UK: Mystery Virus Killing Thousands of Lambs, Survival of Many British Farms Threatened

By Cole Moreton – “The Schmallenberg virus causes lambs to be born dead or with serious deformities such as fused limbs and twisted necks, which mean they cannot survive.

Scientists are urgently trying to find out how the disease, which also affects cattle, spreads and how to fight it, as the number of farms affected increases by the day.

So far, 74 farms across southern and eastern England have been hit by the virus, which arrived in this country in January.

A thousand farms in Europe have reported cases since the first signs of the virus were seen in the German town of Schmallenberg last summer.

The National Farmers Union has called it a potential ‘catastrophe’ and warned farmers to be vigilant. ‘This is a ticking time bomb,’ said Alastair Mackintosh, of the NFU. ‘We don’t yet know the extent of the disease. We only find out the damage when sheep and cows give birth, and by then it’s too late.’

It is unclear exactly how the disease arrived in Britain, but the leading theory is that midges carried the virus across the Channel or North Sea in the autumn. However, scientists cannot yet rule out transmission of the disease from animal to animal.

Infected ewes do not show any symptoms of the virus until they give birth, with horrific results. Farmers have described delivering the deformed and stillborn animals as heartbreaking.

The lambing season has only just begun, which means that the full impact of the disease will not be felt until the weather warms up and millions more animals are born.” Read more.

Wyoming: State Reps Advance Legislation to Study Contingencies In Case Of Complete Economic or Political Collapse in the United States

It is wise to prepare for the worst, but I see one possible flaw with Wyoming’s study: it assumes that the nation’s power grid will not be affected. If an EMP were detonated over the continental US, however, virtually all contingency planning for a possible economic or political collapse will be for naught …

By JEREMY PELZER – “CHEYENNE — State representatives on Friday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States.

House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government.

The task force would look at the feasibility of Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed. And House members approved an amendment Friday by state Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, to have the task force also examine conditions under which Wyoming would need to implement its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. David Miller, R-Riverton, has said he doesn’t anticipate any major crises hitting America anytime soon. But with the national debt exceeding $15 trillion and protest movements growing around the country, Miller said Wyoming — which has a comparatively good economy and sound state finances — needs to make sure it’s protected should any unexpected emergency hit the U.S.

Several House members spoke in favor of the legislation, saying there was no harm in preparing for the worst.

‘I don’t think there’s anyone in this room today what would come up here and say that this country is in good shape, that the world is stable and in good shape — because that is clearly not the case,’ state Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, R-Thermopolis, said. ‘To put your head in the sand and think that nothing bad’s going to happen, and that we have no obligation to the citizens of the state of Wyoming to at least have the discussion, is not healthy.'” Read more.

Flashback: Iranian EMP Nuke Attack Over the US: ‘Two-Thirds of the American Population Would Perish From Starvation, Disease, and Societal Collapse’ Within One Year – “If the Iranians acquire a nuclear bomb, they might be able to cripple their ‘Great Satan’ even sooner through an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, attack off America’s coastline. ‘Within a year of an EMP event, at least two-thirds of the American population would perish from starvation, disease, and societal collapse. It’s a high-tech means of killing people the old fashioned way,’ Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, president of EMPact America, explained. A nuclear weapon detonated above the U.S. would emit powerful electromagnetic pulses, frying America’s electrical grid and shutting down necessities from cars to computers to airplanes and refrigerators. Iranian military handbooks point out the benefits of such an attack. Russia, China, and North Korea also possess EMP technology.” Read more.

Gaza: Hamas Ditches Assad, Backs Syria Revolt

Reuters – “Leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas turned publicly against their long-time ally President Bashar Assad of Syria on Friday, endorsing the revolt aimed at overthrowing his dynastic rule.

The policy shift deprives Assad of one of his few remaining Sunni Muslim supporters in the Arab world and deepens his international isolation. It was announced in Hamas speeches at Friday prayers in Cairo and a rally in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas went public after nearly a year of equivocating as Assad’s army, largely led by fellow members of the president’s Alawite sect, has crushed mainly Sunni protesters and rebels.

‘The Syrian revolution is an Arab revolution.’

Contemporary political rivalries have exacerbated tensions that date back centuries between Sunnis – the vast majority of Arabs – and Shi’ites, who form substantial Arab populations, notably in Lebanon and Iraq, and who dominate in non-Arab Iran.

Hamas and Hezbollah, confronting Israel on its southwestern and northern borders, have long had a strategic alliance against Israel, despite opposing positions on the sectarian divide. Both have fought wars with Israel in the past six years.

But as the Sunni-Shi’ite split in the Middle East deepens, Hamas appears to have cast its lot with the powerful, Egypt-based Sunni Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose star has been in the ascendant since the Arab Spring revolts last year.” Read more.

