Archive

Archive for 05/30/2011

Solar Flaring Warning Issued

05/30/2011 Leave a comment

By Duncan Alfreds – “Cape Town – The Space Weather Centre has warned that the sun is undergoing some instability, which has implications for electronic communications.

‘There is a very active area on the sun as rotated onto the invisible solar disc. This active area has got the potential for more flaring for the next five to six days,’ space weather forecaster Kobus Olckers of the Space Weather Warning Centre at the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory told News24.

He said that communications and electronic systems might be affected.

‘The internet could be a little slower for the next week or so and especially long distance communications.'” Read more.

Categories: Cosmic Craziness

Anti-Christian Violence Continues in Pakistan

05/30/2011 Leave a comment

By Penny Starr – “(CNSNews.com) – Anti-Christian violence continues in Pakistan and police are not pursuing the perpetrators, according to news reports.

A May 26 article in AsiaNews.it described the gang-rape of a Christian woman and the desecration of Christian tombs in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad. The publication called it ‘ordinary violence visited upon Pakistan’s Christian minority.’

The Pakistan Christian Post first reported the violence, including information about Muslim landowners using tractors to desecrate a Christian graveyard. Buried caskets were broken and bones of the dead were brought to the surface, the newspaper reported.” Read more.

Categories: Radical Islam Tags:

Free Speech Victory in Dearborn, Michigan!

05/30/2011 Leave a comment

By David Wood – “Maybe I shouldn’t say ‘in’ Dearborn, since the city only sought to suppress free speech in this case. An outside court (the United States Court of Appeals) had to impose Constitutional law on the city.

Dearborn hosts an annual Arab Festival on Warren Avenue. During the festival, the street is reserved, but the adjacent sidewalks are not reserved and therefore remain public property. Hence, prior to 2009, many people would distribute pamphlets, DVDs, CDs, etc., on the public sidewalks. However, when Ronald Haddad took over as Chief of Police, he announced that no one would be allowed to distribute materials on the public sidewalks. Indeed, he insisted that no one would be allowed to distribute materials within five blocks of the festival. (He justified his decision by claiming that he needed to keep the area clear for pedestrian traffic.)

From a Constitutional perspective, this was quite disturbing, as the government was officially limiting free speech on public sidewalks. Moreover, those of us who attended the festival noticed that security only enforced the policy on Christians. Muslims remained free to distribute their materials.

Pastor George Saieg, an Arab Christian from the Sudan (who has observed the effects of Islamic law in his home country and therefore understands the importance of free speech better than many of us) decided to take the case to court. The freedom fighters at the Thomas More Law Center (praise God for them) took the case free of charge, and they won.

Lower courts had ruled in favor of Dearborn (i.e. that Dearborn police could stop people from exercising their freedom of speech on the public sidewalks adjacent to the festival). The appeals court reversed the decision on Constitutional grounds. Here are two excerpts:” Read more.

June 2010:


—

Categories: Good News

Japan Nuclear Firm Aims to End Crisis Within Nine Months; Update: ‘Major Delay’ to Containing the Situation

05/30/2011 Leave a comment

Update May 30, 2011:  TEPCO now admits that obstacles are causing major delays in getting the situation under control …

TEPCO believes stabilizing Fukushima reactors by year-end impossible – “Tokyo Electric Power Co. is coming to the view that it will be impossible to stabilize the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by the end of this year, senior company officials said Sunday, possibly affecting the timing for the government to consider the return of evacuees to their homes near the plant.

The revelation that meltdowns had occurred at the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors at the plant, most likely with breaches to pressure vessels encasing nuclear fuel, has led the officials to believe that ‘there will be a major delay to work’ to contain the situation, one of them said.

The plant operator, known as TEPCO, announced on April 17 its road map for bringing the troubled reactors at the plant into a stably cooled condition called ‘cold shutdown’ in six to nine months.” Read more.

April 17, 2011: In other words, they really have no idea when this will all end.  They just HOPE to have a ‘cold shutdown’ achievable by early 2012 while radiation continues to spew for at least another three months (best case scenario) or more.  It’s like the nuclear version of the BP oil spill disaster.  And this is itself based upon the hope, however, that there will not be another major earthquake in the area, or any other unforeseen obstacles, that would complicate their efforts even further …

By Justin McCurry – “The company at the centre of Japan’s nuclear crisis says it hopes to bring the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant under control in six to nine months, but cannot say when tens of thousands of people forced to evacuate the area will be able to return home.

