A powerful storm toppled a construction crane Friday afternoon at the Masjid al-Haram, or Grand Mosque, in Mecca — killing at least 107 people and injuring 238 others, Saudi Arabia’s civil defense authorities said on Twitter.
Photos and video on social media showed the crane crashing through the mosque roof and the aftermath, with bodies, blood and debris spread across the courtyard.
The crane fell 10 days before the start of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage expected to bring 2 million people to Mecca. The Masjid al-Haram is the largest mosque in the world and surrounds Islam’s holiest site, the Kaaba — a cube-shaped shrine that worshippers circle . . .
“We just washed and were getting ready to head to the Masjid al-Haram for the Maghrib prayer (sunset prayer),” said Yahya Al Hashemi, 30, a CNN iReporter who shot iPhone video of the crane striking the roof of the mosque. “It was a sandstorm which turned to rainstorm and lot of the construction covering boards were flying around, and lots of cracking noises which unfortunately ended with this tragedy. … Everybody were pushing trying to escape from inside towards the exits.”
More than 50 rescue teams and 80 ambulances converged on the mosque as part of the rescue effort after the crane fell at 5:24 p.m. local time (10:23 a.m. ET), said Saudi Civil Defense Director Maj. Gen Suleiman al-Amro. (Read more from “107 Killed in Crane Collapse at Mecca’s Grand Mosque” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-11 22:30:242015-09-11 22:30:24107 Killed in Crane Collapse at Mecca’s Grand Mosque [+video]
The two amateur cavers had to feel their way along the cave’s winding passages, crawl on their stomachs through an opening less than 10 inches high, ascend a jagged wall, cross a narrow ledge dubbed the “Dragon’s Back,” and make a 400-foot descent, sideways, through a vertical crack before finally arriving at the prize: a 30-foot-long chamber probably between 2 million and 3 million years old.
American paleoanthropologist Lee Berger had asked the men to keep their eyes open for fossils, though the well-explored cave at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa had given up most of its treasures decades ago.
What they found in September 2013 nearly took their breath away: fossil fragments of a relative of the human species, and a cache of bones and teeth buried in ancient clay that would eventually number more than 1,500 — the largest hominin fossil discovery of its kind in Africa. . .
Although the fragments have not yet been dated, the scientists said they could well represent one of the most primitive members of the genus Homo, which includes today’s humans.
Perhaps more remarkable, they added, was that the pieces belonged to at least 15 individuals of the same species — men, women, children and infants — and all of them appeared to have been deliberately placed there after death. The implication was as astonishing as the initial discovery: It suggested the ritualized disposal of bodies. (Read more from “Ancient Human Fossils Found in African Cave Astonish Scientists” HERE)
Kayla Mueller, the American humanitarian aid worker held captive by the Islamic State, was killed by the terrorist group despite previous reports that she died in a Jordanian airstrike, according to another hostage.
BBC reported that a Yazidi woman held as a “slave” by now-deceased Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL) second-in-command Hajji Mutazz said the terrorist group was responsible for Mueller’s death.
While it was previously reported that Mueller was repeatedly raped by IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the terrorist group has alleged that the American hostage was killed in a building destroyed by Jordanian airstrikes.
However, according to the since-escaped Yazidi woman, Amshe, the IS second-in-command informed her that Baghdadi killed Mueller when he was finished abusing her . . .
“We killed her because she is an American,” he allegedly continued. “If Obama wanted to he could tell Bashar [al-Assad, the Syrian president] to stop bombing us. Ten of our women and children die every day. This is our revenge. We will kill any American citizen we capture. If any Western government refuses to put pressure on Bashar, we will kill their citizens too.” (Read more from “ISIS’ Second-In-Command on Kayla Mueller: ‘Her Stupid Government, We Killed Her'” HERE)
“The United States should take its responsibility in the disheartening refugee crisis in Europe as its controversial Middle East policies resulted in wars and chaos that displaced large numbers of people,” hectors China’s state-run news agency, Xinhua.
They dwell on the photo of the drowned Syrian toddler — who was not in the process of fleeing from Syria when he died — and the horrid deaths of 70 refugees in a smuggler’s truck in Austria.
China is not generally noted for its genial indulgence of lawbreakers, especially when there are national security implications, but it expects the United States to throw caution to the winds. “Even though it has remained relatively ‘quiet’ on this matter, the United States actually has an inescapable responsibility on what happens today in Europe and the Middle East,” Xinhua pontificates . . .
If you’re waiting for some massive groundswell of public sympathy for refugees to change the Chinese Politburo’s mind about settling some Syrians in their territory, the Hong Kong Free Press notes that the Chinese public is “overwhelmingly against the idea,” because they think “China is not responsible for turbulence in the Middle East, many Chinese people are still living in poverty and that the refugees won’t want to come to China anyway.”
