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Following Hurricane Sandy’s massive devastation across the northeast, many were quick to tie it to “climate change” (you know, what “global warming” and the “new ice age” used to be.). In a blog post on Tuesday, former Vice President Al Gore wrote “Hurricane Sandy is a disturbing sign of things to come. We must heed this warning and act quickly to solve the climate crisis. Dirty energy makes dirty weather.” Meghan McCain sarcastically weighed in on Twitter, “So are we still going to go with climate change not being real fellow republicans?” As his city struggles in the Sandy aftermath,...

Yesterday here in the People's Republic of MA. a line of thunderstorms came through. Funnel clouds were spotted and the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning. Apparently a lot of people were warned via cell phone. My daughter who works in a restaurant heard quite a few go off at the same time. Since when do alerts come via cell phones? Do you have to sign up for it, or is that standard for newer phones?I have an old non smartphone type.

GENEVA (AP) -- A senior official at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says solar storms pose a growing threat to criticial infrastructure such as satellite communications, navigation systems and electrical transmission equipment. NOAA Assistant Secretary Kathryn Sullivan says the intensity of solar storms is expected to peak in 2013 and countries should prepare for "potentially devastating effects." Solar storms release particles that can temporarily disable or permanently destroy fragile computer circuits. Sullivan, a former NASA astronaut who in 1984 became the first woman to walk in space, told a U.N. weather conference in Geneva on Tuesday that "it...

sermon: Whom the Lord Loves He Chastens (Part 1) Why God Disciplines His Children Martin G. Collins Given 30-Aug-08; Tape #898; 72 minutes Series The Whom the Lord Loves He Chastens series: Whom the Lord Loves He Chastens (Part 1)Whom the Lord Loves He Chastens (Part 2) You have noticed, as I have, the way that this society handles problems. Whatever it is, if it is child behavior problems they say, "Here is a drug." If a person is discouraged, they say, "Here is a drug." If a person is depressed they say, "Take this drug." Amazingly there are...

Southerners are more like to die from the effects of the weather than people living in any other region of the US. Kind of interesting, even though the data is over a year old. Can also look at separate counties with the links provided on the page.

The Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday extended until May 11 the deadline for filing federal income tax returns, a move that will give people affected by the floods nearly a month longer than usual to get their taxes done. The extension applies to all of Rhode Island, except Bristol County, which accounts for 5 percent of the state’s population, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. The Rhode Island Division of Taxation will also extend its filing deadline to May 11 for all counties in Rhode Island without exception, state Tax Administrator David M. Sullivan said. “We will do the whole...

by J Spencer In 1994, a friend of mine was in the Northridge earthquake. She was awakened in the middle of the night by her apartment collapsing around her. She crawled out of the wreckage wearing nothing but her nightie. She met her neighbors in the street. Most were cut, like she was, from scrambling through broken glass on their way out of ruined buildings. Some were missing. Most were found. Several were dead. It was a long time until dawn. Hearing her recount the story of surviving an earthquake in the middle of the night, made me think about...

This White House national security adviser James Jones said said this morning that the review would "shock" Americans with the fresh details it provides as to how U.S. security and intelligence systems failed to "connect the dots" leading up to the foiled Christmas Day attack on Northwest Flight 253. I have read the report, and quite frankly I am not shocked, the White House released nothing new, I was also underwhelmed by his comments. I will write about it more later, in the mean time, a transcript of the President's speech is below, along with embedded versions of the Security...

Washington—In an unprecedented proposal, Obama will end droughts, floods, hurricanes, volcanoes, tornadoes and heavy pollen. Under the new guidelines he’s proposing, Obama will change the climate, putting an end to what seemed a never ending line of disasters.

Americans finding soaring food prices hard to stomach can battle back by growing their own food. [Click image for a larger version] Dean Fosdick Dean Fosdick Home vegetable gardens appear to be booming as a result of the twin movements to eat local and pinch pennies. At the Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta this winter, D. Landreth Seed Co. of New Freedom, Pa., sold three to four times more seed packets than last year, says Barb Melera, president. "This is the first time I've ever heard people say, 'I can grow this more cheaply than I can buy it in...

WASHINGTON – Nature turned against one of America's early civilizations 3,600 years ago, when researchers say earthquakes and floods, followed by blowing sand, drove away residents of an area that is now in Peru. "This maritime farming community had been successful for over 2,000 years, they had no incentive to change, and then all of a sudden, boom, they just got the props knocked out from under them," anthropologist Mike Moseley of the University of Florida said in a statement. Moseley and colleagues were studying civilization of the Supe Valley along the Peruvian coast, which was established up to 5,800...

