Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Muslim Brotherhood Taking Out Rage on Christian Churches, Businesses
Aug 19th, 2013
Daily NewsWorld Tribune
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Muslim Brotherhood has targeted Christian communities in its insurgency campaign against Egypt’s military-backed regime.

Christian groups said Islamist fighters, many of whom linked to the Brotherhood, were attacking churches and Christian-owned businesses throughout Egypt.

The Christian groups said the Brotherhood torched at least 40 churches in eight provinces.

“It’s Christians in Egypt who pay the price to overthrow tyranny,” Antoine Adel, spokesman for the Maspero Youth Union, said.

The Interior Ministry has confirmed that Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi were targeting churches. On Aug. 14, the ministry said seven churches were destroyed in the first stage of the Brotherhood campaign.

“Today, the churches of Egypt became like a censor with fire coming out of it mixed with incense raised to the heavens as a sweet aroma so that God may have compassion on his people and perform unprecedented wonders,” the Coptic leader of the Assiyut province, Metropolitan Mikhail, said.

Maspero, which monitors the rights of Egypt’s minority Coptic community, said most of the attacks took place in Alexandria and Minya. The organization said the Brotherhood was trying to exploit friction between the majority Muslim community and Copts.

Let the Headlines Speak
Aug 19th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Egypt turmoil deepens; militants kill 25 policemen
Islamic militants on Monday ambushed two mini-buses carrying off-duty policemen in the northern region of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing 25 of them execution-style in a brazen daylight attack that deepens the turmoil roiling the country and underscores the volatility of the strategic region.  

Israel quietly maintains ties with Egyptian army
Israel is quietly and carefully watching the turmoil in neighboring Egypt while maintaining close contacts with the Egyptian military amid concerns that the escalating crisis could weaken their common battle against Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula, officials said.  

M, F or Blank: 'Third Gender' Official in Germany from November
The option of selecting "blank", in addition to the standard choices of "male" or female" on birth certificates will become available in Germany from November 1. The legislative change allows parents to opt out of determining their baby's gender, thereby allowing those born with characteristics of both sexes to choose whether to become male or female in later life. Under the new law, individuals can also opt to remain outside the gender binary altogether.  

Voyager 1 Has Left the Solar System
Voyager 1 appears to have at long last left our solar system and entered interstellar space, says a University of Maryland-led team of researchers.  

Egypt crisis worsens as Islamic militants execute 25 policemen in brazen daylight attack
Islamic militants on Monday ambushed two mini-buses carrying off-duty policemen in the northern region of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, killing 25 of them execution-style in a brazen daylight attack that deepens the turmoil roiling the country and underscores the volatility of the strategic region.  

Israel urges Europe, U.S. to support Egypt
Israel will intensify efforts this week, urging Europe and the United States to back the interim Egyptian government and army, a senior Israeli official said. The Egyptian army is the only hope to prevent further chaos in Cairo, the senior Israeli official told The New York Times Sunday.  

Why The 2,776 NSA Violations Are No Big Deal
Thanks to more documents leaked by Edward Snowden, this time to the Washington Post, we learned last week that a secret May 2012 internal audit by the NSA revealed 2,776 incidents of “unauthorized” collection of information on American citizens over the previous 12 months. They are routinely breaking their own rules and covering it up. The Post article quotes an NSA spokesman assuring the paper that the NSA attempts to identify such problems “at the earliest possible moment.” But what happened to all those communications intercepted improperly in the meantime? The answer is, they were logged and stored anyway.  

Russia’s Far East hit by biggest floods in 120 years
Floods are currently affecting over 32,500 locals living in over 5,000 homes. Over 17,000 residents have already left the area over the disaster. Viktor Ishayev, Russia’s Minister for the Far East, said that "in the worst-case scenario up to 100,000 people could be evacuated" from the Amur, Khabarovsk and Jewish Autonomous Regions.  

Islamist mob parades nuns in Cairo as prisoners of war...
A mob marched nuns through the battle-torn streets of Cairo ‘like prisoners of war’ in the latest outrage against Egypt’s Christian minority. Sister Manal, principal of a Franciscan school in suburban Cairo, watched for six hours as a mob looted the building, knocked the cross off the gate and replaced it with a black banner resembling the flag of Al Qaeda.  

