An 'Al-Nakba ' Poster

A Palestinian woman walks past a poster made for the 60th anniversary of the 'Al-Nakba ' (The catastrophe) in the West Bank city of Ramallah on 3 May 2008.

The 'Al-Nakba ' (The catastrophe), is one of those events that should have never occurred, just like the recent remembrance of the Jewish holocaust just a few days ago.

But those two horrific events did occur and is now apart of history, as well as every year a holiday to remind us of these great sorrows.

As I have mentioned before, it is a great hope that one day we should not feel the sting of the sorrow of such events as these.

As for the Palestinian Diaspora, as for those who also suffer in the Jewish Diaspora, that relief is more in sight then ever before.

Nevertheless, one thing about events like these, is that too often ones emotions seem to run high and I often wonder why emotions tend to give a person a type of verbal lockjaw or writer‘s block?

Just thinking, what upset’s me about events like these as well as wars, is they usually come about because someone told a lie to someone else, to create these types of situations and people not realizing for a time it was a lie; that the outcome is these horrific events. I guess, one can say this is a good object lesson, of why one should not tell a lie or the fact that lies are a creation of Satan.

A Key Memorial to the Al-Nakba

A Palestinian worker puts the final touches to a huge 10-metre long iron key on 3 May 2008, which was ordered by refugee institutions, at Aida refugee camp near the West Bank town of Bethlehem as a memorial of 60 years since what Palestinians refer to as 'Al-Nakba' (the catastrophe).

The key will join a giant 12-metre lock which together will stand as a symbol of the Palestinian refugee's Right of Return following the displacement of populations that occurred during war time on 15 May 1948, an event which the Palestinians term as Al-Nakba.

The refugee institutions also hope that the key may make it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest key.

Talks between Chinese, Dalai Lama officials set to begin

3 May 2008
By ANITA CHANG

BEIJING -Chinese media railed against the Dalai Lama and his supporters Saturday and pledged to crush any campaign seeking independence for Tibet ahead of a meeting between Beijing and envoys of the exiled spiritual leader.

The meeting in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen would be the first between the two sides since violent anti-government protests erupted in Tibet in March.

Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche of the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile said envoys are scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong on Saturday and travel to the neighboring city of Shenzhen for meetings to begin Sunday.

The representatives, Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, would convey "deep concerns" over China's handling of the situation in Tibet and would put forward suggestions to bring peace to the region," the Tibetan government-in-exile said Friday.

China has faced mounting international calls to negotiate with the Dalai Lama, and some experts believe Beijing agreed to meet to ease pressure ahead of the Olympics, which begin in August.

The Tibet talks were not mentioned Saturday in China's entirely state-run media, but two articles continued to accuse the Dalai Lama and his supporters of organizing riots with an aim of breaking the far western Himalayan region of Tibet away from Chinese rule.

"The hope of realizing Tibetan independence by the Dalai clique has become more and more dim. When their hopes shattered, the Dalai clique launched bloody violence, this was their last act of madness," the Tibet Daily said.

The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet amid a failed uprising in 1959, says he is seeking meaningful autonomy for Tibet rather than independence from Chinese rule. He has decried "cultural genocide" in his homeland, which has a unique Buddhist tradition distinct from the rest of China.

A Buddhist Monk prays as he sits in a temple inside the Rongbo Monastery, the world's highest monastery at an altitude of over 5100 meters, located at the foot of Mount Everest, also known as Qomolangma, in the Tibet Autonomous Region 3 May 2008.

The Dalai Lama is deeply revered by Tibetans. Men in that position have traditionally been regarded as both the spiritual and political leader of Tibetan Buddhists.

A front-page story in the overseas edition of People's Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece, denied the Tibetan issue was related to religion, saying "the religious issue is a card played by the Dalai clique for gaining the sympathy from some people."

Thubten Samphal, spokesman for the Tibetan government-in-exile, said the Dalai Lama's envoys will meet with the head of China's United Front Work Department during their three-day visit.

The department is designed to deal with influential people in groups outside of China's Communist Party and sway them into joining the party's side. It is directly under the Communist Party's central committee and often deals with issues related to Tibet and Taiwan.

The United Front Work Department hosted earlier talks between the two sides. China and representatives of the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile held six rounds of inconclusive talks that foundered in 2006.

The department, directly under the Communist Party's central committee and responsible for overseeing work to "contain separatist forces," hosted envoys attending earlier talks. China and representatives of the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile held six rounds of inconclusive talks that foundered in 2006.

Since the last talks, the department has gained a new boss, Du Qinglin, a former minister of agriculture who more recently ran Sichuan province, where there is a large Tibetan population.

The department has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment Saturday. No other Chinese officials were available for comment on Saturday, a national holiday in China.

The talks were being held on an informal level only "because we cannot do business as usual when the situation in Tibet is so grave," Thubten Samphal said Friday.

"The crisis in Tibet should end before formal discussions should be held," he said.

China says 22 people died in violence in Tibet's capital of Lhasa, while overseas Tibet supporters say many times that number have been killed in protests and the security crackdown across Tibetan regions of western China.

US mulls sending 7,000 more troops to Afghanistan: report

3 May 2008

WASHINGTON -The United States is considering sending an extra 7,000 troops to Afghanistan next year to make up for a shortfall in contributions from NATO allies, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Citing unnamed senior administration officials, the newspaper said if the plan was to be approved, the number of US troops in the country would rise to about 40,000, and entail at least a modest reduction in troops from Iraq.