Natural disasters 'killed over 220,000' in 2008 by Simon Sturdee AFP 12 29 2008 Natural disasters killed over 220,000 people in 2008, making it one of the most devastating years on record and underlining the need for a global climate deal, the world's number two reinsurer said Monday. What I find particularly funny is, the article talks mostly about non-global warming caused disasters. For instance, 70,000 of those deaths were caused by an earthquake in China: Just days later an earthquake shook China's Sichuan province, leaving 70,000 dead, 18,000 missing and almost five million homeless, according to official figures, Munich...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=52311 Emergency Response Units Won’t Perform Law Enforcement, Official Says By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2008 – The Pentagon’s three new rapid-response task forces will assist civil authorities during possible terrorist attacks or natural disasters, but they won’t perform law-enforcement missions, a senior Defense Department official said here yesterday. Some people have surfaced concerns that active-duty soldiers, who make up the core of the first 4,700-member joint task force established in early October, could be used to perform police functions, which would be in violation of the...

 __________________________________________________ FROM THE MAIL: ELECTION, ECONOMY, 'SIGNS' PUSH PROPHETIC 'PULSE' INTO TACHYCARDIA There's so much transpiring in the prophetic "pulse" that it is hard to track. It is equally hard to discern. It is rapid like tachycardia. There's the economy; this has caused a tectonic shift beneath our feet, a change in landscape (the word: liquidate). There's the election. Suddenly, a change in landscape here too, one that has caused many different emotions (hopefully not racist) to  cascade. For the first time, a white man will not be in the White House, and there will be a liberal regime...

A sermon preached by the Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith, Bishop of Shrewsbury at a confirmation at Christ Church, Shelton and Oxon on 11th May 2008 As Delivered Scripture: Acts 2 1 - 21 There are inevitably two focuses to our worship today. Gathered here are the candidates for confirmation with families and friends. It’s a joyful occasion as we come to celebrate with them this stage in their spiritual life. But we’d be kidding ourselves if we don’t face the fact that the other factor behind our worship today is the plight of those people in Myanmar (the place...

Lloyd's of London warned yesterday that an absence last year of natural disasters or man-made accidents was putting pressure on firms to reduce premiums in 2008. The world's oldest and biggest insurance market said that though the lack of major disasters had allowed firms to push up profits 5% in 2007, underwriting margins were being squeezed. Almost half of the 320-year-old market's business was conducted in the US last year. It is a major insurer of the Florida seaboard and oil rigs in the gulf of Mexico. In 2005, a series of natural disasters culminated in Hurricane Katrina clattering into...

New fires continue to break out around Greece The European Commission will put forward proposals this autumn for a standing EU force to respond to fires, floods and other major emergencies. The commission says the current system has its limits. In 2007, there has been flooding in the UK, a heat wave in central and southern Europe, and now forest fires in Greece, in which at least 60 people have died. But critics say the EU should release financial aid faster, rather than set up a civil protection force of its own. 'Better way' When Greece appealed for help...

I don't DO many vanity type posts, but this subject requires input from folks all over the nation. My wife and I were discussing the HUGE proposed hike of storm insurance rates for us here in Florida due to increased hurricane activity. My genius wife had the BRILLIANT idea that legislation should be passed at the Federal level that would allow such insurance to be tax deductible. Not just the hurricane prone states (which this year runs from Maine to Mexico -- very unusual predictions) but also areas subject to earthquake, forest fire, tornado, etc. Pretty much everywhere in this...

New York warned to prepare for hurricanes NEW YORK (Reuters) - A hurricane with only moderate intensity could wreak havoc in New York City because it has been years since the nation's financial center faced severe weather, government forecasters warned on Tuesday. "The first time we get hit here with a Category 2, it's going to be disastrous," said meteorologist Michael Wyllie of the National Weather Service, referring to the scale used to rate hurricane strength. Wyllie said powerful storms have missed New York in recent years, unlike parts of the Gulf Coast, where periodic storms "thin out the trees...

Bill forbids taking of weapons during emergencies By HOWARD FISCHER Friday, February 17, 2006 8:25 AM CST PHOENIX -- State lawmakers want to make sure that state officials do not take your guns the next time a hurricane strikes Arizona. Or an earthquake, flood, invasion or pandemic. The Senate Government Committee approved legislation Thursday that would specifically make it illegal for the governor or any official to confiscate legally kept firearms during a state of emergency. The 5-2 vote sends the measure to the full Senate. Sen. Dean Martin, R-Phoenix, said this isn't some academic exercise. He said that in...