American al-Qaeda terrorist urges attacks on US diplomats
An American al-Qaeda terrorist has called for more attacks on Western diplomats in the Arab world, praising the killers of the US ambassador to Libya on Sept. 11 last year, a US-based monitoring group said on Sunday. Western nations shut embassies across the Middle East and North Africa early this month, after a warning of a possible terror attack.  

Sakurajima Volcano Erupts in Japan: Largest Eruption in Decades Sends Ash Plume Thousands of Feet High
Sakurajima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, experienced one of its most powerful eruptions in decades Sunday, sending an ash plume thousands of feet into the air.  

Russia battles huge far east flood - 20,000 evacuated
More than 20,000 people have been evacuated from flood-stricken areas in Russia's far east, where the Amur river has burst its banks after heavy rain. The army and emergency workers have set up 166 temporary shelters across three regions, providing drinking water, hot food and medical supplies, RIA Novosti news agency reports. But Russian Vesti TV reports that many people do not want to be evacuated.  

New Zealand gay couples hold first weddings
The first same-sex weddings have taken place in New Zealand after the country became the first in the Asia-Pacific region and 14th in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. Thirty-one same-sex couples had been due to marry on Monday, according to the Department of Internal Affairs. It comes after New Zealand's parliament passed a bill in April amending the country's 1955 marriage act.  

Many dead as floods and rainfall hit China
At least 91 people have died and 111 are missing after days of torrential rain and floods in north-east and southern China, state media report. More than 840,000 people have been evacuated from Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Guangdong provinces. Almost eight million people are thought to be affected by the floods.  

‘Israel intensifying bid to rally support for Egypt military rule’
It’s ‘army or anarchy,’ Israeli official tells NY Times, rebuffing claims that Jerusalem is ‘undercutting’ Western efforts.  

Magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits South Cotabato
A magnitude-5.6 quake struck South Cotabato province early Monday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in an update.  

Egypt army on high alert in Sinai, Gaza border said shut following deadly ambush
Egyptian authorities on Monday were on high alert after suspected Islamist militants killed at least 24 Egyptian policemen in the Sinai peninsula... Egyptian daily Al-Ahram quoted security officials as saying that military and police have declared a state of emergency in northern Sinai, deploying roadblocks in the area in an effort to combat terrorists.  

CME OFF-TARGET
According to NOAA analysts, a CME hurled into space by an M3-class solar flare on August 17th will probably miss Earth. However, Earth will pass through the wake of the CME after the cloud itself passes by. This could trigger polar geomagnetic storms despite the CME being off-target.  

SUNDIVING COMET
A small comet is diving toward the sun today, and it is visible in SOHO coronagraphs. To see the death plunge, first check the finder chart, then play the movie. The comet is Kreutz sungrazer.  

Israel Stays Clear of Egyptian Crisis, Fearing Russian Military’s Return to a Second Border
Aug 19th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republics – not Israel - are lobbying the West for support of the Egyptian military. Their campaign is orchestrated by Saudi Director of Intelligence Prince Bandar Bin Sultan - not an anonymous senior Israeli official as claimed by the New York Times, debkafile’s Middle East sources report. The prince is wielding the Russian threat (Remember the Red Peril?) as his most potent weapon for pulling Washington and Brussels behind Egypt’s military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and away from recriminations for his deadly crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
The veteran Saudi diplomat’s message is blunt: Failing a radical Western about-turn in favor of the Egyptian military, Cairo will turn to Moscow. In no time, Russian arms and military experts will again be swarming over Egypt, 41 years after they were thrown out by the late president Anwar Sadat in 1972.  
Implied in Bandar’s message is the availability of Saudi financing for Egyptian arms purchases from Moscow. Therefore, if President Barack Obama yields to pressure and cuts off military aid to post-coup Cairo, America’s strategic partnership with this important Arab nation may go by the board.

