Report: Extreme Weather Driving Up Food Prices
By Mike De Souza – “Extreme weather events caused by climate change are endangering global food supplies and driving up prices for consumers worldwide, says new research released Sunday by the humanitarian group, Oxfam.
In a briefing note prepared for media, Oxfam highlighted a pattern of events in 2010 such as wild fires in Russia, and extreme weather in other crop-producing nations with a spike in wheat prices on the global market.
‘When (the price of food) just spikes in a question of months, that tends to be related to particular events with crop production and we saw with the case of wheat,’ said Mark Fried, a policy coordinator for Oxfam Canada, noting that other factors such as rising oil prices also have an impact on the international food market.
Oxfam’s briefing note also said that the recent drought in the Horn and East Africa dealt a severe blow to over 13 million people, with some crops doubling or tripling in price last July.
‘When a weather event drives local or regional price spikes, poor people often face a double shock of having to cope with higher food prices at a time when the direct effects of the weather may have also depleted their assets i.e. their homes or crops destroyed; crops and livestock sold or gone,’ said the briefing note.
‘This toxic mix of higher prices and lower purchasing power has driven many people into crisis in the Horn and East Africa.’
Fried said the Canadian government must ensure that its existing pledge for ‘fast-start’ financing in developing countries offers at least half of its funds for adaptation to help these regions cope.” Read more.
Iran: We’ll Fire 150,000 Missiles at Israel if Attacked
“Iranian Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi said Israel would be attacked with 150,000 missiles if it launches any military action against the Islamic Republic, the Iran Independent News Service reported Sunday.
Speaking before 50,000 army volunteers in Bushehr, the minister said ‘Iran is not Iraq or Afghanistan, if the Americans make the mistake and attack Iran, we will show them how to fight,’ adding ‘Israel has to be punished for what it has done to the Muslims in Palestine and Lebanon.’
However, according to Iranian news outlets Vahidi did not specify if the missiles would be fired from Iran or other locations.” Read more.
Iran Navy acquires new submarines amidst nuclear tension – “Iranian state TV said the country has added three more domestically-built submarines to its naval fleet. The report on Sunday said the vessels were delivered to the Iranian navy in southern port of Bandar Abbas. It said the submarines were from the Ghadir class, of which Iran already has four. This class of submarine can fire missiles and torpedoes and operate in the Gulf’s shallow waters.” Read more.
Is Iran claiming to have secret “hidden energy” weapon to use against Israel and America? – “Iran dares Israel to attack, because the retaliation would send the Jewish state to ‘the dustbin of history,’ a senior Revolutionary Guards commander said, according to the Fars news agency Monday. ‘Our greatest wish is that they commit such a mistake,’ the chief of the Guards’ aerospatial division, Amir-Ali Hadjizadeh, was quoted as saying. ‘For some time there has been a hidden energy we hope to expend to consign the enemies of Islam forever to the dustbin of history,’ he said. ‘Our ballistic (missile) capacity never ceases to grow,’ he added. The comments were one of the most belligerent reactions yet by an Iranian official to speculation that Israel was considering launching air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.” Read more.
Flashback: Nasrallah: Next War with Israel Will Start in Tel Aviv, Says Hezbollah Has ‘Many Surprises’ That Will Change the Face of the Region in a Future War – “The next war with Israel will start in Tel Aviv, not on the northern border, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned on Friday, the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper reported. ‘If Israel decided to wage a war against Lebanon, we will not only break the Israeli soldiers’ bones, we will smash them,’ Nasrallah was quoted as saying during a meeting with Hezbollah members. ‘The war would be waged without any red lines, and [Hezbollah] would in return commit to the new equations,’ Nasrallah said. ‘[Hezbollah] has many surprises that will change the face of the region,’ he added.” Read more.
Flashback: Hezbollah may be receiving weapons of mass destruction from Syria – “French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Saturday that Israel has asked Western countries to stop their diplomatic campaign against the Syrian regime for fear that the weapons of mass destruction of the Syrian regime will fall in the hands of Hezbollah and Hamas. The newspaper said the chief of military intelligence in the Israeli army, Major-General Aviv Kochavi has relayed the Israeli position during his visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York a few weeks ago. According to a French diplomat Kochavi warned that the Syrian arsenal of weapons will be directed at Israel if the regime of Bashar al-Assad falls.” Read more.
