June 30, 2010

Magnitude 6.5 quake hits southern Mexico. MEXICO CITY (AP) - A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake rattled the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca Wednesday, and was felt at least as far away as Mexico City. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered in a sparsely populated, mountainous area of Oaxaca near the southern Pacific coast. Gilberto Lopez of the Oaxaca state civil defense department said his office is still assessing the situation and did not yet know if there were injuries or damage.

Hurricane Alex churns toward Mexico, Texas coasts. BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Hurricane Alex churned westward through the Gulf of Mexico early Wednesday, far from oil spill cleanup efforts but on a collision course with Mexico and the southern Texas coastline. The National Hurricane Center in Miami upgraded the storm to a Category 1 hurricane, the least powerful type, shortly before 10 p.m. CDT Tuesday after measuring sustained winds of 75 mph. Alex became the first June hurricane in the Atlantic since 1995, the center said. Texas residents had been preparing for the storm for days, readying their homes and businesses and stocking up on household essentials. But the storm was expected to deal only a glancing blow to the state and to make landfall Wednesday evening south of Matamoros, Mexico, and some 100 miles south of Brownsville. Oil rigs and platforms in the path of the storm's outer bands were evacuated, and President Barack Obama issued a pre-emptive federal disaster declaration for southern Texas counties late Tuesday.

China, US open disease study center in Shanghai. SHANGHAI - American and Shanghai health authorities opened an epidemiology center in the Chinese city Tuesday to train experts in sleuthing out ways to prevent chronic and epidemic diseases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is helping with training and technical assistance at the center that will be "driven by what are the major public health issues in this country," said CDC deputy director Stephen B. Thacker. Outbreaks of SARS (sudden acute respiratory syndrome) and bird flu since 2003, and last year's swine flu epidemic have driven home the rising risks from new diseases or deadly mutations of epidemic ailments, especially in developing countries that may lack the infrastructure to cope with them before they get out of hand. Thacker said they also need more experts in the broad areas of public health, not just communicable diseases. "We need to look at what's killing people, what's putting people in hospitals.

Gulf beaches hit as distant hurricane pushes oil. GRAND ISLE, La. - Rough seas generated by Hurricane Alex pushed more oil from the massive spill onto Gulf coast beaches as cleanup vessels were sidelined by the far-away storm's ripple effects. The hurricane was churning coastal waters across the oil-affected region on the Gulf of Mexico. Waves as high as 6 feet and winds over 25 mph have pushed more oil onshore in the coastal regions. In Louisiana, the storm pushed an oil patch toward Grand Isle and uninhabited Elmer's Island, dumping tar balls as big as apples on the beach. The loss of skimmers, combined with gusts driving water into the coast, left beaches especially vulnerable. In Alabama, the normally white sand was streaked with long lines of oil. One swath of beach 40 feet wide was stained brown and mottled with globs of oil matted together.

More Young Moms Being Treated for Meth, Marijuana Abuse. (HealthDay News) - Among pregnant teens admitted for substance abuse treatment, the proportion treated for methamphetamine abuse more than quadrupled - from 4.3 percent to 18.8 percent - between 1992 and 2007, while admission rates for marijuana abuse more than doubled, from 19.3 percent to 45.9 percent, a new government study shows.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly one out of every three U.S. home sales in the first quarter was a foreclosure property as steep price discounts boosted demand for distressed real estate, RealtyTrac said in a new report on Wednesday.

Bear in first recorded Ky. attack still at large. FRANKFORT, Ky. - A black bear that mauled a hiker eluded traps Tuesday and a scenic area in the Daniel Boone National Forest remained closed to the public following the rare attack by an Appalachian bear on a human. Wildlife Division Director Karen Waldrop said the agency's policy is to kill any bear that behaves aggressively toward humans, and officials have closed the popular scenic area and set traps. The closure should help keep the bear from being scared out of the area.

July 2, 2010

Gulf oil cleanup resumes, new drilling rules awaited. HOUSTON (Reuters) - Washington was preparing a revised offshore oil drilling moratorium and cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico returned to normal on Friday after hurricane Alex passed through the region without doing major damage. The U.S. Interior Department, one of the departments spearheading the response to the BP oil spill, could issue a revised offshore oil drilling moratorium for U.S. waters in the coming week. A federal court last week struck down a six-month drilling ban imposed by the Obama administration in response to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The new moratorium is expected to be more flexible and could be adjusted to allow drilling in certain subsea fields. In another political development, bipartisan lawmakers on Friday sought tax breaks for mostly small business to help cushion the economic blow from the disaster, which has devastated Gulf fishing and tourist industries.

6 dead in Mexico in floods caused by Alex. MEXICO CITY - The death toll in Mexico from flooding caused by former Hurricane Alex has risen to six, authorities said Friday. The victims died in and around the northern city of Monterrey. President Felipe Calderon toured damaged areas of the city where the force of flood waters had tossed and flipped cars and pickup trucks, and nearly buried houses in mud and rocks. Calderon said 1,200 soldiers had been dispatched to help in relief efforts. The city was hit by heavy rain on Thursday that swelled the Santa Catarina river, which is normally dry. The flooding damaged bridges in Monterrey as well as railway tracks in the region.

Officials say BP spill now hitting all U. S. Gulf states. TEXAS CITY, Texas –Tar balls from the Gulf oil spill found on a Texas beach were confirmed Monday as the first evidence that gushing crude from the Deepwater Horizon well has reached all the Gulf states. A Coast Guard official said it was possible that the oil hitched a ride on a ship and was not carried naturally by currents to the barrier islands of the eastern Texas coast, but there was no way to know for sure. The amount discovered is tiny in comparison to what has coated beaches so far in the hardest-hit parts of the Gulf coast in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. It still provoked the quick dispatch of cleaning crews and a vow that BP will pay for the trouble.

Horses dragged driver as he tried to stop rampage. BELLEVUE, Iowa - The buggy driver whose horses trampled spectators at this town's Fourth of July parade had tried desperately to stop the rampage, clinging to the reins as the animals dragged him down the street, his family said Monday. Mardell Steines was in the buggy with his wife, Janet, his daughter-in-law, his 7-year-old grandson and his 5-year-old granddaughter Sunday when the horses bolted toward the end of the parade, injuring 24 people and killing Janet Steines. Police said the horses were spooked after they rubbed heads and the bridle fell off one of them. The animals went on a rampage over six blocks, plowing through spectators and children stooping to snatch up candy that had been tossed along the parade route.

July 21, 2010

China flooding kills 701, worst toll in a decade. BEIJING - More than 1,000 people have died or disappeared in severe flooding in China so far this year, and the heaviest rains are still to come, a senior official warned Wednesday. This year's floods, which have caused tens of billions of dollars in damage already, have exacted the highest death toll since 1998, when the highest water levels in five decades claimed 4,150 lives.

June 23, 2010

Storm could take away sights and sounds of BP well. ON THE GULF OF MEXICO - Ships relaying the sights and sounds from BP's broken oil well stood fast Friday as the leftovers of Tropical Storm Bonnie blew straight for the spill site, threatening to force a full evacuation that would leave engineers clueless about whether a makeshift cap on the gusher was holding. Bonnie made landfall south of Miami early Friday as a feeble tropical storm with top sustained winds of 40 mph. It broke apart as it crossed Florida and was a tropical depression as it moved into the Gulf, but forecasters expected it to strengthen slightly and roll over the spill site around midday Saturday.

Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake Strikes The Philippines. An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 jarred the southern Philippines on Saturday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

July 25, 2010

 Heavy rain sets off flooding in U. S. Midwest. CHICAGO - Standing water on Chicago-area expressways turned what should have been an easy Saturday morning drive into a soggy, snarled mess after heavy rains across the Midwest closed roads, stranded residents, and punched a hole through an Iowa dam yesterday. In Chicago, officials say that more than 7 inches of rain fell early yesterday, inundating the sewer system and overwhelming waterways. In eastern Iowa, the Lake Delhi dam failed as rising floodwaters from the Maquoketa

August 18, 2010

228M eggs recalled following salmonella outbreak. WASHINGTON - An Iowa egg producer is recalling 228 million eggs after being linked to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said eggs from Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa, were linked to several illnesses in Colorado, California and Minnesota. The CDC said about 200 cases of the strain of salmonella linked to the eggs were reported weekly during June and July, four times the normal number of such occurrences. State health officals say tainted eggs have sickened at least 266 Californians and seven in Minnesota.

Ohio's Bedbug Battle Escalates with EPA Crisis Meeting. For reasons still unknown, bedbugs really seem to like the state of Ohio. The problem is so dire in Cincinnati that some people with infested apartments have resorted to sleeping on the streets.

Cincinnati Ohio U. S. created a Bedbug Remediation Commission in 2007 and, like other local and national governments around the world, the city is trying to mobilize strategies to control infestations of the resilient insects, which can hide in almost any crack or crevice and can go a year or more without eating. On Aug. 10, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a consumer alert about off-label bedbug treatments, warning in particular of the dangers of using outdoor pesticides in homes. Bedbugs don't transmit disease, but they can be harmful to mental health.

U. S. Gulf surface cleaner, but questions lurk far below. WASHINGTON - Researchers are warning that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is a bigger mess than the government claims and that a lot of crude is lurking deep below the surface, some of it settling perhaps in a critical undersea canyon off the Florida Panhandle. The evidence of microscopic amounts of oil mixing into the soil of the canyon was gathered by scientists at the University of South Florida, who also found poisoned plant plankton, the vital base of the ocean food web chain, which they blamed on a toxic brew of oil and dispersants.

 U. S. Ga. scientists: Gulf oil not gone, 80 pct remains. WASHINGTON - Georgia scientists say their analysis shows that most of that BP oil the government said was gone from the Gulf of Mexico is still there. The scientists say as much as 80 percent of the oil still lurks under the surface. The Georgia team said it is a misinterpretation of data to claim that oil that is dissolved is actually gone. The report from University of Georgia and other scientists came from an analysis of federal estimates.

Mass Die-off of life at Indonesian Coral Reef Triggered by 93-Degree Ocean temps. One of the most destructive and swift coral bleaching events ever recorded is underway in the waters off Indonesia, where water temperatures have climbed into the low 90s, according to data released by a conservation group this week.  The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) says a dramatic rise in sea temperature, potentially linked to global warming, is responsible for the devastation.  Coral bleaching has been reported in Aceh - a province of Indonesia - located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. The initial survey carried out by a marine biologists team revealed that more than 60 percent of corals in the area were bleached. Subsequent monitoring of the Indonesian corals completed in early August revealed one of the most rapid and severe coral mortality events ever recorded. The scientists found that 80 percent of some species have died since the initial assessment, and more colonies are expected to die within the next few months.

US judge bars growing of genetically modified beets. WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US judge has ordered a ban on growing genetically modified beets in the United States until the Department of Agriculture fully investigates their environmental impact.

August 20, 2010

The United States has persuaded Israel that Iran would take one year or longer to build a nuclear weapon, dimming the prospects of a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, The New York Times said.

 BUSHEHR, Iran – Iranian and Russian nuclear technicians made final preparations to start up Iran's first reactor on Saturday after years of delays, an operation that will mark a milestone in what Tehran considers its right to produce nuclear energy. Nationwide celebrations are planned for the fuel loading at the Bushehr facility in southern Iran, while Russia pledges to safeguard the plant and prevent spent nuclear fuel from being shifted to a possible weapons program. The West has not sought to block the reactor startup as part of its confrontations over Iran's nuclear agenda, a clash that has resulted in repeated rounds of U.N. sanctions against Tehran. Washington and other nations do not specifically object to Tehran's ability to build peaceful reactors that are under international scrutiny.

Wildfire in LA County forest 40 percent contained.  VALYERMO, Calif. - Fire crews are gaining ground against a wildfire that has burned more than 100 acres in the Angeles National Forest in northeast Los Angeles County. Authorities say the blaze that erupted Friday near the town of Valyermo is now 40 percent contained. The U.S. Forest Service says an unknown number of homes were evacuated. KCAL-TV showed horses fleeing stables in the early stages of the fire. The fire is burning about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles and 20 miles southeast of Palmdale.

Recall expands to more than half a billion eggs. WASHINGTON – More than a half-billion eggs have been recalled in the nationwide investigation of a salmonella outbreak  that Friday expanded to include a second Iowa farm. The outbreak has already sickened more than 1,000 people and the toll of illnesses is expected to increase. Iowa's Hillandale Farms said Friday it was recalling more than 170 million eggs after laboratory tests confirmed salmonella. The company did not say if its action was connected to the recall by Wright County Egg, another Iowa farm that recalled 380 million eggs earlier this week. The latest recall puts the total number of potentially tainted eggs at about 550 million.

Jacob’s House Comment,

As we have said on this website in the past the land all over this world is becoming more defiled and polluted everyday.  Therefore, it is now having trouble supporting the crooked people who are dwelling on it.  It is becoming increasingly full of diseases, decay, and viruses because of the sin and iniquity these crooked people are pouring out upon it.  This farmland is becoming sick and unhealthy because of the many mingled people who have their houses built there, who do not want to surrender their hearts and minds to God or His Son, Jesus. 

The farmland and city land all over this world are now being defiled in three primary ways.  The first way is because of the innocent blood being spilled upon it which has not been rectified by the murderers being executed for their heinous crimes and sins. 

The second reason it is being defiled is because this land has not been given a rest every seven years as the Lord God demanded it in His Bible. Therefore, crops like corn, fruit, etc., are no longer healthy or beneficial to eat. 

The third reason it is being defiled today and becoming ever increasingly susceptible to diseases of all kinds is because of the manipulation of the DNA in crops like corn, wheat, etc.  Even animals are now being cloned which are against the magnificent order that God ordained for all of the creatures who are upon this earth.  The scientists who have created these cloned animals will suffer greatly in the future for trying to be like gods themselves.   

Therefore, all of the animals near these cloned ones will suffer with open sores and wounds for this rebellion of God’s laws today.  Soon these diseases will spread not only into the ground, and into the farm land, but also into many people’s homes.  It will affect their water supply and their breathing.  God has assured Jacob this will take place because of the traps and snares He has set upon this earth for many people’s refusal and open rebellion to not obey His commandments and laws here. 

US troops to return only if Iraqi forces fail. WASHINGTON - It would take "a complete failure" of the Iraqi security forces for the U.S. to resume combat operations there, the top American commander in Iraq said as the final U.S. fighting forces prepared to leave the country. With a major military milestone in sight, Gen. Ray Odierno said in interviews broadcast Sunday that any resumption of combat duties by American forces is unlikely. "We don't see that happening," Odierno said. The Iraqi security forces have been doing "so well for so long now that we really believe we're beyond that point."

Iran unveils long-range drone to counter "aggressors". TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran unveiled a prototype long-range unmanned bomber on Sunday, the latest in a stream of announcements of new Iranian-made military hardware as tension mounts over its nuclear programme. On a stage in front of military officials, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pulled a sheet away from the aircraft, called the Karrar, which Iran says is its first long-range drone. With the United States and Israel saying they do not rule out a military strike to stop Iran getting a nuclear bomb, the Islamic Republic has showed off new mini-submarines, a surface-to-surface missile and announced plans to launch high altitude satellites over the next three years.

These scientists are running the risk of having God put His wrath and fury upon them extending out 40,000 years or more.  For they are trying to manipulate one of God's plants and defile its perfect structure with their own evil works and evil hands.  The fact that they are releasing how they have manipulated this wheat will also cause them much grief, trouble, and woe in the days ahead.  Their children and their family members could also suffer because of their attempt to try to become like gods themselves.  When will they ever learn that a judgment for their sins, coming from God's rod upon them, is not that far away.  It will be upon their own heads when they least expect it in the weeks, months, and days ahead.  Therefore, shall judgment from God become apparent on these scientists soon for their corrupted and distructive works and deeds.   

September 2, 2010

Typhoon devastates South Korea, 3 dead and towns demolished.
 

Some bunker down, some flee as Earl approaches US. BUXTON, N.C. - Hurricane Earl was barreling toward the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday with winds swirling at around 145 mph and forecasters were trying to pinpoint exactly how close the strongest winds and heaviest surge would get to North Carolina's fragile chain of barrier islands. They also were trying to figure out whether the storm would stay off the Northeast coast or bring hurricane-force winds to Long Island, the Boston metropolitan area and Cape Cod.

Number of illegal immigrants in US now declining. WASHINGTON - The number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. has dropped for the first time in two decades, decreasing by 8 percent since 2007, a new study finds. The reasons range from the sour economy to Mexican violence and increased U.S. enforcement that has made it harder to sneak across the border. Much of the decline comes from a sharp drop-off in illegal immigrants from the Caribbean, Central America and South America attempting to cross the southern border of the U.S., according to the Pew Hispanic Center, which based its report on an analysis of 2009 census data. The study released Wednesday estimates that 11.1 million illegal immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2009. That represents a decrease of roughly 1 million, or 8 percent, from a peak of 12 million in 2007.

Heat Waves Are Bad For (Even The Healthiest) Lungs. It's been the hottest summer on record in many cities on the U .S. East Coast - and the hot days that keep coming could be dangerous. Ozone and fine particles are the two types of pollution that trigger Code Red and Orange days. Both are formed out of exhaust from power plants, cars and other things. And when people breathe in the chemicals, it irritates their lungs.

East China, South Korea pummelled by storms. BEIJING, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A tropical storm hit China's east coast on Thursday, bringing heavy rains and disrupting shipping along the busy coast, while a typhoon shied away from China and ploughed into the Korean peninsula. Tropical storm Lionrock landed in Fujian, the Chinese province facing island Taiwan, the Xinhua news agency said. China's national weather forecaster warned residents to shelter from strong winds and torrential rains as Lionrock bore down on Xiamen, Quanzhou and other coastal cities. "Beware of possible mudslides, land slips and other hazards triggered by the downpours," said the Fujian weather service, according to Xinhua. Ships and fishing boats in the area were ordered to stay onshore or skirt around the storm, which hit Taiwan on Wednesday bringing downpours and lashing winds. Chinese officials are nervous after floods and landslides across the country this summer have already killed 3,185 people with 1,060 missing.

