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Archive for June, 2012

Australia: Dozens Of Dead And Dying Sea Turtles Washing Ashore Shows No Signs Of Slowing Down

06/29/2012 Leave a comment

AAP – “THE death toll of vulnerable green sea turtles south of Townsville has shown no signs of slowing down, with more sick animals washing up on beaches today.

Queensland authorities have carried out two helicopter surveys after more than 20 of the vulnerable species, mostly adult females, were discovered washed up on beaches around Upstart Bay last week.

Two more were found on Friday on Wunjunga Beach, about 100 kilometres south of Townsville, and their cause of death continue to baffle scientists.

A total of 73 dead turtles have now been discovered.

Marty McLaughlin, operations manager at Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services, says the turtles were nourished with no obvious signs of illness.

‘This is classified as an unusual event,’ Mr McLaughlin told AAP.

‘We now have better data about the number of turtles, but they are continuing to wash up.

‘We still can’t rule out poisoning as toxicology reports have yet to be finalised.'” Read more.

Categories: Mass Animal Deaths

New York: Islamic Hate Graffiti Praising Allah Found At WTC Memorial

06/29/2012 Leave a comment

By Michael King – “NEW YORK — The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating after the words ‘Allah Wakbar’ were found written on a granite seat at the Sept. 11 memorial on Tuesday, law enforcement sources tell NBC 4 New York.

A private custodian cleaning the area found the graffiti, written in pink and black marker, on a seat in the plaza area between the north and south pools around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Investigators believe someone wrote the words that day. No incidents were reported on Tuesday, and the area is not in the view of any security cameras.

After cops were called, the words were removed by a power washer, sources said. The rest of the memorial was inspected, but no other graffiti was found.

The graffiti comes about a week after a group of Brooklyn junior high school students were forced to leave the memorial after throwing baseballs, empty bottles and other trash into its reflecting pools.” Source – 11 Alive.

Pakistan: Six Christians Killed In Pakistan Bus Bombing

06/28/2012 1 comment

The Christian Chronicle – “QUETTA, PAKISTAN – A terrorist attack has claimed the lives of six Church of Christ members, according to a ministry trainer in the Middle East.

The deadly attack occurred June 11 near Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, the British Broadcasting Corp reported.

A bomb planted on a motorbike detonated, destroying a passenger bus. The apparent target of the attack was a bus of pilgrims who follow the Shiite branch of Islam.

Apparently, the timed device attached to the motorbike detonated too late, missing the bus of pilgrims and instead destroying a passenger bus. Six people died in the blast and at least 40 were injured, the BBC reported.

The number of deaths has since risen to 18, said Philip Ganta, an Indian Christian who oversees the Dubai School of Preaching, a ministry training facility in the Middle Eastern nation of United Arab Emirates. Foreign nationals who come to Dubai for employment study at the school.

Christians from Pakistan and Afghanistan were on the bus, Ganta said, and six of them died. At least 10 more were injured. Some of the Christians had studied at the Dubai School of Preaching and were en route to work with believers in Balochistan, Ganta said.

The school’s students and church members in Dubai collected more than $1,000 to help the victims’ families.

Oasis Outreach, a church-supported ministry that works with the Dubai school, also is collecting funds. The ministry is a work of the Brooks Avenue Church of Christ in Raleigh, N.C.

‘Over the coming weeks we are hoping to raise $5,000 in aid for the families of these believers,’ said Mike O’Leary, director of Oasis Outreach. ‘Many of them have lost the only breadwinner in the family.

‘Hopefully, we will be able to ease their suffering by showing God’s love to those of his household through those in his kingdom.'” Source – The Christian Chronicle.

Congo: Livestock Disease With 86% Mortality Called Worst Epidemic In Decade, 1.6 Million Goats And Sheep At Risk

06/28/2012 1 comment

Associated Press – “ROME — A U.N. agency has warned that a livestock epidemic in Congo that has killed more than 75,000 goats is the worst in a decade and is now threatening goats and sheep in neighboring countries.

The disease, called peste de petit ruminants, or PPR, is highly lethal, with an 86 percent mortality rate among goats. It is caused by a virus that is similar to measles in humans.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said 1 million goats and 600,000 sheep are at risk of contracting the disease. To protect them, farmers have been moving their herds away from infected villages, but that has only spread the epidemic to healthy flocks of animals.

FAO said it plans to vaccinate at least 500,000 animals and will try to limit the animals’ movements.” Source – The Washington Post.

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Preaching Israel’s Destruction After Election

06/28/2012 2 comments

IPT News – “‘Every Muslim will be asked about the Zionists’ usurpation of al-Aqsa Mosque. Why did he not seek to recover it, and wage Jihad in His way? Did he not care about the fatwa of the ulema [scholars] of the Muslims, ‘Jihad of self and money to recover al Aqsa is a duty on every Muslim?” asked Mohamed Badie, General Guide of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, in a June 14th speech translated exclusively by the Investigative Project on Terrorism.

