US: Federal Authorities Probe Possible Terror Threat ‘Specific Enough to Elicit Worry’ Around 9/11 Anniversary

The Enigma Continues: Another terror threat that, for some mysterious reason, fails to involve ‘right-wing extremists’ …

By Mike Levine & Jennifer Griffin – “Federal authorities have come across what they believe may be a credible threat to the U.S. homeland surrounding the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, several sources tell Fox News.

The threat would target New York City or Washington, D.C., sources said. Authorities have obtained what they believe is information on possible suspects tied to central Al Qaeda, but they have not necessarily determined names of possible suspects.

According to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the threat, ‘People are aggressively pursuing leads,’ and it is ‘specific enough to elicit worry.’ Another senior U.S. official stressed the threat is still ‘unconfirmed’ so it is being chased down and investigated.

President Obama has been briefed on the seriousness of this threat, according to a senior administration official

‘It feels more than aspirational,’ one official said.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security were drafting a bulletin Thursday night to send to local law enforcement across the country.

‘We have a duty to warn,’ the senior U.S. official said.” Read more.

U.S. Citizen Linked To Terror Plot on 9/11 Anniversary – “U.S. authorities are scrambling to sort through information that the CIA developed in the past 24 hours indicating that at least three individuals entered the U.S. in August by air with the intent to launch a vehicle-borne attack against Washington, D.C. or New York around the anniversary of 9/11, according to intelligence officials. One of the intelligence and law enforcement officials that ABC News spoke to said that one of the individuals may be a U.S. citizen and a second official said that possibly two of the individuals may have had U.S. documentation — whether green cards or passports was unclear.” Read more.

US: 100,000 Ordered To Evacuate Pennsylvania Area, New York Residents Also Evacuating As Flood Waters Rise

“Officials in the Pennsylvania area along the Susquehanna River have ordered more than 100,000 people to evacuate their homes. The rivers waters have continued to rise following Tropical Storm Lee and the river is expected to crest at 41 feet by 8pm.

According to one county commissioner speaking with the Standard Speaker:

‘We want people to heed our order and leave,’ while they add, ‘It’s significant. We want them to leave.’

Pennsylvania residents aren’t the only one’s experiencing problems brought on my flooding, an evacuation notice was also issued for Eastern New York as the Hudson and Mohawk are expected to spill over.

As a safety precaution officials in Binghmaton, NY have closed all bridges in the area and ordered an urgent notice, telling residents ‘you need to move now.’ The urgent evacuation notice came after the Army Corps of Engineers shut down two major dams, while the areas sewage plant was taken offline due to flooding.

Residents in areas where flooding is likely are being asked to conserve fresh water in the event that filtration plants are also shut down for flooding.

According to WGAL 8 the circumstances surrounding the flooding are dangerous and have already led to the deaths of at least three people in Pennsylvania.” Read more.

Israel Isolated Ahead of ‘Momentous’ September 20, 2011 UN Vote on Palestinian ‘Independence’

Not sure if there is any significance to the fact that the very next day after the UN vote on Palestinian ‘independence’  — September 21, 2011 — is also the International Day of Peace, but the timing of the vote is a bit interesting …

Update 9/19/2011: The vote seems to have been pushed to September 23rd, 2011.  I’ve also included another item worthy of attention, which is the fact that the Palestinian Authority will demand enforcement of UN Resolution 377, even if the United States vetoes Palestinian membership.  UN Resolution 377 states that if the Security Council fails to act to maintain world “peace and security”, the General Assembly could then consider the matter in an emergency session, which can be called at the request of a majority of UN member states …

1 Thessalonians 5:3, “While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”

By JOSEF FEDERMAN – “JERUSALEM (AP) — Rising tensions with some of its closest and most important allies have left Israel increasingly isolated ahead of a momentous vote on Palestinian independence at the United Nations.

Troubles with Turkey, Egypt and even the U.S. are adding to Israel’s headaches ahead of the vote, which is shaping up to be a global expression of discontent against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Palestinians plan to ask the United Nations this month to recognize their independence in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — probably by embracing them as a ‘nonmember observer state.’ The measure is expected to pass overwhelmingly in the U.N. General Assembly.” Read more.