President George W. Bush told allies at a NATO summit in Bucharest last month that the United States would significantly increase its force levels in Afghanistan next year.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates also has pushed other European allies to provide combat troops and equipment to fill shortfalls in the volatile south, but the response so far has been tepid.

But The Times said the Pentagon now appears resigned to the fact that NATO is unable or unwilling to contribute more troops despite its public pledges.

The increasing proportion of US troops in Afghanistan, from about half to about two-thirds of all foreign troops in the country, will likely result in what one senior administration official described as "the re-Americanization" of the war, the report said.

"There are simply going to be more American forces than we've ever had there," the paper quoted the official as saying.

So far a dozen NATO countries have pledged a total of about 2,000 additional troops for Afghanistan, while alliance commanders have asked for 10,000, according to the paper.

The United States currently has about 34,000 troops in Afghanistan, 16,000 of them under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in eastern Afghanistan.

The other 18,000 are involved in counter-terrorism operations and training of Afghan security forces.

But a contingent of some 2,500 US Marines was deployed to Afghanistan last month to reinforce NATO forces in the south for seven months.

Bush on the Tough Economic Situation

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 3, 2008

Audio
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, the Commerce Department reported that GDP grew at an annual rate of six-tenths of a percent in the first quarter. This rate of growth is not nearly as high as we would like. And after a record 52 months of uninterrupted job growth, April was the fourth month in a row in which our economy lost jobs, although the unemployment rate dropped to five percent.

My Administration has been clear and candid on the state of the economy. We saw the economic slowdown coming, we were up front about these concerns with the American people, and we've been taking decisive action.

In February, I signed an economic growth package to put more than $150 billion back into the hands of millions of American families, workers, and businesses. This week, the main piece of that package began being implemented, as nearly 7.7 million Americans received their tax rebates electronically. Next week, the Treasury Department will begin mailing checks to millions more across the country. And by this summer, it expects to have sent rebates to more than 130 million American households. These rebates will deliver up to $600 per person, $1,200 per couple, and $300 per child.

This package will help American families increase their purchasing power and help offset the high prices that we're seeing at the gas pump and the grocery store. It will also provide tax incentives for American businesses to invest in their companies, which will help create jobs. Most economic experts predict that the stimulus will have a positive effect on the economy in this quarter and even a greater impact in the next. And Americans should have confidence in the long-term outlook for our economy.

While getting more money back in the hands of Americans is a good start, there are several additional steps that Congress needs to take to ease the burdens of an uncertain economy. Americans are concerned about energy prices. To increase our domestic energy supply, Congress needs to allow environmentally safe energy exploration in northern Alaska, expand America's refining capacity, and clear away obstacles to the use of clean, safe nuclear power.

Americans are concerned about rising food prices. Yet, despite this growing pressure on Americans' pocketbooks, Congress is considering a massive farm bill. Instead, they should pass a fiscally responsible bill.

Americans are concerned about making their mortgage payments and keeping their homes. Yet Congress has failed to pass legislation I have repeatedly requested to modernize the Federal Housing Administration that will help more families stay in their homes, reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ensure they focus on their housing mission, and allow state housing agencies to issue tax-free bonds to refinance sub-prime loans.

Americans are concerned about their tax bills. With all the other pressures on their finances, American families should not have to worry about the Federal government taking a bigger bite out of their paychecks. So Congress should eliminate this uncertainty and make the tax relief we passed permanent.

America is now facing a tough economic period, but our long-term outlook remains strong. This week we saw evidence that our economy is continuing to grow in the face of challenges. This should come as no surprise. No temporary setbacks can hold back the most powerful force in our economy -- the ingenuity of the American people. Because of your hard work and dedication, I am confident that we will weather this rough period and emerge stronger than ever.

Thank you for listening.

Getting a Little Wisdom

3 May 2008

by HRM Deborah

Something was brought to my attention yesterday and this is more of a message to the American people with very deep kindness.

There is some Americans through my understanding, that are deeply saddened because of the fact they had been lied to for a few years and while they believed the lies at that time and apparently as the truth is coming more into the forefront these days or walking about with sad faces.

Furthermore, some who may have harmed people because of these lies seem to also feel sorrow for what they did.

For those who are sad because they were lied too, firstly it was not their fault and as mother would have said, go wash your face, cheer-up and know that everything is going to get better, God willing.

As for those people who may have done something wrong because of these lie’s, just being sorry because of what has happened is always a good step in the right direction of hopefully not falling into the same situation again.

As for people being mad, because of the American people’s remorse or the mistakes made by some of the American citizens, under the circumstances of the pressure you have had to face, it was understandable of what happened to them as well as no one is mad or upset.

For a time and you will find several instances on this blog, when the war was raging, I made the mistake of also listening to the agitators and I too feel bad that it took one day a few months back, to slap myself in the face so to speak, to decide what was right and close my ears to the troublemakers.

Furthermore, what made me upset at myself, was I knew better, because of my own life experiences and the fact that I actually cared about the people the agitators were trying to make me believe, I shouldn’t.

If a person actually tries to be good and happened to listen to things that are not good, one’s heart will be troubled, but closing the ears to these types of things, not only makes a person feel better; but hopefully everyone got a little wiser from the experience, myself included.

Nevertheless, when one does what is right after a wrong, the days do get brighter, good feelings do return and a person has a chance to make the world better hopefully for everyone.

Bush a ‘party crasher?’

