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Vaccine Exemptions

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How to Avoid ‘Mandatory’ Vaccinations Through Exemption | Vaccination is Your Legal Choice

Anthony Gucciardi
NaturalSociety
October 3, 2011

lawdictionary1 210x131 How to Avoid Mandatory Vaccinations Through Exemption | Vaccination is Your Legal ChoiceContrary to what state legislatures may lead you to believe, no one has the legal or moral authority toforce you or your child into receiving a vaccine. While the State has the legal authority to fully establish the use of vaccines, to receive a vaccination treatment requires your voluntary and informed consent. Therefore, despite the tricky wording of school officials and mainstream public health workers, there are a number of ways in which you can exempt yourself from receiving the ‘required’ vaccinations as set by school districts and workplaces.

In 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to pass laws ‘requiring’ citizens to receive certain vaccines. Today, all 50 states have passed vaccine laws that ‘require’ proof of vaccination in order to attend daycare, elementary, junior and high school and college. What is oftentimes kept from you is the fact that all 50 states have medical exemptions from this rule, 48 states have religious exemptions, and 18 states allow for a philosophical or conscientious belief exemption.

To see what your state vaccine law says and how to apply for the appropriate exemption, check out the State Law & Vaccine Requirements page at the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC).

Vaccination and U.S. Law: A Brief Summary

Medical Exemptions: All 50 states allow medical exemption to vaccination. Medical exemptions to vaccination must be written by a medical doctor (M.D.) or doctor of osteopathy (D.O.) and are usually reviewed annually by school or state health officials.

Since 1986, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have eliminated most officially recognized medical reasons for withholding vaccination (contraindications) so that almost no medical condition qualifies for a medical exemption to vaccination.

In most states, school or state public health officials can question or even deny a medical exemption to vaccination written by a doctor if it does not strictly conform to CDC and AAP contraindication guidelines

Religious Exemptions: All but two states (West Virginia and Mississippi) allow religious exemption to vaccination. These exemptions are worded differently in different states and require different forms of written documentation that must be submitted to state governments supporting a sincerely held religious belief opposing vaccination.

Some states require a notarized affidavit or letter from a spiritual advisor attesting to the sincerity of a person’s religious beliefs about vaccination. The religious exemption is under attack and, in some states like New York, parents are being grilled about the sincerity of their religious beliefs by state officials and denied religious exemptions to vaccination so their partially or completely unvaccinated children cannot attend public schools.

Conscientious Belief Exemptions: 18 states allow conscientious, personal or philosophical belief exemption to vaccination. These states come the closest to protecting a citizen’s right to exercise voluntary, informed consent to vaccination in America.

They are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin

Vaccine Exemptions for Military Personnel: All branches of the U.S. Armed Services provide medical and religious exemptions to vaccination, but those exemptions must be first declared before enlistment in the military.

If a military recruit does not clearly state a medical or religious objection to vaccination BEFORE joining the military, he or she gives up the right to object to vaccination during active military service. Failure to obey an order to vaccinate while on active military duty can result in demotion, imprisonment and involuntary discharge from the military, including dishonorable discharge. After enlistment, legal assistance is often required to successfully object to vaccination without being subjected to sanctions.

Vaccine Exemptions for International Travel: Different countries have different laws requiring vaccines to enter or leave the country. Most developed countries, including those in Europe, currently do not require visitors to show proof of vaccination. However, some countries in Africa, Asia and elsewhere may require certain vaccines to enter or exit. Click here to check the CDC website on travel vaccine requirements.

Other Vaccine Exemption Issues: Vaccine choices also can affect adoption, immigration, child custody arrangements during divorce proceedings, eligibility for health insurance and government entitlement programs, and medical care. Children adopted from foreign countries as well as in the U.S. may be required by US law and adoption agencies to receive certain government mandated vaccines.

Immigration laws also contain vaccine requirement provisions. In cases of divorce, one parent may attempt to gain full custody of a minor child by using the vaccine choice issue as leverage. Some families have been dropped from medical insurance plans or barred from eligibility for government funded medical care and food supplement programs if children are not given all government recommended vaccines.

for more, go to:   http://naturalsociety.com/how-to-avoid-mandatory-vaccinations-through-exemption/

So What Is Going on in Iceland?

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Why Iceland Should Be in the News, But Is Not

By Deena Stryker

An Italian radio program’s story about Iceland’s on-going revolution is a stunning example of how little our media tells us about the rest of the world. Americans may remember that at the start of the 2008 financial crisis, Iceland literally went bankrupt.  The reasons were mentioned only in passing, and since then, this little-known member of the European Union fell back into oblivion.

