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NorthStar Preparedness Network is a national preparedness organization working to teach others what they need to know to prepare for natural or man-made disasters.
Date / Time: 9/23/2008 4:39 AM UTC
World News
Attack on U.S. Embassy Has Markings of Al Qaeda
Associated Press
San'A, Yemen - Wednesday's attack on the gate of the U.S. Embassy by gunmen and vehicles packed with explosives killed 17 people, including an 18-year-old American woman and six militants.
Yemen's foreign minister says the attack on the U.S. embassy has the markings of Al Qaeda, but investigators are still determining who was behind the deadly assault.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425666,00.html
Gilani Says Pakistan Will Protect Its Soil, U.S. Raids Must End Bloomberg News
Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan's Prime Minister
``The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country will be safeguarded at all costs,'' the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Gilani as telling U.K. Justice Secretary
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBwrGEAKypNc&refer=home
Attack on Army Convoy in Pakistan Kills 6
Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan - A car bomber attacked an army convoy in Pakistan's militant-plagued northwest Saturday, killing three civilians, three soldiers and himself, an army spokesman said.
The dead included a child and five soldiers were wounded, said Maj. Murad Khan. The spokesman said the convoy was headed to Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, part of Pakistan's tribal belt bordering
The U.S. says the semi-autonomous tribal regions have become bases for Taliban and
Washington has pressured Pakistan to crack down on extremism in the areas and has even staged unilateral operations on Pakistani territory, which have angered the Muslim nation.
The Pakistan-U.S. relationship was expected to be a focus of a key speech to parliament by newly elected Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari later Saturday.
Pakistan has said it is doing its best to fulfill its role in the
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425662,00.html
Dozens Reported Dead in Huge Blast at Pakistan Hotel
Islamabad, Pakistan - A huge explosion tore through the heavily guarded Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital Saturday, with some reports of at least 40 dead, a number that is expected to rise.
At least three floors of the hotel are on fire, and a room on the top floor is engulfed in flames. The location of the blast is believed to be near the entrance of the hotel.
The Marriott in Islamabad is a favorite place for foreigners to stay and socialize, and it has previously been targeted by militants.
Pakistani TV reports at least 18 are dead. An Associated Press reporter counted at least nine bodies scattered at the scene. Scores of people, including foreigners, were running out -- some of them stained with blood.
Ahmad Latif, a senior police official, said it was one of the biggest terrorist strikes in Pakistan history.
The blast left a vast crater some 30 feet deep in front of the main building, where flames poured from the windows and rescuers ferried a stream of bloodied bodies from the gutted building.
Ambulances rushed to the area, smoke hovered and the carcasses of vehicles were thrown about. Windows in buildings hundreds of meters away were shattered.
The blast occurred at a time when those observing Ramadan are able to eat and drink after a day of fasting. During this time the streets are full of cars and people.
A security guard at the scene, Mohammad Nasir, said he saw a large truck that suddenly caught fire on its front before suddenly exploding.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425676,00.html
Russia Ratchets Up US Tensions With Arms Sales to Iran and VenezuelaLondon TimesMoscow, Russia - Russia snubbed its nose at the United States today by announcing plans to sell military equipment to both Iran and Venezuela. The head of the state arms exporter said that Russia was negotiating to sell new anti-aircraft systems to Iran despite American objections.
Russia Lines Up With Syria, Iran Against America and the WestDEBKAMoscow, Russia - Moscow announced renovation had begun on the Syrian port of Tartus to provide Russia with its first long-term naval presence on the Mediterranean. As the two naval chiefs talked in Moscow, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki in the Russian capital for talks on the completion of the Bushehr nuclear power plant by the end of the year.DEBKA file’s military sources report that the commander of the Russian, Navy Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky, and his Syrian counterpart, Gen. Taleb al Barri, spent all Friday working on details for the outfitting of Tartus port to accommodated increased Russian fleet Mediterranean missions not far from Israel’s shores. Mottaki’s unannounced visit to the Russian capital focused on the timetable for Atomstroiexport to finish work on the Bushehr reactor after five years of delays.Moscow has sharpened its tone in comments aimed at the West and the US in particular. President Dmitiry Medvedev said Friday that Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia was the equivalent for Russia of the 9/11 attack on America.
