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Radiation Ruled Out As Cause of Alaska Seal Deaths, For Now
Here’s an update on this story …
By Yereth Rosen – “ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Preliminary tests appear to rule out radiation from Japan’s tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant as the cause of mysterious deaths and illness that struck scores of Alaska seals last year, federal officials said on Friday.
Preliminary tests of tissue samples from animals that fell victim to the lesion-causing disease found that radiation levels were normal and within ‘the typical background range for Alaska,’ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement.
More than 60 dead and 75 sickened seals, most of them ringed seals, were found on the northern and western coasts of Alaska last summer and fall. Some walruses were also afflicted by the disease, with a smaller number found dead.
The affected animals have bleeding lesions on their flippers and other body parts, patchy loss of hair, labored breathing and lethargy, according to NOAA, which in December declared the problem an ‘unusual mortality event.’
The findings that appear to clear the Fukushima plant of blame are only preliminary, Juneau-based NOAA spokeswoman Julie Speegle said, and more analysis will be conducted. Tests on healthy animals also found normal levels of radiation.
‘Part of the reason it doesn’t rule it out is we need to do more in-depth tests for Cesium 137 and Cesium 134,’ Speegle said.” Read more.
Alaska: Cleveland Volcano’s Lava Dome is Growing, Could Blow Soon
By CASEY GROVE, Anchorage Daily News – “A lava dome is growing at Cleveland Volcano as its current slow eruption continues, a sign that the restless Aleutian volcano could pop at any moment, the Alaska Volcano Observatory says.
Satellite images show the lava dome has expanded from about 50 meters to 60 meters across in the past week. The hardening lava still only occupies a small part of the roughly 200-meter crater, the observatory says.
The 5,676-foot volcano makes up the western half of Chuginadak Island about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage. If Cleveland’s eruption turns explosive — perhaps blasting ash up thousands of feet, into trans-Pacific flight paths — it could disable the engines of airplanes that fly through it.
The explosiveness is characteristic of Alaska volcanos, scientists say.
Lava extruding inside Cleveland Volcano is thick and pasty, ‘like peanut butter,’ volcanologist Steve McNutt said.
‘The lava’s so viscous, it doesn’t flow like you’re used to seeing in pictures of Hawaii, where it’s fluid and runny,’ McNutt said. ‘So it piles up and makes a round, dome-like lava flow.’
The molten rock flows out of vents inside the volcano’s crater and piles up, McNutt said. When the dome grows so big that it covers those vents, gas builds up behind it, he said.
Then, when the pressure is high enough: ka-boom.” Read more.
Gullible: US, EU Welcome Iran Nuclear Letter, Suggest Talks
As hopeful as we should all be for any chance of peace, don’t be surprised if (when) this proves to be yet another Iranian ruse. Offering “talks” or “dialogue” in the form of statements or letters is the Iranian version of a “hudna” that has again and again and again done nothing but given the Ayatollah death cult something that money could never buy: Time. And now Iran is on the cusp of developing nuclear weapons. I get the distinct impression that a “cautiously optimistic” West may once again prove itself to be hopelessly naive …
By Andrew Quinn and Arshad Mohammed – “(Reuters) – The United States and European Union expressed cautious optimism on Friday over prospects that Iran may be willing to engage major powers in new talks, but underscored any resumed negotiations must be sustained and focus on the nuclear issue.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told reporters that Iran’s recent letter to Ashton might mark a step forward.
‘We think this is an important step and we welcome the letter,’ Clinton said in a joint meeting with Ashton. She stressed that the major powers were still reviewing their formal response to Tehran’s offer.
Ashton, who handles contact with Iran on behalf of the ‘P5+1’ group comprised of the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, said the letter showed ‘a potential possibility that Iran may be ready to start talks.’
Iran’s letter to Ashton, which was obtained by Reuters on Thursday, proposed resuming the stalled talks and said Tehran would have ‘new initiatives’ to bring to the table.
But the brief letter, which responded to a letter Ashton sent to her Iranian counterpart in October, offered no specific proposals, leaving a question mark over Tehran’s willingness to enter substantive negotiations on its nuclear work.” Read more.
