ST. LOUIS, Mo (Reuters) – A tornado destroyed 50 to 80 houses and killed at least one person in an Arkansas town on Monday and floods caused at least three deaths in the state as storms continued to lash the region, authorities said.
In Missouri, a warning of imminent failure for a levee on the Black River in the southeast part of the state prompted the mandatory evacuation of about 1,000 people.
In Vilonia, Arkansas, a town of some 3,000 people north of Little Rock, one death was confirmed and between 50 to 80 houses were destroyed by a tornado, according to Faulkner County emergency management. Police reported a path of destruction half a mile wide.
Law enforcement officials said there was another fatality in Washington County in northwest Arkansas from a drowning when a woman was swept away by rapidly moving water. The Madison County Sheriff's Office also said an elderly couple died after they were swept away in their car as War Eagle Creek rose in northern Arkansas on Monday afternoon.
The storms and flooding were the latest in the violent weather that has pummeled much of the mid-South this month. Two weeks ago at least seven people died from tornadoes in Arkansas, as more than 47 people died as storms tore a wide path from Oklahoma all the way to North Carolina.
Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe on Monday declared a state of emergency in response to tornadoes and flooding, which have caused problems on a number of roads and highways.
On Interstate 40 near Morrilton, vehicles were blown off the road, according to Arkansas State Police.
They said a church was destroyed at Morgan, Arkansas, just northwest of Little Rock. One tornado struck Little Rock Air Force Base, with initial reports indicating at least four homes in base housing were damaged. More than 100,000 people were without power in the state, authorities said.
In Missouri, water was topping the Black River levee at several points, which may lead to a failure of the levee system between the city of Poplar Bluff and the town of Qulin, the National Weather Service said on Monday.
County officials evacuated about 500 structures in the southeastern part of Poplar Bluff, which has about 17,000 residents.
Flood warnings on Monday prompted evacuations of hundreds of people in Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri following days of rain that led to rivers cresting over the flood stage, according to forecasters.
"The ground is very saturated -- there are areas with 9-10 inches of rain," said Mike O'Connell, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Public Safety.
He said some local roads are flooded in southern Missouri, and drivers were being warned not to go past barriers.
NATIONAL GUARD IN ACTION
Governor Jay Nixon activated the Missouri National Guard on Monday to help in areas hit by flooding.
Nixon also criticized U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to intentionally breach Birds Point levee along the Mississippi River in southeastern Missouri. He said that would affect hundreds of families and "pour a tremendous amount of water into 130,000 acres of prime farmland."
A spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers was not immediately available for comment.
The Black River is expected to rise higher than it did in 2008 when heavy rains caused widespread flooding, according to the National Weather Service in Little Rock.
Portions of two state parks in northwest Arkansas were closed due to the rising of the river. Many schools in northeastern Arkansas also closed Monday because of flooding.
Parts of Utica in southern Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky, also had flooding, according to Mike Callahan, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Louisville.
"This is the worst flooding we've had since 1997," he said.
Callahan said more flooding was reported in western Kentucky and southern Illinois. People who live along the Ohio River near Louisville started leaving their homes ahead of the flood late last week, and some roads around the city were closed, he said.
Bill Davis, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Springfield, Missouri, expects problems to be especially bad along the Taneycomo River in southwest Missouri.
"It's only (going) to get worse over the next couple of days," said Davis. "There's going to be more water on top of water."
(Writing by Mary Wisniewski; Additional reporting by Susan Guyett and Suzi Parker; Editing by Greg McCune and Jerry Norton)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
FEMA - National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE 2011)
FEMA - http://www.fema.gov/media/fact_sheets/nle2011_fs.shtm
National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE 2011) is scheduled for May 2011. The purpose of the exercise is to prepare and coordinate a multiple-jurisdictional integrated response to a national catastrophic event.
NLE 2011 is designated as a Tier I National Level Exercise. Tier I exercises (formerly known as the Top Officials exercise series or TOPOFF) are conducted annually in accordance with the National Exercise Program (NEP), which serves as the nation’s overarching exercise program for planning, organizing, conducting and evaluating national level exercises. The NEP was established to provide the U.S. government, at all levels, exercise opportunities to prepare for catastrophic crises ranging from terrorism to natural disasters.
NLE 2011 is a White House directed Congressionally-mandated exercise that includes the participation of all appropriate federal department and agency senior officials, their deputies and staff; and key operational elements. NLE 2011 will focus on regional catastrophic response and recovery activities between federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector participants.
NLE 2011 activities will take place at command posts, emergency operation centers and other locations to include federal facilities in the Washington D.C. area and federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector facilities in the eight member states of the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC). The eight member states of CUSEC encompass four different FEMA regions: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee (FEMA Region IV); Illinois and Indiana (FEMA Region V); Arkansas (FEMA Region VI); and Missouri (FEMA Region VII).
The functional exercise offers agencies and jurisdictions a way to test their plans and skills in a real-time, realistic environment and to gain the in-depth knowledge that only experience can provide. Participants will exercise response and recovery functions that are critical to responding to a catastrophic event. Lessons learned from the exercise will provide valuable insights to guide future planning for disasters and other emergencies.
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE 2011) is scheduled for May 2011. The purpose of the exercise is to prepare and coordinate a multiple-jurisdictional integrated response to a national catastrophic event.
NLE 2011 is designated as a Tier I National Level Exercise. Tier I exercises (formerly known as the Top Officials exercise series or TOPOFF) are conducted annually in accordance with the National Exercise Program (NEP), which serves as the nation’s overarching exercise program for planning, organizing, conducting and evaluating national level exercises. The NEP was established to provide the U.S. government, at all levels, exercise opportunities to prepare for catastrophic crises ranging from terrorism to natural disasters.
NLE 2011 is a White House directed Congressionally-mandated exercise that includes the participation of all appropriate federal department and agency senior officials, their deputies and staff; and key operational elements. NLE 2011 will focus on regional catastrophic response and recovery activities between federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector participants.
Exercise Focus
NLE 2011 will simulate the catastrophic nature of a major earthquake in the central United States region of the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). The year 2011 is the bicentennial anniversary of the 1811 New Madrid earthquake, for which the NMSZ is named. NLE 2011 will be the first NLE to simulate a natural hazard.NLE 2011 activities will take place at command posts, emergency operation centers and other locations to include federal facilities in the Washington D.C. area and federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector facilities in the eight member states of the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC). The eight member states of CUSEC encompass four different FEMA regions: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee (FEMA Region IV); Illinois and Indiana (FEMA Region V); Arkansas (FEMA Region VI); and Missouri (FEMA Region VII).
Exercise Objectives
Through a comprehensive evaluation process, the exercise will assess response and recovery capabilities both nationally and regionally. The exercise is designed to validate the following capabilities:- Communications
- Critical resource logistics and distribution
- Mass care (sheltering, feeding and related services)
- Medical surge
- Citizen evacuation and shelter-in-place
- Emergency public information and warning
- Emergency operations center (EOC) management
- Long term recovery
Validating the Homeland Security System
Exercises such as NLE 2011 are an important component of national preparedness, helping to build an integrated federal, state, tribal, local and private sector capability to manage a catastrophic event; and rapidly and effectively respond to and recover from any major disaster that occurs.The functional exercise offers agencies and jurisdictions a way to test their plans and skills in a real-time, realistic environment and to gain the in-depth knowledge that only experience can provide. Participants will exercise response and recovery functions that are critical to responding to a catastrophic event. Lessons learned from the exercise will provide valuable insights to guide future planning for disasters and other emergencies.
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
Last Modified: Friday, 28-Jan-2011 11:54:34 EST
Petrol keeps on climbing
Article By: Phakamile Hlubi
Tue, 26 Apr 2011 2:56 Iafrica.com News - http://business.iafrica.com/news/724129.html
South Africa
More bad news for motorists, the petrol price is set to increase even further next week.
The Automobile Association (AA) said a litre will cost no less than 20 cents more while diesel is expected to rise by around 14 cents.
