Post by Michael James Stone on Aug 27, 2012 6:37:23 GMT -8
AUG 27
California earthquake swarm 'pretty bad,' buildings damaged
Some buildings were damaged by the earlier quakes, including 20 mobile homes that shifted from their foundations, according to the Imperial County Office of Emergency Services. The office was working with the American Red Cross to set up a shelter for displaced families at the Imperial Valley College gymnasium. The quakes cause scattered power outages, including at Pioneers Memorial Hospital, which lost power for about three hours. Assistant hospital administrator Art Mejia said generators immediately kicked in, but officials decided to evacuate patients as a precautionary measure in case the facility had suffered structural damage.
Defense Ministry Seeks 'Volunteers' to Help with Evictions
The Defense Ministry is planning for massive evictions of outposts in Judea and Samaria, including Migron, according to an e-mail distributed to department heads at the Ministry of Defense and received by Arutz Sheva on Friday.-Earlier this week, the left-leaning State Attorney's Office and Attorney General's Office defeated Israel's elected leaders in the matter of Migron. The two announced that the State’s response to the Supreme Court motion filed by residents of Migron will determine that they must be evicted from their land.
US Christians under assault - report
A new 140-page report released by the Family Research Council and Liberty Institute reveals a pattern of hostility toward Christians and Christianity in the US. The report was released earlier this week and includes over 600 incidents over a 10-year period. The attacks range from rulings from the judiciary branch to an elementary school student who was physically lifted from his seat and reprimanded for praying before eating his lunch.
'Vengeance massacre' in Syria leaves 320 dead
Syrian soldiers loyal to President Bashar Assad stormed a town out-side Damascus over the week-end, killing more than 300 people in what the activists opposed to the regime called "the worst single atrocity of the 17-month conflict." The activists claimed Sunday to have found more than 200 bodies, mostly killed "execution-style," in houses and basements in Dariya, a rebel holdout, after government troops stormed it early Saturday.
Indian PM to hold talks with Ayatollah Khamenei, Ahmadinejad
'Peace and security is, indeed, our primary concern given just how important the entire West Asia region, Persian Gulf region, in particular, is for India's security and for Indian economy, both in terms of oil imports and our exports. So, this is our own concern and we don't have to take anybody else's concern,' he said. India attaches great importance to ties with Iran and the PM will also seek to boost cooperation in key areas, including trade during his meetings with the Iranian leadership'
Obama Email to Supporters: If I Lose, It's Your Fault
Obama sent out a campaign email essentially blaming his supporters if he loses. See, he’s supposedly being outspent. And because he’s supposedly being outspent, he’s losing. And he can’t spend more money unless his supporters fork it over. This is the campaign version of Obama’s entire economic argument: he can’t fix the economy unless he spends more money. And unless we give him more money, he can’t spend it. So if the economy fails, it’s our fault.
Key Obama supporters now turning on him
Among the key constituencies for Obama, only 34 percent of women believe the nation is going in the right direction, along with only 42 percent of blacks and only 2 percent of Hispanics. Among young voters, only 33 percent of those 20 or younger think Obama is leading the nation in the right direction, and only 29 percent of those in their 30s agree. The results aligned closely with the job rating that voters give Obama. Only 18 percent think he is doing an excellent job and another 28 percent a good job. A dominant 45 percent of respondents put his performance at “poor” and another 9 percent say his performance was “only fair.”
Britain and US plan a Syrian revolution from an innocuous office block in Istanbul
Dozens of dissidents have been ferried out of Syria to be vetted for foreign backing. Recipients of the aid are given satellite communications and computers so that they can act as a local "hub" linking local activists and the outside world. The training takes place in an Istanbul district where handsome apartment blocks line the steep slopes and rooftop terraces boast views over the Golden Horn waterway.
Researchers Find Mysterious New AIDS-Like Disease
Researchers have identified a mysterious new disease that has left scores of people in Asia and some in the United States with AIDS-like symptoms even though they are not infected with HIV. The patients’ immune systems become damaged, leaving them unable to fend off germs as healthy people do. What triggers this isn’t known, but the disease does not seem to be contagious.
Netanyahu: Israel will strike Lebanese state in case of Hezbollah provocation
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned the Lebanese government that Israel would strike the Lebanese state if Hezbollah attempted any provocation against Israel.
Scientists Successfully ‘Hack’ Brain To Obtain Private Data
It sounds like something out of the movie “Johnny Mnemonic,” but scientists have successfully been able to “hack” a brain with a device that’s easily available on the open market. Researchers from the University of California and University of Oxford in Geneva figured out a way to pluck sensitive information from a person’s head, such as PIN numbers and bank information.
Massive Typhoon Bolaven slams Okinawa, heads for Koreas
Typhoon Bolaven, with wind gusts that reached as high as 259 kilometers per hour (161 mph), is the strongest to strike the region in nearly 50 years. And with a cloud field of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), it is 20 times larger than Okinawa's length.
Seventeen civilians killed in Afghanistan's Helmand
Seventeen civilians have been killed by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, reportedly for attending a party. The bodies of two women and 15 men were found by the side of a road in the Musa Qala district. They were either beheaded or had had their throats cut. Some showed signs of beatings or had gunshot wounds.
"Earthquake storm" continues to rattle Imperial County, surrounding areas
The majority of the quakes were low-intensity, but two reached magnitudes above 5.0 -- 5.3 and 5.5 respectively -- early in the afternoon. "Obviously, all this activity is related or interconnected, but it doesn't really follow the typical main shock, aftershock activity," said Rob Graves, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological survey.
