Indeed, the comparisons to the Roman Empire are rarely favorable. For example, Cullen Murphy, author of Are We Rome? (2007), argues that the most alarming parallels are the blinding, insular culture of our capitals; the debilitating effect of corruption; the paradoxical issue of borders; and the weakening of the body politic through various forms of 'privatization.'

Murphy sees the eventual decline of the American Empire as inevitable, describing three possible scenarios for the future: there is the 'Fortress America' scenario, where everything revolves around national security and the power of the president expands to near dictatorial strength; the city-state scenario, where the central authority weakens and city-states emerge; and finally the boardroom scenario, where corporations privatize all crucial functions of the government and essentially rule what is commonly called fascism.

David Walker, former comptroller (accountant ) of the United States, has also drawn daunting comparisons between America and Rome. Walker believes that the American economy is standing on a burning platform of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments. TODAY, AMERICA IS IN A $53 TRILLION HOLE, WHICH TRANSLATES TO $455,000 PER HOUSEHOLD.

UNDENIABLY, SPENDING IS OUT OF CONTROL. This irresponsible spending has resulted in the devaluing of the dollar and untold damage to the economy. As acclaimed historian Chalmers Johnson points out, America's misguided economic policy, with its emphasis on frequent wars and military spending, has led to the decline of vital domestic areas, including the education system, manufacturing capabilities and health care. At the same time, the Department of Defense's planned spending for 2008 is larger than all other nations' military budgets combined and will exceed $1 trillion for the first time.

WITH MORE THAN 500,000 MILITARY SERVICE PEOPLE STATIONED ABROAD IN MORE THAN 130 COUNTRIES, America has become what Johnson describes as a foreign imperialist. This poses its own dangers, such as massive standing armies, an almost constant state of war, an increasing dependence on the 'military-industrial' complex, the dramatic economic drain of military spending and an excessive military budget.

If left unchecked, these will lead to the eventual decline of democracy. And as resources are drained, the republican nature of American government will break down, and the principles inherent in a democratic society will necessarily be compromised by what is needed to sustain such a militaristic empire. The breakdown is already underway.

ONE OF THE WORST CONTRIBUTORS TO TODAY'S PROBLEMS IS WHAT WALKER CALLS A LEADERSHIP DEFICIT WHERE TODAY'S LEADERS ARE SHIRKING THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES. They are concentrating on providing political quick fixes for the present, while giving little thought to how to create a better tomorrow. And with such irresponsible spending, America is mortgaging the future of our country, our kids and our grandkids' and leaving a legacy of a future of lower standards of living and with some major, major financial burdens.

Moreover, we face "a growing intellectual bankruptcy that is one of the symptoms of a dying culture," writes author Chris Hedges. "In ancient Rome, as the republic disintegrated and the Caesars were deified, as the Roman Senate became little more than an echo chamber of the emperor, the population's attention was diverted by a series of frontier wars and violent and elaborate spectacles in the arena. THE EXCITEMENT OF ENTERTAINMENT CONSUMED ANCIENT ROME'S EMOTIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE. It poisoned civic and political discourse. Social critics no longer had a forum in which to speak. They were answered with ridicule and rage. IT WAS NOT THE PREROGATIVE OF THE CITIZEN TO THINK."

'We the people' have not held our government accountable and have been content to lose ourselves in television, the Internet, cell phones and the technological gadgets that distract us from reality. We have, in the words of author Nicholas von Hoffman, become 'bobbleheads in bubbleland.'
CLEARLY, AMERICA IS AT A CROSSROADS. Thus, we have a decision to make: DO WE WANT A DEMOCRACY OR DO WE WANT AN EMPIRE, BECAUSE AS HISTORY HAS SHOWN, IT'S NOT POSSIBLE TO HAVE BOTH.

A confidential World Bank document indicates the true extent of the effect of biofuels on world food prices. Rising food prices have been blamed for pushing 100 million people beneath the poverty line. The confidential report, based on a detailed economic analysis of the effect of biofuels, will put pressure on the American and European governments, which have turned to biofuels in attempts to reduce the greenhouse gases associated with fossil fuels and to reduce their reliance on oil imports.

The report says: "Without the increase in biofuels, global wheat and maize stocks would not have declined appreciably and price increases due to other factors would have been moderate." Next week leaders of the G8 industrialised countries meet in Japan to discuss what action needs to be taken to alleviate the food crisis. They will be lobbied by campaigners calling for a moratorium on the use of biofuels.

