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IDF sources claimed Monday night that new intelligence information obtained by Israel in recent days shows that participants of the flotilla planning to break Israel’s sea blockade over the Gaza Strip later this week plan to kill IDF soldiers who board their ships. According to the information obtained by the IDF, some of the participants have prepared a number of sacks with sulfur, which they plan to pour on the soldiers as they board the vessels. “This is a chemical weapon and if poured on a soldier it can paralyze him,” an IDF source told The Jerusalem Post Monday night....

Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats. The chemicals were used by companies during a drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, which involves the high-pressure injection of a mixture of water, sand and chemical additives into rock formations deep underground. The process, which is being used to tap into large reserves of natural gas around the country, opens fissures in the rock to stimulate the release of oil and gas. Hydrofracking has...

Bowcock also said they have found much higher pollution levels than expected. Some areas, he said, are showing levels that are 400 times higher than the recommended public health goal. While the utility believes the contamination is affecting an estimated 100 households, he believes the number is closer to 250. "I don't think PG&E ever had their arms around the problem entirely," said Bowcock, adding that he was stunned by the results. PG&E said it has not seen Bowcock's water testing results but remained committed to working with the community and the water district.

The chemicals were stored in vats in the basement of an Egyptian restaurant in downtown Brussels. The suicide bomber, a former soccer player who had fallen into drug use and petty crime, had been selected. The target, the American Embassy in Paris, had been scouted. All that remained was the signal from Osama bin Laden's operatives in Afghanistan to strike. The nod was to come from a Frenchman of Algerian origin who was on his way back from training in Afghanistan. But he was arrested in transit, and he talked, spilling to French interrogators details of what could have been ...

-- snip --The Wall Street Journal however reports good news today in its story, "Edible Ingredients Used to Drill for Gas." Apparently Halliburton and Baker Hughes have developed fracking chemicals using fatty acids and other ingredients found in toothpaste, ketchup, ice cream and beer. The enemies of cheap natural gas of course won't congratulate Halliburton for being a good steward of the planet and switch their position. I wonder where the next attack will come from. Fatty acids in the edible fracking chemicals lead to an obesity epidemic in the caribou population?

Chemical fire, some evacuation near Sheffield (Illinois)Residents of Sheffield and Wyanet awoke this morning to a large, black cloud of smoke emanating from Euclid Chemical near Hennepin Canal State Parkway state park. The fire was not showing signs of getting smaller at 9:30 a.m. As of about 10 a.m., authorities were asking residents in an area east of Route 40 and west Princeton for several miles to stay indoors and keep windows closed. At 9:20 a.m., police closed U.S. 6 and U. S. 34 between Wyanet and Route 40 in addition to the earlier closing of Route 40 from the...

SNIPPET: "The police arrested two terrorist suspects at the house: Fahri Tanjung, also known as Hilmi, and Hamzah. The police also found chemicals they believed were to be used to make explosives and an activated hand-made high-explosive bomb inside the house. West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman said the police detonated the high-explosive bomb on location after failing to defuse it. Books and VCDs on jihad, as well as an air rifle were seized as evidence. One of the VCDs was titled Afghanistan jihad: The journey of the oppressed. Sutarman said the suspects had been involved in acts of...

A jury on Friday convicted three men of Middle Eastern descent of plotting to recruit and train terrorists to kill American soldiers in Iraq. The men — Mohammad Amawi, 28, Marwan El-Hindi, 45, and Wassim Mazloum, 27 — face a maximum sentence of life in prison. Prosecutors said the men were learning to shoot guns and make explosives while raising money to fund their plans to wage a holy war against U.S. troops. Defense attorneys charged that the three defendants, who all lived in the Toledo area, were manipulated by a government informant. The jury returned its verdict after three...

Israel published Monday its "black list" of goods it will not allow into the Gaza Strip, under a new policy whereby its four-year-old siege of the coastal territory will now be defined by a list of goods to be kept out, rather than by those allowed in. The banned products include arms and munitions and items which could be used to develop, produce or enhance the military capabilities of the Gaza militias, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Five years ago Molly and Zachery Gray were in the midst of a dark, lonely spiral. It began with Molly's first miscarriage. "It was a really emotional process of being so joyful and so happy and ready to make that step into parenthood and that being pulled away from you," said Molly, 32. "[The pregnancy is] happening and all of a sudden it's gone. It's really hard." After a second miscarriage the Grays were on a desperate hunt for answers. After Molly got pregnant a third time, she heard about a small study to test the blood of pregnant women...

EPA steps in to slow things up...

