5 Reasons to Believe in the Indonesian Miracle

When most people think of Indonesia today, they think of beaches and temples or of its famously teeming cities, but this country of 240 million and counting is a much more modern, diversified, and dynamic economy than many international investors and companies assume. To make the most of Indonesia’s vast potential, they’re going to need to change the way they think about the archipelago — and putting these five myths to bed is a good place to start.
“Indonesia’s economy is unstable.”
Hardly. Far from being unstable, Indonesia has been growing steadily at an impressive rate of 4 to 6 percent over the past 10 years — less volatile than the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, or any other developed country for that matter. Indonesian government debt has fallen by 70 percent in just a decade and is now at a level lower than in 85 percent of developed economies. Inflation, which was over 20 percent 10 years ago, now stands at 8 percent, comparable with more mature economies, such as South Africa and Turkey. Indonesia’s overall economic management has also shown remarkable improvement. The World Economic Forum ranked Indonesia 25th out of 139 countries for macroeconomic stability in 2012, up sharply from 89th in 2007. For comparison, Brazil ranked 62nd and India ranked 99th.  
BAY ISMOYO/AFP/Getty Images

 “Not much happens outside Jakarta.”
Not true anymore. Indonesia’s sprawling capital city contributes up to one-quarter of the archipelago’s entire gross domestic product (GDP). But Jakarta’s dominance is waning. A large number of medium-sized or “middleweight” cities like Bandung and Medan are growing faster than the capital and will be ever more important hot spots for foreign investors and companies looking for opportunities. Urbanization is spreading in Indonesia and is an increasingly important growth stimulus. By 2030, more than 70 percent of the population is likely to live in an urban area, up from just over half today. Between 2010 and 2030, more than 30 million people are expected to move from rural to urban areas. Cities with populations between two and five million — like Bekasi and Surabaya — are growing the fastest and could together account for 27 percent of GDP by 2030. In fact, around 90 percent of Indonesia’s fastest-growing cities will be outside the island of Java, where Jakarta is located, by 2030.
RIO ACHMAD/AFP/Getty Images

“Indonesia is nothing without its natural resources.”
Not when you look closely. There is no doubt that Indonesia is unusually rich in natural resources. It is the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil, the second-largest exporter of coal, and the second-largest producer of cocoa and tin. It has the fourth- and seventh-largest reserves of nickel and bauxite, respectively, according to the government. Indonesia also has the world’s largest geothermal resources. And, yes, Indonesia has large endowments of crude oil and natural gas. But mining, oil, and gas only account for 11 percent of Indonesia’s nominal GDP — the same share as in Russia. In fact, Indonesia has been a net importer of oil since 2004. It may come as a major surprise to many observers that half of Indonesia’s GDP comes from service sectors such as financial services — specifically savings and investment — retail, and telecommunications. Indonesia is already the fourth-largest user of Facebook in the world — a promising platform for the development of e-commerce.
SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/GettyImages

“Indonesia is a typical Asian tiger.”
Wrong. Indonesia’s economy is not driven by exports — a feature typical in most Asian tigers. Indonesia’s exports only generate 35 percent of GDP, and, excluding commodity exports, only 16 percent. As the dominance of Indonesia’s service sectors suggests, domestic consumption is the economy’s driving force. And at a population growth rate of 5 to 6 percent a year, an additional 90 million Indonesians could join the “consuming class” by 2030. (Consumers are defined as individuals earning $10 a day or more, who therefore have enough money to spend on discretionary, not just basic, goods, and services.) That growth in consumer base is larger than any other economy in the world apart from India and China and stands as a testament to the growing market opportunity offered by Indonesia. Rising rates of consumption will bolster Indonesia’s domestic market, bolstering growth in the long term. The fact that domestic consumption is already a large driver of Indonesia’s growth has shielded the economy from the turbulence of the Asian financial crisis and the recent global recession. Catering to growing demand by developing its consumer services sector will ensure that the economy is even more insulated from future shocks. 
BAY ISMOYO/AFP/Getty Images

