Plague-infected squirrel closes California campgrounds
Los Angeles County public health department officials confirmed Wednesday that a trapped ground squirrel tested positive for plague and closed four campgrounds as a precaution. "Plague is a bacterial infection that can be transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas, which is why we close affected campgrounds and recreational areas as a precaution while preventive measures are taken to control the flea population," said public health officer Dr. Jonathan E. Fielding.
Monday, July 29, 2013
6 Apocalyptic Technologies That Most People Have Not Even Heard About Yet
Today, scientists are rapidly developing bizarre new technologies that most science fiction writers never even would have dreamed of a couple decades ago. For example, would you be willing to get rid of your bank card and start paying for things with only your face? Would you be willing to allow a technology company to put one large computer chip or thousands of really, really small ones (“neural dust”) into your brain? These are some of the technologies that are coming.
Today, scientists are rapidly developing bizarre new technologies that most science fiction writers never even would have dreamed of a couple decades ago. For example, would you be willing to get rid of your bank card and start paying for things with only your face? Would you be willing to allow a technology company to put one large computer chip or thousands of really, really small ones (“neural dust”) into your brain? These are some of the technologies that are coming.
A Mysterious Hum Is Driving People Around The World Crazy
It creeps in slowly in the dark of night, and once inside, it almost never goes away. It's known as the Hum, a steady, droning sound that's heard in places as disparate as Taos, N.M.; Bristol, England; and Largs, Scotland.
It creeps in slowly in the dark of night, and once inside, it almost never goes away. It's known as the Hum, a steady, droning sound that's heard in places as disparate as Taos, N.M.; Bristol, England; and Largs, Scotland.
US blows out $16.7 trillion debt limit
The US Treasury has already exceeded the federal legal borrowing limit of $16.7 trillion in May. That signals the main structural problems remain unresolved putting at risk the fragile recovery.
The US Treasury has already exceeded the federal legal borrowing limit of $16.7 trillion in May. That signals the main structural problems remain unresolved putting at risk the fragile recovery.
4 in 5 in US face near-poverty, no work
Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream. Survey data exclusive to The Associated Press points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor and loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend.
Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream. Survey data exclusive to The Associated Press points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor and loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend.
Spacecraft Sees Giant 'Hole' In the Sun
A space telescope aimed at the sun has spotted a gigantic hole in the solar atmosphere — a dark spot that covers nearly a quarter of our closest star, spewing solar material and gas into space.
A space telescope aimed at the sun has spotted a gigantic hole in the solar atmosphere — a dark spot that covers nearly a quarter of our closest star, spewing solar material and gas into space.
7 killed in US drone strike in northwest Pakistan
Seven suspected militants were killed and three others wounded when a US drone fired two missiles at a compound in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region, triggering strong condemnation from Islamabad. The attack took place just before sunset yesterday in a village in Shawal area, some 50 kilometres west of Miranshah, the main town of restive North Waziristan, a stronghold of Taliban militants along the Afghan border
EU planning to 'own and operate’ spy drones and an air force
The European Union is planning to “own and operate” spy drones, surveillance satellites and aircraft as part of a new intelligence and security agency under the control of Baroness Ashton. The controversial proposals are a major move towards creating an independent EU military body with its own equipment and operations, and will be strongly opposed by Britain.
Seven suspected militants were killed and three others wounded when a US drone fired two missiles at a compound in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region, triggering strong condemnation from Islamabad. The attack took place just before sunset yesterday in a village in Shawal area, some 50 kilometres west of Miranshah, the main town of restive North Waziristan, a stronghold of Taliban militants along the Afghan border
EU planning to 'own and operate’ spy drones and an air force
The European Union is planning to “own and operate” spy drones, surveillance satellites and aircraft as part of a new intelligence and security agency under the control of Baroness Ashton. The controversial proposals are a major move towards creating an independent EU military body with its own equipment and operations, and will be strongly opposed by Britain.
Lawmakers Who Upheld NSA Phone Spying Received Double the Defense Industry Cash
The numbers tell the story — in votes and dollars. On Wednesday, the House voted 217 to 205 not to rein in the NSA’s phone-spying dragnet. It turns out that those 217 “no” voters received twice as much campaign financing from the defense and intelligence industry as the 205 “yes” voters.
Feds Demand Major Internet Companies Turn Over User Passwords
The federal government has demanded that major internet companies turn over users’ stored passwords, two sources told the respected tech website CNet... “If the government is able to determine a person’s password, which is typically stored in encrypted form, the credential could be used to log in to an account to peruse confidential correspondence or even impersonate the user,” the report says.
The numbers tell the story — in votes and dollars. On Wednesday, the House voted 217 to 205 not to rein in the NSA’s phone-spying dragnet. It turns out that those 217 “no” voters received twice as much campaign financing from the defense and intelligence industry as the 205 “yes” voters.
Feds Demand Major Internet Companies Turn Over User Passwords
The federal government has demanded that major internet companies turn over users’ stored passwords, two sources told the respected tech website CNet... “If the government is able to determine a person’s password, which is typically stored in encrypted form, the credential could be used to log in to an account to peruse confidential correspondence or even impersonate the user,” the report says.
SWAT teams new face of police agencies
while American armed forces may be limited in their ability to enforce the law, the act is essentially being circumvented by militarizing local enforcement, equipping it with some of the same equipment, training and tactics used in war zones. Radley Balko raised the issue recently a Wall Street Journal article, “Rise of the Warrior Cop.” He says the trend is to erase the line between military and law enforcement.
while American armed forces may be limited in their ability to enforce the law, the act is essentially being circumvented by militarizing local enforcement, equipping it with some of the same equipment, training and tactics used in war zones. Radley Balko raised the issue recently a Wall Street Journal article, “Rise of the Warrior Cop.” He says the trend is to erase the line between military and law enforcement.
Broadcast giant 'dropping Limbaugh, Hannity'
In a story by Dylan Byers, the Politico says an industry source claims Cumulus is planning to let go of both Limbaugh and Hannity from its stations at the end of the year. The source indicated the broadcasting giant won’t renew its contracts with both popular voices, removing the two most highly rated conservative talkers from more than 40 Cumulus channels in major markets.
In a story by Dylan Byers, the Politico says an industry source claims Cumulus is planning to let go of both Limbaugh and Hannity from its stations at the end of the year. The source indicated the broadcasting giant won’t renew its contracts with both popular voices, removing the two most highly rated conservative talkers from more than 40 Cumulus channels in major markets.
Infanticide is the new abortion
MSNBC host says newborn infants don't count as 'alive' unless parents decide they do; infanticide is the new abortion
Today Natural News denounces Melissa Harris-Perry, the latest talking head "death worshiper to publicly imply that she supports the murder of living, breathing newborn children. According to Harris-Perry, life begins when the parents feel like life begins. And together with some twisted new "ethics" arguments from the radical left, this can include months or years after a child is born.
Today Natural News denounces Melissa Harris-Perry, the latest talking head "death worshiper to publicly imply that she supports the murder of living, breathing newborn children. According to Harris-Perry, life begins when the parents feel like life begins. And together with some twisted new "ethics" arguments from the radical left, this can include months or years after a child is born.
Yes We Can: Obama Funding Syrian Rebels Beheading Christians, Using Child Soldiers
Remember when al-Qaeda members were the bad guys? Obama is now pushing massive funding for Syrian rebels who have not only been linked to al-Qaeda, but are gruesomely beheading innocent Christians and using 14-year-old child soldiers.
Remember when al-Qaeda members were the bad guys? Obama is now pushing massive funding for Syrian rebels who have not only been linked to al-Qaeda, but are gruesomely beheading innocent Christians and using 14-year-old child soldiers.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Are Religious Progressives Poised to Outnumber Faithful Conservatives?
Traditionally, the proportion of the faithful with right-of-center views has been much larger than its leftist counterpart, however a new study...shows that there could be growth among religious progressives in years to come. The results found that, currently, 28 percent of Americans are religious conservatives, 19 percent are religious progressives and 38 percent are religious moderates.
Traditionally, the proportion of the faithful with right-of-center views has been much larger than its leftist counterpart, however a new study...shows that there could be growth among religious progressives in years to come. The results found that, currently, 28 percent of Americans are religious conservatives, 19 percent are religious progressives and 38 percent are religious moderates.
Human-Animal Hybrids: Sick And Twisted Chimeras Are Being Created In Labs All Over The Planet
Did you know that scientists all over the globe are creating extremely bizarre human-animal chimeras? Over the past decade, there have been some absolutely stunning advances in the field of genetic modification. Today, it is literally possible for college students to create new lifeforms in their basements. Unfortunately, laws have not kept pace with these advancements, and in many countries there are very few limits on what scientists are allowed to do.
Did you know that scientists all over the globe are creating extremely bizarre human-animal chimeras? Over the past decade, there have been some absolutely stunning advances in the field of genetic modification. Today, it is literally possible for college students to create new lifeforms in their basements. Unfortunately, laws have not kept pace with these advancements, and in many countries there are very few limits on what scientists are allowed to do.
CIA backs $630,000 study into how to control global weather through geoengineering
According to US website 'Mother Jones' the CIA is helping fund a study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) that will investigate whether humans could use geoengineering - which is defined as deliberate and large-scale intervention in the Earth's climatic system - to stop climate change.
According to US website 'Mother Jones' the CIA is helping fund a study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) that will investigate whether humans could use geoengineering - which is defined as deliberate and large-scale intervention in the Earth's climatic system - to stop climate change.
Are You Weary of Being Outraged?
If you're like me, you're fed up. You're disgusted that evil always seems to win! You wonder why God allows serial liars in government and elsewhere to keep prospering and even to win re-election in many places. Just being aware of the fact that we're in an Isaiah 5:20 world isn't enough: that we're likely in the midst of evil being called good. We have unspeakable atrocities going on at the highest levels. People are being silenced on Benghazi and the perpetrators are still running free. America funds one of the most evil outfits on earth: the Muslim Brotherhood. All Americans are being spied on!
If you're like me, you're fed up. You're disgusted that evil always seems to win! You wonder why God allows serial liars in government and elsewhere to keep prospering and even to win re-election in many places. Just being aware of the fact that we're in an Isaiah 5:20 world isn't enough: that we're likely in the midst of evil being called good. We have unspeakable atrocities going on at the highest levels. People are being silenced on Benghazi and the perpetrators are still running free. America funds one of the most evil outfits on earth: the Muslim Brotherhood. All Americans are being spied on!
U.S. city looks to penalize Bible believers
Think it’s hot in Texas these days? Just wait a few weeks, until the San Antonio City Council ends its summer hiatus and resumes work on a proposed change to its nondiscrimination ordinances that apparently will discriminate against all who take the Bible at its word and follow it. That’s because the change creates a penalty for those who ever exhibit a “bias,” which clearly could include adopting the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality, with a permanent ban on participation in city government, business or employment.
Think it’s hot in Texas these days? Just wait a few weeks, until the San Antonio City Council ends its summer hiatus and resumes work on a proposed change to its nondiscrimination ordinances that apparently will discriminate against all who take the Bible at its word and follow it. That’s because the change creates a penalty for those who ever exhibit a “bias,” which clearly could include adopting the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality, with a permanent ban on participation in city government, business or employment.
