous agreements
to uphold the lifetime prison terms for the killers.

Naveh acknowledged that there is a possibility that a new round of
terror might be set off by Tuesday's operation although he hoped the
minimal number of casualties would "end the wave."

He underscored the fact that Sa'adat's capture was no different than
other IDF actions to catch Arab terrorists. "We are talking about the
detainment of murderers, as we do every night in Nablus, Hevron and
Ramallah. In this regard, there is no difference," he said.

The PFLP warned that Israel would "pay dearly" for the capture of its
leader and Hamas Prime Minister-to-be Ismail Haniyeh warned Israel
that hurting any of Ze'evi's murderers would have "serious
repercussions on the situation." Several other terrorist
organizations threatened to attack Israeli, U.S. and British targets.

Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigade spokesman Abu Qusai warned American and
British citizens to leave PA-controlled areas immediately, "otherwise
they will be subject to kidnapping and other consequences," he said.

4. Conspiracy: Protest from Charles Voss and Brit-Am Reply
At 04:53 PM 3/15/2006, yacob@datasync.com wrote:
> Jerusalem News-421
> Contents:
> 1. New Chamish Feature

< cut >

> 1. New Chamish Feature
> Due to popular demand we have taken our
> remarks about Barry Chamish out of the feature:
> "Answers to Queries About Conspiracy"
> http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesConspiracy.html
> and posted them along with additional material
> in an entry of their own:

< cut >

> "Replies to Queries:
> Chamish"
> http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesChamish.html
> New material on this subject may be seen at:
> http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesChamish.html#Reaction
> Q. 3. Question: What Kind of Reaction Have you had from followers
> of BC?
> The answer to this question includes:
> (a) A reply to a vitriolic defence of BC made by pseudo-Karaite
> revivalist Charles Voss.
> (b) A remark in favor of BC by Roslyn and the Brit-Am reply.

Shalom Yair,
I am sorry that you were so rankled by my private email to you about
Barry Camish. I appreciate you taking the time to read it so that
you could point out the error I made in the spelling of the word
conspiracy. Since that is all you pointed out as error, then I must
assume the rest was OK except that you took issue with my remark
about the Talmud.

What do I think of you as a person? I think that you are a
honorable Orthodox Jew and faithful to your beliefs. I appreciate
the work that you are doing concerning the discovery and reuniting
of all the Tribes of Israel. I am totally in agreement with you on
that and refer people to your site all of the time.

Yes, we do have different opinions about the Talmud. However, the
conclusion of that issue will have to wait until the advent of the
Mashiach to see which book (s) he will instruct us to read,
understand, and obey. Therefore, that makes the Talmud a concern
for me.

Since my letter to you was in private and you chose to answer it in
a public venue; I request and expect you to do the honorable thing
and publish my reply to you in your Jerusalem News.

By the way, what is a "pseudo-Karaite revivalist"? Is it something
like pornography and conspiracy that I will just know it when I see
one?

Your Hebrew brother,
Charles J. Voss

Charles Shalom,
You sent me a letter concerning Barry Chamish with a Cc. copy being sent to
Chamish. You did not mention it being a private letter.
Usually when people send such letters
to us they hope we will publish them and sometime express disappointment when we do not do so.
You are a public person. You have your own original ideas concerning the Bible, your own web site
and publication. People write me about you. To a degree our audience overlaps. Anything you write us concerning issues we have discussed has a potential interest to some of our subscribers.
You are a player in the same field as ourselves and subject to the same rules.
You made a spelling mistake. We took advantage of the opening to make an ineffective low blow
and probably lost more points than it was worth as a result.
You wrote a letter defending Conspiracy Theories in general and specifically speaking on behalf of a common criminal, reprobate, and de facto Holocaust denier
http://britam.org/Questions/QuesChamish.html#Holocaust
whose opinions I consider to be personally offensive and do not understand why other people do
not feel the same.
You also included a point against the Talmud. Brit-Am sometimes mentions Talmudic opinion
but usually in connection with a Brit-Am identity point or a Biblical commentary and as
something worth considering. We do not push the Talmud as a belief system since it is not
applicable to non-Jews. When people ask us about the Talmud we refer them to more authoritative
sources.
I personally attend daily lessons in the Talmud
and try to apply its teachings in my daily life. It helps me personally and if I would do it more often
and more thoroughly it would help me more. Your remark on this issue was out of place.
You asked
<<what is a "pseudo-Karaite revivalist"?>>
The Karaites were originally a Jewish sect (as far as we know) who rejected the Oral Law of the Sages
See:
The Karaites and Rejection of Oral law
"http://www.britam.org/DavidandOralLaw.html#Rejection"
The Karaites are now quite quiescent apart from the attempts of an American
Orthodox newcomer to put some life into them.
You are not a Karaite but I understand from your publications that you have a similar
ideology.
My terminology was probably exaggerated and if I offended I apologize
but you touched on sensitive issues.
You said:
<<I appreciate you taking the time to read it so that
you could point out the error I made in the spelling of the word
conspiracy. Since that is all you pointed out as error, then I must
assume the rest was OK except that you took issue with my remark
about the Talmud.>>
Sorry Charles,
The rest was not "OK".
Conspiracy Theories are a malicious poison
and blatantly false and insulting as we have emphasized and as we
have dedicated an article to:
http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesConspiracy.html

5. Coffee: Good or Bad?
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1753590.html?menu=
Genes dictate whether coffee is good or bad for us

Coffee can increase or reduce your risk of suffering a heart attack - depending on your genes, , according to a new study.

People who metabolise caffeine more slowly have a 36% increased risk if they drink two to three cups of coffee a day.

And if they drink more than four cups, this risk rises to 64%, reports New Scientist.

But people who metabolised caffeine quickly and consumed two to three cups of coffee a day had a 22% reduction in the risk of heart attack.

"Our data suggest that the longer caffeine is lingering in the system, the more harm it can do," says Ahmed El-Sohemy at the University of Toronto, Canada, who led the study.

Brit-Am Comment: First it was Chocolate.
Jerusalem News-416
item #5. Eating chocolate may halve risk of dying
http://www.britam.org/jerusalem/jerusalem391to420.html#tag26
Now it is coffee.
One cannot say that Jerusalem News-423
has not your best interests at heart.

Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 12:49:24 +0200
Jerusalem News-424
Contents:
1. Archaeology: Recommended Reports of Interest
2. President BUSH PLEDGES TO DEFEND ISRAEL
3. Survey of Anti-Semitic attitudes in Sweden
4. Science: Liars 'too self aware to twitch'
5. NZ Agreement with Pat Robertson

1. Archaeology: Recommended Reports of Interest
Note: David Meadows provides a weekly service concerning ALL
fields of archaeological activity. In the excerpts below
we have selected only those URLs that we feel will probably interest
Brit-Am subscribers more than the others. This week there quite a few
new articles of such interest but it sometimes happens that there are hardly any.

Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 08:26:09 -0500
From: david meadows <dmeadows@idirect.com>
Subject: [Explorator] explorator 8.47

Irrigation in Nineveh former capital of Assyria
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/03.16/11-canal.html

Plenty of coverage this week of the finds at Kafr Kana, including
the tunnels from Revolt times:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11813638/
http://tinyurl.com/kwnb2 (BSun)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/3721205.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=100140
http://tinyurl.com/j49pv (NG)
http://jta.org/page_view_breaking_story.asp?intid=1775
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1720200
http://tinyurl.com/f7pjm (JPost)
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/693699.html
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/14089907.htm
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/14/D8GBCQCG1.html

Interesting mosaic from Tiberias:
http://toldot.blogspot.com/2006/03/mosaic-revealed-in-tiberias.html

Olive oil fueled the copper furnaces of Cyprus:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060314/lf_nm/cyprus_olives_dc_1

Ancient Motya [Phoenicians: Sicily] was not (apparently) destroyed by the Greeks:
http://tinyurl.com/eqf5s (Science Daily)
http://tinyurl.com/nfhu3 (ANSA)

Aborigines apparently dug underground water reservoirs:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1590192.htm
[See also:
Aborigines may have farmed eels, built huts
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s806276.htm ]

DNA and cultural differences:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/weekinreview/12wade.html

2. President BUSH PLEDGES TO DEFEND ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva News Service -
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
Tuesday, March 21, 2006, 21 Adar 5766
BUSH PLEDGES TO DEFEND ISRAEL FROM AN IRANIAN ATTACK
By Ezra HaLevi

United States President George W. Bush has declared that the U.S. will
defend Israel militarily should Iran launch an attack on the Jewish
State.

"I see a threat in Iran," Bush said Monday, answering a question after
a speaking engagement in Cleveland, Ohio. "The threat from Iran is, of
course, their stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel.
That's a threat, a serious threat. It's a threat to world peace; it's
a threat, in essence, to a strong alliance. I made it clear, I'll make
it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally,
Israel."

Bush stressed, though, that diplomacy was America's preferred mode of
operation.

During the first Gulf War, the U.S. also promised to defend Israel.
The practical assistance Israel received, though, in the form of
sometimes-effective Patriot defense missiles, was paid for by Israel's
agreement not to defend itself against Saddam Hussein's unprovoked
Scud missile attacks.

Members of the United Nations' Security Council, America, Russia,
China, France and Germany, met Monday to formulate diplomatic measures
against Iran. Officials involved report that Russia and China have not
yet agreed to cooperate with action against Iran, but have given
indications that they may in the future.

At the beginning of March, Iran's UN representative dealing with
nuclear matters, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, threatened the U.S., saying,
"The United States is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if that is
the path that the U.S. wishes to choose, let the ball roll."

The U.S. suspects that Iran has funneled weapons into Iraq to support
the local guerilla war against U.S. troops stationed there.

3. Survey of Anti-Semitic attitudes in Sweden
Forwarded by Orjan Svensson
From: Orjan <o_svensson@yahoo.com>

This ynet story has been sent to you by Orjan
[] [] []

EXTRACTS ONLY
Anti-Semitic attitudes in Sweden

New poll shows majority of Swedes reject anti-Semitism, but 'world's oldest hatred' persists for sizeable minority, including amongst country's 350,000 Muslims
Susanna Abramowicz

Poll results released this week in Sweden show a majority of Swedes reject anti-Jewish attitudes.

The study found that 59 percent of Swedes generally rejected anti-Semitic attitudes, while 36 percent were ambivalent and agreed with some anti-Semitic statements and rejected others or did not express a clear opinion.

Five percent displayed strongly anti-Semitic attitudes.

Results of the study

Overall, 26 percent partly or completely agreed with the statement that "Israel's politics is based on Old Testament vengefulness (eye for an eye)." The same number partly or completely thought that "Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is reminiscent of the Nazi treatment of Jews."

However, only three percent agreed that "Israel has no right to exist." 14 percent thought there was truth in the statement that "Israeli policies engender hatred against Jews."

A total of 17 percent partly or completely agreed that "Jews think they are the only ones who have suffered", while 14 percent believed that "The Jews have been exploiting the Nazi genocide on Jews (the Holocaust) for financial and political purposes."

Meanwhile, 26 percent of those questioned partially or wholly agreed that "Jews have great influence over the world economy", 18 percent that "Jews have great influence on the media" and 17 percent that "the Jews are directing US foreign policy."

Those with higher education were more likely to reject anti-Semitic notions as opposed to those with less education, 70 percent versus 48 percent. However, the beliefs in Jewish power over media, finance or US foreign policy were equally widespread among all the respondents, irrespective of education.

Jews and Muslims in Sweden

Among Swedish Muslims, 39 percent displayed systematic anti-Semitic attitudes as opposed to five percent in the general Swedish population.

In order to compare attitudes toward other religious minorities, some questions in the poll were about Muslims, the largest religious minority in Sweden. There are 18,000 Jews in Sweden and 350,000 Muslims. The poll showed that the intolerant attitudes towards Muslims were higher than those towards Jews.

Two percent of Swedes supported discriminatory measures toward Jews. Only 2.9 percent of Swedes think that there are too many Jews in Sweden, while 24.1 percent feel there are too many Muslims. 6.7 percent also feel that "Muslims ought not be allowed to vote in political elections."

Official reaction

Prime Minister Goran Persson reacted to the findings of the poll on Tuesday to the Swedish-language daily Dagens Nyheter after a visit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London.

"I've been dealing with this issue for a long time, in many different forms, and I'm deeply engaged in the struggle against anti-Semitism. I am surprised at the figures but not that the problem exists."

"I must say that I'm frightened and surprised at the answers, especially concerning the attitude to the issue of (a Jewish) prime minister. On the other hand, anti-Semitism exists in all societies, it regularly rears its ugly head and we must resist it and never be complacent."

