GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Mexico’s Popocatepetl Volcano Records Another 14 Emissions!

The Popocatepetl volcano registered 14 exhalations of low intensity accompanied by water vapor, gas and a low amplitude spasmodic tremor, reported the National Center for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred).

The exhalations were accompanied by water vapor, gas and a low amplitude spasmodic tremor.

In its latest report, the agency of the Ministry of the Interior (Interior Ministry) he explained that the exhalations of greater intensity occurred yesterday 13:30 and 22:42 hours.  He said that although during the night glow was observed in the crater, the other metrics do not show major changes, so the light of volcanic alert remains at yellow stage two.  Prevails also likely moderate exhalations, some with ash emissions, sporadic explosions likely to issue short incandescent fragments and slight glow in the observable crater at night. 

The Cenapred reiterated that the restriction continues to approach within 12 kilometers of the crater, is also committed to the partial ban on movement between Santiago Xalitzintla, Puebla, and San Pedro Nexapa, State of Mexico, via Paso de Cortes.  He added that the Civil Protection authorities maintain preventive procedures, according to their operational plans, while the population must remain attentive to the official information is disseminated on volcanic behavior. - El Universal [Translated].

WATCH: Time-lapse video of cumulonimbus clouds and smoke of the Popocatepetl volcano.

DELUGE: Two Months' Worth of Rain Pounds the Northlands in New Zealand in 36 Hours - Millions in Damage, Mass Evacuations, Power Outages, and Road Closures!

Evacuation centres are being set up in parts of Northland tonight as the region braces itself for even more rain. More than two months' worth of rain has fallen in 36 hours and gales have gusted up to 120 km/h. Metservice is tonight warning another 75-90mm may fall overnight and through to midday tomorrow.

Flooding has cut power and closed numerous roads, including parts of SH1, across the region. Civil Defence is urging residents to avoid travelling and is opening evacuation centres in Whangarei and Kaeo. Whangarei District Council has a crew of Civil Defence staff on standby ready to respond if any overnight emergencies occur. Officials were monitoring the effects of an east coast high tide at about 6pm tonight. Crews will be out on the roads before dawn tomorrow checking for damage, slips, fallen trees, flooding and washouts. Graeme MacDonald, spokesman for the Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group said people should stay off the roads and not attempt to cross any flooded sections. Police are warning people not to travel for the next 24 hours as journeys could be slow and potentially dangerous. Countless detours are in place. Those having to travel are advised to consult the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) website and the Northland Regional Council website before leaving.

"Millions of dollars down the drain"
Several people had to be rescued from rising flood waters in Northland today. In the worst hit area of Kaeo, residents fled for higher ground and cattle were left stranded. For local farmer Ben Smith, who was still recovering from last year's floods, the damage today is disastrous. "For us it was at least $250,000 (last year). There will be well over millions of dollars that has gone down the drain today," Smith told ONE News.  The Fire Service was today called to around 20 incidents, including two people who were trapped in a car in flood water and a family stuck in a flooded house. One person was washed down a hill and had to cling on to a tree to prevent getting swept away. Kerikeri High School was closed for the day and will decide whether to re-open tomorrow morning.

Storm heading south
Metservice has also issued a severe weather warning for Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, Taupo, Taihape, Manawatu and Wellington. The stormy conditions are being caused by a deep low pressure system which was moving just northeast of Northland, and was expected to track across the central North Island. ONE News weatherman Jim Hickey said the low has come out of a warm dynamic Pacific Ocean and is moving very slowly. Heavy rain and strong winds will hit northern parts of Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Gisborne and Hawkes Bay today and tomorrow. Two flights have already been disrupted from landing at Auckland Airport by strong cross winds and wet conditions on the runway. Planes had to return to their departure airports or divert elsewhere. Northern Auckland and Great Barrier Island are being told to expect a further 50mm of rain between 4pm today and 6am tomorrow.
Gisborne and Hawkes Bay are predicted to get between 120mm and 160mm in the next 24 hours. People were warned to watch out for fast rising streams and rivers, slips, surface flooding and hazardous driving conditions. Southeasterlies are expected to rise to severe gales gusting 120 km/h in the Central North Island. - TVNZ.