White House Like 'Despots' With Holder Move on Civil Rights
Eric Holder's plan to ask a federal court to reinstate the Justice Department's authority over voting laws in Texas smacks of despotism by the Obama White House, Sen. Orrin Hatch tells Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview. "The court has already ruled — and he's trying to reinstitute the Voting Rights Act in Texas," the Utah Republican tells Newsmax. "If I were a Texan, I'd be so doggone livid that I don't think I'd ever get over it. That's not the thing to do, and it just shows how this administration ignores the law.
Texas Republicans push back against Holder on voting rights challenge
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn accused Holder of trying to go around the high court. "This decision has nothing to do with protecting voting rights and everything to do with advancing a partisan political agenda," Cornyn said.
Eric Holder's plan to ask a federal court to reinstate the Justice Department's authority over voting laws in Texas smacks of despotism by the Obama White House, Sen. Orrin Hatch tells Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview. "The court has already ruled — and he's trying to reinstitute the Voting Rights Act in Texas," the Utah Republican tells Newsmax. "If I were a Texan, I'd be so doggone livid that I don't think I'd ever get over it. That's not the thing to do, and it just shows how this administration ignores the law.
Texas Republicans push back against Holder on voting rights challenge
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn accused Holder of trying to go around the high court. "This decision has nothing to do with protecting voting rights and everything to do with advancing a partisan political agenda," Cornyn said.
Feds tell Web firms to turn over user account passwords
The U.S. government has demanded that major Internet companies divulge users' stored passwords, according to two industry sources familiar with these orders, which represent an escalation in surveillance techniques that has not previously been disclosed.
NSA Reportedly Calls ‘Top Secret’ Emergency Meeting Ahead of Vote on House Amendment That Would Challenge Agency’s Power
The National Security Agency reportedly called for a “top secret” meeting with members of the U.S. House on Tuesday to argue against a House amendment that would challenge the spy agency’s power for the first time, according to an invitation circulated in Congress and obtained by the Huffington Post. The House amendment, written by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), would seek to reign in the NSA’s sweeping power to collect massive amounts of American citizens’ communications data. The amendment is co-sponsored by Democratic Rep. John Conyers. A vote on the amendment is scheduled to take place sometime this week.
The U.S. government has demanded that major Internet companies divulge users' stored passwords, according to two industry sources familiar with these orders, which represent an escalation in surveillance techniques that has not previously been disclosed.
NSA Reportedly Calls ‘Top Secret’ Emergency Meeting Ahead of Vote on House Amendment That Would Challenge Agency’s Power
The National Security Agency reportedly called for a “top secret” meeting with members of the U.S. House on Tuesday to argue against a House amendment that would challenge the spy agency’s power for the first time, according to an invitation circulated in Congress and obtained by the Huffington Post. The House amendment, written by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), would seek to reign in the NSA’s sweeping power to collect massive amounts of American citizens’ communications data. The amendment is co-sponsored by Democratic Rep. John Conyers. A vote on the amendment is scheduled to take place sometime this week.
Plague-infected squirrel closes California campgrounds
Los Angeles County public health department officials confirmed Wednesday that a trapped ground squirrel tested positive for plague and closed four campgrounds as a precaution. "Plague is a bacterial infection that can be transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas, which is why we close affected campgrounds and recreational areas as a precaution while preventive measures are taken to control the flea population," said public health officer Dr. Jonathan E. Fielding.
Los Angeles County public health department officials confirmed Wednesday that a trapped ground squirrel tested positive for plague and closed four campgrounds as a precaution. "Plague is a bacterial infection that can be transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas, which is why we close affected campgrounds and recreational areas as a precaution while preventive measures are taken to control the flea population," said public health officer Dr. Jonathan E. Fielding.
6 Apocalyptic Technologies That Most People Have Not Even Heard About Yet
Today, scientists are rapidly developing bizarre new technologies that most science fiction writers never even would have dreamed of a couple decades ago. For example, would you be willing to get rid of your bank card and start paying for things with only your face? Would you be willing to allow a technology company to put one large computer chip or thousands of really, really small ones (“neural dust”) into your brain? These are some of the technologies that are coming.
Today, scientists are rapidly developing bizarre new technologies that most science fiction writers never even would have dreamed of a couple decades ago. For example, would you be willing to get rid of your bank card and start paying for things with only your face? Would you be willing to allow a technology company to put one large computer chip or thousands of really, really small ones (“neural dust”) into your brain? These are some of the technologies that are coming.
5 Most Sinful Cities in America
"Our list includes some things that might not make a city very desirable -- like the level of violent crime -- but five of the seven things we looked at are actually kind of harmless," says Randy Nelson of property-listing site Movoto.com, which recently ranked America's largest cities for residents' involvement with the Seven Deadly Sins.
"Our list includes some things that might not make a city very desirable -- like the level of violent crime -- but five of the seven things we looked at are actually kind of harmless," says Randy Nelson of property-listing site Movoto.com, which recently ranked America's largest cities for residents' involvement with the Seven Deadly Sins.
Army Giving Up Stopping Power for 'Green' Bullets
The Army is switching from lead bullets in many small caliber arms to "environmentally friendly" rounds in 2014, even through the lead bullets are tried and true while the stopping power of the "green" bullets is already being questioned.
The Army is switching from lead bullets in many small caliber arms to "environmentally friendly" rounds in 2014, even through the lead bullets are tried and true while the stopping power of the "green" bullets is already being questioned.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Archaeologists say they uncovered King David's Palace
"The ruins are the best example to date of the uncovered fortress city of King David," said professors Yossi Garfinkel of Hebrew University and Saar Ganor, who led the excavations. "This is indisputable proof of the existence of a central authority in Judah during the time of King David."
"The ruins are the best example to date of the uncovered fortress city of King David," said professors Yossi Garfinkel of Hebrew University and Saar Ganor, who led the excavations. "This is indisputable proof of the existence of a central authority in Judah during the time of King David."
Move over NSA, here comes the Obamacare Big Brother database
Would you trust thousands of low-level Federal bureaucrats and contractors with one-touch access to your private financial and medical information? Under Obamacare you won’t have any choice. As the Obamacare train-wreck begins to gather steam, there is increasing concern in Congress over something called the Federal Data Services Hub.
Would you trust thousands of low-level Federal bureaucrats and contractors with one-touch access to your private financial and medical information? Under Obamacare you won’t have any choice. As the Obamacare train-wreck begins to gather steam, there is increasing concern in Congress over something called the Federal Data Services Hub.
NY food stamp recipients are shipping welfare-funded groceries to relatives in Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Haiti
Food stamps are paying for trans-Atlantic takeout — with New Yorkers using taxpayer-funded benefits to ship food to relatives in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Welfare recipients are buying groceries with their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and packing them in giant barrels for the trip overseas, The Post found.
Food stamps are paying for trans-Atlantic takeout — with New Yorkers using taxpayer-funded benefits to ship food to relatives in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Welfare recipients are buying groceries with their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and packing them in giant barrels for the trip overseas, The Post found.
Russian Orthodox Leader Condemns Gay Marriages, Warns of Apocalypse
Head of the Russian Orthodox Church warned Western governments on Sunday against legalization of same-sex marriages what he called a sign of approaching end of the world. Patriarch Kirill said during a service at Moscow’s major cathedral that the recent initiatives in a range of countries to legalize same-sex marriages “is a dangerous and apocalyptic symptom” that should not spread over to Russia, according to Russian media reports.
Head of the Russian Orthodox Church warned Western governments on Sunday against legalization of same-sex marriages what he called a sign of approaching end of the world. Patriarch Kirill said during a service at Moscow’s major cathedral that the recent initiatives in a range of countries to legalize same-sex marriages “is a dangerous and apocalyptic symptom” that should not spread over to Russia, according to Russian media reports.
It’s something of a social networking mystery. Why did Facebook block Kirk Cameron’s upcoming faith-based movie, “Unstoppable”? Cameron announced on his fan page Thursday that Facebook had blocked fans from posting any links to the website promoting his film because the content was labeled “abusive and unsafe.” .... Click here for full story
Over the past decade, there have been some absolutely stunning advances in the field of genetic modification. Today, it is literally possible for college students to create new lifeforms in their basements. Unfortunately, laws have not kept pace with these advancements, and in many countries there are very few limits on what scientists are allowed to do .... Click here for full story
TSA: Pay more and we'll grope you less...
TSA Administrator John Pistole said beginning later this year U.S. citizens will be able to enroll online or visit an enrollment site to provide identification, fingerprints and an $85 enrollment fee.
http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/tsa-opening-precheck-program-let-more-fliers-speed-through-lines-6C10701860
we've been so conditioned that we think this is a good thing?
http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/tsa-opening-precheck-program-let-more-fliers-speed-through-lines-6C10701860
we've been so conditioned that we think this is a good thing?
What does the future hold for the company whose visionary plans include implanting a chip in our brains?
Gomes agrees that a chip embedded in the brain is far from a sci-fi fantasy. "Already people are beginning to experiment with handicapped people for manoeuvring their wheelchairs," he says. "They are getting a few senses of direction with the wheelchair but getting from there to actual words is a long ways off. We have to do this in the brain a lot better to make that interaction possible. We have impatience for that to happen but the pieces of technology have to develop."
Full article:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/inside-google-hq-what-does-the-future-hold-for-the-company-whose-visionary-plans-include-implanting-a-chip-in-our-brains-8714487.html
Full article:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/inside-google-hq-what-does-the-future-hold-for-the-company-whose-visionary-plans-include-implanting-a-chip-in-our-brains-8714487.html
Rise of the Warrior Cop
Is it time to reconsider the militarization of American policing?
Since the 1960s, in response to a range of perceived threats, law-enforcement agencies across the U.S., at every level of government, have been blurring the line between police officer and soldier. Driven by martial rhetoric and the availability of military-style equipment—from bayonets and M-16 rifles to armored personnel carriers—American police forces have often adopted a mind-set previously reserved for the battlefield. The war on drugs and, more recently, post-9/11 antiterrorism efforts have created a new figure on the U.S. scene: the warrior cop—armed to the teeth, ready to deal harshly with targeted wrongdoers, and a growing threat to familiar American liberties.
Full article:
Friday, July 19, 2013
The Psychology of Self-Esteem
In the June 2006 newsletter, Dave Hunt wrote:
Even though the Bible does not teach self-love, self-esteem, self-worth, or self-actualization as virtues, helps, or goals, a vast number of present-day Christians have been deceived by the self-teachings of humanistic psychology.
Rather than resisting the enticement of the world they become culture-bound.
Not only do they not resist the tidal wave of selfism; they are riding the crest of self-esteem, self-acceptance, and self-love.
One can hardly tell the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian in the area of the self, except that the Christian adds God as the main source for his self-esteem, self-acceptance, self-worth, and self-love.
If there is one thing the world and many in the church have in common these days, it's the psychology of self-esteem.
Although Christians may disagree about some of the nuances of self-esteem, self-worth, and self-acceptance, and even on some of the finer points of definition and how it is attained, too many have joined forces against what they believe is a formidable enemy -- low self-esteem.
Yet, even the world cannot justify promoting high self-esteem through its own methods of research.
Even though the Bible does not teach self-love, self-esteem, self-worth, or self-actualization as virtues, helps, or goals, a vast number of present-day Christians have been deceived by the self-teachings of humanistic psychology.
Rather than resisting the enticement of the world they become culture-bound.
Not only do they not resist the tidal wave of selfism; they are riding the crest of self-esteem, self-acceptance, and self-love.
One can hardly tell the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian in the area of the self, except that the Christian adds God as the main source for his self-esteem, self-acceptance, self-worth, and self-love.
If there is one thing the world and many in the church have in common these days, it's the psychology of self-esteem.
