Bertha!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25600629/

MIAMI - Hurricane Bertha has weakened back to a Category 1 storm as it heads toward Bermuda, but it could gain strength in the next 24 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Thursday.

Looks like it's not going to be much of a threat. The worrisome thing is that it formed so close to Africa this early in the season. That's usually where the nasties form in August or September.



Calif. wildfire turns residents into refugees
'You almost feel like somebody is out to get you,' one woman says

OROVILLE, Calif. - A wildfire raging in the Sierra Nevada foothills turned residents into refugees as firefighters worked overnight to keep flames from destroying more homes. Farther south, the National Guard troops deployed with bulldozers to a fire near Santa Barbara — the first military ground troops used in California against a fire in 30 years.

In Northern California, thousands spent another night away from home after fire officials ordered evacuations Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of wind-whipped flames bearing down on the town of Paradise for the second time in just a few weeks.

Sick from Salmonella: Tomatoes May Not Be Culprit
Food Safety Inspectors Broaden Investigation Into What's Causing Illnesses

Federal officials first announced the salmonella illnesses months ago, centering their investigation on certain types of raw tomatoes. Since then, food safety inspectors have traveled to tomato farms in Mexico and Florida as the number of sick people continued to rise.

But instead of homing in on what caused the illnesses over the past few months, inspectors now say that they aren't so sure that tomatoes are the culprit.

Salmonella infects over 1,000; peppers now eyed

WASHINGTON - More than 1,000 people now have become ill from salmonella initially linked to raw tomatoes, a sobering milestone Wednesday that makes this the worst foodborne outbreak in at least a decade. Adding to the confusion, the government is warning certain people to avoid types of hot peppers, too.

Gordon Brown urges end to deadlock as food prices rise again

World leaders today sent out a desperate last-ditch plea to their negotiators to end the deadlock in the long-stalled trade talks and do a deal later this month that would bring down the price of food.

On the day British shoppers were told that the cost of food is rising at the fastest rate for 18 months, Gordon Brown said that the nation's households would benefit by an average of £200 a month from cheaper food bills if the Americans, the European Union, Latin America and South Africa could settle their differences at a meeting in Geneva on July 21.

Food and fuel crises pushing world into 'danger zone', says World Bank

As the head of the World Bank warns world leaders that the planet is entering the "danger zone" with millions thrown into extreme poverty by the twin food and fuel crises, a leaked report from his organisation shows that biofuels have pushed up global food prices by 75 percent - a much bigger role in the disaster than previously thought.

In a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, ahead of next week's G8 summit, and copied to other G8 leaders, World Bank president Robert Zoellick has called on them to act immediately to address the "man-made catastrophe" of soaring food and oil prices.

"What we are witnessing is not a natural disaster - a silent tsunami or a perfect storm. It is a man-made catastrophe and as such must be fixed by people," he said in the letter.

There has been an 82 percent rise in food commodity prices since 2006, with the crisis worsening since April, Mr Zoellick warned.

Biofuels 'caused food price spike'

Biofuels have caused world food prices to go up by 75%, it has been reported. The Guardian said it has seen the figure in a confidential World Bank report which contradicts US government claims that using plants to produce fuel contributes less than 3% to food prices.

Government asks stores to stockpile food to overcome hauliers strike

Ministers are in talks with supermarkets about emergency food reserves in case
fuel protests lead to shortages at shops.

The government wants to ensure retailers and suppliers can continue to sell basics such as meat, bread and milk if hauliers bring the country to a halt.

They have asked supermarkets to make contingency plans “in case the infrastructure of the country breaks down”.

Among those who have taken part are farmers, dairies, bakeries and supermarkets.

This is not some third world banana republic; it's the UK.

If it can happen there, it can happen here.



Fuel oil and kerosene prices fueling worry about winter

PLATTSBURGH -- Soaring heating-oil and kerosene prices have some people shivering with worry well before winter's arrival.

Dave Curry of Peru said he purchased 500 gallons of heating oil from Church Oil at $2.59 a gallon in August 2007. When the company put the last of that oil in his tank in April, he was charged $3.90 a gallon for the last 10.2 gallons used to fill his tank.

