Arizona dust storms becoming more frequent say experts

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

August 1, 2012 – ARIZONA - Once considered to be once-in-100-year events, giant dust storms are pounding the U.S. state of Arizona. In a summer of excessive heat and extreme drought, this is not good news. Since June, five dust storms have plagued Arizona’s famous valley area. On July 29, Phoenix looked more like Saharan Africa than the well-manicured American Southwest. A massive dust cloud, referred to as a haboob—an Arabic word meaning strong wind—blanketed the metropolitan area. The cloud was 2,000 feet tall and nearly 60 miles wide. Although not the largest dust storm to hit the area, tree limbs and power poles were snapped, causing 9,000 homes to lose power. The Sky Harbor Airport was shut down for 20 minutes. These huge dust storms form during the monsoon season that runs from June until the end of September. They are so destructive because of the fine dust particles that manage to permeate everywhere during the storm. According to experts, these storms are becoming more frequent. It is not just the big storms that pose problems. Phoenix experienced three dust storms in a row the last week of July—which is considered very rare. USA Today stated: “This means more deadly accidents, more harmful pollution and more health problems for people breathing in the irritating dust particles.” The potential health threats from the storms are far more serious than just breathing in irritating dust particles. The fine dust can carry a poisonous mix of fungi, heavy metals from pollution, fertilizers, stockyard fecal matter, chemicals and bacteria, which can cause cardiovascular disease, eye diseases and other illnesses, such as valley fever. Valley fever, caused by the Coccidioides fungus present in desert soil, can be fatal. Valley fever is contracted when desert soil is thrown into the air and breathed in. Arizona has 70 percent of the valley fever cases reported nationally. The cases of valley fever in Arizona were up by 36 percent in Arizona between 2010 and 2011. It was in July 2011 that the largest dust storm ever observed hit the Phoenix area. Medical experts believe that the advance of the huge dust storms in 2011 could be one of the causes for the increase in cases of valley fever. Other dangers associated with these dust storms are the traffic accidents that result from the blinding conditions of the blowing dust. Between the period of 2001 through 2005, dust storms caused 44 deaths in 2,323 traffic accidents in New Mexico and 15 deaths in 614 accidents in Arizona. Experts say that because of excessive heat and dry conditions, residents in Arizona’s valley area can expect more dust storms. –Trumpet

China on alert as disease outbreak kills 112 in June

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

July 16, 2012 – BEIJING — The Chinese province of Hunan urged parents on Sunday to seek immediate treatment for children showing symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease after official figures showed 112 people died from the illness last month. The disease, which children are especially vulnerable to, also infected more than 381,000 people, the Ministry of Health reported last week. “The disease incidence rate in June was much higher than that of last June, which has much to do with the high temperatures this summer,” said Liu Fuqiang with the provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The province urged parents and teachers to send children to hospital as soon as they showed symptoms of the disease, including mouth sores, skin rashes or fever. In June, 34,768 cases were reported and 17 people died from the disease in Hunan, the statement said. According to the Ministry of Health, over 460,000 people were infected by the disease in May, leading to 132 deaths. In recent days, health departments in numerous Chinese provinces and regions, including Gansu, Fujian, Jiangsu and Xinjiang have issued warnings over the outbreak of the disease, state press reports said. n international lending organization has slightly lowered its outlook for global growth over the next two years, warning that Europe’s financial crisis and slower expansion in China and India have weakened the world economy. -AFP

GOD HAS BLESSED AMERICA…LET US BLESS GOD ON THIS FOURTH OF JULY

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   U.S. Navy shared Naval History & Heritage Command‘s album.

   June 7

   Remember those who died for our freedom – Honor them!

   7 Jun 1942: Loss of USS Yorktown (CV 5) (8 photos)

   Battle of Midway, June 1942. USS Yorktown (CV-5) sinking, just after dawn on 7 June 1942, as seen from an accompanying destroyer. The ship has capsized to port, exposing the turn of her starboard bilge. This view looks forward, with Yorktown’s forefoot in the right center. The large hole made by one or two submarine torpedoes is in the center of the photo. Yorktown’s starboard forward 5-inch gun gallery is in the left center, with two 5″/38 gun barrels sticking out over its edge. The two larger thin objects sticking up, just aft of the 5-inch guns, are aircraft parking outriggers. When the ship’s wreck was examined in May 1998, both guns were still in position, but the outriggers were gone. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph, NH 106000.