Although Christians may disagree about some of the nuances of self-esteem, self-worth, and self-acceptance, and even on some of the finer points of definition and how it is attained, too many have joined forces against what they believe is a formidable enemy -- low self-esteem.
Yet, even the world cannot justify promoting high self-esteem through its own methods of research.
GMOs - Profits Over Health Is Monsanto's Business Model
For example, Monsanto has crossed genetic material from a bacterial pesticide, Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), with corn. The goal was to create a pest-resistant plant. This means that any pests attempting to eat the corn plant will die since the pesticide is part of every cell of the plant. The resultant GMO plant, known as Bt Corn, is itself registered as a pesticide with the EPA so, if you feed this corn to your cattle, your chickens, or yourself, you’ll be feeding them an actual pesticide in every bite...........
http://www.newswithviews.com/Pell/rob103.htm
For example, Monsanto has crossed genetic material from a bacterial pesticide, Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), with corn. The goal was to create a pest-resistant plant. This means that any pests attempting to eat the corn plant will die since the pesticide is part of every cell of the plant. The resultant GMO plant, known as Bt Corn, is itself registered as a pesticide with the EPA so, if you feed this corn to your cattle, your chickens, or yourself, you’ll be feeding them an actual pesticide in every bite...........
http://www.newswithviews.com/Pell/rob103.htm
Building The Tribulation GESTAPO
Don McGee
Crown & Sickle Ministries
The greatest persecution of Jews during the 20th Century was the Holocaust of Word War II. The German Third Reich developed and employed a tracking, apprehension, incarceration and killing machine that was used against millions of Jews and other undesirables during their “national emergency”. The atrocities committed by the GESTAPO, the SS, the Einsaatzgruppen and other agencies of the state in the name of defense and security are unbelievable. The reality of what happened causes people even today to wonder how civilized people could be so cruel. After the depraved cruelty of the Nazis was clearly laid out in the Nuremberg trials, civilized humanity responded with a firmly intended, “Never again!”. But, it will happen again, the perpetrators will again be civilized people, and a similar machine will be used.
Full article:
http://www.crownandsickle.org/Portals/63/Documents/may%202012.pdf
Crown & Sickle Ministries
The greatest persecution of Jews during the 20th Century was the Holocaust of Word War II. The German Third Reich developed and employed a tracking, apprehension, incarceration and killing machine that was used against millions of Jews and other undesirables during their “national emergency”. The atrocities committed by the GESTAPO, the SS, the Einsaatzgruppen and other agencies of the state in the name of defense and security are unbelievable. The reality of what happened causes people even today to wonder how civilized people could be so cruel. After the depraved cruelty of the Nazis was clearly laid out in the Nuremberg trials, civilized humanity responded with a firmly intended, “Never again!”. But, it will happen again, the perpetrators will again be civilized people, and a similar machine will be used.
Full article:
http://www.crownandsickle.org/Portals/63/Documents/may%202012.pdf
US ties outweigh intelligence 'squabbles' - Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said bilateral relations with the US are more important than "squabbles between special services". In his latest comments on fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, Mr Putin said he had been warned against any "activity that harms Russian-American relations". On Tuesday Mr Snowden applied for temporary asylum in Russia.
Snowden Standoff Could Sink Obama-Putin Summit
When the Obama administration discusses matters of sensitive diplomacy, it isn’t always a model of clarity. But this week reporters have struggled to get a direct answer to what would seem to be a simple question: Is President Barack Obama still planning to attend a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in early September?
Russia holds biggest war games in decades
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday watched Russia's biggest military maneuvers since Soviet times, involving 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks across Siberia and the far eastern region in a massive show of the nation's resurgent military might. Dozens of Russia's Pacific Fleet ships and 130 combat aircraft also took part in the exercise, which began on Friday and continue through this week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said bilateral relations with the US are more important than "squabbles between special services". In his latest comments on fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, Mr Putin said he had been warned against any "activity that harms Russian-American relations". On Tuesday Mr Snowden applied for temporary asylum in Russia.
Snowden Standoff Could Sink Obama-Putin Summit
When the Obama administration discusses matters of sensitive diplomacy, it isn’t always a model of clarity. But this week reporters have struggled to get a direct answer to what would seem to be a simple question: Is President Barack Obama still planning to attend a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in early September?
Russia holds biggest war games in decades
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday watched Russia's biggest military maneuvers since Soviet times, involving 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks across Siberia and the far eastern region in a massive show of the nation's resurgent military might. Dozens of Russia's Pacific Fleet ships and 130 combat aircraft also took part in the exercise, which began on Friday and continue through this week.
IRS officials in Washington ordered special scrutiny: congressional investigation finds
IRS employees have told congressional investigators that they were ordered by the agency’s Washington office to give extra scrutiny to tea party groups’ applications for tax-exempt status, according to excerpts from interviews with the employees that were released by House committee chairmen Wednesday.
IRS employees have told congressional investigators that they were ordered by the agency’s Washington office to give extra scrutiny to tea party groups’ applications for tax-exempt status, according to excerpts from interviews with the employees that were released by House committee chairmen Wednesday.
Driving somewhere? There's a government record of that
Chances are, your local or state police departments have photographs of your car in their files, noting where you were driving on a particular day, even if you never did anything wrong. Using automated scanners, law enforcement agencies across the country have amassed millions of digital records on the location and movement of every vehicle with a license plate...
Chances are, your local or state police departments have photographs of your car in their files, noting where you were driving on a particular day, even if you never did anything wrong. Using automated scanners, law enforcement agencies across the country have amassed millions of digital records on the location and movement of every vehicle with a license plate...
Clever Hacks Give Google Glass Many Unintended Powers
At Philz Coffee in Palo Alto, Calif., a kid who looks like he should still be in high school is sitting across from me. He's wearing Google Glass. As I stare into the device's cyborg eye, I'm waiting for its tiny screen to light up. Then, I wait for a signal that Google Glass has recognized my face. It isn't supposed to do that, but has hacked it.
At Philz Coffee in Palo Alto, Calif., a kid who looks like he should still be in high school is sitting across from me. He's wearing Google Glass. As I stare into the device's cyborg eye, I'm waiting for its tiny screen to light up. Then, I wait for a signal that Google Glass has recognized my face. It isn't supposed to do that, but has hacked it.
Violent criminals released by ICE if they are ‘Obama Dreamers’
...National ICE Council president Chris Crane explained what President Obama’s actions on immigration and blind eye to illegal immigration has made it nearly impossible for ICE agents to enforce the law. ...we apply the Dream Act not to kids, ...but to adult inmates and have to ask them...‘Do you qualify for President Obama’s Dream Act?’ When they tell us ‘Yes we qualify’...We can’t detain them...we simply have to release them to the street.
...National ICE Council president Chris Crane explained what President Obama’s actions on immigration and blind eye to illegal immigration has made it nearly impossible for ICE agents to enforce the law. ...we apply the Dream Act not to kids, ...but to adult inmates and have to ask them...‘Do you qualify for President Obama’s Dream Act?’ When they tell us ‘Yes we qualify’...We can’t detain them...we simply have to release them to the street.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Former NY Times writer ridiculed for being a creationist
Former New York Times technology and culture writer Virginia Heffernan, who now writes for Yahoo! News, recently told the world she's a creationist and she has become a lightning rod for ridicule because of it.
Former New York Times technology and culture writer Virginia Heffernan, who now writes for Yahoo! News, recently told the world she's a creationist and she has become a lightning rod for ridicule because of it.
The Hurricane Andrew Cover-up
Deadly Silences
The Hurricane Andrew Cover-up
The authorities grossly understated the death toll from hurricane Andrew, the worst natural disaster in US history, and left thousands of survivors to die in a zone contaminated by radiation. In addition to those who died and were injured, scores of people were left homeless and the Red Cross and other relief agencies had to act as a temporary home, hotel and apartment finder for thousands all around the nation and then HUD and FEMA became involved. The article below shows how the unprecedented events occurred and also the aftermath.
Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 8, Number 3
PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560 Australia. editor@nexusmagazine.com
Telephone: +61 (0)7 5442 9280; Fax: +61 (0)7 5442 9381
From our web page at: www.nexusmagazine.com
© by k.t. Frankovich © 2000/01
PO Box 703, Umatilla, Florida 32784 USA
E-mail: Kfrnkovich@aol.com
Website: http://kt.cjb.net
THE EMERGENCY ALERT THAT CAME TOO LATE
The largest natural disaster ever recorded in the history of the United States was hurricane Andrew, which struck South Dade County, Florida, as midnight turned the clock into August 24, 1992. Contrary to what the American news media broadcast across the United States and throughout Europe, the first outer wall of the hurricane unexpectedly slammed into South Dade, packing 214+ mph winds which quickly escalated to 350+ mph. Most of the 414,151 residents living in the danger zone were asleep when the outer wall struck. Thousands of them lost their lives, for no one in South Dade had been evacuated or even advised to evacuate. Instead, residents had been repeatedly informed by local news media that South Dade should expect to experience "50 mph winds".
By 11.00 am the following morning, 8,230 mobile homes along with 9,140 apartments had vanished off the face of the Earth. The Hiroshima-like horror was beyond catastrophic. Entire families perished in ways too horrifying to describe. The stench of death had already begun to saturate miles and miles of the massive devastation; the hot humid air was reeking with foul, rotting flesh.
How do I know? Because I was in the midst of it all.
Never will I forget the frantic, last-minute "emergency alert" broadcast that was aired on television just before all hell broke loose. My son and I had the TV on, hoping to catch an updated report on the hurricane, when the screen suddenly went blank with a loud warning signal. Before we knew it, a panic-stricken voice began the announcement:
We interrupt this program to bring you an emergency alert from the National Broadcast Emergency Center. This is an emergency alert! I repeat, this is an emergency alert! The outer winds of hurricane Andrew have just reached the Florida coast. Hurricane Andrew has unexpectedly shifted five degrees south. I repeat, Hurricane Andrew has shifted five degrees south. Andrew is expected to strike South Dade within minutes. I repeat, Andrew is expected to strike South Dade within minutes. All South Dade residents should take immediate cover! I repeat, all South Dade residents should take immediate cover! This is an emergency alert!
Our tiny pre-fab apartment, which was nothing more than a glorified mobile home, had been constructed to withstand maximum wind speeds of 90 mph. The blood-curdling announcement gripped us both. Paralysed by sheer terror, our bulging eyes stayed glued to the television as the voice continued.
All South Dade residents are advised to stay put! Do not attempt to leave the area!
Within seconds, we actually heard hurricane Andrew bearing down on us, slamming into us with all the force of a speeding locomotive. The horrendous wall of winds crashed against our tiny apartment like an exploding bomb! Glasses flew off the kitchen counter, shattering onto the quaking floor. Hanging pictures plunged straight down the walls towards the ground. The huge hanging mirror crashed on top of the television set, spraying the living room with shattered glass. The entire apartment resembled a rickety old train, shaking fiercely out of control while rumbling down a railroad track. The screeching winds quickly transformed into the piercing, monotone hum of a jet engine, sounding as if it had sucked us inside! It was so deafening, all other noises ceased to exist. It felt like a monstrous earthquake-and-tornado hitting at the same time!
