Emergency services have received reports of structural damage such as cracked walls and fallen chimneys.
The earthquake was felt as far afield as Essex, East Sussex and Suffolk. The British Geological Survey said the tremor, which occurred at 0818 BST, was the largest British earthquake since one in Dudley, West Midlands, in 2002.

Emergency services have received reports of structural damage such as cracked walls and fallen chimneys.
The earthquake was felt as far afield as Essex, East Sussex and Suffolk. The British Geological Survey said the tremor, which occurred at 0818 BST, was the largest British earthquake since one in Dudley, West Midlands, in 2002.

David Booth of the British Geological Survey said the tremor, which lasted a few seconds, was of a sizeable magnitude. "It's certainly the largest in the UK since an earthquake in Dudley in the West Midlands in 2002 and that also caused damage. So this is a very significant tremor."

Dr Brian Baptie, also of the British Geological Survey, told BBC News 24 that the epicentre was seven miles (12km) south of Dover, out in the English Channel. Randy Baldwin from the US Geological Survey, which monitors earthquakes, said the tremor had a preliminary magnitude of 4.7.

A Eurostar spokesman said everything was running normally in the Channel Tunnel.

The chief carnival barker for the concept was Alan Greenspan, even as its proponents labeled the crutch the name "Bretton Woods II" in pure heretical fashion. The Bretton Woods Accord, linking the US Dollar to gold, was real and valid and enforced. It is about as far in function, meaning, and validity as gold (real & tangible) is from the US Dollar (paper & counterfeit). Thus the HERESY. In the last several months, a painfully clear trend is the ABSENCE of Asian recycled funds. On a net basis, led by Japan and China, the Asian group has shown flat US Tbond purchases from their central banks, a radical departure from yesteryears. The US exports its inflation to Asia in order to pay for its bill for finished products, but Asia has RESISTED the temptation to put good money after bad into US Tbonds. Implications concerning the faulty and stripped mythological premise are huge.

The US Dollar is exposed, soon to be hung out to dry, with the kick over the edge being upcoming Euro Central Bank rate hikes. The busted Bretton Woods II myth represents a missing crucial support pillar for the broken US Dollar. No BW2 means no prevailing ideology to serve as intellectual support. Asians will next be purchasing gold & energy, both refined and raw ore, both securities tied to gold & energy and related companies, alongside stockpiles of commodities, as they eschew the US$-based system. China has already tipped off the world powers on their intention.

What does the death of Bretton Woods II mean? Many things, all good for gold and bad for the US Dollar. IT MEANS THE US DOLLAR IS IN FOR A POTENTIAL FREE FALL, as support from guy wires is missing, and control is being lost among principal partners. The DX dollar index now stands below 82, in the DANGER ZONE.

THE ONLY WAY THE UNITED STATES IS CAPABLE OF KEEPING THEIR MUSICAL DEBT MERRY-GO-ROUND TURNING MIGHT BE THROUGH FORCE, NAMELY A WIDER WAR AND TRADE PROTECTION. The war will keep the pressure on the Persian Gulf nations to continue both US Tbond support and weapons outlay purchases. A higher oil price will win their consent. The trade protection effort will backfire. Those in deep debt cannot threaten their creditors.

The principle argument was that in order to sustain a fallacious economic system, whose foundation is but shifting sands whipped by the ebb & flow of monetary inflation, that system needs an utterly absurd sequence of myths to be widely accepted as ideology, promoted by a trusted harlot.

The myth which purports that the manufacturing base is unnecessary, that the service sector can replace it, is total absurd. History shows that the service sector follows the manufacturing base in its path. Furthermore, the service sector pays lower wages, offers worse benefits, and can offer little security when the mfg base and its capital base provide the foundation for business investment and economic structure.

The continued trade gap reads like a medical haemorrhage, whose retreat would testify to the grand systemic liquidation underway. The continued federal deficit is not so much a myth, but evidence of basic lies. The US Govt talks of declining deficits, yet the crash course toward the next spending limit set by Congress approaches the next $ trillion with fewer months each time.

The conclusion of that past article in Sept 2004 on Mythology seems appropriate here. In order to keep the charade going, the nation, its trading partners, and investors worldwide must be fooled, tricked, and deceived by myths. Without such myths, we would be forced to endure a painful correction to inflated assets, and be subjected to a severe debt downgrade.