Mass Extinction Threat: Earth on Verge of Huge Reset Button? Mass extinctions have served as huge reset buttons that dramatically changed the diversity of species found in oceans all over the world, according to a comprehensive study of fossil records. The findings suggest humans will live in a very different future if they drive animals to extinction, because the loss of each species can alter entire ecosystems. Some scientists have speculated that effects of humans - from hunting to climate change - are fueling another great mass extinction. A few go so far as to say we are entering a new geologic epoch, leaving the 10,000-year-old Holocene Epoch behind and entering the Anthropocene Epoch, marked by major changes to global temperatures and ocean chemistry, increased sediment erosion, and changes in biology that range from altered flowering times to shifts in migration patterns of birds and mammals and potential die-offs of tiny organisms that support the entire marine food chain.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) - New Zealand prepared for further destruction on Sunday as aftershocks and an approaching storm threatened an area hit by the most devastating earthquake in decades. Prime Minister John Key said it was "a miracle" no one had died when the major 7.0 magnitude quake wreaked more than a billion dollars of damage on the nation's second-biggest city Christchurch. Civil defence officials warned that ongoing aftershocks with magnitudes of up to 5.4, coupled with a ferocious storm blowing in, could threaten already-weakened buildings. Despite the widespread over 500 buildings being damaged, none of the city's 340,000-strong population died when the quake struck before dawn Saturday. "The only conclusion you can draw is that it's a miracle nobody was killed," Key said as he surveyed the devastation.

Winds up on Nantucket, Earl now a weak hurricane. NANTUCKET, Mass. - The outer bands of Hurricane Earl are beginning to bring wind and waves to Nantucket. Earl is now a weak hurricane. At 8 p.m., maximum sustained winds were at 75 mph, just above the threshold for a hurricane.

September 4, 2010

US 'likely' to keep troops in Iraq after 2011. WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States likely will need to keep thousands of troops in Iraq beyond 2011 to keep a lid on sectarian tensions and to bolster Baghdad's fledgling military, experts and former officers say. American officials privately acknowledge that the US military presence in Iraq will almost certainly be extended, even though a security agreement in force requires all US forces to depart by the end of 2011. The US military will be needed not only for technical tasks to keep the Iraqi armed forces afloat, but as a reassuring presence for Iraqis fearing a revival of sectarian and ethnic bloodshed, analysts said.

Jacob’s House Comment,

The US military is in Iraq today for all the wrong reasons.  The US troops are really there to protect the US oil interests, and to set up US style banking, along with its debt and usury consequences.  These US troops however, are not necessarily there to protect the people of Iraq.  Instead, they are there to set up a favorable government in the Middle East which can be used and manipulated to their own advantage.  However, if these US troops do not leave soon they will be subjected to God’s wrath and fury coming down upon them for refusing to leave this nation that God has marked for extinction in the next few seasons of time. 

Expert warns of complacency after swine flu fizzle. HONG KONG - A leading virus expert urged health authorities around the world Sunday to stay vigilant even though the recent swine flu pandemic was less deadly than expected, warning that bird flu could spark the next global outbreak.

Clams befouling Tahoe invade Adirondack lake in NY.  BOLTON LANDING, N.Y. - A thumbnail-sized clam blamed for clouding the azure bays of Lake Tahoe high in the Sierra Nevada has now turned up in a mountain-ringed Adirondack lake renowned for its limpid, spring-fed waters. The invasive Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea, is known as the "golden clam" in the aquarium trade and the "good luck clam" in its native southeast Asia. But in Lake George, scientists call it an unwelcome invader that could cause ecological and economic harm. Since scattered numbers of Asian clams were discovered in Lake Tahoe in 2002, the population there has exploded, thanks to the mollusk's ability to self-fertilize and release up to 2,000 juveniles per day. Their waste has helped trigger algae blooms that turned the cobalt blue water into bright green. Besides promoting algae overgrowth, Asian clams can also clog water intake pipes and other structures, and their sharp shells can befoul swimming beaches. The fast-growing clams, which mature in months, also compete for food with slow-growing native freshwater mussels, which can live 60 years.

Biotech salmon safe for eating: FDA.  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A biotechnology company's genetically engineered salmon are as safe to eat as other Atlantic salmon, U.S. regulators said as they weighed approval of the first DNA-altered animal for Americans' dinner plates. The AquAdvantage salmon, developed by Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc, are genetically modified to grow twice as fast as conventional Atlantic salmon. Environmental and food-safety critics plan to fight against approval. The Food and Drug Administration has set a three-day public meeting starting September 19 on the DNA-altered fish, which could lead the way for biotech trout and tilapia. In a preliminary analysis prepared for the meeting, FDA staff said the altered salmon were "as safe to eat as food from other Atlantic salmon." The agency said it saw "no biologically relevant differences" in vitamins, minerals or fatty acids. FDA experts also said the fish were "highly unlikely" to cause significant harm to the environment.

Jacob’s House Comment,

Our Lord God has set many traps and snares in this world which will be unleashed when these altered salmon and other DNA altered products come to market.  These fools need to realize everything here is dependent on God’s approval for its survival.  Everything has been made by God to be intertwined and interconnected.  Therefore, nothing can be changed or altered on this earth without dire circumstances happening.  God’s wrath and fury will also come down upon the people who believe and support these evil works and deeds.       

Torrential rains kill 18 in Guatemala. GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - At least 18 people were killed in Guatemala on Saturday, including a dozen on a bus that was buried in a landslide, as heavy rains lashed the Central American nation and southern Mexico.

September 9, 2010

Colo. wildfire's toll of destroyed homes rises. BOULDER, Colo. - A wildfire has tore through a canyon in the Colorado foothills destroying property and homes. The 11-square-mile blaze has destroyed at least 92 structures and damaged at least eight others by Tuesday night. No injuries have been reported since the fire broke out on Monday. Officials say the cause is still under investigation. Authorities said around 3,500 people have been evacuated from about 1,000 homes.

U.S. religious leaders condemn "anti-Muslim" frenzy. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. religious leaders on Tuesday condemned the "anti-Muslim frenzy" in the United States, including plans by a Florida church to burn a Koran on September 11, an act a top general said could endanger American troops abroad. Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders denounced the "misinformation and outright bigotry" against U.S. Muslims resulting from plans to build a Muslim community center and mosque not far from the site of the September 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks in New York by the Islamist militant group al Qaeda that killed 2,752 people. Passions have been further inflamed by Terry Jones, the pastor of a 30-person church in Gainesville, Florida, who has announced plans to burn a Koran on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Jones says he wants to "expose Islam" as a "violent and oppressive religion."

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Fiji Islands. The earthquake struck 100 miles from the city of Labasa on the island of Vanua Levu and roughly 220 miles from the capital of Fiji, Suva, located on the Island of Viti Levu. The Labasa Police station reported a minute of mild shaking with no immediate reports of damage, said Chief Officer Patemosi Wate of the Police Command Center in the Northern Region of the Fiji Islands.

Pakistan 's response to floods mired in "doom and gloom". Pakistan, whose economy has been battered by the worst floods in its history, needs to abide by terms of an IMF bailout loan by enforcing fiscal austerity, the chances of which happening appear close to zero. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank are still assessing damage but three things are clear - the fiscal deficit target will be missed, inflation will rise and annual economic growth could be knocked back to between zero and 2 percent. Before the floods, which killed more than 1,700 people, displaced millions and caused an estimated $43 billion in damage - almost one quarter of the South Asian nation's 2009/10 gross domestic product - Pakistan had forecast growth of 4.5 percent. The floods have impacted 30 percent of all farmland, a massive blow to a mainstay of the economy. The economic problems are of concern to the United States which relies on a stable Pakistan in its fight against terrorism. The future of the economy is a big question mark, as there is no policy response from the government so far.

Toll from Guatemala, Mexico landslides rises above 50. GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - The toll from the heaviest rains in living memory in Guatemala and Mexico rose above 50, as Guatemalan officials called off the search for 15 more corpses over safety fears. Mexican authorities said three workers cleaning a drainage system in the center of the country had been buried by rocks and mud dislodged from a nearby hill, taking the toll there to at least seven after a week of downpours. In Guatemala, where at least 45 people died over the weekend, rescuers had just resumed the grim task of digging for bodies in a ravine next to the Pan-American Highway when officials decided the sodden terrain was unsafe. Many of Guatemala's dead perished Saturday when dozens of rescuers were buried alive as they tried to find victims of an earlier landslide that swept a bus and five other vehicles off the highway. Only 25 of the 40 people believed to have been buried at the site have been retrieved.

Japan confirms its first case of new superbug gene. TOKYO - Japan has confirmed the nation's first case of a new gene in bacteria that allows the microorganisms to become drug-resistant superbugs, detected in a man who had medical treatment in India, a Health Ministry officialsaid Tuesday. The gene, known as NDM-1, was found in a Japanese man in his 50s, Kensuke Nakajima said. Researchers say the gene- which appears to be circulating widely in India alters bacteria, making them resistant to nearly all known antibiotics. "The potential of NDM-1 to be a worldwide public health problem is great, and coordinated international surveillance is needed," according to a widely publicized report in the British medical journal Lancet in August. The gene has been seen largely in the deadly E. coli bacteria and on DNA structures that can be easily copied and passed onto other types of bacteria.

September 11, 2010

Thousands of Afghans in anti-Quran-burning protest. KABUL, Afghanistan - Thousands of people protested in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday against a small American church's earlier plan to burn the Muslim holy book, chanting "Death to America" and setting shops and police checkpoints on fire, officials said. Din Mohammad Darwish, spokesman for the governor of Logar province, said police fired warning shots into the air to prevent the protesters from storming the governor's house. He said no injuries were immediately reported. He said a highway linking Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan was briefly blocked by the protesters.

September 12, 2010

Uncertain Truce in US Quran Burning Drama.  A Florida preacher appeared to back away from plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11 after Secretary of Defense Gates phoned him.

Discovery of chemicals and genes Hoping to Save Sub-Saharan Crops from Devastating Parasites. Each year, thousands of acres of crops are planted throughout Africa, Asia and Australia only to be laid to waste by a parasitic plant called Striga, also known as witchweed. It is one of the largest challenges to food security in Africa, and a team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Toronto have discovered chemicals and genes that may break Striga's stranglehold. When crops grow, their roots release a plant hormone called strigolactone. If the soil contains Striga seed, it will use the released strigolactone as a cue to germinate and infect the crop plants. Once connected to the crop, the Striga plant kills the crop by sucking out its nutrients. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, Striga has infected up to two-thirds of the arable land.  With chemicals and genes in hand that influence strigolactone production in plants, scientists are trying to manipulate the level of this compound by chemical application or plant breeding which would break the Striga-crop interaction.

Jacob's House Comment,

God is trying to show through this witchweed infecting other crops how defiled the land has become in many nations today.  God is trying to show that the land needs to be cleansed and purified of its idol worship, its lascivious practices, and its spilling of innocent blood in these nations.  By these scientists trying to introduce unknown chemicals into the soil they could destroy the food supply for all time here.  They could also bring about a great plague for their foolishness and sorcery practices in trying to become like gods themselves.    

In farming, small is deadly. This year has been a bad one for food. A drought wiped out a quarter of the grain crop east of the Black Sea, outrageous amounts of rain have hit the Canadian and U.S. prairies hard, and sub-Saharan Africa has suffered sporadic rainfalls that have often cut crops in half.

Jacob’s House Comments:

In the prophecy on this website GOD WARNS THE PROMINENT MEN, dated 8/12/07,  God told Jacob what would be happening to the areas of this world He loathed where idol worship and false gods were being worshiped and praised today.  God told Jacob since many mingled people were refusing His words of the truth today, which bring food to the soul, He would take away there physical food to eat as punishment to them.  God said He would punish and destroy entire households for the unnatural affections, idol worship, grievous mistakes, and lies they have pursued. This is already happening all over this world as the headlines show today. 

Therefore it is time for all of the people of this world to wake up for the King of kings and Lord of lords is coming back to this world to judge and rule as never before.  

 Excerpt from God warns Prominent Men:

Therefore, the land that many foolish men now inhabit today will not be able to keep them alive in the future, watchman.  Their land will not be able to bear any fruit or sustenance upon it in the days ahead.  It will not have any physical or natural resemblance to My new land of Israel, which will soon be formed when I, the Lord God, bring it here, watchman.  It will not have any fresh meat or nourishment within its dried up borders to refresh them and free them of all misery, slavery, and harm they will soon suffer with.  Instead, the land they are living on today will soon become poisoned, corrupted, tainted, polluted, diseased, and destroyed.  It will be marked by Me to be consumed by My fire and jealousy because of the faulty ideas that are coming out of the mouths of these foolish men today.      

 So shall the food that many prominent and low base men eat today, burn them beyond measure in the coming hours.  So shall the food their land gives them become full of thorns, decay, diseases, mold, and briars within the next few years.  So shall I, the Lord God, soon recompense many foolish men for the corrupt ideas they have shared with their friends, their neighbors, and their forefathers.  I, the Lord God, will punish them incessantly in their hearts and minds.  They will bare the same curses and diseases their forefathers had to bare long ago.  If any evil or wickedness remains within their sinful hearts and minds, I will know about it.  I will also know where they are sleeping and keeping their secret hiding places today. 

 Therefore, soon, many rich and well connected men will feel My wrath, fury, and fire upon them as never before.  They will experience dysentery, diseases, and plagues of their hearts and minds.  They will experience sorrowful malnourishment and famine within them everywhere they decide to travel and go. 

Soon I, the Lord God, will make the filthy nations these prominent men are dwelling in today, desolate wilderness places.  Then only owls, snakes, and satyrs will be able to roam there.  They will not be able to run or hide from My wrath and fury upon them.  For I, the Lord God, will soon stretch out My almighty hand to smite them and devour their increase inside.  I will punish and destroy their entire household for the unnatural affections, idol worship, grievous mistakes, and lies they have pursued.  I will deliver them up to the destroyer for the creature images, false gods, and idols they are worshiping and praising today.  If they have burned sweet incense or candles to any other strange or standing gods, they will be condemned to perish by My outstretched hand. 

September 16, 2010

 Report: Illegal drug use up sharply last year. WASHINGTON - The rate of illegal drug use rose last year to the highest level in nearly a decade, fueled by a sharp increase in marijuana use and a surge in ecstasy and methamphetamine abuse, the government reported Wednesday. Gil Kerlikowske, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, called the 9 percent increase in drug use disappointing but said he was not surprised given "eroding attitudes" about the perception of harm from illegal drugs and the growing number of states approving medicinal marijuana. "I think all of the attention and the focus of calling marijuana medicine has sent the absolute wrong message to our young people," Kerlikowske said in an interview.

US homes lost to foreclosure up 25 pct on year. LOS ANGELES - Lenders took back more homes in August than in any month since the start of the U.S. mortgage crisis. The increase in home repossessions came even as the number of properties entering the foreclosure process slowed for the seventh month in a row, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. In all, banks repossessed 95,364 properties last month, up 3 percent from July and an increase of 25 percent from August 2009, RealtyTrac said. August makes the ninth month in a row that the pace of homes lost to foreclosure has increased on an annual basis. The previous high was in May.

Tropical Storm Karl heads to Gulf of Mexico. CANCUN, Mexico - Tropical Storm Karl dumped heavy rains on the Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday as it moved toward the Gulf of Mexico, where it was expected to pick up steam and become a hurricane threatening Mexico's central coast by the weekend. In the Atlantic, Hurricane Igor spun into a dangerous Category 4 storm that threatened to generate life-threatening rip currents along the U.S. East Coast over the weekend and bring large swells to the Bahamas and Virgin Islands before that. Category 2 Hurricane Julia was not a threat to land.

Where's the oil? On the U. S. Gulf floor, scientists say. NEW ORLEANS - Far beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, deeper than divers can go, scientists say they are finding oil from the busted BP well on the sea's muddy and mysterious bottom. Oil at least two inches thick was found Sunday night and Monday morning about a mile beneath the surface. Under it was a layer of dead shrimp and other small animals, said University of Georgia researcher Samantha Joye, speaking from the helm of a research vessel in the Gulf. The latest findings show that while the federal government initially proclaimed much of the spilled oil gone, now it's not so clear.

Arctic sea ice melts to third lowest area on record. WASHINGTON (AFP) - Arctic sea ice melted over the summer to cover the third smallest area on record, US researchers said on Wednesday, warning global warming could leave the region ice free in the month of September 2030. Last week, at the end of the spring and summer "melt season" in the Arctic, sea ice covered 4.76 million square kilometres (1.84 million square miles), the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center said in an annual report.  "This is only the third time in the satellite record that ice extent has fallen below five million square kilometres (1.93 million square miles), and all those occurrences have been within the past four years," the report said.

Study: To save tigers, protect key breeding areas. JAKARTA, Indonesia - Conservationists must protect tiger populations in a few concentrated breeding grounds in Asia instead of trying to safeguard vast, surrounding landscapes, if they want to save the big cats from extinction, scientists said. Only about 3,500 tigers are left in the wild worldwide, less than one third of them breeding females. Much has been done to try to save the world's largest cat, threatened by over-hunting, habitat loss and the wildlife trade.  But their numbers have continued to spiral downward for nearly two decades. The WWF and other conservation groups say the world's tiger population has fallen from around 5,000 in 1998 to as few as 3,200 today. The cats have been lost largely to poachers, who cash in on a huge market for tiger skins and a belief, prevalent in east Asia, that eating or applying tiger parts enhance health and virility.

Town's Disease Is Traced to a Surprising Culprit. After five years of lying low, Legionnaire's disease - a potentially fatal lung infection - returned to the small city of Alcoi, Spain, on July 21, 2009.  Two cases were confirmed by the end of the month, followed by eight in the first half of August, and one in the second half. The victims were 49 to 88 years old. All were hospitalized with fever and other symptoms; one died. This profile is fairly typical for an outbreak of Legionnaire's disease; the source was not. Since it infected 221 people, killing 34 of them, in the area of a convention of the American Legion (an organization for military veterans) in Philadelphia in 1976, the bacterium now called Legionella pneumophila has appeared around the world.  This microbe lives in fresh water nearly everywhere, and it becomes a problem only when inhaled as a fine spray or aerosol. (Legionella is harmless if you drink it.) Outbreaks are usually traced back to man-made supplies of warm water, such as water cooling systems, fountains, hot tubs, even showers. This time they are implicating an asphalt paving machine for the outbreak. 