WATCH: Scenes of the massive floods.

GREAT DELUGE: The Australian Weather Anomalies Continue - New South Wales Government Indicates That Flooding Is "Not Going Away Soon"!

The New South Wales government says it's ticking off roads and bridges that will need repairing after floods swept through large parts of NSW.

'The state of roads and bridges damaged by floods across NSW is now being assessed for reparations and costings,' Roads Minister Duncan Gay told reporters in the Blue Mountains on Monday. '(Roads and Maritime) staff have been negotiating with local governments to as soon as possible tick off the roads and bridges for repair when we can.' Mr Gay said the floods inflicted huge costs on both state and local government, with the repair bill expected to exceed $500 million in unbudgeted funds. 'The figure is general and we won't know the exact figure until the floodwater subsides,' he said. Mr Gay added 'it doesn't look like the flood is going away soon' as communities in southwestern NSW remain on flood alert. Residents of Hay have been urged to evacuate amid fears the town's levee won't hold back the Murrumbidgee. The swollen river remained at 8.99 metres at 4pm (AEDT) on Monday, just one centimetre below its expected peak, the NSW State Emergency Services (SES) said.

River heights in the region are forecast to remain at their peak for at least two to three days, resulting in major flooding in Hay and nearby Maude. So far the levee in Hay, a town of about 2,800, has managed to hold, but 2,000 residents have been told to evacuate, but only around 800 of them have left their homes. SES spokesman Phil Campbell said on Monday they can't guarantee the long-term integrity of the levee. 'There have been a number of minor leaks already and our concern is that water will be hard up against the levee for a day or two,' he told AAP. 'As more time goes by, the levee will become more saturated and there is more of a chance it will leak.' But Hay Shire mayor Bill Sheaffe said he was quietly confident the town's levees would hold. 'Incidentally, in a street called Flood Street I really think we won't hear any bubbling noises,' he told ABC Radio on Monday. SES crews are also focused downstream on the town of Balranald where engineers are assessing the town's levee with floodwaters expected next month. Meanwhile, in the state's northwest, residents of Bourke and Brewarrina are coping with floodwater run-off from Queensland's Darling Downs. - Big Pond News.

EXTREME WEATHER: Forest Fire Rages in SW China Province - Three Consecutive Years of Severe Drought!

The following photo taken on March 19, 2012 shows the forest fire spread to Caopu Township in Anning, a county-level city on the outskirts of Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province. A fire that engulfed mountain forests in Yimen county of Yunnan Province Sunday, has spread to the provincial capital Kunming, local authorities said Monday.

A firefighter tries to put out forest fire spread to Caopu Township in Anning.

More than 530 firefighters have been sent to the site Monday. A severe drought has lingered in the heavily-forested province for three consecutive years, causing water shortages for several million residents and posing fire risks.  A helicopter and more than 1,000 people have been dispatched to help extinguish a forest fire that continues to rage in southwest China's Yunnan province, local authorities said Monday evening. 

A rescue team consisting of 1,075 military personnel and civilians was sent to the site of the blaze Monday evening, local authorities said.  The fire, which broke out at 5:25 p.m. Sunday in Yimen county, defied overnight firefighting efforts and spread through the county's mountainous forests to Caopu township in Anning, a county-level city on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Kunming, said a spokesman from the provincial forest fire prevention headquarters.  A helicopter and five excavators from the nearby city of Dali have been mobilized to help fight the fire.  A severe drought has lingered in Yunnan for three consecutive years, causing water shortages for several million residents and creating fire risks. - CRI.

WORLD WAR III: Countdown to Armageddon: USA and Israel Launches Massive Military Fleet of Super-Torpedoes, Gunboats and Sea-Bots as Iran Regime Threatens to Close Hormuz and Cut World Oil Supply!

United States President, Barack Obama has warned Iran’s leaders that “the window for solving the nuclear programme issue diplomatically is shrinking.” In accordance with this, the majority of Israel’s 14-member security cabinet now supports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in launching a pre-emptive strike on Iran. This comes against the background of Iran's declaration that it will make no concessions, despite the high geopolitical tensions. And as the rhetoric escalates, the US navy will have three aircraft carriers positioned near Iran in the coming days, and is doubling the number of minesweeping ships and helicopters based in the Gulf.

