| Posted on November 4, 2012 
November 4, 2012 – NEW YORK – Life was returning to normal in parts of New York and New Jersey, five days after Hurricane Sandy hit, but other areas were dark and isolated, authorities said. About 2.7 million customers in 15 states and the District of Columbia were without power Saturday, with at least some facing perhaps another week before it is restored, CNN reported. The U.S. death toll from Hurricane Sandy rose Saturday, reaching 113, the Los Angeles Times reported, up from 97 Friday. The newspaper said 48 of the deaths were in New York, followed by New Jersey with 24, Pennsylvania 14, Maryland 11, West Virginia seven and Connecticut four, North Carolina two, Virginia two and New Hampshire one. Residents of many beach towns on the South Shore of Long Island were waiting for power to be restored, and even for some sign someone was in charge, The New York Times reported. Vikki Quinn’s house in Long Beach was flooded and her possessions were piled in the yard. “I just keep waiting for someone with a megaphone and a car to just tell us what to do,” she told the Times. “I’m lost.” President Barack Obama convened a meeting of top emergency officials in Washington, with Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Andrew Cuomo of New York and Dannel Malloy of Connecticut joining by telephone. White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters members of the Cabinet reported on their meetings with local officials, first responders and citizens, and the president spoke individually during the meeting with the governors and local officials, asking whether there are “additional federal resources that could be brought to bear to meet some of the needs in their communities.” Earnest said the president also got a briefing from the National Weather Service on a storm forecast to reach the U.S. Northeast Wednesday. Forecasters said the system could come with high winds, substantial rainfall and perhaps cooler temperatures. Lights were back on Saturday in most of Manhattan. Subway trains began running between Manhattan and the Long Island boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens for the first time since the storm flooded the tunnels under the East River, the Times said. Cuomo said about 60 percent of those in New York who lost power had it back by Saturday. On Long Island, however, more than half of the 1.2 million homes and businesses affected by the storm were still in the dark. “We are getting through it,” Cuomo said at a news briefing. “The worst is behind us.” Gas remained in short supply. Cuomo said 8 million gallons had been delivered, with 28 million more expected from commercial sources and 12 million from the Defense Department. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other top officials were to visit some of the worst-hit areas. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Friday announced the opening of the first of several disaster assistance service centers that will provide information about applying for emergency social and economic benefits. All of the centers will be operated by the city’s Human Resources Administration in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and will be open seven days a week. As of Friday afternoon, more than 98,000 people in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut had registered for federal assistance and more than $40 million in aid has been approved, a statement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. New York City inspectors are posting color-coded placards on buildings and homes to warn people not to enter some buildings. –Equities Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Cyclone or Hurricane,Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, High-risk potential hazard zone, Infrastructure collapse, Strange high tides & freak waves, Time - Event Acceleration, Unprecedented Flooding | Leave a comment Posted on November 4, 2012  November 4, 2012 – MANILA, Philippines - The Mayon and Taal volcanoes remain at alert level 1, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Center (NDRRMC) said on Sunday, November 4. In its 8 a.m. bulletin, NDRRMC said that the alert level remains raised in both volcanoes after volcanic earthquakes were observed during the past 24 hours. One volcanic eartquake was observed in Mayon, while 5 were observed in Taal. The alert level was first raised on both volcanoes on Thursday, November 1, after 5 volcanic earthquakes were recorded in Mayor and 2 were observed in Taal. Alert level 1 means that abnormal volcanic activities are observed, though a hazardous eruption is not imminent. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) is closely monitoring the activities in both volcanoes. The public is being advised to avoid the 6km radius Permanent Danger Zone on Mayon volcano, and to avoid the entire Taal volcano island. –Rappler
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone,Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration,Volcano Watch | 2 Comments Posted on November 4, 2012  November 4, 2012 – CANADA – The recent West Coast earthquake appears to have shut off the water at the popular hot springs in Haida Gwaii’s national park, but there is hope they could reappear someday. After Saturday’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake, Parks Canada workers went to check the springs and found they had run dry, according to Barb Rowsell, who owns Anvil Cove Charters. “Three people went down to check it out, and sure enough there is no hot water and the rocks are dry and cold,” said Rowsell, who has been ferrying visitors to Hotspring Island for years. The popular natural attraction in Gwaii Haanas National Park has been a major tourist draw for decades. The park’s superintendent Ernie Gladstone said the springs were still steaming last week, but now, to his dismay, there is not even a puddle left. “We did have staff on site on Thursday before Saturday’s events, and now less than a week later the water’s not flowing so we have to assume it’s a result of Saturday’s earthquakes or one of the many aftershocks since then,” said Gladstone. It’s not yet clear why or when the springs dried up, but geological experts will be investigating what may have happened in the days to come, Gladstone said. Some locals on Haida Gwaii say the hot springs have disappeared in the past after an earthquake, only to reappear a couple of years later. UBC seismologist Michael Bostock said that once the underlying plates start grinding again, stresses in the fault line are likely to build up in the same locations. “When the earthquake struck last weekend, openings along the fault line changed and the fracture that resulted in hot springs was likely closed.” He said he can’t be certain the hot springs will return, but “it seems like a good bet, given the way that things have behaved in the past.” It was the largest quake recorded in Canada in 60 years and struck just off the coast of Haida Gwaii. Dozens of aftershocks as strong as 6.3 have since rattled the region. –CBC
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone,Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration,Volcano Watch | 1 Comment Posted on November 3, 2012 
November 3, 2012 – VENICE, Italy – Venice has been hit by its highest winter floods in two years with water rising to 140cm (56in) above sea level and meteorologists are warning that heavier flooding will be the rule rather than the exception in the coming years. About half of the city is currently underwater. Tourists have had to wade through flooded parts of the city in Wellington boots and cross the landmark St. Mark’s Square via wooden walkways after days of torrential rain. The square was said to be under 60cm of water. The phenomenon, known as “acqua alt” or “high water” is common in Venice at this time of year but levels are higher than last winter and experts say things will get worse in the future. The city experienced its worst flooding in decades only four years ago when 160cm of floodwater was recorded. Italian news agency Ansa classified the situation as “exceptional,” with shops, basements and buildings flooded. While the canal city is used to high waters, they are putting its fragile infrastructure under heavy stress. The administration has put in place a system of moveable barriers, the Mose, which will rise from the seabed to protect Venice from high tides. The system will not be operational before 2014, however. “Italy is currently under a nationwide rainstorm and autumn marks the beginning of the high-water season, which has been particularly severe this year,” reported Gazzetta del Sud online. “The causes are both natural and man-made. Decades of pumping groundwater caused significant damage to the delicate foundations before the practice was called off.” Weather experts say the high-water threat has been increasing in recent years as heavier rains have hit northern Italy. –Telegraph Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Dark Ages, Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Environmental Threat, Extreme Weather Event, High-risk potential hazard zone, Infrastructure collapse, Record rainfall, Time - Event Acceleration,Unprecedented Flooding | 3 Comments Posted on November 3, 2012  November 3, 2012 – COSTA RICA - Costa Ricans are on alert, which was declared by the National Committee of Emergency due to the seismic activity in the central region. The western province of Guanacaste and the Great Metropolitan Area are the most active regions and authorities are asking residents a continued vigilance. Although other movements must occur to catalog the situation, it is peculiar the succession of recent tremors in very short periods of time, said seismological network specialist of the University of Costa Rica, Lepold Linkimer. At this time, experts analyze the phenomenon to determine if is related to Aguas Calientes tectonic fault, which caused one of the country’s most destructive earthquakes in the past century, said prensalibre.cr. During the last hours, the fault that goes through Escazu municipality has originated seven earthquakes between 2.2 and 3.1 degrees on the Richter scale, said the organization. –Costa Rica Star
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Electric power disruption & grid failure, High-risk potential hazard zone, Infrastructure collapse, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | 2 Comments Posted on November 3, 2012 
November 3, 2012 – MANILA – A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao early Saturday, US seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The US Geological Survey said the quake had a depth of 38 kilometres (24 miles) and hit at 02:17 am (1817 GMT Friday) some 87 kilometres east of the city of Butuan. The USGS had initially reported the quake as having a magnitude of 6.4, but revised it to 6.1. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology measured the quake at 6.5 magnitude and warned that aftershocks were expected. No damage or injuries were immediately reported, regional civil defense officer Troy Callo told AFP, adding that some local residents complained about “objects falling inside houses.” The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, with an average of 20 typhoons battering the island nation every year. It also sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire — a belt around the Pacific Ocean dotted by active volcanoes and unstable ocean trenches. A 7.6-magnitude quake hit the country’s east coast on August 31, triggering a tsunami alert that forced more than 130,000 to flee their homes and causing a landslide that killed one person. –Times of India Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Lithosphere collapse & fisssure, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | Leave a comment Posted on November 3, 2012  November 3, 2012 – INDONESIA – Volcanic activities on Mount Raung, located on the border of Banyuwangi and Jember, continued to rise on Monday. Hendra Gunawan, from the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center’s (PVMBG) said that since 10 a.m. tremors have been increasing in the region with the length of more than 32 millimeters. “It’s an over-scale earthquake,” Hendra told reporters on Monday, October 29. In addition to the increasing tremors, the PVMBG has also received reports from Mount Ijen monitoring office, which reported black smoke spewing out of Mount Raung reaching up to 100 meters high. However, Hendra has urged residents not to panic and wait for announcements of further monitoring from the PVMBG. “But we must remain vigilant,” said Hendra. –Tempo Interactive
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone,Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration,Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | Leave a comment Posted on November 3, 2012 
November 3, 2012 – MONTANA – Yellowstone earthquake activity remains at background levels. During October 2012, 128 earthquakes were recorded in the Yellowstone National Park region. The largest were a pair of magnitude 3.1 events on October 14 at 8:55 PM and 9:21 PM MDT, located about 18 miles south southwest of West Yellowstone, MT. These events were part of a swarm of 55 quakes recorded October 14 -16, with magnitudes ranging from M 0.9 to M 3.1. The swarm resumed briefly on October 26 with an additional 8 events, M 1.4 to M 2.3 located in the same area on the western edge of the Madison Plateau. Slow subsidence of the caldera, which began in early 2010, continues. Current deformation patterns at Yellowstone are well within historical norms. –Volcano Discovery Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Magma Plume activity,Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | 10 Comments Posted on November 3, 2012  November 3, 2012 – NEW YORK - Another messy - wintry – storm may cause post-Election Day problems for an already weather-weary East Coast, forecasters say. But meteorologists add that it’s six days out, so that’s rather early to get too worried. The forecast could change before it hits late next week. The National Weather Service’s forecast center in College Park, Md., which watches winter storms, put out a long-range notice Thursday saying a nor’easter was possible for mid-Atlantic and New England states by Election Day through next Thursday. Forecaster Bruce Sullivan said it wouldn’t be as bad as Superstorm Sandy and isn’t tropical. But it could include snow in interior New England and New York, beach erosion and high winds for areas hit by Sandy and moderate or heavier rainfall. Winds could be about 30 to 40 mph. “I wouldn’t get too alarmed yet,” Sullivan said. “But it’s something we’re going to be watching over the next few days and fine-tuning. Anything that could hamper clean-up efforts is something that could be watched.” Meanwhile, widespread power outages and subway shutdowns may wind up making Sandy the second most expensive storm in U.S. history, according to the forecasting firm Eqecat. That would rank it right behind Hurricane Katrina. In 16 states and Washington, D.C., 52,000 homeowners have filed insurance claims, including nearly 10,000 in New Jersey, CBS News reports. The same European computer model that first noticed and correctly called Sandy a week in advance has forecast this potential nor’easter to come along the East Coast and then hit, Sullivan said. Another computer model also said the same thing, but then lessened that chance, he said. Unlike Sandy, this doesn’t have a tropical component. This would be a normal wet storm coming through land in the Southeast U.S. and going into the water, combining with cold air coming south from the Great Lakes and then curving back into the mid-Atlantic, Sullivan said. The same high pressure system that blocked then-Hurricane Sandy from heading north and east out to sea like most tropical systems is likely to be part of the steering system that would take this storm inland to the same area Sandy struck, said Jeff Masters, meteorology director for the private service Weather Underground. The fact that it’s six days out means “there’s room for optimism,” Masters said, but he added: “From what I’m Iooking at, there’s a concern.” Eqecat said Thursday that the damage from Sandy will likely be far worse than it previously predicted, largely a result of the storm hitting the most densely populated area in the country. The firm doubled its previous estimate for the total bill and now says Sandy may have caused between $30 billion and $50 billion in economic losses, including property damage, lost business and extra living expenses. The cost to insurance companies could run as low as $10 billion and as high as $20 billion. –News 10
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Electric power disruption & grid failure, High-risk potential hazard zone, Time - Event Acceleration | 4 Comments Posted on November 3, 2012 
November 3, 2012 – NEW YORK - Temperatures plummeted and tension soared in the Northeast as gasoline supplies continued to dwindle despite furious efforts to bring in fuel. Sandy’s death toll reached 100, and New York called off its famous marathon, despite the mayor’s protestations that it should have taken place as scheduled, as a symbol of resolve. Government officials moved aggressively to combat the fuel shortage, a crucial hurdle to recovery and a threat to commuters, generators, trash trucks, taxis and rescue workers alike. President Obama on Friday ordered the Energy Department to loan diesel oil from government reserves in Connecticut to emergency responders. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano took the rare step of waiving 92-year-old rules for the delivery of petroleum products to Northeast ports, expediting shipments from the Gulf of Mexico. In New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo waived tax and registration requirements on fuel distribution — and insisted that there was “no reason to panic.” It was evident that millions did not agree. Lines for fuel stretched for miles and for hours. Some drivers ran out of gas before they could reach the pumps. In Queens, a 35-year-old man was arrested after he lost patience, cut in line and pulled a .25-caliber pistol on motorists who complained. Airlines began taking the costly step of carrying extra fuel on planes. Authorities said gas availability might not return to normal for several more days. “All this storm stuff is just driving me crazy,” said bartender Lindsay Benjamin, who walked two hours from her home in Queens to work in Manhattan. “The vibe is very nervous. A lot of people are temperamental.” Five days after Sandy delivered a staggering blow to the most populous region in the United States and became one of the nation’s costliest natural disasters, there were some significant signs of recovery. Most symbolically, the lights started coming on in pockets of Lower Manhattan, home to vital financial institutions and dense, lively neighborhoods. Crowds of residents erupted in cheers as power began coming back to about 100,000 customers in the East Village and Chelsea neighborhoods. Repairs were expected to continue throughout the southern tip of Manhattan this weekend. The Holland Tunnel, a crucial conduit under the Hudson River connecting Manhattan with the west, also opened to buses Friday. And New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie reopened the 12 casinos in Atlantic City, the beachfront landmark that was just a few miles away from where the center of the storm struck land. Still, nearly 4 million homes and business were still without power. Some far-flung areas, even some of New York’s immediate suburbs, could face another week of darkness and cold. Napolitano, visiting the devastated borough of Staten Island, said the area directly affected by the storm was roughly the size of Europe, and called the electricity crisis the “fundamental issue” facing the region. Gasoline tankers began trickling into the New York Harbor on Friday, but in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, searching for gas became a way of life. Residents were glued to radio stations carrying live updates of gas station deliveries. Drivers running on fumes were forced to gamble on which station’s line to join. –L.A. Times (c) ABC News Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Cyclone or Hurricane, Dark Ages, Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes,Earth Watch, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, High-risk potential hazard zone, Human behavioral change after disaster, Infrastructure collapse, Prophecies referenced, Time - Event Acceleration | 9 Comments Posted on November 2, 2012  November 2, 2012 – NEW YORK - The residents of Staten Island are pleading for help from elected officials, begging for gasoline, food, and clothing three days after Sandy slammed the New York City borough. “We’re going to die! We’re going to freeze! We got 90-year-old people!” Donna Solli told visiting officials. “You don’t understand. You gotta get your trucks down here on the corner now. It’s been three days!” Staten Island was one of the hardest-hit communities in New York City. More than 80,000 residents are still without power. Many are homeless, and at least 19 people died on Staten Island because of the storm. One of the devastated neighborhoods was overwhelmed by a violent surge of water. Residents described a super-sized wave as high as 20 feet, with water rushing into the streets like rapids. Staten Island resident Mike Abuzzio’s home is completely gone, with only his floor boards remaining. He, his wife and their two young daughters have been staying with relatives. “My youngest daughter yesterday said, ‘Daddy, I want to go,’” Abuzzio told ABC News. “I told her, ‘It’s going to be awhile, hon.’ She doesn’t understand. She’s 6.” In the rubble that was once his home, Abuzzio found one clean, intact plate of Christmas china. He said that plate will be special at Christmastime and will be used specifically for his mother’s cookies. For 48 hours after the storm, search teams were hunting for two Staten Island brothers, just 2- and 4-years-old. They were swept out of their mother’s arms when waves caused by storm surges crashed into the family’s SUV. Their small bodies were found today at the end of a dead-end street. Their parents were at the scene where the bodies were discovered. Staten Island officials sounded increasingly desperate today, asking when supplies will arrive. They blasted the Red Cross for not being there when it counted. “This is America, not a third world nation. We need food, we need clothing,” Staten Island Borough President Jim Molinaro said today. “My advice to the people of Staten Island is: Don’t donate the American Red Cross. Put their money elsewhere.” The Red Cross and the National Guard arrived in the area late Tuesday and are distributing food, water and gas – and city officials say things are much better. Molinaro urged New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg Wednesday to cancel Sunday’s New York City Marathon. The race’s staging area is on Staten Island and Molinaro said it would be “crazy, asinine,” to have the race after what has happened. “My God. What we have here is terrible, a disaster,” Molinaro said Wednesday. “If they want to race, let them race with themselves. This is no time for a parade. A marathon is a parade. Now is the time to put your shoulder to the wheel. If they want to prepare for something, let them prepare for the election, not a marathon. Do you realize how many police officers you need for a marathon?” he asked. “There are people looting stores on Midland Avenue. There is looting taking place in the homes on the South Shore that were destroyed. That is where we need the police.” –ABC News
Reality: 109 dead, $50 billion in damages: the 2nd costliest storm in U.S. history Posted in 2012, Catastrophic Insurance losses mount, Civilizations unraveling, Cyclone or Hurricane, Dark Ages,Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, High-risk potential hazard zone, Human behavioral change after disaster,Infrastructure collapse, Prophecies referenced, Time - Event Acceleration | 44 Comments Posted on November 2, 2012 
November 2, 2012 – NEW YORK – Widespread gas shortages stirred fears among residents and disrupted some rescue and emergency services on Thursday as the New York region struggled to return to a semblance of normalcy after being ravaged by Hurricane Sandy. Tiny increments of progress — some subway and bus lines were back in service — were overshadowed by new estimates of the storm’s financial cost, struggles to restore power, and by the discovery of more bodies in flooded communities. The lines of cars waiting for gas at a Sunoco here ran in three directions: a mile-long line up the Garden State Parkway, a half-mile line along Vauxhall Road, and another, including a fleet of mail trucks that needed to refuel before resuming their rounds, snaking through a back entrance. The scene was being replayed across the state as drivers waited in lines that ran hundreds of vehicles deep, requiring state troopers and local police to protect against exploding tempers. “I’ve been pumping gas for 36 hours, I pumped 1,500 gallons,” said Abhishek Soni, the owner of an Exxon in Montclair, where disputes on the line Wednesday night had become so heated that Mr. Soni called the police and turned off the pumps for 45 minutes to restore calm. “My nose, my mouth is bleeding from the fumes. The fighting just makes it worse.” Four days after Hurricane Sandy, the effort to secure enough gas for the region moved to the forefront of recovery work. The problems affected even New York City, where the Taxi Commission warned that the suddenly indispensable fleet of yellow cabs would thin significantly Friday because of the fuel shortage. City officials said they had reached an agreement with a major supplier Thursday night that would ensure emergency operations — fire, police, sanitation and work by the parks department to clean up downed trees — would continue uninterrupted. Though Thursday marked a return to routine for many who ride the subway to work or celebrated the resumption of power, the scenes of long lines, fistfights at gas stations and siphoning at parking lots highlighted the difficult, uneven slog to recovery. The losses from the storm will approach $50 billion, according to an early estimate from economists at Moody’s Analytics — about $30 billion in property damage, the rest in lost economic activity like meals and canceled flights. At the same time the death toll in New York City rose to 38, as rescuers continued to discover bodies while combing through coastal wreckage. Among them were the bodies of two boys, 2 and 4, who had been torn from their mother by raging floodwaters on Staten Island on Monday night. The lack of power continued to bedevil efforts to address the damage. About 43 percent of customers in New Jersey and about 16 percent in New York State remained without electricity, and Officials said that they expected power to be restored to all of Manhattan by Saturday. Those issues were only aggravated by the increasingly short supply of gas, particularly given that many suburban residents in New Jersey and elsewhere were heading to the stations to fuel generators, which provided the lone source of power and heat to homes across the region. According to figures from AAA, roughly 60 percent of stations in New Jersey and 70 percent of stations on Long Island were closed. At stations that were open, nerves frayed. Fights broke out at the block-long Hess station on 10th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, forcing the Police Department to send three officers to keep the peace, a police official said. The ports and refineries that supply much of the region’s gas had been shut down in advance of the storm and were damaged by it. That disrupted deliveries to gas stations that had power to pump it. But the bigger problem was that many stations and storage facilities remained without power. –NY Times Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Cyclone or Hurricane, Dark Ages,Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, High-risk potential hazard zone, Human behavioral change after disaster,Infrastructure collapse, Prophecies referenced, Strange high tides & freak waves, Time - Event Acceleration,Unprecedented Flooding | 12 Comments Posted on November 1, 2012  November 1, 2012 – CHINA – An earthquake measuring 3.2 on the Richter scale hit a central China region where the world’s biggest water reservoir the Three Gorges Dam is located, though no harm to the structure was reported. The tremor hit Zigui County of Yichang City in Hubei Province at 3:42 am and its epicentre was located at five km below ground, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. No casualties were reported though the earthquake was felt across Zigui, state-run Xinhua news agency said. “The minor earthquake has not affected the Three Gorges Dam, which can endure far stronger earthquakes,” Hu Xing’e, vice head of the management bureau of the project with the China Three Gorges Corporation said. She said that no earthquake-triggered landslides have been reported in the reservoir area and all power generating units and ship locks are working normally. The dam, the world’s largest water control and hydropower project which spans the Yangtze River, China’s longest waterway, was unaffected by the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that hit the country’s southwestern Sichuan Province in 2008. On Tuesday, the water level of the hydropower project reached its designed full capacity of 175 metres in a storage test that allow experts to observe, research and validate the dam’s original design and to test its hydropower turbo-generators. The test marked the third round of the full-capacity storage test conducted since 2010. “Wednesday’s earthquake was a shallow-focus earthquake rather than a structural one,” said Zhang Shuguang, head of the project’s management bureau. “It was not very destructive.” Zhang said the earthquake could have been triggered by water pouring into caves or the excavation of coal mine shafts in the region. Since the dam started to hold water in 2003, about 19,000 earthquakes, most of which have been slight or ultra-slight, have been reported in the reservoir region, according Niu Xinqiang, head of the Yangtze River Institute of Survey, Planning and Design. “No structural earthquake has been reported,” he said. “The frequency of earthquakes and landslides in this region has been lessening over the past years,” he said. However, critics of the dam allege that most of the tremors were caused by the weight of the mammoth water storage. –DNA India
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Infrastructure collapse, Seismic tremors, Time - Event Acceleration, Water Crisis - Conflict | 3 Comments Posted on November 1, 2012  November 1, 2012 – UGANDA – As of the end of October, 18 cases and nine deaths have been reported as a result of Marburg hemorrhagic fever outbreak, according to WHO. The outbreak began in mid-October, and cases have been reported from five districts in southwestern Uganda, Kampala, Ibanda, Mbarara and Kabarole, with a case fatality rate of 50%. Blood samples from nine patients have been confirmed for Marburg virus at the Uganda Virus Research Institute. Currently, 13 patients have been admitted to the hospital, and their contacts are listed for daily follow-up. The latest confirmed case was admitted to an Ibanda district isolation ward on Oct. 26. The WHO and international partners, including the CDC, the Uganda Red Cross, African Field Epidemiology Network and Médecins-Sans-Frontières, are supporting the national authorities in outbreak investigation and response. The national task force has identified additional health care workers and epidemiologists to strengthen the teams in the field. Training of health workers on infection prevention and control, surveillance and clinical case management is ongoing, and the first shipment of personal protective equipment arrived recently. WHO and its partners have deployed additional staff to support the response teams. As the investigation into the outbreak continues, WHO and partners continue to support the national authorities as needed in the areas of coordination, infection prevention and control, surveillance, epidemiology, public information and social mobilization, anthropological analysis and logistics for outbreak response. Neighboring countries have been contacted to strengthen cross-border surveillance and preparedness to prevent cross border spread of the outbreak. In September, Uganda suffered an outbreak of Ebola. –Healilo
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Disease outbreak, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Environmental Threat,High-risk potential hazard zone, Pestilence Watch, Prophecies referenced, Time - Event Acceleration | 1 Comment Posted on November 1, 2012  November 1, 2012 – CHENNAI, India – Fifteen sailors were today rescued and a search was on for six other missing crew who were on board an oil tanker that drifted and ran aground off the city coast in high velocity winds before the landfall of cyclone ‘Nilam.’ Around 6.30 AM, 15 people who were stranded on board the vessel were safely rescued by the Coast Guard, Chennai Port Trust officials told PTI. A search, involving the Navy and Coast Guard is on for the missing six persons, the officials said. The vessel ‘Pratibha Cauvery,’ with 37 crewmen on board, ran aground near Elliott’s Beach in South Chennai, about 200 metres away from the shore. One crew member drowned after a life boat carrying him and his 21 colleagues capsized in choppy waters while 15 others were rescued with the help of several agencies including Navy and local fishermen yesterday. The ship belonged to Mumbai-based Pratibha Shipping Company. Two persons were killed in Tamil Nadu as Nilam crossed the coast between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh border yesterday without causing much damage. –Times of India
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Cyclone or Hurricane,Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, High-risk potential hazard zone, Strange high tides & freak waves, Time - Event Acceleration | Leave a comment Posted on November 1, 2012  November 1, 2012 – ALASKA - There was volcanic ash in the air over the Shelikof Straight and parts of Kodiak Island yesterday. A person in Port Lions called KMXT to ask if a volcano had erupted, but the Alaska Volcano Observatory showed all was normal. However, it turned out that a volcano had erupted, though it wasn’t yesterday – it was almost exactly 100 years ago. The National Weather Service office in Anchorage reported that ash from the Novarupta explosion in 1912 was being whipped up by strong northerly winds because of a lack of snow cover in the Valley of 10,000 Smokes and Katmai National Park on the Alaska Peninsula. The ash was lifted to about 4,000 feet and drifted over the Shelikof Straight and Kodiak Island. It was a significant enough amount that the weather service issued a warning to pilots, as volcanic ash can damage airplane engines. Known as the Katmai Eruption, the 1912 explosion came from a volcanic vent later named Novarupta. It was the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th Century and ash fell on Kodiak for three days. –Alaska Public
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Ash, Volcano Watch | 6 Comments Posted on November 1, 2012  November 1, 2012 – KENTUCKY - People who live and work within 1.2 miles of Monday’s train derailment site in southwest Jefferson County and the entire Hardin County community of West Point were ordered to evacuate Wednesday afternoon after a fire injured five contractors working on a derailed train car containing a highly flammable chemical. Officials with Louisville Metro Emergency Management Agency said one of the contractors was in very critical condition, a second contractor was in critical condition and a third contractor was in serious condition. Two others refused treatment at the scene. An EMA official said the contractors were using a blowtorch to try to separate a derailed car containing butadiene from another car when chemical vapors accidentally ignited. “The workers that are here are highly trained, and this is one of those accidents that occur, unfortunately,” he said. The EMA official said crews were confident the fire would remain contained to one rail car. They were hopeful the fire would be out by 6 p.m. Crews said the safest way to approach the fire was to let it burn itself out. Emergency crews said 1,800 gallons of water were flowing on the insulated, double-walled tanker car to keep the situation in check. As a precaution, adjacent cares were also being cooled. In addition to the evacuations that were ordered, a “shelter in place” warning was issued for people within five-miles of the derailment. Shelter in place means to close all windows and doors, bring pets inside and turn off HVAC systems. A Code Red alert was sent to residents in the shelter in place zone. The Red Cross set up the following two shelters for evacuees. –Wave 3
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Environmental Threat, Hazardous chemical exposure,High-risk potential hazard zone, Infrastructure collapse, Time - Event Acceleration | 1 Comment Posted on November 1, 2012  November 1, 2012 – LONDON — Unemployment in the 17-country eurozone hit a record high of 11.6 per cent in September, official figures showed Wednesday, a sign the economy is deteriorating, as governments struggle to get a grip on their three-year debt crisis. The rate reported by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, was up from an upwardly revised 11.5 per cent in August. In total, 18.49 million people were out of work in the eurozone in September, up 146,000 from the previous month, the biggest increase in three months. While the eurozone’s unemployment rate has been rising steadily for the past year as the economy struggled with a financial crisis and government spending cuts, the United States has seen its equivalent rate fall to 7.8 per cent. The latest U.S. figures are due this Friday. With the eurozone economy fading, most economists think unemployment will keep increasing over the coming months and that the deteriorating economic picture will soon spook investors again after a brief hiatus. “Financial markets have calmed somewhat, but we expect that the deteriorating economy will soon enough lead to more crisis headlines,” said Tim Ohlenburg, senior economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research in London. Five countries in the eurozone are already in recession — Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Cyprus — and others are expected to join them soon. The region as a whole is expected to be confirmed to be in recession when the first estimate of eurozone economic activity in the third quarter is published mid-November — a recession is officially confirmed after two consecutive quarters of negative growth. “With surveys suggesting that firms are becoming more reluctant to hire, the eurozone unemployment rate looks set to rise further, placing more pressure on struggling households,” said Ben May, European economist at Capital Economics in London. Recession and unemployment make it more difficult for the eurozone to deal with its debt problem — governments need to pay more benefits to the jobless and receive less tax revenue. That could push countries to take even more austerity measures, which in turn weighs on economic activity. Once again, Spain held the ignominious position of having the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone, at 25.8 per cent. Greece may yet surpass that — its unemployment rate mushroomed to 25.1 per cent in July, the latest available figure, and is due to increase in the face of what many economists are calling an economic depression. The country is forecast to enter its sixth year of recession next year. Both countries, which are at the heart of Europe’s three-year debt crisis, have youth unemployment above 50 per cent. That risks creating a lost generation of workers and is straining the countries’ social fabric. Extremist political groups in Greece and regional separatist parties in Spain have grown in popularity as the economy worsened. Concern over the social impact of unemployment has also weakened governments and hobbled political decision-making. In Greece, the three parties in the coalition government have tried for months to agree on an austerity package that is necessary for the release of bailout loans to prevent the country’s bankruptcy. –Herald News
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Financial System Collapse, Global Debt Bomb, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced,Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 2 Comments Posted on November 1, 2012 
November 1, 2012 – GAZA - For the best part of the past 16 months, the Palestinian Authority failed to pay on time the wages of more than its 200,000 public-sector employees. The delays in salary payments are caused by delays in the transfer [to the Palestinian Authority] of emergency aid funds and Palestinian tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. The economic implications of the situation are far-reaching and disastrous, argues economist Yitzhak Gal in a report prepared by him for the monthly e-newsletter Iqtisadi (September issue, published by the Tel Aviv University Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies under the heading “The Palestinian Economic Crisis: A Loud Wake-Up Call.” The situation is liable to have dangerous [social and political] consequences due to the fact that the Palestinian public-sector employees, including the security establishment personnel, account for [well] over a quarter of the Palestinian purchasing power. Their low salaries are a mainstay of economic and social stability in the West Bank. “As these salaries have not been paid on time and in full,” the report explains, “the economic security of the public-sector employees is undermined “and the shock waves spread to the West Bank society at large.” Furthermore, [many of] these public-sector employees are unable to meet bank loan repayments and the devastating effect is felt throughout the financial system. Wage levels in the Palestinian territories are evaluated with reference to the purchasing power and standard of living of the local inhabitants. The close ties with the Israeli market are reflected in similar price levels in the West Bank and Israel, in particular when it comes to the price levels of fuel, communication services and a whole array of basic food products. [Since wages in the Palestinian territories are much lower than in Israel,] the real purchasing power of Palestinian households is much lower than that recorded in Israel. Comparisons of related international data conducted by Gal show that the Palestinian GDP [gross domestic product] per capita [when adjusted to local purchasing power] is far lower than that of neighboring Arab counties, and is only slightly higher than that of the poorest countries in the region. In other words, the Palestinians’ standard of living and poverty level are similar to those found in countries like Sudan or Yemen. –Al Monitor Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Ethnic or religious strife, Financial System Collapse, Global Debt Bomb, New World Order -Dystopia- War,Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | Leave a comment Posted on October 31, 2012 
October 31, 2012 – INDIA - The cyclonic storm, Nilam, which lay centred at about 50 km to 60 km south of Chennai, is likely to cross the coast near Mamallapuram on Wednesday evening. The process of landfall, which is expected to begin from around 5-30 p.m., will go on till 11-30 p.m., Y.E. A. Raj, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, says, quoting radar data. Winds with speed reaching 80 to 90 km per hour will prevail along and off the north coastal parts of the State. Cyclone Nilam intensified into a severe storm with extremely heavy rainfall expected over north coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry even as the weather department warned of extensive damage to huts, standing crops and power lines. Extremely heavy rainfall of over 25 cm or more is expected over north Coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the next 24 hours. Rainfall at most places with isolated heavy to very heavy falls would occur over south coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema and north interior Tamil Nadu in the next 48 hours with gale speeds of 90-100 kmph, gusting to 110 kmph along and off north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts. The sea condition would be “high to very high” along and off North Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and South Andhra Pradesh coast, the Met office said. Storm surge of about 1-1.5 metre over the astronomical tide is likely to inundate low lying areas of Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Nellore districts, it said. The Met office also advised total suspension of fishing operations and for coastal dwellers to move to safer places. Danger signals ranging from seven to five have been hoisted at Chennai, Ennore, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, and Puducherry ports. Local cautionary signal number three has been hoisted at Pamban and Thoothukudi ports, it said. –Hindu Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Cyclone or Hurricane, Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, High-risk potential hazard zone, Record rainfall, Strange high tides & freak waves, Time - Event Acceleration | Leave a comment Posted on October 31, 2012 
October 31, 2012 – WEST VIRGINIA – Parts of West Virginia were digging out from up to three feet of snow dumped in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, a deluge that cut power to hundreds of thousands of residents and shut down main highways. The thick blanket of snow at higher elevations across the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains, including in parts of Maryland and Pennsylvania, also brought concerns that rivers and creeks in low-lying areas could flood later in the week as the snow melts, with temperatures expected to reach 60 degrees. Falling trees and storm-related traffic accidents claimed the lives of three people in Maryland, three in Pennsylvania and one in West Virginia, state officials said Tuesday. Close to 300,000 West Virginia residents were without power Tuesday afternoon, as high winds and heavy snow snapped branches and downed power lines, and officials expected the number to rise. Outages at several utilities had left some areas without access to water, and officials were sending out trucks to deliver bottled water. “West Virginia continues to be hard hit,” said Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat. “Right now, my main focus is on life safety, power restoration and critical infrastructure.…We are doing everything we can to help the folks in need.” More than 30 of West Virginia’s 55 counties had snow, with the heaviest snowfall at higher elevations, said Liz Sommerville, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Charleston, W.Va. Bowden, above 3,000 feet, recorded 24 inches by early Tuesday, compared with 16 inches in Beckley, elevation 2,300 feet, and 9 inches in the capital of Charleston, elevation 980 feet. “Trees are coming down. I got a feeling that a lot of weaker structures are going to come down,” said Gary Berti, of Davis, W.Va., where 30 inches of snow had fallen by Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Berti, 54 years old, said all the stores along the main street of Davis were closed Tuesday and only pickup trucks with four-wheel drive were braving secondary roads. Restaurants without power were making food for rescue workers using gas stoves, he said: “They’re cooking everything they’ve got because they know they’re going to lose it.” Snow was expected to keep falling on mountainous areas through Wednesday, and blizzard warnings remained in effect in more than a dozen counties Tuesday. At lower elevations, snow was expected to turn to rain by Tuesday night. The West Virginia Department of Transportation reported accidents on three major highways in the state and said fallen trees and power lines were complicating efforts to clear roads. The agency urged residents to stay home. Marshall University canceled classes at various campuses around the state, and West Virginia State University closed for the day. –WSJ Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event,High-risk potential hazard zone, Record snowfall, Time - Event Acceleration | 7 Comments Israel's 'dry run' for a strike against Islam: Two killed as jets bomb Sudanese rockets factory Israel has destroyed a Sudanese weapons factory in a bombing raid, it was claimed yesterday. Sudan vowed to take ‘decisive steps’ in retaliation against Israeli interests, which it said are now ‘legitimate targets’. The Yarmouk arms factory, in the south of the capital Khartoum, was destroyed in a series of explosions on Wednesday last week, in which two people died. Sudan immediately pointed the finger of blame at Israel, while an American monitoring group said satellite images of the aftermath of the explosion suggest the site was hit in an airstrike. 
The Yarmouk military complex in Khartoum, Sudan seen in a satellite image made on October 12, prior to the alleged attack 
A satellite picture of the military complex after the alleged raid taken on October 25 The images showed ‘six large craters, each approximately 16 metres across and consistent with large impact craters created by air-delivered munitions. They were centered in a location where, until recently, some 40 shipping containers had been stacked’, according to the Satellite Sentinel Project. There were claims yesterday that Israel attacked the factory because it was a front for manufacturing rockets and ballistic missiles for Iran. There were also reports that the raid acted as a ‘dry run’ for a forthcoming strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Israel has so far made no comment on the destruction of the factory, as has become conventional when it is accused of attacking targets in nearby countries. But it has long seen Sudan as a conduit for weapons smuggled to the Hamas-ruled Gaza strip via the Egyptian Sinai desert. Sudan’s information minister, Ahmed Bilal Osman, said: ‘The sophisticated warplanes and weapons used in the attack are available to no country in the region except Israel.’ 
