GUWAHATI: The flood situation in Assam continued to remain grim on Tuesday with the Brahmaputra and its tributaries flowing above the danger mark at several places. Officials here said the situation in worst-affected Lakhimpur district was still grim as a breached embankment had created havoc affecting over two lakh people.
The district authorities have rushed relief to the affected people and medical mobile vans were being sent to the affected areas.
Kiev, Ukraine (AHN) - Authorities said Monday more than 20 people died in the southwestern Ukraine due to non-stop rain and flooding.
An Emergency Situation spokesperson said 15 people died in southwestern Ukraine, seven died in the Chernivtsy region, including six children.
According to government spokesman Ihor Krol, there were at least five days of nonstop heavy rains, which caused the rivers to flood, more than 40,000 homes to flood and at least 30,000 people were relocated to higher ground.
Thames Hospital is under pressure with many staff unable to get to work this morning due to the flooding, while others with family and property to attend to might have to leave early to avoid becoming stranded.
Area Manager Jacquie Mitchell said outpatient clinics were running as usual, however, some patients had been able to get to the hospital.
Women who were due to deliver babies were advised to keep in contact with their midwives, she said.
FAIRBANKS -- Monday’s heavy rainfall in Interior Alaska left its mark on the Richardson Highway near 299 Mile -- about four miles south of Banner Creek -- and at the Bear Creek Bridge at 233 Mile.
The rains have also prompted flood warnings for the Salcha River in the middle and upper Tanana Valley and Fortymile Country that are in effect until 3 a.m. Wednesday.
Emergency crews are responding to flooding in several parts of Hattiesburg, including on U.S. 49 near the USM bridge where officials say the water is an estimated three feet deep.
Cars were floating under the bridge and traffic in both the north and south bound lanes were completely shut down at the bridge.
RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) — More than 75 people stranded by massive flooding in and around this mountain resort town still awaited rescue Tuesday, but spirits rose as missing people were accounted for and the region made it through a day without rain, authorities said.
Police resolved up to five reports of missing people authorities had received Sunday as families reconnected after the chaos subsided, Ruidoso spokeswoman Darlene Hart said Tuesday. The weekend flooding, caused by the remnants of Hurricane Dolly, claimed the life of one man, a 20-year-old whose body was found Monday.
Local authorities and the National Guard have brought more than 580 people to safety since early Sunday, said Sherry Kamali, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. That figure does not include people who left their homes, cabins or campsites on their own.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Mental health professionals in flood-damaged areas are beginning to see the psychological toll last month's disaster is having on residents. They're seeing more cases of stress and insomnia, but warn that more mental health problems may not surface for many more months.
For the farmers and ranchers who make a living off of Colorado's arid topography, there's more at stake this drought year than browning lawns or serial sunburns.
It's their livelihood, and some are teetering on the brink.
Gov. Bill Ritter has asked the federal government for disaster assistance to help Colorado's farmers and ranchers in 22 counties who suffered through late-spring freezes and now are seeing their pastures and crops wither in the face of drought.
The designation would make farmers and ranchers eligible for low-interest loans to recover from their losses.
"This is the driest we've ever been up here," Chad Hart, Farm Services Agency executive director for Prowers and Bent County in southeastern Colorado, said today.
"Our drought monitors say we are at severe or exceptional drought, just about the worst you can get," Hart added. "We just aren't getting any rain. It's spreading like a virus."
As Australia's biggest river system dries up and sections of the country wonders where the next drop of water will come from, the drought is providing a lucrative boost for enterprising Australians.
Water tank makers and installers have been run off their feet, landscape gardeners have never had it so good and car wash entrepreneurs are raking it in.
And in many cases they are receiving government help.
Most states offer rebates of between $150 and $1,000 for water tanks and up to $500 towards grey water systems.
Mitch O'Sullivan, co-founder of Waterwall residential rainwater tanks, said the prominence given to the drought has directly correlated to business growth.
Scientists have calculated for the first time how much of a country's electricity needs could be provided from the manure of cattle and other livestock.
They estimate that 3 per cent of America's total electricity demand could be created from animal waste, enough to power millions of homes and businesses. ... Broken down and then burnt, the scientists estimate that the manure from hundreds of millions of livestock in America could produce approximately 100 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year.
THE Department of Agricultural Technical Extension Services (Agritex) has urged farmers to guard against red locusts following an outbreak in some parts of the country.
In an interview with Sunday Business last Wednesday, Matabeleland North province Agritex officer, Mr Adolf Dube, said all the department provincial offices received correspondence instructing them to be on guard against red locust following reports of an outbreak in Mudzi and some parts of Mashonaland West.
Locusts are threatening to inflict more pain on some of the most drought-ravaged parts of eastern Australia. Hundreds of farmers have found beds of locust eggs and officials fear that many more have not been reported. Officials have said that recent wet weather has increased the risk of devastating locust activity. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.
Australia's last major locust outbreak occurred in 2004, when billions of these voracious creatures were hatched. They formed a 1,000-kilometer front that devastated huge areas of farmland, mainly in central parts of New South Wales.
There are fears that the start of this year's locust season in late September could bring more grief to farmers, who have endured a long-standing drought.The insects can inflict widespread and severe damage to pastures and cereal crops.
One of al-Qaeda’s more prominent members took a shot at Saudi Arabia’s king Monday, accusing him of wanting to “spawn a new religion” and issuing a call to kill him for having betrayed Islam.
In a video message posted on several Islamic websites, Afghanistan terrorist Abu Yahya al-Libi strongly criticized the recently-held inter-faith meeting that drew Islamic, Jewish, and Christian leaders to the city of Madrid.
