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Archive for January, 2012

The USGS Monitors Earth’s Magnetic Field to Prepare Citizens for Magnetic Storms

01/30/2012 Leave a comment

By Christina Nyquist and Jeffrey Love – “Everyone is familiar with weather systems on Earth like rain, wind and snow. But space weather – variable conditions in the space surrounding Earth – has important consequences for our lives inside Earth’s atmosphere.

Solar activity occurring miles outside Earth’s atmosphere, for example, can trigger magnetic storms on Earth. These storms are visually stunning, but they can set our modern infrastructure spinning.

On Jan. 19, scientists saw a solar flare in an active region of the Sun, along with a concentrated blast of solar-wind plasma and magnetic field lines known as a coronal mass ejection that burst from the Sun’s surface and appeared to be headed for Earth.

When these solar winds met Earth’s magnetic field, the interaction created one of the largest magnetic storms on Earth recorded in the past few years. The storm peaked on Jan. 24, just as another storm began.

‘These new storms, and the storm we witnessed on Sept 26, 2011, indicate the up-tick in activity coming with the Earth’s ascent into the next solar maximum,’ said USGS geophysicist Jeffrey Love. This solar maximum is the period of greatest activity in the solar cycle of the Sun, and it is predicted to occur sometime in 2013, which will increase the amount of magnetic storms on Earth.

Magnetic storms, said Love, are a space weather phenomenon responsible for the breathtaking lights of the aurora borealis, but also sometimes for the disruption of technology and infrastructure our modern society depends on. Large magnetic storms, for example, can interrupt radio communication, interfere with global-positioning systems, disrupt oil and gas well drilling, damage satellites and affect their operations, and even cause electrical blackouts by inducing voltage surges in electric power grids. Storms can also affects airline activity — as a result of last weekend’s storm, both Air Canada and Delta Air Lines rerouted flights over the Arctic bound for Asia as a precautionary measure. Although the storm began on the 19th of January, it did not peak until January 24th.

While this particular storm had minor consequences on Earth, other large storms can be crippling, Love said. He noted that the largest storm of the 20th century occurred in March, 1989, accompanied by auroras that could be seen as far south as Texas, and sent electric currents into Earth’s crust that made their way into the high-voltage Canadian Hydro-Quebec power grid. This caused the transformer to fail and left more than 6 million people without power for 9 hours. The same storm also damaged and disrupted the operation of satellites, GPS systems, and radio communication systems used by the United States military.

While large, the 1989 storm pales in comparison to one that occurred in September 1859 and is the largest storm in recorded history. Scientists estimate that the economic impact to the United States from a storm of the same size in today’s society could exceed $1 trillion as a result of the technological systems it could disrupt.” Read more.

Categories: Cosmic Craziness

Australia: ‘Black Water Event’ Kills Hundreds of Fish in Melbourne Reservoir Wetlands

01/30/2012 Leave a comment

“A popular wetland in Melbourne’s north has been hit by a ‘black water’ event that has killed hundreds of fish.

A POPULAR wetland in Melbourne’s north has been hit by a ‘black water’ event that has killed hundreds of fish.

Local residents described the water just north of Edwardes Lake in Reservoir as jet black and smelling rotten.

The black water in the Edgars Creek wetlands has again highlighted problems with the health of Melbourne’s waterways, which have been plagued by stormwater runoff and sewage spills after heavy rain.

The Environment Protection Agency says it is still investigating the cause of the black water. Spokeswoman Tanya O’Shea said officers initially observed 30 dead carp – an invasive pest – the largest being 45 centimetres long.

Darebin Council city design and environment director Daniel Freer said 200 to 300 carp had perished in the black water, along with a few smaller fish, likely to be perch.

The EPA says it has instructed the council to clean the dead fish from the wetlands, which have now been partly drained and will be flushed with fresh water.

