Storms, earthquakes, North Korea and now Vegas massacre. ‘What’s next?

Storms, earthquakes, North Korea and now Vegas massacre. ‘What’s next?
Oct 4, 2017 | 0 |
Storms, earthquakes, North Korea and now Vegas massacre. ‘What’s next?
When the month began, a confluence of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires and a brewing international nuclear confrontation already had some Americans thinking about End Times. Then Las Vegas, the nation’s playground, witnessed the worst mass shooting in U.S. history — the latest in this peerless series of catastrophes. Some were natural, some man-made. Together, they’ve shadowed a usually optimistic nation with a cloud of sorrow and anxiety.

You didn’t have to be in Vegas, Seattle, Houston, Key West or San Juan, or have relatives in Mexico, or live in the Inter-mountain West with a respiratory condition, to be worried. A nation that had thought itself numbed to tragedy is realizing that no matter how bad things are, they apparently can always get worse. “Why?’’ asked country music star Blake Shelton in a tweet after the shooting. That was one question, shared many times by many others. There was another: “What’s next?’’ A summer that seemed destined to be remembered for its magnificent solar eclipse had lurched suddenly toward the eve of destruction. And autumn hasn’t been much better.
READ MORE https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/03/storms-quakes-fires-korea-and-now-vegas-shooting-whats-next/725889001/

Storms, earthquakes, North Korea and now the Las Vegas massacre. We have to wonder: 'What's next?'
Rick Hampson, USA TODAY Published 10:07 a.m. ET Oct. 3, 2017 | Updated 11:21 a.m. ET Oct. 3, 2017
At a vigil for Las Vegas shooting victims, survivors recalled the moments of terror amid calls for action to prevent future tragedies. USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS SHOOTING
(Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP)

When the month began, a confluence of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires and a brewing international nuclear confrontation already had some Americans thinking about End Times.

Then Las Vegas, the nation’s playground, witnessed the worst mass shooting in U.S. history — the latest in this peerless series of catastrophes. Some were natural, some man-made. Together, they’ve shadowed a usually optimistic nation with a cloud of sorrow and anxiety.

You didn’t have to be in Vegas, Seattle, Houston, Key West or San Juan, or have relatives in Mexico, or live in the Inter-mountain West with a respiratory condition, to be worried. A nation that had thought itself numbed to tragedy is realizing that no matter how bad things are, they apparently can always get worse.

“Why?’’ asked country music star Blake Shelton in a tweet after the shooting. That was one question, shared many times by many others. There was another: “What’s next?’’

A summer that seemed destined to be remembered for its magnificent solar eclipse had lurched suddenly toward the eve of destruction. And autumn hasn’t been much better.

Damaged and destroyed houses in the neighborhood of
Damaged and destroyed houses in the neighborhood of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, 11 days after Hurricane Maria hit the island. (Photo: Carrie Cochran and Ricky Flores, USA TODAY NETWORK)
So much has gone wrong so fast it’s fair to review the overlapping calamities:

In the span of two weeks, two major hurricanes, Harvey and Irma, hit the continental U.S., the first time two category 4 storms have ever done so in a single season. Then a third storm, Maria, clobbered the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, producing a level of misery that still may not have crested.
Mexico was shaken by two earthquakes 12 days apart that killed hundreds of people. The second occurred on the anniversary of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake that killed thousands. That quake had been commemorated, and a national earthquake drill held, just two hours before the ground again began to shake on Sept. 19.
Wildfires, spurred by some of the driest, hottest late summer weather on record, consumed an area in the West 50% larger than the state of New Jersey. As air quality plummeted across Washington State, the governor declared a state of emergency and told everyone in some areas to stay indoors.
The leaders of the U.S. and North Korea traded insults and threats. President Trump ridiculed his own secretary of state’s efforts to negotiate with the Kim Jong Un regime to peacefully resolve the nuclear faceoff. Trump tweeted that Rex Tillerson “is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man...’’

The Eagle Creek wildfire burns on the Oregon side of
The Eagle Creek wildfire burns on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge near Cascade Locks, Ore., in early September. (Photo: AP)
The natural disasters produced images that unsettled even those nowhere near them. Consider just the wildfires.

In normally wet Seattle, which on Aug. 8 recorded its record 52nd straight day without rain, ash from Central Washington fires fell like snow and covered the city with a dense smoke cloud. In Montana, wildfires closed the western part of Glacier National Park’s famous Going-to-the-Sun Road …. while the eastern portion was closed by ice and snow. In Oregon, a photo showed golfers in the foreground playing through as a huge forest fire roared in the background.

“Yes,’’ the Dallas Morning News editorialized last month, “it does feel like Mother Nature is just done with us.’’


