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an has built an active front from Israel's northern Mediterranean border adjacent to Rosh Hanikra, all the way to the Golan Heights. The goal: to undermine and wage war against the "Zionist entity" with conventional, powerful military means from within Lebanon and Syria. So says Yigal Carmon, Counter-terrorism Adviser to prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin, and founder and president of the prestigious Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). "Iran has taken advantage of the chaos in the Middle East to form a united front from Tehran, through Baghdad, Syria and Lebanon," Carmon told Kol Yisrael public radio on...

One of the more controversial schemes of the Rumsfeld-era Pentagon was the Prompt Global Strike: equipping ICMSs with conventional warheads, and using the missiles to strike any target around the world -- such as terrorists fleeing the scene of an attack -- within an hour; there was only one problem with the plan: the missile launch could start a Third World War because, as a congressional; study said: "For many minutes during their flight patterns, these missiles might appear to be headed towards targets in [Russia and China}" The Obama administration is about to take up one of the more...

snip Conversations over the last few weeks with more than a dozen members of Israel's larger national security community--right and left, scholars and military men and women, some coming out of the army and others the air force, some with decades of experience in military intelligence and others in clandestine operations, some former Knesset members and others former, current, and soon-to-be advisers to prime ministers--suggest it is fair to conclude that the professionals agree with the public that Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons is a game changer. Among them, there is a consensus that Israel has the technological capacity to...

JERUSALEM, March 17 (Reuters) - Ballistic missiles could be Israel's weapon of choice against Iranian nuclear facilities if it decides on a pre-emptive attack and deems air strikes too risky, according to a report by a Washington think-tank. Israel is widely assumed to have Jericho missiles capable of hitting Iran with an accuracy of a few dozen metres (yards) from target. Such a capability would be free of warplanes' main drawbacks -- limits on fuel and ordnance, and perils to pilots. Extrapolating from analyst assessments that the most advanced Jerichos carry 750 kg (1,650 lb) conventional warheads, Abdullah Toukan of...

NEWPORT, R.I., April 17, 2009 – Though the proposed fiscal 2010 defense budget reflects some shifts in emphasis, it is important for the United States to maintain its capabilities for conventional warfare dominance, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told members of the Naval War College here today. But America also must be ready to face enemies across a wide spectrum of conflict, the secretary said. Gates spoke at the Marine Corps War College on April 13, the Air War College on April 15 and the Army War College yesterday to present his rationale for budget-related decisions. In all three venues,...

The Clinton campaign narrative was supposed to go something like this: Senator Clinton’s commanding lead in the polls would persist throughout 2007. January would kick off with a solid win in Iowa, followed by a blowout in New Hampshire. The race effectively would be settled by mid-January, leaving the rest of the primary season to serve as a coronation, allowing Clinton to position herself for the general campaign. Conventional wisdom said the “female vote” was a lock for Clinton. The campaign has a director of women’s outreach, Ann Lewis, who focuses exclusively on building support among women. She encourages the...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California lawmaker wants to make his state the first to ban incandescent lightbulbs as part of California's groundbreaking initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. The "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act" would ban incandescent lightbulbs by 2012 in favor of energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs. "Incandescent lightbulbs were first developed almost 125 years ago, and since that time they have undergone no major modifications," California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine said on Tuesday. "Meanwhile, they remain incredibly inefficient, converting only about 5 percent of the energy they...

Status of Women Canada should go London Free Press Wednesday, October 4, 2006 By RORY LEISHMAN In announcing plans last week to cut $1 billion in wasteful government spending, the Harper government disclosed that it will eliminate the Law Commission of Canada and the federal Court Challenges Program, while cutting spending for Status of Women Canada. These reforms are all to the good, except that the government should not just cut, but also eliminate, all funding for Status of Women Canada. All three of these bodies are holdovers from the big-spending era of the 1970s when the Trudeau Liberals...

Redefining parenthood Edmonton Sun Monday, October 2, 2006 By Mindelle Jacobs While a lesbian waits to see if she'll be recognized as the third parent of a little boy, a new report is warning that kids are being harmed by adult self-indulgence. "In the global rush to redefine parenthood, we need to call a time out," says the study, released last week by four conservative groups, including the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada. The report examines what it describes as the "global clash" between adult rights and children's needs in an age when the concept of parenthood is...