“Population growth is behind Indonesia’s economic rise.”
Yes and no. Indonesia does indeed have a young and expanding population that could total 280 million by 2030, up from 240 million today. And demographics are likely to support growth for some time to come, contributing 2.4 percent to overall economic growth until 2030. But it’s not primarily people that are driving Indonesian growth — it’s productivity. In the last 20 years, increased labor productivity has been responsible for more than 60 percent of Indonesian growth, with the largest contributions coming from wholesale and retail trade, transport equipment and apparatus manufacturing, and transport and telecommunications. And contrary to the conventional wisdom that productivity improves at the expense of employment, both have risen in tandem in Indonesia for 35 of the last 51 years. 
To meet the government’s ambitious target of 7 percent annual growth, Indonesia needs to do even better than it did in the past. Productivity growth needs to be 60 percent higher than it has been since 2000. That is challenging but achievable. If Indonesia boosts productivity and removes barriers to higher productivity and growth in three key sectors — consumer services, agriculture, and resources — and raises skills across the economy, it could accelerate growth and offer foreign investors a market opportunity worth $1.8 trillion opportunity by 2030. 

Indonesia is at a critical juncture. Its economy has performed more impressively over the past decade than many outsiders — and even Indonesians themselves — think. But to build on this performance, Indonesia will need a productivity revolution in key sectors of the economy. Today, the archipelago economy is the world’s 16th largest, but with action now to unleash Indonesia’s full dynamism, it could jump to seventh by 2030. That would eclipse Germany and the United Kingdom, two members of the G-7 group of the world’s leading economies. 

By Richard DobbsRichard Dobbs is director of the McKinsey Global Institute. Jaana Remes is a McKinsey Global Institute senior fellow. , Fraser Thompson, Arief Budiman

Bruce Paterson, Ex-Christian, UK

"Tired of the unanswered questions in his faith, a truth seeker seeks enlightment in Eastern religions, tribal religions, and finally finds it in Islam."

I would like to take the opportunity to share with you my journey to Islam and I feel that by sharing this experience with you I can help you on your journey through life.  We are all born into different cultures, countries and religions in what often seems a confusing and troubled world.  Actually, when we examine the world around us, we can easily see what a troubled state it is in: war, poverty and crime.  Need I go on?  Yet when we look at our own upbringing and our education, how can we be sure that all the things that we have been told, are in reality the truth?

Unfortunately, most people in the world decide to try to hide and escape from the world’s problems rather than stand up and deal with the truth.  Dealing with the truth is often the harder avenue to follow.  The question is: Are you willing to stand up for the truth?  Are you strong enough?  Or, are you going to escape and hide like the rest?

I started my search for the truth a number of years ago.  I wanted to find out the truth about the reality of our existence.  Surely, to understand life correctly is the key to solving all the worldly problems that we are faced with today.  I was born into a Christian family and this is where my journey began.  I started to read the bible and to ask questions.  I quickly became unsatisfied.  The priest told me, “You just have to have faith.”  From reading the bible I found contradictions and things that were clearly wrong.  Does God contradict himself?  Does God lie?  Of course not!

I moved on from Christianity, thinking the scriptures of the Jews and the Christians are corrupted so there is no way that I can find the truth from the false.   I started finding out about Eastern Religions and Philosophies, particularly Buddhism.  I spent a long time meditating in Buddhist temples and talking to the Buddhist monks.  Actually, the meditating gave me a good clean feeling.  The trouble was that it didn’t answer any of my questions about the reality of existence.  Instead it carefully avoided them in a way that makes it seem stupid to even talk about it.

I traveled to many parts of the world during my quest for the truth.  I became very interested in tribal religions and the spiritualist way of thinking.  I found that a lot of what these religions were saying had truth in them, but I could never accept the whole religion as the truth.  This was the same as where I started with Christianity!

I began to think that there was truth in everything and it didn’t really matter what you believed in or what you followed.  Surely though this is a form of escaping.  I mean, does it make sense: one truth for one person and another truth for someone else?  There can only be one truth!

I felt confused, I fell to the floor and prayed, “Oh, please God, I am so confused, please guide me to the truth.”  This is when I discovered Islam.

Of course I always knew something about Islam, but only what we naively hear in the West.  I was surprised though by what I found.  The more that I read the Quran and asked questions about what Islam taught, the more truths I received.  The striking difference between Islam and every other religion is that Islam is the only religion that makes a strict distinction between the creator and the creation.  In Islam, we worship the creator.  Simple.  You will find however, that in every other religion there is some form of worship involving creation.  For example, worshipping men as incarnations of God or stones, sounds familiar.  Surely though, if you are going to worship anything, you should worship the one that created all.  The one that gave you your life and the one who will take it away again.  In fact, in Islam, the only sin that God will not forgive is the worship of creation.