Graphic with details of a raid carried out a military complex in Khartoum He added that Sudan would have to take ‘decisive steps’ in retaliation although this would ‘definitely’ not entail a direct strike. ‘But we have the means, we have the means of how we can reply. They killed our people... and we know how to retaliate.’ There was widespread condemnation in the Arab world yesterday over the alleged attacks, although there was no direct proof linking them to Israel. Western ‘security sources’ told the Sunday Times the bombing raid was carried out by eight Israeli F-151 planes. U.S. Defense Secretary warns Japan-China territorial spat could lead to war; urges calm on both sides 
September 17, 2012 – JAPAN - US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called for diplomatic efforts to resolve a worsening territorial spat between Japan and China on Monday, the day after warning disputes could draw East Asia into war. Speaking after meetings in Tokyo with senior Japanese figures, Panetta urged “calm and restraint on all sides” in a row over disputed islands that has rapidly escalated in the last week into sometimes violent protests in China. “Obviously we’re concerned by the demonstrations and the conflict over the Senkaku islands,” Panetta said, referring to the Japanese-administered archipelago that China claims and calls Diaoyu. “It is extremely important that diplomatic means on both sides be used to try to constructively resolve these issues,” he said, adding a resolution of the dispute has to be based on “clear principles” and international law. “It’s in everybody’s interest for Japan and China to maintain good relations and to find a way to avoid further escalation,” said Panetta, pounding the podium for emphasis. Panetta arrived in Tokyo on Sunday evening after days of anti-Japanese protests had rocked cities across China, with diplomatic missions being targeted in some instances. Speaking to reporters travelling on his plane, Panetta said intemperate actions over the disputed East China Sea islands could have serious consequences. “It raises the possibility that a misjudgment on one side or the other could result in violence, and could result in conflict,” he said. “And that conflict would then have the potential of expanding.” Japan and China, Asia’s two largest economies, have long been at loggerheads over the island chain, but tensions have spiked recently. Last week, Japan announced it had nationalized three of the islands, triggering an angry reaction in China. Tokyo already owns another and leases the fifth. The uninhabited islands lie along important shipping lanes and the seabed nearby is thought to harbor valuable mineral resources. Panetta said Monday the US commitment to Japan, in the form of a mutual defense treaty, was unwavering. “Obviously we stand by our treaty obligations. They are longstanding, and that does not change.” The US has around 47,000 troops stationed in Japan. But he said the United States as a matter of policy does not take a position on the territorial dispute. –Inquirer News Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 4 Comments Posted on September 17, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  September 17, 2012 – JAPAN - The US and Japan have agreed to set up a second missile defense system on Japanese soil in an effort to counter the ballistic missile threat from North Korea, officials say. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made the announcement in Tokyo with Japan’s defense minister. But the exact location of the system has not yet been determined. While both sides insist the system is not aimed at China, analysts say the decision is bound to anger Beijing. Mr. Panetta’s trip comes amid fresh tensions between Japan and China over disputed islands known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, after Japan sealed a deal to buy three of the islands. Japan and the US have worked on a joint missile defense system over the years. This new system would enable Japanese ships to cover other parts of the region, officials say. “It will enhance the alliance’s ability to defend Japan, our forward deployed forces and the US homeland from a ballistic missile threat posed by North Korea,” Mr. Panetta said. In April, North Korea conducted a failed long-range rocket launch that it said was an attempt to put a satellite into orbit. Critics said the launch was a disguised test of missile technology, banned under UN resolutions. Mr. Panetta also discussed with Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto the deployment of US Osprey aircraft to Okinawa, which has angered local residents concerned about safety. Mr. Panetta is on a week-long tour of Asia that includes China and New Zealand. –BBC
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | Leave a comment Posted on September 17, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  September 17, 2012 – TERNATE, Indonesia – Mount Gamalama in Ternate, North Maluku, spewed out volcanic ash on Sunday, showering some parts of the provincial capital that is currently hosting an international sailing event: Sail Morotai 2012. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. However, guests of Corner Palace Hotel panicked when a rain of ash fell for about 15 minutes. State volcanologist Kristianto says Mount Gamalama in the Molucca Islands sprang to life last week. It unleashed two strong eruptions over the weekend, sending volcanic ash as high as 1 kilometer (0.62 miles). Kristianto, who uses only one name, says slow-moving red lava was visible at the peak of the eruption Monday. Matut, 48, a local resident, said ask also rained down on Saturday night at 11 p.m. until the small hours of Sunday morning, Antara news agency reported. Volcanic ash mostly blanketed the eastern and southern parts of Ternate, the capital of North Maluku province. Villages have been blanketed with thick ash but no evacuations have been ordered. Gamalama last erupted late last year, and its mudflows killed four villagers two weeks later. Indonesia is a vast archipelago with millions of people living on mountains or near fertile flood plains. Seasonal downpours here often cause landslides. –Jakarta Post
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Human behavioral change after disaster, Magma Plume activity, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | Leave a comment Posted on September 17, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  September 17, 2012 – CANARY ISLANDS – Volcanic activity on Spain’s El Hierro Island has resumed far below the Earth’s surface in a similar manner to last July, albeit slightly stronger, the director of the National Geographic Institute, or IGN, in the Canary Islands, Maria Jose Blanco, told Efe on Sunday. Blanco said that a peak of seismic activity is under way, a continuation of the volcanic process – a shifting of magma many kilometers (miles) underground – that began in July 2011 which, although the main activity ended at the time with an undersea eruption, that did not mean that the overall activity had come to a definitive conclusion. The IGN official said that at present it is not expected that the seismic movements that have been registered – which have occurred at depths of some 20 kilometers (about 12.5 miles) – exceed 3.2 on the Richter scale, a fairly low level. Blanco could not specify how long this new round of activity would last, although she did say that seismic peaks like the current one would, in all likelihood, continue to occur. Therefore, she said, the IGN is studying the idea of convening the scientific committee of the Civil Protection Plan for Volcanic Risk in the Canaries after this reactivation in the depths of the El Hierro volcano, where over the past three days more than 330 minor seismic movements have been registered. Officials with the regional government of the Canaries told Efe that experts had verified “an acceleration of released seismic energy accompanied by deformations” in underground structures. For the present, the largest movement registered so far was the one measured at 3.2 on the Richter scale, which was felt on Saturday for some 13 hours and 15 minutes by the residents of the municipality of El Pinar, according to IGN data.
Activity increases at Mexico’s volcano: A slight increase of activity can be noted at Popocatépetl volcano in Mexico. The frequency of explosions has increased to more than 1 per hour, i.e. doubled when compared to last week. The more energetic explosions produced small ash plumes rising up to 1 km. Episodes of volcanic tremor occurred as well, CENAPRED writes. –Volcano Discovery Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Magma Plume activity, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | 2 Comments Posted on September 16, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  
September 16, 2012 – MIDDLE EAST - The top commander in Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard warned Sunday that his country’s missiles will ensure “nothing will remain” of Israel if it takes military action against Tehran over its controversial nuclear program. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari also warned that Iran might close the Straits of Hormuz if it is attacked, withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and hit U.S. bases in the Middle East. Such warnings and references to Israel’s destruction have been made before by Iranian officials. But Gen. Jafari’s comments to a Tehran news conference were an unusually detailed, strongly worded and comprehensive listing of the means that Iran says it has to retaliate against a strike on its nuclear facilities. The U.S. and Israel have left open the possibility of such a strike if Iran does not back down from what they say are a push to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. US-Israel rift over Iran widens; Obama denies Netanyahu asked for meeting. “Our response to Israel is clear: I think nothing will remain of Israel (should it attack Iran). Given Israel’s small land area and its vulnerability to a massive volume of Iran’s missiles, I don’t think any spot in Israel will remain safe,” he said. He said Iran’s response to any attack will begin near the Israeli border. The Islamic Republic has close ties with militants in Gaza and Lebanon, both of whom have rocket arsenals that could be used for cross-border strikes. He said he did not believe however that Israel would attack on its own. Should the U.S. launch a strike, Jafari suggested that Iran could respond with missile salvos at U.S. bases in the Gulf. “The US military bases sprawled around Iran are considered a big vulnerability. Even the missile shields that they have set up, based on information we have, could only work for a few missiles but when exposed to a massive volume of missiles, the shields will lose their efficiency and will not work,” he said. He also said that Iran warned that oil shipments through the strategic Strait of Hormuz will be in jeopardy if a war breaks out between Iran and the United States. Iranian officials have previously threatened to close the waterway, the route for a fifth of the world’s oil, but less frequently in recent months. “If a war breaks out where one side is Iran and the other side is the West and U.S., it’s natural that a problem should occur in the Strait of Hormuz. Export of energy will be harmed. It’s natural that this will happen,” he said. Gen. Jafari said that, if attacked, Iran will no longer be committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, under whose terms U.N. inspectors visit Iranian nuclear sites. He said however that this does not mean that Iran would build a nuclear weapon. -MSNBC Posted on September 1, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol   
The End is near? “The Islamic revolution was a great leap in leading the people and reaching the climax of history.” -President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 12, 2006 September 1, 2012 – TEHRAN – Iran would take action if the United States were to carry out an act of “stupidity” and attack Syria, an Iranian military official was quoted as saying on Saturday, but the comments later disappeared from the state-linked agency website. Iran has steadfastly supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his bid to suppress an uprising which both Tehran and Damascus see as a proxy war by Israel and Western states to extend their influence in the Middle East. “If America were to attack Syria, Iran along with Syria’s allies will take action, which would amount to a fiasco for America,” Mohammad Ali Assoudi, the deputy for culture and propaganda of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was quoted as saying. Assoudi’s comments were first carried by the government-linked news agency Young Journalists’ Club but were later apparently taken down from the group’s website. The comments were picked up by Iranian news sites including Iran’s Jam-e Jam newspaper and the BBC’s Persian-language site. Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment. Assoudi did not specify exactly what steps Iran would take, but said Syria’s allies would implement their joint military pact in the case of a U.S. attack. “In the case of American stupidity and a military attack by this country on Syria, the joint military pact of Syria’s allies would be implemented,” Assoudi said. Iran and Syria signed a mutual defense pact in 2006, but little is known of its details, or whether there are any other signatories. The Islamic Republic considers Assad’s government, along with Lebanese Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah, part of an “axis of resistance” against the influence of the United States and Israel in the Middle East. But while Turkey, Gulf Arab countries and Western states admit to giving non-weapons aid to the Syrian rebels, there is little or no appetite in Washington, especially in an election year, for direct military intervention in Syria. Without U.S. leadership, its allies also appear unwilling to go it alone. Iran accuses Western powers and regional states of supporting and arming the rebels, while the rebels accuse Iran of sending IRGC fighters to help Assad crush the uprising. “With cooperation from Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, America has the goal of striking a blow against Syria and making preparations for the fall of the Syrian government,” Assoudi said. –Reuters  Iran and N. Korea in one trench against common foe: Iran and North Korea have signed an agreement to collaborate in the fields of science and technology, showing that nearly a decade of US efforts to isolate the two states internationally might have actually pushed them closer together. Iranian state television said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and North Korea’s nominal head of state Kim Yong Nam were both present in Tehran for the signing of the agreement on Saturday. The two states will cooperate in biotechnology, engineering, renewable energy, sustainable development, research, joint laboratories and the environment, and facilitate more student exchanges, Reuters cites Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) as saying. On the same day, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi called for the strengthening of economic ties between the two states, the agency cites Iranian state TV as reporting. North’s Korea’s No. 2 was in Tehran along with 119 other world leaders for the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. The summit, whose agenda included nuclear disarmament, human rights and the Syrian conflict, is one of the few multilateral forums in which Pyongyang participates. It had previously been speculated that North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un would be in attendance. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Kim Yong Nam and was quick to underscore the force underpinning growing collaboration between the two states. “The Islamic Republic of Iran and North Korea have common enemies, because the arrogant powers do not accept independent states,” the ILNA quoted Khamenei as saying. Khamenei’s harsh rebuke was most almost certainly targeted at the United States, which vilified the two states as being part of an “Axis of Evil” (along with Iraq) in 2002 despite the lack of any overt ties between the three states. Iranian and North Korean officials have previously characterized their countries as being in “one trench” in the fight against the United States and the West. Western powers have accused them, meanwhile, of being close partners in nuclear and missile technologies. –RT News
 World at dangerous crossroads for WW3: Whatever action the U.S. takes in the Middle East, whether against Iran itself or Syria; Iran is now determined to enlarge the conflict into an Armageddon war (Al-Malhamah Al-Kubrah) that will result in the destruction of Israel, the U.S, and will cleanse the Middle East of western influence, whilel ushering in the reign of the 12th Iman. This crisis is already now that dangerous. “Ahmadinejad has aligned himself with the virtually invincible combined power of the East: Russia, China, North Korea, and to some extent, even India; making any potential future conflict in the area, involving Iran, a dangerous trip-wire for dragging other nations into the conflict. The future of the Middle East hangs in the balance, awaiting the outcome of this Iran-Israel high-stakes game of Stratego. A miscalculation by either side holds the potential for global disaster.” –The Extinction Protocol, page 82
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Crowd Control technology, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Ethnic or religious strife, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 46 Comments Posted on September 1, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  September 1, 2012 – SURVIVAL – Imagine the world you know ends tomorrow. Imagine electrical grids failing, supermarkets closing and the safety nets of modern civilization crumbling, leaving millions of Americans without food and drinkable water. Though the idea seems extreme to most people, some are preparing for such a scenario. So called “preppers” or “survivalists” are amassing food, shelters and knowledge to withstand a world different from the one that exists today. Even small-scale disasters can prove stressful if not disastrous, as tens of thousands of Monmouth County residents learned in July when a water pipe line collapsed, disrupting drinking water from the tap. That’s a scenario Jason Borrelli, a 2005 Point Pleasant Beach High School graduate, is prepared to face. Borrelli and his fiancée have amassed a collection of water bottles so vast, the storage space under his queen-size bed is stuffed with the containers. “I’ve stockpiled water like it’s nobody’s business,” said Borrelli, 26. The space under another queen-size bed in the couple’s Florida home is completely filled with toiletries that they plan to barter for food and supplies, if needed. In addition, several closets in the couple’s home store nonperishable food. Though he fears a disease pandemic, economic collapse is most likely to cause the kind of catastrophic disaster he is preparing for, he said. Such a collapse “is going to happen sooner or later,” Borrelli believes. A prepper is an “all-encompassing term that defines someone whether they prepare for a disaster or whether they’re interested in sustainable living,” said Tom Martin, founder of the American Preppers Network. The network started as a social media website in 2009 with about 100 hits a day and has since grown about a million individual visitors a month, Martin said. Visitors there discuss concerns about recent events in the news, such as fires in the western United States, rising food prices, access to oil and economic instability, he said. And there’s a wilderness survival school. Led by master tracker and author Tom Brown Jr., 62, of Waretown, about 100 students gathered miles into the woods for lessons on curing animal hide, primitive cooking, shelter-building and hunting prey without the use of modern devices. It is here that the most serious of survivalists come to train for a world without frozen foods, factories and electricity. Modern humans are “alien to their own environment. They don’t belong. If something happens … they’re dead,” Brown said. The school “gives them insurance policy that no matter what happens, whether it’s deep in the wilderness or in a city/suburban environment, they will survive,” Brown said. With the right knowledge, Brown said “no matter how bad it gets in the world, you pull that car off the side of the road, step off that bus or train, walk into the wilderness and never need another damn thing for the rest of your life. … That’s freedom.” -App
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Financial System Collapse, Food chain unraveling, Global Debt Bomb, Human behavioral change after disaster, Infrastructure collapse, Time - Event Acceleration | 26 Comments Posted on September 1, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  
September 1, 2012 – TEHRAN – Iran will hold a massive air defense drill in October incorporating aerial and ground forces, Iranian air defense commander Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili announced on Saturday. Esmaili said that the maneuver will include all of the Iranian army’s air defense systems, as well as Iranian air force fighter jets, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian state news agency Press TV reported. According to Press TV, “one of the initiatives in the drill will be… preparing the air defense personnel for the management of crisis.” Reuters quoted Esmaili telling Iranian newspaper Hamshahri on Friday, “Today our systems are prepared in a serious way for modern air threats, such that the performance of the systems compared to the previous profile has improved.” The announcement of Iran’s air defense drill comes amid rising tensions between Iran and the West over its unsanctioned nuclear program. The scheduling of the military drill, the second major exercise in two months, coincides with the speculated timetable of a possible Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities before the US presidential elections in November. The announcement also came a day after Time reported that an American-Israeli military drill scheduled for next month was scaled back by Washington. The Austere Challenge 12 exercise, which is also to be held in October, was to feature thousands of soldiers and advanced anti-missile defense systems and simulate simultaneous fire from Iran and Syria. It is going ahead as planned, but on a smaller scale. –Times of Israel  Israel in race against time for war: In a shocking new revelation, Israeli officials have admitted that more than a million citizens of the Jewish state do not have access to essential personal forms of protection in the event of an enemy missile or chemical attack. Making their comments against the backdrop of a possible Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities and a potential retaliation aimed at the Israeli homeland, the officials stated that 1.7 million Israelis are unable to avail themselves of bomb shelters or bunkers. They also revealed that 40% of the country’s population is unable to obtain gas masks, and that the majority of schools in Israel do not have enough space to contain all their students in a protected area. The unsettling information shows that the disparity in access to protective measures is reflective of the wide income gap between residents of wealthy communities and those living in underprivileged areas. Most defense experts concur that – while Israeli cities are quite likely to be targeted in the aftermath of an Israeli attack on Iran – local defense capacities are often woefully inadequate. According to the experts, even if the government renews its production of gas masks and allocates $320 million to the only two factories in the country that manufacture them, there would not be enough time to produce a sufficient number of masks to cover the entire population. The reality of the current production situation is even more sobering. Itai Bar-On, deputy general manager at one of the gas mask factories told the Washington Post that the production line is only functioning at 7 percent of its total capacity. Bar-On added that approximately one-third of the factory’s employees were terminated from their jobs in recent months. Aside from the severe gas mask shortage, a recent review by officials of Israel’s Home Front Command concluded that approximately 60% of the Jewish state’s public bomb shelters are unfit for use. Hundreds of vital mobile shelters are lacking in Israel’s southern communities, a number that generates notable concern given the recent increase in rocket attacks on the area. “There are some 1.7 million residents living in Israel who don’t have a bomb shelter or a bunker,” asserted MK Zeev Bielski, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Subcommittee for the Examination of Home Front Readiness. “We’re talking about some 400,000 homes and apartments, most of which were built in the 1950s. In case a war breaks out, these residents will be told: ‘Sit under a doorpost.’” –Jewish Voice
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Environmental Threat, Ethnic or religious strife, Hazardous chemical exposure, High-risk potential hazard zone, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 35 Comments Posted on September 1, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  September 1, 2012 – TOKYO – Japan’s government on Wednesday unveiled a worst case disaster scenario that warned a monster earthquake in the Pacific Ocean could kill over 320,000 people, dwarfing last year’s quake-tsunami disaster. Tokyo’s casualty toll estimate was based on a catastrophic scenario in which a powerful undersea quake of about 9.0 magnitude sparked a giant tsunami that swamps Japan’s coastline south of Tokyo. The Cabinet Office’s hypothetical disaster would see the quake strike at nighttime during the winter with strong winds helping unleash waves that reach 34-metre (110 feet), sweeping many victims away as they slept. Many of the estimated 323,000 victims would be drowned by the tsunami, crushed under falling objects or in fires sparked by the disaster, it said. On March 11 last year, a 9.0 magnitude quake struck seismically-active Japan in the early afternoon, triggering tsunami waves that reached 20 meters. About 19,000 were killed or remain missing while the tsunami slammed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, sending reactors into meltdown and sparking the worst atomic crisis in a generation. “As long as we live in Japan, we cannot deny the possibility of a huge earthquake and tsunami,” Masaharu Nakagawa, state minister for disaster management, told reporters Wednesday. The report was designed to paint a worst-case scenario and help officials boost their disaster preparedness. An estimate in 2003 assumed casualties of about 25,000 people, but that scenario envisioned a less powerful 8.4 magnitude quake striking a smaller area. The deadliest quake in Japanese history struck the central Kanto region in 1923, killing at least 100,000 people. –Terra Daily
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Strange high tides & freak waves, Time - Event Acceleration | 8 Comments Posted on September 1, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  September 1, 2012 – SPACE – The Sun is capable of disrupting electrical systems on Earth in a variety of ways, from solar flares and coronal mass ejections to proton storms. Typically, it is only objects far above the Earth’s surface, or systems at high altitudes at polar latitudes, that are considered at risk except during the most powerful storms. Notable recent examples include solar activity during March 1989 and October 2003 (the “Halloween Storms”), which knocked out power in Quebec, Canada, and Sweden, respectively. Research by Marshall et al., however, finds that even a moderate event can have destructive effects far from the typical regions of concern. At 1:20 UT on 6 November 2001, a high-density pocket of solar wind, 18 nanoPascals above the background pressure, sped past the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite, which was orbiting 197 Earth radii above the Earth toward the Sun. In half an hour, this high-pressure wave traveled more than a million kilometers (620,000 miles) to the Earth’s magnetopause. The high- pressure pulse induced currents both in the magnetopause and in power lines across New Zealand, causing alarms to be tripped and a transformer to fail catastrophically. Extending from 35 degrees South to 46 degrees South, New Zealand is typically considered outside the region susceptible to such solar activity. A Northern Hemisphere equivalent would be a zone extending from Maine to North Carolina. The authors find currents of up to 27.4 amperes in transformer earth lines that were supposed to be neutral. For comparison, the Halloween Storms 2 years later caused peak currents of 23.4 amperes and no serious damage, though the authors suggest that this may have been due to damage prevention measures implemented following the 2001 event. –Physics
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Geomagnetic Storm Alert, Infrastructure collapse, Monthly lead post, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Solar Event, Space Watch, Time - Event Acceleration | 2 Comments Posted on August 31, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 31, 2012 – CHILE - Some unrest is going on at Reclus volcano in southern Chile, located between Aguilera and Monte Burney in Patagonia, the Eruptions Blog writes: “Over the summer, earthquakes began to be felt in towns in the region of the volcano and a potential for new activity from the Reclus has prompted geologists to visit the volcano later this spring (southern hemisphere). Interestingly, one article mentions that an over-flight of the volcano in 2008 spotted cracks on the glaciers that cover the volcano along with traces of ash. However, the direct connection between the seismicity in Patagonia and Reclus is still tenuous, so further observations of the remote volcano will need to be done.” Reclus has had at least 4 historical eruptions around, 1908, 1879, and in 1869. Although these were small, the volcano has produced larger explosive eruptions in the past and should be closely monitored. – Volcano Discovery
The last eruption at Reclus volcano was in 1908 Posted in 2012, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | 5 Comments ← Older posts ← Older posts Posted on August 31, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 31, 2012 –TEHRAN - Iran’s first atomic power plant, a symbol of what the Islamic Republic says is its peaceful nuclear ambition, is now operating at full capacity, Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Friday. The Russian-built 1,000-megawatt reactor near the Gulf city of Bushehr, was plugged into Iran’s national grid last September, ending years of delays and suspicions that Moscow was using the project as a diplomatic lever. Oil-rich Iran says electricity generation is the main motivation for nuclear work that its adversaries say is really aimed at getting atomic weapons capability. However, the Bushehr plant is not considered a major proliferation threat by nuclear inspectors whose concern is focused on sites where Iran enriches nuclear fuel, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding it stop. Bushehr was started by Germany’s Siemens before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and was taken over by Russian engineers in the 1990s. The United States for years urged Russia to abandon the project, fearing it could help Tehran develop nuclear weapons. Those concerns were eased by an agreement under which Russia will supply enriched uranium for the reactor and repatriate spent fuel that could be reprocessed into weapons-grade plutonium. Russia sees Iran as a counterweight to U.S. clout but is a partner of the United States and four other powers in efforts to rein in Tehran’s nuclear activities. The U.N. nuclear agency said this week that Iran, in just a few months, had doubled the number of uranium enrichment centrifuges it has in an underground bunker, showing Tehran continued to expand its nuclear program despite Western sanctions and the threat of an Israeli attack. Russia has warned Israel and the United States against attacking Iran and said it opposes pressuring Tehran with further sanctions beyond the measures approved in four U.N. Security Council resolutions, the most recent in 2010. –Reuters
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Ethnic or religious strife, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 6 Comments Posted on August 31, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 31, 2012 – HEALTH - Some 10,000 people who stayed in tent cabins at Yosemite National Park over the summer may be at risk for the deadly rodent-borne hantavirus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a health advisory on Friday. The advisory urges lab testing of patients with symptoms consistent with the lung disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and recommends that doctors notify state health departments when it is found. “An estimated 10,000 persons stayed in the ‘Signature Tent Cabins’ from June 10 through August 24, 2012,” the CDC said in the advisory. “People who stayed in the tents between June 10 and August 24 may be at risk of developing HPS in the next 6 weeks.” Two men have died from hantavirus linked to the Yosemite outbreak and four other people were sickened but survived, California health officials have said. Most of the victims were believed to have contracted the virus while staying in tent-style cabins this summer in a popular Yosemite camping area called Curry Village. Park officials earlier this week shut down 91 insulated tent cabins after finding deer mice, which carry the disease and can burrow through pencil-sized holes, nesting between the double walls of the structures. Park authorities have already notified 2,900 parties of visitors who rented the tent cabins from June through August who they may have been exposed to hantavirus. Nearly 4 million people visit Yosemite each year, attracted to the park’s dramatic scenery and hiking trails. Roughly 70 percent of those visitors congregate in Yosemite Valley, where Curry Village is located. Hantavirus is carried in rodent feces, urine and saliva, which dries out and mixes with dust that can be inhaled by humans, especially in small, confined spaces with poor ventilation. People can also be infected by eating contaminated food, touching contaminated surfaces or being bitten by infected rodents. The virus starts out causing flu-like symptoms, including headache, fever, muscle ache, shortness of breath and cough. Initial symptoms may appear up to six weeks after exposure and can lead to severe breathing difficulties and death. Although there is no cure for hantavirus, treatment after early detection through blood tests can save lives. The virus, which has never been known to be transmitted between humans, kills 38 percent of those it infects. –Reuters
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Disease outbreak, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Ecoystem crisis due to population boom, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Pest Explosions, Pestilence Watch, Time - Event Acceleration | 3 Comments Posted on August 31, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 31, 2012 – JAPAN - The impasse in Japan’s parliament has raised fears among investors that the world’s third largest economy is being driven towards a “fiscal cliff,” Reuters reported. “The government running out of money is not a story made up. It’s a real threat,” Finance Minister Jun Azumi told a news conference, making a last-ditch appeal for cooperation by opposition parties to pass the bill. “Failing to pass the bill will give markets the impression that Japan’s fiscal management rests on shaky ground,” he said. Unless the bill clears the current parliamentary session that ends next week, the government will start suspending or reducing some state spending to avoid running out of money for as long as possible, the finance ministry said. Noda’s ruling Democratic Party passed the deficit-financing bill through the lower house on Tuesday. But the opposition boycotted the vote, signaling the bill has little chance of clearing the opposition-controlled upper house. Under the proposed contingency for suspending some spending, the finance ministry said government bond redemptions and interest payments on outstanding debt would not be affected as they will be made in full using reserves set aside for this purpose. All state spending will be targeted, except for those that will severely affect public livelihood such as police, national security and disaster relief, Reuters reported. Subsidies to local governments and state-run universities will be cut by half from the originally planned amount until the bill passes parliament, the finance ministry said. The upper house has also passed a censure motion against Noda, piling more pressure on him to make good on his promise earlier this month to call an election to parliament’s lower house. Several ruling party and opposition lawmakers have suggested that Noda would probably wait out the stalemate until the current parliament session ends on September 8 and call a snap vote during an extra session in October to secure the deficit financing bill’s passage. The term “fiscal cliff” is commonly associated with around $500bn (£316bn) in expiring US tax cuts and spending cuts that could kick in automatically next year, triggering a “significant recession,” according to the Congressional Budget Office. –Telegraph
Japan’s fiscal death fast approaching: Key indicators are deteriorating on almost every front, raising concerns that the world’s third largest economy is running aground after two “Lost Decades.” Japan’s debt has jumped by 61 percentage points of GDP since 2008, compared to eight points for the AAA bloc. Public debt is expected to reach 239% of GDP this year, uncharted levels for a major economy in peace-time. Net debt – subtracting Japan’s vast holdings of foreign bonds – is nearer 137% but this is rising at an even steeper trajectory. “Japan’s addiction to public sector spending is way beyond the boundaries or remedial austerity,” said Dylan Grice from Societe Generale. –T  Spain’s banking crisis worsening: The Spanish government will immediately inject financial aid into Bankia after the troubled lender announced losses of (EURO)4.4 billion ($5.6 billion) in the first half of the year, authorities said Friday. The money will come from the fund for the orderly restructuring of banks, or FROB, a bank rescue fund set up to help Spain’s deeply troubled financial sector. The fund said in a statement late Friday that it planned to transfer capital into Bankia SA and its parent group Banco Financiero y de Ahorros SA with immediate effect after “the accounts declared significant losses.” The fund did not specify how much it would inject into Bankia. But it said the money was an advance loan prior to Spain receiving a package of up to (EURO)100 billion ($126.1 billion) from other eurozone countries so that it can bail out all of its troubled banks. Bankia was nationalized in May and has called for (EURO)24 billion ($30.3 billion) in public aid. At its Friday cabinet meeting, Spain’s government approved a new package of measures to create a “bad bank” to handle the country’s toxic property investments and give the central bank more powers to shut down troubled lenders. The reform is the fifth such package Spain has introduced since its financial difficulties began in 2008. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said the new “bad bank” would be up and running by the end of November and will be controlled by the central bank but would also involve the private sector. -HP
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Financial System Collapse, Global Debt Bomb, High-risk potential hazard zone, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Time - Event Acceleration | 3 Comments Posted on August 31, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 31, 2012 – FOOD – Global food prices have leapt by 10% in the month of July, raising fears of soaring prices for the planet’s poorest, the World Bank has warned. The bank said that a U.S. heatwave and drought in parts of Eastern Europe were partly to blame for the rising costs. The price of key grains such as corn, wheat and soybean saw the most dramatic increases, described by the World Bank president as “historic.” The bank warned countries importing grains will be particularly vulnerable. From June to July this year, corn and wheat prices each rose by 25% while soybean prices increased by 17%, the World Bank said. Only rice prices decreased – by 4%. In the United States, the most severe, widespread drought in half a century has wreaked havoc on the corn and soybean crops while in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, wheat crops have been badly damaged. The World Bank said that the use of corn to produce ethanol bio-fuel – which represents 40% of US corn production – was also a key factor in the sharp rise in the U.S. maize price. Overall, the World Bank’s Food Price Index – which tracks the price of internationally traded food commodities – was six percent higher than in July of last year, and one percent over its previous peak, in February 2011. The organization is urging governments to bolster programs to protect their most vulnerable communities from the increase in the cost of food. “We cannot allow these historic price hikes to turn into a lifetime of perils as families take their children out of school and eat less nutritious food to compensate for the high prices,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said. He said countries in North and Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East were among those most exposed to such price increases because much of their food was imported and food bills make up a large proportion of average household spending. –BBC
 Fish kill: POCATELLO, Idaho — State fisheries biologists are reporting an increase in the number of mountain whitefish dying in eastern Idaho streams and rivers. Idaho Fish and Game experts say the die-off is troubling and they are counting on the public to help figure out why. The Idaho State Journal reports that dead fish have turned up in recent weeks on the South Fork of the Snake River and the main stem of the Snake River. Reports of dead whitefish have also come from the Teton and North Fork of the Salmon Rivers. Regional Fisheries Manager Dan Garre says the cause is a mystery. He says it’s interesting that the die-off is targeting whitefish typically under 10 inches – and not trout. Tissue samples have been sent to a state lab for analysis. –Sac Bee
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Famine Threat, Financial System Collapse, Food chain unraveling, Global Debt Bomb, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Time - Event Acceleration | 12 Comments Posted on August 31, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
Posted in Earth Changes | 10 Comments Posted on August 31, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 31, 2012 – PHILIPPINES - A magnitude 7.9 earthquake shook some parts of the Visayas, particularly Eastern Samar, at 8:47 p.m. Friday. The earthquake was later downgraded to a 7.6 by the USGS. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported in its website that the quake’s epicenter was located at 112 kilometers east of Guiuan, Eastern Samar. The quake’s origin is tectonic and it has a depth of 10 kilometers. August 31, 2012 – It was also located at 175 kilometers northeast of Surigao, 187 kilometers east southeast of Tacloban, Leyte and 749 kilometers southeast of Manila, the US Geological Survey said in its latest bulletin. The USGS issued a tsunami warning in the Philippines, as well as in Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan and Guam. Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum advised residents in Surigao del Norte, Eastern Samar, Southern Leyte and Bicol to be on alert for possible aftershocks. He also advised those living in coastal villages in these areas to evacuate due to the tsunami warning. Southern Leyte Governor Damian Mercado said in a radio interview that he told all town mayors in the province to evacuate all families living in coastal areas. Evacuation is also ongoing in Eastern Samar and Surigao. No damage has been reported as of this posting Friday. –Sun Star
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Planetary Tremor Event, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | 4 Comments Posted on August 31, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 31, 2012 – MISSOURI – Two men in Missouri who became severely ill after sustaining tick bites were found to be infected with a new type of virus, according to a study from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Both men were admitted to hospitals after experiencing high fevers, fatigue, diarrhea and loss of appetite. They were originally thought to be suffering from a bacterial infection, but doubts arose when they didn’t improve after being treated with antibiotics. Further tests revealed their blood contained a new virus, which the researchers dubbed the Heartland virus. It belongs to a group called phleboviruses, which are carried by flies, mosquitoes or ticks, and can cause disease in humans. While the genetic material of Heartland virus appears similar to that of other phleboviruses, the particular proteins it produces are different enough to call it a new species, said study researcher Laura McMullan, a senior scientist at the CDC. Because the Heartland virus causes such general symptoms, it could be “a more common cause of human illness than is currently recognized,” the researchers wrote in the Aug. 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. More studies are needed to identify the natural hosts of the virus, learn how many people are infected with it and find risk factors for infection, McMullan said. Because both men experienced tick bites shortly before they became ill — one man, a farmer, reported receiving an average of 20 tick bites a day — the researchers said it’s likely that the Heartland virus is spread by ticks, although more research is needed to confirm this. The new virus’s closest relative is another tick-borne phlebovirus, called SFTS virus, which was identified last year in China, and causes death in 12 percent of cases. The Missouri men, who were both infected in 2009, recovered after 10 to 12 days in the hospital, although one of the men has reported recurrent headaches and fatigue in the two years since his hospitalization. The researchers suspect a species of tick commonly found in Missouri, called Amblyomma americanum, is one of the hosts of the Heartland virus. –Live Science
 Deer deaths in Indiana: Residents of a central Indiana county have reported nearly 100 dead deer in what wildlife officials believe might be a disease outbreak. An Indiana Department of Natural Resources biologist says most of those dead deer have been found in southern Putnam County. Biologist Dean Zimmerman tells the Banner Graphic that 17 counties around the state have had suspected cases of epizootic hemorrhagic disease among deer, although Putnam County seems to have a large outbreak. The illness is a viral disease transmitted by small flies that typically occurs during late summer and early fall. It doesn’t affect humans. Zimmerman says the flies that carry the disease reproduce more successfully in dry weather and that it will take a killing frost to end the outbreak. –NECN
contribution Emanni Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Disease outbreak, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Environmental Threat, Food chain unraveling, Mass animal deaths, Pest Explosions, Pestilence Watch, Time - Event Acceleration | 1 Comment ← Older posts ← Older posts Posted on August 31, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
August 31, 2012 – GERMANY - Premier Wen Jiabao told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Europe must “strike a balance” between fiscal tightening and measures to promote growth. “Europe’s debt crisis has continued to worsen, giving rise to serious concerns in the international community. Frankly, I am also worried,” he said. His comments mark a shift in Chinese policy. Beijing has until now backed austerity across Euroland, but the severity of China’s own downturn has begun to rattle policymakers. Exports of electronic goods to Italy crashed 43pc in July from a year earlier, and sales to Germany fell 11pc. Caixin reported that processing trade to Europe fell 21pc. The country’s two largest shipping groups COSCO and China Shipping both reported drastic losses today. The Shanghai composite index of stocks threatened to break below 2000 today, the lowest since the Lehman crisis. Mr. Wen asked for clarification over whether Italy and Spain would adopt “comprehensive rescue measures” needed to unlock the EU bail-out machinery – and open the door to bond purchases by the European Central Bank. Mrs Merkel said eurozone debt remains a “safe investment.” Yet it is far from clear whether China can come to the rescue. Simon Derrick from BNY Mellon said China’s foreign reserves peaked at $3.31 trillion in February, and have since fallen by over $100bn. “China is no longer in the market to buy bonds,” he said. Morgan Stanley said there are signs of incipient capital flight from China. The yuan has fallen almost 1pc since April, and off-shore markets are pricing in further falls over the next year. The risk for Europe is that China could become a net seller of European bonds if forced to run down reserves to shore up the yuan. Germany has reasons of its own for going easy on Club Med austerity. The policy has finally begun to boomerang, with German exports falling by 14pc to Spain and 8pc to Italy. David Owen from Jefferies Fixed Income said Germany’s IFO business climate index has fallen to levels that normally mean recession. “Germany is not falling off a cliff but the confidence numbers are as bad as the UK. We see a high risk of contraction this quarter and next,” he said. Professor Lars Feld from Freiburg, one of Germany’s five “Wise Men,” warned today that euro break-up had become a “relatively large risk” and rebuked hard-line German politicians for “populist outbursts” over recent days. He said an ejection of Greece from EMU would set of a “domino effect” through the EMU periphery, slicing up to 10pc off German GDP. “The markets would promptly ask whether Spain can make it in monetary union.” –Telegraph Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Financial System Collapse, Global Debt Bomb, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | Leave a comment Posted on August 31, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
People stand on large hexagonal columns of volcanic rock, southeast of Hong Kong in this handout photo released August 30, 2012. August 31, 2012 – HONG KONG – Some 140 million years after it erupted and then toppled into the sea, an ancient supervolcano in Hong Kong is making headlines. The government announced Thursday that it had located the supervolcano—the first discovery of its kind in southeastern China—while surveying in the area in southeastern Hong Kong. The volcano is now extinct and poses no threat to Hong Kong. What makes the volcano super? When it last exploded 140 million years ago, it would have darkened the sky with 312 cubic miles of ash, enough to blanket all of Hong Kong, said Denise Tang of the government’s civil engineering & development department, which discovered the volcano. About 50 other such supervolcanos are known to exist around the world, she said. The original base of Hong Kong’s supervolcano would have measured about 11 miles in diameter, and the vista of vaulting, hexagonal rock columns and small islands it left behind remain gorgeous reminders of its dramatic geologic past. They can be toured by boat, but Ms. Tang was quick to warn any would-be tourists to use caution before making any expeditions. “Although it’s very beautiful,” she said, “there’s no facilities, no pier facilities, so we actually do not recommend people try to land on the island.” –WSJ Remnants of an ancient super volcano have been discovered near Hong Kong. According to experts, the last eruption of the volcano occurred in the Mesozoic Era at the turn of the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods about 140 million years ago. The diameter of the gigantic crater spans 18 kilometers. Scientists have confirmed the earlier hypothesis that the volcano settled down many years ago and assured Hong Kong residents that it won’t erupt again. -TASS Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | 5 Comments Posted on August 31, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 31, 2012 – ALASKA – A series of small earthquakes which began Wednesday night and continued into Thursday near a long-dormant volcanic peak in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands has prompted researchers to raise the alert level for the Little Sitkin volcano. The nearly 4,000-foot-high Little Sitkin volcano is named for the island where it resides, located in the Rat Islands in the Aleutian chain. The volcano has shown little activity since scientists have started observing it, with only three questionable eruptive events at the volcano since that time. The most recent eruption may have come in 1900, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory. However, the Smithsonian Global Volcanism program documents the last eruption as 1830. Still, the AVO page for Little Sitkin mentions there may have been a “cataclysmic eruption” on the island sometime after the last ice age, which ended more than 11,000 years ago. Seismic equipment located near the volcano began detecting a “”warm of high-frequency earthquakes” at about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, the AVO reports. The earthquakes continued through the night into Thursday, prompting the alert level at the volcano being raised. The alert level is currently at yellow, which means that the “volcano is exhibiting signs of elevated unrest above known background level.” Additionally, aircraft traveling in the area are advised to exercise caution. The volcano is located in a remote part of the Aleutians, about 35 miles northwest of the World War II outpost of Amchitka and 200 miles west of Adak. Little Sitkin joins two other Alaska volcanoes, Iliamna and Cleveland, currently sitting at elevated alert levels. –Alaska Dispatch
Posted in 2012, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | 5 Comments Posted on August 30, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
From increased ice melt reported from the Greenland Ice sheet to the sublimation of methyl hydrates near Spitsbergen, to an increased number of swarms and large earthquakes; the dynamics of the Arctic Circle is quickly and ominously morphing. August 30, 2012 – ARCTIC CIRCLE - A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake erupted in the Jan Mayen Island region of the Arctic Circle, north of Iceland. The earthquake had a depth of 9.9 km (6.2 miles) and was followed by a 5.2 magnitude aftershock. Seismic turbulence has been increasing in the Arctic Circle in the month of August, as seen from the map above. On August 14, a – 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck in the Sea of Okhotsk near NE Russia. Today’s 6.8 magnitude Arctic earthquake was preceded by double moderate tremors along the Western Indian-Antarctica Ridge in the 5.4 and 5.0 range. The seismic dynamism that has the planet reeling, from pole to pole, increases the potential for major seismic disturbances along the Nazca plate of South America, the Cocos plate, along Central America; and, or the SW region of the U.S. near the Gulf of California, where the Pacific and North American plate are experiencing increased agitation. –The Extinction Protocol  Arctic quakes increasing: A powerful earthquake shook the Norwegian island of Jan Mayen, about 700 kilometres north of Iceland, shortly before 2 p.m. local time on Aug 30. The magnitude of the earthquake, which had its epicenter 428 km east-northeast of Ittoqqortoormiut in eastern Greenland, was initially measured at 7.0 on the Richter scale, used to determine how strong an earthquake is. But the earthquake’s magnitude has now changed to 6.6. The station manager at the Norwegian research facility station on the island of Jan Mayen said the earthquake was dramatic. Thor Paul Gjelseth said the ground “was shaking, and people found it difficult to stand upright. Stuff from the walls fell down from the walls everywhere, and we now have our hands full cleaning up,” Gjelseth told VG Nett. Iceland’s Meteorological Office also reported an earthquake near Reykjavik, with a magnitude of 4.1. Over the past 80 years, about 2,000 earthquakes have been recorded in Nunavut. Most are of these have been minor, falling below a magnitude of 4.0 on the Richter scale. These light earthquakes may make a low rumbling noise, but they produce little movement of the ground. But Nunavut and northern Nunavik, where a 2006 earthquake of 4.0 magnitud e shook Puvirnituq, are among the most earthquake-prone zones in Canada. According to data gathered by the Geological Survey of Canada, the northeast coast of Baffin Island and the High Arctic islands have a particularly high incidence of earthquakes. In nearby Greenland, the annual number of glacial earthquakes is rising, a study from 2006 shows. From 1993 to 2002, there were between six and 15 a year, but in 2003, earthquake scientists — or seismologists — who track the movements of the earth, recorded 20 glacial earthquakes; in 2004, they recorded 24; and, for the first 10 months of 2005, they recorded 32. The seismologists also found that the earthquakes occurred mainly during the summer months, which suggested these movements were associated with rapidly melting ice. -Nunatsaiq
