This issue looks at Israeli and Iranian preparations for war, U.S. arms deals with Arab nations, the Shariah law-persecution connection, Homeland Security's low expectations, the Fairness Doctrine and offers a writing tip. 

OUR ISRAELI CONNECTION
In the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, terrorists who seek to destroy Israel have typically launched attacks during efforts for peace and a two-state solution. The new flurry of peace efforts began on Dec. 29, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to discuss how to resume negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
 
Joel Rosenberg reports
Tehran plans a major military exercise: drill to boost Iran's 'defensive capabilities.'  It coincides with the deadline Iran has set for the West on its nuclear offer. Israel, in turn, will disperse gas masks as she simulates a biological warfare attack.
 
David Zauber reports
Israeli officials have expressed concern over the scope and content of several major arms deals which the Pentagon has recently signed with several Arab states allied with Washington. Among the recipients of the advanced arms are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. The shipments are to include anti-ship and antitank missiles as well as so-called smart and bunker-busting bombs. In December, the Pentagon notified Congress of several arms deals it wanted to carry out and certified that none of the deals would “alter the military balance in the region.” But Israel's defense establishment is wary of the deals, even though the Obama administration is arguing that the armaments will boost the deterrence capabilities of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries in relation to Iran.

IT’S NEWS TO ME

GrassTopsUSA reports
North Korea, which reportedly has used believers as guinea pigs to test chemical and biological weapons, is the world's worst persecutor of Christians, while Iran, which may be using Christians as scapegoats for internal opposition to its president, is No. 2 on the Open Doors 2010

World Watch List. Iran is among eight nations in the top 10 of the group's ranking of the 50 worst persecutors of Christians in which Shariah, the Islamic religious law, is dominant. A total of 35 nations on the list are under some form of Shariah.  
 
 Documents produced by the Department of Homeland Security indicate that in fiscal 2010 the department is planning to catch only 26 percent of travelers committing major criminal violations while seeking to enter the United States through international airports. As of one month ago, less than one percent of the people the U.S. government has designated as “known or suspected terrorists” had been put on the “No Fly” list that the Department of Homeland Security uses to screen air travelers, according to data provided to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Dec. 9 by Timothy J. Healy, director of the Justice Department's Terrorist Screening Center.

WorldNetDaiy reports
Is the U.S. government still serious about protecting Americans from the extreme violence of Islamofascism – or isn't it? The Department of Homeland Security, created to defend the nation after the Sept. 11 Islamic terror attacks, has dramatically shifted its focus, advising police nationwide to watch out for “right-wing extremists” – especially returning war veterans – supporting the Second Amendment, opposing abortion and illegal immigration, and promoting U.S. sovereignty and the Constitution.
 
Fairness Doctrine
Our government is pushing for regulations that would require broadcast of local ''public affairs'' programs … with a mandate to air a ''diversity'' of viewpoints.  Can't afford to produce such programs?  Don't want to air opposing viewpoints?  Then you're OFF THE AIR.
 
WRITING TIPS

 Doubt
 A question mark, usually in parentheses, may be used to express a doubt about what precedes.
 
Edmund Spenser (1552?-1599)
On March 2(?), 1542.

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of the hard word you already did.–Newt Gingrich

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