U.S. President George W. Bush steps off Air Force One on 2 May 2008 upon arrival at the Texas State Technical College Airport in Waco, Texas. Bush was heading to his Crawford, Texas ranch to spend the weekend.

3 May 2008

In the media, is seems to be a forced point about U.S. President George W. Bush being invited to the Jewish 60th Anniversary.

While the other dignitaries that are invited, it is a small subscript.

My understanding, an this is actually in respect to everyone involved, is that Bush was not only an uninvited, unwelcome guest, but that he pushed to be allowed to the 60th Anniversary.

For lack of a better word, using American idioms, Bush is a ‘party crasher.’

The Locusts that Swarmed on Jenin

Some 480 Mahmoud Abbas’s terrorist security forces parade before being deployed in the West Bank town of Jenin on 3 May 2008.

Allegedly, the commander Suleiman Amran and a senior official from this terrorist organization said the operation will encompass close to 50 villages, and is scheduled to last three months.

They received U.S. funding for this and apparently trained in Jordan.

Allegedly, Abbas is attempting to create a terrorist sweep across Palestine, under the allegations of trying to not just take control, but also reestablish a strengthened terrorist network.
Abbas’s terrorist security forces threatening all Palestinian citizens, in the town of Jenin on 3 May 2008.

Syria: U.S. nuclear reactor allegations aim to create Mideast crisis

3 May 2008

By The Associated Press

GENEVA - Damascus on Friday accused the current U.S. administration of fabricating a report allegedly proving Syria had built a nuclear reactor in a plot to destabilize the region.

"U.S. allegations about the reactor were manufactured in order to create further crisis in the Middle East," Syrian Ambassador Faysal al-Hamoui told a conference on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in Geneva.

Earlier Friday the United States submitted a paper to the conference saying the treaty's biggest problem was noncompliance by countries like Syria and Iran which it said were seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

The United States also cited North Korea's nuclear weapons program and said reports its nuclear cooperation with other countries warranted serious vigilance.

"North Korea's clandestine nuclear cooperation with Syria ... is a dangerous manifestation," the U.S. paper said.

North Korea assisted Syria's covert work in building a nuclear reactor capable of producing plutonium and not intended for peaceful purposes, it said.

The U.S. paper made no mention of allegations that the reactor was destroyed in an Israel Air Force bombing raid in September.

Al-Hamoui said the allegations made by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush were part of a disinformation campaign.

"We call upon member states to exercise caution and not to follow as other people have followed the vein of an administration which can only be described as madness," he told the meeting of the 190 countries signed on to the treaty.

Al-Hamoui said Australia and France lack credibility for referring to the U.S. allegations and for failing to mention Israel's own nuclear arsenal.

He said French Ambassador Jean-Francois Dobelle had twice referred to the U.S. allegations.

"France played a major and pivotal role in building the Israeli nuclear program and continues to supply Israel with nuclear technology, which is a clear infringement of the NPT," al-Hamoui said.

"We call on Syria to come clean about its past and current nuclear activities," said Dobelle, who also urged the International Atomic Energy Agency to launch a thorough investigation of the Syrian program.

Australian Ambassador Caroline Millar told the conference that the U.S. information about Syria is very disturbing.

"Syria has an obligation under its safeguards agreement with the IAEA to report the planning and construction of any nuclear facilities," she said.

Study: Bush administration's reading program hasn't helped

1 May 2008

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD

WASHINGTON -The $6 billion reading program at the center of President Bush's signature education law has failed to make a difference in how well children understand what they read, according to a study by the program's own champion — the U.S. Department of Education.

The program, Reading First, was designed to help boost student performance in low-income elementary schools, but failed to improve reading comprehension, says the study from the Institute of Education Sciences, part of the Education Department.

There was no difference in comprehension scores between students who participated in Reading First and those who did not, the study found.

The findings released Thursday threw the program's future into doubt.

"We need to seriously re-examine this program and figure out how to make it work better for students," said California Democratic Rep. George Miller, chair of the House education committee.

Reading First was created as part of the 2002 No Child Left Behind law, which aims to get all children doing math and reading at their proper grade level. President Bush and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings have championed the reading program as an important part of the law.

Institute director Russ Whitehurst said the study focused on reading comprehension rather than other aspects of reading such as whether kids grasp phonics, because comprehension is the ultimate goal when teaching reading.

The study did find Reading First led to more time being spent by teachers on the various aspects of reading judged to be important by a federal reading panel.

The study also found that among schools participating in Reading First, higher levels of funding led to some improvement in scores.

Congress recently cut funding to the program — over Bush's objections — due to budget constraints and controversies surrounding it.

"It's no surprise that Reading First has been a failure," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., who led the fight to cut the program's budget following reports about management problems and potential conflicts of interest in the program.

Spellings hailed the program as a success last year when she released data showing scores in Reading First schools were up. However, those scores weren't compared with schools where Reading First wasn't in place. The new study compares those using the program to those not using it.

So, while elementary school students appear to be improving in reading across the board, there's no difference in the gains being made by students participating in Reading First and those who are not, according to the study.

Amanda Farris, deputy assistant secretary for policy and strategic initiatives at the Education Department, said Reading First remains popular.

"Secretary Spellings has traveled to 20 states since January. One of the consistent messages she hears from educators, principals and state administrators is about the effectiveness of the Reading First program in their schools and their disappointment with Congress for slashing Reading First funds," she said in a statement Thursday.

Jim Herman, Tennessee's Reading First director, said he thinks the program works. He said one potential flaw with the latest study is that it doesn't measure the degree to which schools not receiving Reading First money may be using Reading First practices.

