Copper slumps 14% on fears of deepening recession

Investors flock to gold, price up

I'm no economist. See, if it were me, I'd be buying copper. Seems like it'd have more practical value in a grid-down end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it situation.

But that's just me.



Trains, water and power may be next in line for a bail-out

The chancellor must take emergency steps to prevent rail, water and power companies going bust in the global economic storm, former cabinet minister Peter Hain has warned.

Hain, the former work and pensions secretary, urged the government to draw up reserve powers that could be used in the event of a major utility collapsing and taking vital services with it. His words follow jitters in the City about the damage a freeze in bank lending could do to some companies that have borrowed heavily to invest in infrastructure.



How we are coping with the crunch

Warmth: As energy bills rise, people are turning to old-fashioned ways of keeping warm. John Lewis says sales of hot water bottles are up 247% compared to this time last year, and sales of electric blankets have risen by 81%. Thermal pants are up by only 5%, though.


[I called it! Back in July.]



The Coming Obama Thugocracy
Attempts to shut down political speech have become routine for liberals.


***

Haniyeh: American Empire is collapsing
Enemies of US exalt in financial crisis wracking Western nations, despite toll it has taken on region. Muslim clerics, al-Qaeda leaders: 'Allah is punishing America'
...
"We are witnessing the collapse of the American Empire," Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister in the Gaza Strip, told worshippers during Friday prayers. "What's going on in America is a result of the violation of the rights of people in Palestine, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Muslims around the world."
...
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a high level Iranian cleric, was more blunt when he addressed worshippers on Oct. 3, describing the situation as God's punishment. "We are happy that the US Economy is in anarchy and the anarchy is reaching Europe," said Jannati. "They are seeing the result of their own ugly doings and God is punishing them."



Nicaragua's Ortega says crisis is God punishing U.S.
MANAGUA (Reuters) - Nicaragua's leftist President Daniel Ortega, a U.S. foe since the Cold War, said God was punishing the United States with the financial crisis for trying to impose its economic principles on poor countries.

"It's incredible that in the most powerful country in the world, which spends billions of dollars on brutal wars ... people do not have enough money to stay in their homes," former Marxist guerrilla Ortega said in a speech late on Thursday.

"God is punishing the United States," for imposing flawed economic policies on developing countries around the world, said Ortega, who first governed Nicaragua in the 1980s when his Sandinista government was locked in a war with U.S.-backed Contra rebels.


[I'm eagerly awaiting howls of outrage from the lefties who think God is all love and peace and never judges anyone. I'm sure they'll speak up any minute now.]




America's eco-kids keep a keen eye on their parents

Sometimes, Jennifer Ross feels she cannot make a move at home without inviting the scorn of her daughters, Grace, 10, and Eliza, 7. The car she drives? A flagrant polluter. The bath at night to help her relax? A wasteful indulgence. The reusable shopping bags she forgot, again? Tsk, tsk.

"I have very, very environmentally conscious children - more so than me, I'm embarrassed to say," said Ross, a social worker in Dobbs Ferry, New York. "They're on my case about getting a hybrid car. They want me to replace all the light bulbs in the house with energy-saving bulbs."

Ross's children are part of what experts say is a growing army of "eco-kids" - steeped in environmentalism at school, in houses of worship, through scouting and even via popular culture - who try to hold their parents accountable at home. Amid their pride in their children's zeal for all things green, the grown-ups sometimes end up feeling like scofflaws under the watchful eye of the pint-size eco-police, whose demands grow ever greater, and more expensive.
...
Douglas and Alison Distefano, of Rumson, New Jersey, who have two children, dubbed their fifth grader, Olivia, "the recycling militant general."

"For us, Earth Day is a reason to go outside," said Distefano, an executive with Soltage, a solar energy company. "But for them it's a religious holiday."




As water level drops at Diamond Valley, rationing becomes more likely


Diamond Valley Lake, the giant regional reservoir in Riverside County, has been called the "jewel" of Southern California when it comes to pleasure boating and bass fishing.