In the first indication of how long it will take to stabilise the plant, the Tokyo Electric Power Company [Tepco] revealed on Sunday a two-stage process it hopes will end with the safe ‘cold shutdown’ of the stricken reactors.

Tepco’s announcement came as the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, arrived in Tokyo to pledge Washington’s support for Japan as it recovers from the worst disaster in its postwar history.” Read more.

Categories: Man-Made Disasters Tags: ,

Uganda: Hailstorm Hits Namutumba, Hundreds of Acres of Crops Destroyed

05/30/2011 1 comment

By Yazid Yolisigira – “Namutumba — About 40 houses had their roofs blown off and hundreds of acres of crops destroyed when a hailstorm hit Namutumba District. The two-hour hailstorm on Thursday hit 20 villages including Isegero A and B, Ndikitwamaila, Namukoge, Busene, Nabikenge, Bakudumira, Nawampiti, Kibaale and Kivule. Domestic animals and birds were also killed. Eight hours after the downpour, ice blocks were still visible on the ground.

In Nsinze Sub-county, several plantations under the Naads programme were destroyed. Mr Richard Kayingo, the sub-county NAADS coordinator, while touring the plantations, said the government should provide relief aid, including seeds, to farmers. ‘This is horrible. It is a total destruction and there is no hope for farmers to have any harvest this season,’ he said.

Most of the crops were left with two months to mature but farmers’ hope of a fruitful harvest has been dashed. ‘We have nothing to do right now. We don’t have seeds. The affected families should be given food aid for three months as they wait for the new season,’ Mr Kayingo said.” Read more.

Categories: Famines and Crop Destruction, Natural Disasters

Australia: Mystery Surrounds Dolphin Deaths

05/30/2011 Leave a comment

By David Sparkes – “DEBATE over deaths of marine animals in Gladstone Harbour could be about to flare up yet again.

Two dolphins have washed up dead within the space of a week, and neither shows any obvious cause of death.

Clive Last, caretaker at Turtle Island, stumbled upon the ugly spectre of a bloated, dead dolphin on May 15. He immediately reported the finding to Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS), who went to the scene.

Just one week earlier, another dead dolphin was found washed up on Boyne Island on May 9…

‘I was disappointed first off (to discover the dolphin), because you don’t see too many dolphins dead on the beach,’ he told The Observer. ‘I go out in the boat a lot, fishing and all that in the harbour, and you do get passionate about what happens in it.

‘It’s extremely unusual, because you just don’t see dolphins washing up like this.'” Read more.

Categories: Mass Animal Deaths

Philippines: ‘Remarkable Increase’ in Volcanic Tremors in Taal; Massive Fishkill Remains a Mystery

05/30/2011 Leave a comment

By ELLALYN B. DE VERA – “MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) observed a “remarkable increase” in the number of volcanic earthquakes around Taal Volcano with 115 tremors during its 24-hour observation period.

Out of the 115 earthquakes detected from 8 a.m. last Sunday until 8 a.m. Monday, 12 were felt with intensities that ranged from 1 to 4 and accompanied by rumbling sounds, Phivolcs reported.

The 12 tremors were felt by residents in Barangays Pira-piraso, Alas-as, and Calauit located in the northeast, southwest, and southeast sectors of the volcano, respectively.

One of these events recorded at 8:32 p.m. last Sunday was felt at Intensity I; nine events (1:02:19 a.m., 1:02:26 a.m., 2:32 a.m., 2:53 a.m., 2:12 a.m., 3:08:19 a.m., 3:08:52 a.m., 3:17 a.m., 3:19 a.m., 3:26 a.m. recorded Monday) were felt at Intensity II; one event (1:26 a.m. Monday) was felt at Intensity III; and another one (1:05 a.m. Monday) was felt at Intensity IV.” Read more.

Why did millions of fish drop dead in a lake near Philippines volcano? – “Wildlife experts have been baffled by the sudden death of more than 800 tons of fish which have rotted on farms in a lake near Taal volcano south of Manila. Residents were stunned when the milkfish, a widespread local dish, began dying and floating of the surface late last week. Officials have banned the sale of the rotting fish, which are being buried by the truckload in Talisay and four other towns in Batangas province.” Read more.

 

 

Categories: Mass Animal Deaths, Natural Disasters