Sending more aircraft carriers to the waters near Iran, it turns out, was just the start. Yes, the U.S. currently has more seapower aimed at Iran in the Persian Gulf than in the fleets of most countries on Earth, Iran included. But that was just the Navy cracking its knuckles. In the next few months, the Navy will double its minesweeper craft stationed in Bahrain, near Iran, from four to eight. Those ships will be crucial if Iran takes the drastic step of mining the Strait of Hormuz, one of the global energy supply’s most crucial waterways. Four more MH-53 “Sea Stallion” helicopters, another minesweeping tool, are also getting ready for Bahrain, to give the U.S. Fifth Fleet early warning for any strait mining. Then the Navy will prepare to get closer to Iranian shores. Much closer. It’s got five close-action patrol boats in the Gulf right now. Once the Coast Guard returns three that the Navy loaned out, the Navy will have five other patrol craft in the United States. All those boats are getting retrofitted. With Gatling guns. And missiles. Sure, the guns aboard the two aircraft carriers currently near Iran are the seapower equivalent of high-powered, long-range rifles. “But maybe what you need is like a sawed-off shotgun,” capable of doing massive damage from a closer distance, said Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the Navy’s senior officer. All 10 of those patrol boats, Greenert told reporters at a Friday breakfast in Washington, will get strapped with the Mk-38 Gatling Gun and should make it to the Gulf next year. (Though, alas, they won’t have the Gatling/laser gun mashup BAE Systems is working on.) They’ll also get close-range missiles that can hit Iranian shores from four miles away — the same kinds Navy SEALs use. - WIRED.

In addition, two Israeli naval vessels passed through Egypt's Suez Canal on Tuesday, headed from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, Israeli and Egyptian sources said.

"It was routine, they were on their way to Eilat" where Israel has its Red Sea naval base, an Israeli security source told AFP on condition of anonymity. A source at the Canal Authority named the vessels as the Lahav and the Yafo, without giving their size or type. Israel dispatched two missile boats to the Red Sea last August after Iran deployed a submarine and a warship there on what it called a patrol mission. The Israeli military said at the time that its own naval deployment was "part of a routine exercise." After fighting several wars since Israel's foundation in 1948, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979, but Israeli vessels rarely pass through the strategic waterway. The military had no comment on Tuesday's crossing, which came to the backdrop of an international standoff over Iran's nuclear programme, which much of the world believes is geared toward developing atomic weapons. It also comes after four days of deadly fighting between Israel and militants in Gaza, some of whom were suspected of using Egypt's Sinai Peninsula as a launch pad for anti-Israeli attacks. - AFP.

Meanwhile, Iran is threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz and world oil supply after trade links cutoff .

Former Intelligence Minister Ali Falahian, Iran’s senior spokesman on sanctions, said Sunday, March 18,  that if the US and Europe think they can ignore international law to promote their interests, they should know that Iran will respond in kind everywhere it can. “I suggest that the West take seriously our threat to close the Strait of Hormuz,” he said in Tehran’s first response to the SWIFT decision to sever ties with Iranian banks to enforce European sanctions on its nuclear program. A large fleet of 4 US and French nuclear aircraft carriers and a dozen or more minesweepers and mine-hunting helicopters have piled up on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 17 percent of the world’s daily oil supply passes,  and Israeli naval vessels have deployed in the Red Sea. debkafile’s military and intelligence sources estimate Tehran may make good on its threats by trying to drop sea mines in the strategic strait and/or the approaches to the huge Saudi Ras Tanura oil export terminal. A small explosion by an unknown hand hit a major Saudi pipeline between Awamiya and Safwa on March 1. The damage was not great because the saboteurs used a small quantity of explosive but it appeared to be the work of professionals. While Saudi officials denied the incident, photos of a large fire appeared on the Internet. Gulf oil sources suspect that it was a warning from Tehran of the hazards facing the world’s largest oil exporter. - DEBKA.

