7.1 QUAKE IN NEW ZEALAND

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Powerful 7.1 quake hits New Zealand's South Island By RAY LILLEY, Associated Press Writer - SEPT 3,10 6:04PM

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck much of New Zealand's South Island early Saturday and caused widespread damage, but there were just two reports of serious injuries. Looters broke into some damaged shops in Christchurch, police said.The quake, which hit 19 miles (30 kilometers) west of the southern city of Christchurch according to the state geological agency GNS Science, shook a wide area, with some residents saying buildings had collapsed and power was severed. No tsunami alert was issued.GNS Science initially reported the quake as magnitude 7.4, but later downgraded it after re-examining quake records. The U.S. Geological Survey, in America, measured the quake at 7.0.Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency four hours after the quake rocked the region, warning people that continuing aftershocks could cause masonry to fall from damaged buildings.The emergency meant parts of the city would be closed off and some buildings closed as unsafe, he said.Minister of Civil Defence John Carter said a state of civil emergency was declared as the quake was a significant disaster, and army troops were on standby to assist.Parker said the sharp, vicious earthquake has caused significant damage in parts of the city ... with walls collapsed that have fallen into the streets.

Chimneys and walls had fallen from older buildings, with roads blocked, traffic lights out and power, gas and water supplies disrupted, he said.The fronts of at least five buildings in the central city have collapsed and rubble is strewn across many roads,Christchurch resident Angela Morgan told The Associated Press.Roads have subsided where water mains have broken and a lot of people evacuated in panic from seaside areas for fear of a tsunami, she said, adding that there is quite significant damage, really, with reports that some people were trapped in damaged houses.Christchurch Hospital said it had treated two men with serious injuries and a number of people with minor injuries.One was hit by a falling chimney and was in serious condition in intensive care, while a second was badly cut by glass, hospital spokeswoman Michele Hider said.Christchurch police reported road damage in parts of the city of 400,000 people, with a series of sharp aftershocks rocking the area. Police officers cordoned off some streets where rubble was strewn about. Video showed parked cars crushed by heaps of fallen bricks, and buckled roads.There is considerable damage in the central city and we've also had reports of looting, just shop windows broken and easy picking of displays, Police Inspector Mike Coleman told New Zealand's National Radio.Police Inspector Alf Stewart told the radio that some people had been arrested for looting.We have some reports of people smashing (storefront) windows and trying to grab some property that is not theirs ... we've got police on the streets and we're dealing with that, he said.Suburban dweller Mark O'Connell said his house was full of smashed glass, food tossed from shelves, with sets of drawers, TVs and computers tipped over.

She was a beauty, we were thrown from wall to wall as we tried to escape down the stairs to get to safety, he told the AP. It was pitch black (with the power cut) and we walked through smashed glass everywhere on the floor.The quake hit at 4:35 a.m. (1635 GMT) shaking thousands of residents awake, New Zealand's National Radio reported. Civil defense agency spokesman David Millar said at least six bridges in the region had been badly damaged, while the historic Empire hotel in the port town of Lyttelton was very unstable and in danger of collapse. Roads, shops and other buildings in rural towns around Christchurch had also suffered damage, with some shop fronts knocked down in the jolt. Inspector Coleman said residents of the city's low-lying eastern suburbs had been advised to be ready to evacuate their properties, after power, gas, sewerage and water systems were cut by the quake. Resident Colleen Simpson said panicked residents ran into the street in their pajamas. Some buildings had collapsed, there was no power, and the mobile telephone network had failed. Oh my God. There is a row of shops completely demolished right in front of me, Simpson told the Stuff news Web site. Another person from Christchurch, Kevin O'Hanlon, said the jolt was extremely powerful.I was awake to go to work and then just heard this massive noise and boom, it was like the house got hit. It just started shaking. I've never felt anything like it,he told the news Web site.Christchurch International Airport was closed after the quake as a precaution, as experts prepared to check the runways and terminal buildings, a spokesman said.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said no destructive widespread tsunami threat existed, based on historical earthquake and tsunami data.New Zealand sits above an area of the Earth's crust where two tectonic plates collide. The country records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year — but only about 150 are felt by residents. Fewer than 10 a year do any damage.