He noted that Memphis was studied as part of the new report, and he said it was in a district where Reading First methods were used in schools not getting Reading First money.

This isn't the first time supporters of the program have been dealt bad news.

Congressional investigators and Education Department Inspector General John Higgins previously found that federal officials and contractors didn't adequately address potential conflicts of interest. For example, federal contractors that gave states advice on which teaching materials to buy had financial ties to publishers of Reading First materials, according to the investigations.

Higgins also testified to Congress that the department didn't comply with the law when setting up panels that would review grant applications and in establishing criteria for what teaching materials could be used.

Miller said those problems could be behind the findings of the Education Department report.

"Because of the corruption in the Reading First program, districts and schools were steered toward certain reading programs and products that may not have provided the most effective instruction for students," he said.

The new study examining Reading First's impact has itself been the subject of conflict-of-interest questions because a contractor that worked on it was also among those that helped implement the Reading First program.

RMC Research Corp. was the contractor hired by the federal government to help with Reading First at the outset of the program under three contracts worth about $40 million. The contractor was subsequently criticized in an inspector general's report for failing to adequately address conflict-of-interest issues. For example, it did not sufficiently screen subcontractors for relationships with publishers of reading programs, the report said.

RMC also was involved in the study released Thursday, developing ways of measuring what was taught in classrooms and training classroom observers. Critics have said the company was, in effect, involved in judging its own work.

Whitehurst said he didn't think the contractor's involvement in the study resulted in an actual conflict of interest but perhaps created the appearance of one.

"If we had to do it all over again," he said, "we would have avoided the appearance issue."

The report released Thursday was an interim report. The final version is due out by the end of the year.

___

On the Net:

Institute of Education Sciences

Palestinian Man on a Donkey

A Palestinian man on a donkey approaches an army security barrier in an attempt to reach his land, as people from Mahmoud Abbas’s terrorist organization apparently were in the way performing another mock protest to gain global sympathy, in the village of Umm Salamunah near the town of Bethlehem on 2 May 2008.

Nevertheless, to clarify about the Palestinian man on the donkey, it is a very common practice for people in agriculture to ride donkeys to there field’s.

Bush most unpopular in modern history?

U.S. President George W. Bush speaks on the economy 2 May 2008 at the World Wide Technology Facility Warehouse in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Bush submitted to Congress a 70 billion USD request to fund US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into 2009.

3 May 2008

A new poll that apparently came out yesterday, suggested that U.S. President George W. Bush is the most unpopular president in modern American history.

While this latest poll appeared to be kind to Bush, the consensus on a much wider scale put Bush in the basement, as far as their popularity towards this American president.

It is suggested, that Bush’s situation with the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other foreign policies, where some of the contributing factors to this consensus.

Bush’s current term as president is scheduled to end, at noon EST, Tuesday, 20 January 2009.

A Taste of Goodness

Narrated Abu Hurayra: The Prophet said, "goodness and comfort are for him who worships his Lord in a perfect manner and serves his master sincerely." (Sahih Bukhari)

Narrated Ibn 'Umar: The Prophet said, "There is a tree among the trees which is similar to a Muslim (in goodness), and that is the date palm tree." (Sahih Bukhari)

Allegations towards Olmert Unfounded

PM faces calls to take leave after questioned under caution

2 May 2008

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was questioned under caution on Friday morning at his offial residence in Jerusalem, prompting a number of Knesset members to call on his to suspend himself pending the investigations.

The questioning began at 10 A.M. and lasted for about an hour and a half. The reason for the investigation is not known. Olmert is a suspect in several corruption affairs involving real estate deals and questionable political appointments, but has never been charged.

Shelly Yachimovich, a member of Olmert's ruling coalition from the Labor Party, on Thursday called the scope of charges against Olmert unprecedented and said he should suspend himself immediately.

"It has been proven beyond any doubt that the prime minister can't be under serial investigations and also suspected of crimes and also lead the country," she told Israel Radio.

Likud party chairman Gideon Sa'ar, meanwhile, urged the Labor Party to quit the government coalition immediately, calling it a "government under constant suspicion."

"Olmert is the prime minister who has been investigated more than anyt other in the history of Israel. The Labor Party is responsible for the survival of the coalition and if it stands to present values, control of law and clean hands, it needs to quit immediately," he said.

MK Zahava Gal-On also called on the prime minister to take temporary leave pending the proceedings of the investiagtions, Israel Radio reported.

Detectives from the national police fraud unit on Wednesday had asked to meet with Olmert urgently, within 48 hours. The summons were made after receiving special permission from the attorney general.

The police attempted to keep the questioning secret but it was reported last night by Channel 2 television news. Despite the report and despite previous promises by National Police Commissioner David Cohen and other senior police officials to notify the media in advance about Olmert's investigation, national police headquarters Thursday refused to comment.

"The prime minister intends to fully cooperate with law enforcement officials as he has in the past and he is convinced that once the truth is disclosed in the framework of the police investigation, the suspicions against him will disappear," a statement issued Thursday by the Prime Minister's Office said.

It is not known which affair Olmert was questioned about. In the past, it was reported that three concurrent investigations were being conducted against Olmert: the Investment Center affair, the affair surrounding political appointments in the Small Business Authority and the house on Cremieux Street affair.