However, the truth of Islam can be found in the Quran.  The Quran is like a text book guide to life.  In it you will find answers to all questions.  For me, everything I had learnt about all the different religions, everything that I knew to be true, fitted together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.  I had all the pieces all along but I just did not know how to fix them together.

I would therefore like to ask you to consider Islam now.  The true Islam as described in the Quran.  Not the Islam that we get taught about in the West.  You may at least be able to cut down your journey in search of the truth about life.  I pray for your success, regardless.

The Quran on the Expanding Universe and the Big Bang Theory

Hubble’s Law

For thousands of years, astronomers wrestled with basic questions concerning the universe.  Until the early 1920’s, it was believed that the universe had always been in existence; also, that the size of the universe was fixed and not changing.  However, in 1912, the American astronomer, Vesto Slipher, made a discovery that would soon change astronomers’ beliefs about the universe.  Slipher, noticed that the galaxies were moving away from earth at huge velocities.  These observations provided the first evidence supporting the expanding-universe theory.[1]

Before the invention of the telescope in 1608, man could do little more than wonder about the origin of the universe. (Courtesy: NASA)

In 1916, Albert Einstein formulated his General Theory of Relativity that indicated that the universe must be either expanding or contracting.  Confirmation of the expanding-universe theory finally came in 1929 in the hands of the well known American astronomer Edwin Hubble.

By observing redshifts[2] in the light wavelengths emitted by galaxies, Hubble found that galaxies were not fixed in their position; instead, they were actually moving away from us with speeds proportional to their distance from earth (Hubble's Law).  The only explanation for this observation was that the universe had to be expanding.  Hubble’s discovery is regarded as one of the greatest in the history of astronomy.  In 1929, he published the velocity-time relation which is the basis of modern cosmology.  In the years to come, with further observations, the expanding-universe theory was accepted by scientists and astronomers alike.

With the Hooker Telescope, Hubble discovered that the galaxies were moving away us.  Above are photos of known galaxies.  (Courtesy: NASA)

Yet, astonishingly well before telescopes were even invented and well before Hubble published his Law, Prophet Muhammad used to recite a verse of the Quran to his companions that ultimately stated that the universe is expanding.

“And the heaven We created with might, and indeed We are (its) expander.” (Quran 51:47)

At the time of the revelation of the Quran, the word “space” was not known, and people used the word “heaven” to refer to what lies above the Earth.  In the above verse, the word “heaven” is referring to space and the known universe.  The verse points out that space, and thus the universe, happens to be expanding, just as Hubble’s Law states.

That the Quran mentioned such a fact centuries before the invention of the first telescope, at a time when there was primitive knowledge in science, is considered remarkable.  This is more so considering that, like many people in his time, Prophet Muhammad happened to be illiterate and simply could not have been aware of such facts by himself.  Could it be that he had truly received divine revelation from the Creator and Originator of the universe?

The Big Bang Theory

Soon after Hubble published his theory, he went on to discover that not only were galaxies moving away from the Earth, but were also moving away from one another.  This meant that the universe happened to be expanding in every direction, in the same way a balloon expands when filled with air.  Hubble’s new findings placed the foundations for the Big Bang theory.

The Big Bang theory states that around 12-15 billion years ago the universe came into existence from one single extremely hot and dense point, and that something triggered the explosion of this point that brought about the beginning of the universe.  The universe, since then, has been expanding from this single point.  

Later, in 1965, radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson made a Noble Prize winning discovery that confirmed the Bing Bang theory.  Prior to their discovery, the theory implied that if the single point from which the universe came into existence was initially extremely hot, then remnants of this heat should be found.  This remnant heat is exactly what Penzias and Wilson found.  In 1965, Penzias and Wilson discovered a 2.725 degree Kelvin Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB) that spreads through the universe.  Thus, it was understood that the radiation found was a remnant of the initial stages of the Big Bang.  Presently, the Big Bang theory is accepted by the vast majority of scientists and astronomers.

A microwave map of the leftover from the Big Bang that gave birth to the universe. (Courtesy: NASA)

It is mentioned in the Quran:

“He (God) is the Originator of the heavens and the earth…” (Quran 6:101)

“Is not He who created the heavens and the earth Able to create the likes of them?  Yes; and He is the Knowing Creator. His command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.” (Quran 36:81-82)

The above verses prove that the universe had a beginning, that God was behind its creation, and all that God needs to do inorder to create is to say “Be,” and it is.  Could this be an explanation as to what triggered off the explosion that brought about the beginning of the universe?