Even if Georgia had become a NATO member, he said, he would not have thought twice about ordering the Russian army to go in. Prime minister Vladimir Putin, after putting Moscow’s case on Georgia to the Western media, warned the US that stationing a missile defense shield near Russia’s borders would start an arms race in Europe. There was no basis for a new Cold War, he said.DEBKA file’s sources interpret Friday’s events as indicating that Russia’s leaders have determined not to declare a Cold War in Europe but to open a second anti-Western front in the Middle East. In the second half of August, DEBKA file and DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s analysts discussed this re-orientation at length (Russia’s Second Front: Iran-Syria), disclosing that Moscow had decided to use its ties with Tehran and Damascus to challenge the United State and the West in the Middle East as well as the Caucasian, the Black Sea and the Caspian region.The traumatic impact of the Georgia conflict on Russia’s rulers came through in the remarks of an unnamed Kremlin official quoted by the Russian media this week: ?Everything has changed since the war with Georgia. What seemed impossible before is more than possible now when our friends become our enemies and our enemies our friends. Russia will respond. A number of possibilities are being considered, including hitting America where it hurts most ? Iran and Syria.?In aligning with Tehran and Damascus, Moscow stands not only against America but also Israel. This volatile world region is undergoing cataclysmic changes at a time when Israel is virtually without a fully competent prime minister and key political and military decision-making by the rest of the government is at a standstill.
North Korea Will Restart Nuclear Reactor
Panmunjom, North Korea - North Korea upped the ante in the standoff over its nuclear program, confirming Friday that it is restoring a key atomic reactor and saying it no longer cares to be removed from Washington's terrorism blacklist.
A disarmament-for-aid pact offered removal from the U.S. list of nations sponsoring terrorism — along with energy aid — if
Friday's announcement was the first North Korean confirmation that the regime is undoing the disarmament process begun in November 2007 as part of a nuclear deal hashed out during talks with
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425181,00.html
North Korea Nuclear Deal Falling Apart
Washington, DC - A rare foreign policy success for the Bush administration is imploding as North Korea backs away from pledges to abandon nuclear weapons, pretty much as the president's critics on the right had warned.
Distracted by an economic crisis at home and a series of diplomatic setbacks abroad, President Bush and his top aides are watching the collapse of a painstakingly negotiated process that just months ago seemed on track to produce a major international success and perhaps bring a final end to the Korean War before they leave office.
With time running out on the administration and questions about the health of dictator Kim Jong Il, North Korea has stopped cooperating with the six-nation effort to rid it of atomic bombs and is moving to restart a reactor it disabled with great fanfare in June. It has also tested a missile engine in violation of U.N. sanctions, officials say.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iplfPvIKEHbAUiY7XjLwrQ6MdQvQD93A78C80
Togo: Recent Bird Flu Outbreak is Deadly H5N1
Lome, Togo - Tests performed after an outbreak of bird flu in the West African nation of Togo have confirmed the presence of the virulent H5N1 strain of the virus, state media said Monday.
The virus was detected at a poultry farm housing more than 4,500 birds in the village of Agbata outside the capital, Lome, according to the government.
The presence of the deadly strain raises special concern because it has the potential to infect humans. At least 235 people have died of bird flu worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.
However, the disease remains hard for humans to catch, with most cases linked to contact with infected birds. But scientists worry the virus could mutate to a form that spreads more easily among people.
Togo state television reported the lab tests were carried out by experts in Ghana and Italy after the outbreak was discovered last week.
The Health Ministry says "precautionary measures have been taken to contain the situation."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ijHXcssRTwpilkrwuURZECPGZ_bgD937NK9G0
Outbreak Warning Over 'Community Superbug'
The London Telegraph
London, England - Professor Hugh Pennington, a leading microbiologist, said that the Government's infection watchdog did not have enough staff to monitor the spread of the bug.
He raised the warning over the PVL (Panton-Valentine leukocidin) infection, which is capable of killing previously healthy youngsters within 48 hours.
The bacteria, which attacks the body by destroying white blood cells in the immune system, can combine with MRSA to become even more deadly.
Professor Pennington told BBC Radio 4 that the Government's Health Protection Agency (HPA) was not equipped to deal with the threat.
He said: "If we do neglect these bugs, we neglect them at our peril.