Black water events – when oxygen is dissolved from the water – are usually caused by dry, hot weather or an abundance of organic matter like leaves being built up or swept into a waterway after rain. Last summer a black water event hit the Murray River, killing hundreds of Murray cod.

But local conservationists are concerned sewage run-off may have played a role in the black water event. Luisa Macmillan, manager of the Merri Creek Management Committee, said there have been previous overflows of sewage into Edgars Creek, and it was an imperative the event be investigated.” Source – Optus Zoo.

Norway: Two Muslim Men Convicted of Terrorism, Plotted Attack Against Danish Newspaper for Printing Mohammed Caricature

01/30/2012 Leave a comment

“OSLO, Norway — Two men were found guilty Monday of involvement in an al Qaeda plot to attack a Danish newspaper that caricturerd the Prophet Muhammad, the first convictions under Norway’s anti-terror laws.

A third defendant was acquitted of terror charges but convicted of helping the others acquire explosives.

Investigators say the plot was linked to the same al Qaeda planners behind thwarted attacks against the New York subway system and a shopping mall Manchester, England, in 2009.

The Oslo district court sentenced alleged ringleader Mikael Davud, to seven years in prison and co-defendant Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak to three and a half years.

Judge Oddmund Svarteberg said the court found that Davud, a Chinese Muslim, ‘planned the attack together with al Qaeda.’ Bujak was deeply involved in the preparations, but it couldn’t be proved that he was aware of Davud’s contacts with al Qaeda, the judge said.

The third defendant, David Jakobsen, who assisted police in the investigation, was convicted on an explosives charge and sentenced to four months in prison — time he’s already served in pretrial detention.

It wasn’t immediately clear if any of the defendants would appeal…

Davud, who moved to Norway in 1999 and later became a Norwegian citizen, also said his co-defendants helped him acquire bomb-making ingredients but didn’t know he was planning an attack.

Prosecutors said the Norwegian cell first wanted to attack Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, whose 12 cartoons of Muhammad sparked furious protests in Muslim countries in 2006, and then changed plans to seek to murder one of the cartoonists instead.

Bujak, an Iraqi Kurd, said the paper and the cartoonist were indeed the targets, but described the plans as ‘just talk.'” Read more.

Kenya: Muslim Extremist in Uganda Who Saw Jesus In Visions and Converted to Christianity Facing More Death Threats from Islamists

01/29/2012 1 comment

Luke 21:16-17, “You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me.”

By Simba Tian – “A former member of an Islamic extremist group in Uganda who converted to Christianity after claiming to see visions of Jesus is hiding in Kenya, his movements severely restricted following threats to kill him.

Hassan Sharif Lubenga, 54, was a sheikh and said to be member of Buk Haram, a violent group of Islamists whose name suggests the Bible is corrupt and therefore forbidden (not to be confused with the more well-known Boko Haram extremist group). Originally from Chengera, seven kilometers from Kampala, the husband to four wives began his conversion process four years ago; in June 2011, he said, after various dreams and visions in which Jesus appeared to him, he made a full commitment to follow Christ.

Lubenga fled to Kenya last July 10 after hostilities peaked, and upon returning to Uganda in September he received messages on his cell phone from mujahidin – Islamic fighters – threatening to kill him, he said. He reported the threats to Chengera police, who told him they would investigate, but in October a friend told him that he’d heard in a Chengera mosque that his former colleagues were enraged and planning to kill him.

‘My heart got troubled, but the voice of Jesus continued whispering to me to witness for Jesus without fear,’ Lubenga said.

When Lubenga felt like giving up on his new faith, he said, he received a call from Bishop Umar Mulinde, his former pastor at Gospel Life Church International who was scarred in a Christmas Eve acid attack by Muslim extremists. Mulinde told him the church was praying for him, and Lubenga was deeply heartened, he said.

‘All my family members have deserted me,’ he said by telephone. ‘The Muslims are looking to kill me. I need protection and help.’

