ISIS threatens to crucify Lebanon’s Christians as the Islamic State prepares to cross Syria border

Christians in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley have begun arming themselves in preparation for an ISIS (now known as the Islamic State) offensive as it seeks to expand its territorial control outside of Syria. For Christians, who comprise 20% of Lebanon’s population, it will be fight or flight. 

IB Times  Up to 3,000 militants from the Islamic State and other jihadists occupy the mountain range between Lebanon and Syria near the Sunni town of Arsal.

A woman reacts during a sit-in organized by families of the Lebanese soldiers who were captured by Islamist militants in Arsal, demanding their release in the Lebanese town of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley

As ISIS seeks to grab land outside of the mountain caves and farms they currently control, Christian volunteers have now created village defence forces to protect against the Sunni militants who have taken up to 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage.

“We are a minority and we are under threat by the jihadists,” Rifaat Nasrallah, a commander of the volunteer guards in the Greek Catholic town of Ras Baalbek, said. “It wasn’t the idea of anyone in particular,” Nasrallah says of the formation of defence units. “The whole village felt in danger so we all agreed it was necessary.”

“We don’t shoot if we see someone or something moving in the mountains,” said one of the watchmen. “We just call the Army and they investigate.” Ras Baalbek has a population of 15,000 and is  separated from the flashpoint town of Arsal by a range of hills.

“Imagine if Islamic State makes it into Ras Baalbek and they crucify a Christian. It will set Lebanon alight,” a western diplomat in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times. There are approximately 2.4m Chrisitans in Lebanon, 20% of the total population.

The terror group has continued to crack down on religious freedom since the announcement of its Islamic “caliphate”, straddling the Iraqi-Syrian border. The Sunni jihadists have taken over Iraq’s largest Christian town of Qaraqosh causing thousands of residents to flee towards Kurdistan region.

They also issued an ultimatum to Christians in the city of Mosul to convert to their radical form of Islam or be forced to either pay a tax, leave the city or be harmed for refusal to convert.

The city is now reportedly empty of Christians as hundreds of families fled following the ultimatum of death or a historic contract ‒ known as “dhimma”‒ where non-Muslims can receive protection if they pay a fee known as a “jizya.”

ISIS  has now beheaded it’s second of the nineteen hostages taken during the brief occupation of the North Lebanon border town of Arsal.

ISIS beheading of Lebanese soldier:

latest-isis-beheading-for-all-you-deniers-deny-this-no-tricky-camera-shots-no-cutaways-just-the-entire-decapitation-warning-very-graphic 

ΤΟ ΤΕΛΕΥΤΑΙΟ ΒΙΝΤΕΟ ΚΑΛΥΤΕΡΑ ΝΑ ΜΗΝ ΤΟ ΔΕΙΤΕ ΔΙΟΤΙ ΑΥΤΟ ΠΟΥ ΘΑ ΔΕΙΤΕ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΝΑ ΚΟΒΟΥΝΕ ΤΟ ΚΕΦΑΛΙ ΕΝΟΣ ΑΝΔΡΑ!! ΜΕ ΟΛΗ ΤΗΝ ΣΗΜΑΣΙΑ ΛΙΓΟ ΛΙΓΟ ΚΑΤΙ ΑΝΑΝΔΡΑ ΣΚΟΥΛΙΚΙΑ.

Ο ΘΕΟΣ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΑΠΑΗ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΝ ΚΛΕΦΤΗ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΝ ΝΟΙΚΟΚΥΡΗ.

ΕΧΟΥΜΕ ΓΝΩΡΙΣΗ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΤΩΡΑ ΤΕΤΟΙΕΣ ΒΙΑΙΟΤΗΤΕΣ ΕΔΩ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΜΕ ΤΟΥΣ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΟΥΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΠΑΡΑΖΗ Η ΚΑΡΔΙΑ ΜΑΣ ΜΟΛΙΣ ΒΛΕΠΟΥΜΕ ΤΕΤΟΙΑ ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΑ. ΕΛΕΟΣ!

U.S. Initiates Prototype System to Gauge National Marine Biodiversity

NASA satellite data of the marine environment will be used in prototype marine biodiversity observation networks to be established in four U.S. locations, including the Florida Keys, pictured here.

Image Credit: 

USF/WHOI/MBARI/NASA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA are funding three demonstration projects that will lay the foundation for the first national network to monitor marine biodiversity at scales ranging from microbes to whales. The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) also plans to contribute.