"The scandal here is that we know what to do, the technology's there to spot these things as they're appearing and we know how to react to them.
"It would be quite wrong if we allow these things to develop."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/health/2969335/Outbreak-warning-over-community-superbug.html
China Detains 19 as Toxic Formula Sickens Hundreds of Infants
The New York Times
Shanghi, China - China said Saturday that 19 people had been detained by the police as part of an investigation into how baby formula had become contaminated with an industrial chemical. The formula is implicated in the death of one infant, and at least 432 others have been afflicted with kidney problems.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/business/worldbusiness/15milk.html?ref=asia
Formula Sickened Many More, China Says
Beijing, China - China’s health minister on Wednesday reported a third death from contaminated baby formula and said more than 1,300 babies remained hospitalized, including 158 for acute kidney failure.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/world/asia/17milk.html?ref=world
Local News
Arctic Ocean Ice Retreats Less Than Last Year
Washington, DC - The annual summer retreat of the sea ice cloaking the
Still, the scientists, at the
This summer also was notable because scientists confirmed that two fabled shipping routes, the Northwest Passage over Canada and the Northern Sea Route over Russia, were briefly open simultaneously.
The ice, which is now expanding as the sun dips toward the horizon for the winter, hit a minimum extent of about 1.74 million square miles on Sept. 12, said Walter Meier, a research scientist at the center. In 2007, the minimum extent was 1.59 million square miles, he said.
Federal biologists have said that this long-term ice retreat is the main reason they had concluded that polar bears, which hunt seals from the ice, deserved protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Bush administration listed the species in May as threatened with extinction.
Global warming from the buildup of human-generated greenhouse gases almost certainly contributes to the Arctic ice retreats, according to a host of Arctic specialists. But many say natural variations in Arctic winds and cloud cover probably had a role in shaping the particularly large ice losses in the past two summers.
Dr. Meier said that small variations from one year to the next were less significant than the long-term trajectory, which remained toward progressively more open water. “It’s hard to see the summer ice coming back in any substantial way,” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/science/earth/17ice.html?ref=world
Panic Grips Credit MarketsFinancial TimesWashington, DC - The panic in world credit markets reached historic intensity on Wednesday, prompting a flight to safety of the kind not seen since the second world war.Barometers of financial stress hit record peaks across the world. Yields on short-term US Treasuries hit their lowest level since the London Blitz, while gold had its biggest one-day gain ever in dollar terms. Lending between banks, in effect, stopped.
E. Coli Outbreak at MSUWLNS News
Michigan State University e-mailed a warning to its students and staff Tuesday telling them to protect themselves from e-coli. Ten students have become sick since last Monday. Seven remain in the hospital. Health officials think they became ill after eating tainted food.
http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=9020861&nav=0RbQ
FBI Needs More Powers To Combat Threats
NPR
Washington, DC - FBI Director Robert Mueller defended his agency during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Before the hearing began, lawmakers had said they intended to get to the bottom of a number of issues facing the agency. They wanted to grill the director about new investigative powers he was seeking for the FBI, and they wanted details on the investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94687783
And for 2 news stories on the outside of emergency preparedness but of interest:
Sharia Law Gets 'OK' in Britain
The Sun UK
London, England - Islamic law has been ushered into Britain by the back door.
Ministers have quietly given Sharia courts power to rule on Muslim civil cases.
These range from divorce and financial disputes to domestic violence. But furious Tories said the step “pandered to Islamic extremists”. MP Philip Davies said: “There can be only one legal system — British law. This will lead to a segregated society.”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1687576.ece
Nebraska Plant Fires Muslims Amid Prayer Dispute
Omaha, Nebraska - Officials at a meatpacking plant in Grand Island fired at least 86 workers Friday after they walked off the job amid a dispute over prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the company said.
However, a Muslim leader and one of the fired workers disputed the plant's numbers, saying 150 people had lost their jobs at the JBS Swift & Co. facility, which employs about 2,500 people, not including management. About a fifth of them are Muslim.