As one European country after another fails or risks failing, imperiling the Euro, with repercussions for the entire world, the last thing the powers that be want is for Iceland to become an example. Here’s why:

Five years of a pure neo-liberal regime had made Iceland, (population 320 thousand, no army), one of the richest countries in the world. In 2003 all the country’s banks were privatized, and in an effort to attract foreign investors, they offered on-line banking whose minimal costs allowed them to offer relatively high rates of return. The accounts, called IceSave, attracted many English and Dutch small investors.  But as investments grew, so did the banks’ foreign debt.  In 2003 Iceland’s debt was equal to 200 times its GNP, but in 2007, it was 900 percent.  The 2008 world financial crisis was the coup de grace. The three main Icelandic banks, Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, went belly up and were nationalized, while the Kroner lost 85% of its value with respect to the Euro.  At the end of the year Iceland declared bankruptcy.

Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution.  But only after much pain.

Geir Haarde, the Prime Minister of a Social Democratic coalition government, negotiated a two million one hundred thousand dollar loan, to which the Nordic countries added another two and a half million. But the foreign financial community pressured Iceland to impose drastic measures.  The FMI and the European Union wanted to take over its debt, claiming this was the only way for the country to pay back Holland and Great Britain, who had promised to reimburse their citizens.

Protests and riots continued, eventually forcing the government to resign. Elections were brought forward to April 2009, resulting in a left-wing coalition which condemned the neoliberal economic system, but immediately gave in to its demands that Iceland pay off a total of three and a half million Euros.  This required each Icelandic citizen to pay 100 Euros a month (or about $130) for fifteen years, at 5.5% interest, to pay off a debt incurred by private parties vis a vis other private parties. It was the straw that broke the reindeer’s back.

What happened next was extraordinary. The belief that citizens had to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly, that an entire nation must be taxed to pay off private debts was shattered, transforming the relationship between citizens and their political institutions and eventually driving Iceland’s leaders to the side of their constituents. The Head of State, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, refused to ratify the law that would have made Iceland’s citizens responsible for its bankers’ debts, and accepted calls for a referendum.

Of course the international community only increased the pressure on Iceland. Great Britain and Holland threatened dire reprisals that would isolate the country.  As Icelanders went to vote, foreign bankers threatened to block any aid from the IMF.  The British government threatened to freeze Icelander savings and checking accounts. As Grimsson said: “We were told that if we refused the international community’s conditions, we would become the Cuba of the North.  But if we had accepted, we would have become the Haiti of the North.” (How many times have I written that when Cubans see the dire state of their neighbor, Haiti, they count themselves lucky.)

In the March 2010 referendum, 93% voted against repayment of the debt.  The IMF immediately froze its loan.  But the revolution (though not televised in the United States), would not be intimidated. With the support of a furious citizenry, the government launched civil and penal investigations into those responsible for the financial crisis.  Interpol put out an international arrest warrant for the ex-president of Kaupthing, Sigurdur Einarsson, as the other bankers implicated in the crash fled the country.

But Icelanders didn’t stop there: they decided to draft a new constitution that would free the country from the exaggerated power of international finance and virtual money.  (The one in use had been written when Iceland gained its independence from Denmark, in 1918, the only difference with the Danish constitution being that the word ‘president’ replaced the word ‘king’.)

To write the new constitution, the people of Iceland elected twenty-five citizens from among 522 adults not belonging to any political party but recommended by at least thirty citizens. This document was not the work of a handful of politicians, but was written on the internet. The constituent’s meetings are streamed on-line, and citizens can send their comments and suggestions, witnessing the document as it takes shape. The constitution that eventually emerges from this participatory democratic process will be submitted to parliament for approval after the next elections.

Some readers will remember that Iceland’s ninth century agrarian collapse was featured in Jared Diamond’s book by the same name. Today, that country is recovering from its financial collapse in ways just the opposite of those generally considered unavoidable, as confirmed yesterday by the new head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde to Fareed Zakaria. The people of Greece have been told that the privatization of their public sector is the only solution.  And those of Italy, Spain and Portugal are facing the same threat.

They should look to Iceland. Refusing to bow to foreign interests, that small country stated loud and clear that the people are sovereign.

That’s why it is not in the news anymore.

 

Stryker is an American writer that has lived in six different countries, is fluent in four languages and a published writer in three. She looks at the big picture from a systems and spiritual point of view.

This article was originally published by the Daily Kos. SACSIS cannot authorise its republication.

from:    http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/728.1

Was Life on Mars Driven Underground?