Economist Chris Hart said this will be felt in other parts of the economy.
"We have been quite lucky in the sense that the rand-dollar exchange rate has been strong and this has mitigated the increase to some extent," said Hart.
Colombia's 'worst' natural disaster
April 26, 2011
Posted by Weather Online - http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-app/reports?ARCHIV=0&LANG=en&MENU=207&FILE=b1.txt&DAY=20110426
BOGOTA, April 25, 2011 (AFP) - Colombia faces its worst natural disaster on record due to the effects of relentless heavy rain that has been pounding most of Colombia this year, President Juan Manuel Santos said late Monday. The heavy rain, triggered by the La Nina weather phenomenon, has killed at least 69 people in April alone, bringing the total death toll to at least 90, officials said. "It's as if our territory had been struck by a hurricane that arrived last year and does not want to leave," Santos said in an address to the nation. "This is without doubt the worst natural tragedy of our history," he said, as he called for "national unity" to face the disaster. The heavy rain has caused damage in 28 of the country's 32 departments, and has blocked 16 major roads due to landslides. Some have collapsed entirely.
Three million people have been affected by the heavy rains since 2010, Santos said. This month at least 36 people have been wounded and eight are missing, while another 98,000 were injured and 183 homes were destroyed by effects of the rain. That brings the total this year to 15 missing and 208,581 people affected by the disaster, according to the Interior and Justice Ministry. In 2010 more than 300 people were killed by the effects of heavy rain. Santos said that work scheduled to alleviate the effects of the first round of heavy rain in 2010 has not proceeded because there has been no pause in the rain, so the government has focused instead on emergency aid. Police are focusing on rescue, evacuation, food distribution, security at shelters, manning state roads and other emergencies, according to a statement from the police directorate. Some 160,000 Colombian police officers and 52 aircraft are participating in emergency operations.
More than 900,000 hectares (2.22 million acres) of land have been ravaged by rising rivers that overflowed, according to government figures. The Colombian government has provided victims $176 million in aid.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sicko 1 of 13
A must see - Titled - Sicko - The health care in America and what Americans are going through. As the title of the clips says it, it is sickening to the stomach!
SICKO CLIP Linda Pino admits denying Health Care & Man Dies
The Health Care Bill and what it does NOT DO for you!!!
Our current day earthquakes, wars, famines and how it is prophesied of in Matthew 24 - the Birth pangs and the final stage
The 3 Levels of "Birth pangs" Have we entered into the final stage?
by Ricky Scaparo on Monday, March 21, 2011 at 2:42am
Matthew 24:
3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows
ōdin
the pain of childbirth, travail pain, birth pangs
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Jesus tells us in this passage in Matthew 24 that the signs preceeding his return would be compared to "Birthpangs" in a woman who is about to give birth to a child. I commented on this process of child birth in several other articles I have previously written, however I wanted to emphasize the process of "Birthpangs" until the child is delivered.
There are 3 Levels of "Birthpangs" in delivery
1- The early phase:
During this early phase of labor, you may feel excited and nervous now that the moment that you have been waiting for has finally come. This phase typically lasts around half of the time of labor, so it gives you the chance to telephone people, get your partner back from the golf course or supermarket, and hunt down the crossword you didn't finish this morning.
You may want to rest, walk, shower, or eat lightly. It is very important to keep hydrated. You may experience leaking of amniotic fluid or 'show', the expulsion of the plug which may be stained with blood that has kept the cervix sealed.
Contractions in early labor become regular in their occurrence, from 10 to 20 minutes apart and lasting 30 to 60 seconds. Contractions are measured from the beginning of one to the beginning of the next
I believe we entered this phase of Labor Pains after 1948 after Israel became a Nation.
Ezekiel 36:8-12, 37:21
Speaking to the Land God said,
“You, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. I will cause people, my people Israel, to walk upon you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children.
And to the people,This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.
Although Ezekiel wrote these words while the Israelites were in Babylon, they were not fulfilled in the nation’s return from exile there. Like Isaiah before him (Isaiah 11:11) Ezekiel was speaking of the second and final return. Therefore in 1948, when Israel took its place among the nations of the world again for the first time in nearly 2000 years, students of prophecy recognized the fulfillment of the primary sign that the end of the age was upon us. Jesus said that some from the generation being born when this happened would still be alive when He returned (Matt. 24:34). Both Psalm 90:10 and Isaiah 23:15 hint that an average Biblical life span is 70 years. Since 62 years have passed since Israel became a nation again after being absent for nearly 1900 years, students of prophecy have cause to believe that the end of the age is upon us and thus began the “Birth Pangs of the Messiah”.
2- The active phase:
Active labor is the next phase, and you will notice a change when you hit this stage. Contractions become regular and form a pattern of increasing frequency. You will do best if you are able to relax and concentrate on what your body is doing. Stay active, just as it is called. Relax during your contractions, with simple, regular breathing patterns. They will not stop with change of movement or position and they become progressively stronger.
Keep moving and changing positions, using gravity positive postures. Discomfort can often be helped by body positions that allow gravity to speed dilation, such as walking, squatting, kneeling forward on a chair or birth ball, or lying on your side. This will help the baby move down in the pelvis faster and less painfully. It is noted that the "Breaking of the Water" will tke lace in either this stage or the final stage prior to the birth.
I believe we entered this phase of Labor Pains after 1967 when Jerusalem became the capitol of Israel.
Luke 21:24
They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
The Lord prophesied that the reunification of Jerusalem as a Jewish City would be a sign that foreign (gentile) influence over His land, and indeed the world, was about to end (Luke 21:24). Fulfillment of this prophecy began in 1967, and scholars saw it as another major sign that the End of the Age had begun. The almost world wide effort to take the city apart again is in essence a battle of wills. Nearly every Israeli leader has stood firmly on a pledge to keep Jerusalem united forever as Israel’s capital, but the unbelieving leaders of the world are just as resolutely determined to divide it.
The Lord said that at the End of the Age He will make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling, an immovable rock for all nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. (Zechariah 12:2-3) This past year much of the attack against Israel has been focused on Jerusalem. American leaders, traditionally some of Israel’s most loyal allies, have publicly called East Jerusalem occupied territory and demanded that no more Jewish homes be built there. They’ve even tried unsuccessfully to halt construction in undisputed neighborhoods. Throughout the year the European Union has pushed for an official declaration dividing Jerusalem to make way for a future Palestinian State to have part of the city as its capital. And several Middle Eastern and South American countries are said to be working with the Palestinians to introduce a UN resolution that will unilaterally declare a Palestinian state in the Promised Land, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Behind all this of course is a spiritual battle of massive proportions. While there’s no doubt as to the outcome, the battle continues to be a fierce one.
Jerusalem will not really be free of Gentile “trampling” until the Lord returns. Daniel’s prophecy that Gentile Dominion would not end until the Lord establishes His kingdom (Daniel 2:36-45), Zechariah’s prophecy of the city being captured and divided just before the Lord’s return (Zech. 14:2), and John’s observations in Rev. 11:1-2 of the gentiles trampling the outer court of the Temple during the Great Tribulation all confirm this. But even so, the fact that Jerusalem is back in Jewish hands is another big sign that the End is coming soon.
In fact Israel is the biggest piece of the prophetic timepiece when it comes to Biblical prophecy. What takes place in the U.S or other places in the world is significant but nowhere on the scale of what happens to Israel. Jesus reveals this to the disciples in Matthew 24 and Luke 21.
Luke 21:
29 Then He spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. 31 So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.
The fig tree was used as a picture of Israel not without a cause. As early as in the Old Testament, figs were identified with the nation of Israel by the prophets. Hosea wrote: ‘I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness, I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree in her first time" (Hosea 9:10). Jeremiah received the vision of two baskets of figs, which represented Israel: "Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah" (Jer. 24:5).
