Magnitude 1.6 - GEORGIA, USA
2008 July 21 01:12:30 UTC

Magnitude 5.0 - OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
2008 July 21 09:01:04 UTC
Magnitude 6.1 - OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
2008 July 21 11:30:31 UTC
Strong earthquake jolts northern Japan


Obama ban: What not to wear where?

AMMAN, Jordan—An Obama campaign ban on green clothing during the candidate’s visits to Israel and Jordan has created wide puzzlement among observers of the Middle East. In a memo to reporters, described as “a few guidelines we sent staff before departure to the Middle East,” Obama advance staffer Peter Newell laid out rules on attire for Jordan and Israel. First among them: “Do not wear green.”

An Obama aide explained to reporters that green is the color associated with the militant Palestinian group Hamas. But while the color does appear on Hamas banners, there is no particular symbolism to wearing green clothes, experts said. Moreover, green is more generally seen as a symbol of Islam.


Gas under $4? It may be closer than you think

Drivers could see gasoline prices below $4 by Labor Day, and even a nickel decline within days, after oil prices fell again Friday.

In the last four days, oil prices have dropped more than $16 a barrel, as the market looked optimistically at calm weather, U.S.-Iran negotiations, failing bank rescues and lower demand for gasoline.
...
Perhaps by Labor Day we could see gasoline prices back below $4, but we need good news," said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst for the Chicago-based Alaron Trading Group.

The good news must include no big bank failures, no sudden spike in gasoline demand, no tropical storms that endanger oil rigs and no rebel attacks on pipelines in Nigeria.

The Economy: How Bad Can It Get?

As heartening as last week's turnabout in oil prices was, however, the economy is still a long way from healthy. And there could be a lot more stock-market pain to come.

Where do we go from here? Here are the main scenarios most economists and analysts are considering.


USDA Expects Food Prices to Rise Nearly 5 Percent

Food prices have already jumped more than 5 percent this year, and some of the largest food manufacturers say they plan to raise prices again.

From the deli to the dairy aisle, prices are already high and are going to keep going up. The United States Department of Agriculture predicts that all food prices will increase up to an additional 5 percent in 2009.

Kraft Foods, Kellogg's and Tyson all say they may be forced to raise prices on some items by more than 20 percent, citing higher energy costs.

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Deuteronomy 8 (NIV)

Do Not Forget the LORD

1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.