Olmert has been questioned in the past under caution. Last October a police fraud unit team came to his home to take statements regarding changes in the tender for Bank Leumi. At the time, Olmert was suspected of having acted to alter the conditions of the tender to favor a friend, Frank Lowy, who was considering submitting a bid. Olmert was questioned for two days, following which he fell ill with a cold. In the end, the police announced that Olmert was not suspected of criminal behavior in connection with the affair.

A few months before that, detectives came to the prime minister's residence to hear Olmert's version of events vis-a-vis the Tax Authority affair. At the time the police announced that Olmert was not a suspect in the affair, but was merely being questioned over the appointment process for senior officials in the organization and over the role of his office manager, Shula Zaken, in the affair.

In November, the fraud unit conducted a major evidence-gathering operation relating to investigations against Olmert. One hundred detectives raided 20 different sites simultaneously, confiscating a large number of computers and documents. The material involved all three of the affairs reportedly being investigated.

Among the sites raided was the office of the minister of trade and industry and other offices in the ministry; the Israel Lands Administration; the employment bureau; the Small Business Authority and the Investments Center. Documents were also collected from the offices of attorney Uri Messer, the Alumot real estate developer, the postal authority and the Jerusalem municipality.

Police secrecy over Olmert probe leads to questions

Senior Israel Police officials and investigators maintained a veil of secrecy Thursday over the circumstances of the impromptu questioning of Olmert.

Police intended to keep word of the questioning secret from the public, yet the leak to Channel 2 TV caught the upper echelons of the police and the spokesmen off guard. Repeated inquiries from the press were met with no comment.

In the absence of an adequate explanation as to the reasons behind the surprise investigation, one can only speculate as to why the police chose this particular course of action:

Have there been any significant surprise developments in one or more of the current investigations ongoing against the prime minister?

Have witnesses given incriminating statements to police against Olmert or his aides with reference to one or more of the investigations against him, which would then prompt authorities to seek out the premier for his version of events?

Do investigators suspect Olmert, a sitting prime minister, may take steps to interfere with the investigation against him - steps which would include coordinating testimony or destroying evidence? If the premier is made aware of which pieces of evidence the police are in possession of, would the police move quickly in questioning him before he would have the opportunity to tamper with or destroy such evidence?

Police sources hinted Thursday that, due to the leak, investigators are likely to postpone the questioning. In years prior, police have carried out "investigation drills" in which they announce, by way of the news media, their intention to question a particular public figure. Do police want to keep tabs on those being investigated so as to observe their reactions to news of Olmert's imminent questioning? Will the questioning be eventually cancelled?

Given the police silence on the matter, it is unclear whether the evidence being used by investigators forms the basis of an investigation in which Olmert is the prime suspect, or whether his statements are needed to incriminate somebody else.

Why did the police commissioner, the head of the investigators unit, and the head of the police fraud unit elect not to notify the public of their intention to question the prime minister today (Friday), despite prior understandings according to which news of any investigation of the prime minister will be made available to the public? Why did the police high command "go underground" Thursday and refuse to respond to questions concerning the investigation?

Note:

This type of situation seems to be growing these days and actually comes by one central source and those that are being accused of wrongdoing are not guilty.

As for Jewish PM Ehud Olmert having to take leave of office, this is not necessary, but it would be detrimental to the safety of the Jewish people if he did so, in my opinion.

Bush Additional Funds for Foreign Food Aid

Washington-U.S. President George W. Bush addresses reporters on 1 May 2008 in White House Diplomatic Reception Room, to ask Congress to provide an additional $770 million to support food aid and development programs.

The $770 million would be in addition to the $200 million in emergency food aid announced by the White House two weeks ago to be available through a program at the U.S. Agricultural Department called the Emerson Trust.

Sad State of Affairs

Members of Mahmoud Abbas' terrorist security forces take position for an attack in the town of Jenin on 2 May 2008.

by HRM Deborah

It is a despicable thing to have to talk about terrorism, because it is not acceptable I would believe, in any facet of society.

I have to do so especially, because there is a terrorist organization running rampant in Palestine and as I have said numerous times, that the leader of this terrorist organization is Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas has a long history of terrorist activities and especially some that are very well known in the annuals of global crime, as well as in Palestine itself.

What is also unacceptable along with Abbas’s terrorist activities is that it not only is affecting all Palestine, but also the global community.

Furthermore, when one has this type of situation, I would think it would also be necessary to take into consideration the protection of innocent people, to make every effort to stop these types of activities for the betterment of those who are actually innocent.

It must be reminded, that terrorism while it is actually a foreign idea in Islam, it also is never tolerated, for no one should be subjected to harm or create terror towards any living person.

For one right people should always have, to not just be happy, but also never have to worry that someone wishes to hurt them in any manner.

Personally, I would rather help make someone’s life better than ever think of doing something bad to them, even thinking of one day when I was trying to move a pigeon, because I did not wish to step on them.

Abbas’s Organization Kidnapped four

2 May 2008

On Thursday terrorist from Mahmoud Abbas’s terrorist organization kidnapped apparently, Palestinian citizens on Wednesday morning.

One is a university student kidnapped in Hebron, a student from Birzeit University allegedly at a checkpoint that is understood as illegal. Two others kidnapped from Tulkarem.

Furthermore, any form of terrorism or the activities that goes with this sort of crime in Palestine is unacceptable or tolerated. Especially, in this case, when innocent civilians is being harmed.

All people should respect the laws in the country that they live in and even so, if they happen to visit another country. For in respecting laws, one is also showing respect to the people of that country, as well as to Allah. For the original foundation of laws, came by Allah.