The consequence would be a grand decline in the standard of living for most American households and citizens. The world economy depends too much on our spending, even if that spending is led by evermore debt in an overly burdened debt environment. In all likelihood, the world economy would enter a deep recession, or worse. So maintaining and perpetuating myths is essential What will the next economic myth be, sold to the world ?

The entire body of economic statistics represent false shadows cast against the wall, each to support the current empty mythology. The US Gross Domestic Product is running at minus 1.5%, not in the 3% range. The US Consumer Price Index is running at 10%, not in the 3% range. The US jobless rate is running at 12%, not in the 5% range. Check the Shadow Govt Statistics for a snapshot of reality, whose calculations are divorced from mythology and rooted in unwanted reality. These guys remove gimmicks, otherwise known as accounting fraud, or more simply lies. The statistical lies took root in the early 1990 decade. If the word 'is' cannot be defined, then the statistics cannot be trusted.

The next solution will very possibly be to enable a much higher crude oil price. Since the summer of 2005, the Persian Gulf nations have replaced the absent Asians in credit supply. . England might not offer much troop assistance in the Iraqi War, but the nation surely comes through with assistance in banking. Besides, banking is where the real power is anyway. Military deployment is often to support the banking enterprises. A higher crude oil price, in my opinion, was one of the primary objectives in the Iraq War.

Law means much less anymore than sheer power. Look for a higher crude oil price, like one to hit $80 per barrel, and a higher gold price, like one to hit $750 per ounce, in the coming months. Look for mindboggling creation of new money to come also, under the cover of darkness, to paper over the mortgage bond black hole, to avert associated credit derivative accidents underway.

We are in the Weimar Age of modern money. Good prefers light; evil embraces darkness. In full light, the gold rally would be afforded greater tailwind. Even in darkness, gold will thrive since confidence erodes in darkness. DARKNESS IS THE CONSTANT THEME TO BOTH THE CURRENT FINANCIAL SYSTEM WHICH MANAGES THE US DOLLAR, AND TO A LOT MORE OF THE NATIONAL DRUMBEATS.

Due to space, this article has been edited. The full article is available at :- http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/willie/2007/0426.html

In a disgraceful debate in the European Parliament (EP) yesterday, Members of the European Parliament from France, the Netherlands and Italy, among others, vilified Poland as "hateful" and "repulsive" for refusing to allow promotion of homosexuality in schools.

A vote was held today to approve an EP resolution chastising Poland for 'homophobia.' The resolution - adopted by 325 votes to 124, with 150 abstentions - calls for a fact-finding mission to be sent to Poland, for "worldwide de-criminalisation of homosexuality" and for the Commission to take Member States to court if they breach their EU obligations.

At issue was a proposed law in Poland which would forbid "homosexual propaganda" in schools. Explaining the legislation earlier this year, Roman Giertych, Poland's minister of education: "One must limit homosexual propaganda so that children won't have an improper view of family"

Beginning the debate in the EP France's MEP Rour Martine called statements in defense of the traditional family by Polish parliamentarians, "diatribes" and noted that they "must stop", adding that they were "repulsive" and "hateful". "THESE ARE NOT EUROPE'S VALUES," SHE PROCLAIMED.

The statements from France were supported by Sophia in't Veld of the Netherlands who also accused the Polish government of "hatred" and demanded action rather than words from the EU governing body. Italy's Giusto Catania joined in the attack on Poland adding an attack on the church as well which he said never stopped in expressing hatred toward homosexuals.

Some of the MEPs from Poland and Northern Ireland walked out of the debate as a protest, however those who remained gave a strong defence of their positions. Poland's Konrad Szymanski said that the debate was evidence that THE "EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CAN BE LED BY THE NOSE BY A GROUP OF EXTREMIST POLITICIANS."

In the resolution passed today, MEPs urge the Polish authorities "to refrain from proposing or adopting a law as described by the Vice Prime Minister and Polish Minister of education". They demand a fact-finding mission into Poland regarding 'homophobia', and threaten court action on Poland or any other member nation unwilling to submit to EU rights conventions which they have interpreted to disallow a government from forbidding homosexual promotion in schools.

In Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski commented on the EP resolution saying: "Nobody is limiting gay rights in Poland. However, if we're talking about not having homosexual propaganda in Polish schools, I fully agree with those who feel this way - such propaganda should not be in schools; it definitely doesn't serve youth well."