It is not clear to what extent Russian President Vladimir Putin is an active party in the Saudi drive on behalf of the Egyptian military ruler. On July 31, during his four-hour meeting with Prince Bandar, he listened to a Saudi proposition for the two countries to set up an economic-military-diplomatic partnership as payment for Russian backing for Cairo.
Last Friday, Aug. 16, Putin convened his elite military and intelligence chiefs for an extraordinary meeting in the Kremlin to discuss the Saudi proposition. No decisions were reported - only a suggestive quote from Putin saying that the session was called to “discuss the situation in Egypt and take the necessary steps to the put Russian military facilities at the Egyptian military disposal.” He added that “Russia will arrange for joint military exercises with the Egyptian army.”
Both notions were left dangling without elaboration, a lure without a commitment.
The New York Times of Sunday and Monday (Aug. 18-19) pushed an account of Israel’s diplomats suggesting they were fanning out across Western capitals to urge them to support Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. El-Sisi despite his suppression of the Muslim Brotherhood, with the argument: “At this point, it’s army or anarchy.”
This entire conception doesn’t hold water. From Israel’s perspective, the Bandar initiative if it takes off would lead to the undesirable consequence of a Russian military presence in Egypt as well as Syria. This would exacerbate an already fragile - if not perilous situation – closing in on Israel from the south as well as from the north.

The Israeli and Egyptian armies strictly limit their cooperation to counterterrorist action in Sinai against al Qaeda, Salafist and other terrorists threatening both countries and the Suez Canal international waterway. Even then, the IDF does not go beyond responding to Egyptian requests in cases of mutual security concern. Israel has absolutely no involvement in Gen. El-Sisi’s war on the Muslim Brotherhood. 

On the diplomatic front, Israel’s assets barely hold their own against the hostile Palestinian propaganda permeating Western capitals - least of all come up with the strength and skills for orchestrating a campaign on behalf of Egypt, as the NYT seems to believe.
Indeed, Israel has been extremely wary of any association with the Egyptian defense minister’s domestic affairs out of the cold calculation. If it suited his political and domestic agenda, the general might easily turn around and accuse Israel of unwarranted meddling as his fall guy.

On Saturday, Aug. 17, El-Sisi remarked “This is no time to attack the US and Israel, because our first priority is to disband the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Jerusalem found this remark alarming rather than comforting, noting that he made no promises about the future.

Fukushima Apocalypse: Years of ‘duct Tape Fixes’ Could Result in ‘Millions of Deaths’
Aug 19th, 2013
Daily NewsRT
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Even the tiniest mistake during an operation to extract over 1,300 fuel rods at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan could lead to a series of cascading failures with an apocalyptic outcome, fallout researcher Christina Consolo told RT.

Fukushima operator TEPCO wants to extract 400 tons worth of spent fuel rods stored in a pool at the plant’s damaged Reactor No. 4. The removal would have to be done manually from the top store of the damaged building in the radiation-contaminated environment.

In the worst-case scenario, a mishandled rod may go critical, resulting in an above-ground meltdown releasing radioactive fallout with no way to stop it, said Consolo, who is the founder and host of Nuked Radio. But leaving the things as they are is not an option, because statistical risk of a similarly b                  v             ad outcome increases every day, she said.

RT: How serious is the fuel rod situation compared to the danger of contaminated water build-up which we already know about?

Christina Consolo: Although fuel rod removal happens on a daily basis at the 430+ nuclear sites around the world, it is a very delicate procedure even under the best of circumstances. What makes fuel removal at Fukushima so dangerous and complex is that it will be attempted on a fuel pool whose integrity has been severely compromised. However, it must be attempted as Reactor 4 has the most significant problems structurally, and this pool is on the top floor of the building.

There are numerous other reasons that this will be a dangerous undertaking.

- The racks inside the pool that contain this fuel were damaged by the explosion in the early days of the accident.

- Zirconium cladding which encased the rods burned when water levels dropped, but to what extent the rods have been damaged is not known, and probably won’t be until removal is attempted.

- Saltwater cooling has caused corrosion of the pool walls, and probably the fuel rods and racks.

- The building is sinking.

- The cranes that normally lift the fuel were destroyed.

- Computer-guided removal will not be possible; everything will have to be done manually.