How soon was Christ’s prophecy fulfilled about the withering of the symbolic fig tree to be fulfilled?. In the year 70 A.D. the temple was destroyed. No longer was there a place to offer sacrifices, the opportunity to serve the Lord according to the precepts of the Law thus ended. Jerusalem fell into ruin, and the whole nation was expelled from their own land and dispersed throughout the world. Speaking about the time of his Kingdom approaching, Christ again turns his disciples’ attention to the fig tree. "Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth his leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door". (Matt. 24:32, 33)
It should be observed that this parable was uttered on the same day when the barren fig tree was cursed. Therefore it would be difficult to assume that when Christ told them to watch for signs taking place on that very kind of a tree, it was merely accidental. These two events constitute one whole. As a result of the rejection of the Messiah on the part of the Jews, during his first advent, God’s favor was turned away from them, as shown in the withered tree. Whereas, the softening of the branches and the bringing forth of leaves represents the return of favor to this nation during the time of the establishment of the Kingdom in Christ’s Second Advent. Let us, then, carefully observe this symbolic fig tree.
Some other interesting passages giving us clues to the timing of the Lord’s return is in the following verses:
Psalm 102:16-18
16 For the LORD shall build up ( Restore to its original state ) Zion; ( Jerusalem )
He shall appear in His glory.
17 He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,
And shall not despise their prayer.
18 This will be written for the generation to come, ( In Hebrew means the last of the last generation )
That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.
Acts 3:19-21
19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began
Now when we put all these puzzle pieces together and look at the big picture we can see that why I believe the generation that was born after 1967 is the generation that very well could be the generation that will see the Lord return in his Glory (Psalm 102). And here is why if Israel is the Fig Leaf and the generation that sees Jerusalem be built up or restored, and Peter said in Acts chapter 3 that Heaven is restraining Jesus from returning until the restoration of all things spoken of by the prophets is fulfilled than how close are we considering that 7 major prophecies concerning Israel have been fulfilled:
- Israel would be restored as a nation in one day.
Isaiah 66:7-8. Zechariah 3:9. Hosea 3:4-5
Israel’s restoration process began during the 1800’s with the birth of the Zionist movement, but it was manifested to the world on may 14-15, 1948.
2- The land would begin to blossom and be fruitful.
Isaiah 35:1.-8. Isaiah 27:6.
Ben Gurion goals was to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah and make the desert blossom with vegetation. In 1953 at age 67, Ben Gurion resigned as prime minister of Israel to pursue his dream. This former Israeli leader and his wife, Paula moved into a 3 room wooden prefab hut at SDE Boker in the desolate Negev Desert. It was dry, empty sun baked landscape. Years later, Beersheba, the hometown Abraham, became a large town, and today more than 54 farms are scattered throughout a region called the Arabah the Negev and the southern part of Israel- producing tomatoes, peppers, melons, and a host of fruits and vegetables. Today the desert is blooming.
3- Water would break out in the desert for irrigation.
Isaiah 35: 6-7. Isaiah 41:18.
Ben-Gurion and other early Israeli settlers were also responsible for laying water pipelines to assist in irrigation. Years later, U.S satellites discovered a huge reservoir of water under the desert, which today is pumped out and is the lifeblood used in the drip irrigation process, enabling the desert to blossom with agricultural life.
4- Jerusalem would be in Jewish hands and expand its borders.
Psalms 102:16.
In 1967, Egyptian military forces, headed by Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, threatened Israel and were planning an attack. Israel preempted the assault with an air campaign, destroying Egypt’s air force while the planes were still on the runway. During this 6 day war involving Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, Israeli paratroopers seized the eastern (Arab) half of Jerusalem. At this time, this section was known as the country of Transjordan. At the conclusion of the war, Israel annexed both east and west Jerusalem together, forming a united Jerusalem under Israeli control. At the moment Jerusalem was united as one city without walls and became the long promised capital of Israel.
5- Jews from gentile nations outside Palestine would return back to Israel.
Isaiah 43:5-6. Jeremiah 16:14-16.
From 1948-1967 Jews continually immigrated to Israel from surrounding nations; the Russian Jews living behind the iron curtain were forbidden visas to exit the communist stronghold. In the latter part of the 1980’s with the approval of Michal Gorbachev, Jews received visas to return from the north country of the Soviet Union back to Israel. Thus fulfilling the promises God gave them through Jeremiah and Isaiah thousands of years ago.
6- The early and latter rains would return in the last days.
Hosea 6:3. Joel 2:23. Amos 4:7.
In the early 1990’s there was a sudden return of the physical rains that soaked the soul of Israel, thus replenishing and nourishing the farmland, the deserts, and the upper Golan Heights, as the windows of heaven were opened, once dry riverbeds were flowing with fresh water. It was a sign of the return of the latter rains upon the land.
7- The walls of Jerusalem would be rebuilt by strangers and the gates open continually.
Isaiah 60:1-11.
Today the old city of Jerusalem is shared by the world’s 3 monotheistic religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Out of the 8 gates built in the walls of the old city, only one, the eastern gate remains sealed with large stones. All other gates are opened to citizens and visitors. Children are seen strolling along the streets continually amidst noisy buses and cars, occasionally darting in and out of the crowd that fills avenues throughout the day.
3- The transition phase:
Though labor may be difficult at this point, you are getting close as you enter that final phase of stage one, known as transition. Transition, or the turning point right before birth is the hardest and most intense. It is also the shortest of the 3 stages,
You will have a contraction every two minutes or so and each one will last a minute or more. You may at this point decide to yell and holler. The tried and true method is to squeeze your partner's hand until he is yelling too, or to tell him what a bastard he is for getting you in this condition.
This is your body's last effort to open the cervix fully to allow for birth. Your hormones are working with your baby's at full speed to prepare for delivery. Once you have dilated to 10 cm, you will begin taking an active participating role in what your body is doing.
I believe in 2001 we entered the final stages of Labor Pains.
I believe The horrible events of September 11, 2001 were not only a tragic day for United States history but on a grand scale of things prophetically, I believe it thrusted us into the final stages or “Birth Pangs” of the Messiah. Since this day nearly 10 years ago we are getting closer and closer to the merging of a Global Government, Increase of Disasters and the focus is once again slowly coming back to the Middle Eastern region where all the end time activity will emerge. We have now entered into a new war with Libya that no one really knows will turn out or how bad will escalate? However one thing is for sure according to what Jesus said in Matthew 24.
Matt. 24:6-8
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
When you include places like Korea where a truce is in place but the war isn’t over, there are currently 70 active wars in the world, with 200 other “hot spots” smoldering. with recent uprisings taking place in Egypt, North Africa and the Tunisian government falling. Libya now in chaos and is now in a war with the United States, and other allies. Saudi Arabia is on edge with building concerns of uprising in this region, Iran’s population being predominately 30 years of age and younger many of the youth are rising up in revolt against the Ayatollahs and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Earthquakes are continuing to run well above normal with major quakes (7.0-7.9 on the Richter scales) achieving 140% of their 15 year USGS average during 2010. And has shown no let up in the New Year with the recent Earthquakes striking in New Zealand killing multitudes and the recent Mega Quake of 9.0 that struck in Japan sparking a Tsunami and killing potentially tens of thousands.
But many experts say the big story in the birth pangs area for 2011 could be famine. According to the World Bank, in the last 6 months world wheat and corn prices have risen 57%, rice and sugar are up 45% and 55% respectively and soybeans are at their highest price in 16 months. This is mostly due to shortages caused by crop failures in various places. When prices go up due to shortages the limited supplies go to markets that can pay. Those who can’t are left out. When only luxuries are involved nobody cares, but when its basic things like flour and rice, people begin dying. Already 1 out of every 6 people in the world go to bed hungry every night. Experts have said it would only take one or two years of poor crop production to bring a serious famine to the world. Many are concluding that 2010 was a bad year and 2011 won’t be any different.
Climatologists say weather is becoming a more unpredictable factor with average temperatures on a steady decline that could last 30 months or more. This has already begun to effect crop production in northern climates with shorter growing seasons. Further compounding the problem, energy prices are once more on the rise with oil expected to top $100 per barrel again before spring (It’s at $91 now). Energy cost is a factor in everything we buy, including food. All things considered 2011 could well become known as the year the famines began.