Treasure trove found in 500-year-old Shipwreck off Africa

1 May 2008

By DONNA BRYSON

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -The ship was laden with tons of copper ingots, elephant tusks, gold coins — and cannons to fend off pirates. But it had nothing to protect it from the fierce weather off a particularly bleak stretch of inhospitable African coast, and it sank 500 years ago. Now it has been found, stumbled upon by De Beers geologists prospecting for diamonds off Namibia.

"If you're mining on the coast, sooner or later you'll find a wreck," archaeologist Dieter Noli said in an interview Thursday.

Namdeb Diamond Corp., a joint venture of the government of Namibia and De Beers, first reported the April 1 find in a statement Wednesday, and planned a news conference in the Namibian capital next week.

The company had cleared and drained a stretch of seabed, building an earthen wall to keep the water out so geologists could work. Noli said one of the geologists saw a few ingots, but had no idea what they were. Then the team found what looked like cannon barrels.

The geologists stopped the brutal earth-moving work of searching for diamonds and sent photos to Noli, who had done research in the Namibian desert since the mid-1980s and has advised De Beers since 1996 on the archaeological impact of its operations in Namibia.

The find "was what I'd been waiting for, for 20 years," Noli said. "Understandably, I was pretty excited. I still am."

Noli's original specialty was the desert, but because of Namdeb's offshore explorations, he had been preparing for the possibility of a wreck, even learning to dive.

After the discovery, he brought in Bruno Werz, an expert in the field, to help research the wreck. Noli has studied maritime artifacts with Werz, who was one of his instructors at the University of Cape Town.

Judging from the notables depicted on the hoard of Spanish and Portuguese coins, and the type of cannons and navigational equipment, the ship went down in the late 1400s or early 1500s, around the time Vasco de Gama and Columbus were plying the waters of the New World.

"Based on the goods they were carrying, it's almost certain that it dates from that time," said John Broadwater, chief archaeologist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"This find is very exciting because very few vessels from that period have been discovered," he said, adding that many early ships were thought to have wrecked in that area.

It was, Noli said, "a period when Africa was just being opened up, when the whole world was being opened up."

He compared the remnants — ingots, ivory, coins, coffin-sized timber fragments — to evidence at a crime scene.

"The surf would have pounded that wreck to smithereens," he said. "It's not like `Pirates of the Caribbean,' with a ship more or less intact."

He and Werz are trying to fit the pieces into a story. They divide their time between inventorying the find in Namibia and doing research in museums and libraries in Cape Town, South Africa, from where Noli spoke by phone Thursday.

Eventually, they will go to Portugal or Spain to search for records of a vessel with similar cargo that went missing.

"You don't turn a skipper loose with a cargo of that value and have no record of it," Noli said.

The wealth on board is intriguing. Noli said the large amount of copper could mean the ship had been sent by a government looking for material to build cannons. Trade in ivory was usually controlled by royal families, another indication the ship was on official business.

On the other hand, why did the captain have so many coins? Shouldn't they have been traded for the ivory and copper?

"Either he did a very, very good deal. Or he was a pirate," Noli said. "I'm convinced we'll find out what the ship was and who the captain was."

What brought the vessel down may remain a mystery. But Noli has theories, noting the stretch of coast was notorious for fierce storms and disorienting fogs.

In later years, sailors with sophisticated navigational tools avoided it. The only tools found on the wreck were astrolabes, which can be used to determine only how far north or south you have sailed.

"Sending a ship toward Africa in that period, that was venture capital in the extreme," Noli said. "These chaps were very much on the edge as far as navigation. It was still very difficult for them to know where they were."

Noli has found signs that worms were at work on the ship's timber, and sheets of lead used to patch holes, indications the ship was old when it went down.

Imagine a leaky, overladen ship caught in a storm. The copper ingots, shaped like sections of a sphere, would have sat snug, he said. But the tusks — some 50 have been found — could have shifted, tipping the ship.

"And down you go," Noli said, "weighed down by your treasure."

Loaded Down with Food

Palestinians take a ride on a car loaded with aid food receive from the United Nations Works and Relief Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza City on 1 May 2008.

A Palestinian father drives his family car loaded with aid food in Gaza City.

While Mahmoud Abbas’s terrorist organization with their media propaganda working overtime again, making people outside of Palestine, think people are starving and going about on foot or other means.

This is the farthest from the truth as always, with this terrorist organization.

What is interesting is Abbas has taken it upon himself apparently, to not just insult all Palestine, but also the United Nations.

Furthermore, the United Nations Works and Relief Agency (UNRWA), has been very gracious to the less fortunate in Palestine.

Nevertheless, there is only one terrorist group operating in Palestine and the leader is Mahmoud Abbas. As well as the majority of Palestinians, do find this terrorist organization, very unacceptable.

Personally, I despise terrorism and anything associated with this type of criminal activity, as well as any type of criminal activities.

Bush Conducts Marine Corps Band

U.S. President George W. Bush conducts the United States Marine Corps Band playing Stars & Stripes Forever, during the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association, 26 April 2008, in Washington D.C.

Highlights by Bush at this dinner:
"Senator McCain's not here. He probably wanted to distance himself from me a little bit," Bush quipped. "He's not alone. Jenna's moving out, too." The president couldn't resist a couple of digs at recent Democratic campaign potholes, explaining that Hillary Clinton couldn't get into the building "because of sniper fire," while Barack Obama was "at church."

Bush Dinner Humor Clips

How About American Food Aid?

Numerous places in America you will see people with signs, similar to the one above.