- TEPCO cannot attempt this process without humans, which will manage this enormous task while being bombarded with radiation during the extraction and casking.

- The process of removing each rod will have to be repeated over 1,300 times without incident.

- Moving damaged nuclear fuel under such complex conditions could result in a criticality if the rods come into close proximity to one another, which would then set off a chain reaction that cannot be stopped.

What could potentially happen is the contents of the pool could burn and/or explode, and the entire structure sustain further damage or collapse. This chain reaction process could be self-sustaining and go on for a long time. This is the apocalyptic scenario in a nutshell.

The water build-up is an extraordinarily difficult problem in and of itself, and as anyone with a leaky basement knows, water always ‘finds a way.’

At Fukushima, they are dealing with massive amounts of groundwater that flow through the property, and the endless pouring that must be kept up 24/7/365 to keep things from getting worse. Recently there appears to be subsidence issues and liquefaction under the plant.

TEPCO has decided to pump the water out of these buildings. However, pumping water out of the buildings is only going to increase the flow rate and create more of these ground issues around the reactors. An enormous undertaking – but one that needs to be considered for long-term preservation of the integrity of the site – is channelling the water away, like a drain tile installed around the perimeter of a house with a leaky basement, but on an epic scale.

Without this effort, the soils will further deteriorate, structural shift will occur, and subsequently the contents of the pools will shift too.

Any water that flows into those buildings also becomes highly radioactive, as it is likely coming into contact with melted fuel.

Without knowing the extent of the current liquefaction and its location, the location of the melted fuel, how long TEPCO has been pumping out water, or when the next earthquake will hit, it is impossible to predict how soon this could occur from the water problem/subsidence issue alone. But undoubtedly, pumping water out of the buildings is just encouraging the flow, and this water problem needs to be remedied and redirected as soon as possible.

RT: Given all the complications that could arise with extracting the fuel rods, which are the most serious, in your opinion?

CC: The most serious complication would be anything that leads to a nuclear chain reaction. And as outlined above, there are many different ways this could occur. In a fuel pool containing damaged rods and racks, it could potentially start up on its own at anytime. TEPCO has been incredibly lucky that this hasn’t happened so far.

My second biggest concern would be the physical and mental fitness of the workers that will be in such close proximity to exposed fuel during this extraction process. They will be the ones guiding this operation, and will need to be in the highest state of alertness to have any chance at all of executing this plan manually and successfully. Many of their senses, most importantly eyesight, will be hindered by the apparatus that will need to be worn during their exposure, to prevent immediate death from lifting compromised fuel rods out of the pool and placing them in casks, or in the common spent fuel pool located a short distance away.

Egyptian Democratic Coalition Responds to Obama
Aug 19th, 2013
Daily NewsWND
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The National Salvation Front, a coalition of pro-democratic and secular parties in Egypt, set out its objections to remarks made by President Barack Obama Thursday on the escalating violence in Egypt.

Led by Ahmed Said of the Free Egyptians Party, the group issued the following letter:

"Like most Egyptians, we listened with attention to your statement on Egypt's latest developments. As representatives of the non-Islamic political forces in Egypt, we believe in the same fundamental values on which the U.S. was founded. Be we also have 7,000 years of civilization and history that give us a special identity that we are fighting to keep since the Muslim Brotherhood came to power.

"Let us first inform you about who the Muslim brothers are: They’re an unlawful organization operating outside the realm of Egyptian law, receiving foreign funding and laundering money in a flagrant breech of international law. Their aim is to rule the world through a so-called Islamic Caliphate as they believe in their absolute supremacy.

"They pretend they are God’s emissaries and they will not rest until they have forced the whole world into submission. For them, Egypt is the launching pad to achieve their fascist dream. Their international reach spans the globe and they command the hearts and minds of many unsuspecting politicians. They have used deceit, soft speeches, international funds and whenever required, violence,  to impose their will.

"The rule of (deposed President Mohammed) Morsi showed how in less than a year they abused the people, reneged on their promises and overturned the rule of law by issuing constitutional diktats monopolizing the judiciary as well as the legislative arms of the state. This was enough to impeach any president in a democratic nation. Unfortunately, Egyptians couldn’t refer to their Supreme Sourt as it was besieged by thugs for over 60 days back in November of 2012.

