National Intelligence Director Blair vows agencies will 'close the gap'

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–Following is the text of a “dear colleague” letter National Intelligence Agency director Dennis Blair sent to members of the intelligence community in the wake of the attempted Christmas bombing of an airliner by a Nigerian man believed to be an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist: It has been an especially challenging week for the […]

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USA

Constitutional Rights advocacy group says attempted airline bombing should not delay closure of Guantanamo

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — In the wake of the recent attempted attack on Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight 253, several elected officials have renewed their politicized claims that closing the prison at Guantánamo would be dangerous and premature. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) urges the President to reject the use of this incident as fodder to

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USA

Obama stresses Yemen's importance in fight against al Qaeda

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–Following is the transcript of President Barack Obama’s regular Saturday morning radio address dealing this week with his administration’s efforts to fight terrorism: THE PRESIDENT: It has now been more than a week since the attempted act of terrorism aboard that flight to Detroit on Christmas Day. On Thursday, I received the

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USA

Soft-pedalling external opposition to Iran to help the internal opposition

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM—Perhaps Prime Minister Netanyahu’s stress on the Iranian threat may not only reflect the grim reality of Israel being in the firing line but also a ploy to avoid dealing with the Palestinian issue by arguing that Iran is a more urgent and immediate problem and must be dealt with before

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Middle East

Republicans want U.S. to treat terrorists as war makers not individual criminals

 WASHINGTON, D.C (Press Release)- House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohion on Wednesday issued the following statement on the attempted airline terrorist attack as well as the Obama Administration’s response: “The terrorist plot to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 exposed a near-catastrophic failure at every level of our government.  News reports suggest our government

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USA

Feinstein seeks revision of terrorist watchlist rules

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (Democrat, California), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, on Wednesday sent a letter to President Obama urging the Administration to strengthen U.S. counterterrorism policies in the wake of the December 25 attack.   Following is the text of the letter sent by Chairman Feinstein

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USA

Jews of Australia topic of Jan. 8 Shabbat talk at Dor Hadash

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)–Janice Alper, former executive director of the Union for Progressive Judaism in Australia and a founding member of the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education, will discuss “The Jews of Australia,” at 7:30 p.m., Fridy, Jan. 8, at  Congregation Dor Hadash, 4858 Ronson Court, San Diego.  For more information, contact Mark

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Travel and Food

The holidays and their music, Part I

By David Amos SAN DIEGO–We have just passed the time of the year when we are bombarded from everywhere by Christmas music. We hear it in television, radio, shopping malls, independent stores, school concerts, elevators, waiting rooms and anywhere else you can fathom. The exposure is inescapable.  Yet, I enjoy listening to most of it.

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USA

Return to Bush doctrine needed that U.S. fight is against terrorists and countries that harbor them

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –President Bush was right. There. We said it and we’ll say it again. President Bush was right that the war in which the West is engaged is the war against terrorists and the states that harbor and support them.    President Bush’s formulation was a sea change from the Clinton

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Middle East, Shoshana Bryen

U.S. health care bill–like most medicines–may have some side effects

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Do no harm is a standard traditionally taught to medical students that modern physicians must violate. It will be violated as well by whatever health measure comes out of the Congress and White House.   I know of no modern medication that is free from harm, or side effects. Some are serious,

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Ira Sharkansky, USA