The ‘Green Comet’ Garradd Visits The Inner Solar System For The First Time, ‘Could Behave In Unexpected Ways’

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“At the moment, Comet Garradd can only be seen through a backyard telescope (recommended: The Comet Hunter). It is, however, approaching the sun and brightening. Recent projections place it at peak magnitude 6, on the threshold of naked-eye visibility, in February 2012. Because Comet Garradd is a first-time visitor to the inner solar system, it could behave in unexpected ways, perhaps exceeding those expectations. Stay tuned…” Space Weather.

Iran: Islamic Republic Launches Bible Burning Campaign Fearing Growth of Christianity Among Its Youth

By Patrick Goodenough – “A Shi’ite cleric affiliated with the Iranian regime has warned about the ‘danger’ of Christianity spreading in the Islamic republic. This come amid reports of an anti-Christianity propaganda campaign and the seizure of thousands of Bibles.

According to Mohabat News, an independent Iranian Christian news agency, Ayatollah Hadi Jahangosha expressed concern about ‘the spread of Christianity among our youth,’ citing the availability of Christian satellite television programs, books and objects.

‘Everyone in society should feel responsibility in this matter and play his or her role in spreading of pure Islam and fight false and distorted cultures,’ Mohabat quoted him as saying during a presentation on Mahdism – the belief in the so-called ‘hidden’ or 12th imam, prophesied to emerge at a time of future chaos.

Last week, Mohabat reported that authorities had seized 6,500 pocket-sized Bibles in northwestern Iran. It quoted a parliamentary advisor, Majid Abhari, as telling the Mehr news agency that Christian missionaries were out to deceive Iranians, particularly the youth.

‘They have begun a huge campaign by spending huge sums and false propaganda for deviating the public,’ Abhari said. ‘The important point in this issue that should be considered by intelligence, judicial and religious agencies is that all religions are strengthening their power to confront Islam, otherwise what does this huge number of Bibles mean?’

Mohabat recalled previous incidents of Bibles being seized, including one last February, when Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and security officials in a routine inspection of a bus near the Iran-Turkey border found 600 New Testaments, which they destroyed along with confiscated alcohol in a public burning.

A similar incident in the same area last October also saw officials seize and burn Bibles, it said.” Read more.

Israeli Defense Minister: Gaza Groups Planning New Major Terror Attack on Israel

By Anshel Pfeffer – “Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Monday that Palestinian organizations in Gaza are preparing to carry out an attack similar to the one in southern Israel on August 18, in which eight civilians were killed.

Barak, who visited the plant of Israel Aerospace Industries subsidiary Elta in Ashdod on Monday morning, said that ‘even this morning we are on high alert in the south in the face of the possible attack, which is similar in set-up to the one that happened ten days ago.’

The Israel Defense Forces will have an additional Iron Dome system to protect Ashdod set up within the next ten days to increase protection of the south in the face of the impending attack, Barak said.” Read more.

Why the Fukushima Disaster is Worse Than Chernobyl

“… This nation has recovered from worse natural – and manmade – catastrophes. But it is the triple meltdown and its aftermath at the Fukushima nuclear power plant 40km down the coast from Soma that has elevated Japan into unknown, and unknowable, terrain. Across the northeast, millions of people are living with its consequences and searching for a consensus on a safe radiation level that does not exist. Experts give bewilderingly different assessments of its dangers.

Some scientists say Fukushima is worse than the 1986 Chernobyl accident, with which it shares a maximum level-7 rating on the sliding scale of nuclear disasters. One of the most prominent of them is Dr Helen Caldicott, an Australian physician and long time anti-nuclear activist who warns of ‘horrors to come’ in Fukushima.

Chris Busby, a professor at the University of Ulster known for his alarmist views, generated controversy during a Japan visit last month when he said the disaster would result in more than 1 million deaths. ‘Fukushima is still boiling its radionuclides all over Japan,’ he said. ‘Chernobyl went up in one go. So Fukushima is worse.’

On the other side of the nuclear fence are the industry friendly scientists who insist that the crisis is under control and radiation levels are mostly safe. ‘I believe the government and Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco, the plant’s operator] are doing their best,’ said Naoto Sekimura, vice-dean of the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo. Mr Sekimura initially advised residents near the plant that a radioactive disaster was ‘unlikely’ and that they should stay ‘calm’, an assessment he has since had to reverse.

Slowly, steadily, and often well behind the curve, the government has worsened its prognosis of the disaster. Last Friday, scientists affiliated with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the plant had released 15,000 terabecquerels of cancer-causing Cesium, equivalent to about 168 times the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the event that ushered in the nuclear age. (Professor Busby says the release is at least 72,000 times worse than Hiroshima).” Read more.

Soil Contamination in 34 Locations in Fukushima Exceeds Chernobyl Confiscation/Closed Zone Level – “In one location, the contamination level is more than 10 times the Chernobyl level. What a surprise. Now that PM Kan is out, the government dribbles out the information that it withheld as it de-emphasized and even attacked the reports of high soil contamination as measured by private entities including citizens’ groups. The most contaminated location found so far is Okuma-machi, where Fukushima I Nuke Plant is located: 29,460,000 becquerels per square meter with cesium-134 and cesium-137 combined, 15,450,000 becquerels per square meter if only cesium-137 is counted. The confiscated/closed zone after the Chernobyl accident is set in locations whose cesium-137 level in soil exceeds 1,480,000 becquerels per square meter. The level of cesium-137 in the location in Okuma-machi is 10 times that of the Chernobyl confiscated/closed zone.” Read more.

The Mystery of Comet Elenin, Author Claims ‘There Are a Lot of Things About This Comet That Don’t Make Sense’

“Astronomers and other outer space experts are speaking out on a comet expected to make a close call with colliding into Earth later this year. The consequences could be dire, so why are so many people unaware of it?