   
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   U.S. Navy shared Naval History & Heritage Command‘s album.

   June 6

   In carrying out the task assigned … you will be governed by the principle of calculated risk, which you shall interpret to mean the avoidance of exposure of our forces without good prospect on inflicting, as a result of such exposure, greater damage on the enemy.
   (Extract from CINCPAC Operational Order to TF 17 Commander)

   6 Jun 1942: Battle of Midway – Part II (13 photos)

   Battle of Midway, June 1942. SBD “Dauntless” dive bombers from USS Hornet (CV-8) approaching the burning Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma to make the third set of attacks on her, during the early afternoon of 6 June 1942. Mikuma had been hit earlier by strikes from Hornet and USS Enterprise (CV-6), leaving her dead in the water and fatally damaged. Photo was enlarged from a 16mm color motion picture film. Note bombs hung beneath these planes. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives, 80-G-17054.

   
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   U.S. Navy

   June 6

   Around the Fleet Battle of Midway remembrance June 6, 2012 (6 photos)

   Sailors attend wreath laying ceremonies from around the Fleet to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the Pacific War and set the stage for the United States to win the Second World War.

   

   

   U.S. Navy updated their cover photo.

   June 6

   Battle of Midway, 6 June 1942, depicting Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma under attack by SBD Dive Bombers. Artwork by Edwin Galea. NHHC Photograph Collection, NH 94734-KN (Color). — with Beverly Schuster Garcia and https://www.facebook.com/browse/participants/?q=AeKGkOGHRnp6mGLNEjTfFv5tqLhruN7sLAD7Fn_M4-TtM8Y__Mvy14ycEvhN2CB1nfVgj8PtKwM14JVDyB6Z8NTq_kmKTTREfNEnrQj8j0Czd6Zj-89Al6snCDzVMfCdVCY5qsa0JgoeY-rGlwf8TUuu3hXiiYmj4yHToNsLG4J62lHLBRmxtmJEZzstNpkTKzPwuRv_ANm5ZL-iT6-7AAl8r981BTSfoNteNXPiePad4UOuosOon9pHxIP2DViMEM0S8eZpRjTq3ZfAsM-gnAqPICSVtX08JXRxN3xwf2_xAAd9j5WgUNiKso6jytobqiKf2EXi_megHFwWS3MPDBRBI38BWaFkTnlyowrzo6r2oB1NFzW5wpCpZbk2WWparehy46PkJmrYvP7h3PJjSCi3AcnhM5uD8IyfC-yY3B7TZ3GBAv8ZSPNm7h71VWdhFDG7R7fNKFDg3Bup-YS4eO1075wH9REg8fLGLG8LDQzCkg” rel=”dialog”>14 others.

   
7. Around the Fleet Battle of Midway remembrance June 5, 2012 (16 photos)

   Sailors and Marines attend wreath laying ceremonies from around the Fleet to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the Pacific War and set the stage for the United States to win the Second World War.

   

   

   U.S. Navy updated their cover photo.

   June 5

   
8. Your Navy will continue to be at the front line of our nation’s efforts in war and peace with a proud heritage of success in battle on, above,
   and below the sea. Share it!

   Be ready to fight and win today, while building the ability to win tomorrow!

   
9. Members of the Selma American Legion were joined recently in posting flags at the graves of all veterans buried at Selma Memorial Gardens by the cadets from Smithfield-Selma’s Navy Junior ROTC.

   Coordinated by Selma American Legion Post 141 Commander Mark Peterson, the cadets helped place nearly 600 American flags at the graves in the cemetery.

   The placing of the flags was part of the Post and ROTC’s observance of Memorial Day.
   This is …See More

   

   Blue Angels

   
10. Sailors and Marines attend wreath laying ceremonies from around the Fleet to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the Pacific War and set the stage for the United States to win the Second World War.

    

    
11. Be ready to fight and win today, while building the ability to win tomorrow!

    
12. Your Navy Operating forward across the globe, providing America offshore options to win today and advance our interests in an era of uncertainty. Enough said!

    Providing forward deployed options to protect freedom. Really really powerful options!

    
13. RED SEA (May 22, 2012) Sailors and Marines assigned to the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and embarked elements of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU) conduct visit, board, search and seizure exercises aboard the Military Sealift Command maritime prepositioning ship USNS SGT William R. Button (T-AK 3012) during Exercise Eager Lion 2012. The exercise is designed to strengthen military-to-military relationships through a joint, multinational approach to meet current and future complex national security challenges, including 19 countries from five different continents and more than 11,000 participants. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Travis J. Kuykendall/Released)
    U.S. Navy

    

    
14. Admiral Richard E. Byrd

    
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Brutal heat wave: 2,000 temperature records have been matched or broken in the past week

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

July 3, 2012 – CHICAGO- More than 2,000 temperature records have been matched or broken in the past week as a brutal heat wave baked much of the United States, and June saw more than 3,200 records topped, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Monday. From June 25 to July 1, some 2,171 record temperatures were either broken or matched, the NOAA said. For the 30 days of June, that number rose to 3,215. Accuweather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said the number of records broken was very unusual. He said that while some aspects of the heat wave are unknown, much of it is because of a lack of snow cover during the late winter on America’s plains. Instead of the sun’s heat melting snow, it instead heated the ground, which in turn warmed the air. The increase in temperature even made crops grow ahead of schedule until now; Sosnowski said the lack of rainfall has stunted crops’ growth. Sosnowski added that while some areas are not unusually warm, namely New England and the Northwest, the center of the country will experience high temperatures for the next several weeks, possibly into August. Five states had more than 100 record temperatures broken in June. Texas had 237 records broken, followed by Colorado (226), Kansas (164), Missouri (126), and Arkansas (115). The NOAA data comes as a relentless heat grips much of the eastern United States for a fourth straight day. About 2.1 million homes and businesses remained without power on Monday after violent storms and soaring temperatures killed at least 18 people since Friday, many of them when trees fell on their cars or houses. –Reuters

Russian Military to Hold Over 1,000 Drills in June-October…WHY???

Naval drills

INDRA-2010 Military Drills

 MOSCOW,  (RIA Novosti)

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The Russian Armed Forces will conduct over 1,000 command-and-staff and tactical exercises during the summer training period from June to November this year, the Defense Ministry said.

The summer training will focus on improving interoperability of all branches of the Armed Forces and efficient use of automated battlefield management systems, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The training will be carried out on average 2-3 times a week with the emphasis on weapons proficiency and driving skills.

The training period will culminate with the Kavkaz-2012 large-scale strategic exercises in southern Russia and North Caucasus, which would also involve Abkhaz and South Ossetian military units.

In addition, Russia will hold about 50 joint military exercises with foreign countries, including the Slavic Commonwealth – 2012 with Ukraine and Belarus, the INDRA-2012 with India and the Selenga with Mongolia.

The Russian Navy will traditionally take part in RIMPAC, FRUKUS, Northern Eagle andBlackseafor international naval drills.

BUSINESS INSIDER: THE BEST FED SOURCE IN THE WORLD SAYS QEIII IS NOW ON THE TABLE

Editor’s note: This report by Joe Weisenthal originally appeared on Business Insider

The WSJ’s Jon Hilsenrath – whom Cardiff Garcia has dubbed “Fedwire” – reports that more Fed action is now officially on the table due to the slew of weak incoming data.

There’s no gaurantee that it will happen, or that if it did happen it would be at the June 20 meeting, but the presses are being warmed up.

Top Fed officials have said that they would support new measures if they became convinced the U.S. wasn’t making progress on bringing down unemployment. Recent disappointing employment reports have raised this possibility, but the data might be a temporary blip. Moreover, the Fed’s options for more easing are sure to stir internal resistance at the central bank if they are considered.

Their options include doing nothing and continuing to assess the economic outlook—or more strongly signaling a willingness to act later if the outlook more clearly worsens. Fed policy makers could take a small precautionary measure, like extending for a short period its “Operation Twist” program—in which the Fed is selling short-term securities and using the proceeds to buy long-term securities. Or, policy makers could take bolder action such as launching another large round of bond purchases if they become convinced of a significant slowdown.

Meanwhile, Jefferies David Zervos gives his take on the key levels to watch for more Fed action:

As always, it will be hard to pinpoint exact tipping points for a move – but I suspect that if we see a combination of the DXY (dollar index) at 86/88, and the spoo (S&P) at 1200/1225, the Fed will jump into action. I do not think we need to talk about the PCE or the U-rate when it comes to the Fed – the real triggers are in liquid market prices. And, in particular, if these levels in the DXY and spoo are breached, any sensible forecasts for forward looking employment and inflation that enter into a Taylor rule will plummet – hence accommodation follows!! In fact, take a look at a DXY chart since early 2008 – the 88 level was a good indicator for QE1 and QE2.