But the jewel has been tarnished by the water woes gripping Southern California.

The water level in the 4,500-acre lake near Hemet is down by nearly 40%, and on Monday the lake's owner, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, will close the boat ramp.



South Florida watering limits to become permanent
Despite recent rains, South Florida's watering restrictions will soon become permanent.

Yep, it rained yet again Thursday. Yep, Lake Okeechobee is back to normal. Yep, flood gates along the coast open every time storms flood South Florida's streets and dump billions of gallons.

Nope, twice-weekly watering restrictions on homeowners aren't going away.
Ever.

Thursday, the South Florida Water Management District's governing board voted 7-1 to make the restrictions year-round in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Monroe and 12 other counties the district oversees.

The rule, intended to reduce suburban water use by 15 percent, faces one more board vote in December before formally taking effect in February.



Bubonic plague: Four Corners health alert as man sickened, prairie dogs dying

A northeast Arizona man has contracted bubonic plague and health agencies are urging Four Corners residents to help prevent the spread of the disease.

The Apache County, Ariz., man who contracted the disease began showing symptoms in late September, the Navajo Nation said, including a 103-degree fever, chills, diarrhea and groin tenderness.
...
The Navajo Nation also said plague likely killed a number of prairie dogs east of Flagstaff, Ariz. There have been no recent reports of plague cases on the Utah side of the Four Corners.

Humans can contract plague by touching bodily fluids of infected animals or after being bitten by fleas that have contracted it from infected rodents, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.




Infectious diseases claim 949 lives in China in Sept.

BEIJING, Oct. 10 (Xinhua)-- China's Ministry of Health on Friday reported 949 deaths from infectious diseases nationwide last month, including a Tibetan couple killed by plague.

The figure was slightly down from 1,023 in August, and no serious outbreak was reported in areas hit by the May 12 earthquake, the ministry said.

In September, more than 340,000 cases of A and B class infectious diseases occurred and claimed 939 lives. Of the 120,000cases of C class infectious diseases recorded, 10 were fatal.



Tainted China water sickens 450

About 450 people have fallen ill in southern China after drinking contaminated water, the Xinhua state news agency says.

Four of the sick, in two villages in Guangxi province, have arsenic poisoning. Industrial waste from a metal company has been blamed.

Residents began to show symptoms of facial swelling, vomiting and blurred vision on 3 October.
Last month, tainted milk left more than 50,000 children sick.




South Africa: Unidentified Disease Kills 3

A mysterious disease that causes internal bleeding killed three people in South Africa over the weekend, prompting health officials to take precautions against any further contagion. The first person to die was a Zambian woman who had been airlifted to Johannesburg for treatment. The paramedic who accompanied her, and a nurse who worked at the clinic where the woman was taken, then succumbed to similar symptoms.

Health officials have speculated that the deaths were caused by Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, which is carried by a species of tick. More than 120 people who came in contact with the three victims are being kept under observation, the authorities said.




100 mph winds pummel Anchorage area
Blackout hits 20,000 people from the Hillside to Peters Creek

Hillside residents woke Friday to find themselves without power to make coffee or use water pumps to take a shower. Many went outside to discover they'd have to chain-saw their way to work. Trees were down across hundreds of driveways across the Hillside, and in Eagle River and Peters Creek to the north. In some places roads were blocked by fallen trees as well. People who could stayed home to start clearing the damage as Chugach Electric workers battled to bring power back on line.

Fifteen thousand of the approximately 20,000 people without power at the height of the storm were back on line by Friday evening, said Chugach spokeswoman Patti Bogan. But linemen were still struggling to clear lines and repair transformers that left 5,000 people powerless. She was hopeful everyone would have their electricity restored by today.




Christians Urge Action Against 'Destructive' Embryology Bill

Pro-life Christian groups are appealing to Christians to pray and take action to stop legislation that will liberalize the abortion law and give the green light to the creation of animal-human hybrid embryos.

The United Kingdom's House of Commons will vote on the Human Fertilization and Embryology (HFE) Bill on Oct. 22 after having passed a second reading in May by a 340 to 78 vote.