The Lord said these birth pangs would be the early warning signs of the approaching End of the Age, The consensus from the professionals seems to be that things aren’t going to get better any time soon and could likely get much worse by the end of 2011. In fact if we take a look at what has happened just in the first 3 months of the year I think we can only assume it is going to be a rough ride the rest of this year.
January 11 – Flooding and mudslides in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro kill more than 800
January 14 – 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests: The Tunisian government falls after a month of increasingly violent protests; President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali flees to Saudi Arabia after 23 years in power
January 24 – At least 36 people are killed and more than 100 others wounded in a bombing at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia
February 11 – 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns after widespread protests calling for his resignation, leaving control of Egypt in the hands of the military until a general election can be held
February 22 - March 14 – The uncertainty of continued Libyan oil output causes crude oil prices to rise 20% over a two week period following the 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests
The 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the Canterbury region in New Zealand's South Island at 12:51 pm on 22 February 2011 local time (23:51 21 February UTC), causing widespread damage and multiple fatalities. The earthquake was centred 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) west of the town of Lyttelton, and 10 kilometres (6 mi) south-east of the centre of Christchurch, New Zealand's second-most populous city.It followed nearly six months after the 7.1 magnitude 2010 Canterbury earthquake that caused significant damage to the region but no direct fatalities.
At least 166 people had been confirmed dead as of 17 March 2011, with the final death toll expected to be around 182 making the earthquake the second-deadliest natural disaster recorded in New Zealand
March 11 – A 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami hits the city of Sendai, in the Miyagi Prefecturate of Japan causing over 7000 deaths with 20,000 missing from several towns. Tsunami warnings are issued in 50 countries and territories. Emergencies are declared at four nuclear power plants affected by the quake (Fukushima I nuclear accidents, Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant).
March 17 – The United Nations take a vote on a no-fly zone over Libya. The resolution is passed with ten for, five abstained, and none against.
March 18 – After threats of a British air strike, the Libyan Loyalist government declared an immediate ceasefire with the Anti-Gaddafi forces
March 19 – In light of the continuing attacks on Libyan rebels by Gaddafi forces, military intervention authorized under UNSCR 1973 began as French fighter jets flew reconnaissance flights over Libya. United States Navy ships were said to be preparing for bombardment of Libyan air defenses
It may be true for the world that things will get much worst but we’re told to walk by faith not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7) because our citizenship is in Heaven and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20). When we see these things begin to take place we’re to stand up and lift up our heads because our redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:28). These promises have never been truer than they will be in 2011.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Quake hits Solomons
Sat, 23 Apr 2011 7:59
Iafrica.com News - http://news.iafrica.com/worldnews/723787.html
A strong 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Solomon Islands on Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake hit at 3.16pm (4.16am GMT) at a depth of 81 kilometres and centred 171 kilometres southeast of the capital Honiara.
Residents on the mainland said they felt a sharp jolt but emergency services said there was no immediate evidence of damage although reports were still being sought from outlying islands.
The Solomons lay in the "Pacific ring of fire", a highly active earthquake zone, and regularly experiences strong tremors.
Iafrica.com News - http://news.iafrica.com/worldnews/723787.html
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake hit at 3.16pm (4.16am GMT) at a depth of 81 kilometres and centred 171 kilometres southeast of the capital Honiara.
Residents on the mainland said they felt a sharp jolt but emergency services said there was no immediate evidence of damage although reports were still being sought from outlying islands.
The Solomons lay in the "Pacific ring of fire", a highly active earthquake zone, and regularly experiences strong tremors.
Friday, April 22, 2011
22nd April 2011 - the past weeks report and news from Israel
Out of Zion Ministries is under the spiritual covering of Kehilat HaCarmel (Carmel Assembly),
Pastor Mike Fryer & Motte Sircus
The CARMEL ALERT April 22nd 2011
A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for the Restoration of Israel & the Jewish People
Pastor Mike Fryer & Motte Sircus
The CARMEL ALERT April 22nd 2011
A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for the Restoration of Israel & the Jewish People
THIS WEEKS NEWS REPORTS
1. IDF Captures Killers of the Fogel Family The Israeli army on Sunday confirmed the recent arrest of two young Palestinian Arabs for the March 11 slaughter of the Fogel family in the northern Samaria Jewish community of Itamar. An army spokesman told Israel Radio that 18-year-old Hakem Awwad and 19-year-old Amjad Awwad confessed to the murders of Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their young children, and that they showed absolutely no remorse for their crime. Reenacting the murder, the young suspects told security officials that they infiltrated Itamar at around 9 PM armed with knives. They proceeded to enter a home that was empty and stole an M-16 rifle that they found there. The killers then broke into the Fogel home, found the bedrooms of 11-year-old Yoav Fogel and 4-year-old Elad Fogel and stabbed them to death. They then entered the parents' bedroom, where they struggled with and overcome Udi and Ruth Fogel. After exiting the house, Amjad told officials that he could not resist the urge to go back in and kill 3-month-old Hadas Fogel, who was left crying amidst her parents' blood. Amjad also said that had he known there were two other children sleeping in the house, he would have killed them, too.
Following the attack, the youths returned to their nearby village and informed various family members of their villainous deed. An uncle helped hide the knives, burn the bloody clothes and get rid of the M-16 rifle they had stolen. Other family members helped cover up the murder in other ways. Security officials believe the Awwad boys acted on their own volition, and were not following the orders of an established terrorist organization, though they were widely praised by such organizations. Israel has been facing an increasing phenomenon of young Arabs engaging not only in stone throwing, but cold-blooded murder. Security officials and Israeli lawmakers have attributed the trend to poor parenting, to put it lightly, and have noted that Palestinian parents are more often than not ready to help their children cover up such crimes, rather than discipline them. It is also important to note that Palestinian society views the killers of Israeli Jews, and especially Israeli "settlers," as national heroes, increasing the motivation to engage in such violence.
2. More Missiles From Gaza Israel Today News Apr 17th Palestinian terrorists operating out of the Gaza Strip fired two Grad missiles at the southern Israel port city of Ashdod on Friday, causing damage but no injuries. While attacks from Gaza have slowed down over the past week, they have not ceased, and many Israelis living in the south of the country continue to spend days at a time in local bomb shelters. Over the weekend, the Israeli army released aerial surveillance videos showing Gaza terrorists firing missiles from crowded public areas and even from places of worship. The goal is to either discourage an Israeli response, or to use the subsequent damage to civilian structures to elicit public condemnation of Israel. Despite these cynical tactics, Israeli officials said they will not tolerate continued missile attacks on communities in southern Israel. In other violence, a Jewish man was lightly wounded late Saturday night when the Arab residents of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan stoned his vehicle. The man was evacuated to a local hospital for treatment. On Friday, an Israeli Border Police officer was injured when a protester along Israel's "West Bank" security fence hit the officer in the face with a stone.
3. Palestinian State By September ? Israel Today's News Apr 15th Israelis are growing anxious over the international community’s renewed rush to impose a peace settlement on Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. And the world’s impatience is being fueled by Palestinian threats to unilaterally declare statehood in September, even in the absence of a final status peace deal. Palestinian leaders have publicly announced that they will declare independence in September and seek UN recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state. “The admission of Palestine as a member t the United Nations has become an inevitable reality in September next,” Israeli Arab lawmaker Ahmed Tibi told Palestinian Authority reporters on Tuesday. Before he became an Israeli Knesset member, Tibi was an advisor to former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The UN itself on Tuesday suggested Tibi’s assessment is more than wishful thinking when it declared that the Palestinian Authority is capable and ready to function as an independent state, and is only being held back by the “Israeli occupation.” At a donors meeting in Brussels a day later, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, together with representatives of nations that regularly finance the Palestinian Authority, agreed with the UN. “The PA is above the threshold for a functioning state in key sectors,” said the donor nations. They urged the Palestinians to achieve independence via a peace deal with Israel, but signalled they will not oppose a unilateral declaration of independence.