Flashback: Iran won’t retreat ‘one iota’ from nuclear path, says Ahmadinejad – “Iran won’t retreat ‘one iota’ from its nuclear program and the world is being misled by claims it seeks atomic weapons, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday. His comments — broadcast live on state TV and his first since a UN watchdog report said Tehran is on the brink of developing a nuclear warhead — contrasted sharply with Western warnings that Iran appears to be engaged in a dangerous defiance of international demands to control its nuclear ambitions. In Paris, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said his country would support boosting sanctions against Tehran to an ‘unprecedented scale’ if Iran stonewalls investigations, even as Israel and others say that military options are still possible.” Read more.
Flashback: Ahmadinejad: Iran is Determined to Eradicate the ‘Infectious Tumor’ of Israel, ‘Will Never Withdraw’ From This Policy – “Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran was determined to eradicate Israel, ISNA news agency reported Thursday. ‘Iran believes that whoever is for humanity should also be for eradicating the Zionist regime … Iran follows this issue (the eradication of Israel) with determination and decisiveness and will never ever withdraw from this standpoint and policy …” Read more.
Muslim Terrorist Headed for US Capitol with ‘Suicide Vest’ is Arrested by Federal Agents
He was simply hoping to spread the religion of peace. Over a wide area …
By Mike Levine – “Authorities arrested and charged Friday a Virginia man allegedly on his way to the U.S. Capitol for what he thought would be a suicide attack on one of the nation’s most symbolic landmarks.
The federal criminal complaint against the suspect identifies him as Amine El Khalifi, a 29-year-old Moroccan citizen who has been living in the United States illegally since 1999 after his visa expired. He was nabbed following a lengthy investigation by the FBI, initiated after he allegedly expressed interest in conducting an attack. Court documents say he came onto the radar screen in early December after he told an undercover agent about an earlier plan to bomb a northern Virginia building.
According to charging documents, he first entered the country that year on a tourist visa, which expired and was never renewed. Khalifi was charged Friday in U.S. District Court in northern Virginia with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
The suspect allegedly weighed hitting various targets ranging from a military installation to synagogues to a Washington restaurant before settling on the Capitol.
The man thought undercover FBI agents assisting him in his plot were associates of Al Qaeda. He purchased bomb materials including jackets, nails and glue in preparation for an attack. He even conducted a test explosives demonstration in a quarry.
When he was arrested Friday in Washington, he was carrying with him a vest that he had been led to believe was packed with explosives, but the material inside was not actually dangerous, Fox News was told.
A short time earlier, Khalifi had been praying at a mosque in the Washington area. His destination was Capitol Hill.” Read more.
Flashback: Top Syrian Cleric Warns West: We Have Suicide Bombers Who Are ‘Already In Your Countries’ – “Syria’s top Sunni Muslim cleric has warned Western countries against military intervention, threatening to retaliate with suicide bombings in the United States and Europe if his country comes under attack. Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun gave a speech and told the U.S. and Europe that ‘we will prepare suicide bombers who are already in your countries if you bomb Syria or Lebanon.’… Hassoun’s comments follow another warning by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, who threatened ‘tough measures’ against any country that recognizes the newly formed opposition Syrian National Council.” Read more.
Report: US Military Ordered to Prepare for Iran Operation Between March and October
By F. Michael Maloof – “WASHINGTON – Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta believes that Israel could attack Iran in an April-to-June timeframe, and there apparently has been a decision made for the U.S. to help in an assault on the radical Islamic nation’s nuclear facilities.
U.S. military sources tell WND that the Pentagon has begun preparations for ‘a number of operational plans and counter-operations,’ with a Feb. 22 due date for submitting the plans.
There also is a request for identifying U.S. forces ‘by 1 March with a ‘through’ date of October.’
The military sources indicated that U.S. forces will be augmented by an Aegis warship, presumably one of the two in the U.S. carrier task forces scheduled to be in the Persian Gulf.
The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln carrier task force already has re-entered the Gulf.