EXTREME WEATHER: Tornadoes Rip Through Central Nebraska and Southwestern Oklahoma - National Weather Service Warns That Numerous Storms Are Expected Across Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa!

Severe weather in the Midwest spawned at least two tornadoes in central Nebraska that damaged homes and derailed train cars.

Bill Taylor of the National Weather Service says two tornadoes hit Sunday night on the western side of North Platte, Neb., and damaged several homes. In one of those homes, a person who was trapped and injured was rescued. Taylor says at least 15 train cars there derailed. Elsewhere, Taylor says a possible tornado damaged homes north of Valentine, Neb., in northern Nebraska and southern South Dakota. In western Oklahoma, possible tornadoes damaged electrical power lines when they touched down. No injuries were immediately reported. Taylor says the weather is expected to move east Monday, affecting areas from eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, and as far south as Texas. - Washington Post.

Authorities say no injuries have been reported as possible tornadoes moved through southwestern Oklahoma.

Beckham County Emergency Management Director Lonnie Risenhoover says a large storm touched down south of Carter Sunday night and a twister was spotted near Retrop in the southeastern part of the county. In Greer County, emergency management director Glynadee Edwards said a possible tornado damaged power lines near Willow, but officials hadn't received reports of injuries or additional damage. National Weather Service forecaster Daryl Williams says a slow-moving storm system spawned the short-lived tornadoes. The threat of severe weather will linger through Monday, but Williams says it appears tornadoes will be less of a threat for central and eastern sections of the state. A flash flood watch is in effect for 13 counties in eastern Oklahoma. - KOAM.

WATCH: Tornadoes in southwest Oklahoma.

Numerous thunderstorms are expected across North Texas on Monday and Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The severe weather is likely to cause flash flooding and could spin off tornadoes. “This is really the first big spring system of the year,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Shoemaker. Forecasters predict widespread rainfall of 2 to 4 inches and amounts in excess of 6 inches in isolated areas. They issued a flash flood watch that will stay in effect from Monday morning through Tuesday evening. “Two to 4 inches in the metroplex will cause flash floods and high-water rescues and things like that,” Shoemaker said. The chance of thunderstorms was expected to begin late Sunday and increase overnight, mainly west of Interstate 35/35W. The heavy rainfall threat was predicted to be greatest Monday evening and into Tuesday, generally east of Interstate 35/35E, forecasters said. “Large hail and damaging winds will be the main threats with the severe weather, although a tornado or two will also be possible,” a Weather Service bulletin said Sunday. - Dallas News.

An outbreak of life-threatening severe thunderstorms is expected through tonight across the Arklatex.

Some of the storms will become violent enough to spawn tornadoes, while many others will unleash flooding, producing a situation that will be exasperated by additional storms through midweek. The driving force behind this nasty weather was the same potent storm that brought a tornado to California, heavy snow to the Southwest and powerful winds to the western High Plains over the weekend. On Sunday night, the energy from the storm resulted in several strong storms and even tornadoes from the Texas Panhandle to western Nebraska. Today, the focus for severe storms will extend from Texas north through parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. While some storms will be ongoing early in the day from western Texas to Kansas, the worst of the weather will strike this afternoon and evening. Austin, San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth will be among the major metropolitan areas targeted by the storms later today. Hailstones as large as golf balls and destructive wind gusts to 80 mph will be the greatest threat faced from any strong storm, in addition to heavy rain and always dangerous lightning. - AccuWeather.

While it was unseasonably warm across most of the United States Sunday, a late winter storm dropped upward of 5 feet of snow on Arizona's mountains.

KTVK-TV, Phoenix, reported some parts of Arizona's high country had received more than 5 feet of snow with more expected Sunday night. The Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff reported 3 feet, the TV station said. The snow forced the closure of numerous roads and there were reports of many vehicles skidding into ditches and other accidents. Interstate 40 was still closed Sunday evening from Holbrook to Ash Fork, and U.S. 180 was closed west of Arizona Snowbowl, KTVK-TV said. A winter storm warning was in effect from the Mexican border to the northern outskirts of Utah Sunday, the National Weather Service said, at the same time the East and Midwest was experiencing temperatures in the 70s -- 76 in Bangor, Maine -- and even the 80s -- Chicago enjoyed its fifth straight 80-plus day in a row. Rain and wind lingered along the Pacific Coast Sunday as the brunt of the storm pushed east. - UPI.