Record melt of Arctic sea ice: “It’s hard even for people like me to believe, to see that climate change is actually doing what our worst fears dictated,” said Jennifer A. Francis, a Rutgers University scientist who studies the effect of sea ice on weather patterns. Scientific forecasts based on computer modeling have long suggested that a time will come when the Arctic will be completely free of ice in the summer, perhaps by the middle of the century. This year’s prodigious melting is lending credibility to more pessimistic analyses that it may come much sooner, perhaps by the end of the decade. “It’s an example of how uncertainty is not our friend when it comes to climate-change risk,” said Michael E. Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University. “In this case, the models were almost certainly too conservative in the changes they were projecting, probably because of important missing physics.” –Anchorage Daily News Posted in 2012, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Lithosphere collapse & fisssure, Planetary Tremor Event, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | 60 Comments Posted on August 30, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 30, 2012 – HEALTH - Almost half of tuberculosis patients who received prior treatment were resistant to a second-line drug, suggesting the deadly disease may become “virtually untreatable,” according to a new study. Among 1,278 patients who were resistant to two or more first-line tuberculosis drugs in Estonia, Latvia, Peru, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Thailand, 43.7 percent showed resistance to at least one second-line drug, according to a study led by Tracy Dalton at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings were published in the Lancet medical journal today. About 1.4 million people died from TB, the second-deadliest infectious disease globally after AIDS, and 650,000 cases were multi-drug resistant in 2010, according to the World Health Organization. Rising infection rates prompted the U.K. to announce in May it will require pre-entry tuberculosis screening for migrants from 67 countries seeking to enter the country for more than 6 months. “The global emergence of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis heralds the advent of widespread, virtually untreatable tuberculosis,” the study authors said in the published paper. Previous treatment with second-line drugs was the strongest risk factor for resistance to these drugs, the authors said. The prevalence of drug resistance, which ranged from 33 percent in Thailand to 62 percent in Latvia, also correlates with how long second-line drugs have been available in each country. South Korea and Russia had the longest histories of availability — more than 20 years — and the highest rates of resistance. In contrast, Thailand, Philippines and Peru, where second-line drugs were introduced 10 years ago or less, had the lowest resistance rates. Unemployment, alcohol abuse and smoking were also associated with resistance to second-line injectable treatment across countries. This is one of the few studies that have followed patients with the multi-drug-resistant form of TB for several years, Justin Denholm, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, said in a phone interview. Patients not taking their medicines properly is a major driver for resistance, said Denholm, who is studying TB transmission patterns in Australia’s Victoria state. –SF Gate
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Disease outbreak, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Human behavioral change after disaster, Pestilence Watch, Prophecies referenced, Time - Event Acceleration | 2 Comments Posted on August 30, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 30, 2012 – CALIFORNIA – The southern California town of Brawley has taken the unusual step of declaring a state of emergency after a swarm of earthquakes rattled nearly 20 mobile homes off their blocks and forced a slaughterhouse to close, the mayor said on Wednesday. It is uncommon for quake-hardy California cities to declare emergencies due to tremors, but Brawley mayor George Nava said the earthquake swarm is a unique case because it has lasted for days and caused millions of dollars in damage. The cluster of relatively small quakes, which are caused by water and other fluids moving around in the Earth’s crust, began on Saturday evening and climaxed the next day with a 5.5 temblor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The tremors were continuing on Wednesday and geologists say there have been hundreds in total. Nava said leaders in Brawley, a city of 25,000 residents south of the state’s inland Salton Sea and 170 miles (275 km) southeast of Los Angeles, declared a local emergency late on Tuesday. Officials with surrounding Imperial County made a similar declaration on Wednesday. Nineteen mobile homes were knocked off their blocks and their residents forced out, Nava said. The auditorium at Brawley Union High School has been damaged and closed off, and the National Beef slaughter plant in Brawley has been temporarily shut down due to damage, he said. Local businesses have suffered millions of dollars in losses from closures and from customers staying away, Nava said. But he could not give an exact account of quake-related losses. The Red Cross and local government agencies will offer services to residents on Friday and Saturday at a local center. The emergency declaration allows Brawley to receive more assistance from Imperial County, Nava said. At one point, about 10,000 residents in the city were without power, and the quakes have also caused water line disruptions, Nava said. “When you don’t have an AC or running water, it’s just not a good thing in this weather,” he said. Jeanne Hardebeck, research seismologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, said earlier this week that the cluster of quakes is not a sign that a larger temblor is imminent. –Reuters
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Human behavioral change after disaster, Infrastructure collapse, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | 17 Comments Posted on August 30, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 30, 2012 – CALIFORNIA - The 4.1 earthquake that jolted Yorba Linda on Wednesday afternoon appears to be an aftershock of the cluster of quakes that hit the region earlier this month, seismologists said. The jolted area included southeastern Los Angeles County, Orange County and the Inland Empire. The quake occurred in about the same location of an earthquake doublet, two 4.5 quakes that occurred on Aug. 7 at 11:23 p.m. and Aug. 8 at 9:33 a.m. The area was also hit by a 4.0 quake on June 14. Wednesday’s quake, which hit at 1:31 p.m., was located near the center point of the magnitude-5.5 Chino Hills earthquake that reverberated through the Los Angeles Basin in the summer of 2008, U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones told The Times. Wednesday’s quake appeared to be located in the “Yorba Linda trend,” a seismic area identified by Caltech geophysicist Egill Hauksson in 1990, that might be a buried fault. Many who felt the quake said it was relatively mild. At Vinjon’s Kennel in Yorba Linda, the quake hit just as Carisa Feeney, 22, was giving a bath to a year-and-a-half-old boxer mix. When the quake delivered its single strong jolt, the dog leaped up in the tub –- and both quickly ran outside. “I’m pretty much covered in water,” Feeney said. Nancy Ferguson, who owns SGO Designer Glass in Old Town Yorba Linda, said, “We had a big jolt, just for a few seconds, then everything just kind of swayed.” Ferguson, who has hundreds of pieces of glass on display in her store, said she holds her breath every time there’s an earthquake. “But nothing fell over today, so we’re feeling pretty lucky,” she said. It is unlikely that the earthquake swarm that has hit Imperial County with hundreds of quakes since the weekend is related to Wednesday’s quake in Yorba Linda, Jones said. –LA Times
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration | 7 Comments ← Older posts ← Older posts Posted on August 29, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 29, 2012 – HEALTH – One of the worst outbreaks of West Nile virus to ever hit the United States continues to expand, with 66 deaths and 1,590 illnesses reported as of Tuesday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases have jumped 40 percent nationwide since just last week, the agency added. Cases have now reached their highest level since the mosquito-borne virus was first found in the United States in 1999, agency officials said in a Wednesday press briefing. While almost all states have reported at least one case of West Nile illness, over 70 percent of cases have come from six states — Texas, South Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Michigan. The outbreak has hit hardest in Texas, where nearly half (45 percent) of the total U.S. cases have been reported. “The number of people reported with West Nile virus continues to rise,” said Dr. Lyle Petersen, director of the CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases. “We have seen this trend in previous West Nile epidemics, so the increase is not unexpected,” he added. “In fact, we think the reported numbers will get higher through October.” According to Peterson, of the cases reported so far, 56 percent are what is called neuroinvasive disease, when the virus enters the nervous system causing conditions such as meningitis or encephalitis. The remaining reported cases (44 percent) are non-neuroinvasive. “These numbers represent a 40 percent increase of last week’s report of 1,118 total cases and 41 deaths,” Petersen said. These numbers can be somewhat misleading since most cases of West Nile are non-neuroinvasive and are mostly unreported, the CDC said. That means that the number of unreported cases probably far exceeds reported ones. Neuroinvasive disease is the most serious for of West Nile infection and these patients usually are hospitalized, Petersen said. The size of the outbreak is based on these cases since they are the ones easily identifiable, he added. The only states that have not reported cases are Alaska and Hawaii, he said. “Based on current reports, we think the number of cases may come close to, or even exceed, the total number reported in the epidemic years of 2002 and 2003, when more than 3,000 cases of neuroinvasive disease and more than 260 deaths were reported each year,” Petersen said. The reasons for a major outbreak this year aren’t clear, Petersen said. The drought in Texas may have played a role, but there were probably other factors as well, he added. The best way to avoid the virus is to wear insect repellant and support local programs to eradicate mosquitoes, Petersen said. There are currently no treatment for West Nile virus and no vaccine to prevent it, he added. Speaking at the press conference, Dr. David L. Lakey, Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services said that, “As I look at the data, I am not convinced that we have peaked. Since last week, there have been 197 new cases and 10 more deaths in Texas, Lakey said. “Those numbers will continue to go up,” he added. –US News
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Disease outbreak, Ecoystem crisis due to population boom, Environmental Threat, Pest Explosions, Pestilence Watch, Prophecies referenced | 4 Comments Posted on August 29, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 29, 2012 – ALASKA – Alaska is known for pioneering, self-reliant residents who are accustomed to remote locations and harsh weather. Despite that, Gov. Sean Parnell worries a major earthquake or volcanic eruption could leave the state’s 720,000 residents stranded and cut off from food and supply lines. His answer: Build giant warehouses full of emergency food and supplies, just in case. Weather isn’t the only thing that can wreak havoc in Alaska, where small planes are a preferred mode of transportation and the drive from Seattle to Juneau requires a ferry ride and 38 hours in a car. The state’s worst natural disaster was in 1964, when a magnitude-9.2 earthquake and resulting tsunami killed 131 people and disrupted electrical systems, water mains and communication lines in Anchorage and other cities. “We have a different motivation to do this, because help is a long ways away,” said John Madden, Alaska’s emergency management director. The state plans two food stockpiles in or near Fairbanks and Anchorage, two cities that also have military bases. Construction on the two storage facilities will begin this fall, and the first food deliveries are targeted for December. The goal is to have enough food to feed 40,000 people for up to a week, including three days of ready-to-eat meals and four days of bulk food that can be prepared and cooked for large groups. To put that number into perspective, Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, has about 295,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and Juneau, its third largest, about 31,000. It’s not unusual for states that routinely experience hurricanes or other large-scale disasters to have supplies like water, ready-to-eat meals, cots and blankets. But Alaska is interested in stocking food with at least a five-year shelf life that meets the nutrition, health and cultural requirements of the state’s unique demographics. That means, as part of the effort, trying to incorporate cultural foods like salmon for Alaska Natives as well as foods that would be more common in urban areas, state emergency management spokesman Jeremy Zidek said. An estimated 90 percent of commodities entering Alaska are delivered through the Port of Anchorage. Air service is also a critical link to the outside world and generally the only way to reach many rural communities. A volcanic blast emitting a large amount of smoke and ash could disrupt supply lines by air and water for an extended period, Madden said, and an earthquake could knock out airport runways or ports. Those are just some of the disasters that might require emergency supplies. –Business Week
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Human behavioral change after disaster, Infrastructure collapse, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Ash, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | 16 Comments Posted on August 29, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 29, 2012 – UGANDA - A thief in Uganda has contracted Ebola after stealing the mobile phone of a hospital patient suffering from the potentially fatal infection. Security and medical officials in Kibaale District, mid-west Uganda, told the Daily Monitor website that the man went into the isolation ward at Kagadi Hospital and stole a cellular phone from one of the Ebola patients. The patient, who later died from the hemorrhagic fever, reported the theft. Police began tracking the thief when he started using the phone, the Daily Monitor reported. But by the time they found him he had gone to hospital with symptoms similar to those of Ebola. He reportedly confessed to stealing the phone. Kibaale District Health Officer Dr Dan Kyamanywa, told the Daily Monitor: “The suspect is admitted at Kagadi Hospital with clinical signs of Ebola. He is receiving medication. We have obtained samples from him,” Mr Kyamanywa added. The Uganda Virus Research Institute is yet to release the results of the tests. –The West
April 21, 2012 – MEXICO - A 17,886ft volcano outside Mexico City has exhaled dozens of towering plumes of ash and shot fragments of glowing rock down its slopes, frightening the residents of surrounding villages with hours of low-pitched roaring not heard in a decade. A white cloud of ash, gas, water vapor and superheated rock spewed from the cone of Popocatepetl high above the village of Xalitzintla, whose residents said they were awakened by a window-rattling series of eruptions. Mexico’s National Disaster Prevention Centre said that a string of eruptions had ended in the early morning, then started up again at 5.05am, with at least 12 in two hours. “Up on the mountain, it feels incredible,” said Aaron Sanchez Ocelotl, 45, who was in his turf grass fields when the eruptions happened. “It sounds like the roaring of the sea.” The white cone of Popo, as most call the mountain, is an iconic backdrop to Mexico City’s skyline on clear days, but its 40-mile distance means even a moderately large eruption is unlikely to do more than dump ash on one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas. It is a different matter for the villages on the flanks of the volcano, where the quiet of the corn fields and fruit orchards was pervaded by the volcano’s spooky roaring. “Everyone needs to take this seriously. This buzzing, this roaring isn’t normal,” said Gregorio Fuentes Casquera, the assistant mayor of Xalitzintla, a village of 2,600 people about seven miles from the summit. He said the town had prepared 50 buses and was sending out its six-member police forces to alert people to be ready to evacuate. Dozens of women lined up in Xalitzintla’s main square to get free face masks and bottles of water. Health authorities were giving out 10 masks and 10 bottles of water to each family, and the surgical-style masks, intended to filter out the fine ash released by the volcano, were becoming common among the town’s students, who are required to wear them in school. Few adults wore them. President Felipe Calderon said live on national television that authorities are keeping open roads around the mountain, preparing emergency shelters and making sure residents know the latest information about a potential eruption. –The Press Association 
April 21, 2012 – JAKARTA - A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Papua region on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The quake struck at 10:16 am (0116 GMT) at a depth of 30 kilometers (19 miles), 83 kilometers southeast of Manokwari, the USGS added, revising down from 6.9. There were no immediate reports of damage. Earlier, a strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Sumatra Island on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The quake struck at 5:14 am (2314 GMT Friday) at a depth of about 34 kilometers (21 miles), 427 kilometers southwest of Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra. There were no immediate reports of damage. Aceh province was shaken earlier this month by two huge earthquakes, triggering an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert. At a magnitude of 8.6, the first of the two quakes was the strongest to hit since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 170,000 in Aceh. No major damage was reported. –Channel News Asia  April 20, 2012 – COLOMBIA - Colombia’s government has called for high risk areas to be prepared for the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano. The Interior Ministry has ordered the fire departments of 19 municipalities in the central Caldas and Tolima departments to be on high alert after the Colombian Geological Survey (SGC) announced that an eruption is “probable” in the coming days or weeks. The alert level was raised from yellow to orange in March as the volcano became increasingly active. Last week a column of gas and steam approximately 1,200 meters tall extended from its crater. The national director of the firefighting system warned that there is urgent need for a special contingency plan that outlines tactics to be used in emergency volcanic situations, especially for search and rescue groups. He called for a focus on high risk areas in or near the paths of rivers that originate in the Ruiz, whose levels may be elevated by pyroclastic fragments and the melting of ice. The director of the Colombian Fire Department Federation in the town of Riosucio explained that local firemen are preparing a plan and educating communities. In 1985 The Nevado del Ruiz erupted, wiping out the town of Armero and killing 25,000 people. –Colombia Reports
 April 20, 2012 – JERUSALEM – The next three months could be extremely tense for the world, especially in the Middle East. The Russians have said that Israel will mount its attack on Iran by summer and Israel has itself stated, in so many words, that after May; the time of diplomacy and sanctions to work may be over. Are we approaching a singularity point in Jewish history? Perhaps so. It was reported by The Times of Israel that an attack on Iran would happen this summer as the article read: ‘A major Israeli TV station reported Sunday that the nation is gearing up for an attack against Iran this summer.” Whether this is misdirection or not; we’ll soon know but that is not so much an issue as the fact is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 2012 was the most important year in Israel’s history. There are some leaders inside the Jewish State that are quite frightened that Israel will face another holocaust scenario this year. The reason for the foreboding involves several factors which up to now haven’t been discussed much in the public. It’s quite creepy and it plays out something like this. There is considered to be a cursed date in Jewish history called the 9th of Av. On this date, in history, the Temple and most of Jerusalem was destroyed twice; once in 423 B.C. on the date by the Babylonians and again on the date by the Romans in 69 A.D. This is also the date for the Jewish expulsion from England in 1290, the Spanish Expulsion in 1492, and the date the generation was condemned to die in the desert in 1312 B.C. during the Exodus. Also, Betar, the last stronghold in the heroic Bar Kochba rebellion, also fell to the Romans on the 9th of Av of the year 3893 (133 CE) after  a three-year siege. 580,000 Jews died by starvation or the sword, including Bar Kochba, the leader of the rebellion. It is also said that on the 9th of AV, 1942, the Nazis turned on the gas chambers at Treblinka, Poland and the holocaust began. This year, the 9thof Av falls on July 28, 2012. The Shabbath also comes after the 64 year anniversary of Israel (May 14, 1948) as an independent state. In numerology, the number 64 is the symbol of paramount chaos. According to the gospel of Luke, there are 64 generations from Adam to Christ, the Messiah. The number is also connected to an end of the world myth. ‘The mathematician W. R. Ball reports the following legend: In a temple of Benares, there is a dome under which a plate of bronze marks the center of the world. On this plate, there are three vertical stems of one cubit height. During the creation of the world, God placed on one of the stems 64 discs of gold of different sizes, the largest at the base, the others going decreasing in the top, to the smallest disc. This accumulation is the tower of Brahma. Night and day, without stop, the priests relay to transfer the discs from a stem to another. Only one disc must be taken at once and it is forbidden to place a disc on another of lower diameter. When the 64 discs will be transferred from the tower of Braham to another stem, the temple and the Universe will crumble. This will be the end of the world.
 April 29, 2012 – MANAGUA – Nicaraguan Experts reported Sunday more seismic activity at Masaya volcano, about 20 kilometers south of Managua, with an increase in expulsions of sulfur gases, which keeps the disaster warning system in high alert. According to the report, a crack in the main crater causes higher emissions and a sound similar to a jet engine. Specialists of the National System for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters (SINAPRED) and the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (INETER), told the press that they detected this unusual behavior several days ago, but for now there is no reason for alarm. The INETER geophysics director, Angelica Munoz, told the site El 19 Digital they monitor the situation closely because of rising emissions and temperature above the normal range. Technical teams assess the seismic tremor, but there is no emergency declared and the gates of Masaya Volcano National Park remain open to the public, said the director of INETER, Jorge Castro, and the executive secretary of SINAPRED, Guillermo Gonzalez. –Prensa Latina
 April 29, 2012 – IRAN - An official of the Iranian military said last week that the country’s navy has the ability to move a naval vessel within three miles of the East Coast of the United States. Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, speaking on Tuesday to students of the University of Yazd, Iran, at the anniversary of a failed U.S. military operation in April 24, 1980 (Operation Eagle Claw), said that “The power of our naval forces is such that we have a presence in all the waters of the world and, if needed, we can move to within three miles of New York.” The U.S. launched “Operation Eagle Claw” in 1980 to rescue American hostages held captive at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The top ranking naval officer added: “The Americans’ only tool to rule the world is their naval dominance of the Persian Gulf, and they will face any other power that threatens their status.” The Daily Caller reports that a Pentagon official reacted to Fadavi’s claim on Friday. He said: “You should ask the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps what their plans are. We support freedom of the seas and encourage all countries to follow international laws.” Daily Caller speculates that Iran could use a commercial vessel sailing under the flag of another country to approach the American shoreline to strike. The website notes that Iran possesses the capability to launch ballistic missiles from a ship. The Daily Caller also reports that on Friday, Iran’s top air force commander, Brigadier General Amri Ali Hajizadeh, told Fars News Agency that the Iranian military has the capability to disable and sink U.S. aircraft carriers. According to YNet News, Hajizadeh said: “First, sinking an aircraft carrier is not a complicated task. Second, an aircraft carrier is equipped with so many advanced, delicate, and sensitive devices… that it could be incapacitated by even the smallest explosion.” Iran’s latest threats were apparently in response to the news that the United States has deployed advanced jet fighters only 200 miles from Iran’s mainland. Digital Journal reports that the U.S. deployed F-22 stealth fighters to an allied base close to Iran’s mainland. According to Digital Journal, “F-22 Raptors that have never been tested under combat conditions are now stationed at the Al Dafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates… the U.S. has been quietly assembling a powerful air-to-air fighting team at bases near Iran. Before the F-22s were deployed, the Air Force deployed the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing, with 20 F-15Cs, to Southwest Asia.” –Digital Journal
 April 28, 2012 – IRAN – America’s most sophisticated stealth jet fighters have been quietly deployed to an allied base less than 200 miles from Iran’s mainland, according to an industry report, but the Air Force adamantly denied the jets’ presence is a threat to the Middle East nation. Multiple stealth F-22 Raptors, which have never been combat-tested, are in hangars at the United Arab Emirates’ Al Dafra Air Base, just a short hop over the Persian Gulf from Iran’s southern border, the trade publication Aviation Week reported. Air Force spokesperson Lt. Col. John Dorrian would not confirm the exact location of the F-22s, but told ABC News they had been deployed to a base in Southwest Asia — a region that includes the UAE. Dorrian also stressed that the F-22s were simply taking part in a scheduled deployment and are “not a threat to Iran. This is a very normal deployment to strengthen military relationships, promote sovereign and regional security, improve combined tactical air operations and enhance interoperability of forces,” Dorrian said. The F-22 has only been in the UAE once before for training missions in 2009 with “coalition partners.” Dorrian declined to say what the Raptors’ mission was in the region this time around or how many planes had been deployed, citing operational security. However, Dorrian said that because of the F-22′s next-generation capabilities, any number of planes deployed to the region is “significant.” Though the F-22 has been officially combat operational since December 2005, no planes from the Air Force fleet — which are made by defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin and cost an estimated $79 billion — have seen combat. The plane was not used in Iraq, Afghanistan or in the U.S.-led no-fly mission over Libya. The Air Force has said the sophisticated jets simply haven’t been needed yet. But Jeff Babione, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for the F-22 program, told ABC News last year that the plane was “absolutely’ suited for taking on more sophisticated adversaries and could be used in deep penetration strike missions in well-defended combat zones inside places like North Korea or Iran. –ABC
Posted on April 25, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol April 25, 2012 – ISLAMABAD – Pakistan on Wednesday test-fired an “improved version” of the nuclear-capable Hatf-4 intermediate range ballistic missile that can hit targets in India, six days after New Delhi tested the Agni-V missile with a range of … Continue reading → April 25, 2012 – IRAN – Russia has for the first time acknowledged the nuclear threat posed by North Korea and Iran. During a televised interview with Russia Today on Tuesday, the country’s Army General Nikolai Makarov said that according … Continue reading → Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warns North Korea against any further provocation April 25, 2012 – BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is warning North Korea not to engage in any further provocation on the heels of the country’s latest threats against South Korea. Panetta, who is in Brazil, told … Continue reading → April 24, 2012 – NORTH KOREA – North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters, which will draw further international condemnation following a failed rocket … Continue reading → April 24, 2012 – WORLD – More than a billion people around the world would face starvation following a limited regional nuclear weapons exchange (such as a clash between India and Pakistan) that would cause major worldwide climate disruption driving … 
April 28, 2012 – SPAIN – Spanish unemployment has hit a new record high, official figures have shown. The number of unemployed people reached 5,639,500 at the end of March, with the unemployment rate hitting 24.4%, the national statistics agency said. The figures came hours after rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Spanish sovereign debt. Official figures due out on Monday are expected to confirm that Spain has fallen back into recession. Earlier this week, the Bank of Spain said the economy contracted by 0.4% in first three months of this year, after shrinking by 0.3% in the final quarter of last year. Other figures released on Friday showed that Spanish retail sales were down 3.7% in March from the same point a year ago, the 21st month in row sales have fallen. In the first three months of the year, 365,900 people in Spain lost their jobs. The country has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union and it is expected to rise further this year. The rate has risen sharply since April 2007, when it stood at 7.9%. “The figures are terrible for everyone and terrible for the government…Spain is in a crisis of huge proportions,” Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said. The new government has announced reforms to the labour market, including cutting back on severance pay and restricting inflation-linked salary increases, that it hopes will ease the problem. These measures have angered unions, which have organized widespread general strikes in protest. The government has also introduced drastic spending cuts designed to reduce its debt levels and meet deficit targets agreed with the European Union. These cuts are contributing to Spain’s economic contraction. “In Spain today, a cycle similar to Greece is starting to develop,” said HSBC chief economist Stephen King. “The recession is so deep that when you take one step forward on austerity, it takes you two steps back.” -BBC Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Financial System Collapse, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced | 20 Comments Posted on April 28, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
April 28, 2012 – CALIFORNIA – A magnitude 4.1 earthquake rattled Southern California on Saturday morning, but there were no reports of damage or injuries. The temblor struck at 8:07 a.m. near Devore, about 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The quake was felt across the region, in San Bernardino County, the San Gabriel Valley and the city of Los Angeles. Residents around Devore reported a sharp jolt, though there were no reports of problems. –LA Times 
April 28, 2012 – WORLD – World population needs to be stabilized quickly and high consumption in rich countries rapidly reduced to avoid “a downward spiral of economic and environmental ills,” warns a major report from the Royal Society. Contraception must be offered to all women who want it and consumption cut to reduce inequality, says the study published on Thursday, which was chaired by Nobel prize-winning biologist Sir John Sulston. The assessment of humanity’s prospects in the next 100 years, which has taken 21 months to complete, argues strongly that to achieve long and healthy lives for all 9 billion people expected to be living in 2050, the twin issues of population and consumption must be pushed to the top of political and economic agendas. Both issues have been largely ignored by politicians and played down by environment and development groups for 20 years, the report says. “The number of people living on the planet has never been higher, their levels of consumption are unprecedented and vast changes are taking place in the environment. We can choose to rebalance the use of resources to a more egalitarian pattern of consumption … or we can choose to do nothing and to drift into a downward spiral of economic and environmental ills leading to a more unequal and inhospitable future,” it says. At today’s rate of population increase developing countries will have to build the equivalent of a city of a million people every five days from now to 2050, says the report. “Global population growth is inevitable for the next few decades. By 2050, it is projected that today’s population of 7 billion will have grown by 2.3 billion, the equivalent of a new China and an India.” But the sheer number of people on earth is not as important as their inequality and how much they consume, said Jules Pretty, one of the working group of 22 who produced the report. “In material terms it will be necessary for most developed countries to abstain from certain sorts of consumption, such as CO2. You do not need to be consuming so much to have a long and healthy life. We cannot conceive of a world that is going to be as unequal as it is now. We must bring the 1.3 billion people living on less than a $1.25 a day out of absolute poverty. It’s critical to slow population growth in those countries which cannot keep up with services.” –Guardian Storm clouds of nuclear war gathering on horizon: Iran threatens ‘total annihilation’ of Israel if it attacks 
March 26, 2012 – IRAN - A senior Iranian cleric says the Israeli threats of a military strike on Iran are mere “psychological warfare” as Tel Aviv fully understands any such venture would lead to its “total annihilation.” “There has been some talk in the media for some time of a military move [against Iran] by the Zionist regime [of Israel] in particular; these menacing murmurs are nothing but psychological warfare,” Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami said on Monday. Last year during a period, foreign media created hype about a war [against Tehran] and anyone who paid attention to these media felt the US would attack Iran the following day,” he said. The senior Iranian cleric, who is a member of the presiding board of the Assembly of Experts, said Israeli officials know that a military offensive against Iran would mean the complete annihilation of the Zionist regime. “We are not aggressors but our response to aggressors will be devastatingly crushing.” Ayatollah Khatami further referred to the failed Israeli invasion of Lebanon during the 33-Day war in 2006 as evidence that Tel Aviv stands no chance against a more powerful and better equipped Iran. “The y could not even endure resist against Hezbollah weapons, with a maximum range of 70 kilometers, and [were forced to] raise their hands in surrender after 33 days. So how will they ever withstand Iranian missile might?” The US, Israel and some of their allies have accused Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran has refuted the allegations over its nuclear energy program, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Tehran is entitled to the peaceful use of nuclear technology. The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence indicating that its nuclear energy program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production. –Press TV Obama issues warnings to North Korea and Iran to turn from path of potential conflict  World may not be able to figure out if Iran has a bomb warns intelligence official: American officials are adamant. The U.S. will respond – possibly with military force – if Iran crosses a red line and decides to actually make nuclear weapons. But will the U.S. know with a degree of certainty that a line has been crossed? The decision itself to push ahead really comes down to one person, according to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Clapper told a Senate hearing recently that any decision would be based on ‘the supreme leader’s world view and the extent to which he thinks that would benefit the state of Iran or, conversely, not benefit.” Clapper was referring to Ayatollah Ali Khameini, the supreme leader of Iran. “It’s Khameini, period, full stop, end of sentence,’ agreed Kenneth Pollack, an Iran expert at the Brookings Institution. But trying to read one person’s mind is no easy thing, observed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently, noting how Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was misread by U.S. intelligence. “People sometimes say and do things that are at variance with what one might expect,’ the secretary of state said. “It’s still quite bewildering to me why Saddam Hussein wanted everyone to believe that he had chemical, biological and even nuclear weapons of mass destruction when apparently he did not.” Ephraim Asculai, a retired Israeli nuclear scientist, said there are three ways the world will know if Iran has decided to break out and make a dash to nuclear weapons: Iran tells everyone, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) discovers it, or the intelligence community figures it out. But he is not terribly confident any intelligence service – whether it’s the United States’ or Israel’s or some other nations– will discover it. “Depending on the intelligence community – this is not very good,” Asculai said. –CNN blog
This leads to the inevitable risks of miscalulation or pre-emption on the part of Israel or Iran in a ‘kill or be killed scenario’ where fear is more inclined to push the button and unleash these weapons than facts. We should all be preparing for some potentially dark days ahead. -The Extinction Protocol  March 26, 2012 – INDONESIA – According to the regional VAAC, the Batu Tara volcano has erupted and is emitting a dense ash cloud. The aviation alert-status for the region has been raised to orange. Batu Tara volcano is located 50 km north of Pulau Lembata in the Flores Sea. The crater is in the middle of the island with dimensions of 900 m x 700 m. The uninhabited island of Batu Tara is the steep-sided summit of an active stratovolcano and has a small summit crater which is open to the east. The base of the island lies about 3,000 meters below sea level. Batu Tara is the northern-most active volcano in the Adonara Pantar sector of the Sunda arc. This is at the boundary of the collision of the north moving Australia tectonic plate, and the Sunda-Banda arc. Batu Tara volcano is located 230 km above the Benioff zone in a region where the arc crust is relatively young and thin. Rocks from Batu Tara contain crystals that formed in different magmas. Batu Tara last eruption was in 2010. –The Extinction Protocol
Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | Leave a comment Posted on March 26, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 26, 2012 – FRANCE – A mountain looming over a French commune with a population of just 200 is being touted as a modern Noah’s Ark when doomsday arrives – supposedly less than nine months from now. A rapidly increasing stream of New Age believers – or esoterics, as locals call them – have descended in their camper van-loads on the usually picturesque and tranquil Pyrenean village of Bugarach. They believe that when apocalypse strikes on 21 December this year, the aliens waiting in their spacecraft inside Pic de Bugarach will save all the humans nearby and beam them off to the next age. As the cataclysmic date – which, according to eschatological beliefs and predicted astrological alignments, concludes a 5,125-year cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar – nears, the goings-on around the peak have become more bizarre and ritualistic. For decades, there has been a belief that Pic de Bugarach, which , at 1,230 meters, is the highest in the Corbières mountain range, possesses an eerie power. Often called the “upside-down mountain” – geologists think that it exploded after its formation and the top landed the wrong way up – it is thought to have inspired Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Since the 1960s, it has attracted New Agers, who insist that it emits special magnetic waves. Upwards of 100,000 people are thought to be planning a trip to the mountain, 30 miles west of Perpignan, in time for 21 December, and opportunistic entrepreneurs are shamelessly cashing in on the phenomenon. While American travel agents have been offering special, one-way deals to witness the end of the world, a neighboring village, Saint-Paul de Fenouillet, has produced a wine to celebrate the occasion. Jean-Pierre Delord, the perplexed mayor of Bugarach, has flagged up the situation to the French authorities, requesting they scramble the army to the tiny village for fear of a mass suicide. –Independent
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced | 13 Comments Posted on March 26, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
 March 26, 2012 – MEXICO - The National Center for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred) reported that in the last 24 hours the Popocatepetl volcano registered 33 exhalations of low intensity, accompanied by emissions of water vapor and gas. The body of the Ministry of the Interior (Interior Ministry) explained that on Saturday one of these incidents occurred at 22:29, 23:21 and 23:56 hours on Sunday while they were at 5:14, 5:41 and 8:32 hours. In a statement, adding that Cenapred at 08:42 hours, an earthquake of low magnitude was followed by 96 minutes of spasmodic tremor segments, while the other parameters concerning the volcano remain unchanged. On Saturday night, there were numerous reports of incandescence material seen glowing in the mouth of the crater, though clouds made visibility poor for portions of the evening. The volcanic alert remains at phase two and yellow. Moderate exhalations are likely, some with ash emissions, sporadic bursts of low to moderate probability of emission of incandescent fragments short and a mild glow of the volcano in the crater may also be likely. The Cenapred recommended maintaining the safety radius of 12 kilometers. -Cronica (translated)
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | 2 Comments Posted on March 25, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
March 25, 2012 – CHILE – A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit central Chile on Sunday, 64 miles (103 kim) west north west of the town of Talca, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quake was at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 km). Magnitude 7.0 earthquakes or greater are capable of causing widespread and heavy damage. The epicenter of the earthquake was 219 km (136 miles) from Santiago, Chile- near the vicinity of a moderate 5.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the region on yesterday. Seismic tension has been mounting over some of the world’s most dangerous subduction regions in recent weeks and stress eruptions may not be over yet. This is the second 7.0 + magnitude earthquake to strike the world in 5 days, provided the USGS doesn’t downgraded the earthquake. On March 20, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the western coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. Chile in on the front-line of the Nazca plate, one of the most dangerous subductive plate boundaries in the world. A 9.5, the strongest earthquake ever recorded in modern history, devastated Chile in 1960. –The Extinction Protocol Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Volcano Watch | 3 Comments Posted on March 25, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 25, 2012 – HONOLULU – Many people from the Big Island to Oahu felt a magnitude 4.9 earthquake Saturday morning. The quake struck a little after 10:45 a.m., centered just west of Honomu in East Hawaii, at a depth of 27 miles. There are no reports of major damage or injuries. Scientists say the earthquake was too small to generate a tsunami and the weight of the Big Island settling is the likely cause. Geologists at the Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory say there have been no aftershocks so far, and there’s been no change in the ongoing eruption at Kilauea Volcano. -KITV
Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, High-risk potential hazard zone, Magma Plume activity, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Volcano Watch | 5 Comments Posted on March 24, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 24, 2012 – ASIA – A North Korea missile launch could send the missile over the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is reported to have asked the three countries to condemn the launch. North Korea says the rocket will take a new southern trajectory instead of a previous route east over Japan. Japan is readying anti-missile defenses around the southern islands of Okinawa, which could be under the flight path. North Korea says the rocket is intended to put a satellite in space, but the U.S. and others say the launch is a cover for a long-range missile test – a potential delivery system for nuclear weapons. The launch is expected to dominate a security summit on Monday in the South Korean capital Seoul, which will be attended by U.S. President Barack Obama. Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald said Mr. Campbell had briefed Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr on Friday on the rocket’s southward trajectory. “If the missile test proceeds as North Korea has indicated, our judgment is that it will impact in an area roughly between Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines,” the paper quoted Mr. Campbell as saying. “We have never seen this trajectory before. We have weighed into each of these countries and asked them to make clear that such a test is provocative and this plan should be discontinued.” North Korea’s last rocket launch in 2009 triggered UN sanctions BBC Asia analyst Charles Scanlon says Pyongyang appears to be trying to soften the political impact of its planned rocket launch. It has chosen a new southerly route mainly over open sea, avoiding what is regarded as a more provocative easterly trajectory over the main Japanese island. North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said: “A safe flight orbit has been chosen so that carrier rocket debris to be generated during the flight would not have any impact on neighboring countries.” North Korea has shown a growing mastery of ballistic technology during its three previous long range tests. However, experts say that none has succeeded in reaching orbit, and debris has fallen to earth at various stages during the launches. –BBC
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War | 4 Comments Posted on March 24, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 24, 2012 – MALTA - A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was registered in Libyan waters at 10.28 am yesterday, and felt in Gozo. According to the University of Malta Seismic Monitoring and Research Unit, its epicenter was 177km southwest of Malta. Other seismic activity was recorded in Crete, on Thursday. The Italian website Meteoweb.eu, also reported the tremor, although the information it gave was different to that officially issued. It said the earthquake’s epicentre was in Gozo and that it had a magnitude of 2.9 on the Richter Scale. According to the same website, the tremor was felt in Gozo. No damage was caused. The last significant seismic activity in Malta, was recorded over the weekend of 23 and 24 April, last year. A series of five earth tremors, with the first occurring at around midnight, were felt in various localities in Malta and people reported objects moving on the shelves. The tremors had a magnitude of between 2.5 and 4.0. –The Independent
Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening | 2 Comments ← Older posts Loading… ← Older posts Posted on March 24, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 24, 2012 – CHICAGO – Tornadoes touched down in a half-dozen states on Friday, killing one woman whose mobile home was flipped by a twister and causing damage to homes and businesses, authorities said. The 60-year-old woman died in Jefferson County, Illinois, when a suspected tornado flipped her mobile home and blew it across a road into a farm field, said county coroner Eddie Joe Marks. There was at least one other person injured in the county, located in the southern tip of Illinois. “A young boy had just stepped into his home when the storm hit. He got away with minor scrapes and bruises but went to the hospital,” Marks said. The tornadoes appeared to be smaller and touched down only briefly as compared to a deadly tornado outbreak in the region early this month, authorities said. A few homes sustained damage from a suspected tornado in Fern Creek, Kentucky, a town southeast of Louisville, emergency management official Monica French said. In Alabama, a suspected tornado damaged three homes and some chicken houses in the town of Troy, emergency management spokeswoman Yasamie August said. Georgia, Indiana, and Missouri also had tornadoes touch down, with no reports of injuries. “There have been a lot of tornado reports but they’ve all been brief touchdowns or rope-like tornadoes, not large tornadoes,” said Steve Weiss of the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. Tornadoes have caused 55 U.S. deaths so far this year, most of them on February 29 and March 2 when swarms of tornadoes wreaked havoc across the Midwest and the South. Tornadoes were blamed for 550 deaths in the United States last year, the deadliest year in nearly a century, according to the Weather Service. The storm front bringing rain and severe weather to the nation’s midsection broke a spell of record-breaking, summer-like temperatures. Among the southern Illinois towns in the severe weather zone that was pelted by hail on Friday was Harrisburg, where seven people were killed when a powerful tornado February 29 flattened part of the town. –Chicago Tribune
Posted in Climate unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, Tornado Outbreak | Leave a comment Posted on March 24, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 24, 2012 – CHILE - A moderate earthquake of 5.3 magnitude (5.1 USGS) on the Richter scale struck near Santiago on Saturday morning in the central area of the country, according to the Seismological Service of the University of Chile. The epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 4:28 am was located 43 kilometers northeast of the town of Casablanca, on the border regions of Valparaiso and Santiago, at a depth of 68.9 kilometers. It was in the capital and the fifth region where the earthquake was felt more strongly. According to reports received by the National Bureau of Emegencia (Onemi), the quake reached an intensity of V degrees on the Mercalli scale in Santiago, the Andes, Talagante, Tiltil, Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, Quintero, San Antonio, San Felipe, and German Village. V grades also recorded in Los Vilos, in the Coquimbo Region. In the Region of O’Higgins, meanwhile, the earthquake was felt with a force of IV degrees in Rancagua and III degrees on Christmas, Pichilemu, San Fernando and Santa Cruz. In the El Maule reached II degrees in Curicó and Order. It reached in the Fourth Region II degrees in La Serena. The Onemi received no reports of damage or injured as a result of the earthquake. –El Mostrador (translated)
Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Volcano Watch | Leave a comment Posted on March 24, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 24, 2012 – SAUDI ARABIA – A tremor has hit three villages in Sabya governorate in Jizan region – Mashlaha, Al-Hayja and Al-Wajeeh. The Director General of the National Center for Earthquakes and Volcanoes Hani Zahrani said the earthquake, which measured 3.1 on the Richter scale and was felt in Al-Kudmi took place 80 km from Jizan. He insisted it was ordinary and did not cause any damage or casualties. The area in which the tremor occurred is seismically active and is regularly hit by tremors of different intensities. The Director of Civil Defense in Jizan region Brig. Hassan Bin Ali Al-Qufaili said “there are plans readied by the Directorate of Civil Defense to deal with damage that occurs because of earthquakes. These plans include coordination with authorities affiliated to Civil Defense. The plans will be implemented in case damage occurs, God forbid.” The Acting Spokesman of the Directorate of Civil Defense in Jizan region, First Lt. Musslih Al-Ghamdi revealed that the Command and Control Center in the Civil Defense received a report from the National Center for Earthquakes and Volcanoes on the occurrence of an earthquake northeast of Jizan measuring 3.05 on the Richter scale at 1.19 AM Wednesday. He said: “Some of the residents of Al-Kudmi felt the earthquake. Immediately, Civil Defense teams were dispatched to inspect the location. Thanks to Allah, there was no damage to property or any casualties.’ A resident of Al-Kudmi Muhammad Al-Najmi told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that he and his family were asleep when they heard a terrifying explosion at 1:00 A.M. followed by an earthquake. Expatriate Abdul Qader said: “When the earthquake hit the area, some of the furniture toppled. Fortunately, no cracks occurred in the building. Some citizens came rushing out of their homes for fear that they might collapse especially since these homes are not strongly built.” –Saudi Gazette
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Volcano Watch | 10 Comments Posted on March 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 23, 2012 – MONTSERRAT - A “noticeable” increase in seismic activity at the Soufirere Hills Volcano has resulted in the closure of the Zone C area near the volcano, which had been reopened for daytime entry in December. Dr Paul Cole, director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, told a radio station Friday that it was a precautionary measure as authorities continue to monitor the volcano. “Following two volcano-tectonic swarms on the March 22 and 23, 2012 involving 49 and 54 events respectively, mild ash venting began at Soufriere Hills Volcano at around 8:00am local time on March 23,” the MVO said in a statement. “The venting was sourced from the floor of the Feb. 11, 2010 collapse scar, immediately south of the old English’s crater wall and to the west of the long-lived hottest fumarole previously identified.” The Zone C area, which is comprised of Cork Hill, Weekes, Foxes Bay, Richmond Hill, Delvins and extends 500 meters out to sea is part of the island’s exclusion zone. It reopened in Decem ber 2011, after the hazard level in the area was lowered. The level will likely not be lowered, however, despite the area’s closure. According to the statement, the ash venting was “clearly pulsatory,” and sent ash 6,000 feet above sea level. It sent black jets of ash rising a few hundred meters above the floor of the collapse scar. The activity was described as “phreatic,” meaning activity formed when superheated rock meets groundwater, causing the rocks to fragment and generate ash. “[Volcano-tectonic] earthquakes are related to fracturing rocks probably as a result of increases in pressure,” the statement said. “It is likely that these increases and the resulting earthquakes are related to uprising magma below the volcano.” Similar types of activity have apparently occurred at the volcano up to several months prior to magma extrusion, both in 2005 and 2008. –Caribbean Journal
Posted in 2012, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, High-risk potential hazard zone, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | 3 Comments Posted on March 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
