Ireland: Mystery Surrounds Cause Of 50,000 Dead Starfish Found Washed Ashore On Lissadell Beach

11/15/2012 2 comments

By Pete Thomas – “It was a surreal and somewhat ghostly sight: that of perhaps 50,000 starfish that somehow had come ashore overnight, en masse, and perished on a secluded beach in Ireland. The Belfast Telegraph reports that harsh weather might have been responsible for last week’s peculiar and mysterious event, on Lissadell Beach.

Bill Crowe, a marine biologist at Sligo Institute of Technology, theorized that the starfish (also called sea stars) might have been lifted ashore while feeding on mussel beds in the nearshore tidal zone. They were spread over nearly 500 feet of coastline.

‘The most likely explanation is that they were feeding on mussels, but it is a little strange that none of them were attached to mussels when they were washed in,’ Crowe said.

A toxic algae bloom would seem another possible explanation, but no other type of marine life was affected. Only starfish, mostly adult size, were found on the beach.

Equally mysterious is that virtually all of the starfish were dead, meaning they had succumbed surprisingly quickly after coming or being delivered ashore.

Other experts agreed that the most likely explanation is stormy weather, and perhaps high surf that deposited the starfish on the beach.

‘They turned up almost certainly as a result of an exceptional storm event,’ said Tim Roderick, an officer with Ireland’s National Parks and Wildlife Service. ‘A storm hit the seabed where these sub-tidal animals were and lifted them up and washed them ashore.’

The bizarre incident, like a smaller-scale die-off that occurred earlier this year on another beach in Ireland, remains under investigation.” Read more.

Categories: Mass Animal Deaths

Slip Up: Obama Admits He Sent Susan Rice On Mission To Tell America That Benghazi Was A Result Of The Anti-Mohammed Film

11/14/2012 Leave a comment

The Commander-in-Chief just stepped into a bit of a mess. During Obama’s press conference today he essentially admitted that Susan Rice was telling the American people what had been “provided to her” by the White House. Odd, isn’t it, that what was provided to Susan Rice was a narrative insisting time and time again that the attack against Benghazi was nothing more than a spontaneous protest over an anti-Mohammed film. If the “intelligence” that was provided to Susan Rice five days after the attack indicated that it was “in fact a spontaneous” event and not an act of terror, then why did Obama claim during the second Presidential debate that he told the American people it was a terrorist attack four days earlier? …

"Uhhhh ...."

“Uhhhh ….”

By DANIEL HALPER, The Weekly Standard – “President Barack Obama revealed at his press conference this afternoon that he is responsible for sending U.N. ambassador Susan Rice to speak to the American people a few days after the September 11 Benghazi terror attack.

‘As I said before, she made an appearance at the request of the White House in which she gave her best understanding of the intelligence that had been provided to her,’ Obama said at the press conference, defending the statements the ambassador to the U.N. made regarding the Benghazi attack.

Rice has been widely criticized for giving misleading statements about Benghazi. She maintained that the killing of four Americans stemmed for a spontaneous protest that got violent.

Later evidence, however, revealed that U.S. officials had real-time updates from Americans on the ground in Benghazi, and that terrorists were immediately suspected.

‘When they go after the U.N. ambassador, apparently because they think she’s an easy target, then they’ve got a problem with me,’ Obama said today.

Earlier today, Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Kelly Ayotte said they would oppose any move by Obama to make Rice the next secretary of state. That is what Obama was responding to today.” Source – The Weekly Standard.


Muslim Brotherhood: Egypt Will No Longer Stand By As Palestinians Are Subjected To ‘Israeli Aggression’

11/14/2012 2 comments

AFP – “Egypt’s Islamist Freedom and Justice Party, formerly headed by President Mohammed Mursi, said on Wednesday Egypt would no longer stand by as Israel attacked Palestinians after air strikes killed a Hamas leader.

The FJP, the political arm of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood movement, said Israeli air strikes that killed top militant Ahmed al-Jaabari in Gaza earlier on Wednesday required ‘swift Arab and international action to stop the massacres.’

The party, which fielded Mursi in a June election to replace toppled president Hosni Mubarak, said Israel ‘must take into account the changes in the Arab region and especially Egypt.’

Egypt ‘will not allow the Palestinians to be subjected to Israeli aggression, as in the past,’ the party statement said.

Mubarak, overthrown in early 2011, was criticized by his opponents for his response to an Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2008-2009 following rocket fire by Palestinian militants.

Mursi, a vociferous supporter of the Palestinians before his election, had been expected to open up to the blockaded Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, but his government has backed off from his pledges.” Source – Al Arabiya.