Earthquake of 7.1 magnitude hits New Zealand city
By Gyles Beckford - SEPT 3,10

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – A major earthquake hit New Zealand's second biggest city Christchurch early on Saturday, bringing down power lines, ripping up roads and wrecking building facades, but authorities reported no deaths.Authorities declared a formal civil defense state of emergency to coordinate recovery operations in the city, which has a population of about 350,000 people, after facades collapsed into streets, crushing cars and blocking roads.Two men suffered serious injuries and police closed off the central business district.The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1 and a depth of 10 kms (6 miles), hitting the South Island city and a large surrounding area of farms at around 4.35 a.m. local time (12:35 p.m. EDT Friday).

There's a lot of damage that I've been able to observe in the central city area, mainly of the old brick and masonry buildings, a number of those have got walls that have fallen into the street, Christchurch mayor Bob Parker told Radio New Zealand.The city's hospital said two men had been admitted with serious injuries, one hit by a falling chimney and the other cut by glass. It had also treated a few other people with broken bones, cuts and grazes.Police said there were several instances of looting, which had been quickly contained. In the suburbs many houses had broken windows, toppled chimneys, cracked walls and items thrown off shelves.

Power was out over a large area of the city and surrounding region as circuit breakers were tripped at substations, but was being progressively restored after safety checks.Water and sewage services were also disrupted, and there were reports of subsidence in some roads.

RURAL EPICENTRE

Officials were checking how severe the damage was in rural areas, closer to the epicenter, west of the city.Ray O'Donnell, owner of a hotel in Darfield, a small farming community around 20 kms (12 miles) west of Christchurch, said large cracks had appeared in rural roads near the epicenter.GNS Science, the New Zealand government seismological agency, revised its reading of the quake to magnitude 7.1 from an original 7.4. The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported it at 7.4 but later revised its figure to 7.0.The city's airport was shut as the runway and facilities were checked, and the railway network and bridges throughout the region were also being checked for damage.The quake was felt as a long rolling motion lasting up to 40 seconds. The area was continuing to feel aftershocks as strong as magnitude 5.2.It was a real rocker, and (we're) still getting aftershocks. (It) felt like the house was flying on a whirlwind, Tessa Hay, who lives around 12 km north of the city, told Reuters.Because the quake occurred inland there was no danger of a tsunami. No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.New Zealand scientists record around 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which around 20 top magnitude 5.0. The last fatal earthquake in the geologically active country, caught between the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates, was in 1968 when an earthquake measuring 7.1 killed three people on the South Island's West Coast.

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.

Earl sideswipes NC, takes aim at New England By BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press Writer - SEPT 3,10

CHATHAM, Mass. – A weakening but still dangerous Hurricane Earl steamed toward the gray-shingled cottages and fishing villages of Cape Cod on Friday, disrupting people's vacations on the unofficial final weekend of the short New England summer.

Packing winds of just 80 mph, the storm swirled up the Eastern Seaboard after sideswiping North Carolina's Outer Banks, where it caused flooding but no injuries and little damage. For the most part, it was expected to swing wide of New York City and Long Island, and much of the rest of the mid-Atlantic region, but pass close by Cape Cod, Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard late Friday night, bringing rain and high winds.Vacationers pulled their boats from the water and canceled Labor Day weekend reservations on Nantucket, the well-to-do resort island and old-time whaling port expected to get the worst of the storm. Shopkeepers boarded up their windows. Swimmers in New England were warned to stay out of the water — or off the beach altogether — because of the danger of getting swept away by high waves.Airlines canceled dozens of flights into New England, and Amtrak suspended train service between New York and Boston.As of Friday afternoon, no large-scale evacuations were ordered for the Cape Cod area, where fishermen and other hardy year-round residents have been dealing with gusty nor'easters for generations.We kind of roll with the punches out here. It's not a huge deal for us, said Scott Thomas, president of the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce.On Cape Cod, Ellen McDonough and a friend waited for one of the last ferries to Nantucket before service was suspended because of the approaching storm. It's not a 3-foot snowstorm. I think us New Englanders are tough, McDonough said. We've had this weekend planned, and no hurricane is going to stop us.
Nantucket Police Chief William Pittman warned island residents against complacency, saying Earl was still a dangerous storm with severe winds.