Argentina sells DNA as world demands more beef. DUGGAN, Argentina (Reuters) - Tipping the scales at more than a ton, Montecristo would yield a lot of prime Argentine steak. But ranchers are not interested in sending bulls like him to slaughter - his semen is far more valuable. With newly affluent consumers from Brazil to China eating more meat, Argentine ranchers are honing their centuries-old cattle-breeding traditions to meet growing global demand for semen, embryos and genetics know-how.  There are around 20 Argentine bovine genetics companies. Exports of bovine semen have increased ten-fold in the last decade, in part thanks to the devaluation of the peso currency after a 2001/02 economic crisis, Etcheverry said. But it is China's interest in bovine genetics that is rousing big hopes among breeders in Argentina, which already sends most of its soybean exports to the Asian giant. "China is eager to buy Argentine genetics. It has a huge population and demand for meat is booming there.  "Some countries are interested in bovine genetics because providing affordable foodstuff for their citizens has become a priority," Etcheverry said.  Marietti said his firm is in talks with Ghana and Saudi Arabia, which want "the whole package" - including bull semen, embryos and know-how - as they try to develop a cattle industry based on Argentina's model.  "There's a paradox with some countries that have oil, natural gas, but not food," he said. "Their goal is to achieve food security."

Doctors alarmed by HIV risk for European gays. PARIS (AFP) - Homosexual men in Europe are increasingly failing to adhere to safe sex, according to two new studies. In France, transmission of the AIDS virus "seems to be out of control" among men who have sex with men.  But men who have sex with men accounted for 48 percent of new cases and have an infection rate that is 200 times higher than in the heterosexual population, despite a long-running campaign to promote safe sex. Separately, investigators at Ghent University in Belgium, publishing in the open-access journal BMC Infectious Diseases on Monday, found genetic evidence pointing to risky behavior among young white gays. The concerns in Europe mirror those in the United States, where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that more than 55,000 new infections occur every year, of which more than half occur among gays.

Fierce air, ground attack help slow fire's advance. LAKE ISABELLA, Calif. - A fierce air and ground attack helped slow the advance of a California forest fire in the southern Sierra Nevada that has charred more than 6,100 acres and destroyed one home, authorities said. Light winds aided the firefighting effort Wednesday as bulldozers carved firebreaks and crews set backfires to help stop the fire's spread.

September 17, 2010

Hurricane Karl now a Category 3 storm in the Gulf. MIAMI - Hurricane Karl has strengthened to a Category 3 storm as it roars toward ports and oil installations on Mexico's Gulf Coast. Karl's maximum sustained winds increased to near 120 mph (195 kph) early Friday with some additional strengthening possible before the hurricane makes landfall. Karl is located about 70 miles (110 kilometers) east-northeast of Veracruz, Mexico, and is moving west near 9 mph (15 kph).

Americans' wealth fell in spring as stocks tanked. ASHINGTON (AP) - Americans' long journey to regain the wealth they lost in the recession is stalled. Households failed even to run in place during the April-June quarter as sinking stock prices eroded wealth. Stocks have since rebounded. But based on last quarter's data, household net worth would have to rise 23 percent to revisit its pre-recession peak. Net worth, the value of assets like homes and investments, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards, fell 2.7 percent last quarter, or $1.5 trillion, the Federal Reserve said Friday. That left net worth at $53.5 trillion. That's above the bottom hit during the recession, $48.8 trillion in the first quarter of 2009. But it's far below the pre-recession peak in wealth of $65.8 trillion.

NYC 125 mph storm leaves 14-mile path of destruction. NEW YORK - The National Weather Service sought Friday to determine whether the fury of wind and rain that tore through New York City was a tornado, a storm that toppled trees, peeled away buildings roofs and killed a woman in a car who had just swapped seats with her husband. City officials described a path of destruction that hopped across New York Harbor from Staten Island and stretched uninterrupted for 14 miles from Park Slope in Brooklyn all the way through Queens to the Bayside neighborhood. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe estimated the storm destroyed more than 1,000 trees. He said forestry experts were finding damage patterns consistent with twisting winds, rather than more typical sideways winds. "This is a very brief storm that was extremely destructive," he said. The storm was part of a line that rippled across much of the Northeast before completing its run in New York City.  It snapped trees and scattered them like bowling pins, downing power lines and crushing vehicles, including a car in Queens where Iline Levakis and her husband, Billy Levakis were parked. The couple, from Pennsylvania, had just switched seats in the car, said a former business partner, Peter Markos.

September 19, 2010

Top economic planner warns of short grain output. The widening gap between China's grain output and demand is the most severe challenge facing China's grain security, said Zhang Ping, head of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planner, on Aug. 26. Zhang warned that the increasingly tight grain supply in the world market will lead to more difficulties in balancing grain supply and demand as well as in market control and regulation. "In the remaining few months of 2010, prices of some agricultural products may remain high, while the pressure of imported inflation still exists," he predicted. According to his report to the National People's Congress, China is expected to consume over 570 billion kilograms of grains. Meanwhile Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu has called on authorities to give more support to the country's major grain production areas so to ensure grain supply and security.

 Russian grain-export ban begins. A ban on Russian grain exports ordered by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin came into force Sunday, with the government battling to keep down the prices of basic foodstuffs amid a record drought. According to a government decree signed by Putin on August 5, the ban extends from Sunday until December 31, although the powerful premier has indicated it may even extend beyond that date if the harvest is bad. Russia, the world's No. 3 wheat exporter last year, has already warned that its grain harvest this year will be just 60 million to 65 million tons, compared with 97 million tons in 2009. The drought amid the worst-ever heatwave in Russia's history has ruined one quarter of the country's crops, according to President Dmitry Medvedev. The export ban is aimed at keeping the Russian domestic market well supplied with grain to prevent sharp rises in prices.

 Jacob’s House Comment,

 The reason these defiled nations are facing food and drought problems today are because they worship idols of wood, stone, and iron and they worship standing gods.  However, they have rejected the real Living God who owns and controls this earth.  They have also rejected God’s words of yesterday and today, which could provide them food for their weary and troubled souls. 

 Therefore, because these heathens have rejected God’s truthful words and His nourishing food, our God has taken away a portion of their own food supply.  God has also taken away a great portion of the water they need to have to survive.  Therefore, when will these heathens and fools begin to wake up and learn that a Living God controls them?  When will they begin to understand that our Creator can shut off their food, water, and existence here at any time? 

September 20, 2010

Crews battle Utah wildfire sparked at firing range. HERRIMAN, Utah - A wind-stoked fire sparked at a firing range during a National Guard training session blazed across hundreds of acres Monday as crews rushed to keep it from reaching any more homes than the two authorities said had burned a day earlier. The 300-acre fire moved in on the small community of Herriman on Sunday after flaring up at Camp Williams, a sprawling National Guard site about 30 miles outside Salt Lake City, said Captain Brad Taylor. Some 1,400 homes were evacuated, and fire officials said at least 100 were threatened.

Typhoon injures 45 in Taiwan. TAIPEI (Reuters) - A typhoon injured 45 people, canceled flights and cut power to tens of thousands in Taiwan on Sunday, keeping officials on high alert to stop any repeat of a deadly storm last year that damaged the president's reputation. Typhoon Fanapi, Taiwan's most severe storm so far in 2010, brought 162 kph (101 mph) maximum wind gusts that caused injuries by toppling scooters, breaking glass and blowing down signs. Gusts and sustained winds of up to 126 kph grounded 120 domestic and 36 international flights. They also kept Taiwan's main port of Kaohsiung closed into the evening.

Calif. whooping cough: 9 dead, infections on rise. LOS ANGELES -Sate health officials reported Thursday that California is on track to break a 55-year record for whooping cough infections in an epidemic that has already claimed the lives of nine infants. At least 4,017 cases of the highly contagious illness have been reported in California, according to the state. Data from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control show 11,466 cases nationwide, though the federal numbers are known to lag behind local reporting. A persistent cough that lasts weeks is the tell-tale symptom of the illness, which is also known as pertussis.

India floods kill 63 people in two days. New Delhi, India (CNN) - At least 63 people have been killed from flooding and landslides in northern India since Saturday, officials said Sunday. Authorities have evacuated about 5,000 people to safety from one of the three worst-hit districts of Uttarakhand state. Flooding from heavy rains has blocked state highways, cutting off communication links. Uttarakhand's major rivers, Kumar added, also flowed above their danger levels. Most of the 63 deaths recorded since Saturday have been caused by collapsed houses, landslides and drowning cases, he said. Officials fear the toll may rise.

September 26, 2010

New Bug Invading States Causes a Stink. Twenty-nine U.S. states have now been invaded by this putrid pest. The year of widespread pest pandemonium is not over. It's merely shifting focus, from bed bugs to stink bugs, as the weather gets cooler. As An Invasive Species in the United States, the brown marmorated stink bug was accidentally introduced into the United States from China or Japan. Stink bugs are invading the Eastern U.S. The shield-shaped insects don't bite, but they decimate crops and infest homes.

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake has sent tremors across much of New Hampshire and parts of Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts. A 3.3-magnitude earthquake has also been reported in southern Oklahoma. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was detected two miles northwest of Ravia in Johnston County about 6:20 a.m. Saturday.

The yam is endangered and under-researched. Yams are an important food crop in Africa, where the tubers are eaten by 60 million people every day, as well as in other parts of the world. But despite the yam's importance as a food source, science doesn't really know that much about yams or exert much effort in conserving them. That needs to change, says the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT), which has launched a worldwide effort to collect, catalogue and preserve thousands of yam varieties before many of them disappear. It is not an unlikely scenario, as some yam varieties or species are already endangered. In Uganda, for example, a variety of climbing yam known locally as imbama faces extinction and is now found only in remote, mountainous areas. The climbing yam grows on vines that, as their name implies, climb tall trees, but most of the trees in the Bugisu region of Uganda have been cut down to make room for fast-growing human settlements and agriculture, according to a report in the Uganda news Web site The New Vision. A banana blight, which killed many trees in 2001, further hurt the imbama's chances for survival.

The Arctic ice that thousands of walruses usually live on has disappeared from Alaska's Chukchi Sea. The government is trying to figure out how the animals are coping with the dramatic change and whether to add them to its endangered species list.

Swarm of 30,000 Earthquakes Reveals Volcanic Potential. A swarm of thousands of earthquakes that struck the corner of Saudi Arabia nearest to Egypt in 2009 helped reveal that the area is unexpectedly volcanically active, scientists now report.  Scientists had largely thought northwest Saudi Arabia was quiet, geologically speaking. Few earthquakes and few volcanic eruptions have been recorded there in the past millennium.  However, between April and June 2009, more than 30,000 earthquakes struck an ancient lava field there named Harrat Lunayyir, with 19 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater striking at the swarm's peak on May 19, including a magnitude 5.4 quake that fractured walls in the town of Al Ays. Sensors even suggested that a volcanic eruption was possible. Alarmed, the Saudi Arabian government then evacuated 40,000 people from the region.

Officials say levee failing from heavy rain near Wis. Park.  PORTAGE, Wis. - Officials in central Wisconsin say a levee south of Highway 33 is failing, and access into a park area is being cut off. The access road into Blackhawk Park has been closed as of 4 p.m. Sunday. No one is being allowed in or out until further notice, including emergency vehicles. Officials had been encouraging residents to evacuate, saying they were concerned the Calidonia Levee would fail. Residents are reminded to turn off utilities if possible, and bring medications and important documents with them, as well as their pets and vaccination records.

Drought continues to persist in almost a dozen US states from Ohio to the Mid-Atlantic states to parts of New England including Maine.  Shortages of crops persist in these areas as food supplies dwindle. 

October 3, 2010

9/11 U.S. conspiracy theories rife in Muslim world. ISTANBUL - About a week ago, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared to the United Nations that most people in the world believe the United States was behind the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. To many people in the West, the statement was ludicrous, almost laughable if it weren't so incendiary. And surveys show that a majority of the world does not in fact believe that the U.S. orchestrated the attacks. However, the belief persists strongly among a minority, even with U.S. allies like Turkey or in the U.S. itself. And it cannot be dismissed because it reflects a gulf in politics and perception, especially between the West and many Muslims.

Study shows progress with stem cell alternative. NEW YORK - Scientists reported more progress Thursday with a method of creating stem cells without using embryos. The advance in cell reprogramming by researchers in Boston was praised as a more efficient way of turning skin cells into stem cells, a step toward developing new medical treatments. One expert said the new approach might be the first practical way to make such cells for creating new tissue to treat conditions like diabetes and Parkinson's disease. In 2007, when scientists first reported they had reprogrammed skin cells into stem cells, it was hailed as an alternative to getting stem cells from embryos, which are then destroyed. Since then, researchers have been working on fine-tuning the method.

Acidification of Oceans May Contribute to Global Declines of Shellfish. The acidification of the Earth's oceans due to rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) may be contributing to a global decline of clams, scallops and other shellfish by interfering with the development of shellfish larvae, according to two Stony Brook University scientists.  Scientists evaluating the impacts of past, present and future ocean acidification on the larvae of two commercially valuable shellfish: the Northern quahog, or hard clam, and the Atlantic bay scallop. The ability of both to produce shells partly depends on ocean water pH. Previous studies have shown that increases in atmospheric CO₂ levels can lower the ocean's pH level, causing it to become more acidic.

How to still kill a resistant parasite. Scientists in Belgium, in collaboration with colleagues from several developing countries, were able to restore a sleeping sickness parasite’s susceptibility to drugs. The parasite causes sleeping sickness in cattle. Because it has become resistant against all currently available drugs, it causes enormous economic losses.

 Denver firefighters battle flames, fleeing bed bugs. Denver firefighters ran into more than the normal hazards at a house fire. Crews responding to the blaze Wednesday also had to battle bedbugs, the bloodsucking insects quickly becoming the scourge of households and businesses across the country.

 Heating Up: 2010 offers 4th Hottest Summer on Record. An unparalleled heat wave in eastern Europe, coupled with intense droughts and fires around Moscow, put Earth’s temperatures in the headlines this summer. Likewise, a string of exceptionally warm days in July in the eastern United States strained power grids, forced nursing home evacuations, and slowed transit systems. Both high-profile events reinvigorated questions about humanity’s role in climate change.  But, from a global perspective, how warm was the summer exactly? How did the summer's temperatures compare with previous years? And was global warming the "cause" of the unusual heat waves? Scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, led by GISS's director, James Hansen, have analyzed summer temperatures and released an update on the GISS website that addresses all of these questions. Globally, June through August, according to the GISS analysis, was the fourth-warmest summer period in GISS’s 131-year-temperature record. The same months during 2009, in contrast, were the second warmest on record. The slightly cooler 2010 summer temperatures were primarily the result of a moderate La Niña (cooler than normal temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean) replacing a moderate El Niño (warmer than normal temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean).

Jacob’s House Comment,

What these fools and scientists all over the world do not realize today is God is causing the weather to become more and more erratic and uncertain all over this world.  God is causing the sun to become more intense and hotter with each and every passing day.  For what is not understood or determined by these fools and scientists is we are already in the beginning of sorrows, talked about by Jesus in the Bible.  Therefore, we are having earthquakes, famine, violence, trouble, and diseases spreading all over this world.  This will be followed in 2011 by the evil one going door to door in a deadly encounter to mark the people who are to be his portion today. 

Therefore, God’s children better prepare themselves and their little ones for the new Passover time here that will soon be occurring.  They better prepare their houses in good and righteous order with the blood of the lamb on their doorposts.  They better not be caught asleep at the third hour.  Otherwise they will be signified by God as being off guard when the devil comes near to their houses to select his marked ones for his death, maiming, travail, and destruction.   

October 6, 2010

Study Examines new ICU Outbreak of Staph Aureus With Resistance to Methicillin and Linezolid. An outbreak of infection due to linezolid and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LRSA) in 12 intensive care unit patients in Spain was associated with transmission within the hospital and extensive usage of the antibiotic linezolid, often used for the treatment of serious infections, with reductions in linezolid use and infection-control measures hospital personnel hope to resolve the outbreak. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of health care-associated infection. Therapeutic options for severe MRSA infections are limited, only linezolid and glycopeptides [a class of peptides] are recommended to treat ventilator-associated pneumonia). Linezolid is widely used in critical care because of its antimicrobial spectrum, favorable short-term safety profile.

Invaders could devastate Florida avocado industry. Florida's lucrative avocado industry could face a serious blow from a duo of deadly new invaders. Together, the invasive fungus called "laurel wilt disease" and the redbay ambrosia beetle, which carries laurel wilt, represent a significant economic threat to the industry. Direct losses from the invasion could range from $183 million to a remarkable high of $356 million.

Jamaica PM: $125 million to fix storm damage. It will take at least $125 million to repair flattened farmland, rutted roads, broken bridges and eroded beaches across storm-staggered Jamaica, the island's leader announced Tuesday. Tropical Storm Nicole caused flooding and mudslides across Jamaica on Wednesday, leaving two confirmed dead and at least 12 more missing.

Magnitude-4.5 quake strikes off Humboldt coast. There are no reports of damage or injuries after a magnitude-4.5 earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean off the Humboldt County coast. The U.S. Geological Survey says the earthquake struck around 8:15 a.m. Tuesday. It was located 37 miles northwest of Eureka, which is about 270 miles north of San Francisco.

Population crash in Kenya: Rare bird gets much, much rarer--but why? One of the world's most critically endangered birds, Kenya's taita apalis ( Apalis fuscigularis ), has suddenly and inexplicably become much, much rarer , according to BirdLife International. The organization, which has funded research into the species through its Preventing Extinctions Program , says that field work conducted in 2009 and 2010 found almost no taita apalis remaining in Kenya's forests. With sightings of the bird down nearly 80 percent compared with 2001, BirdLife now estimates the species's population at somewhere between 60 and 130 individuals. Previous estimates from just nine years ago placed the population at between 300 and 650 birds.

Toxic Red Sludge Spill From Hungarian Aluminum Plant 'An Ecological Disaster'. The material can cause burns and eye irritation, and if it is ingested, it can cause internal damage. A flood of toxic waste from a burst reservoir at a chemical plant has killed at least four people in Western Hungary.The Hungarian Government is trying to stop it from reaching the Marcal and Danube rivers. Toxic sludge spilled into Kolontar, Devecser and Somlovasarhely. Several people are missing and there are more than 120 reported injuries. People are reporting burns and eye irritation. The national disaster unit says the sludge contains heavy metals, including lead. It is slightly radioactive and its dust can cause lung damage.