Israel Calls Up Reservists, Gets Ready for Gaza Invasion – “The operation, called ‘Pillar of Defense’, has been launched by the Israel military. Many of the buildings in downtown Gaza City are on fire after being attacked by Israeli warplanes, RT’s Arabic correspondent Saed Swerky reports on Twitter. The IDF says all options are on the table in Gaza, including a ground operation. Israeli warships have struck ‘terror sites’ in the Gaza Strip, the military forces confirmed… Israel has started emergency call up of reservists, while saying they are preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza…” Read more.

Flashback: Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Leader Calls For Jihad Against Israel To ‘Save Jerusalem’ And ‘Cleanse Palestine’ – “This would be the same ‘leader’ of Egypt’s new president, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Muhammad Morsi—and the man whom some have even portrayed as the true power behind Egypt’s presidency, with Morsi acting as his puppet. According to last Thursday’s edition of Al Wafd, during his weekly sermon, ‘Muhammad Badi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide, confirmed the necessity for every Muslim to strive to save al-Quds [Jerusalem] from the hands of the rapists [Israelis] and to cleanse Palestine from the clutches of the occupation, deeming this an individual duty for all Muslims.’” Read more.

Flashback: Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Holds Venomous Anti-Israel Rally, Vows to ‘One Day Kill All Jews’ – “Arab hate: A Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo’s most prominent mosque Friday turned into a venomous anti-Israel protest, with attendants vowing to ‘one day kill all Jews.’ Some 5,000 people joined the rally, called to promote the ‘battle against Jerusalem’s Judaization.’ The event coincided with the anniversary of the United Nations’ partition plan in 1947, which called for the establishment of a Jewish state… Speakers at the event delivered impassioned, hateful speeches against Israel, slamming the ‘Zionist occupiers’ and the ‘treacherous Jews.’” Read more.

Never The Same: How The Gospel Of Christ Transformed Two Enemy Tribes Forever

11/14/2012 2 comments

What was true of both Jew and Gentile and the reconciliation that has been made through Christ Jesus has also manifested itself between two enemy tribes in the jungle of Indonesia. Witness what the true Religion of Peace can do when the Word of God is planted in the fertile soil of open hearts …

Ephesians 2:13-14, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation …”

Pioneers-USA: “The Sawi were headhunters and cannibals when a young couple named Don and Carol Richardson arrived in their village carrying their seven-month-old boy Steve—and a message that would change the tribe forever. The year was 1962, and Steve—and later, three more children—spent their youth among the Sawi, learning the language and embracing the culture in ways that would shape the rest of their lives. Their story was immortalized in the best-selling book Peace Child and a feature film of the same name, inspiring a new generation to take the gospel to the remaining isolated tribes of the earth.

Fifty years later, Steve joins his father, Don, and two brothers, Shannon and Paul, to visit the Sawi village where they grew up. What is the state of the church they planted among the Sawi? Are the friends they played with still alive? Will anyone remember the mark their family left on the tribe? Journey with Steve as he travels to the swamps of Papua, Indonesia, to introduce you to the Sawi, and explore the impact of the gospel among a previously unreached people group.” (Source).

Categories: Anything Else, Good News

Leonid Meteor Shower 2012 Peaks This Week

11/14/2012 Leave a comment

By Joe Rao, Space – “One of the best of the annual meteor displays will be reaching its peak this week — the annual Leonid meteor shower.

While the Leonid meteor shower has a history of putting on stupendous displays, this year will not be one of them; at best 10 to 15 meteors per hour may be seen. This year is a bit unusual in that the Leonids are expected to show two peaks of activity, one on Saturday morning (Nov. 17) and another on Tuesday morning (Nov. 20).

In the public mind the term ‘meteor shower‘ conjures up a vision of shooting stars streaming through the heavens like rain. Such meteor stormshave indeed occurred, when tens of thousands of meteors per hour flare into view. But most showers are a thousand times weaker.

Watching one consists of lying back, gazing up into the stars, and waiting. A very good shower will produce about one meteor per minute for a given observer under a dark country sky. Any light pollution or moonlight can reduce the count considerable.

This year the moon will not be a problem for the Leonid meteor shower. It will set well before the constellation Leo, where the meteors appear to radiate out from, climbs high into the sky. [Amazing Leonid Meteor Shower Photos]

The Leonids are tiny, sand-grain- to pea-sized bits of rocky debris shed long ago by the comet Tempel-Tuttle. This comet, like all others, is slowly disintegrating. Over the centuries its crumbly remains have spread all along its orbit to form a moving river of rubble millions of miles wide and hundreds of millions of miles long…

The Leonid meteor shower’s parent comet, Tempel-Tuttle, orbits the sun about every 33 years. Because of the comet’s proximity to Earth from 1998 through 2002, the Leonids were producing enhanced rates ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand meteors per hour. Now, with their parent comet having retreated far back to almost the far end of its orbit, near the orbit of Uranus, the Leonid rates have returned to their more typical 10 or 15 per hour.