"The Prophet (Muhammad) ordered us to drive unbelievers from the Arabian Peninsula,” he said, according to Italy-based Adnkronos International. “Today, the Saudi royal family is destroying our Islamic tenets by showing Muslims it is possible to spread Christian principles.
"By sitting side by side in public, they are taking part in the Crusader campaign,” Libi added.
ZAMBOANGA CITY – After more than a week in captivity, three kidnap victims were freed in Albarkah town on Sunday night after payment of a “board and lodging fee.”
Basilan police chief Senior Supt. Salik Macapantar said Ronillo Ando, 41, a passenger jeepney driver; Wilma Sumergido, 50, an employee of the Tumahubong Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development Inc.; and her son, Michael, 15, were freed Sunday night to negotiator Atsby Alki, a village official of Bulating in Lamitan City.
Macapantar said the three captives were handed over to the negotiator in Barangay Magkawa in Albarkah town at around 11 p.m.
Police in India say they have defused at least 14 small bombs in the city of Surat in the western state of Gujarat.
The bombs, none of which had timers attached, were found in various locations around Surat, the hub of India's textile and diamond trade.
Cities across India have been on high alert since a series of bombings in the southern city of Bangalore on Friday and Ahmedabad in Gujarat a day later.
At least 50 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the blasts.
PESHAWAR, Jul 18 (IPS) - "I was able to save my daughter from becoming a suicide bomber. She had been lured by her teacher at the religious school," said Jamilur Rehman, a Pakistani schoolteacher, whose 13-year-old daughter was taken away by a Taliban group to be trained as a suicide bomber in North Waziristan, a lawless border area.
Rehman said that his daughter Sameena took religious lessons in a seminary in Tank district of the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), where she was shown videos of the suicide bombing. "She was motivated to the extent that she became ready to be trained as a suicide bomber and destroy the enemies of Islam," he told IPS in a phone interview.
According to Sameena, she and another student, Mushtari Begum, 15, were handed over by her teacher to two men, but they were seized by political authorities in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) who handed them over to the Tank police.
"The situation is extremely bad. We have saved the two girls from becoming suicide bombers, but indications are that the trend of women training as suicide bombers has gained currency," said police officer Ahmad Jamal, in Tank district, which adjoins North Waziristan.
Monday's triple suicide attack against Shia pilgrims in Baghdad highlighted what seems to a growing phenomenon - the use by Sunni-based radical Islamist insurgents of women to carry out suicide attacks.
Police said all three of the attackers in the bombings, which claimed the lives of about 25 pilgrims, were women.
Eyewitnesses in the city of Kirkuk - where at least 22 people were reported to have been killed by a suicide bomb attack on a crowd of protesting Kurds - said the attacker there was also a woman.
American military figures indicate that there have been at least 27 suicide bombings carried out by women in Iraq this year, a sharp jump from only eight in 2007.
A group of Buddhist monks and a mob of locals destroyed a church in Sri Lanka and attacked the pastor earlier this month, adding to the already escalating anti-Christian violence in the south Asia country.
Calvary Church in Thalahena, Malabe, northeast of the capital Colombo, was destroyed after a rumor spread that Christians had attacked a local Buddhist temple. A mob of some 500 villagers had descended on Calvary church and surrounded it as Sunday service was about to take place on July 6, persecution watchdog group Release International recently reported.
The 100 church members in attendance were told to leave by the pastor and police, who were called in earlier by the pastor when he noticed that the church’s cross was damaged.
"Fearing violence, the pastor and the police sent away the congregation. Soon after the mob – including the monks – entered the church and completely destroyed everything within, leaving only the walls standing,” said the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL), a partner of Release International.
"The mob then turned on the pastor and five workers, beating them with clubs and rods. A police officer who attempted to shield the pastor also received blows."
According to the NCEASL, the pastor and his father were both injured and were taken to the hospital.
WHEATON, Ill. – Thousands of missionaries from the second largest missionary-sending country packed Edman Memorial Chapel at Wheaton College on Monday for the 6th Korean World Mission Council for Christ conference.
Korean missionaries who have been serving in countries around the globe were welcomed with a standing ovation Monday night as the five-day conference, themed “The World is Calling Korean Churches to be the Last Runners to Finish Unfinished Tasks,” opened. They convened to discuss mission strategies, especially for the 21st century, and to strengthen one another for world missions.
“God is working in this very conference to call the people, the Koreans of America, to go to the ends of the Earth,” said Dr. Avery Willis, a former missionary of Southern Baptist Convention, in his congratulatory remarks. “We waited 2,000 years and 2,100 years to see the Great Commission fulfilled and God wants to know ‘Will you fulfill it in your generation?’ I can imagine the last unreached people group that never heard the Gospel and looks up and sees missionaries coming and it’s a Korean missionary.”
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe's bank chief plans new currency reforms -- removing "more zeros" from the plummeting Zimbabwe dollar and raising the limit on cash withdrawals -- to tackle the country's runaway inflation and cash shortages, state media reported Sunday.
Previous currency reforms have failed to tame Zimbabwe's inflation --officially pegged at 2.2 million percent a year but estimated by independent analysts to be closer to 12.5 million percent. It also has become virtually impossible to get access to cash as the country's economic collapse worsens.
Authorities last week released a new 100 billion dollar bank note. By Sunday it was not enough even to buy a scarce loaf of bread in what has become one of the world's most expensive -- and impoverished -- countries.
Magnitude 5.4 - GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA 2008 July 29 18:42:15 UTC
NAB will shock Wall Street The National Australia Bank's decision to write off 90 per cent of its US conduit loans will have dramatic repercussions around the world.
Homosexual bishops face Anglican Church ban Homosexual clergy will be barred from becoming bishops in the Anglican communion under controversial new plans backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
WASHINGTON Wildfire evacuation for 300 is canceled
QUINCY — An evacuation order for up to 300 people was lifted Wednesday as more firefighters were put to work on a wind-driven wildfire fueled by sagebrush in central Washington, officials said.