Census shows connectedness of world's marine life. WASHINGTON - The world's oceans may be vast and deep, but a decade-long count of marine animals finds sea life so interconnected that it seems to shrink the watery world. An international effort to create a Census of Marine Life was completed Monday with maps and three books, increasing the number of counted and validated species to 201,206. A decade ago the question of how many species are out there couldn't be answered. But what scientists learned was more than a number or a count. It was a sense of how closely life connects from one place to another and one species to another. In that way, Ceratonotus steiningeri exemplifies what the census found. "We didn't know so much about the deep sea," Arbizu said. "We believe now that the deep sea is more connected, also the different oceans, than we previously thought."AFP - The US space agency NASA announced it has given the green light to a mission to Mars aimed at investigating the mystery of how the "red planet" lost its atmosphere.

Connecticut doctor: Family was 'destroyed by evil'. (CNN) - For three weeks, Dr. William Petit went to a courtroom and re-lived the day he was attacked and his wife and daughters were killed in their Connecticut home. The killings of Hawke-Petit, 17-year-old Hayley Petit and 11-year-old Michaela Petit happened in the New Haven suburb of Cheshire on the morning of July 23, 2007. Prosecutors said Hayes and co-defendant Joshua Komisarjevsky entered the home the previous night, beat and bound Petit and attacked his wife and daughters before setting their home on fire. Komisarjevsky, 30, will be tried separately, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Hayes.

Death toll from Asian floods nears 110. TELUK WONDAMA, Indonesia - Helicopters dropped food to isolated villages and security forces helped clear debris and search for survivors as the number of people killed by floods and landslides across Asia climbed Wednesday to nearly 110. Three-quarters of the deaths were in Eastern Indonesia, where days of torrential downpours caused mud and debris to crash into hillside villages, damaging thousands of homes. Twenty-six fatalities were reported in Vietnam. On the nearby Chinese island of Hainan, 64,000 people had to be evacuated. The greatest panic was caused when a river burst its banks in the hardest-hit Indonesian village of Wasior early this week, sweeping away residents in a fast-moving wall of sludge, rocks and heavy logs that left thigh-high water in its wake. "Many people didn't have time to save themselves," said one woman, Ira Wanoni, adding that others were screaming "Flood! Flood!" as they tried to scramble to high ground.

Storms cause flooding in Arizona, Nevada. Strong storms on Tuesday pounded portions of the West, dropping record-setting rain in northern Nevada, flooding roads and disrupting flights in Phoenix, and dumping enough snow at the top of the Sierra to close a mountain highway pass.  Meanwhile, a lightning strike in Utah left two teenage boys hospitalized in critical condition.  In Phoenix, no flights arrived or left Sky Harbor International Airport for about a half-hour because of winds as strong as 70 mph, lightning, golf ball-sized hail and rain.

October 10 2010

Job Losses Increase Pressure on Fed. The U.S. economy continued to lose jobs last month as small gains in the private sector failed to offset big cuts in government workers, pointing to a still sluggish recovery.

Harvest Shocker Rattles Wall Street. The U.S.Department of Agriculture sliced its harvest projections for corn, soybeans and wheat, throwing fuel on a three-month-old commodity rally and deepening worries about rising food prices. Soaring prices in the US are leading to a new food crisis with Agricultural commodities prices gaining momentum. Last week, the US government slashed grain production estimates after adverse weather conditions. Crops worldwide have been damaged recently been floods and wild weather. Traders on commodities markets have described the fluctuations in price for grains as among the worst since the 2007-08 food crisis, when inventories were well down. Last week there were price movements of up to 12.5%. The markets most affected were corn, wheat, soybean, sugar, barley and oats. The US Department of Agriculture has also warned that stocks of corn and barley, the grains that feed the meat industry, are at a 14 year low.

Jacob’s House Comment,

Because the world governments and nations have refused the Lord God’s words of yesterday and today, which are the bread of life and the food for your soul, the Lord God is already beginning to take away their food supplies worldwide.  Because these governments and nations have spread atheistic ideas and they blaspheme the living God, they will suffer with travail, trouble, and economic distress going forward.  All these things will occur until the Lord God’s new day is completely formed in the memory and soul of our Creator.  These things of travail, trouble, and economic distress will not go away but instead increase before our Lord Jesus steps upon this earth for a second time. 

The sudden death of bee colonies since late 2006 across North America has stumped scientists. But today, researchers may have a greater understanding of the mysterious colony collapse disorder. Bee colony collapse is associated with a viral, fungal infection, biologist says. To discover what might be attacking bee colonies, the team ground up dead bees that had succumbed to colony collapse disorder. Using analytical equipment, researchers discovered through spectroscopic analysis evidence of a moth virus called insect iridescent virus (IIV) 6 and a fungal parasite called Nosema. The insect virus is closely related to another virus that wiped out bee populations 20 years ago in India, he said. Also, unlike previous research that found the deaths may be caused by a virus with RNA, the IIV 6 contains DNA.

Jacob’s House Comment,

In the prophecy on this website entitled, “God Speaks About His Power”, dated 1/15/06, our Lord God told this world through His Holy Spirit what would happen to the nations and people who have denied Him and His Son, Jesus.  God spoke about the fact that the crops would decline worldwide and mold and mildew would be seen in many nations today.  Therefore, the honeybees around this world are being decimated because of the sin, the evil deeds, and the filthiness of many men today.  They are being destroyed as a sign from God that purity, compassion, charity among men, and virtue have gone out of the land.

Excerpt from “God Speaks About His Power”: 
   

You, watchman, know about glistening sword of the truth and the almighty consuming words that I own.  You know I have hidden strength within Me that is not readily understood or perceived here.  Therefore, I can take down and destroy all of the rotten and perverted places, which I dislike.  I can easily make them into cauldrons of fire for all of the evil deeds the souls in them have done.  I can cause the leaders and the governors of many nations to come down with confusion, beguilement, trepidation, and fear.  Therefore, none of them will be able to stop Me when I decide to visit this world in the coming days.    

           There are many ignorant and foolish people on this earth today who have refused My benevolent, outstretched hands, watchman.  They have refused My loving kindness, My light, and My mercy, watchman.  They have refused to truly worship and praise Me and My Son, Jesus, in their hearts and minds.  Therefore, so shall I, the Lord God, refuse them when the time draws near for My new day to appear in all of its glory.  So shall I refuse them with a tidal wave of judgment upon them they cannot control.  I will bring unrelenting change to their work places and their doorsteps.  I, the Lord God, will show them how polluted, sinful, unruly, vain, filthy, and proud they have become.

             Therefore, the ground many foolish people walk upon in the coming hours will not yield them any good fruit or sustenance, watchman.  I, the Lord God, will show them how their harvest fields of true meat and corn have declined because they have defiled themselves.  I will show them how the purified blood they have stolen from Me has spilled over into their houses and into their city streets.  I will also show them how rocky, moldy, sinful, and hard their ground has become before Me, watchman. 

Soon the floods, whirlwinds, hailstorms, evil, and firestorms that I will bring to this earth will show the people here how corrupted they have become before Me.  These things will show them how little they know about My purified, virtuous, and profitable ways that bring eternal life. 

A new report is stating food stamp recipients in the US have risen by over 18% in the last year.  Now more than 48 million Americans must receive government food stamps to buy their groceries with and survive. Many of these now are the middle class.

Israeli Cabinet passes loyalty bill, Arabs angry. JERUSALEM - Israel's Cabinet approved on Sunday a bill that would require new citizens to pledge a loyalty oath to a "Jewish and democratic" state, language that triggered charges of racism from Arab lawmakers who see it as undermining the rights of the country's Arab minority. The measure was largely symbolic, since few non-Jews apply for Israeli citizenship. Nevertheless, it infuriated the Arab minority and stoked tensions with Palestinians at a time when fledgling peace talks are deadlocked over Israel's refusal to extend a moratorium on new building in West Bank Jewish settlements. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the bill reflected the essence of Israel at a time when he said many in the world are trying to blur the connection between the Jewish people and their homeland. "The state of Israel is the national state of the Jewish people and is a democratic state in which all its citizens - Jews and non-Jews enjoy full equal rights," he said. "Whoever wants to join us, has to recognize us."

Fla. Ag chief warns conditions ripe for wildfires. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida's agriculture commissioner is warning that a lack of tropical storms is contributing to dry condition ripe for wildfires in the months ahead.  Commissioner Charles Bronson said Friday that a second factor is abnormally cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean - a condition known as "La Nina."It affects weather patterns across North America. For Florida it'll will mean a warmer, drier winter. Bronson said the net result is "a tough wildfire season ahead."

October 16, 2010

Palestinians weighing alternatives to peace talks. RAMALLAH, West Bank - The Palestinians will study alternatives to peace talks with Israel in the coming days, a top PLO official said Saturday, after Israel gave the green light to build 238 new houses for Jews on war-won land Palestinians seek for their state. The negotiations, launched by the U.S. in early September, quickly broke down over Israel's refusal to extend a limited curb on construction in West Bank settlements, deemed illegal by the international community.

U. S. Annual Deficit Stays Sky-High. The Treasury reported a nearly $1.3 trillion deficit for 2010, down from 2009 but still the second-largest in more than 60 years, adding fuel to this year's political debate about the size of deficits and government.

Newly Identified Virus May Cause Pediatric Diarrhea.  Klassevirus, a new member of the picornavirus family, has recently been discovered in human stool and more specifically linked with pediatric diarrhea. vResearchers from the U.S. and abroad detail their findings in the October 2010 issue of the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology. Initial analysis of klassevirus shows it to be closely related to Aichi virus, a common cause of oyster-associated gastroenteritis in humans. Although studies have detected klassevirus in pediatric stool and sewage samples, it has not yet been found in any sterile sites of the human body leaving researchers to question its true authenticity as a human infection.

Cuba cleans up from Tropical Storm Paula. Much of Cuba's capital remained without power early Friday following a direct hit from Tropical Storm Paula, as cleanup crews carried away fallen trees and swept up chunks of concrete torn from the city streets.

Disfiguring tropical disease surges in Afghanistan. KABUL, Afghanistan - An outbreak of a tropical disease caused by sand fly bites that leaves disfiguring skin sores has hit Afghanistan, with tens of thousands of people infected, health officials said Friday. Cutaneous leishmanisis is a parasitic disease transmitted by the female phlebotomine sand fly — an insect only 2-3 millimeters long that requires the blood of humans or animals so its eggs can develop. Treatable with medication and not life-threatening, cutaneous leishmanisis can leave severe scars on the bodies of victims. The disease threatens 13 million people in Afghanistan, the World Health Organization said, and many impoverished Afghan victims can't afford the medication to treat it. In Kabul - described by the WHO as "the world capital of cutaneous leishmaniasis" - the number of cases jumped from an estimated 17,000 a year in the early 2000s to 65,000 in 2009, WHO said. Most victims are women and children.

IPCC aims for clarity and relevance in new report. Providing information that policymakers can use is key to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as work begins on its next global assessment. The report, known as AR5, will focus on factors that materially affect people's lives, such as the Asian monsoon.  It will also look at what aspects of climate change might be irreversible. Leaders of the IPCC's scientific assessment were speaking to BBC News during a conference in South Korea aimed at modernising the organisation. They indicated that procedures used in compiling AR5 will reflect some criticisms made in the wake of errors uncovered in its previous assessment, in 2007.

October 17, 2010

Strong typhoon blows for Philippines; 1,000s flee. MANILA, Philippines - The strongest typhoon to threaten the Philippines in recent years menacingly roared toward the country's north Sunday, prompting thousands of villagers to flee to safety and sparking massive emergency preparations. Typhoon Megi had sustained winds of 140 miles per hour and gusts of 162 mph by nightfall but could strengthen as it moves west at 14 mph  over the Philippine Sea. Forecasters said it's expected to slam into Cagayan province Monday morning. With its ferocious wind, Megi has become the strongest typhoon to threaten the country in four years, government forecasters say. A 2006 howler with 155-mph (250-kph) winds set off volcanic mudslides that buried entire villages, killing about 1,000 people. Weather officials issued the highest of a four-tier public storm alert for Cagayan and nearby Isabela province, warning of pounding rains and fierce wind that could significantly damage agriculture, residential areas, power and communications.

Rabies claims 100th fatality in Indonesia's Bali. BALI, Indonesia - A rabies outbreak on Indonesia's resort island of Bali has now killed 100 people. Bali, an island of 3 million people and one of Asia's top tourist destinations, has been grappling with the outbreak for nearly two years. Several countries have issued advisories, telling travelers they should get shots and stay clear of dogs roaming the white-sand beaches. In a widely criticized move, local officials responded by killing 200,000 stray dogs, saying they couldn't afford to vaccinate the animals against rabies. That has changed in recent weeks with the help of international funds.

Mexican drug addicts dwell amid fear of violence.  CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - Thousands of drug addicts live in the shadows of Ciudad Juarez, the infamous Mexican border city at the epicenter of a wave of brutal drug violence as well as growing drug use. Abandoned by authorities, the addicts live in fear of drug gangs who threaten and sometimes kill them for no apparent reason, including several brutal massacres in drug treatment centers. "Now they enter houses and kill us. We keep this window open so we can at least try to escape over the roof," said a drug user who gave her name as Carla, inside a house used as a 'shooting gallery' for heroin in Barrio Alto, a central district dotted with abandoned businesses.

Hospitalizations Way Up for Young Adults With Diabetes. Hospitalizations for diabetes in the United States rose 65 percent over a recent 14-year span, with young adults -- and young women in particular -- accounting for much of that surge, a new study shows. The number of 30- to 39-year-olds hospitalized for diabetes more than doubled between 1993 and 2006, the researchers found. Young women in that age bracket and also those aged 20 to 29 were 1.3 times more likely than men to need hospital care for diabetes, they said. "What we saw were dramatic increases in diabetes-related hospitalizations for 30- to 39-year olds and particularly for women in that age group compared to men," said study leader Dr. Joyce M. Lee, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan. "Diabetes is on the rise worldwide," he said. "We are living in a pandemic of diabetes. We don't have the resources to combat it. Diabetes is happening earlier and earlier."

Discovery of GPS tracker becomes privacy issue. SAN FRANCISCO - Yasir Afifi, a 20-year-old computer salesman and community college student, took his car in for an oil change earlier this month and his mechanic spotted an odd wire hanging from the undercarriage. The wire was attached to a strange magnetic device that puzzled Afifi and the mechanic. They freed it from the car and posted images of it online, asking for help in identifying it. Two days later, FBI agents arrived at Afifi's Santa Clara apartment and demanded the return of their property, a global positioning system tracking device now at the center of a raging legal debate over privacy rights. One federal judge wrote that the widespread use of the device was straight out of George Orwell's novel, "1984". "By holding that this kind of surveillance doesn't impair an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy, the panel hands the government the power to track the movements of every one of us, every day of our lives," wrote Alex Kozinski, the chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a blistering dissent in which a three-judge panel from his court ruled that search warrants weren't necessary for GPS tracking. In his dissent, Chief Judge Kozinski noted that GPS technology is far different from tailing a suspect on a public road, which requires the active participation of investigators. "The devices create a permanent electronic record that can be compared, contrasted and coordinated to deduce all manner of private information about individuals," Kozinksi wrote. But other federal and state courts have come to the opposite conclusion.

Jacob's House Comment,

The mark of the beast "666" is already here in many ways.  Many governments are trying to assume complete control over their citizens' lives.  At the same time many people's evil thoughts, as well as what evil lurks in their hearts and minds, are being assayed and marked by the devil.  Soon he will claim these people as being his captives to be destroyed.  The devil will then ask God if he can punish them in God's new Passover incessantly for their sins.  

October 18, 2010

Merkel says German multi-cultural society has failed. BERLIN (AFP) - Germany's attempt to create a multi-cultural society has failed completely, Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the weekend, calling on the country's immigrants to learn German and adopt Christian values. Merkel weighed in for the first time in a blistering debate sparked by a central bank board member saying the country was being made "more stupid" by poorly educated and unproductive Muslim migrants. "Multikulti", the concept that "we are now living side by side and are happy about it," does not work, Merkel told a meeting of younger members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party at Potsdam near Berlin. "This approach has failed, totally," she said, adding that immigrants should integrate and adopt Germany's culture and values. "We feel tied to Christian values. Those who don't accept them don't have a place here," said the chancellor. "Subsidising immigrants" isn't sufficient, Germany has the right to "make demands" on them, she added, such as mastering the language of Goethe and abandoning practices such as forced marriages.

Super typhoon lashes Philippines amid flood alerts. CAUAYAN, Philippines - Super Typhoon Megi became the strongest cyclone in years to buffet the Philippines on Monday, while flooding in Vietnam swept away a bus and left 20 people missing, including a girl pulled from her mother's grasp by the raging waters.mThe huge storm striking the northern Philippines drowned at least one man and was expected to add to what already has been heavy rains striking much of the region, including in China where authorities evacuated 140,000 people from a coastal province ahead of the typhoon. It could head later to Vietnam, where 30 deaths from flooding already have been reported in recent days, in addition to the bus passengers snatched by surging currents Monday and feared dead. Megi packed sustained winds of 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour and gusts of 162 mph (260 kph) as it made landfall midday Monday at Palanan Bay in Isabela province, felling trees and utility poles and cutting off power, phone and Internet services in many areas.

World needs urgent action to stop species loss : U.N. NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) - The world cannot afford to allow nature's riches to disappear, the United Nations said on Monday at the start of a major meeting to combat losses in animal and plant species that underpin livelihoods and economies. The United Nations says the world is facing the worst extinction rate since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago, a crisis that needs to be addressed by governments, businesses and communities. The two-week meeting aims to prompt nations and businesses to take sweeping steps to protect and restore ecosystems such as forests, rivers, coral reefs and the oceans that are vital for an ever-growing human population. "This meeting is part of the world's efforts to address a very simple fact - we are destroying life on earth."

October 21, 2010

Clashes, protests in French tensions over pensions. PARIS - Protesters blockaded Marseille's airport, Lady Gaga canceled concerts in Paris and rioting youths attacked police in Lyon on Thursday ahead of a tense Senate vote on raising the retirement age. A quarter of the nation's gas stations were out of fuel despite President Nicolas Sarkozy's orders to force open depots barricaded by striking workers. Gasoline shortages and violence on the margins of student protests have heightened the standoff between the government and labor unions who see retirement at 60 as a hard-earned right. New violence broke out in Lyon, as police chased rampaging youths who overturned a car and hurled bottles. Riot officers tried to subdue the violence with tear gas. A gendarme helicopter circled overhead.