The projects, funded at approximately $17 million during the next five years, subject to the availability of funds, will demonstrate how a national operational marine biodiversity observation network could be developed. Such a network would serve as a marine resource management tool to conserve existing biodiversity and enhance U.S. biosecurity against threats such as invasive species and infectious agents.

The three demonstration marine biological observation networks will be established in four locations: the Florida Keys; Monterey Bay and the Santa Barbara Channel in California; and on the continental shelf in the Chukchi Sea in Alaska.

Marine biodiversity is a key indicator of ocean health and critical to sustaining natural resources such as fisheries. The three projects, selected from 19 proposals, will be established in different marine environments in U.S. waters to integrate existing observations ranging from satellite observations to DNA sampling and fill data gaps with new observations.

This joint effort supports the U.S. National Ocean Policy to "protect, maintain, and restore the health and biological diversity of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems and resources." An integrated picture of what is happening to marine biodiversity enhances the ability of policymakers and natural resource managers to devise effective strategies to address ecosystem threats from pollution and climate change.

The pilot research program is sponsored under the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, which facilitates joint funding of projects of mutual interest to different institutions in an effort to avoid duplication of research efforts.

"We now have large amounts of biologically relevant information on marine ecosystems, including global observations of ocean color and sea surface temperature from space," said Woody Turner, manager of NASA's Biodiversity Research Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "But we need a more effective way of combining different types of information to get a better picture of how marine ecosystems are changing if we are to sustain these important ecosystem resources."

The networks will integrate data on large-scale sea surface conditions observed by NASA, NOAA, and U.S. Geological Survey satellites with observations made in the ocean and the laboratory. They will build partnerships with existing long-term biodiversity monitoring efforts, explore innovative uses of new in situ observations and genomic techniques, and improve access to integrated biodiversity data.

“BOEM is pleased to continue its long history of monitoring offshore areas as part of its mission to assess environmental risk and develop mitigation measures to protect coastal and marine ecosystems,” said BOEM acting director Walter Cruickshank in Washington. BOEM plans to contribute financially to the Santa Barbara Channel and Alaska projects.

Biodiversity within two NOAA national marine sanctuaries in Florida and California is the focus of the project led by Frank Muller-Karger of the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg and Francisco Chavez of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California. The Florida Keys and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries encompass a wide range of marine environments, including deep sea, continental shelves, estuaries, and coral reefs.

The third sanctuary in the project, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, which surrounds California's Channel Islands off the Santa Barbara coast, is the focus of the project led by Robert Miller of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Channel Islands are one of the most monitored marine areas in the world.

“NOAA’s marine sanctuaries are an ideal setting to test and evaluate a biodiversity network prototype,” said NOAA’s Zdenka Willis, director of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System, Silver Spring, Md. “These areas encompass a wide range of marine environments as well as nearby coastal communities that depend on the ocean for business and recreation. By linking federal and non-federal partners, we hope this network will help us better understand these ecosystems and serve to inform emergency response systems for environmental threats such as invasive species.”

The U.S. Arctic continental shelf off the northwest coast of Alaska is the focus of the project lead by Katrin Iken, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. The Arctic is experiencing the most dramatic temperature increases taking place in the ocean, leading to significant changes in marine ecosystem structure and function. This Arctic marine biodiversity observing network will continue recent efforts to extend much-needed long-term monitoring data and fill gaps in coverage. The partnership also includes funding from the Shell Oil Company for some of the Alaska research.

NASA monitors Earth's vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

NASA's Biodiversity Research Program utilizes satellite observations and computer models to improve our understanding of biodiversity -- the variety of life at all levels ranging from genes to species and ecosystems -- and the role of life in the Earth system.

Τελετή καθέλκυσης Υποβρυχίου «ΠΙΠΙΝΟΣ», 6/10/14

ΤΕΛΕΤΗ ΚΑΘΕΛΚΥΣΗΣ ΤΟΥ ΥΠΟΒΡΥΧΙΟΥ ΠΙΠΙΝΟΣ ΤΟ ΟΠΟΙΟΝ ΘΑ ΑΠΟΤΕΛΕΣΗ ΜΟΧΛΟ ΑΝΑΠΤΥΞΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΑΘΕΡΟΤΗΤΟΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΠΕΡΙΟΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΑΙΓΑΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΓΕΝΙΚΟΤΕΡΑ ΣΤΗΝ ΠΕΡΙΟΧΗ ΤΗΣ ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΟΥ ΜΑΖΙ ΜΕ ΤΑ ΑΛΛΑ ΥΠΟΒΡΥΧΙΑ ΕΓΙΝΕ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΝ ΥΠΟΥΡΓΟ ΕΘΝΙΚΗΣ ΑΜΥΝΑΣ ΤΟΝ ΠΡΩΘΥΠΟΥΡΓΟ  ΤΟΝ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟ  ΚΑΙ ΜΕΛΗ ΤΗΣ ΣΤΡΙΑΤΩΤΙΚΗΣ  ΗΓΕΣΙΑΣ.