With that kind of backing, Israeli offocials estimate that even America won’t be able to prevent the birth of Palestine in the halls of the UN later this year. “[US President Barack] Obama wants a Palestinian state and although the US is not interested in a unilateral declaration, it would be hard for it to stand alone in the General Assembly and vote against it,” an Israeli official told Israel’s Ynet news portal. Another official noted that the US had blocked previous attempts to advance a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence, but that it had only slowed down what has now become an unstoppable trend.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians see all of this and know they can now play hardball and stick to even their most outrageous demands. Compromise is off the table as far, as they are concerned. “The [Obama] administration has started to realize the situation in the Mideast is dangerous,” Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah told Reuters. “It’s time for the American administration to move before September.” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her government is already on the job, and that Obama can be expected to launch a new peace initiative in the coming weeks. Obama’s previous high-profile efforts to jump-start the Middle East peace process were foiled by the Palestinians' refusal to negotiate with Israel. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly working on his own peace proposal, but it is expected to be rejected by the international community if it veers from established Arab demands. 4. Iran Supplying Hamas With Ready-to go Rockets Ha Aretz News Apr 16 Iran is manufacturing special missiles for Hamas that can be smuggled through tunnels into the Gaza Strip, according to the report of a conversation between Israel Defense Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Harel and U.S. ambassador to Israel James Cunningham. A cable on the discussion, which also involved senior officials of the U.S. State Department and Defense Department who came to Israel in February 2009, was sent from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv on February 19 and is part of the WikiLeaks documents Haaretz is exclusively reporting. Harel, who has meanwhile retired from the IDF, spoke at the meeting about Katyusha, Grad and Fajr rockets. The Katyusha was originally manufactured in the former Soviet Union, and was developed before World War II. It comes in diameters of 107 millimeters and 122 millimeters, with a range of up to 40 kilometers.
5. New Law: Child Killers Will Never Be Released Israel Today News Apr 20 Israel's Knesset (parliament) this week began advancing a bill that would prohibit the release of terrorists who killed children in any future prisoner exchange deals with the Palestinians. "I think this bill will send the message that although all terrorism is bad, terrorism against children is unforgivable," the bill's author, MK Yoel Hasson of the Kadima Party, was quoted as saying by The Jerusalem Post. Hasson said it is time for Israel to make clear that such killers can never hope to regain their freedom. "This bill will go a long way in strengthening Israel's deterrence," he noted. The bill was initiated in the wake of the massacre of Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their young children in the northern Samaria Jewish community of Itamar last month. Last week, Israel confirmed that it had captured the two terrorists responsible for butchering the Fogel family. Already, Palestinian officials have said they will insist that the two killers go free as part of a future peace deal. Hasson's bill is also in response to ongoing efforts to win the freedom of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
6. US Demands that the UN Rescind Goldstone Report Israel Today News Apr 21 The US Senate on Tuesday formally and unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the UN Human Rights Council rescind the Goldstone Report, which falsely accused Israel of committing war crimes in its 2009 invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israel launched the month-long incursion in order to curb terrorist rocket fire on southern Israel. But in his UN-mandated investigation into the conflict, South African judge Richard Goldstone claimed - based solely on Palestinian accusations - that Israel had deliberately targeted civilians. In an op-ed in the Washington Post earlier this month, Goldstone acknowledged that an internal Israeli investigation had proved that his conclusions were wrong, and that Israel had not committed any war crimes.
Nevertheless, Israel's enemies at the UN continue to use the Goldstone Report to attack the Jewish state, and US congressional leaders want that to stop. The Senate resolution calls on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to see to it that the Human Rights Council shelf the Goldstone Report and no longer use it as a basis for further motions against Israel. The Palestinian Authority, in turn, lashed out at the US Congress, calling the resolution a distortion of justice in service to Israel. The Palestinian leadership called on US President Barack Obama to veto the Senate resolution, insisting that it encourages Israeli "settlement activity" and the mistreatment of Palestinian civilians. That the Senate resolution was based on Goldstone's own admission that he had been wrong about Israel's actions was not addressed by the Palestinian Authority.
7. Hizbollah Planning to Assasinate Jews Over Passover Holiday Jerusalem Post Hezbollah is planning a terrorist attack against Israelis abroad within days, security sources warned on Thursday night. The warning of the imminent attack did not mention specific locations. It was issued as many Israelis were abroad for the week-long Pessah holiday. The planned attack is in revenge for the assasintion of a leading Hizbollah terrorist several years ago
1. IDF Captures Killers of the Fogel Family The Israeli army on Sunday confirmed the recent arrest of two young Palestinian Arabs for the March 11 slaughter of the Fogel family in the northern Samaria Jewish community of Itamar. An army spokesman told Israel Radio that 18-year-old Hakem Awwad and 19-year-old Amjad Awwad confessed to the murders of Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their young children, and that they showed absolutely no remorse for their crime. Reenacting the murder, the young suspects told security officials that they infiltrated Itamar at around 9 PM armed with knives. They proceeded to enter a home that was empty and stole an M-16 rifle that they found there. The killers then broke into the Fogel home, found the bedrooms of 11-year-old Yoav Fogel and 4-year-old Elad Fogel and stabbed them to death. They then entered the parents' bedroom, where they struggled with and overcome Udi and Ruth Fogel. After exiting the house, Amjad told officials that he could not resist the urge to go back in and kill 3-month-old Hadas Fogel, who was left crying amidst her parents' blood. Amjad also said that had he known there were two other children sleeping in the house, he would have killed them, too.
Following the attack, the youths returned to their nearby village and informed various family members of their villainous deed. An uncle helped hide the knives, burn the bloody clothes and get rid of the M-16 rifle they had stolen. Other family members helped cover up the murder in other ways. Security officials believe the Awwad boys acted on their own volition, and were not following the orders of an established terrorist organization, though they were widely praised by such organizations. Israel has been facing an increasing phenomenon of young Arabs engaging not only in stone throwing, but cold-blooded murder. Security officials and Israeli lawmakers have attributed the trend to poor parenting, to put it lightly, and have noted that Palestinian parents are more often than not ready to help their children cover up such crimes, rather than discipline them. It is also important to note that Palestinian society views the killers of Israeli Jews, and especially Israeli "settlers," as national heroes, increasing the motivation to engage in such violence.
2. More Missiles From Gaza Israel Today News Apr 17th Palestinian terrorists operating out of the Gaza Strip fired two Grad missiles at the southern Israel port city of Ashdod on Friday, causing damage but no injuries. While attacks from Gaza have slowed down over the past week, they have not ceased, and many Israelis living in the south of the country continue to spend days at a time in local bomb shelters. Over the weekend, the Israeli army released aerial surveillance videos showing Gaza terrorists firing missiles from crowded public areas and even from places of worship. The goal is to either discourage an Israeli response, or to use the subsequent damage to civilian structures to elicit public condemnation of Israel. Despite these cynical tactics, Israeli officials said they will not tolerate continued missile attacks on communities in southern Israel. In other violence, a Jewish man was lightly wounded late Saturday night when the Arab residents of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan stoned his vehicle. The man was evacuated to a local hospital for treatment. On Friday, an Israeli Border Police officer was injured when a protester along Israel's "West Bank" security fence hit the officer in the face with a stone.
3. Palestinian State By September ? Israel Today's News Apr 15th Israelis are growing anxious over the international community’s renewed rush to impose a peace settlement on Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. And the world’s impatience is being fueled by Palestinian threats to unilaterally declare statehood in September, even in the absence of a final status peace deal. Palestinian leaders have publicly announced that they will declare independence in September and seek UN recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state. “The admission of Palestine as a member t the United Nations has become an inevitable reality in September next,” Israeli Arab lawmaker Ahmed Tibi told Palestinian Authority reporters on Tuesday. Before he became an Israeli Knesset member, Tibi was an advisor to former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The UN itself on Tuesday suggested Tibi’s assessment is more than wishful thinking when it declared that the Palestinian Authority is capable and ready to function as an independent state, and is only being held back by the “Israeli occupation.” At a donors meeting in Brussels a day later, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, together with representatives of nations that regularly finance the Palestinian Authority, agreed with the UN. “The PA is above the threshold for a functioning state in key sectors,” said the donor nations. They urged the Palestinians to achieve independence via a peace deal with Israel, but signalled they will not oppose a unilateral declaration of independence.