March 23, 2012 – CHICAGO – The United States and parts of Canada have come out of winter to find a lingering ridge of high pressure inducing summer-like conditions. The map above shows surface temperature anomalies during March 13-19 compared to averages for those dates over the last 10 years. More than 1,054 locations set new daily high temperatures records and 627 saw new record lows. “Records are not only being broken across the country, they’re being broken in unusual ways,’ reports NASA’s Adam Voiland. “Chicago, for example, saw temperatures above 26.6° Celsius (80° Fahrenheit) every day between March 14-18, breaking records on all five days. For context, the National Weather Service noted that Chicago typically averages only one day in the eighties each in April. And only once in 140 years of weather observations has April produced as many 80°Fahrenheit days as this March,” Volland wrote. “Meanwhile, Climate Central reported that in Rochester, Minnesota, the overnight low temperature on March 18 was 16.6° Celsius (62° Fahrenheit), a temperature so high it beat the record high of 15.5°Celsius (60° Fahrenheit) for the same date,” Volland added. –Discovery News Posted in Climate unraveling, Drought, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening | 39 Comments Posted on March 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 23, 2012 – JAPAN – The Japanese parliament has approved a resolution condemning North Korea’s planned missile launch, and the country is also preparing contingencies should the missile veer off course and pose a threat to Japan. Speaking in Tokyo Friday, Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said the Japanese military will be prepared for any eventuality. Tanaka says he is ordering officials to prepare deployment of PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles and Aegis destroyers carrying a state-of-the-art anti-missile system that could attempt to shoot down the rocket. Pyongyang says it will place an earth observation satellite into a polar orbit in mid-April to honor the 100th birth anniversary of its late founder and perennial president, Kim Il Sung. Members of the international community say the launch is a pretext for a long-range missile test, which North Korea is forbidden from conducting under U.N. sanctions. South Korean and Japanese diplomats met in Seoul to share their responses to the upcoming launch. Japan’s nuclear envoy, Shinsuke Sugiyama, says Tokyo and Seoul are also in contact with other capitals. “We agreed we should keep coordinating our positions and comparing notes between ROK [South Korea] and Japan, and also including those in Washington, and of course we should be ready to talk to the Chinese, which I will do, and Russians too as a member of the six-party talks,” said Sugiyama. The six-party talks were intended to negotiate an end to North Korea’s nuclear programs. But in 2009 Pyongyang announced it would “never again” participate after the U.N. Security Council moved to condemn North Korea for a failed launch that year. -VOA
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War | Leave a comment Posted on March 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 23, 2012 – ISRAEL - Discussions between Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program will begin on April 13, senior U.S. and EU officials informed Israel on Tuesday. The talks are likely to take place in Geneva. Officials in Jerusalem estimate that Israel will allow at least three months for discussions, until the oil embargo on Iran comes into full effect in the beginning of July. Meanwhile, former Mossad head Meir Dagan said he believes Israel will be aware when Iran moves to the stage of nuclear weapon production – for example, enriching uranium to a degree of 90 percent. Dagan said that at that stage, Israel would have to attack the Iranian nuclear sites if the international community did not stop its program. Speaking at an event in a Haifa hospital, Dagan said that currently Israel must not attack Iran, and that a strike on its nuclear facilities should be the last re sort. Dagan said he believed the Israeli Air Force has the capability to significantly damage Iran’s nuclear sites, yet warned that such a strike will have serious repercussions. He added that in case of an Israeli attack, hundreds of missiles will be launched at Israel, together with barrages from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iranian-linked organizations in Gaza. President Barack Obama made a direct appeal on Tuesday to the Iranian people, saying there was “no reason for the United States and Iran to be divided from one another.” In a video message marking the Persian new year, known as Nowruz, Obama said the U.S. seeks a dialogue with the Iranian people in order hear their views and understand their aspirations. And he sharply rebuked the Iranian government for setting up an “electronic curtain” around its people that the U.S. says blocks access to much of the outside world. –Haaretz
According to one report, gas prices in the U.S. would rise to as much as $8 a gallon if there was a war with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz was blocked in the conflict. -The Hill Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Financial System Collapse, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced | 4 Comments ← Older posts Loading… ← Older posts Posted on March 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 23, 2012 – ARMENIA – The number of earthquakes has recently increased in Armenia and the region. The National Seismic Protection Service (NSPS) of Armenia on Wednesday registered a magnitude-3 tremor, whose epicenter was 13 kilometers southeast of Martuni city. Thirteen earthquakes measuring 3 magnitude or higher have occurred in the region. In an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am Ashkhen Tovmasyan, representative of the National Seismic Protection Service, said According to her, seismic risks are growing with urban development and with population growth. Risk increases in Armenia when new buildings are built and population grows, if there was no urban development there would be no risks. As Ashkhen Tovmasyan mentioned, currently there are no serious anomaly indicating earthquakes, so there is no need to worry about any earthquake. There are often all the indicators of an earthquake but no quake happens. The expert advised to build buildings in safe places and avoid blocking the main entrances. –News.am
Posted in 2012, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration | 5 Comments Posted on March 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
March 23, 2012 – ISRAEL – An earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale shook the Dead Sea area and was felt as far away as Jerusalem on Thursday morning. The quake struck at 6:17 a.m. with an epicenter near Masada, according to the Seismological Institute. There were no reports of injuries or damage from the tremor. MK Zeev Bielski (Kadima), the head of a Knesset subcommittee for Home Front preparedness, used the event to lament the country’s lack of readiness for an earthquake, Maariv reported. Not enough of the country’s buildings have been quake-proofed, as is called for under National Master Plan 38, he said. “NMP 38 is not being implemented and there is a sense of complacency in the government over anything concerning an earthquake,” Bielski said. “This is a matter that should be at the top of national priorities. We need to learn from other countries that invested budgetary and other resources to protect the home front, and not wake up one day and discover we are too late.” Two weeks ago another 3.7 quake rattled the Galilee in the north of the country causing alarm but no injuries or damage. The epicenter for that quake was just over the border in southern Lebanon. In February, a 3.1 earthquake struck the Tiberias area, also without injury or damage. –Times of Israel Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening | 3 Comments Posted on March 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol March 23, 2012 – AUSTRALIA - A magnitude 6.1 earthquake (5.6 USGS), the biggest in the country for 15 years, has rattled Far North South Australia. The earthquake’s epicenter was recorded at shallow depth near Ernabella, 415km North West of Coober Pedy and about 320km south west of Alice Springs, just before 8pm. Geoscience Australia reported the quake could have been felt by people up to 500km away and damage experienced  within a 40km radius of the epicenter. Geoscience Australia seismologist David Jepsen said the quake was the biggest in Australia in 15 years. “There are a number of Aboriginal communities near the epicenter and they would have felt the earthquake strongly,” he said. “It is possible there could be some minor damage up there. One of these in a major city would be a different story. “People as far north as Alice Springs and as far south as Coober Pedy and Oodnadatta could have felt this.”An SA Police spokesman said there had been no reports of damage or injuries. Dr. Jepsen said a 4.3 magnitude earthquake struck near the same location about a week ago. The earthquake was the most powerful in Australia since a 6.3 magnitude quake off Collier Bay, on Western Australia’s north coast, on August 10, 1997. It is the second largest quake to be recorded in South Australia. The biggest was a 6.5 magnitude jolt near Beachport in the South East in 1897, which caused chaos at the nearby town of Kingston and was felt in Adelaide. A magnitude 3.3 quake rumbled through Adelaide on October 19 last year. –Herald Sun Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Seismic tremors | 6 Comments Posted on March 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 23, 2012 – ARKANSAS - Remember New Year’s Eve 2010 when thousands of birds mysteriously dropped from the sky over Beebe, Arkansas? Well, the mystery has been solved. Last May, a crew from the National Geographic Channel dropped by the NewsChannel5 Weather Office. They wanted to see what important information we had found regarding the bird deaths over Beebe. Indeed, my research indicated a unique radar signature several thousand feet above the birds just as the mass deaths were occurring. With the help of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a unique weather phenomenon was blamed for startling the birds and causing the mayhem that resulted in the demise of thousands of birds that night. On Thursday, an all-new National Geographic Special will debut explaining the Beebe event as well as several other mass animal deaths that occurred last winter. The show, “Omens of the Apocalypse,” airs on the National Geographic Channel at 10 p.m. Results from preliminary testing released today by the Arkansas Livest ock and Poultry Commission Veterinary Diagnostic Lab show that red-winged blackbirds died from massive body trauma. The trauma was mainly in the front breast tissue of each bird. Officials say the birds suffered internal bleeding and blood clots in the body cavity. The veterinarians also examined the major organs and found them healthy, normal and not effected by disease. The gizzards and stomachs of the birds were empty. According to the report, “Further tests will be done to rule out other causes, but the birds suffered from acute physical trauma leading to internal hemorrhage and death. There was no sign of any chronic or infectious disease.” What caused the trauma is not yet known. Meteorologists reported a heavy thunderstorm over Beebe earlier in the day. It is possible that the birds were sucked into the updraft of the storm and then either struck by lightning or pummeled by hail within the storm. Fireworks were also being launched around the town just before the birds began falling. Since blackbirds have poor night vision, they may have suffered extreme anxiety and become disoriented. –News Net 5
Posted in Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Mass animal deaths, Unsolved Mystery | 15 Comments Posted on March 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 23, 2012 – BRAZIL - Drought has spread from Argentina and Paraguay to Brazil and is hitting soy yields at a time of concerns that regional economic growth may suffer as pressures mount on commodity prices. Argentine yields of soy were affected by drought and labor disputes in that country are making farmers and grain traders jittery. Drought caused widespread economic dislocation in Paraguay, which was also hit by cattle disease. Analysts said drought-related developments in Brazil had led to lower yield estimates, slicing about 2.8 million tons off an original estimate of 67.1 million tons for this year’s harvest. The revised estimates are subject to further review, said the analysts. Soy oil has gained importance in the energy market as a feedstock for the booming international bio-fuels sector. Soy produced by Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay accounts for about half the world’s soy exports. Although current worries have caused spikes in prices and buoyed futures trade in Chicago, Latin America and elsewhere, underlying worries over the eurozone crisis and an economic slowdown in China continue to cloud the outlook. Some analysts predicted a 10 million ton shortfall in Brazil’s soy crop when compared with last year. –Terra Daily
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Drought, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event | 3 Comments Posted on March 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 23, 20112 – WISCONSIN - Sharon Binger cracked basement floor was testament that something actually happened. Now authorities say a minor earthquake occurred this week near the eastern Wisconsin city where researchers have been investigating a series of unexplained booming sounds, federal geologists said Thursday. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 1.5 magnitude earthquake struck Tuesday just after midnight in Clintonville, a town of about 4,600 people about 40 miles west of Green Bay. Geophysicist Paul Caruso told The Associated Press that loud booming noises have been known to accompany earthquakes. It’s possible the mysterious sounds that town officials have been investigating are linked to the quake, he said. Earthquakes can generate seismic energy that moves through rock at thousands of miles per hour, producing a sonic boom when the waves come to the earth’s surface, Caruso said. “To be honest, I’m skeptical that there’d be a sound report associated with such a small earthquake, but it’s possible,” he said. Those reservations didn’t stop Clintonville City Administrator Lisa Kuss from declaring ‘the mystery is solved” at a news conference Thursday evening. She said USGS representatives described the event as a swarm of several small earthquakes in a very short time. “In other places in the United States, a 1.5 earthquake would not be felt,” she said. ‘But the type of rock Wisconsin has transmits seismic energy very well.” The U.S. Geological Survey says earthquakes with magnitude of 2.0 or less aren’t commonly felt by people and are generally recorded only on local seismographs. Caruso said the Tuesday earthquake was discovered after people reported feeling something, and geologists pored through their data to determine that an earthquake did indeed strike. Local residents have reported late-night disturbances since Sunday, including a shaking ground and loud booms that sound like thunder or fireworks. -SF
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Seismic tremors | 21 Comments Posted on March 22, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 22, 2012 – ONTARIO – A neighborhood in Barrie’s northwest end was rattled Tuesday night when a “sonic boom” brought residents out of their homes. Rob Higgins and his two sons were watching TV around 10 p.m. when a loud noise, described as jet plane breaking the sound barrier, ripped through the Wallace Drive home. “It was like a loud sonic boom. When I went outside, numerous neighbors came out to see what happened,” Higgins said. “No one could see anything. Some people said it sounded like a major car crash.” At least 10 neighbors were on the street looking around in curiosity when Higgins and his family were surprised by the sound. “Originally, I thought it was some huge thing was thrown at our house. Not a car, but maybe a big barrel or something large,” he said. “I went outside a realized everyone heard something and it couldn’t have just been our house.” Barrie police said there were no calls for service in the area at the time or reports matching a loud sound. If anyone heard the sound or knows what it is contact the Examiner at 705-726-6537, ext 282. –Barrie Examiner
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Mystery Boom & Shaking, Strange unexplained noises, Unsolved Mystery | 18 Comments ← Older posts Loading… ← Older posts Posted on March 22, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 22, 2012 – WISCONSIN – The strange sounds heard over three straight nights in Clintonville, Wisconsin, have now been reported 70 miles to the south in Montello. What are they? Also, officials in Montello are reporting an unidentifiable slimy sludge has invaded the waste water system, never seen before. Can it have something to do with the weird booming noises residents of both towns are reporting? In Clintonville this evening, a town meeting is being held with city officials doing their best to answer questions and allay fears. But, they admit, so far they have no explanation for the mysterious, thunderous booms shaking the ground in both far-flung towns. Residents are bracing for another sleepless night, even for those not in the affected areas, because of the unease and fear this phenomenon is causing. Why is it happening only at night? Are aliens starting to work the night shift? Some believe it indicates the strange sounds are a result of some human activity which someone is trying to shield from the public eye. Possibly for illegal reasons? It wouldn’t be the first time that greedy, uncaring people put others, and the environment, at risk purely for personal gain. Unfortunately, it’s a story which has repeated itself over and over. At least in some scenarios, aliens who visit the Earth in a UFO have benevolent reasons for disrupting the lives of unsuspecting citizens. If it’s found that a group of people is doing something harmful, without thought to serious consequences, sleepy towns in Wisconsin, like Clintonville and Montello may wake from peaceful slumber in a mighty nasty mood. –Gather
contribution by Vicky Grover Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Mystery Boom & Shaking, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Strange unexplained noises, Unsolved Mystery | 29 Comments Posted on March 22, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 22, 2012 – SAN SALVADOR – The National Service of Territorial Studies, which is known as SNET is reporting that 8 earthquakes have rattled the San Salvador Volcano which is located northwest of the capital city of San Salvador- a population of about 540,000 people. An emergency declaration has been declared at the volcano as a precautionary measure. The eight tremors felt by the population have reached levels of between 2.2 and 3.3 degrees on the Richter scale, according to the National Service of Territorial Studies (SNET), which has also recorded at least 25 micro-earthquakes. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in a statement recalled that the last seismic swarm with epicenter in the San Salvador volcano was in 2007, when there were 142 micro-earthquakes, four of them felt by the population. The volcano last erupted in 1917. The volcano is believed to have sprung to life after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico. According to the National Seismological Service (SSN), the massive Mexico earthquake unleashed more than 44 aftershocks as of Wednesday. Of the aftershocks recorded by the country, six were over 5.0 + magnitude on the Richer scale and 25 were of a 4.0 magnitude, with the rest 3.0 or smaller. Apart from the string of earthquakes in San Salvador, today SNET reported another quake of 4.3 on the Richter scale at 11.26 local time (17.26 GMT) in the Pacific Ocean, about 43 kilometers south of the estuary San Diego, in the department of La Libertad. This other quake had a focal depth of 34 miles and reached an intensity of three on the Mercalli scale in San Salvador. The Salvadoran authorities have reported no casualties or damage resulting from earthquakes. –Univision (translation)
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | 4 Comments Posted on March 22, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
March 22, 2012 – ITALY – New earth tremor last night on the southern slope of Etna, in the same area where tremors had already been felt yesterday afternoon. This second seismic event was 2.5 on a Richter scale, like the one felt yesterday and was registered at 4:46 by the National institute of geophysics and volcanology, that pinpointed the epicenter 9.8 kilometres deep between the towns of Belpasso, Biancavilla, Caporotondo Etneo, Nicolosi Paterno’, Santa Maria di Licodia and Ragalna. The volcano has originated small flows of lava and high smoke columns since the beginning of the year. –AGI Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, High-risk potential hazard zone, Magma Plume activity, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | 4 Comments Posted on March 22, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 22, 2012 – GOROKA, Papua New Guinea — A strong earthquake struck the island of New Guinea in Papua New Guinea on early Thursday morning, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The 6.6-magnitude earthquake at 8:15 a.m. local time (2215 GMT Wednesday) was centered about 63 kilometers (39 miles) east-southeast of Goroka, the capital of the Eastern Highlands Province in the Oceanian country. It struck about 105.9 kilometers (65.8 miles) deep, making it an earthquake with intermediate depth, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the region, but the USGS estimated that approximately 147,000 people near the epicenter may have felt ‘strong’ shaking which could result in light to moderate damage. Another 3.5 million people may have felt light to moderate shaking. Because the earthquake struck fairly deep and on land, no tsunami warnings were issued. “A destructive tsunami was not generated based on earthquake and historical tsunami data,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin. Earthquakes in the mountainous nation of Papua New Guinea, which is on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, do rarely cause damage or casualties as most structures in the region are light and flexible. This allows them to bend, rather than snap when a major earthquake happens. In December 2011, a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck near the town of Wau in Morobe province. The earthquake was felt as far away as the capital Port Moresby, about 221 kilometers (137 miles) south-southeast of the epicenter, but there were no reports of damage or casualties. In July 1998, a powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck just off the north coast of the country’s island of New Guinea, causing a landslide which resulted in a local tsunami. The disaster left at least 2,183 people killed and thousands more injured. –Channel 6 News
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Volcano Watch | 2 Comments Posted on March 21, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
March 21, 2012 – AUSTRALIA – SES crews and the Army will help the clean-up in Townsville after a freak storm ripped through the city, as the weather bureau warns of more heavy rain for the region. Residents have described terrifying ordeals of being forced to huddle in their hallways and bathrooms as the storm tore open their homes early this morning. Premier Anna Bligh and LNP leader Campbell Newman have flown into the city, putting election campaigning on hold as they assess the area. Ms Bligh has declared the region a disaster zone and says the storm was akin to a “mini-tornado,” packing winds of up to 130 kilometres per hour. About 60 properties have been badly damaged and some buildings have collapsed, with much of the devastation centred on a one-kilometre radius around the suburb of Vincent. Shane Fayers, his wife and their two children were forced to take shelter in their toilet as the storm destroyed the top floor of their two-storey home. “Front kitchen’s gone, living room, dining room and just the front porch that was all roofed that’s gone. It’s just smashed everything,” he said. Further down the street Tracy Thomas lost part of her roof and fence. Erin Matinca said, “The whole house was shaking. The whole upstairs was just shaking. The sound was quite horrifying. It was very scary, but it was all over in a matter of a minute or two minutes. It was just unbelievable,” she said. -ABC contribution Gen Posted in Climate unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, Tornado Outbreak | 12 Comments Posted on March 21, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 21, 2012 – CANADA - A barn on the 4000-block of Otter Point Road collapsed after a series of unexplained tremors rumbled through the region on Thursday, March 15. Barrie Hanslip, owner of the 35-acre property where the barn was located, said the steepled barn tumbled downward after a large “boom” and rumble at 11:30 a.m. The large tremor was preceded by two smaller shakes around 9:00 a.m. Hanslip wasn’t home at the time of the collapse, but her niece, Sandra Richardson, said two seconds after the large third rumble, she heard a creak and the barn collapsed. “I thought my aunt was underneath it and was screaming for her, but I ran up to the barn and saw her car was gone,” Richardson said. Richardson, whose residence is located adjacent to the dilapidated barn, said the earthquake-like rumbles shook the stove pipe in her home. Hanslip said although the barn was 50 years old, it would’ve stood erect if left undisturbed. “It’s fairly old. It was due to come down, but it certainly wouldn’t have fallen down on its own. It was well-braced,” she said. Alison Bird, seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, said there were no earthquakes in the region during that time, adding there were calls from other residents who reported shaking. –Sooke News Mirror
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Mystery Boom & Shaking, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Strange unexplained noises, Unsolved Mystery | 56 Comments Posted on March 21, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 21, 2012 – OKLAHOMA - It woke up sleepy Tulsans, set-off car alarms and freaked out the family pet. Many people thought it was an earthquake that hit Tulsa at 3:33 this morning. Instead, says National Weather Service Meteorologist Steve Amburn, is was a “Super Bolt.” Amburn says a super bolt is a positively-charged cloud-to-ground stroke of lightning. Computer records indicate a single “super bolt” struck in the heart of South Tulsa just after 3:30. No damage from the super bolt is reported. -KRMG
Posted in 2012, Climate unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening | 12 Comments ← Older posts Loading… ← Older posts Posted on March 21, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  March 21, 2012 – IRELAND – Roe Valley residents are mystified over strange late night noises high in the sky, which has left them scratching their heads. The late night noise surfaced recently in Drumsurn, according to local Sinn Fein councillor Brenda Chivers. “It’s very annoying. It starts around 7pm and can go on until 2-3am. People have been out searching to see what it is, but they see nothing. There’s no plane, just this constant drone, and nobody seems to know what it is; unless it’s flying saucers! It’s a mystery.”A similar noise was reported in Derry recently, but there was never any conclusion as to what it was. In the meantime, residents around the Roe have been “tormented” by late night “helicopter noise. People are telling me they are hearing this noise at a time when children are either going to or are in bed, and it has wakened some and prevented others from getting to sleep,” said DUP Colr. Alan Robinson, who said no one could tell him the source of the noise. “Someone knows the answer and I hope it will be discovered soon and the usual quiet Limavady nights return.” However, SDLP MLA John Dallat is convinced it is British Army helicopters. “It’s happened several times before and it’s time the Brits honoured the Good Friday Agreement and took their hardware home,” he said. “Everyone knows those helicopters are in training to kill people in Afghanistan. It’s an invasion of people’s lives and it has to stop.” –Derry Journal
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Hum noise, Mystery Boom & Shaking, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Strange unexplained noises, Unsolved Mystery | 9 Comments Posted on March 21, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol Posted on August 26, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 26, 2012 – CALIFORNIA - People from all over El Dorado County say they’re hearing loud booms several times a week, but there are many theories on what is causing them. “I thought it was thunder,” said one person. “It’s definitely not thunder; too consistent. I thought it was just mining,” said another person. “I always considered them to be sonic booms from flying aircrafts for years,” said Loring Brunius, owner of Sierra Rock Diamond Quarry. People who live near Pleasant Valley say their days have been interrupted by loud booms, shaking the floor beneath them. “You can feel it in the ground, no question about it. But no one’s been able to figure out why,” said Pleasant Valley resident Peter O’Grady. “I tend to hear somewhere between four to six of these things during the weekdays usually between 11 p.m. and 2 p.m. “Boom, boom, boom, boom just like that,” said Lorren Gonzales, who lives near Pleasant Valley. Some think the booms are from nearby wineries using propane cannons to scare away birds. “We’ve never done it and I don’t know of any other winery that does,” said Carrie Bendick, a winemaker at Holly’s Hill Winery. According to USGS, there aren’t enough seismic stations to pinpoint the exact location. Meanwhile, some say the booms have been around so long and happen so often they barely notice them anymore. Still, others want to solve the mystery. “I would like to know what it is, yeah. And I’d like to know when it’s going to stop too,” said O’Grady. CBS13 spoke to Fallon Naval Air Station that said any supersonic flight operations they do are only allowed over Dixie Valley, which is hundreds of miles away. Some think illegal mining could be the source of the sounds, but Brunius doubts that theory. He said if that was the case, the culprit would have been caught by now. –CBS
contribution by Dennis, Paul & Dov Posted in 2012, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Seismic tremors, Strange unexplained noises, Time - Event Acceleration, Unsolved Mystery | 10 Comments Posted on August 26, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
August 26, 2012 – JAPAN - A massive typhoon began to make landfall Sunday over Okinawa, bringing winds more ferocious than even the typhoon-weary Japanese island has seen in decades. It will likely be the strongest since 1956, said CNN International meteorologist Tom Sater. With a cloud field of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), Typhoon Bolaven is 20 times larger than Okinawa’s length. “It’s been very, very severe,” said storm chaser James Reynolds, on the northwestern coast of the island. Tree branches were flying through the air amid torrential rain, he said. The infrastructure on Okinawa is designed to withstand violent storms. “Everything’s made of solid concrete,” said Reynolds. “Utility poles are so wide you couldn’t even put your arms around them,” Reynolds said. “All the houses are built with concrete. There’s no such thing as a beach house in Okinawa because it would just get destroyed by a typhoon.” Still, the power was out where he was Sunday. On Sunday evening, Bolaven was carrying sustained winds of 213 kilometers (132 miles) per hour, with gusts reaching 259 kilometers per hour (161 mph) — the highest since Typhoon Naha in 1956. Bolaven was traveling northwest at 15 kilometers per hour (9 mph). The storm is on course to hit China and the Korean peninsula. “It’s roughly the size of France to Poland in land mass,” said Sater. “The typhoon is producing wave heights of 16 meters high, so the possibility is there for a storm surge of 8 to 10 meters high on the coastline. Wind gusts will be strong enough to not only uproot or down trees and power lines, but could flip automobiles. Okinawa is 100 kilometers (62 miles) long. The size of Bolaven’s eye is roughly 30 kilometers (19 miles) in width. This means many residents could experience the eye passing over them; unfortunately, that means putting up with the strongest winds the storm can produce, followed by a calm period with a brief clearing of the skies overhead, then another chaotic period of damaging winds that will be blowing in the opposite direction of the previous winds. Rainfall totals could top 500 mm (20 inches) in 24 hours,” said Sater. -CNN Posted in Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Cyclone or Hurricane, Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, High-risk potential hazard zone, Strange high tides & freak waves, Time - Event Acceleration, Unprecedented Flooding | 2 Comments Posted on August 25, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
August 25, 2012 – LEBANON – Clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian factions in the Lebanese city of Tripoli killed three people including a Sunni cleric, jeopardizing a fragile truce, a security official said. The deaths brought to 14 the number of people killed in factional fighting in the Mediterranean port city over the past five days linked to the conflict in neighboring Syria. A further 110 people have been wounded, most of them shot by snipers. A sniper killed Sunni cleric Sheikh Khaled al-Baradei, 28, at dawn, sparking the flare-up between fighters from the pro-Syrian Alawite district of Jabal Mohsen and anti-Damascus Sunni districts, an AFP correspondent reported. One person died of his wounds in the Sunni Qobbeh area. A third died in the adjacent Sunni Bab al-Tebbaneh district, the security official said. The militiamen exchanged rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire in the two neighborhoods in the east of the city, Lebanon’s second largest, sparking several blazes, the correspondent reported. Families hammered holes through the walls of their apartments to escape to safety down makeshift ladders as the clashes raged. A journalist and a technician from Sky News Arabia were slightly hurt by stray bullets near the Sunni Bab al-Tebbaneh neighborhood, another scene of recent clashes on the city’s northern outskirts, medical sources said. Dozens of Sunni militiamen have encircled the Alawite district, with the army separating the rival gunmen, the correspondent said. The fighting continued until around 8:30 am (0530 GMT) when militiamen on both sides pulled back from the frontline, driving away on motorbikes, and a fragile calm returned. Six businesses in the city centre were later set ablaze — four Alawite-owned, one Sunni-owned, and the other a Christian-owned shop selling alcohol, the security official said. “We were surprised by this battle,” said Abu Othman, a gunman from the Sunni side. “They are the ones who opened fire, the Jabal Mohsen people.” Several families displaced by the fighting had returned to the two districts on Thursday to inspect the damage to their homes, as a truce agreed on Wednesday had appeared to take hold. –SBS U.S. continues military build-up in the Mediterranean Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Ethnic or religious strife, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 4 Comments Posted on August 25, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
Residents wade through a waist-deep flooded street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Saturday as Tropical Storm Issac battered island. August 25, 2012 – PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – At least three people died in Haiti as Tropical Storm Isaac triggered mudslides and flooding there before heading back over water and towards Cuba. Isaac should become a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday just as it nears the Florida Keys, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, and then grow into an even stronger Category 2 storm. “Hurricane conditions are expected in the hurricane warning area in southwest Florida and the Florida Keys on Sunday,” the center said in a Saturday morning advisory. Gov. Rick Scott on Saturday declared a state of emergency to make sure local and state agencies would be ready. The center now expects Isaac to build to a Category 2 hurricane, with winds up to 110 mph, after it enters the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Isaac is a massive storm, with tropical storm-force winds extending 230 miles from the center. Key West International Airport was halting all flights at 7 p.m. Saturday until the storm had passed. In Haiti, a woman and a child in the town of Souvenance were killed in the storm, a local official reported. In the capital Port-au-Prince — where some 350,000 people are still living in tents or shelters after the 2010 Haiti earthquake — a girl, 10, was killed when a wall fell on her. Power outages and flooding were reported as Isaac moved across the hilly and severely deforested Caribbean country. “There’s a lot of rain, a lot of wind,” said Magdala Jean-Baptiste, who huddled with her frightened children in their home in the southern coastal city of Jacmel. “We haven’t had any power since the storm started yesterday. We passed the night with no sleep.” In neighboring Dominican Republic, Isaac felled power and phone lines and left at least a dozen towns cut off by flood waters. The most severe damage was reported along the south coast, including the capital Santo Domingo, where more than half the city was without power. Cuba prepared by closing beaches and evacuating tourists in vulnerable areas, NBC’s Mary Murray and The Weather Channel’s Mike Seidel reported from Havana. Flights across Cuba were also suspended. -NBC Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Cyclone or Hurricane, Dark Ages, Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Environmental Threat, Extreme Weather Event, High-risk potential hazard zone, Infrastructure collapse, Time - Event Acceleration, Unprecedented Flooding, Water Crisis - Conflict | 2 Comments ← Older posts ← Older posts Posted on August 25, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 25, 2012 – SPAIN – In the small Spanish town of Marinaleda, located in the southern region of Andalusía, Mayor Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo has an answer for the country’s economic crisis and the hunger that comes with it: He organized and led the town’s residents to raid supermarkets to get the food necessary to survive. Seven people have been arrested in two raids in which trade unionists loaded shopping carts full of food and left without paying, with the support of the townspeople cheering them on and the mayor watching with approval. (reuters.com, Aug. 15) Gordillo, 60, is a leftist and a member of the Izquierda Unida political party. He sports a Palestinian kaffiyeh scarf around his neck and a Fidel Castro-like beard. Gordilla says he wants to draw attention to the plight of the common worker in Spain, a country in which the economic collapse has hit particularly hard and millions are suffering. (europeonline-magazine.eu, Aug. 14) Since 2007, poverty in Spain has risen 15 percent, while unemployment hovers around 25 percent and tens of thousands have lost their homes to bank foreclosures. The conservative national government has only made matters worse, by introducing austerity measures that have worsened the workers’ lives, while bailing out the bankers and capitalists who caused the crisis in the first place. Gordillo plans to lead a march from Jódar, one of the cities most affected by the current economic meltdown, to other Spanish towns, to try to convince other officials to fight back against the ruling class’s demands of cutbacks and increased hardship for the workers. He is fighting dismantlement of state social services, bank payoffs, and the throwing of the common Spaniard under the bus to the benefit of those exploiting them. Gordillo hopes he can convince other mayors to stage a real resistance to the government’s demands. –Workers World
 Spain and the Mayan calendar: According to Eugene Olkhovsky, Masterforex-V Academy’s leading expert, analysts and economist are divided over the destiny of the eurozone. In particular, Mario Draghi, President of the CB says he sees light at the end of the tunnel of the eurozone crisis. At the same time, Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, warns that quantitative easing won’t help the eurozone to solve its financial problems, this is a temporary solution but it won’t help the currency union to resolve the fundamental problems that have caused the crisis. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the Euro Group, confirmed the info that the EU and the ECB are getting ready for a joint intervention in the currency market. Meanwhile, the central banks of eurozone members are now studying the chances of carrying extra losses if the Greek debt is liquidated. Jim O’Neill, Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, assumes that Spain may become the locomotive of a eurozone collapse. The IMF called for creating a financial and banking union within the eurozone, thus saying that the crisis has reached its climax. The coalition government of Greece strives to receive a bridge loan in order to settle the budget deficit issue and to cut the public spending by 11.7 bn euro in order to calm down international lenders. According to Roboforex, the ECB will work out a mechanism for a direct intervention in the market of bonds. More and more experts start saying that the financial “end of the world” is near. According to Masterforex-V Academy, the current stereotype is that the bearish direction is the major one for all markets, especially for stock markets. However, December 2012 may well become some kind of a “pivot point” when the stereotype will be broken. In this case, traders and investors will have to reconsider their approach towards capital markets as the conventional ways of analyzing and trading those markets will most likely become inefficient. The SRP Department of Masterforex-V Academy, managed to calculate that the time of the probable financial apocalypse, which (if any) will match the popular doomsday scenario for late December 2012. –Market Leader
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Famine Threat, Financial System Collapse, Global Debt Bomb, High-risk potential hazard zone, Human behavioral change after disaster, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 28 Comments Posted on August 25, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 25, 2012 – INDONESIA – An increase in seismic activity at Tangkubanperahu volcano near Bandung, the capital of West Java, has been detected since 13 August and promted the Indonesian Volcanological survey (PVMBG) to increase the alert level of the volcano from 1 (normal) to 2 (alert) on 23 August. Between 1 July and 23 Aug, 264 volcanic earthquakes were recorded, which is almost double to values measured during similar periods of time at the beginning of the year. In addition, pulses of volcanic tremor could be recognized. Tangkubanperahu has 2 main craters, each about 1000 m wide and 400 m deep, filled by crater lakes, Kawah Ratu (queen) and Kawah Upas, respectively. The craters and lakes along with fumaroles and warm springs are popular tourist destinations. It is recommended not to climb the volcano’s crater, which is a popular tourist destination in the area. The last eruptions of the Tangkubanperahu were phreatic explosions in 1994. –Volcano Discovery
Tangkubanperahu was previously considered dormant. The last activity was in 1983, and 1994. Posted in 2012, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Magma Plume activity, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | 1 Comment Posted on August 25, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 25, 2012 – PAKISTAN – Flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain have killed at least 26 people and destroyed hundreds of houses in northern Pakistan, officials said on Thursday. Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, the prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir said at least 17 people have been killed and nine others injured in six districts since Monday. “Some 685 houses and 125 shops have been damaged and roads washed away,” Majeed said, adding that a request has been made to the federal government for financial help. Irshad Bhatti, a spokesman for the country’s National Disaster Management Authority, said the extent of the damage was still being assessed. The majority of the deaths in Kashmir came when buildings collapsed due to the rains, and a further nine people died in flooding in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials said. Adnan Khan, an official from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said he feared the death toll there could rise. “Dozens of families have suffered and their houses were destroyed, several people are still missing,” Khan told AFP. Weather officials are predicting heavy rain in the next three days and rescue teams are closely monitoring the situation, Bhatti said. Floods in Pakistan in the summer of 2011 affected 5.8 million people, with floodwaters killing livestock, destroying crops, homes and infrastructure as the nation struggled to recover from record inundations the previous year. -TD
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Dark Ages, Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Environmental Threat, Extreme Weather Event, High-risk potential hazard zone, Landslide & geological deformation, Time - Event Acceleration, Unprecedented Flooding, Water Crisis - Conflict | Leave a comment Posted on August 25, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 25, 2012 – BOSNIA – Bosnian authorities put the entire country on red alert Thursday against a heat wave that has seen the Balkan nation bake in its hottest summer on record, the national weather institute said. Meteorologist Dzenan Zulum said the months of June, July and August had been the hottest since measurements were first recorded 120 years ago. In some places, the mercury has soared to 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit) and temperatures in the capital Sarajevo have in recent days been about seven degrees Celsius warmer than normal. “We predict a similar temperature for the next two or three days followed by a slight cooling from Sunday,” Zulum said. Farmers say between 50-80 percent of their crops have been damaged in the heat wave, and water distribution to several towns has been disrupted. Bosnia is also battling dozens of forest fires in the south and east of the country, with many hundreds of hectares (acres) of land burned. –Terra Daily
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Drought, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Heatwave, Time - Event Acceleration | 1 Comment Posted on August 25, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
A collapsed section of the Yangmingtan Bridge’s ramp, in the city of Harbin, dropped 100 feet to the ground on Friday, killing three people and injuring five. August 25, 2012 – CHINA - One of the longest bridges in northern China collapsed on Friday, just nine months after it opened, setting off a storm of criticism from Chinese Internet users and underscoring questions about the quality of construction in the country’s rapid expansion of its infrastructure. A nearly 330-foot-long section of a ramp of the eight-lane Yangmingtan Bridge in the city of Harbin dropped 100 feet to the ground. Four trucks plummeted with it, resulting in three deaths and five injuries. The 9.6-mile bridge is one of three built over the Songhua River in that area in the past four years. China’s economic stimulus program in 2009 and 2010 helped the country avoid most of the effects of the global economic downturn, but involved incurring heavy debt to pay for the rapid construction of new bridges, highways and high-speed rail lines all over the country. Questions about the materials used during the construction and whether the projects were properly engineered have been the subject of national debate ever since a high-speed train plowed into the back of a stopped train on the same track on July 23 last year in the eastern city of Wenzhou. The crash killed 40 people and injured 191; a subsequent investigation blamed in particular flaws in the design of the signaling equipment. Photographs on Chinese Web sites on Friday appeared to show that the collapsed section of the Yangmingtan Bridge’s ramp had fallen on land, not in the river. According to the official Xinhua news agency, the Yangmingtan Bridge was the sixth major bridge in China to collapse since July 2011. Chinese officials have tended to blame overloaded trucks for the collapses, and did so again on Friday. Many in China have attributed the recent spate of bridge collapses to corruption, and online reaction to the latest collapse was scathing. “Corrupt officials who do not die just continue to cause disaster after disaster,” said one post on Friday on Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblogging service similar to Twitter. –NY Times Posted in Catastrophic Insurance losses mount, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Financial System Collapse, High-risk potential hazard zone, Human behavioral change after disaster, Infrastructure collapse, Time - Event Acceleration | 21 Comments Posted on August 24, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 24, 2012 – COLOMBIA - According to INGEOMINAS, the Observatorio Vulcanológico and Sismológico de Popayán reported that during 8-14 August seismic activity at Sotará increased. The seismic network recorded 110 magnitude 0.2-1.6 events mainly located in an area 0.1-5 km NE of the peak, at depths of 2-6 km. Inflation was detected in the NE area, coincident with the zone of increased seismicity. Web-camera views showed no morphological changes. The Alert Level was raised to III (Yellow; “changes in the behavior of volcanic activity”), or the second lowest level. (Smithsonian Institute) -Earthquake Report
Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | 10 Comments Posted on August 24, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 24, 2012 – ECONOMY - The Obama administration will pressure European governments not to let Greece fall out of the eurozone before November’s Presidential elections, British Government sources have suggested. Representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission are due to arrive in Athens next month to assess Greece’s reform efforts. They are expected to report in time for an 8 October meeting of eurozone finance ministers which will decide on whether to disburse Greece’s next €31bn aid tranche, promised under the terms of the bailout for the country. American officials are understood to be worried that if they decide Greece has not done enough to meet its deficit targets and withhold the money, it would automatically trigger Greece’s exit from the eurozone weeks before the Presidential election on 6 November. They are urging eurozone Governments to hold off from taking any drastic action before then – fearing that the resulting market destabilization could damage President Obama’s re-election prospects. European leaders are thought to be sympathetic to the lobbying fearing that, under pressure from his party line Congress, Mitt Romney would be a more isolationist president than Mr. Obama. The President discussed the eurozone crisis with David Cameron during a conference call on Wednesday and both welcomed statements by the European Central Bank that it was “standing firmly behind the euro” The ECB is expected to present a plan in the next few weeks to help indebted countries like Spain and Italy by buying their government bonds. Today, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will travel to Berlin to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel, and to France tomorrow for talks with President François Hollande. He is asking that Greece be given more time to meet its deficit targets and implement its reforms as its economy is struggling through a fifth year of recession. But Germany’s Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said it was only months since creditors drew up a second bailout package and agreed on a massive debt write-down for Greece. –Independent
 Israel concealing intentions with leaks: Talk in Israel of a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities has reached a fever pitch. Last week brought the news of an alleged “war plan” leaked to a blogger. This week, a well-informed military correspondent in Jerusalem reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “determined” to attack Iran before the U.S. election. Two weeks ago, an outgoing government minister told Israelis to prepare for a war that would last 30 days. Some analysts dismiss the speculation as an effort to intimidate Iran or put pressure on the U.S. to get tough on Tehran. David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy has his own contacts in the Israeli leadership. He says there’s more going on here than just war talk. “I think there’s a 50-50 chance before the U.S. election of an Israeli strike,” he says. In any case, it’s clear there’s a lot of war thinking going on in Jerusalem. The alleged war plan that was recently leaked said an Israeli strike would begin with an unprecedented cyber attack designed to paralyze the Iranian regime and blind it to what was happening on its territory. The Internet, telephones, radio and television transmissions, the electrical grid would all be taken out. That’s an attention-grabber: The world has never seen a cyber attack remotely that dramatic. John Bumgarner, chief technology officer at the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, says the plan does make sense — at least in theory. So, some of the war talk in Israel is apparently exaggerated. But this may only reflect the debate going on in the country. Someone could circulate a poorly thought-out scenario to discredit the Netanyahu government’s war planning. Makovsky says the volume and variety of speculation about an Israeli strike on Iran just underscores how seriously the idea is taken. Even apparently outlandish plans, he says, should not be discarded out of hand. “You’re going to see all sorts of things out there, and some of it might be disinformation or psychological warfare. There’s no way we’re going to know,” he says. “The Israelis do pride themselves on, you know, surprise elements that no one is thinking about.” After all, three years ago, Israel and the U.S. joined in the Stuxnet cyberattack against an Iranian nuclear facility in Natanz – a surprise too many. Seemingly far-fetched war talk could amount to propaganda and little else, but it could also mean an Israeli strike on Iran is around the corner. Makovsky says an attack before the U.S. election is a 50-50 proposition. The decision may not yet be made. “Israel has very good cyber capabilities. Some of the best computer scientists in the world come out of the Israeli military and intelligence branch,” he says. “Some of the best cyber-tools that are currently used in the world come out of Israel. -NPR
The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond Posted on August 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol   
August 23, 2012 – ECONOMY - In the minds of the general public, the economic distress that we will soon face regardless of whether or not there is ever a war with Iran and Syria will be an afterthought, at least for a time, if the threat of global combat becomes reality. The fog of war is a fantastic cover for all kind of crime, most especially the economic kind. Sizable wars naturally inhibit markets and cause erratic flux in capital flows. Anything, and I mean anything, can be blamed on a war, even the destruction of the U.S. economy and the dollar. Of course, the real culprits (international and central banks) which have been corrupting and dismantling the American fiscal structure for decades will benefit most from the distraction. Syria and Iran are, in a way, the first dominos in a long chain of terrible events. This chain, as chaotic as it seems, leads to only one end result: Third world status for almost every country on the planet, including the U.S., leaving the financial institutions, like monetary grim reapers, to swoop in and gather up the pieces that remain to be fashioned into a kind of Frankenstein economy; a fiscal golem. A global monstrosity that removes all sovereignty whether real or imagined and centralizes the decision making processes of humanity into the hands of a morally bankrupt few. For those on the side of Israel, the U.S., and NATO, and for those on the side of the Middle East, Russia China, etc., the bottom line is, there will be no winners. There is no “best case scenario.” There will be no victory parade, for anyone. There will be no great reformation or peace in the cradle of civilization. The only people celebrating at the end of the calamitous hostilities will be the hyper-moneyed power addicted .01%, who will celebrate their global coup in private, laughing as the rest of the world burns itself out, and comes begging them for help. –Hamsayeh Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Environmental Threat, Ethnic or religious strife, Financial System Collapse, Global Debt Bomb, Hazardous chemical exposure, High-risk potential hazard zone, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 23 Comments Posted on August 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 23, 2012 – SYRIA - British Prime Minister David Cameron has joined President Barack Obama in warning Syria the use of chemical weapons would trigger a re-think in their approach. The rise in western rhetoric came as unverified footage showed Syrian tanks on the streets of Damascus. Opposition activists reported 40 people were killed in bombardments timed with the departure of the United Nations observer mission. Heavy shelling has also continued in suburbs across Aleppo as both regime forces and Syria rebels claim to be gaining ground. The plight of civilians remains the focus for the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos: “The humanitarian situation has worsened since my visit in March. The most urgent and growing needs are for health care, shelter, food, water and sanitation. There are serious public health issues in the school buildings that are being used as shelters.” In such a school, those taking refuge blame the president for their plight. More than 500 families have fled the fighting in nearby Aleppo and no one knows when they will be able to return home. –Euro News