Before either one of us could react, the metal front door of our apartment began to peel steadily downward towards the floor, like a piece of wet, limp paper. Then the voracious jaws of Andrew attacked for the final kill. A mega-giant, two-storey-tall, solid concrete transformer pole with electrical cables attached, torpedoed right through our living room wall and roof, exploding the entire building on impact! And that was just the beginningÉ
ATROCITIES IN THE AFTERMATH
There isn't a person on the face of this Earth who will ever convince me that hurricane Andrew was a "hurricane" by any sense of the definition. Just ask any survivor of Andrew what the six-and-a-half-hour siege was like and the answer will always be the same. "We didn't have any prior warning. We heard hurricane Andrew suddenly bearing down on us like a speeding locomotive." This is the same description given by survivors of monstrous F-5 tornadoes (packing winds of 350+ mph)--the only difference being that tornadoes strike for just seconds, whereas hurricane Andrew struck and stayed for hours on end.
The injuries of those who survived were mind-boggling. I had a broken jaw with eight teeth knocked out. Huge shards of glass impaled my body so deeply, they were impossible to remove without the aid of a scalpel. My head injuries were so severe that they permanently affected my eyesight.
But I was only one amongst thousands of severely injured victims who struggled to survive the aftermath. For ten long days we were roped off from the outside world by United States military forces, leaving us stranded with no food, no water, no medical supplies, no shelter. Suffering from severe shell-shock, we waited and waited for rescue teams to arrive, but that just never happened. None of the injured in the roped-off areas was ever rescued from the devastation. It was the worst gut-wrenching betrayal I have ever experienced. I saw grown men lying on the ground in the foetal position, moaning and groaning pathetically as they tried to hug and rock themselves. My son was amongst them.
Don't get me wrong. United States military forces were indeed present in the roped-off areas within hours of Andrew ending. But they were not there to help survivors. The National Guard along with the Coast Guard, the Army, FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency), Metro Dade Police, state police and local police removed dead bodies and body parts as quickly as possible during those first ten days of the aftermath. Horrified survivors watched as both uniformed and civilian- clothed men searched the rubble and filled body bags, which they then stacked in military vehicles or huge refrigerator trucks normally used to transport food, only to drive off and leave the stranded injured to fend for themselves.
Not until I managed to escape the aftermath did I discover that the "thermo-king" sections of these same refrigerator trucks, jam-packed with wall-to-wall body bags, ended up being stored at Card Sound Navy Base, located in an isolated area just above the Florida Keys. The inside temperature was kept cool by portable generators until the bodies were either incinerated or just plain dumped into huge open grave pits.
Those working on the body pick-up operation were forced to take what is known as the Oath of Sworn Secrecy, which is strictly enforced by the government. Many of them plunged into shock, once exposed to the ghastly devastation and countless mutilated bodies.
The horrors were way beyond human comprehension. I can vouch for this, as I accidentally stepped on the severed hand of a young child when I initially crawled out of the debris, only to witness shortly thereafter two dead teenagers and the decapitated body of a baby girl.
Fighting mental shock became such a big problem for the body pick-up teams that a special group of psychiatrists had to be brought in to help them cope with it. I believe this in itself is the reason why many who worked on the body collection didn't comprehend the tragic consequences this would inevitably lead to in the future.
The survivors of hurricane Andrew and the rest of the American people were betrayed by their own government. But the betrayal also extended to foreign nationals. At the time Andrew struck, South Dade was inhabited by a large population of Mexican illegal immigrants. The United States Department of Immigration was fully aware of their presence but quietly turned its back on the situation, knowing full well that South Dade farmers couldn't afford to harvest their crops without the help of the Mexican illegals. The heavily populated migrant camps were situated at the edge of the Florida Everglades. The people who lived there vanished without a trace during that fated night. Many bodies were found way out in the Everglades.
When I lectured at the Clearwater Convention in Florida in 1999, a man in the audience stood up and introduced himself as Chief Petty Officer Roy Howard. He proceeded to address the audience with this exact statement, which is now a matter of public record:
Just for your information, I was called up to active duty after hurricane Andrew went through South Dade County. I spent nine weeks down there. Now I will certify for the benefit of our audience here that the death figures that were officially published are totally inaccurate. According to the information which I received from my own sources within the National Guard, the figure I was quoted when I was down there was 5,280-something. And they were quietly disposed of in incinerators that were hurriedly put together by both the National Guard and FEMA...
As the Chief Petty Officer stated, "5,280-something" bodies were confiscated by the United States National Guard. In addition to this, the Coast Guard independently confiscated "1,500 bodies" from the lakes and surrounding waters. Neither one of these figures embraces the number of dead bodies confiscated by other branches of federal and state government directly involved in the body pick-up operation. This leaves the number of dead confiscated by various US authorities in South Dade still unknown.
The total number who died during hurricane Andrew is obviously staggering, yet whenever the "official death toll" is mentioned in the media, a figure of anywhere between 15 and 59 is quoted. The population of the 21 communities annihilated by Andrew's eye-wall had been officially recorded by the Dade County Census Bureau as 415,151 before Andrew struck.
Bodies of human beings confiscated and disposed-of like rubbish, as if their lives had no more worth or meaning than a piece of discarded litter--it's horrifying to be suddenly confronted by the same kind of atrocities as perpetrated by the Nazis. Once again repeating history, a master-minded cover-up was dutifully carried out by armed military forces, right smack in the midst of horrendous human suffering.
To complete this historical comparison, in the same way that many residents who lived near Nazi concentration camps were unaware or in denial of the atrocities close by, so too were many residents who were located just outside the catastrophic devastation left behind by Andrew's eye-wall.
GOVERNMENT BETRAYAL
So what actually did take place when Andrew survivors tried to get help from those collecting dead bodies in the aftermath? Well, I for one can give a first-hand account.
About the third day into the aftermath, a long line of police cars cautiously drove into my area during the late afternoon. We had not had contact with any other people from outside the devastation up until this point. There were approximately 12 to 15 police cars comprising this caravan, each marked from different locations throughout the state. Each car was driven by a man dressed in a dark police uniform and had three other plain-clothed men riding as passengers, making a total of four men in each vehicle.
Someone from our group spotted the caravan and ran to get me, knowing that I had been badly injured and urgently needed emergency medical help. My twenty-five-year-old son and one other adult male survivor helped escort me to the caravan. We hurried towards the lead car. It stopped moving when we approached the driver's side. The officer sitting behind the wheel rolled down the window. For a few moments he rudely ignored us, at one point giving us an impatient look of disgust.
This is the exact conversation and course of events that took place.
"Please, sir, I need medical help," I begged, barely able to speak.
The officer sitting behind the wheel sighed heavily. He turned his head away from me and gazed out his windshield. The other three men in the car quietly looked at me.
"Sir, please, I need to get to a hospital...," I begged frantically.
The officer took his time about reaching over to turn off the engine. With another sigh, he slowly opened the door and climbed out. He then proceeded to close the door and stood there with his legs spread astride.
"Lady, do me a favour," he answered. "Find yourself a piece of paper and a pencil. Write down your name and social security number next to the telephone number of your nearest living relative. Tuck the piece of paper in your pocket so tomorrow, when I find your body, I'll know who to contact."
"No! No!" I cried out. "You don't understand. I need to get to a hospital. I've been badly injured."
"No! You're the one who doesn't understand," he hissed back.
With that, he reached over to his holster and took out his gun. He grabbed me, forcing me up against the side of the car, and proceeded to put the barrel of the gun against my temple. I heard the hammer cock.
From the position he had pushed me into, I could see directly into the car. The man sitting in the front passenger seat looked away from me immediately, glancing down at the floor. The two passengers in the back seat turned their heads quickly, staring out the window on the opposite side of the car.
My son and the other survivor watched as the officer had pulled back the hammer on the gun. So shocked out of their minds by what they were witnessing, neither one could move!
"You don't belong here!" the officer growled, pressing the barrel into the side of my head. "Now you get the hell outta here before I blow away your ass!"
He shoved my face into the car window and then released me. Someone grabbed me from behind and whirled me around so fast, I didn't have time to think! Before I knew it, I was being thrown over a shoulder. My rescuer took off running as fast as he could! I caught a brief glimpse of my son running next to me. With one gigantic leap, he and the survivor who carried me, dove behind a pile of debris. All three of us crashed on top of each other in one tangled-up heap.
"I'll shoot your damn asses!" the officer's voice rang out.
When hurricane Andrew slammed into South Dade, the State Attorney of Florida was none other than Janet Reno. Her office was located at the Dade County Court House in the City of Miami. The President of the United States was President George H.W. Bush, and the Vice-President was Dan Quayle. Bill Clinton was running for President, and Al Gore for Vice-President. Senator Bob Graham held office, and the late Lawton Chiles was Governor of Florida. His successor turned out to be Jeb Bush, still the Governor of Florida and, ironically enough, the son of former President Bush whose other son, George W. Bush, the then Governor of Texas, has since become the "self-selected" President of the United States...
Curious how the United States Government evacuated Homestead Air Force Base just before hurricane Andrew struck, yet never released the information to the civilians of South Dade.
"This is worse than anything we saw in Saudi," said Master Sgt Lester Richardson (who had spent six months in the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm) one week into the aftermath. "These people need a miracleÉ"
The survivors did need "a miracle", but what we got instead didn't resemble anything near it.
MEDIA UNDERSTATEMENT
While we remained roped off from the outside world by Metro Dade Police and the military, the news media reported grossly understated information from the first day onward.
On August 24, 1992, the morning hurricane Andrew ended, the Miami Herald broke with:
Andrew Hits Hardest in South Dade. Five thousand people were left homeless by the storm, Metro Dade Police Director announced. They'll be moved into shelters in North Dade.
Over subsequent days, the Miami Herald read as follows:
August 25, 1992:
Destruction at Dawn. Among worst hit in the Country Walk area of South Dade, few homes escaped at least minor damage and many were utterly destroyed. 10 killed in Dade.
August 27, 1992:
The Toll Rises. 22 dead as the search continues. 63,000 homes destroyed. 175,000 homeless. 1 million without power.
August 28, 1992:
WE NEED HELP. Relief effort collapsing due to United States inaction, Metro charges. Aid us now or more will die, Feds told. As Dade County's hurricane relief effort neared collapse Thursday, more than 1,500 airborne US soldiers were ordered into the county to cope with what is now being called the worst natural disaster in United States history. The move came after a day of bitter sniping among agencies that share responsibility for the relief effort.
United States aid official Wallace Stickler stated: "Andrew has caused more destruction and affected more people than any disaster America has ever had."
Dade County's Emergency Director pleaded for federal help, one angry voice among many that spoke in dire terms of needs unmet. Frustrated to the point of tears, Kate Hale said that the relief project was on the brink of collapse, a victim of incompetence and political games:
"Where the hell is the cavalry on this one? We need food! We need water! We need people! If we do not get more food into the south end [South Dade] in a very short period of time, we are going to have more casualties!
"We have a catastrophic disaster. We are hours away from more casualties. We are essentially the walking wounded. We have appealed through the State to the Federal Government. We've had a lot of people down here for press conferences. But Dade County is on its own. Dade County is being caught in the middle of something and we are being victimized.
"Quit playing like a bunch of kids and get us aid! Sort out your political games afterward!"
On the same day Hale made the desperate plea, Miami Herald staff writers Martin Merzer and Tom Fiedler wrote:
The question echoed through the debris Thursday: If we can do it for Bangladesh, for the Philippines, for the Kurds of northern Iraq, why in God's name can't we deliver basic necessities of life to the ravaged population of our own Gold Coast?"
The short answer: because no single person or agency is in charge.
The result: a planeload of food and equipment is still a rarity. Instead of delivering goods, helicopter pilots shuttle government officials who just sit idle. Metro police turn away individuals trying to bring in food or water to a barren South Dade.
