Geologists Closely Monitoring Surge in Central Arkansas Earthquakes, Layout of Tremors Could Suggest Larger Quake Coming

By Gavin Lesnick – “LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Geological Survey says it is stepping up its monitoring of seismic activity in central Arkansas after dozens of small earthquakes in the region.

Six minor quakes were recorded Friday near Quitman, the latest of more than 50 temblors in October. The Friday tremors began with a 2.0-magnitude quake around 7:45 a.m. and peaked with a 2.5 quake later in the morning.

The shaking follows more than 1,000 earthquakes centered between Guy and Greenbrier from September 2010 to July of this year, when the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission ordered four gas disposal wells shut down and voted to create a large moratorium area in which no future disposal wells could be drilled.

Geologists said the activity – which involves injecting pressurized liquid into the ground – was likely contributing to the shaking.

The quakes between Guy and Greenbrier tailed off significantly in August, but more quakes began occurring in October closer to Quitman. It sits about 10 miles northeast of Guy.

That distance is potentially concerning, warned Scott Ausbrooks, geohazards supervisor for the Arkansas Geological Survey. The Quitman quakes are occurring along the same line as the Guy-Greenbrier ones, but there’s a miles-long gap between Guy and Quitman in which no quakes have been recorded.

That might suggest that the tension is building, possibly leading up to a larger quake centered on that gap along the fault. A similar-sized gap occurred on the southern end of the Guy-Greenbrier fault and it in February unleashed a 4.7-magnitude quake, the largest of any of the recent tremors.

Anytime there is a gap in seismicity along an active fault, it ‘bears watching,’ Ausbrooks said.” Read more.

Why the Latest Eurozone Bail-Out is Destined to Fail Within Weeks

By Liam Halligan – “… Last week’s eurozone ‘agreement’, for all the related fanfare, was a case in point. Far from making the situation clearer, allowing investors to make considered assessments, this latest announcement made Western Europe’s grotesque debt crisis even more acute, sowing further infectious spores of confusion.

The deal itself, unveiled dramatically in the early hours of Thursday, was met with the now obligatory ‘relief rally’. The FTSE All-World equity index soared 4.1pc, helped by signs of renewed US economic growth. European bank shares spiked no less than 12pc on Thursday, as traders recognised, for all the official obfuscation, the latest dollop of government largesse.

By late Thursday, though, and certainly on Friday, the warning signs were there. Global bond markets, by character more sober and smarter than the excitable equity guys, were voting against the deal. This is alarming. For it is only by selling more bonds that the eurozone’s deeply indebted governments can roll-over their enormous liabilities and keep the show on the road.

Some say Western governments shouldn’t ‘accept’ what the market says. ‘Who do these trading people think they are,’ I hear from the lips of the educated but financially-illiterate political elite. Let’s be clear – if global bond markets stop lending to a number of large Western economies, we are in the realms of unpaid state wages and pensions, transport chaos and closures of schools and hospitals – sparking the prospect of serious civil unrest. Forgive my intemperate tone, but these are the dangers we face. And I’m afraid the only rational response to Thursday’s announcement is that the probability of such undesirable outcomes has just been increased…

The eurozone must be consolidated. World leaders should similarly force European banks to disclose their losses, we all take the hit and then we move on. Instead, we are served-up, in ever more complex variants, the same ‘extend and pretend’ non-solutions. It gives me no pleasure to write this, but I give this deal two weeks.” Read more.

Israel: Unknown Disease Killing Kinneret Fish

“The first stage of a mysterious disease affecting Kinneret fish begins in one of its eyes, which starts to pop out, and gets destroyed leaving an empty hole in the socket. Then the second eye is affected. In the third stage, the blind fish blacken and starves. Red spots appear on its body and then it dies. So far, there is no official answer whether the disease is an unknown virus, or a mutation of a virus, a bacteria or a parasite.

Initial signs of the problem were discovered ten years ago in small numbers. The phenomenon was first noticed by Menachem Lev, a fisherman from Kibbutz Ein Gev, a local expert on everything that happens in the Kinneret. The plague first affected St. Peter’s Fish, which is considered sacred by Christians (from the story of the bread and the fishes). About a million Christian pilgrims visit Israel every year. Most of them visit the Kinneret and eat St. Peter’s fish; the Ein Gev restaurant alone serves more than 300,000 fish dinners to pilgrims every year.

The problem has worsened since then, and it is not only St. Peter’s Fish that are affected by the disease, but also the Jordan River tilapia raised in fish ponds in the Hula Valley, silver carp, carp, and mullet. 12-15% of the fish in the lake have already contracted the disease.

The Ministry of Agriculture denies the presence of this serious disease in the Kinneret. However, as a result of the numerous occurrences, a number of tests have been conducted in the last few weeks to identify the problem. The ministry’s Fish Division laboratory at Nir David has concluded that the cause is not bacteriological. Its preliminary report in September found the characteristic symptoms in fishes’ eyes. If the problem is a parasite, this will cause a major kashrut problem and the Rabbinate is liable to ban fish from the Kinneret. The Water Authority believes that the disease is genetic in origin.” Read more.