Anti-racist PM

Prime Minister Persson initiated the creation of a series of International Holocaust Conferences that took place every January 2000-2004 in Stockholm, in connection with International Holocaust Day.

Lisa Abramowicz, chairperson of the Information Committee of the Jewish community in Stockholm, and secretary-general of Swedish Israel Information, told the European Jewish Press, "The results of the report are not surprising. We knew that anti-Semitism, the world's oldest prejudice, still lives and thrives in Sweden.

"What is surprising is that so many ethnic Swedes are so unaware of their own prejudices. There is a widespread feeling among Swedes that unless they are members of right-wing extremist or neo-Nazi groups, they have no prejudices against other religious or ethnic groups," she said.

Jews have been living in Sweden since 1774 and are well integrated into Swedish society.

4. Liars 'too self aware to twitch'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4824426.stm
Story from BBC NEWS:
The image of a twitchy nervous liar touching his nose and stroking his hair may itself be a lie, a study says.

Italian and British researchers found when people lied they tended to stay still as they were acutely aware their body language might give them away.

The team monitored 130 volunteers as they were asked to make a series of honest and dishonest statements.

The study, in Journal of Nonverbal Behaviour, found liars touched their noses 20% less than truth tellers.

People expect liars to be nervous and shifty and to fidget more, but our research shows that is not the case
Dr Samantha Mann

Psychologist Dr Samantha Mann, who co-authored the study, said there was a popular perception that when people lie they scratch their nose and play with their hair more.

These movements are known as self-adaptor gestures which serve to comfort a person feeling vulnerable or exposed.

Instead of giving into these urges, she claimed, liars tried very hard to stay still and were just as likely as an honest person to look the questioner in the eye.

She added: "People expect liars to be nervous and shifty and to fidget more, but our research shows that is not the case.

"People who are lying have to think harder, and when we think harder we tend to be a lot stiller, with fewer movements, because we are concentrating harder."

She added: "As soon as we know that we are lying we suddenly become very aware of our behaviour.

"Most people tend to refrain from making movements at all."

The team from the universities of Portsmouth and Bergamo in Italy, also looked for changes in seven categories of hand gestures in their volunteers.

Self-adapting gestures

They found liars literally went to huge lengths to cover their tracks, especially when they were challenged over whether they were telling the truth.

Those under strong suspicion used certain types of hand gestures more in order reinforce the point.

The use of metaphoric gestures - such as touching the heart to show love and or the holding of hands apart to indicate size - were used 25% more often when people lied.

Rhythmic gestures such as repeated pointing to emphasise statements were also used more often by liars.

However, the use of what body language experts refer to as "self-adapting gestures" such as striking the hair, nose or other parts of the body, were used those telling lies 15-20% less.

Dr Peter Bull, a psychologist who has looked into the link between deception and body language, said there was a popular misconception that if someone is touching their nose they are more likely to be lying.

He said: "There is no Pinocchio's nose of lying. It doesn't mean that if you touch your nose in a certain way you are lying.

"And if it did people would stop doing it."

He said there needed to be a much closer analysis of what the subjects were saying when they did certain types of gestures.

5. NZ Agreement with Pat Robertson
From: Shaul Suhr <sha_ulb@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Jerusalem News-423
item #1. Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson calls radical Muslims 'satanic'

Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2006 14:33:23 +0200
Jerusalem News-425
Contents:
1. David Jackson: Israel Should Defend Itself
2. Charles Bassett: Ishmael the Wild Man
3. Some Arabs in Favor of Moving?

1. David Jackson: Israel Should Defend Itself
Subject: Re: Jerusalem News-424
item #2. President BUSH PLEDGES TO DEFEND ISRAEL

Yair,
I am glad that our President said we would use US military force to defend
Israel. But it does concern me whenever our government says something with
the tone that Israel shouldn't defend itself.

I mean I doubt that in WW2 President Roosevelt would have simply said we
will defend Britain and left it at that. Any statements almost certainly
would have been phrased along the lines of we will stand WITH Britain, and
so acknowledging that we expected the British to be the first to defend
Britain.

When President Bush promised to defend Israel from an Iranian attack, the
Israeli PM might have responded "So will we".

David Jackson
Texas, USA

2. Charles Bassett: Ishmael the Wild Man

Sir: When Abraham had the son by Hagar, Ishmael. Later when Sarah had Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away, they were in the desert in very bad shape God appeared to her and told what would happen to Ishmael, one of the statements said he would be a wild man. It is still true today with the way they send their people out to kill themselves so as to kill others and try to force their religion on others it is as pagan as you can get. Charles Bassett

3. Some Arabs in Favor of Moving?
From: mishal <mishal@voiceofjudea.com>
Subject: Herut Leader Almost Lynched - Arab Emigration Plan Angers Arabs please
forward

Herut Leader Almost Lynched - Arab Emigration Plan Angers Arabs

by Moshe Ben Israel

Michael Kleiner, the leader of the Herut party was nearly lynched
when he came to Jaffa in a last-minute effort to solicit Arab votes.
Kleiner's supporters posted signs in Arabic in Jaffa, and in other
Arab towns throughout Israel, urging Arabs to vote for him, in the
upcoming Israeli national elections next week. Kleiner is promising
to push for legislation of a law that would pay Arabs to leave
Israel.

According to recent surveys, as many as 50 percent of the
"Palestinians" would gladly leave Israel if they were given start-up
funds to begin a new life elsewhere.

Arabs in Shefaram and Um El Fahem greeted the Herut supporters and
helped post up the provocative Arabic posters. In Jaffa, local Arab
leaders incited a violent riot when Herut's Michael Kleiner arrived
to spread his message. One Herut supporter was injured. Local Jaffa
Arabs also hurled a stun grenade at the Herut campaigners.

Footage of the violent incident can be seen on

Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 23:03:55 +0200

Jerusalem News-426
Contents:
1. Dore Gold: Israel and the USA, A More Complete Picture
2. Steven Plaut to Brit-Am: Keep up the good work!
Chamish Exposed
3. Honenu -Israel Amnesty
4. Articles by Steven Plaut
5. Israel-Arab Conflict Site
6. NEW IDF CHIEF RABBI: RABBI AVICHAI RONSKY OF ITAMAR
7. Jeff Jacoby: America takes side of Israel

1. Dore Gold: Israel and the USA, A More Complete Picture
From: imra@netvision.net.il

Jerusalem Issue Brief
Institute for Contemporary Affairs
founded jointly at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
with the Wechsler Family Foundation

Vol. 5, No. 20 - 24 March 2006

The Basis of the U.S.-Israel Alliance
An Israeli Response to the Mearsheimer-Walt Assault

Dore Gold

On December 27, 1962, President John F. Kennedy told Israeli Foreign
Minister Golda Meir: "The United States has a special relationship with
Israel in the Middle East really comparable only to what it has with Britain
over a wide range of world affairs."