That latter point sounds pretty dismal, and indeed some Chinese spoke poorly of their own nation, with one arguing that “China cannot provide refuge, because we the Chinese look more like refugees”… but others pointed out the refugees were more interested in migrating to the generous welfare states of Europe. (Read more from “China: USA Must Take More Syrian Refugees; We’ll Take Zero, Thanks” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-10 23:20:252015-09-10 23:20:25China: USA Must Take More Syrian Refugees; We’ll Take Zero, Thanks
Less than half of the U.S.-Mexico border is under “operational control,” and one out of every five illegal immigrants caught there has a criminal record, the chief of Border Patrol agents’ labor union told Congress Wednesday when detailing violence that increasingly spills over the international boundary.
Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said the level of criminal activity belies claims that because fewer illegal immigrants are being caught, the border has improved in recent years.
“This is the challenge we are facing at the border today,” he said. “There are those who will point to lower apprehension rates and tell you the border is secure. Border Patrol agents, however, throughout this nation will tell you the border is not secure, and the southwest border certainly is not safe.”
The dangers were highlighted earlier this year when a Customs and Border Protection helicopter was fired upon while flying near Laredo, Texas, forcing it to make an emergency landing — though nobody was injured. Officials have blamed the Zetas cartel for the incident.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, who called for Wednesday’s hearing, said the deteriorating security contrasts with the Obama administration’s picture of an improving situation. (Read more from “Only 40 Percent of the US-Mexico Border Is Under Control” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-09 22:22:462015-09-09 22:22:46Only 40 Percent of the US-Mexico Border Is Under Control
The founder of a Houston-based technology company admitted to spying for Russia while in the U.S. and conspiring to export microelectronics to Russian military and intelligence agencies.
Alexander Fishenko, a dual Russian-U.S. citizen, was scheduled to go to trial this month on charges of scheming to illegally supply Russia with computer chips and other high-tech goods. He pleaded guilty Wednesday in Brooklyn, New York, federal court to all charges, said his lawyer, Richard Levitt . . .
“Fishenko lined his pockets at the expense of our national security,” Acting U.S. Attorney Kelly Currie said in a statement. “This prosecution highlights the importance of vigorously enforcing United States export control laws.”
The technology exporter founded Arc Electronics in 1998 and shipped about $50 million worth of technological products to Russia, according to prosecutors. He and co-conspirators are alleged to have evaded export licensing requirements and provided false information about goods to U.S. officials. At one time, Arc falsely claimed to make traffic lights even though it operated exclusively as an exporter, prosecutors said. (Read more from “Military Technology Exporter Admits to Spying for Moscow” HERE)
A notorious al Qaeda magazine is encouraging lone-wolf terrorist attacks on U.S. economic leaders, including Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and Warren Buffett.
The list in Inspire magazine also included industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch, internet entrepreneur Larry Ellison, and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. A prominent economist was also on the list but asked that his name be withheld. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was named, though not Janet Yellen, who succeeded him.
Also pictured was Jim Walton, one of the heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, although he was misidentified in the caption as his late father, Sam Walton. Several other names on the list were misspelled.
The slickly produced magazine article begins with a photo illustration showing blood-spattered pictures of several of the leaders next to a dripping gun. Its stated goal is to derail the “revival of the America Economy.”
The article says the “economic personalities” and “wealthy entrepreneurs” can get off the list by withdrawing their money from U.S. banks, investing their wealth outside American soil, and denouncing support for Israel. (Read more from “Al Qaeda Magazine Urges Attack on Koch Brothers, Buffett, Bloomberg” HERE)
The fog created by the ostensibly impending resignation of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas appeared to clear Monday, as details emerged indicating that the resignation threats were a diversion ahead of a dramatic move planned by the Palestinians: declaring Palestine a state under occupation and reneging on their obligations as detailed in the Oslo Accords.
The move was apparently decided on several months ago by Saeb Erekat, the acting head of the Palestinian negotiating team and the secretary general of the PLO’s executive committee, who was the man behind a document setting out the Palestinians’ diplomatic moves against Israel during the month of September . . .
The Oslo Accords, as well as the agreement signed in Sharm el Sheikh in 1994, are expected to be canceled. Also set to be annulled are an economic agreement signed in Paris and several pacts on security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
At this stage, it is still not yet clear what the actual implications of such a decision will be. It will reportedly be accompanied by an announcement by Abbas at the United Nations General Assembly session at the end of the month, where he is expected to say that in light of the annulment of the agreements, Palestine will be considered a state under occupation. (Read more from “Palestinians Preparing to Renege on Oslo Accords, Declare an Independent “Occupied State” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-08 22:01:512015-09-08 22:01:51Palestinians Preparing to Renege on Oslo Accords, Declare an Independent “Occupied State”
Here’s a question all liberal, open border politicians must answer as it relates to the refugee crisis: if wealthy Arab and Muslim countries are concerned about the security, fiscal, and cultural problems associated with admitting mass numbers of Syrian refugees, why should America be the guinea pig?