Report: Obama’s Muslim Advisers Block Middle Eastern Christians’ Access to the White House

Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to the amaurotic leadership of the Obama administration.  The “President’s” conduct is indicative of someone who is either woefully ignorant to the otherwise obvious agendas of the Islamist influence, or of someone who is purposefully turning a blind eye to a rising anti-Western tide.  It could even be argued, of course, that Obama knows exactly what he is doing. No matter which it is, however, dark clouds are gathering on the horizon and what will burst forth will not be life-giving rain …

Breitbart – “Beirut Arab news agency al Nashra reported on Saturday November 22, that [White House Muslim envoy] Dalia Mogahed has succeeded in canceling a meeting between the Maronite Patriarch of Lebanon and President Barack Obama. Writing in al Nashra, the reporter said “an unnamed US source told the news agency, that those who sought canceling a visit of (the spiritual head of the Maronite Church) Patriarch Beshara Rahi to the White House are Dalia Mujahid (Mogahed), the highest adviser on Arab and Islamic Affairs in the State Department, who is from Egyptian origins. And that,” according to al Nashra, ‘heeding a request by the higher leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, who consider that US Administration must support the Islamist Sunni current facing the Iranian current in the region.’

The al Nashra report, circulating now widely in the Middle East, but also in the United States and across the Lebanese Christian Diaspora confirms what was already known about the impact the so-called ‘advisors on Arab and Islamic Affairs’ in the White House on Middle East issues in general and on US policies regarding the Christians in the Middle East.

The anti-Middle East Christian lobbying in Washington, attributed to Muslim Brotherhood front groups and sympathizers is not limited to the Maronites, who form the bulk of the two million Lebanese Americans. According to research showing the links between Presidential adviser Dalia Mogahed and the Muslim Brotherhood, and to NGOs representing Middle East Christian groups in the US, blocking Middle East Christian meetings at the White House and the State Department have been associated with the work of the ‘advisors’ and their allies in the Islamist camp in Washington such as CAIR and MPAC.” Read more.

Flashback: Obama’s Christian Problem – White House Overlooks Christian Persecution While Pandering to Islam – “The United States has been wary to intervene in matters affecting Christians in the Middle East for fear of validating terrorist narratives that the West is engaged in a new crusade against Islam. The result of this passive policy has been to allow Islamic extremists increasingly to dominate the debate, often with tragic consequences… According to the State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report, the last Christian church in Afghanistan has been destroyed. The 500 to 8,000 Afghan Christians who wish to worship publicly can attend services at military bases, Provincial Reconstruction Team facilities and the Italian embassy, but there are obvious risks involved.” Read more.

Flashback: Muslim Brotherhood Gaining Foothold in U.S. Government? – “They were the first modern terrorists and the forerunner of al Qaeda. But these days, the Muslim Brotherhood is becoming mainstream not only in Egypt, but in Washington, D.C. While the final chapter of the so-called Arab Spring has yet to be written, it appears that radical Islamic forces could emerge as the big winners. None more so than the Muslim Brotherhood. In Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria and Jordan, the Brotherhood has used unrest to increase its influence. The group is also making inroads closer to home, according to one expert. ‘Their goal is primarily deception, manipulation and intelligence gathering,’ former FBI Special Agent John Guandolo said. Guandolo said Brotherhood operatives have infiltrated the halls of power in Washington, D.C.” Read more.

Flashback: Obama Pulls Islam From All Terror Trainings – “Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole confirmed on Wednesday that the Obama administration was pulling back all training materials used for the law enforcement and national security communities, in order to eliminate all references to Islam that some Muslim groups have claimed are offensive… The move comes after complaints from advocacy organizations including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and others identified as Muslim Brotherhood front groups in the 2004 Holy Land Foundation terror fundraising trial.” Read more.

Arab Spring Optimism Gives Way to Fear of Islamic Rise, Terrorist Once Jailed by CIA Now Runs Libya’s Foremost Military Organization

By James Rosen – “From the first stirrings of change in the Middle East nine months ago, optimism at the prospect of 100 million young people rising up to seize their democratic freedoms has been tempered by fear in Western capitals that radical Islamists might also rise up and try to hijack the so-called Arab Spring.

And now, many analysts say, that fear has been realized.

In Tunisia, where the epic season of unrest began, last Sunday’s historic elections appear to have resulted in an Islamist group winning a governing majority.

In Libya, an ex-terrorist once jailed by the Central Intelligence Agency now runs the country’s foremost military organization, and new political leaders speak openly of enacting Sharia, the ultra-harsh code of Islamic law.

And in Egypt, where the world’s oldest civilization is bracing for elections next month, rioters have recently forced the evacuation of the Israeli embassy and waged vicious attacks on Coptic Christians.

Worrisome in their own right, these developments also raise difficult questions, in an already contentious political season, about the conduct of President Obama and his national security team…

‘Revolutions are unpredictable phenomena,’ Clinton replied. ‘I think a lot of the leaders are saying the right things and some are saying things that do give pause to us….We’re going to do all that we can within our power to basically try to influence outcomes. But, you know, the historic wind sweeping the Middle East and North Africa were not of our making.’

Jamie Smith, a former CIA officer who has made three fact-finding trips to Libya this year, warns that the sense of unity that bound the country’s disparate rebel groups during their eight-month revolt has evaporated since Muammar Qaddafi fell from power.

In the dictator’s place, Smith says, the oil-rich but woefully mismanaged North African state is relying on the Transitional National Council, made up of inexperienced ex-rebels, and the Tripoli Military Council, headed by Abdel Hakim Belhaj. The latter was once head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which the U.S. State Department classifies as a foreign terrorist organization.

It is unlikely that Belhaj’s loyalties to the United States run strong: Smith notes that the CIA captured Belhaj in 2004, briefly held him in Thailand, and ultimately returned him to the custody of Qaddafi in Libya, where the former LIFG fighter languished in prison until his release last year.

‘So now you’ve got a radical Islamist terrorist leader who is running the most powerful military group in Libya,’ said Smith, a veteran of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. ‘In that area of the world, the people with the biggest guns make the rules. And this guy has got the guns. And he’s going to make the rules.'” Read more.