America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on

Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.
He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization.
A Palestinian woman holds the Koran during a Hamas rally against Israeli troops operation in northern Gaza strip November 3, 2006. Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinian women acting as human shields between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen during a clash at a Gaza mosque on Friday, witnesses said, before the gunmen escaped. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA)
First, it is an act of hubris that perfectly exemplifies multiculturalist activism -- my culture trumps America's culture. What Ellison and his Muslim and leftist supporters are saying is that it is of no consequence what America holds as its holiest book; all that matters is what any individual holds to be his holiest book.
Forgive me, but America should not give a hoot what Keith Ellison's favorite book is. Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress. In your personal life, we will fight for your right to prefer any other book. We will even fight for your right to publish cartoons mocking our Bible. But, Mr. Ellison, America, not you, decides on what book its public servants take their oath.

Phoenix Airport to Test X-Ray Screening

PHOENIX (AP) - Sky Harbor International Airport here will test a new federal screening system that takes X-rays of passenger's bodies to detect concealed explosives and other weapons.
The technology, called backscatter, has been around for several years but has not been widely used in the U.S. as an anti-terrorism tool because of privacy concerns.
The Transportation Security Administration said it has found a way to refine the machine's images so that the normally graphic pictures can be blurred in certain areas while still being effective in detecting bombs and other threats.
The agency is expected to provide more information about the technology later this month but said one machine will be up and running at Sky Harbor's Terminal 4 by Christmas.

New Rules Make Firms Track E-Mails, IMs

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees thanks to new federal rules that go into effect Friday, legal experts say.
The rules, approved by the Supreme Court in April, require companies and other entities involved in federal litigation to produce "electronically stored information" as part of the discovery process, when evidence is shared by both sides before a trial.
The change makes it more important for companies to know what electronic information they have and where. Under the new rules, an information technology employee who routinely copies over a backup computer tape could be committing the equivalent of "virtual shredding," said Alvin F. Lindsay, a partner at Hogan & Hartson LLP and expert on technology and litigation.
James Wright, director of electronic discovery at Halliburton Co. (HAL) (HAL), said that large companies are likely to face higher costs from organizing their data to comply with the rules. In addition to e-mail, companies will need to know about things more difficult to track, like digital photos of work sites on employee cell phones and information on removable memory cards, he said.

Pope hailed for praying toward Mecca like Muslims

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Pope Benedict wound up a fence-mending visit to Turkey on Friday amid praise from the local press for visiting Istanbul's Blue Mosque and praying toward Mecca "like Muslims".
The Pope, who sparked protests across the Muslim world with a speech two months ago seen as criticizing Islam, looked relaxed and pleased as he entered the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit for a mass at the end of the sensitive four-day trip.
His first visit to a mostly Muslim country, held under tight security for fear of protests by nationalists and Islamists, was highlighted by a series of conciliatory gestures culminating in a stop on Thursday afternoon in Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque.

UFO Crashes in Russia’s Siberia

An unidentified flying object has crashed in Krasnoyarsk Region, Siberia, causing a forest fire, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported on Friday.The crash took place in the taiga between the towns of Yeniseisk and Lesosibirsk, the agency said quoting the local Interior Ministry directorate. The crash was reported by local villagers and traces of forest fire can be seen on the site. Air traffic officials said that no aircraft were scheduled to fly in the region at the time of the crash and no air vessels were missing.A group formed of police investigators, representatives of the Transport Prosecutors Service and representatives of the aircraft safety watchdog Rosavianadzor has started to the site of the crash from Krasnoyarsk. Local Emergencies Directorate has sent a helicopter to the site.

Federal case may redefine child porn

Pierson's Web site boasted he has the "most wonderful wife in the world and two fantastic daughters." And until recently, he ran a business called Beautiful Super Models that charged $175 for portraits of aspiring models under 18.

In a federal indictment announced this week, the U.S. Department of Justice accused Pierson, 43, of being a child pornographer--even though even prosecutors acknowledge there's no evidence he has ever taken a single photograph of an unclothed minor.

Rather, they argue, his models struck poses that were illegally provocative. "The images charged are not legitimate child modeling, but rather lascivious poses one would expect to see in an adult magazine," Alice Martin, U.S. attorney for the northern district of Alabama, said in a statement.

