January 8, 2004

Writing in The Guardian, Karma Nabulsi outright rejects the Geneva Accord stating that it prevents the Palestinians from obtaining a "right of return", that is flooding Israel with millions of Palestinians destroying it as a Jewish state and endangering the safety and lives of its Jewish citizens. If this is his, "starting point of any authentic peace process" then such a peace process will not exist. 10:50:17 PM

Israel starts to build a security fence between it and the Palestinians and the number of Israeli victims of terror falls by half. This fact alone should be enough to justify completion of the fence. 10:49:43 PM

Reports are that US President George W. Bush is proposing the US return to the moon and then go onto Mars. One idea for the proposed lunar base would to use it in a mining effort for helium-3, a potential fuel for nuclear fusion. Question: If there is a mission to Mars should any parts from crashed probes, or successfully probes such as Pathfinder, the Viking missions or the current mission be brought back to Earth for display? 10:48:57 PM

The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel has proposed what could be a very controversial law that would halt the payment of royalties to American artists and their record companies when their songs are played on Israeli radio stations and in Israeli clubs. Payments to Israelis and other nationalities would continue. It reports: Israel seems to be considering excluding US artists and companies from payment, since officials believe only artists from countries which are party to the Rome Convention – a 1961 copyright treaty that grants protection to performers, record producers, and broadcasting organizations – should be compensated. While 76 countries, including Israel, are party to the convention, the US is not. Israel became a member in 2002. The report does not indicate if the US is being singled out or all countries not signing the Rome Convention and the US is the only one of interest to the report’s authors. 10:46:31 PM