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 8, 2006 – Arming submarines with nonnuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles will give America a necessary quick-strike weapon in the war on terror, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here yesterday. The proposal, part of the Defense Department's 2007 budget request, aims to remove two nuclear missiles from each of the Navy's 14 ballistic missile submarines, or SSBNs, and replace them with two conventionally armed Trident missiles, said Navy Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani at the Naval Submarine League's annual symposium. The move would put about 22 such missiles into operational deployment, he said. "It's...

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2006 – The conventional "Trident" missile program the Pentagon will ask Congress to fund is part of a larger strategy to better address diverse threats facing the United States and will further the country's defense goals, a Defense Department spokesman said here today. The Conventional Trident Modification program, which will cost about $503 million, was developed based on a 2001 comprehensive review of America's deterrence policy, the spokesman said, speaking on background. The study, he said, recognized that a deterrence strategy that relies primarily on nuclear weapons does not address the diverse threats the United States faces,...

A training centre to help rid Tajikistan of surplus explosives and conventional ammunition, was officially opened today by the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Training Centre and Demolition Ground (EOD Centre) is located in Lohur, some 30 km from the Tajik capital of Dushanbe. "Four and a half tonnes of ammunition have already been destroyed under the OSCE Centre's activity", said Ambassador Alain Couanon, Head of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe. "Altogether, 21 tonnes of seized and confiscated conventional ammunition, as well as 26,000 pieces of small arms and light weapons will be destroyed in 2005 and...

SIERRA VISTA - Students at Buena and Tombstone high schools, plus several other schools, have come up with fund-raisers for victims of Hurricane Katrina. In Tom Heller's chemistry class at Buena, students are using a sticky piece of canvas to help hurricane victims. "I don't allow chewing (gum) in my class. I have (students) put it on the gum board. I call it gum art," Heller said. "I taped off the corners so we could frame it," he said of the 81/2-inch by 11-inch canvas that displays a colorful and oddly shaped array of chewing gum. Heller said he had...

I've Got To Get Some Things Off My Chest Greg Austin! www.gregaustin.org Don't Read This I warned you - I asked you NOT to read this, but here you are anyway . . . . Consider yourself warned! I've gotta say something. It's going to make some good, Emerging Church folks mad and it's going to offend "Ex-Church" friends alike. Some "Institutional Church" people won't like what I'm going to say any better. What I need to say is going to be extremely controversial, and knowing I'm going to stir folks up, I'm going to speak out anyway. Get mad...

Conventional wisdom: Let's rethink (cough, cough) this DNC thing By Beth Teitell Tuesday, June 15, 2004 You say ``eether'' and I say ``eyether.'' You say ``neether'' and I say ``nyther.'' You say the Democratic National Convention will be a $154 million boon, I say a $50 million bust. Eether, eyether, neether, nyther, boon, bust - Let's call the whole thing off! But how? As every runaway bride knows, canceling an event, particularly when People Have Made Reservations, is so awkward. And yet, as Patron Saint of Snap Decisions Britney Spears knows, better to endure momentary embarrassment than a lifetime of...

<p>By conventional analysis, the stunning and overwhelming passage of Propositions 57 and 58 has placed California on the road to fiscal recovery.</p> <p>The unprecedented $15 billion bond gives the Legislature and the administration the time they need to put the state's finances in order. The stern spending limits in Prop. 58 will give the governor added tools to restrain state spending. The big margin of victory greatly enhances the governor's political clout with the Legislature to win tough reforms. As those reforms take effect and the economy responds, state revenue will grow quickly to absorb the $1.5 billion in annual debt repayments that Prop. 57 will require.</p>

THE CASE OF THE MISSING ELEPHANT The ruins and remains of Mexico's pre-Columbian civilizations enchant, intrigue, fascinate and puzzle. Of them the oldest and earliest, that of people referred-to as Olmecs, is the most enigmatic -- for they challenge present-day scholars to explain how had people from Africa come and settled and thrived in this part of the New World, thousands of years before Columbus. The Discovery We know how they looked because they left behind countless sculptures, marvelously carved in stone, depicting them; some, in fact, are stone portraits of Olmec leaders; colossal in size, they immortalize in...