A survey Wednesday morning showed the blaze had covered more than 2.7 square miles — not the nearly eight miles officials had feared on Tuesday — and was about 20 percent contained, said Lt. Bob Schwiesow of Douglas County Fire District 2.
Fire crews in the Tri-Cities have been busy -- and lucky. They've been able to quickly control wildfires in the region.
Tuesday was no different for Benton County crews who battled small fires along Johns Road in north Richland, Canal Drive in Kennewick and a blaze that burned several hundred acres near Coffin Road, south of Kennewick.
With strong winds in the area throughout the night, "it had all the potential" to turn into a big fire, said Richland Fire Chief Grant Baynes.
"We were really lucky, most of them were kind of contained quickly," he said. "It was just one of those day, but we hit it hard and got free of it."
PARACHUTE, Colo. (AP) - A 150-acre wildfire burning five miles southwest of Parachute in western Colorado has been fully contained. It was sparked by lightning Monday evening.
Bureau of Land Management spokesman David Boyd says more than 100 firefighters battle the blaze. A couple engines and crew from Mesa County will stay at the scene to mop up.
Despite the firefighers and inhabitants'Α efforts, the wildfire continues raging for the fourth consecutive day in Rhodes forests. Despite the ongoing efforts to contain the fire, hotels in Kiotaria, southern Rhodes have been evacuated for precautionary reasons. Although the area is not threatened by the blaze, the thick smoke prevailing there had caused the tourists'Α concern. Meanwhile, the blaze surrounded Laerma village today.
France, Italy and Cyprus are sending firefighting aircraft to help tackle the fire, which has burned thousands of acres of forest in the popular destination.
A Thomas Cook spokesman said two of its customers had been moved from an apartment in the Kiotari area.
The firm said in a statement "The safety of our holidaymakers is of the utmost importance and we continue to monitor the forest fires in Rhodes.
"As a precautionary measure, a small number of Thomas Cook guests have been moved to alternative accommodation."
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California fire officials say the thousands of blazes sparked by a massive lightning storm are 98% contained after burning for more than a month.
Of the more than 2,000 fires ignited during the June 21 storm, only 27 were actively burning Friday.
The wildfire in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Suffolk has absorbed nearly 8 inches of rain over the past month, which has kept it at bay and reduced its smoke, firefighters said.
But the 4,660-acre fire is far from out, and it could surge back out of the deep peat of the swamp floor if the weather turns dry for a week or so -- an entirely possible scenario with much of the summer still ahead.
"People in and around the refuge are looking down the barrel of a long, long summer," John Calabrese, a spokesman for the refuge, said. "It's going to take a tropical storm or depression with 6 to 8 inches of rain in a short time to put this fire out."
A wildfire burned for an entire day, blackening 89 acres along the north edge of Moab before it was fully contained Wednesday. Lightning ignited the fire at about 3 p.m. Tuesday between town and the Colorado River, said Vaughn Gruber of the Moab Interagency Fire Center.
The Slough Fire, named for a nearby ditch, spread into Moab city limits, but no structures were damaged.
ScienceDaily (July 26, 2008) — The Arctic may get some temporary relief from global warming if the annual North American wildfire season intensifies, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado and NOAA.
Smoke transported to the Arctic from northern forest fires may cool the surface for several weeks to months at a time, according to the most detailed analysis yet of how smoke influences the Arctic climate relative to the amount of snow and ice cover.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman mauled by a bear in a rural area of Southern California was recovering Wednesday as game wardens sought to trap and kill the animal.
Allena Hansen, 56, was resting comfortably after undergoing extensive surgery to repair injuries suffered in Tuesday's attack, said Roxanne Moster, a spokeswoman for the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Despite suffering severe lacerations to her face and head, the woman managed not only to escape but to drive herself to a nearby fire station, Kern County fire spokesman Sean Collins said.
"For her to be attacked in that manner and drive to a fire station, she must have been running on pure adrenaline," Collins said.
And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.
The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.
When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”
In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.
And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world.
The new president of the Harvard Law Review was somewhat taken aback by the deluge of media coverage that followed hard on the heels of his election. The New York Times ran a “First Black” headline, which probably won’t be the last time that label is affixed to Barack Obama. The twenty-eight-year-old law student says he wasn’t going to run for the office until a black friend talked him into it. “There’s a door to kick down,” the friend argued, “and you’re in a position to kick it down.”
Eighteen years ago. It's astounding just how little he's accomplished since then, and yet he's leading in the polls in the race for the presidency. God help us.
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Thank you to the citizens of Berlin and to the people of Germany. Let me thank Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier for welcoming me earlier today. Thank you Mayor Wowereit, the Berlin Senate, the police, and most of all thank you for this welcome.
I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen - a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.
There was not a ton to object to, and indeed a lot to like, in Obama's speech in Berlin. Although I think I preferred it the first time I heard it, when it was sung by all those celebrities and rock stars back in the mid-80s.
Oh, wait, that was "We Are The World."
UPDATE: Pop quiz, hot shot. Pick out the "We Are The World" lyrics vs. Obama speech lines.
Shortly after 6 pm Central time -- just a few hours after Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, gave his speech in Berlin, which his campaign insisted was not political -- his campaign manager, David Plouffe, sent out a fundraising solicitation using the speech to raise campaign cash. ... UPDATE: The Obama campaign takes issue with my description of its email with its big, red "DONATE" button as a "fundraising soliciation." The campaign, which has raised more money through the internet than any other campaign in world history, says the purpose of this email, the "DONATE" button notwithstanding, was for folks to see the speech and share it with their friends.