U.S. President George W. Bush gave a speech earlier today about increasing food aid to foreign countries, when the situation in his own country seems to be crumbling.

If one steps out of ones home for five minutes, I am sure you will see or hear of someone suffering in America, due to increased unemployment or the rising costs of food, housing, clothing and gasoline; while this president claims he is doing something about this situation, everything keeps getting higher and the poverty situation keeps growing.

Earlier in my writings, I had mentioned that one has to take care of their home first before they can take care of their neighbor. It really is time, to take care of ones loved ones at home, than worry about saying one is going to give aid to others or keep financing wars and the American public so to speak, is getting an emptier stomach.

Paying attention to culture of book reading society's dire need - First Vice President

1 May 2008

Tehran-IRI First Vice President said on opening ceremony of 21st Tehran International Book Fair paying attention to culture of book reading and turning it to public culture is among dire needs of our society.

Parviz Davoudi made the comment at the ceremony attended by dozens of Iranian and foreign cultural and scientific personalities and publishers, adding, "We are on the eve of the Iranian Teachers Day and the International Workers Day, and I congratulate the occasion to both these two nobel classes of society."

He added, "The teachers and elites of our society need to launch a scientific-cultural campaign to promote the book reading culture in our country."

Davoudi said that holding such exhibitions is a sign of the intellectual growth of the thoughtful and highly cultural Iranian nation, that are each year seeking for their year's intellectual food at this fair.

The First Vice President reiterated, "Enthusiastic presence of book lover Iranians at Tehran International Book Fair year after year is a sign of the high status of book reading in our country, and yet, this culture is in need of further nurturing and growth with the passage of each year."

Davoudi referred to the Supreme Leader's nomination of the current Iranian year, 1387, as the Year for Innovations and Blossoming, and emphasized, "In order to meet such objectives the minds need to be impregnated with brilliant thoughts, and the greatest expectations in that regard are from the elites and thinkers of our nation."

Golan Heights Residents Face Prospect Of Peace With Syria

Jewish tourists hitchhike 30 April 2008 in the Golan Heights.

Residents of this strategic volcanic plateau, which the Jews captured from Syria in the 1967 Six Dar War, face a good future as the two countries are reported to be discussing a land-for-peace deal.

A Jewish woman looks out of her home window on 29 April 2008 in the settlement of Yonatan in the Golan Heights.

Working with Stone

Palestinian employees work at a stone factory in the West Bank city of Hebron on 1 May 2008.

Olmert Waves

Surrounded by bodyguards Jewish Prime Minister Ehud Olmert waves as he leaves the official Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem on 1 May 2008.

One of Oskar Schindler's Jews Remember's with a Flower

Jewish Australian Holocaust survivor Solomon Susskind, 79, who was saved by Oskar Schindler's list places a flower at the Hall of Remembrance where the names of major killing sites of Jews are written on 1 May 2008 at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.

Christians Remembering the Holocaust

A Christian Catholic monk and a nun place a wreath during the official Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem on 1 May 2008.

A Time of Sorrow a Time to Remember

Polish born Jewish Holocaust survivor Mordechai Fuchs wears the Star of David with 'Jude', German for Jew, written on it during the official Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem on 1 May 2008.

1 May 2008
by HRM Deborah

This is a time of great sorrow and a time to remember, it also reminds me of something I said to a young woman yesterday, that all people in Palestine, whether they are Jewish or Arab Palestinian deserve to live in peace and be free. That sorrows like the remembrance of this day, would one day be only in the history books and one day no longer be current events.

All people deserve to be free, have their dignity and not have to suffer because they are different then those that have caused the Semitic people harm.

It seems while I may be a little slower then usual today, because of not only thinking what happened to the six million Jews that perished in the holocaust, but a 108 year war that should have never been and all those martyrs that also perished in this violence.

There is probably not one family because of these two atrocities that have not lost family members, so this is not just a day of silence and remembrance, but also one of great tears.

For instance, my family did not just loose members because of the war, many also perished along with the Jewish people in the holocaust. So in this turn, I actually do along with the majority of Palestinians, feel the great sorrow the Jewish people, I am sure is feeling.

In the past, when the war was raging, the previous Queens of Palestine, where no longer called, “Mother,” this titled was usually bestowed for centuries because of honest love for all that lived in Palestine. One thing that tugs at my heart these days, is that title for a Queen, has now returned. The previous Queens, it was not because they where bad people, but so vastly misunderstood.

Furthermore, I do have to admit, far too many times, I have wished to put out my arms around everyone in Palestine no matter who they are and make them not only safe and warm, but happy.

It a great hope of mine, that all these wounds one day will heal and we can wipe each other’s tears, so in time they would be no more.

When Yesterday and Today Met

A pilgrim dressed as an ancient Jew wearing the phylacteries and holding a book of prayers stands on 1 May 2008 next to people on a main street in Jerusalem as sirens wail for two minutes to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Next week, the Jewish people will celebrate sixty years in Palestine, where once again, the Jewish people and Arab Palestinians are living together as they have done down through history, in friendship and love; for one another.

The Jewish people where always wanted in Palestine, it is sad, that it took 108 years for people to understand.

Peres lays a Wreath

Jewish President Shimon Peres lays a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, 1 May 2008 in Jerusalem.

Remembrance in Silence

Jews stand in silence as sirens mark the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day May 1, 2008 in Tel Aviv.

Air-raid sirens sounded for two minutes bringing mid-morning traffic and pedestrians to a halt in memory of the Six Million Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War.