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Environmental Threat, Hazardous chemical exposure, High-risk potential hazard zone, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 4 Comments Posted on August 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 23, 2012 – RUSSIA - Russian authorities said Wednesday that a flash flood had killed four people in the southern Krasnodar region where 172 people drowned in rising waters last month, many trapped in their homes. “Four people have died,” a spokeswoman for the regional emergency situations ministry told AFP. “Three people are listed as missing,” the Krasnodar regional government said in a statement. Heavy rain battered the coastal Tuapse area overnight causing many rivers to overflow and flood the houses and apartments of around 1,837 people, the regional authorities said. In July, 172 people were found dead after severe flooding in the Krymsk area not far from Tuapse. Around 35,000 people lost some or all of their possessions. The local authorities faced widespread censure for their failure to warn people in time of the need to evacuate. Three officials have been arrested and accused of negligence leading to the deaths. On Wednesday the regional government stressed that this time the warning system had functioned “in time” so that the public was not caught unaware by the flooding. “There will not be a second Krymsk,” the regional government promised, saying that residents had been warned this time with an onscreen message on local television and officials driving the streets with loudspeakers. –Terra Daily
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Unprecedented Flooding | 1 Comment Posted on August 23, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 23, 2012 – HEALTH – The United Nations health agency today reported that the cholera outbreak in Sierra Leone was escalating and stressed the need to rapidly scale up the response to the spread of the of the frequently fatal water and food-borne disease. In a press briefing in Geneva, Glenn Thomas, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), confirmed the spread of cholera to an additional two districts of the West African country, noting that since the beginning of 2012, there had been 11,189 reported cases and 203 deaths due to the outbreak. Mr. Thomas told reporters that the WHO was supporting the Government of Sierra Leone in the areas of epidemiology and social mobilization and had sent three cholera experts from its regional office to respond to the deteriorating crisis, UN News Service reports. Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the bacterium known as vibrio cholerae. The disease has a short incubation period and produces a toxin that causes continuous watery diarrhea, a condition that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not administered promptly. Vomiting also occurs in most patients. In his briefing, Mr. Thomas also provided an update on the outbreak of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where a total of 15 cases of viral contamination, including nine deaths, have been reported. He said that the WHO was supporting the DRC Ministry of Health in conducting a series of epidemiological investigations as well as surveillance, public information and social mobilization initiatives. Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, secretions, other bodily fluids or organs of infected persons or animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys and antelopes, and it has an incubation period of two to 21 days. Sufferers can experience fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat, as well as vomiting, diarrhea, rashes and impaired kidney and liver function. In the most severe cases, the virus leads to both external and internal bleeding. The most recent outbreak happened last month in Uganda with a total of 20 cases, including 14 deaths, reported across the western part of the country.–Defense web
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Disease outbreak, Drought, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Environmental Threat, Extreme Weather Event, High-risk potential hazard zone, Pestilence Watch, Time - Event Acceleration, Water Crisis - Conflict | 1 Comment Posted on August 22, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 22, 2012 – TEL AVIV - Israel’s economy would incur damages of as much as 167 billion shekels ($42 billion) should Israel attack Iran over its nuclear program, business information group BDI-Coface has projected. Direct economic damage would reach 47 billion shekels, BDI-Coface, a respected research group, said on Tuesday. That would be equivalent to 5.4 percent of Israel’s gross domestic product last year. Indirect damages would amount to 24 billion shekels a year for three to five years due to the collapse of businesses, it said. There has been an upsurge in rhetoric from Israeli politicians this month suggesting the country might attack Iran’s nuclear facilities ahead of U.S. presidential elections in November. Israel, widely believed to be the only atomic power in the Middle East, views Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat, citing threats made by leaders of Islamist Iran to destroy the Jewish state. BDI noted that 32 days of war with Lebanon in 2006 led to a 0.5 percent reduction in Israel’s economic growth. Direct costs such as civil property and infrastructure damage cost the economy another 1.3 percent. “In the event of a war of the same magnitude, duration and damage, it is possible to expect damage of 16 billion shekels,” it said. The war with Lebanon took place mainly in Israel’s north, which produces just 20 percent of the country’s output. “It is reasonable to assume that in the event of a war, it would also involve the center of the country, which produces 70 percent of Israel’s economic activity,” BDI said, noting Israel’s gross domestic product was 870 billion shekels in 2011. Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer warned this month of an economic crisis in the event of a war with Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is frustrated that Western diplomacy to try to force Iran to rein in its nuclear program has so far proved fruitless. Senior Israeli officials have said a final decision about whether to attack Iran has not yet been taken, with the military hierarchy unhappy about the prospect of going it alone without full U.S. backing. -Reuters
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Ethnic or religious strife, Global Debt Bomb, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 16 Comments Posted on August 22, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 22, 2012 – ECUADOR - Tungurahua’s eruption continues. This morning, a tall ash plume was rising to 32,000 ft (ca. 10 km) altitude and drifting west. A slight decrease in tremor is visible on the latest seismograms. So far, effects of the eruption have been limited to ash fall. In canton Quero, the ash fall during the past days has damaged more than 5000 hectares of plant cultivations and hit about 2.000 families. In the meanwhile, scientists from the volcano observatory have made an over flight of the volcano and posted the following interesting update (freely translated) for 20-21 Aug: The volcano emits a near constant eruption column, associated with explosions, that reached a maximum height of 5 km and an average height of 1.5 km above the crater, with moderate ash content, drifting to the west. There were no new reports of ash fall. An increase in the number and size of the explosions was observed since 15:00 local time on 20 Aug. Until 16:00 on 21 Aug, there were 16 large explosions producing strong cannon-shot noises heard in villages near the volcano and in cities as far away as Ambato, Riobamba and Miracle. The seismic activity at Tungurahua shows a constant tremor signal associated with steam, gas and ash emissions. Otherwise, the roaring noises have decreased in intensity and duration with respect to the previous days. In the evening observatory staff observed constant expulsion of hot material in jets. Lava blocks landed outside the crater and rolled up to 1.5 km from the top of the volcano’s flanks. An explosion at 14:11 on 21 Aug generated an ash column rising 4 km above the crater that produced a small pyroclastic flow that descended approximately 2.5 km along the Achupashal creek. Thermal images show near continuous explosive activity from the inner crater, ejecting incandescent material onto the upper flanks of the volcano, where temperatures ranged between 116 and 150°C. About 110 families living within close proximity of the volcano have been evacuated. –Volcano Discovery
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Ash, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | Leave a comment ← Older posts ← Older posts Posted on August 22, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 22, 2012 – ECONOMY – The odds the United States will slip back into recession next year have risen, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said, citing risks from the European debt crisis and budget tightening at year-end. The US ratings firm raised the chance of the US falling into recession to 25 percent, up from a 20 percent chance estimated in February, as the world’s largest economy struggles to recover from a severe 2008-2009 slump. It also pointed to the looming possibility of the government being forced by existing law to severely cut spending and increase taxes on January 1, the so-called fiscal cliff that would crunch the economy. “Economic activity has downshifted sharply from earlier this year,” S&P said in a report on North American credit conditions amid global uncertainty, dated August 20. “At the same time, possible contagion from the European debt crisis, the potential so-called ‘fiscal cliff’, and the risk of a hard landing for China’s economy have added greater uncertainty to US economic prospects,” it said. In the second quarter, the world’s largest economy grew at a 1.5 percent annual rate, a sharp slowdown from late last year as unemployment remained stuck above 8.0 percent. S&P underscored concern about the impact of a recession in the 17-nation eurozone, whose economy contracted 0.2 percent in the second quarter. S&P forecast a 0.6 percent contraction this year. “A double-dip recession in Europe that transmits financial turmoil to the US could push it into recession,” the agency said. However, S&P said its baseline scenario for the US economy — remained “modest growth,” projecting a gross domestic product expansion of about 2.1 percent for this year. S&P also said it expected that politicians would agree before year-end to change the current severe budget cut and tax hike mandates to avoid the fiscal cliff fate. However, it said, “We do not believe the US and European economies will improve substantially in the next year.” –Yahoo News
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Financial System Collapse, Global Debt Bomb, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Time - Event Acceleration | 10 Comments Posted on August 21, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 21, 2012 – TEHRAN – Amid increasing talk of a possible Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities, Iran has begun construction of a new, state-of-the-art, anti-aircraft missile base. The new base, located near the city of Abadeh, in southern Iran, will cost $300 million, be home to 6,000 personnel, and host seven battalions, Iran’s Fars news agency reported Tuesday. The Deputy Commander of the Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base, Mohammad Hosseini, said the base, the largest of its kind in Iran, will also include one of the most important military training centers in the country. Last month, a senior Iranian air defense commander asserted that all Iranian air defense units and systems are fully prepared to repel possible enemy air raids. Also on Tuesday, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled an upgraded version of a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile just weeks after it was test-fired, Iranian state media reported. At the ceremony unveiling the Fateh-110, or Conqueror, Ahmadinejad told a group of defense officials that Iran wants to advance its defense technology “not in an aggressive context, but as a deterrence. We do not seek it for conquest, domination of neighboring countries and the world. We do not want it because of defiance,” said Ahmadinejad, according to state TV. Iran considers both the United States and Israel as potential adversaries. Neither country ha s ruled out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, which they claim is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes. The official IRNA news agency reported Tuesday that the new version of Fateh-110 has a quicker launch capability, a longer life and can be used in adverse weather conditions, but gave no other details. The missile has been in service in Iran over the past decade. Iran claimed earlier in August that it successfully test-fired the missile, saying at the time that Fateh-110 has an improved accuracy to strike land and naval targets within a 300 kilometer (185 mile) range. Since 1992, Iran has tried to set up a self-sufficient military program. The country’s military leaders have said they believe future wars will take place in the air and on sea, and Tehran has sought to upgrade its air defense systems and naval power in anticipation of such a possibility. Iran has also been pushing to upgrade its missiles, which already can target Israel and US bases in the Middle East. The Pentagon released a report in June noting significant advances in Iranian missile technology, acknowledging that the Islamic Republic has improved the accuracy and firing capabilities of its missiles. Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said Iran will commission a new generation of fighter jets, missiles, unmanned drones and submarines by the Iranian New Year, which falls in March 2013. –Times of Israel
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Ethnic or religious strife, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 22 Comments Posted on August 21, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
August 21, 2012 – TEL AVIV – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is determined to attack Iran before the US elections,” Israel’s Channel 10 News claimed on Monday night, and Israel is now “closer than ever” to a strike designed to thwart Iran’s nuclear drive. The TV station’s military reporter Alon Ben-David, who earlier this year was given extensive access to the Israel Air Force as it trained for a possible attack, reported that, since upgraded sanctions against Iran have failed to force a suspension of the Iranian nuclear program in the past two months, “from the prime minister’s point of view, the time for action is getting ever closer.” Asked by the news anchor in the Hebrew-language TV report how close Israel now was to “a decision and perhaps an attack,” Ben-David said: “It appears that we are closer than ever.” He said it seemed that Netanyahu was not waiting for a much-discussed possible meeting with US President Barack Obama, after the UN General Assembly gathering in New York late next month — indeed, “it’s not clear that there’ll be a meeting.” In any case, said Ben-David, “I doubt Obama could say anything that would convince Netanyahu to delay a possible attack.” The report added that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak believe Obama would have no choice but to give backing for an Israeli attack before the US presidential elections on November 6th. There is considerable opposition to an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the report noted — with President Shimon Peres, the army’s chief of the General Staff and top generals, the intelligence community, opposition leader Shaul Mofaz, “and of course the Americans” all lined up against Israeli action at this stage. But, noted Ben-David, it is the Israeli government that would have to take the decision, and there Netanyahu is “almost guaranteed” a majority. Other Hebrew media reports on Tuesday also said Netanyahu had dispatched a senior official, National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror, to update the elderly spiritual leader of the Shas ultra-Orthodox coalition party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, on the status of the Iranian nuclear program, in order to try to win over Shas government ministers’ support for an attack. –Times of Israel  Tapping SPR, an effort to stabilize the price of oil before war? The Obama administration is monitoring oil markets and a release from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve remains “an option that is on the table” if prices rise or supply is disrupted, said Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman. The administration discussed planning for using the reserve earlier this year when the average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. increased to almost $4 a gallon and the European Union prepared to impose a ban on Iranian oil imports. Oil has climbed 3.4 percent this week on concern that Israel will strike to delay Iran from producing nuclear weapons and as the United Nations Security Council conceded it couldn’t stem the violence in Syria. The U.S. got 16.4 percent of its imported oil from the Persian Gulf in 2011, according to Energy Department figures. Discussion about the reserve comes a sensitive time in U.S. politics as President Barack Obama runs for re-election against Republican Mitt Romney with the sluggish recovery as the central issue. A steep rise in gasoline prices may crimp consumer spending, which accounts about 70 percent of the U.S. economy. In the event of any attack on Iran, the country has said it will block all oil shipments moving through the Strait of Hormuz. –Business Week
Are we on the eve of a major new crisis in the Middle East? Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Ethnic or religious strife, Global Debt Bomb, High-risk potential hazard zone, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 39 Comments Posted on August 21, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  
August 21, 2012 – ICELAND – A series of minor earthquakes was picked up by sensor by the geothermal area Krýsuvík on Reykjanes peninsula in Southwest Iceland on Saturday. The strongest of the earthquakes had a magnitude of 2.1 but most of them were below one. The series started shortly before 4 pm and lasted for three hours. The epicenter of the earthquakes was below the southern end of Kleifarvatn Lake, ruv.is reports. Geophysicist Kristín Waagfjörð at the Icelandic Meteorological Office said earthquake swarms like these are very common in the Krýsuvík area. In 2010 and 2011 there was constant uplift at Krýsuvík of a total of eight centimeters. At the end of last year, the land started sinking again. Earth scientists are monitoring the uplift closely. It might either be related to pressure from geothermal heat or magma which could lead to volcanic activity. Volcanologist Haraldur Sigurðsson writes about the conditions at Krýsuvík in the latest issue of the print edition of Iceland Review, and the risk of lava flows reaching the capital. –Iceland Review Growing unrest at Katla: An earthquake at the magnitude of 3.1 points hit north of Hábunga in Mýrdalsjökull glacier, which covers the volcano Katla in South Iceland, around 7 am this morning. The epicenter lay at a depth of 1.1 kilometers. On Friday, an earthquake at a magnitude of 3.8 points hit in the same location, visir.is reports. The information was recorded by the Icelandic Meteorological Office’s automatic sensors. They showed that the earthquake this morning was followed by a swarm of minor quakes, all of which had a magnitude of 2.0 or less. –Iceland Review -August 21, 2012 Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Land fissures, cracks, sinkholes, Magma Plume activity, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | Leave a comment Posted on August 21, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
August 21, 2012 – ASIA – If the typhoon turns as forecast, its eye may make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast Thursday, according to the weather bureau. As of 8 a.m., the eye of Tembin was located 620 kilometers southeast of Eluanbi, off the southernmost tip of Taiwan, moving at a speed of 8 km per hour in a northerly direction. Tembin, the 14th storm of the Pacific typhoon season, is packing winds of 119 kph, with gusts of up to 155 kph, and has a radius of 150 km, the bureau said. The typhoon is likely to move toward Taiwan on a northwesterly track Tuesday and take a more westerly turn Wednesday, the bureau said. A sea warning for Tembin is likely to be issued Tuesday morning and areas around Taiwan should be prepared for strong winds and heavy rain Wednesday to Friday, the bureau warned. Meanwhile, a tropical depression that formed near Guam on Sunday was still located 2,300 km from Taiwan as of 8 a.m. Monday and it may strengthen into a tropical storm over the next two days, the bureau said. –China Post 
Posted in 2012, Climate unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Cyclone or Hurricane, Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, Time - Event Acceleration, Unprecedented Flooding | 3 Comments Posted on August 21, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 21, 2012 – SYRIA - President Obama warned Syria on Monday that it would face American military intervention if there were signs that its arsenal of unconventional weapons was being moved or prepared for use. It was Mr. Obama’s first direct threat of force against Syria, as he has resisted being drawn into the bloody 18-month rebellion. The president’s warning raises the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, whom Mr. Obama again called on to relinquish power. And it underscores the deepening alarm among American officials that, as Syria sinks further into civil war, its unconventional weapons could be seized by radical forces tied to terrorist groups like Hezbollah or Al Qaeda. The warning brings Mr. Obama, who has brushed aside calls to impose a no-fly zone or to arm the Syrian rebels, a step closer to direct American engagement. The specter of unconventional weapons being loosed in the heart of the Arab world, he said, would upend his calculation that military intervention would only worsen the situation. “We cannot have a situation in which chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people,” Mr. Obama said in response to questions at an impromptu news conference at the White House. “We have been very clear to the Assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is, we start seeing a whole bunch of weapons moving around or being utilized.” “That would change my calculus,” he added. “That would change my equation.” Western authorities say that Syria’s arsenal includes chemical weapons but that they are uncertain whether the country has stockpiled biological weapons. The president said the Pentagon was drafting a range of contingency plans, working with American allies in the region, including Israel and Turkey. He expressed little confidence that the Syrian government could keep its weapons stockpile under lock and key, given the widespread strife in the country. Last month, American officials said they had unspecified evidence that Mr. Assad’s forces had moved some parts of the stockpile out of storage, although the transfer was never confirmed. Experts on Syria speculated at the time that the move reflected the government’s worry about the security of the weapons, not any intent to use them. The Syrian Foreign Ministry announced in July that it would deploy chemical weapons only against foreign intervention, never against its own citizens. –NY Times
 Syrian violence spreading to Turkey? A car bomb that exploded near a police station in southeastern Turkey has killed eight people and wounded 64 others. Police say the blast happened Monday night in the town of Gaziantep, near the country’s border with Syria. The remote-controlled explosion also set several vehicles on fire. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. Rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are active in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast. More than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 to demand autonomy. –VOA
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Ethnic or religious strife, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced | 4 Comments Posted on August 21, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  August 21, 2012 – ALASKA - Cleveland Volcano experienced yet another explosion on Friday morning – its twentieth since Christmas. Cleveland is one of the Aleutian Islands’ most active volcanoes. It’s been on watch for the better part of the past two years, and in June it blew ash 35,000 feet high. Today’s explosion was small by comparison and didn’t produce a visible ash cloud, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Since there isn’t any real-time monitoring equipment on Cleveland, the explosion was detected using infrasound and seismic equipment on nearby volcanoes. Cleveland lies on uninhabited Chuginadak Island, about 115 miles away from Unalaska and 900 miles from Anchorage. While there isn’t a population center near the volcano, it does lie below a major international flight path and could cause major air traffic problems in the event of a serious eruption. –Alaska public
Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Ash, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | Leave a comment ← Older posts Load more posts | Posted on October 19, 2012 
October 19, 2012 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA – A bright fireball, reportedly with hues of red and orange, streaked across the night sky visible from San Francisco’s Bay Area on Wednesday, October 18, around 8 p.m. local time (3UTC on October 18). Many say they heard a boom, which was so loud it “shook their homes,” some residents said, making them think it may be an earthquake. Belmont, California astronomer Wes Jones captured the fireball as it sailed across the sky on October 17, just as it was entering the trees. –Earth Sky Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Fireballs, Meteor or Asteroid, Mystery Boom & Shaking, Seismic tremors,Space Watch, Time - Event Acceleration | 8 Comments Posted on October 18, 2012  October 18, 2012 – New Hampshire — An “unusual event” indeed. The 4.0 magnitude earthquake that rumbled across the Seacoast and beyond Tuesday evening triggered normal safety protocols at the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared an “unusual event” — NRC-speak for the lowest of its four levels of emergency classifications — at 7:20 p.m. Tuesday. The declaration was prompted by on-site ground motion resulting from an earthquake centered near Hollis, Maine — about 50 miles from the plant. “There was absolutely no impact to the plant from the earthquake,” said Al Griffith, spokesman for NextEra Energy, the plant’s owner. Griffith said a series of mandated safety checks were conducted at the plant, concluding at 1:49 a.m., some six and a half hours after the tremor. Citing the “robustness” of the plant’s design, Griffith assured that it is capable of withstanding a far, far greater impact than Tuesday’s quake. There are seismic monitors on site and Griffith said officials will be conducting “a very thorough examination and analysis of all of our data.” An NRC resident inspector assigned to Seabrook responded to the site last night to confirm that there were no immediate safety issues at the plant, which is currently shut down for a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage. “The reactor was fully shut down at the time the earthquake occurred,” said Neil Sheehan, regional public officer for the NRC. “Following procedures used when there is seismic activity affecting the plant, NextEra personnel conducted initial walkdowns, i.e., visual inspections, and confirmed that all key safety systems were functioning properly and that there was no significant structural damage,” Sheehan said in a statement. “The company will subsequently gather more seismic data and perform more detailed inspections.” Asked about the need to be vigilant in preparing for and reacting to any seismic activity, particularly in the wake of the March 2011 disaster following an earthquake and tsunami at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, Sheehan said, “What happened at Fukushima served as a vivid reminder” of why the highest safety protocols are put in place and enforced. Last April, NextEra Energy conducted a tsunami drill Tuesday at the Seabrook Station plant in order to identify strengths and weaknesses of the plant in case of such a disaster. –Sea Coast On-line
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Infrastructure collapse, Nuclear plant crisis,Seismic tremors, Time - Event Acceleration | Leave a comment Posted on October 18, 2012  October 18, 2012 – DOMINCIAN REPUBLIC – A 4.7 magnitude quake rattled the Central Mountain towns of Padre las Casas and Constanza Tuesday night, panicking residents. It’s the third moderate tremor in as many days in the country’s south-central region, felt in several towns in the area. According to the United States Geodetic Survey, the quake occurred at 11:30pm, at a depth of 12.7 kilometers (around 8 miles). Inhabitants of the villages of Guayabal and Sabana Yegua also felt the shake and another, less intense aftershock minutes later. No damages have been reported thus far. –Dominican Today
Posted in Earth Changes | Leave a comment Posted on October 18, 2012  October 18, 2012 – CLIMATE – Are there more tropical cyclones now than in the past? – or is it just something we believe because we now hear more about them through media coverage and are better able detect them with satellites? New research from the Niels Bohr Institute clearly shows that there is an increasing tendency for cyclones when the climate is warmer, as it has been in recent years. The results are published in the scientific journal PNAS. How can you examine the frequency of tropical cyclones throughout history when they have not been systematically registered? Today cyclones are monitored from satellites and you can follow their progress and direction very accurately. But it is only the last approx. 40 years that we have been able to do this. Previously, they used observations from ships and aircraft, but these were not systematic measurements. In order to get a long-term view of the frequency of cyclones, it is necessary to go further back in time and use a uniform reference. Climate scientist Aslak Grinsted of the Centre for Ice and Climate at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen therefore wanted to find some instruments that have stood and registered measurements continuously over a long period of time. “Tropical cyclones typically form out in the Atlantic Ocean and move towards the U.S. East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. I found that there were monitoring stations along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States where they had recorded the daily tide levels all the way back to 1923. I have looked at every time there was a rapid change in sea level and I could see that there was a close correlation between sudden changes in sea level and historical accounts of tropical storms,” explains Aslak Grinsted. Aslak Grinsted now had a tool to create statistics on the frequency of cyclones that make landfall – all the way back to 1923. He could see that there has been an increasing trend in the number of major storm surges since 1923. –Terra Daily
Posted in Climate unraveling, Cyclone or Hurricane, Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch,Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot,Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration | 4 Comments Posted on October 17, 2012  October 18, 2012 – HAWAII – Kilauea Volcano has been putting on quite a show lately… as the lava lake within the Halemaumau Crater has reached its highest level since the summit eruption began in 2008. The lava lake at Kīlauea’s summit was only about 150 feet below the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater on Sunday — the highest it has reached, according to the scientists of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. For the past several months, lava within the summit vent has been slowly rising. As of October 5, 2012, lava reached a level that covered the previous high-lava “bathtub” ring within the vent. It was around this time that the bangs and booms of the volcano began to be heard as far away as the Jaggar Museum Overlook in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, thrilling crowds day and night. This video shows the heat from the high lava lake level in the overlook vent, causing the walls of the vent above the lava surface to expand and fracture. Scientists say this is the source of the cracking and booming noises emanating from the vent in recent days. Here, we see small fragments of rock exploding from the wall and scattering onto the lake surface. The HVO says the rise in lava level within the vent is associated with a modest uplift and expansion of Kilauea’s summit area. The root cause for this expansion isn’t clear. Scientists don’t believe there’s an increase in magma supply from below. They do believe there could be a connection in the volcanic plumbing system between the summit magma reservoir and the active Pu`u `O`o eruptive vent on Kilauea’s east rift zone. On at least three occasions between March and September 2011, the level of the lava lake within the summit vent was unusually elevated. This condition caused increased pressure within the east rift plumbing system, resulting in notable eruptive outbreaks: the short-lived Kamoamoa fissure eruption just uprift of Pu`u `O`o and two subsequent events in which Pu`u `O`o was split open along its flanks. This time, however, it appears that the associated high summit pressure has not significantly transmitted down the volcano’s east rift. The lava level within Pu`u `O`o crater, while elevated, is not extraordinarily so. And even though lava is flowing through a tube near the base of the Pu`u `O`o cone, flows haven’t reached the ocean in nearly a year. According to the HVO, a steady decrease in Kilauea’s east rift zone gas emissions since August 2012 also suggests a decrease in magma flow between the summit and east rift zone. Scientists say one possible outcome of continued summit expansion and lava level rise could be an eventual outpouring of lava on the floor of Halema`uma`u Crater. Alternatively, the increased pressure might overcome the apparent constriction, resulting in an outbreak somewhere between the summit and Pu`u `O`o, akin to the March 2011 Kamoamoa fissure eruption. –Big Island News
Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Lithosphere collapse & fisssure, Magma Plume activity, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening,Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | 2 Comments Posted on October 17, 2012  October 17, 2012 – GEOLOGY - An extremely brief reversal of the geomagnetic field, climate variability and a supervolcanic eruption. 41,000 years ago, a complete and rapid reversal of the geomagnetic field occurred. Magnetic studies of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences on sediment cores from the Black Sea show that during this period, during the last ice age, a compass at the Black Sea would have pointed to the south instead of north. Moreover, data obtained by the research team formed around GFZ researchers Dr. Norbert Nowaczyk and Prof. Helge Arz, together with additional data from other studies in the North Atlantic, the South Pacific and Hawaii, prove that this polarity reversal was a global event. Their results are published in the latest issue of the scientific journal “Earth and Planetary Science Letters.” What is remarkable is the speed of the reversal: “The field geometry of reversed polarity, with field lines pointing into the opposite direction when compared to today’s configuration, lasted for only about 440 years, and it was associated with a field strength that was only one quarter of today’s field,” explains Norbert Nowaczyk. “The actual polarity changes lasted only 250 years. In terms of geological time scales, that is very fast.” During this period, the field was even weaker, with only 5% of today’s field strength. As a consequence, the Earth nearly completely lost its protection shield against hard cosmic rays, leading to a significantly increased radiation exposure. This is documented by peaks of radioactive beryllium (10Be) in ice cores from this time, recovered from the Greenland ice sheet. 10Be as well as radioactive carbon (14C) is caused by the collision of high-energy protons from space with atoms of the atmosphere. The polarity reversal now found with the magnetisation of Black Sea sediments has already been known for 45 years. It was first discovered after the analysis of the magnetisation of several lava flows near the village Laschamp near Clermont-Ferrand in the Massif Central, which differed significantly from today’s direction of the geomagnetic field. Since then, this geomagnetic feature is known as the ‘Laschamp event.’ However, the data of the Massif Central represent only some point readings of the geomagnetic field during the last ice age, whereas the new data from the Black Sea give a complete image of geomagnetic field variability at a high temporal resolution. Besides giving evidence for a geomagnetic field reversal 41,000 years ago, the geoscientists from Potsdam discovered numerous abrupt climate changes during the last ice age in the analyzed cores from the Black Sea, as it was already known from the Greenland ice cores. This ultimately allowed a high precision synchronization of the two data records from the Black Sea and Greenland. The largest volcanic eruption on the Northern hemisphere in the past 100 000 years, namely the eruption of the super volcano 39400 years ago in the area of today’s Phlegraean Fields near Naples, Italy, is also documented within the studied sediments from the Black Sea. The ashes of this eruption, during which about 350 cubic kilometers of rock and lava were ejected, were distributed over the entire eastern Mediterranean and up to central Russia. These three extreme scenarios, a short and fast reversal of the Earth’s magnetic field, short-term climate variability of the last ice age and the volcanic eruption in Italy, have been investigated for the first time in a single geological archive and placed in precise chronological order. –Science Codex
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Magma Plume activity, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Prophecies referenced, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Eruption | 10 Comments Posted on October 17, 2012  October 17, 2012 – INDONESIA - Jakarta: An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale jolted off North Sulawesi province in eastern Indonesia on Wednesday but neither tsunami alert was triggered nor casualties or damages were reported. Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said that the quake happened at 11:42 a.m. Jakarta time (04:42 GMT) with epicenter at 113 km northwest of Kepulauan Sangihe in the province at the depth of 308 km under sea bed. The U.S. Geological Survey said that the earthquake measuring 6. 0 on the Richter scale jolted Celebes Sea between Sulawesi and Mindanao. Head of Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency in Sangihe district, Rintj Sambato, said that there was no building damages or casualties. Indonesia sits on the so called “Pacific Ring of Fire” vulnerable to seismic and volcanic activity. –Zee News
Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch | Leave a comment Posted on October 17, 2012  October 17, 2012 - PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — An earthquake in southern Maine has rattled nearby New England states. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the 4.0 magnitude quake was about 3 miles west of Hollis Center, Maine, and about 3 miles deep. That location is about 20 miles west of Portland. The quake was felt in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, including Boston, and as far south as Rhode Island and Connecticut. The Maine Emergency Management Agency had no immediate reports of damage. The York County Communications Center near the epicenter was inundated with emergency calls, and dispatchers were too busy to talk. -Whdh
 Loud rumbling noise: Some heard a loud bang. Others felt rolling vibrations. Still others thought it was a large truck, airplane, or helicopter. The 4.0-magnitude earthquake that hit west of Hollis Center, Maine, at 7:12 p.m. Tuesday was different things to different people as it rumbled across New England. “We heard it coming – it sounded like an airplane at treetop level. The quake probably only lasted about five seconds. It felt like it went up my driveway, under the kitchen and out the back yard. It was pretty cool,” Bill from Northborough wrote on the “Feel the Quake?” forum on boston.com. The earthquake surprised residents who rarely experience the phenomenon. Fortunately, no real damage was reported. More than 7,000 people across Massachusetts, including people from 344 of the state’s 351 communities, submitted reports of feeling the quake to the US Geological Survey’s website. More than 500 people in Boston and 300 in Cambridge filed reports, according to the agency. Hundreds of people also contributed accounts of the quake to boston.com. “I live in a house that’s over 100 years old. I’ve never felt any motion before. The house is solid, but this evening I felt it sway and almost ran out of the house. It was very disconcerting. I live in Lexington on a high hill,” Ashley Lieberman wrote. Mary shared her experience from York, Maine, which is about an hour from the epicenter of the quake. “At first, after feeling what seemed like a big bang, including a loud sound, I thought something in the neighborhood blew up or that a car hit the house, but then the house started shaking and I realized what was happening. It was pretty scary! I was glad it discontinued after a few seconds. Hope I never feel one again,” she wrote. Dan B. from Newburyport said his house shook for five seconds and he first ran to the basement to check his furnace. “I thought it was a large low flying helicopter,” he wrote. “It shook the nerves of my three children, all under 10 years old. We also have a calm dog who began to bark during the shake.” John Ebel, director of the Weston Observatory and professor of geophysics at Boston College, said some people might have had a few items rattled off shelves but that he has not received any reports of real damage. -Boston
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration | 36 Comments Posted on October 16, 2012  October 16, 2012 – ICELAND – Chief of Police in Hvolsvöllur, a representative of the Icelandic Road Administration and geophysicist Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson will discuss at a meeting on Thursday whether the levees to the east of Vík, which lies across the Ring Road near the river Múlakvísl, must be raised to prove effective in case of a volcanic eruption in Katla. Geologist Ari Trausti Guðmundsson stated in an article in Morgunblaðið yesterday that it is important to raise the levees judging by the information available on the volume and depth of flooding from Katla, ruv.is reports. The volcano lies underneath the Mýrdalsjökull icecap and a volcanic eruption is likely to cause a major glacier outburst. The levees are the responsibility of the Icelandic Road Administration and according to a report conducted by Einar Hafliðason, a representative of the Road Administration, last spring there was no need to raise the levees given the conditions at hand. The levees are now five meters high and 4,000-5,000 meters long. Scientists are monitoring the volcano closely due to ongoing seismic activity. –Iceland Review
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Infrastructure collapse, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Unprecedented Flooding, Volcano Watch | 3 Comments Posted on October 16, 2012 
October 16, 2012 – IRAN – If there is a man who brings together all the fears of the West, it is General Mohammed Ali Jafari, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Hardened by torture in the prisons of the former Shah, Jafari was among the students who stormed the US Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979. He later fought in the Iran-Iraq War, and in 2007 Jafari, who has a degree in architecture, assumed command of the Revolutionary Guards, also known as the Pasdaran. The group, founded by revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khamenei to defend the Islamic regime, has since developed into a state within the state. Today the Pasdaran control several companies and are likely a more effective military force than the regular army. Of the 21 ministers in the Iranian cabinet, 13 have completed Pasdaran training. Within this group of hardliners, Jafari, 55, is seen being particularly unyielding. In 2009, for example, he declared that Iran would fire missiles at Israel’s nuclear research center in Dimona if the Israelis attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities — knowing full well that such an attack would result in several thousand deaths on both sides. Now Jafari and his supporters are allegedly preparing new potential horrors. Western intelligence agencies have acquired a plan marked “top secret” and code-named “Murky Water.” Together with Ali Fadawi, an admiral in the Pasdaran, Jafari is thought to have proposed a senseless act of sabotage: to intentionally cause an environmental catastrophe in the Strait of Hormuz.  The goal of the plan seems to be that of contaminating the strait so as to temporarily close the important shipping route for international oil tankers, thereby “punishing” the Arab countries that are hostile to Iran and forcing the West to join Iran in a large-scale cleanup operation — one that might require the temporary suspension of sanctions against Tehran. Western intelligence experts speculate that Jafari’s planned operation is an expression of growing frustration. Contrary to claims made by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in an interview with SPIEGEL last week, the embargo imposed on Tehran is causing far more than “discomfort.” Iran derives more than 50 percent of its government revenue from oil exports, which declined from about 2.4 million barrels a day in July 2011 to about 1 million barrels in July 2012. But Iran has only cut back production by less than a quarter, because of the technical complexity and expense involved in temporarily capping wells. Iran can hardly sell its oil because of the embargo. Even countries that don’t feel bound to uphold the sanctions are shying away from deals, because no one wants to insure the oil shipments. The storage tanks on the Iranian mainland have been full for some time, and there are no neighboring countries to which Tehran’s leaders would entrust their treasure. For weeks now, tankers have been carrying 40 million barrels of oil through the Gulf around the clock. Most of the giant 15 VLCC supertankers and five smaller Suezmax ships, sailing under the Iranian flag, have switched off their automatic identification system. This makes it more difficult for foreign spies to detect them, but it also increases the risk of accidents. Countries bordering the Gulf have apparently complained to Tehran about the risky practice several times. –Der Spiegel
contribution by Michael A. Bridges Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Environmental Threat, Ethnic or religious strife, Financial System Collapse, Hazardous chemical exposure, High-risk potential hazard zone, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War,Prophecies referenced, Resource war, Rising tension between nations, Time - Event Acceleration | 3 Comments Posted on October 16, 2012  October 16, 2012 – NEVADA – Some rattling and rolling in the area has earthquake experts on alert. In the past week more than 100 small earthquakes have shaken the earth beneath Spanish Springs. So far they’ve been too small to feel, but quake experts want you to know they’re happening. There’s no reason to panic – but it’s a good reminder to make sure you’re prepared. “People can consider certain mitigation steps in case these earthquakes increase in intensity and there’s a larger one,” said Ken Smith, associate director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory. Smith says most injuries from earthquakes are caused by falling or flying objects – and you don’t want to wait for a big quake to get ready. “Secure your water heaters. Secure your valuables. Secure your book cases,” Smith said. It’s not strange for a dozen quakes this size to happen in a week, but there have been at least 115 since October 8, and about 60 of those have been since Thursday. “These things are totally unpredictable,” Smith said. “It could stop today, or it could keep going at a level of very small events that no one would feel.” Or they could get stronger. So far, they’re small – with the biggest two quakes shaking at magnitude one – but there’s potential for one that really rocks Reno. “We have faults around here that are capable of magnitude seven type events,” Smith said. So this week the Great Nevada Shakeout will teach people to drop, cover and hold-on just in case there’s a big quake. It’s Nevada’s largest earthquake drill and it’s this Thursday, October 18 at 10:18 am. –KRNV
Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Volcano Watch | 6 Comments Posted on October 16, 2012 
October 16, 2012 – MADAGASCAR – Tropical Cyclone Anais is estimated to have a maximum wind of 115 mph as of early this morning, which is equivalent to a category 3 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. The southwestern Indian Ocean is prone to tropical cyclones but what makes Anais so rare is that it is occurring in October, which is early springtime in the southern Hemisphere. The peak period for tropical events in this part of the world is normally during our winter months of January-March. Anais is forecast to move southwest in the general direction of Madagascar for the next five days and weaken as it moves into cooler waters and unfavorable winds.We rarely hear much about the southern Indian Ocean storms as the area has little land and the storms mostly stay at sea. Occasionally Madagascar or the island nations of Mauritius and Reunion will take a hit, and more rarely a storm will reach mainland Africa. Forecast responsibility for this region is through the French weather service, Meteo France, located in La Reunion to the east of Madagascar. The countries in the Indian Ocean simply refer to these storms as Tropical Cyclones, regardless of intensity. Tropical Cyclone Anais is the same thing as a hurricane in the Atlantic or typhoon in the western Pacific. However, note that it rotates the opposite direction, clockwise, because it is in the southern Hemisphere. To illustrate how unusual this event is, Anais is like having a Category 3 hurricane in the Caribbean in April. –C2Houston Posted in Climate unraveling, Cyclone or Hurricane, Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch,Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, Prophecies referenced, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening,Strange high tides & freak waves, Time - Event Acceleration | Leave a comment Posted on October 15, 2012   
October 15, 2012 – JAPAN – Sunday saw the Japanese Navy celebrate its 60th anniversary with the equivalent of an ocean-based military parade featuring around 40 of the country’s ships. The exercise, held in waters south of Tokyo, was clearly intended to be a display of maritime strength as the dispute with China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, while calmer, still continues. Japan’s destroyers, submarines, and hovercraft were joined by warships from the U.S., Singapore, and Australia as part of the joint-event. The representatives of more than 20 countries, including China, were present for the parade on Sunday. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda stated that the country was currently facing “severe” challenges to its maritime security, and while he didn’t mention China specifically, it was more than obvious that was who he was pointing his finger at. While the growing military strength of China has been a concern to Japan, and other Asian nations, the repeated instances of Chinese patrol ships in the waters near the territorial islands over the last few weeks has the government of Tokyo more alarmed than usual. The Japanese sailor present that day were advised by Prime Minister Noda to be ready for “new responsibilities” as the country’s security situation changes. The naval exercise is held every three years, but as this was the 60th anniversary, they pulled out all the stops. The Japan Coast Guard was planned to participate in the event, but it was felt that all of its ships’ resources were needed at the disputed islands. –Japan Daily Press  Chinese warships deployed near disputed islands: (Oct 16) Japanese aircraft have spotted seven Chinese warships in waters off a southern Japan island and about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the uninhabited isles at the center of a territorial dispute between the two countries. Japanese officials say the ships were sighted about 49 kilometers (30 miles) from the island of Yonaguni, in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture (state). The ships were believed to be returning to China after training in the Pacific. Japan considers the area part of its contiguous waters, but it is not illegal for foreign vessels to transit them. Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto said Japan is monitoring the ships’ movement. China and Japan have stepped up their naval activities in the area around Okinawa because of the dispute, but there have been no clashes between their warships. -13 WGME
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Ethnic or religious strife, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War,Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations, Rumors of War, Time - Event Acceleration | 9 Comments Posted on October 15, 2012 
October 15, 2012 – KAMCHATKA – The Klyuchevskoy volcano, the highest active volcano in Eurasia, has started erupting in Kamchatka, in the Russian Far East. The luminescence over the volcano summit is evidence that glowing lava is flowing in the crater. The volcano may start blowing out ash any moment now. The Level of Concern Colour Code has been raised to Yellow, which is a potential danger warning for aircraft. The giant volcano last erupted from September 2009 to December 2010, and it began to again wake up in June this year. Klyuchevskoy volcano is 4,750 meters above sea. –VOR Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | 2 Comments Posted on October 15, 2012  October 15, 2012 – COLOMBIA - According to the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Manizales, an earthquake measuring 2.6 on the Richter scale occurred yesterday at 11:54 am. The statement also notes that the incident “is associated with rock fracturing within the volcanic edifice.” The volcano-tectonic earthquake was presented to the southeast of the main dome at a depth of 12.33 miles. Although the movement was felt in the district Tapias, rural Ibagué, Eduardo Rodríguez, director of the Departmental Committee for Risk Management, confirmed that no emergencies have been reported so far. The Cerro Machin volcano alert remains yellow. There have been three earthquakes reported in the vicinity of the volcano within a week. On Sunday two movements were recorded at 9:32 and 9:35 pm with a magnitude of 4.6 and 3.9 on the Richter scale, respectively, located 12 kilometers southeast of depth to the main dome. The two municipalities where the tremors were felt are Cajamarca and Ibague. Cerro Machin last erupted 800 years ago. –Elnuevodia (translated)
 El Hierro: It seems a new earthquake swarm has started at El Hierro volcano yesterday, when the number of quakes rose from an average of about 8-10 to 23 quakes per day. Today, so far there have been 14 events recorded, and their number is likely to rise further. The quakes are very small (mostly under M1, largest M2.0) and are concentrated at about 10 km depth in the western El Golfo and scattered in the SW part of the island at greater depths.