‘Arab Spring’ Contagion Strikes Morocco: Islamist ‘Justice’ Party Wins Vote in Election
There they go again. Sure, it’s another ‘Allahu Akbar’ for the string of Islamist victories as of late, but I’m referring to the media and their love affair with the word ‘moderate’ and ‘Islamist’ — and the romance often associated with Casablanca has nothing to do with it. We’ve all seen ‘moderate’ states governed by Islam and the resulting obligatory destruction of religious freedoms and basic human rights that eventually takes place, yet the willingly ignorant in the mainstream media still chooses to ignore what should otherwise be the sobering realities of Islamic rule, both today and throughout history …
By Souhail Karam – “(Reuters) – Morocco’s moderate Islamist PJD party won the most seats in the country’s parliamentary election, final results showed Sunday, in the latest sign of a resurgence of faith-based movements since the Arab Spring uprisings.
The victory for Morocco’s Justice and Development Party came a month after Tunisia handed power to a previously-banned party of moderate Islamists. Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is also expected to do well in an election starting Monday.
PJD, which will get its first chance to head a coalition government, has said it will promote Islamic finance but steer clear of imposing a strict moral code on a country that depends on tourism.
The party, whose deceased founder was a physician of King Mohammed’s grandfather, is loyal to the monarchy and backs its role as the supreme religious authority in the country.
PJD won 107 seats in the 395-seat parliament, according to results from the interior ministry carried by the official MAP news agency.” Read more.
Moroccan Islamist Party latest to win election inspired by the Arab Spring – “The victory of an Islamist Party in Morocco’s parliamentary elections appears to be one more sign that religious-based parties are benefiting the most from the new freedoms brought by the Arab Spring. Across the Middle East, parties referencing Islam have made great strides, offering an alternative to corrupt, long serving dictators, who have often ruled with close Western support… ‘The people link Islam and political dignity,’ said Monjib, who describes himself as coming from the left end of the political spectrum. ‘There is a big problem of dignity in the Arab world and the people see the Islamists as a way of getting out of the sense of subjugation and inferiority towards the West.’ Like the Ennahda Party in Tunisia, the PJD is also from the more moderate end of the Islamist spectrum.” Read more.
In case you weren’t aware, the Ennahda Party is showing signs of a radical shift and hailing ‘a new cycle of civilization’ with the arrival of the ‘Sixth Caliphate‘. Welcome to ‘the more moderate end of the Islamist spectrum’ …
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Sure of Election Victory as Tahrir Unrest Lingers and the ‘Islamic Winter’ Grows Colder
By Anshel Pfeffer – “… the Muslim Brotherhood is determined to win a large number of seats in parliament. In an effort to ensure orderly elections, the Islamic group has said it does not support the current wave of protests…
.Convinced of their upcoming success in the vote, some Muslim Brotherhood supporters had concerns beyond Egypt’s borders – over Israel’s intentions to dismantle the temporary Mughrabi bridge leading to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. At Al-Azhar University, a stronghold of the movement, giant posters called for the defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the mount, and Palestinian flags mingled with Egyptian ones. Guests of honor at prayers at the university were members of a Hamas delegation that was in Cairo for talks with Palestinian Authority officials…
Sermon after sermon before and after the prayers at the university accused Israel of harming Muslim holy places and claimed that the Jews were defiling Palestine…
Among the crowd was Abed Khaled, an accountant, who said the Jews would be fought until the fighters’ last drop of blood.” Read more.
Jew-hatred heats up as Islamic Winter grows colder – “In our current issue Israel Today discusses the causes and ramifications of the Arab Spring-turned-Islamic Winter. One of the obvious outcomes is that the kind of seething hatred for Israel that is official policy in Iran will spread to the rest of the region. It is already happening in Egypt… now, with Islamists threatening to take over the country, Egypt is returning to the pre-Camp David years during which it led the rest of the Muslim world in its quest to eradicate the Jewish presence from the Middle East.” Read more.
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Holds Venomous Anti-Israel Rally, Vows to ‘One Day Kill All Jews’ – “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.” Read more.