By midday Friday, Earl had dropped to a Category 1 storm — down from a fearsome Category 4 with 145 mph winds a day earlier. Forecasters said it could weaken to a tropical storm by the time it passed about 50 to 75 miles southeast of Nantucket.As Earl lost steam and veered farther east, the National Hurricane Center reduced the New England areas under a hurricane warning to Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, the elite vacation spot that President Barack Obama left just last weekend.

The National Weather Service was forecasting winds up to 65 mph on Nantucket with gusts up to 85 mph. On Cape Cod, winds up to 45 mph with gusts of up to 60 mph were expected.The last time the Cape was hit directly by a hurricane was 1991, when Bob brought 75 mph gusts that ripped through the region's grassy dunes, snapped trees and tore roofs off the weathered gray homes.Few seemed worried about a repeat Friday in Chatham, a fishing village at Cape Cod's eastern edge where tourists strolled past the bookstores, cafes and ice cream parlors on Main Street. A few stores had put plywood over their windows, including the Ben Franklin Old Fashioned Variety Store. C'mon Earl, we're ready for you, a handwritten note read.Earl was expected to remain more than 150 miles off New Jersey and the eastern tip of New York's Long Island as it made its way north. But it kicked up dangerous riptides up and down the coast. In New Jersey, two young men apparently died earlier this week in the rough surf caused by Earl and the hurricane before it, Danielle.Rain from the outer bands of the hurricane forced a 25-minute delay at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York City.On the Outer Banks, officials had urged some 35,000 visitors and residents to leave the dangerously exposed islands as the storm closed in, but hundreds chose to wait it out in their boarded-up homes.Earl's winds had dropped to 105 mph by the time the storm brushed past the ribbon of islands before dawn, and the storm center got no closer to shore than 85 miles. Hurricane-force winds, which start at 74 mph, apparently did not even reach the Outer Banks, said the National Hurricane Center's chief forecaster, James Franklin.North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said there was no serious damage and urged people to get back out for the Labor Day weekend to have a little fun and spend some money.Nancy Scarborough of Cape Hatteras said she had about a foot of water underneath her home, which is on stilts. Once it goes down, it shouldn't take long to get things back together,she said. In Rhode Island, the popular tourist destination Block Island was expecting gusts as high as 60 mph. Gov. Don Carcieri warned of possible flooding on the mainland, and asked people to stay off the roads, but added: Everything looks like we've dodged this.

Twenty miles out off the Maine coast, lobstermen on Matinicus Island were cautious after getting fooled by Hurricane Bill, which missed the mainland last year but sent tides and rough seas that destroyed their gear. This time, they moved their gear to the safety of deeper water or pulled their traps out altogether. At Maine's Acadia National Park, officials closed most of a road where a 7-year-old girl was swept to her death by a 20-foot wave last year while watching the swells from Bill. Associated Press writers Mike Baker in Buxton, N.C.; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, S.C.; Michelle Smith in Providence, R.I.; David Sharp in Portland, Maine; and Lyle Moran, Denise Lavoie and Jay Lindsay in Boston contributed to this report.

The document that should stop the Islamic Victory Mosque
By Douglas J. Hagmann

23 August 2010: Racists, Xenophobes and bigots. Those are just a few terms used to describe the opponents of the Islamic center planned near Ground Zero. These characterizations could possibly be avoided, however, by more fact-based protest.

To date, defenders of the center seemed undeterred, despite all that is know about the project front man. Look just a bit deeper.Among the golden nuggets of evidence produced during the trial of the United States vs. The Holy Land Foundation et al is a document that should end any ambiguity concerning the true intent of Feisal ABDUL-RAUF in his quest to construct an Islamic center at Park Place. In fact, it should be cause to reexamine all Islamic centers and mosques that fall within a certain criteria. Cataloged as Exhibit 003-0085 by the U.S. federal government, a document translated from Arabic to English titled An Explanatory Memorandum, On the General Strategic Goal for the Group In North America details the objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.