He also had campaign fliers printed up in German. Good thing this wasn't a political rally, huh?
The source? French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his "dear friend" Barack Obama. The pair traded lavish compliments at a joint press conference after meeting privately at the Elysee Palace.
"France is happy to welcome Barack Obama, first of all, because he's American and the French love the Americans," Sarkozy began, before adding that "the adventure of Barack Obama, it is a story which speaks to the heart of French people and speaks to the heart of Europeans."
"I can't imagine somebody who better captures the enthusiasm and energy of France than" Sarkozy, Obama responded.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is offering Obama a warm welcome on the day of their meeting, in an interview with the conservative daily Le Figaro.
"Obama? He's my pal," the president told Le Figaro. "Unlike my diplomatic advisers, I never believed in Hillary Clinton's chances. I always said that Obama would be nominated." ... One interesting detail from Le Figaro: The Obama-Sarkozy meeting will be conducted with a minimum of fuss, to mark it off clearly from the trappings of a presidential visit.
"Nicolas Sarkozy's advisers received only one demand from the team of the Democratic candidate: no American flag for the press conference, because it's a candidate being received, not the president of the United States."
Should have had a UN flag there for the "world citizen" Barky.
Can you assure the people of Israel, and beyond, that as president you will prevent Iran attaining nuclear weapons?
What I can do is assure that I will do everything in my power as president to prevent Iran attaining nuclear weapons. And I think that begins with engaging in tough, direct talks with Iran, sending a clear message to Iran that they shouldn't wait for the next administration but should start engaging in the P5 process [involving the five permanent members of the UN Security Council] that's taking place right now, and elevating this to the top of our national security priorities, so that we are mobilizing the entire international community, including Russia and China, on this issue.
Yes, I'm quite certain a nice tough talk with the lawn gnome will cool the Iranians right off, don't you?
Caroline B. Glick is the deputy managing editor of the Jerusalem Post and the senior fellow for Middle East Affairs at the Center for Security Policy. Her book, Shackled Warrior, Israel and the Global Jihad was released earlier this year. She took questions from National Review Online editor Kathryn Lopez on Friday about Barack Obama’s visit to the Mideast.
Best quote:
Lopez: How close did you get to the “messiah”? Glick: I generally try to stay as far away as I possibly can from people who say they can make oceans recede. Our paths didn’t cross. In fact, I managed to be out of the country on Wednesday.
Addressing a group of Hispanic veterans, including his former roommate from the US Naval Academy, John McCain today accused rival Barack Obama of telling Americans "what they wanted to hear" on Iraq, whereas he "told you the truth."
All week long, McCain has been pushing hard on the notion the current surge strategy in Iraq was a crucial test in judgment.
In 2007, McCain said, "We both knew the safe political choice was to support some sort of retreat."
"Many observers said my approach would end my hopes of becoming President," he said. "My choice was not smart politics. It didn't test well in focus groups. It ignored all the polls. It also didn't matter."
McCain says history proved him right.
"In Iraq, we are no longer on the doorstep of defeat but instead are on the road to victory," McCain said.
DENVER - Republican presidential candidate John McCain, ridiculing Barack Obama for "the audacity of hopelessness" in his policies on Iraq, said Friday that the entire Middle East could have plunged into war had U.S. troops been withdrawn as his rival advocated.
Speaking to an audience of Hispanic military veterans, McCain stepped up his criticism of Obama while the Illinois senator continued his headline-grabbing tour of the Middle East and Europe. The Arizona Republican contended that Obama's policies — he opposed sending more troops to Iraq in the "surge" that McCain supported — would have led to defeat there and in Afghanistan.
"We rejected the audacity of hopelessness, and we were right," McCain said, a play on the title of Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope."
Friday, July 25, 2008
I have so much to post, but Blogger is all wonky. I'll stick with this Scripture:
2 Timothy 3 Godlessness in the Last Days
1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
6They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.
The economic risks presented by climate change have been further highlighted with the publication by the Australian government of a new report showing that drought was threatening the water supply of more than a million Australians.
A six-year drought across the country has left its main water system – the Murray-Darling river system, which stretches across four states from southern Queensland to Victoria – severely depleted.
Speaking at the release of the report, Australia's climate change minister Penny Wong warned that unless measures were taken to save the river system, the country's drinking and agriculture supplies would dry up.
Here in the United States whenever we turn on the tap on our sinks, bathtubs, etc. out comes a flow of water. The United States is a water rich nation compared to many others, and a developed nation at that. This means that for now, water resources have been adequate to meet demand.
It is estimated that of the over six billion people in the world though, one billion lack access to potable water. Most of these people are in underdeveloped nations that lack the resources to develop new potable water sources. But for the average American, these problems are miles and worlds away right? Well, perhaps for now, but is it possible that water shortages may be arriving to the world's richest nation? The signs of shortage are already beginning to show and something will have to be done in order to stop it.
On a nonprofit Woodinville farm devoted to sustainable practices, rain hits a green shed roof covered in a carpet of herbs and moss.
Drops run down a chain into four weathered barrels, draining to a small pond ringed by cherry trees, huckleberry bushes and native plants.
It's a system the 21 Acres farm wants to create on a much grander scale when it breaks ground next year on an agricultural center with farm stalls, classrooms and test kitchens. The new addition could store 150,000 gallons of rain to irrigate dozens of adjacent garden plots, currently sucking up expensive city water.
There's just one problem.
It almost certainly would violate state water law. And if one wanted to be persnickety, so might the rain barrels cities encourage conservation-minded homeowners to buy.
"We're all promoting it, it's the right thing to do, it makes sense, but it's illegal," said Vince Carlson, a meadmaker and architect for 21 Acres. "Nobody says anything, and we're all kind of hush-hush about it."