Pierson's child pornography indictment arises out of an FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigation of so-called child modeling sites, which have been the subject of a series of critical congressional hearings and news reports in the last few years. An August article in The New York Times, for instance, called the modeling Web sites "the latest trend in child exploitation."

Radioactive spy Islamic convert?

LONDON – Reports that KGB defector Alexander Litvinenko converted to Islam before his mysterious poisoning with radioactive polonium 210 is raising suspicions that he may have been involved in a plot to smuggle the deadly substance to terrorist groups willing to pay millions even for a gram, Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin is reporting today.

Scotland Yard detectives are now trying to discover if Litvinenko had any secret links with Islamic extremist terror groups, the London Sunday Express is reporting.

Their biggest fear, the paper reports, is that Litvinenko, who died of polonium-210 poisoning in a London hospital, may have been helping al-Qaida or other extremist groups get hold of radioactive material to be used in a devastating "dirty" atom bomb.

Britain's secret intelligence service MI6 had earlier learned that al-Qaida was prepared to pay $3 million a gram for polonium 210, G2 Bulletin reported last week.

Blood and Oil

With the gruesome killing of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, Vladimir Putin's Russia stands accused of poisoning yet another critic.

Meanwhile, Syria continues to mastermind the murders of Lebanese democrats. Israeli-free Gaza is as violent as ever. Hezbollah is busy replenishing its stock of Iranian missiles. The theocracy in Iran keeps promising an end to Israel. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is slowly strangling democracy in Latin America in a manner that an impoverished Fidel Castro never could.

And then, of course, there's Afghanistan and Iraq.

It's easy to think that all of this violent instability across the globe is unconnected. But, in fact, in one way or another, oil and its huge profits are at the bottom of a lot of it.

Islamic jihadists, fed from petrodollar wealth of the Middle East, have the cash to arm and plan operations from Baghdad and Kabul to Madrid and London. Thanks to oil, unhinged leaders like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran and Chavez in Venezuela can stay in power (and demand the world's attention) despite policies that ultimately harm their people, ruin their economies and imperil their neighbors.

Russia, meanwhile, is essentially threatening Eastern Europe with energy cutbacks and reviving the old Soviet nuclear and arms industries. It's stirring up an already volatile Middle East by selling radical Islamists everything from nuclear reactors to high-tech anti-tank guns. President Bush may have seen, as he attests, something reassuring in the heart of President Putin. But Russia's new oil riches offer a fast track back to superpower status — which we're already seeing them use to silence critics at home and abroad.

1 in 32 Americans in Jails, on Parole

WASHINGTON (AP) - A record 7 million people - or one in every 32 American adults - were behind bars, on probation or on parole by the end of last year, according to the Justice Department. Of those, 2.2 million were in prison or jail, an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous year, according to a report released Wednesday.

More than 4.1 million people were on probation and 784,208 were on parole at the end of 2005. Prison releases are increasing, but admissions are increasing more.

Men still far outnumber women in prisons and jails, but the female population is growing faster. Over the past year, the female population in state or federal prison increased 2.6 percent while the number of male inmates rose 1.9 percent. By year's end, 7 percent of all inmates were women. The gender figures do not include inmates in local jails.

DEBKAfile Exclusive: Gates’ words imply the Bush administration will disavow its long-held pledge to stop Iran obtaining nuclear weapons

The designated defense secretary Robert Gates’ replied to the Senate committee’s at his confirmation hear Tuesday: “If Iran obtains nuclear weapons no one can promise it would not use them against Israel.”

DEBKAfile’s military sources note: This assertion presupposes that Iran will not be stopped from acquiring nuclear weapons. Furthermore, Gates spoke in the plural about nuclear weapons. In all, he addressed three messages to Jerusalem: 1. There are no assurances that we will be able to prevent an Iranian nuclear attack on Israel. 2. Iran’s nuclear arsenal will contain different types of weapons. 3. On the nuclear issue, you are on your own; don’t count on us for a response.

These messages slap down the policy laid down by prime minister Olmert and foreign minister Tzipi Livni which assigned responsibility for handling the Iranian nuclear threat to the international community and the US and absolved the Israeli government and armed forces.

Gates’ admission that “The US is not winning war in Iraq” is another first from a senior administration official (Later, he tried to amend without changing its import by saying: “We are not losing either.”). He also conveyed to the Senate committee his belief that developments in Iraq over the next year or two will shape the entire Middle East and greatly influence global geopolitics for many years to come."