The U.S. and Israel had a joint strategic interest in defeating aggressors
in the Middle East seeking to disrupt the status quo, especially if they had
Moscow's backing. In 1970 when Syria invaded Jordan, given the huge U.S.
military commitment in Southeast Asia at the time, it was only the
mobilization of Israeli strength that provided the external backing needed
to support the embattled regime of King Hussein. That same year, Israeli
Phantoms downed Soviet-piloted MiG fighters over the Suez Canal, proving the
ineffectiveness of the military umbrella Moscow provided its Middle Eastern
clients.

In 1981, Israel destroyed the nuclear reactor of Iraq's Saddam Hussein,
severely reducing Iraqi military strength. Ten years later, after a U.S.-led
coalition had to liberate Kuwait following Iraq's occupation of that
oil-producing mini-state, Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney in October
1991 thanked Israel for its "bold and dramatic action" a decade earlier.

In the 1980s, several memoranda of understanding between the U.S. and Israel
on strategic cooperation were followed by regular joint military exercises,
where U.S. forces were given access to Israel's own combat techniques and
vice versa. The U.S. Marine Corps and special operations forces have
particularly benefited from these ties, though much of the U.S.-Israel
strategic relationship is classified.

Saudi Arabia has tried to tilt U.S. policy using a vast array of powerful PR
firms, former diplomats, and well-connected officials, with the result being
that America is still overly dependent on Middle Eastern oil. Given the
ultimate destination of those petrodollars in recent years (the propagation
of Islamic extremism and terrorism), a serious investigation of those
lobbying efforts appears to be far more appropriate than focusing on
relations between the U.S. and Israel.

A Special Relationship Spanning Decades

It was mid-morning on December 27, 1962, when President John F. Kennedy
hosted the Foreign Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, in Palm Beach, Florida,
for a heart-to-heart review of U.S.-Israel relations. Kennedy's language was
unprecedented. In the secret memorandum drafted by the attending
representative of the Department of State, Kennedy told his Israeli guest:
"The United States has a special relationship with Israel in the Middle East
really comparable only to what it has with Britain over a wide range of
world affairs "1

According to a new paper prepared by two of America's top political
scientists, Professor John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago and
Professor Stephen Walt from the Kennedy School at Harvard University,
"neither strategic nor moral arguments can account for America's support for
Israel." The explanation for U.S. backing of Israel, according to these
academics, is the "unmatched power of the Israel lobby."2 Yet their analysis
is not grounded in any careful investigation of declassified U.S. documents
from the Departments of State or Defense.

What led Kennedy in 1962 to declare that the U.S.-Israel relationship was
even comparable to America's alliance with the British? Since the early
1950s, the U.S. defense establishment has understood Israel's potential
importance to the Western Alliance. Thus, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, General Omar Bradley, assessed in 1952 that only Britain, Turkey,
and Israel could help the U.S. with their air forces in the event of a
Soviet attack in the Middle East.3 But against whatever Israel could
tangibly offer the U.S., there was always a need to politically juggle
America's ties with Israel and its efforts to create strategic relations
with the Arab states.

The first limited U.S. arms supply to Israel preceded Kennedy. During the
Eisenhower years, when Secretary of State John Foster Dulles' plans for a
Baghdad Pact collapsed with the 1958 overthrow of the Hashemite monarchy in
Iraq, the U.S. began to upgrade its defense ties with Israel. Kennedy
started his presidency trying to build on a new relationship with Egypt's
Nasser. But by 1962, Nasser intervened with large forces in Yemen, bombed
Saudi border towns, and threatened to expand into the oil-producing areas of
the Persian Gulf.

Israeli Actions That Served U.S. Interests

The U.S. and Israel had a joint strategic interest in defeating aggressors
in the Middle East seeking to disrupt the status quo, especially if they had
Moscow's backing. This became the essence of the U.S.-Israel alliance in the
Middle East. It would repeat itself in 1970 when Syria invaded Jordan. Given
the huge U.S. military commitment in Southeast Asia at the time, it was only
the mobilization of Israeli strength that provided the external backing
needed to support the embattled regime of King Hussein.

In 1981, Israel destroyed the nuclear reactor of Iraq's Saddam Hussein,
severely reducing Iraqi military strength. Ten years later, after a U.S.-led
coalition had to liberate Kuwait following Iraq's occupation of that
oil-producing mini-state, Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney thanked Israel
for its "bold and dramatic action" a decade earlier. Indeed, Cheney would
add in an October 1991 address: "strategic cooperation with Israel remains a
cornerstone of U.S. defense policy."

During those years, Israel became one of the main forces obstructing the
spread of Soviet military power in the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1970
Israeli Phantoms downed Soviet-piloted MiG fighters over the Suez Canal,
proving the ineffectiveness of the military umbrella Moscow provided its
Middle Eastern clients in exchange for Soviet basing arrangements. When in
the 1980s the Soviet Mediterranean Squadron made the Syrian port of Tartus
its main submarine base, Israel offered Haifa to the U.S. Sixth Fleet, which
had already begun to house U.S. ships in 1977. U.S.-Soviet arms control
agreements in the 1980s over arms deployments in Central Europe increased
the importance of NATO's flanks - including its southern flank - in the
overall balance of power between the superpowers.

This expanding cooperation was made concrete in the 1980s by several
memoranda of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Israel on strategic
cooperation, signed in 1981 and 1983. According to the Congressional
Research Service, the strategic cooperation agreements were followed by
regular joint military exercises, where U.S. forces were given access to
Israel's own combat techniques and vice versa. The U.S. Marine Corps and
special operations forces have particularly benefited from these ties. The
U.S. European Command took a particular interest in Israeli combat
helicopter training ranges.

By 1992, the number of U.S. Navy ship visits to Haifa had reached 50 per
year. Admiral Carl Trost, the former Chief of Naval Operations, commented
that with the end of the Cold War and the shifting American interest in
power projection to the Middle East, the Sixth Fleet's need for facilities
in the Eastern Mediterranean had actually increased.