Technically, rain that falls on your roof isn't yours for the taking. It's a resource of the state, which regulates the use of public waters through an allocation process that can take years to navigate.
A congressional field hearing in Fresno this week was among a number of forums bringing attention to the worsening water disaster in California. Government officials are reviewing the scope of the crisis and looking for solutions to severe water shortages that threaten crops and jobs.
Mendota Mayor Robert Silva testified that his city--located on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and heavily dependent on nearby farms for jobs and economic activity--already had unemployment levels reaching more than 30 percent, and that jobless rates will increase as the harvest season ends.
Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources, testified that "2008 is a disaster, but 2009 could be the worst drought in California history."
CAIRO — Global food shortages have placed the Middle East and North Africa in a quandary, as they are forced to choose between growing more crops to feed an expanding population or preserving their already scant supply of water.
For decades nations in this region have drained aquifers, sucked the salt from seawater and diverted the mighty Nile to make the deserts bloom. But those projects were so costly and used so much water that it remained far more practical to import food than to produce it. Today, some countries import 90 percent or more of their staples.
Now, the worldwide food crisis is making many countries in this politically volatile region rethink that math.
The population of the region has more than quadrupled since 1950, to 364 million, and is expected to reach nearly 600 million by 2050. By that time, the amount of fresh water available for each person, already scarce, will be cut in half, and declining resources could inflame political tensions further.
“The countries of the region are caught between the hammer of rising food prices and the anvil of steadily declining water availability per capita,” Alan R. Richards, a professor of economics and environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said via e-mail. “There is no simple solution.”
As the dry months of summer sweep through the Middle East, Israel is faced with its worst water crisis ever. The water levels in Israel's three main water sources - the Sea of Galilee, the Coastal Aquifer and the Mountain Aquifer - have now receded to the lowest levels in recorded history. All three have already dropped below the red line - the line at which it is recommended to stop pumping from the water source. Faced with increased consumption due to population growth, land development and water commitments to Jordan and Palestine, Israel has no choice but to continue pumping from its water sources. Yet if Israel continues, water levels will soon drop under the black line - the point of no return, where continued pumping will cause severe, irreversible damage to the Israel's water sources. With many more rainless months to go, Israel is already dangerously close. 07/24/08
Repeated delays in shipping much-needed water from Greece has left one of Greek Cyprus' largest cities with only two weeks' supply of water as the country faces severe drought, officials said on Wednesday.
There are new setbacks in getting drinking water off a ship for the 177,000 residents of Limassol, a port city in the south which has only 0.8 million cubic meters of water left in its reservoir. The city requires 45,000 cubic meters of water per day.
"The way things are going now, it's not enough to last even 20 days. It's possibly enough for 17 or 18 days," said Kyriakos Kyrrou, an official from Greek Cyprus' water department. "But whatever happens, people will get water," he told Reuters.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - First, there was last summer’s drought. Then came more bad news: skyrocketing fuel and fertilizer prices, and a wet spring that delayed West Virginia farmers’ plantings and hay harvests.
In 2007, the state’s 21,000 farms suffered millions of dollars in losses from the driest summer in years. Yet in an industry that serves mostly as a second income here, farmers are refusing to fold, even in the face of the latest setbacks.
“I don’t know what’s worse - too much rain or not enough,” said Ed Smolder, a West Virginia University extension agent for Jackson County. “It’s feast or famine.”
Farmers got a break last week, the first since Smolder can remember that no significant rain fell, giving many the first real chance this year to cut hay, usually harvested in June.
“And it’s July,” Smolder said. “I’ve been here 31 years and this is the first time I’ve seen everyone finishing up the hay the week before the (county) fair,” which began Monday.
Dwindling water supplies coupled with high grain costs have many Central Texas ranchers heading to auction barns.
Stock ponds are drying up as temperatures continue to hover near the century mark, forcing beef producers to either move cattle to pastures with deeper water supplies or cull their herds, according to Russ de Cordova, president of the Buffalo Livestock Commission.
"It's a bad situation, and it's going to get worse," de Cordova said. "A lot of producers will have to cut their herds in half - some even a third."
Although Marlin and most of Central Texas received much-needed rain last week, it was far from the drought-buster the ag community needs.
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Gov. Mark Sanford is encouraging South Carolina residents to voluntarily conserve water so water restrictions don't become mandatory. Officials say a drought gripping the state continues to worsen. The Department of Natural Resources says the worst conditions are in the Upstate, where some wells have gone dry and Lakes Hartwell and Thurmond along the Georgia state line are already 10 feet below where they should be.
Sugar is set to leave a bitter taste in days to come with the sugarcane production in Maharashtra likely to decline substantially.
Maharashtra may witness a shortage in sugarcane and sugar in the forthcoming crushing season following a drought-like situation in the state.
...
Decline in sugar production in India and Brazil's decision to utilise 65 per cent of its sugarcane to produce ethanol directly has sent sugar prices soaring. If 2008-09 is going to be good for us then we expect a better crop in 2009-10 as well, claimed Prakash Naiknavre, managing director of MSSPL.
Hurricane Dolly probably doomed South Texas's cotton and sorghum crops already damaged by heavy rains earlier in the summer. But analysts said the loss, while devastating for local producers, will have only a short-term effect on the markets.
Nonetheless, "it doesn't look good" for either crop, Texas AgriLife Extension agent Rod Santa Ana said Thursday.
About 92,000 acres of cotton in the region was awaiting harvest until driving rains and high winds stained the cotton and drove the bolls to the ground, where harvest becomes useless. Even if the bolls had remained on the plants, the resulting cotton cloth's quality would have been severely diminished.