MONUMENTAL EARTH CHANGES: The New Normal - Britain Adds Volcanoes, Solar Storms to Floods and Terrorism on National Risk Register!

Britain has added volcanoes and solar storms to floods, flu and terrorism on a list of threats to national security. The highest-priority risks to Britain are pandemic influenza, coastal flooding, terrorist attacks and — a new addition — volcanic eruptions in Iceland, according to the recently published 2012 edition of the government’s National Risk Register for Civil Emergencies.

In this photo, smoke plumes from the Grimsvotn volcano, which lies under the Vatnajokull glacier,
about 120 miles, (200 kilometers) east of the capital, Rejkjavik, Iceland.

“Severe space weather” poses a threat to communications systems, electronic circuits and power grids, the list said. Solar storms — eruptions of magnetic energy and charged particles — are part of the sun’s normal 11-year cycle, which is expected to reach a peak next year. The storms can’t hurt people, but can disturb electric grids, GPS systems and satellites. In 1989, a strong solar storm knocked out the power grid in Quebec, cutting electricity to 6 million people. Last week, the strongest solar storm since 2004 passed without major disruptions. Last month, Parliament’s defense committee called on the government to prepare for disruptions to electrical supplies and satellites from electromagnetic pulses — whether caused by the sun or by a nuclear weapon exploded in space. Space war is not included on the British government’s risk register.

“We are becoming more and more reliant on technology, and that technology is becoming more and more delicate,” the committee’s chairman, Conservative lawmaker James Arbuthnot, told Sunday’s edition of The Observer newspaper. “Be afraid, very afraid.” Launched in 2008, the risk register assesses threats that are likely to endanger human welfare, the environment or security in Britain. It is the public version of the National Risk Assessment, which is classified. Volcanic eruptions have been added to the list since the last edition in 2010. Ash from the April 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano grounded European air travel for several days. But the British government says a more serious risk is posed by an effusive, or gas-rich, eruption. The 1783-84 Laki eruption in Iceland sent out noxious gases that spread as smog across Europe, causing crop failures, famine and thousands of deaths. The government said such an eruption “is now one of the highest-priority risks” Britain faces. - Washington Post.

WEATHER ANOMALIES: "The Winter That Wasn't" - The Fourth Warmest Winter on Record for the Lower 48, United States!

The winter of 2011-12 might well earn the title of "the winter that wasn't" in many parts of the United States. The season has entered the books as the fourth warmest on record for the Lower 48, according to an analysis by the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. In January, for instance, daily high-temperature records were broken across the northern Plains. Minot, N.D., posted a 61 degree F. high on Jan. 5, eclipsing the previous record of 58 degrees set in 1906.

Despite several powerful snowstorms that crossed the continent during the season, the extent of the country blanketed with snow was the third smallest since satellites began keeping track 46 years ago. The amount of rain was also below normal. What a contrast with the winter before. Who could forget the seemingly endless conga line of storms that traversed the country? That winter also was somewhat colder than normal, which meant the snow didn't melt significantly between storms, explains Jeff Weber, a meteorologist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo. "This year was dramatically different," he says. Yet both winters began the same way – with La Niña reigning in the tropical Pacific. La Niña is the cooler half of what's called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. El Niño brings warmer-than-normal waters to the equatorial eastern Pacific, where it piles up against the coasts of Central and South America. La Niña brings colder-than-normal waters to the same region. Both alter atmospheric-circulation patterns in ways that are felt far beyond the tropics. Typically, La Niña pushes the eastward-flowing jet stream – which serves as a kind of superhighway for storms – farther north than usual. That pattern appeared last year in a relatively stark boundary between a very wet northern half of the country and a parched southern tier, stretching from Arizona to northern Florida and up into the Carolinas.