Iceland: A new earthquake swarm occurred over the weekend on the Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula, on the volcanic rift zone about 12 km SW of Brenisteinsfjöll volcano. The largest quake was a M3.8 event at 5 km depth on Friday at 19:42 UTC. Yellowstone: A minor seismic swarm occurred at Yellowstone, but falls into what is normal activity at a large active caldera. -Volcano Discovery Posted in 2012, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcano Watch| 4 Comments Posted on October 14, 2012 
October 14, 2012 – BOLIVIA – Geophysicists at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have identified a unique phenomenon in Altiplano-Puna plateau, located in the central Andes near the borders of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Magma underneath the Earth’s crust is forcing the ground up in one spot, and at the same time sinking the ground around it. The result is something the researchers have described as the “sombrero uplift,” after the popular Mexican hat. According to their report on the phenomenon, published in the journal Science, the two UC San Diego scientists recorded uplift in the crust that measured about 0.4 inches per year for 20 years across an area 62 miles wide; the surrounding area sunk at a lower rate—about eight-hundredths of an inch. “It’s a subtle motion, pushing up little by little every day, but it’s this persistence that makes this uplift unusual. Most other magmatic systems that we know about show episodes of inflation and deflation,” said Yuri Fialko, a professor of geophysics at UCSD and Planetary Physics at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Fialko and co-author Jill Pearse said the phenomenon was the result of a diapir, or a blob of magma, that rises to Earth’s crust like heated wax inside a lava lamp. Using satellite data from European Remote Sensing (ERS) and Envisat missions, the geophysicists were able to study the uplift in great detail. In 2006, the team asked for the satellites to gather more data from their orbits over Altiplano-Puna. “It was really important to have good data from different lines of sight, as this allowed us to estimate contributions from vertical and horizontal motion of Earth’s surface, and place crucial constraints on depth and mechanism of the inflation source,” Fialko said. “Back in 2006, it looked like the satellites stopped acquiring data from the ascending orbits over the area of interest. Fortunately, ESA was very responsive to our requests, and generated an excellent dataset that made our study possible. Satellite data and computer models allowed us to make the important link between what’s observed at the surface and what’s happening with the magma body at depth,” he added. Fialko said the study’s findings could fuel future research around magmatic events, including the formation of large calderas. Although this diapir in the Altiplano-Puna plateau appears unlikely to cause such a phenomenon—the creation of large calderas, “supervolcanoes,” are highly destructive events that spew thousands of cubic kilometers of magma into the atmosphere. An event of this type would dwarf the Icelandic volcano eruption in 2011 that ejected large amounts of ash into the atmosphere and disrupted global air travel, Fialko said. Diapirs have been known to exist before, but this new study is the first to recognize an active diapir currently rising through the crust. Fialko said a less prominent uplift phenomenon is taking place near Socorro, New Mexico. The Altiplano-Puna plateau is a highly active area for magma and is part of a South American volcanic arc that extends along the northwest side of the continent. Experts have described the area as the largest known active magma body in Earth’s continental crust. –Red Orbit Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone,Magma Plume activity, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Prophecies referenced, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Ash, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | 17 Comments Posted on October 14, 2012  October 14, 2012 – INDONESIA - A new eruptive phase began on Thursday, 9th October (or possibly the 8th October) at Paluweh volcano, the volcano has been dormant since 1985. Paluweh is also known as Rokatenda. The volcano has shown signs of revival since October 1st. The MODVOLC (MODIS) detected thermal anomalies on 9th October followed by an emission of large ash plumes that could be seen from Flores Island, plus reports of “huge fire” issuing from the top of the volcano. Several villages reported intense ash fall. 6000 people have been reported to have evacuated the area. Dust masks are being distributed. The head of the East Nusa Tenggara chapter of BNPB, Tini Thadeus, said Rokatenda was currently on Alert Level II status, “Waspada,” out of four statuses, with the fourth being the most dangerous. Tini said two other volcanoes in the province, namely Mount Lewotolok in the district of Lembata and Mount Sirung in the subdistrict of Alor, were on the “Waspada” status as well.–Volcano Discovery
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Ash, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | 9 Comments Posted on October 14, 2012 
October 14, 2012 – JAPAN - A Japanese scientist has warned Mount Fuji is due for a “big-scale explosive eruption” that could affect millions of people and cause billions of dollars worth of damage. Last month a study found the magma chamber under the mountain has come under immense pressure, which could even trigger a volcanic eruption. It said the added pressure could have been caused by last year’s earthquake, which was followed a few days later by another large tremor directly underneath Fuji. Professor Toshitsugu Fujii, the head of Japan’s volcanic eruption prediction panel, says an eruption could cause chaos and carnage all the way to Tokyo. “Mount Fuji has been resting for 300 years now, and this is abnormal,” he told Saturday AM. “It usually erupts in some form every 30 years. So the next eruption could be a big-scale explosive eruption.” Ever since last year’s massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake off Japan’s north-east, the country’s meteorological agency has been keeping a closer eye on Mount Fuji. Of even greater concern to the agency was a magnitude-6.2 quake right under the volcano a few days after the big one. “It’s known that when a large earthquake happens, it can trigger a nearby volcano to erupt,” Professor Fujii said. “That’s what happened 300 years ago, when Fuji erupted just 40 days after a big quake.” –ABC News Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration,Volcanic Ash, Volcano Watch | 3 Comments Posted on October 14, 2012  October 14, 2012 – WELLINGTON, NZ – News of the ‘Wellington hum’ has reverberated across the country with the local council inundated with calls on theories about the phenomenon. The Wellington City Council says calls have flooded in since the noise was first reported in parts of the city three days ago. The cause of the noise is still unknown but council spokesperson Clayton Anderson says there are several theories floating around. “We’ve had around 20 phone calls and got around a dozen emails from around New Zealand from people speculating what it is,” he says. One theory is that the Wellington sewerage pump station is reverberating through the pipes into people’s house. Another caller said the work being carried out on the Mt Victoria Tunnel ventilation shaft could be producing a low-pitched hum. The most bizarre theory was from a man convinced Daleks – fictional mutant aliens from the TV series Doctor Who – had surrounded the city. But Daleks or not, it appears the noise is spreading with the council receiving its first call from a resident in Berhampore last night. It takes the total to around 20 noise complaints from Mt Victoria, Mt Cook, Newtown, Berhampore and Karori. “We’ve put the word out to our business units about what could potentially be making that noise and they’ve all come back saying it’s not us,” says Mr Anderson. He says the council will continue to go out and monitor noise complaints. -3 News
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Hum noise, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Strange unexplained noises, Time - Event Acceleration, Unsolved Mystery | 16 Comments Posted on October 14, 2012 
October 14, 2012 – AUSTRALIA - Snow has fallen across New South Wales and the ACT as a cold snap hits the region. The unseasonal weather saw residents in areas including the Blue Mountains and southern tablelands waking up to snow on Friday. There is also snow around Canberra, following the coldest October day there in more than 40 years. There was a maximum temperature of 8C in the Canberra area on Thursday, 11 degrees below the October average and the coldest since 1967. Overnight snow fell in the hills between Canberra and Bungendore and in areas around Goulburn and Crookwell to the north. The Bureau of Meteorology said many areas could see snow, frost and hail as the result of a low pressure system moving across NSW. “We’ve had quite a few reports of snow. We’re expecting snow down to 700m over many parts of the state,” said meteorologist Julie Evans. There has been 2.5cm of snow on the ground reported at Nerriga, in the southern tablelands. In the Blue Mountains, snow has been falling between Blackheath and Katoomba. Sussex Inlet on the south coast experienced a thunderstorm about 4am on Friday, with “extensive small hail” falling, Ms Evans said. “We do get this late season snow but it doesn’t happen very often,” she added. “The last time was in 2008 when we saw snow in the Snowy Mountains and central tablelands in November.” In some areas, the temperatures will struggle to reach double figures on Friday, with central western Orange seeing a high of 9C. On Saturday, temperatures will dip below zero with Walcha, in the state’s north, due to get a low of -4C. The low pressure was expected to affect Sydney in the form of heavy rain on Friday, along with a “”harp increase in wind,” Ms Evans said. Coastal areas will bear the brunt and surfing conditions were described by the meteorologist as dangerous. On Saturday there is likely to be extensive frost up and down the tablelands but temperatures are set to improve across the state as the weekend progresses. Ausgrid has warned residents in Sydney, the Central Coast and Hunter Valley to beware of power lines that may have fallen as a result of the bad weather. Ulladulla on the NSW south coast was hit by strong winds and rainfall. The town saw 225mm of rain fall in less than 24 hours and there were gusts of 47 knots on Friday morning, approaching 90km an hour. South of the town, heavy storms led to even higher falls, with 288mm at Burrill Lake in the same period. In Sydney, large swells caused the cancellation of ferries between Manly and Circular Quay. The Great Western Highway has been closed in both directions at Wentworth Falls due to heavy snow and black ice. The cold front had already swept through South Australia, causing unseasonal snow flurries around Adelaide and trapping a school group who were hiking in Victoria. In Queensland, there also have been reports of sleet hitting part of the state’s southeast. –Herald Sun contribution Pagan Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Prophecies referenced, Rare snowfall, Record Cold temperatures, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration | 4 Comments Load more posts 
Is Netanyahu’s Iran War Hype a National Security Threat to America? 
Dr. Steve Pieczenik, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in three administrations, who earned his Ph.D. at MIT, has revealed that he has been told by a high-ranking general–whom I believe to have been Gen. Richard Myers–that 9/11 was a “false flag” attack, which was done by the government in order to arouse the American people to support wars of aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq. On Alex Jones, he has now asserted that Israel is going to attack Iran on Yom Kippur, which begins on Tuesday, 25 September 2011. He insists that Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu are at odds over this, where Obama and the Pentagon are opposed to any such attack. I think Pieczenik is very honest and has run risks by revealing that he was told it had been a “false flag” operation to induce the public to support wars of aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq. I wish that I could believe that the US “won’t be drawn into another unpopular war”. Given the coming presidential elections, however, where a new war in the Middle East would be overwhelmingly unpopular with the American public, Obama needs plausible deniability, which means that it must appear to the public as though this engagement was initiated by Iran, where the most likely scenario has an Israeli sub torpedo the USS Enterprise, our first nuclear-powered carrier, and blame it on Iran. This would not be the first example of monumental hypocisy by Obama. The administration, for example, has opposed the invalidation of the indefinite detention provisions of NDAA, which were blatantly unConstitutional on their face and take us back to a time prior to the Magna Carta. I am also stunned that DHS continues to acquire more and more ammunition: what conceivable reason can it have for stocking more than 1.5 BILLION ROUNDS of .40 hollow point, which is not even permissible for use in warfare under the Geneva Conventions? DHS does not engage in operations abroad; therefore, it has to be for operations within the borders of the USA. That enormous quantity would require absurd storage were it not to be used in the near term. Between the FEMA camps and the surveillance (probably predator) drones being authorized here (for no other discernible reason), we have to bite the bullet and acknowledge that our own government, THE US GOVERNMENT, IS PREPARING TO GO TO WAR WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. It has to be anticipating some cause of massive unrest and actual uprising by ordinary citizens, which could come from (1) the collapse of our economic system (where our bank accounts are vacated), (2) masses with Fukushima-induced radiation sickness (becoming like a vast class of Zombies), or (3) the nation is decimated by nuclear retaliation as a consequence of an attack on Iran (and the public is ravaging for its own survival). The third, at present, appears to me to be the most probable. Circumstantial Proof Bear in mind that Iran has not attacked any other country for more than 300 years. Iran has signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has allowed inspectors into its facilities. Iran has disavowed the pursuit of nuclear weapons, even though it is my belief that it is entitled to have them and that, as in the case of the “Cold War”, where mutually assured destruction of the US of the USSR and of the US by the USSR ushered in a period of stability that endured for nearly fifty years, it would bring greater stability to the Middle East. Israel, by comparison, has 200-600 or more of these little beauties. Israel has refused to sign the NPT. Israel will not allow inspectors into its own facilities. Israel has refused to participate in a conference in Finland to discuss the nuclear disarmament of the Middle East, for the obvious reason that Israel wants nuclear disarmament for every country in the Middle East except Israel! If an attack where imminent, then we would expect Israeli shills to be attempting (again) to demonize Iran and its leaders as a threat to the world, where Ed Koch is fulfilling that role: Iran Will Attack U.S. if It Gets Nuclear Weapons By Edward Koch The New York Times of Sept. 17 reported that “in Iran, the commander of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, took the unusual step of holding a news conference on Sunday to warn that ‘nothing will remain’ in Israel if it or any other nation launches attacks against his country. “He said that Iran and its allies — presumably Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza — would retaliate at Israel’s borders, as would Iran itself in Israel and beyond, targeting American military bases in the Persian Gulf and shutting down the Strait of Hormuz,” according to the newspaper.
The Times goes on to report: “Iran has often threatened to counter any attack, but the general’s threats were unusually specific and signaled Iran’s intent to turn any possible attack into a regional conflict. ‘Our response to Israel is clear: I think nothing will remain of Israel,’ General Jafari said, according to an account by The Associated Press. ‘Given Israel’s small land area and its vulnerability to a massive volume of Iran’s missiles, I don’t think any spot in Israel will remain safe.’ General Jafari also confirmed, in what appeared to be the clearest terms so far, that some high-level advisers from his elite unit were working in Syria and Lebanon, underscoring how deeply intertwined the many conflicts in the region have become.” So now we have one of Iran’s top generals joining the president of Iran in calling for the destruction of Israel. The Iranian general threatens Israel’s total demise and destruction “if [Israel] or any other nation launches attacks against his country.” The Iranian president’s longstanding calls for Israel’s destruction have always been unconditional. Israel is normally referred to by Iranian government officials as the “little Satan” and the U.S. as the “big Satan.” You can be sure that if and when Iran develops a nuclear bomb and a rocket capable of reaching the U.S., we here in the U.S. will be at risk simply because we exist. The fanatic Muslims engaged in jihad against Western civilization have as their goal the total destruction of Western civilization which they both envy and hate. Their ultimate objective is to convert the world to Islam.  How dumb are we supposed to be? What conceivable reason would there be for Iran to attack the United States? There is too much belief in the infallibility of technology, alas, where Bibi may believe that the “Iron Dome” protects Israel and the Joint Chiefs may believe that satellite-mounted lasers and AEGIS cruiser electronic-warfare capabilities are going to prevail against even the sophisticated anti-ship missiles in the Iranian arsenal. The use of an Israeli sub to sink the USS Enterprise and blame Iran gives Obama his “free pass” for committing the greatest atrocity in human history. Estimates have an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities at 1,000,000 dead outright and another 35,000,000 premature deaths as the contamination spreads across Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. But that is not counting the additional millions of US citizens in response.
Situation Assessment My best guess is that Pieczenik is honest as the day is long but has been induced to believe the US won’t go along, whereas we are already taking measures in anticipation of a retaliatory nuclear assault. Bibi’s assassination might stop it in its tracks, but I doubt that will happen. The Israel’s are going to torpedo an old ship, ready for the scrap-heap, the Iranians and the Russians will respond and most of us are going to be casualties in the greatest nightmare to befall the human race. It will fulfill Curtis Lemay’s fondest wish in believing that a nuclear war is “winnable”, but I think JFK got it right when he surmised that would be a war in which the living will envy the dead. I wish it were otherwise and hope that I am wrong, but that is how I see it. Pieczenik is not being allowed back on the air with Alex Jones. Our B-1 and B-2 bombers, I have been informed, have been transferred to within striking range of Iran–and the B-2s are now equipped with MOPs (Massive Ordnance Penetrators), 30,000 bombs designed for deep penetration before they explode. And Navy bases are taking steps to protect resources that would be damaged by air-borne detonations during an expected nuclear retaliation. My belief is that an assault has been planned for 25 September 2012, Yom Kippur, to launch the Jewish holy day in spectacular fashion. Iran and Russia (and possibly China, too) are going to retaliate with a massive response. We in the USA are not going to be spared. There is still the grotesque attitude among military minds that nuclear wars are “winnable”. Every human being, not just every American, should be required to watch “Dr. Strangelove” annually as a reminder of its complete insanity. In addition to the hysterical raving of Ed Koch, the GOP appears to want to Carterize Barack Obama by saddling him with difficulties in the Middle East that parallel the Iranian hostage crisis that cost him the election with Ronald Reagan, which is why Mitt Romney has been placing so many of his eggs in the foreign policy basket. He and Bibbi turn out to be close friends, where Netanyahu may believe that he will be in the position to dictate US foreign policy if Romney should be elected. How many Americans fall for this rubbish may be difficult to calculate, but it is not difficult to discern that Ed Koch is playing a propagandistic role here in attempting to induce the false belief that Iran poses a threat to the US and Israel, when it is the US and Israel that pose a threat to Iran–and to their own nation’s residents. Iran has never threatened “to wipe Israel off the map” and the general was obviously discussing a response to an attack upon Iran by Israel and not reiterating a deliberate mistranslation that has been used as an instrument of disinformation for far too long. WWIII Starts 25 September 2012
September 18th, 2012by Dominique de Kevelioc de Bailleul 
Steve Pieczenik Speaking with Infowars’ Alex Jones, former Assistant Deputy Secretary of StateDr. Steve Pieczenik says Israel plans to attack Iran before the U.S. elections of Nov. 6., and, that an attack on Iran will assuredly kickoff WWIII, according to him. Moreover, Pieczenik, a man whose career inspired the character Jack Ryan of the Tom Clancy book series, says the ‘October Surprise’ will not take place in October. Instead, the big surprise will come earlier, in late September. Dr. Pieczenik says the specific date of the strike on Iran is Sept. 25th or 26th, Yom Kippur—the Jewish holiday, which commences in the year 2012 at sundown on the 25th, and ends at nightfall, the following day. “It [an Israeli attack on Iran] could be earlier than October, because we have Yom Kippur. And I predicted on your radio show, and I predicted to our national security people, privately, that Benjamin Bibi Netanyahu would start something on Rosh Hashanah,” says Pieczenick. “This [prediction] was over a year ago, and I said it on your radio show. He was as predictable as a clock, and the Israelis will be very predictable, on Yom Kippur,” he adds. Pieczenik says it’s clear to him that Israeli prime minister Bibi Netanyahu has already planned to attack Iran and has been desperately trying to enlist the U.S. to back him up. But, with or without U.S. direct help, Pieczenik is certain that Israel will attack Iran. Moreover, he says Netanyahu is an extremest, who will “lie” for his personal and selfish cause, a conclusion also drawn by many Israelis who protest his regime. “Everything Bibi is saying to the Americans and the American Jews is an absolute, unmitigated lie,” Pieczenik, a Jew, himself, says forcefully, “What we have here is a collusion between Saudi Arabia, neocon Jews of America and Israel, against a president, who, whether I like or dislike, and may have lied about Osama Bin Laden,” he adds, “he [President Obama] is the son . . . a son of a CIA operative, the grandson of a CIA operative, who understands very well what the issues of intelligence are.” 
Benjamin Netanyahu With help from his neocon friends, Netanyahu threatens the entire world with the suicidal notion that Iran must be attacked, and the Israeli prime minister must be stopped, even if it means assassination, according to Pieczenik “In a couple of weeks, they [Israel, Saudi and neocons] will try to initiate another war, unless their ex-Mossad operatives and their ex-Shin Bet will take out Netanyahu, and do to Netanyahu what happened to Rabin,” exclaims Pieczenik. “They know what I’m talking about. Otherwise he will bring down Israel, the world, and there will be a third world war.” He also says, “What we are, is [sic] at the brink of war, that is being precipitated by two major countries. That is, Israel, particularly Bibi Netanyahu, who knows his country is failing economically, socially, politically.” And the other country is “Saudi Arabia.” Pieczenik says the Israelis, Saudis and neocons were behind the 9/11 attacks, an accusation also made some years ago by many researchers of the incident. Once considered a crazy idea forwarded by some ‘conspiracy theorists’, who seek to see a conspiracy in every major world event, the conspiracy theorists have been mostly vilified, though no reinvestigation of the 9/11 incident has been seriously proposed by any member of Congress. Today, the ‘conspiracy theory’, or ‘inside job’ theory, appears to be much, much closer to ‘fact’ than the account of that day was published through the official Congressional report of 9/11, giving rise to a strong possibility of a Mossad, Saudi and neocon conspiracy to carryout a false-flag attack on the United States and blame the crime on Osama bin Laden, Iraq and Afghanistan. Given evidence of Mossad’s checkered past and involvement with the attack of the USS Liberty on Jun. 8, 1967, killing 34 American soldiers, Pieczenik comments won’t be received as a big surprise to many Americans. I want Netanyahu to “begin telling the truth, that the involvement of Israel was, in 9/11” says Pieczenik. “Over 134 Mossad operatives were picked up on 9/11. The FBI picked them up [and] debriefed them. They were clearly involved with the Pakistani ISI and Saudi Arabian intelligence” on 9-11. [See "James H. Fetzer: Mossad Played Crucial Role in 9/11 Attacks".] 
Christopher Steven And, as far as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Steven: he was murdered by the Israeli, Saudi Arabia and Zionist neocons cabal, according to Pieczenik. [See "'Innocence of Muslims, the GOP and World War III".]“The killing of the ambassador is to precipitate war, so that Israel can finally get into Iran and try to destroy Iran,” he says. “It will be the beginning of the end of Israel. It’s Armageddon for Israel,” if it attacks Iran.
“The Pentagon source informed me the distance between the Libyan embassy, where the ambassador was, and where the rioters were, was so large, and two days of delay in response . . ., simply that they [the killers of Stevens and three other embassy employees] were professionals ready to take out our ambassador,” he adds, and with the “approval from Saudi Arabia.”Adding to Saudi Arabia’s involvement of the two-plane demolition job in NY City, the crash of another alleged plane into the Pentagon, and the alleged downing of another plane into the woodlands of Pennsylvania, he says, “Saudi Arabia and Israel are twins. . . . There’s no way you can separate Israel from Saudi Arabia, or Saudi Arabia from Israel. They go back all the way to 9/11.”[But see "9/11 Truth will out: The Vancouver Hearings I" and "9/11 Truth will out: The Vancouver Hearings II".] Then the subject of the killing of alleged mastermind of 9/11, Osama bin Laden. According to Pieczenik, the account of Navy Seal Admiral William McRaven and President Obama regarding bin Laden’s death in Pakistan is another unmitigated “lie.” 
Osama bin Laden “Then we get to the issue of Osama Bin Laden, which Obama said incorrectly and lied to the public that Osama Bin Laden was killed by Seal Team 6,” states Pieczenik. “Admiral McRaven had lied, repeatedly—unfortunately, a decent admiral, but for whatever reason he repeatedly insisted on saying Seal Team 6 killed Osama Bin Laden.”Pieczenik says Bin Laden had already been dead, and McRaven had known that. [See "Osama bin Laden: 1957-2001".]
And the names that came out of 9-11 unofficial investigation are, what Pieczenik calls, the “neocon chicken hawks” of “Paul Wolfowitz, Elliot Abrams and Michael Chertoff.”He adds, “Chernoff, the Chernoff Group, which is nothing more than a cover for the CIA and FBI, run by Charles Allen, a former CIA operative.” Moreover, U.S. intelligence was behind the uprising in Libya, the assassination of Libyan president Muammar al-Gaddafi, and the murder of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, according to Pieczenik. “Why this particular ambassador,” Pieczenik asks, rhetorically. “I think it’s very important for your audience to understand . . . Stevens was an ‘Arabist’. . . ” He goes on to explain to the Infowars listeners that so-called Arabists are experts of Arabic culture, language and Arab history. But, these State Dept. professionals also could pose a threat to Israel’s ongoing propaganda war in a long-standing effort to elicit sympathy for the Jewish state. Israel is no friend of America, according to Pieczenik. He says, “From a geopolitical point of view, Israel is a strategic liability and has been a strategic liability for over 20 years. Since 1968, we have had no need for Israel other than the fact it covered us under the Soviet Union on the eastern, southern and northern flank.” Presently, Israel is engaged in an all-out “provocation propaganda” campaign, according to Pieczenik, with the knee-jerk accusation from Netanyahu of Iranian involvement in the tourist bus explosion in Bulgaria, as the most recent and egregious example. The Bulgarian bus bomb incident is still under investigation. 
Barack Hussein Obama But the Obama Administration won’t bite to being drawn into another unpopular war—following the failures, war crimes and lies surrounding the attack of Iraq and Afghanistan by the Bush Administration. [NOTE: This, I believe, is false: "'Innocence of Muslims', the GOP and World War III".]“Netanyahu has no idea that Petreus will not save him; Dempsey will not save him; our Navy will not save him; McRaven will not save him; neither will Obama,” states Pieczenik.
“He cannot get that message through, so he’s pushing this through until he kills one of our ambassadors, precipitate what we call ‘provocation propaganda’, only with the approval of Saudi Arabia.”Yom Kippur falls on the dates Sept. 25 and 26. Watch for those dates, says Pieczenik. Jim Fetzer, a former Marine Corps officer, is McKnight Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota Duluth. The founder of Scholars for 9/11 Truth, he has published 29 books and hundreds of articles on philosophical, scientific and political issues of our time. 
Bibi – Giving us all the finger There is no bigger threat to a nation’s national security than horrible leadership. And by that I mean the criminally negligent kind, where trials, imprisonment and yes executions should be a deterrent. But unfortunately they are not, so we have the boot of the criminal elites on our collective necks. On trial today will be the Israeli militant leadership duo of Bibi Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid of the Mid East. Ah…if only they could be actors in a fictional movie. But alas they are very real in the damage they do and the piles of victims they dream of. Under the Nuremberg precedent of ‘waging an aggressive war’ they would be hanged, and deservingly so, as would have Israel’s other terrorist leaders. “Oh, you exaggerate here Jim Dean”, you say. I don’t think so. Those who measure their ‘security’ by the numbers of their dead neighbors, are the deadliest of neighbors themselves. As an American, because my country is somewhat joined to Israel at the hip in this slow motion train wreck, I feel a responsibility to not only to distance myself from it, but expose the disastrous defense and foreign policy justifications for it. They do not protect America, but put her at great risk. I did not want to write about the NAM convention (Non-Aligned Movement) right away because I knew a lot of others would. As an older journalist I have learned to sometimes live with a story for a few days, observe what other commentators are saying, and not saying, and look for things being missed. The NAM convention is over and it’s memory will pass, even with most of those who read about it. All of us who write in the geopolitical arena face this huge challenge. How to we help our readers gain a deeper understanding regarding the roots of these world events swirling around us, and also remember it all on demand so the knowledge can actually be put to work? 
Uri Avnery At Veterans Today we admire Uri Avnery not only as a great writer, but also our preeminent source on all things Israeli. At eighty six years old he is our father’s age to those of us in our sixties. He carries around an extra generation of personal witness experience on the Palestine saga. We know we cannot be good teachers if we cannot continue to be good students. So when Uri talks, we listen. Uri’s contribution to history began when he was fourteen as an Irgun helper on his bicycle. After fighting in the 1948 War he went on to becoming an early Knesset member and journalist, surviving a few assassination attempts along they way. As further proof of his courage he crossed over the lines during the first Lebanon invasion to meet with Arafat to attempt an exit of the PLO and end the horrible killing going on. He did this while Sharon had all his best commandos hunting Arafat with orders to capture or kill. The story could easily have ended a different way but many lives were saved through the negotiated settlement. 
Uri – Begin- and Sadat In Uri’s recent March of Folly essay he barbecued Bibi and Barak for their disastrous public handling of the NAM meeting in Iran. His advice to them would have been to say nothing. But for these two Israeli militants-on-steroids, why do that when they had an opportunity to make a bad situation worse? These dummies actually called on the UN’s Ban Ki-Moon not to attend the conference despite all past UN General Secretaries having done so. It was a gaff so stupid, even for the likes of Netanyahu and Barak, it staggers the mind. So my contribution to the NAM conference will be to put them in the court dock today as threats to Israeli security itself. Israel’s own military and intelligence heads basically agree with me, and one has even had his passport taken away for saying so publicly. Uri describes Bibi’s gross stupidity thusly: “So he and his assistants proclaimed loudly – very loudly – that the 120 attending countries are supporting Iran’s effort to annihilate Israel, and that Ban and Morsi are promoting a Second Holocaust. Instead of isolating Iran…Netanyahu helped Iran to isolate Israel. “ We have an old satirical saying here in the America to describe such blunders, “We have met the enemy, and they are us!” One might have thought that even the most looney Israeli should be aware that playing the victim card as been so overused as to have now become a boomerang. But not so. How else can we describe this but for what it is, abysmal leadership on a level that is a threat to all of us. They need a coup in Israel and they need one quickly. They would have the right to do it to defend themselves. After all, both Israel and America have an official policy of preemptive strike, not just for eminent threats but for potential ones. I am surprised that those officials who dreamed up and pushed for this policy never seemed concerned with it’s being applied to them, personally. I know of more than a few who would love to see NeoCons in purple jump suits on an extended vacation at Guantanamo. 