Hizbullah & Hamas Beating the War Drums

By most accounts, the difficulties encountered during the Second Lebanon War will dwarf the next battlefield scenario, with the IDF’s General Staff and Shin Bet warning that Gaza-based terrorists have prepared themselves by importing tons of military grade explosives into Gaza, along with millions of rounds of ammunition, automatic weapons, anti-tank rockets and much more.

The right-wing “doomsday prophets” as they were dubbed by the “peace camp” politicians are now sadly sitting back trying to understand how the obvious was and is still ignored. Since the IDF’s unilateral retreat from southern Lebanon in May 2000, Hizbullah has turned itself into a formidable army, backed by Iran and Syria, supplied with many Russian-made advanced weapons. On the southern front, the government’s insistence on carrying out the Disengagement Plan of August 2005 has created a similar scenario. With IDF forces out of Gaza, the Rafiah border crossing to Egypt has served as a conduit for advanced weaponry, permitting Gaza to become a miniature Lebanon. Even after the increase in Kassam rocket fire into the Sderot and western Negev areas, the government refuses to order a major military operation into northern Gaza, giving terrorists even more time to prepare for the next war.

Hamas Chief Promises War Even if PA State is Established

Meshaal is officially the head of the diplomatic desk of Hamas, but is recognized as the #1 man in the terrorist organization. The target of a failed Israeli assassination attempt a decade ago, Meshaal told a Lebanese newspaper this week that Hamas will not hesitate to resume its armed warfare against Israel.

Specifically, he threatened, "If within six months, the international community does not come up with a plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders [i.e., on all the land liberated by Israel in the Six Day War - ed.] and for the return of the refugees, the Palestinians will turn to an armed struggle against Israel."

"We can have an intifada even when running the Palestinian Authority," Meshaal said, explaining that the ceasefire was not designed to bring peace, but is rather another stage in the war with Israel. "The current calm [cease-fire in Gaza - ed.], just like the escalation [before that], is part of the way we manage the conflict with Israel."

The Bassij, Israel’s Enemy from Iran

The world now knows the fiery rhetoric of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. What is less known is the group he comes from, called the "Bassij."

The Bassij is one of the most committed enemies of Israel and the United States in the world today.

This paramilitary group is one of the most important organizations within Iran. It claims as many as three million members in reserve but tens of thousands serve full time and follow a radical ideology.

Menashe Amir hosts a radio show for Voice of Israel Farsi. He's considered one of the foremost experts on Iran, maintains contact with Iranians regularly, and keeps his finger on the pulse of Iranian daily life, such as the influence of the Bassij.

Important Mideast declaration signed at Tampere EU conference

The European Union and Mediterranean countries reached agreement in Tampere on Tuesday on a joint declaration on a number of issues, including the Middle East peace process.
The statement confirms that the partners are committed to a just, comprehensive, and sustainable solution in the conflict between Israel and the Arabs.
The text was accepted unanimously, although Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said that lengthy discussion was needed first.
In addition to the EU countries, signatories included Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. Signing on behalf of the Palestinians was former cabinet minister Nabil Shaath, who is a close advisor of President Mahmoud Abbas. The declaration was approved at the end of the two-day Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (EUROMED).

Estonia, Bulgaria back EU's further expansion

SOFIA, Bulgaria: Estonia and Bulgaria said Tuesday that the European Union's enlargement should not end with the entry of Bulgaria and Romania on Jan. 1.

"We would like to go on with the further enlargement of the union," Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip told reporters in Sofia after meeting Bulgarian counterpart Sergei Stanishev. Estonia was one of 10 countries, most of them eastern European, that joined the EU in 2004.

"The perspective of further expansion should not be lost," Stanishev said.

Call for lifting borders separating Islamic states

LONDON, December 3 (IranMania) - Head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, Alinaqi Khamoushi said that just as borders are lifted in Europe, the same move should be considered by Islamic states, IRNA reported.

He made the remark at the fourth conference and exhibition on the strategy of Iraqi market and its executive strategies in Kermanshah.

Khamoushi noted that the people of Islamic states are a single Ummah and therefore no borders should separate them.