Her children were not. In Las Vegas, a man rich enough to have two planes and an arsenal of guns opened fire Sunday night from the upper floor of a luxury hotel, hitting or injuring hundreds of concertgoers across the street. As of this writing, 59 had died.

The crises brought out the best in some people. Texas saw an American Dunkirk, with more than 15,000 rescued from high waters by a motley array of craft. And Mexicans spontaneously formed bucket brigades to remove rubble and search for survivors in the ruins of hundreds of collapsed schools and other buildings.

More: September was a hellish month for hurricanes. What will October bring?

More: The land of the stars & stripes has become a country of stress & strife.

More: Las Vegas shooting now tops list of worst mass shootings in U.S. history

More: Here are the worst hurricanes and floods in U.S. history

But for all too many, it was all too much.

Tamara Harpster, 54, of Lakeside, Calif., wrote on Facebook that when she learned of the shooting “I felt numb.’’ After the last month, “it seems like 'Oh well, just another day in a sucky world now.’ … I feel such a loss of control and a realization that there is nothing an individual can do to stop these horrible things from happening.’’

And yet, she wrote, “I want somehow to fix things and make them stop.’’

Daniel Gardner, who teaches communications at Mississippi State, says that while most people in the rural South shake their heads over the troubles and move on, the millennials he teaches are different: With instantaneous communication via social media, they are “easily shaken emotionally, and prone to be more naive and gullible. … So the confluence of bad events makes them feel more vulnerable.’’

A 15-year-old with the Twitter handle of Mickel made a similar point: “i don't like the general direction of where the world is going.’’

The question was why it seemed to be going there.

There was an obvious answer — coincidence — and on one level, it was all explicable.

Storms? That’s why they call this hurricane season. And until 2017 it had been 12 years since any hurricane of such intensity made continental U.S. landfall.

Quakes? Mexico sits on unstable tectonic plates.

Fires? Forests have been burning in North America since before any civilization.

Korea? The Korean War never officially ended when hostilities ceased in 1953. Sabers have been rattling ever since.

As for Las Vegas, America since Columbine has repeatedly demonstrated what happens when a wealthy, historically violent nation with many angry, mentally disturbed residents has loose gun laws.

Some blamed global warming for the storms and the fires; some blamed Trump for Korea and the halting Puerto Rico relief effort.

Others saw a higher authority in control.

‘What else is needed to get our attention?’’ asked Michael L. Brown, the conservative host of the nationally syndicated radio show, The Line of Fire.

“We need to get on our faces before the Lord, acknowledging our own sins and shortcomings, not pointing the finger at others but rather at ourselves. And whatever our views on climate control and gun control and immigration reform and President Trump, we need to implore the only one who can heal our land.’’

In a video he posted online, actor Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains) called the hurricanes "a spectacular display of God's immense power" and said, "weather is sent to cause us to respond to God in humility, awe and repentance."

Was Judgement Day at hand? Several who studied the question had set the date at Sept. 23. But as the day passed and the tribulations continued, some didn’t need obscure scriptural passages or complicated astrological projections to feel the end was near.

That’s one theology. Another is held by the Rev. Ryan Moore of First Presbyterian Church in Tulsa. He told the Tulsa World that he doesn’t spend much time trying to predict when The End is coming, because a daily faith matters more.

"But with all that's going on in the world,’’ he admits, “you can't help but be a little bit apocalyptic."