The Quran also mentions:

“Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, then We separated them, and made from water every living thing?  Then will they not believe?” (Quran 21:30)

Muslim scholars who have explained the previous verse mention that the heavens and earth were once one, and then God caused them to separate and form into the seven heavens and Earth.  Yet, due to the limitations of science and technology at the time of the revelation of the Quran (and for centuries to follow), no scholar was able to give much detail about how exactly the heavens and earth were created.  What the scholars could explain was the precise meaning of each word in Arabic in the verse, as well as the overall meaning of the verse.

In the previous verse, the Arabic words ratq and fataq are used.  The word ratq can be translated into “entity” “sewn to” “joined together” or “closed up”.  The meaning of these translations all circulate around something that is mixed and that has a separate and distinct existence.  The verb fataq is translated into “We unstitched” “We clove them asunder” “We separated” or “We have opened them”.  These meanings imply that something comes into being by an action of splitting or tearing apart.  The sprouting of a seed from the soil is a good example of a similar illustration of the meaning of the verb fataq.

With the introduction of the Big Bang theory, it soon became clear to Muslim scholars that the details mentioned with regards to the theory go identically hand in hand with the description of the creation of the universe in verse 30 of chapter 21 of the Quran.  The theory states that all the matter in the universe came into existence from one single extremely hot and dense point; that exploded and brought about the beginning of the universe, matches what is mentioned in the verse that the heaven and Earth (thus the universe) where once joined together, and  then split apart.  Once again, the only possible explanation is that Prophet Muhammad had truly received divine revelation from God, The Creator and Originator of the universe.

By Sherif Alkassimi (© 2008 IslamReligion.com)

The Quran on Human Embryonic Development

In the Holy Quran, God speaks about the stages of man’s embryonic development:

“We created man from an extract of clay.  Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, firmly fixed.  Then We made the drop into an alaqah (leech, suspended thing, and blood clot), then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (chewed substance)…” (Quran 23:12-14)

Literally, the Arabic word alaqah has three meanings: (1) leech, (2) suspended thing, and (3) blood clot.

In comparing a leech to an embryo in the alaqah stage, we find similarity between the two[1]  as we can see in figure 1.  Also, the embryo at this stage obtains nourishment from the blood of the mother, similar to the leech, which feeds on the blood of others.[2]

Figure 1: Drawings illustrating the similarities in appearance between a leech and a human embryo at the alaqah stage. (Leech drawing from Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, p. 37, modified from Integrated Principles of Zoology, Hickman and others.  Embryo drawing from The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 73.)

The second meaning of the word alaqah is “suspended thing.”  This is what we can see in figures 2 and 3, the suspension of the embryo, during the alaqah stage, in the womb of the mother.

Figure 2: We can see in this diagram the suspension of an embryo during the alaqah stage in the womb (uterus) of the mother. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 66.)

Figure 3: In this photomicrograph, we can see the suspension of an embryo (marked B) during the alaqah stage (about 15 days old) in the womb of the mother.  The actual size of the embryo is about 0.6 mm. (The Developing Human, Moore, 3rd ed., p. 66, from Histology, Leeson and Leeson.)

The third meaning of the word alaqah is “blood clot.”  We find that the external appearance of the embryo and its sacs during the alaqah stage is similar to that of a blood clot.  This is due to the presence of relatively large amounts of blood present in the embryo during this stage[3]  (see figure 4).  Also during this stage, the blood in the embryo does not circulate until the end of the third week.[4]  Thus, the embryo at this stage is like a clot of blood.

Figure 4: Diagram of the primitive cardiovascular system in an embryo during the alaqah stage.  The external appearance of the embryo and its sacs is similar to that of a blood clot, due to the presence of relatively large amounts of blood present in the embryo. (The Developing Human, Moore, 5th ed., p. 65.)

So the three meanings of the word alaqah correspond accurately to the descriptions of the embryo at the alaqah stage.

The next stage mentioned in the verse is the mudghah stage.  The Arabic word mudghah means “chewed substance.”  If one were to take a piece of gum and chew it in his or her mouth and then compare it with an embryo at the mudghah stage, we would conclude that the embryo at the mudghah stage acquires the appearance of a chewed substance.  This is because of the somites at the back of the embryo that “somewhat resemble teethmarks in a chewed substance.”[5] (see figures 5 and 6).

