Tropical Storm Karen

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Hurricane Watches are flying along the U.S. Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Karen heads north-northwest into the Gulf of Mexico. Karen, the eleventh named storm of the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, formed about 8 am EDT Thursday in the Southeast Gulf of Mexico. It’s not often that one sees a new storm start out with 60 mph sustained winds, but that’s what an Air Force hurricane hunter plane found this morning near 7:30 am EDT, when they sampled the northern portion of the storm. A ship located about 50 miles northeast of the northeast tip of the Yucatan Peninsula measured sustained winds of 51 mph near the same time. Satellite loops show that Karen is a medium-sized storm with an area of very intense thunderstorms along its northern and eastern flanks. Wind shear has risen since Wednesday, and is now a moderately high 20 knots, thanks to strong upper-level winds out of the west-southwest. These strong winds are keeping any heavy thunderstorms from developing on the west side of Karen’s center of circulation, by driving dry air that is over the Yucatan Peninsula and Western Gulf of Mexico into Karen’s core. As a result, Karen has a lopsided comma-shape on satellite imagery. Karen has a strong upper-level outflow channel to its north that is helping ventilate the storm, though, and ocean temperatures are a very warm 29°C (84°F). Between 7 am and 9:30 am EDT the Hurricane Hunters made three passes though the center of Karen, and the central pressure stayed roughly constant at 1004 mb, so Karen is not undergoing much change.
Figure 1. Odds of receiving more than 4″ of rain over a five-day period beginning at 2 am EDT Thursday October 3, 2013, as predicted by the experimental GFDL ensemble model.

Forecast for Karen
Wind shear will steadily increase as the storm heads north-northwest, and shear will reach a high 25 knots by Saturday morning as Karen closes in on the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to the latest SHIPS model forecast. The atmosphere will grow drier as Karen moves into the Northern Gulf of Mexico, and the drier air combined with increasing wind shear will retard development, making only slow intensification likely through Friday. A trough of low pressure and an associated cold front will be moving through Louisiana on Saturday, and the associated upper-level westerly winds will be able to turn Karen more to the northeast as it approaches the coast on Friday evening and Saturday morning. The higher shear at that time should be able to induce weakening, and the 8 am EDT Thursday wind probability forecast from NHC gave a 28% chance Karen will be a hurricane at 2 am EDT Saturday, down from 44% on Friday afternoon. Most of the models predict landfall will occur along the western Florida Panhandle Saturday afternoon or evening. The usually reliable European model has Karen making landfall over Eastern Louisiana, though. If Karen does follow this more westerly path, the storm will be weaker, since there is more dry air and higher wind shear to the west. Since almost all of Karen’s heavy thunderstorms will be displaced to the east by high wind shear, there will be relatively low rainfall totals of 1 – 3″ to the immediate west of where the center makes landfall. Much higher rainfall totals of 4 – 8″ can be expected to the east. To judge the possibilities of receiving tropical storm-force winds at your location, I recommend using the NHC wind probability forecast. The highest odds of tropical storm-force winds (45 – 55%) are along the coast from Buras, Louisiana, to Pensacola, Florida.
Read more at http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html#UbifOgDIGFGEKfq7.99

Government Financial COllapse Looming

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Continued shutdown, paralyzed politicians reveal just how close the U.S. government is to total collapse

 

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) Anyone looking for evidence of the impending total failure of the U.S. government need look no further than the shenanigans taking place right now in Washington D.C.

To summarize:

• As the nation hurtles toward an inevitable debt collapse, the Obama administration insists the answer is to pile on more debt by raising the debt ceiling. Anyone who disagrees with this is being characterized an “anarchist.”

• Unless the debt ceiling is raised, the U.S. Treasury will default on hundreds of billions of dollars in debt obligations in less than a month. Such a default would absolutely wreck the credit worthiness of the USA, causing the future debt burden to start wildly multiplying in a runaway mathematical blowout that can only end in financial collapse.

• Obamacare, a broken system of coerced, unconstitutional health insurance mandates, is already causing widespread economic disaster across the country as tens of millions of people are losing their jobs, having their hours cut, or seeing their company-sponsored health plans cancelled. But the socialist philosophy of Obamacare is so central to the political left that they are viciously defending it at all costs. If Obamacare fails, the socialist fantasies of the left go down the drain with it, and they can’t let that happen… not even if it means medically bankrupting millions of Americans thanks to the outrageously high costs of health insurance everyone is now forced to buy.