Pro-life groups are concerned over provisions in the bill that remove “the need for a father” for children born as a result of In Vitro Fertilization treatment, and that allow the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos for the purposes of research and “savior siblings” to help treat seriously ill brothers and sisters.



Hurricane Norbert Weakens, Nears Mexico Mainland

PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico — Hurricane Norbert swept across Mexico's southern Baja California peninsula on Saturday, tearing off roofs and forcing hundreds of people to flee flooded homes.

It hit land near Puerto Charley on Baja's southwest coast as a Category 2 hurricane, but weakened to Category 1 after emerging over the Gulf of California, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Norbert was expected to reach mainland Mexico sometime before dawn on Sunday.



Almost 100 thousand people affected by rains

Heavy rains, lanslides and floods across Colombia have killed three and forced 97,000 people from their houses, authorities said Saturday.

According to the country's disaster prevention and response center, 43 municipalities in 15 departments were affected by the bad weather and its consequences.





Napa County wildfire forces evacuations of over 100 homes

Residents of more than 100 Napa County homes remained under evacuation orders today as a wildfire just east of St. Helena burned 300 acres of rolling hills scattered with wineries, fire officials said.

More than 1,500 firefighters worked through the night battling the fire, which started at 5:45 p.m. near Deer Park. By 7 a.m. the blaze was 40% contained, said CalFire spokesman Daniel Berlant.

Two structures burned and about 200 homes were threatened.



Swamp wildfire is out

The wildfire that destroyed 4,884 acres of woodland in the Great Dismal Swamp and Wildlife Refuge is out.

The Sept. 25-26 coastal storm that dumped five inches of rain on areas where the fire continued to smolder in recent weeks finally extinguished it, said Chris Lowie, refuge manager. Twice in the days following the storm, on both Oct. 3 and Oct. 7, aerial reconnaissance showed no signs of smoke or fire activity.

The fire, which started from a spark from some logging equipment in use by a private contractor, burned for 121 days. It was the longest-burning fire in Virginia’s history and, with fire costs expected to exceed $11 million, one of the most expensive as well, Lowie said.



Wildfire forces evacuation of homes near Hotchkiss

DELTA — Firefighters from several departments battled a blaze throughout the night on Redlands Mesa near Hotchkiss that covered 80 acres and caused the evacuation of about 30 homes.

Delta County Sheriff Fred McKee said the fire started about 3:30 p.m. Thursday and its origin was not known.

By 8 p.m. Thursday, some residents had been allowed to return to their homes in the areas around 2800 Road and Redlands Mesa Road, according to the Sheriff’s Department.



Catholic Girls' School Bombed in Pakistan

A Catholic-run girls’ school in North-West Frontier Province was bombed Tuesday by Pakistani Taliban.

The Convent Girls’ School was bombed by local Taliban and the school building was destroyed, according to the Catholic Church’s National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP).

No one was killed or hurt because the school, run by Sri Lankan Apostolic Carmelite Sisters, was closed at the time due to threats. The sisters had also vacated the convent.

“We have very grave and deep concerns about the current instability and violence in Pakistan,” said Alexa Papadouris, advocacy director at U.K.-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide, in a statement Wednesday. “We wish to offer our sincere condolences to the victims of terrorism.”

In the past two years, more than 150 girls’ schools have been attacked in the North-West Frontier Province by Pakistani Taliban, the NCJP claims.



Boar Kills Hunter Near Berlin

The Boar War, which has been quietly raging in Germany for months, has claimed its first human victim. Late Wednesday evening in a village not far from Berlin, an enraged and hungry wild boar attacked a hunter, who then bled to death.

Berlin-area boar claims its first human victim.Zoologists have called them Germany's "most dangerous animal." And while wild boars have been terrorizing the German countryside for centuries, in recent months their comfort zone has expanded, with city centers now also falling under their reign of destuction.