The Islamic extremists who had declared war on ‘infidels’ such as Lubenga had been threatening him since 2007, when he first began to speak of dreams and visions of Christ. Dangers peaked in 2010, when he was seen visiting a church in Uganda. By April 2010, one of his four wives had poisoned him because of his budding faith in Christ, leaving him unconscious, he said. After his recovery, he fled Chengera to a village 25 kilometers from Kampala, Kiwangala.

In 2007, he said, he told his jihadist friends that he had seen Jesus in a dream. He said they had warned him, ‘Do not make such a mistake again – we are ready to help you. If you continue with this move, then we will destroy you. You know that you are a sheikh.'” Read more.

Guilty As Charged: Shafia ‘Honor Killing’ Murder Trial Verdict Reached

01/29/2012 Leave a comment

Here’s an update on this story.  The Muslim family that killed their three daughters because they had boyfriends have been found guilty of first-degree murder as charged. In a Muslim country, they would have likely been let go or given little more than a slap on the wrist. In a country where laws are largely based upon common-sense Judeo-Christian values, and not barbaric and inhumane Sharia law, justice has been served …

“KINGSTON, Ont. — After Canada’s first mass-honour-killings trial, three members of a Montreal family have all been found guilty of first-degree murder in the drowning deaths of four other family members — including three teenage sisters.

A jury on Sunday handed down its guilty verdicts for Mohammad Shafia and Tooba Mohammad Yahya, as well as their 21-year-old son, Hamed.

They had been charged with murder after the bodies of three Shafia sisters — Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and 13-year-old Geeti — were discovered in a submerged vehicle in a canal near Kingston, in June 2009.

Also in the vehicle was Rona Amir Mohammad, the 52-year-old first wife of Shafia, whom he married in his native Afghanistan before the polygamous family moved to Canada in 2007 and settled in Montreal.

All three suspects had faced four counts of first-degree murder.

The trial, which began in October 2011, heard from 58 witnesses and was presented with more than 160 exhibits from both prosecutors and defence lawyers. While some described Shafia as the ultimate family man, other witnesses painted a picture of strict control in the family and limited freedoms for his daughters.

A dozen independent witnesses — including Montreal police, social workers, teachers and school officials — testified the girls feared their father and even some of their siblings, who they believed were spying on them, and were depressed and desperate to get away.

On wiretap recordings played for jurors, Shafia called his daughters ‘whores,’ ‘filthy’ and ‘rotten children’ who betrayed the family and Islam and did ‘cruelty’ to Shafia by secretly taking boyfriends and by wearing revealing clothes.

Prosecutors alleged that the victims died in an honour killing orchestrated by Shafia to cleanse the shame he felt from the conduct of his daughters.” Read more.

Killed for Islam - From left to right: First Wife Rona Amir Mohammad, Zainab Shafia (19), Sahar Shafia (17), Geeti Shafia (13)

Killed for Islam - From left to right: First Wife Rona Amir Mohammad, Zainab Shafia (19), Sahar Shafia (17), Geeti Shafia (13)

 

Categories: Radical Islam

UK: ‘Alarming Number’ of Muslim Girls as Young as Nine Years Old Forced Into Marriage

01/29/2012 5 comments
Child Brides in Gaza

Child Brides in Gaza

By PAVAN AMARA – “AN alarming number of under-age girls – some as young as nine – are being forced into marriage in Islington, according to a leading campaign group.

The Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO) claim that at least 30 girls in the borough were forced into marriage in 2010.

The practice was condemned by the Imam of Finsbury Park Mosque, who said such marriages were against Islam and ‘unacceptable’.

He pledged to invalidate any marriage which he said were carried out by ‘back-street Imams’.

IKWRO, which made headlines last month when they revealed there had been almost 3,000 ‘honour-based’ violence cases in 2010, has shown the Tribune records which revealed at least three 11-year-old girls and two nine-year-olds had been forced into marriage with older men within Islington. The oldest girls involved were 16.