This year, even with a somewhat weaker La Niña, the average path of the jet stream has moved farther north still, leaving the northern US drier than normal. Without extensive snow cover to help keep a lid on winter temperatures, the stage was set for a warmer-than-normal winter, weather and climate specialists say. The back-to-back La Niñas have a marked effect on rivers in the Southwest and Southeast, notes Klaus Wolter, a researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Colorado. "We've had 10 cases in the last century of double-dip La Niña events," he says. If the initial event is strong – last year was one of the Top 3 La Niñas in the past 50 years – the second, weaker one tends to bring drier conditions to the Southwest and southern tier. The difference shows up strikingly in river flows, he says. They tend to be even lower coming out of the second event than they were at the end of the first event. "That's what we're looking at now for the Colorado River, and it's also what we're looking at for parts of the Southeast – Florida, Georgia, places like that," Dr. Wolter says. One glaring exception this winter was Texas, where several storms helped moderate the state's severe drought. Elsewhere, the reduced blanket of snow is likely to give areas ravaged by last year's floods along the Mississippi River a much-needed break. A year ago, runoff from heavy snows, combined with intense spring storms, brought record floods in many parts of the Midwest. - ABC News.

WEATHER ANOMALIES: Historic and Unprecedented March Heat Wave Continues in Chicago - 1,200 Records in One Week; Warmest since 1969!

Coming off our warmest St. Patrick's Day in 141 years of records, the historic March heat wave in Chicago continues.

Today will likely become our 5th straight record breaking day and our 5th consecutive 80+ degree day across the Chicagoland area. This record breaking streak has never happened here in Chicago so early in the season. Mostly sunny skies and southerly winds will once again boost temperatures this afternoon into the lower to mid 80s. The record for today is 74 degrees set back in 1969. Over the past week, more than 1,200 records have been set and for the month of March, more than 2,000 records have been set.

This unprecedented March heat wave is as a result of a weather pattern known as a "blocking pattern" where a stubborn high pressure has just been stuck over the eastern two-thirds of the nation. This pattern has been responsible for pumping in heat and Gulf moisture into the Great Plains, Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast regions. This historic March heat wave is expected to continue into the middle of next week before a cooler airmass moves into the region late next week. Until then, there will be the likelihood of more records broken. With the heat and elevated humidity levels also lies the chance for thunderstorms through next week. - Chicago Weather Examiner.

MYSTERY: Symbols of an Alien Sky, Man-Made or Natural Phenomena - The Latest UFO Sightings And Aerial Anomalies Around the World?!

Here are several of the latest unidentified flying objects (UFOs) seen recently across the globe.

Melbourne, Australia - 18th of March, 2012.

Kiev, Ukraine - 17th of March, 2012

Berlin, Germany - 16th of March, 2012.

Midlothian, Scotland - 17th of March, 2012.

Corbières Mountains France - 13th of March, 2012.

Savedalen, Sweden - 14th of March, 2012.

DOOMSDAY 2012 & MARTIAL LAW: Homeland Security Enlists Clergy to Quell Public Unrest If Martial Law Is Declared?!

Could martial law ever become a reality in America?  Some fear any nuclear, biological or chemical attack on U.S. soil might trigger just that.  KSLA News 12 has discovered that the clergy would help the government with potentially their biggest problem: Us.

Charlton Heston's now-famous speech before the National Rifle Association at a convention back in 2000 will forever be remembered as a stirring moment for all 2nd Amendment advocates.  At the end of his remarks, Heston held up his antique rifle and told the crowd in his Moses-like voice, "over my cold, dead hands." While Heston, then serving as the NRA President, made those remarks in response to calls for more gun control laws at the time, those words live on.  Heston's declaration captured a truly American value:  An over-arching desire to protect our freedoms. But gun confiscation is exactly what happened during the state of emergency following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, along with forced relocation.  U.S. Troops also arrived, something far easier to do now, thanks to last year's elimination of the 1878 Posse Comitatus act, which had forbid regular U.S. Army troops from policing on American soil.
    