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Life on Mars Driven Underground?

by Richard A. Kerr on 2 November 2011, 3:12 PM

Today’s cold, dry, and likely lifeless martian surface extends back in martian history past the time when life was taking hold on Earth, according to a new study. But researchers have also found that liquid and likely warm water persisted kilometers below the surface at the same critical time for life. Not exactly Darwin’s “warm little pond” for the beginnings of biology, but it might well have served.

The key to Mars’s water history is clay. The familiar mineral forms only when liquid water has plenty of time to change the chemical structure of rock into that of clay. And the particular sort of clay that forms depends on the type of rock as well as the prevailing temperature and chemical conditions. So planetary scientist Bethany Ehlmann, now at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and her colleagues considered the martian clays identified by their spectral colors as observed by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the European Space Agency’s Mars Express.

In their paper published online today in Nature, Ehlmann and her colleagues report finding two sorts of clay formations going on at different times on early Mars. Clays indicative of warm, even hot, water persisting over millions of years show up where deep martian crust is exposed today, especially where large impacts have blasted into the crust. These clays formed about 3.7 billion years ago and earlier, when the earliest hints of life on Earth first appear in the geologic record. Other clays, as well as salts such as sulfates that suggest formation on or near the surface under intermittently wet conditions, are found in sediments washed into ancient lake basins, especially around 3.7 billion years and later.

The new findings probably deliver the final blow to the possibility that the surface of early Mars was a “warm and wet” incubator for any martian life. They are consistent with a history in which Mars has been almost always rather cold and dry, Ehlmann says. The later weathering of rock into salts seems to have occurred during geologically brief intervals when water flowed on the surface, she says. “The most stable, [habitable] environments may have been underground.”

The new interpretation of the spectroscopic observations tends to confirm what planetary geologists have been suggesting, says planetary geochemist Scott McLennan of Stony Brook University in New York. They have been arguing for intermittent water flows around 3.7 billion years ago because the river channels, deltas, and sedimentary fans typical of that period look as if they formed within millennia, not over millions of years.

The inference that martian clays are pointing to persistent liquid water deep beneath the ancient surface is more tentative, McLennan says. “A clay cycle on Earth is really complex,” he says. The new study, by contrast, “is a very simple view. You can’t get too elaborate when the data is so immature.” The clays that the group sees in crustal rock, for example, may have formed elsewhere and later been deposited in the crust.

Planetary scientist Ralph Milliken of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana agrees. “It’s certainly not the end of the story,” he says. “It puts forth a testable hypothesis.” And it could be seriously tested quite soon. NASA’s Curiosity rover (formerly Mars Science Laboratory) is scheduled to launch toward Mars as early as the 25th of this month, destination Gale crater.

from:  http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/11/life-on-mars-driven-underground.html?ref=hp

Undersea Volcano off Canary Islands

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Canary Islands Eruption

Undersea Volcano Now Just 70 Meters from Surface

Photo Gallery: The Growing Undersea Mountain off El Hierro

Fotos
DPA/ IGN

In the Atlantic Ocean, off the Canary Island of El Hierro, 20-meter high jets of water are being spat into the air as the sea boils amid the stench of sulfur. The undersea volcano, which is set to create new land, is growing ever-nearer to the surface — but is the existing island at risk from the explosive eruptions?

The monster rises out of the water”, screamed the Spanish newspaper La Provincia. Scientists, meanwhile, are being a bit more level-headed about the undersea volcano south of El Hierro in the Canary Islands; they now believe it is in the third phase of its eruption — fountains of water have been shooting out of the Atlantic up to 20 meters in the air over the last few days. On Tuesday, some local residents even saw stones being catapulted out of the sea.

A seething maelstrom, dozens of meters across, is bubbling away in the ocean. Measurements show that the vortices are significantly warmer than the surrounding water.

So far, the volcano has only shown its explosive power beneath the water. But now the outbursts to the south of El Hierro are frothing up the surface, as if the ocean had hiccups. The lava is piling up on an underwater mountain. That the eruption is capable of firing jets of water into the air shows that this mountain is growing — the center of the eruption is approaching the surface. Geologists believe that new land could soon emerge from the sea, and islanders are alreadylooking for a name for the new territory. There are only 70 meters to go until the mountain reaches the surface, experts from Spain’s National Geographic Institute (IGN) have reported.

