Tuesday, October 11

[faith]

'Final stage - war against Israel'
A letter found by U.S troops in Iraq sent by Bin Laden's deputy to Islamic insurgent leader in Iraq, reveals al-Qaeda's future strategies; according to the letter, terror against Israel is the final stage of al-Qaeda's plan to take control of the Middle East

New Hampshire declares emergency after flooding
The worst floods to hit southern New Hampshire in 25 years killed at least three people, forced 1,000 people to evacuate their homes and prompted the governor to declare a state of emergency, authorities said on Monday. Flooding triggered by torrential rains over the weekend submerged 1/3 of the city of Keene in up to 8 feet (2.4 metres) of water, while rivers in western Massachusetts and eastern Vermont swelled to dangerous levels, emergency officials said. "This is a statewide flooding event," said New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency Management spokesman Jim Van Dungen.

Analysis of Speech by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf To Jewish Leaders on Saturday, September 17, 2005
Jack Rosen, Chairman of the Council of World Jewry, invited me and many others to attend dinner with General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, an Islamic nation of 150 million people. After much thought and discussion I decided to attend. Despite my deep concerns and reservations about Musharraf’s policies, I thought it might be worthwhile to make my concerns known to the media who would be there and to see if Musharraf had made any significant changes in his views toward Israel.
(Important to read this one. He gets right to the heart of the matter.)

Heavy Rain, Hail Slows Asian Aid Effort As Quake Toll Estimated to Surpass 35,000
Heavy rain and hail forced the cancellation of some relief flights to earthquake-stricken regions Tuesday and survivors scuffled over the badly needed food the 1st large-scale aid to make it overland to this devastated city. Officials estimated that the death toll would surpass 35,000.

Girl's Illness Traced to 'Toxic' School; Some Doctors Alarmed by Hidden Chemicals at Schools
Kellianne King was a healthy, vibrant little girl until she started preschool. That's when she started to suffer from headaches, sinus infections, chest pains and seizures, says her mother, Kathy King. When Kellianne was in the first grade, her parents learned the painful truth: There were serious air quality problems in her school that had sickened dozens of students and teachers. "I was shocked that the only place, the only place I trusted to leave her was what was making her sick," said King.

Dr. Phillip Landigan chairs the Department of Community and Preventative Medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He is one of many doctors alarmed by hidden toxins in schools. "Today, too many chemicals are put into schools that have never been tested for the possible impacts they have on young children," Landigan said.

Entire Generation Might Have Been Lost in S. Asian Earthquake
In another devastating scene left in the wake of the deadly earthquake that struck South Asia, a twisted mound of cement and rubble is what remains of the Rizwan elementary school. More than 400 children, aged 3 to 8, had just started class Sunday when the earthquake struck. Only 20 have been pulled out alive. Those kind of heart-wrenching scenes are being repeated across the Kashmir valley, where at least one college and six schools have crumbled.
Some fear an entire generation of children has been lost.

Attacks Kill More Than 40 in Iraq
Insurgents determined to wreck Iraq's constitutional referendum killed more than 40 people and wounded dozens in a series of attacks Tuesday, including a homicide car bomb that ripped apart a crowded market in a town near the Syrian border, police said. U.S. and Iraqi officials have repeatedly warned that the insurgents would step up their attacks to undermine Saturday's referendum, a crucial step in Iraq's democratic transition.

Early Winter Blast Kills 3 in Colo.
An early blast of winter walloped Colorado's mountains with almost 20 inches of snow, killing three people, making driving conditions treacherous and canceling dozens of flights.

Death Toll Rises for Military Reservists
The National Guard and Reserves are suffering a strikingly higher share of U.S. casualties in Iraq, their portion of total American military deaths nearly doubling since last year.

Deepak Chopra: This Earthquake Needs to Be Global
(When you scan this article, you can see how prophetic undertones are building with all these calamities....drawing the world together more & more into the global environment the antichrist ('in place of' Christ) & false prophet need.)
Kashmir is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and my sorrow over it has lasted most of my life. Pakistan and India contend over this mountain paradise strictly to keep religious bigotry alive. Now that the region has suffered a calamitous earthquake which has caused up to 30 times more deaths than Katrina, the world should draw together.

..World events are moving quickly... The time is coming soon when global cooperation won't be a luxury but a necessity for our entire survival. We could use this horrendous tragedy as the first step into a global future that crosses the lines of nationalism, colonialism, and religion.