‘I think it’s worth a raised eyebrow’ says author Brooks Agnew. He’s done a lot of research on Elenin and tells RT that there are some rather strange coincidences regarding the comet that people should take into consideration.

‘A lot of people are concerned about it,’ says Agnew. ‘We’ve done a lot of research on Comet Elenin and what we’ve found is there’s a lot of missing data on this comet’

Agnew says that NASA calls the comet just ‘a harmless little fuzzball of ice’ that won’t come within more than 20 million miles from Earth. Others, he says, are claiming that this comet should raise concern since it doesn’t look like a comet, doesn’t act like a comet and is coming from outside of the area where most comets are accustomed to originate out of.

‘There are a lot of things about this comet that don’t make sense,’ Agnew says.

Another thing raising concern for the author is that another large asteroid is expected to come close to Earth around the same time. Coincidentally, he says, a new emergency alert system has been announced to debut the same day that asteroid will rock right by our planet.” Read more.

Flashback: Asteroid 2005 YU55 to Approach Earth on November 8, 2011 – “Near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 will pass within 0.85 lunar distances from the Earth on November 8, 2011. The upcoming close approach by this relatively large 400 meter-sized, C-type asteroid presents an excellent opportunity for synergistic ground-based observations including optical, near infrared and radar data. The attached animated illustration shows the Earth and moon flyby geometry for November 8th and 9th when the object will reach a visual brightness of 11th magnitude and should be easily visible to observers in the northern and southern hemispheres. The closest approach to Earth and the Moon will be respectively 0.00217 AU and 0.00160 AU on 2011 November 8 at 23:28 and November 9 at 07:13 UT.” Read more.

Ireland: Hundreds of Salmon and Trout Found Dead Over One-Mile Stretch of River Bandon

“A SIGNIFICANT fish-kill was discovered in the River Bandon in Cork after a member of the public alerted staff of Inland Fisheries Ireland.

More than 350 salmon and trout were found dead over a one-mile stretch of the river. The fish kill included salmon of up to 2.7kg (6lb). Many of the fish were decomposing.

An extensive search revealed no source of pollution and it was concluded that the event that caused the kill had passed by the time investigations began.

Head of fishery operations Dr Greg Forde, said: ‘During the summer, rivers are particularly vulnerable and factories and farmers must be particularly careful. There have already been three fish kills in the Cork and Kerry area.’

Inland Fisheries is calling on the public to be alert to the threat to waters by pollution and to report any instances immediately to local IFI offices or the 24-hour hotline 1890-347424.” Read more.

Despite Weaker Than Expected Winds, Irene Leaves Path of Devastation: 44+ Dead, Millions Without Power, Widespread Flooding

“The full measure of Hurricane Irene’s fury came into focus Monday as the death toll passed 44, while towns in the northern U.S. region of New England battled epic floods and millions were still without electricity.

From North Carolina to Maine, communities cleaned up and took stock of the uneven and hard-to-predict costs of a storm that spared the nation’s biggest city a nightmare scenario, only to deliver a historic wallop to towns well inland.

In New York City, where people had braced for a disaster-movie scene of water swirling around skyscrapers, the subways and buses were up and running again in time for the Monday morning commute. And to the surprise of many New Yorkers, things went pretty smoothly.

But to the north, landlocked Vermont contended with what its governor called the worst flooding in a century. Streams also raged out of control in rural, upstate New York.

In many cases, the moment of maximum danger arrived well after the storm had passed, as rainwater made its way into rivers and streams and turned them into torrents. Irene dumped up to 11 inches of rain on Vermont and more than 13 inches in parts of New York.

‘We were expecting heavy rains,’ said Bobbi-Jean Jeun of Clarksville, a hamlet near Albany, New York. ‘We were expecting flooding. We weren’t expecting devastation. It looks like somebody set a bomb off.’

Irene killed at least five people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The first known casualty was a woman who died trying to cross a swollen river in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.

The death toll for 11 eastern U.S. states had stood at 21 as of Sunday night, then rose sharply to at least 38 as bodies were pulled from floodwaters and people were struck by falling trees or electrocuted by downed power lines.

A driver was missing after a road collapsed and swallowed two cars about 62 miles northeast of Montreal.” Read more.

Irene forecasts on track; not up to speed on wind – “Hurricane Irene was no mystery to forecasters. They knew where it was going. But what it would do when it got there was another matter. Predicting a storm’s strength still baffles meteorologists. Every giant step in figuring out the path highlights how little progress they’ve made on another crucial question: How strong? Irene made landfall Saturday morning at Cape Lookout, N.C. – a bull’s-eye in the field of weather forecasts. It hit where forecasters said it would and followed the track they had been warning about for days. ‘People see that and assume we can predict everything,’ National Hurricane Center senior forecaster Richard Pasch said. But when Irene struck, the storm did not stick with the forecast’s predicted major hurricane strength winds.” Read more.

Hurricane Irene Leaves Trail of Damage Far Inland – “Residents along the Eastern seaboard faced a massive cleanup effort Monday after Hurricane Irene pounded tens of millions of Americans with wind, rain and floods. The huge size and slow journey of the storm along 1,100 miles of U.S. coastline left an extraordinarily broad impact. At least 24 deaths were attributed to Irene as devastation ranged from North Carolina to Vermont. Toppled trees, fallen debris and flooding caused hundreds of roads to be closed over the weekend. Up and down the coast, some 2.4 million people evacuated. In New Jersey, the ocean surge and rainfall caused severe inland flooding. Gov. Chris Christie said damages there would total at least $1 billion and could reach ‘tens of billions of dollars.’ Virginia’s governor called the blackout in his state its second-largest ever and warned that electricity might not be restored for a week.” Read more.