Do U.S. and Israeli interests diverge sometimes? Like any two countries,
such differences can be expected. During the Cold War, Israel needed U.S.
security ties in order to increase its own capabilities to deal with hostile
Arab states. But Israel did not seek to become a target of the Soviet Union.
Nonetheless, it signed an MOU with the U.S. in 1981 which singled out the
USSR as a joint adversary of both countries. The MOU underscored that "the
parties recognize the need to enhance strategic cooperation to deter all
threats from the Soviet Union to the region."4 In the 2003 Iraq War, most
Israeli military leaders identified Iran as the greater threat to the Middle
East at the time. Nonetheless, Israel certainly did not oppose the efforts
of the U.S.-led coalition to topple Saddam Hussein.5

One complaint about the U.S.-Israel defense relationship has been the
constraints Israel has put on it as a result of Israel's firm commitment to
its doctrine of self-reliance. As Carl Ford, the Principal Assistant
Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Bush (41)
administration, confided to a Senate Caucus in October 1991: "Another
limitation, of course, is the longstanding view on the part of Israel, one
which I think most of us share the viewpoint on...that not one ounce of
American blood should be spilled in the defense of Israel." He suggested
that changes needed to be introduced to make "our operations and
interactions with Israel the same as they are with Great Britain and
Germany."

This comment was significant since detractors of the U.S.-Israel
relationship like to insinuate that Israel seeks to get America to fight its
wars for it. The truth is completely the opposite: while U.S. forces have
been stationed on the soil of Germany, South Korea, or Japan to provide for
the defense of those countries in the event of an attack, Israel has always
insisted on defending itself by itself. If Israel today seeks "defensible
borders," this is because it wants to deploy the Israel Defense Forces and
not the U.S. Army in the strategically sensitive Jordan Valley.

Much of the Relationship Is Classified

There are other issues affecting the public discourse on U.S.-Israel defense
ties. Much of the U.S.-Israel strategic relationship is classified,
particularly in the area of intelligence sharing. There are two direct
consequences from this situation. First, most aspects of U.S.-Israel defense
ties are decided on the basis of the professional security considerations of
those involved. Lobbying efforts in Congress cannot force a U.S. security
agency to work with Israel.

Second, because many elements of the relationship are kept secret, it is
difficult for academics, commentators, and pundits to provide a thorough net
assessment of the true value of U.S.-Israel ties. Thus, Israel is left
working shoulder-to-shoulder with the U.S., and finds itself presented by
outside commentators as a worthless ally whose status is only sustained by a
domestic lobby. Nonetheless, what has come out about the U.S.-Israel
security relationship certainly makes the recent analysis of Professors Walt
and Mearsheimer extremely suspect.

Ask About the Saudi Lobby and U.S. Dependence on Middle East Oil

Does Israel have supporters in the U.S. that back a strong relationship
between the two countries? Clearly, networks of such support exist, as they
do for U.S. ties with Britain, Greece, Turkey, and India. There are also
states like Saudi Arabia that have tried to tilt U.S. policy using a vast
array of powerful PR firms, former diplomats, and well-connected officials.
The results of those efforts have America still overly dependent on Middle
Eastern oil with few energy alternatives. Given the ultimate destination of
those petrodollars in recent years (the global propagation of Islamic
extremism and terrorism), a serious investigation of those lobbying efforts
appears to be far more appropriate than focusing on relations between the
U.S. and Israel.

* * *

Notes

(1. "Memorandum of Conversation, Palm Beach, FL, December 27, 1962, 10:00
a.m.," in Nina J. Noring (ed.), Foreign Relations of the United States,
1961-1963, Volume XVIII: Near East 1962-1963 (Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1995), pp. 276-283.
(2. John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, "The Israel Lobby," London Review of
Books, Vol. 28, No. 5, March 23, 2006,
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/print/mear01_.html.
(3. "Military Requirements for the Defense of the Middle East" (A Briefing by
the Chairman, the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the Deputy Secretary of
Defense), JCS 1887/61, November 26, 1952, in Paul Kesaris (ed.), Records of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Part 2, 1946-53, the Middle East.
(4. "U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding, October 30, 1981, Memorandum of
Understanding between the Government of the United States and the Government
of Israel on Strategic Cooperation," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/US-Israel+Memorandum+of+Understanding.htm.
(5. Dore Gold, "Wartime Witch Hunt: Blaming Israel for the Iraq War,"
Jerusalem Viewpoints #518, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, June 1,
2004.

* * *

Dr. Dore Gold, who served as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in
1997-1999, heads the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

2. Steven Plaut to Brit-Am: Keep up the good work!
Chamish Exposed
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 08:30:31 +0000 (GMT)
From: Steven Plaut <splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il>
Subject: Conspiracies

Take a look at www.barry-chamish.com on Chamish's ties to Neo-Nazis and Holocaust Deniers.

By the way, I believe there are other Biblical prohibitions on conspiracism beyond what you cited. For example, some of the prohibitions on cloud-readers and other pseudo-methods of pagans. False conspiracism is a from of paganism.

See also http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/5802/Israel%27s_Plague_of_Conspiracism.html

Keep up the good work!

March 24, 2006

3. Honenu -Israel Amnesty
["Have Mercy on Us": Expression from a well-known prayer]
http://civilrightsisrael.org/
Honenu was founded as an ad hoc organization by a group of caring Israeli volunteers in response to the growing need in Israel for competent legal representation by those who could least afford to hire private counsel. In today's stressful times, that need has increased many fold.

Site and related sites is worth viewing. This is a genuine organization that does what it says it does
and more. Many of the people helped by Honenu are Israeli patriots
who have been treated unjustly by the powers that be.
Honenu provides practical assistance and backing
for they who both need and deserve it and in many cases might not
otherwise receive it.

4. Articles by Steven Plaut
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/authors.asp?ID=1223
http://www.meforum.org/docs/author/Steven+Plaut

5. Israel-Arab Conflict Site
http://somebodyhelpme.info/
I have only just glanced at this site but from what I have seen
it looks to be
possibly the best site I have so far come across on the subject.
It is important for the links it provides
and for its graphical presentations.

6. NEW IDF CHIEF RABBI: RABBI AVICHAI RONSKY OF ITAMAR
Arutz Sheva News Service -
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
Monday, March 27, 2006,
27 Adar 5766
By Hillel Fendel

Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz has approved the appointment of Lt.-Col.
Rabbi Avi Ronsky as Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces.