Egyptian Cleric Leads Pro-Al-Qaeda Demonstration in Tahrir Square, Threatens US and Jews with ‘Men Who Love Death’ and ‘Seek Death’ – “… the Prophet Muhammad prophesied that the return of Islam was inevitable… we adhere to the Jihad for the sake of Allah… Please turn our skulls into a ladder for your glory. We say to infidel America: By Allah, if you contemplate coming to Egypt, you will encounter men who love death more than you love life… I say to the Jews: if you contemplate harming Egypt or its Muslim people, you will encounter men who seek death more than you seek life…” Watch video.
Flashback: Muslim Brotherhood Elder: ‘Jerusalem Belongs to Us, and the Whole World Belongs to Us … the Caliphate Will Return’ – “We are the children of Islam, the children of prophecy, the children of ‘there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.’ … we will kill anyone who has polluted the al-Aqsa Mosque. I say unto you that we will return, as the day of Qurayza from long ago… Jerusalem belongs to us. Al-Aqsa belongs to us. Jerusalem belongs to us, and the whole world belongs to us. Every land upon which Islam has set foot will return to us. The caliphate will return to us, on the platform of prophecy.” Read more.
Flashback: Egypt: Rising Islamic Leader Declares ‘We Will Launch a Campaign of Islamic Conquest Throughout the World’, ‘Exterminate’ Christians Who Get In the Way of Sharia – “A rising leader in the radical Islamic movement in Egypt that has become a major political player since the demise of Hosni Mubarak’s regime says Christian churches may need to be blown up and Christians exterminated to allow the advance of Islamic law, or Shariah. The comments come from Sheik ‘Adel Shehato, a senior leader with the Egyptian Islamic Jihad terrorist group… The sheik, a senior jihadist leader, responded to a question about using violence against Christians, who make up a substantial minority in Egypt.” Read more.
Florida: Massive Fish Kill Affects All of Estero Bay, ‘It’s Crazy, the Numbers’ of Dead Fish
By Kevin Lollar – “It’s a mystery: Something is killing mullet in Estero Bay, but nobody knows what.
Katie McFarland, an FGCU graduate student, first saw large numbers of dead mullet floating in the bay and washed up along the shoreline Friday.
Saturday morning, McFarland took another trip onto the bay to take water samples and saw hundreds of mullet between FGCU’s Vester Field Station and New Pass.
‘From what I’ve heard, it’s the whole bay,’ she said. ‘I’ve yet to see anything but mullet. It’s crazy, the numbers of them.’
Soon after he made that comment, McFarland found one dead Atlantic spadefish.
One suspect is red tide, a natural phenomenon that occurs when the toxic single-cell alga Karenia brevis undergoes a population explosion, or bloom.
To determine the strength of a red tide, scientists take water samples and count the number of Karenia cells per liter of water.
Fish can start dying when concentrations are ‘low,’ 10,000 to 100,000 cells per liter; the effects of medium concentrations, 100,000 to 1 million cells, are ‘probable fish kills.’
According to the state’s latest red tide status report, a Karenia bloom stretches for 30 miles along the shore from southern Lee County to northern Collier County and 30 miles offshore. Water samples taken Tuesday showed medium concentrations at Lighthouse Beach on Sanibel and low counts at Lynn Hall Park and Lovers Key State Park.
‘Satellite imagery shows that the bloom we had up in Sarasota County worked its way down off Captiva and kept heading south,’ said Gary Kirkpatrick, manager of Mote Marine Laboratory’s Phytoplankton Ecology Program. ‘Clearly it’s in the area, but I can’t tell what’s killing the fish without having somebody do a toxin analysis. It seems likely that it’s red tide.’
But if it’s red tide, which can kill any fish species, as well as birds, marine mammals and sea turtles, why is it killing almost exclusively mullet?” Read more.
West Africa: Millions Face Potential Food Crisis in Niger, Mauritania and Mali Because of Plagues of Locusts and Inadequate Rainfall
“World Vision staff in West Africa are warning that the countries of Niger, Mauritania and Mali are on the brink of major food shortages.
A number of international agencies, including the United States Agency for International Development and the European Commission’s humanitarian relief organization, are reporing that inadequate rainfalls, combined with reports of grasshopper infestations, are causing major production shortfalls in rice and grain crops. This could lead to food shortfalls in West Africa in early 2012.
‘The combination of problems affecting the region is reducing the likelihood of a successful harvest,’ warns David Mbugua, World Vision’s Agriculture and Food Security Specialist. Mbugua adds that many of World Vision’s Area Development Programs (ADPs) in the southern region of Mauritania are affected by the current situation.