Brazil: Superbug cases in Brasilia rise by 25% in a week. The Federal District Secretariat of Health reported this Friday that the total number of patients suspect of carrying the super-resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae Carbapenemase (KPC) is 135. The rise since last week, when the government reported 108 suspected cases between January and October, is 25 percent. Nevertheless, the secretariat said the number of deaths from the infection has fallen. Eighteen died last week, but three were dropped as KPC cases. So far, the bacteria has been identified in 16 hospitals-9 public and 7 private. No cure is now known.

Jacob’s House Comment,

It is stated in the Bible that a great plague will come upon many men who have denied God and His Son, Jesus.  This plague will be a mutating one that cannot be cured or stopped in its devouring of the cursed men in its path.  The generation we are living in today is the time for this plague to begin.  Therefore, soon our God will unleash this plague on many men for their sins, their corruption, their lasciviousness, and their wickedness today. 

See Zachariah 14:12-19.

 Excerpt from Zachariah 14:12-15:

12    And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

13    And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

14    And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

15    And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.

US-Saudi arms deal ripples from Iran to Israel. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - As American and Saudi officials spent months quietly hammering out a wish list for a mammoth sale of American warplanes and other weapons to the oil-rich kingdom, leaders in Iran were busy publicly displaying their advances in missiles, naval craft and air power.,, In one memorable bit of political theater, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood under a cascade of glitter in August to unveil a drone bomber, dubbed the "ambassador of death", that he claimed would keep foes in the region "paralyzed" on their bases. The response by Washington and its cornerstone Arab ally, Saudi Arabia, moved a step ahead Wednesday. The Obama administration notified Congress of plans to sell $60 billion worth in 84 new F-15 fighter jets, helicopters and other gear. The proposed deal, one of the biggest single U.S. arms sales, is clearly aimed at countering Iran's rising military might and efforts to expand its influence. Israel has made no diplomatic rumblings over the proposed Saudi deal, a marked contrast to almost automatic objections decades ago to Pentagon pacts with Arab nations. It's widely seen as an acknowledgment that Israel's worries over Iran and its nuclear program far outweigh any small shifts in the Israel-Arab balance of power.

Jacob’s House Comment,

Never has the US been so anti-Israel as it is today.  Never in the past have the leaders in the US disregarded Israel’s need for compassion and aid, as they have done today.  This is all part of the end time scenario that will bring another visitation from the Lord God to this earth.  Then shall God’s anger and fury be released on the US, also known as the eagle.  His anger and fury will also be released on any other nation that has given aid and weapons to Israel’s enemies, at her expense. 

U.N. urged to freeze climate geo-engineering projects. NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) - The United Nations should impose a moratorium on "geo-engineering" projects such as artificial volcanoes and vast cloud-seeding schemes to fight climate change, green groups say, fearing they could harm nature and mankind. The risks were too great because the impacts of manipulating nature on a vast scale were not fully known, the groups said at a major U.N. meeting in Japan aimed at combating increasing losses of plant and animal species. Envoys from nearly 200 countries are gathered in Nagoya, Japan, to agree targets to fight the destruction of forests, rivers and coral reefs that provide resources and services central to livelihoods and economies. A major cause for the rapid losses in nature is climate change, the United Nations says, raising the urgency for the world to do whatever it can to curb global warming and prevent extreme droughts, floods and rising sea levels.

Worst Coral Death Strikes at Southeast Asia. International marine scientists say that a huge coral death which has struck Southeast Asian and Indian Ocean reefs over recent months has highlighted the urgency of controlling global carbon emissions. Many reefs are dead or dying across the Indian Ocean and into the Coral Triangle following a bleaching event that extends from the Seychelles in the west to Sulawesi and the Philippines in the east and include reefs in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and many sites in western and eastern Indonesia. "It is certainly the worst coral die-off we have seen since 1998. It may prove to be the worst such event known to science," says Dr Andrew Baird of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook Universities. "So far around 80 percent of Acropora colonies and 50 per cent of colonies from other species have died since the outbreak began in May this year." This means coral cover in the region could drop from an average of 50% to around 10%, and the spatial scale of the event could mean it will take years to recover, striking at local fishing and regional tourism industries, he says. The bleaching event has also hit the richest marine biodiversity zone on the planet, the 'Amazon Rainforest' of the seas, known as the Coral Triangle (CT), which is bounded by Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Magnitude-6.7 earthquake hits northern Mexico. MEXICO CITY - A powerful earthquake struck offshore in Mexico's Gulf of California on Thursday, causing people to flee into the streets in the western state of Sinaloa, but there were no reports of damage or injury. The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the magnitude of the quake as 6.9, but later in the day revised it to 6.7. The tremor struck about 72 miles (116 kilometers) south of Los Mochis, a city just inland from the coast in Sinaloa. It was centered at a relatively shallow depth of 5.6 miles (9 kilometers).

Biogen reports more brain infections in MS patients. BOSTON (Reuters) - Two more patients taking Biogen Idec Inc's multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri have developed a potentially deadly brain infection known as PML, the company said on Wednesday. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company said in its latest monthly update that as of October 1, there have been 70 confirmed cases of PML, up from 68 as of September 2. Of those, 14 have died and 56 are alive with varying degrees of disability ranging from mild to severe. There were no additional deaths in October.

October 24, 2010

Rain drenches China as Megi weakens to depression. BEIJING - Torrential rains drenched China's southeastern coast as once-powerful Typhoon Megi weakened to a tropical depression Sunday and more than 300,000 evacuees waited to return to their battered homes. Megi has dumped up to 13 inches (33 centimeters) of rain on Chinese coastal villages after hitting the mainland Saturday. News reports described extensive damage to fishing boats and shellfish beds in Fujian province, where more heavy rain was falling Sunday. A super typhoon at its peak strength, Megi cut a swath of destruction through the Philippines and Taiwan in the past week. Landslides and flooding in Taiwan killed as many as 31 people, and at least 28 people died in the northern Philippines. An estimated 313,700 people were evacuated in Fujian and authorities were deciding Sunday whether it was safe to return, said an employee of the provincial Flood Control Headquarters.

Cholera outbreak creeps closer to Haiti's capital. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - A spreading cholera outbreak in rural Haiti threatened to outpace aid groups as they stepped up efforts Saturday hoping to keep the disease from reaching the squalid camps of earthquake survivors in Port-au-Prince. Health officials said at least 208 people had died and 2,674 others were infected in an outbreak mostly centered in the Artibonite region north of the capital. Cholera cases in towns near Port-au-Prince are rising, and officials are worried the next target will be hundreds of thousands of Haitians left homeless by January's devastating quake and now living in camps across the capital. "If the epidemic makes its way to Port-au-Prince, where children and families are living in unsanitary, overcrowded camps, the results could be disastrous," said Dr. Estrella Serrano, World Vision's emergency response health and nutrition manager. Reports trickled in of patients seeking treatment in clinics closer to Port-au-Prince because the St. Nicholas hospital in the seaside city of St. Marc is overflowing, said Margaret Aguirre, an International Medical Corps spokeswoman.

Leaked Iraq war files portray weak, divided nation. WASHINGTON - The enormous cache of secret war logs disclosed by the WikiLeaks website paints a picture of an Iraq burdened by persistent sectarian tension and meddling neighbors, suggesting that the country could drift into chaos once U.S. forces leave. Deaths are also not being reported.  The reports, covering early 2004 to Jan. 1, 2010, help explain why Iraq's struggle to create a unified, independent state continues, despite a dramatic reduction in violence. They appear to support arguments by some experts that the U.S. should keep thousands of troops there beyond their scheduled departure in 2011, to buy more time for Iraq to become stable. The threats described in the leaked documents come from outside, including next-door Iran, as well as inside, in the form of sectarian, political and even family rivalries that predate the 2003 American-led invasion and endure today. The reports demonstrate the weakness of Iraq's civic institutions, court system and military, even before sectarian violence exploded in 2006-2007.

Tropical Storm Richard drenches Honduran coast. TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Tropical Storm Richard lashed Honduras' Caribbean coast with heavy rain and wind and was expected to strengthen into a hurricane on Sunday as it roared toward Belize and southeastern Mexico. Authorities warned of deadly floods and mudslides in Honduras and declared states of maximum alert in four coastal provinces. Lisandro Rosales, head of Honduras' Permanent Emergency Commission, said civil defense offices along the coast were preparing to carry out evacuations if needed.

October 27, 2010

Massive storm brings 2nd day of snow, rain, winds. A rare fast moving storm has brought winds of up to 81 mph, rain, and tornadoes that started in the Midwest on Tuesday and continued Wednesday, moving into the southern and eastern U.S. The National Weather Service confirmed that eight tornadoes touched down in Indiana Tuesday, but that no serious damage or injuries were reported. Ohio saw six twisters, including one with gusts of at least 111 mph that ripped through a village in the northwest part of the state, destroying several homes. Another flattened a barn and carried a large windmill 40 yards.

Death toll in Indonesian tsunami, volcano tops 300. MENTAWAI ISLANDS, Indonesia - The death toll from a tsunami and a volcano rose to more than 300 Wednesday as more victims of Indonesia's double disasters were found and an official said a warning system installed after a deadly ocean wave in 2004 had broken from a lack of maintenance. Hundreds were still missing after Monday's tsunami struck the remote Mentawi islands off western Sumatra, where officials were only beginning to chart the scope of the devastation. At least 311 people died as the huge wave, triggered by an undersea earthquake, washed away wooden and bamboo homes, displacing more than 20,000 people. About 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the east in central Java, the Mount Merapi volcano was mostly quiet but still a threat after Tuesday's eruption that sent searing ash clouds into the air, killing at least 30 people and injuring 17.

China official: dollar printing causing inflation. China trade minister says excess printing of US dollars causing inflation shock. SHANGHAI (AP) - Out-of-control printing of the U.S. dollar is forcing inflation on China, pushing up prices for commodities and labor, trade minister Chen Deming says in an escalation of rhetoric over currency and other tensions ahead of key international meetings. Beijing has been chafing at U.S. pressure over its currency and massive imbalances in trade and investment that are symptomatic of deeper problems in the world economy - Asia and China's addiction to weak currencies to boost their export-reliant economies and the legacy of debt-fueled consumption in the U.S. Fearing a trade war that could send the world economy into reverse, finance chiefs from the Group of 20 leading advanced and developed nations last weekend vowed to avoid weakening their currencies. But they did not set specific targets for reducing imbalances such as China's huge trade surplus and the U.S. trade deficit.

Bin Laden warns France over Afghan war, veil ban. CAIRO - Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden threatens in a new audio tape to kill French citizens to avenge their country's support for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and a new law that will ban face-covering Muslim veils. In the tape obtained by satellite television station Al-Jazeera, bin Laden said France was aiding the Americans in the killing of Muslim women and children in an apparent reference to the war in Afghanistan. He said the kidnapping of five French citizens in the African nation of Niger last month was a reaction to what he called France's oppression of Muslims.

Cholera fears spark anti-clinic protest in Haiti. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Protesters threw rocks at a cholera treatment center as it was preparing to open in the city of St. Marc on Tuesday, highlighting the fear surrounding a disease that was almost unknown in Haiti before it began spreading through the countryside, aid workers said. Some of the roughly 300 students and other protesters said they feared the Doctors Without Borders-Spain clinic would bring more of the disease to their seaside town, which is one of the hardest hit in the week-old epidemic that has killed 284 people and infected 3,769, according to United Nations figures. U.N. peacekeepers from Argentina arrived with riot shields to reinforce police. Warning shots were heard; the U.N. said its soldiers fired blanks. There were no reports of injuries.

Major 7.7 quake strikes Indonesia. JAKARTA (AFP) - A major 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of Indonesia on Monday, seismologists said, causing localised waves in the remote area. A tsunami warning was issued, and while it was later withdrawn and no casualties were confirmed, a group of Australian visitors reported that their boat was destroyed by a "wall of white water" crashing into a bay. The undersea quake hit Indonesia's Kepulauan Mentawai region at 9:42 pm (1442 GMT) at a shallow depth of 20.6 kilometres (12.8 miles), the US Geological Survey said. The Mentawai Islands, 240 kilometres west of Bengkulu on Sumatra island and 280 kilometres south of Padang, are popular with tourists.

Global warming seen as threat to U.S. state's parks. Stunted redwoods, flooded campgrounds and a mighty Yosemite waterfall reduced to a trickle.  Yosemite Park Muir Woods National Monument  and Point Reyes National Seashore could increase by about 6 degrees in temperature - making them higher than historic temperatures in Santa Barbara. Highs in places such as Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave National Preserve could top the blistering temperatures normally found in Death Valley, the hottest spot in North America. Those few degrees have drastic implications for water supply, vegetation growth, insect infestation, loss of animal habitat and wildfire risk, Saunders reported. Those are a few of the dire consequences facing 10 California parks over the next century because of rapidly changing climate patterns, according to a new study by an environmental think tank. The report released Tuesday by Saunders' group and the Natural Resources Defense Council, titled "California's National Parks in Peril: the Threats of Climate Disruption," found that unless humans slash carbon emissions in the near term, some of the Golden State's natural wonders will disappear over the next 90 years. Ripple effect of heat The main culprit is a steadily warming atmosphere stoked by a cauldron of heat-trapping pollution. If the use of fossil fuels continues to increase at a moderate clip, average temperatures in Yosemite National Park could climb by 7.5 degrees in the latter third of the 21st century.  

October 31, 2010

Panicked exodus as Indonesia volcano spews new ash. MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia - A deadly volcano in Indonesia spewed another searing cloud of ash down its slopes Sunday, prompting panic and chaos among thousands of villagers who had taken advantage of a lull in activity to rush home and check on their livestock. The new blast came as rescuers hundreds of miles (kilometers) away finally were able to resume food deliveries and evacuate injured victims of a tsunami triggered by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake near a chain of remote islands off western Sumatra. The number of people killed in the twin catastrophes climbed to almost 500 on Sunday.

Amazon Indians hit by deadly epidemic in Venezuela. CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan health workers say an epidemic that may be malaria has killed dozens of people, decimating three villages of the Yanomami Indians, whose struggle for survival in a remote part of the Amazon rain forest has attracted worldwide support. Two indigenous health workers who visited the area told The Associated Press on Friday that village chiefs told them that about 50 people have died recently, many of them children.

"There are still many, many sick people," Andres Blanco said by telephone from Puerto Ayacucho in southern Venezuela. Blanco, a Yanomami health worker in a government program for the indigenous communities, alerted regional officials this month after trekking for days to visit three remote villages. He returned by helicopter last weekend with a team of government doctors who administered medication and confirmed that many survivors are also infected with malaria. A regional health official, Dr. Carlos Botto, said the initial accounts and tests have shown there was some type of epidemic and evidence of malaria. But he said the number of deaths remained unclear and further tests were needed to determine if other diseases could be involved. He said other officials were analyzing results of the five-day medical mission. "I've never seen it like this," said Shatiwe Luis Ahiwei, another Yanomami health worker who assisted in the medical mission and said about 100 more malaria cases had been identified in the area, more than half of them the deadly falciparum strain. The sick have had symptoms including high fever, shivering, vomiting and bloody diarrhea. The Yanomami are one of the largest isolated indigenous groups in the Amazon, with a population estimated at roughly 30,000 on both sides of the Venezuela-Brazil border. They have maintained their language as well as traditions including face paint and wooden facial ornaments piercing their noses, cheeks and lips.

Jacob's House Comment,

The reason this area of the world is experiencing a new and dreadful disease is because of the idol worship being promoted by its natives there, which is being seen by our Lord God in the heavens above.  They are now being punished by God for worshiping graven images of wood and stone, instead of worshiping the One Creator who made heaven and this world called earth.  They are also being judged by our God and being destroyed by Him as the chaff of this earth, never to be seen again.  Other areas of this world are being judged by our God at this time as He continues to bring about judgment, adverse weather, and travail, before His new day arrives.    

Eliminating malaria impossible without vaccine. LONDON - Eliminating malaria, the mosquito-borne scourge that kills more than 860,000 people a year, would be a dream come true for millions — but medical experts say right now that goal remains completely unrealistic. Although research suggests wiping out the parasitic disease may be feasible in Latin America and Asia, it will be nearly impossible in Africa, where most of the world's estimated 247 million yearly cases occur. Malaria is treatable if caught early but is especially deadly in children under five, who make up most of its victims. One of the main stumbling blocks toward elimination is the lack of a malaria vaccine. The most promising candidate is still being tested, but at best it is only about 50 percent effective.

Hurricane Tomas targets Caribbean. MIAMI (AFP) - Hurricane Tomas formed Saturday over the eastern Caribbean, taking a swipe at the Lesser Antilles islands after damaging Barbados, and was expected to strengthen into a major hurricane next week. With maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour, Tomas at 1500 GMT was "bearing down on St. Lucia and St. Vincent," about 60 kilometers (37 miles) to the east of its center, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. Earlier Saturday, Tomas slammed into Barbados causing "damage to homes and downed power lines... on the island," the NHC said. "Tomas is now a category one hurricane... Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours" as it heads west, it added. The 12th storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is expected to pass near St. Lucia and St. Vincent "and enter the eastern Caribbean Sea by tonight," the NHC said. Rain accumulations of up to 20 centimeters (eight inches) in some areas and  a dangerous storm surge are predicted for the islands. Forecasters track Tomas heading west towards Jamaica, saying it could reach a category two storm by Monday and a dangerous category three on Wednesday. By mid-week, some models predict Tomas might veer toward Haiti, where thousands have huddled in precarious tent cities since a devastating January 12 earthquake. The water-logged Caribbean basin has endured a heavy 2010 storm season, particularly for Central America and southern Mexico. Grounds are saturated with moisture in many areas, and more rain could easily trigger landslides and flooding.

November 2, 2010

CDC: Haiti cholera matches South Asian strain. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - A cholera outbreak that has killed more than 300 people in Haiti matches strains commonly found in South Asia, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. The finding intensifies scrutiny on a U.N. base above a tributary to the Artibonite River that is home to a contingent of recently arrived peacekeepers from Nepal, a South Asian country where cholera is endemic and which saw outbreaks this summer. It is also a significant step toward answering one of the most important questions about the burgeoning epidemic: How did cholera, a disease never confirmed to have existed in Haiti, suddenly erupt in the vulnerable country's rural center? Speculation among Haitians has increasingly focused on the U.N. base. The outbreak began among people who live downstream from where the tributary meets the Artibonite and drank from the river. On Friday, hundreds of protesters marched from the nearby city of Mirebalais to demand the Nepalese peacekeepers be sent home.