A massive Hamas rocket attack earlier this week was coordinated directly with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and members of his Fatah party, according to Hamas sources speaking to WND.

In the first rocket attack it claimed responsibility for in five months, Hamas Tuesday fired 39 Qassam rockets and 79 mortars from the Gaza Strip aimed at nearby Jewish communities. The projectiles were meant to serve as a diversion as the group attempted to storm an Israeli military base on the Gaza border to kidnap Israeli soldiers. The attacks occurred as Israelis nationwide celebrated the country's Independence Day.

Last night, Israel's major television newscasts quoted Israeli security officials stating the Hamas attack was carried out with the approval of Abbas, other Fatah members and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the declared military wing of Fatah. Hamas political sources and militants from Hamas' so-called military wing said the attack was indeed coordinated directly with Abbas and his Fatah party.

The Israel Defense Forces thwarted Tuesday's kidnap attempt and dispatched helicopters to intercept the gunmen behind it. Missiles were fired at Qassam launch pads in Gaza that had fired the large barrage of rockets.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided to only authorize the IDF to carry out a limited response to the Hamas attack despite mounting evidence, defense officials say, that indicates Hamas in Gaza is preparing for a large-scale conflict with Israel. But Hamas political sources and militants from Hamas' so-called military wing said the attack was indeed coordinated directly with Abbas and his Fatah party.

The Israel Defense Forces thwarted Tuesday's kidnap attempt and dispatched helicopters to intercept the gunmen behind it. Missiles were fired at Qassam launch pads in Gaza that had fired the large barrage of rockets.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided to only authorize the IDF to carry out a limited response to the Hamas attack despite mounting evidence, defense officials say, that indicates Hamas in Gaza is preparing for a large-scale conflict with Israel. "We don't recognize Israel's right to exist. We will never allow Jews to remain in our lands. Today's attack was only a sample of what we can do. We have thousands of rockets ready to be shot. The cease-fire is officially over," said Abu Abdullah.

In January, a spokesman for Olmert said the Al Aqsa Brigades members firing the missiles from Gaza are not affiliated with Fatah and don't take orders from Abbas. She said the militants are directed by the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

But in a WND interview following the spokeman's remarks, Brigades commander Abu Ahmed said his group, including the militants launching rockets, is loyal to Abbas and coordinates "resistance operations" with the Fatah party.

"The Al Aqsa Brigades is the military wing of the Fatah and the President Abu Mazen (Abbas) is the chairman of the movement," Abu Ahmed said. "We are committed to our leadership, to Abu Mazen. All our activity is in accordance with the political line of Fatah, which consists of fighting the occupation until the creation of a Palestinian state. The rocket-shooting is part of this vision."

Congressional Democrats on the US House Judiciary Committee quashed 25 amendments to the hate crimes bill H.R. 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act including an important amendment protecting freedom of religion before sending the bill to the House of Representatives for a vote.

According to the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC), Congressional Democrats rammed through the hate crimes bill defeating all 25 Republican amendments, which would have clarified the bill's language, included other special groups under hate crimes protections, and ensured Christians would not be prosecuted for expressing religious convictions opposed to homosexuality.

Republicans offered proposals to protect other categories of citizens on the basis that other groups were particularly vulnerable and deserving of added protections if homosexuals were going to be a protected class.
However, a dispute over an amendment offered by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) revealed that H.R. 1592 will have severe limitations on First Amendment guarantees of freedom of religion in America.

The Pence amendment read: Nothing in this section limits the religious freedom of any person or group under the constitution, meaning Christians and any other religious group that professed its beliefs against homosexual behavior would not suffer persecution for their convictions.A number of Republicans then spoke in support of the need for such an amendment.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) asked, "If a minister was giving a sermon, a Bible study or any kind of written or spoken message saying that homosexuality was a serious sin and a person in the congregation went out and committed a crime against a homosexual would the minister be charged with the crime of incitement?"

Chairman John Conyers and Congressional Democrats kept evading the issue, providing reasons why they could not accept the amendment until Rep. Lundgren demanded, "What is your answer? Would there be incitement charges against the pastor?" At that point Democrat Congressman Artur Davis from Alabama candidly said, "Yes."

By refusing to accept this amendment the Democrats on this committee have proven their purpose, TO REMOVE FREEDOM OF RELIGION FROM THE U.S. CONSTITUTION, concluded Rev. Lou Sheldon, Chairman of TVC, who attended the day-long proceedings with TVC CEO Andrea Lafferty.