Note: Video and photos included at link. Photos reveal inside look at East Austin tunnel home by NOELLE NEWTON / KVUE News Posted on May 18, 2010 at 5:34 PM Updated today at 6:14 PM SNIPPET: "The City of Austin Tuesday released photos of the web of tunnels a man dug underneath his East Austin home. Under the yellow home are three stories of tunnels. For at least two years, neighbors suspected owner Jose Del Rio was up to something strange, but had no idea just how busy he'd been." SNIPPET: "On Tuesday, the city released pictures from below taken...

Obama amputates our nuclear arms By: Charles Krauthammer ...snippet...Under President Obama’s new policy, however, if the state that has just attacked us with biological or chemical weapons is “in compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” explained Gates, then “the U.S. pledges not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against it.” Imagine the scenario: Hundreds of thousands are lying dead in the streets of Boston after a massive anthrax or nerve gas attack. The president immediately calls in the lawyers to determine whether the attacking state is in compliance with the NPT. If it turns out that the attacker...

"Air Force strikes in Gaza" SNIPPET: "IDF retaliates for deadly Qassam attack: Air Force hits several Gaza targets, including metal foundry, smuggling tunnel; Vice PM Shalom says Israel to offer strong response to rocket attack that killed Thai worker Thursday" SNIPPET: "IDF aircraft struck at least four targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said." SNIPPET: "Israel also sent a letter of complaint to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is due to visit Israel at the weekend,...

The President’s Cancer Panel is the Mount Everest of the medical mainstream, so it is astonishing to learn that it is poised to join ranks with the organic food movement and declare: chemicals threaten our bodies. The cancer panel is releasing a landmark 200-page report on Thursday, warning that our lackadaisical approach to regulation may have far-reaching consequences for our health. I’ve read an advance copy of the report, and it’s an extraordinary document. It calls on America to rethink the way we confront cancer, including much more rigorous regulation of chemicals. Traditionally, we reduce cancer risks through regular doctor...

"Alleged Bomb Maker Arrested in Murder-for-Hire Plot" SNIPPET: "TAMPA, FL—On Friday, April 23, 2010, the Tampa FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), which consists of numerous representatives from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, arrested JOHN NICHOLAS COORS, age 20, without incident. COORS was arrested in Tampa, Florida, after meeting with an undercover law enforcement asset (UCA) and attempting to detonate an improvised explosive device (IED)." SNIPPET: "According to the federal complaint, the JTTF initially learned about COORS during November 2009. The JTTF received information that COORS was trained in “special forces” type military tactics, considered himself a mercenary,...

If manufacturing is leading the global recovery, chemicals are greasing the skids. While industry giants DuPont (DD) and Dow Chemical (DOW) are doing OK, several specialty chemicals firms are outperforming. Like many other IBD 100 firms, these companies have found a formula for turning modest sales gains into large profit growth. 12. KMG Chemicals Inc. (KMGB) The maker of electronics chemicals and other specialty products has enjoyed three straight quarters of triple-digit earnings growth. But sales have barely budged. They rose 2% in fiscal Q2 after three straight quarters of year-over-year declines.

An American Airlines flight with 145 people on board made an emergency landing Tuesday in Iceland after five crew members became ill following reports of chemical fumes in the cabin. American Airlines Flight 49 traveling from Paris to Dallas-Ft. Worth landed safely just after 1345 GMT (9:45 a.m. EDT). The source of the fumes was being investigated, Keflavik Airport spokesman Fridthor Eydal said.

from Norfolk Southern Railroad, according to Henderson County ...The men, both of whom appear to be illegal aliens... ordered to be held on ICE detainers pending deportation proceedings. Sheriff Rick Davis praised the work of the two deputies who apprehended the suspects while investigating suspicious activities on the tracks... found the suspects in possession of over 500 spikes that had been taken from a stretch of active rail road track. “This act of theft could have easily had catastrophic consequences had a train derailed in this area,” Davis said. “A spillage of chemicals or other hazardous materials as a result...

Man exposed to mustard agent at Umatilla chemical depot Posted: Mar 31, 2010 5:48 PM Updated: Mar 31, 2010 5:53 PM Video Gallery Man exposed to mustard agent at Umatilla chemical depot 0:57 KENNEWICK; Wash-- SNIPPET: "The depot is still waiting to hear back from independent lab results but early indications from the CDC are positive. About two weeks ago, a worker developed a blister on his skin, which is one of the symptoms." SNIPPET: "The man's name has not been released. He also hasn't missed any work as a result of the exposure."