Study Finds Teens' Late Night Media Use Comes at a Price.  (HealthDay News) - Staying up late to play video games, surf the Internet and send phone text messages may lead to learning problems, mood swings, anxiety and depression in children, a pilot study suggests. The research, conducted at the Sleep Disorders Center at JFK Medical Center in Edison, N.J., found that children who snuck time on their cell phones, computers and other electronic devices after supposedly going to sleep had a greater chance of sleep disorders that cause other difficulties. "These activities are not sleep-promoting, like reading a novel or listening to music. They stimulate the brain and depress normal sleep cycles," said study author Dr. Peter G. Polos. The study was based on a survey of 40 boys and girls with an average age of 14. The researchers focused on their activities after they had gone into their bedroom for the night and were supposed to be sleeping. Participants reported an average of 34 texts per night after bedtime, and an average of 3,400 night-time texts per month. These texts occurred from 10 minutes to four hours after going to bed. The average participant was awoken once a night by a text. Girls were more "text happy," while boys were more likely to stay awake playing video games.

Teenager recovery from depression often fleeting. CHICAGO (Reuters) - Most depressed adolescents and teenagers who get treatment with drugs, therapy or both will get some relief, but nearly half will relapse within five years, US researchers said on Monday. And females are by far at greatest risk, they said. Nearly 95 percent of the participants recovered from their initial bout of depression, including 88.3 percent who recovered within two years. But of the 189 teenagers who recovered, 88, or 46.6 percent, had another major depression over the five-year period. They said being female was the biggest factor that predicted a relapse in the study, with 57 percent of females having a relapse, compared with just 33 percent of males. Curry said it is not clear why females have a greater risk, but it may be that they are more inclined to repeatedly ruminate on negative thoughts or feelings of inadequacy.

Indonesian volcano forces flight cancellations. MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia - Indonesia's most dangerous volcano forced international airlines to cancel flights to nearby airports Tuesday, as fiery lava lit the rumbling mountain's cauldron and plumes of smoke blackened the sky. Scientists warned that the slow eruption could continue for weeks, like a "marathon, not a sprint." No casualties were reported in Mount Merapi's latest blasts, which came as Indonesia struggled to respond to an earthquake-generated tsunami that devastated a remote chain of islands last week. The two disasters in separate parts of the country have killed nearly 470 people and strained the government's emergency response network.

Flooding at Iceland volcano could signal eruption. REYKJAVIK, Iceland - Torrents of water are pouring from a glacier that sits atop Iceland's most active volcano, an indication that the mountain is growing hotter and may be about to erupt, scientists said Monday.

Haiti to evacuate tent cities ahead of storm Tomas. PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) - Haiti on Monday prepared to evacuate tens of thousands ahead of the likely arrival this week of Tropical Storm Tomas, as the quake-hit nation struggles to recover from a deadly cholera outbreak. The storm's violent winds, heavy rain and landslides pose a particular risk to the up to 1.3 million people who inhabit the makeshift tent city camps set up after January's devastating earthquake. "In Port-au-Prince, we are going to ask that everyone who lives in the camps prepare to evacuate the tents, which could collapse in the strong winds," a civil defense official said. The US National Hurricane Center predicted Tomas could strike the island of Hispaniola shared by the battered nation and the Dominican Republic as a hurricane on Friday, with wind speeds of between 74 and 110 miles (119 and 177 kilometers) per hour.

Humongous sinkhole opens up in Germany. A giant sinkhole opened up in a residential area of the town of Schmalkalden, Germany, Monday, causing no injuries but forcing the evacuation of 25 people. It sucked a car into its depths and left a crater of around 40 by 30 metres.

November 4, 2010

Costa Rica landslides kills 20, several missing. SAN ANTONIO DE ESCAZU, Costa Rica – A rain-sodden hillside collapsed on homes in a suburb of Costa Rica's capital early Thursday, killing at least 20 people, many as they slept. Dozens of rescuers, some using dogs, were searching for survivors as an undetermined number of people remain missing. But so far they have found only corpses, including the body of a child, according to Hector Blanco, a Red Cross spokesman. They have not yet been identified. The landslide in the suburb San Antonio followed two days of heavy rains that flooded a river near the town and sent 1,500 people to shelters across Costa Rica.

November 7, 2010

Potential new virus in switchgrass discovered. Researchers have confirmed the first report of a potential new virus belonging to the genus Marafivirus in switchgrass, a biomass crop being evaluated for commercial cellulosic ethanol production. The virus is associated with mosaic and yellow streak symptoms on switchgrass leaves. This virus has the potential of reducing photosynthesis and decreasing biomass yield. Members of this genus have been known to cause severe yield losses in other crops. For example, Maize rayado fino virus (MRFV), a type member of the genus, has been reported to cause yield reductions in corn grown in Mexico, Central America and South America. "Viral diseases are potentially significant threats to bioenergy crops such as Miscanthus x giganteus, energycane and switchgrass.

Thomas soaks Haiti quake camps, triggers floods. PORT-AU-PRINCE - Hurricane Tomas soaked Haiti's crowded earthquake survivors' camps and swamped coastal towns as it swirled between Haiti and Cuba on Friday, trailing thunderstorms that still could cause flooding and mudslides.

Coral Dying Near BP Oil Spill Site. Scientists have discovered dying communities of coral near the site of the BP oil spill. The scientists say they've never seen coral death of this sort in the Gulf of Mexico before, and they believe the oil spill is the cause. AP - Federal scientists say they have found damage to deep sea corals and other marine life several miles from where BP's blown-out well spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Plastic debris 'killing Adriatic loggerhead turtles'. One in three loggerhead turtles in the Adriatic Sea has plastic in its intestine, according to researchers studying the impact of debris on marine life. The shallow waters of the Adriatic are important feeding grounds for the turtles as they develop into adults.  But the sea-floor is one of the most polluted in Europe.  The team studied the bodies of dead sea turtles that had been stranded or accidentally caught by fishing vessels.  The impacts of debris on marine creatures are not entirely clear. But scientists have found that animals ranging from invertebrates to large mammals consume plastic waste and are concerned that it could damage their health.

November 14, 2010

November 19, 2010  

Drug Gangs Terrorize a Mexican Town. - Rival Mexican drug gangs have turned Ciudad Mier from a tourist town into a ghost town.

People who contract gastroenteritis from drinking water contaminated with E. coli are at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, kidney problems and heart disease in later life, finds a study published on the British Medical Journal website. The findings underline the importance of ensuring a safe food and water supply and the need for regular monitoring for those affected. It is estimated that E. coli O157:H7 infections cause up to 120,000 gastro-enteric illnesses annually in the US alone, resulting in over 2,000 hospitalizations and 60 deaths. However, the long term health effects of E. coli infection in adults are largely unknown. So a team of researchers in Canada assessed the risk for hypertension, renal impairment and cardiovascular disease within eight years of gastroenteritis from drinking contaminated water.

New disease-resistant food crops under development.  Researchers have uncovered the genetic basis of remarkable broad-spectrum resistance to a viral infection that, in some parts of the world, is the most important pathogen affecting leafy and arable brassica crops including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, swede and oilseed rape. They have tested resistant plants against a range of different strains of the virus taken from all over the world and so far, no strain has been able to overcome the resistance

Calif. Protesters Beat Cop With His Baton While Rallying Against Tuition Hikes. Is European style civil unrest just around the corner? Could California be the harbinger of things to come in the U.S. if we continue down this path of socialism?

Naked airport X-rays not so safe say experts. Scientists in the US have suggested that full-body, graphic-image X-ray scanners could cause forms of cancer.  The machines that are being used to screen passengers at airports in some parts of the world have been deemed unsafe by scientists at Johns Hopkins University school of medicine.  AFP has reported that even though the scientists believe the risk is slight, they believe statistically someone will get skin cancer from the X-rays.  Most of the energy from the scanners is delivered to the skin and underlying tissue.  The Johns Hopkins X-ray lab scientists have explained that no exposure to X-ray is considered beneficial, but with people so eager to fly some will risk going through the scanners, with the radiation dose to the skin being dangerously high. The devices have been dubbed "naked" scanners because of the graphic image they give of a person's body, including genitalia.

November  21, 2010

New USGS study finds mercury widespread in Ind. One in eight fish taken from Indiana waterways and analyzed over a five-year period was tainted with the toxic metal mercury, according to federal scientists who last year reported that precipitation that falls near southeastern Indiana's coal-fired power plants harbors some of the nation's highest concentrations of atmospheric mercury.

 EPA tells states to consider rising ocean acidity. SEATTLE – States with coastal water that is becoming more acidic because of carbon dioxide should list them as impaired under the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Agency said. The federal agency's memo Monday to states recognizes carbon dioxide as not only an air pollutant but a water pollutant, and notes the serious impacts that ocean acidification can have on aquatic life.

Ocean acidification refers to the decrease in the alkalinity of oceans, which is caused by the absorption of excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. As water becomes more acidic, scientists have raised concern about dissolving coral reefs and potential effects on killing fish and other sea life. Ocean acidification is one of the biggest threats to our marine environment.

Storm Upon Storm for South Dakota U. S. VIVIAN, S.D. - The storm slammed into this dusty prairie town with the clatter of falling bricks. Hail shattered windows, punched holes in roofs and mangled cars. The clumps of ice were left to melt, but one, an unusual spiked orb the size of a cantaloupe, was preserved in the freezer of an old ranch hand. Locals later claimed that it was not even the largest hailstone to fall that day, and added that it had shrunk a bit while in the freezer before electricity was restored. But when the official measurements were made, a record-setting 1.93 pounds and 8 inches in diameter, the results confirmed what the still-visible trail of damage had already made painfully apparent: that was some storm.  Even in an agricultural state that has always prided itself on stoically accepting the offerings of unpredictable skies here at the heart of the continent, South Dakota is nearing the end of an unusually punishing year of weather.  The year began as residents were still digging out of a record-setting statewide dump of 15.4 inches of snow, and the ensuing months have delivered a parade of ice storms, tornadoes, floods and, with a climactic thud, the nation’s largest hailstone.  The seven presidential disaster declarations issued here, part of a record 78 nationwide so far this year,  more than doubled the number in any previous year, naming all but 10 of the 66 counties as a disaster area; some many times over. And after losing roads and power lines, watching homeowners displaced and crops drowned, the residents now speak with an exhausted fatalism, though rarely with complaint.

1 in 5 Americans Suffered Mental Illness in 2009, Government Survey Says. WASHINGTON –The government says 1 in 5 American adults suffered from mental illness during the past year. Most didn't receive treatment. A survey being released Thursday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that 45 million or 20 per cent of adults, experienced some form of mental illness in 2009, from major depression to more serious problems such as suicide attempts. Fewer than 4 in 10 received treatment for their mental health condition. The survey found a strong link between mental health problems and alcoholism and drug abuse. Mental illness was also more likely among the unemployed, young adults and women. Overall, more than 8 million had serious thoughts of suicide, and 1 million tried to carry them out. Young adults aged 18 to 25 had the highest level of mental illness at 30 percent, while those aged 50 and older had the lowest, with 13.7 percent, said the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

November 25, 2010

SKorea's defense chief resigns over NKorea attack. YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea - South Korea's defense minister resigned Thursday amid intense criticism two days after a North Korean artillery attack killed four people on a small island near the Koreas' disputed frontier. The move came as President Lee Myung-bak vowed to send more troops to the front-line South Korean island and as residents tried to salvage belongings from the blackened wreckage of their homes. Pyongyang warned of additional attacks if provoked. Skirmishes between the Korean militaries are not uncommon, but North Korea's heavy bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island was the first on a civilian area, raising fears of an escalation that could lead to a new war on the Korean peninsula. South Korean troops had returned fire and scrambled fighter jets in response.

EU bailout fund chief: no danger of euro collapse. BERLIN - The head of the EU's bailout fund says there's no chance that the debt crisis will cause the collapse of the 16-nation euro currency, even if other countries like Portugal follow Greece and Ireland in asking for a bailout. Klaus Regling said in comments printed in Germany's Bild newspaper Thursday that while the euro could slip in value, the problems afflicting its weakest members are not putting the common currency in jeopardy. "There's zero danger," he says. "No country will voluntarily give up the euro — for weaker countries that would be economic suicide, likewise for the stronger countries." He says he agrees with Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, that Europe is in a "a very serious situation regarding the euro."

World's lakes getting hotter, more than the air.  Lakes are heating up, even faster than air. Two NASA scientists used satellite data to look at 104 large inland lakes around the world and found that on average they have warmed 2 degrees (1.1 degree Celsius) since 1985. That's about two-and-a-half times the increase in global temperatures in the same time period. Russia's Lake Ladoga and America's Lake Tahoe are warming significantly and the most. Tahoe has heated up by 3 degrees (1.7 degrees Celsius) since 1985, while Ladoga has been even hotter, going up by 4 degrees (2.2 degrees Celsius). A NASA climate scientist said the research made sense and adds another independent measuring system to show that the world is warming up. Eleven different indicators, including air temperature, humidity, snow cover, ocean heat content show statistically significant man-made global warming, while no environmental measurements show otherwise, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Haiti cholera spreading faster than predicted: U.N. UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Haiti's deadly cholera epidemic is spreading faster than originally estimated and is likely to result in hundreds of thousands of cases and last up to a year, a senior U.N. official said on Tuesday. Since the disease first appeared in mid-October it has killed 1,344 people as of Friday in the poverty-stricken and earthquake-ravaged Caribbean nation. But U.N. humanitarian coordinator said the real death toll might be "closer to two thousand than one" because of lack of data from remote areas, and the number of cases 60,000-70,000 instead of the official figure of around 50,000. Experts from the WHO were now revising their estimate that the diarrhea disease, spread by poor sanitation, would cause 200,000 cases within six months. They are now revising that to 200,000 in closer to a three-month period. So this epidemic is moving faster," he said, adding that it was now present in all 10 of Haiti's provinces, and it's going to spread. The medical specialists all say that this cholera epidemic will continue through months and maybe a year at least, that we will see literally hundreds of thousands of cases.

Jacob's House Comment,

The wrath and fury of God is upon Haiti for the people there who worship idols and practice witchcraft.  God is already judging these defiled people in Haiti at this time and destroying them because they are enemies of His Son's cross. The same thing has been happening in China, Malaysia, Central America, Africa, and India, where hundreds of thousands of people have already died and were buried recently.  Soon God's judgment and wrath will spread to many nations all over this world and destroy many mingled people in the process.  A final sifting process and the hour of temptation will begin in earnest as early as next year.  Then shall two thirds of the people of this world be decimated and destroyed by the the wrath and fury of our Lord God.  

Obama asks country to help make tomorrow better. WASHINGTON - Saying America has a history of doing what it takes to make a better tomorrow, President Barack Obama is calling on a country climbing out of its worst economic slump in decades to summon that spirit again this holiday season. "This is not the hardest Thanksgiving America has ever faced. But as long as many members of our American family are hurting, we've got to look out for one another," Obama said in his weekly speech, released for Thanksgiving. "As long as many of our sons and daughters and husbands and wives are at war, we've got to support their mission and honor their service," Obama added. "And as long as many of our friends and neighbors are looking for work, we've got to do everything we can to accelerate this recovery and keep our economy moving forward." He cited jobs and economic recovery among the issues.

Calif. Company Expands Recall Of Its Cheese. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California authorities says a company responding to an outbreak of a strain of E. coli in a brand of cheese has expanded its recall to other cheeses. California Department of Food and Agriculture officials said Tuesday that Traver-based Bravo Farms is widening its recall to include all of the company’s retail cheeses. Bravo had previously recalled its Dutch Style Gouda after nearly 40 people in five states reportedly became sick after eating the cheese sold at stores last month. The company says federal and state food and agricultural officials detected E. coli and Listeria following a recent investigation at the plant.

Mexico sending more troops to violent border zone. MEXICO CITY - Mexico's violent northeastern corner near the U.S. border will get a boost in troops and federal police as the government tries to wrest back control of an area that has become a battleground for two rival drug cartels. The new mission, "Coordinated Operation Northeast," aims to reinforce government authority in Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, the two states under the heaviest attack since the formerly allied Gulf and Zetas gangs split. The government also wants to keep the cartels from regrouping after the loss of key leaders. Intense cartel violence has gripped Nuevo Leon in and around the industrial, high-tech hub of Monterrey, once one of Mexico's safest large cities. Bloodshed also is high across all of Tamaulipas, which shares a 560-mile (900-kilometer) border with Texas and some of the busiest border crossings in the world opposite the U.S cities of Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville. These are geographic factors that have made the area a coveted route for organized crime in the trafficking of drugs and people and in receiving illegal money and arms coming into Mexico.

November 28, 2010

US, S Korea launch war games in tense Yellow Sea. YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – A U.S. supercarrier and South Korean destroyer took up position in the tense Yellow Sea on Sunday for joint military exercises that were a united show of force just days after a deadly North Korean artillery attack. As tensions escalated across the region, with North Korea threatening another "merciless" attack, China belatedly jumped into the fray. Beijing's top nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, called for an emergency meeting in early December among regional powers involved innuclear disarmament talks  , including North Korea. Seoul responded cautiously to the proposal from North Korea's staunch ally, saying it should be "reviewed very carefully" in light of North Korea's recent revelation of a new uranium-enrichment facility, even as protesters begged President Lee Myung-bak to find a way to resolve the tension and restore peace.

Experts split on global warming, highland malaria link. NAIROBI (AFP) - Malaria cases in east African highland areas hitherto unaffected by the disease have caused worry that global warming is creating new mosquito breeding grounds but experts disagree on whether there is actually any link between the two. "We have recently seen waves of epidemics in highland areas.  They have actually killed people," said Dr. Amos Odiit, who was until October head of clinical paediatrics at Mulago hospital in the Ugandan capital Kampala. The first cases of malaria in Uganda's western Kabale region, which rises 2,000 metres above sea level, were reported in 2007, said Seraphine Adibaku, the head of the national programme against malaria. "It is climate change, Kabale is not as cold as before," she added.