Figure 5: Photograph of an embryo at the mudghah stage (28 days old).  The embryo at this stage acquires the appearance of a chewed substance, because the somites at the back of the embryo somewhat resemble teeth marks in a chewed substance.  The actual size of the embryo is 4 mm. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 82, from Professor Hideo Nishimura, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.)

Figure 6: When comparing the appearance of an embryo at the mudghah stage with a piece of gum that has been chewed, we find similarity between the two.

A)        Drawing of an embryo at the mudghah stage.  We can see here the somites at the back of the embryo that look like teeth marks. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 79.)

B)        Photograph of a piece of gum that has been chewed.

How could Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, have possibly known all this 1400 years ago, when scientists have only recently discovered this using advanced equipment and powerful microscopes which did not exist at that time?  Hamm and Leeuwenhoek were the first scientists to observe human sperm cells (spermatozoa) using an improved microscope in 1677 (more than 1000 years after Muhammad).  They mistakenly thought that the sperm cell contained a miniature preformed human being that grew when it was deposited in the female genital tract.[6]

Professor Emeritus Keith L. Moore[7]  is one of the world’s most prominent scientists in the fields of anatomy and embryology and is the author of the book entitled The Developing Human, which has been translated into eight languages.  This book is a scientific reference work and was chosen by a special committee in the United States as the best book authored by one person.  Dr. Keith Moore is Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.  There, he was Associate Dean of Basic Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine and for 8 years was the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy.  In 1984, he received the most distinguished award presented in the field of anatomy in Canada, the J.C.B. Grant Award from the Canadian Association of Anatomists.  He has directed many international associations, such as the Canadian and American Association of Anatomists and the Council of the Union of Biological Sciences.

In 1981, during the Seventh Medical Conference in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Professor Moore said: “It has been a great pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the Quran about human development.  It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God, because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later.  This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger of God.”[8] (To view the RealPlayer video of this comment click here).

Consequently, Professor Moore was asked the following question: “Does this mean that you believe that the Quran is the word of God?”  He replied: “I find no difficulty in accepting this.”[9]

During one conference, Professor Moore stated: “....Because the staging of human embryos is complex, owing to the continuous process of change during development, it is proposed that a new system of classification could be developed using the terms mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah (what Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, said, did, or approved of).  The proposed system is simple, comprehensive, and conforms with present embryological knowledge.  The intensive studies of the Quran and hadeeth (reliably transmitted reports by the Prophet Muhammad’s companions of what he said, did, or approved of) in the last four years have revealed a system for classifying human embryos that is amazing since it was recorded in the seventh century A.D.  Although Aristotle, the founder of the science of embryology, realized that chick embryos developed in stages from his studies of hen’s eggs in the fourth century B.C., he did not give any details about these stages.  As far as it is known from the history of embryology, little was known about the staging and classification of human embryos until the twentieth century.  For this reason, the descriptions of the human embryo in the Quran cannot be based on scientific knowledge in the seventh century.  The only reasonable conclusion is: these descriptions were revealed to Muhammad from God.  He could not have known such details because he was an illiterate man with absolutely no scientific training.”


By islam-guide.com

Modern science has discovered facts about the atmosphere mentioned in the Quran over 1400 years ago.

“By the sky which returns.” (Quran 86:11)

“[He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling…” (Quran 2:22)

In the first verse God swears by the sky[1]  and its function of ‘returning’ without specifying what it ‘returns.’  In Islamic doctrine, a divine oath signifies the magnitude of importance of a special relation to the Creator, and manifests His majesty and the supreme Truth in a special way.

The second verse describes the Divine Act that made the sky a ‘ceiling’ for the dwellers of earth.

Let us see what modern atmospheric science has to say about the role and function of the sky.

The atmosphere is a word which denotes all the air surrounding the earth, from the ground all the way up to the edge from which space starts.  The atmosphere is composed of several layers, each defined because of the various phenomena which occur within the layer.

