Whole lotta shakin' goin' on!

Magnitude 2.9 - ILLINOIS

Magnitude 5.0 - TAJIKISTAN

Magnitude 5.5 - HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION--
Earthquake jolts northern Japan

Magnitude 5.3 - SAMAR, PHILIPPINES--
5.3 magnitude quake strikes off Samar island

Magnitude 6.1 - TONGA

Magnitude 5.1 - CENTRAL PERU

Magnitude 6.6 - ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION--
Magnitude 5.7 - ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION--
Andaman Islands Struck by 2 Earthquakes in 2 Hours

Magnitude 5.1 - OFFSHORE SUCRE, VENEZUELA

Magnitude 4.8 - SICHUAN-GANSU BORDER REGION, CHINA

***

Ouch~!

Burrowing Muskrat Causes Levee to Fail in Missouri

The furry rodent dug a hole through the earthen levee in this eastern Missouri community, allowing water to penetrate the floodwall, which failed shortly before dawn.

"It's so disappointing," said Linda Wilmesherr as she peered through binoculars at water pouring through a gap that appeared to be 30 feet wide. "With all the guns in this county, couldn't we kill a muskrat?"

Bees' decline could lead to higher food prices

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Food prices could rise even more unless the mysterious decline in honey bees is solved, farmers and businessmen told lawmakers Thursday.
...
About three-quarters of flowering plants rely on birds, bees and other pollinators to help them reproduce. Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion annually in crop value.

In 2006, beekeepers began reporting losing 30 percent to 90 percent of their hives. This phenomenon has become known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Scientists do not know how many bees have died; beekeepers have lost 36 percent of their managed colonies this year. It was 31 percent for 2007, said Edward B. Knipling, administrator of the Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service.

Omaha residents face up to a week without power

Nebraska's largest city struggled Saturday to restore power to thousands of residents a day after a severe storm damaged homes, uprooted trees and killed two people in a neighboring community.

It could take a week to fully restore electricity after high winds from Friday's storm, officials said. The storm is one of the worst the Omaha Public Power District has dealt with, said CEO Gary Gates.

Nearly 50,000 customers remained without power Saturday afternoon, utility spokesman Jeff Hanson said. At the peak of the failures, 126,000 customers lacked electricity.

Smoky skies threaten health in fiery California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Hundreds of lightning-sparked wildfires have turned the air of Northern California into an unhealthy stew of smoke and ash, forcing the cancellation of athletic events and other outdoor activities.

Air pollution readings in the region are two to 10 times the federal standard for clean air, Dimitri Stanich, spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, said Saturday.
Some areas are experiencing the worst air quality on record, with the smoke hanging down to the ground like a fog.

Tourists Desert California Coast as Wildfires Spread

BIG SUR, Calif. — Every summer thousands of tourists travel to this rugged stretch of California coast whose soaring mountain cliffs and sweeping ocean views have inspired writers from Henry Miller to Jack Kerouac.

But many of the rustic inns, restaurants and art galleries that dot the coastal highway here are nearly deserted this week as hundreds of firefighters battle a massive wildfire that is threatening the community of Big Sur and its tourist-dependent businesses.

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Palestinians fire shells as Israel decides to open Gaza crossings

Shortly Israel decided to open all the crossings into Gaza Saturday night several mortar shells were fired by Palestinian terrorists at the Karni Crossing area.

Niiiiice. "They're going to open the crossings like we asked, so let's shell them!"


Obama's Global Tax Bill Coming Soon

The Global Poverty Act of 2007 (S.2433) is coming up for a Senate vote sometime after the July 4 recess, according the office of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Once Harry Reid and the Democrat leadership put it on the calendar, we could have as little as a week to prepare for the vote.

The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Barack Obama. Read about it here.

If passed, it will cost taxpayers $845,000,000,000 over the next 13 years, in addition to our current foreign aid expenditures.

And the best part is that it will be administered in conjunction with...brace yourselves... the United Nations. The same one of "Food-for-Oil" fame.

It passed (H.R. 1302) earlier by a unanimous voice vote in the House.

It's about global income redistribution. Their distribution - our income.

Heard much debate about it? Ah, it's only 8.5 tenths of a trillion.

Emphasis mine. Nothing to see here, folks, move along.


Obama to visit Israel before conference

Barack Obama is a "very welcome visitor," and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "is looking forward to meeting the senator," Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said Saturday night amid reports that Obama is planning a trip to the Middle East and Europe this summer.

Neither Regev nor a Foreign Ministry spokesman said they had been contacted by Obama's campaign regarding the date of the visit, but it is expected to take place before late-August's Democratic Party convention in Denver.

I don't know, it's only a gut feeling, but I feel it so strongly, that something bad will come of this.

I really hope it's just that stale pizza I ate.



Bill Clinton says Barack Obama must 'kiss my ass' for his support
[the picture they chose is alone worth the click!]

The Telegraph has learned that the former president's rage is still so great that even loyal allies are shocked by his patronising attitude to Mr Obama, and believe that he risks damaging his own reputation by his intransigence.

Obama is everything Clinton wanted to be, but couldn't quite hack due to his inability to keep it in his pants.