Following the widely viewed picture of the dead toddler washed up on the shore of Turkey, liberal NGOs dealing with refugee resettlement feel they have their bloody shirt moment in their relentless quest to flood the country with tens of thousands of additional refugees from the Middle East. But anyone who follows the Middle East can appreciate that prudent policy is a lot more complex than heartrending images of individual babies dying while fleeing an Islamic Civil War. For one thing, most of the migrants appear to be adult males. And the story of the drowned boy also appears to be more complex than initially thought.
Certainly the images of gruesome torture of Christian minorities in Syria should conjure up just as much righteous indignation and calls to admit refugees, yet we have only admitted 28 Christians from Syria this year – just 2% of all refugees from that country – according to State Department data. Likewise, of the 11,164 refugees admitted from Iraq this year, just 193 were Yazidi. Why have we admitted 70,000 refugees from around the world this year but have taken in just 28 individual Christians from Syria and 193 Yazidis from Iraq – the most persecuted people of our time?
Why has the refugee program ostensibly become a Muslim resettlement program and why is it the western, predominantly Christian countries that are tasked with taking in so many Muslim refugees when the Gulf States, which share the same language and religion, turn a blind eye?
I know what you’re thinking – with all the persecution of Christians transpiring in this country, maybe this is not the last remaining asylum for persecuted Christians. And evidently, liberals believe that those who peacefully decline a service while asserting Christian beliefs should be thrown in jail but are clamoring to bring in tens of thousands of fervent Sharia adherents who, let’s just say, don’t always express their religious convictions peacefully. But I digress.
A number of NGOs and sitting Democrat senators are calling for the admission of as many as 200,000 refugees next year, including 100,000 Syrians. You won’t get this perspective from the mainstream media, but take a look at this chart of the top host countries to refugees worldwide and you will see that we are, by far, the most generous. Americans don’t need sanctimony from the open borders crowd.
As you can see, the U.S. admitted 73% of the world’s refugees in 2014. Now, obviously, that will change in the final tally for 2015, as European countries such as Germany are being flooded with record numbers of refugees. But America has been the leading host country for years, accepting 448,463 refugees since FY 2009. With all the security risks and the public charge we are forced to incur, it’s more than high time for other countries to do their fair share.
Also, in addition to refugees, no other western country has admitted so many immigrants from indigent countries over the past decade. As the Center for Immigration Studies shows, this has resulted in a massive strain on our welfare system, representing a huge break with 100 years of past immigration policy that avoided those who were likely to become a public charge. In total, as of 2010 the U.S. was the destination of 20% of the world’s migrants even though we account for just 4% of the global population. America also has its own migrant crisis from Central America. Americans don’t need lectures on compassion.
Notice how few refugees are taken in by Latin American countries or East Asian countries. And as we mentioned before, what happened to countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Emirates? The five richest Gulf nations have yet to admit a single refugee from Syria this year!
What do they know about security policy that some western liberals do not?
America has taken in over 100,000 Somali refugees since 1993. We are paying for it to this day with growing radicalism in the areas they settled – to the extent that the U.S. Attorney from Minnesota said they have lost control over many individuals in the local Somali community who’ve connected with foreign fighters. And although the public charge is certainly not as grave as the security issues, it is still important nonetheless. Among refugees from the Middle East, 91.3% received Food Stamps and 73.1% received Medicaid.
On Wednesday, the Obama administration will “consult” with Congress on the number of refugees they plan to admit for the next fiscal year and from which parts of the world. Conservatives should gird for battle.
As we approach another anniversary of 9/11, let’s not forget that immigration is the front line in the defense against terror. (For more from the author of “What the Media Isn’t Saying About the Refugee Crisis in the Middle East” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-08 21:59:092015-09-08 21:59:09What the Media Isn’t Saying About the Refugee Crisis in the Middle East
U.S. naval forces operating in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane, are “routinely approached by Iranian warships and aircraft” on a “nearly daily basis,” according to a Pentagon official familiar with operations in the region.
During these interactions between U.S. and Iranian forces, American aircraft and ships are routinely photographed by the Iranians for intelligence purposes, according to the official, who said that most confrontations between the sides are “conducted in a safe and professional manner.”
The disclosure of these daily run-ins comes following the release of footage by the Iranian military purporting to show a reconnaissance mission over a U.S. aircraft carrier station in the Strait of Hormuz.
The clip, which was filmed at the end of August and is punctuated by dramatic music, shows U.S. personnel aboard the ship and shots of U.S. warplanes stationed on it.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps “drones have carried out such missions many times; although the drone remains for a long time above the [American crew’s] heads, they didn’t notice it,” Iran’s state-control media reported in Persian at the time, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute. “In some cases, [the American crew] did notice the IRGC drone awhile after the filming and tried to drive it off by sending a helicopter or fighter jet after it.” (Read more from “Iranian Warships Confront US Navy on ‘Daily Basis'” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-08 21:56:332015-09-08 21:56:33Iranian Warships Confront US Navy on ‘Daily Basis’
A powerful storm toppled a construction crane Friday afternoon at the Masjid al-Haram, or Grand Mosque, in Mecca — killing at least 107 people and injuring 238 others, Saudi Arabia’s civil defense authorities said on Twitter.