Las Vegas shooting leaves more than 50 dead at Mandalay Bay
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Jeanne Belez of Marysville, Ore. places a bouquet of
Jeanne Belez of Marysville, Ore. places a bouquet of flowers at a memorial on a median on Las Vegas Blvd. near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Oct. 4, 2017. Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY
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Jeanne Belez of Marysville, Ore. places a bouquet of1 of 91
Mementos, candles and flowers are left at a makeshift
Arizona Diamondbacks remember their former employee
Crystal Fernandez, left, and Carmen Arias share a moment
Religious groups gather at a makeshift memorial on
Linda Proctor hugs Dr. Robert T. Baggott as her husband,
President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania arrive
With the lights of the Las Vegas Strip as a backdrop,
People wait in line to give blood at United Blood Services
Michael Kordich, 34, a firefighter with the San Bernardino
Sara Rivero, on right, with her mom Laura Rodriguez,
Gina DeMarco holds her daughter Adriana during a vigil
Members of the Las Vegas community pray during an emotional
Sydney Torres hugs her mother, Christine at a memorial
Ken Neyhart of Las Vegas, sits quietly at a makeshift
Las Vegas Police block the streets near the Mandalay
People hug one another outside of the trauma center
Matthew Edwards puts a teddy bear and flowers at the
Law enforcement and members of the media gathered outside
With the lights of the Las Vegas Strip as a backdrop,
Police tape surrounds the perimeter as authorities
Police stand at each entrance to the venue of the Route
Authorities continue to investigate the Las Vegas shooting
Mike Giangregorio and Veronica Torres, of Las Vegas,
People light candles in memory of the Las Vegas shooting
Keith Urban performs during a vigil in Nashville for
People take pictures near the site of the Las Vegas
Police gather the personal effects of people who fled
Pastor Paul Goulet prays with others during a candle
Lois Tarkanian, the Las Vegas mayor pro tempore, grieves
Rahel Mehari is consoled by her brother Hiruy Mehari
People gather in memory of the Las Vegas shooting victims
People gather at Trocadero plaza as the lights of the
New York University students attend a vigil for the
A Las Vegas metro police officer walks past balloons
Investigators load a body from the scene of a mass
The American flag is at half-staff at the White House
Tel Aviv's municipality building is lit with the colors
People walks past flowers left on a pedestrian bridge
Sean Bean, of Livermore, Calif., hugs his girlfriend,
This undated photo provided by Eric Paddock shows his
Police stand at a roadblock on Las Vegas Blvd. at Sunset
Debris is strewn through the scene of the mass shooting
Collette Moore, a registered nurse at the Healthy Living
Blood donors wait to give blood at the Healthy Living
The flag is flown at half-mast at the University Medical
People bring food and supplies for people who were
Police allow a vehicle to pass a roadblock on Las Vegas
Police secure a perimeter on the Las Vegas Strip near
Crime scene tape surrounds the Mandalay Hotel (background)
People line up to donate blood at a special United
A North Las Vegas Police Department's Crime Scene Investigations
A Mesquite Police Department citizen volunteer talks
A group of women wait for their ride outside the Thomas
People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center.
Broken windows are seen on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay
People are directed to rides outside the Thomas & Mack
Concert-goers wait for a ride outside the Thomas &
People embrace after arriving at Metro Police Headquarters
Police form a perimeter around the road leading to
Las Vegas police sweep through a convention center
A woman cries while hiding inside the Sands Corporation
Concertgoers embrace as they wait early Oct. 2, 2017,
People walk near the Las Vegas Strip shortly after
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music
Police officers advise people to take cover.
People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest
People carry a peson at the Route 91 Harvest country
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music
A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route
Police run to cover at the scene of a shooting.
Medics treat the wounded as Las Vegas police respond
People flee the Route 91 Harvest country music festival
A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired
People wearing Jason Aldean concert t-shirts talk with
People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music
Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection
A person takes cover at the Route 91 Harvest country
An injured person is tended to in the intersection
A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside
A police officer takes cover behind a truck.
A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers stand
People are searched by Las Vegas police at the Tropicana
A wounded woman is moved outside the Tropicana during
A wounded woman is moved outside the Tropicana on a
A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer stands in the
Las Vegas police respond during an active shooter situation
An ambulance leaves the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard
People take cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music
A police officer takes cover behind a police vehicle
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Las Vegas shooting leaves more than 50 dead at Mandalay Bay

Hurricane Nate makes landfall as Category 1 storm
Oct 8, 2017 | 0 |
Hurricane Nate makes landfall as Category 1 storm
Hurricane Nate made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River Saturday evening as a Category 1 storm with maximum winds of 85 miles per hour. As of 8 p.m. ET, Nate was located about 10 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 100 miles south of Biloxi, Miss. Nate was a
Category 1 storm with maximum winds of 90 mph. Forecasters also said Nate could dump 3 to 6 inches of rain on the region — with isolated totals of up to 10 inches. Mississippi’s six southern-most counties declared a state of emergency, with the state’s emergency management director calling Nate “the worst hurricane that has impacted Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina.”
READ MORE http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/10/07/hurricane-nate-makes-landfall-as-category-1-storm.html

ALERT: Horrifying Report Released, 90 Percent of Americans Could Die
October 14, 2017 Adam Selene
https://www.christiannewsalerts.com/horrifying-report-released-90-percent/?utm_campaign=CNA_
Experts are calling on President Trump to immediately rectify what they claim is an existential threat.

The House Committee on Homeland Security recently held a hearing to determine the threat posed by a nuclear-capable North Korea to the American people. Experts testifying at the hearing warned that a missile or satellite attack by North Korea could “shut down the U.S. electric power grid for an indefinite period, leading to the death within a year of up to 90 percent of all Americans,” according to The Washington Examiner.

The hearing ended with experts calling on President Trump (and the Pentagon) to act quickly to protect the domestic electrical grid.

Specifically, experts warned that North Korea currently has the weapons that would allow them to detonate a nuclear device, attached to either a satellite or intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), miles above the ground — way up in the atmosphere. The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generated by the explosion would devastate the American electrical grid, disabling electricity across the country.