On August 29, 1992, six days into the aftermath, the Miami Herald reported:
Problems Plague Red Cross. The man on the phone wanted to donate 100 electric generators, extension cords and enough tools to build a small subdivision. But the operator who took his call at the Red Cross Command Center in Miami had no idea what to do with the offer.
"We get a call, we take a message, we give it to somebody who signs it to somebody else," said the operator, Melitta de Liefd. "We have no idea what happens to it. The whole place is being run by senior citizens and college kids."
Welcome to Red Cross headquarters--where the brains of Dade County rescue effort have been knocked almost unconscious most of the week.
Callers offering services and supplies are put on hold. Others can't get through at all. The hurt and suffering plead for help over ham radio.
On August 29, 1992, one week after hurricane Andrew struck, the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel reported 250,000 people homeless in South Dade.
A NUCLEAR INCIDENT
Of course, the rather "insignificant" incident resulting from Andrew's winds bombarding the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant was not aired by the news media either nationally or abroad.
Tom Dubocq reported in the Miami Herald of September 5, 1992:
Demolition crews toppled a 400-foot smokestack at Turkey Point [Nuclear] Power Plant [owned by Florida Power and Light Company], Friday [September 4]. The stack, which had a gaping 200-foot crack, was dropped without a hitch, a Florida Power and Light [FPL] spokesman said. The other smokestack at the plant will be salvaged. Turkey Point will be shut down for several months while repairs are made. The cost will exceed $90 million, according to an initial damage reportÉ
When Turkey Point was built in the 1960s, its main structures were designed to withstand 235 mph winds. Hurricane Andrew was clocked at 164 mph at the plant. FPL officials don't know why the smokestack didn't hold up...
One hundred million dollars worth of damage resulted from the nuclear power plant's smokestack having been cracked wide open. The plant is situated approximately 15 miles northeast of where I lived. How well I recall the leaflets circulated several months before Andrew struck, advising all residents within a "thirty-five mile radius" of Turkey Point nuclear plant to be aware of the potential hazards involved if an event such as a natural disaster or unexpected catastrophe happened. Such a grim reminder of the Chernobyl tragedy.
Could it be more than coincidence that within 24 hours of hurricane Andrew ending, all 12 survivors in my little group, including our animals, broke out in big, raw, oozing sores which itched and burned at the same time? We suffered horrible headaches which made us so nauseous we had the dry heaves, and our stomachs cramped badly from sudden onsets of diarrhoea. These symptoms lasted well over three months. Within a relatively short period of time, each one of our surviving animals died from cancer.
HURRICANE BUREAU'S FAILURE TO WARN
Speaking of coincidence, I often wonder what kind of a coincidence it is that the National Hurricane Bureau is responsible for reporting to the US Department of Commerce--especially considering that during 1992 South Florida did $31 billion worth of trade in tourism.
Hurricane Andrew had barely left Florida, heading for Louisiana, when the Division of Tourism placed a $47,000 advertisement in USA Today, reading "Florida, we're still open".
"Most people have very short memories. We're all sort of banking on that," said Donal Dermody, Director of the Nova University Center for Hospitality Management.
Kind of puts a big damper on belief in the human race: hide the truth, ignore the suffering, do it for a dollar!
What upsets me most is the incident that happened during the late afternoon hours just prior to Andrew striking. I had just walked out to the garbage dumpsters, located by the parking lot, to throw away some garbage. I turned to head back to the apartment when the horn of an oncoming car began blasting away. I looked up to see a familiar resident, whom I had spoken to on many different occasions, heading directly towards me. This particular individual worked at Metrozoo. Being affiliated with wild animals, he frequently stopped by to ask me questions about the behaviour of certain species. He sped right up to me and then slammed on the brakes.
"Come here!" he whispered excitedly.
I leaned down close to him. "What's the matter?"
"Listen!" he paused to look around nervously. "You've got to get the hell outta here now!"
"Why?" I asked, puzzled by his behaviour.
"I haven't got time to explain," he whispered. "But I just came from the National Hurricane Bureau in the Gables. Gotta friend of mine who works over there; bigwig--know what I mean?"
"Yeah..." I nodded.
"Well, this isn't for public information, if you get my drift," he went on rapidly. "But the National Hurricane Bureau has known all along that hurricane Andrew is going to slam into South Dade! They're telling the public it's going to come in at Palm Beach because they want Miami Beach evacuated, and there aren't enough shelters for South Dade residents to evacuate to. They don't wanna cause panic. So they're keeping quiet. We're all a bunch of god-damn sitting ducks! You got to get the hell outta here! This is a killer hurricane! Nobody's ever seen anything like this before!"
"Holy shit!" I exclaimed, shocked out of my mind. "You mean Andrew's coming over South Dade?"
"Damn straight! That's exactly what I mean! They figure the eye of the storm is coming right in over us! Those fellas at the National Hurricane Bureau have known it all along! I'm gettin' the hell outta here now! Shit, man, this thing is a killer hurricane! Listen, I gotta run! Get your son and get the hell out now! You ain't gonna have a shot in hell once it hits!"
I ran into the apartment and called my son at work, begging him to come home so we could get out. I had no reason to disbelieve anything I had just heard. I knew my neighbour well enough to know he wouldn't fabricate anything like this. So I related the entire conversation to my son, Eric. He was stunned! Eric said he would leave work within a few minutes, but as the minutes ticked on they dragged into hours.
Another immediate course of action I took after hearing the terrifying warning from my neighbour was to phone the local CBS television station located in Miami. I called three separate times. Each time, my call went directly into the local news broadcast room of meteorologist Bryan Norcross. Although I never spoke to Norcross directly, I did manage to speak to three separate individuals working in the broadcast room.
I specifically stated: "I live in South Dade, adjacent to Metrozoo and within walking distance of Country Walk, in a pre-fab apartment that is constructed to withstand up to 90 mph winds. Should I evacuate?"
All three individuals advised and reassured me that I was situated in a safe area. There definitely wasn't need for me to take any evacuation measures.
Meanwhile, one work catastrophe after another seemed to crash down on my son, until finally it was just too late for us to evacuate. By the time he got home it was almost midnight. Within minutes of his arrival, Andrew slammed into us with full force.
ONGOING TRAGEDIES FROM THE COVER-UPS
It's not easy dealing with the anguish I feel because of all the perpetrated lies. So much suffering resulted. It took three-and-a-half weeks before my son and I managed to escape the devastation on our own. Homeless and penniless, with no insurance to cover our losses, we slowly made our way north towards Broward County, our only possessions being the clothes on our backs and a demolished van. The long, agonising journey turned out to be another nightmare from hell.
Over 4,000 people were officially listed as "Missing" in Andrew when we parted South Dade. I had lost 23 pounds during those wretched weeks of being trapped in the devastation and still had not received any medical attention. Little did I realise it would take another three weeks before a doctor would even agree to see me without any money or identification. By then, six weeks had passed since I had been injured. Most of my teeth had turned a putrid grey colour because the nerves had died as a result of fierce blows to my head, complicated by my broken jaw. The final heartbreak came when doctors discovered the optic nerve in both my eyes had begun to die off--which meant, because of the head injuries, I was going blind.
This may sound strange but, regardless, it is the truth. Today, in the year 2001, there still remain three ongoing tragedies created by hurricane Andrew cover-ups--tragedies which remain unbearable for the survivors to live with.
The first tragedy is the horrifying fact that the bodies of our loved ones were intentionally confiscated from us by our own government and then so inhumanely disposed of. Without graves, or some kind of memorial erected in their memory, we have no hope of reaching closure.
The second tragedy is the impact the cover-ups had in downplaying, dismissing and ignoring our horrendous suffering.
And the third tragedy is the great number of Andrew survivors who were inevitably forced to join the ranks of approximately 10 million other homeless Americans struggling to stay alive on the streets. With 10 million Americans homeless, and another 32 million Americans going to sleep hungry each night, the United States Government can't truthfully claim to be a government for all the people.
Maybe it's just me, but I honestly thought the world learned a lesson from the Nuremberg trials in Germany: "Evil can only be defined as absence of empathy..."
SIMILARITIES IN TURKEY
On June 20, 2000, I flew to Istanbul, Turkey, where I lectured at a major international conference. While visiting there, I was asked if there was anything I specifically wished to do or see. My simple answer came very naturally.
"Yes, I would like to visit the areas that were devastated by the earthquakes last August and November and spend time with the survivors."
The following day my simple wish was granted. I was graciously escorted by a medical doctor who had unselfishly devoted many hours of practice in the devastated regions. When he informed me that 20,000+ died in August 1999 during the Izmit earthquake and that another 20,000+ died in November during the Bolu earthquake, I was stunned. This was not what the news media had reported.
"Are you saying that between the two earthquakes last year, over 40,000 people died?" I asked.
His eyes filled with tears. "Yes," he nodded sadly. "Over 40,000 people perished, between the two disasters."
The horrendous destruction I saw matched every word he stated. I walked over areas where the earth had opened up, swallowing entire buildings before closing back up again, like a giant white shark gulping down its prey. I understood when weeping survivors squeezed my hand tightly, too overcome by grief to explain how they never found the bodies of their loved ones. Long pauses of silence took over when tears replaced words.
The poverty I witnessed was too startling to escape my poorly sighted eyes. Pathetic cardboard-type huts, covered by plastic sheets, greeted me everywhere I went. Then there were the bleak rows of government-funded temporary housing which lacked simple basic needs like indoor private showers.
I often wonder, now that I've returned back home, how those Turkish survivors weathered the 115° temperatures of July, since their temporary housing lacked proper insulation and air-conditioning. As the month of August began to unfold, torrential rains bombarded the country, bringing a new kind of disaster: flash flooding. How many lives were lost to this disaster?
The most pathetic survivors of all are children. Like many of the children who survived hurricane Andrew, many Turkish children whom I saw who could no longer smile or play. Shell-shock has very pronounced effects on the young; often, they stop communicating altogether.
One little girl in particular caught my attention. Her arm had been badly injured, twisted into a permanent position of deformity. She stood very still, holding her hair in her good hand, never moving or showing any signs of emotion.
"She needs medical attention," I said to the doctor.
"Yes," he agreed, "a lot of the young survivors desperately need medical attention."
His answer puzzled me. "But I thought financial aid was donated from foreign countries."
"Yes," he nodded, "but most of the money ended up in the pockets of government officials. It never reached the survivors."
How well I knew what that meant. How well indeed.
After pausing, he added, "When the earthquakes struck, one foreign country offered to construct a hospital at the devastated site. But because of political differences, our government refused the offer."
I left the Turkish people, wondering: what kind of future is man creating for himself? Only one thought came to mind: "Evil can only be defined as absence of empathy..."
Editor's Note:
This article is based on excerpts reprinted in The Unopened Files, issues 17 & 18, 2000, originally published in k.t. Frankovich's book, Where Heavens Meet (Language of Souls Publications, Inc., USA). To obtain a copy, order via amazon.com or send payment to: k.t. Frankovich, PO Box 703, Umatilla FL 32784, USA (US$24.95 + $3.20 s&h in US; £14.99 + £3.50 p&h to UK; elsewhere, US$24.95 + US$8.00 p&h). For further information, visit www.kt.cjb.net or e-mail Kfrnkovich@aol.com or Ukpoet@aol.com.