Rather than prosecute all crimes equally as motivated by hate, H.R. 1592 would grant the federal government sweeping and entirely subjective authority to regulate the thoughts, words and actions of American citizens who could be accused of "hate crimes" by opposing the lifestyle of a special class of citizens.

As with any great mystery, a number of theories have been posed, and many seem to researchers to be more science fiction than science. People have blamed genetically modified crops, cellular phone towers and high-voltage transmission lines for the disappearances. Or was it a secret plot by Russia or Osama bin Laden to bring down American agriculture? Or, as some blogs have asserted, the rapture of the bees, in which God recalled them to heaven? Researchers have heard it all.

The volume of theories "is totally mind-boggling," said Diana Cox-Foster, an entomologist at Pennsylvania State University. With Jeffrey S. Pettis, an entomologist from the United States Department of Agriculture, Dr. Cox-Foster is leading a team of researchers who are trying to find answers to explain "colony collapse disorder," the name given for the disappearing bee syndrome.

"Clearly there is an urgency to solve this," Dr. Cox-Foster said. "We are trying to move as quickly as we can."
Dr. Cox-Foster and fellow scientists who were here at a two-day meeting to discuss early findings and future plans with government officials have been focusing on the most likely suspects: a virus, a fungus or a pesticide.

About 60 researchers from North America sifted the possibilities at the meeting. Some expressed concern about the speed at which adult bees are disappearing from their hives; some colonies have collapsed in as little as two days. Others noted that countries in Europe, as well as Guatemala and parts of Brazil, are also struggling for answers.

"There are losses around the world that may or not be linked," Dr. Pettis said. The investigation is now entering a critical phase. The researchers have collected samples in several states and have begun doing bee autopsies and genetic analysis.

So far, known enemies of the bee world, like the varroa mite, on their own at least, do not appear to be responsible for the unusually high losses.

Genetic testing at Columbia University has revealed the presence of multiple microorganisms in bees from hives or colonies that are in decline, suggesting that something is weakening their immune system. The researchers have found some fungi in the affected bees that are found in humans whose immune systems have been suppressed by the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or cancer.

The attack was made on a type of vehicle that the Prince will use, and took place in a part of the country where he is due to be deployed as early as next month. The two died when their Scimitar reconnaissance vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb the first time that British soldiers had been killed in a Scimitar as a result of enemy action. The Army fears that extremists deliberately chose the vehicle knowing that the Prince is a troop leader for a Scimitar-equipped unit.

Prince Harry faces a kidnap threat from insurgents, who have become active this month even within bases used by the British Army in southern Iraq. Security has been tightened at Camp Sparrowhawk, a base in Maysan Province used by reconnaissance units such as Prince Harry's.

The eleventh-hour review about sending Prince Harry to the area follows an alarming rise in attacks this year. Of the 17 British personnel to be killed in 2007, 11 died in the last month. Prince Harry, 22, has been trained to take command of four Scimitars when his unit, A Squadron The Blues and Royals, part of the Household Cavalry, is sent to Iraq. The attack has also raised further concerns that the presence of Prince Harry might increase the risk of casualties during his six-month deployment.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the Army who made the decision to send Prince Harry to Iraq after consultation with Buckingham Palace and Clarence House, will make the final judgment. He has about a week to decide whether to stick to his original decision or to keep him at home. Defence sources said that the review of the decision would continue "right up until Prince Harry is due to leave for Iraq".

Over the past two months, farmers in three parts of Taiwan have reported most of their bees gone, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported. Taiwan's TVBS television station said about 10 million bees had vanished in Taiwan.

A beekeeper on Taiwan's northeastern coast reported 6 million insects missing "for no reason", and one in the south said 80 of his 200 bee boxes had been emptied, the paper said. Beekeepers usually let their bees out of boxes to pollinate plants and the insects normally make their way back to their owners. However, many of the bees have not returned over the past couple of months.

Billions of bees have fled hives in the United States since late 2006, instead of helping pollinate $15 billion worth of fruits, nuts and other crops annually. Disappearing bees also have been reported in Europe and Brazil.

Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said homosexuals did not face discrimination in his country, responding to an EU parliament vote to send a mission to Poland to investigate recent anti-gay comments by senior officials.
"Nobody is limiting gay rights in Poland," Kaczynski told reporters hours after the vote. "However, if we're talking about not having homosexual propaganda in Polish schools, I fully agree with those who feel this way," he said. "Such propaganda should not be in schools; it definitely doesn't serve youth well." "It's not in the interest of any society to increase the number of homosexuals that's obvious."

The EU parliament called on Polish authorities to publicly condemn and take measures against declarations by officials "inciting discrimination and hatred based on sexual orientation." The assembly asked the EU's anti-racism center in Vienna to look into "the emerging climate of racist, xenophobic and homophobic intolerance in Poland," and to determine whether the bloc's anti-discrimination rules were being violated.

The resolution sponsored by the Socialists, Liberals and Greens but largely opposed by conservative lawmakers was likely to strain EU- Poland relations further. Since joining the EU in 2004, Poland has clashed with the bloc on a variety of issues, from the environment to the economy.

The vast majority of Poland's 38 million people are members of the Roman Catholic church, which considers homosexual behavior sinful. Kaczynski's Law and Justice party, which won parliamentary elections in September 2005, has stressed Catholic values. The party governs with the small, right-wing League of Polish Families, which is militantly anti-abortion and anti-gay rights.

The Democrat-dominated US Senate on Thursday passed legislation which set a timeline for the recall of US troops from Iraq, where the US has been engaged in a bloody war since March 2003. US President George W Bush has vowed to veto the law.

Howard, a staunch Bush supporter who has also committed troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, said the vote by the US Congress was "probably not helpful to the general situation in Iraq." "I think it is wrong, and I don't think it is doing anything other than giving great comfort and encouragement to Al-Qaeda and the insurgency in Iraq," Howard said.

"They are looking at all this, they read newspapers, they see it on television and they say, 'The American domestic resolve is weakening, therefore we should maintain our resolve.' "If there is a perception of an America defeat in Iraq, that will leave the whole of the Middle East in great turmoil and will be an enormous victory for terrorism."

The US bill, passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, comes against the background of plunging public support for the war which has claimed the lives of more than 3,300 US servicemen and women.

Cliques of the ultra-violent Latin American MS-13 gang have been identified in 42 U.S. states, according to the director of an FBI task force, speaking at a conference here. Another violent group, the 18th Street Gang, is in 37 states, said Brian Truchon, director of the FBI MS-13 National Gang Task Force, or NGTF.

"One thing we figured out with the on-going cases was that Los Angeles is our starting point," Truchon stressed. "When the gang migrates throughout the U.S., there is always a road back to L.A. From L.A., there is always a road back to Central America."

The FBI has identified 13 core cities for MS-13 in the U.S.: Los Angeles, Washington, Baltimore, New York, Houston, Charlotte, Sacramento, Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Omaha, Newark and Boston.
The FBI has found foreign connectivity from MS-13 and the 18th Street Gang back to El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.

"Gang members in a prison in El Salvador are able to reach out from prison and kill gang members in L.A.," he said. "We find a great deal of movement and communication between gang members in the U.S. and their counterparts in Mexico and El Salvador," Truchon said. "We believe that MS-13 controls the smuggling corridors along the Mexican border, for both drugs and weapons," Trias told the conference.

"MS 13 is not going away," Trias said. "We are seeing second generation MS-13 members and MS-13 recruitment is increasing. We also see signs of a more formal criminal structure developing within MS-13, both in the United States and in Central America."

Now die-hard supporters are renewing their push for the audacious plan -- a $65 billion highway project that would link two of the world's most inhospitable regions by burrowing under a stretch of water connecting the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean.

Russians and Americans alike made their pitch for the project in Moscow on Tuesday, at a conference titled "Megaprojects of Russia's East.""It's time to rewrite the old slogan 'Workers of the world unite!'" said Walter Hickel, a former governor of Alaska and interior secretary under U.S. President Richard Nixon. "It's time to proclaim, 'Workers -- Unite the world!'"

The proposed 110-kilometer tunnel would be the longest in the world. It would also be the linchpin for a 6,000-kilometer railroad line stretching from Yakutsk -- capital of the gold- and mineral-rich republic of Sakha, which is roughly the size of India -- through extreme northeastern Russia, in waters up to 54-meters deep and into the western coast of Alaska. Winter temperatures there routinely hit minus 70 degrees Celsius.