The speech from the Brotherhood’s Ikhwan Online website is evidence that the group has not moderated its position even an iota, despite assurances to Western audiences.

‘How happy would be the Muslims if all Muslim rulers made the Palestinian cause a pivotal issue, around which Muslims, rulers and the ruled, would line up,’ he stated. According to Badie, they would ally to make ‘the sole goal for all of them the recovery of al Aqsa Mosque, freeing it from the filth of the Zionists, and imposing Muslim rule throughout beloved Palestine.’

‘The Lord of Glory has threatened these murdering Zionists criminals with a penalty of a kind which operates in this world before the Hereafter,’ he said, before referencing a Quranic quote calling Jews ‘apes, despised.’

‘We say to our people and our brothers in Palestine (all of Palestine): Unity, unity, persistence, persistence, reconciliation, reconciliation, and patience, patience. Make your motto and your starting point be in confronting the Zionists,’ he added…

The inability of the Muslim Brotherhood to change its rhetoric, leads to questions about how Egyptian President-elect Mohamed Morsi will serve to moderate the Islamist group’s beliefs and behavior.

Much has been written about how the election of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate isn’t a threat to U.S. and Israeli interests in the region, or even to Egyptian society. To take just one example, John Kerry, chairman of the Senate foreign Relations Committee, warned against ‘prejudging’ the Muslim Brotherhood as it prepared to take power in Egypt.

‘In our discussions,’ declared Kerry on Sunday, ‘Mr. Morsi committed to protecting fundamental freedoms, including women’s rights, minority rights, the right to free expression and assembly, and he said he understood the importance of Egypt’s post-revolutionary relationships with America and Israel.’

But Morsi was singing the same tune as other Muslim Brotherhood leaders less than two months ago.” Read more.

UK: Two Converts To Islam Arrested In London On Suspicion Of Terror Offences

06/28/2012 Leave a comment

By PAISLEY DODDS and RAPHAEL SATTER, Associated Press – “Two Muslim converts were arrested in London on suspicion of terror offenses Thursday, a British security official told The Associated Press, but it was unclear whether the men were taken into custody as part of an alleged plot.

The official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said he didn’t know whether the arrests were related to the upcoming Olympic Games. Security is tight ahead of the London games, which begin on July 27.

Scotland Yard identified the men as an 18-year-old and a 32-year-old, but didn’t give their names. The force said the pair was arrested early Thursday at separate addresses in east London.

Intelligence officials say there has been an expected increase in chatter among extremist groups but there are still no specific or credible threats. The terror level is labeled substantial, a notch below severe, and what it has been for much of the past decade. A substantial threat level indicates that an attack is a strong possibility.

This week European security officials told the AP that they were tracking a Norwegian Muslim convert who had gone to Yemen for training and had since become ‘operational.’

Security services across Europe have long been alert to the activities of extremist Muslim converts.” Read more.

Categories: Radical Islam

Palestinian TV: Suicide Bombers Are A Candle ‘That Lights The Tunnel Of Liberty’ For Palestinians

06/28/2012 1 comment

Ezekiel 35:1-3a,6b, “The word of the LORD came to me: ’Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir; prophesy against it and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, Mount Seir … I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you.’”

PA TV Reporter: “This is Palestine, which embraces its Martyr sons (2 suicide bombers), who are more honored than all of us, and which send a message to the whole world that our Martyrs are not numbers, but rather a candle that lights the tunnel of liberty for the Palestinian people on the way to independence.”

Flashback: Gaza: Killing Jews is an Act of Worship, ‘We Are a People That Moves Closer to Allah Through Blood, Body Parts, and Martyrs’ – “Praise be to you, our Lord. You have made our killing of the Jews an act of worship, through which we come closer to you… Allah’s prayers upon you, our beloved Prophet [Muhammad]. You have made your teachings into constitutions for us – the light with which we dissipate the darkness of the occupation, and the fire with which we harvest the skulls of the Jews… Yes, our beloved brothers, even though the entire world moves closer to Allah through fasting, through hunger, and through tears, we are a people that moves closer to Allah through blood, through body parts, and through martyrs… Oh sons of Palestine, oh sons of the Gaza Strip, oh mujahideen – wage Jihad, wreak destruction, blow up and harvest the heads of the Zionists.” Read more.