Rabbi Ronsky, 54, became an observant Jew after the Yom Kippur War in
1973, in which he served as an IDF Company commanding officer. He was
a founding member of the community of Itamar in Samaria, where he
still lives. He continued to serve in the reserves each year, and
still serves as head of the Shomron Regional Division.

Rabbi Ronsky was adamantly against refusal of orders during the
Disengagement and expulsion of the Jews from Gush Katif and Northern
Shomron last summer.

Peace Now says that the appointment "of an extremist settler like
Rabbi Ronsky who lives in an illegal outpost [sic] is a slap in the
face at the rule of law. A person with opinions like his does not
belong in the top echelons of the IDF."

He taught in Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim in the Moslem Quarter of
Jerusalem's Old City and Yeshivat Machon Meir. He later founded a
yeshiva in Itamar, which he continues to head. He is the author of a
work of Halakhic [Jewish legal] responsa on army issues, entitled, "As
Arrows in a Warrior's Hand."

Speaking with Arutz-7 recently, Rabbi Ronsky said that up until
Operation Defensive Shield in March 2002, "the IDF was a frightened
army." He noted that the army was generally afraid of entering
PA-controlled areas, "for instance, during the incident at Mt. Eval
when 40 hikers needed to be rescued from a band of Arabs who were
firing at them, and it took the army - with all its tanks,
helicopters, and power - five hours to rescue them. [One hiker, Rabbi
Binyamin Herling, was killed in that incident. -ed.] The army was
helpless until then, but from Operation Defensive Shield and onward,
it regained the initiative, and entered the refugee camps to thwart
attacks."

Rabbi Ronsky will be promoted to the rank of Col. and will replace
Chief Rabbi Col. Yisrael Weiss this summer. Rabbi Weiss was the
army's first Chief Rabbi who was not promoted to the rank of Maj.-Gen.

7. Jeff Jacoby: America takes side of Israel
From: Women in Green <wfit2@womeningreen.org>

America takes side of Israel
By Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe
March 26, 2006

A GALLUP POLL released last month puts American support for Israel at near-record levels. When asked for their views on the Middle East, 59 percent of Americans say they sympathize with the Israelis, while just 15 percent favor the Palestinians. Pro-Israel sentiment rises with increased knowledge -- 66 percent of those who follow international affairs "very closely" support Israel, compared with 52 percent of those who don't pay close attention to foreign news.

Other findings are comparable. More than two-thirds of Americans say their overall view of Israel is favorable. Only 11 percent, by contrast, have a favorable opinion of the Palestinian Authority. While 22 percent of the public wants Washington to conduct diplomatic relations with the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government even if it refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist as a sovereign state, 44 percent say recognition of Israel must be a precondition to relations with the United States. Another 25 percent -- one American in four -- oppose any US dealings with Hamas at all.

Staunch American support for Israel is nothing new. In February 2005, Gallup reported similarly lopsided findings -- 69 percent of the public viewed Israel favorably, 25 percent unfavorably. In 2004, when Israel was being denounced in Europe and the United Nations for its assassination of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the leader of Hamas, 61 percent of Americans said Israel was justified in killing him. In 2002, when a CBS News poll asked whether Israel's actions against Yasser Arafat and his forces were equivalent to US actions against Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, 59 percent agreed that they were.

In short, solidarity with Israel is an abiding feature of American public opinion. Because the American people are pro-Israel, the American government is pro-Israel. And because Americans so strongly support Israel in its conflict with the Arabs, American policy in the Middle East is committed to Israel's defense.

Only someone far outside the American mainstream, then, would insist that "Israel's past and present conduct offers no moral basis for privileging it over the Palestinians." Or that US policy is engineered through a Zionist "stranglehold on Congress." Or that "neither strategic nor moral arguments can account for America's support for Israel," leaving only one possible explanation: "the unmatched power of the Israel Lobby."

Those aren't the words of American neo-Nazi David Duke -- though Duke has ringingly endorsed them. They aren't the words of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the granddaddy of Islamist radicalism -- though a top Brotherhood official praises them. They aren't the words of the PLO -- though the PLO is actively distributing them.

The source of those words, and many more like them, is a bitter anti-Israel screed masquerading as academic scholarship. Co-authored by Stephen Walt, academic dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer, "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy" was released last week as a "working paper" on the Kennedy School website. But so slipshod is the paper's research and so extreme its bias that within days the Harvard and Kennedy School logos were stripped from the title page. "It clearly does not meet the academic standards of a Kennedy School research paper," said Marvin Kalb, one of the school's best-known scholars.

The idea that the American public and US policy makers dance to a tune played by an all-powerful "Israel Lobby" is an old canard. Neo-Nazis like Duke have long described Capitol Hill as part of the ZOG, or Zionist Occupation Government. Right-wing nativist Pat Buchanan notoriously charged "the Israeli defense ministry and its 'amen corner' in the United States" with "beating the drums for war" in 1990.

If the truth be told, it isn't hard to understand why America's ardent support for Israel might strike some people as odd, or even suspicious. In so much of the world -- Europe, the Middle East, the UN General Assembly -- Israel is despised. Even if Americans don't share the anti-Semitism that is rife in other lands, wouldn't it be more practical for them to stop taking Israel's side? After all, there are 500 million Arabs in the world, and they control one-third of the world's oil supply. Why should Americans alienate them by continuing to support Israel, a country with no oil and just 6 million people?

As a matter of plain economic common sense, the United States has every reason to turn against the Jewish state. What accounts for its refusal to do so? If it isn't an "Israel Lobby" pulling hidden strings, what on earth can it be?

Something more powerful than economics: the kinship of common values.

http://www.womeningreen.org

Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 12:21:14 +0200
Jerusalem News-427
1. sagi cohen: a hearty congratulations
2. Brit-Am Comment on the Conspiracy-Chamish Affair
3. Israeli Preliminary Election Results
4. Brit-Am Preliminary Commentary on Election Results
5. Very Important Archaeological Finds in Germany?

1. sagi cohen: a hearty congratulations
For Yair, shalom
First, a hearty congratulations for your exposing the schizophrenic wing of
the Jewish people, meaning - the conspiracy nuts involved in promoting
their discredited "theories" about the Rabin assassination. These
"theories" are largely the inventions of the UFO nut Barry Chamish, who
publishes most of his rants on the web sites of Neo-Nazis and Holocaust
Deniers (for documentation, go to www.barry-chamish.com and also see the
item on Chamish at English Wikipedia.)