Earthquake off Philippine coast yesterday
An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale occurred in waters off the Philippines. The quake was recorded at 7:12pm (1112 GMT) about 140 kilometres (90 miles) east-northeast of the town of Legaspi, the Hong Kong Observatory said Monday.

Highway sound barriers as border fences? Construction would be economically, physically feasible, say experts
As discussion of erecting a security fence along U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada heats up, some analysts say it's possible Washington could economically erect thousands of miles of barrier to keep out illegal aliens, smugglers and terrorists, for about half of what the Pentagon is spending a month to fight the war on terror. The idea, they say, is to erect a structure similar to barrier walls built along highways to reduce sound. They are sturdy, tall, not easily scaled and, most attractively, affordable....The group points to the fact that similar security fences in Israel have reduced terrorist attacks there by as much as 95% in some regions. ...

Fed saw more rate hikes
U.S. Federal Reserve policy-makers believed more interest-rate increases would be needed to keep inflation tamped down when they nudged credit costs up 3 weeks ago, according to minutes of the meeting released on Tuesday.

Biometric ATMs Used in Columbia, Not Being Used in U.S.
Colombia is one of the few places in the world where banks are using fingerprint biometrics, which verify people's identities based on their unique physical characteristics. Scanning fingerprints or irises to verify an ATM customer's identity has yet to penetrate the U.S. banking market because of concerns about expense and privacy.

Vince landfalls in Spain
Earlier today, Tropical Depression Vince became the 1st tropical cyclone on record to make landfall in Spain.

Hurricane Center Has One Name Left: Wilma
With the forming of the 20th tropical storm in the Atlantic Basin, this season becomes the 2nd busiest on record. If one more storm forms, as is likely, 2005 will tie for the record and the last name on the list will be used.

Tropical storm Vince became a hurricane Sunday in the far eastern Atlantic. The only name left on this year's list is Wilma, then the National Hurricane Center will switch for the 1st time to Greek names such Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. The busiest season on record was 1933 with 21 named storm. There were 20 storms in 1887 and 1995. Reliable hurricane records go back to 1851.

"There is the potential for additional tropical storms and hurricanes to form this season, but it's too early to know exactly where they will develop or if they will affect land," said Scott Kiser, Tropical Cyclone Program Manager for the National Weather Service.

1956 Idea Realized: Robot Cleans Kitchen Floors
iRobot's new Scooba floor-cleaning robot is a great idea - Robert Heinlein's! He specified what was needed in his 1956 novel The Door Into Summer. It took humanity only fifty years..
Scooba's appearance is a pretty close match for its robot vacuum cleaner cousin Roomba.
http://irobot.com/consumer/

[faith]

Explosions at 2 more universities?

UCLAStudent Media: Explosive found at Midvale; Explosive Device Detonated Near UCLA
A calm and quiet Westwood was briefly disrupted Friday afternoon when the Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad inspected and detonated an explosive device found within the Midvale Plaza apartment complex on the 500 block of Midvale Avenue.

Explosives Found Near Tech Dorms (Georgia Tech)
3 explosive devices found in a courtyard between two Georgia Tech dormitories on the East Campus Monday morning were part of a "terrorist act," an Atlanta police official said. One of the devices exploded, injuring the custodian who found them inside a plastic bag. Two others were detonated by a bomb squad. The custodian suffered ringing to the ears and was treated at a local hospital. The events led to a temporary evacuation Monday morning. "It is a terrorist act at this point and depending on the outcome of the investigation it potentially could become a federal violation as well," said Major C.W. Moss of the Atlanta Police Department.

(Separate incident below) -
Suspicious Device at QT Station
Gwinnett County’s bomb squad responded Monday to a call about a suspicious device at a QT service station at 3349 Satellite Boulevard, authorities said.

(Whether related or not, I read on a blog where someone was wondering if 'they're really trying to cause damage yet or if these are ploys to test response times, etc.' Or copycats, but they use stuff like this against Israel too, so it's hard to say.)

Babies womb danger (chemical exposure)
UNBORN babies are being exposed to dangerous chemicals through their mother's placenta, new research shows. Studies in Europe and the US analysing the umbilical cord blood of newborns have revealed an alarming cocktail of environmental contaminants -- some linked to cancer.

