Indonesia: Volcano Agency Warns of Likely Mount Papandayan Eruption

08/24/2011 Leave a comment

“Indonesia’s highly active Mount Papandayan volcano is in imminent danger of erupting, the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency warned on Wednesday.

The agency, known as the PVMGB, said it was likely the volcano in Garut, West Java, would erupt either before or just after Idul Fitri, which marks the end of Ramadan.

The prediction was based on the increasing activity of the volcano, the agency said on its Web site.

‘The volcano has more energy compared to its last eruption in 2002,’ agency head Surono said in Bandung, the provincial capital, on Tuesday.

Papandayan has shown an alarming increase in activities since the volcano’s status was raised to standby. Between Aug. 19 and 20, there were 45 earthquakes.

‘If the quakes increase to 60, an eruption will happen,’ he said. ‘If Papandayan erupts, the annual exodus [mudik] routes will be blocked and 16 subdistricts in Garut will be isolated.'” Read more.

Categories: Natural Disasters

Missouri: Recent Rainfall in Saint Louis Contained 178x More Radiation Than Normal Background Radiation

08/23/2011 Leave a comment

“This data may be indicative of a RECENT SIGNIFICANT radiological event in Fukushima.

The reading was taken at approximately 10:20am on 8/20/11 in Saint Louis Missouri from a vehicle that had driven approximately 4 miles through the trailing edges of a thunderstorm.

The sample returned a reading of 1.786 mR/hr, which equates to ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EIGHT times greater than normal background radiation. This reading is almost 3 times greater than the previous high reading of 62x background radiation.”

Categories: Man-Made Disasters

Washington Monument May Be Tilting, Stones Fall Off Washington National Cathedral After Strong and Shallow 5.9 Earthquake

08/23/2011 9 comments

“(AP) – A spokesman for Washington National Cathedral says at least three of the four pinnacles on the central tower have fallen off and the central tower appears to be leaning.

The pinnacles are the top stones on the cathedral’s towers.

Richard Weinberg, director of communications for the cathedral, said the cathedral has been evacuated and stone masons are assessing the damage.

The Washington National Cathedral is an Episcopal Church landmark in the capital. Located in the northwest quadrant of the city near foreign embassies and the vice president’s residence, the gothic-like structure is among the tallest in the city. It’s historically been the site of funerals and memorials for presidents and statesmen.” Source.

FNC reports Washington Monument may be tilting from quake jolt – “A 5.9 magnitude earthquake that was centered in Richmond, Virginia and felt as far as New York City and New England. Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly reported at 2:30 pm that their bureau received information from a producer saying that a Captiol Hill Police officer says that the Washington Monument may actually be tilting as a result of the earthquake.Seismologist John Rundle joined Kelly on her show and confirmed that the Washington Monument could very well be tilting as a result of the earthquake and the structure should be checked out. Two nuclear reactors have reportedly been taken off line near the epicenter of the earthquake.” Read more.

Cracks Discovered in Washington Monument – “Cracking was found in the stones at the top of the Washington Monument Tuesday evening, the National Park Service reported. The National Park Service temporarily closed the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and the Old Post Office Tower as a precaution following Tuesday’s earthquake. The cracking in the Monument was discovered during a secondary inspection. Structural engineers will evaluate the cracks Wednesday and determine how to repair them before the Monument is reopened.” Read more.

US: Strong 5.9 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Virginia, Felt in Washington DC, New York City, North Carolina …

08/23/2011 4 comments

Initial reports stated that this was a 5.8 earthquake and then a 6.0.  USGS is now reporting this as a 5.9.  Felt from Virginia to Massachusetts and as far north as Toronto, Canada …

“(Reuters) – A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the U.S. East Coast and Canada from Virginia to Toronto on Tuesday, shaking buildings and forcing evacuation of the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.

There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries from the quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said was centered in Mineral, Virginia, between Charlottesville and Richmond. It was initially recorded at 5.8 magnitude.

Washington office workers scurried into the streets after the quake, which lasted for about five seconds and sent items crashing to the floor from store and office shelves.