They have warned that hundreds of Islington girls could be suffering sexual, emotional and physical scars as a result of the child marriages every year and are calling for teachers, social workers and police to be better trained to spot and manage the abuse.” Read more.

Flashback: New Saudi Fatwa Defends Pedophilia as ‘Marriage’ – “Muslim ‘child-marriage’ — euphemism for pedophilia — is making headlines again, at least in Arabic media: Dr. Salih bin Fawzan, a prominent cleric and member of Saudi Arabia’s highest religious council, just issued a fatwa asserting that there is no minimum age for marriage, and that girls can be married ‘even if they are in the cradle.’ … Fawzan insists that nowhere does Sharia set an age limit for marrying girls: like countless Muslim scholars before him, he relies on Koran 65:4, which discusses marriage to females who have not yet begun menstruating (i.e., are prepubescent) and the fact that Muhammad, Islam’s role model, married Aisha when she was 6-years-old, ‘consummating’ the marriage — or, in modern parlance, raping her — when she was 9.” Read more.

Categories: Radical Islam Tags:

Sweden: Two Iranian Converts from Islam to Christianity Attacked and Stabbed by Muslims

01/29/2012 2 comments

Is nowhere safe anymore for Muslims who’ve decided to leave Islam? If Europe doesn’t act now and introduce serious measures to eliminate this growing problem, then the answer will not be a good one. And the threats won’t only be against converts, either. It’ll begin affecting all Christians …

63af3-persecutionVärlden idag (Translated) – “Two Iranians who converted from Islam to Christianity were stabbed by masked men in Norway Haugesund last week.

The attackers shouted ‘kuffar’ – an Arabic term of abuse against unbelievers – during the attack.

The attack occurred on Tuesday evening when the two Christian Iranians were out for a walk in Haugesund. They were attacked suddenly by three masked and knife-armed men, who reportedly shouted ‘kuffar’ as they stabbed the two.

One of the first people who showed up at the scene after the attack was a nurse who saw the worst of the wound before an ambulance took the men to Hospital, writes Haugesund Avis.

According to police, one of the men was stabbed twice in the back and the other stabbed in the side. The attackers have not been caught.

The two assaulted men want to be anonymous and have not spoken out afterwards. They have lived in Norway for several years. One of them has become a Christian in Norway, the other left Islam and became a Christian in Iran and fled to Norway a few years ago after he was beaten and imprisoned for his Christian faith. Both work at a mission church in Haugesund. ‘They are very active in church and have both testified about their faith during meetings,’ says their pastor, who wishes to remain anonymous because he often travels to Muslim countries where Christians are persecuted for their faith. The pastor is certain the attack was religiously motivated. ‘I am totally convinced, since the perpetrators shouted ‘kuffar’ during the attack, I have no doubt about it.’ The pastor didn’t expect this sort of attack to happen in Haugesund, Sweden. ‘This is very dramatic and surprising, I had not counted on that. I have not heard about threats to some converts in the area.'” Source – Världen idag.

Flashback: Islamic Militants Calling Themselves ‘The Unknown Soldiers of The Hidden Imam’ Threaten to Hunt Down and Execute Christians Who Flee Iran – “Islamic militants with suspected ties to Iranian security forces have been terrorizing evangelical Christians with threats to ‘repent’ or die, it was reported Sunday. Christian Solidarity Worldwide has reported that 11 Iranian Christians who fled Iran in the wake of a government campaign against Christianity have received threats via email to ‘repent’ or face extrajudicial execution, from a group identifying itself as the ‘The Unknown Soldiers of The Hidden Imam.’ The threatening emails that were sent to each individual on Sept. 14 aspired to extend the arm of Iranian Islamic militancy beyond the borders of Iran by implying that, although the recipients have left Iran, they have not escaped the ‘acute eyes of the unknown soldiers.’” Read more.

