Drought

It is unusable to see this much news on one topic, drought, in one day, so I thought I would make my readers aware of it, too.

Drought reform compounded by horror year

THE National Farmers Federation are concerned that the drought reform measures being tested in WA this year, are being complicated by the State having one of its worst seasons on record.-NFF CEO Ben Fargher said while there was concern about the complications of testing the reforms in a tough drought year, the timing had also created a positive effect because Centrelink support serves were “on the ground ready to go” for many WA farmers suffering through the worst drought and poorest grain return in 20 years

http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/general/drought-reform-compounded-by-horror-year/2018896.aspx

Drought plagues China's major wheat regions

A two-month drought is plaguing China's major wheat production areas, according to local agricultural and drought relief authorities. The four drought-hit provinces of Henan, Anhui, Shandong and Hebei produce over half of the country's summer grain, 90 percent of which is wheat, and account for 22 percent of China's arable land.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-12/06/content_11660501.htm

"Alarming" Amazon Drought—

River Hits New Low Hard-hit by a months-long drought, a waterway within the Amazon Basin trickles to a halt in Manaus, Brazil, on November 19. The Negro River, a major tributary of the of the Amazon River, dropped to a depth of about 46 feet (14 meters)—the lowest point since record-keeping began in 1902.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/12/photogalleries/101206-freshwater-amazon-drought-pictures/

New Zealand declares drought zone

The New Zealand government has declared part of North Island a medium level drought zone this week and agriculture minister David Carter said more regions were likely to join it following the driest spring over the whole country since records began.

http://www.agra-net.com/portal2/home.jsp?template=newsarticle&artid=20017832246&pubid=ag004

Drought's grip threatens state with arid 2011

The great drought of 2011 may have started two months ago. Since Tropical Storm Hermine drenched central Texas in September, the state has been very dry, with large swaths receiving less than 10 percent of normal rainfall levels. Locally, nearly all but the southeastern corner of Harris County has received less than 50 percent of normal rain. According to the National Climatic Data Center, the two-month period of October and November was the state's eighth driest on record, and second driest in 44 years.

http://www.agra-net.com/portal2/home.jsp?template=newsarticle&artid=20017832246&pubid=ag004

The declaration of war that went unnoticed

The Muslim Brotherhood recently called for jihad on the US and Israel, adopting a view almost identical to al-Qaida’s.

Here’s something important: The Muslim Brotherhood’s leader has endorsed anti-American jihad and a view virtually identical to al-Qaida’s ideology. Since the Brotherhood is the main opposition in Egypt and Jordan and the most powerful group in Muslim communities of Europe and North America, this is serious stuff.

Serious indeed!
And in light of the Obama administration's slow response to emerging information, and lack of response to many lead, it is particularly troubling. There are viable report of new threats, even as I write this, but I have any details, yet.

The article continues:

Does that mean all these branches are going to launch terror attacks, as one affiliate, Hamas, has long done? Not necessarily. But hundreds of thousands of Brotherhood followers are being given a signal. Some will engage in terrorism; others will redouble efforts to seize control of countries and turn them into bases for war on the West.

The Brotherhood is the group that often dominates Muslim communities and runs mosques in the West. Its front groups are often courted by Western governments and media.

Yet here is the Brotherhood’s new supreme guide, Muhammad Badi giving a sermon entitled, “How Islam Confronts the Oppression and Tyranny,” translated by MEMRI in which he says:

• Arab and Muslim regimes betray their people unless they confront not only Israel but also the US. Waging jihad against both is mandatory for all Muslims. Otherwise, “They are disregarding Allah’s commandment to wage jihad... so that Allah’s word will reign supreme” over all non-Muslims.

• All Muslims are required by their religion to fight as their highest priority, since “the improvement and change that the [Muslim] nation seeks can only be attained through jihad and sacrifice, and by raising a jihadi generation that pursues death just as its enemies pursue life.”

• The US is easy to defeat through violence, since it is “experiencing the beginning of its end and is heading toward its demise.”

• Palestinians should back Hamas in overthrowing the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and unite in waging war on Israel. http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=190894

Andhere:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/10/11/2010-10- 11_terror_threat_to_restaurants_as_al_qaeda_calls_for_attacks_on_government_work ers.html#ixzz12KrjyVe6

The Fix Is In!

“Obama, in his Cairo speech to the ummah (the Muslim world):

"In the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That is why I am committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat."  BHO, Cairo, June 4, 2009”

Obama's Zakat Vow Raises Troubling Questions

A part of President Obama's speech in Cairo last week that has drawn little attention.

Obama claimed rules on charitable giving were making it difficult for American Muslims to satisfy the religious obligation of charity known as zakat and he promised to work "with American Muslims to ensure that they can." This simply isn't true.

American law, enacted in 1995 by an executive order by President Clinton and further entrenched by Congress a year later, makes it illegal to provide support to any entity designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. government. The laws do nothing to restrict donations to relief agencies that haven't been so designated.

Those laws were enacted for a reason. Terrorist groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad engaged in vicious bombing campaigns to thwart American-led peace efforts. Clinton's order called it "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."

As this administration starts a new push to settle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, anything that facilitates sending money to charities tied to terrorists would be beyond counter productive. It would be inviting the next wave of terror.”

Read more at: http://www.investigativeproject.org/1292/obamas-zakat-vow-raises-troubling-questions

Zakat who receives it:

1. The needy

2. Extremely poor

3. Those employed to collect

4. Those whose hearts are to be won

5. To free the captives

6. Those in debt

7. In the way of Allah

8. Wayfarer

The seventh category is THOSE FIGHTING FOR ALLAH, meaning people ENGAGED IN ISLAMIC MILITARY OPERATIONS for who no salary has been allotted in the Army roster. They are given enough to suffice for the operation, even if affluent; of WEAPONS, MOUNTS, CLOTHING AND EXPENSES.”

And the fix:

“U.S. President Barack Obama signed a waiver last week

U.S. President Barack Obama signed a waiver last week that allowed him to transfer funds to the Palestinian Authority, while relaxing some of reporting requirements. The announcement of the waiver, published October 7, did not include information on the amount or its purpose.

The requirements, dubbed a “routine bureaucratic measure necessitated by terrorism laws” by the PA-linked Ma'an news agency, are actually a complex 12-section network of legislation, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, which states the U.S. policy to promote “the cessation of terrorism and incitement in institutions and territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority...”

The legislation requires exemptions be “in the U.S. national security interests" as Obama cited in announcing his signature of the waiver.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140017”

And another little note:

“Hamas Fundraising at Florida Mosque

According to press accounts, more than $1 million in aid for Hamas, including the cash and supplies raised in Orlando at Musri’s mosque, along with funds raised in Kansas, New York and Illinois, was provided on Galloway’s July 2009. There to greet them and take possession of the cash was Hamas economic minister Ziad al-Zaza and Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, another designated global terrorist.”