"Given the current shortages in Iraq, we should provide the Iraqi people with the facilities available in Iran. We are duty-bound to do our best to help our neighbor under the most critical conditions.

"We should act in such a way as to build up mutual confidence.

Russia Successfully Tests Own Missile Defense

The Russian military on Tuesday conducted a successful test launch of an interceptor missile used in the nation’s missile defense system, officials are quoted by the Associated Press news agency.

The missile was launched from the Sary-Shagan testing range, which Russia leases from Kazakhstan, Russian space forces spokesman Col. Alexei Kuznetsov told The Associated Press.

“The launch was part of the program to extend the service lifetime of this type of missiles, and it has confirmed the missile’s main parameters,” he said, adding that its previous test launch in 2004 was also a success.

Kuznetsov said such interceptor missiles have been used with a missile defense system deployed around Moscow since the Soviet times to protect it from intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The Soviet Union deployed the anti-ballistic missile system around Moscow in 1974 and it has been continuously modernized. It complied with the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which allowed both the United States and Russia to protect a single site with no more than 100 interceptors. The United States had a similar system to protect missile fields in North Dakota in the 1970s, but it scrapped it.

Russian bear sets a trap

Have you noticed New York residents do not fear a cutoff of their natural gas supplies because of a potential political or economic dispute with Texas? But envision a scenario where the State of Texas owned all of the natural gas in that state and the distribution network to other states, and where the governor of Texas decided to ignore pre-existing contracts in order to force New Yorkers to pay more for their gas since they were totally dependent on the Texas monopoly.
Fortunately, in the U.S., the above scenario could not play out because: there are many private suppliers of gas in the State of Texas; the pipelines that carry the gas to New York are privately owned and separate from the gas producers; and, most importantly, the state and federal courts enforce the rule of law and protect pre-existing contracts.

World's most deadly bugs... in the hands of terrorists

EW technology that would give terrorists the power to create deadly bacteria and viruses from scratch is only years away from completion and threatens to make existing controls on biological weapons obsolete, experts warned yesterday.

Synthetic biology is an emerging field that allows scientists to build micro-organisms from simple genetic material, in theory enabling the creation of deadly pathogens such as ebola or anthrax without access to existing stockpiles of the bugs.

The technology could also allow terrorists orscientists in rogue states to jumble the genetic signature of the bugs in order to render them unrecognisable to health experts dealing with an outbreak, potentially delaying treatment and preventing authorities from tracing the origin of an attack.The technology could also allow terrorists or

The concerns were raised at a biosecurity conference at Edinburgh University yesterday in the run-up to a major review of the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva later this month.

New Rules Make Firms Track E-Mails, IMs

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees thanks to new federal rules that go into effect Friday, legal experts say.

The rules, approved by the Supreme Court in April, require companies and other entities involved in federal litigation to produce "electronically stored information" as part of the discovery process, when evidence is shared by both sides before a trial.

The change makes it more important for companies to know what electronic information they have and where. Under the new rules, an information technology employee who routinely copies over a backup computer tape could be committing the equivalent of "virtual shredding," said Alvin F. Lindsay, a partner at Hogan & Hartson LLP and expert on technology and litigation.

James Wright, director of electronic discovery at Halliburton Co. (HAL) (HAL), said that large companies are likely to face higher costs from organizing their data to comply with the rules. In addition to e-mail, companies will need to know about things more difficult to track, like digital photos of work sites on employee cell phones and information on removable memory cards, he said.

Iran v Saudis in battle of Beirut

Having looked on helplessly, or unhelpfully, during Israel's destabilising summer bombardment of Lebanon, Britain and other European countries are now scrabbling to shore up Fouad Siniora's shaky pro-western government. The foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, and her German counterpart were in Beirut at the weekend. Messages of solidarity have come from France and Italy. Even Israel is warning of dire consequences should Mr Siniora fall.

All agree that this week's Hizbullah-organised, largely Shia Muslim demonstrations, although broadly peaceful and "democratic" so far, must not be allowed to topple the government. Their attitude contrasts awkwardly with the approving western view of last year's anti-Syrian street protests by Sunni Muslims, Christians and Druze, whimsically dubbed the "cedar revolution", which ousted Lebanon's then prime minister, Omar Karami.