Flashback: Losing Malmo: Sweden Surrenders Their Third Largest City … to Muslims – “Do you remember the jihadist terror campaign that ravaged Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city? Do you recall the bombings, the suicide-hijackings, and the random assassinations that finally coerced the city to surrender to Islamization? No? Funny, I don’t remember them either. Yet there is no question that Malmo has surrendered. Large enclaves of the city, like similar enclaves throughout Western Europe, have earned the dread label ‘no-go zone.’ They are unsafe for non-Muslims, particularly women who do not conform to Islamist conventions of dress and social interaction. They are especially perilous for police, firefighters, and emergency-medical technicians.” Read more.

UK: Dead Fish Found in Stream Off River Usk Near Brecon

01/28/2012 Leave a comment

“An investigation is under way after more than 100 fish were found dead in a stream off the River Usk in Powys.

Environment Agency Wales made the discovery at around 13:30 GMT on Friday.

The fish and a large amount of silt were found in the stream, about a mile from Brecon, and officers are trying to establish the cause of death.

Anyone with information is being urged to contact the Environment Agency’s incident hotline on 0800 807060.” Source – BBC News.

Categories: Mass Animal Deaths

‘Unusual Mortality Event’: More Dead Dolphins Wash Up On Southeast Louisiana Coast

01/28/2012 Leave a comment

By Maya Rodriguez – “NEW ORLEANS– It’s been a busy few months for Suzanne Smith of the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas.

‘We keep all kinds of species here,’ she said.

Smith is also a part of the Louisiana Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue Program. Just last week alone, she conducted necropsies on three dead dolphins found near Grand Isle.

‘We’re finding, unfortunately, more dead dolphins than we normally would,’ Smith said. ‘So, the testing on the necropsies has gotten very strict and we are taking duplicate and triplicate samples on all parts, externally and internally on these animals, to try and find out what is happening out in the wild population.’

Since the beginning of the month, 14 marine mammals, including a dozen dolphins, have been found along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Half of the dead dolphins washed up on the Louisiana coast.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) calls it an ‘Unusual Mortality Event’ in the northern Gulf and next month will mark two years since it began. The tally so far: 630 dead.

The event started in February of 2010 – two months before the oil spill began. Still, the deaths raise a red flag with the Gulf Restoration Network.” Read more.

Categories: Mass Animal Deaths

UK: Muslim Man Jailed After Downloading Ways to Poison, Kill and Torture Infidels, ‘I Want to Fight Jihad for Allah’

01/28/2012 Leave a comment

It was an odd fluke that British police found this murderous jihadi wannabee. How many more unknown ‘soldiers of Allah‘ are out there? …

“A man who downloaded a recipe for the deadly poison ricin and documents about how to make bombs has been jailed for two years and three months.

Asim Kausar, 25, from Bolton, kept the information on a computer pen drive.

The material only came to light after Kausar’s family suffered a burglary and the memory stick was handed in to police.

Kausar pleaded guilty to four charges under the Terrorism Act at Manchester Crown Court.

The memory stick contained details about ricin, assassination and torture techniques, and how to construct improvised explosive devices (IEDs)…

Kausar, who has a previous conviction for battery, told officers he had downloaded the information out of ‘curiosity and a thirst for knowledge’.

The court heard Kausar had ‘scoured the internet’ between January 2009 and June 2011 and the information he downloaded ran into thousands of pages of documents…

When Kausar’s bedroom was searched, police found what appeared to be a ‘shopping list’ of munitions, said Riel Karmy-Jones, prosecuting, with prices marked down next to entries of various weapons and ammunition.

His mobile phone was also seized which contained a photograph of Kausar posing with an AK rifle – believed to have been taken in Pakistan.

The court was also told about a letter written by Kausar in which he said: ‘I want to fight jihad for Allah’.

The letter also asked ‘whether he would be able to fight and whether his martyrdom would be accepted'” Read more.