Second, I would like to urge you to broaden your campaign of exposure
beyond Chamish to include the small group of mentally-ill and
mentally-retarded losers who help to promote Chamish's nonsense...

Exposing these fools is holy work and I urge you to continue to expose them
and monitor them.
Chamish is collaborating with the worst anti-Semites on earth, and the
continued support for him by Koret and Rutstein make them just as guilty as
Chamish.

Thank you!

2. Brit-Am Comment on the Conspiracy-Chamish Affair
Brit-Am came out against Chamish because he was spreading mistruths about the
Jewish Leadership, the Zionist Movement, the State of Israel, the Jewish
Religion, Jewish history,
etc, i.e. about "Judah" in general and ALSO he was (and is) seriously
maligning and besmirching
"Joseph" meaning especially Britain and the USA.
For details see:
Brit-Am Replies to Queries: Chamish
http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesChamish.html

Brit-Am Replies to Queries: Conspiracy
http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesConspiracy.html

We have done our part and will continue to do so but it is not what we are
concentrating upon.
Brit-Am has its Three Rs (Research, Revelation, Reconciliation).
In a sense our campaign against Conspiracy Theories may be considered an aspect
of the goal of Reconciliation between Judah and Joseph.
Both sides should know the truth about each other especially
on points whereby they have common interests in a positive direction.

As fallout from our revelation of the truth concerning BC and company we lost
some important supporters and disappointed others.

On the other hand, surprisingly enough, it has also helped us.
It has increased interest in Brit-Am in general.
It turns out that certain Jewish (and possibly some non-Jewish) pro-Israel
activists had also been seriously perturbed by the slurs that Chamish excretes.
Brit-Am has become the voice of these activists and Israeli supporters and
has earned their appreciation.
This was not our intention but naturally it is a welcome development.
Brit-Am in one way or other reaches more than a thousand five hundred
people EACH day.
[The actual figures could be much higher. Those who we reach take in our
message
at a deeper level than happens with parallel services. The Brit-Am audience
is also
to a significant degree of a high quality].
We are making more of an impact than we realized.
God willing we will continue to do so.

3. Israeli Preliminary Election Results
http://israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=101043
Kadima Wins Underwhelming Victory, Parties React
08:59 Mar 29, '06 / 29 Adar 5766
By Ezra HaLevi and Hillel Fendel
With the counting of the results of Tuesday’s election nearly complete,
incoming and outgoing Knesset Members were quick to assign blame and take
credit for the results.
The results, after more than 99% of the votes were counted:

Kadima-28 Knesset seats
Labor-20
Shas-13
Yisrael Beiteinu-12
Likud-11
Arab parties-10
NU/NRP-9
Retirees-7
United Torah Judaism - 6
Meretz-4

Based on past experience, these results might change slightly following the
counting of special votes, such as those of the military and the
hospital-bound, and the final distribution of the Knesset mandates.

Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu said he would remain as party head and
work to reform the party despite the “harsh blow” it was dealt at the
polls. Netanyahu also laid part of the blame at Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon’s doorstep, saying that “Sharon left us with a broken party” when he
split off to form the victorious Kadima faction. He held a brief
consultation with his party faction, at which Silvan Shalom, Limor Livnat,
Danny Naveh and Yisrael Katz were not present - signaling a likely attempt
to unseat him in favor of Shalom.

Likud MK Michael Eitan said of his party’s decline, "There is no doubt that
we deserved a punishment, though I believe that the punishment was a bit
too harsh. For one thing, the Central Committee was identified with
corruption - sometimes unjustly. Also, we had a big split... Third, the
Likud zig-zagged, and the public doesn't like that…Many of the Likudniks
remained in the party, but merely stayed home; we see that in the low voter
turnout in the Likud strongholds."

Likud outgoing Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said that the party has a
great heritage, but “must consider the reasons why it failed so deeply."

Meanwhile, the Labor Party is celebrating the modest performance of Kadima,
which received only two/thirds of the seats that had originally been
predicted for it. It is widely assumed that Kadima basically inherited the
Shinui Party’s mandates (15) and retained those Knesset seats its members
held up until Tuesday (14).

MK Danny Yatom (Labor) said that the results are a "great blow to Kadima,
and bring great joy to Labor."

Members of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, were
not surprised by their positive showing, which surpassed the Likud Party in
terms of mandates.

Haaretz commentator Ari Shavit said, "Ehud Olmert did not receive a mandate
to carry out a unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. Yisrael
Beiteinu and Shas are clearly against such a move."

Shimon Peres of Kadima, though, announced Tuesday night that the future
coalition will be one that will promote the "turning inward" plan ­
Olmert's euphemism for future unilateral withdrawals, forced evictions, and
convergence upon two or three large settlement blocs.

Olmert made his acceptance speech after visiting the Western Wall, saying,
"A chapter in the history of the country has ended. We're charged with
shaping the future of the State, and before we bring peace with our
neighbors we must make peace within ­ with patience and with love."

Though Kadima performed much worse than all polls projected and is the
smallest party to ever enjoy the status of the largest Knesset party,
Olmert said it received a mandate for its vision. "The people have spoken
clearly, they want Kadima," Olmert boomed, adding that the dream of the
Greater Land of Israel must be repudiated “and Jews, with much pain, must
be evacuated.”

Olmert also thanked “our prime minister, Ariel Sharon.” Olmert donned a
skullcap at the end of his speech and recited the traditional Prayer for
the Welfare of the State of Israel.

The Yisrael Beiteinu was extremely pleased with the election results,
celebrating at the Jerusalem Gates Hotel in the capital after results were
announced. "We have become the largest party in the national camp and I'm
certain that next time we will be Israel's ruling party," Chairman Avigdor
Lieberman told activists. “This is only the beginning.” He spoke when some
polls predicted he had won 15 seats - a total which has since leveled out
at 11.

The Hazit-Jewish National Front party of Baruch Marzel did not pass the
minimum threshold, though it received an unexpected 1.2% of the vote in
Rehovot. Marzel said that the entire right-wing and Yesha leadership must
be replaced.

4. Brit-Am Preliminary Commentary on Election Results
The Israeli Knesset has 120 seats in memory of the Great Assembly
that was instituted by Ezra after the Return from Babylon.

Kadima (the party created by PM Ariel Sharon who is still in a coma) with
28 Knesset seats will probably form the Government by making a coalition
with other
parties but things could change.
Kadima is liberal, capitalist, in favor of territorial compromise but firm
regarding basic security requirements, secular but not antagonistic towards
traditional values, progressive. Its members come across as perhaps
ruthlessly capable but not
inspiring professionals.