Tropical Storm Isaac: New warning for Louisiana
A new tropical storm warning has been issued for Louisiana's Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Isaac approaches. After lashing Florida, Isaac - which has killed nine people - is heading towards the northern Gulf Coast. Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama have all declared a state of emergency.
Strong earthquake hits off El Salvador coast
A strong magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of El Salvador followed an hour later by a magnitude-5.4 aftershock, authorities said early Monday. There were no immediate reports of damages or injuries. A tsunami warning was put into effect for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico after the quake struck at 10:37 p.m. Sunday. The warning was later rescinded.
Merkel wants EU treaty convention by end of year
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is pressing for a new EU treaty convention by December, despite opposition from many countries, Der Spiegel reports... Merkel's push for a new EU treaty is in line with her demand for a true political union in return for debt being pooled in the eurozone and Germany's own constitution being changed to allow for more power transfers to Brussels.
California border hit by earthquake swarm
The first quake -- a magnitude 3.9 temblor -- occurred at 10:02 a.m. northwest of Brawley and was followed by a series of other quakes in the same general area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries, authorities said.
7 years after Katrina, NOLA braces for Isaac
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Mississippi-Louisiana border, forever changing the region and the way officials react to incoming storms. With Tropical Storm Isaac now projected to potentially hit the area on almost the exact same day of the month - probably as a hurricane - the lessons from the disaster that followed Katrina have not been lost. Local officials are taking an extremely cautious approach to weather threats.
26 Aug 12
Brit brother: Drones to watch over UK streets
Unmanned police drones, comparable to those used in war zones such as Afghanistan, could soon be secretly watching over the streets of UK cities, according to a National Police Air Service director. The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being considered to monitor crowded events in Britain, such as concerts and festivals, as soon as the aerial units become cost-effective.
FCC eyes tax on Internet service
The Federal Communications Commission is eyeing a proposal to tax broadband Internet service. The move would funnel money to the Connect America Fund, a subsidy the agency created last year to expand Internet access. The FCC issued a request for comments on the proposal in April. Dozens of companies and trade associations have weighed in, but the issue has largely flown under the public's radar.
Rockets hit southern Israel towns
Palestinian terrorists operating out of the Gaza Strip fired three missiles at the southern Israel town of Sderot on Sunday morning. Two of the rockets slammed into local factories, injuries two Israelis and causing extensive damage. One of the factories had been hit in previous attacks form Gaza. The third missile landed in the same area, but caused no damage or injuries.
Iran opens developing nations summit
Iran welcomed a group of 120 developing nations on Sunday to a summit it says proves that Washington has failed to isolate it from the rest of the world. Opening the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) meeting in Tehran, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he hoped for a show of solidarity against sanctions the West has imposed to punish Iran for its nuclear activities.
Israeli rabbi calls for prayers for Iran's destruction
An influential Israeli rabbi has called for prayers for Iran's destruction, a week after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to court his support for a possible attack on a nuclear programme Israel sees as an existential threat. "(When) we ask God to 'bring an end to our enemies', we should be thinking about Iran, those evil ones who threaten Israel. May the Lord destroy them," (Rabbi Ovadia) Yosef was quoted as saying by Israeli media on Sunday.
New York Ex-Mayor 'Delighted' By Pussy Riot Verdict
The Russian justice system got a show of support this week from an unlikely source -- former New York Mayor Ed Koch, who said the hooliganism verdict handed down last week to Pussy Riot was "just and to be applauded." The 87-year-old former mayor argued PR's actions -- performing a "punk prayer" protesting Vladimir Putin in the middle of Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral -- was less a matter of free speech and more a matter of religious hatred.
Powerful Typhoon Bolaven nears Japanese island of Okinawa, residents told to stay indoors
The strongest typhoon to approach Okinawa in several years was bearing down on the southern Japanese island on Sunday as residents were told to stay indoors and warned its strong gusts could overturn cars and cause waves of up to 12 meters (40 feet). Slow-moving Typhoon Bolaven was centered about 150 kilometers (93 miles) southeast of Okinawa and was expected to pass over the island Sunday evening, dumping as much as 500 millimeters (20 inches) of rain over a 24-hour period, weather officials said.
Isaac disrupts presidential election campaign
Tropical Storm Isaac nudged the presidential election campaign off course, forcing Republicans to delay the start of Mitt Romney's national convention in Florida and Vice President Joe Biden to cancel a campaign trip to the state.
Romney open to US troops securing Syrian WMDs
Republican US presidential candidate Mitt Romney suggested Friday that he would be prepared to send ground troops into Syria in order to secure loose chemical weapons. Speaking to CBS News, Romney said, "I think we have to also be ready to take whatever action is necessary to assure that we do not have any kind of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands terrorists
Frankfurt to award US advocate of Israel boycott
he city of Frankfurt is slated to present the prestigious Theodor Adorno Prize, which comes with a 50,000 euro award, to a US professor who advocates a sweeping boycott of ties with Israel’s cultural and academic establishment and has defended Hezbollah and Hamas as progressive organizations.
Mahmoud Abbas and Meretz's Gal-On plan to meet in Ramallah
PA president agrees to meeting with Meretz leader despite three-years of refusing to negotiate with Netanyahu; gov't official: Only way to achieve peace and Palestinian statehood is through an agreement with the government.