Muslim workers — mostly of Somali background — have been asking for accommodations with break times to allow for prayer at sunset. The issue led to walkouts this week — not only from Muslims but also from non-Muslims, who said such accommodations are preferential treatment.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/world/09/20/0920firing.html
And now for today's show:
How about this hurricane season? I've been watching the National Hurricane Center's updates and there are no current storms in the Atlantic. There are two tropical depressions in the southern Gulf of Mexico, one with the potential to turn into a Tropical Storm but it looks like it'll jump the Mexican peninsula and move into the Pacific or break up when it hits land. There's nothing threatening the continental US.
Clean up still continues in Texas and all through the Midwest. We have family in Ohio who are still without power but it's slowly being restored.
One aspect of preparedness is mitigation. That's assessing your risk to home, life and limb and then taking precautions to lessen it's impact on you. Part of that really is looking at where you live, the possible, potential dangers that you can prepare for and doing it.
There are some things you can't predict like terrorism, war, outbreaks, acts of God but you can still prepare for them. General preparedness and a knowledge of what you have around you and how to use it will prepare you to survive most any crisis. But like anything it takes educating yourself and being aware of your surroundings.
If you live in tornado alley then it's your job to watch the weather service sites during dangerous times of the year and assessing whether or not a storm is dangerous enough to either cause you to evacuate or just move to the cellar. At the very least a threat should prompt you to fill up water reserves, find batteries, lighters and candles and locate the first aid kit. You should also load up the car because if the house isn't standing then the car might still be there.
Here in earthquake region I check the Pacific NW Seismic website daily. I can't predict an earthquake but I can watch trends and patterns and note if there is a spike in severity of the quakes that could lead to "the big one".
During hurricane season, those along the coasts that are normally threatened should be watching the National Hurricane Center's website and following tropical depressions and storms in the areas to see if they're increasing in intensity and being upgraded to potential dangers. You should be checking the vehicle for evacuation kits, making sure you have lumber to board up the windows, moving important stuff to high ground, i.e. upstairs to safety, etc.
Californians should asses potential dangers before every fire season. Cut back shrubbery, make sure they have evacuation kits, check water lines, try to landscape around the home with fire-resistant landscaping and more.
The mitigation is ALL UNDER YOUR OWN CONTROL. You don't have to move from these areas but know that the dangers are there and at least mitigate some of your own danger and damage.
Now the financial crisis has been in the news for the past week. The ups and downs of the market can be terrifying if you don't understand it but it's your responsibility to try to understand it on at least a level that let's you make a conscious decision. It's not okay to be uneducated in this day and age. If you have a real handicap that's one thing but being lazy because your favorite sitcom is on is not an excuse to be unprepared. There is nothing more important than the safety of you, your family, your home and our nation.
Mitigating financial crises can be as simple as saving some cash at home. Paying down debts, not buying nonsense items. Start shopping the sales and stock up on food and needed items like soap, medical items, prescriptions. Go to your doctor and ask for a 90-day prescription so that you have some backup.
It’s not a time to panic. I have a 401K and I have an very aggressive portfolio. The one thing I don’t watch is the daily ups and downs of the market. I know that when the market sucks I’m buying stocks at a lower price and when it’s good I’m not getting as much for my money so I’m okay with the market. I am not okay with the failing banks and institutions and the government bailout with my tax dollars. If my bank were failing I would be pulling my money out whether it’s protected or not because I need access to it. I am by no means rich and I don’t use credit cards so I don’t have a back up other than cash but that’s my situation.
With the current world events it’s your responsibility to pay attention to potential threats, especially if you travel. The US State Department’s website as daily updates on travel safety for US citizens and you should make yourself aware of these things.
Ignorance of world events, potential threats and dangers and the world around you get’s you injured or killed.
There is a whole world of threats and enemies surrounding us and I’m not trying to use scare tactics or be a war monger. I’m just stating the facts. The US stands alone despite our allies and our enemies are now banding together. Russia, Iran, Syria, China, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba and now even little old Bolivia are all having talks, selling arms, allowing each other to build up on their soil and plotting. This isn’t paranoia is fact based on intelligent and available research and it’s time people realize that terrorism and war and emergency preparedness threats the same as a tornado, hurricane and earthquake are.
We can’t predict some of the threats that are out there but we can assess the dangers we do know about, educate, train and prepare for what we do know and all of that will carry over when we need it. Better to know something and not use it then have something, not know how to use and need it for life or death.
This is all under your own control and remember, fear conscripts its own armies and takes its own prisoners.
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