Flashback: The Palestinian Culture of Death – “A FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION in the Middle East conflict is whether the Palestinians can be saved, not from Israel, as many of them would have it, but from themselves. Consider that the Palestinians want their own state. But to achieve that end, which, depending on the Palestinian you talk to, may or may not entail the destruction of Israel, the Palestinians have relied on a grossly immoral means, the suicide bomb, used to kill not only Israeli soldiers but also civilians, including women and children. How can a people who sanction such an abomination achieve statehood?” Read more.

Terrorism Denial From Dhimmi Democrats

06/27/2012 1 comment

According to a recent government survey, about 20% of Americans suffer from mental illness. Here are some of those Americans …

By Daniel Greenfield – “There are topics that aren’t supposed to be discussed in polite society. Islamic terrorism has become one of those topics.

After September 11, it was put forward to us that the problem was not Islam, but the radicalization of some Muslims. And yet the defenders of that formulation also refuse to discuss Muslim radicalization as a tangible reality, rather than a convenient excuse for shelving the topic.

Congressman Peter King’s attempts to hold hearings on Muslim radicalization have been met with attacks from the very people who should be welcoming the hearings. If the problem really is a minority of extremists, then why not hold hearings that delve into how this radicalization occurs and what can be done about it?

Instead Congressman King has been smeared and his hearings have been hijacked on the most ridiculous pretexts. During the latest hearing, Democratic Congressman Cedric Richmond complained that while Muslims might be responsible for 90 percent of the terrorist attacks. ‘The problem see is that we’re only talking about the 90 percent. It’s the 10 percent that we’re not talking about that keeps me up at night.’

Democratic Congresswoman Janice Hahn began rambling about being troubled by ‘radical Christians’ and her colleague, Democratic Congressman Al Green said that he didn’t oppose hearings on radicalization, just hearings that didn’t ‘focus on the entirety of radicalization’.

‘Christians who become radicalized, they become a part of Islam,’ Green stuttered. ‘Why not have a hearing on the radicalization of Christians?’

Well why not? The answer to the question is as apparent as the reason for the hearings. The United States is not suffering from a plague of Methodist suicide bombers. Terrorism Denial is a refusal to deal with the question. And at the hearing, it came in many forms.” Read more.

Texas: Iranian Convert To Christianity Murdered, Police Investigate Possibility Of Foreign Assassination

06/27/2012 3 comments

Mohabat News – “Gelareh Bagherzadeh was an Iranian-born woman, newly converted to Christianity. She volunteered as a Persian-language translator at church and was about to graduate from university and had already found a job.

Why on earth would someone want to kill her?

That question has befuddled family, friends and police for five months, ever since Bagherzadeh, 30, was found in mid-January slumped over the steering wheel of her Nissan Altima steps from her home with a single gunshot wound to the head.

‘It’s a unique case,’ says Houston Police Sgt. J.C. Padilla, the lead investigator on the case. ‘It’s a senseless crime that happened to a young, intelligent female who had her future taken away from her. Someone out there knows what happened.’

The facts that nothing was stolen from her car and that Bagherzadeh was an outspoken activist against Iran’s Islamic theocracy, championed women’s rights in the Middle East and had recently converted from Islam to Christianity have spawned a host of theories about her murder (everything from an Iranian intelligence agency hit to claims of other foreign government involvement).

Police say they have found no evidence linking the killing to foreign assassins but are still investigating. In fact, they have no leads or suspects. Her family says that’s not enough, and they would like to see participation by federal investigators.

‘We believe she was targeted,’ says her father, Ebrahim Bagherzadeh. ‘Why or by whom? We don’t know.’…

Foreign-sanctioned assassinations — or attempts — on U.S. soil are rare but do happen, says Juan Zarate, a senior adviser with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies and former deputy national security adviser under President George W. Bush. He says Iran has been implicated in a number of them, but he does not know all the details of the Houston case to suggest Iranian involvement.” Read more.

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.

California: YMCA In San Diego Bows To Islam, Enforces Sharia With Women-Only Swim Class And Gender Segregated Gym For Muslims

06/27/2012 6 comments

Converting churches into mosques wasn’t enough. Looks like another step on the road to cultural oblivion is to now convert the YMCA from Young Men’s Christian Association to Young Muslims Cherishing Allah. Or Constraining Apostasy. Or Conquering America …

By Megan Burks, KPBS – “Each Saturday, staff at the Copley YMCA in City Heights begin clearing out the pool and locker rooms early. They send their male lifeguards home and a female lifeguard and swim instructor clock on for a special after-hours lesson.

About 15 East African women and girls then file through the back doors for a women-only swim class. The YMCA began offering it this spring after moms and daughters in a group called City Heights Hope told the directors they can’t swim in front of men because they’re Muslim.

‘We came here and I was just looking at the water and I was like, ‘Wow, I wish one day we could come and swim here,’’ said Miriam Adam, 14.