This year alone, boars chased a pair of policemen onto a balcony in a suburb of Frankfurt, sent a pensioner to the emergency room in Berlin, and broke into a home improvement storebefore being shot to death at the checkout counter in North Rhine-Westphalia.



Army Orders Pain Ray Trucks; New Report Shows 'Potential for Death'
For $25 Million, Army Buys System That Drives Off Rioters With Microwave-Like Beam


*****

Low intensity quake jolts Srinagar

Successive Quakes in Western Mexico

Magnitude 3.2 - CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
2008 October 09 04:57:10 UTC

Magnitude 5.9 - TONGA
2008 October 09 17:50:02 UTC
Earthquake in Tonga

Magnitude 3.7 - CZECH REPUBLIC
2008 October 10 03:22:03 UTC

GLENFINNAN, HIGHLANDS October 10, 2008 Time: 04:28:39.2 Lat./Lon.: 56.821 -5.563 National Grid: 182.6 km E, 775.6 km N Depth: 14.4
Magnitude: 3.4
Quake shook homes and upset dogs

Magnitude 4.3 - CENTRAL TURKEY
2008 October 10 06:36:56 UTC

Magnitude 4.8 - NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA
2008 October 10 10:30:34 UTC

Magnitude 3.4 - SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
2008 October 10 18:04:00 UTC

Magnitude 5.1 - HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
2008 October 10 18:21:39 UTC

Magnitude 4.1 - NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
2008 October 10 22:13:40 UTC

Magnitude 3.1 - SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
2008 October 10 23:19:10 UTC
3.1 quake strikes near Piedmont

Magnitude 3.0 - ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY REG., QUEBEC, CANADA
2008 October 11 02:47:14 UTC

Magnitude 3.0 - SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
2008 October 11 03:03:05 UTC

Magnitude 4.4 - NORTHERN YUKON TERRITORY, CANADA
2008 October 11 03:21:01 UTC

Magnitude 4.3 - DODECANESE ISLANDS, GREECE
2008 October 11 08:34:31 UTC

Magnitude 5.8 - CAUCASUS REGION, RUSSIA
2008 October 11 09:06:10 UTC
Chechnya Hit By Deadly Earthquake
Death toll in Chechnya earthquake reaches 13
Magnitude 5.3 - CAUCASUS REGION, RUSSIA
2008 October 11 09:22:01 UTC

Magnitude 6.1 - VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
2008 October 11 10:40:16 UTC
Strong quake shakes Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico

Magnitude 5.0 - MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
2008 October 11 12:12:42 UTC

Magnitude 5.4 - KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
2008 October 11 12:23:30 UTC

Magnitude 4.1 - NORTHERN ALASKA
2008 October 11 16:52:33 UTC

Magnitude 3.1 - SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
2008 October 11 19:33:59 UTC
3.0 Quake Strikes Near Idyllwild

Magnitude 5.1 - JAVA SEA
2008 October 11 19:57:29 UTC

Magnitude 3.3 - UTAH
2008 October 12 03:26:01 UTC


'Major quake imminent,' says expert

After Kuwait experienced a series of minor earthquake tremors in recent months, one local seismologist raised concerns of a real possibility of a major quake in the Gulf area and a subsequent devastating tsunami in the Gulf itself.Professor Firyal Bou-Rabee of Kuwait University's Earth and Environmental Sciences Department said last month that the likelihood of such a series of event was a matter of genuine concern for Kuwait and other nations in the region.
...
Speaking to the Kuwait Times this week about her concerns, Professor Bou-Rabee said, "We've noticed a lot of activity in the Hormuz Strait. There have been a series of quakes of increasing magnitude. There's a possibility that this activity may reactivate an old fault.



Eruption of 3 volcanoes has scientists asking questions

How likely is it that three neighboring volcanoes would all erupt at the same time -- as the Kasatochi, Okmok and Cleveland volcanoes in the Aleutians did this summer?

About as likely as a storm that only appears once in a thousand years, says Anchorage volcanologist Peter Cervelli, who'll deliver a paper on the subject this winter to the American Geophysical Union.