No firm figures will be available on the damage until after Dolly passes and cotton producers are able to get back in their fields.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas, July 24 (Reuters) - Hurricane Dolly, which lashed the U.S.-Mexico coastline, weakened to a tropical depression on Thursday over South Texas, but concern remained over flooding along the populous Rio Grande Valley.
Initial reports indicated that aging levees holding back the Rio Grande River withstood a surge from Dolly, which dumped up to 12 inches (30 cm) of rain in the first hours after coming ashore at the barrier island of South Padre Island on Wednesday and spurred widespread flooding across South Texas and northeast Mexico.
The full effect of the flooding might not be seen for days as rain flows into the region where more than 1 million people live.
Local officials said the levees have held under the strain, though flooding was widespread.
The Director Dams, Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Mr. Emmanuel Adannu, has urged the federal government to take action on the Lake Nyos River, along Cameroon- Nigeria border before it over-flood the whole country. Adannu said that the situation needed urgent attention, stating that though the government had taken up the challenge of building dams around the River to prevent over flooding, work around there is slow, compared to the danger ahead.
The Associated Press is reporting a major power outage in most of Maine. On July 24th major power service provider Bangor Hydro Electric went down, the victim of a supposed lightening strike. Roughly 118,000 people were left without electricity.
The Associated Press says most customers lost their power before 8 a.m. This was verified by Bangor Electric's spokeswoman Susan Faloon, who said in the article that "street lights, traffic lights, you name it" were involved.
CONCORD, N.H. -- Powerful thunderstorms sparked tornado warnings and flood warnings, caused building collapses and have been blamed for one death Thursday afternoon, reported WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H.
Gov. John Lynch declared a state of emergency in Merrimack, Strafford, Belknap, Carroll and Rockingham counties and called out the National Guard to help after the storms cross New Hampshire.
"It appears that there are at least 100 homes damaged and probably at least a half-dozen homes which have been completely destroyed," Lynch said after a helicopter tour.
"It was a narrow swath of destruction that went from Epsom all the way to New Durham," he said.
Police and firefighters were going door to door in the storm-ravaged areas, which stretched from about 10 miles east of Concord to beyond the eastern end of Lake Winnipesaukee near the Maine border.
Downed trees and power lines blocked many roads, delaying emergency responders. The storm knocked out power to 6,000 homes and businesses.
Labor pangs.
Magnitude 5.1 - EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN 2008 July 24 02:27:42 UTC
RESCUE teams searched in dense fog and rain yesterday for victims of a powerful earthquake in northern Japan that left more than 100 people injured, some of them seriously.
The 6.8-magnitude quake struck just after midnight on the mountainous northern tip of Japan's main island of Honshu, shattering windows and triggering landslides. The region is still recovering from a June 14 tremor that measured 7.2 on the Richter scale, killed at least 13 people and left 10 others missing.
At least 116 people were injured yesterday, the national disaster agency said. Police said 26 of them were in serious condition — some broke bones as the quake threw them to the ground.
Reporting for the Anchorage Daily News, Beth Bragg captures the odd excitement of local volcano researchers:
"Things are very hopping," research geophysicist Peter Cervelli of the Alaska Volcano Observatory said Monday afternoon. "We've been ramped up 24/7 for nine days because of Okmok, and to have Cleveland suddenly go off keeps us busy. I'm not sure I'd describe it as fun, but it's certainly exciting."
Southern Chile’s Chaiten Volcano, which erupted in early May for the first time in recorded history (PT, May 2), is once again making its presence felt.
Local news agencies reported Thursday that the now two-month-long, on and off again eruption has intensified significantly in the past 24 hours with the volcano once again began belching massive amounts of ash. The new eruption has also been accompanied by notable seismic activity.
Obama left his hotel this morning, traveling in a bullet-proof limousine that was part of a nine-car motorcade. Upon arrival at Yad Vashem, Obama was greeted by Avner Shalev, chairman of Yad Vashem.
An Israeli journalist called out to Obama: “Can you ensure that there will be no second Holocaust?”
Obama walked into the museum’s main building without responding. At some point during his tour, away from the media's fixed gaze, Obama met with the Israeli border police officer who Tuesday shot and killed the Palestinian wreaking havoc and injuring Israelis with a bulldozer outside the King David Hotel.
In the “Hall of Remembrance,” Obama put on a white yarmulke, lit the “eternal flame” and placed a white chrysanthemum wreath on a stone slab. ... Once again an Israeli journalist asked the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee how he’d help prevent a second Holocaust. "Senator can you assure Israel that there will be no second Holocaust despite Iran's threat to wipe us off the map?" he asked.
Obama demurred, saying that it wasn't appropriate to answer the question there.
"This is Yad Vashem!" the journalist responded.
Obama said he would answer the question at a later press availability.
Barack Obama completed his trip to the Middle East with a pre-dawn visit to the holiest place in Judaism where he received a mixed reaction from Orthodox Jews.
The US presidential nominee was heckled as he visited the Western Wall in the early hours of Thursday morning, bowing his head in prayer and observing traditional custom by placing a folded piece of paper into the crevice of the wall.
Orthodox men interrupted their morning prayers to catch a glimpse of the Illinois senator, reaching out to shake his hand as he passed them by. But not all were taken by the Democrat. One yelled out: “Obama, Jerusalem is not for sale!” before Mr Obama was whisked away to his waiting plane.
THE HOLIEST SITE IN JUDAISM. ONE OF THE HOLIEST SITES IN CHRISTIANITY.
and this dipshit used it for CAMPAIGN PUBLICITY.
Other news sources report the protester kept up his chant for 10 minutes or so until obamatons began chanting OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA!
They are DEFILING this site with the worship of a false messiah, a secular savior for the masses.
The LORD God is jealous; those who abuse and profane His Name will drink the cup of His wrath.