About the Author:
k.t. Frankovich has had a distinguished career as a writer in film and television, winning the 1975 Gold Venus award for documentary film writing. She has devoted her personal life to rescuing abandoned, lost and abused animals. k.t. is a poet and an author of short stories and several books. She is a frequent guest on radio talk shows across the US, and is passionate about exposing the tragedies surrounding the hurricane Andrew disaster.
The Hurricane Andrew Cover-up
The authorities grossly understated the death toll from hurricane Andrew, the worst natural disaster in US history, and left thousands of survivors to die in a zone contaminated by radiation. In addition to those who died and were injured, scores of people were left homeless and the Red Cross and other relief agencies had to act as a temporary home, hotel and apartment finder for thousands all around the nation and then HUD and FEMA became involved. The article below shows how the unprecedented events occurred and also the aftermath.
Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 8, Number 3
PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560 Australia. editor@nexusmagazine.com
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© by k.t. Frankovich © 2000/01
PO Box 703, Umatilla, Florida 32784 USA
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THE EMERGENCY ALERT THAT CAME TOO LATE
The largest natural disaster ever recorded in the history of the United States was hurricane Andrew, which struck South Dade County, Florida, as midnight turned the clock into August 24, 1992. Contrary to what the American news media broadcast across the United States and throughout Europe, the first outer wall of the hurricane unexpectedly slammed into South Dade, packing 214+ mph winds which quickly escalated to 350+ mph. Most of the 414,151 residents living in the danger zone were asleep when the outer wall struck. Thousands of them lost their lives, for no one in South Dade had been evacuated or even advised to evacuate. Instead, residents had been repeatedly informed by local news media that South Dade should expect to experience "50 mph winds".
By 11.00 am the following morning, 8,230 mobile homes along with 9,140 apartments had vanished off the face of the Earth. The Hiroshima-like horror was beyond catastrophic. Entire families perished in ways too horrifying to describe. The stench of death had already begun to saturate miles and miles of the massive devastation; the hot humid air was reeking with foul, rotting flesh.
How do I know? Because I was in the midst of it all.
Never will I forget the frantic, last-minute "emergency alert" broadcast that was aired on television just before all hell broke loose. My son and I had the TV on, hoping to catch an updated report on the hurricane, when the screen suddenly went blank with a loud warning signal. Before we knew it, a panic-stricken voice began the announcement:
We interrupt this program to bring you an emergency alert from the National Broadcast Emergency Center. This is an emergency alert! I repeat, this is an emergency alert! The outer winds of hurricane Andrew have just reached the Florida coast. Hurricane Andrew has unexpectedly shifted five degrees south. I repeat, Hurricane Andrew has shifted five degrees south. Andrew is expected to strike South Dade within minutes. I repeat, Andrew is expected to strike South Dade within minutes. All South Dade residents should take immediate cover! I repeat, all South Dade residents should take immediate cover! This is an emergency alert!
Our tiny pre-fab apartment, which was nothing more than a glorified mobile home, had been constructed to withstand maximum wind speeds of 90 mph. The blood-curdling announcement gripped us both. Paralysed by sheer terror, our bulging eyes stayed glued to the television as the voice continued.
All South Dade residents are advised to stay put! Do not attempt to leave the area!
Within seconds, we actually heard hurricane Andrew bearing down on us, slamming into us with all the force of a speeding locomotive. The horrendous wall of winds crashed against our tiny apartment like an exploding bomb! Glasses flew off the kitchen counter, shattering onto the quaking floor. Hanging pictures plunged straight down the walls towards the ground. The huge hanging mirror crashed on top of the television set, spraying the living room with shattered glass. The entire apartment resembled a rickety old train, shaking fiercely out of control while rumbling down a railroad track. The screeching winds quickly transformed into the piercing, monotone hum of a jet engine, sounding as if it had sucked us inside! It was so deafening, all other noises ceased to exist. It felt like a monstrous earthquake-and-tornado hitting at the same time!
Before either one of us could react, the metal front door of our apartment began to peel steadily downward towards the floor, like a piece of wet, limp paper. Then the voracious jaws of Andrew attacked for the final kill. A mega-giant, two-storey-tall, solid concrete transformer pole with electrical cables attached, torpedoed right through our living room wall and roof, exploding the entire building on impact! And that was just the beginningÉ
ATROCITIES IN THE AFTERMATH
There isn't a person on the face of this Earth who will ever convince me that hurricane Andrew was a "hurricane" by any sense of the definition. Just ask any survivor of Andrew what the six-and-a-half-hour siege was like and the answer will always be the same. "We didn't have any prior warning. We heard hurricane Andrew suddenly bearing down on us like a speeding locomotive." This is the same description given by survivors of monstrous F-5 tornadoes (packing winds of 350+ mph)--the only difference being that tornadoes strike for just seconds, whereas hurricane Andrew struck and stayed for hours on end.
The injuries of those who survived were mind-boggling. I had a broken jaw with eight teeth knocked out. Huge shards of glass impaled my body so deeply, they were impossible to remove without the aid of a scalpel. My head injuries were so severe that they permanently affected my eyesight.
But I was only one amongst thousands of severely injured victims who struggled to survive the aftermath. For ten long days we were roped off from the outside world by United States military forces, leaving us stranded with no food, no water, no medical supplies, no shelter. Suffering from severe shell-shock, we waited and waited for rescue teams to arrive, but that just never happened. None of the injured in the roped-off areas was ever rescued from the devastation. It was the worst gut-wrenching betrayal I have ever experienced. I saw grown men lying on the ground in the foetal position, moaning and groaning pathetically as they tried to hug and rock themselves. My son was amongst them.
Don't get me wrong. United States military forces were indeed present in the roped-off areas within hours of Andrew ending. But they were not there to help survivors. The National Guard along with the Coast Guard, the Army, FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency), Metro Dade Police, state police and local police removed dead bodies and body parts as quickly as possible during those first ten days of the aftermath. Horrified survivors watched as both uniformed and civilian- clothed men searched the rubble and filled body bags, which they then stacked in military vehicles or huge refrigerator trucks normally used to transport food, only to drive off and leave the stranded injured to fend for themselves.
Not until I managed to escape the aftermath did I discover that the "thermo-king" sections of these same refrigerator trucks, jam-packed with wall-to-wall body bags, ended up being stored at Card Sound Navy Base, located in an isolated area just above the Florida Keys. The inside temperature was kept cool by portable generators until the bodies were either incinerated or just plain dumped into huge open grave pits.
Those working on the body pick-up operation were forced to take what is known as the Oath of Sworn Secrecy, which is strictly enforced by the government. Many of them plunged into shock, once exposed to the ghastly devastation and countless mutilated bodies.
The horrors were way beyond human comprehension. I can vouch for this, as I accidentally stepped on the severed hand of a young child when I initially crawled out of the debris, only to witness shortly thereafter two dead teenagers and the decapitated body of a baby girl.
Fighting mental shock became such a big problem for the body pick-up teams that a special group of psychiatrists had to be brought in to help them cope with it. I believe this in itself is the reason why many who worked on the body collection didn't comprehend the tragic consequences this would inevitably lead to in the future.
The survivors of hurricane Andrew and the rest of the American people were betrayed by their own government. But the betrayal also extended to foreign nationals. At the time Andrew struck, South Dade was inhabited by a large population of Mexican illegal immigrants. The United States Department of Immigration was fully aware of their presence but quietly turned its back on the situation, knowing full well that South Dade farmers couldn't afford to harvest their crops without the help of the Mexican illegals. The heavily populated migrant camps were situated at the edge of the Florida Everglades. The people who lived there vanished without a trace during that fated night. Many bodies were found way out in the Everglades.
When I lectured at the Clearwater Convention in Florida in 1999, a man in the audience stood up and introduced himself as Chief Petty Officer Roy Howard. He proceeded to address the audience with this exact statement, which is now a matter of public record:
Just for your information, I was called up to active duty after hurricane Andrew went through South Dade County. I spent nine weeks down there. Now I will certify for the benefit of our audience here that the death figures that were officially published are totally inaccurate. According to the information which I received from my own sources within the National Guard, the figure I was quoted when I was down there was 5,280-something. And they were quietly disposed of in incinerators that were hurriedly put together by both the National Guard and FEMA...
As the Chief Petty Officer stated, "5,280-something" bodies were confiscated by the United States National Guard. In addition to this, the Coast Guard independently confiscated "1,500 bodies" from the lakes and surrounding waters. Neither one of these figures embraces the number of dead bodies confiscated by other branches of federal and state government directly involved in the body pick-up operation. This leaves the number of dead confiscated by various US authorities in South Dade still unknown.
The total number who died during hurricane Andrew is obviously staggering, yet whenever the "official death toll" is mentioned in the media, a figure of anywhere between 15 and 59 is quoted. The population of the 21 communities annihilated by Andrew's eye-wall had been officially recorded by the Dade County Census Bureau as 415,151 before Andrew struck.
Bodies of human beings confiscated and disposed-of like rubbish, as if their lives had no more worth or meaning than a piece of discarded litter--it's horrifying to be suddenly confronted by the same kind of atrocities as perpetrated by the Nazis. Once again repeating history, a master-minded cover-up was dutifully carried out by armed military forces, right smack in the midst of horrendous human suffering.
To complete this historical comparison, in the same way that many residents who lived near Nazi concentration camps were unaware or in denial of the atrocities close by, so too were many residents who were located just outside the catastrophic devastation left behind by Andrew's eye-wall.
GOVERNMENT BETRAYAL
So what actually did take place when Andrew survivors tried to get help from those collecting dead bodies in the aftermath? Well, I for one can give a first-hand account.
About the third day into the aftermath, a long line of police cars cautiously drove into my area during the late afternoon. We had not had contact with any other people from outside the devastation up until this point. There were approximately 12 to 15 police cars comprising this caravan, each marked from different locations throughout the state. Each car was driven by a man dressed in a dark police uniform and had three other plain-clothed men riding as passengers, making a total of four men in each vehicle.
Someone from our group spotted the caravan and ran to get me, knowing that I had been badly injured and urgently needed emergency medical help. My twenty-five-year-old son and one other adult male survivor helped escort me to the caravan. We hurried towards the lead car. It stopped moving when we approached the driver's side. The officer sitting behind the wheel rolled down the window. For a few moments he rudely ignored us, at one point giving us an impatient look of disgust.
This is the exact conversation and course of events that took place.
"Please, sir, I need medical help," I begged, barely able to speak.
The officer sitting behind the wheel sighed heavily. He turned his head away from me and gazed out his windshield. The other three men in the car quietly looked at me.
"Sir, please, I need to get to a hospital...," I begged frantically.
The officer took his time about reaching over to turn off the engine. With another sigh, he slowly opened the door and climbed out. He then proceeded to close the door and stood there with his legs spread astride.
"Lady, do me a favour," he answered. "Find yourself a piece of paper and a pencil. Write down your name and social security number next to the telephone number of your nearest living relative. Tuck the piece of paper in your pocket so tomorrow, when I find your body, I'll know who to contact."
"No! No!" I cried out. "You don't understand. I need to get to a hospital. I've been badly injured."
"No! You're the one who doesn't understand," he hissed back.
With that, he reached over to his holster and took out his gun. He grabbed me, forcing me up against the side of the car, and proceeded to put the barrel of the gun against my temple. I heard the hammer cock.
From the position he had pushed me into, I could see directly into the car. The man sitting in the front passenger seat looked away from me immediately, glancing down at the floor. The two passengers in the back seat turned their heads quickly, staring out the window on the opposite side of the car.