• As political leverage in all this, the federal government is supposedly “shut down,” but the IRS is still collecting money, the TSA is still groping travelers at the airport, and billions of dollars in government waste is still accruing each week. To make the shut down appear worse, the Obama administration erected tall barriers around World War II veterans’ memorials, desperately attempting to dramatize the shut down while blaming the Republicans. (This also shows the utter disrespect for American veterans who fought for the very freedoms Obama seems to enjoy destroying at every opportunity.)

• The mainstream media, ever the pathetic defenders of failed “hope and change” rhetoric, is still running interference for the Obama administration, pretending that all this is the fault of Republicans and that somehow Democrats had no part in any of it. The very idea that Republicans might want to negotiate a mutual agreement rather than bowing down to the destructive wrath of Obamacare is heavily and repeatedly criticized by the media. How dare you want to negotiate! Peasants don’t negotiate with kings! They bow down and kiss feet!

You are watching the slow-motion collapse of the U.S. government

What you are witnessing here is the utter failure of the U.S. federal government — a failure that may portend an even more sobering failure soon to come.

This is a government that has:

• Run out of money
• Run out of credibility
• Run out of ideas
• Run out of trust from the People
• Run out of excuses for its utter abandonment of law, justice and the will of the People

Maybe it’s time that We the People ran them all out of Washington, eh? It’s certainly clear to the American people at this point that virtually no one in Washington represents their interests anymore… the exceptions being a very small number of stoic defenders of fundamental freedom like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. For their efforts to stand firm against the government steamrolling the entire economy into oblivion, they are being called “anarchists” by Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, an all-out wretched apologist for endless, cancerous growth of the institution of government.

What happens if 25 million federal paychecks suddenly stop?

As I’m watching all this, I can’t help but wonder just how much more the American people are going to take before they fill the streets in protest. Or, even worse, what happens if the so-called “desperate measures” now being invoked by the Treasury can’t hold out long enough and the entire system goes into financial default?

What happens in just one week across America if all the people dependent on government don’t receive their paychecks? Imagine: 25 million full-time and part-time federal employees suddenly waking up and realizing there is no paycheck; there is no retirement; there is no free health care and there is no “faith and credit of the United States government.”

I could tell you almost exactly what’s going to happen when that day comes, but you probably wouldn’t believe it anyway, so I’ll save that explanation for when the time is right. But I will give you the hint (wink wink) that you’d better brush up on reading www.SurvivalBlog.com and buy everything ever written by James Wesley Rawles, because unless an unprecedented holy miracle occurs that defies the laws of economics, there is no saving the U.S. government from its own financial destruction.

If the U.S. government were a hospital patient, you’d pull the plug out of sheer mercy

The only real question is how long it will take for the People to finally lose sufficient faith in this failed government to actually pull the plug and shut it down permanently. If you think of the U.S. government as a hospital patient, it’s being kept alive with an artificial lung, an IV feeding tube, a cocktail of toxic blood thinners and a bedside defibrillator. The crash cart is on standby and the heart monitor is showing a failing pulse headed towards flatline.

The Fed stands ready with a syringe full of adrenaline (labeled “Quantitative Easing”), but the patient has already been injected fifty-seven times, and no one knows how much more the patient’s heart can handle before exploding.

At some point, it’s all such a horrifying wreck that you just pull the plug and pray for the suffering to end. That’s where I believe America is ultimately headed: a collapse, a rebirth, and hopefully a new era of abundance without the onerous burden and interference of a government gone insane.

Vienna, Austria Earthquake

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Moderate unusual earthquake in the greater Vienna area, Austria

Last update: October 3, 2013 at 9:46 am by By

Update October 3 09:43 UTC : Local media are mentioning multiple houses with thin fissures, fallen plaster etc. The hypocenter depth of this earthquake has been set in between 8 to 12 km. At least 4 weak aftershocks (there were also some foreshocks) have been measured (not all of them have been felt by the population). These aftershocks can go on for several days and will only end when a new balance is achieved.

Update 19:45 Uhr : Minor damage (cracks in plaster and walls) was caused in some houses.

Update 18:31 UTC : The local press is reporting that the Fire Department has not yet received any reports of damage. Based on our experience, we think that it is far too early to be conclusive. We expect more details tomorrow morning but as said before we do not expect major damage.

Screen Shot 2013-10-02 at 20.38.58

Update 17:50 UTC : Both EMSC and Geofon are now reporting a depth of 5 km which is bad news for the direct epicenter are. We expects slight damage in a radius of max. 20 km.