This year the Earth will cross the orbital plane of the comet on Saturday morning, Nov. 17. About 10 Leonids per hour might be observed during the predawn morning hours. Of greater interest will be to see what might happen when our planet passes through debris shed by the comet during a pass through the inner solar system back in the year 1400. That interaction might produce a somewhat higher hourly rate of around 15 per hour early on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 20.” Read more.

Categories: Cosmic Craziness

WAR: Israel Launches ‘Operation Pillar Of Defense’ Against Gaza Militants, Kills Top Hamas Military Chief, Mass Targets Bombed

11/14/2012 2 comments

By Barney Henderson, The Telegraph – “The military wing of Hamas said in a statement that the assassination ‘has opened the gates of hell’.

Israel’s military said the strike was the ‘start of targetting Gaza militants’, according to AFP.

Witnesses say Jabari was travelling in his vehicle in Gaza City when his car exploded.

Jabari is the most senior Hamas official to be killed since an Israeli invasion of Gaza four years ago. He has long topped Israel’s most-wanted list, the Associated Press reported.

Israeli officials had said in recent days that they were considering assassinating top Hamas officials following a wave of heavy rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence service confirmed it had carried out the attack, saying it had killed Jaabri because of his ‘decade-long terrorist activity’.

‘One citizen was killed and another moderately injured in a Zionist strike on a car in Gaza City,’ spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP.

Another Israeli military spokesman, Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai, said the aerial assault on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday could draw cross-border Palestinian rocket attacks and stretch into days of fighting.

‘The days we face in the south will, in my estimation, prove protracted,’ he told Channel 2 TV. ‘The homefront must brace itself resiliently.'” Read more.

Israel Strikes At Least 20 Targets In Gaza – “The IAF struck and killed Hamas’s head of military operations Ahmed Jabari in central Gaza on Wednesday. The airstrike marked the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense to target Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations in Gaza, IDF spokesman Yoav Mordechai said. ‘The first aim of this operation is to bring back quiet to southern Israel, and the second target is to strike at terror organizations,’ Mordechai said. Shortly afterwards, the IDF struck over 20 underground rocket launchers belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an airstrike.” Read more.

‘A Dangerous Pattern’: Obama’s America Is Partnering With Al Qaeda In Syria, ‘We May Come To Regret Our Syrian Policy’

11/13/2012 3 comments

By Robert Maginnis, Human Events – “It is a twist of fate, or perhaps by design, that President Barack Obama’s Syria policy puts America in league with al Qaeda and other hardline Islamists helping to oust another dictator. We may come to regret our Syrian policy.

Our policies that help Islamists are becoming a dangerous pattern for American Mideast interests.  Remember, President Obama called for the ouster of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and now that country has an anti-American Muslim Brotherhood-run government.  Obama joined NATO’s efforts to oust Libya’s dictator and as a result we got the Benghazi consulate attack tragedy and another Arab country brimming with Islamic extremists and criminal militias.

The same is happening with Syria.  During the presidential debate Obama said Syrian President Bashir al-Assad ‘has to go’ and ‘we are going to do everything we can to make sure that we are helping the opposition.’  But that commitment means something very different today than it meant last year when the Syrian opposition wasn’t so radicalized.

Over the past year Islamic extremists have nudged their way into the Syrian opposition, which means once the dictator is gone, Islamists will play a significant role in yet another Mideast country.  The consequences are serious: another anti-American country in the region that will likely embrace Sharia (Islamic) law and host more terrorism.

The Arab Spring revolution movement reached Syria March 15, 2011, when residents took to the streets and that government responded with heavy-handed force.  Today, a full-blown civil war rages in Syria and 40,000 people, mostly civilians, are dead, tens of thousands arrested, more than 400,000 Syrians have fled the country, and millions either need aid or are displaced domestically.

Now the fighting is spilling over into neighboring countries like Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq in part because Syrian government forces are too weak to stamp out the rebellion.  Meanwhile, the Syrian rebels are losing crucial public support because of their poorly planned missions, internal quarreling, senseless destruction and criminal behavior.

