Stories below the fold

What does it mean when ISIS tries to bomb the prophet's tomb?

I suspect the ultimate result of the ISIS terror in the Middle East will be that Iran will take the place over, as they have in the past (Darius the Great, anyone?).

And most terrorism is not reported. LATIMES article.

and it notices the Philippines down toward the end of the article:

In the Philippines, some are drawn by money. Hakim Eljano, 28, fled his home three years ago when the town where he lived, Zamboanga, was attacked by an Islamist separatist group, the Moro National Liberation Front. Now he lives in squalor in a government-run shelter called an “evacuation center,” sharing a cramped room with seven people. He said one of his friends, in the same situation, accepted the overtures of Islamist rebels who promised a salary, a gun and training.

Yes, the MILF attacked a major city here a few years ago, and hundreds of thousands fled, but it got little publicity in the MSM outside of the Philippines.


Why would the MILF attack a Muslim city? Because it's not a Muslim city...The dirty little secret is that most people living there are Christian...

and the local government under PNoy didn't want the bad publicity to ruin the peace talks with the MILF, so the story was played down here, as are most terrorist attacks against locals.

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Climate change could affect the monsoon and cause famine, says an AP story in the local MB...

nothing new here. Wikipedia on famines in India

Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on climate: a favourable southwest summer monsoon is critical in securing water for irrigating crops. Droughts, combined with policy failures, have periodically led to major Indian famines, including the Bengal famine of 1770, the Chalisa famine, theDoji bara famine, the Great Famine of 1876–78, and theBengal famine of 1943

the problem is not just the drought, but policy failure that let people die (as in 1943).

and then there was the famine of 1896: government relief lowered but did not stop the deaths from famine related illnesses. And when the rains finally came back, people died of floods and malaria.

and did the change of the weather patterns lead to the demise of the Harappa civilization and the Old Kingdom of Egypt? Did it cause the sea people to migrate for new lands, and cause the Bronze age collapse? Did it start the Mongol invasions (or stop it when they hit the boggy Hungarian plain)?

And what does it mean when there are no sunspots? Another "little Ice Age"?
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