Psalm 79 A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have given the dead bodies of your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth. 3 They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead. 4 We are objects of reproach to our neighbors, of scorn and derision to those around us. 5 How long, O LORD ? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire? 6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name; 7 for they have devoured Jacob and destroyed his homeland. 8 Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need. 9 Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake. 10 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants. 11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you; by the strength of your arm preserve those condemned to die. 12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times the reproach they have hurled at you, O Lord. 13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Oil prices fell to a seven-week low below $125 a barrel on Thursday amid a view U.S. energy demand has reached a tipping point, sending investors back into Asian stocks for the fourth consecutive day.
A retreat in oil prices and signs of improved confidence in the U.S. financial sector pushed the dollar to a one-month high against the yen.
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Arctic may hold 90 billion barrels of oil, more than all the known reserves of Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Mexico combined, and enough to supply U.S. demand for 12 years, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
One-third of the undiscovered oil is in Alaskan territory, the agency found in a study released today. By contrast, a geologic formation beneath the North Pole claimed by Russian scientists last year probably holds just 1.2 percent of the Arctic's crude, the U.S. report showed.
DRILL! DRILL! DRILL!
Meanwhile, what's going on with all those banks in trouble? Uncle Sam can't save them all, right?
(IsraelNN.com) First it was Citibank. Now it's Barclay's and New York City's Chrysler Building skyscraper. Muslim Arabs are buying out collapsing Western banks and businesses and gaining growing international power, but some Arab investors are worried their investments may go down the drain with the American economy.
The current financial crisis in the United States has spread to other countries because of a massive debt that was not backed by enough real and liquid collateral. Banks and businesses gasping for financial breath are up for sale at basement prices, but no one is certain if the basement is the bottom.
"The possibility remains that more Arab white knights will be brought to rescue ailing financial institutions," wrote Dr. Mohammed Ramady, a former banker and Visiting Associate Professor at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in the Financial Adviser magazine. He said he fears that Arab investors will end up chasing their investments with more money to keep them from going under.
Also known as salvage grocers, stores such as D&K and Amelia's Grocery Outlet work with manufacturers and wholesale distributors to stock name-brand and private-label products no longer sold by traditional supermarkets for a variety of reasons, including discontinued flavors, sizes, logos or promotional labels. The stores also stock discounted groceries close to their recommended sell-by date.
Sales are up 27 percent for the year to date in Amelia's 11 stores, and there has been a 12 percent increase in same-store sales, said Michael Mitchell, Amelia's president.
The Zimbabwean government is struggling to find enough cash to pay its workers, and more importantly the military, after it was forced to cut back on printing money because sanctions have severed its supply of banknote paper from Europe.
Officials involved in the printing say the regime fears the presses could be shut down altogether if further political pressure causes the withdrawal of software licences used to design and print notes.
Let me get this straight: things have gotten so bad there they're actually running out of paper to print money on?!?
Iran is likely to begin receiving advanced S-300 anti-aircraft systems by the end of the year, defense officials said Wednesday.
The S-300 is one of the best multi-target anti-aircraft-missile systems in the world today and has a reported ability to track up to 100 targets simultaneously while engaging up to 12 at the same time.
Iran has already procured several S-300 systems to protect its nuclear facilities although reports have differed as to whether the systems have already been supplied by Russia. The systems will likely be supplied to Iran via Belarus.
(IsraelNN.com) The National Court in Spain has accepted a Palestinian Authority courtsuit that was filed less than a month ago, and orders the arrest of Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. The explanation: He oversaw the killing of arch-Palestinian terrorist Salah Shehada.
The Spanish court has also ordered the arrest of former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon and other IDF officials, both past and present, for the same reason. The arrest orders are to be executed immediately upon the officials' setting foot on Spanish soil.
The Spanish government sympathizes with a terrorist and wants to arrest the guys who took him out? You'll pay, Spain. The LORD doesn't like it when you mess with His people.
Magnitude 6.8 - EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN 2008 July 23 15:26:20 UTC
TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake jolted northern Japan early on Thursday, injuring at least 91 people, trapping hundreds in halted trains and temporarily cutting off electric power to thousands of homes.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said there was no threat of a tsunami from the quake, which struck at 00:26 (10:26 a.m. EDT Wednesday) and had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 and could be felt as far away as Tokyo.
A National Police Agency official said that 91 people were confirmed injured, 15 of whom were seriously hurt. Many were injured in falls or suffered cuts from broken glass. ... "I woke up immediately. It felt like it was shaking for a long time. Books and other things that were piled up fell on the floor. All the doors were open and things were shattered," ShoKoseki, a city official in Hachinohe, about 550 km northeast of Tokyo, told Reuters by telephone.
Koseki said that troops had arrived in the area to assist, and the Defense Agency said that military planes were flying over the area to assess the extent of the damage.
Magnitude 5.3 - ANTARCTICA 2008 July 23 08:12:42 UTC
Magnitude 2.1 - GEORGIA, USA 2008 July 23 09:03:43 UTC
Magnitude 4.4 - ICELAND REGION 2008 July 23 18:35:03 UTC
Magnitude 5.8 - SICHUAN-GANSU BORDER REGION, CHINA 2008 July 23 19:54:45 UTC
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (CNN) -- Hurricane Dolly weakened to a tropical storm Wednesday night after it made landfall on South Padre Island, Texas, leaving a trail of battered buildings and flooding.
By 9 p.m. CT, Dolly's sustained winds had dipped to about 70 mph with higher gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center. A Category 1 hurricane has winds of at least 75 mph. A tropical storm warning remained in effect from Brownsville to Port Aransas, Texas. Tropical storm warnings for other areas were lifted.