The rebels’ ineffectiveness coupled with the belief Syrians have been abandoned by the outside world created an opportunity for Islamists, especially al Qaeda, which is seeking to exploit the turmoil and reinvigorate its regional ambitions in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Last winter, American counterterrorism officials said Sunni militants with ties to al Qaeda in Iraq moved into Syria to exploit the political turmoil.  By this summer, al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists were Read more…

Texas: Saudi Student Studying ‘Chemical Engineering’ Gets Life In Prison In US Bomb Plot

11/13/2012 1 comment

It’s interesting how defense lawyers sometimes attempt to defend the indefensible. In this case, they called their client a “harmless failure” who had never come close to attacking anyone. Well, I guess that settles it. He ought to be let go to complete that Chemical Engineering degree he was working so hard on before the authorities brought it all to an abrupt end. Because the ones we really need to focus on are those who are deadly successful …

By BETSY BLANEY, AP – “AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — A former Texas college student from Saudi Arabia was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for trying to make a bomb for use in a religious attack, possibly targeting a former U.S. president.

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari was sentenced in Amarillo, where jurors convicted him in June of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors say he had collected bomb-making material in his apartment and researched possible targets, including the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush. A handwritten journal found in his apartment included notes that he believed it was time for ‘jihad,’ a Muslim term for holy war.

Although the 22-year-old Aldawsari apologized Tuesday for ‘these bad actions,’ Judge Donald E. Walter said the evidence against him was overwhelming. Walter acknowledged he was conflicted due to Aldawsari’s youth and signs that outside influences had led him astray.

‘But the bottom line is that but by the grace of God there would be dead Americans,’ Walter said. ‘You would have done it. In every step, it was you all alone.’

Aldawsari stood silently in shackles as the sentence was read. The formerly clean-shaven, close-cropped man now had a full beard and long hair, and appeared to have lost a lot of weight.

There is no parole in the federal system for defendants convicted of recent crimes.

Aldawsari came to the U.S. legally in 2008 to study chemical engineering. He was arrested in Lubbock in February 2011, after federal agents searched his apartment and found explosive chemicals, wiring, a hazmat suit and clocks, along with videos showing how to make the chemical explosive TNP.

Investigators say Aldawsari’s goal was to carry out jihad. His attorneys claimed he was a harmless failure who never came close to attacking anyone.

FBI bomb experts say the amounts of chemicals he had would have yielded almost 15 pounds of explosive — about the same amount used per bomb in the 2005 London subway attacks. He also tried to order phenol, a chemical that can be used to make explosives.

Court records show that his emails and journal contained the explosive’s recipe.

Prosecutors said other targets he researched included nuclear power plants and the homes of three former soldiers who were stationed at Abu Ghraib prison.” Read more.

What The Media Doesn’t Want To Show You: An Inside Look At Palestinian Demonstrations

11/13/2012 1 comment

When parents aren’t sending their children to die for the sake of Allah, they’re sending them to provoke Israeli soldiers for the sake of “Palestine” …

Draft Of Egypt’s New Constitution Revealed: Sharia Law In, Women’s Equality Out

11/13/2012 Leave a comment

The draft promises no discrimination based upon “sex, origin, language, religion, belief, opinion, social status or disability”. But as the world smiles down in adoration, don’t be fooled by it. Religious freedom and gender equality are diametrically incompatible with the teachings of Islam. Even Turkey — which is often hailed as “a useful model for new Arab regimes” — contains similar articles within its own constitution, yet was recently added to the list of worst religious freedom offenders in the world by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom …

By Elad Benari, INN – “Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-led government is suggesting that the country’s new constitution be based on the principles of Islam.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s website published on Monday the draft of the new constitution, which was put together by a special committee numbering 100 members, the majority of which are members of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist parties.

According to the draft, translated by Arab affairs expert Dalit Halevi, the main clauses in the new constitution are:

‘[Sunni] Islam is the religion of the state, Arabic is the official language and the principles of Islamic law are the main source for legislation.’

‘The principles of the religion of the Christians and the Jews are the main source of legislation for the personal and religious affairs and for the purpose of choosing their spiritual leaders.’

‘The Al-Azhar (considered the highest authority in Sunni Islam) is an independent Islamic institution … whose purpose is to spread the message of Islam and religion. All residents are equal before the law … there shall not be discrimination because of sex, origin, language, religion, belief, opinion, social status or disability. The state ensures the freedom of religious worship of monotheistic religions in accordance with the law.’

The draft also notes that ‘freedom of opinion is guaranteed, and should not hurt the Prophet of Prophets.’

On Friday, more than 10,000 ultraconservative Muslims demonstrated in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, demanding that Egypt’s new constitution be based on the rulings of Islamic Sharia law.” Read more.