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A Hizbullah political success would plainly complement the group's self-proclaimed military successes of August. And like Israel, the US and Britain see the potential "loss" of Lebanon as a direct gain not only for Syria and its favourite militia, but more worryingly, for Iran. This places the battle for Beirut squarely in the wider context of a regional power struggle with an increasingly confident Tehran.

Employers look closely at what workers do on job

Employers have long warned their workers that company e-mail, Internet use and even phone calls are subject to monitoring.

But what many employees don't realize is that spying is going high-tech. In the spirit of James Bond wizardry, companies are tracking workers' whereabouts through Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite, implanting employees with microchips with their knowledge and hiring private investigators to check up on what employees are really doing at work.

Hewlett-Packard became embroiled in a spying scandal after being accused of hiring private eyes to spy on its directors, sending computer spyware to reporters and probing private phone records to ferret out boardroom leaks.

The developments suggest that a Brave New Workplace is here. Employers in today's highly competitive and lawsuit-driven work environment are monitoring employees with unprecedented zeal.

Marc Rotenberg, executive director and president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a public interest research center in Washington, says many companies have legitimate and legal reasons for such monitoring, but gumshoe tactics also can erode trust as employers become suspicious of their own staff.

France, Spain, Italy propose Middle East peace plan

GIRONA, Spain (Reuters) - Spain, France and Italy agreed on Thursday to work on a joint plan to try to resolve the Middle East conflict, calling for a total ceasefire and suggesting they could send truce monitors to the area.

It was not clear how the European initiative would fit in with existing peace plans for the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the stalled U.S.-backed "Road Map".

"Peace in the Middle East, to a great extent, means peace internationally. Stability and security in the Middle East means stability and security for the world," Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference.

Zapatero proposed the countries work on a solution when he met French President Jacques Chirac in the northern town of Girona. They later spoke to Italy's prime minister.

Zapatero said they wanted to bring their proposal to an EU summit in December, adding that the three countries would work closely with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

Saudis budget up to $60 billion for military buildup

WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia plans to spend up to $60 billion to modernize its military.

A Saudi consultant to the royal family has reported a Defense Ministry plan to invest between $50 billion and $60 billion to bolster the kingdom's military and security forces. The consultant said this would include the procurement of advanced air and ground platforms as well as a 20 percent increase in Saudi ground forces, Middle East Newsline reported.

"Major strengthening of armed forces initiated; $50 to $60 billion will be invested," Nawaf Obaid, director of the Saudi National Security Assessment Project, said.

Obaid, the security and energy adviser to Saudi ambassador to the United States Prince Turki Al Faisal, outlined an ambitious procurement program in a presentation to the New America Foundation on Nov. 10. Obaid said the Saudi military would acquire fourth-generation aircraft and upgrades.

"The Royal Saudi Air Force will receive a 50 percent fleet expansion of fighter aircrafts and major upgrades to its existing fleet," Obaid said. "Seventy-two new Eurofighter Typhoons have been purchased. The process has begun to upgrade 96 Tornado IDS."

Another part of the modernization program was the upgrade of Saudi Arabia's U.S.-origin F-15 fleet. Obaid said the Royal Saudi Air Force would implement what he termed a "new advanced maintenance program for all 155 F-15s — especially for the aging F-15Cs and Ds — to bring them up to combat readiness."

The air force was also examining a proposal to purchase 48 Rafale fighter-jets from France's Dassault Aviation. Obaid also cited consideration of an advanced platform to replace the aging Saudi fleet of 43 British-origin Hawks air trainers.

Nuclear Strikes From 'Rogue States' Possible

Russia's Air Force commander said Wednesday he considers nuclear missile launches by terrorists or 'rogue states' to be a genuine threat. "Increasingly probable and dangerous for the U.S., Russia and European countries are single or multiple missile strikes from third countries, known as rogue states, countries with unstable, non-democratic regimes, or terrorist organizations with access to missile technology," Vladimir Mikhailov said.

Mikhailov said accidental launches were also possible.

"Although accidental launches of missiles with nuclear warheads have not occurred in the history of nuclear missile technology, this does not mean they will not occur in the future, given the growing spread of nuclear missiles," he said.

Mikhailov also said terrorist organizations and the countries harboring them would not be deterred by the threat of a retaliatory strike, which has acted as a constraint for Russia and the United States, the world's largest nuclear powers.