But how big is the risk to nearby residents? Last weekend, hundreds of people had to leave their homes in the southern part of El Hierro as streets were closed. And locals can quite literally smell the danger — stinking sulfur fumes are drifting across the ocean. The Volcanology Institute of the Canaries, Involcan, has reported a three-fold increase in carbon dioxide levels — a warning signal that further volcanic activity can be expected.

Clear Sign of Impending Eruptions

Seismic disturbances on the seabed have also been spreading. Since July, more than 10,000 minor earthquakes have shaken El Hierro, but since Oct. 22, the tremors have become increasingly stronger with some even surpassing four on the Richter scale. The quakes are showing a pattern typical of flowing magma, the so-called harmonic volcanic tremor — a clear sign of impending eruptions.

And scientists have been warning since September that if and when those eruptions do occur, they could well happen on land. In recent days, the tremors have shifted from the south to the north of El Hierro. Because most of the quakes there had occurred at a depth of ten kilometers or greater, there was probably no immediate risk of an eruption in the area, the local authorities had said. The magma had been confined to the deep.

But it has now started moving upwards — the most recent earthquakes have been shallower.

There could soon be eruptions in or near the El Golfo valley on the northern coast, the IGN has warned. And an outpouring of lava could prove dangerous not only if it happens on land, but also in shallow water, where it could result in large steam explosions, says Ramon Ortiz, scientific adviser to the local government.

Hot Spot Volcanoes

Off the southern coast, meanwhile, pumice stones and a massive sea of ash are drifting across the water. An initial analysis of the material produced by the volcano so far has surprised experts: It provided “clear evidence of the explosive potential” of the volcano, geochemist Domingo Gimeno Torrent of the University of Barcelona told the El Hierro Diaro newspaper.

Most so-called hot spot volcanoes, like those in the Canaries, produce basaltic magma with a relatively small proportion of silicon dioxide (SiO2). SiO2 acts like a glue, producing very viscous magma, leading to a buildup of gases which results in an explosive mixture. The Geochemist Torrent said the El Hierro volcano, however, is feeding off two supplies of lava; a less volatile basalt magma and a much more explosive, SiO2-rich magma.

 

The risk of large, explosive eruptions in the Canary Islands “should not be neglected,” warned geoscientist Rosa Sobradelo from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Barcelona in a report in the “Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences” journal. How often such events happen is unknown. But even the most momentous explosions of the past few centuries remained localized.

And there are no fears of large eruptions on land, according to the IGN. The only risk is in the immediate vicinity of the eruption site, where there may be lava flows and rocks flung into the air.

from:    http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,796612,00.html

Jeff Masters on Rolf, Sean, Alaskaa System, & Oklahoma Tornado…. Oh, My

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Sean, rare Mediterranean hybrid, and AK superstorm forms; quakes and tornadoes in OK
Posted by: JeffMasters, 3:52 PM GMT on November 08, 2011 +16
Subtropical Storm Sean formed this morning between Bermuda and the Bahamas. Sean’s formation brings this year’s tally of named storms to eighteen, tying 2011 with 1969 as the 6th busiest Atlantic hurricane season since record keeping began in 1851. Only 2005, 1933, 1995, 1887, and 2010 have had more named storms. However, 2011 has had an unusually low percentage of its named storms reach hurricane strength. We’ve had an average number of hurricanes–six–meaning that only 33% of this year’s named storms have made it to hurricane strength. Normally, 55 – 60% of all named storms intensify to hurricane strength in the Atlantic. There have been three major hurricanes in 2011, which is one above average, and the total Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE)–a measure of the destructive potential of this season’s storms–has been about 20% above average. The rare combination of near-record ocean temperatures but unusually dry, stable air over the Atlantic is no doubt at least partially responsible for the unusually high count of named storms, but near-average number of hurricanes and ACE.


Figure 1. The subtropical disturbance that became Subtropical Storm Sean, as seen at 1 pm EST November 7, 2011. Image credit: NASA.

Infrared satellite loops reveal that Sean has developed a respectable amount of heavy thunderstorm activity near its center that is increasing in intensity and areal coverage. While the low-level circulation center is exposed to view, a band of thunderstorms is trying to wrap around and close of the center. If this occurs, more substantial strengthening can occur, since the center will be walled off from the dry air that is currently interfering with development. Bermuda radar shows weak rain bands from Sean rippling across the island, with the strongest rain showers well to the island’s southwest. Sustained winds at the Bermuda airport have been under 30 mph this morning. Sustained winds near tropical storm force were occurring this morning at buoy 41048, about 300 miles west of Bermuda. Winds at the buoy were 38 mph, gusting to 47 mph at 6:50 am EST. Strong upper-level winds out of the west are creating about 20 knots of wind shear over Sean, which is low enough to allow some slow development. Sean is a relatively shallow storm, and the tops of its thunderstorms extend up only to about the 300 mb level. Normally, a tropical storm extends up to about 200 mb. The shallow nature of Sean’s thunderstorms mean that the storm is less vulnerable to wind shear than normal, since the storm is not feeling the strongest winds aloft. Ocean temperatures are near 26.5°C (80°F), which is right at the boundary of being warm enough to support tropical storm formation.