"Political leaders seem intent on suppressing and ignoring the strong evidence that biofuels are a major factor in recent food price rises," said Robert Bailey, a policy adviser at Oxfam. "It is imperative that we have the full picture. WHILE POLITICIANS CONCENTRATE ON KEEPING INDUSTRY LOBBIES HAPPY, PEOPLE IN POOR COUNTRIES CANNOT AFFORD ENOUGH TO EAT."

Alain Lamassoure, French MEP and close advisor to Nicolas Sarkozy, has told the Irish Times that Ireland was wrong to hold a referendum, which is "a tool for dictators." He said: "If you hold 10 or 12 referendums and in every state there is 80 per cent support for an idea there is still only a less than 1 per cent probability that the measure will pass everywhere."

He warned that Ireland could spark a major crisis capable of splitting the EU if it cannot ratify the Lisbon Treaty by next spring. He said it was up to the Government to determine how it could pass the Treaty through either a new referendum or a majority in the Dáil.

Irish MEP Gay Mitchell added; "The last thing we need now is (French) President (Nicolas) Sarkozy riding into town with instructions and advice. What we need now is reflection by the Irish people themselves."

He said: "I expect heavy pressure to create an EU a la Francaise. Our position is different out of necessity and we must make an effort for the EU not to develop in a manner the French and the rejected Lisbon (treaty) are attempting to impose." Meanwhile Polish President Lech Kaczynski said in response to efforts by Sarkozy to urge him to ratify the Treaty, "Pressure sometimes has the opposite effect from what's expected."

According to Agence Europe Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer has defended his intention to put any future amendments to the Lisbon Treaty to a referendum, saying, "We have only 28% support in Austria in favour of the EU. One third of the population is fiercely opposed to the Union. Between the two, there are the sceptics. If we do not deal with the sceptics, there will soon be 50% or more tough opponents to the EU". In Süddeutsche Zeitung yesterday he said imposing referendums is "one of the few ways to make any political class explain itself to the population".

Following a relatively dry winter (rainfall was only 65% of average) and an early summer, the level of the Kinneret (SEA OF GALILEE), now stands only 6.5 centimetres above the red line set by the government. Its height is 212.935 meters below sea level, while the red line - below which it is not recommended to draw water from the Kinneret - is at 213 meters below sea level.

Barring unforeseen miracles in the coming week, the Kinneret's water level will drop below the 213 mark sometime next week. The question thus arises: Will water continue to be drawn from the Kinneret for the people of Israel to drink, bathe, water their crops and lawns, and wash their cars? The answer, a water economy official told Arutz-7, is yes. "You must understand," he said, "that the Red Line is merely a recommendation. The government definitely tries to make sure not to reach that level, but it really has no choice but to continue drawing water even beyond the 213 mark."

"However," he added, "in the past few years, the government has designated a Black Line, at 215 meters below sea level, and that is something that truly cannot be breached."

Zoellick's call is contained in a July 1 letter to the head of the upcoming G8 summit in Japan, in which the Bank, World Food Program (WFP) and International Monetary Fund estimate that about 10 billion dollars is needed to meet short term needs of people hit hardest by the crisis.

"What we are witnessing is not a natural disaster - a silent tsunami or a perfect storm: IT IS A MAN-MADE CATASTROPHE, AND AS SUCH MUST BE FIXED BY PEOPLE," Zoellick said in the letter made available to Xinhua on Wednesday.

"I urge the Group of Eight countries, in concert with major oil producers, to act now to address this crisis. This is a test of the global system to help the most vulnerable, AND IT CANNOT AFFORD TO FAIL," said the World Bank chief.

The Pray at the Pump Movement, founded by Rocky Twyman, has been holding prayer vigils at gas stations across the country. On Monday, Twyman decided to take his movement from Exxon and Shell stations straight to the steps of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C., hoping to encourage the oil-rich country to raise the amount of barrels they release each day from 200,000 to 1.2 million.

"Our people are really suffering through this crisis," Twyman told Cybercast News Service. "We need the Saudis to release at least 1.2 [million] barrels of oil per day for about the next six months until we can get everything settled in America.

Twyman, who prompted the first national campaign aimed at getting African Americans to become bone marrow donors, has moved on to more active participation to lower gas prices than eliciting the help of God through prayer. "I think we have just entered a new phase. We were in the prayerful phase, but now we're going into a more activist phase, because we feel that whole faith without works is dead," Twyman told reporters.

The number of homes scheduled for auction in Los Angeles rose 14,505 compared with 3,797 in the same period a year earlier, PropertyShark said in a report distributed by e-mail. In Miami-Dade County, the number climbed to 2,677 from 1,282.