The eye of the storm made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on South Padre Island, Texas, about 1 p.m. CT, tearing roofs off homes, flooding streets and sending residents scrambling for safety from wind gusts reaching 120 mph.
I guess I'm jaded after what we've gone through in previous years. None of the video or pictures I saw really impressed me.
MIAMI - Nearly one-fourth of people in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina would refuse to evacuate for a storm if told to, a survey released Wednesday by Harvard University found.
Even after their experience with the hurricane that devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005, 23 percent of people in Katrina-affected areas would not evacuate, the Harvard School of Public Health study found. Overall, 27 percent of coastal residents in eight states agreed.
*headdesk*
What makes me angry is that rescue personnel will have to risk their lives to get these freaks out when the time comes.
Up to 30 hungry and desperate bears have attacked and eaten two men in Russia's wild far eastern region of Kamchatka, and have trapped a group of geologists at their remote site.
The bears - apparently starving - killed the men last Thursday, Russian agencies reported. The bears had surrounded a local platinum mining company. Both victims worked at the mine as security guards.
About 400 geologists and miners are now refusing to return to work, afraid of further attacks. Attempts by local officials to fly to the scene by helicopter and shoot the bears have so far failed, because of bad weather, agencies reported.
(NaturalNews) A newly discovered and highly lethal virus strain begins with symptoms similar to that of a cold but can quickly lead to severe respiratory crisis."This virus has the capability of causing severe respiratory illness in people of all ages, regardless of their medical condition," said John Su, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The virus was discovered by infectious-disease expert David N. Gilbert, who noticed that otherwise healthy patients were being stricken by pneumonia so severe that they would die without oxygen treatment. The dangerous symptoms developed within only one or two days of initial cough and fever symptoms.
For the second time in three weeks, an Arab bulldozer driver from east Jerusalem rammed his construction vehicle into a city bus and several cars on a central thoroughfare in the capital on Tuesday, wounding 15 people before being shot dead by a Druse border police officer and a civilian passerby.
The early afternoon attack on King David Street was seen as a failed copy of July 2's lethal bulldozer rampage on Jaffa Road in which Husam Taysir Dwayat killed three people and wounded dozens before he was killed.
The “Focus on the Family” radio program, founded by prominent conservative Dr. James Dobson, will be inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame despite efforts by homosexual activists to keep it out.
Heard on more than 1,000 stations across the United States by millions of listeners weekly, the 30-minute program is one of the largest and most respected resources for practical, emotional and spiritual support for families in the world.
Its election into the Hall of Fame is the result of online balloting that began in May and ran through July 15 following its nomination earlier this year. The program won in the “national active” category, which includes “active broadcasters who have made at least 10 years of significant contributions to the industry on a national level.”
Dolly spun into a hurricane Tuesday, heading toward the U.S.-Mexico border and the heavily populated Rio Grande Valley, where officials feared heavy rains could cause massive flooding and levee breaks. ... A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of Texas from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and in Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward.
Magnitude 4.3 - KOMANDORSKIYE OSTROVA, RUSSIA REGION 2008 July 22 05:33:11 UTC
Magnitude 5.2 - OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 2008 July 22 08:46:51 UTC
Magnitude 3.1 - SOUTHERN IDAHO 2008 July 22 09:32:52 UTC
Magnitude 4.1 - DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 2008 July 22 13:29:27 UTC
Magnitude 4.1 - OFF THE COAST OF OREGON 2008 July 22 18:30:35 UTC
Magnitude 4.4 - HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN 2008 July 22 19:40:16 UTC
SANTIAGO, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chilean regional authorities Wednesday issued a red alert near the erupting volcano Llaima.
The National Bureau of Emergency (Onemi) said the measure includes the creation of a cordoned zone to protect residents from the 50-meter wide lava flow visible from Cherquenco, some 12 km from the volcano.
According to the Associated Press, the government of Chile has chosen to build three new volcano monitoring centers. Several of the country’s 122 active volcanoes have erupted this year, the most notable event being a sustained eruption of the Chaitén Volcano that started on May 2nd.
After the initial volcanic activity began, approximately 4,500 people were evacuated from the town of Chaitén, which sits at the base of volcano. The eruption lasted through various levels of intensity through July, and several amazing, cool, and intriguing photos depict an electrical storm that occurred one evening directly above the volcano. Currently, a different eruption that commenced on July 2nd within the Llaima Volcano has other Chilean communities on alert.
OLVESTON, Montserrat (AP) - Montserrat's volcano shot towers of gray ash more than a mile (2 kilometers) into the sky Monday, but scientists said there was no cause for alarm.
Two blasts late Sunday and two more early Monday released blistering gases and steam from inside a hardened lava dome topping Soufriere Hills volcano, according to Roderick Stewart, director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory.Wind blowing from the east pushed most of the ash from the 3,000-foot (900-meter) high volcano over open water, said Stewart, adding that there was light ashfall overnight in parts of the British island's west coast hamlet of Old Towne.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A second volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands has erupted in less than a month, shooting steam and ash as high as 20,000 feet into the air, officials said on Tuesday.
The eruption on Mount Cleveland on Chuginadak Island took place 90 miles west of Okmok Volcano where ongoing eruptions since July 12 have captured the attention of scientists and forced nearby residents to evacuate.
The initial eruption on Mount Cleveland, a volcano about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, occurred on Monday, showering ash on nearby fishing vessels, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory, a joint federal-state office that monitors Alaska's plentiful volcanoes.
b. 1979, single Christian outdoorsy geeky conservative traditional woman. High school grad, got bored and miserable and dropped out of college.
Since then, I've worked in clerical jobs, as a pianist, as a janitor, as necessary.
I believe in saying what I mean and meaning what I say, which freaks a lot of people out. LOL.