General Martin Dempsey When you compare the Likudist threat to Israel and the make believe one from Iran, they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. These militant Israelis are the people who launched an attack on General Dempsey’s plane at Bagram air base in Afghanistan. They were sending a message that they are not above killing high ranking Americans to show their displeasure as the lack of appropriate subservience. This began when they killed the first American ambassador, and followed with Count Bernadotte assassination. Thank you Bibi. You just gave us the tool we need to launch a clean out counter attack against all of your plants and infiltrators in our military establishment. They are all marked men. No other act could have shamed those more who have been sitting on the fence regarding Israeli espionage penetration over here. The assassination attempt on Dempsey was a desperate gamble, and we plan to make it a losing one for those responsible. The hugely expensive counter battery fire system at Bagram went down shortly before the rocket attack began. The Taliban does not have a cyber-warfare division., but we know who does. Dear Bibi, you burned a bridge here and it is not one that leaving office will protect you from. An attack on our Joint Chiefs of Staff has…well, how should I say this…I suspect it has made you a target. In closing, I promised you all some historical framing and I have not forgotten. To the current failed Israeli leadership and the pitiful condition of our sold out Congress you can add the most dangerous Presidential candidate in history, one with a criminal affiliation wrap sheet that challenges the Bush family. Intel Drop: Syria and East 
More Questions Than Very Wrong Answers Given the chance, it would take everyone writing on Syria, especially those who play at “anti-imperialism” but invariably support police states with cash back to school. The failure to “follow the bucks” to the DC lobby groups answering to Tel Aviv that so many “anti-Zionists” end up aligned with isn’t going unnoticed, especially not in the real Muslim world. We are going to have a few words on Syria, not to chastise but to stimulate some actual thought and even derail the lemming mentality some have taken on. These are the powerful realities some deny: Syria is a Russian military satellite, a holdover from the Cold War Israel, as the Pollard and USS Liberty incidents help explain, the recent Putin visit and the unpopular fact that Soviet communism is a Khazarian animal, making the Russia of today, as close or closer to Israel as America is…according to Vladamir Putin. Israel and Turkey aren’t the enemies Erdogan would have you believe. Turkey is still getting weapons from Israel, their military and security services still work closely together and what was expected after their rift over the Mavi Marmara attack has never materialized. Turkey and Israel are still best friends, ask Gaza, they will explain it. This is all at one level, simple observations about what is real rather than what is reported by any press. Only intelligence agencies know the truth and they only lie to themselves and each other. There are more incongruities: Russia maintains a military port in Syria which cannot, under any circumstances, be lost. Thus, whatever Syria’s fate, Russia will be giving approval, be it Assad leaving or staying, Russia remains. Syria’s extremely advanced air defense system is the key to her viability. It is 100% dependent on continued Russian presence. Russia is staying. Taking these as inexorable facts, which they are, then one might explain why Putin went to Israel, announced a strong alliance, joined in bellicose statements against Iran but so many of the “anti-imperialist” press see Israel as managing the destabilization of Syria. The contradictions here are mind boggling. Let us take a second to look at Israel’s current position: Israel controls the Egyptian Army. Israel controls Jordan, bordering on Syria. Israel controls Kurdistan, bordering on Syria. Israel has a “mysterious” relationship with Turkey, claimed by the press, Israeli controlled, to be supporting Syrian rebels. Better yet, lets talk “Turkey.” The last stories about Erdogan and Gaza or Egypt are a year old. His “war” with Israel, warships with supply convoys, his coalition with the civilian government of Egypt against Israel are all myths and hot air. Turkey is purchasing a new Russian S400 air defense system from, well, from Israel’s best friend Russia. Turkey is part of NATO. The Turkish army has long been the real power in the nation and is more so today. Let’s talk Turkey and Israel and the Jews. In the late 1400s, the Ottoman Empire welcomed the Jews of the world. In 1492 alone, 150,000 Spanish Jews moved to Ottoman regions. During the 1930s and 40s, Jews fleeing Europe traveled freely through Turkey with Turkey claiming having saved over 100,000 Jews from the holocaust. Turkey immediately recognized Israel as a state, the only Islamic nation to do so. The document doing so used to be kept here until it was removed very recently for some reason. Predictions: Russia and Israel will win, meaning they are in total control of Syria’s fate, not NATO. Syria’s fate was decided in Tel Aviv by Netanyahu and Putin a few weeks ago. Russia isn’t going to be kicked out of the Mediterranean. Syria has MUCH more oil than admitted, all oil maps of the Mediterranean are altered to not show that offshore fields come onshore in Syria and Northern Lebanon and NONE in or near Israel, almost as though someone wasn’t so “chosen” after all. US Plans: The US plans to stabilize its massive heroin business in Afghanistan and get the hell out of Asia. All movement aims at Africa with key nations, Nigeria and South Africa to begin, pushing toward “Balkanization” and “re-colonization.” It will go MUCH further than that, a 5 year plan already well into motion. Iran’s risks: If anyone really hurts Iran it will be Russia. If Russian troops move into Azerbaijan to keep Iran out, if hostilities commence, Iran loses considerable leverage. Russia is said to have “aims” in Iran. Iran’s long range missile capability, actually far beyond Israel’s, would invariably begin a world war. Use this as you will. It was written with a minimum of editorializing. Anyone writing on the region needs a background in air defense systems, Ottoman history and the general belief that everything they read is either invented or worse. It is reasonable to assume that super-governmental powers are involved, Syria’s fate is decided and that Iran will do best through negotiation and “waiting everyone else out.” “When American intelligence officials not connected with the false-flag attack became aware of the scope of the plot, a conflict began between the JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) and NSC (National Security Council), in effect the advisory board of Israeli/Americans that formulated policy and were, in fact, the inventors of, not just the “Global War on Terror,” but also stand accused of coordinating actual terror attacks against Americans.” 
The US Fifth Fleet, based out of Bahrain, fired on a small sporting boat just outside the Dubai port of Jebel Ali. One passenger was killed and three others injured. The boat, a 27-foot-long “Boston Whaler” type vessel with multiple outboard engines, docked in Dubai immediately afterwards. Observers noted one bodybag being removed by emergency response crews and two injured people being taken ashore. US officials claim they had “issued warnings,” but failed to say what those warnings were. This region of the Persian Gulf has very heavy boating and shipping traffic and is a center for sport fishing. It also hosts thousands of sail boats, luxury yachts, and sport fishing craft. In 2005, Americans, garbed in “Islamic Guard” uniforms operating three Zodiac-type boats, approached American ships in the Persian Gulf. At the same time, radio traffic was generated under the identifier “rabbit” and was claimed to be containing threats and taunts against the American Navy. These signals came from sources working with the US “false-flag” team, sources inside the security services of Bahrain. Simultaneously, the government of Bahrain reported to their US-based liaison, not local commanders, that they had intelligence that local Shia clerics were working with the Republican Guard to stage an attack on facilities used by off-duty Americans. However, USMC security forces had their own sources. Their informants inside the Bahraini security services told them of the White House involvement and named an American naval officer as liaison on this “false-flag” attack, intended to kill between 50 and 100 or more American military personnel. When American intelligence officials not connected with the false-flag attack became aware of the scope of the plot, a conflict began between the JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) and NSC (National Security Council), in effect the advisory board of Israeli/Americans that formulated policy and were, in fact, the inventors of, not just the “Global War on Terror,” but also stand accused of coordinating actual terror attacks against Americans. Most of the NSC came directly from the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), a group that had openly advocated a “Pearl Harbor” type incident to push forward an “American agenda” in Central Asia. A current school of thought, one now very “mainstream” is that the PNAC and its successor, the Bush/Cheney NSC and JSOC, not only falsified intelligence on weapons of mass destruction and terrorist organizations, but also planned and executed, with help from several foreign intelligence agencies, MI6, the Mossad, the DVD, and others, actual terror attacks, including 9/11, 7/7, Bali, the USS Cole and others, some predating George W. Bush’s presidency and some continuing into the Obama administration. This offers two directions for analysts, that Obama is continuing the tradition of false-flag attacks or that “privatization” of military and intelligence capabilities under Bush has undermined the authority of the US military and intelligence capabilities, allowing them to, in fact, attack the US and allies when such an attack serves the long-range goals of Washington “think tanks” that formulated “neocon” policies. The biggest part of real evidence supports this last supposition, one beyond the scope of any domestic or international oversight and beyond the scope of any media organization to safely address. To verify this, we suggest that any correspondent, looking for answers, ask Dr. David Kelly. We can supply more names, many more, all reachable under similar circumstances. HISTORY The US claims they fired on the Dubai-based sport craft, thinking it was an “Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps” boat. Such boats are, at times, depicted as carrying Silkworm missiles, a feature easily identifiable from any distance as the missile is nearly as large as the boat itself. As no such claim has been made and the boat is docked in Dubai, the issue of potential threat against an American Naval vessel is obviously unfounded. This leaves two assumptions, one that the Americans responsible operated outside command authority or that this was an attempt to precipitate a confrontation with Iran, a confrontation spoiled when the boat evaded destruction and managed to return to Dubai with survivors. Were the boat to have sunk, reports may well have listed this as a “confirmed attack” much like the false stories, the US Navy used to cover the USS Liberty and Tonkin Gulf incidents, both “staged” attacks intended to bring the US into wars under contrived circumstances. In 2005, the US Navy, under special authority of the JSOC, confirmed by high-level military and civilian officials, attempted a “false-flag” terror operation, using such a craft. Confirmed sources at the White-House level tell us that the Bush administration attempted, in both 2005 and as late as 2008, to stage its own attack on American forces. These are all consistent with the use of the Navy’s resources in “false-flag” incidents. Both Pearl Harbor and the sinking of the USS Maine were highly suspicious as was the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 and the downing of PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie. Each of these other incidents, along with a dozen more, have aspects of cover-up and disinformation in their final analysis. What is established is a pattern of using the Navy’s resources of the US or US personnel overseas as pawns in globalist financial ventures, involving drugs, weapons trading, and oil. We may have “ducked a bullet” today when the small craft from Dubai made it back to port. EXPECTED FALSE FLAG The “backchannel rumor mills” of the intelligence community still list the Olympics as a potential terror target. One story, already floated, blames the MI5 and MI6 for failure to monitor “Islamic terror networks” that never existed over an attack on the London Olympics that is yet to occur. If I am not mistaken, a committee to investigate potential Olympic-time attacks has already been notified and findings have been written, but not published. This is convenient as such attacks have not yet happened and may never happen. Do we then need another committee to investigate the waste of resources? FALLOUT The infamous “cat-and-mouse” games in the Persian Gulf in 2005 and 2008, some of which are confirmed to have been “American on American” or “American on Bahrani,” are, it seems, in motion again. The Bahraini regime stands ready to help stage attacks on Americans, particularly after their violent suppression of their Shia majority using troops from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait. They have much to profit from if there is war against Iran. We still have those who witnessed the Bush-era attempts to stage a war through false-flag attacks. In order to silence those involved, some were indicted on phony terror charges, security clearances were revoked, unusual death occurred, and others were simply silence under the aegis of career pressure. For 236 years the U.S. has defended democracy everywhere: Hillary Clinton asserted this in Cairo. Thus she must have erased from history the more than 160 military interventions abroad that U.S. imperialism made starting from the 1940s; the wars of the Cold War period in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Lebanon; the coups the CIA orchestrated in Guatemala, Indonesia, Brazil, Chile and Argentina; and the wars of the post-Cold War period in Iraq, Somalia, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. Clinton guarantees that the Obama administration is making the same commitment to carry out these actions. In fact, from the strategy launched by Republican George W. Bush of the Greater Middle East (including North Africa and Central Asia), Democrat (and Nobel Peace Prize laureate) Barack Obama has moved to the strategy of the Greater East, which aims at the entire Asia-Pacific region in an open challenge to China and Russia. The first step was the war against Libya, which (as Bill Clinton and Bush did with Yugoslavia) has been demolished as a unified state to put into power rulers loyal to Washington. This led to the "free elections" in the "free Libya," won by the "liberal" Mahmoud Jibril, whose success is attributed to the popular will. To claim this ignores the fact that the U.S. and other western powers spent millions of dollars in Libya to secure the support of organizations and tribal groups. It ignores that Jibril has Washington's confidence since he is an economist trained in the U.S., responsible for promoting economic neo-liberalism in the Arab world. In 2007 Jibril was made head of the Government Office in Libya for economic development, linked to the U.S. and British multinationals. In this capacity, Jibril warned Washington that the plan to privatize the Libyan economy and form a new pro-Western ruling class had been blocked by Gadhafi, and that competition from China and Russia was increasing. Jibril's victory was already on the drawing board. On March 30, 2011 (ten days after the beginning of the war against Libya), the New York Times wrote, based on information from the government: "If the American and Western intervention overthrows Muammar Gadhafi, Mahmoud Jibril could be the leader of Libya." The war on Libya is the model that the U.S. has adopted to disintegrate other states, including Syria and Iran, which hinder their advance eastward. Since many countries are reluctant to host U.S. military bases, the Pentagon is deploying in international waters, starting from the Persian Gulf and moving gradually eastward, using special ships that serve as floating bases for special forces. Other air and naval bases have been installed or upgraded in Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Australia and other countries. In Singapore, the first "littoral combat ship" was deployed. It's a new warship that can approach the coast to strike deep inland. The U.S. Navy has deployed about 50 of these in the Pacific. As part of a diplomatic offensive to create rifts between China and neighboring countries, Clinton made a "historic visit" to Laos. Promising $9 million for de-mining, she had her picture taken with a boy who was mutilated; he was one of the many victims of unexploded ammunition, which was approximately 30 percent of the 2 million tons of bombs dropped on Laos by the U.S. in 1964 -1973. Of course, it was to defend democracy. The Obama administration is continuing its strategic pivot to Asia-Pacific and now trying to cultivate renewed relationships with countries in a bid to further expand the amount of US military bases throughout the region.
Much of this means rebuilding and refurbishing former US bases that were abandoned since WWII or since the Vietnam War. Administration officials have been in intense talks with the Thai government over using airfields and naval ports and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta recently visited Vietnam to visit the naval and air base at Cam Ranh Bay.
The Obama administration has been ramping up the pressure on China with an increasingly antagonistic foreign policy. The so-called ‘Asia pivot’ is an aggressive policy that involves surging American military presence throughout the region – in the Philippines, Japan, Australia, Guam, South Korea, Singapore, etc. – in an unprovoked scheme to contain rising Chinese economic and military influence.
The US has also been refurbishing long-abandoned World War II bases scattered across the Pacific for potential use in the event of a major conflict with China. Last month, US Marines rebuilt and restored the 8,000-foot runway at the abandoned North Field air base on the island of Tinian and engaged in a military exercise with nearby US forces based in Guam. The Tinian airbase is where the B-29s that dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki took off from in 1945.
The idea is to have enough U.S. bases peppered throughout the region so that China would be too surrounded to safely attack. “Doing so would make it more difficult for China to wipe out entire squadrons sitting on the ground with surprise attacks from its long range ballistic missiles,” according to reports from Military.com.
This bellicose posture has increased tensions between the U.S. and China and between China and its weaker neighbors, like the Philippines. A recent report from the Center for Strategic International Studies predicted that next year “could see a shift in Chinese foreign policy based on the new leadership’s judgment that it must respond to a U.S. strategy that seeks to prevent China’s reemergence as a great power.”
“Signs of a potential harsh reaction are already detectable,” the report said. “The US Asia pivot has triggered an outpouring of anti-American sentiment in China that will increase pressure on China’s incoming leadership to stand up to the United States. Nationalistic voices are calling for military countermeasures to the bolstering of America’s military posture in the region and the new US defense strategic guidelines.” Late last week Israel launched a targeted air strike, killing Zohair al-Qaisi, militant leader of the Popular Resistance Committee, claiming the group was planning a terrorist strike in Israel. Over the next few days, militant groups in Gaza launched hundreds of rockets into southern Israel in retaliation, and Israel responded with new rounds of air strikes. Israel also deployed an anti-missile system known as Iron Dome, claiming to have shot down more than 40 rockets. Egypt stepped in to help broker a cease-fire that began yesterday, and held for about a day, but both sides have since launched limited attacks. In all, eight people in Israel have been wounded in the fighting, and at least 27 Palestinians have been killed.  A rocket launches from the Israeli anti-missile system known as the Iron Dome, in order to intercept a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in Ashdod, Israel, on March 11, 2012. Israeli war planes struck at the Gaza Strip and Palestinians fired more rockets against southern Israel on Monday in a fourth day of hostilities in which 25 Palestinians have been killed. Egyptian efforts to broker a ceasefire appeared to be stuck over a demand by the Islamic Jihad militant group that Israel first promise not to target militant leaders for future attack. The violence also drew condemnation from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon, who called for restraint. The Arab League also urged the United Nations to intervene to stop the conflict. Twenty of the Palestinians killed since fighting flared in the Hamas-controlled enclave last Friday were militants and five were civilians, according to medical officials. At least 80 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and eight people in Israel have been wounded. The Israeli airstrikes on Monday killed four Palestinian militants and an elderly man and his daughter, the officials said. The most recent attack came after nightfall, killing two militants near Gaza City, medics said. A 15-year-old Palestinian youth died in an earlier explosion that Palestinians blamed on an Israeli missile. The Israeli military denied it had carried out a strike. About 40 rockets, at least 20 of them intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system, were fired at Israel, wounding three people, Israeli police said. Three of these rockets struck in the city of Ashkelon just before the latest Israeli airstrike. Gaza's Hamas leadership, whose own cadres have kept out of the fighting, said on Sunday that neighbouring Egypt was working to stop the violence and consulting with other militants. A Palestinian official close to the mediation said Israel had agreed to a midnight ceasefire. But Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed faction behind most of the rocket fire, said any truce should include an undertaking by Israel "to end assassinations." The exchanges began after two chiefs of the Popular Resistance Committees faction, accused by Israel of planning to attack it through Egypt's Sinai desert, were killed in an Israeli strike on Friday. Israel signalled that it would not halt what it calls "preventive targeting" operations aimed at stopping rocket fire and cross-border attacks. "The Israeli army will continue to attack the terrorists in Gaza with strength and determination," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. JERUSALEM — Both Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza indicated Tuesday that they would abide by an Egyptian-brokered truce ending four days of cross-border fighting, but each warned that maintaining the calm would depend on the actions of the other side. 
Bary Mike cleaned up his store in the port city of Ashdod on Tuesday. A rocket fired from Gaza had landed near his business. “Our message is clear: quiet will lead to quiet,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told an audience in Jerusalem, adding, “Anyone who violates it, or even tries to violate it, will be in our sights.” Islamic Jihad, the main group responsible for launching about 170 rockets into southern Israel since Friday, said it had agreed to stop firing after receiving guarantees that Israel would not embark on a new wave of violence by “assassinating” any militant commander in the Gaza Strip, which is led by the Islamic group Hamas. “We are part of the cease-fire, and our commitment to it depends on the level of commitment” of Israel, an Islamic Jihad leader, Khadir Habeeb, told reporters in Gaza. Hamas sought the aid of Egyptian mediators to broker unannounced understandings with Israel to end the violence. The truce came into effect before dawn on Tuesday. Its fragility was apparent from the start. The last Israeli airstrike against a squad launching rockets occurred Monday night. But several Palestinian rockets and mortar shells landed in Israeli territory throughout Tuesday. Most fell in areas near the Gaza border, but on Tuesday night a longer-range rocket slammed into a parking lot in a residential neighborhood of the southern Israeli town of Netivot. The rockets caused no physical injury, and Israel did not immediately respond. The latest round began Friday when Israeli air-to-ground missiles killed Zuhair al-Qissi, the leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, a militant group. Israel holds the group responsible for the deadly attack last August from across the border with Egypt in which eight Israelis were killed. Israel said that by killing the leader and an assistant as they drove in a car, it had acted to thwart a similar attack that was being planned. Islamic Jihad took the lead in retaliating, firing barrages of rockets at Israel, while Israel carried out more than 30 airstrikes against rocket launching sites and other facilities, killing about 25 Palestinians, most of them militants. 
2 A Hamas policeman inspects the remains of a vehicle after it was targeted by an Israeli air strike that killed the head of the Popular Resistance Committees militant group in Gaza City, on March 9, 2012. The PRC said General Secretary Zohair al-Qaisi was one of two Palestinians killed in the strike, along with fellow-member Mahmud Halani, hours after Palestinians fired mortar rounds into Israel. Schoolboy among 21 dead as Israel and Palestine bombard each other with rockets for fourth consecutive day -
Cross-border violence began Friday when Israel killed top militant leader -
21 Gazans dead, two Israelis seriously wounded Israeli airstrikes killed two militants and a schoolboy in the Gaza Strip today as Palestinian rocket squads continued to bombard Israel. The cross-border violence, started by Israel's killing of a top militant leader on Friday, has been the worst exchange of fire between Israel and the Hamas-ruled territory in months. The fighting so far has killed 21 Gazans, including 18 militants, seriously wounded two Israelis, and disrupted the lives of a million Israelis living within the range of Gaza rockets. Scroll down for video. WARNING: Video contains graphic images 
Protection: Israel launches a missile from its Iron Dome system in response to a rocket strike from the nearby Palestinian Gaza Strip 
Rubble: These homes in the Gaza strip are shadows of their former selves after the Israeli airstrikes 
Destroyed: Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building following an Israeli air strike in Jabaliya today And Israel claimed the damage could have been even worse were it not for its newly introduced Iron Dome missile defence system. It claimed the technology had intercepted dozens of rockets since the clashes erupted. The Israeli military said it carried out nine air attacks against rocket-launching sites and a weapons storage facility today. Islamic Jihad said two of its militants were killed in two separate raids, one while he was riding a motorcycle. 
Injured: Palestinian medics wheel a wounded man to the treatment room of Shifa hospital following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City today 
Talks: Islamic Jihad militants during a press conference in Gaza City today following the strikes 
Blood on his hands: A wounded Palestinian at a hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip today A 16-year-old boy wearing a school uniform was killed when a group of five civilians was struck in another attack, Gaza health official Adham Abu Salmia said. More than 20 Palestinians, including several children, were wounded in a separate pre-dawn strike in Gaza City, he added. Chief Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai said the raid had targeted munitions that were stored in a residential building. The military said the air attacks came in response to continued rocket fire. 
Chaos: Palestinian medical workers wheel a wounded man for treatment following an Israeli airstrike this morning 
Wounded: These Palestinian children were injured in the airstrikes today 
Gruesome: Rockets have been fired by both sides over the last four days Schools in the area were closed for a second day to avoid casualties; a day earlier, a rocket struck the courtyard of one of the empty schools. Militants also fired three mortar shells into Kerem Shalom, the sole cargo crossing between Israel and Gaza and the conduit for 70 per cent of all goods that enter the Palestinian territory. Two vehicles were hit on the Palestinian side of the crossing, but there were no injuries. Operations were halted for about half an hour before resuming. But although the violence shows no immediate signs of subsiding, both Hamas and Israel seem eager to avoid the kind of all-out war that erupted three years ago. In keeping with its practice since that conflict, Hamas has stayed out of the current clashes, for fear of provoking a harsh Israeli retaliation. But it has not stopped other, smaller Gaza factions from attacking Israel, and Israel continues to hold it ultimately responsible for any violence emanating from Gaza. 
3 A Palestinian tries to extinguish a fire after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on March 10, 2012. Despite Egyptian efforts to mediate a cease-fire, both sides remained defiant with Palestinians firing more than 100 rockets, some striking major cities in southern Israel, and the military responding with the targeted killings of more than 15 militants. (AP Photo) # When it comes to Middle East reporting, the central narrative has for several decades been Israel-Palestine. But for the past year, since the start of the Arab Spring (Israeli sources prefer to call it the Arab Winter or Arab Tempest), it is the rest of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) from Egypt to Bahrain, from Syria to Libya, that have been in the limelight. Indeed, of the 17 or so countries which make up the MENA region, almost all – including Israel with its own ‘cottage cheese’ protests – have seen some kind of protests, many of them violent and bloody. Add to this combustible mixture Iran’s march towards its own nuclear weapons, and Israel-Palestine no longer looks like the core issue (which for as long as I can remember it has been - for both the British and global media). 
Change: The Arab Spring has shifted the focus from Israel-Palestine to the rest of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region 
Violence: Almost all of the 17 or so countries which make up the MENA region have witnessed some kind of protests This is the background against which I travelled to Israel this week as part of a small delegation of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the main elected, representative body of UK Jewry. For part of the journey we linked up with the UK Task Force, a coalition of foundations, religious leaders, NGOs and Jewish organisations focusing on better understanding and improving the conditions of Israel’s Arab minorities. In Jerusalem, in meetings with a range of policymakers including senior officials of the ministry of foreign affairs, the mood was remarkably upbeat. Instead of fears of takeover by Islamic fundamentalism, as a result of the Arab world’s revolutions, officials believe an important Rubicon has been crossed. No longer is Israel the centre of the universe in the debate across the Arab world. Anti-Israel flag burning may have been a part of the reporting at the start of the Egyptian uprising but the tendency within the region to blame Israel for all of the regions woes has faded. Beleaguered regimes such as Bashir Assad’s Syria have built new straw men in the shape of Turkey, Al Qaeda, unnamed outside terrorists and so on. Arab countries have started to look in on themselves. Domestic issues ranging from food prices to unemployed youth, from human rights to governance and economic development have stolen the agenda. This in turn is seen by Israeli officials as weakening the hands of the Palestinians who can no longer rely on the permanent sympathy of the Arab world to keep their cause centre stage. 
Shifting focus: No longer is Israel at the centre of debate about the Arab world In fact many of the same issues which have inspired the uprisings across the Arab world give rise to dissatisfaction with leadership in the West Bank and Gaza – potentially opening the way to an improved dialogue. Tony Blair’s ‘quartet’ mission on confidence building measures among the parties – from the environment to water and movement of goods and services – currently looks far more relevant to the region’s needs than the old land for peace narrative. Furthermore, the acclaimed author and polemicist Amos Oz, an opponent of occupation, was surprisingly optimistic that out of the disputation between Jew and Palestinian will emerge a viable two state solution. In an erudite address, delivered over a feast of racks of lamb in Be’er Sheva, Oz argued that the Jewish tendency to debate, discuss and question dated back to the days of Abraham and his bargaining with God over the intention to destroy the ancient city of Sodom. 
Tony Blair's 'quartet' mission which aims to build confidence among the parties is probably more important at the moment than the 'old land for peace' narrative A longstanding sore for many people seeking to underpin Israel’s security and its place as a genuinely Middle Eastern nation, not a bunch of transplanted Jews from around the world, has been the neglect of its own Arab populations. The larger Israeli-Arab population is in the North in the Galilee, in range of Hezbollah rockets fired from the Lebanon. But it is the Bedouin minority in the Southern desert of the Negev which was the focus of this Task Force visit. The 200,000 or so Bedouin, some of whom traditionally served in the Israeli forces, have become increasingly alienated from broader society. In an increasingly prosperous state they are the poorest segment of society held back partly by tribal commitment to barren lands, polygamy and very large families. The most recent data shows that 71.5pc of Bedouin households live under the poverty line against 54.5pc in the Arab sector and 16.2pc among Jews. The issues are highly complex. Israel’s reluctance to provide basic services, including water and electricity, to so called ‘unrecognised’ villages (those which have grown up over the decades South of Beersheba) have created an enormous and complex social problem. Israel’s solution is to move these semi-indigenous people (many came from Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia) into modern cities or neighbouring ‘recognised’ villages. Neither, of which is a very attractive option. The new towns are rife with drugs and unemployment, even if they do have running water. The recognised villages, which have undergone economic transformation, are not necessarily sympathetic to absorbing vast numbers of people from different tribes, with different values systems. Our visit to an ‘unrecognised’ village, Wadi Nam, was dispiriting. Our host a tall Bedouin, with bright white teeth, wore a magnificent yellow robe, trimmed with gold leaf, and handsomely polished brown boots. As the ‘Gucci’ Sheikh growled his complaints about the circumstances in the village in forceful Arabic he and his Praetorian guard would occasionally consult their Blackberrys. Outside kids played in the dusty sand, rubbish piled up on the sides of the forlorn unmade roads and families dwelled in corrugated tin huts surrounded by emaciated goats and sheep. At the regional school for eight hundred pupils the classrooms had broken windows, cracked floors and filthy latrines which, we were told, were riddled with disease. 
Forgotten: The 200,000 or so Bedouin have become increasingly alienated from broader society 
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah: Israel's reluctance to provide basic services, including water and electricity, to so called 'unrecognised' villages have created an enormous and complex social problem Letters delivered to the Wadi are dumped on the roadside because as an address the ‘unrecognised’ towns do not exist. Israel has earmarked 2.5bn Shekels (£500m) for development but the money has not been released because of an unwillingness of the ‘unrecognised’ villagers to be moved. In contrast we found sanitary conditions and optimism and a wonderfully well-kept village when we moved on to the recognised community of Hura. Nearby, we heard from a bunch of strong and beautiful Bedouin women who have shaken off the shackles of a deeply patriarchal society to rediscover ancient crafts like weaving, now exported to all corners of the world. Some had acquired university education and others fight for better rights including public transport to their communities and welfare payments for second, third and fourth wives and their families. The Negev is a puzzling mix of optimism and depression. But as one Bedouin leader sagely pointed out developing the Bedouin economy will help to underpin the prosperity of the region and could only act to improve Israel’s security from within – a win-win situation. 
4 A security official stands next to a Grad rocket which was fired from Gaza and landed in Netivot in southern Israel, on March 13, 2012. (Reuters/Amir Cohen) #  
5 An Israeli woman stands outside a damaged building, following a rocket attack from the nearby Gaza Strip, in Ashdod, Israel, on March 12, 2012. The UN and EU appealed for calm as cross border rocket strikes continued into a fourth day between the Gaza Strip and Israel. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
6 An Israeli army sapper examines the remains of a mortar shell fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip that landed in a kibbutz on the Israel-Gaza border, on March 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov) # 
7 An Israeli F-16 jet passes over the Israeli city of Ashdod, on March 11, 2012. (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images) # 
8 Smoke rises from an explosion following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on March 10, 2012. (AP photo/Hatem Moussa) # 
9 One of two Islamic Jihad militants who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on March 12, 2012 is transported into the morgue of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, as Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza for a fourth day, killing six more Palestinians, including the two activists who were identified by the Palestinian group as Bassam al-Ajla and Mohammed Dahir. (Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images) # 
10 Relatives of Ayoub Asalya, 12, view his body in the morgue of Kamal Edwan hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 11, 2012, following a recent Israeli air raid. (Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images) # 
11 An Israeli missile is launched from the Iron Dome missile system in response to a rocket launch from the nearby Gaza Strip, near Ashdod, Israel, on March 12, 2012. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
12 An Israeli missile, launched from the Iron Dome, impacts a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, near Ashdod, Israel, on March 12, 2012. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
13 Israelis run for cover as a siren warning of incoming rockets sounds in the southern city of Ashdod, on March 11, 2012. (Reuters/Baz Ratner) # 
14 Israelis sit inside a sewage pipe used as shelter after a siren warning of incoming rockets sounded in the southern community of Nitzan, on March 11, 2012. (Reuters/Baz Ratner) # 
15 Israeli store owner Bary Mike cleans up after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militants landed nearby in the port city of Ashdod, on March 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov) # 
16 An Israeli medic helps a woman in shock after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip landed nearby in the southern city of Ashdod, on March 12, 2012, causing material damage and wounding lightly an elderly woman. (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images) # 
17 Israeli policemen inspect damage after a rocket attack from the nearby Gaza Strip in Ashdod, Israel, on March 12, 2012. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
18 An Israeli boy plays inside a bomb shelter after rockets fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza landed in the southern city of Beersheba, on March 11, 2012. (Reuters/Amir Cohen) # 
19 An Israeli soldier walks on top of an armored personnel carrier (APC) deployed near Kibbutz Kissufim, just outside the central Gaza Strip, on March 13, 2012. (Reuters/Amir Cohen) # 
20 Palestinians inspect a fire at a building on March 14, 2012, after an Israeli air strike on Gaza City. (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images) # 
21 Palestinians carry the body of Faiza al-Hasoma, 30, killed in an Israeli air strike, during her funeral in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, on March 12, 2012. (AP photo/Hatem Moussa) # 
22 A Palestinian fires in the air during the funeral of an Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza City, on March 13, 2012. (AP photo/Hatem Moussa) # 
23 Palestinian medics treat a wounded youth at Shifa hospital following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, on March 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Yasser Qudih) # 
24 Palestinians inspect the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli air strike in Jabaliya, on March 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) # 
25 A Palestinian man surveys his brother's destroyed bedroom after an Israeli air strike in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 12, 2012. (Reuters/Suhaib Salem) # 
26 A Palestinian boy collects his belongings on March 14, 2012, following a fire in his house induced by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images) # 
27 Israeli military drones fly over Gaza City on March 12, 2012. The cross-border violence, touched off by Israel's killing of a top militant leader, has been the worst exchange of fire between Israel and the Hamas-ruled territory in years. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa) # 
28 Israeli soldiers watch as a missile is launched from the Iron Dome defense system in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva, on March 12, 2012. (Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images) # 
29 Israeli school girls take cover next to a bus during a rocket attack from the nearby Gaza Strip, in Ashdod, Israel, on March 12, 2012. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
30 Israeli children play outside a sewage pipe which is ready to be used as a protective shelter during rocket attacks fired by Palestinians militants from Gaza in the community of Nitzan, Israel, on March 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) # 
31 A rocket is launched from the Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile system, to intercept a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in Ashdod, Israel, on March 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) # 
32 Israeli boys look for steel ball bearings in a pock-marked wall of a school in the southern city of Beersheba, after it was damaged by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza, on March 11, 2012. (Reuters/Amir Cohen) # 
33 A Home Front Command soldier checks data on a computer at the site where a Grad rocket, which was fired from Gaza, landed in Netivot in southern Israel, on March 13, 2012. (Reuters/Amir Cohen) # 
34 Wounded Palestinian children receive medical attention at a hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 12, 2012, following an Israeli air raid. (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images) # 
35 Palestinian relatives grieve over the body of Nayef Qarmut, a teenager killed on his way to school in an Israeli military drone strike, as he is prepared for burial at the morgue in Beit Lahiya, on March 12, 2012, in the Gaza Strip. (Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images) # 
36 A Bedouin girl herds sheep with Iron Dome missile launchers in the background, in a field near the southern city of Ashdod, Israel, on March 13, 2012. (Reuters/Ronen Zvulun) # Israel’s air force obliterated symbols of Hamas power on the third day of its Gaza assault Monday, striking next to the Hamas premier’s home, devastating a security compound and flattening a university building in the deadliest campaign against Palestinians in decades. Israel’s defense minister said his military is fighting a “war to the bitter end” against Hamas but is not fighting the residents of Gaza. Most of the photos here are from Gaza with a few from Israel. Up until today, Monday, most of the photos from the region were coming out of Gaza. But with the continuing violence in both Israel and Gaza overnight, there undoubtedly will be more photos coming out of both areas to add to this photo report. 