Egypt: Women’s Equality Article Removed From Constitution – “Members of the Constituent Assembly agreed last week to remove a proposed article which provided some constitutional support for gender equality — provided that such equality did not violate the provisions of Islamic Sharia law. The episode showed the ability of both liberals and ultra-conservative Salafis to stamp their mark on a constitution-writing process dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. Secularists had objected to women’s rights being made conditional on Sharia. This, they argued, would endanger the whole concept of equality, and could be used as a backdoor to strip women of civil and political rights they have already gained…” Read more.

Flashback: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Presidential Candidate: There is No Freedom in Islam – “Hazem Saleh Abu Ismail, Egypt’s presidential candidate and a vocal supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, has said that there is no room for personal freedom in Islam. In a recent television interview translated and reported by Jihad Watch, Ismail said that being a Muslim is like being a member of the military, where one has to go by a dictatorial code of conduct. ‘If you claim that Allah considers it your personal freedom, show me your reference? Nobody has ever said that – except for people have no understanding of Sharia,’ Ismail said.” Read more.

Tanzania: Mob Of Islamists Destroy Dozens Of Churches, ‘We Want The Heads Of All The Church Pastors’

11/13/2012 1 comment

By George Whitten, Worthy News – “Dozens of Christian worship places have been destroyed by Islamic extremists in Tanzania and church leaders are fleeing its heavily Muslim island of Zanzibar, as the persecution of Christians spreads throughout East Africa, a human rights chief said Monday, November 12.

‘As of May [about] 25 churches and convents have been destroyed. This destruction is mostly confined to [semi-autonomous] Zanzibar where the population is 99 percent Muslim and openly hostile to Christians,’ explained William Stark, regional manager for Africa of advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC)…

The mob burned down five churches, including the Seven Day Church, the Anglican Church and the Assemblies of God Church, Christians said Other property belonging to Christians in the area was also destroyed including a car belonging to the Anglican Church pastor, according to ICC investigators.

‘As the riots continued, the Evangelical Assemblies of God Church in Tanzania was pulled down. In the following days, unrest in the Muslim community continued, leading to the destruction of more properties across the country and the lives of Christian leaders being threatened,’ Stark said in a statement obtained by Worthy News.

The violence also spread to Zanzibar, where on October 18, a mob of Muslim protestors carrying clubs, swords and machetes invaded two churches shouting ‘We want the head of Bishop Shayo’ as they tried to enter his Roman Catholic church, Christians claimed.

When they failed to break into the church, the mob moved on to the Anglican church of Reverend. Emmanuel Masoud where the crowd broke windows and were seen hacking at the doors while chanting: ‘We need the head of Masoud!’ and We want the heads of all the church pastors in Zanzibar!’

Pastor Lucian Mgaywa of the Church of God in Zanzibar, said in a statement that, ‘These chants caused a lot of panic and some pastors, fearing for their lives, fled the island of Zanzibar to the mainland of Tanzania,’ though the government later ‘intervened and provided security.'” Read more.

Flashback: Tanzania: Muslim Family Severely Beats and Threatens to Kill Christian Convert – “On Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar, Christians live in a climate of fear. It’s a place where a young man flees the island to escape death threats from his Muslim family, and a Christian who accidentally burned pages of the Quran opts for jail by entering a guilty plea rather than face certain death from a furious mob. Yusuf Abdalla, 23, fled to Moshi, mainland Tanzania, after his family threatened to kill him in June. Having converted to Christianity in October 2010 after hearing the gospel on the radio, he was enrolled at a vocational school in Zanzibar city to learn tailoring when his family found out in March that he had left Islam.” Read more.

Flashback: Tanzania: Muslim Men In Zanzibar Still Beating Their Wives Despite Efforts To Minimize Domestic Violence – “DESPITE ongoing efforts to minimize domestic violence, promote gender equality and empower women, new study in Zanzibar indicates that many women are still beaten and bullied by men including Muslim clerics … but the number of cases being reported to the police remain few, mainly because most women opt to tolerate violence in order to keep her family together. ‘Women have testified to have been bullied and beaten by men, but they think it is improper to report the case. Some get hurt severely in the domestic violence, but treat themselves silently to save the husband or partner,’ the report says.” Read more.

The Millennial Reign Of Messiah: God’s Kingdom Is Coming To Earth

11/13/2012 6 comments

In a corrupted world seemingly filled with hopelessness and despair these days, we are assured of a Promise that will never be forsaken, and a Hope that will soon be fulfilled …

Acts 3:21, “He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”

1 Corinthians 15:52-53, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.”

1 Thessalonians 4:17, “Then we … shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

Zechariah 14:5b, 8-9, “… Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him … And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.”

Micah 4:3, “He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Hebrews 12:28, “… since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe”

 

Categories: Good News