The Aegis combat system on U.S. Navy ships is used to track and guide weapons to destroy intended targets and to act as a protective shield to counter ballistic missile threats…
Pentagon spokesman Navy Cmdr. Bill Speaks told WND there was ‘nothing to what your sources are saying,’ but he also quickly added that the Pentagon ‘doesn’t discuss what future contingency plans we have, and I am not going to discuss this with you.'” Read more.
Writing On The Wall: US Senate Says Nuclear Containment Not An Option with Iran as Israel Leader Claims Sanctions Ineffective – “A bipartisan slate of senators announced this afternoon they would reject ‘any United States policy that would rely on efforts to contain a nuclear weapons-capable Iran.’ Drawing a clear line in the sand, the senators – among them Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) – demanded that President Obama reject ‘any policy that would rely on containment as an option in response to the Iranian nuclear threat,'” Read more.
‘The Hungry Generation’: With Famines Sweeping Across Continents 300 Children Die of Malnutrition Every Hour, Situation Getting Worse
By PAUL VALLELY – “A quarter of young children around the world are not getting enough nutrients to grow properly, and 300 die of malnutrition every hour, according to a new report that lays bare the effects of the global food crisis.
There are 170 million children aged under five whose development has been stunted by malnutrition because of lack of food for them and their breastfeeding mothers, and the situation is getting significantly worse, according to research by the charity Save the Children.
In Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Peru and Nigeria – countries which are the home of half of the world’s stunted children – recent rises in global food prices are forcing the parents of malnourished children to cut back on food and pull children out of school to work.
According to the report, A Life Free from Hunger: Tackling Child Malnutrition, a third of parents surveyed said their children routinely complain they do not have enough to eat. One in six parents can never afford to buy meat, milk or vegetables. It suggests that six out of 10 children in Afghanistan are not getting enough nutrients to avoid stunted growth.
‘If no concerted action is taken,’ warns Justin Forsyth, the charity’s chief executive, ‘half a billion children will be physically and mentally stunted over the next 15 years’.
Over the past five years the price of food has soared across the globe, thanks to extreme weather conditions, diverting farmland to grow biofuels, speculative trading of food commodities and the global financial crisis. The poor, who spend the bulk of their income on food, are hit hardest.” Read more.
US Intelligence Director: Sensing Syria’s Demise, Iran Takes Up ‘Marriage of Convenience’ with Al Qaeda as Potential Proxy
“WASHINGTON – The nation’s top intelligence adviser told Congress on Thursday that Al Qaeda ‘is extending its reach into Syria’ — possibly with Iran’s help.
In a rare public admission, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Al Qaeda and the Iranian regime have a ‘shotgun marriage, or marriage of convenience.’ More significantly, given the series of attacks this week linked to Iran, Clapper said Tehran appears to see Al Qaeda as an insurance policy — a ‘surrogate or proxy’ — against future Western aggression.
This public confirmation comes as U.S. officials investigate the release of five Al Qaeda members after ‘years of house arrest’ in Iran. The men include Saif al-Adel, who was tipped as the likely replacement for Usama bin Laden.
The release of Al Qaeda leaders is not confined to Iran. U.S. officials are also investigating whether the Syrians released Abu Musab al-Suri, seen as one of the terror network’s most important strategists. Al-Suri was captured in Pakistan 2005 and was in CIA custody until he was sent back to Syria as part of the controversial rendition program. Until recently, US officials were confident he would not be released by the Syrian government.
Clapper also confirmed that U.S. officials believe an Al Qaeda affiliate was responsible for a series of blast in Syria because the car bombs ‘bore the earmarks’ of Al Qaeda in Iraq. The affiliate, written off by some members of the U.S. intelligence community, has made a comeback according to Clapper.
Al Qaeda of Iraq is one of Al Qaeda’s largest regional affiliates, and it ‘is extending its reach into Syria’ by infiltrating opposition groups, likely without their knowledge. Clapper said the lack of a unified opposition group could leave a power vacuum that extremists could fill if the Syrian government falls, a potential development he called ‘troubling,’ because Syria has an extensive network of chemical weapons sites.” Read more.
General Assembly Votes to Condemn Syrian Leader – “In a powerful rebuke to Syria’s government, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to approve a resolution that condemned President Bashar al-Assad’s unbridled crackdown on an 11-month-old uprising and called for his resignation under an Arab League peace proposal to resolve the conflict.” Read more.