1 The barrel of the cannon of an Israeli tank is pointed towards the Gaza Strip from the northern Israeli-Gaza border on December 28, 2008. Israeli tanks massed at the Gaza border today as warplanes again pounded Hamas targets in the densely populated enclave where raids have killed more than 280 people in less than 48 hours. (MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images) # 
2 Israeli children stand next to a house hit by a Palestinian rocket, December 28, 2008 in southern city of Netivot, Israel. Israel launched a massive wave of air strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza yesterday, killing at least 140 Palestinians and wounding hundreds more. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
3 A wounded Palestinian man is carried away after an Israeli missile strike on the neighbouring home of a Hamas military leader on December 29, 2008 in Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip. Israeli Air Force warplanes continued heavy strikes in the Hamas ruled Gaza Strip for a third consecutive day with over 300 Palestinians reported to have been killed and approximately 1400 injured in the air raids. (Photo by Thair Al-Hasany/Getty Images) # 
4 A soldier puts camouflage colors on his face as Israeli army special forces are deployed on December 28, 2008 at the Gaza Israel border. Israel launched a massive wave of air strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza yesterday, killing at least 155 Palestinians and wounding hundreds more. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
5 Palestinians run towards the destroyed home of a Hamas military leader after an Israeli missile strike on December 29, 2008 in Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip. Israeli Air Force warplanes continued heavy strikes in the Hamas ruled Gaza Strip for a third consecutive day with over 300 Palestinians reported to have been killed and approximately 1400 injured in the air raids. (Photo by Thair Al-Hasany/Getty Images) # 
6 An Israeli policeman looks through the window of a damaged apartment for victims of a Palestinian rocket attack moments after the Qassam rocket struck on December 29, 2008 in the southern Israeli town of Sderot. Israeli Air Force warplanes continued heavy strikes in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for a third consecutive day and Israel prepared to launch a possible invasion after killing 307 Palestinians in the air raids. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images) # 
7 A Palestinian man shouts as he inspects a destroyed mosque and houses after they were hit by an Israeli missile strike that killed Jawaher Baalusha, 4, and her four sisters, 'three children and two teenagers' December 29, 2008 in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. Jawher and four of her sisters from the Baalusha family were killed while they were sleeping together in their bedroom during an Israeli air raid that targeted a mosque near their home in Jabalia, medics said. Israel continues its air campaign against the Gaza Strip for the third day today, as missiles struck targets and wreaked unprecedented destruction in Gaza, reducing buildings to rubble. The death toll of over 300 victims, and about 1,400 wounded, continues to rise. (Photo by Abid Katib/Getty Images) # 
8 A dead cat lies in the rubble of a destroyed mosque and houses after they were hit by an Israeli missile strike that killed Jawaher Baalusha, 4, and her four sisters, 'three children and two teenagers' December 29, 2008 in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. Jawher and four of her sisters from the Baalusha family were killed while they were sleeping together in their bedroom during an Israeli air raid that targeted a mosque near their home in Jabalia, medics said. Israel continues its air campaign against the Gaza Strip for the third day today, as missiles struck targets and wreaked unprecedented destruction in Gaza, reducing buildings to rubble. The death toll of over 300 victims, and about 1,400 wounded, continues to rise. (Photo by Abid Katib/Getty Images) # 
9 Protesters opposed to Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip demonstrate near the Israeli Embassy in London, on December 29, 2008. Warplanes pounded Gaza for a third day as tanks stood by to join Israel's "all-out" war on Hamas that has killed at least 345 people and prompted deadly rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave. (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images) # 
10 A young Palestinian protester holds a stone during clashes with Israeli troops, not seen, at a demonstration against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in the Shuafat refugee camp, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Israel's overwhelming air campaign against the Gaza Strip inched closer to the territory's Hamas rulers as the assault entered its third day Monday, as missiles struck a house next to the Hamas premier's home and destroyed symbols of the Islamic movement's power. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty) # 
11 Israelis look from windows damaged in a rocket attack on Sderot, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Sderot, less than a mile from the border with Gaza, has been an ongoing target of rocket attacks fired by Hamas militants. In a third straight day of deadly air strikes against the emblems and institutions of Hamas on Monday, Israeli warplanes pounded targets in Gaza including the Interior Ministry while the Israeli Army declared areas around the beleaguered enclave a "closed military zone." (Rina Castelnuovo/The New York Times) # 
12 A Palestinian flag flutters in the wind, as people protest in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Tens of thousands of Lebanese Hezbollah supporters poured into the streets south of Beirut to protest Israel's air assault on targets in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil) # 
13 A Palestinian stone thrower runs away to avoid rubber bullets fired by Israeli border police, during clashes following a demonstration against the Israeli missiles strike on Gaza, at the Kalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Israel's overwhelming air campaign against the Gaza Strip entered its third day Monday, as missiles struck targets and wreaked unprecedented destruction in Gaza, reducing buildings to rubble, and the death toll continues to rise. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) # 
14 Three Palestinian brothers Sidki, 8, Ahmad, 12, and Mohammed Absi, 14, (no left-right available) who were killed in an Israeli missile strike, during their funeral in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Israel's overwhelming air campaign against the Gaza Strip entered its third day Monday, as missiles struck targets and wreaked unprecedented destruction in Gaza, reducing buildings to rubble, and the death toll continues to rise. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) # 
15 Palestinian mourners carry the bodies of five members of the Balosha family, including three children and two teenagers, who were killed in an Israeli missile strike, during their funeral in the Jebaliya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Israel's overwhelming air campaign against the Gaza Strip inched closer to the territory's Hamas rulers as the assault entered its third day Monday, as missiles struck a house next to the Hamas premier's home and destroyed symbols of the Islamic movement's power. (AP Photo/Ashraf Amra) # 
16 A rocket fired towards Israel rises from inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from Beth Hanoun, just over the border in Israel, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. In a third straight day of deadly air strikes against the emblems and institutions of Hamas on Monday, Israeli warplanes pounded targets in Gaza including the Interior Ministry while the Israeli Army declared areas around the beleaguered enclave a "closed military zone." (Rina Castelnuovo/The New York Times) # 
17 Palestinians search in the rubble of a destroyed house after an Israeli missile strike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Israel's overwhelming air campaign against the Gaza Strip inched closer to the territory's Hamas rulers as the assault entered its third day Monday, as missiles struck a house next to the Hamas premier's home and destroyed symbols of the Islamic movement's power. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) # 
18 Samera Baalusha (34) (R) carries her surving child Mohamad (15 months) while crying over the body of her daughter Jawaher Baalusha (4) during the her funeral held with her other four sisters, 'three children and two teenagers', who were killed in an Israeli missile strike, during their funeral on December 29, 2008 in the Jebaliya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip. Jawher and four of her sisters from the Baalusha family were killed during an Israeli air raid while they were sleeping together in their bedroom. Medics stated that the raid had targeted a mosque near their home in Jabalia. Israeli Air Force warplanes continued heavy strikes in the Hamas ruled Gaza Strip for a third consecutive day with over 300 Palestinians reported to have been killed and over 2000 injured in the air raids. (Photo by Abid Katib/Getty Images) # 
19 A Palestinian man smokes a cigarette in front of the rubble of a destroyed mosque following an Israeli air strike in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, on December 29, 2008. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said today that Israel was in an "all-out war against Hamas" as the Jewish state continued its massive bombardment of the Islamist movement's installations in Gaza which killed more then 310 Palestinians. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images) # 
20 Palestinian civilians run during an Israeli air strike in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, on December 29, 2008. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said today that Israel was in an "all-out war against Hamas" as the Jewish state continued its massive bombardment of the Islamist movement's installations in Gaza. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images) # 
21 Palestinians inspect a crater caused by an Israeli air strike at a police station in Gaza City on December 29, 2008. The massive Israeli bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip has so far killed 310 Palestinians, the head of Gaza emergency services told AFP today. (MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images) # 
22 A Palestinian man inspects the destroyed house of the governor in Gaza City following an Israeli air strike on December 29, 2008. Israeli aircraft early today bombed Gaza City's Islamic University, a stronghold of the ruling Hamas movement, causing no injuries, according to eye witnesses. The massive Israeli bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip has so far killed 310 Palestinians, the head of Gaza emergency services told AFP today. (MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images) # 
23 Palestinians try to dig out the remains of a security force officer from Hamas as he lays in the rubble following an Israeli missile strike on a building in Gaza City,Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008. More than 270 Palestinians have been killed and more than 600 people wounded since Israel's campaign to quash rocket barrages from Gaza began midday Saturday, Palestinian medical sources said. (AP Photo/Fadi Adwan) # 
24 Palestinian protesters kneel behind a barricade as they hurl stones at Israeli troops, not seen, during clashes at a demonstration against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in the Shuafat refugee camp, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008. More than 280 Palestinians have been killed and more than 600 people wounded since Israel's campaign to quash rocket barrages from Gaza began midday Saturday, according to Palestinian medical sources. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty) # 
25 A Palestinian protester throws stones at Israeli troops, not seen, during clashes at a demonstration against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in the Shuafat refugee camp, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008. More than 280 Palestinians have been killed and more than 600 people wounded since Israel's campaign to quash rocket barrages from Gaza began midday Saturday. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty) # 
26 Scores of Israeli army tanks and armored personnel carriers are massed on December 29, 2008 near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Israeli Air Force warplanes pounded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for a third consecutive day and Israel prepared to launch a possible invasion after killing at least 307 Palestinians in the air raids. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images) # 
27 A wounded Palestinian man is carried on a stretcher into a hospital in Rafah following Israeli air strikes on tunnels on the border between Gaza and Egypt on December 28, 2008. Israeli tanks massed at the Gaza border today as warplanes continued to pound Hamas targets in the densely populated enclave where raids have killed nearly 290 people in less than two days. Jets also bombed a series of tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt border -- a lifeline for Hamas used for smuggling in goods and weapons into the enclave, which has been virtually sealed by Israel since the Islamists violently seized power in June 2007. (SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images) # 
28 An injured Palestinian prisoner is helped as he and others flee through the rubble of the central security headquarters and prison, known as the Saraya, after it was hit in an Israeli missile strike in in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008. More than 270 Palestinians have been killed and more than 600 people wounded since Israel's campaign to quash rocket barrages from Gaza began midday Saturday.(AP Photo/Majed Hamdan) # 
29 A Palestinian protester is seen during clashes with Israeli troops, not seen, at a demonstration against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in the Shuafat refugee camp, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Israel's overwhelming air campaign against the Gaza Strip entered its third day Monday, as missiles struck targets and wreaked unprecedented destruction in Gaza, reducing buildings to rubble, and the death toll continues to rise. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty) # 
30 Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish fire at a burning building after an Israeli missile strike in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008. Israeli warplanes pressing one of Israel's deadliest assaults ever on Palestinian militants dropped bombs and missiles on a top security installation and dozens of other targets across Hamas-ruled Gaza on Sunday. Israel's Cabinet authorized a callup of at least 6,500 reserve soldiers, suggesting plans to expand an offensive against Gaza rocket squads that has already killed some 280 Palestinians. (AP Photo/Eyad Baba) # 
31 A wounded Palestinian boy is carried by his father at a hospital in Gaza City following an Israeli air strike on December 28, 2008. Israel warned today it could send ground troops into Gaza as its warplanes continued pounding Hamas targets inside the enclave where more than 270 Palestinians have been killed in just 24 hours. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images) # 
32 Palestinians gather around the ruins of a building after an Israeli missile strike hit the home of a Hamas member in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Israel's air force obliterated symbols of Hamas power on the third day of its overwhelming Gaza assault Monday, striking a house next to the Hamas premier's home, devastating a security compound and flattening a five-story building at a university closely linked to the Islamic group. (AP Photo/Fadi Adwan) # 
33 Wounded Palestinians sit in a hospital following an Israeli air strike on Jabalia refugee camp in the northern of Gaza Strip on December 29, 2008. Israeli tanks massed at the Gaza border today as warplanes continued pounding Hamas targets in the densely populated enclave where raids have killed more than 300 people in two days. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images) # 
34 Palestinian ambulances line up to unload injured Palestinian men toward waiting Egyptian Ambulances at the Egyptian border crossing terminal during the transportation of critical Palestinian casualties from Gaza to Egyptian hospitals for treatment, in Rafah, Egypt Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Egypt started taking in a trickle of wounded Palestinians from the Gaza Strip on Monday. An Egyptian official said nine Gazans were hospitalized in Egypt as the Israeli assault on the coastal area continued. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) # 
35 Israeli army special forces are deployed on December 28, 2008 at the Gaza Israel border. Israel launched a massive wave of air strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza yesterday, killing at least 155 Palestinians and wounding hundreds more. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
36 Smoke rises above Gaza after another Israeli air strike on a Hamas target, December 29, 2008 along Israel's side of the Gaza border. The Israeli Air Force continued its strike of the Hamas ruled Gaza Strip for a third consecutive day, killing 307 Palestinians in the air raids, as Israel prepared to launch a possible invasion. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
37 Palestinians bury the body of Haya Hamdan, 4, in Beit Hanun, northern Gaza Strip on December 30, 2008. A fresh Israeli air strike on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip today killed Haya and her sister Lama, aged four and 11, Palestinian medical sources said. Lama and Haya Hamdan were killed in a raid targeting a donkey cart in Beit Hanun, the sources said. Warplanes pounded Gaza for a fourth day as the Palestinian death toll rose to at least 360. AFP PHOTO/MOHAMMED ABED (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images) # 
38 GAZA BORDER, ISRAEL - DECEMBER 30: (ISRAEL OUT) Eli Azran father of Irit Shitrit (39), a mother of four, leans over her dead body as he mourns during her funeral on December 30, 2008 in Ashdod, Israel. Shitrit was killed yesterday by a Hamas rocket in Ashdod, approximately 30 kilometres south of Tel Aviv. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
39 ASHDOD, ISRAEL - DECEMBER 30: (ISRAEL OUT) Israelis inspect a scene near a bus station where Irit Shitrit (39) mother of 4, was killed by a Hamas rocket strike yesterday, on December 30, 2008 in Ashdod about 30 KM south of Tel Aviv Israel. The Israeli Air Force continued its strike of the Hamas ruled Gaza Strip for a third consecutive day, killing 307 Palestinians in the air raids, as Israel prepared to launch a possible invasion. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
40 GAZA BORDER, ISRAEL - DECEMBER 30: (ISRAEL OUT) Friends and family members of Irit Shitrit (39) mother of 4, mourn during her funeral on December 30, 2008 in Ashdod, Israel. Shitrit was killed by a Hamas rocket in Ashdod about 30 KM south of Tel Aviv, yesterday. Posted on July 19, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 19, 2012 – IOWA – The worst drought in a half century will continue to plague most of the U.S. Midwest crop region for at least the next 10 days, with only occasional showers providing some relief mainly in the east, an agricultural meteorologist said on Thursday. America’s top two corn and soybean producing states, Iowa and Illinois, are now in the center of the drought as the dryness spreads to the northwest to leech what little moisture remains in already parched soils. “It looks a little wetter today for Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, but the west is still dry with above-normal temperatures,” said Jason Nicholls, meteorologist for AccuWeather. Rain for the next 10 days will run the gamut from just 40 to 75 percent of normal, with the greatest stress in the western Midwest crop states such as top producer Iowa. “It got up to 102 to 103 degrees Fahrenheit in Iowa yesterday with no rain, and will be in the 90s today with no rain,” Nicholls said. Rainfall overnight Wednesday left up to 1.5 inches in Chicago and an inch in Rockford, Illinois. “Only isolated rains, no drought buster,” he stressed. In addition to rain in northeastern Illinois, showers fell in southern Wisconsin, Indiana and southwestern Michigan. “It will be cooler on Friday but the heat will be back for the weekend into early next week. The 11- to 15-day forecast shows the ridge moving west over the Rockies so that may help cut back on the heat, but there is still no significant rain in sight,” he said. An atmospheric high pressure ridge has entrenched itself over the heart of the U.S. corn and soybean producing states, preventing moisture from moving into the crop belt, leading to a buildup of heat, causing crop losses and spawning record-high corn and soy prices. Commodity Weather Group (CWG) on Thursday predicted the heat would last longer next week than had earlier been forecast. More than half of the Midwest was severely dry. “The most concern is in west central Indiana, much of Illinois, far northern Missouri, most of Iowa, southwest Minnesota, southern South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas,” said CWG meteorologist Joel Widenor. As the drought, rated the worst since 1956, expands to the northern and western Midwest, areas that had previously been spared, analysts were slashing corn yield estimates by the hour. Some were also starting to cut their forecasts on the number of acres that will be harvested as farmers opt to plow under some of their parched fields to claim insurance. –Reuters
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Dark Ages, Drought, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Environmental Threat, Extreme Weather Event, Food chain unraveling, Heatwave | 4 Comments Posted on July 19, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 19, 2012 – JAPAN – On 7/17/2012, around one thousand of small fish such as Japanese dace were found dead for 500m of Kasumi river Aoume city Tokyo. A citizen reported it to the city office at 17:15 of 7/17/2012. According to their water-quality test, oxygen concentration is normal, chlorine or cyanogen were not detected. Tokyo metropolitan government is going to check if a factory dumped waste water or agricultural chemical in the upper stream. Last November, about 5000 of small fish such as Japanese dace were found dead at the same location too, but they could not identify the cause either. –Fukushima Diary
   
Deformed plants are found in a contaminated area of Southern Ibaraki – (Map below) 
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Environmental Threat, Food chain unraveling, Mass animal deaths, Nuclear plant crisis, Unsolved Mystery | Leave a comment Posted on July 19, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 19, 2012 – JAPAN – Japan’s nuclear safety watchdog on Wednesday ordered a probe into claims the country’s only working nuclear power station sits on an active tectonic fault. The order came as Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) readied to refire a second reactor at the Oi plant, western Japan, just weeks after the first unit was restarted, ending a brief nuclear-free period in earthquake-prone Japan. A spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said KEPCO had to re-examine the Earth’s crust underneath Oi, while the operator of the Shika plant in nearby Ishikawa also had to carry out further studies. The decision came after geological experts argued both plants are likely sitting on active faults and could be vulnerable to earthquakes if tectonic plates shift. Japan’s entire stable of nuclear reactors was shut down in the months after the disaster at Fukushima when an earthquake-sparked tsunami knocked out cooling systems causing meltdowns that spread radiation over a large area. A parliamentary report earlier this month called for further research into the effect on the reactors of the earthquake itself, adding it was not possible to say for certain the tsunami was the sole cause of damage at Fukushima. Despite widespread public fears over the safety of nuclear power, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in June ordered the restarting of reactors at Oi amid fears of a summer power crunch. Unit No. 3 was back up at full operating power by mid-July and KEPCO said its plans to re-fire Unit No. 4 on Wednesday would not be affected by the probe order. “The company from its evaluations believes the fault has not been active for between 120,000 and 130,000 years,” a spokesman said. “Now the company has received the order to reinvestigate the matter and swiftly report, we will comply fully with this order,” he said. –Yahoo News
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, Electric power disruption & grid failure, High-risk potential hazard zone, Magma Plume activity, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | Leave a comment Posted on July 19, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 19, 2012 – MIDDLE EAST – Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp., the state company developing nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates, has begun construction of the first facility and will start the second in 2013. Safety concrete for the first unit was poured yesterday at the site in Barakah in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region, Emirates Nuclear said today in a statement. Emirates Nuclear will apply for an operating license for the first unit in 2015 and will pour concrete for the second unit in 2013, it said. The first of the four 1,400 megawatt plants will be ready in 2017, with each additional unit becoming operational every year through 2020, according to the statement. The U.A.E. is aiming to be the first Gulf Arab nation to develop nuclear power. Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEP) (KEP) was awarded the contract to build the plants in 2009. –Business Week
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Electric power disruption & grid failure, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Time - Event Acceleration | Leave a comment Posted on July 18, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 18, 2012 – BULGARIA – A deadly explosion on a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria is “clearly a terrorist attack,” Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday. “We have several people killed and dozens of wounded people,” Barak said. He said the attack was probably initiated by a group under the auspices of “either Iran or other radical Muslim groups,” and named Hezbollah and Hamas as likely suspects. “We are in a continued fight against them. We are determined to identify who sent them, who executed and to settle the account,” Barak said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed the finger at Iran, saying it has been behind a string of recent attempted attacks on Israelis in Thailand, India and Georgia, among others. “All the signs (are) leading to Iran,” he said, according to a statement from his office. Netanyahu said his country “would respond with force to Iranian terror.” Venelin Petkov, a reporter for bTV in Bulgaria, said more than 30 people were taken to the hospital, three in a critical condition. Vania Valkova, director of the Bulgarian interior ministry press office, earlier confirmed at least three people were in the blast on a bus outside Burgas Airport, on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. She was not able to confirm the nationalities of those killed but said the flight came from Tel Aviv. Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon also said there were three dead in the explosion. He told Israel Radio, “We cannot confirm yet that this is a terrorist incident, but Iran and Hezbollah have been responsible for incidents like this in the past.” The incident comes on the 18th anniversary of the attack on a Jewish community center in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, in which 85 people were killed. The tourists’ plane landed in Bulgaria at 5 p.m., the Israeli Foreign Ministry said. Valkova said the bus was in the parking zone when the blast occurred. -CNN
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Ethnic or religious strife, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations | 21 Comments Posted on July 18, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
July 18, 2012 – COSTA RICA – Following an increase in its volcanic activity, visits to the crater of Rincón de la Vieja Volcano, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, are prohibited until further notice. Volcanologist Raúl Mora, from the National Seismological Network, explained that the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano, “while not the most active in the country, is a volcano in full activity, which prompted authorities to take preventive measures.” Mora said restricted access to the crater does not affect public access to the national park of the same name, one of northwestern Costa Rica’s main attractions. Rincón de la Vieja and Turrialba are the country’s only two volcanoes with restricted access for tourists. –Tico Times Posted in Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Volcano Watch | 3 Comments Posted on July 18, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 18, 2012 – CANARY ISLANDS - Spanish authorities evacuated a town of 1,800 residents on the Canary Islands on Tuesday, after three days of firefighting efforts failed to prevent a raging wildfire from reaching it. Residents were evacuating from the town of Vilaflor, south of the Teide national park that spans the centre of the Spanish island of Tenerife, as flames reached parts of the town. Emergency services ‘are evacuating residents from Vilaflor due to the advance of the fire from the east,’ the regional government said in a statement Tuesday evening. It said the 1,800 people of the village were leaving by road. Authorities provided buses for some 200 people who did not have their own vehicles. Authorities had prepared a shelter for the evacuees in the nearby town of Granadilla, the statement added. Authorities earlier said the fire had crept a few metres into the Teide Park, a major tourist attraction on the archipelago off northwest Africa, as firefighters battled to keep the flames away from populated areas. Some 800 firefighters were battling the blaze, which broke out Sunday and has spread with strong winds and high temperatures, regional authorities said. More than 90 people were evacuated from other parts of the island on Monday, of whom 60 remained away from their homes before the latest evacuations. The fire had affected an area of about 3,000 hectares, of which half had been burnt, a spokeswoman for the regional emergency services said. Firefighters said they were using five helicopters and three water-bombing planes that arrived Tuesday from mainland Spain, but authorities later said the thick smoke at Vilaflor was hampering efforts. Another four helicopters and 300 firefighters were working to put out a blaze on one of the neighboring islands, La Palma, that has engulfed around 500 hectares and forced more than 150 evacuations. The spokeswoman said this fire had been ‘stabilized’ on Tuesday afternoon after 160 people were evacuated. –Terra Daily
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Drought, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Environmental Threat, Extreme Weather Event, Wildfires | 3 Comments ← Older posts Newer posts → ← Older posts Newer posts → Posted on July 18, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 18, 2012 – GREAT FALLS, Va. – One lane of Georgetown Pike in Great Falls is now open after a 40-ton tree crushed a 2008 Mercedes CL600, killing the driver Tuesday evening. Traffic is alternating directions. WTOP Traffic still recommends Route 7 as an alternative. Traffic along Georgetown Pike/Va. 193 between Springvale Road and Walker Road completely shut down after the tree came down around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday. Fairfax County Police identified the driver who died as Albert Carl Roeth III, 64. He was the only one in the car. Police say alcohol and speed did not factor into the accident. While it hasn’t been determined why the 100-foot tall, 40-ton tree fell at 9916 Georgetown Pike, it’s believed recent storms weakened the aging tree. One tree expert says the tree has been in serious decline for years. “That tree has been a problem waiting to happen,” Vic Price of Vic’s Tree Service of Great Falls tells WTOP. “It had no leaves. It had no root system to speak of. Gravity was going to take it down. In a busy area like that, I love trees as much as the next person, but sometimes they need to come down,” he says. -WTOP
Posted in Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Time - Event Acceleration | 20 Comments Posted on July 18, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 18, 2012 – SYRIA - President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law Asef Shawkat and the country’s defense minister were killed in a massive bombing in central Damascus on Wednesday, Syrian state media said. State television said Mr. Shawkat and Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Dawood Rajha, who is a Christian, were killed in an attack against the so-called national security building in the capital’s Rawda Square, while they and other senior security and defense leaders were meeting inside. Mr. Shawkat is deputy defense minister and one of the most powerful figures in Mr. Assad’s security apparatus. It added that there were other serious injuries among those who were at the meeting, but didn’t give further details. The killings come as rebel forces have moved reinforcements into the Syrian capital, battling with government forces and bringing the fighting closer to Mr. Assad’s seat of power. – WSJ
Fires reported at security barracks over-looking presidential palace in Damascus -BBC Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Ethnic or religious strife, Lurid acts of violence increasing, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations | 12 Comments Posted on July 17, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 17, 2012 – ECONOMY – The risk of a new depression — a sustained, severe recession — has struck fear into the heart of markets and driven monetary policy in developed economies since the current financial crisis began. “We’re in a very unfortunate position to be here,” Richard Duncan, author of The New Depression, warned on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” Monday. “When we broke the link between money and gold, this removed all constraints on credit creation. This explosion of credit created the world we live in, but it now seems that credit cannot expand any further because the private sector is incapable of repaying the debt it has already, and if credit begins to contract, there’s a very real danger that we will collapse into a new Great Depression,” he argued. “If this credit bubble pops, the depression could be so severe that I don’t think our civilization could survive it.” The explosion in cheap credit has been widely blamed for the global financial crisis, but the debate about how to fix the problem continues. “We could keep deferring the depression, but that could just encourage the bad guys. If you do this, you possibly do more harm than good,” Roger Nightingale, economist and strategist at RND Associates, told CNBC Monday. “You can defer, but not prevent.” Nightingale argued that previous credit booms, for example in Japan in the 1980s, have led to sustained recessions. “When you throw money into the system at a rate much in excess of the requirements of the real economy, you’re trying to get people to borrow and spend, but the good guys out there won’t because they’re too cautious. It’s the bad guys who come in, the malefactors,” he said. “When the central banks realize what is going on and raise interest rates, it flings the world economy into depression.” The ideas of Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who argued that monetary policy should constantly expand, informed some of the Fed’s response to the crisis. “Policymakers really believe that if we allow credit to contract, we will reach a new Depression,” Duncan said. “The increase in government debt is making total debt grow; otherwise we would already have collapsed in to a debt-deflation death spiral. This creates great perils, but also tremendous opportunities.” -CNBC
Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Financial System Collapse, Global Debt Bomb, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations | 40 Comments Posted on July 17, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 17, 2012 – BONN, GERMANY – German analyst and investor sentiment dropped for a third consecutive month in July, a survey showed on Tuesday, providing further evidence that the euro zone crisis is taking its toll on morale in Europe’s largest economy. But the ZEW think tank, which conducts the monthly poll, said expectations may have now hit bottom and that the outlook for the rest of the year should prove stable. The main reading from the ZEW poll of economic sentiment slid to -19.6 from -16.9 in June, coming in slightly above the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 38 economists for a drop to -20.0. The index measuring current conditions fell to 21.1, the lowest level since June 2010, and compared with 33.2 last month. “The latest stock market stabilisation, the ECB’s rate cut, the weaker euro exchange rate and lower oil prices have all not succeeded in brightening up German investors,” said ING economist Carsten Brzeski. “(The survey) will clearly add to growing concerns about the strengths of the German economy. However, throughout the financial crisis, the ZEW index has been a euro crisis thermometer rather than a good leading indicator for German growth.” ZEW President Wolfgang Franz said the decline in expectations for the end of 2012 was flattening out gently. “This could possibly be an early sign of an encouraging development in 2013,” he said, but added that the risks should not be underestimated. “Besides the weak demand from the euro zone for German exports, the German economy is also burdened by weakening growth dynamics in other important partner countries,” he said. ZEW economist Michael Schroeder said he would not be surprised if Tuesday’s data had hit the bottom line in terms of expectations. “Our forecast is until year-end and for this year from now on it is more or less stable. From now on the (economic) development should be stable until the year end,” he said. German retailers have been feeling the effects of the debt crisis engulfing much of Europe – department store chain Karstadt said on Monday it would cut 2,000 jobs and the chief executive of Metro, the world’s No. 4 retailer, said earlier this month the debt crisis was hurting demand. -Reuters
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Financial System Collapse, Global Debt Bomb, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced | Leave a comment Posted on July 17, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 17, 2012 – MIDDLE EAST - The U.S. Defense Department is speeding deployment of the Navy’s John C. Stennis aircraft carrier group to the Middle East, four months ahead of its scheduled deployment, Pentagon spokesman George Little said. Marine Corps General James Mattis, commander of the U.S. Central Command, who has responsibility for the region, sought the earlier presence of the Stennis strike group and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta approved the request, Little told reporters today. The deployment of the Stennis “is about a wide range of U.S. security interests” and not specifically tied to threats from Iran or the turmoil in Syria, Little said. Sending the Stennis group ahead of schedule was intended to avoid having just one aircraft carrier group in the Middle East when the USS Enterprise carrier group leaves the region later this year, Little said. He declined to say when the Enterprise is scheduled to depart. In June, the Pentagon announced a nine- month deployment of the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower to the area. The Stennis strike group will include the Navy’s Aegis destroyer USS Mobile Bay and a contingent of 5,500 sailors, Little said. -Bloomberg
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Drumbeat of War, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Ethnic or religious strife, High-risk potential hazard zone, New weapons of war, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced, Rising tension between nations | 4 Comments Posted on July 17, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 17, 2012 – LONDON – Fabian Kessl, an academic visitor from the Department of Social Work, believes the riots are symbolic of a change that is occurring within society and unless the problems are addressed, it is only a matter of time before further riots occur. Professor Kessl explains: “As long as the politics in England go in the same direction as we have experienced in the last years: disrespecting people’s everyday needs, demolishing the idea of the public and strengthening the consumer capitalism – the pre-conditions for a new political revolt are furthermore given. It’s just the question of another “trigger’ like the death of Mark Duggan on the 4th of August last year.” Professor Kessl is undertaking a study into the 2011 riots, analyzing the perspectives of those working in the public services following an observation that those working in youth services or youth work did not offer public commentary following the riots. His research has revealed that both those taking part in the riots and the police responding to the violence described the events as surreal. The already existing data, like the current report of the Youth Justice Board, show that young people people likened the rioting to going to a theme park. One rioter, quoted by the Youth Justice Board-Report said: “It was like when you go to a theme park and go on a rollercoaster – that kind of good scared. Instead of fearing for yourself – it didn’t feel real”. Similarly, a police officer, named in the Reading the Riots Study by London School of Economics and The Guarding describes the events as being “surreal” and “like a movie”. Much commentary regarding the cause of the riots has focused on the “opportunism”. But Professor Kessl believes that this takes many forms – the opportunity to “get back” at the police, at being a sovereign consumer for a few hours even and to show their anger at racial discrimination. “It was about just being visible, being heard, and also putting down the animosities and battles between the gangs for a little time, because there was a bigger enemy,” as a interviewee said to Professor Kessl. He believes that unless the underlying causes of the riots are tackled, then there will be a repeat of the events of August last year and that the Government’s tough punishment will not change that. -Physics
Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Crowd Control technology, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Economic upheaval, social unrest, terrorism, Financial System Collapse, Global Debt Bomb, Human behavioral change after disaster, Lurid acts of violence increasing, New World Order -Dystopia- War, Prophecies referenced | 4 Comments Posted on July 17, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 17, 2012 – INDONESIA – Mount Merapi, located in Yogyakarta, emitted high-pressure gas on Sunday afternoon that caused its crater wall to collapse and volcanic ash to fall on its western slope, as smoke billowed up to 1 kilometer into the sky. As the gas discharge was not followed by other dangerous volcanic activity, the phenomenon was regarded as a small-scale volcanic eruption and the volcano’s alert status remained normal. “Mount Merapi’s status remains normal because there was no dangerous volcanic activity,” said Volcanic Technology Development and Research Center (BPPTK) head Subandriyo on Monday. According to Subandriyo, the incident was due to the accumulation of gas produced by the volcano’s magma. As the gas’ exit fumarole was too narrow, the volcano eventually released all the buildup of very high pressure gas by erupting, which caused the crater wall to collapse and this emitted a massive rumble. “The incident can be called a small-scale ‘volcanic eruption’,” said Subandriyo. In Bandung, West Java, Geological Disaster Mitigation and Volcanology Center head Surono said the collapse of the crater wall of Mount Merapi on Sunday was a natural process. The collapse was not due to an increase in volcanic activity of the most active volcano in Indonesia. The lava dome collapsed because rocks and eruption material from the 2010 eruption were still not completely set and stable. “The force of gravity or the weight of the rocks has caused the crater wall to collapse,” Surono said in a text message on Monday. The lava dome collapsed on Sunday at 6:02 p.m. local time. According to Surono, officers at the Babadan observation post, located more than 5 kilometers from the mountain park, heard a rumbling sound which was a result of the collapse. They also observed smoke billowing at a height of 1,000 meters above the peak, slanting westward. Surono added that a slight ash cloud occurred, followed by the smell of sulfur. “Based on a report, a rain of ash took place in Jurang Jero and Srumbung. The smoke was not emitted from an eruption, but rather by the collapsed crater dome,” Surono said. The crater emitted thick smoke mixed with gas and ash and rose up to 1 kilometer. Its shape resembled a pyroclastic flow. According to Subandriyo, the phenomenon was the first, after it erupted in 2010. “The volcanic magma is currently rich with gas. This did not occur before the 2010 eruption,” he said. He added that in the past month, the crater dome of the 2,800-meter tall volcano often collapsed because the structure of the dome was not yet stable and due to the drought. –Jakarta Post
Mt. Merapi’s last eruption was in 2010 Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Earthquake Omens?, High-risk potential hazard zone, Potential Earthchange hotspot, Seismic tremors, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Time - Event Acceleration, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano Watch | Leave a comment ← Older posts Newer posts → ← Older posts Newer posts → Posted on July 17, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 17, 2012 – ATHENS – Greece’s hottest day this year is forcing authorities to shut down the Athens Acropolis six hours before schedule in the interests of visitor health, the site’s guards said on Monday. The country’s top monument was to shut down at 1100 GMT instead of its normal 1700 GMT closing time, a guard told AFP. The ancient citadel is perched on a rocky plateau rising amid a sea of concrete in the Greek capital of over four million, offering precious little shade to thousands of tourists who visit it daily. Temperatures in Athens were set to exceed 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit) at the close of this year’s hottest week that earlier forced authorities to make air-conditioned halls available to the public. The environment ministry said air pollution was also above warning levels in various parts of the capital as it warned people with respiratory problems and heart trouble to stay indoors. –Terra Daily
Posted in Earth Watch, Earth Changes, Extreme Weather Event, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Time - Event Acceleration, Drought, Heatwave | 1 Comment Posted on July 17, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  
July 17, 2012 – ALASKA – Looking for relief from the heat over much of the Lower 48 states? Head to coastal Alaska where they are experiencing the coldest first half of July on record! Through the first 14 days of July, the average temperature in Anchorage was 53.1 degrees factoring in daily highs and lows, which makes it the coldest first half of the month on record according to the National Weather Service in Anchorage. Should this temperature trend continue, it could threaten the record for the coldest July ever, which occurred in 1920 and had an average temperature of 54.4 degrees. Typically this stretch of time is the warmest of the year. Instead, temperatures in the city of Anchorage are running 5.3 degrees below average. Some days have even turned out colder than cities on the Arctic Coast such as Barrow. On July 12th, the high temperature topped out at 54 degrees in Anchorage, while temperatures soared to 62 in Barrow (a whooping 15 degrees above average.) Not only has it been cool, but residents of the Alaska city haven’t seen much sunlight due to overcast skies and a persistent flow off the ocean. Rainfall through the first 14 days is running slightly above normal at 120 percent. But the clouds and cool temperatures have been the bigger story. –Accuweather Ice break: A massive iceberg larger than Manhattan has broken away from the floating end of a Greenland glacier this week, an event scientists predicted last autumn. The giant ice island is 46 square miles, and separated from the terminus of the Petermann Glacier, one of Greenland’s largest. The Petermann Glacier last birthed — or “calved” — a massive iceberg two years ago, in August 2010. The iceberg that broke off and floated away was nearly four times the size of Manhattan, and one of the largest ever recorded in Greenland. Although the new iceberg isn’t as colossal as its 2010 predecessor, its birth has moved the front end of the massive glacier farther inland than it has been in 150 years, Andreas Muenchow, an associate profe ssor of physical ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware, said in a statement. Jason Box, a scientist with Ohio State University’s Byrd Polar Research Center, has also been monitoring the Petermann Glacier and in September 2011 he told OurAmazingPlanet that a growing crack likely would sever the glacier once warmer weather took hold during the summer months. “We can see the crack widening in the past year through satellite pictures, so it seems imminent,” Box said at the time. Muenchow said that the newest ice island broke away on Monday morning (July 16). Although iceberg birth is a natural, cyclical process, when the process speeds up, there are consequences. The floating ends of glaciers, known as ice shelves, act as doorstops. When these ice shelves suddenly splinter and weaken or even collapse entirely, as has been observed in Antarctica, the glaciers that feed them speed up, dumping more ice into the ocean and raising global sea levels. “The Greenland ice sheet as a whole is shrinking, melting and reducing in size as the result of globally changing air and ocean temperatures and associated changes in circulation patterns in both the ocean and atmosphere,” Muenchow said. -MSNBC contribution Emanni & Preston Posted in Earth Watch, Earth Changes, Extreme Weather Event, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Prophecies referenced, Climate unraveling, Time - Event Acceleration, Unseasonable Weather Event, Record Cold temperatures | 2 Comments Posted on July 17, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
July 17, 2012 – JAPAN - Flood-battered southwestern Japan on Tuesday braced for a typhoon amid fears it could heap further misery on an area where at least 32 are dead or missing after record rainfall. Typhoon Khanun was lashing the Amami island chain south of Kyushu where four days of torrential rain have sparked landslides and flooding, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. Khanun – “jack fruit” in Thai – packing winds of up to 126 kilometres (78 miles) per hour, was moving west-northwest at 30 kilometres per hour and was expected to graze the west of Kyushu island through Wednesday afternoon, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Tuesday brought a lull in the rainfall for most of the region as the weather agency said there was up to 9.2 centimetres (3.6 inches) of rain in the 24 hours to 4.20pm (0720 GMT) in the north of Kyushu. In hard-hit Minamiaso in Kumamoto prefecture, more than 670 people remained unable to return to their homes on Tuesday afternoon because of landslide fears. “We started reconstruction work on damaged roads yesterday, but workers have been forced to step aside repeatedly by occasional rains,” said local official Hideki Kuraoka. “Even a small amount of rain could trigger mudslides and more downpours are expected this afternoon. We remain on high alert,” he said. Kuraoka said even though forecasters did not expect a direct hit from the typhoon, it was still a worry. “We cannot know what damage will be caused by the typhoon,” he said. “We are being extremely vigilant about it.” Most of the 400,000 people who were ordered or advised to leave their homes were allowed to return after authorities began lifting evacuation orders on Sunday. Roads in Aso city remained flooded and inaccessible. Troops who were called in to help over the weekend on Tuesday continued their search for three people officially recorded as missing. –Gulf News Posted in 2012, Civilizations unraveling, Climate unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Cyclone or Hurricane, Deluge from torrential rains, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, High-risk potential hazard zone, Prophecies referenced, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Strange high tides & freak waves, Time - Event Acceleration, Unprecedented Flooding | Leave a comment Posted on July 16, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 16, 2012 – BEIJING — The Chinese province of Hunan urged parents on Sunday to seek immediate treatment for children showing symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease after official figures showed 112 people died from the illness last month. The disease, which children are especially vulnerable to, also infected more than 381,000 people, the Ministry of Health reported last week. “The disease incidence rate in June was much higher than that of last June, which has much to do with the high temperatures this summer,” said Liu Fuqiang with the provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The province urged parents and teachers to send children to hospital as soon as they showed symptoms of the disease, including mouth sores, skin rashes or fever. In June, 34,768 cases were reported and 17 people died from the disease in Hunan, the statement said. According to the Ministry of Health, over 460,000 people were infected by the disease in May, leading to 132 deaths. In recent days, health departments in numerous Chinese provinces and regions, including Gansu, Fujian, Jiangsu and Xinjiang have issued warnings over the outbreak of the disease, state press reports said. n international lending organization has slightly lowered its outlook for global growth over the next two years, warning that Europe’s financial crisis and slower expansion in China and India have weakened the world economy. -AFP
contribution Jenny M. Posted in Civilizations unraveling, Dark Ages, Disease outbreak, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Environmental Threat, High-risk potential hazard zone, Pestilence Watch | Leave a comment Posted on July 16, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol  July 16, 2012 – TEXAS – Two soccer players are dead and another is injured after lightning struck a tree that they were standing beneath to shelter from a storm in Houston. Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Thomas Gilliland says rain halted a men’s league soccer club around noon on Sunday and the players all ran for cover under some nearby trees. Gilliland says lightning struck one of the trees, killing one of the men. Two others were also hit and taken to a Houston hospital, where a second man was pronounced dead. The third man is in stable condition at Ben Taub General Hospital. Authorities have not released the names of any of the men. The Houston area has been drenched by rain the past week, flooding between 50 and 100 homes. –CSM
Posted in Climate unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Lightning storm, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening | 2 Comments Posted on July 15, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
July 15, 2012 – POLAND - A freak wave of tornadoes ripped through northern Poland on Sunday, wrecking houses and swathes of forest and leaving one person dead and another 10 injured. Tornadoes are not unknown in the European Union’s largest eastern country but the scope and power of Sunday’s twisters was unusual and comes in a summer already marked by flash floods, hailstorms and gales. Some 1,200 rescuers were working to remove fallen trees, unblock roads and restore utilities in the hardest hit Baltic region of Pomerania. Trees were uprooted, buildings damaged and power lines downed, while some 550 hectares of woodlands in the Tuchola Forest area were flattened. “I saw a black column coming our way,” an injured inhabitant of the Wycinki village, whose farm was destroyed by the tornado told state television. “It carried everything away with it … birds, debris, sucked up water from the lake.” A caravan with a family of three inside was seen flying through the air in the village of Stara Rzeka and breaking into pieces upon landing, but its occupants suffered no serious injuries, news channel TVN24 reported. “The sole fatality was a 60-year-old man in the Pomeranian village of Wycinki who was crushed to death by his collapsing summer cottage,” fire brigade spokesman Pawel Fratczak told Reuters by telephone. The tornadoes were the latest outburst of violent weather that has battered Poland since the start of the month with hailstorms, gales, cloudbursts and flash floods. TVN24 reported meteorologists categorizing the twister as a class two tornado with wind velocity of up to 200 km/h. –Reuters contribution Mahati Posted in 2012, Climate unraveling, Cloudburst storms with flashflooding, Earth Changes, Earth Watch, Extreme Weather Event, Gale-force winds and gusts, Signs of Magnetic Field weakening, Tornado Outbreak | 17 Comments Posted on July 15, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
Cisco Wilkinson of west Pasco took this photo at 4 a.m. Saturday. “It was so bright, I was temporarily blinded,” Wilkinson said. “It looks like it’s daytime.” July 15, 2012 – WASHINGTON – There were a lot of tired people in the Tri-Cities on Saturday after an early morning electrical storm rattled homes and flashed bright lights through windows. The system that led to a severe thunderstorm warning from the National Weather Service also cooled down the Mid-Columbia after a string of 100-plus degree days. The light show and downpour didn’t appear to cause any significant damage, with police and fire officials surprised at how few calls were received. However, it might not be over, with the forecast calling for a slight chance of thunderstorms through the rest of the week as the temperatures heat up again. Those storms continue to bring the threat of lightning sparking wildfires. The thunder and lightning that moved through the area earlier Saturday seemed anything but normal to the dozens of residents who took to social media to describe the experience. Some referred to it on the Tri-City Herald’s Facebook page as “the best storm ever” or the “most intense” they’ve experienced in the Northwest. People awakened by the loud booms reported staying up through the early morning hours because they were fascinated by Mother Nature’s spectacular display, or simply realized that attempts at sleep were futile. A severe weather alert issued at 2:37 a.m. said two storms were located six miles southwest of Kennewick and moving north at 30 mph. Within minutes, the storms moved over the Tri-Cities and seemed to hunker down for almost three hours, with cloud-to-cloud lightning that often was so bright it appeared to be daytime. The National Weather Service’s warning described it as “a dangerous storm,” and told residents to prepare for damaging winds, destructive hail and deadly lightning that could strike the ground. People were instructed to seek shelter inside a strong building, but away from windows. The weather service took two calls from the public reporting hail the size of a quarter in Kennewick. Public reports of wind speeds in Kennewick ranged from gusts of 35 to 40 mph to gusts up to 60 mph that drove the rain and hail sideways. “I’m sure it’s been a blast for people to watch the lightning,” Brooks said. The weather service had been expecting the storms to form for a couple of days because of instability with a low-pressure system and warm temperatures, Brooks said. –News Tribune |
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