New York's foreclosures climbed 49 percent, to include 961 properties with an average lien of $460,970 for a total of $424 million in outstanding debt. Los Angeles had about 15 times as many foreclosed properties set to be sold.

The second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is moving toward the west-northwest at about 14 mph, and forecasters expect that to continue for the next couple of days. Maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph. Some gradual strengthening is forecast during the next day or two. It's still too early to say if or where Bertha will hit land.

The first named storm this year, Arthur, formed in the Atlantic the day before the season officially started June 1 and soaked the Yucatan Peninsula.

The order raised concerns among users and privacy advocates that the online video viewing habits of tens of millions of people could be exposed. But Google and Viacom said they were hoping to come up with a way to protect the anonymity of YouTube viewers. Viacom said that the information would be safeguarded by a protective order restricting access to the data to outside advisers, who will use it solely to press Viacom's $1 billion copyright suit against Google.

Still, the judge's order, which was made public late Wednesday, renewed concerns among privacy advocates that Internet companies like Google are collecting unprecedented amounts of private information that could be misused or could unexpectedly fall into the hands of third parties.

Lord Phillips, the most senior judge in England and Wales, said there was no reason Sharia law's principles could not be used in mediation. However, he said this would still be subject to the "jurisdiction of the English and Welsh courts". Sharia is a set of principles which govern the way many Muslims believe they should live their life. The Archbishop of Canterbury prompted controversy when he said use of certain aspects of the law "seems unavoidable".

Lord Phillips said: "There is no reason why Sharia principles, or any other religious code, should not be the basis for mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution. It must be recognised, however, that any sanctions for a failure to comply with the agreed terms of mediation would be drawn from the laws of England and Wales."

Almost half of the televisions sold around the globe so far this year have been plasma or LCD TVs. But this boom could be coming at a huge environmental cost. The gas, widely used in the manufacture of flat screen TVs, is estimated to be 17,000 times as powerful as carbon dioxide.

Ironically, NF3 is not covered by the Kyoto protocol as it was only produced in tiny amounts when the treaty was signed in 1997. Levels of this gas in the atmosphere have not been measured, but scientists say it is a concern and are calling for it to be included in any future emissions cutting agreement.

Dr Paul Fraser is the chief research scientist at the CSIRO's marine and atmospheric research centre, and an IPCC author. He says without measuring the quantity of NF3 in the atmosphere it is unclear what impact it will have on the climate. "We haven't observed it in the atmosphere. It's probably there in very low concentrations," he said. "The key to whether it's a problem or not is how much is released to the atmosphere."

While there was no question the president would attend the Olympic Games in August, his plans for the opening ceremonies had not been confirmed until now. Some world leaders have said they may boycott the Aug. 8 opening event to protest the most recent Chinese security crackdown in Tibetan areas of China. The trip is built around the Olympics, which the White House long has said Bush plans to attend as a celebration of sports.

But the admiral, who is chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and who has just visited Israel, spoke of Israel's vulnerability to "very real threats". So the possibility remains that Israel might undertake an operation against Iran by itself. Recent large-scale Israeli air force exercises have strengthened this possibility, according to military observers.

Nor does Adm Mullen's intervention resolve the ambiguity of the Bush administration's position that "all options" are on the table. But his views do indicate that the body of US military opinion is that they have their hands full in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military opposition to an attack on Iran is bound to weigh heavily on President George W Bush but would not necessarily be the determining factor. Whether President Bush would dissuade Israel from launching its own attack is not known.

Iran has warned that any attack would bring consequences, one of which could be an Iranian move to close the Straits of Hormuz, through which oil is transported from the Gulf. The effect on oil prices would be serious. An Israeli cabinet minister and former chief of staff, Shaul Mofaz, has said that an attack on Iran is "unavoidable" if it "continues with its nuclear programme". However, the timing of any attack remains uncertain.

Priestly garments have not been worn since the destruction of the Second Temple almost 2000 years ago. Each set has a turban, tunic pants and belt which must be individually tailored at a cost of NIS 2,500 per Kohen. At the inauguration ceremony on Monday, Efrat Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, himself a Kohen, was measured for a set of the garments.

The garments are the fruits of a worldwide search. Special flaxen thread from India and Turkish mountain worms for the correct shade of crimson are two examples of the necessary materials. "The Temple is not a message (to only) the Jewish people. It reunites the world all around one central prayer house... ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE COMING TO JERUSALEM" Temple Institute Director Rabbi Yehuda Glick said.