By comparison, the undersea tunnel that is currently the world's longest -- the Chunnel, linking Britain and France -- is only 50-kilometers long. That raises the prospect of some tantalizingly exotic routes -- train riders could catch the London-Moscow-Washington express, conference organizers suggested.

On Tuesday the number of £2 million homes reached a record high. There are a thousand up for sale this week at that price or more, and some are changing hands in only 48 hours. It is just amazing how much people are charging for homes, said one estate agent. You can almost name your price now.

On Wednesday KKR, the private equity firm, bid £11 billion for Boots. Unless every analyst has missed something, that sum is out of all proportion to the high street chemist's real value.

Is this balloon just going to keep floating up and up? All balloons eventually lose air. The only question is when. The current spate of takeovers, mergers and other deals going on in the City can be read in two ways. On the one hand, there is a lot of money around looking for a home.

The City is channelling much of the cash that is generated by Chinese growth and Russian/Middle Eastern oil, and it is gushing up through London like a giant geyser. On the other, I can't help thinking that the financiers seem to be sprinting ever faster to do ever-larger deals and rake in ever-larger management fees, in case the golden age fizzles out tomorrow.

In today's Financial Stability Report, the Bank of England finds that the UK financial system remains highly resilient. But it also says that the strong and stable economy has encouraged financial institutions to expand further their business activities and to extend their risk-taking . . . this has increased the vulnerability of the system as a whole to any abrupt change in conditions. Let's not forget a basic rule: you don't make gazillions without taking risks. That people are taking bigger and bigger risks to get a return, because everyone is doing it, should worry us all.

I will tell you how to become rich, Warren Buffett once said. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful. So do buy that flat if you can but as an insurance policy, not an investment. It may be wise to do what the rich do: hedge.

Tests will allow the couples to take the unprecedented step of selecting embryos free from a gene that carries a heightened risk of the cancer but does not always cause it. The move will reignite controversy over the ethics of embryo screening.

An application to test for the BRCA1 gene was submitted yesterday by Paul Serhal, of University College Hospital, London. It is expected to be approved within months as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has already agreed in principle.

Opponents say that the test is unethical because it involves destroying some embryos that would never contract these conditions if allowed to develop into children. Even those that did become ill could expect many years of healthy life first. Some critics fear that the tests move society farther down a slope that will lead ultimately to the creation of designer babies chosen for looks or intelligence.

However, the first patients say that the technology will allow them to spare their children a devastating genetic inheritance. One couple in their twenties, who would only be named as Matthew and Helen, have lost three generations to breast cancer.

Last year, The Timesrevealed the conception of Britain's first"designer baby", screened as an embryo for inherited cancer. The baby has since been born healthy, free from the gene carried by her mother that would have given her a 90 per cent chance of developing retinoblastoma, an eye tumour.

I have in my hands a copy of the eagerly awaited Inter-Ministerial Committee to Re-Examine Yom Kippur Practices report. The reexamination is in response to widespread demands, led by liberals and the secular media, to loosen the Yom Kippur restrictions, which have become a major stumbling block for non-Jewish immigrants who want to convert to Judaism.

Transcripts of interviews with these immigrants reveal that many abandoned the conversion process because of the adamant attitude of the rabbinic courts. The immigrants, most of whom are Russian, were willing to accept Judaism, but balked when told about Yom Kippur.

"These restrictions are 3,500 years old. Why should I have to deny myself food and drink for 24 hours?" asked one potential convert. "This is the 21st century, not primitive times," said another. "These uncaring rabbis force things upon us, refusing to compromise. If they cared, they would not prohibit food for a full day."

OTHER IMMIGRANTS stated they were willing to go along with other unreasonable demands, such as forswearing bread and eating tasteless matza for the entire Pessah week, and even to suffer the resultant stomach problems. "We were even willing to celebrate that other festival by eating cold soup in an unheated Succa during chilly autumn nights. But these harsh Yom Kippur demands are the last straw. The rabbis obviously do not welcome us."

Others complained that though they love the benefits that Israel gives its immigrants, these religious demands are cruel and unusual. "Not only would we not be able to eat, but also not to drink. Have we left one Gulag to enter another? We pleaded with these medieval rabbis, but they would not budge. Do they not know that it is dangerous to go without water? One could become dehydrated."

Other immigrants were shocked to discover that the Yom Kippur prayers take several hours at night, and then continue from sunrise to sunset the entire next day. "Even Russian Easter services take only a fraction of that time. And one may eat on Easter!"