Tonight on Extension 720: In July, the Presbyterian Church approved a plan of selective divestment in companies and firms that contribute to the Israel occupation of Palestine. In October, a Presbyterian theologian travelled to Lebanon to meet with a leader of Hezbollah, an anti-Israel militant group. These actions have caused great strain on Presbyterian-Jewish relations. Opponents of divestment contend that the removal of funds is an attack on the security and future of the state of Israel. Proponents claim that divestment is an attempt to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the oppression of the Palestinian people. Tonight, we will examine the divestment issue from both sides with EMILY SOLOFF, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the American Jewish Committee, DON WAGNER, an ordained Presbyterian minister and professor of Middle Eastern studies at North Park University, and NANETTE SAWYER, an official with the Presbytery of Chicago.

More information on this and other programs is available at our monthly program guide. You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

ARAFAT'S DEATH MAY BE THE NEEDED OPENING...for progress toward a real Israel-Palestine agreement. So says the Palestinian journalist from Al Quds University who authored this op-ed that appeared in yesterday's Jerusalem Post.

WHEN THE "TERM LIMIT" IS DEATH...political discourse and democratization remain illusory and impossible as in the Middle East today. This survey of life-long rule in the Muslim states appeared recently in the Washington Post.

THERE IS A MODERATE MUSLIM MOVEMENT...and it may be growing, but you can't tell the real thing from the fake without a scorecard. That service is provided here by Dan Pipes writing in today's issue of the New York Sun.

ALL IN ALL YOU MIGHT RATHER BE IN BAGHDAD...than in Quito, according to the British Foreign Office's estimation of dangerous places to be avoided by U.K. travelers.

THE FRIENDS OF BILL: The list continues to grow and now includes the Saudi, Dubai, Kuwait and Qatar governments not to mention many Saudi individuals and "the deputy prime minister of Lebanon." A staff reporter of the New York Sun dug up the telltale data.

WHAT IS BEACHING (AND KILLING) THE WHALES? The rate for that sort of fatality has risen in recent years. Now certain research leads suggest that sonar is driving them toward the surface at too fast a rate and thus producing decompression sickness (i.e. the "bends). The story is from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

"PROFESSOR" FAULKNER: The great novelist was not, despite his late connection with the University of Virginia, an "educated man." That was his own judgment and it is shared by his latest biographer who is the author of this arresting article from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

A CORRECTIVE TO THE EHRENREICH DISTORTION...of the situation of the "working poor" who, in data-based fact, usually rise rather rapidly to better income and social status. Or so argues--quite persuasively, we think--Steven Malanga in this article from the current City Journal.

ARE AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES LEFT-TILTED? Yes, for a data-based certainty, they are! And here's the data collected and analyzed in an article shortly to appear in Academic Questions.

THE MIDDLE-EAST WAR ON THE COLUMBIA CAMPUS...seems to be the professors against the (Jewish) students if one were to credit (as one should) this account from the New York Daily News.

THE BASEBALL ANNALIST OF THE NEW YORKER...is Roger Angell who has now written a classic account of the Red Sox series. This one will be anthologized, we predict, in a hundred seperate volumes over the rest of the century.

IF YOU WANT A PRESTIGIOUS MANHATTAN CO-OP...and have 3 or 4 million in spare change, these are the guys to see--but you must first decide whether you are an "arriviste" or an "old guardist." Further clarification to be found in this article from the New York Observer.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" is the standard question one addresses to a magician...and the standard answer is "Rather well, I thought." Jim Steinmeyer, in his new book explains (almost) the great illusions he has created for many of the great, contemorary magical performers. We discussed his art with him recently and here his book is reviewed with an enthusiasm slightly touched by frustration for the U.K. Telegraph.

HOW ABOUT BESSIE SMITH, PAUL WHITEMAN, TED LEWIS AND FRED ASTAIRE? They are all represented in this fine collection of popular music from the late 20s through the thirties.

HOW ABOUT BESSIE SMITH, PAUL WHITEMAN, TED LEWIS AND FRED ASTAIRE? They are all represented in this fine collection of popular music from the late 20s through the thirties.

Tonight on Extension 720: It is now just over three years since the September 11th terrorist attacks, but just how much have we learned since them? Are we any safer from our enemies now than we were on September 10? Tonight, we will tackle those tough questions and more with STEPHEN FLYNN, senior fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the new book America the Vulnerable: How Our Government is Failing to Protect Us from Terrorism.

More information on this and other programs is available at our monthly program guide. You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

Milt's File will return tomorrow.