Hezbollah Leader Reiterates Support For Assad as Tension Mounts at Lebanon-Syria Border

“‘The people of Qaa sleep in fear now,’ said Mansur Saad, mayor of the village which straddles the border with Syria.

‘They live with the constant worry that violence will erupt at any moment, especially if gunmen from across the border escape into Lebanon.’

The sleepy village, located in a pastoral region where fruit and vegetable fields are dotted with Bedouin tents, on October 18 was the scene of a military incursion which left two local residents — both Syrians — dead and sparked panic.

A third Syrian was killed in a raid on Aarsal, a village 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Qaa.

Residents of Qaa, who for decades have maintained warm ties with their Syrian neighbours, say the once-friendly border soldiers who cross over daily for morning coffee are increasingly on edge as the seven-months revolt against Bashar al-Assad’s regime continues.

The usually bustling official crossing of Joussiyeh, in Qaa, meanwhile has been shut down and an eerie silence has settled over the area where the Lebanese army or security forces are nowhere to be seen.

‘We have asked the Lebanese army to strengthen its presence in the area and set up posts at the border in order to prevent infiltration and make sure such incidents do not re-occur,’ Saad told AFP.

But the Lebanese government, largely dominated by the powerful militant group Hezbollah, a strong ally of the Syrian regime, has for the most part stayed mum on the issue.” Read more.

Hezbollah leader reiterates support of Syria’s repression – “The leader of Lebanese pro-Iranian Shiite movement Hezbollah reiterated the group’s support for the repression conducted by the Syrian regime against anti-government protests, stating that they are not spontaneous movements like the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen. ‘Those regimes were obedient to the Americans, unlike the Syrian regime,’ said Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah in an interview with the Shiite movement’s Al Manar TV network. ‘The foundation of the Syrian regime is the fight against Israel,’ said Nasrallah…” Read more.

If Syria falls, country could be taken over by the growing Islamist influence – “There is homegrown opposition, and opposition living in exile. Both can be Islamists, or secularists. Some are socialists, even communists, though insiders say the latter are irrelevant. When I lived in Syria as a journalist, I met a few of each. The Islamists were the most active, most visible, and acted with the greatest moral gravitas. They converted many private schools into conservative Islamic learning centers. They prevailed upon restaurants in their neighborhoods to stop serving alcohol, and shamed coffee shops into closing during Ramadan… They are the ‘poison pill,’ one analyst told me. Just like a corporation might take on undesirable debt to make itself a less attractive target for a hostile takeover, so Assad turned a blind eye to growing Islamist influence among his people to make himself look like the best option for Syria. During his ten-year term, he has endeared himself to secularists by claiming to support the separation of church and state. Yet he never bothered to clarify to his own people what that meant. Ask the average Syrian what ‘secular’ means, and they will say it is ‘atheism,’ or an infidel state hostile to the freedom to practice religion. This strategy of ambiguity worked for a long time. To this day, Assad’s diehard supporters keep saying ‘at least he is secular,’ and point to the growing Islamist influence in Syria as an example for a bleak future without him.” Read more.

Jerusalem Sends Earthquake Relief as Turkey Keeps Up Tough Rhetoric Against Israel

I’m not the least bit surprised.  Israel is indeed a beacon of light surrounded by a sea of darkness.  If Islamic nations mirrored Israel’s example, there could be peace in the Middle East the very next day …

Matthew 5:44a, “‘But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you …'”

By HERB KEINON – “The first of what is expected to be several civilian planes full of Israeli earthquake relief aid set off for Turkey on Wednesday, even as Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu kept up his tough rhetoric against Israel.

The 747 plane chartered by the Defense Ministry carried seven prefabricated homes that have all the necessary electric wiring and can be lived in immediately by people who lost their homes in Sunday’s earthquake that devastated the eastern province of Van and killed more than 460 people. The plane, which will land in Ankara, is also carrying warm clothes, blankets and mattresses.

A Defense Ministry official said that one, and possibly two more planes will be sent on Thursday. The official said the ministry chartered a civilian plane not because of a Turkish ban on IDF planes flying over Turkey, but rather because the 747 could carry more than an IDF transport plane.

But even as the plane was being loaded, Davutoglu – on a visit to Jordan –called for forceful pressure on Israel, saying that only such pressure would force Jerusalem into giving up on a number of principles and making it easier to establish a Palestinian state.