ΚΑΙ ΛΙΓΑ ΛΟΓΙΑ ΓΙΑ ΤΟ ΟΝΟΜΑ ΠΙΠΙΝΟΣ!

Γεννήθηκε στην Ύδρα. Το έτος 1822 κατόρθωσε μαζί με τον Κωνσταντίνο Κανάρη να μπει νύχτα στο στενό μεταξύ Χίου και Τσεσμέ όπου ήταν αγκυροβολημένος ο εχθρικός στόλος και κατόρθωσαν ο μεν Κανάρης να πυρπολήσει το πρώτο δίκροτο, ο δε Πιπίνος να προσκολλήσει το πυρπολικό του σε ένα δεύτερο πλοίο. Το εχθρικό πλοίο αποσπάστηκε από τον στόλο, καταστράφηκε όμως και έχασε όλο του το πλήρωμα.

Η επιτυχία αυτή ήταν ιστορική και προκάλεσε τρόμο στον εχθρικό στόλο, ο οποίος αναχώρησε για την Κωνσταντινούπολη.

Ο Πιπίνος τιμήθηκε από την Ύδρα με θρησκευτικές παρατάξεις και με στεφάνια. Στην Νέα Σμύρνη ονομάστηκε προς τιμή του η «οδός Πιπίνου».

Στη ναυμαχία στις 8 Σεπτεμβρίου 1822 νίκησε και καταδίωξε τον τουρκικό στόλο, ενώ το 1824 στη Ναυμαχία του Γέροντα ο Πιπίνος κατέκαψε εχθρικό πλοίο, αλλά τραυματίστηκε βαριά. Ανάρρωσε όμως και συνέχισε να πολεμάει. Διορίστηκε από το νεοσύστατο Ελληνικό κράτος αρχηγός της ανατολικής μοίρας, και αποστρατεύτηκε το 1836.

New NASA Video Gives Hurricanes a Good 'HIWRAP'

October 6, 2014

A new animation from NASA shows how a remarkable instrument called the HIWRAP looks into tropical cyclones at wind, rain and ice to analyze storm intensity.

The HIWRAP is the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler, a "conically scanning" Doppler radar, meaning it scans in a cone-shaped manner. Wind measurements are crucial for understanding and forecasting tropical storms since they are closely tied to the overall dynamics of the storm. The HIWRAP instrument is able to measure line-of-sight (along the radar beam) and because it scans in a cone beneath the aircraft, it gets two looks at most parts of the storm, allowing calculations of the 3-dimensional wind and rain fields. In the absence of rain, it can also measure ocean surface winds.

Image Credit: 

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/R. Fitzgibbons

Download this video in HD formats from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio

HIWRAP while flying on board an aircraft is capable of examining storms down to a very small scale.

"HIWRAP allows us to see how strong bursts of thunderstorms contribute to the intensification of the low-level wind field in hurricanes," said Research Meteorologist Scott Braun of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The 2 minute visualization shows how scans from the HIWRAP instrument are done in a cone-like shape over storms, measuring winds within heavy rain throughout.

"What's interesting about the HIWRAP Doppler radar is that it's a dual-frequency and dual-beam radar," said Gerry Heymsfield, Cloud Radar Expert and Research Meteorologist from NASA Goddard. "That means it has two frequencies that measure at two different angles." The instrument scans in a cone shape toward the surface, with the peak of the cone at the HIWRAP radar on the aircraft. "As the plane flies over a particular target—say the eyewall of a storm— scanning it with a cone-shape provides views of the same region from different directions. That's what allows scientists to measure the three-dimensional winds and precipitation within the storm."

The video shows that the HIWRAP sends out about 5,000 pulses a second to get an accurate read on precipitation particles, like rain or ice as the storm and the aircraft are both moving. The signals that bounce back reveal the type, size and distribution of rain or ice particles, as well as how fast the particles are moving. The speed of the particles can help determine the wind and circulation in a storm.

The Inventors of the Wristwatch Drone Share Their Vision of the Future

Nixie is part quadcopter, part smart watch, and could change the way we take photos. Image: Nixie

A drone that can be dispatched with the flick of a wrist feels like an invention likely to fly out from the Batcave, but a Stanford Ph.D. and a Google program manager are close to finalizing a quadcopter that can be worn like a slap bracelet.