Two More American Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan Over Qur’an Burning Fury

Revelation 6:8, “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

Another update on this seemingly never-ending saga. In Revelation 6:8 John describes what we’ve come to call the “fourth horseman of the Apocalypse” as being “chlōros“, literally translated as “green”. Green is the official color of Islam and is believed to be Mohammed’s favorite. The “fourth horseman” is described as having power over 1/4th of the earth. I don’t believe that it is a mere coincidence that Islam today has dominion over 1/4th of the earth. John describes the “fourth horseman” as having the power to “kill with sword.” Islam is spread through Jihad, the “Sword of Islam.”  The “fourth horseman” also kills with hunger/famine. Islamists would rather see children starve to death than see them receive aid from the “Christian West.” The “fourth horseman” kills “with death.” The love of death, suicide missions and martyrdom for “Allah” permeates Islamic culture, so much that they even openly declare to “love death more than you love life.” Lastly, Revelation 6:8 describes the “fourth horseman” as killing with “the beasts of the earth.” The Greek word “thērion” is, I believe, being used metaphorically to refer to “savage”, “brutal” and “bestial” men. And the reaction of the Muslim world upon hearing of the “desecration” of their holy book is, yet again, proving to be nothing short of all-out savagery …

By Hamid Shalizi – “(Reuters) – Two Americans believed to be a U.S. colonel and major were shot dead in Afghanistan’s interior ministry on Saturday, security sources said, while rage gripped the country for a fifth day over the burning of the Muslim holy book at a NATO base.

A spokeswoman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed two of their servicemen had been shot dead in central Kabul by an individual who turned his weapon on them. She declined to say if the killer was a member of the Afghan military or police.

Afghanistan’s Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the shootings, which it said were in retaliation for the desecration of the Korans at Bagram airfield.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an e-mailed statement to the media that four high-ranking Americans had been killed, though the Islamist group often exaggerate and inflate claims of casualties.

The Koran burnings underscored the deep cultural divide that still exists more than 10 years after U.S. troops invaded to oust the Taliban and has deepened public mistrust of Western troops struggling to stabilize the country.

An Afghan security source said the shooting of the two Americans in the Interior Ministry could be connected to the burning of the Korans…

Muslims consider the Koran to be the literal word of God and treat each copy with deep reverence. Desecration is considered one of the worst forms of blasphemy.

Four Afghans were shot dead by Afghan security forces as demonstrators came out to the streets on Saturday, with an attempt by protesters to bombard a U.N. compound in the north.

Despite an apology from U.S. President Barack Obama and a call for restraint from Afghan leader Hamid Karzai, thousands have taken to the streets. Twelve people were killed and dozens wounded on Friday, the bloodiest day yet in demonstrations.

On Thursday, an Afghan national army soldier joined the protests and gunned down two American soldiers.” Read more.

NATO Recalls All Staff From Kabul Ministries After 2 US Advisers Killed – “The commander of NATO and U.S. forces says that all NATO personnel are being recalled from Afghan ministries following an attack at the Interior Ministry in Kabul. Gen. John Allen says staff are being recalled ‘for obvious force protection reasons.’ He says NATO is investigating Saturday’s shooting and will pursue all leads to find the person responsible for the attack.” Read more.

Insult to WWII heroes: Graves of British troops smashed and desecrated by Libyan Islamists in protest over U.S. soldiers’ Koran burning – “A furious mob has desecrated dozens of Commonwealth War Graves in a Libyan cemetery amid continuing fury in the Middle East over the burning of the Koran by U.S. soldiers. Headstones commemorating British and Allied servicemen, killed during World War II campaigns in the Western Desert, lay smashed and strewn across Benghazi Military Cemetery. Protesters rampaged through site on Friday, despite efforts by America to calm tensions sparked when it emerged U.S. soldiers had burned Muslim holy books in a pile of rubbish at a military base in Afghanistan.” Read more.

Middle East War Coming in March?

By AARON KLEIN – “TEL AVIV – NATO countries are strongly considering the possibility of an international deployment to Syria if the Syrian opposition does not make major advances in the next few weeks, according to informed Middle Eastern diplomatic and security officials.

Egyptian security officials, meanwhile, outlined what they said was large scale international backing for the rebels attacking the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad – including arms and training from the U.S., Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Several knowledgeable Egyptian and Arab security officials claimed the U.S., Turkey and Jordan were running a training base for the Syrian rebels in the Jordanian town of Safawi in the country’s northern desert region.

The security officials also claimed Saudi Arabia was sending weapons to the rebels via surrogates, including through Druze and Christian leaders in Lebanon such as Druze leader Walid Jumblatt; Saudi-Lebanese billionaire Saad Hariri, who recently served as Lebanon’s prime minister; and senior Lebanese opposition leader Samir Farid Geagea.

Syrian sources claimed to WND that Jordan’s fingerprints can be seen on the opposition forces entering the country. They claimed that just this week they shot dead 15 armed smugglers coming into the country from Jordan and that Jordanian forces helped to cover the smugglers’ tracks on the Jordanian side of the border. They said the incident did not make it to the news media.

While Turkey, the U.S. and Arab countries may be arming the opposition, Russia has been directly aiding Assad’s forces on the ground, according to informed Middle Eastern diplomatic and security officials.

In one recent incident, when opposition forces successfully destroyed a Russian-provided tank in the rebel stronghold of Homs using an anti-tank missile, the officials said that Russian technicians took fragments of the missile to study the components in a Russian lab to determine the exact missile used.

WND previously reported Russian military experts have been inside Syria helping Assad’s regime face down the months-long insurgency.

NATO war in Syria in March?

Meanwhile, according to the Middle Eastern diplomatic and security officials speaking to WND, the international community is considering launching