Tremors shook New York City office buildings, prompting evacuations of courthouses, City Hall and halting work at the World Trade Center construction site, officials and witnesses said.

It was not immediately clear if there was any damage or injuries in New York, but fire department and police officials in Dutchess County, north of New York City, reported structural damage to some buildings.” Source.

Nuclear Plant Near Epicenter Shuts Down – “A nuclear power plant located in Louisa County, the epicenter of the earthquake in Virginia, has shut down. The North Anna Power Station, operated by Dominion Power, has two reactors. The plant declared an “unusual event” in the wake of the 5.9 magnitude quake, which is the lowest stage on the plant’s emergency scale. As a result, the plant has been shut down.” Read more.

Categories: Earthquakes

Columbus, Ohio Islamic Scholar Issues Religious Decree: ‘Every Muslim Who Meets a Zionist is Entitled to Kill Him’

08/23/2011 Leave a comment

“Islamic scholar Dr. Salah Sultan issued a religious decree according to which it is permissible to kill ‘any Israeli on Egyptian land, in response to the killing of Egyptian soldiers near the border with Israel,’ Egyptian Al-Shuruq newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Sultan is a lecturer of Muslim jurisprudence at the Cairo University. In the decree, he ruled that ‘every Muslim who meets a Zionist is entitled to kill him, after Israel killed ‘Camp David’. The Egyptian people do not distinguish between Egyptian and Palestinian blood,’ he ruled.” Source.

Flashback: Former U.S. Muslim Brotherhood Figure Praises Deaths of Israelis in Forest Fires – “MEMRI has reported that Dr. Salah Sultan (aka Solah Sultan, Sallah Sultan) joined the secretary-general of the Association of Palestinian Islamic Scholars Abroad in praising the deaths of Israelis in the recent forest fires in that country. According to the MEMRI report: Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Sheikh Abd Al-Jabbar Sa’id, secretary-general of the Association of Palestinian Islamic Scholars Abroad. Next to him on the stage, Dr. Salah Sultan, president of the Columbus, Ohio-based American Center for Islamic Research, led the crowd in shouting ‘Allah Akhbar!’ The clip aired on Al-Aqsa TV on December 9, 2010…” Read more.

Flashback: Salah Sultan preaches Jew hatred, Muslims will kill all Jews

Hurricane Irene: Prepare for a Category 4 ‘Major Hurricane’

08/23/2011 Leave a comment

“Hurricane Irene continues to grow in strength and ferocity and is now on track to become a Category 4 hurricane, authorities said. Fueled by warm waters and nothing to slow it down, the hurricane is taking a path that will likely skirt Florida and head straight for the Carolinas, with landfall this weekend.

The National Hurricane Center warns that the storm remains unpredictable and is urging East Coast residents to closely track the first major hurricane of the 2011 season as it heads toward the United States so that they can be prepared for impact.

The storm, which is now a Category 2 hurricane, is moving at about 12 mph and is currently north of the Dominican Republic, said National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen in an interview with The Times. Unfortunately, that means “it’s moving into an environment which is very ideal for strengthening. … We expect it to become a Category 4 hurricane as it passes east of central Florida.’

The warm ocean waters and very low wind shear are the two key factors driving the hurricane, he said. High wind shear could help disrupt the storm, scattering it.

‘We expect the storm to stay off the coast of Florida, which is good news for Florida. But it’s still looking like it’s going to impact the Carolinas and could make landfall there as a major hurricane.'” Source.

Categories: Natural Disasters

California: Dead Dolphins, Sea Lions Found on Oxnard Beach, ‘Scattered with Dead Dolphins’

08/23/2011 Leave a comment

By Christopher Stolz – “Teresa Camara and her husband, Keith Flanagan, were walking on the Oxnard beach Thursday evening north of Fifth Street when they came across a grisly scene.

‘We were having a really good time. We were with our dog, the sun was setting and the weather was beautiful, and then we came up to the first dead dolphin,’ she said. ‘And then we found another one, and we looked up and we realized the beach was kind of scattered with dead dolphins.’

On Friday morning, volunteers from the Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute found four dead dolphins and four dead sea lions at a site not far from the power plant at Mandalay Beach.