With that kind of backing, Israeli offocials estimate that even America won’t be able to prevent the birth of Palestine in the halls of the UN later this year. “[US President Barack] Obama wants a Palestinian state and although the US is not interested in a unilateral declaration, it would be hard for it to stand alone in the General Assembly and vote against it,” an Israeli official told Israel’s Ynet news portal. Another official noted that the US had blocked previous attempts to advance a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence, but that it had only slowed down what has now become an unstoppable trend.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians see all of this and know they can now play hardball and stick to even their most outrageous demands. Compromise is off the table as far, as they are concerned. “The [Obama] administration has started to realize the situation in the Mideast is dangerous,” Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah told Reuters. “It’s time for the American administration to move before September.” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her government is already on the job, and that Obama can be expected to launch a new peace initiative in the coming weeks. Obama’s previous high-profile efforts to jump-start the Middle East peace process were foiled by the Palestinians' refusal to negotiate with Israel. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly working on his own peace proposal, but it is expected to be rejected by the international community if it veers from established Arab demands. 4. Iran Supplying Hamas With Ready-to go Rockets Ha Aretz News Apr 16 Iran is manufacturing special missiles for Hamas that can be smuggled through tunnels into the Gaza Strip, according to the report of a conversation between Israel Defense Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Harel and U.S. ambassador to Israel James Cunningham. A cable on the discussion, which also involved senior officials of the U.S. State Department and Defense Department who came to Israel in February 2009, was sent from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv on February 19 and is part of the WikiLeaks documents Haaretz is exclusively reporting. Harel, who has meanwhile retired from the IDF, spoke at the meeting about Katyusha, Grad and Fajr rockets. The Katyusha was originally manufactured in the former Soviet Union, and was developed before World War II. It comes in diameters of 107 millimeters and 122 millimeters, with a range of up to 40 kilometers.
5. New Law: Child Killers Will Never Be Released Israel Today News Apr 20 Israel's Knesset (parliament) this week began advancing a bill that would prohibit the release of terrorists who killed children in any future prisoner exchange deals with the Palestinians. "I think this bill will send the message that although all terrorism is bad, terrorism against children is unforgivable," the bill's author, MK Yoel Hasson of the Kadima Party, was quoted as saying by The Jerusalem Post. Hasson said it is time for Israel to make clear that such killers can never hope to regain their freedom. "This bill will go a long way in strengthening Israel's deterrence," he noted. The bill was initiated in the wake of the massacre of Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their young children in the northern Samaria Jewish community of Itamar last month. Last week, Israel confirmed that it had captured the two terrorists responsible for butchering the Fogel family. Already, Palestinian officials have said they will insist that the two killers go free as part of a future peace deal. Hasson's bill is also in response to ongoing efforts to win the freedom of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
6. US Demands that the UN Rescind Goldstone Report Israel Today News Apr 21 The US Senate on Tuesday formally and unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the UN Human Rights Council rescind the Goldstone Report, which falsely accused Israel of committing war crimes in its 2009 invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israel launched the month-long incursion in order to curb terrorist rocket fire on southern Israel. But in his UN-mandated investigation into the conflict, South African judge Richard Goldstone claimed - based solely on Palestinian accusations - that Israel had deliberately targeted civilians. In an op-ed in the Washington Post earlier this month, Goldstone acknowledged that an internal Israeli investigation had proved that his conclusions were wrong, and that Israel had not committed any war crimes.
Nevertheless, Israel's enemies at the UN continue to use the Goldstone Report to attack the Jewish state, and US congressional leaders want that to stop. The Senate resolution calls on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to see to it that the Human Rights Council shelf the Goldstone Report and no longer use it as a basis for further motions against Israel. The Palestinian Authority, in turn, lashed out at the US Congress, calling the resolution a distortion of justice in service to Israel. The Palestinian leadership called on US President Barack Obama to veto the Senate resolution, insisting that it encourages Israeli "settlement activity" and the mistreatment of Palestinian civilians. That the Senate resolution was based on Goldstone's own admission that he had been wrong about Israel's actions was not addressed by the Palestinian Authority.
7. Hizbollah Planning to Assasinate Jews Over Passover Holiday Jerusalem Post Hezbollah is planning a terrorist attack against Israelis abroad within days, security sources warned on Thursday night. The warning of the imminent attack did not mention specific locations. It was issued as many Israelis were abroad for the week-long Pessah holiday. The planned attack is in revenge for the assasintion of a leading Hizbollah terrorist several years ago
Pacific mudslide disaster
Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:41
Iafrica.com - http://news.iafrica.com/worldnews/723738.html
27 people were killed and dozens were missing after a night-time landslide ravaged a small gold mining town in a mountainous area of the Philippines on Friday, authorities said.
The landslide hit at about 3am, ripping through shanty homes while miners and their families were sleeping and destroying poorly constructed tunnels where the unregistered workers extract gold using hand tools, they said.
Three bodies had been recovered by early Friday afternoon while 10 people had been pulled from the debris alive, according to Susan Madrid, duty officer of the region's National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.
"But the number of dead will probably go up," she told AFP.
The spokesman of the military unit that rushed to the site, Lieutenant-Colonel Camilo Ligayo, said residents had told him at least 40 people were missing and feared buried in the tunnels and their homes.
"There are 40 still missing and that is a conservative estimate. The one who gave the estimate was one of the survivors from the tunnels. They know each other there," Ligayo told AFP.
"The landslide is massive and these people, the small scale miners, they work and live on the slopes. They have bunkers, houses, stores."
The landslide occurred in the isolated town of Kingking in a mountainous area of the resource-rich but poor and violence-plagued southern island of Mindanao.
Madrid said there were about 50 houses on the slope before it was hit by the landslide, but she and the military could not say how many people were there at the time.
The local military commander, Colonel Roberto Domines, said an accurate count of the people hit by the landslide was difficult because many people had entered the area unofficially to dig for gold.
"Even the town government cannot give an accurate estimate because these are small scale miners. They aren't from the town. These people come from all over the region," he said.
Madrid said rescue efforts had been hampered because the landslide had blocked road travel to the area — normally a couple of hours' drive from Mindanao's trading capital, Davao City.
"The route to the area is impassable, but we have heavy equipment that is already clearing the area," she said.
However soldiers and civil defence teams had quickly reached Kingking by helicopter.
The military had also deployed a bulldozer, a dump truck and other heavy-lifting machinery, while a US mining company that had been carrying out exploration work in the region had also sent equipment, Madrid said.
Military spokesman Ligayo said that rain had fallen on Kingking on Thursday, which may have triggered the landslide.
However he said the cause of the disaster was still to be confirmed, with the excavation of the mountains potentially another factor.
Authorities said one person was killed and five others were injured when a landslide hit the same area last month.
Magnitude 6.1 Earthquake Rattles Tokyo
Published April 21, 2011
Fox News - http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/04/21/magnitude-63-earthquake-rattles-tokyo/?test=latestnews
DEVELOPING: TOKYO -- A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck Japan late Thursday, shaking buildings in the capital Tokyo, the US Geological Survey said.
The quake struck at 10:37 p.m. local time in Chiba prefecture 40 miles east of Tokyo, at a depth of 26.7 miles.
Japan has been hit by a string of aftershocks since the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck March 11, unleashing a huge tsunami.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Apple is watching you
Thu, 21 Apr 2011 7:43
Iafrica.com News - http://technology.iafrica.com/technews/723465.html
A pair of British security researchers said on Wednesday that the latest version of Apple's operating system for the iPhone and the iPad is constantly recording the location of the devices and storing the information in a hidden file.
Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden said the position-logging feature is contained in iOS 4, the operating system for the Apple devices which was released in June of last year.
"Ever since iOS 4 arrived, your device has been storing a long list of locations and time stamps," they said in an article posted at the website radar.oreilly.com.
"We're not sure why Apple is gathering this data, but it's clearly intentional," the researchers said, adding that it raises a number of "security and privacy implications."
"By passively logging your location without your permission, Apple have made it possible for anyone from a jealous spouse to a private investigator to get a detailed picture of your movements," they said.
"What makes this issue worse is that the file is unencrypted and unprotected, and it's on any machine you've synced with your iOS device," they said. "It can also be easily accessed on the device itself if it falls into the wrong hands.
"Anybody with access to this file knows where you've been over the last year, since iOS 4 was released," they said.
Allan and Warden announced their findings at the Where 2.0 conference in San Francisco. They were first reported in The Guardian newspaper.
Allan and Warden said they had contacted Apple's product security team about their findings but had not heard back.
They said the device stores latitude and longitude coordinates along with a time stamp, probably through cell-tower triangulation,
They noted that cellphone companies typically have access to this data but it is not usually stored on a mobile device itself.
Iafrica.com News - http://technology.iafrica.com/technews/723465.html
A pair of British security researchers said on Wednesday that the latest version of Apple's operating system for the iPhone and the iPad is constantly recording the location of the devices and storing the information in a hidden file.
Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden said the position-logging feature is contained in iOS 4, the operating system for the Apple devices which was released in June of last year.
"Ever since iOS 4 arrived, your device has been storing a long list of locations and time stamps," they said in an article posted at the website radar.oreilly.com.
"We're not sure why Apple is gathering this data, but it's clearly intentional," the researchers said, adding that it raises a number of "security and privacy implications."
"By passively logging your location without your permission, Apple have made it possible for anyone from a jealous spouse to a private investigator to get a detailed picture of your movements," they said.
"What makes this issue worse is that the file is unencrypted and unprotected, and it's on any machine you've synced with your iOS device," they said. "It can also be easily accessed on the device itself if it falls into the wrong hands.
"Anybody with access to this file knows where you've been over the last year, since iOS 4 was released," they said.
Allan and Warden announced their findings at the Where 2.0 conference in San Francisco. They were first reported in The Guardian newspaper.
Allan and Warden said they had contacted Apple's product security team about their findings but had not heard back.
They said the device stores latitude and longitude coordinates along with a time stamp, probably through cell-tower triangulation,
They noted that cellphone companies typically have access to this data but it is not usually stored on a mobile device itself.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tornadoes, storms again lash the Midwest and South
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes tore across the Midwest and South bringing wind gusts and hail and snapping trees and damaging houses, authorities said on Wednesday.
Accuweather meteorologists said 33 tornado sightings were unofficially reported from Oklahoma to Ohio from Tuesday night through Wednesday morning.
There were no deaths reported from the outbreak of severe weather that triggered tornado warnings from Texas to Indiana and across the South, including areas hit by storms last week that killed at least 47 people, including 24 in North Carolina alone.
Three tornadoes struck in Arkansas on Tuesday night, downing trees and power lines and causing structural damage but no reported fatalities or injuries, according to the National Weather Service in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Last week's storms caused at least seven deaths in Arkansas, with Little Rock hard it. Deaths also occurred in Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Virginia.
In Tennessee, 11 tornado warnings were issued from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning with no reported touchdowns, but 19 homes were destroyed or damaged in the middle and western parts of the state, said Dean Flener, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
High winds damaged the city hall roof in Milan, Tennessee, knocking down trees and powerlines throughout Gibson County, Milan city recorder Julienne Hart said.
"Compared to a lot of people, we were lucky," Hart said.
Thousands of Tennessee residents remained without power on Wednesday across the state, officials said. Austin Peay State University planned to open at noon Wednesday.
The National Weather Service also warned of possible severe storms across Mississippi on Wednesday afternoon and evening that could bring large hail, heavy rains and winds up to 60 miles per hour.
In the upper Midwest, a late April storm ran from northern Iowa across to Michigan late Tuesday and into Wednesday.
Reported snowfalls ranged from nearly 7 inches in parts of southeast Minnesota, to 9.9 inches in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and 7 to nearly 10 inches in several areas of Michigan, the National Weather Service said.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday night gave a federal disaster declaration to 10 of the hardest-hit counties in North Carolina from last week.
The toll in North Carolina included 133 injuries, 439 homes destroyed and nearly 6,200 other homes with significant damage, according to state emergency officials. Some 21 businesses were destroyed and 92 damaged, Gov. Beverly Perdue said Wednesday.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Henry Margusity said he expects over the next two weeks up to 300 tornadoes could affect a region from eastern Oklahoma to northern Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
Typically, less populated areas of the southern Plains are hit by severe thunderstorms and tornadoes each spring. But drought this year, especially Texas, has created an unprecedented wildfire situation, Accuweather said.
Warm humid air will continue surging northward from the Gulf of Mexico into the Plains, Southeast and Midwest as storm systems track through about once every several days, it said.
"Add in a strong jet stream, and you have a recipe for significant severe weather outbreaks," Accuweather said.
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins, Tim Ghianni and David Bailey; Writing by David Bailey. Editing by Peter Bohan)
Accuweather meteorologists said 33 tornado sightings were unofficially reported from Oklahoma to Ohio from Tuesday night through Wednesday morning.
There were no deaths reported from the outbreak of severe weather that triggered tornado warnings from Texas to Indiana and across the South, including areas hit by storms last week that killed at least 47 people, including 24 in North Carolina alone.
Three tornadoes struck in Arkansas on Tuesday night, downing trees and power lines and causing structural damage but no reported fatalities or injuries, according to the National Weather Service in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Last week's storms caused at least seven deaths in Arkansas, with Little Rock hard it. Deaths also occurred in Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Virginia.
In Tennessee, 11 tornado warnings were issued from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning with no reported touchdowns, but 19 homes were destroyed or damaged in the middle and western parts of the state, said Dean Flener, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
High winds damaged the city hall roof in Milan, Tennessee, knocking down trees and powerlines throughout Gibson County, Milan city recorder Julienne Hart said.
"Compared to a lot of people, we were lucky," Hart said.
Thousands of Tennessee residents remained without power on Wednesday across the state, officials said. Austin Peay State University planned to open at noon Wednesday.
The National Weather Service also warned of possible severe storms across Mississippi on Wednesday afternoon and evening that could bring large hail, heavy rains and winds up to 60 miles per hour.
In the upper Midwest, a late April storm ran from northern Iowa across to Michigan late Tuesday and into Wednesday.
Reported snowfalls ranged from nearly 7 inches in parts of southeast Minnesota, to 9.9 inches in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and 7 to nearly 10 inches in several areas of Michigan, the National Weather Service said.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday night gave a federal disaster declaration to 10 of the hardest-hit counties in North Carolina from last week.
The toll in North Carolina included 133 injuries, 439 homes destroyed and nearly 6,200 other homes with significant damage, according to state emergency officials. Some 21 businesses were destroyed and 92 damaged, Gov. Beverly Perdue said Wednesday.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Henry Margusity said he expects over the next two weeks up to 300 tornadoes could affect a region from eastern Oklahoma to northern Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
Typically, less populated areas of the southern Plains are hit by severe thunderstorms and tornadoes each spring. But drought this year, especially Texas, has created an unprecedented wildfire situation, Accuweather said.
Warm humid air will continue surging northward from the Gulf of Mexico into the Plains, Southeast and Midwest as storm systems track through about once every several days, it said.
"Add in a strong jet stream, and you have a recipe for significant severe weather outbreaks," Accuweather said.
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins, Tim Ghianni and David Bailey; Writing by David Bailey. Editing by Peter Bohan)
Inflation on the rise
Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:36
Iafrica.com news - http://business.iafrica.com/news/723288.html
The increase in South Africa's consumer price index (CPI), which is used by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) for its inflation target, was 4.1 percent year-on-year (y/y) in March from 3.7 percent in February, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Wednesday.