Germany's top court upholds restrictive GM crop law.  BERLIN (AFP) - Germany's top court on Wednesday upheld a two-year-old law placing sharp restrictions on the use of genetically modified crops, saying it has protected the public from the risks of the technology. The Federal Constitutional Court said that 2008 legislation requiring buffer zones between GM and conventional crops were justified due to the risk of "contamination" between the plants and open questions about the technology. The law mandates a 150-metre-wide (490-feet-wide) "protective zone" between GM gaps and standard farmland and a 300-metre-wide gap next to organic crops. GM fields must also be registered so any co-mingling can be traced back to the source and the responsible farmers can be held liable.

Jacob's House Comment,

What Europe is doing with separating genetically modified crops from organic crops is correct to some degree.  However, they are still defying God's laws by allowing genetically modified crops to be sown and harvested on certain farms in Europe.  These genetically modified crops could produce a great plague in Europe and poison the soil and water supply in these areas they are planted.  For they are foreign to God's soil that He made and foreign to the water that nourishes them.  Therefore, they will eventually poison the soil they are in and all the rivers and streams that make them grow.  The people who eat these modified crops could also suffer with developing new diseases that cannot be cured or treated by any of the so-called doctors and physicians on this earth.  It is time for these people who make these abominations in modified food supplies to wake up and realize they will eventually destroy everyone who lives and breathes on this earth.  They will also face God's wrath upon them as they are subjected to our Creator's fierce anger for many centuries to come.   

December 3, 2010.

The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in November and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, dashing hopes that the recovery in the U.S. is gaining momentum.

 A 6.9 magnitude earthquake rattles Tokyo Japan, no reports of damage listed.

Many coastal wetlands likely to disappear this century, scientists say.  Many coastal wetlands worldwide, including several on the US Atlantic coast, may be more sensitive than previously thought to climate change and sea-level rise projections for the 21st century, according to scientists.  

Ocean acidification may threaten food security: U. N.  Ocean acidification may threaten food security: U.N. Acidification of the seas linked to climate change could threaten fisheries production and is already causing the fastest shift in ocean chemistry in 65 million years, a U.N. study showed. Production of shellfish, such as mussels, shrimp or lobsters, could be most at risk since they will find it harder to build protective shells, according to the report issued on the sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Mexico. It could also damage coral reefs vital as nurseries for many commercial fish stocks. Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions.

Judge orders removal of sugar beet seed plants.  A federal judge in California has ordered the removal from the ground of plants grown to produce seeds for genetically modified sugar beets, citing the potential for environmental harm. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White has again raised questions about the use of genetically modified crops and what will happen if growers aren't allowed to plant GMO seeds. About 95 percent of the sugar beet crop has been genetically modified to resist the weed killer Roundup. The crop provides roughly half of the nation's sugar supply. In his decision, White cited, "a significant risk of environmental harm." White ruled in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups challenging a decision in September by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services to issue permits to seed companies to plant sugar beet stecklings. The young plants produce seeds that then are planted to grow sugar beets. The agency decided to issue the permits despite an August ruling by White that put a hold on future planting of genetically modified sugar beets. The ruling allowed this year's crop to be harvested and processed, but the current seed crop was not to be planted until the USDA reviewed the effects the crops could have on other food. In his order Tuesday, White wrote that the environmental groups had shown that the genetically modified sugar beets could contaminate other crops, including through cross-pollination.

Jacob’s House Comments,

This judge in California is showing some common sense in not allowing these genetically altered sugar beet crops to be planted on California soil.  You have to wonder why these genetically altered crops are resistant to the weed killer poison Roundup.  Could it be that the California farms were sprayed with this roundup and now it is in the soil and poisoning other plants there, as well as the water supply in this state?  Therefore, why do these California farmers want to plant sugar beets on already poisoned soil?  Why do they want to alter the sugar crop and poison us all with a changed DNA in sugar that our bodies cannot handle or assimilate because it does not conform with our Lord God’s internal makeup of this crop?   

B.C. fruit growers troubled by apple modification. A small Summerland company is making big news across North America with the development of an apple that doesn't turn brown after it is cut.

Bedbugs close N.Y.'s Juicy Couture. High-end clothing retailer Juicy Couture shut the doors of its Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan, New York, after employees discovered bedbugs there.

World running out of new places to fish: study.  VANCOUVER (Reuters) - The world's fishing industry is fast running out of new ocean fishing grounds to exploit as it depletes existing areas through unsustainable harvesting practices, according to a study published Thursday. Expansion into unexploited fishing grounds allowed global catches to increase for decades, and disguised the fact that older areas were being depleted, according researchers at the University of British Columbia and National Geographic. The data shows more must done to ensure existing fish stocks are protected, said the researchers, who have done other studies outlining problems with the world's fish supplies. "The sooner we come to grips with it ... the sooner we can stop the downward spiral by creating stricter fishing regulations and more marine reserves," co-author Enric Sala said in a statement.

Cholera rages in rural Haiti, overwhelming clinics.  Many feared Haiti's growing epidemic would overwhelm a capital teeming with more than 1 million people left homeless by January's earthquake. But, so far, it is the countryside seeing the worst of an epidemic that has killed nearly 1,900 people since erupting less than two months ago. Rural clinics are overrun by a spectral parade of the sick, straining staff and supplies at medical outposts that could barely handle their needs before the epidemic. At the three-room clinic near Limbe, in northern Haiti, a handful of doctors and nurses are treating 120 people packed into three rooms.

NY drivers livid that snow snarled Buffalo highway. BUFFALO, N.Y. - Emergency procedures will be reviewed after a lake-effect snowstorm and a flawed response left hundreds of motorists stranded for hours on a highway near, of all places, Buffalo. The Lake Erie-fed storm began Wednesday afternoon and continued through Thursday, burying parts of Buffalo and surrounding towns. Suburban Depew recorded 42 inches while Buffalo neighborhoods south of downtown got 39 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

Thousands battle Israel's worst-ever fire as toll hits 41. HAIFA, Israel (AFP) - Thousands of Israeli rescuers and firemen backed by fire crews from around the globe battled on Friday to conquer the biggest inferno in Israel's history, which has already killed 41 people. As high winds drove flames towards the northern port city of Haifa, officials said they had found 41 bodies and that the death toll could rise. Four people were still missing. Police reported another 17 people injured, including three in serious condition and one listed as critical. By nightfall on Friday, more than 17,000 people had been evacuated from their homes and the fire had incinerated more than 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares) of land, with flames reaching the southern outskirts of Haifa, Israel's third-largest city.

WikiLeaks fights to stay online amid attacks. LONDON – WikiLeaks became an Internet vagabond Friday, moving from one website to another as governments and hackers hounded the organization, trying to deprive it of a direct line to the public.

 North Europe freeze kills 12 in Poland, disrupts transport. WARSAW/LONDON, Dec 3 – Twelve people froze to death in Poland overnight and air, rail and road traffic across Northern Europe remained badly disrupted by snow and ice Friday. In Germany, a record-breaking cold snap and heavy snow this week was expected to hit growth slightly, the second time low temperatures have affected growth this year. "A lot of construction projects have been halted, a lot of business trips have been postponed and freight transport has become quite difficult," Volker Treier, chief economist of the chamber of industry and commerce (DIHK), told Reuters. Britain's second busiest airport, Gatwick, reopened but an airport official said flights would be severely disrupted. The Eurostar train service linking Britain to France and Belgium said delays and cancellations would continue until Sunday.

December 5, 2010

Colombia rains leave 174 dead, 1.5 million homeless. BOGOTA (AFP) - The toll from weeks of heavy rains across Colombia has risen to 174 people dead and over 1.5 million homeless, the Colombian Red Cross said Saturday. Another 225 people have been injured and 19 were missing, Colombian Red Cross deputy director of operations Cesar Uruena told reporters. A total of 1,821 homes have been damaged or destroyed. "We've never had this many people affected by the rainy season," he added, noting that the punishing rains were hitting 95 percent of the country. Some regions, including southwestern Valle del Cauca department, saw more than 12 hours of non-stop rain. More than a dozen mudslides blocked roads from Valle's capital Cali to the Pacific port town of Buenaventura, stranding hundreds of trucks and passenger vehicles. In Roldanillo, another town in Valle, 200 families were evacuated after the Cauca River overflowed and destroyed thousands of hectares (acres) of crops. A major canal ruptured in the northern department of Atlantico, flooding six villages and leaving at least 20,000 people homeless.

Villagers evacuated as Ecuador volcano erupts. QUITO, Ecuador - The Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador is billowing ash into the sky and sending super-hot pyroclastic flows surging down its slopes, causing authorities to evacuate nearby villages. People within 8 miles of the volanco's center were evacuated Saturday as a precaution. The volcano is 95 miles (150 kilometers) southeast of Quito, the capital. In 2006, an eruption buried entire villages and killed at least four people.

Debt crisis is changing Europe's currency union. BRUSSELS - Europe and the euro will never be the same. The debt crisis is forcing governments to rewrite some of the eurozone's most fundamental rules. While some see the current turmoil as the slow-motion wreckage of the common currency bloc, others maintain Europe will have the political resolve to keep it together and even bring it closer together.  Either way, one thing is clear: Thanks to new debt and bailout rules being agreed among the 16 eurozone nations, Europe's monetary union will be forever altered, even if it survives the crisis. On Monday and Tuesday, European finance ministers will work on fleshing out a so-called European Stability Mechanism. The new rules will effectively rearrange the eurozone's power structure to protect stronger economies like Germany from paying for the profligacy of 'peripheral' countries like Greece, Spain, Ireland, or Portugal, threatening to create a two-tier Europe. "The debt crisis is uncovering deeper problems within Europe, calling into question the EU's future development," Monument Securities analyst Stephen Lewis wrote in a note this week. "Without political union of eurozone member states, the hopelessness of the euro's situation is likely to appear overwhelming. The search is on for the magic bullet that will cure the euro's malaise," Lewis said.

12/10/10

Red Sea Shark Attacks: Killing Spree Puzzles Scientists. It began 10 days ago when the normally pristine tropical waters turned a murky red, after sharks mauled three Russians and a Ukrainian over a two-day period. With the world-renowned snorkel and dive center heading into the holiday high season, local governor Mohammed Shosha closed off the beaches for 48 hours, during which time the authorities killed two sharks. He then declared the all clear and reopened the beaches. But within 24 hours, in keeping with the Jaws story line, it became brutally clear that Shosha had been wrong: a German woman standing chest-deep in the water was killed by another shark. Over six days, five swimmers were attacked by sharks. That compares to just six attacks over the previous decade in Egypt, according to the Global Shark Attack File, a scientific archive that documents shark attacks worldwide. And at least six of those 11 incidents are believed to have involved the solitary oceanic whitetip - a shark species that doesn't usually rank among the top killers. Less than two weeks after the first of the series of attacks, scientists are still scratching their heads as to what motivated the rampage. They say there has never been proof of a shark acquiring a taste for human flesh, but there are no absolutes in science.

November U.S. federal budget deficit highest on record. WASHINGTON – The federal budget deficit rose to $150.4 billion last month, the largest November gap on record. And the government's deficits are set to climb higher if Congress passes a tax-cut plan that's estimated to cost $855 billion over two years. The treasury department says November's budget gap was 25 percent more than the deficit in November 2009. For the first two months of the current budget year, which began Oct. 1, the deficit totals $290.8 billion.

UN climate deal hopes in Mexico look bleak. Prospects for a deal at the UN climate summit appear to be receding, with countries clashing on principle as the meeting entered its final day. Japan and Russia look set to maintain their opposition to further emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol, which is a major demand of developing countries. Blocs also clashed over a proposed fund to help poor nations deal with climate impacts and low-carbon development. One delegate described the latest draft texts as "worse than Copenhagen".

Charles's Wife Camilla Was Hit in Attack on Car Last Night.  Standard Says, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, was hit by a protester through an open smashed bullet proof car window in central London last night as she and her husband, Prince Charles, were being driven to the theater. Prince Charles and Camilla were unharmed, although both students and police suffered injuries in the clash over higher tuition fees at universities and schools in Britain. Thousands of student protesters threw rocks and bottles at the police and they overturned nearby cars. They shouted off with their heads to Prince Charles and his wife.

Jacob’s House Comment,

In the prophecy on this website entitled, “God Talks on Polarization”, dated 5/18/08, our Lord God spoke to Jacob about how He would allow Satan to punish and destroy the wicked and idolatrous people of this world.  God said that He would give Satan his rivers of poisoned and polluted blood soon.  God said He would also allow Satan to spoil, rob, and put his seal upon these wicked people so they would die a terrible death.  This prophecy given by our Lord God to His servant Jacob is already coming to pass all over this world at this present predetermined time.     

Excerpt from the prophecy, “God Talks on Polarization”:

There are many interesting developments occurring today not only in the heavens, but also upon this earth, messenger and watchman Jacob.  Satan is asking Me, the Lord God, of heaven and earth, to judge and condemn many multitudes of idol worshipers and sinful people.  At this time he is pleading with Me to put his seal upon them that they will always be his to die a terrible death. 

I, the Lord God, am considering all of Satan’s pleas to destroy them.  Therefore, I shall give him his rivers of poisoned and polluted blood soon, servant Jacob.  In the next few seasons of time I shall give him the opportunity to prove his case before Me and My Son, Jesus.  He will also be allowed by Me to spoil, rob, and pillage many of the great and prominent men who have defied My commandments and despised My ways in recent years.  For if they have defied Me and My will for this earth, and they have refused My Son, Jesus, they will perish for their sins. 

For soon I, the Lord God, will allow Satan to give many of the prominent men of  today wounds and sorrows they will not be able to escape from.  Some of them will receive delusions of grandeur in their hearts and minds.  However, their delusions will never materialize for them, or become fruitful vines in the next few seasons of time. 

Therefore, in the hours that remain of this earth age I, the Lord God, shall allow Satan to punish and destroy the evil and wicked inhabitants of this earth.  If they have done wicked deeds and have done great harm to My commandments, My words, My projects here, My precepts, and My statutes of old they will perish for their sins.  For as the next few seasons progress, the second coming of My Son, Jesus, will be seen by those children who love Me, messenger and watchman, Jacob. My saving grace of merciful love will be upon them but it will end here for all of the evil vagrants, drunkards, and fools.

Cholera Strain in Haiti Matches Bacteria from South Asia. - A team of researchers from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital, with others from the United States and Haiti, has determined that the strain of cholera erupting in Haiti matches bacterial samples from South Asia and not those from Latin America. The scientists conclude that the cholera bacterial strain introduced into Haiti probably came from an infected human, contaminated food or other item from outside of Latin America. It is highly unlikely, they say, that the outbreak was triggered by ocean currents or other climate-related events.

Rights group: Almost 14,000 Venezuelans killed last year.  Officials disguising stats- Close to 14,000 people were murdered in Venezuela last year and the figure could be significantly higher, a prominent human rights group said Thursday, alluding to the rampant crime that is happening there.

December 12, 2010

U. S. Minn. Metrodome roof collapses in Midwest blizzard. MINNEAPOLIS – The inflatable roof of the Minnesota Vikings' stadium collapsed Sunday and roads were closed throughout the upper Midwest as a storm that dumped nearly 2 feet of snow in some areas continued to crawl across the region. A blizzard warning was in effect for parts of eastern Iowa, southeastern Wisconsin, northwestern Illinois, and northern Michigan, according to the National Weather Service. Surrounding areas including Chicago were under winter storm warnings. The Metrodome's Teflon roof collapsed after Minneapolis got more than 17 inches of snow. No injuries were reported. The snowfall that ended Saturday night was one of the five biggest in Twin Cities history. Some surrounding communities got more than 21 inches of snow.

Middle East countries hit by storms. Fierce winds and heavy rain and snow have lashed eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries for a second successive day. The storms have sunk a ship off the Israeli coast, closed ports and disrupted shipping in the Suez Canal. Flights have also been delayed to and from many airports in the region.  The storms have ended a long drought in Lebanon, Syria and Israel and come just a week after more than 40 people died in a forest fire in Israel.  

Poor nations face 'greater hospital infection burden'. The fight against malaria and TB in the developing world should not obscure the problems poor countries face with hospital infections, experts say. A team led by World Health Organization researchers found poorer countries had much higher infection rates than the developed world. They reviewed 220 previous studies, finding infection rates were three times higher than in the US. Researchers found the infection rate in developing countries was 15.5 per 100 patients. In Europe it is 7.1 and in the US, 4.5. The difference in intensive care infections was even greater. In developing countries, infection rates were 47.9 per 1,000 patient-days, compared to 13.6 in the US.

U, S. Southern farmers lose crops, forced to irrigate with drought killing peanuts, shrinking citrus. LYONS, Ga. (AP) - Farmer Aries Haygood grabbed the top of a freshly planted onion and gave it a gentle pull. The green plant sprang from the ground with little resistance, a sign its roots weren't grabbing hold because the powdery soil is too dry. "Right now, we should start seeing that the roots are catching, and they're not," said Haygood, who was supervising planting of Vidalia onions on his fields. "The main reason is because we have not had the rain on them. "Farmers across the South are contending with abnormally dry weather and a drought that began this spring. Crops in dry fields then baked during stretches of record-setting summer heat that scorched peanut fields, stressed cotton plants and stunted citrus fruit. The US Department of Agriculture has declared disasters in parts of 16 states, with some of the driest spots in Texas, Louisana, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.  Just 18 inches of rain have fallen since July on Toombs County in southeast Georgia, where Haygood and his workers had just planted four rows of Vidalia onions inside earthen beds running up and down his field. That is half as much rain as last year and less than what fell during the state's last major drought that ended in 2009. The county is one of the state's largest onion producers, a crop worth $83 million in the state in 2009, and specializes in the famed Vidalia onion.

Jacobs House Comment

In the prophecy on this website entitled GOD WARNS THE PROMINENT MEN, dated 8/12/07, Our Lord God warned the prominent men today and told them what would happen to their food supply.  God told Jacob that because of their refusal to listen to His words today, and because they have continued to defile their land, it would not be able to bear any fruit or sustenance upon it in the days ahead.  God said to Jacob these men would suffer with a famine on their property and land because of their rebellious nature to Him and His Son, Jesus.  This prophecy has been fulfilled by the Lord God as of this day, as has hundreds of other words and prophecies from our Creator, as still available on this website.     