Writing On The Wall: US Senate Says Nuclear Containment Not An Option with Iran as Israel Leader Claims Sanctions Ineffective
If sanctions are not working and containing a nuclear Iran is not an option, only one possibility remains, unfortunately …

By Adam Kredo – “A bipartisan slate of senators announced this afternoon they would reject ‘any United States policy that would rely on efforts to contain a nuclear weapons-capable Iran.’
Drawing a clear line in the sand, the senators – among them Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) – demanded that President Obama reject ‘any policy that would rely on containment as an option in response to the Iranian nuclear threat,’ according to a new Senate resolution set to be unveiled later today.
The resolution ‘warns that time is limited to prevent the Iranian government from acquiring a nuclear weapon’ and demands that the hostile regime immediately suspend all uranium enrichment activities.
Most noteworthy, perhaps, is the resolution’s thorough accounting of the Iranian regime’s hostile behavior. It details, for example, Iran’s connections to terror groups and its various efforts to harm U.S. interests across the Middle East.” Read more.
Netanyahu: Iran sanctions not working – “While in Nicosia, Netanyahu also addressed the Iranian nuclear threat, saying the sanctions imposed by the international community on the Islamic Republic ‘are not working.’ Iran is the most irresponsible force in the world, he said, claiming the sactions imposed on the Islamic Republic have not had an effect so far. According to Netanyahu, the regime in Tehran violates every resolution and has no respect for international norms. He added that Iran’s race towards nuclear weapons should concern the US and every other country.” Read more.
‘A Scene Out Of An Alfred Hitchcock Movie’: Dead Birds Cause Mess On I-95 In Laurel, Maryland
“LAUREL, Md. (CBSDC) — A scene out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie played out in real life along Interstate 95 in Maryland on Wednesday.
About a hundred dead birds were scattered across a stretch of the highway in Laurel near exit 33, likely victims of an impact with a vehicle.
‘[European] Starlings are birds the fly around in pretty good size flocks,’ said David Hellmeyer of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources told All-News 99.1 WNEW.
Hellmeyer said it’s pretty uncommon, but not unheard of for that species to be struck by vehicles.
The mess caused heavy congestion just before the afternoon rush got underway around 3 p.m. Some drivers says the delays spanned miles.
State highway officials were able to respond and clean up the mess fairly quickly.
The birds have been collected for testing to confirm the trauma was the cause of death.” Source – CBSDC.
Indonesian Christians Facing Deportation in US Appeal to Obama
As much as I am opposed to illegal immigration, there should be some situations were the genuinely oppressed are granted refugee status. If they were Muslim they’d have a much better chance of staying. But since they’re Christian, ‘common sense guidelines’ need not apply …
By Luiza Oleszczuk – “A group of some 100-odd Christian Indonesian refugees who fled their country due to religious persecution 10 years ago and have been living in New Jersey and New Hampshire – among other places – illegally, have appealed to President Barack Obama for help in an open letter earlier this week, as they are facing imminent deportation and reportedly renewed persecution.
‘I write because your Administration’s policy toward the Indonesian immigrant community has become so hostile as to suggest that, at best, it is arbitrary and capricious, and, at worst, punitive,’ said the group’s spiritual leader, the Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale of the Reformed Church of Highland Park, N.J., who was the official signatory of the letter.
The minister emphasized the situation of Christians in Indonesia – the most populous Muslim country – where Christians have been known to have suffered religious persecution in the form of church bombings, personal assaults and various acts of mob violence.
The minister also reminded in the letter that an ICE memorandum ‘purported to adopt ‘common sense guidelines’ toward deportation issues while focusing on those persons who ‘pose a clear risk to national security’ or have criminal records.’
‘Despite this purported policy, your Administration has deported recently, and is in the process of deporting, non-criminal, non-threatening, Indonesian Christians to Indonesia,’ he added, addressing the president.” Read more.