‘They were all different sizes. Two of the dolphins were smaller and appeared to be younger,’ Camara said. ‘We didn’t understand what was going on, and we felt very sad for the dolphins.’

According to Tom McCormick, a marine biologist who has worked in biological assessment along the Ventura County coast for more than 20 years, the deaths probably are linked to a natural neurotoxin called domoic acid.

‘People are quick to point the finger at the power plant, but quite frankly the operators don’t add anything to the water they use except a little heat,’ McCormick said.” Read more.

Categories: Mass Animal Deaths

Colorado: Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake Jolts Residents Near New Mexico Border, Largest Quake in Nearly 40 Years

08/23/2011 Leave a comment

“(AP) TRINIDAD, Colo. – The largest earthquake to strike Colorado in almost 40 years has shaken hundreds of people near the New Mexico border.

The magnitude 5.3 earthquake was recorded at about 11:46 p.m. MDT Monday about nine miles southwest of Trinidad, Colo., and about 180 miles south of Denver, according to the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo. The quake followed two smaller ones that hit the area earlier in the day.

The quake is the largest in Colorado since a magnitude 5.7 was recorded in 1973, U.S. Geological Service geophysicist Amy Vaughn said. That one was centered in the northwestern part of the state — about 50 miles north of Grand Junction, she said.

A few homes have been damaged and deputies were investigating reports of rockslides along a highway, a Las Animas County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher said.

‘I thought maybe a car had hit my house,’ 70-year-old Trinidad resident Nadine Baca said. ‘Then I called to my son and he said it was the third (quake) today.’

Another USGS geophysicist, Shengzao Chen, said the information center had received calls from more than 70 people in Trinidad and several dozen people in New Mexico who felt the shaking. More than 30 people in Colorado Springs, about 130 miles north of Trinidad, also reported feeling the quake, he said.” Read more.

Categories: Earthquakes

Japan: Fukushima Areas May Be Declared Uninhabitable for Decades, ‘The Whole World Will Be Exposed’

08/23/2011 Leave a comment

“The Japanese government may declare areas near the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant uninhabitable for more than 10 years – perhaps decades – because of radiation levels that are more than 500 times safety limits, according to newspaper reports.

Japanese newspaper The Daily Yomiuri reports government sources have said it could be ‘several decades’ before the area is considered safe to enter, ABC reports…

Radiation readings measuring up to 508.1 millisieverts per year were detected in Okuma town, 1.8 miles from the plant, compared with the internationally recommended limit of 1 millisievert a year, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, said on its website, Bloomberg reports.” Read more.

‘The Whole World Will Be Exposed From The Radiation From Fukushima’ – “Physicist Michio Kaku appeared on 60 Minutes (the Australian edition), and said: ‘The whole world will be exposed from the radiation from Fukushima. [The Japanese people] are guinea pigs, absolute human guinea pigs.’ In fact, radiation experts say that huge quantities of radiation are currently being released by Fukushima. In addition to direct releases, the Japanese are burning radioactive material, putting much more radioactivity into the air. Japanese doctors are warning about the dangers of radiation for the Japanese people … especially kids. Nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen says that radioactive rain-outs were documented recently in British Columbia and Oklahoma with geiger counters. And former Nasa photo analyst Michael Rivero – who has been measuring radiation levels in Oahu, Hawaii, every day since the Japanese earthquake – reports the highest radiation readings yet are occurring right now.” Read more.

Categories: Man-Made Disasters

New Data Supports Previous Fairewinds Analysis, as Contamination Spreads in Japan and Worldwide

08/22/2011 Leave a comment

“Newly released neutron data from three University of California San Diego scientists confirms Fairewinds’ April analysis that the nuclear core at Fukushima Daiichi turned on and off after TEPCO claimed its reactors had been shutdown. This periodic nuclear chain reaction (inadvertent criticality) continued to contaminate the surrounding environment and upper atmosphere with large doses of radioactivity.