This image shows the average temperature profile through the Earth’s atmosphere.  Temperatures in the thermosphere are very sensitive to solar activity and can vary from 500°C to 1500°C.  Source: Windows to the Universe, (http://www.windows.ucar.edu), the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).  ©1995-1999, 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan; ©2000-04 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Rain, for one, is ‘returned’ to Earth by the clouds in the atmosphere.  Explaining the hydrologic cycle, Encyclopedia Britannica writes:

“Water evaporates from both the aquatic and terrestrial environments as it is heated by the Sun’s energy.  The rates of evaporation and precipitation depend on solar energy, as do the patterns of circulation of moisture in the air and currents in the ocean.  Evaporation exceeds precipitation over the oceans, and this water vapor is transported by the wind over land, where it returns to the land through precipitation.”[2]

Not only does the atmosphere return what was on the surface back to the surface, but it reflects back into space that which might damage the flora and fauna the earth sustains, such as excessive radiant heat.  In the 1990’s, collaborations between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan resulted in the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Science Initiative.  Polar, Wind and Geotail are a part of this initiative, combining resources and scientific communities to obtain coordinated, simultaneous investigations of the Sun-Earth space environment over an extended period of time.  They have an excellent explanation of how the atmosphere returns solar heat to space.[3]

Besides ‘returning’ rain, heat and radio waves, the atmosphere protects us like a ceiling above our heads by filtering out deadly cosmic rays, powerful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun, and even meteorites on collision course with Earth.[4]

Pennsylvania State Public Broadcasting tells us:

“The sunlight that we can see represents one group of wavelengths, visible light.  Other wavelengths emitted by the sun include x-rays and ultraviolet radiation.  X-rays and some ultraviolet light waves are absorbed high in Earth’s atmosphere.  They heat the thin layer of gas there to very high temperatures.  Ultraviolet light waves are the rays that can cause sunburn.  Most ultraviolet light waves are absorbed by a thicker layer of gas closer to Earth called the ozone layer.  By soaking up the deadly ultraviolet and x-rays, the atmosphere acts as a protective shield around the planet.  Like a giant thermal blanket, the atmosphere also keeps temperatures from getting too hot or too cold.  In addition, the atmosphere also protects us from constant bombardment by meteoroids, bits of rock and dust that travel at high speeds throughout the solar system.  The falling stars we see at night are not stars at all; they are actually meteoroids burning up in our atmosphere due to the extreme heating they undergo.”[5]

This is an image of Earth’s polar stratospheric clouds.  These clouds are involved in the creation of Earth’s ozone hole.  Source: Windows to the Universe, (http://www.windows.ucar.edu/) at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).  ©1995-1999, 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan; ©2000-04 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Encyclopedia Britannica, describing the role of Stratosphere, tells us about its protective role in absorbing dangerous ultraviolet radiation:

“In the upper stratospheric regions, absorption of ultraviolet light from the Sun breaks down oxygen molecules; recombination of oxygen atoms with O2 molecules into ozone (O3) creates the ozone layer, which shields the lower ecosphere from harmful short-wavelength radiation…More disturbing, however, is the discovery of a growing depletion of ozone over temperate latitudes, where a large percentage of the world’s population resides, since the ozone layer serves as a shield against ultraviolet radiation, which has been found to cause skin cancer.”[6]

The mesosphere is the layer in which many meteors burn up while entering the Earth’s atmosphere.  Imagine a baseball zipping along at 30,000 miles per hour.  That’s how big and fast many meteors are.  When they plow through the atmosphere, meteors are heated to more than 3000 degrees Fahrenheit, and they glow.  A meteor compresses air in front of it.  The air heats up, in turn heating the meteor.[7]

This is an image which shows the Earth and its atmosphere.  The mesosphere would be the dark blue edge located on the far top of the image underneath the back.
(Image courtesy of NASA)

Earth is surrounded by a magnetic force field - a bubble in space called “the magnetosphere” tens of thousands of miles wide.  The magnetosphere acts as a shield that protects us from solar storms.  However, according to new observations from NASA’s IMAGE spacecraft and the joint NASA/European Space Agency Cluster satellites, immense cracks sometimes develop in Earth’s magnetosphere and remain open for hours.  This allows the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather.  Fortunately, these cracks do not expose Earth’s surface to the solar wind.  Our atmosphere protects us, even when our magnetic field does not.[8]

An artist’s rendition of NASA’s IMAGE satellite flying through a ‘crack’ in Earth’s magnetic field.

How would it be possible for a fourteenth century desert dweller to describe the sky in a manner so precise that only recent scientific discoveries have confirmed it?  The only way is if he received revelation from the Creator of the sky.

By IslamReligion.com

Yet another beheading. What's the world going to do about ISIS?

(CNN) -- ISIS beheaded another Westerner, a British aid worker. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry courted Middle Eastern leaders to join a coalition in the fight against the Islamist militants. And U.S. planes aimed at ISIS fighters near Iraq's capital.

