Florida: Mysterious South Brevard Bee Kill Confounds, Costs Keepers

By JIM WAYMER – “Charles Smith last saw his bees alive early last week.

When the Fellsmere beekeeper checked them Monday, his heart dropped as he saw the mounds of dead bees spilling out of all 400 of his hives off Babcock Street, about a half-mile south of Micco Road near the Indian River County line.

Another beekeeper about a mile south found a similar amount of his bees dead, around the same time, Smith said.

‘This is a total wipeout,’ Smith said as he opened the green wooden hives to show the destroyed honey. ‘This is all no good. It’s been sprayed.’

He estimates he lost $150,000 in honey proceeds, the bees and their future generations.

The beekeepers aren’t accusing anyone, and Brevard County officials doubt recent mosquito control spraying in the area killed the bees.

But the die-off left behind the hallmarks of a pesticide kill, experts say, sparking a whodunit beehive mystery in South Brevard.

‘Right now it’s too early to start pointing fingers at anybody,’ said Bill Kern, an entomologist with the University of Florida’s Research and Education Center in Fort Lauderdale, who has been following the case. ‘The fact that it was so widespread and so rapid, I think you can pretty much rule out disease,’ Kern said. ‘It happened essentially almost in one day. Usually diseases affect adults or the brood, you don’t have something that kills them both.’

State agriculture officials gathered dead and dying bees from both hives Thursday to test for pesticides. Results could take several weeks.

‘Right now, we don’t know what pesticide, if any, was involved,’ Kern said. ‘If there’s a real high level, it’s going to be pretty obvious.'” Read more.

Sudan: Christians Being Detained by Sudanese Armed Forces and Executed, ‘This Land is an Islamic Land’

“KHARTOUM, Sudan, September 29 (CDN) — Failure by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied Islamic militia to distinguish between combatants and civilians in territorial battles in South Kordofan state is due in part to a desire to rid the area of Christianity, local Christians say.

A Christian in the Leri East area of Kadugli who escaped SAF Intelligence agents 18 days after his June 20 arrest from his home said he saw six other Christian detainees taken away, one by one, to be executed over the course of two weeks.

‘They were insulting us, saying that this land is an Islamic land and that we were not allowed to be in this land,’ he told Compass. ‘I saw them take my fellow Christians brothers and shoot them in the forest near the place where we were detained.’

While the SAF and its paramilitary allies have targeted members and supporters of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement forces, the Christian, who requested anonymity as he is still in hiding, said he was detained simply because he was a Christian. A convert from Islam 10 years ago, he said he was scheduled to be executed the day he escaped.

‘I was already dead, so I did not fear being shot dead – I was not worried about my safety any more; after all, I was under their mercy as they thought, but God was in control,’ he said.

A former aid worker with a Christian humanitarian agency, he said he was praying throughout the ordeal.

‘I was praying despite the fact they were threatening me that I would face the same fate of the six brothers who were shot dead in the forest,’ he said.

After the miracle of being able to escape during a lull in their vigil, God rescued him from other potential dangers in his trek to freedom, he said.

‘I was interrogated three times at three different check-points, but God covered their eyes to keep them from discovering me,’ he said. ‘I think God is teaching me that I still have a mission to accomplish; that was why he rescued me from the hand of Muslims.'” Read more.

A Beast That Keeps On Giving: Hezbollah Terror Cells Active In the United States and Throughout the World, ‘We Must Get Ready for a Global Operation’

More and more it is no longer a question of if, but when …

By Reza Kahlili – “The terrorist group Hezb’allah, based in Lebanon, is establishing ‘resistance cells’ worldwide under the direction of Iran, according to Mohammad Hussein Babai, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the province of Golestan.

The cells are already infiltrating the United States with the help of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and drug cartels.

The Iranian Student News Agency, which is close to the Guards, reported last week that Babai, during a press conference, revealed that these jihadist cells began forming after the 2006 Lebanon war between Israel and Hezb’allah, and with the current Islamic Awakening, they have expanded their operations.

Their mission, Babai said, is to help create an Islam-dominated world.

This is the first time that a high-ranking Revolutionary Guard commander in the Islamic regime of Iran has revealed the presence of such jihadist cells in the world.

‘Today we are a witness to our power and authority in the world,’ Babai said, ‘and because of our Islamic Revolution [of 1979], now there is an Islamic Awakening that, with the leadership of the dear supreme leader, Ayatollah [Ali] Khamenei, will become stronger and more resilient.’ The West refers to the Islamic Awakening as the Arab Spring.

Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi, who is a member of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution and an important theorist of the Islamic regime in Iran, said in a televised speech last Friday that ‘today we must get ready for a global operation, and our forces should expand their operation throughout the world.'” Read more.

Flashback: ‘What Are You Waiting For?’ – Al-Qaeda Calls on US Muslims to Buy Guns and Start Killing Americans – “I’ve believed for some time now that when this does come it will, with the right ‘triggering event’, not be isolated. It will be wide-scale. As we all know, there are millions upon millions of Muslims living in Western nations today. If an event were to occur in the world that would be eschatologically pivotal for Muslims this would be sure to awaken any radical elements within the Muslim population, regardless of where they live, and even radicalize some of those who were previously considered ‘moderate’. The arrival of al Mahdi, for example, could become the ‘triggering event’ that has the potential to precipitate a sudden surge in Islamic terrorism all over the globe. If we are complacent into believing that any such scenario could never happen or is highly unlikely, we don’t need to look far before we come face to face with the sobering reality that Islamic terrorist cells are, today, already forming within our own borders.” Read more.

Syria: Defecting Soldiers Join Ranks With Protesters As Iran Grows Increasingly Concerned Over Syrian Allies

By Ariel Zirulnick – “A string of defections from the Syrian Army has given protesters armed forces of their own who clashed with government forces Friday in the town of Rastan, signaling the end of the protesters’ insistence that the uprising remain totally unarmed.

According to BBC, at least 1,000 army deserters and other armed men clashed with government forces in Rastan, a little more than 100 miles north of Damascus, in the last few days. Reuters reports that, according to the Syrian Revolution General Commission, the last few days of clashes – which included tank fire from government forces – killed 41 people in Rastan.

The Syrian Revolution General Commission, an umbrella for several activist groups, said that the figure was an estimate, with communications cut with the besieged town.

While clashes continued in Rastan, the US Ambassador to Syria came under attack in Damascus for the second time since protests began in March. Regime supporters hurled tomatoes and rocks at Ambassador Robert Ford, who has been a vocal critic of the Syrian regime.” Read more.

Iran to Syria: Save regime and preserve alliance – “Two weeks after Egypt’s uprising swept aside Hosni Mubarak, the presidents of Iran and Syria stood side by side in Damascus in a blunt message to the Arab Spring: The Syrian regime can count on its allies in Tehran. Seven months later — and after at least 2,700 deaths in Syria — Iran is tweaking its big brother role for Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Iranian leaders are now urging him to consider talks with protesters or risk heading down a path with few escape routes. It’s Tehran’s version of tough love: Pressing Assad to do what it takes to stay in power and preserve one of Iran’s most important relationship in the Middle East.” Read more.