Forecast for Sean
Sean will drift slowly west or northwest today and Wednesday. The latest SHIPS model forecast predicts wind shear will remain about where it is now through Thursday morning, which should allow Sean to slowly intensify to a 50 mph storm. If Sean can make the transition to a fully tropical storm, more significant intensification can occur. The computer models show little or no development of Sean, with none of our reliable models predicting it will become a hurricane. Bermuda is the only land area that need concern itself with Sean, as a trough of low pressure is expected to absorb the storm on Thursday and lift it quickly to the north or northeast. The center of Sean could pass close enough to Bermuda to bring the island heavy rain squalls and sustained winds of 40 – 45 mph on Thursday and Friday. NHC is giving a 28% chance that Bermuda will receive tropical storm-force winds of 39 mph. High wind shear should destroy Sean on Friday.


Figure 2. MODIS image of the hybrid low named “Rolf” in the Mediterranean Sea at 10:30 UTC November 8, 2011. Image credit: NASA.

Unusual tropical storm-like low forms off coast of France
An unusual hybrid low pressure system has formed in the Mediterranean Sea, about 100 miles south of the coast of France. The low began as an extratropical storm named “Rolf”, but has stalled out over the relatively warm waters of the Mediterranean over the past two days, and has acquired tropical characteristics. Heavy thunderstorms have built over the northeast portion of the low, and the storm has a symmetric spiral shape with a cloud-free center, like a tropical storm. The Navy is calling this system Invest 99L. The National Hurricane Center is not responsible for the Mediterranean Sea, so they are not issuing any products for 99L. NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service (NESDIS) is giving 99L a tropical classification based on its satellite presentation, with winds in the 40 – 45 mph range. French radarshows heavy rains from 99L are beginning to affect Southeast France and the island of Corsica. The Lion Buoy, located about 100 miles to the west of the center of 99L, recorded sustained winds of tropical storm force, 40 mph, at 00 UTC yesterday. Water temperatures at the buoy were 17°C (63°F), far below the 26°C threshold usually needed to sustain a tropical storm. The coldest waters I’ve seen a tropical storm form in were 22°C during Hurricane Epsilon of 2005. I doubt that NHC would name this system if they did have responsibility for the Mediterranean, due to the cold water temperatures.

“Rolf” is expected to move slowly northwards into the coast of South France by Wednesday night. Meteo France is predicting heavy rains of 30 – 40 mm/hr (1.2 – 1.6″/hr) will affect the coast Tuesday night through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 50 mph, gusting to 75 mph.


Figure 3. Hybrid subtropical storm of October 8, 1996, off the coast of Italy. According to Reale and Atlas (2001), the storm had characteristics similar to a hurricane, but formed over water of 21.5°C. “The maximum damage due to wind occurred over the Aeolian Islands, at 38.5°N, 15°E, to the northeast of Sicily: assistance for disaster relief was required. Unfortunately, no weather station data were available, but the media reported sheds, roofs and harbor devices destroyed, and houses and electric lines damaged, due to “extremely strong westerly wind.” The perfect agreement between the observations at Ustica, the storm scale, the eye-like feature position and the damages over the Aeolian Island reasonably suggest that the hurricane-level intensity of 32 m/s (72 mph) was reached over the Aeolian Islands.” A similar hybrid low affected Algeria on 9 – 10 November 2001. This storm produced upwards of 270 mm (10.6″) of rain, winds of 33 m/s (74 mph), and killed 737 people near Algeirs, mostly from flooding and mud slides. Image credit:Dundee satellite receiving station.

According to research published by Gaertner et al. (2007), an increase in ocean temperatures of 3°C in the Mediterranean by the end of the century could lead to hurricanes forming there. Miguel Angel Gaertner of the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Toledo, Spain, ran 9 different climate models with resolutions of about 50 km and found that some (but not all) of the models simulated hurricanes in the Mediterranean in September by the end of the century, when ocean temperature could reach 30°C.