Flashback: PA will demand enforcement of General Assembly ‘Uniting for Peace’ resolution even if US vetoes – “PLO official Saeb Erekat has said Palestinians would activate UN resolution 377 if faced with a US veto in September. The ‘Uniting for Peace’ resolution states that if the Security Council fails to act to maintain world peace and security, the General Assembly should consider the matter in an emergency session. The session can be called at the request of seven members of the Security Council or by a majority of UN member states. Following a widespread diplomatic campaign, some 112 countries have recognized Palestine as an independent state and more are expected to do so in coming weeks. Palestinians would need the support of 129 countries to implement Resolution 377 and secure a General Assembly vote on UN membership.” Read more.

Flashback: Palestinians Plan Mass Demonstrations Against Israel on September 20 – “Palestinian officials said Monday they plan to begin mass marches against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank on September 20 … Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo said leaders hope to attract millions, and the protest will be the first of a prolonged effort. He said the campaign would be called ‘Palestine 194,’ since the Palestinians hope to become the 194th member of the United Nations. ‘The appeal to the UN is a battle for all Palestinians, and in order to succeed, it needs millions to pour into streets,’ he said.” Read more.

Settler security chief: September infiltrators will be shot – “Palestinians who try to force their way into West Bank settlements during the mass protests in favor of statehood anticipated for September 20 ‘will be shot,’ chief settler security officer Shlomo Vaknin told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. The protests are expected to accompany the Palestinian unilateral bid for recognition of statehood at the United Nations… This statement is backed up by an opinion issued by the Attorney-General’s Office for Judea and Samaria, signed by its Eyal Elad, who is tasked with human rights issues regarding the IDF.” Read more.

Also see:

Saudi Arabia: If the United States Vetoes Palestinian Membership, It Will Lose Saudi Arabia As An Ally

Jordan: Israel’s Situation Today More Difficult Than Ever, Russia and Leading EU Countries Support Palestinian Statehood Bid

While Committed to Peace, Israel Senses a Wider Siege as the Surrounding Nations Seethe with Anger

Israel Facing ‘Diplomatic Tsunami’ with Surrounding Muslim World

Erdogan: Turkish Warships Will Escort Any Future Aid Flotillas to the Gaza Strip

“Turkish warships will escort any Turkish aid vessels to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said in remarks broadcast on Al Jazeera television on Thursday.

Erdogan also said that Turkey had taken steps to stop Israel from unilaterally exploiting natural resources from the eastern Mediterranean, according to Al Jazeera’s Arabic translation of excerpts of the interview, which was conducted in Turkish.

Last Saturday, Turkish officials told Hurriyet Daily News that the Turkish navy will significantly strengthen its presence in the easter Mediterranean Sea, as one of the steps the Turkish government has decided to take following the release of the UN Palmer report on the 2010 Gaza flotilla.

‘The eastern Mediterranean will no longer be a place where Israeli naval forces can freely exercise their bullying practices against civilian vessels,’ a Turkish official was quoted as saying.

As part of the plan, the Turkish navy will increase its patrols in the eastern Mediterranean and pursue ‘a more aggressive strategy’.” Source.

Israel-Turkey tensions here to stay, diplomat warns – “Israel has little prospect of restoring its once close ties for Turkey anytime in the near future and will likely find itself under pressure from Ankara in Egypt and in the Mediterranean, Alon Liel former Israeli envoy to Turkey said on Tuesday. His remarks came as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised bilateral tensions another notch on Tuesday by saying Turkey was ‘totally suspending’ defense industry ties and reiterating a vow to step up the country’s naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean. ‘This process will be followed by different measures,’ Erdogan told reporters in Ankara.” Read more.

Grab Your Binoculars – The Brightest Supernova Explosion Since 1957 Will Reach Its Brightest Point Between 9/9 and 9/12

By Rob Waugh – “There will be a once-in-a-lifetime event in the night sky over the next few days – as a star exploding 21 million light years away becomes so bright it will be visible through binoculars across Britain.

The supernova is predicted to reach its brightest between September 9 and 12, and will be the brightest since 1954, visible all over Britain, weather permitting. A team of scientists at Oxford University are tracking it using the Hubble Space Telescope.

The explosion is so bright because the star is very close to Earth, cosmically speaking, in the Big Dipper constellation, Ursa Major. Most supernovae are more than 1 billion light years away.