"The objective of terrorists is to attract as much attention to their attacks as possible," he said.

Retaliation against a missile strike is also fraught with massive civilian casualties and destruction, the commander said, referring to recent warfare between Israel and Lebanon.

Mikhailov warned that missile technology will be increasingly popular in 21st century conflicts due to its combat capability and relatively small size.

International non-proliferation efforts have been facing difficulties in recent years.

Ancient Greek computer reveals its secrets

A bronze calculating machine salvaged from a shipwreck a century ago is finally yielding up its secrets, revealing a Greek computer of remarkable sophistication for a device constructed long before the birth of Christ.

	How the back dials of the supercomputer would have looked

Scholars have been baffled by the 80-plus fragments of the ancient mechanism found in 1901 by sponge divers in a Roman shipwreck near the island of Antikythera, midway between the Peloponnese and Crete.

Around the size of a discus, the device was so badly corroded that it had the consistency of flaky pastry and was encrusted with deposits. Yet it seemed to be the earliest-known machine involving an arrangement of gear-wheels, built centuries before such technology became commonplace.

Was it a rich man's toy? Or was it an orrery or an astronomical clock? Or something else that reflected an ancient interest in astrology?

In the wake of a study of its workings published today in the journal Nature, the "Antikythera Mechanism" will transform the way we think about the technological capabilities of the ancient world.

An international team unveils a new reconstruction of the way its gears worked and has doubled the number of deciphered inscriptions on the casing. It reveals a spectacular and ancient astronomical calculator that may even have been designed by Hipparchos (190BC-120BC) himself, arguably the greatest astronomical observer of antiquity, or by his followers.

'Bright green fireball' streaks across evening sky

A spectacular meteor sighting of what was described as a bright green "fireball" has prompted hundreds of calls to police and media in Australia.

"It was green like a meteorite or shooting star," one caller, Jeff, told ABC radio. "It was really pretty bright and you could see something else coming down as well, but what it was, I don't know."

The bedazzling event occurred last night across South Australia and western Victoria.

"It was before sunset and normally you only see those things in the dark," another caller, Monty, said. "The trail hung in the sky for at least 15 minutes afterward like a jet stream."

London stock trader urges move to 'amero'

In an interview with CNBC, a vice president for a prominent London investment firm yesterday urged a move away from the dollar to the "amero," a coming North American currency, he said, that "will have a big impact on everybody's life, in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico."

Steve Previs, a vice president at Jefferies International Ltd., explained the Amero "is the proposed new currency for the North American Community which is being developed right now between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico."

The aim, he said, according to a transcript provided by CNBC to WND, is to make a "borderless community, much like the European Union, with the U.S. dollar, the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso being replaced by the amero."

Previs told the television audience many Canadians are "upset" about the amero. Most Americans outside of Texas largely are unaware of the amero or the plans to integrate North America, Previs observed, claiming many are just "putting their head in the sand" over the plans.

Oversight Board Briefed on NSA Spy Program

WASHINGTON (AP) - Several members of a government board appointed to guard privacy and civil liberties during the war on terror say they're impressed with the protections built into the Bush administration's electronic eavesdropping program.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board received a long-awaited briefing on the secret program last week by senior members of the National Security Agency.

Two of the five board members told The Associated Press on Monday they were impressed by the safeguards the government has built into the NSA's monitoring of phone calls and computer transmissions and wished the administration could tell the public more about them to ease distrust.

``If the American public, especially civil libertarians like myself, could be more informed about how careful the government is to protect our privacy while still protecting us from attacks, we'd be more reassured,'' said Lanny Davis, a former Clinton White House lawyer.

Iran vows to help Iraq with security

TEHRAN -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would do whatever it could to help provide security to Iraq amid warnings the country was on the brink of civil war.
Mr. Ahmadinejad made the pledge at the start of a visit to Iran by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, whose trip was delayed for two days because of a curfew imposed after bombings Thursday that killed 202 persons in a Shi'ite Muslim stronghold. The curfew was lifted yesterday.
The United States is facing calls to engage Tehran in direct talks to help end the bloodshed, which U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said had pushed Iraq closer to civil war.
"The Iranian nation and government will definitely stand beside their brother, Iraq, and any help the government and nation of Iran can give to strengthen security in Iraq will be given," Mr. Ahmadinejad said, Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported.
"We have no limitation for cooperation in any field," he said.
Mr. Ahmadinejad was speaking shortly after Mr. Talabani's arrival and just before the two presidents held formal talks.
Mr. Talabani said he would discuss improving ties between the neighbors, which fought an eight-year war in the 1980s.