My son and the other survivor watched as the officer had pulled back the hammer on the gun. So shocked out of their minds by what they were witnessing, neither one could move!
"You don't belong here!" the officer growled, pressing the barrel into the side of my head. "Now you get the hell outta here before I blow away your ass!"
He shoved my face into the car window and then released me. Someone grabbed me from behind and whirled me around so fast, I didn't have time to think! Before I knew it, I was being thrown over a shoulder. My rescuer took off running as fast as he could! I caught a brief glimpse of my son running next to me. With one gigantic leap, he and the survivor who carried me, dove behind a pile of debris. All three of us crashed on top of each other in one tangled-up heap.
"I'll shoot your damn asses!" the officer's voice rang out.
When hurricane Andrew slammed into South Dade, the State Attorney of Florida was none other than Janet Reno. Her office was located at the Dade County Court House in the City of Miami. The President of the United States was President George H.W. Bush, and the Vice-President was Dan Quayle. Bill Clinton was running for President, and Al Gore for Vice-President. Senator Bob Graham held office, and the late Lawton Chiles was Governor of Florida. His successor turned out to be Jeb Bush, still the Governor of Florida and, ironically enough, the son of former President Bush whose other son, George W. Bush, the then Governor of Texas, has since become the "self-selected" President of the United States...
Curious how the United States Government evacuated Homestead Air Force Base just before hurricane Andrew struck, yet never released the information to the civilians of South Dade.
"This is worse than anything we saw in Saudi," said Master Sgt Lester Richardson (who had spent six months in the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm) one week into the aftermath. "These people need a miracleÉ"
The survivors did need "a miracle", but what we got instead didn't resemble anything near it.
MEDIA UNDERSTATEMENT
While we remained roped off from the outside world by Metro Dade Police and the military, the news media reported grossly understated information from the first day onward.
On August 24, 1992, the morning hurricane Andrew ended, the Miami Herald broke with:
Andrew Hits Hardest in South Dade. Five thousand people were left homeless by the storm, Metro Dade Police Director announced. They'll be moved into shelters in North Dade.
Over subsequent days, the Miami Herald read as follows:
August 25, 1992:
Destruction at Dawn. Among worst hit in the Country Walk area of South Dade, few homes escaped at least minor damage and many were utterly destroyed. 10 killed in Dade.
August 27, 1992:
The Toll Rises. 22 dead as the search continues. 63,000 homes destroyed. 175,000 homeless. 1 million without power.
August 28, 1992:
WE NEED HELP. Relief effort collapsing due to United States inaction, Metro charges. Aid us now or more will die, Feds told. As Dade County's hurricane relief effort neared collapse Thursday, more than 1,500 airborne US soldiers were ordered into the county to cope with what is now being called the worst natural disaster in United States history. The move came after a day of bitter sniping among agencies that share responsibility for the relief effort.
United States aid official Wallace Stickler stated: "Andrew has caused more destruction and affected more people than any disaster America has ever had."
Dade County's Emergency Director pleaded for federal help, one angry voice among many that spoke in dire terms of needs unmet. Frustrated to the point of tears, Kate Hale said that the relief project was on the brink of collapse, a victim of incompetence and political games:
"Where the hell is the cavalry on this one? We need food! We need water! We need people! If we do not get more food into the south end [South Dade] in a very short period of time, we are going to have more casualties!
"We have a catastrophic disaster. We are hours away from more casualties. We are essentially the walking wounded. We have appealed through the State to the Federal Government. We've had a lot of people down here for press conferences. But Dade County is on its own. Dade County is being caught in the middle of something and we are being victimized.
"Quit playing like a bunch of kids and get us aid! Sort out your political games afterward!"
On the same day Hale made the desperate plea, Miami Herald staff writers Martin Merzer and Tom Fiedler wrote:
The question echoed through the debris Thursday: If we can do it for Bangladesh, for the Philippines, for the Kurds of northern Iraq, why in God's name can't we deliver basic necessities of life to the ravaged population of our own Gold Coast?"
The short answer: because no single person or agency is in charge.
The result: a planeload of food and equipment is still a rarity. Instead of delivering goods, helicopter pilots shuttle government officials who just sit idle. Metro police turn away individuals trying to bring in food or water to a barren South Dade.
On August 29, 1992, six days into the aftermath, the Miami Herald reported:
Problems Plague Red Cross. The man on the phone wanted to donate 100 electric generators, extension cords and enough tools to build a small subdivision. But the operator who took his call at the Red Cross Command Center in Miami had no idea what to do with the offer.
"We get a call, we take a message, we give it to somebody who signs it to somebody else," said the operator, Melitta de Liefd. "We have no idea what happens to it. The whole place is being run by senior citizens and college kids."
Welcome to Red Cross headquarters--where the brains of Dade County rescue effort have been knocked almost unconscious most of the week.
Callers offering services and supplies are put on hold. Others can't get through at all. The hurt and suffering plead for help over ham radio.
On August 29, 1992, one week after hurricane Andrew struck, the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel reported 250,000 people homeless in South Dade.
A NUCLEAR INCIDENT
Of course, the rather "insignificant" incident resulting from Andrew's winds bombarding the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant was not aired by the news media either nationally or abroad.
Tom Dubocq reported in the Miami Herald of September 5, 1992:
Demolition crews toppled a 400-foot smokestack at Turkey Point [Nuclear] Power Plant [owned by Florida Power and Light Company], Friday [September 4]. The stack, which had a gaping 200-foot crack, was dropped without a hitch, a Florida Power and Light [FPL] spokesman said. The other smokestack at the plant will be salvaged. Turkey Point will be shut down for several months while repairs are made. The cost will exceed $90 million, according to an initial damage reportÉ
When Turkey Point was built in the 1960s, its main structures were designed to withstand 235 mph winds. Hurricane Andrew was clocked at 164 mph at the plant. FPL officials don't know why the smokestack didn't hold up...
One hundred million dollars worth of damage resulted from the nuclear power plant's smokestack having been cracked wide open. The plant is situated approximately 15 miles northeast of where I lived. How well I recall the leaflets circulated several months before Andrew struck, advising all residents within a "thirty-five mile radius" of Turkey Point nuclear plant to be aware of the potential hazards involved if an event such as a natural disaster or unexpected catastrophe happened. Such a grim reminder of the Chernobyl tragedy.
Could it be more than coincidence that within 24 hours of hurricane Andrew ending, all 12 survivors in my little group, including our animals, broke out in big, raw, oozing sores which itched and burned at the same time? We suffered horrible headaches which made us so nauseous we had the dry heaves, and our stomachs cramped badly from sudden onsets of diarrhoea. These symptoms lasted well over three months. Within a relatively short period of time, each one of our surviving animals died from cancer.
HURRICANE BUREAU'S FAILURE TO WARN
Speaking of coincidence, I often wonder what kind of a coincidence it is that the National Hurricane Bureau is responsible for reporting to the US Department of Commerce--especially considering that during 1992 South Florida did $31 billion worth of trade in tourism.
Hurricane Andrew had barely left Florida, heading for Louisiana, when the Division of Tourism placed a $47,000 advertisement in USA Today, reading "Florida, we're still open".
"Most people have very short memories. We're all sort of banking on that," said Donal Dermody, Director of the Nova University Center for Hospitality Management.
Kind of puts a big damper on belief in the human race: hide the truth, ignore the suffering, do it for a dollar!
What upsets me most is the incident that happened during the late afternoon hours just prior to Andrew striking. I had just walked out to the garbage dumpsters, located by the parking lot, to throw away some garbage. I turned to head back to the apartment when the horn of an oncoming car began blasting away. I looked up to see a familiar resident, whom I had spoken to on many different occasions, heading directly towards me. This particular individual worked at Metrozoo. Being affiliated with wild animals, he frequently stopped by to ask me questions about the behaviour of certain species. He sped right up to me and then slammed on the brakes.
"Come here!" he whispered excitedly.
I leaned down close to him. "What's the matter?"
"Listen!" he paused to look around nervously. "You've got to get the hell outta here now!"
"Why?" I asked, puzzled by his behaviour.
"I haven't got time to explain," he whispered. "But I just came from the National Hurricane Bureau in the Gables. Gotta friend of mine who works over there; bigwig--know what I mean?"
"Yeah..." I nodded.
"Well, this isn't for public information, if you get my drift," he went on rapidly. "But the National Hurricane Bureau has known all along that hurricane Andrew is going to slam into South Dade! They're telling the public it's going to come in at Palm Beach because they want Miami Beach evacuated, and there aren't enough shelters for South Dade residents to evacuate to. They don't wanna cause panic. So they're keeping quiet. We're all a bunch of god-damn sitting ducks! You got to get the hell outta here! This is a killer hurricane! Nobody's ever seen anything like this before!"
"Holy shit!" I exclaimed, shocked out of my mind. "You mean Andrew's coming over South Dade?"
"Damn straight! That's exactly what I mean! They figure the eye of the storm is coming right in over us! Those fellas at the National Hurricane Bureau have known it all along! I'm gettin' the hell outta here now! Shit, man, this thing is a killer hurricane! Listen, I gotta run! Get your son and get the hell out now! You ain't gonna have a shot in hell once it hits!"
I ran into the apartment and called my son at work, begging him to come home so we could get out. I had no reason to disbelieve anything I had just heard. I knew my neighbour well enough to know he wouldn't fabricate anything like this. So I related the entire conversation to my son, Eric. He was stunned! Eric said he would leave work within a few minutes, but as the minutes ticked on they dragged into hours.
Another immediate course of action I took after hearing the terrifying warning from my neighbour was to phone the local CBS television station located in Miami. I called three separate times. Each time, my call went directly into the local news broadcast room of meteorologist Bryan Norcross. Although I never spoke to Norcross directly, I did manage to speak to three separate individuals working in the broadcast room.
I specifically stated: "I live in South Dade, adjacent to Metrozoo and within walking distance of Country Walk, in a pre-fab apartment that is constructed to withstand up to 90 mph winds. Should I evacuate?"
All three individuals advised and reassured me that I was situated in a safe area. There definitely wasn't need for me to take any evacuation measures.
Meanwhile, one work catastrophe after another seemed to crash down on my son, until finally it was just too late for us to evacuate. By the time he got home it was almost midnight. Within minutes of his arrival, Andrew slammed into us with full force.
ONGOING TRAGEDIES FROM THE COVER-UPS
It's not easy dealing with the anguish I feel because of all the perpetrated lies. So much suffering resulted. It took three-and-a-half weeks before my son and I managed to escape the devastation on our own. Homeless and penniless, with no insurance to cover our losses, we slowly made our way north towards Broward County, our only possessions being the clothes on our backs and a demolished van. The long, agonising journey turned out to be another nightmare from hell.
Over 4,000 people were officially listed as "Missing" in Andrew when we parted South Dade. I had lost 23 pounds during those wretched weeks of being trapped in the devastation and still had not received any medical attention. Little did I realise it would take another three weeks before a doctor would even agree to see me without any money or identification. By then, six weeks had passed since I had been injured. Most of my teeth had turned a putrid grey colour because the nerves had died as a result of fierce blows to my head, complicated by my broken jaw. The final heartbreak came when doctors discovered the optic nerve in both my eyes had begun to die off--which meant, because of the head injuries, I was going blind.
This may sound strange but, regardless, it is the truth. Today, in the year 2001, there still remain three ongoing tragedies created by hurricane Andrew cover-ups--tragedies which remain unbearable for the survivors to live with.