Dr Mark Sullivan, the astrophysicist leading the Oxford team examining the supernova, designated PTF-11kly, said: ‘This is accessible to anyone with a decent pair of binoculars. For many it could be a once in a lifetime chance to see a supernova blossom and then fade before their eyes. We may not see another like it for over 100 years.’

It will appear, blueish-white, just above and to the left of the last two stars in the Big Dipper. Watchers are advised to stay away from street lights for maximum visibility.

The supernova explosion was first detected on August 24, by University of California at Berkeley scientist, Peter Nugent, using the wide angle 1.2-meter Samuel Oschin Telescope in California. It has grown brighter by the minute. Located in the Pinwheel Galaxy, it was 20 times brighter in one day.” Read more.

Muslim Persecution of Christians: August, 2011

Acts 14:22, “… we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

By Raymond Ibrahim – “This series was developed in order to collate some—by no means all—of the foulest instances of Muslim persecution of Christians that surface each month. It serves two purposes:

1. Intrinsically, to document that which the mainstream media does not: habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
2. Instrumentally, to show that such persecution is not ‘random,’ but systematic and interrelated—that it is ultimately rooted in a Sharia inspired worldview.

As will become evident, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya; overall expectations for Christians to behave like cowed dhimmis (second-class citizens); and simple violence. Oftentimes it is a combination of the aforementioned.

Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the west, to India in the east, and even throughout the West, wherever there are Muslims—it is clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Sharia, or the supremacist culture borne of it.

Categorized by theme, August’s batch of Muslim persecution of Christians includes (but is not limited to) the following anecdotes, listed according to theme and in alphabetical order by country, not necessarily severity of atrocity:

Attacks on Christian Symbols: Churches and Bibles

Indonesia: Two churches were set aflame; officials downplayed these atrocities by arguing that the buildings were ‘only made of board’ and not real churches. A mayor also proclaimed that churches cannot be built on streets with Muslim names, even as Muslim majority regions reject the building of any churches.

Iran: Officials launched a Bible burning campaign, confiscating and destroying some 7,000 Bibles, many publicly burned. Likening their tiny Christian minority to the ‘Taliban and parasites,’ the regime also ‘cracked down’ on Christians (who make up less than 1% of the entire population), arresting many, the whereabouts of which remain unknown.

Iraq: Two churches were bombed: the first damaged the church and wounded 23; the second damaged the church (a third church was targeted but the bomb was defused before going off).

Nigeria: Two churches were bombed, including a Baptist church no longer in use due to previous Muslim attacks; when officials arrested Islamist leaders, a third Catholic church was torched.” Read more – Apostasy and Forced Conversions, General Oppression, Violence, and Murder of Christians

Germany: Two Muslim Terror Suspects Preparing ‘A Serious Act of Violent Subversion’ Arrested in Berlin After Gathering Chemicals for Bomb

“Just ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist acts in the United States, security forces in Berlin may have prevented another possible attack. On Thursday morning, police in the German capital arrested two men suspected of gathering chemicals that could be used to build a bomb.

A 24-year-old German citizen of Lebanese descent and a 28-year-old from the Gaza Strip were apprehended following an investigation by police and state prosecutors that has been underway for some time, a police spokesman said.

Officials with the Public Prosecutor’s Office said the men are alleged to have been preparing a ‘serious act of violent subversion.’ They are believed to have amassed chemical substances that could have been used in the preparation of a bomb, he said. Authorities declined to reveal further details about the potential explosive.

While a police spokesman confirmed to SPIEGEL ONLINE that the two men had acquired chemicals, he said they had not begun building a bomb. They presented no immediate danger, he said. Investigators also believe the suspects are isolated individuals believed to be acting alone and with no known links to militant groups or extremists abroad, he added.

The announcement came as investigators were simultaneously conducting a search at a Muslim cultural center in the city’s Wedding district, along with the suspects’ apartments in the Neukölln and Kreuzberg districts.

‘The Islamic culture center is not under suspicion in this investigation,’ police spokesman Thomas Neuendorf told broadcaster N24, explaining that the two suspects were simply known to have spent time there.” Read more.

Official 9/11 Memorial Nothing More Than An Obama ‘Whitewash’ of Radical Islam

By Bob Unruh – “The ‘official’ memorial on Sunday for the nearly 3,000 victims of radical Islamists on Sept. 11, 2001, will be nothing more than a ‘whitewash’ of the enemy trying to bring America down, so another event is planned, and at that one, the truth will be told, according to one organizer.