Curry said that if heating oil rises to $5 a gallon, as appears likely, it will cost him $2,500 to heat his house next winter, as opposed to $1,300 last winter.

"I don't think people are going to be able to heat their homes. I feel sorry for young families with a mortgage and young mouths to feed."

The unpredicted side effect of the gas crisis-- rising sales of arctic sleeping bags! Well, if I lived up north, I'd be buying them.


New West Nile virus strain may worsen epidemic

The virus infected an estimated 175,000 people last year, the U.S. Centers for disease Control and Prevention reported in its weekly report on death and disease on Thursday.

The mosquito-borne virus caused an estimated 35,000 cases of fever, was reported to have killed 117 people and caused serious disease such as encephalitis and meningitis in 1,227 people in 2007, the CDC reported.

A second team of researchers said a new strain of the virus that has completely overtaken the original strain is particularly well suited to hotter weather -- which in turn means West Nile outbreaks may worsen in the north. It also means that North America may suffer more from West Nile virus than other parts of the world, said Lyle Petersen, who helps lead West Nile surveillance at the CDC.

Want some torture with your peanuts?

Just when you thought you’ve heard it all...A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc. website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers (video also shown below).

This bracelet would:
• Take the place of an airline boarding pass
• Contain personal information about the traveler
• Be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage
• Shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes

The Electronic ID Bracelet, as it’s referred to, would be worn by every traveler “until they disembark the flight at their destination.” Yes, you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential information, and would shock the customer worse than an electronic dog collar if the passenger got out of line.

Yeah, no way THAT could be abused.


A Tax by Any Other Name

For those of you curious as to what type of tax menu Barack Obama might put forth should he become occupant No. 44 of the White House, I present to you the Global Poverty Act.

If you’ve never heard of it, or, if only in passing, you’re not alone. It’s an astounding piece of legislation he has rammed through that, inexplicably, has sidestepped the main spotlight of public scrutiny.

Obama has put his imprimatur on what basically is — but yet not identified as such — a global tax in an attempt to curb worldwide poverty. To be sure, a noble cause — until you read the fine print, which is as subtle as a two-by-four through a casement window.

In essence, the bill — which incidentally passed the House in December by a voice vote — would demand that the president develop "and implement" a policy to "cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015 through aid, trade, debt relief" and other programs.How about through a t-a-x?

Russia Warns of Military Response If U.S.-Czech Missile Defense Agreement Approved

MOSCOW — Russia will be forced to make a military response if the U.S.-Czech missile defense agreement is ratified, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The statement came hours after U.S. and Czech officials reached an initial agreement on deploying elements of a missile defense system in the Eastern European country.

Russia says the system would severely undermine European security balances by weakening Russia's missile capacity.

Release warns of persecution threat against British Muslim converts

A growing number of Christians in Britain from a Muslim background are facing
harassment and persecution, warns Release International.

They include ‘Yasmin’, whose ex-husband planned to kill her. She’s been attacked in the street, driven from her home and was taken under police protection.

Yasmin became a Christian after receiving a vision of Jesus during the difficult birth of her son. She tried to keep her faith a secret from her family, but eventually told her mother.

"When my mother found out I had become a Christian she went to the local mosque and told them that I had gone crazy," Yasmin told Release International, which serves the persecuted church in 30 nations.

"She went to get some holy water to heal me of my madness. A campaign was set up against me; people would come and bang on the door every ten minutes during the night."

More on the "Jesus vision" phenomena in a later post.


Large meteor crosses Israeli skies

A large meteor crossed Israel's skies on Tuesday evening, and was seen by many residents, mainly in the center of the country, Army Radio reported.

According to citizens' reports, the object was seen at approximately 8:15 p.m., as it crossed the sky from east to west horizontally. Some witnesses said they saw two shiny objects in the sky, and others reported that they heard a shrieking sound.

A Petah Tikva resident told Army Radio that he saw a beam of light, which crossed the sky in the direction of the sea. "It looked like a comet, with a long white tail, but much shinier and moving much faster," he said.

Sounds awfully fishy to me...