Feisal ABDUL RAUF is indeed an adherent and promoter of the Muslim Brotherhood’s goals and objectives. Any doubt to his Muslim Brotherhood connections can be quelled by the excellent and timely report by Alyssa A. Lappen, which is required reading for factual insight into ABDUL RAUF’s link to the Muslim brotherhood.Clearly, according to this document, the objective of the Muslim Brotherhood is to convert the U.S. into an Islamic nation through sabotage and subterfuge. It is a handbook to achieve that end. The author painstakingly describes the process of settlement, among others, and further described its meaning and the methods to be employed:The process of settlement is a Civilization-Jihadist Process with all the word means. The Ikhwan* must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions. [Emphasis added].The succinct analysis by Ms. Lappen of point 17 of the document clearly illustrates that [b]uilding Islamic centers equals building military battalions, points from which to later stage the planned destruction of the West.And what better place inside our front lines is there but within the perimeter of destruction at Ground Zero? Ikhwan (Arabic for brothers) was the Islamic religious militia which formed the main military force of the Arabian ruler Ibn Saud.

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/27288
Peace, Territory and Jerusalem By Dr. Tim Ball and Judi McLeod Friday, September 3, 2010 CANADA FREE PRESS

It doesn’t require being at the head of the class in Politics 101 to know that meetings in Washington to establish a peace between Israel and Palestine is a desperate and cynical attempt by the Obama administration to divert attention from his collapsing political fortunes at home. Pollsters now openly suggest that Obama may be losing control of not just the House but possibly the Senate come Nov. 2, 2010. As it is said, the eyes of the fool are over the horizon. Like most of the strategy in play by the current administration, the Israel/Palestine peace talks dare people to speak out against them because they are then identified as anti-peace. It should be more about the reality of the situation and the chances of resolution.While the US is orchestrating the current talks between the two parties, the problem requires a global involvement. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US will not impose a settlement because that is the role of the two nations. However, the world must provide a wider role because the region is essential to peace in the Middle East and the world. This is why so much money and behind the scenes support is perpetuating the conflicts. The term Middle East is an anachronism but underscores the problems. What does it mean? Middle of where? East of what? It’s a hangover from previous conflicts and disputes of the British Empire. It is still in use, while similar terms like Far East and Near East have faded from the lexicon because the same nations and issues continue. While the two nations continue their negotiations the world must take actions that provide a wider context for their work and impress upon them the need for peace.

It is unfair to expect them to resolve this without recognition that it is a world problem. It is the focal point of confrontation between east and west, Judeo Christian and Muslim, and the meeting point of the three racial groups, the Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Negroid. The latter is because it is the geologic and geographical pivot point of Europe, Asia and Africa. Among his other roles, President Barack Obama is now the proponent in the folklore that goes What if I throw a party and no one comes? Missing from yesterday’s peace pow wow were Israel’s biggest enemies, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Lebanon and Hamas.You can talk a big game with Direct Talks toward Middle East Peace with players like Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair of Mea Culpa Iran new book fame, Jordan’s King Abdullah 11, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, but never force peace by proxy among the ravening missing. The primary objective must be agreement on the territory. Winston Churchill said no conflict was over until territorial disputes were resolved. Current peace talks in Washington cannot overcome millennia of hatred and distrust as long as two nations battle over the same state. Unless the two nations are willing to live together in the same state two separate states is the only solution. A major gesture by the world is needed to speak to the importance of the area and serve as the foundation for a meaningful resolution of the conflicts. At the centre of the conflict is the city of Jerusalem. Some propose a division of the city but that will not work. It’s essential that the UN declare the city international and under their jurisdiction. It is the only truly international city in the world and the centre for too many religions and cultural groups to be apportioned or in the dominant control of one group. Then to do something even more useful the aging UN headquarters in New York should be closed and moved to new quarters in Jerusalem. It is a much more central location for geographic, historic and cultural reasons and places UN diplomats, politicians and bureaucrats in the heart of world conflicts, where they more rightfully belong in the world of Geopolitics. Cynically, one could add that New Yorkers will be happy to see them and their perpetual parking tickets gone. We all know that UN costs are reduced as airfares are dramatically reduced.