World Vision staff in West Africa are working with the World Food Programme to develop a number of cash-for-work and food-for-work programs. These programs, which would provide support for nearly 65,000 people, are also being supplemented by increasing clinical support to assist a stream of mothers with malnourished children.
A food crisis in Western Africa would be especially devastating as the area is still recovering from the severe drought of 2009-10.
‘World Vision is urging the international community to provide help for children and their families in the affected countries in West Africa,’ says Caroline Riseboro, Vice President, Marketing and Public Affairs for World Vision Canada. ‘By acting now, we can avoid a repeat of the humanitarian crisis that has occurred in Horn of Africa in 2011.'” Source – World Vision Canada.
Scientists Create Strain of Flu Virus That Has the Potential to Wipe Out Humanity
“A group of scientists is pushing to publish research about how they created a man-made flu virus that could potentially wipe out civilisation.
The deadly virus is a genetically tweaked version of the H5N1 bird flu strain, but is far more infectious and could pass easily between millions of people at a time.
The research has caused a storm of controversy and divided scientists, with some saying it should never have been carried out.
The current strain of H5N1 has only killed 500 people and is not contagious enough to cause a global pandemic.
But their are fears the modified virus is so dangerous it could be used for bio-warfare, if it falls into the wrong hands.
Virologist Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands lead a team of scientists who discovered that a mere five mutations to the avian virus was sufficient to make it spread far more easily.
He conducted his tests on ferrets as the animals have become a model of choice for influenza and have similar respiratory tracts to humans.
Fouchier is so prepared for a media storm that he has hired an advisor to help him work on a communication strategy.” Read more.
US: State Rep. Womick (R-TN) Calls for the Discharge of All Muslims From America’s Military
Discharging all Muslim soldiers from the military will be a very tall order, especially when the Obama Administration is trying to ‘convert‘ all the others to Islam …
Shoebat.com – “State Rep. Womick (R-TN) calls for purging military of Muslim Americans. If you are educated about Islam and its theology as this politician is, this is the first common sense solution that needs to happen to address fighting the enemy and keeping our country safe.”
Iowa: Health Officials Concerned Over Potentially Large Outbreak of New Recombinant Flu Virus Spreading Human-to-Human
By Roger Caldwell – “A new type of flu virus has afflicted three children in Iowa. This virus has been linked to pigs in the past, but these new cases appaear to have been spread from person to person.
Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, medical director for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said that the children did not become seriously ill. The children live in rural Webster and Hamilton counties. There is concern about a potentially greater outbreak of the flu because the swine origin A/H3N2 virus was detected in patients who hadn’t had contact with animals.
Quinlisk said, ‘We have pretty good evidence of person-to-person spread…None of the children or anyone around them had exposure to swine, turkeys or other sources.’
The new H3N2 virus appears to have acquired a gene that might make it more transmissible from H1N1, the flu that sparked 2009′s so-called swine flu pandemic. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had previously detected seven cases of this strain of the flu in humans. Genetic parts are often swapped by flu viruses. Officials suspect that the new virus was created when a pig became infected with the H1N1 virus and the H3N2 virus at the same time.
The new virus combines elements of avian, human, H1N1 and swine flu viruses together into what scientists call a recombinant virus.” Read more.
Libya’s New Rulers Offer Weapons to Syrian Rebels as Military Intervention Is Set to Begin ‘Within A Few Weeks’
In other words, Libyan Islamists are offering weapons and fighters to help secure a victory for Syrian Islamists. With Assad’s no-win predicament soon to be that of a cornered wild animal with nowhere left to run, I can almost hear echoes of Isaiah in the distance …
By Ruth Sherlock – “At the meeting, which was held in Istanbul and included Turkish officials, the Syrians requested ‘assistance’ from the Libyan representatives and were offered arms, and potentially volunteers.
‘There is something being planned to send weapons and even Libyan fighters to Syria,’ said a Libyan source, speaking on condition of anonymity. ‘There is a military intervention on the way. Within a few weeks you will see.’
The Telegraph has also learned that preliminary discussions about arms supplies took place when members of the Syrian National Council [SNC] – the country’s main opposition movement – visited Libya earlier this month.