As world leaders struggled Monday to come up with strategies against ISIS just days after a high-profile beheading by the Islamist militants, the U.S. military targeted an ISIS position near Baghdad.

An airstrike southwest of the city appears to be the closest the U.S. airstrikes have come to the Iraqi capital since the start of the campaign against the Islamist militants, a senior U.S. military official told CNN.

A statement from U.S. Central Command described the action as "the first strike taken as part of our expanded efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions to hit (ISIS) targets as Iraqi forces go on offense, as outlined in the President's speech last Wednesday."

An ISIS "fighting position" that was firing on Iraqi security forces southwest of Baghdad was destroyed, the statement said.

Haines' brother: His life was about love

Anti-ISIS coalition continues to develop

More clues in new ISIS execution video

Major problems in the fight against ISIS

Meanwhile, more than two dozen nations, the Arab League, the European Union and United Nations met in the French capital, calling ISIS a threat to the international community and agreeing to "ensure that the culprits are brought to justice."

In a statement at the conference's conclusion, the French government said the participants had agreed to take on ISIS "by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance, in line with the needs expressed by the Iraqi authorities, in accordance with international law and without jeopardizing civilian security."

French President François Hollande, who hosted the conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Masum, said there was "no time to lose" in international efforts against ISIS.

Meanwhile, the leader of Iraq's Kurdistan region asked for intensified U.S. airstrikes, saying he would welcome foreign fighters and urging Iran and the United States to set aside their differences to fight ISIS.

Latest beheading

ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, underlined its barbaric credentials over the weekend -- posting a video showing the beheading of British aid worker David Haines and threatening the life of another hostage from the United Kingdom.

It was the third videotaped killing of a Western hostage released in less than a month.

The latest killing, ISIS said, was "a message to the allies of America" -- a direct challenge to the United States.

President Barack Obama announced last week that the United States would lead "a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat" and that U.S. airstrikes against ISIS would expand from Iraq into Syria.

The United States has said nearly 40 nations have agreed to contribute to the fight against ISIS, which has seized control of large areas of northern Iraq and Syria. But it remains unclear exactly which countries are on that list and what roles they'll play.

Britain won't 'shirk our responsibility'

Britain's role in the coalition is in particular focus after the killing of Haines, who was abducted last year near a Syrian refugee camp where he was working.

Haines' death "will not lead Britain to shirk our responsibility" to work with allies to take on ISIS, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday. Instead, he said, "it must strengthen our resolve."

Cameron pledged to work with the United States to support its "direct military action." He also emphasized that "this is not about British troops on the ground."

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Cameron has vowed to "hunt down those responsible" for Haines' killing and "bring them to justice, no matter how long it takes."

The situation is made all the more difficult by the fact that the man who appears in the video beheading Haines -- believed to be the same man previously shown killing American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff -- has a London accent.

Cameron knows the identity of the killer, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen has reported, citing unidentified British officials. But authorities aren't making it public for "operational reasons," Bergen writes in a commentary for CNN.

Cameron knows that the man in the video holds at least two other American citizens as well as other hostages from additional Western countries, and that he is part of a larger group of British hostage-takers working for ISIS, Bergen reports.

"It is a real crisis for Cameron, and it underlines a sobering fact: British citizens have volunteered to go to Syria to fight at 25 times the rate that Americans have done so, when adjusted for population size," he writes.

Building a coalition

Kerry, who attended the Paris conference Monday, closed out a Middle Eastern trip on Saturday, seeking to win support for the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition.

In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," Kerry said some nations "are clearly prepared to take action in the air alongside the United States and to do airstrikes, if that's what they're called on to do," but he did not get more specific.

Britain has agreed to help arm Kurdish forces, support the Iraqi government, keep supplying humanitarian help and coordinate with the United Nations to battle ISIS.

France, meanwhile, began reconnaissance flights over Iraq, the French Defense Ministry said. Two Rafale air force planes took off from a base in the United Arab Emirates, it said.

Some nations have also offered to commit ground troops, but "we are not looking for that at this moment anyway," Kerry said in the CBS interview.

Iraqi Kurdistan's President Masoud Barzani -- whose Peshmerga forces have taken a significant role in battling ISIS -- told CNN's Anna Coren on Monday that he has not asked for foreign fighters but would welcome them.