If martial law were enacted here at home, like depicted in the movie "The Siege", easing public fears and quelling dissent would be critical.  And that's exactly what the 'Clergy Response Team' helped accomplish in the wake of Katrina. Dr. Durell Tuberville serves as chaplain for the Shreveport Fire Department and the Caddo Sheriff's Office.  Tuberville said of the clergy team's mission, "the primary thing that we say to anybody is, 'let's cooperate and get this thing over with and then we'll settle the differences once the crisis is over.'" Such clergy response teams would walk a tight-rope during martial law between the demands of the government on the one side, versus the wishes of the public on the other.  "In a lot of cases, these clergy would already be known in the neighborhoods in which they're helping to diffuse that situation," assured Sandy Davis.  He serves as the director of the Caddo-Bossier Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13.  Dr. Tuberville elaborated, "because the government's established by the Lord, you know.  And, that's what we believe in the Christian faith.  That's what's stated in the scripture." Civil rights advocates believe the amount of public cooperation during such a time of unrest may ultimately depend on how long they expect a suspension of rights might last. - KSLA.

DAWN OF THE DEAD: The Super-Resistant Bacteria - Microorganisms Immune to Antibiotics Could Bring "the End of Modern Medicine as we Know it", WHO Claim?!

Margaret Chan, director general of the WHO, warned that bacteria were starting to become so resistant to common antibiotics that it could bring about “the end of modern medicine as we know it.”

As a result, she claimed, every antibiotic ever developed is at risk of becoming useless, making once-routine operations impossible. This would include many of the breakthrough drugs developed to treat tuberculosis, malaria, bacterial infections and HIV/AIDS, as well as simple treatments for cuts. Speaking to a conference of infectious disease experts in Copenhagen, Dr Chan said we could be entering into a “post-antibiotic era”. Replacement medicines could become more expensive, with longer periods of treatment required to bring about the same effect, she added. Dr Chan said: “Things as common as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee could once again kill. “Antimicrobial resistance is on the rise in Europe and elsewhere in the world. We are losing our first-line antimicrobials. “Replacement treatments are more costly, more toxic, need much longer durations of treatment, and may require treatment in intensive care units.

“For patients infected with some drug-resistant pathogens, mortality has been shown to increase by around 50 per cent. A post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it.” The stark warning comes shortly after the World Health Organisation published a new book warning of the “global crisis”, entitled “The evolving threat of antimicrobial resistance.” It reads: “Bacteria which cause disease react to the antibiotics used as treatment by becoming resistant to them, sooner or later. “A crisis has been building up over the decades, so that today many common and life-threatening infections are becoming difficult or even impossible to treat, sometimes turning a common infection into a life-threatening one.” The paper blamed the current situation largely on the misuse of antibiotics, which are not prescribed properly and used too frequently and for too long. It added that an “inexorable increase in antimicrobial-resistant infections, a dearth of new antibiotics in the pipeline and little incentive for industry to invest in research and development” had led to a need for innovation”. The WHO has now appealed to governments across the world to support research into the antimicrobial resistance. - Telegraph.

WEATHER ANOMALIES: Manitoba Heat Melts More Weather Records - The Warmest Temperature In Several Areas Since 1959!

A spring-like heat wave is melting what remains of winter across southern Manitoba, breaking even more weather records on Sunday.

It was 20 C in Winnipeg as of 1 p.m. CT on Sunday, well above Environment Canada's previous record high for this day - 8.8 C - that was set in 2000. In Brandon, the previous record for warmest temperature on this day was 8.9 C, set in 1959. It was 15 C in the Wheat City early Sunday afternoon, according to Environment Canada. A similar record was broken in Portage la Prairie, Man., where the previous record high was 10.2 C in 1991. It was 15 C on Sunday afternoon, with the mercury expected to reach 23 C.

It was a little cooler in Dauphin, Man., at 8 C as of 1 p.m., but it's still above the previous record high of -6.9 C that was set last year. Environment Canada is forecasting a daytime high in Dauphin of 16 C on Sunday. RCMP issued a warning on Sunday to avoid going on the Red and Assiniboine rivers due to "unsafe ice conditions." Police say ice fishing on the rivers, especially in the Lockport area, is not advised. Even with the current record-busting temperatures, it's officially still winter - the first day of spring is on Tuesday. - Yahoo.