‘We believe that if we will press hard enough on Israel, we will bring it to a situation where it will be convinced that it needs to carry out its part of moving the diplomatic process forward and establishing a Palestinian state,’ Israel Radio quoted Davutoglu as saying.

His words, meanwhile, did not surprise officials in Jerusalem who had low expectations that the humanitarian aid would significantly improve the badly strained relationship with Ankara.” Read more.

Radioactive Cars, Concrete and Consumables Being Sold in Japan

Unfortunately, the cars still require gas …

By Greg Wilson – “Cars that were contaminated by radiation during the March nuclear meltdown in Japan are finding their way into the reeling nation’s used car market.

Vehicles from the area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which suffered a series of meltdowns after the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, were supposed to be destroyed. But unscrupulous dealers have registered them under new license plates and sold them, The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported. Unable to export the cars, they’re selling them in Japan.

Dealers have traditionally bought used vehicles in Japan and exported them to Russia and Southeast Asia, according to the Telegraph. In June, Russian police turned back a half-dozen used cars from Japan after finding they were contaminated with radioactove isotopes, according to the Interfax news agency. Authorities in South America, Australia and the U.S. have also stepped up inspection of new and used cars coming in from Japan.

Now, with testing also being conducted at Japanese loading docks, dealers are selling the potentially lethal cars on the domestic market.” Read more.

Radioactive concrete being sold in Japan – “A piece of concrete panel was 2.5 micro Sv/h. It was found at a home center in North Tochigi. In Japan, radioactive sewage sludge or disposal waste ash are treated as normal garbage when it’s under 8,000 Bq/Kg. They are re-used to concrete material. This kind of material is highly likely to have been distributed to all around in Japan. Our houses will be radioactive, sooner than we have ever thought.” Source.

Japan: Northwest Tip of Tokyo Tainted By Unusually High Amount of Fallout, Plant Mutations Continue To Be ‘Observed Everywhere’ – “An aerial radiation survey of the capital and Kanagawa Prefecture has revealed the northwest tip of Tokyo was tainted by an unusually high amount of fallout, while most other areas showed normal levels, a science ministry official said Friday. The results, released late Thursday, show that fallout from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant contaminated part of the mountainous Okutama region on Tokyo’s western fringe. Radiation readings in the area were the highest of the two prefectures at 100,000 to 300,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per square meter.” Read more.

‘Dilute and Sell’ – Radioactive Tea Blended with Non-Radioactive Tea – “A tea producer blended the tea with radioactive cesium with the tea without radioactive cesium so that he could sell off his radioactive tea. An operator of a sewer sludge plant knowingly sold radioactive sludge to a manufacturer of garden soil because there was no national government standard when he sold it. Their reason: ‘It’s safer that way, as radioactive cesium will be diluted’. Many Japanese consumers seem dismayed to find out that there are people among them who would do such a thing, but there are people like that, unfortunately. And as the article cites one government agency, it is clearly none of the government’s business to do anything about it anytime soon.” Read more.

Radioactive food raising concerns in Japan:

Spectacular Northern Lights Display Leaves Skywatchers Spellbound

By Tariq Malik – “A dazzling aurora light show amazed skywatchers across North America, from Canada to Arkansas, and other northern regions Monday night (Oct. 24), painting the sky with striking green and even rare red hues.

The aurora display, also known as the northern lights, was touched off by a wave charged particles unleashed by a massive sun storm on Saturday, which took two days to reach Earth, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center operated by the National Weather Service and NOAA.

‘These were the most vibrant I’ve ever seen,’ Canadian skywatcher Colin Chatfield of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan told SPACE.com in an email. ‘I was also able to see red with the naked eye, which I’ve never seen before either. Simply put, they were amazing.'” Read more.

Experts Call Attention to Possible Solar Katrina – “Picture the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. Now imagine that simultaneously hitting 100 American cities. That’s the threat severe solar weather poses to the United States, according to Dr. Richard Andres, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University (NDU) Andres joined a diverse mix of scientists, engineers, and politicians on Capitol Hill on Thursday to warn the public that the United States is woefully unprepared for the possibility that an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) triggered by a solar storm could knock down the national electrical grid with potentially catastrophic cascading effects.” Read more.