Pamela Geller, of Atlas Shrugs and a key leader in planning Sunday’s second annual Freedom Rally at 3 p.m. at Park Place and West Broadway, told WND today tens of thousands, including first responders and members of the clergy, are expected to be in attendance.

The focal point will not be obfuscated, either, by high-sounding calls to ‘service’ and advocacy for ‘tolerance,’ she warned.

‘If we don’t understand who wants to destroy our country, our way of life and civilization, how can we possibly be able to defeat them,’ she asked.

The event is being assembled by her American Freedom Defense Initiative, and its Stop Islamization of America Program, as well as Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch.

‘We must show the jihadists we are unbowed in the defense of freedom,’ she said.

Back when she was being taught about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, an event that brought the U.S. into World War II and eventual victory over both the Japanese and German behemoths, she said, there wasn’t much discussion about either tolerance or service projects.

‘I was taught about a resolve, a united America that by 10 years later had defeated the Japanese,’ she said. ‘Ten years after [the 9/11 attacks] you would think we lost the war. We’ve adopted the Muslim narrative.’

The official memorial event in New York has been announced, but officials have confirmed it will not include members of the clergy and families of the first responders who died along with those they were trying to help were not invited, among other actions that leave an unwelcome flavor for those concerned about the U.S.” Read more.

Massive crane collapses at National Cathedral, Leaves ‘giant cross’ where Obama slated to observe 9/11 anniversary – “Just four days before President Obama was scheduled to speak inside the Washington National Cathedral to observe the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a 500-foot crane doing repair work collapsed today, leaving a haunting image of a giant cross. ‘The crane did not collapse on the cathedral itself,’ cathedral spokeswoman Meredith MacKenzie told the Washington Times. The Times reports Rev. Simone Bautista, canon for Latino ministries at the diocese, was inside the Church House when the crane fell, saying it ‘sounded like big thunder. Then the office started shaking.’ ‘When things like that happen and don’t hurt as much as it could,’ he said, ‘there’s something divine out there that prevented that from happening.'” Read more.

Indonesia: TV Station Pulls Film Promoting Religious Tolerance … Because ‘Offended Muslims’ Threatened to Riot

Pay particularly close attention to the last quoted sentence.  Where on earth (or below) would they have gotten such a ‘crazy misunderstanding’ about Islam like that? …

“JAKARTA: The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission criticised a major television station Friday for giving into Islamists’ demands that a film on religious tolerance be pulled.

The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) had threatened to storm SCTV headquarters if it broadcast a movie titled ‘?’, scheduled for the last night of the Ramadan holy fasting month this week.

‘We regret SCTV’s decision to not air the movie. The movie has passed the censorship requirements and it doesn’t violate any regulations,’ broadcasting commission official Ezki Suyanto told AFP.

‘It seems the station is just afraid of the FPI. SCTV should not have given in to them. This is a bad precedent for other groups to do the same to TV stations.’ The movie was directed by Muslim filmmaker Hanung Bramantyo, who has made several feature films on Islam, such as the box-office hit ‘Ayat-Ayat Cinta’ (Verses of Love).

FPI secretary-general Sobri Lubis said the movie tried to incite hatred toward Islam and disgraced the religion by suggesting Muslims could live together harmoniously with people of other faiths in one country.” Read more.

So where would they have gotten such a ‘crazy misunderstanding’ from?  Here are a few (of many) examples:

Qur’an 3:10, “(As for) those who disbelieve [non-Muslims], surely neither their wealth nor their children shall avail them in the least against Allah, and these it is who are the fuel of the fire [of hell].”

Qur’an 3:85, “And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers [because he is in hell].”

Qur’an 3:118, “O you who believe! do not take for intimate friends from among others than your own people, they do not fall short of inflicting loss upon you; they love what distresses you; vehement hatred has already appeared from out of their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater still; indeed, We have made the communications clear to you, if you will understand.”

Qur’an 5:5, “O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.”

Qur’an 5:80, “You will see many of them befriending those who disbelieve; certainly evil is that which their souls have sent before for them, that Allah became displeased with them and in chastisement [hell] shall they abide.”

Qur’an 9:23, “O ye who believe! Choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith. Whoso of you taketh them for friends, such are wrong-doers.”