In a second area of concern, Fairewinds disagrees the NRC’s latest report claiming that all Fukushima spent fuel pools had no problems following the earthquake. In a new revelation, the NRC claims that the plutonium found more than 1 mile offsite actually came from inside the nuclear reactors. If such a statement were true, it indicates that the nuclear power plant containments failed and were breached with debris landing far from the power plants themselves. Such a failure of the containment system certainly necessitates a complete review of all US reactor containment design and industry assurances that containments will hold in radioactivity in the event of a nuclear accident. The evidence Fairewinds reviewed to date continues to support its April analysis that the detonation in the Unit 3 Spent Fuel pool was the cause of plutonium found off site.

Third, the burning of radioactive materials (building materials, trees, lawn grass, rice straw) by the Japanese government will cause radioactive Cesium to spread even further into areas within Japan that have been previously clean, and across the Pacific Ocean to North America.

And finally, the Japanese government has yet to grasp the severity of the contamination within Japan, and therefore has not developed a coherent plan mitigate the accident and remediate the environment. Without a cohesive plan to deal with this ongoing problem of large scale radioactive contamination, the radioactivity will continue to spread throughout Japan and around the globe further exacerbating the problem and raising costs astronomically.” Source.

Categories: Man-Made Disasters

Looks Like Irene May Become Major Category 3 Hurricane, Carolinas Targeted

08/22/2011 Leave a comment

Update: Make that a Category 4.  Read here.

By Kristina Pydynowski – “Irene is destined to strike the southeastern United States later this week as a major hurricane. Residents in the Carolinas are urged to begin preparations.

The AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center is expecting Irene to target the Carolinas after emerging from the Bahamas later this week.

AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski has the latest details on how bad it will be for the Carolinas.

Irene strengthened into the season’s first hurricane as it pounded Puerto Rico early Monday morning.

The hurricane will continue its assault on the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean prior to reaching the Bahamas.

As Irene plows through the Bahamas, the storm is forecast to become a major Category 3 hurricane this week.

Exactly when and where Irene moves onshore with its torrential rain, destructive winds and flooding storm surge depends on how soon the storm tracks in a more northward fashion instead of its current northwestward heading.

The AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center currently expects landfall to be somewhere between the North Carolina-South Carolina and Wilmington, N.C., the first part of this weekend. Since the track has had a tendency to shift east, residents farther northeast along the North Carolina coast need to pay close attention to this storm as well.

According to Sosnowski, ‘Often, the worst effects of a hurricane moving in this manner are on the northeastern quadrant of the storm, which would involve at least part of eastern North Carolina.'” Read more.

Categories: Natural Disasters

Post Gaddafi: A Free and Democratic Libya? Not So Fast – Libyan Draft Constitution Declares Sharia Law the ‘Principal Source of Legislation’

08/22/2011 Leave a comment

I’m shocked.  Just look at their ‘new’ flag.  It’s obviously secular, includes multiple colors never seen on any Islamic flags, and doesn’t even hint at the suggestion of being influenced by Sharia Law …

By Lachlan Markay – “The dust has not yet settled over the Libyan capital of Tripoli since rebels took control over the weekend. But already, a draft constitutional charter for the transitional state has appeared online (embedded below). It is just a draft, mind you, and gauging its authenticity at this point is difficult. There is also no way to know whether this draft or something similar will emerge as the final governing document for a new Libyan regime.

As both the Morning Bell and Washington in a Flash noted today, Heritage Fellow Jim Phillips recently pointed out that Islamist forces ‘appear to make up a small but not insignificant part of the opposition coalition,’ and must be prevented ‘from hijacking Libya’s future.’ Parts of the draft Constitution allay those fears, while others exacerbate them.

Much of the document describes political institutions that will sound familiar to citizens of Western liberal democracies, including rule of law, freedom of speech and religious practice, and a multi-party electoral system.

But despite the Lockean tenor of much of the constitution, the inescapable clause lies right in Part 1, Article 1: ‘Islam is the Religion of the State, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).’ Under this constitution, in other words, Islam is law. That makes other phrases such as ‘there shall be no crime or penalty except by virtue of the law’ and ‘Judges shall be independent, subject to no other authority but law and conscience’ a bit more ominous.” Read more.