Called Nixie, this diminutive drone weighs less than a tenth of a pound, but can capture HD images and sync with a smartphone while its owner is busy scaling an Alp or biking through the Teutoburg forest. “Quadcopters give you a new perspective you can’t get anywhere else,” says Jelena Jovanovic, Nixie’s project manager. “But it’s not really feasible to pilot a drone and keep doing what you’re doing.”

Being able to wear the drone is a cute gimmick, but it’s powerful software packed into a tiny shell could set Nixie apart from bargain Brookstone quadcopters. Expertise in motion-prediction algorithms and sensor fusion will give the wrist-worn whirlybirds an impressive range of functionality. A “Boomerang mode” allows Nixie to travel a fixed distance from its owner, take a photo, then return. “Panorama mode” takes aerial photos in a 360° arc. “Follow me” mode makes Nixie trail its owner and would capture amateur athletes in a perspective typically reserved for Madden all-stars. “Hover mode” gives any filmmaker easy access to impromptu jib shots. Other drones promise similar functionality, but none promise the same level of portability or user friendliness.

“We’re not trying to build a quadcopter, we’re trying to build a personal photographer,” says Jovanovic.

A Changing Perspective on Photography

Jovanovic and her partner Christoph Kohstall, a Stanford postdoc who holds a Ph.D. in quantum physics and a first-author credit in the journal Nature, believe photography is at a tipping point.

Early cameras were bulky, expensive, and difficult to operate. The last hundred years have produced consistently smaller, cheaper, and easier-to-use cameras, but future developments are forking. Google Glass provides the ultimate in portability, but leaves wearers with a fixed perspective. Surveillance drones offer unique vantage points, but are difficult to operate. Nixie attempts to offer the best of both worlds.

Origin of the Species

After receiving a quadcopter for Christmas last year, Kohstall began tinkering and looking for ways to improve the technology. He quickly learned that drones have a tendency to crash and drown in bodies of water, so he built a working prototype that could dive and reemerge from under the surface.

As more of Kohstall and Jovanovic’s friends got the quadcopter bug, common complaints about bulk, weight, and arcane user interfaces popped up. Kohstall experimented with wearable solutions, including hacking a pair of eye glasses with propellors so that they could fly at a moment’s notice, and if equipped with a tiny camera, capture a drone’s-eye-view. This was an interesting UI experiment, but limited the wearer’s ability to see, leading him to focus on designing a soaring smart watch.

Can They Build It?

Nixie will can fly autonomously, but can also be piloted via a smartphone app. Image: Nixie

Nixie is an undeniably impressive concept, and while rough prototypes prove the principle, the question remains if its myriad design challenges can be solved without sacrificing the sleek look.

The team’s strong background suggests they can. As a teenager, Kohstall designed a telescope that could follow a point in the sky to take long exposure star photographs using bike frame parts and Lego motors before graduating to writing a treatise on Metastability and Coherence of Repulsive Polarons in a Strongly Interacting Fermi Mixture.

Jovanovic has previously worked on submersible drones and comes from family where hardware is dinner table conversation—Her mom leads PCB design for Google Glass, her dad heads R&D for a high-end headphone company, and her little brother is in charge of product at quantified car startup Automatic. Nixie team members Michael Niedermayr, Floris Ernst, Stefan Niedermayr, Steven Le, Kris Winer, and Jeremy Swerdlow add expertise in motion prediction algorithms, design, and engineering.

Despite a world-class technical pedigree, Nixie will require near perfect execution of both control algorithms, usability affordances, and industrial design. Current prototypes are light, but lack the durability and polish consumers will require. Concept renderings show a gleaming white future for Nixie, but finding durable, lightweight, and flexible materials to make it a reality is no small task.

“Anything wearable has to beautiful. I heard someone say ‘wearables need to be sensual and need to represent you as a person’ which is a tremendous design challenge,” says Jovanovic. “Fortunately, no one on our team is inspired by small problems.”

One thing that’s settled is the name. “A heavy word like drone wasn’t going to take off for the average consumer,” says Kohstall who also dinged “falcon” because of its aggressive connotations. Inspired by his submersible drone he chose “Nixie” which is a playful German water spirit, like a mermaid. “Nixie, was cute, light, and fun so the name stuck.”

Nixie is one of 10 projects in the running to win $500,000 in seed funding fromIntel’s Make It Wearable competition. Unfortunately, there is no word yet on retail pricing or availability.