Screen Shot 2013-10-02 at 20.12.51

Update 17:36 UTC : Be prepared for aftershocks. Aftershocks are normally weaker than the first shock, but in rare cases aftershocks can even be stronger. Never run outside your house when the shaking is still going on ! Please follow this internationally accepted advice for future aftershocks : Be Earthquake Prepared

Update 17:33 UTC : We expect slight damage due to this earthquake if the preliminary shallow depth will be confirmed. Brick houses can be very vulnerable for eventual cracks in walls, fallen chimneys, Plaster falling from the ceiling and some occasionally broken windows etc.

When you are one of the people who felt the shaking of this earthquake, please fill in the form behind “I Felt A (not Listed) Earthquake” on top of the list. Thank you.

Update 17:26 UTC : Geofon now reports a Magnitude of 4.3 at a shallow depth and to the South of Vienna

Update 17:24 UTC : Preliminary Magnitude will be about M4 – Epicenter near the Hungarian border

Screen Shot 2013-10-02 at 19.30.21

25 km S of Vienna, Austria / pop: 1,691,468 / local time: 19:17:37.0 2013-10-02
14 km SE of Neu-Guntramsdorf, Austria / pop: 9,071 / local time: 19:17:37.0 2013-10-02

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 4.1

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-10-02 19:17:37

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-10-02 17:17:37

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 5 km

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/10/02/moderate-earthquake-austria-on-october-2-2013/

 

Your Color Vibe for 10/03

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Thursday,  October 3:    Dark Yellow Green

There are deadlines, some you knew about and others that just came up out of the blue.  Today is all about those deadlines.  How real are they to you?  What do they mean to you?  Where do you stand in relation to all of that?  This is a day for decision-making and what you need to keep in the forefront through all of this is WHO you are.  You need to recognize that you are the one whoi s determining where the pieces will fall in your life at this time.  Yes, there are others who have agreed to be part of this along with you, but many of them are waiting on your cue.  Today, therefore, is a day to recognize your power to be responsible for all that you can be, to know what it is that is most important and to move forward on that.

Water Issues Loom for Midwest Farmers

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Farmed Out: Overpumping Threatens to Deplete U.S. High Plains Groundwater

Story at-a-glance

  • In the next 50 years, research suggests 70 percent of the High Plains Aquifer System in the Midwestern US may be depleted
  • Water-intensive cattle and corn crops account for the majority of water usage in the US, and the High Plains Aquifer supplies 30 percent of US irrigated groundwater
  • Once the aquifer is depleted, it would take an average of 500 to 1,300 years to completely refill; farmers would need to reduce their pumping of the aquifer by 80 percent for it to be replenished naturally by rainfall
  • The adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices, including a return to grass-fed cattle, will be necessary to protect water supplies for future generations

By Dr. Mercola

In the US Midwest, corn and cattle are kings, but both require large amounts of water to be sustained. Not only is corn a water-intensive crop, but cattle raised on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are fed mostly corn.

This double blow to water supplies in the region has led to the rapid depletion of one of the most important water sources to Midwestern farmers – the High Plains Aquifer System.

It is this extensive underground aquifer that allowed farmers to grow crops in what was previously known as ‘the Great American Desert.’ It was also in this area where the rush to clear out the area’s natural grasslands and replace them with plowed soil lead to one of the greatest man-made ecological disasters of all time.

Following a decades-long drought in the 1930s, farmers began to use groundwater pumping and sprinkler irrigation to grow corn and wheat in what is now more commonly known as the US ‘dust bowl,’ using the vast aquifer freely.

Now, however, the draw has proved to be too intense and this once seemingly inexhaustible source of groundwater is quickly being depleted.

70% of the Water Could Be Gone in the Next 50 Years

Farmers in the region who hope to pass their farms on to the next generation had better do some quick thinking, because if the water drain continues new research suggests that nearly 70 percent of the aquifer could be depleted in the next 50 years.1

According to the study, by 1960 farmers had already used up 3 percent of the aquifer’s water and by 2010 that rose to 30 percent. By 2060, it’s estimated that another 39 percent of the water will be gone… and this is even taking anticipated irrigation technology improvements into account.

While it’s thought that farmers might be able to pump less water in the coming decades due to newer irrigation technology, corn crops and cattle CAFOs are expected to increase, which will likely negate any of the potential water savings.

The researchers stated:

“Significant declines in the region’s pumping rates will occur over the next 15-20 y given current trends, yet irrigated agricultural production might increase through 2040 because of projected increases in water use efficiencies in corn production.