Labor with 20 has come down from its long-entrenched power base in Israeli
society
and may continue to do so.

The Religious Parties (Shas 13, NU/NRP 9, United Torah Judaism 6)
together number 27 which is more than Labor and almost as much as Kadima (28).
Recently the possibility of the religious unitinghas become more and more
realistic.

Shas (the Sephardi Religious Party) with 13 seats has proven itself to be a
permanent player
on the scene that can no longer be disregared.

NU/NRP (National Union/National Relgious Party ) with 9 represent the settlers
and Religious Zionists.

United Torah Judaism with 6 seats represent the Ultra-Orthodox
and appear to be under-represented.
[From the Brit-Am point of view this is one of THE most important sections of
Israel reality].

Yisrael Beiteinu (12) header by Avigdor Lieberman is mainly comprised of
Russian
immigrants. It is basically right-wing and secular but NOT in principle
anti-religious.

The Likud at 11 is under-represented since historically it is part of the
heritage
of a much larger segment of the Israeli public.

Arab parties with 10 members underscore their real strength in the Israel
electorate since
many Israeli Arabs vote for Israeli secular parties though some also
support Jewish religious ones.

Retirees with 7 members represent the Pensioners. This is a surprise result.
In Israeli politics 7 members can represent a real power base.

Meretz with 4 represent the bourgeois left-wing who are also under-represented
and appear to have been pre-empted by the larger parties who have
extreme left-wing representatives of their own.

5. Very Important Archaeological Finds in Germany?
Note: The finds below may all be part of an elaborate scam
for which Germany archaeology has a predilection.
Also take no notice of the dates given for these finds.
Anything found in Germany seems to get thousands (or tens of thousands) of
years
added to its real age.

On the other hand, these finds are interesting and could potentially be
very important.
The links below are also worth viewing.

Found: Europe's oldest civilisation

By DAVID KEYS, Archaeology Correspondent
The Independent, London Saturday, 11 June 2005

Archaeologists have discovered Europe's oldest civilisation, a network
of dozens of temples, 2,000 years older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids.
More than 150 gigantic monuments have been located beneath the fields
and cities of modern-day Germany, Austria and Slovakia. They were built
7,000 years ago, between 4800 BC and 4600 BC. Their discovery, revealed
today by The Independent, will revolutionise the study of prehistoric
Europe,
where an appetite for monumental architecture was thought to have
developed later than in Mesopotamia and Egypt.

In all, more than 150 temples have been identified. Constructed of earth
and wood, they had ramparts and palisades that stretched for up to half
a mile. They were built by a religious people who lived in communal
longhouses up to 50 metres long, grouped around substantial villages. Evidence
suggests their economy was based on cattle, sheep, goat and pig farming.

Their civilisation seems to have died out after about 200 years and the
recent archaeological discoveries are so new that the temple building culture
does not even have a name yet.

Excavations have been taking place over the past few years­and have
triggered a re-evaluation of similar, though hitherto mostly undated,
complexes identified from aerial photographs throughout central Europe.

Archaeologists are now beginning to suspect that hundreds of these very
early monumental religious centres, each up to 150 metres across, were
constructed across a 400-mile swath of land in what is now Austria, the Czech
Republic, Slovakia and eastern Germany.

The most complex excavated so far­located inside the city of Dresden­
consisted of an apparently sacred internal space surrounded by two
palisades, three earthen banks and four ditches.

The monuments seem to be a phenomenon associated exclusively with a
period of consolidation and growth that followed the initial establishment of
farming cultures in the centre of the continent.

It is possible that the newly revealed early Neolithic monument
phenomenon was the consequence of an increase in the size of­and competition
between­ emerging Neolithic tribal or pan-tribal groups, arguably Europe's
earliest mini-states.

After a relatively brief period­perhaps just one or two hundred
years­either the need or the socio-political ability to build them
disappeared, and
monuments of this scale were not built again until the Middle Bronze Age, 3,000
years later.
Why this monumental culture collapsed is a mystery.

The archaeological investigation into these vast Stone Age temples over
the past three years has also revealed several other mysteries. First, each
complex was only used for a few generations­perhaps 100 years maximum. Second,
the central sacred area was nearly always the same size, about a third of a
hectare.
Third, each circular enclosure ditch­irrespective of diameter­involved
the removal of the same volume of earth. In other words, the builders reduced
the depth and/or width of each ditch in inverse proportion to its diameter,
so as to always keep volume (and thus time spent) constant .

Archaeologists are speculating that this may have been in order to allow
each earthwork to be dug by a set number of special status workers in a set
number of days - perhaps to satisfy the ritual requirements of some sort of
religious calendar.

The multiple bank, ditch and palisade systems "protecting" the inner
space seem not to have been built for defensive purposes­and were instead
probably
designed to prevent ordinary tribespeople from seeing the sacred and presumably
secret rituals which were performed in the "inner sanctum".

The investigation so far suggests that each religious complex was
ritually decommissioned at the end of its life, with the ditches, each of which
had been dug successively, being deliberately filled in.

"Our excavations have revealed the degree of monumental vision and
sophistication used by these early farming communities to create Europe's
first truly
large scale earthwork complexes," said the senior archaeologist, Harald
Staeuble of
the Saxony state government's heritage department, who has been directing the
archaeological investigations. Scientific investigations into the recently
excavated
material are taking place in Dresden.

The people who built the huge circular temples were the descendants of
migrants who arrived many centuries earlier from the Danube plain in what
is now
northern Serbia and Hungary. The temple-builders were pastoralists, controlling
large herds of cattle, sheep and goats as well as pigs. They made tools of
stone,
bone and wood, and small ceramic statues of humans and animals. They
manufactured
substantial amounts of geometrically decorated pottery, and they lived in
large longhouses in substantial villages.

One village complex and temple at Aythra, near Leipzig, covers an area of
25 hectares.
Two hundred longhouses have been found there. The population would have
been up to 300 people living in a highly organised settlement of 15 to 20 very
large communal buildings.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=645976

RELATED SITES:

Germany's Bronze Age Blockbuster
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1361492,00.html

Rebuilding Germany's Temple of the Sun
http://www.dwworld.de/dw/article/0,1564,942824,00.html

Archaeologists Unearth German Stonehenge
http://www.dwworld.de/dw/article/0,1564,1604678,00.html
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