CPI was 1.2 percent month-on-month (m/m) from 0.7 percent in February.
CPI was expected at 3.9 percent y/y, according to a survey of leading economists by I-Net Bridge, with forecasts among the nine economists ranging from 3.7 percent to 4.0 percent.
According to Stats SA, the food and non-alcoholic beverages index increased by 1.2 percent between February 2011 and March 2011. The annual rate increased to 5.0 percent in March 2011 from 3,6 percent in February 2011. The following components in the food
and non-alcoholic beverages index increased: fruit (5.0 percent), oils and fats (3.4 percent), hot beverages (2.8 percent), meat (1.8 percent), sugar, sweets and desserts (1.8 percent), fish (1.4 percent), vegetables (1.0 percent), other food (0.7 percent), milk, eggs and cheese (0.5 percent) and bread and cereals (0.4 percent).
The following component decreased: cold beverages (-0.1 percent).
The alcoholic beverages and tobacco index increased by 3.7 percent between February 2011 and March 2011. The annual rate decreased to 5,2 percent in March 2011 from 7,2 percent in February 2011.
The clothing and footwear index increased by 0.3 percent between February 2011 and March 2011. The annual rate increased to 1.4 percent in March 2011 from 1.2 percent in February 2011.
The housing and utilities index increased by 0.8 percent between February 2011 and March 2011. The annual rate increased to 6.6 percent in March 2011 from 6.4 percent in February 2011.
The transport index increased by 1.2 percent between February 2011 and March 2011, mainly due to a 43c/l increase in the price of petrol. The annual rate increased to 3.3 percent in March 2011 from 2.6 percent in February 2011.
The education index increased by 8.6 percent between February 2011 and March 2011. The annual rate decreased to 8.6 percent in March 2011 from 9.2 percent in February 2011
The miscellaneous goods and services index increased by 0.4 percent between February 2011 and March 2011,mainly due to an 8.6 percent increase in crèche fees. The annual rate decreased to 3.1 percent in March 2011 from 3.2 percent in February 2011.
Iafrica.com news - http://business.iafrica.com/news/723288.html
The increase in South Africa's consumer price index (CPI), which is used by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) for its inflation target, was 4.1 percent year-on-year (y/y) in March from 3.7 percent in February, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Wednesday.
CPI was 1.2 percent month-on-month (m/m) from 0.7 percent in February.
CPI was expected at 3.9 percent y/y, according to a survey of leading economists by I-Net Bridge, with forecasts among the nine economists ranging from 3.7 percent to 4.0 percent.
According to Stats SA, the food and non-alcoholic beverages index increased by 1.2 percent between February 2011 and March 2011. The annual rate increased to 5.0 percent in March 2011 from 3,6 percent in February 2011. The following components in the food
and non-alcoholic beverages index increased: fruit (5.0 percent), oils and fats (3.4 percent), hot beverages (2.8 percent), meat (1.8 percent), sugar, sweets and desserts (1.8 percent), fish (1.4 percent), vegetables (1.0 percent), other food (0.7 percent), milk, eggs and cheese (0.5 percent) and bread and cereals (0.4 percent).
The following component decreased: cold beverages (-0.1 percent).
The alcoholic beverages and tobacco index increased by 3.7 percent between February 2011 and March 2011. The annual rate decreased to 5,2 percent in March 2011 from 7,2 percent in February 2011.
The clothing and footwear index increased by 0.3 percent between February 2011 and March 2011. The annual rate increased to 1.4 percent in March 2011 from 1.2 percent in February 2011.
The housing and utilities index increased by 0.8 percent between February 2011 and March 2011. The annual rate increased to 6.6 percent in March 2011 from 6.4 percent in February 2011.
The transport index increased by 1.2 percent between February 2011 and March 2011, mainly due to a 43c/l increase in the price of petrol. The annual rate increased to 3.3 percent in March 2011 from 2.6 percent in February 2011.
The education index increased by 8.6 percent between February 2011 and March 2011. The annual rate decreased to 8.6 percent in March 2011 from 9.2 percent in February 2011
The miscellaneous goods and services index increased by 0.4 percent between February 2011 and March 2011,mainly due to an 8.6 percent increase in crèche fees. The annual rate decreased to 3.1 percent in March 2011 from 3.2 percent in February 2011.
Gold soars above $1500
Wed, 20 Apr 2011 7:38
Iafrica.com News - http://business.iafrica.com/worldnews/723194.html
Gold hit a fresh record above $1500 dollars in Hong Kong on Wednesday as traders sought out the safe haven amid concerns over the global economy.
The precious metal rose to $1500.70 an ounce in afternoon trade days after Standard & Poor's downgraded its US sovereign debt outlook to "negative" from "stable".
The ratings agency's move Monday challenged Washington's gold-star "AAA"-rated standard as it warned that politicians seemed unable to agree a plan to reduce a huge budget deficit, which is running at around 10 percent of gross domestic product.
The move sent global shares tumbling and it also comes as concerns grow over global inflation, with China and India struggling to control prices and the European Central Bank also being forced to hike rates to ease costs.
Gold is considered a safe haven bet against high inflation.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Beware of the big bad hike
Article By: Meriza La Key
Wed, 20 Apr 2011 7:33 Iafrica.com News - http://business.iafrica.com/features/723065.html
In addition to the predicted rise in interest rates, consumers also face a wave of other steep increases. We take a look at the predicted hikes.
Petrol price
The global oil price has jumped by more than 20 percent since the beginning of the year and local motorists are unable to ignore the pinch at the pump. Since January, the price of petrol has increased by R1.51, diesel jumped R1.86, while more hikes are expected amid fears of oil supply disruptions in Middle East and North Africa. Currently, you'll have to fork out R9.96 for a litre of 95 octane unleaded petrol in Gauteng. Economists predict petrol to jump above the R10/litre level in the coming months.
Month on month petrol price hikes:
- January 2011 — 28 cents (petrol), 23 cents (diesel)
- February 2011 — 26 cents (petrol), 30 cents (diesel)
- March 2011 — 43 cents (petrol), 63 cents (diesel
- April 2011 — 54 cents (petrol), 70.4 (diesel)
Electricity parastatal Eskom has received its second of three-annual power tariff hikes on 1 April as granted by Nersa in 2010. However, the majority of consumers who buy power from the municipality will only feel the bite from 1 July this year. By mid-2012, power prices would have rallied a total of 110.5 percent in the past four years.
Annual electricity tariff hikes
- 2009 - 27.5 percent
- 2010 - 31.3 percent
- 2011 - 25.8 percent
- 2012 - 25.9 percent
The South African consumer has been largely sheltered by global food hikes due to a strong rand but increases in the petrol and electricity prices are expected to weigh on food prices in the coming months. South African food inflation rose by 3.5 percent in February, while the World Bank reported that global food inflation remained high at 36 percent year on year in March, compared with 37 percent year on year in February.
Tolls
Gauteng motorists face a triple whammy with government's proposed toll tariff hike, which is expected to come into effect in July. Studies had shown that the tolls could increase freight transport costs by more than 20 percent, while the ordinary motorist can expect to fork out an additional R1000 for monthly toll fees. The average South African commuter spends about 60 percent of his or her salary on transport costs.
Inflation
The domino effect from the range of increases will weigh on the country's consumer price index (CPI). Petrol weighs nearly four percent on South Africa's CPI, food weighs more than 14 percent, with electricity around 1.87 percent. Economists at Standard Bank predict South Africa's inflation to average at 4.5 percent in 2011 from 4.3 percent in 2010. Inflation is expected to breach the Reserve Bank's 3 to 6 percent target range by the first half of 2012.
Regardless of how you look at it, the South African consumer will most likely be worse off by year-end than in December 2010. And the bad news is that it's expected to get even worse by 2012. Tighten those belts because times are certainly a 'changing.
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