Though the Mediterranean may start seeing hurricanes by the end of the century, these storms should be rare and relatively short-lived for three reasons:

1) The Mediterranean is quite far north and is subject to strong wind shear from jet stream activity.

2) The waters are shallow, and have relatively low heat content. There is no deep warm water current like the Gulf Stream.

3) The Mediterranean has a lot of large islands and peninsulas poking into it, increasing the chances that a tropical storm would weaken when it encountered land.

References
Meteo France has an interesting animation of the predicted winds and temperatures over the next few days.

Gaertner, M. A., D. Jacob, V. Gil, M. Dominguez, E. Padorno, E. Sanchez, and M. Castro (2007), Tropical cyclones over the Mediterranean Sea in climate change simulations,, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L14711, doi:10.1029/2007GL029977.

Reale, O., and R. Atlas. 2001: Tropical Cyclone-Like Vortices in the Extratropics: Observational Evidence and Synoptic Analysis, Weather and Forecasting, 16, No. 1, pp. 7-34.


Figure 4. Radar reflectivity image from the Tipton, OK tornado of November 7, 2011, showing a classic hook echo.

Shaken and stirred: an earthquake and tornado for Oklahoma
It was a rare multi-natural hazard day for Oklahoma yesterday, as the state experienced both a tornado and an earthquake, six hours apart. The damaging magnitude 5.6 earthquake that shook the state Saturday night spawned amagnitude 4.7 aftershock at 8:46 pm CST yesterday, 44 miles east of Oklahoma City. And at 2:47 pm CST, a tornado touched down in Southwest Oklahoma near Tipton. The tornado destroyed an Oklahoma State University agricultural office, and damaged a hay barn at a dairy farm. No injuries were reported. The UK MailOnline has an interesting article showing the radar image from Saturday’s quake, which captured a massive groups of birds and insects that took flight after the ground shook.

This afternoon, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has placed Southeast Oklahoma, East Texas, Southeast Missouri, and most of Arkansas in its “Slight Risk” area for severe weather, thanks to a strong low pressure system moving across the Plains. During the late afternoon, severe thunderstorms with high winds and large hail and expected over the region, and we cannot rule out an isolated tornado.

Bering Sea superstorm targets Alaska
A massive blizzard the National Weather Service is calling one of the most severe Bering Sea storms on record is gathering strength today to the west of Alaska. The storm is expected to “bomb” to a central pressure of 945 – 950 mb Tuesday night, and to 940 mb on Wednesday. These pressures, characteristic of a Category 3 hurricane, will be strong enough to generate sustained winds of Category 1 hurricane force over the waters to the west of Alaska, with winds of 50 – 70 mph expected along portions of the coast. Nome, Alaska is expecting a storm surge of 8 – 10 feet. Waves of 15 – 25 feet with ice on top will batter the shores, causing severe damage to the coast.

Jeff Masters

Van-Ercis, Turkey Aftershock

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Earthquake Van – Ercis, Turkey – 604 Dead, Large Aftershock 5.6 hits Van

Last update: November 8, 2011 at 10:37 pm by By 

Spending the night outside with some blankets and a campfire mainly because of the fear for aftershocks

Update 08/11 – 21:30 UTC A large aftershock has hit Van Province.
It has been given a magnitude 5.5 from KOERI at 4.3 km depth. (very close to Van)
A body wave magnitude 5.6 has been given from USGS at 9 km depth. (32km from Van).
This aftershock has been 14+ days after the mainshock of Mw7.2 and brings the total aftershocks in the M5-6 range up to 8.
This has a large chance of demolishing or further damaging existing homes. It is also potentially unsafe for those in moderately damaged buildings.
At last count:-
The current number of houses collapsed and damaged are as follows according to TRCS:- Collapsed – 2900 (in the order of 19000-26000 people)
Severely Damaged – 25,750 (Uninhabitable) (in the order of 190000-265000 people)
Moderately Damaged/Slightly Damaged – 40,800.
Undamaged – 33,422.

Update 07/11 – 04:43 UTC With the end of detailed analysis work from the CEDIM Forensic Earthquake Analysis Group in conjunction with us, we will now continue updating this page.
The current death toll is at 604, with 3 bodies having been found.
The injury toll was in the order of 4152.
The number of homeless as calculated through the CEDIM methodology for the current building losses is around 241,000 (up from around 183,000).