Rice "difficult decisions" Middle East Tour

1 May 2008

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set to leave early on Thursday for more Middle East peace talks with Arab and Jewish leaders, after a meeting in London allegedly designed to raise more economic support for the Palestinians.

She called on Jewish people to make "difficult decisions" to provide the ‘Palestinians with the dignity of statehood.’

As for Palestinians losing hope as Rice contends, the answer is a most resounding, no.

As for Rice's visit's to the Middle East it sounds more like another dose of threats or insults, as is the usual, then anything else. It is a wonder if this particular administration knows how to be nice to people?

As for the Palestinian people, it always appears that Rice only cares about Mahmoud Abbas’s organization and as for the rest of the Palestinian people the worse insults and defamation of character is always in order from this administration.

Update:
Condoleezza Rice returns to the Mideast on Saturday

Bush Welcomes 2008 National and State Teachers of the Year

U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary Margaret Spellings of the Department of Education, laugh as they listen to remarks by Mike Geisen, the 2008 National Teacher of the Year, on 30 April 2008. Geisen is a 35-year-old, 7th-grade science teacher from Prineville, Oregon.

Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day Ceremony

Jewish Prime Minister Ehud Olmert attends the opening ceremony of the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day ceremony in the Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, on 30 April 2008 in Jerusalem.

Jewish Prime Minister Ehud Olmert speaks at the opening ceremony.

Jewish President Shimon Peres speaks at the opening ceremony.

Jewish soldiers participate in the opening ceremony.

Ease those who suffer

If one sees another suffer, do all that one can, to ease the suffering.

by HRM Deborah

For example, I had to run a few errands this morning and one happened to be to stop by a pharmacy. In the parking lot was a young woman that had an infected eye.

The eye was very red, swollen and angry. Like what happens to everyone, I think once in awhile, she had a small eyelash causing her this trouble.

She had said a friend had removed the eyelash, but she was still suffering.

Myself, feeling her pain, did everything I could; with the hope, she would feel better faster.

One may think this is just a small thing, but to those who are suffering, it is very great.

'Gate to Hell'

Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, holds the hand of a Holocaust survivor as they take part in a Peace March at the Nazi Concentration Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau on 30 April 2008 in Krakow, Poland.

From 1942 Auschwitz became the biggest center for the mass extermination of Jews. Figures vary but a conservative estimate puts the number of murdered Jews at an approximate 1.5 million.

The entrance to Auschwitz I.The now notorious motto over the gate, "Arbeit macht frei" translates to: "Work makes you free." This is probably the most famous gate, associated to the Jewish Holocaust.
Auschwitz-Birkenau became the killing center where the largest numbers of European Jews were killed during the Holocaust. After an experimental gassing there in September 1941 of 850 malnourished and ill prisoners, mass murder became a daily routine. By mid 1942, mass gassing of Jews using Zyklon-B began at Auschwitz, where extermination was conducted on an industrial scale with some estimates running as high as three million persons eventually killed through gassing, starvation, disease, shooting, and burning ...

9 out of 10 were Jews. In addition, Gypsies, Soviet POWs, and prisoners of all nationalities died in the gas chambers. Between May 14 and July 8,1944, 437,402 Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschwitz in 148 trains. This was probably the largest single mass deportation during the Holocaust.

Auschwitz-Birkenau, Nazi Germany's largest concentration and extermination camp facility, was located nearby the provincial Polish town of Oshwiecim in Galacia, and was established by order of Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler on 27 April 1940. Private diaries of Goebbels and Himmler unearthed from the secret Soviet archives show that Adolf Hitler personally ordered the mass extermination of the Jews during a meeting of Nazi German regional governors in the chancellery. As Goebbels wrote "With regards to the Jewish question, the Fuhrer decided to make a clean sweep ..."

At Auschwitz children were often killed upon arrival. Children born in the camp were generally killed on the spot. Near the end of the war, in order to cut expenses and save gas, cost-accountant considerations led to an order to place living children directly into the ovens or throw them into open burning pits.

So called camp doctors, especially the notorious Josef Mengele, would torture and inflict incredible suffering on Jewish children, Gypsy children and many others. Patients were put into pressure chambers, tested with drugs, castrated, frozen to death, and exposed to various other traumas.

During World War 2 only one man managed to get prisoners out of Auschwitz his name was Oskar Schindler.

_______

Commentary

Shedding the Tears

By HRM Deborah

When I was a young girl, I had the opportunity to know someone that had survived Auschwitz, while they had lost their whole family.

Even to this very day, I had never wished for the Jewish people to ever suffer this type of atrocity ever again. I will even go so far as to say, that both the Jewish and Palestinian people never suffer the sorrow of any heinous violence perpetrated against them, because they are Semantic in origin.

It has been in my thoughts a lot these days, how several times throughout history, that the Jewish and Palestinian people was subjected to suffering by some means together.

Even at this very time, there are people that wish to harm the Jewish and Palestinian people through lies and other types of manipulation, that is not only a falsehood, but also an outright despicable situation.

Especially in regards to the Palestinian people, saying they are a people of violence and wish harm to others, when this is the farthest from the truth; even to go so far as using terminology to sway certain people, to wish to hurt the Palestinian people.

For thousands of years the Palestinian people have always been a people that believed in love as well as peace and this virtue has never changed even to this very day.

Furthermore, accusing the Palestinian people of wishing to harm anyone is not only an insult, that while it is not true, is deployable to say the least.

May one day, the people of the world, learn to love and have peace for each other, so no one would ever wish to cause any harm to another, no matter who they are.