Iran Launches Nine Test Missiles, Says More Are Ready
U.S. Plays Down Military Showdown

Iran test-fired nine missiles yesterday -- including at least one capable of striking Israel -- and asserted that thousands more are "ready for launch," but Bush administration officials played down the possibility of military action against the Islamic republic and belittled Tehran's claims of progress on its nuclear program.

I wish I weren't thinking what I'm thinking.



Saving Iraq’s Christians
Asking, “Who is my Neighbor?”

A church of martyrs on the cusp of annihilation. That’s the grim reality that Iraq’s beleaguered and vanishing Christian community faces. And it’s no secret, especially after two pillars of establishment journalism — the New York Times and CBS’s 60 Minutes — produced truly shocking accounts of savage persecution right before the Fourth of July.

Britain okays human-pig embryo

A license to create human-pig embryos has been granted in Great Britain. An American professor says the moral and ethical implications of that decision have not been thought out.

There are moral ethics involved, says Dr. Mark Mostert of Regent University. He believes that, in this case, technology has "outstripped our thinking," and contends that the creation of human-animal embryos presents the potential for doing a great deal of harm. "...[W]e've not thought through on a moral and ethical level what this means for the future," he maintains. Plus, he points out that embryo research has not produced results.

UN says 7 Darfur peacekeepers killed in ambush

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — United Nations officials say seven peacekeepers from a joint U.N.-African Union force have been killed and 22 wounded in an attack in Sudan's Darfur region.

Five Rwandan soldiers and two police officers, one from Ghana, the other from Uganda, were killed, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office said Wednesday. At least seven of the wounded were in serious condition.
...
The attackers, a group of about 200 riding horses and driving SUVs mounted with anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, exchanged gunfire for more than two hours with the peacekeeping force that included 61 Rwandan soldiers.

Horses?


Obama Anti-Smear Website Names Alleged Smearers

Who is Behind these Lies?" the campaign asks, then listing a group of names -- David Bossie, Bob Perry, Floyd Brown, Craig Shirley, Bruce Hawkins, and James Lacy -- and organizations that the Obama campaign calls "Smears Inc.," tying them to previous political attacks such as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and the Willie Horton ad.

Interestingly, the Obama campaign fails to connect any of the "Smears" it disproves to any of these charter members of Smears Inc.

Obama opens door to altering his Iraq policy
Democrat says coming trip could change his troop withdrawal plan

FARGO, N.D. - Democrat Barack Obama struggled Thursday to explain how his upcoming trip to Iraq might refine, but not basically alter, his promise to quickly remove U.S. combat troops from the war.

A dustup over war policy — one of the main issues separating the Illinois senator from his Republican opponent, John McCain — overshadowed Obama’s town-hall meeting here with veterans to talk about patriotism and his plans to care for them. Republicans pounced on the chance to characterize Obama as altering one of the core policies that drove his candidacy “for the sake of political expedience.” He denied equally forcefully that he was shifting positions.

Barack Obama may campaign at a NASCAR event

As Barack Obama continues his focus on states that usually vote Republican in presidential elections, word comes that he may campaign at a NASCAR event. Why? Well, to paraphrase a supposed Willie Sutton line that he robbed banks because that's where the money is, if Obama needs white working-class voters in the fall, there are few better places to find them than at a NASCAR event.

Obama's Satyagraha: Or, Did Obama Swallow the Mahatma?

As a political descendant of the civil rights movement and MLK, Obama seems to have swallowed up the Mahatma in whole. Obama like the Mahatma believes in:
· Power of the people to transform society at the grassroots level;
· Social equality and economic empowerment for the poor;
· Unity among different races, creeds and religions;
· Use of non-violence or soft-power to break bread even with your enemies.

Why is any of this important now? Like the Mahatma, Obama is becoming a global symbol of the 'hopes and dreams' of millions around the world. Those who look up to the American ideals, consume American media, and dream American dreams are tuned into this historic election. While Gandhi marked the end of the colonial era, Obama with his multicultural background and upbringing represents the age of globalization. Obama is in an unprecedented historical position to not only be the first African American president, but the first 'global president' of America. Obama's images on T-shirts, magazine covers, and TV screens around the world may be a harbinger of the next American century, if the American people are willing and able to lead it.