Flashback: Obama’s Christian Problem – White House Overlooks Christian Persecution While Pandering to Islam – “The Obama administration has been obsessed with Muslim outreach and recently tried to mend fences with the Jewish community. Given the state of the world, however, the White House ought to be focused on helping the world’s oppressed Christians. The United States has been wary to intervene in matters affecting Christians in the Middle East for fear of validating terrorist narratives that the West is engaged in a new crusade against Islam. The result of this passive policy has been to allow Islamic extremists increasingly to dominate the debate, often with tragic consequences.” Read more.
Iran: Persecution of Christians Soar as Mullahs Follow Their ‘Sworn Duty as Muslims’ to ‘Keep Dhimmis in Their Place’
By Michael Carl – “Reports coming out of Iran say persecution of Christians is only growing more bold and brazen, as Iranian authorities once again raided a house church – this time in Shiraz – and arrested between 6 to 10 members of the congregation.
The detainees are being held in an undisclosed location.
Jihad Watch publisher Robert Spencer says that the Iranians don’t know that they’re doing the very thing that will produce more Christians.
‘They don’t know that Christianity grows amid persecution,’ Spencer said. ‘Islam has expanded through violence and intimidation, so it isn’t at all surprising that they’d resort to it again.’
Clare Lopez, a senior fellow with the Center for Security Policy agrees, speculating that if the Iranian mullahs know persecution grows the Christian church, they don’t care. They’re following their sworn duty as Muslims.
‘The issue has little to do with perceptions of how Christianity might respond,’ Lopez said, ‘but rather with the obligation under Islamic doctrine to put and keep dhimmis in their ‘place’ within Muslim society.
‘The forces of Shariah Islam are in the ascendant all over the Middle East these days,’ Lopez continued, ‘and with the new-found sense of empowerment combined with what is perceived as Western complicity and weakness in the face of that situation, it is to be expected that all religious minorities, but especially Christians and Jews, increasingly will feel the brutality of Islamic supremecism.'” Read more.
Flashback: Officials in Iran Frantically Refute Claims That Christianity is Spreading Through ‘Exclusively Islamic’ Cities – “The Iranian media is desperate to refute claims that Christianity is spreading among Iranian youth and through cities considered to be almost exclusively Islamic… but there are definite contradictions in fact to this statement. On October 2, the government-supported news website, Javan-Online, acknowledged that the acceptance of Christianity was becoming a trend and reported 200 house churches were discovered in just a few months in the traditionally Islamic city of Mashhad. Many high ranking government officials and Islamic religious leaders have also made statements expressing concern over the spread of Christianity.” Read more.
Turkey: Muslims Subjecting More Christians to Discrimination and Attacks, Followers of Christ Vilified in Media, Textbooks
The only way to remove the root of intolerance in Turkey is to remove Islam, but this isn’t humanly possible with a population that is at least 96% Muslim. Fortunately, there is Someone who can make a difference. And He’s coming soon …

“ISTANBUL, February 14 (CDN) — Despite some promising developments, Christians in Turkey continue to suffer attacks from private citizens, discrimination by lower-level government officials and vilification in both school textbooks and news media, according to a study by a Protestant group.
In its annual ‘Report on Human Rights Violations,’ released in January, the country’s Association of Protestant Churches notes mixed indicators of improvement but states that there is a ‘root of intolerance’ in Turkish society toward adherents of non-Islamic faiths.
‘The removal of this root of intolerance is an urgent problem that still awaits to be dealt with,’ the report states.
‘There is still a lot of room for improvement,’ said Mine Yildirim, a member of the legal committee for the association. ‘These problems have not been solved in some time.’
The report documented 12 attacks against Christians in 2011, including incidents in which individuals were beaten in Istanbul for sharing their faith, church members were threatened and church buildings attacked. None of the attackers have been charged. In some of the attacks, the victims declined to bring charges against the assailants.
In some places in Turkey, some church leaders have to ‘live under some sort of police protection,’ the report reads.
‘There are at least five church leaders who have bodyguards, and at least two have a direct phone line to a police protection unit,’ the report states. ‘Several churches have police protection during worship services.’
Yildirim said attacks have increased since the previous year, and that much of the problem lies in the fact that the Turkish government won’t admit there is a problem.” Read more.




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