Islamist Leader in Nigeria: ‘I Enjoy Killing Anyone that [Allah] Commands Me to Kill the Way I Enjoy Killing Chickens and Rams’

01/28/2012 Leave a comment

Bible: John 16:2b, “… the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.”

Qur’an: Sura 4:89, “Have no unbelieving friends. Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them.”

“KANO (AFP) – Abubakar Muhammad Shekau was once thought to have been killed, but has re-emerged to lead Islamist group Boko Haram from the shadows as it carries out a bloody onslaught in northern Nigeria.

Very little is known about Shekau, but this week he appeared on YouTube, threatening more attacks and saying Boko Haram was responsible for the January 20 violence which killed 185 people in Kano in reprisal for the arrest and torture of its members.

Aged 43, he was born in a farming village also called Shekau in northeastern Yobe state.

He moved to the nearby city of Maiduguri, Boko Haram’s base, about a decade ago, according to sources familiar with the group.

Shekau studied theology under local clerics in the Mafoni area of Maiduguri and enrolled in a government-run school for Islamic studies.

He is often shown in photos wearing a keffiyeh and seated next to an AK-47, his face intense.

A video released on YouTube earlier this month portrayed a markedly different man compared to earlier images — he appeared considerably heavier, for example — but a Western diplomat said ‘we assessed it was Shekau.’

He was seen as the second-in-command of Boko Haram at the time of a 2009 uprising put down by a brutal military assault which left some 800 people dead…

In another part of the message, he says, ‘I enjoy killing anyone that [Allah] commands me to kill the way I enjoy killing chickens and rams.'” Read more.

Nigeria: Islamists Arrive in Town of Tafawa Balewa and Start Shooting at Christians, At Least Seven Killed, Many Injured – “Early morning attacks in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi state on Sunday (Jan. 22) left at least seven Christians dead and a church building destroyed. The attack on the Evangelical Church Winning All Church 2, residents of Tafawa Balewa said, was carried out by area Islamic extremists alongside members of the Boko Haram sect, with the church building and surrounding houses bombed.” Read more.

Egypt: Over 3000 Muslims Attack and Torch Christian Homes and Shops Over Rumor of Cell Phone Photo

01/28/2012 Leave a comment

“(AINA) — A mob of over 3000 Muslims attacked Copts in the village of Kobry-el-Sharbat (el-Ameriya), Alexandria this afternoon. Coptic homes and shops were looted before being set ablaze. Two Copts and a Muslim were injured. The violence started after a rumor was spread that a Coptic man had an allegedly intimate photo of a Muslim woman on his mobile phone. The Coptic man, Mourad Samy Guirgis, surrendered to the police this morning morning for his protection.

According to eyewitnesses, the perpetrators were bearded men in white gowns. ‘They were Salafists, and some of were from the Muslim Brotherhood,’ according to one witness. It was reported that terrorized women and children who lost their homes were in the streets without any place to go.

According to Father Boktor Nashed from St. George’s Church in el-Nahdah, a meeting between Muslim and Christian representatives was supposed to take place in the evening in Kobry-el-Sharbat. But, by 3 P.M. a Muslim mob looted and torched the home of Mourad Samy Guirgis, as well as the home of his family and three homes of Coptic neighbors. A number of Coptic-owned shops and businesses were also looted and torched. ‘We contacted security forces, but they arrived very, very late,’ Said Father Nashad. The fire brigade was prevented from going into the village by the Muslims and the fires were left to burn themselves out. ‘Those who lost their home, left the village,’ said Father Nashed.

Coptic activist Mariam Ragy, who was covering the violence in Kobry-el-Sharbat , said it took the army 1 hour to drive 2 kilometers to the village. ‘This happens every time. They wait outside the village until the Muslims have had enough violence, then they appear.’ She said that she spoke to many Copts from the village this evening who said that although their homes were not attacked, Muslims stood in the street asking them to come to their homes to hide. ‘They believed that this was a new trick to make them leave, so that Muslims would loot and torch their homes while they were away,’ said Ragy.” Read more.