China bought bomber secrets

China obtained secret stealth technology used on B-2 bomber engines from a Hawaii-based spy ring in a compromise U.S. officials say will allow Beijing to copy or counter a key weapon in the Pentagon's new strategy against China. Details of the classified defense technology related to the B-2's engine exhaust system and its ability to avoid detection by infrared sensors were sold to Chinese officials by former defense contractor Noshir S. Gowadia, an Indian-born citizen charged with spying in a federal indictment released by prosecutors in Hawaii. Additionally, Mr. Gowadia provided extensive technical assistance to Chinese weapons designers in developing a cruise missile with an engine exhaust system that is hard to detect by radar, according to court papers made public recently.

U.S. legislator warns of Bush plot to merge Canada, the U.S. and Mexico

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. legislator who backs tough anti-immigrant measures and more security at the Canada-U.S. border is warning Americans that President George W. Bush is plotting to integrate the continent.
And he says Prime Minister Stephen Harper “buys into it.”
Colorado Republican Tom Tancredo, revered by some U.S. conservatives for his efforts to staunch the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico, said this week that Bush is a dangerous internationalist.
“He is going to do what he can to create a place where the idea of America is just that, it’s an idea. It’s not an actual place defined by borders. I mean this is where the guy is really going,” he told WorldNetDaily, a controversial conservative website.
“I know this is dramatic, or maybe somebody would say overly dramatic. But I’m telling you that everything I see leads me to believe that this whole idea of the North American union, it’s not something that’s just written about by right-wing fringe kooks,” said Tancredo, who is considering a run at the presidency.
“It is something in the head of the president of the United States, the president of Mexico, I think the prime minister of Canada buys into it...”

Soros urges EU to forget constitution, challenge U.S.

Billionaire financier and political activist George Soros advised a major European Union policy group this week that the EU should scrap its plan to form a constitution and, instead, embrace his vision for a "global open society."
Speaking before the European Policy Center in Brussels, the Hungarian-born U.S. citizen and head of the Open Society Institute praised the EU as an "inspiring" example of an "open society," with none of its members dominating the others and human rights its central tenet, reported the EU Observer.
Citing the 20th-century sociologist, Karl Popper, Soros hailed the development of the EU by the "process of piecemeal social engineering ... directed by a far-sighted, purposeful elite who recognized that perfection is unattainable."

Russian rocket deliveries to Iran started

Russia has begun deliveries of the Tor-M1 air defence rocket system to Iran, Russian news agencies quoted military industry sources as saying, in the latest sign of a Russian-US rift over Iran.
"Deliveries of the Tor-M1 have begun. The first systems have already been delivered to Tehran," ITAR-TASS quoted an unnamed, high-ranking source as saying Friday.

The United States has pressed Russia to halt military sales to Iran, which Washington accuses of harbouring secret plans to build a nuclear weapon.
Moscow has consistently defended its weapons trade with Iran. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said the contract for 29 rocket systems, signed in December last year, was legitimate because the Tor-M1 has a purely defensive role.
ITAR-TASS reported that the rockets were to be deployed around Iran's nuclear sites, including the still incomplete, Russian-built atomic power station at Bushehr.

'Lost tribe of Israel' returns home

TEL AVIV – About 50 Jews from a group of thousands in India that believes it is one of the 10 "lost tribes" of Israel landed here today, fulfilling for many a life-long dream of returning to what they consider their homeland.
"I truly believe this is a miracle of immense historical and even biblical significance," Michael Freund, chairman of Shavei Israel, the organization leading the charge for the return of the tribe, told WND.
"Just as the prophets foretold so long ago, the lost tribes of Israel are being brought back from the exile," Freund said.
For a decade, Freund's group has been working to facilitate the immigration to Israel of the Bnei Menashe, about 7,000 Indian citizens who believe they are the descendants of Manasseh, one of biblical patriarch Joseph's two sons, and a grandson of Jacob. The tribe lives in the two Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, to which they claim to have been exiled from Israel more than 2,700 years ago by the Assyrian empire.