Currently 4,448 search and rescue, 1814 medical personnel, 20 search dogs, 668 construction equipment and vehicles including 179 ambulances, 146 generators, 79 projectors, 151 portable toilets, 53,949 tents (including 18,850 from overseas aid), 54 collective shelter tent, 109 general purpose tents, 60 prefabricated houses, 2,310 Mevlana houses, 283,551 blankets (including 93,980 from overseas aid), 1,386 quilts, 37 mobile kitchens, 3,051 kitchen sets, 8,701 catalytic stoves (684 from international aid), 5,792 sleeping bags, and 1 mobile kitchen are present.

The current number of houses collapsed and damaged are as follows according to TRCS:- Collapsed – 2779 (in the order of 18000-25000 people)
Severely Damaged – 21,674 (Uninhabitable) (in the order of 150000-225000 people)
Moderately Damaged/Slightly Damaged – 34,924.
Undamaged – 28,630.

for updates and more, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2011/10/23/very-strong-dangerous-earthquake-in-eastern-turkey/

 

 

 

Tom Kenyon Hathor Message re: 11/11/11

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Transmissions of Light: 

A Hathor Planetary Meditation Reminder from Tom Kenyon

The World Meditation on 11/11/11

The actual “Transmissions of Light” World Meditation (as our group together in Seattle will experience it) will run from 9 pm until 10 pm November 11th PST. Note: This is 5 am – 6am Saturday, November 12, GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

During this specific hour Hathors from the 5th through the 12th Dimensions will be bringing in light through sound. Hathors who reside in the higher dimensions (i.e. 9-12) are the ancient masters of their culture.

In past Hathor events, Hathors from the 5th through the 8th dimensions have participated, but this will be the first event where Hathors from the 9th through the 12th dimension will bring in light and sound.

While the concept of dimensions is a very complex affair, in this instance the central idea is that each dimension upward means that it is subtler in its nature. And the subtler the dimension, the more potential power there is to be accessed. As a result of this multidimensional orchestration on the part of the Hathors, I fully expect a profound and potent experience for all of us.

If you choose to ride the energetic wave during this specific hour-long meditation, the Hathors suggest you listen to the Pituitary Dimensional Attunement seven times and then sit in silence for twenty to thirty minutes with your attention in the area of your pituitary. If possible, they suggest that you then lie down and rest. (Note: a link to the audio file for the Pituitary Attunement and instructions on how to use it, are at the end of this message.)

The transformational energies around this Meditation will extend for a three-day period. The portal will initially open when we begin working with the group in Seattle at 7 pm on November 11th PST and continue until November 13th at 4 pm, PST, when it will close.  Meditation on the Pituitary Dimensional Attunement will be particularly potent during this entire time period. (To find your time corollary go to www.timeandate.com)

The energetic of the Meditation, as well as the three-day gathering in Seattle, will transcend both time and space.  In other words, you can enter into profound states of inner awareness using the Pituitary Dimensional Attunement at anytime while the portal is open during the three-day period, regardless of where you might be physically located.

If you follow the Hathors’ suggestion regarding the meditation, you would set aside about an hour when you won’t be disturbed. You would then listen to the Pituitary Dimensional Attunement seven times back-to-back (from your own computer and/or mp3 player). Then you would sit in silence with your attention in the area of your pituitary gland for twenty to thirty minutes. And finally, you would lie down, if possible, and rest for a while. Many of us will, no doubt, fall asleep during this rest period, and this is a good thing. If it happens for you, my suggestion is to just go with it.

If you feel drawn to do the meditation more than once during the three-day period of the energetic, monitor yourself. If you start feeling more weird than usual, stop the meditation and rest.

I anticipate a profound and deep experience for everyone who joins us in this meditation wherever they may be. And I welcome all of our world sangha to The Table of the Great Mystery.

May we all be nourished and enlivened by the realms of light that will be opened. And may these transmissions of light extend to all beings who wish to receive them.

Note: To listen to this file seven times, you must download it onto your computer and/or mp3 player. Do not continuously listen to it on our website. Too many people trying to listen to it on our site by clicking “play” over and over will literally freeze the audio file, and no one will be able to listen to it. Please download it to your computer. Also, you cannot download directly to a smart phone or an MP3 player. You must first download to a computer.

Click here to read the instructions for the Pituitary Dimensional Attunement, as previously given, as well as to access the free audio file.

On an unrelated topic:
An independent documentary is being made about Tom’s life and work in sound healing. To see a preview of the film:
http://www.woodycreekpictures.com/tomkenyon

© 2011 Tom Kenyon. All rights reserved www.tomkenyon.com
You may make copies of this message and distribute in any media you wish as long as you change nothing, credit the author, and include this copyright notice and web address. 

Time and Pets

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Do Your Pets Notice the Switch From Daylight Saving Time?