Two experts from the congressional EMP commission warned that North Korea poses the largest EMP threat the US has ever faced. Specifically, they cite the extreme rhetoric being lobbied by both sides, in addition to the startling advances made by North Korea in the past six months, as well as their increasing ability to deliver on their threats.

“With the development of small nuclear arsenals and long-range missiles by new, radical US adversaries, beginning with North Korea, the threat of a nuclear EMP attack against the US becomes one of the few ways that such a country could inflict devastating damage to the United States. It is critical, therefore, that the US national leadership address the EMP threat as a critical and existential issue, and give a high priority to assuring the leadership is engaged and the necessary steps are taken to protect the country from EMP,” the House Homeland Security subcommittee heard experts testify.

The EMP experts warned that American officials have ignored the warning signs posed by North Korea, and other rogue nations, for years. They hope that the recent conflict will spur the government to act in the face of a looming existential crisis.

These experts warn that American officials have underestimated the devastating capabilities of North Korea for decades.

Just in the last six months, the US government has learned that North Korea advanced their nuclear program much further than anyone thought possible. Six months ago, experts were convinced that North Korea had a primitive nuclear arsenal at best. Experts estimated North Korea possessed around 6 atomic bombs. Now, experts claim North Korea has at least 60 nuclear weapons.

North Korea could shut down the U.S. electric power grid for an indefinite period. Do you think they are capable of an EMP attack?

Is North Korea capable of EMP attack?

Yes
No
Next
Six months ago, experts chided North Korea for flaunting “fake” ICBMs, and the possibility of North Korea striking the mainland was considered farcical. Now, experts warn that North Korea can easily reach major cities like Denver and Chicago, and might have the ability to reach the entire continental United States.

Six months ago, experts thought North Korea was years, or decades, away from developing a hydrogen bomb, but now we believe the rogue state has weapons comparable to sophisticated American weapons.

The EMT experts concluded that we have underestimated the threat posed by North Korea in every instance of their nuclear program, and now we are erroneously underestimating their ability to launch an EMP nuclear attack.

Earthquake kills over 400 in Iran, Iraq
November 13, 2017
https://www.conservativeinstitute.org/environment/earthquake-kills-iran-iraq.htm
Earthquake kills over 400 in Iran, Iraq
Chris D Swabb / Shutterstock.com
At a magnitude of 7.3, according to a preliminary survey by the United States Geological Survey, the deadliest earthquake of 2017 hit the Iran-Iraq border late on Sunday, killing more than 400 and injuring over 7,200.

Most of the casualties took place on the Iranian side of the border; eight were found dead and at least 535 were injured in Iraq. Crews are currently searching for more survivors.

The Quake
The earthquake, which some said could be felt as far away as Israel and Baghdad, was centered about 20 miles southwest of the Iraqi city of Halabja, close to the Iraq-Iran border. The quake struck around 9:48 p.m. local time on Sunday, followed by more than 100 aftershocks.

Aid is reportedly being sent to the area from surrounding countries like Turkey, but many roads are inaccessible and some hospitals have toppled to the ground.

While death toll continues to climb, one local activist told reporters:

The death tolls do not include casualties in remote villages in mountainous areas yet, where access is difficult and electricity and phones have been cut off.

Helicopters have managed to reach some villages where not even one home has remained and have given people food and blankets. No one knows how many have died.
The head of Iranian Red Crescent, a local relief group, told NBC that “more than 70,000 people were in need of emergency shelter.”
According to The New York Times, Iran, which lies on “dozens of fault lines,” is particularly prone to earthquakes.

The Aftermath
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, offered his condolences and told rescue workers on Monday to continue their search. He said:

The officials should hasten in these first hours with all their might and determination to help the injured, especially those trapped under the rubble.
The Times reported that the rescue mission was nearly complete by Sunday evening, however.

One resident of Pol-e Zahab, a western Iranian city that was hit hard by the quake, wrote on Twitter: “My friend was screaming, saying, ‘I lost my home.'” She continued:

Thank God, she and her family are doing well. She said people were only mourning and their loved ones were under the rubble.
Authorities believe that at least 236 people were killed in Pol-e Zahab alone, but residents say they aren’t getting much help from the government.

According to one resident:

There has been no help yet, neither food nor water, no clothing, no tents, there is nothing. There are no facilities yet. We’ve slept outside since last night. This is the condition of our homes. Our electricity, water, gas, phone lines are out, everything is completely out, the whole city has been destroyed, it is wrecked.
This resident’s pain will be felt by many: with more than 70,000 displaced from the quake, many in areas that get exceptionally cold at night, it is likely that the lack of heat and a means for cooking food will cause the death toll to continue rising.