News Sunday Aug, 26

[Shammu]

Pakistan military test fires nuclear capable cruise missile
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST    Aug. 25, 2007

Pakistan on Saturday successfully test-fired a new air-launched cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the military said.

The missile, named Hatf-8 or Ra'ad, has a range of 350 kilometers (220 miles), an army statement said. It provided no details of the test.

Pakistan military test fires nuclear capable cruise missile

Ohhhhh boy...................

[Shammu]

Astronomers Puzzled by Massive Blank Spot in Universe

Friday, August 24, 2007

WASHINGTON  —  Astronomers have stumbled upon a tremendous hole in the universe. That's got them scratching their heads about what's just not there.

The cosmic blank spot has no stray stars, no galaxies, no sucking black holes, not even mysterious dark matter. It is 1 billion light years across of nothing.

That's an expanse of nearly 6 billion trillion miles of emptiness, a University of Minnesota team announced Thursday.

Astronomers have known for many years that there are patches in the universe where nobody's home. In fact, one such place is practically a neighbor, a mere 2 million light years away.

But what the Minnesota team discovered, using two different types of astronomical observations, is a void that's far bigger than scientists ever imagined.

"This is 1,000 times the volume of what we sort of expected to see in terms of a typical void," said Minnesota astronomy professor Lawrence Rudnick, author of the paper that will be published in Astrophysical Journal. "It's not clear that we have the right word yet ... This is too much of a surprise."

Rudnick was examining a sky survey from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which essentially takes radio pictures of a broad expanse of the universe. But one area of the universe had radio pictures indicating there was up to 45 percent less matter in that region, Rudnick said.

The rest of the matter in the radio pictures can be explained as stars and other cosmic structures between here and the void, which is about 5 to 10 billion light years away.

Rudnick then checked observations of cosmic microwave background radiation and found a cold spot. The only explanation, Rudnick said, is it's empty of matter.

It could also be a statistical freak of nature, but that's probably less likely than a giant void, said James Condon, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. He wasn't part of Rudnick's team but is following up on the research.

"It looks like something to be taken seriously," said Brent Tully, a University of Hawaii astronomer who wasn't part of this research but studies the void closer to Earth.

Tully said astronomers may eventually find a few cosmic structures in the void, but it would still be nearly empty.

Holes in the universe probably occur when the gravity from areas with bigger mass pull matter from less dense areas, Tully said.

After 13 billion years "they are losing out in the battle to where there are larger concentrations of matter," he said.

Retired NASA astronomer Steve Maran said of the discovery: "This is incredibly important for something where there is nothing to it."

Astronomers Puzzled by Massive Blank Spot in Universe

[Shammu]

Astronomers Puzzled by Massive Blank Spot in Universe

Sounds like the "Big Bang" missed a spot.  Or could it be, "This space for Rent".  Or could it be, Scientist discovered they had forgotten to remove the lens-cap from their telescope and offered appologies. 

[Shammu]

Newspaper Sorry for Smoking Jesus Picture

Thursday , August 23, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia  —
A newspaper catering to Malaysia's ethnic Indians published a front-page apology Thursday for printing an image of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi criticized the action as hurtful and an insult to Christians, and called on people not to play with religion, the national news agency Bernama reported.

"If the Christians get to know about it, it will create problems," Abdullah was quoted as saying. "I remind them again to stop doing this."

S.M. Periasamy, general manager of the Tamil-language daily Makkal Osai, told The Associated Press that the newspaper published the image by mistake.

"The graphic artist, whom we have already suspended, didn't see the cigarette," Periasamy said. "It was a mistake."

He said the artist downloaded an image of Jesus from the Internet for use along with a quote from the Bible on the paper's front page Tuesday. But the artist overlooked the fact that the image had been, with a cigarette in one hand and another object — a can or a book — in the other, he said.

Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, who earlier criticized the image as a "desecration," accepted the newspaper's apology. In an e-mail to Periasamy, the archbishop's office said Pakiam now "considers the matter closed."

However, the Malaysian Indian Congress, a party in Malaysia's ruling coalition, filed a police report and called on the government to close the paper, which has generally been critical of the MIC.

"It's a very serious issue. For certain things you can apologize, but for this kind of sensitive issue, the editor should be sacked and the paper closed," senior party official T. Mohan told the AP.

Makkal Osai is one of two newspapers catering to Malaysia's largely Tamil-speaking ethnic Indians. The other is aligned to the MIC.

Ethnic Indians comprise 10 percent of Malaysia's 26 million people, and are mostly Hindus with a sprinkling of Christians and Muslims; Chinese, who follow Christianity and Buddhism, 25 percent; Malay Muslims, 60 percent.