"So finally, Egyptians took to the streets and this century’s second Egyptian 'peaceful unarmed' revolution took place in June 2013 to recall the president and reject the rule of the Brotherhood. Egyptians deposed their president not because he was not inclusive, as you so kindly represented, but because he broke his constitutional oath and became another dictator reminiscent of the previous dictator this same great people of Egypt removed in January 2011. This was the will of the people that the West is now trying to bend pretending they are doing so in the name of democracy with no intention of interfering in Egyptian affairs!

"Now, I would like to address a few points in your address:

"Despite the perception, well-intentioned or ill-intentioned, history will tell of a Western media consistently portraying only one side — the Islamist's. We have to let you know some facts and some truth.

"Since July 3, 2013, the day deposed President Morsi was ousted by popular demand of millions of Egyptians, the Western media and prominent emissaries from the U.S. and Europe have consistently described the sit-ins that paralyzed a large part of Cairo as 'peaceful demonstrations.' They chose to ignore what was happening across Egypt from torching churches and killing randomly and destroying private and public properties.

"Mr. President, peaceful demonstrators do not have the capacity to kill more than 50 police personnel in just a few hours.

"Peaceful demonstrators do not attack a police station with RPG and kill the police chief and his deputies, strip them of their clothes and drag their naked bodies down the street.

"Peaceful demonstrators do not threaten Christians with genocide as many of the Muslim Brotherhood declared in hate speeches from the sit-in stage. Peaceful demonstrators do not raise the black flags of al-Qaida while marching with pictures of bin Laden and al Zawahri on their chests.

"While the Western media was focusing yesterday on the clearing of the sit-ins, more than 45 attacks were made on Christian installations across Egypt, resulting in the torching of 19 churches and cathedrals, some built in the 6th Century.

"The list goes on, but your intelligence reports will enlighten you, we are sure. The attached video here will also give you an idea.

"Mr. President, it is important that you see reality, especially that the great American people have themselves suffered from the darkness of Islamists and unfortunately thousands of great Americans died from their terror.

"The Muslim Brotherhood and their jihadist allies have never known and will never know peace. It might be useful to remind you that these same people had a three-week sit-in that started on the next dawn after election day and lasted almost two weeks to declare that they will burn Egypt if their candidate is not declared the winner.

"Mr. President, we are on the side of freedom, we are on the side of human rights. We are on the side of justice for all. We also hurt to see mothers mourn their children and children mourn their parents. Have you seen, Mr. President, the video clip of the Muslim Brotherhood supporter throwing 14-year-old children off the roof of a six-floor building? One mother died of sorrow when she saw the video clip of her son thrown off the building. She did not have time to mourn.

"Today Mr. President, you chose to consider one side of the picture and to punish the Egyptians by cancelling Operation Bright Star. Well Mr. President, Operation Bright Star means nothing to most Egyptians, but it is the misunderstanding and misleading of the American people that we care most about. Egyptians have always stood by the American people when attacked by terrorists because we are freedom lovers and individual liberty champions like the American people. The only difference is that we have always been deprived of these great principles and rights.

"Is it too much for Egyptians today to have the support of the American people during our own war on terror? How can the same group be named terrorists in the U.S.A. and peaceful demonstrators in Egypt?

"How can these be the ones the U.S.A. will never negotiate with while the U.S. government demands that Egyptians not only negotiate with them but also partner with them in the building of modern Egypt?

"Finally, Mr. President, we hope that this letter will get your attention for, after all, we are now representing the majority. Our present government represents us, the secular, civil and liberal political forces. We hope that you will find it of value to probe more and investigate more and ask more. When you do, we are ready to come to you in a small delegation and discuss and explain more. We are sure that you will realize that, after all, Egyptians are indeed a great people deserving a great future."

Commodities: Egyptian Bloodbath Threatens Crucial Routes for Oil and Gas Supplies
Aug 19th, 2013
Daily NewsThe Telegraph
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues