STOCKS AUG 31,2010

CLIMATE CHANGE LIES ARE EXPOSED A damming report has highlighted questions over the credibility of a leading climate change body Tuesday August 31,2010 By Donna Bowater

THE world’s leading climate change body has been accused of losing credibility after a damning report into its research practices.A high-level inquiry into the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found there was little evidence for its claims about global warming.It also said the panel had emphasised the negative impacts of climate change and made substantive findings based on little proof.The review by the InterAcademy Council (IAC) was launched after the IPCC’s hugely embarrassing 2007 benchmark climate change report, which contained exaggerated and false claims that Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035.

*** DEBATE: IS CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING JUST A CON?...***

The panel was forced to admit its key claim in support of global warming was lifted from a 1999 magazine article. The report was based on an interview with a little-known Indian scientist who has since said his views were speculation and not backed by research.Independent climate scientist Peter Taylor said last night: The IPCC’s credibility has been deeply dented and something has to be done. It can’t just be a matter of adjusting the practices. They have got to look at what are the consequences of having got it wrong in terms of what the public think is going on. Admitting that it needs to reform means something has gone wrong and they really do need to look at the science.Climate change sceptic David Holland, who challenged leading climate change scientists at the University of East Anglia to disclose their research, said: The panel is definitely not fit for purpose. What the IAC has said is substantial changes need to be made.The IAC, which comprises the world’s top science academies including the UK’s Royal Society, made recommendations to the IPCC to enhance its credibility and independence after the Himalayan glaciers report, which severely damaged the reputation of climate science.It condemned the panel – set up by the UN to ensure world leaders had the best scientific advice on climate change – for its slow and inadequate response after the damaging errors emerged.

Among the blunders in the 2007 report were claims that 55 per cent of the Netherlands was below sea level when the figure is 26 per cent. It also claimed that water supplies for between 75 million and 250 million people in Africa will be at risk by 2020 due to climate change, but the real range is between 90 and 220 million.

The claim that glaciers would melt by 2035 was also rejected.

Professor Julian Dowdeswell of Cambridge University said: The average glacier is 1,000ft thick so to melt one at 15ft a year would take 60 years. That is faster than anything we are seeing now so the idea of losing it all by 2035 is unrealistic.In yesterday’s report, the IAC said: The IPCC needs to reform its management structure and strengthen its procedures to handle ever larger and increasingly complex climate assessments as well as the more intense public scrutiny coming from a world grappling with how to respond to climate change.The review also cast doubt on the future of IPCC chairman Dr Rajendra Pachauri.Earlier this year, the Daily Express reported how he had no climate science qualifications but held a PhD in economics and was a former railway engineer.Dr Pachauri has been accused of a conflict of interest, which he denies, after it emerged that he has business interests attracting millions of pounds in funding. One, the Energy Research Institute, is set to receive up to £10million in grants from taxpayers over the next five years.

Speaking after the review was released yesterday, Dr Pachauri said: We have the highest confidence in the science behind our assessments.The scientific community agrees that climate change is real. Greenhouse gases have increased as a result of human activities and now far exceed pre-industrial values.

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/
CNBC VIDEOS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839263/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS TUE AUG 31,2010

09:30 AM -2.43
10:00 AM -10.07
10:30 AM +35.19
11:00 AM +44.19
11:30 AM +50.78
12:00 PM +51.16
12:30 PM +42.23
01:00 PM +25.05
01:30 PM +45.86
02:00 PM +35.19
02:30 PM -3.26
03:00 PM -21.65
03:30 PM -26.87
04:00 PM +4.99 10,014.72

S&P 500 1049.33 +0.41

NASDAQ 2114.03 -5.94

GOLD 1,249.50 +10.30

OIL 71.71 -2.99

TSE 300 11,913.90 +18.30

CDNX 1499.63 +2.46

S&P/TSX/60 694.05 +0.20

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -25 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -61 points at low today.
Dow +67 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,247.70.OIL opens at $74.49 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -61 points at low today so far.
Dow +67 points at high today so far.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -61 points at low today.
Dow +67 points at high today.

GOLD ALLTIME HIGH $1,260.90 (NOT AT CLOSE)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBIBM5oUcME&feature=player_embedded

Dear Southern Poverty Law Center and Department of Justice
Sally O’Boyle Activist Post August 30, 2010

Re: SPLC list of Active Patriot Groups and DOJ’s Criminal Extremist List.I would only be anti-government about a government that was extremely anti-U.S. Constitution. Will this count for or against me? I am wondering if you will start a Patriot Persons list to go along with your Patriot Groups list? If so, I’d like to apply. If your criteria* is the same for People as for Groups, I might be a pretty good fit!

I am definitely against any New World Order or One World Government scheme. The U.S. must remain a sovereign nation as outlined in our Constitution. (Besides, and I don’t mean to be catty here, but the idea doesn’t seem to be working out so bloody well for the EU.) Do you know if there is an active attempt by the U.S. government to join into a world government? If so, please let me know! I’d like to sign and circulate a petition against that.I don’t engage in groundless conspiracy theorizing; all the conspiracies about which I theorize have grounds. Do you think you could make an exception? And which conspiracies are the groundless ones? A list somewhere on your site would be helpful.Also, how do you define extreme anti-government doctrines, please? Can you give any examples? I am personally extremely pro-Constitutional governance, something which has been in short supply during the last few administrations, including the current one. I would only be anti-government about a government that was extremely anti-U.S. Constitution. Will this count for or against me? I am glad to see Oath-Keepers made the list of Patriot Groups! I am a member of Oath-Keepers. They are educating military and law-enforcement personnel about the Constitution and Bill of Rights, encouraging them to keep their oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. Thank goodness! Since the Constitution is no longer adequately taught in our schools (having just educated two teenagers, I can attest to that fact), I am thrilled to see that someone has taken on this monumental task! Could you let me know if I make the list? You can find me at Campaign for Liberty or at Liberty-Candidates.org.I hope I’m not asking too much, but maybe you could give a plaque or something? Or how about a pin that we could wear all the time identifying us as Patriots who made your list? Then we could easily spot each other. That would be way cool. Thanks! God bless, Sally O’Boyle

P.S. Thanks for printing that list of Patriot Groups broken out by state. Now I can find friends no matter where I am. Kind of like an A.A. meeting list! Now, I’m thinking I should join a militia. Don’t mean to be greedy, but would I get extra points for that?

*Criteria: Generally, Patriot groups define themselves as opposed to the New World Order,engage in groundless conspiracy theorizing, or advocate or adhere to extreme antigovernment doctrines.(http://tinyurl.com/patriotgroups)

Ashton hits back at Kouchner over Middle East talks
ANDREW RETTMAN 30.08.2010 @ 09:49 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton has defended her plan to go to China instead of to Thursday's (2 September) Middle East peace talks following criticism by French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner.In a detailed statement issued over the weekend, her office said the Beijing trip is very important due to upcoming discussions by EU leaders on a strategic partnership with the Asian country and in order to build personal relations with her Chinese counterpart, Dai Binguo.It noted that the US envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, supports her decision and indicated that Mr Kouchner's remarks show more concern for the EU's image than for the substance of the Middle East peace process.

Ms Ashton was personally invited by Senator Mitchell to the dinner ahead of the talks in Washington, but had to decline for this reason and Senator Mitchell fully understood. She also looked at the possibility of flying from China, but the key meetings in China clash with the Sept 2 date [of the dinner],the communique said. The appearance of [Ms Ashton] at the dinner would have no substantial influence on the talks. For [Ms Ashton] and for the EU as a whole, the focus is on a successful outcome of the talks, particularly the first round and the focus should not be on the choreography or who goes to Washington or not.The remarks come after Mr Kouchner last week sent a letter to Brussels complaining that the EU, as the largest aid donor to the Palestinian Authority and as a member of the Quartet, the international body dealing with the peace process, should participate in the high-profile event.

Speaking at a regular gathering of France's 180 ambassadors in Paris on Friday, he added: It would be a shame if there was no European representation.His speech to the top diplomats also said: The difficult, but resolute and patient implementation of the instruments foreseen by the Lisbon Treaty will help us to develop a more coherent, responsive and visible European foreign policy.Mr Kouchner's attack on Ms Ashton follows a similar one earlier this year by the French junior minister for EU affairs, Pierre Lellouche, who took her to task for lack of EU "visibility" on Haiti earthquake relief.An EU official told this website that Mr Kouchner's outspokenness is linked to infighting in Paris.French media last week quoted French diplomats as saying that Mr Kouchner is a weak minister compared to his predecessors, such as Alain Juppe and Hubert Vedrine. Mr Juppe is being talked about as a replacement for Mr Kouchner in a potential cabinet reshuffle.French diplomacy is currently on the back foot due to the hostile international reaction to the country's en bloc deportation of Roma.A UN branch, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in a resolution last week said the policy smacks of racism and xenophobia and urged Paris to tone down political speeches of a discriminatory nature.We do not accept the caricature, Mr Kouchner said at Friday's ambassadorial gathering. The President of the Republic has never stigmatised a minority on the basis of its origin ... I count on you to dispel these misunderstandings.

Would-be Belgian PM appeals for reason after coalition talks founder
HONOR MAHONY 30.08.2010 @ 17:25 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The would-be next prime minister of Belgium has urged coalition negotiators to get back to the table as soon as possible or risk plunging the country into political chaos and driving the debt-ridden EU capital, Brussels, into the hands of speculators.Fresh from an attempt to resign as lead negotiator that was rejected by the King, French-speaking Elio di Rupo in a highly anticipated press conference on Monday (29 August), spoke of the enormous responsibility that representatives from the seven political parties in the talks have toward their country.Belgians went to the polls on 13 June but a full 77 days later and on their second chief of coalition talks, the country's politicians are still trying to find a compromise on three issues, all of which go to the heart of the fractious relations between the richer Dutch-speaking north of the country (home to 60 percent of the population) and the subsidy-dependent, French-speaking south.Lengthy coalition talks are not new to the country. Talks after the 2007 elections went on for nine months. But the dire state of public finances and the make-or-break mood among some of the interlocutors have given the proceedings a new urgency. Adding an extra frisson to the talks, the overall winner of the June elections, Fleming Bart de Wever of the N-VA, wants greater devolution for the regions, something Francophones fear will lead to the break-up of the Belgian state.The three issues at the heart of the negotiations, the future of francophone suburbs in Brussels that lie within Dutch-speaking Flanders, the refinancing of Brussels, and a new federal financing law, have long been the most intractable issues within the Belgian polity, but Mr di Rupo offered a sliver of hope.We were never as far (as now) in the discussions in the last three years, noted Mr Di Rupo, who first spoke in careful Dutch and then French but took no questions from the throng of gathered journalists.

The centre of gravity is to going to move from the federal state towards the entities, he added, in reference to the public money that French-speaking parties have said they are willing to transfer to the regions.The talks, which reached their current impasse in the small hours of Sunday morning, broke down over the issue of how to improve the state of Brussels' coffers, however. Brussels, a separate region as well as the country's capital, does not fully benefit from the thousands of well-off eurocrats who live there as they have a separate tax-regime, while high property rents due to wealthy expatriates tend to drive out young Belgian professionals.The Francophone parties propose that Brussels receive €500 million a year, with Mr Di Rupo referring to the danger of leaving the capital in the hands of speculators.This money would be in return for a Francophone compromise on the electoral district surrounding Brussels - the issue that caused the previous government to fall in April.Mr de Wever's NV-A and the centre-right CD&V want more details about the financing and want it to be temporary, pointing out that the country has to save €25 billion at the federal level by 2015.The parties that refuse a balanced compromise will plunge our country into the unknown, or even political chaos,Mr Di Rupo said, with the NV-A and CD&V seen as holding out while other Flemish parties are depicted by the national papers on both side of the linguistic divide as being more willing to compromise.However, he said an agreement is possible if each side shows reason.

The political saga has kept commentators, analysts and bloggers thoroughly occupied. Most agree that the country is not about to break up but note that the drawn-out negotiations do not inspire confidence.We are not yet in final negotiations on the great separation of the Belgians. Minds and plans are not yet ripe for that. But, since Sunday evening, we took a step closer to this scenario, reads an opinion by the editor-in-chief of the Flemish De Standaard newspaper.Pascal Delwit, a political scientist at the capital's francophone Universite Libre de Bruxelles told La Libre Belgique: I don't think that we can speak of a regime crisis at this stage, but clearly we are confronted with a major challenge and a very difficult political situation.

SEPHARDIC JEW RETURNS TO ROOTS
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139401
WAR OVER JERUSALEM
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139400

Flotilla Member Participated In Past Terror Attacks
by Elad Benari AUG 31,10

One of the activists who had taken part in the Gaza flotilla had participated in previous terror attacks, according to a recent report in the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.According to the report, Erdinç Tekir, who was wounded during the fighting which occurred after the IDF raided the Mavi Marmara on May 31, participated in a terrorist attack on a Russian ferry in the Black Sea in 1996. The purpose of the attack was to bargain for the release of Chechen prisoners in Russia, and as far as is known, it was carried out by an armed group of Abkhazian/Caucasian radical Islamists, which were supported by Turkish Islamists. Tekir recently admitted during an interview he gave to the Islamic website Dünya Bülteni, that he had participated in the terrorist attack to bargain for the release prisoners as part of his activity to promote the Chechen-Abkhazian cause, this according to a report published by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

During the same interview, Tekir said that he had been an IHH volunteer for about ten years, and that he had been introduced to the organization by friends after his release from a Turkish prison. However, he said he became close to the organization when he participated in hijacking the ferry. Tekir also said that he “struggled hard” to become a passenger on the Mavi Marmara because he wanted to make a contribution. He falsely claimed that the ship was not carrying terrorists but volunteers and activists, and that the IDF soldiers boarded the ship from the sea and air while shooting live ammunition. The IDF raided the Mavi Marmara on May 31, after it had attempted to break a naval blockade being imposed on the Gaza Strip, claiming it was bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza. As the IDF commandos descended onto the deck of the ship by rope, they were assaulted by the activisits on the ship who were using metal clubs and knives. The activists snatched two pistols from the commandos and at them with them. Nine people were killed in the raid, most of them from Turkey, where the radical IHH group organized the flotilla.It was later determined that there were no humanitarian supplies on the Marmara.The report on Tekir is the first proof of the presence of a Turk with a terrorist past among the IHH operatives on board the Mavi Marmara. While there is no information indicating that the IHH was involved in the hijacking of the Russian ferry in 1996, Tekir admitted to the Islamic website that he became closer to IHH while he was active in the Abkhazian-Chechen cause.The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center added that its examination has shown that Tekir’s name appears on the list of names of those wounded on the Mavi Marmara, and also on the list of the hijackers of the Avrasya (the Russian ferry), a list appearing in a Wikipedia article on the attack.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Arabs Silence One Another
by Elad Benari AUG 31,10

Palestinian Authority human rights groups are reporting that both the PA government in Judea and Samaria as well as the Hamas government in Gaza inflict abuse on one another, as each side clamps down on its opponents and critics.An AP report suggested that the rivalry between the governments could prevent the formation of a Palestinian state, even if direct peace talks with Israel scheduled to begin this Thursday succeed.According to rights groups quoted in the report, both governments carry out arbitrary arrests, ban rivals from travel, exclude them from civil service jobs and suppress opposition media, the rights groups say. Governments in both Judea and Samaria and in Gaza use torture against opponents, which includes beatings and tying up detainees in painful positions.Despite the claims by PA President Abbas’ government that it only targets militants who pose a security threat, last week security forces in Judea and Samaria broke up a meeting of independents who are opposed to Abbas' decision to resume peace talks with Israel. Members of the PA General Intelligence Service reportedly also assaulted two field workers from Palestinian rights group Al-Haq as they documented the quashing of a rally protesting the return to peace talks, reported the Maan News Agency.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemned the attack on the Al-Haq members, saying that it is important that the Palestinian security forces respect the work of human rights organizations and to ensure protection to their personnel in all circumstances,and adding that PCHR points with concern to the recurrence of attacks on the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to peaceful assembly. PCHR stresses that these two rights are guaranteed by the Palestinian Basic Law and by international human rights instruments.According to reports, PA forces also attacked a local television crew at the same rally. The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemned the attack on the television crew.Meanwhile in Gaza, Hamas is pushing legislation that is seen as an attempt to take over the Independent Palestinian Commission for Human Rights. Another example is of 21 year-old Gaza resident Assad Saftawi, who has been thrown in detention four times after he wrote an article criticizing Hamas for taxing cigarettes. Also in Gaza, a heart patient who is also a Fatah official said that Hamas prevented him from leaving Gaza for a medical checkup in Jordan, even after he obtained Israeli permission to leave Gaza for the checkup.Shahwan Jabareen of Al-Haq told AP that in both areas we are going toward a ... regime in which the security forces intervene in everything.AP explained that the reasoning for Abbas’ crackdown on his opponents stems from his fears of a Hamas takeover of Judea and Samaria as well as his need to keep militants in check to maintain international support. Hamas, meanwhile, is targeting independents and civil groups which provide a key alternative voice in the territory.While the upcoming direct talks will be aimed at creating a Palestinian state, the AP report said that it appears unlikely any deal could be implemented as long as the split persists, particularly if Hamas — shunned by Israel and the West as a terror organization — remains in charge in Gaza.(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Greenpeace Blasts Egypt for Nuclear Plans
by Hillel Fendel AUG 30,10

The international environmental organization Greenpeace has targeted Egypt for its plan to build a nuclear energy plant off the Mediterranean coast.Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced last week his country’s plan to build its first nuclear power plant. It is to be located in Mersa Matrouh, on Egypt’s northern coast, and the decision to build it was reportedly taken in association with the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).Three other nuclear plants are to be built afterwards. Work for the international tender to build the plant is underway, and the tender is to be issued in November.The Mediterranean chapter of Greenpeace announced that it strongly objects to the decision. The idea of developing nuclear energy is dangerous, the organization states, as well as expensive and not environmentally-friendly.The group says that the new plant will be a grave regional threat.Greenpeace has long fought against nuclear power, saying it is an unacceptable risk to the environment and to humanity.The only solution, the organization says, is to halt the expansion of all nuclear power, and for the shutdown of existing plants.Nuclear plants lead to lethal high-level radioactive waste, contribute to further proliferation of nuclear weapons materials, and will result in more Chernobyl-scale accidents, Greenpeace declares.

Nuclear energy initiatives also sabotage other initiatives for the advancement of renewable, environmentally-friendly energy sources, Greenpeace states. We must focus our efforts on renewable sources such as wind, the sun, and geo-thermal energy – making sure to supply our energy needs without endangering our safety.Egypt’s plan is for its new nuclear plant to begin operation 10 years from now. Mubarak, whose country is a signatory to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, emphasized that its nuclear plan is formulated only for the purposes of peace.(IsraelNationalNews.com)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0AVwnt6j1s&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp5_LddyVys&feature=player_embedded

US Funds Left-Wing PA Peace Partner PR Campaign
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu AUG 30,10

The United States Information Agency (USIA), which has pumped hundreds of millions in dollars for pro-Arab activities in Israel, has paid $250,000 for the new Palestinian Authority public relations Peace Partner campaign, UPI reported.The publicity effort is the initiative of the left-wing Geneva Institute, chaired by former Meretz party chairman Member Yossi Beilin. The campaign promotes the PA as a peace partner on billboards throughout Israel and asks, What about you? implying that Israel is not engaged in the diplomatic process.Beilin initiated the 1992 Oslo process, which blew up into the Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War, in September 2000.The depth of the USIA role in promoting Palestinian Authority policies was first exposed by Israel National News two years ago. Documents that were accidentally sold with supposedly empty files in a U.S. State Department auction revealed the extent of USIA activity to promote American policies in what it calls occupied Jerusalem andj Judea and Samaria.In another expose reported by INN last November, David Bedein revealed that the massive USAID program for the Palestinian Authority helps build schools where children learn incitement and that the State of Israel does not exist.

The document blunder affair two years ago gave an inside look at official papers that had been stored at the United States Consulate in Jerusalem. It revealed two decades of American efforts to create a setting for a new Arab country in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.Thousands of documents dating back as far 1985 showed that the U.S. government openly tried to win over Palestinian Authority Arabs as part of covert and overt efforts to undermine the Israeli development of Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.The American government pumped millions of dollars into cultural exchange programs, Fulbright scholarships and even promoted overseas meetings between the Likud and Fatah party youth movements to try to pave the way to meet Arab demands that the Jewish State return to the 1949 Armistice Line, also known as the Green Line.The single-minded aim of the USIA and the casual acceptance of terrorist attacks that literally blew up the Oslo peace process were clear in a memo that noted, A bright spot in the otherwise downhill side of the peace process was an unusual meeting between Likud and Fatah youth leaders in Israel in mid-July [1998]. A follow-up meeting in Ramallah...had to be cancelled because of the [suicide] bombing in Jerusalem.Many of the USIA documents disclosed programs to arrange PA-controlled television interviews with visiting American university academics in an effort to promote popular support for the regime of Yasser Arafat.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100830/sc_ynews/ynews_sc3516
Hurricane Earl churns across Caribbean, heads to US by Nelson Del Castillo – Mon Aug 30, 6:17 pm ET

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AFP) – Hurricane Earl was upgraded to a category four storm Monday as it brushed past Puerto Rico and headed for the eastern US coast, amid warnings it may cause catastrophic damage.Packing fierce winds of up to 135 miles (215 kilometers) an hour, Earl was raised to a category four as it churned across the Caribbean, with experts forecasting it may skim the eastern United States coast later in the week.On the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale used by the US National Hurricane Center, a category four storm carries a warning that catastrophic damage will occur with a high risk of structural damage.There is a very high risk of injury or death to people, livestock, and pets due to flying and falling debris, the center says on its website of a category four storm.Earl was churning west-northwest at 15 miles (24 kilometers) an hour, dumping heavy rains and whipping up massive waves as it continued its arc past the Lesser Antilles.Even though it may strengthen in the next day or so, the storm was not projected to make landfall immediately, and earlier hurricane warnings for Puerto Rico and the US and British Virgin Islands were downgraded.

One weather model has Hurricane Earl skimming the Outer Banks, in North Carolina on Friday, and possibly reaching as far north as the Canadian province of New Brunswick by Saturday.Midway through the annual Atlantic hurricane season, the eye of the storm passed over the French islands of Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy early Monday, bringing down trees, blocking roads and snapping power lines.The French supplier EDF estimated some 3,500 people were left without power in the two islands, and were planning to send in reinforcements from Martinique to repair downed lines. In Guadeloupe another 4,000 people had no electricity.French Overseas Territories Minister Marie-Luce Penchard told AFP late Monday that it appeared there had been no loss of life.But the wind is so strong that people still can't go out, she said. She was planning to travel to the two islands on Tuesday to assess the damage, but said a desalination plant had been hit and water supplies had been disrupted.The strong winds could further trigger large and dangerous battering waves of over three to five feet (a meter to a meter and a half) in Puerto Rico, while the storm could dump up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in high areas, the US hurricane center warned earlier.

These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, the hurricane center warned.Winds of up to 170 kilometers (105 miles) an hour were registered in Saint Barthelemy, emergency officials in Guadeloupe said.The northern half of Saint Martin is French territory, with the remainder -- known as Saint Maarten -- belonging to the Netherlands. Saint Barthelemy lies to the southeast.French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the discipline and courage of the islands' residents, saying they were being sorely tested by the hurricane.Meanwhile, the nearby twin-island state Antigua and Barbuda lifted its tropical storm warning Monday.Category one Hurricane Danielle, which never made landfall, continued to weaken as it sailed towards the open northern Atlantic and was downgraded on Monday to a tropical storm. The hurricane center also upgraded a third weather system forming about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) to the east of the lesser Antilles, naming it Tropical Storm Fiona.

Massive solar storm to hit Earth in 2012 with force of 100m bombs Thu, Aug 26 12:50 PM

Melbourne, Aug 26 (ANI): Astronomers are predicting that a massive solar storm, much bigger in potential than the one that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month, is to strike our planet in 2012 with a force of 100 million hydrogen bombs.Several US media outlets have reported that NASA was warning the massive flare this month was just a precursor to a massive solar storm building that had the potential to wipe out the entire planet's power grid.Despite its rebuttal, NASA's been watching out for this storm since 2006 and reports from the US this week claim the storms could hit on that most Hollywood of disaster dates - 2012.Similar storms back in 1859 and 1921 caused worldwide chaos, wiping out telegraph wires on a massive scale. The 2012 storm has the potential to be even more disruptive.The general consensus among general astronomers (and certainly solar astronomers) is that this coming Solar maximum (2012 but possibly later into 2013) will be the most violent in 100 years, News.com.au quoted astronomy lecturer and columnist Dave Reneke as saying.A bold statement and one taken seriously by those it will affect most, namely airline companies, communications companies and anyone working with modern GPS systems.

They can even trip circuit breakers and knock out orbiting satellites, as has already been done this year, added Reneke.No one really knows what effect the 2012-2013 Solar Max will have on today's digital-reliant society.Dr Richard Fisher, director of NASA's Heliophysics division, told Reneke the super storm would hit like a bolt of lightning, causing catastrophic consequences for the world's health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken.NASA said that a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a similar storm occurred today, it could cause 1 to 2 trillion dollars in damages to society's high-tech infrastructure and require four to 10 years for complete recovery.The reason for the concern comes as the sun enters a phase known as Solar Cycle 24.Most experts agree, although those who put the date of Solar Max in 2012 are getting the most press.They claim satellites will be aged by 50 years, rendering GPS even more useless than ever, and the blast will have the equivalent energy of 100 million hydrogen bombs.We know it is coming but we don't know how bad it is going to be, Fisher told Reneke.Systems will just not work. The flares change the magnetic field on the Earth and it's rapid, just like a lightning bolt. That's the solar effect, he added.The findings are published in the most recent issue of Australasian Science. (ANI)