Water use reductions of 20% today would cut agricultural production to the levels of 15-20 y ago, the time of peak agricultural production would extend to the 2070s, and production beyond 2070 would significantly exceed that projected without reduced pumping.”

It Could Take 1,300 Years to Refill This Aquifer

Tapping this groundwater source for agricultural production is clearly not a sustainable option at today’s usage rates. Cattle and corn crops account for the majority of water usage in the US, and the High Plains Aquifer supplies 30 percent of US irrigated groundwater.

It is, in fact, because of this ‘guaranteed’ water supply that Kansas is able to claim some of the highest market value for agriculture in the US. Yet, once the aquifer is depleted, it will be gone for the foreseeable future, as it’s estimated it would take an average of 500 to 1,300 years to completely refill.

The script hasn’t been set in stone yet, however, as if farmers reduce their pumping of the aquifer by about 80 percent, it would be able to be replenished naturally via rainfall.

But in the Dust Bowl, growing two of the most water-intensive crops that exist, this is unlikely to happen unless major agricultural reform takes place. Cornell University professor of crop and soil sciences Harold Mathijs van Es told Scientific American:2

“We need to think about what’s being grown here and how we’re growing it. This is the Dust Bowl we’re talking about.”

Are We Farming Our Way to Environmental Disaster?

Many farmers in the Plains states rely on irrigation from the High Plains Aquifer to water their crops in times of drought, but what will happen if this water reserve runs out? We could once again be brewing a dust storm of epic proportions, and this is only one of the potential scenarios…

There are many other warning signs that the poor farming practices being used today could backfire in the form of major environmental disasters as well.

Soil is actually depleting 13% faster than it can be replaced, and we’ve lost 75% of the world’s crop varieties in just the last 100 years. Over a billion people in the world have no access to safe drinking water, while 80% of the world’s fresh water supply is used for agriculture. This situation is simply not sustainable for much longer. Yet, as the study’s researchers said, very poignantly and succinctly:

“Society has an opportunity now to make changes with tremendous implications for future sustainability and livability.”

A Return to Grass-Fed Cattle May Dramatically Lessen Water Demands

to read more, go to:    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/09/17/high-plains-aquifer-groundwater.aspx?e_cid=20130917Z1_DNL_art_2&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art2&utm_campaign=20130917Z1

Your Color Vibe for 10/02

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Wednesday,   October 2:    Silky Green

Everything today is on a low key.  If you can keep that in mind, it will assist you in not over-reacting.  Things that are being said are merely part of the whole story.  People are being circumspect.  They are holding back.  There is a sense today that stuff is not quite right.  It would do you well to keep that in mind and not attempt to put the finishing touches on things that are important.  This is also not a good day for starting larger projects.  You will find, if you do, that the original efforts will need to be scrapped and you will have to start all over again.  This is also true in terms of important conversations and decisions.  Let them ride.  There is nothing wrong with taking a little extra time for consideration, for tying up the loose ends.  This is a also good day for some hibernating, so if you can, take the actual time to step away from things and be with yourself.  If you do not have an extra block of time, just go within, do some centering, grounding and, of course, breathe.

Your Color Vibe for 10/01

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Tuesday, October 1:    Light Peach

Yes, things can be just peachy today, so hook into that energy and get some of those loose ends tied up.  You can be surprised by what they are attached to.  As every ending has a beginning, so things follow after things, and right now, that logic has begun to fall apart, you can get some surprising non-sequitur effects that can bring amazingly great benefits, not so much today but as time goes on. This is a day also for serendipity and synchronicity.  It is in a large part dependent upon your attitude.  In the morning, take some time to ground and center, to love yourself, and to open to the best of all you desire.  Then set that as your intention and be open to the surprises that the Universe has for you.  This is a day for joy and laughter, even in things that might on the surface not seem so positive.  You will get it as the day unfolds.

Your Color Vibe for 9/30

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Monday, September  30:    Yellow Straw

Today is a day of endings and beginnings.  It is important that you know the difference.  It is important also that you have some concept of where it is that you are wanting to go as this year enters its last quarter.  This was a year of changes and decisions.  Now it is time to move forward with new intentions and a strongly set direction.  Take time today to go within and to acknowledge all that you have accomplished to this point.  Take time to see the pieces of the pattern and to know that you hold within yourself all the other pieces to make that pattern become what it is you are wishing to create.  This is a large task and one not taken on lightly for there have been many trials, upsets, tears and laughter this year, and now you have the opportunity to bring forth the form of the essence of WHO you are.

Rethinking SELL BY/BEST BY Date

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Is Your Food Expired? Don’t Be So Quick to Toss It

September 30, 2013 |

Story at-a-glance

  • ‘Use by’ and ‘best by’ dates on food are only an indicator of peak freshness, not a measure of food safety
  • In many cases, foods are still safe to eat even after these dates have expired
  • Forty percent of the US food supply is thrown away uneaten every year because of expired food dates, even though the food is often still safe
  • ‘Sell by’ dates aren’t meant for consumer use at all; they’re intended to help retailers ensure proper product turnover
  • The greatest factor impacting whether your perishable food has spoiled isn’t total storage time but rather how much time it spends in the temperature ‘danger zone’ (between 40-120 degrees F)

By Dr. Mercola

Forty percent of the US food supply is thrown away uneaten every year because of expired food dates, but a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Harvard suggests that most of that food is still safe to eat.1

Labels like ‘use by’ and ‘sell by’ on foods aren’t actually an indicator of food safety, as many believe them to be, and, the report found, more than 90 percent of Americans are throwing out food prematurely because of misunderstandings of what food dates actually mean. In short, many foods are still safe to eat even after they’re expired.

There is Only ONE National Regulation on Food Dating

While both the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have the authority to regulate food dating, neither does, with the exception of infant formula (the only food product with a federally regulated date label, as the nutrients in the formula decline over time).

The rest of the food market has no such federal dating regulations, and the end result is a veritable free for all, with some states requiring food dates and establishing selling restrictions based on them and others not.

For instance, 20 states restrict stores from selling products after the use by dates while 30 do not. As the report highlights, are the people in the 20 more restrictive states better off? Most likely not …

Adding to the confusion, even when products are regulated, the rules vary by state and even then definitions are vague and provide little usefulness, if any. According to the report:

  • In Florida, all milk and milk products “shall be legibly labeled with their shelf-life date,” but shelf life date is never defined.
  • In California, milk is required to have a date that the processor decides is the date “to ensure quality, such product is normally removed from the shelf” but sale after that date is not restricted.
  • In Montana, milk must have a “sell by” date within 12 days of pasteurization, while Pennsylvania requires it within 17 days.
  • In New Hampshire, a “sell by date” is required for cream but not milk.
  • New York, Texas, and Wisconsin, among many other states, have no requirements for date labels on milk or dairy.

There is No Way for You to Know How a ‘Use By’ Date is Calculated

It’s not only what happens to products after a ‘use by’ or ‘best by’ date has been applied that’s confusing. Even the creation of the date itself is subject to incredible variance and, ultimately, is up to individual product manufacturers to determine.

Again, while most assume such dates are used as a means for food safety, most manufacturers view them as a tool to protect their product’s reputation. They want you to consume their product at its peak freshness and flavor, which means many set food dates conservatively.

Yet, the food is many times still safe to eat after the date expires, often with minimal, if any, changes in taste or texture. Even the methods used by manufacturers to set food dates vary. The report explained:

“Some use lab tests, others use literature values, and yet others use product turnover rates or consumer taste testing … In consumer testing, some manufacturers will allow for a level of change in quality over time before setting a date limit, whereas others set them more conservatively

… Thus, while open dating appears on the surface to be an objective exercise, consumer preferences and brand protection impact the way most of these dates are determined. In most cases, consumers have no way of knowing how a “sell by” or “use by” date has been defined or calculated, and the method of calculation may vary widely by product type, manufacturer and geography.”

So a package of cheese or a box of crackers may have different ‘use by’ dates simply depending on which brand you choose, or where they’re purchased.

Food Dates Do Little to Protect You

The researchers concluded that food dates generally lead to good food getting thrown away, and may at the same time prompt you to eat a food that’s actually spoiled because of ‘undue faith in date labels.’

to read more, go to:    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/09/30/food-expiration.aspx?e_cid=20130930Z1_DNL_art_2&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art2&utm_campaign=20130930Z1

Your Color Vibe for 9/29

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Sunday, September 29:    Magenta

This is a day of opposites when what looks large is actually much smaller than what might appear to be lesser.  This means that you must use your discretion in things that are happening today.  This is not  time for decision making because there is not enough information for you to make an informed decision.  There are those out there who are aware of this vibration and who can be attempting to pull you into agreeing with something that you do not really understand.  Step away from anyone or anything that is attempting to pressure you.  Their agenda is not necessarily in your best interest.  It is time to be strong, to stand in your own power.  You can do it.  You have incredibly deep reserves of power and a great strength of intuition.  It may be time to let you logical mind step back and allow your intuitive to set the course.