‘The Libyans are offering money, training and weapons to the Syrian National Council,’ added Wisam Taris, a human rights campaigner with links to the SNC.
The disclosure came as rebels raided an air force base outside the city of Homs and killed six pilots, according to a statement by the country’s military.” Read more.
Report: US Aircraft Carrier Sent to Syrian Coast as Tensions Flare, US Embassy Urges Americans to Leave Syria ‘Immediately’ – “The USS George H.W. Bush, the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, has reportedly parked off the Syrian coast. The move comes as the U.S. embassy in Damascus urged Americans to ‘immediately’ leave the country. ‘The U.S. embassy continues to urge U.S. citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available,’ … Adding to the sense of danger, Turkey, a NATO member and fierce critic of Assad’s government, recently warned its citizens to avoid traveling through the country after Syrian troops fired on at least two buses carrying Turkish Muslims returning from the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.” Read more.
Hezbollah warns of regional war if Iran, Syria attacked – “Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Friday warned Israel and the US that a war against Iran and Syria would lead to an all-out regional conflict. ‘They should understand that a war on Iran and Syria will not remain in Iran and Syrian territory, but it will engulf the whole region and there is no escaping this reality,’ Nasrallah said during a televised speech honoring ‘Martyrs’ Day.’” Read more.
Kuwaiti Newspaper: Hizbullah Cancels Vacations For All Militants, Summons Thousands of Members, Preps for War with Israel – “Hizbullah has canceled leaves and is preparing for war, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper As-Seyassah. ‘Hizbullah cancelled the vacations of all its militants, summoned thousands of its members and gave orders to its prominent officials to remain unseen in case a war broke out,’ the daily said. It added that the terrorist army and political party put its combat units, including missile units, on extreme alert.” Read more.
Former Mossad Head Yatom: Israel Can’t Afford Not to Strike Iran and Must Do So Within the Next 12 Months
“The Begin Sadat Center, a respected think tank based at Bar Ilan University, held a conference on November 23, 2011 on the subject of ‘Israeli Security in a New Regional Envornment’, which focused on the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ and its implicatons. Its experts concluded that the Arab Spring is not going to result in democracy, despite original hopes in the West, and may make things even worse for Israel.
‘As steep as the price for hitting Iran may be, a military strike on Iran will be less painful than the cost of living with an Iranian nuclear weapons threat,’ argues former Mossad head Maj. Gen. (res.) Danny Yatom. ‘The backlash from a strike on Iran’s nuclear sites will not be as bad for Israel as will an Iran armed with nuclear weapons,’ he says. ‘I don’t think that those predicting apocalyptic repercussions of a strike on Tehran are correct, and even if they are, Israel can’t afford to wonder if Tehran will go crazy and bomb us.’…
The world does not have much time left to act on Iran, the former Mossad head warned, adding that ‘there is an evaluation that they have crossed the red line. They have the knowledge to make the bomb. All that is needed now is the decision to do it…. The world has a year in which to halt the Iranian nuclear weapons program, probably less.'” Read more.
Iran Threatens to Attack Turkey, Israel if Attacked – “Iran has threatened to target NATO’s missile defense installations in Turkey if the U.S. or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic, The Associated Press reported. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace division, made the threat on Saturday, saying the warning is part of a new defense strategy to counter what he described as an increase in threats from the U.S. and Israel. ‘Should we be threatened, we will target NATO’s missile defense shield in Turkey and then hit the next targets,’ Hazijzadeh was quoted as having told the Mehr news agency.” Read more.
Colombia: Galeras Volcano Threatens to Erupt, Thousands of People Evacuated
“The Colombian Institute of Geology Ingeominas recommended the evacuation of about eight thousand people living near the Galeras volcano. Its activity has increased recently and the threat of eruption is becoming increasingly serious.
An orange alert has been announced – the second highest in the four-level scale. This means that the outbreak can occur within days or weeks. – Ingeominas vice president, Marta Calvache said.
Galeras rising to a height of 4270 meters above sea level in southwestern Colombia near the Ecuador border has been showing continuous activity for the last
20 years.
The last of the explosions, which entailed fatalities, occurred in 1993 when nine people were killed.
As Calvache said, in the last 48 hours seismic movements similar to the preceding previous eruptions have been recorded, and therefore evacuation is recommended.” Source – GreenFudge.org




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