Related: Natural Disasters... or Not?
Can You Hear the HAARP?
Obama Drilling For Martial Law Excuse
MAKING EARTHQUAKES HAPPEN, huh?
"Swiss geologist on trial for triggering quakes" by Associated Press | December 16, 2009
BASEL, Switzerland - A geologist on trial for causing earthquakes while drilling for hot rocks to produce clean energy said yesterday that he was surprised by the strength of the most powerful temblor.
Markus Haering, who designed the geothermal project, rejected allegations that he deliberately damaged properties and said local people knew the risks.
“We had very little knowledge of seismicity’’ before starting to drill, Haering testified.
The deep drilling underground caused a series of earthquakes in 2006, including one of 3.4 magnitude, rattling residents of the northwest city of Basel. Project leader Geopower Basel has already paid around $9 million in compensation for cracked walls and other damage on properties near the experiment.
The project was suspended at the time and shut down last week after a risk analysis concluded that more quakes could follow if the drilling continued.
The experiment aimed to be the world’s first to generate power commercially by boiling water on rocks 3 miles underground.
The Swiss efforts are being closely watched in the United States, where the Energy Department is sponsoring more than 120 geothermal energy projects in several states.Yeah, so IF CALIFORNIA SLIDES OFF into the ocean maybe you ought to take a second look, America!!
Yup, this government that is "protecting" you is going to encourage earthquakes over the DAMNABLE LIE of GLOBAL WARMING!!
A leading US company, AltaRock Energy, in September stopped drilling at one key development site north of San Francisco, citing drilling difficulties.
Yeah, WHO KNOWS HOW MUCH DAMAGE they have ALREADY DONE!!!
--more--"
More earth-shaking:
"Swiss ban new mosque minarets in backlash against Muslims; Rights groups decry surprise ballot result" by Alexander G. Higgins, Associated Press | November 30, 2009
GENEVA - Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on minarets yesterday, barring construction of the iconic mosque towers in a surprise vote that put Switzerland at the forefront of a European backlash against a growing Muslim population.
Related: Hearing the Call of the Minaret
Not just over there, is it?
Isn't it amazing how Jewish racism is acceptable and praised as Muslims face persecution everywhere they go?
Muslim groups in Switzerland and abroad condemned the vote as biased and anti-Islamic. Business groups said the decision hurt Switzerland’s international standing and could damage relations with Muslim nations and wealthy investors who bank, travel, and shop there.
Related: Lying Looters Large and Small: Secret Stashes and Secret Deals
“The Swiss have failed to give a clear signal for diversity, freedom of religion, and human rights,’’ said Omar Al-Rawi, integration representative of the Islamic Denomination in Austria, which said its reaction was “grief and deep disappointment.’’
Diversity is only for some.
About 300 people turned out for a spontaneous demonstration on the square outside Parliament, holding up signs saying, “That is not my Switzerland,’’ placing candles in front of a model of a minaret and making another minaret shape out of the candles themselves. “We’re sorry,’’ said another sign. A young woman pinned to her jacket a piece of paper saying, “Swiss passport for sale.’’
Now THAT is what I LIKE to SEE!!!
The referendum by the nationalist Swiss People’s Party labeled minarets as symbols of rising Muslim political power that could one day transform Switzerland into an Islamic nation.
Yeah, and they would PROBABLY BE BETTER OFF!!!
So when do the menorahs come down?
The initiative was approved 57.5 to 42.5 percent by about 2.67 million voters. Only four of the 26 cantons or states opposed the initiative, granting the double approval that makes it part of the Swiss constitution. Muslims make up about 6 percent of Switzerland’s 7.5 million people. Many are refugees from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and about one in 10 actively practices their religion, the government says.
Looks like a MAJOR OVERREACTION, huh?
The country’s four standing minarets, which will not be affected by the ban, do not traditionally broadcast the call to prayer outside their own buildings.
So then WHAT is up the SWISS BUNG HOLE?
And why would they be upset about something that sounds beautiful?
The sponsors of the initiative provoked complaints of bias from local officials and human-rights groups with campaign posters that showed minarets rising like missiles from the Swiss flag next to a fully veiled woman. Backers said the growing Muslim population was straining the country “because Muslims don’t just practice religion.’’
Oh, it was a PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN that got 'em ALL FEARED UP, huh?
“The minaret is a sign of political power and demand, comparable with whole-body covering by the burqa, tolerance of forced marriage, and genital mutilation of girls,’’ the sponsors said.
Of course, DROPPING BOMBS on them and MISSILING their villages is OKAY!!!
They said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey compared mosques to Islam’s military barracks and called “the minarets our bayonets.’’ Erdogan made the comment in citing an Islamic poem many years before he became prime minister. Anxieties about growing Muslim minorities have rippled across Europe in recent years, leading to legal changes in some countries. There have been French moves to ban the full-length body covering known as the burqa. Some German states have introduced bans on head scarves for Muslim women teaching in public schools.
Oh, in the LANDS of FREEDOM and FREE SPEECH?
Mosques and minaret construction projects in Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, Greece, Germany, and Slovenia have been met by protests. But the Swiss ban on minarets, sponsored by the country’s largest political party, was one of the most extreme reactions. Amnesty International said the vote violated freedom of religion and would probably be overturned by the Swiss supreme court or the European Court of Human Rights. The seven-member Cabinet that heads the Swiss government had spoken out strongly against the initiative but the government said it accepted the vote and would impose an immediate ban on minaret construction.
The issue remained a story for days as well in the divisive, agenda-pushing paper.
"Swiss ban on minarets stirs anger" by Associated Press | December 1, 2009
GENEVA - A top Swiss official said yesterday that voter approval of a ban on minarets next to mosques could be struck down in court, as critics at home and abroad swiftly condemned the vote, saying it undermined the country’s secular image.
Legal analysts have questioned whether the ban on the Islamic towers used for the call to prayer is compatible with Switzerland’s constitution and international human rights law.
Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said it would come into force immediately, but indicated it could be overturned. “The ban contradicts the European Convention on Human Rights,’’ Zurich daily Blick cited Widmer-Schlumpf as saying. Switzerland currently presides over the European Court of Human Rights, which rules on breaches of the convention.
The vote brings the focus of a Europe-wide debate over Islam and immigration to Switzerland, and is a serious slap in the face for the government, which campaigned against it. France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said he was “a bit scandalized’’ by the vote. “I hope that the Swiss will go back on this decision rather quickly,’’ Kouchner said on France’s RTL radio. “It is an expression of intolerance, and I detest intolerance.’’
Then he must detest Israel, huh?
Get in line.
--more--"
I stopped covering the item after that; I think it received another day.
This not the report I'm taking about:
"Muslims protest minaret ban" by Associated Press | December 13, 2009
BERN, Switzerland - About 700 Swiss Muslims peacefully protested against their country’s minaret ban yesterday. The protest in the capital, Bern, came two weeks after voters decided to ban the construction of minarets, drawing criticism from Muslim and other European nations.
--more--"