Newspaper Sorry for Smoking Jesus Picture

[Soldier4Christ]

Or could it be scientists have very little knowledge of God's Creation.

[Shammu]

Newspaper Sorry for Smoking Jesus Picture

A year or so ago someone put up a billboard that had Jesus holding a beer. Also does anyone else remember that car campaign "What would Jesus drive"?

This world has free reign to insult Christians. They don't fear us.

But if they tried to pull that stunt with muslims, they'd have to hire body guards and put the army out on the streets to prevent muslim mayhem, religion of peace??    I don't think so........

But at least they offered an apology. It's not easy to admit you were wrong.

[Shammu]

IDF brass: Terrorists learned our defense systems
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST    Aug. 26, 2007

Six young Palestinians were caught by the IDF after they tried crossing into Israel from Gaza on Sunday, a day after two gunmen scaled the Strip's security fence and amid calls by residents of nearby communities to beef up security.

On Saturday, two terrorists were killed by IDF troops after they used a sophisticated rope to climb over a concrete wall into Israel from northern Gaza and opened fire at a guard stationed at the entrance to the Gaza Liaison Administration near the Erez crossing.

On Sunday afternoon, six unarmed youths, who officers said were most probably sent to check the IDF's level of alertness, were caught nearby trying to cross the fence.

Defense officials said the IDF would continue to maintain a high level of readiness along the security fence in an effort to curb the recent rise in the number of Palestinians trying to infiltrate into Israel.

Since the beginning of the month, around 20 Palestinians, most of them searching for work, have been caught.

Also on Sunday, the IDF bombed unmanned Kassam rocket launchers in the northern Gaza Strip. No one was injured in the strike.

Officers in the Southern Command said military forces were properly deployed along the Gaza perimeter but that it was possible the Defense Ministry would decide to allocate funds for additional technological means that could be used to detect Palestinian infiltrations.

Gil Nir, head of Moshav Netiv Ha'asara's rapid-deployment security team, told The Jerusalem Post that such devices, including sensors, needed to be installed on and along the Gaza security fence. Most of the border is closed off by an electronic fence that if touched sets off an alarm inside an IDF control room. The 2.5-kilometer long concrete wall scaled by terrorists on Saturday does not have any electronic sensors.

"This is a question of funding and the defense establishment needs to find the money so they can install the sensors as well as other technological systems," Nir said, adding that it was quite clear that the terrorists knew that the concrete wall they were climbing was without sensors.

"This is a serious issue and we cannot just wait for blood to be spilled before we act."

IDF sources said the military was using all of the means at its disposal to prevent infiltrations. In the past two months, the IDF has killed more than 65 terrorists in operations inside Gaza and along the perimeter.

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i said there was no proof that the wall did not provide adequate protection, adding that no defense system could prevent all infiltrations.

"The IDF acted exceptionally," he said. "The bottom line is, two terrorists were killed in the incident. We have here a military system unparalleled in its efficiency."

Meanwhile Sunday, the IDF allowed 75 Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip and travel abroad.

More than 4,000 Palestinians with overseas work and study permits have been living in fear of losing badly needed jobs and academic credits after Israel and Egypt clamped a closure on Gaza following the terror group's takeover.

Several hundred foreign nationals and Palestinians with dual citizenship, as well as a few Palestinians working and studying abroad, had already been permitted to cross through Israeli territory en route to other points. But Sunday's departure from Gaza was the first by a large group of Palestinians with foreign permits.

They passed through the Erez crossing into Israel after lengthy security checks, then were bused to a southern Israel border crossing with Egypt 140 kilometers away.

Defense officials said that Sunday's transfer was a pilot test run and if it will continue to go smoothly could serve as a temporary solution for Palestinian humanitarian cases.

IDF brass: Terrorists learned our defense systems

[Soldier4Christ]

A year or so ago someone put up a billboard that had Jesus holding a beer. Also does anyone else remember that car campaign "What would Jesus drive"?

This world has free reign to insult Christians. They don't fear us.

But if they tried to pull that stunt with muslims, they'd have to hire body guards and put the army out on the streets to prevent muslim mayhem, religion of peace??    I don't think so........

But at least they offered an apology. It's not easy to admit you were wrong.

It's not often that they admit that they are wrong either.

[Faithin1]

Sounds like the "Big Bang" missed a spot.  Or could it be, "This space for Rent".  Or could it be, Scientist discovered they had forgotten to remove the lens-cap from their telescope and offered appologies.