Excerpt from “God Warns the Prominent Men”:  

Words From God Given to His Servant Jacob on 8/12/07:

Therefore, the land that many foolish men now inhabit today will not be able to keep them alive in the future, watchman.  Their land will not be able to bear any fruit or sustenance upon it in the days ahead.  It will not have any physical or natural resemblance to My new land of Israel, which will soon be formed when I, the Lord God, bring it here, watchman.  It will not have any fresh meat or nourishment within its dried up borders to refresh them and free them of all misery, slavery, and harm they will soon suffer with.  Instead, the land they are living on today will soon become poisoned, corrupted, tainted, polluted, diseased, and destroyed.  It will be marked by Me to be consumed by My fire and jealousy because of the faulty ideas that are coming out of the mouths of these foolish men today.      

So shall the food that many prominent and low base men eat today, burn them beyond measure in the coming hours.  So shall the food their land gives them become full of thorns, decay, diseases, mold, and briars within the next few years.  So shall I, the Lord God, soon recompense many foolish men for the corrupt ideas they have shared with their friends, their neighbors, and their forefathers.  I, the Lord God, will punish them incessantly in their hearts and minds.  They will bare the same curses and diseases their forefathers had to bare long ago.  If any evil or wickedness remains within their sinful hearts and minds, I will know about it.  I will also know where they are sleeping and keeping their secret hiding places today. 

December 24, 2010

California storm leaves mudslides, polluted water. LOS ANGELES (AP) - California residents who endured flooding, mudslides and evacuations during a week-long onslaught of rain now have another problem: contaminated water and fouled beaches. The rain washed trash, pesticides and bacteria into waterways, prompting health warnings. Four beaches were closed in Northern California's San Mateo County, and another 12 miles of beach from Laguna Beach to San Clemente in Southern California's Orange County were off-limits because of sewer overflows. Numerous motorists were rescued from swamped cars during the days of rain, but one driver was killed. The body of Angela Wright, 39, of Menifee was recovered from a car that was swept off a flooded road Wednesday near Canyon Lake in Riverside County, the coroner's office said.

Blasts at 2 embassies in Rome; 2 hurt. ROME (AP) - Package bombs exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome on Thursday, injuring the two people who opened them. The interior minister said anarchists were believed responsible and linked the attacks to similar bombings at embassies in Greece last month. All embassies in the Italian capital city were informed of the blasts and Italian diplomats abroad were urged to take precautions. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said investigators were following the "anarchist-insurrectionalist path" given that a similar letter bomb campaign in Athens last month was claimed by Greek radical anarchists.

Evacuations urged after avalanches near Las Vegas. MOUNT CHARLESTON, Nev. – Police went door to door Thursday urging residents to evacuate two mountain hamlets near Las Vegas after three overnight snow slides stirred fears of a disastrous avalanche. No injuries or structural damage were reported on Mount Charleston after the small to moderate avalanches struck about 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Snow paralyzes transport in parts of Western Europe. Two thousand travelers have been left stranded at the main Paris airport, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle, as further snow is hitting France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Half the flights at Charles de Gaulle have been cancelled, largely because of a shortage of de-icing fluid. In Belgium, police advised drivers to stay at home. Hundreds of accidents were reported across Germany. While in northern Italy, heavy rain has caused flooding in parts of Venice. Unusually high water levels were reported in the Venice lagoon and in the town of Vicenza, west of Venice, people were moved from their homes because of high river levels.  In western Germany, traffic was described as paralysed in parts of North Rhine Westphalia. Further east, the railway line between Berlin and Hanover was blocked because of frozen overhead power-lines. The French authorities, struggling to cope with the country's third major snowfall of the winter, said fresh supplies of de-icing fluid were on their way to Charles de Gaulle airport but would not arrive before Monday.

Haiti mobs lynch voodoo priests over cholera fears. Voodoo priests in Haiti are being lynched by mobs who blame them for spreading cholera, the country's government has said. At least 45 people have been lynched in recent weeks as Haiti continues to be ravaged by a cholera epidemic. Haiti's communications minister has made an appeal for the lynchings to end and called for a campaign to ensure people understand how cholera spreads. More than 2,500 Haitians have died from the water-borne disease since October. Another 121,000 people have been treated for symptoms of cholera, with at least 63,500 admitted to hospital, figures show. The outbreak has also prompted angry protests aimed at the United Nations, whose Nepalese peacekeepers have been suspected of introducing cholera to Haiti.

Deadly landslide strikes Colombia. At least 12 people have been killed in a landslide in south-western Colombia, local officials say. Nearly 30 people were injured after tones of mud buried five homes and a bar in the town of La Cruz in Narino province. Rescue teams are sifting through the debris amid reports that several people may still be missing. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from the area. The landslide was triggered by heavy rains.  Thursday's tragedy was the second major deadly landslide this month in Colombia. On 5 December, more than 30 people were killed in a mudslide near the city of Medellin.

Drinking Water Crisis in California. It’s a process Becky Quintana goes through every time she makes a cup of coffee; reaching into the fridge for bottled water to fill up the coffee pot instead of tapping into water from the sink. It’s not an issue of preference for Quintana, but necessity, as the water coming through her home is filled with unsafe levels of bacteria and nitrates.  It’s a problem not just in her rural community of Seville, California but throughout the Central Valley.  “This isn’t supposed to be happening in California, said Quintana, a lifelong resident of Seville. “California is one of the richest states in the nation, and the United States is one of the richest countries in the world, and we’re living like a third world country.” Home to 350 residents, Seville is supported by the agriculture and dairy industries.  Known as the breadbasket of America, the central valley is responsible for over sixty percent of California’s agriculture production.  However, according to community activists it is these very industries that are harming the drinking water of the valley’s residents.  “We live in one of the most agriculturally intensive areas in the world, yet there are no programs to protect our groundwater sources from pollution,” said Susana De Anda of the Community Water Center in Visalia.  “It’s not a coincidence that many communities in the valley like Seville have lacked clean drinking water for decades.” According to De Anda, chemical fertilizers and animal waste are the leading causes of the high levels of nitrates in Seville’s drinking water and these nitrates have the potential to cause serious health problems for those that drink them.  “Nitrates are linked to the blue baby syndrome. If a child of six months of age or younger ingests nitrate contaminated drinking water, the blood system in the body cannot absorb oxygen and it can literally turn blue,” said De Anda. “Nitrates are linked to kidney disease and cancer and it’s something we don’t want in our water.” State public health officials acknowledge nitrates can cause serious health problems but add those problems are not unique to Seville, “They are not alone, there are many hundreds if not thousands of communities across the state that have similar if not more severe problems,”

5.4-magnitude earthquake shakes Puerto Rico; no major damage reported. A 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck the U.S. Caribbean territory on Christmas Eve, rattling windows and doors across the island but causing no major damage, officials said.

2010: Deadliest for natural disasters in a generation. This was the year the Earth struck back. Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter of a million people in 2010 - the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.  Nearly 260,000 people died in natural disasters in 2010 through Nov. 30, compared with 15,000 in 2009, according to Swiss Re, an insurance provider. The World Health Organization, which hasn’t updated its figures past Sept. 30, is just shy of 250,000. By comparison, deaths from terrorism from 1968 to 2009 were less than 115,000, according to reports by the U.S. State Department and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The last year in which natural disasters were this deadly was 1983 because of an Ethiopian drought and famine, according to the WHO. Swiss Re calls 2010 the deadliest since 1976. While the Haitian earthquake, Russian heat wave and Pakistani flooding were the biggest killers, deadly quakes also struck Chile, Turkey, China and Indonesia in one of the most active seismic years in decades. Flooding alone this year killed more than 6,300 people in 59 nations through to September, according to the WHO. Inundated countries include China, Italy, India, Colombia and Chad. Super Typhoon Megi with winds of more than 320 kph devastated the Philippines and parts of China. After strong early-year blizzards paralyzed the mid-Atlantic and record snowfalls hit Russia and China, the temperature turned to broil.

The year may go down as the hottest on record worldwide or at the very least in the top three, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The average global temperature through to the end of October was 15C, a shade over the previous record of 2005, according to the National Climatic Data Center. In May, 54C set a record for Pakistan and may have been the hottest temperature recorded in an inhabited location. Northern Australia had the wettest May-October on record, while the southwestern part of that country had its driest spell on record. And parts of the Amazon River basin struck by drought hit their lowest water levels in recorded history.

A volcano in Iceland paralyzed air traffic for days in Europe, disrupting travel for more than seven million people. Other volcanoes in the Congo, Guatemala, Ecuador, the Philippines and Indonesia sent people scurrying for safety. New York City had a rare tornado. A nearly one-kilogram hailstone that was 20 centimetres in diameter fell in South Dakota in July to set a U.S. record. The storm that produced it was one of seven declared disasters for that state this year. There was not much snow to start the Winter Olympics in a relatively balmy Vancouver, while the U.S. East Coast was snowbound. In a 24-hour period in October, Indonesia got the trifecta: a deadly magnitude 7.7 earthquake; a tsunami that killed more than 500 people and a volcano that caused more than 390,000 people to flee. That’s after flooding, landslides and more quakes killed hundreds earlier in the year.

Jacob’s House Comment,

God is showing the strength, control, and power He has to destroy this world at a moment’s notice today.  God is showing this strength, control, and power He has to those faithful children of His who have the eyes to see its overwhelming and consuming fire.  They are seeing this power of God through the light of His Spirit, grace, and mercy.  No one else will be able to understand what is happening to them in the coming hours. 

Soon some of these faithful children of the Lord will be able to hear its noise among many ungodly men.  God will continue to heave out the heathens of the countries He despises and loathes at this time.  He will make their filthy and idolatrous dwelling places, their so called sanctuaries, and their homes into desolate heaps of foaming debris, mixed with iron and clay.  This is the way they will be destroyed by God and His Son, Jesus, today.      

December 26, 2010

Snowstorm bears down on U. S. Mid-Atlantic, Northeast. WASHINGTON - A band of frigid weather was snaking up the East Coast on Sunday, promising blizzards and a foot of snow for New York City and New England, while several states made emergency declarations as the storm caused crashes on slick roads. Airlines grounded hundreds of flights Sunday along the Northeast corridor in anticipation of the storm, New York's JFKTravel misery began a day earlier in parts of the South, where a rare white Christmas came with reports of dozens of car crashes. In Washington transportation officials pretreated roads and readied 200 salt trucks, plows and other pieces of equipment to fight the 6 inches or more expected to fall in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Northeast is expected to get the brunt of the storm. Forecasters issued a blizzard warning for New York City for Sunday and Monday, with a forecast of 11 to 16 inches of snow and strong winds that will reduce visibility to near zero at times. A blizzard warning was also in effect for Rhode Island and most of eastern Massachusetts including Boston, with forecasters predicting 15 to 20 inches of snow. A blizzard warning is issued when snow is accompanied by sustained winds or gusts over 35 mph. As much as 18 inches could fall on the New Jersey shore with wind gusts over 40 mph.

U. S. V. P. Biden says gay marriage is 'inevitable'. WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden is predicting that the evolution in thinking that will permit gays to soon serve openly in the military eventually will bring about a national consensus for same-sex marriage. Changes in attitudes by military leaders, those in the service and the public allowed the repeal by Congress of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Biden noted in a nationally broadcast interview on Christmas eve. "I think the country's evolving," he said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "And I think you're going to see, you know, the next effort is probably going to be to deal with so-called DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act)." He said he agreed with Obama that his position in gay marriage is "evolving."

Jacob’s House Comment,

December 30, 2010

U. S. NJ Gov, NYC mayor feel the heat after the blizzard, Political heat: NJ governor, NYC mayor are criticized after blizzard in the Northeast. NEW YORK (AP) -- With many streets still unplowed, New Yorkers are griping that their billionaire mayor is out of touch and has failed at the basic task of keeping the city running, while New Jersey's governor is taking heat for vacationing at Disney World during the crisis. The fallout against two politicians who style themselves as take-charge guys is building in the aftermath of the Christmas-weekend blizzard that clobbered the Northeast, with at least one New Jersey newspaperman noting Gov. Chris Christie's absence in a column headlined: "Is Sunday's storm Christie's Katrina?" Across New York, complaints have mounted about unplowed streets, stuck ambulances and outer-borough neighborhoods neglected by the Bloomberg administration.

What's going on: California flooding leaves behind polluted water, fouled beaches. LOS ANGELES -- California residents who endured flooding, mudslides and evacuations during a weeklong onslaught of rain now have another problem: contaminated water and fouled beaches. The rain washed trash, pesticides and bacteria into waterways, prompting health warnings. Four beaches were closed in Northern California's San Mateo County and another 12 miles of beach from Laguna Beach to San Clemente in Southern California's Orange County were off-limits because of sewer overflows. Many houses washed away by mudslides.

Jacob's House Comment,

On this website, over a year ago we stated that the water would be unfit to drink in many nations today.  We stated that God would destroy the water in many nations because the heathen people in these areas have refused God's true water of life to drink in their souls.  We stated they would suffer with poison water for refusing God's only Son, Jesus, as their savior and redeemer.  The comments on this website that we made over a year ago are already coming to pass in Haiti, India, Australia, and the United States. 

BBC NEWS - Asia-Pacific central Philippines flooding causes chaos. Tens of thousands of people are affected after heavy rains cause flooding in the central Philippines. Philippines have Floods Cause Havoc in Albay Province. Woman killed, 4,000 evacuated in Philippine flood. The death toll from flooding in the Philippines climbed to 140 Monday as a tropical depression in the Pacific sparked new fears of flooding.

Thousands Stranded by Trains, Planes After Northeast Storm. Thousands of travelers trying to get home after the holiday weekend hoped to board flights Tuesday after a massive blizzard that left the Northeast buried under more than 2 feet of snow. This storm simply didn't play fair, cold-cocking the Northeast with more than 2 feet of snow on a holiday weekend when everyone seemed to be out of town, groggy with holiday cheer or just unprepared.

Countless Juarez residents flee 'dying city'. CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - The mother of four raised a finger, pointing out abandoned and stripped concrete homes and counting how many families have fled the Western Hemisphere's deadliest city on her street alone. "One, two, three, four, here, and two more back there on the next block," said Laura Longoria. The 36-year-old ran a convenience store in her working-class neighborhood in south Juarez until the owners closed shop, fed up with the tribute they were forced to pay to drug gangsters to stay in business. Her family vowed to stick it out. But then came the kidnapping of a teen from a stationery shop across the street. After that, Longoria's husband, Enrique Mondragon, requested a transfer from the bus company where he works. "They asked, `where to,'" he recalled. "I said, `Anywhere.'" No one knows how many residents have left the city of 1.4 million since a turf battle over border drug corridors unleashed an unprecedented wave of cartel murders and mayhem. Business leaders, citing government tax information, say the exodus could number 110,000, while a municipal group and local university say it's closer to 230,000 and estimates by social organizations are even higher.

December 31, 2010

Australia floods larger than France strand 200,000. BRISBANE, Australia - Military aircraft dropped supplies to towns cut off by floods in northeastern Australia as the prime minister promised new assistance Friday to the 200,000 people affected by waters covering an area larger than France and Germany combined. Officials say half of Queensland's 715,305 square miles (1,852,642 square kilometers) is affected by the relentless flooding, which began last week after days of pounding rain caused swollen rivers to overflow. The flood zone covers an area larger than France and Germany combined and bigger than the state of Texas. While the rain has stopped, the rivers are still surging to new heights and overflowing into low-lying towns as the water makes its way toward the sea. The muddy water inundating thousands of homes and businesses has led to a shortage of drinking water and raised fears of mosquito-borne disease. "This is without a doubt a tragedy on an unprecedented scale," Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Tail end of storms blast some Western states. DENVER – Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico struggled against the tail end of storms New Year's Eve that left more westerly states recovering from a wintertime onslaught of snow, rain and bitter wind. Denver faced its heaviest snows of the season early Friday, while parts of Wyoming and New Mexico bundled up against stormy weather and frigid temperatures. Phoenix braced for a subfreezing Friday morning, a rarity in the desert city. Packing more punch, the storms Thursday blasted some states with fierce wind gusts and heavy rains or snows, closing hundreds of miles of roads and dumping a snowy mix of precipitation on the edges of Phoenix.

New budget crises loom for U. S. states and municipalities in 2011. The budget crises that have nearly paralyzed states such as California and Illinois are likely to get worse, not better, in 2011 - despite the massive cuts that have already been made. Kept on life support for the past two years by $160 billion in emergency funding from the stimulus package, state governments now face the prospect of making ends meet without any help. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called the situation a “day of reckoning” in a recent interview with “60 Minutes” - and that’s after trimming a full quarter of his state’s budget in one year. Most states have made significant reductions in health care, education, services for seniors and people with disabilities, and their workforces. Overall state spending is 6 percent below pre-recession levels. Nonetheless, I agree that for states, fiscal year 2012 (which starts July 1, 2011) will be the worst yet.”

A magnitude 3.8 earthquake shook parts of Indiana and four other states Thursday, prompting a wave of calls to local authorities from rattled residents.

Florida agriculture loses $273M in December freeze. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - December's wave of unusually cold weather has destroyed much of Florida's green beans and sweet corn, which means shoppers will pay more at the grocery store and see more imports on the shelves. Florida is the nation's largest producer of green beans and sweet corn - the kind of corn we eat, not the kind we put in our gas tanks. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, the state lost $273 million from the December freezes alone - including nearly 9,000 acres of crops. The statistics are compiled only through Dec. 20, which means they don't even account for the problems caused by this week's cold. 2010 dealt a one-two punch for the state's farms. An 11-day spell in January was one of the area's coldest periods on record, and December has had an unprecedented trio of cold fronts. Sam Accursio lost nearly all of his pickling cucumbers at his Homestead farm last January. Eleven months later, about half of his new crop has been wiped out

6 dead after 160 mile per hour tornadoes hit Arkansas, Missouri - Tornadoes fueled by unusually warm weather pummeled the South and Midwest on Friday, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more across Arkansas and Missouri.

A Look Back At 2010, the Year of Disasters. This year was a busy one for meteorologists, as they tracked heat waves, monsoons, and winds carrying volcanic ash. Nicola Jones catches up with Julia Slingo, chief scientist at the UK Met Office in Exeter, Devon, about how natural disasters and extreme weather events over the past 12 months have changed what Britain's national weather center does. There was a whole host of natural disasters that were either caused by weather or affected by weather. Certainly we know the Pakistan flooding was the region's worst probably for 90 years. The Russian heat wave was unprecedented in terms of records going back 140 years. And also the Chinese flooding - the Three Gorges Dam got within 16 meters of being over-topped, and it's only just being built. The year certainly showed a very unusual pattern of weather, but we don't know exactly how unusual.