He also called on the United States to step up airstrikes and said Iran should play a role in battling ISIS. But that can only happen, he said, if Iran and the United States "put their differences aside."

Iran has rejected any cooperation with the United States to combat ISIS in Iraq, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said on his Twitter account Monday. "I rejected (the) US offer to Iran about ISIS, because US has corrupted its hands in this issue," the statement read.

Khamanei accused the United States of planning to use military action against ISIS to "dominate the region."

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A leading Iraqi expert on ISIS told CNN that Obama may already have revealed more about U.S. plans than he should have to the militant group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

"The mistake was announcing too much of the strategy, and this was a free gift to al-Baghdadi to prepare and counter what has been revealed," said Hisham al-Hashimi, who has studied jihadist groups and their evolution in Iraq over the past decade.

He suggested ISIS has already begun to take defensive measures, including moving weapons and ammunition into depots and putting elite fighters among civilian populations to avoid airstrikes.

The anti-ISIS alliance that the United States is putting together risks driving more terrorist organizations to join forces with al-Baghdadi's group in what they perceive as a "crusader" war against Muslims, al-Hashimi said.

'Fighting ideology with ideology'

Influential Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia may be crucial in countering that view.

"Help is needed from Saudi and Egyptian religious scholars in fighting ideology with ideology," al-Hashimi said. "This is key to extracting ISIS from the roots."

Last week, Egypt's grand mufti reportedly condemned ISIS, saying that its actions are not in line with Islam.

A member of the Saudi royal family told CNN on Monday that he didn't think his country would participate in military operations but would be pleased to see ISIS vanquished in response to its heinous violence.

"I think that with each killing that takes place, unfortunately, every time hopefully the world community will be more united in really eradicating this disease that's really infecting the whole Middle Eastern region and inevitably will be contagious to other countries in the world," Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said.

If Obama sticks to the goal of defeating the Islamist extremists, the move will help restore Saudi Arabia's trust in Washington, which has been shaken over the crisis in Syria, he said.

Al-Hashimi said he is concerned by the exclusion of Iran -- arguably the most influential player in Iraq -- from the coalition.

"They sidelined Iran, and that is a very big mistake because Iran controls the Shiite militias in Iraq and these militias could sabotage military operations when it comes to logistical support or can threaten the safety of American advisers and trainers," he said.

CNN's Jim Sciutto, Jomana Karadsheh, Ashley Fantz and Sandrine Amiel contributed to this report.

Dikala Pria Unik Jatuh Hati

ini cerita tentang pria yang terlahir dengan cara yang berbeda
dengan cara unik dan hanya sedikit yang menyamainya
jadi jangan heran jika dia jadi pria nyleneh yang sering dibilang aneh
bahkan dia sendiri memiliki cara unik dalam hal jatuh cinta

bukan dengan menunjukkan kepedulian untuk membuktikan cintanya
bukan dengan selalu ada dan bersikap manis untuk menyampaikan kasihnya
bukan dengan cara selalu tersenyum lebar untuk memberikan bahagianya
bukan dengan tak membuatnya menangis untuk memberitakan kalau ia tak ingin cintanya bersedih
bukan dengan menawarkan pundak disaat kekasihnya bersedih dan terpuruk

tapi...
dengan mengacuhkannya agar cintanya jadi wanita yang lebih tegar
dengan menghempaskan sikap manisnya agar kasihnya jadi wanita yang lebih kuat
dengan memberi semangat lewat sikap enggen agar sayangnya lebih sadar
dengan membuatnya menangis agar cintanya sadar jika hidup ini kejam kepada mereka yang tak mampu tersenyum terhadap masalah yang datang mendera

semua tersurat jelas seperti pria yang tak peduli bahkan terlintas layaknya tak sedang dimabuk cinta
tapi itu adalah apa yang nampak oleh panca indera
bukan apa yang terkungkung dalam relung jiwa
karena apa yang terlihat oleh mata memiliki penafsiran yang berbeda jika hati telah mencampurinya

intinya sama, menunjukkan rasa sayang pada wanita yang dicintainya.
hanya caranya yang seringkali berbeda
meski berbeda tapi jalan yang dituju sama
sama... yaa samaa...
mereka mencintai wanita dengan memberikan kepedulian dan segala hal yang membuaikan
tapi pria ini mencintai dan berusaha tak peduli meski selalu mengawasi agar sang wanita mampu tampil lebih tegar meski goresan luka dihatinya sudah tak mampu terhitung oleh jari