By Michelle Bryner, Life’s Little Mysteries contributor
04 November 2011 5:03 PM ET

 

You might think it unlikely that this weekend’s switch from daylight saving time (DST) to standard time could throw your cat or dog’s busy schedule — eat, sleep, eat, sleep — off-kilter. But, as it turns out, some animals are so in tune with their owners’ schedules that falling back an hour can cause our furry friends some confusion.

Just like humans, animals have their own internal clocks that tell them when to eat, sleep and wake up. This biological timekeeper, also known as circadian rhythm, is set in motion by natural sunlight. However, for pets this effect is minimized by the artificial environment they live in, where light comes and goes not only with the rising and setting sun, but most often with the flip of a switch.

Humans set their pets’ routines, said Alison Holdhus-Small, a research assistant at CSIRO Livestock Industries, an Australia-based research and development organization.

“Animals that live with humans develop routines related to human activity — for example, cows become accustomed to being milked at particular times of day, or pet dogs become accustomed to going for walks or being fed at a particular time of day,” Holdhus-Small said. “When humans apply daylight saving time to their own lives, if they carry out their routine according to the clock, the animals can become confused.” [Everything You Need to Know: Why Do We Observe Daylight Saving Time?]

Holdhus-Small gives some examples of how animals might respond to a time change: If a farm owner arrives an hour later (when the clocks are turned back) to milk the cows, the animals will be waiting, bellowing anxiously because their internal routine tells them that they’re late. Conversely, if the farmer arrives an hour earlier (when the clocks are turned ahead) the cows will not be inclined to come in to milk until closer to the “proper” time.

“When humans change the clocks for daylight saving, to suit our preferred working environment, from an animal’s point of view, we are suddenly behaving oddly,” Holdhus-Small told Life’s Little Mysteries. “To the animals, it is inexplicable that suddenly dinner is an hour later or earlier than expected.”

This behavior shift could cause animals psychological and physiological stress, Holdhus-Small said. A cow’s udder, for example, will continue to produce milk regardless of how we set our clocks and pressure will build up until the cow is milked. Household pets might get grumpy when they show up to an empty food dish at their perceived dinner time.

So when you set your clock back an hour this weekend, remember that your pets need a little paw-holding during the time change. Holdhus-Small suggests gradually changing the animal’s activities by a few minutes a day rather than the whole hour at once.

from:    http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/daylight-saving-time-pets-notice-difference-2155/

History: Colors & Meaning

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How Colors Got Their Symbolic Meanings

By Natalie Wolchover, Life’s Little Mysteries Staff Writer
27 September 2011 3:12 AM ET
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Colors are imbued with great symbolic power. Even in the modern English-speaking world, wheresuperstitious beliefs have largely faded in the light of scientific knowledge, many colors have retained their ancient associations. Most people know that brides should wear white, that “seeing red” means being angry, and that one can feel “green with envy.” But learning why these connotations exist requires a look back to the beliefs and practices of the ancients

to check it out, go to:   http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/color-symbolism-meanings-2049/

Rwanda Volcano Eruption

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Rwanda Nyamulagira Volcano eruption in DR Congo

Last update: November 8, 2011 at 12:54 am by By 

Nyamulagira volcano, Democratic Republic of Congo – image courtesy Gorilla.cd – Virunga National Park

A spectacular fire show started last night when Nyamulagira volcano (also known as Nyamuragira) began an eruption that happens about every two years. The eruption could be seen clearly from the Virunga park headquarters – probably the best view you could ask for. It appears that the eruption isnot happening on the volcano itself, but on the side and lower to the ground. We’ll fill you in on details once we have them.

This is NOT the volcano that tourists hike to see the lava lake, but a far more active volcano just to the north. Most of the lava flows north into an area where no one lives, so it shouldn’t bring harm to people or wildlife as the flow is moving slowly.

Eruptions like this one can go on for days, weeks, or even months, so we’ll update you on the status.
(text courtesy gorilla – Virunga National Park)
Volcano information

Africa’s most active volcano, Nyamuragira is a massive high-potassium basaltic shield volcano that rises about 25 km north of Lake Kivu, NW of Nyiragongo volcano. Nyamuragira, also known as Nyamulagira, has avolume of 500 cu km, and extensive lava flows from the volcano blanket 1500 sq km of the western branch of the East African Rift. The broad low-angle shield volcano contrasts dramatically with its steep-sided neighbor Nyiragongo.

to read more, go to:   http://earthquake-report.com/2011/11/08/rwanda-nyamulagira-volcano-eruption-in-dr-congo/