Winter Fuel Bills Expected to Heat Up
Heating bills are headed through the roof, expected to average 50 percent higher this winter for homes that use natural gas. People in parts of the Midwest are likely to pay even more — as much as $1,600 for the winter months if the weather is especially bad.

Big Bay Area Quake Likely Within 20 Years, Experts Say
Saturday's South Asia earthquake serves as a tragic reminder of Earth's unpredictability. Now a computer simulation suggests that the San Francisco Bay Area may experience a large quake within the next two decades.

HIV Thins Regions of the Brain
In disturbing news for HIV patients, research now provides visual evidence that the AIDS virus ravages some parts of the brain, even in those who follow powerful drug regimens to remain healthy.

IR.Photo News: 122 Pictures of Palestinian Children Educated to Murder Jews
A disturbing and riveting photo gallery of 122 pictures of arab terrorist children in Israel being educated to murder Jews and despise the Jewish nation (forwarded via Isralert). The slide show opens with the cover of the June 17, 1970 issue of LIFE magazine showing how long Palestinian Arabs have been instilling hatred in the minds of their children (see image below, left). The remainder of the photo gallery (i.e. image below, right) exhibits with great clarity that the educational system of the arab children of terrorists is creating a cultural hate for the Jewish nation that locks the region into violent conflict from generation to generation.

Russia supports new international alliance - foreign minister
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday the harmonious coexistence of different cultures between and within countries was the main goal of the coming decade. During his Monday visit in Spain, Lavrov confirmed Russia's support for a Turkish-Spanish initiative to create an Alliance of Civilizations, which is designed to foster mutual respect for religious beliefs and traditions..

200 Christians detained in mass sweep; Follows U.S. sanctions for religious freedom violations
The North African country Eritrea has detained more than 200 Christians in an operation said to be the worst of its kind. Eritrean security forces captured evangelicals and members of minority churches from the streets, their workplaces and homes Oct. 3, reported the British group Release Eritrea. The whereabouts of the Christians is unknown. Authorities also shut down a church's development project and detained its entire staff. The project includes an extensive emergency aid and feeding program.

In 2002, the PFDJ, Eritrea's ruling party, ordered the closure of all churches not belonging to the Orthodox, Roman Catholic or Evangelical Lutheran denominations (Interesting that those aren't seen as a threat to them.) At least 36 churches have been closed, and many members and their leaders have been imprisoned, harassed and tortured, Release Eritrea said.

IN WAKE OF ISRAELI PULLOUT, EGYPT CONTROLS PA
Egypt has taken control of the Palestinian Authority. PA sources said that over the last few months, Egypt has dominated several key areas of Palestinian government, particularly in the Gaza Strip. They said Egypt approves PA decisions regarding the deployment and training of Palestinian security forces, security operations and policy, development projects and senior appointments. "They are in every facet of the [Palestinian] Authority in Gaza," a PA source said. "It is correct to say that major decisions are not taken without Egypt's approval."
(Interesting in light of the fact Arafat was actually born in Cairo, Egypt.)

The Global Islamic Media Front: Al-Qaeda in Iraq Has Replaced the Mother Organization in Afghanistan and is Spreading Jihad Throughout the World
The Egyptian journalist Rim Azmi published an attack on Muslim liberals living in Western countries in the April 23, 2005 issue of the official Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, titled: "Muslims in Name, Apostates in Fact," in which she accuses Muslim academics and politicians in the West of using Islam for their own aggrandizement.

Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi: Collateral Killing of Muslims is Legitimate
A speech titled "The Return of Ibn Al-'Alqami's Grandchildren" was posted on Islamist message forums by the media division of Al-Qa'ida in Iraq on May 18, 2005. The main point of the speech was to justify collateral killing of Muslims as well as non-combatant non-Muslims, according to Islamic religious norms.

Egyptian Journalist on Muslim Liberals in the West: ‘Muslims in Name, Apostates in Fact’
One of the few positive effects of 9/11 has been renewed American interest in Islam and the Middle East. Unfortunately, much of the information disseminated in the media about those topics is ignorant and misleading.

Iraqis Reach Deal on the Constitution
Iraqi leaders reached a deal on the constitution that at least one Sunni Arab party said Tuesday would allow it to reverse its rejection of the document and urge its supporters to approve it in next weekend's referendum. Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni negotiators agreed late Tuesday to a measure stating that if the draft constitution is passed, the next parliament will be able to consider amendments to it that would then be put to a new referendum next year, Shiite and Sunni officials said.

7 Myths About Islam