Adam, whose parents emigrated from Eritrea, said she and the other group members initially asked the YMCA to include women-only services at its new facility, which isn’t scheduled to open until 2014. But the directors said they could start swim classes as quickly as the women could sign up. The class roster was full a month later.” Read more.

Categories: Anything Else

State Department Refuses To Explain How A Member Of A Terrorist Group Got Into The White House

06/27/2012 Leave a comment

Here’s an update on this story. They need not explain any specific details to us, mere peasants …

By Jennifer Rubin, The Washington Post – “On Friday, Right Turn noted the administration had let into the White House and State Department an Egyptian member of a terrorist group who was part of a visiting group of Egyptian lawmakers. The State Department promised to investigate.

Here is just a portion of the daily briefing transcript from Monday when the State Department spokeswoman was asked about that investigation:

QUESTION: . . . .It has to do with the visa for the Gama’a al-Islamiyya member. You said last week that there was a – you were looking into the circumstances of how this was issued. Has – have you determined how this – how it happened? And are you aware that Representative King has asked – formally asked Homeland Security to find out how he was in fact allowed entry, quite apart – separate from the visa issue?

MS. NULAND: On the latter, yes, I’ve seen the reporting. As we promised, we did look into it. Unfortunately, you’re not going to be happy with me when I tell you that we are not going to get into the details of confidential visa issuance. He and the rest of that delegation who were here last week have all now returned to Egypt.

QUESTION: Do you regard it as a mistake to have issued him a visa, given that he is self-proclaimed a member of Gama’a al-Islamiyya?

MS. NULAND: Well, let’s start with the fact that we have an interest in engaging a broad cross-section of Egyptians who are seeking to peacefully shape Egypt’s future. The goal of this delegation, as you know, was to have consultations both with think tanks but also with government folks, with a broad spectrum representing all the colors of Egyptian politics: liberals, Islamists, Salafists, women, Bedouin Christians. We were encouraged that they were willing to travel, that they were open to meetings with us, et cetera.

But in terms of specific questions on the visa issuance, I’m not going to – I’m not at liberty to get into anything further.

QUESTION: Well, but here’s the thing: I mean, I appreciate that you feel that you have an interest in consulting with the entire spectrum of Egyptian political society. But you also have U.S. laws which state that members of foreign terrorist groups are not eligible for travel to the United States, and would state, in some cases, can actually be removed from the United States if they happen to come here.

So the question – and I don’t think it’s an unreasonable question – it’s whether it’s a mistake to let somebody who is a self-proclaimed member of such a group in or not. It may be that the threshold under the law is higher and that you have to do more than just say, ‘Hey, I’m a member of X.’ You actually have to have a card or, I don’t know, pay dues. I mean, maybe there are —

MS. NULAND: The T-shirt? Read more…

UK Spy Chief: Arab Spring Creates ‘Permissive Environment’ For Al Qaeda In Middle East

06/27/2012 Leave a comment

When the President of the United States and al Qaeda both praise the Arab Spring, something is seriously wrong …

“(CBS/AP) LONDON – Britain’s spy chief has warned that the Arab Spring, which has shifted the power from several long-time autocrats in the Middle East, is also creating an opening for al Qaeda to move back into countries where Islamic militancy was born.

Not so long ago, 75 percent of the terror threats prioritized by British spy agency MI5 had links to Afghanistan or Pakistan. But Britain’s efforts, along with those of its international partners, have brought that percentage down to below 50 percent, MI5 Director General Jonathan Evans said in a Monday speech in London.

Evans warned that the international terrorist threat is no longer ‘monolithic,’ with al Qaeda affiliates in Yemen, Somalia and across north Africa becoming, ‘more dangerous as al Qaeda in Pakistan has declined.’

Although the Arab Spring revolutions have brought about radical political changes in some countries, they have also brought fresh opportunities for al Qaeda affiliates to seek refuge.

Evans said the Arab Spring has once again made parts of the Arab world a ‘permissive environment for al Qaeda.'” Read more.

Flashback: Al-Qaeda Plants Its Flag in Benghazi, Libya – ‘Whomever Speaks Ill of This Flag, We Will Cut Off His Tongue’ – “Earlier this week, I went to the Benghazi courthouse and confirmed the rumors: an al Qaeda flag was clearly visible; its Arabic script declaring that ‘there is no God but Allah’ and a full moon underneath. When I tried to take pictures, a Salafi-looking guard, wearing a green camouflage outfit, rushed towards me and demanded to know what I was doing. My response was straightforward: I was taking a picture of the flag. He gave me an intimidating look and hissed, ‘Whomever speaks ill of this flag, we will cut off his tongue. I recommend that you don’t publish these. You will bring trouble to yourself.’” Read more.