The first tragedy is the horrifying fact that the bodies of our loved ones were intentionally confiscated from us by our own government and then so inhumanely disposed of. Without graves, or some kind of memorial erected in their memory, we have no hope of reaching closure.
The second tragedy is the impact the cover-ups had in downplaying, dismissing and ignoring our horrendous suffering.
And the third tragedy is the great number of Andrew survivors who were inevitably forced to join the ranks of approximately 10 million other homeless Americans struggling to stay alive on the streets. With 10 million Americans homeless, and another 32 million Americans going to sleep hungry each night, the United States Government can't truthfully claim to be a government for all the people.
Maybe it's just me, but I honestly thought the world learned a lesson from the Nuremberg trials in Germany: "Evil can only be defined as absence of empathy..."
SIMILARITIES IN TURKEY
On June 20, 2000, I flew to Istanbul, Turkey, where I lectured at a major international conference. While visiting there, I was asked if there was anything I specifically wished to do or see. My simple answer came very naturally.
"Yes, I would like to visit the areas that were devastated by the earthquakes last August and November and spend time with the survivors."
The following day my simple wish was granted. I was graciously escorted by a medical doctor who had unselfishly devoted many hours of practice in the devastated regions. When he informed me that 20,000+ died in August 1999 during the Izmit earthquake and that another 20,000+ died in November during the Bolu earthquake, I was stunned. This was not what the news media had reported.
"Are you saying that between the two earthquakes last year, over 40,000 people died?" I asked.
His eyes filled with tears. "Yes," he nodded sadly. "Over 40,000 people perished, between the two disasters."
The horrendous destruction I saw matched every word he stated. I walked over areas where the earth had opened up, swallowing entire buildings before closing back up again, like a giant white shark gulping down its prey. I understood when weeping survivors squeezed my hand tightly, too overcome by grief to explain how they never found the bodies of their loved ones. Long pauses of silence took over when tears replaced words.
The poverty I witnessed was too startling to escape my poorly sighted eyes. Pathetic cardboard-type huts, covered by plastic sheets, greeted me everywhere I went. Then there were the bleak rows of government-funded temporary housing which lacked simple basic needs like indoor private showers.
I often wonder, now that I've returned back home, how those Turkish survivors weathered the 115° temperatures of July, since their temporary housing lacked proper insulation and air-conditioning. As the month of August began to unfold, torrential rains bombarded the country, bringing a new kind of disaster: flash flooding. How many lives were lost to this disaster?
The most pathetic survivors of all are children. Like many of the children who survived hurricane Andrew, many Turkish children whom I saw who could no longer smile or play. Shell-shock has very pronounced effects on the young; often, they stop communicating altogether.
One little girl in particular caught my attention. Her arm had been badly injured, twisted into a permanent position of deformity. She stood very still, holding her hair in her good hand, never moving or showing any signs of emotion.
"She needs medical attention," I said to the doctor.
"Yes," he agreed, "a lot of the young survivors desperately need medical attention."
His answer puzzled me. "But I thought financial aid was donated from foreign countries."
"Yes," he nodded, "but most of the money ended up in the pockets of government officials. It never reached the survivors."
How well I knew what that meant. How well indeed.
After pausing, he added, "When the earthquakes struck, one foreign country offered to construct a hospital at the devastated site. But because of political differences, our government refused the offer."
I left the Turkish people, wondering: what kind of future is man creating for himself? Only one thought came to mind: "Evil can only be defined as absence of empathy..."
Editor's Note:
This article is based on excerpts reprinted in The Unopened Files, issues 17 & 18, 2000, originally published in k.t. Frankovich's book, Where Heavens Meet (Language of Souls Publications, Inc., USA). To obtain a copy, order via amazon.com or send payment to: k.t. Frankovich, PO Box 703, Umatilla FL 32784, USA (US$24.95 + $3.20 s&h in US; £14.99 + £3.50 p&h to UK; elsewhere, US$24.95 + US$8.00 p&h). For further information, visit www.kt.cjb.net or e-mail Kfrnkovich@aol.com or Ukpoet@aol.com.
About the Author:
k.t. Frankovich has had a distinguished career as a writer in film and television, winning the 1975 Gold Venus award for documentary film writing. She has devoted her personal life to rescuing abandoned, lost and abused animals. k.t. is a poet and an author of short stories and several books. She is a frequent guest on radio talk shows across the US, and is passionate about exposing the tragedies surrounding the hurricane Andrew disaster.
What is the Blood Moon Prophecy?
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As the mainstream American press goes after NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, Germany's Spiegel note that the leakers' revelations appear to becoming an afterthought.
As the mainstream American press goes after NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, Germany's Spiegel note that the leakers' revelations appear to becoming an afterthought.
Obama Launches Massive Domestic Propaganda Push With Government-Run News
For decades, a so-called anti-propaganda law prevented the U.S. government’s mammoth broadcasting arm from delivering programming to American audiences. But on July 2, that came silently to an end with the implementation of a new reform passed in January. The result: an unleashing of thousands of hours per week of government-funded radio and TV programs for domestic U.S. consumption in a reform initially criticized as a green light for U.S. domestic propaganda efforts. So what just happened?
For decades, a so-called anti-propaganda law prevented the U.S. government’s mammoth broadcasting arm from delivering programming to American audiences. But on July 2, that came silently to an end with the implementation of a new reform passed in January. The result: an unleashing of thousands of hours per week of government-funded radio and TV programs for domestic U.S. consumption in a reform initially criticized as a green light for U.S. domestic propaganda efforts. So what just happened?
Monday, July 15, 2013
The Obama Doctrine of Control Through Dissension
The president has more than proven that he is not a uniter. He is a committed divider. Jesus said, "If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand." Hence, try as we might, it's getting harder to ignore what appears to be a burning desire on Obama's part to destroy the great and glorious house called America.
With an eye toward stepping in and reorganizing everything from our social and economic structure to the U.S. Constitution, it appears that Obama's plan to gain control involves stirring up discord and agitating every area of society to the point of near-collapse.
Barack Obama has managed to undermine the nation's unanimity through the deliberate fostering of racial, political, religious, and class-based conflict. In other words, the President of the United States is actively endeavoring to community-organize America to death.
Full article: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/07/the_obama_doctrine_of_control_through_dissension.html#ixzz2Z8yLgttl
With an eye toward stepping in and reorganizing everything from our social and economic structure to the U.S. Constitution, it appears that Obama's plan to gain control involves stirring up discord and agitating every area of society to the point of near-collapse.
Barack Obama has managed to undermine the nation's unanimity through the deliberate fostering of racial, political, religious, and class-based conflict. In other words, the President of the United States is actively endeavoring to community-organize America to death.
Full article: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/07/the_obama_doctrine_of_control_through_dissension.html#ixzz2Z8yLgttl
BONO knows what to say to woo Christians...
Luke 4:41 ...demons came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God!"
James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. That's fine! Even the demons believe that and tremble with fear.
BONO: DAVID SANG THE BLUES AND JESUS DID SOME PUNK ROCK [Excerpts]
U2 frontman Bono exchanged Bible references and bantered about music, theology and evangelicals' role in AIDS activism in a recent radio interview with Focus on the Family President Jim Daly.
Growing up in Ireland with a Protestant mother and a Catholic father, Bono imitated C.S. Lewis in "Mere Christianity," where Lewis argued that Jesus was a lunatic, liar or Lord.
"When people say 'Good teacher,' 'Prophet,' 'Really nice guy,' ... this is not how Jesus thought of himself," Bono said. "So, you're left with a challenge in that, which is either Jesus was who he said he was or a complete and utter nut case."
"And I believe that Jesus was, you know, the Son of God," Bono said, according to a transcript provided to Religion News Service. "I understand that for some people and we need to ... if I could be so bold, need to be really, really respectful to people who find that ridiculous."
Bono recalled the section in Luke 9 when Jesus told a man not to wait and bury his father but to follow Jesus immediately. Daly responded to Bono's summary, "Seems cold-hearted."
Bono replied, "No, seems punk rock to me. He could see right into that fellow's heart. He knew he wasn't coming and he was just, it was pretense. We've gotta be a bit more cutting edge, not look to the signs of righteousness. Look to the actions."
Daly said he expects potential blowback from Focus listeners who might see Bono as unorthodox. [There is a world of difference between "unorthodox" and outright immoral, see commentary at end of this article...]
"Does he use a bad word here and there? Yeah, probably. Does he have a Guinness every now and then? Yeah, probably," Daly said. "When you look at it before the throne of God, I think (God will) say, 'You saved so many children.'"
Daly said his predecessor James Dobson might not have done an interview with Bono, but Dobson did get blowback for having Dr. Laura Schlessinger on his program because she is Jewish.
"Bono clearly accepts Jesus as Lord. I wasn't prepared for his quickness in inserting Scripture into the dialogue," Daly said of the artist who has been married to his wife, Ali Hewson, for decades. "I celebrate with them that they have four children and have been married 30 years. Not everyone in the Christian community can say that."
http://www.religionnews.com/2013/06/21/bono-avid-fan-of-scripture-says-david-sang-the-blues-and-jesus-did-some-punk-rock/
Commentary below from http://www.thebereancall.org/
[TBC: Bono may seem to have the right words to say, but it seems Jim Daly hasn't asked the right questions. "Bono's anti-poverty foundation ONE is under pressure to explain its finances after it was revealed that only a small percentage of money it raises reaches the needy. The non-profit organisation set up by the U2 frontman received almost £9.6million in donations in 2008 but handed out only £118,000 to good causes (1.2 per cent). The figures published by the New York Post also show that £5.1million went towards paying salaries" (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314543/Bonos-ONE-foundation-giving-tiny-percentage-funds-charity.html#ixzz2XExWAEyC).
Or, consider the following excerpts from "The Rock Group U2," by David Cloud, http://www.wayoflife.org: "In an interview with Joseph Schimmel, Chris Row of Shalom Fellowship, Bono's former pastor in Ireland, said that Bono, Evans, and Mullen chose rock & roll over the Bible. He said that when Bono flew him to Los Angeles to perform his marriage, he wasn't allowed to go backstage at a U2 concert because they didn't want him to see the things that went on there (Schimmel, The Submerging Church, 2012, DVD).
"Of sexual activity, Bono says: "You know, if you tell people that the best place to have [expletive deleted] is in the safe hands of a loving relationship, you may be telling a lie! There may be other places' (Flanagan, U2 at the End of the World, p. 83).
"Bill Flanagan, a U2 friend who has traveled extensively with the group, in his authorized biography describes them as heavy drinkers and constant visitors to bars, brothels, and nightclubs. He says, 'If I wanted to I could fill up hundreds of pages with this sort of three-sheets-to-the-wind [drunken], navel-gazing dialogue between U2 and me' (Flanagan, U2 at the End of the World, p. 145). Bono admits that he lives 'a fairly decadent kind of selfish-art-oriented lifestyle' (Flanagan, p. 79).
"In 2006 Bono said: 'I recently read in one of St. Paul's letters where it describes all of the fruits of the spirit, and I had none of them' ("Enough Rope with Andrew Denton," March 13, 2006).
"In October 2008, Fox News reported that Bono and rocker friend Simon Carmody partied with teenage girls on a yacht in St. Tropez. The report, which was accompanied by a photo of Bono holding two bikini-clad teenagers on his lap at a bar, said, 'Bono, Carmody and the girls partied into the night on the yacht' ("Facebook Pictures Show Married U2 Singer Bono's Rendezvous with Sexy Teens," Fox News, Oct. 27, 2008).]
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