Omaha.com | Fall foliage served with a side of … snow
Fall this year is flaky.Nebraska is looking pretty white on this map today!
Meteorologists are predicting a blast of cold air will sweep across Nebraska and western Iowa this weekend, leaving light to heavy snow in its path.
National Severe Weather Map LinkNOTE THE 10 - 15 INCHES OF RAINFALL OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS
Heavy rain and thunderstorms could produce rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches with localized higher amounts, which could lead to flash flooding. (These areas have received 10 to 15 inches of rainfall over the past few weeks and grounds are saturated.) FULL STORY
Off the cuff, most meteorologists would say that there is a 10:1 ratio of snow to water (meaning that an inch of liquid water would result in 10 inches of snow). However, wet snows can result in ratios as low as 3:1 and very dry snows can result in ratios of 30:1 (in extreme cases, the ratio can be upwards of 100:1). So much depends on the wind and temperature profile of the atmosphere. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center
NEWS THAT GIVES NEBRASKA BAD NAME AROUND THE PLANET
Mad cow fear: Japan suspends beef from US plantTOKYO — Japan has suspended beef shipments from an American meat-packing plant after finding cattle parts banned under an agreement to prevent the spread of mad cow disease, the agriculture ministry said Saturday.
Japanese quarantine inspectors found bovine spinal columns in one of 732 boxes sent by Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., which arrived in Japan last month, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in a statement. The box contained 35 pounds (16 kilograms) of chilled short loin with spinal bones.
The suspension only affects Tyson's factory in Nebraska, one of 46 meat-packing plants approved to export beef to Japan.
The Japanese ministry also asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate how the box containing the banned parts ended up in Japan.
Japan banned all U.S. beef imports in 2003 after the first case of mad cow disease was discovered in the United States. Japan resumed buying American beef in 2006 after a bilateral trade agreement setting new safety standards.
Mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a degenerative nerve disease in cattle. In humans, eating meat products contaminated with the illness is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal malady.
Under the bilateral trade agreement, U.S. exporters must remove spinal columns, brain tissue and other parts considered linked to the mad cow disease. U.S. beef shipments to Japan must also come only from cattle age 20 months or younger, which are believed to pose less of a risk.
Washington has repeatedly criticized Japan for its tough import restrictions, which authorities say have no scientific basis.
U.S. officials have urged Japan to allow imports of beef from cattle aged up to 30 months, a widely used safety standard elsewhere.
NASA MOON BOMBING NEWS
One of the best comments I've ran across about NASA bombing of the Moon:
- BillCorbett: "Take THAT, moon! Maybe you'll think twice next time before turning us into werewolves."
- Help Save the Moon , The Huffington Post
- NASA Violates Space Law, Provokes Aliens , Washington Examiner
- Moon Bombing Is Bad , Boing Boing
Since India had already determined water on the moon - did we bomb their base there?
DID THEY REALLY NEED TO HIRE ROCKET SCIENTISTS FROM THE JET PROPULSION LAB TO FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM IS EARTHQUAKES?
WHY CALIFORNIA IS BROKE - SUPPORTING GLOBALIST INTERESTS?
Outgoing Department of Water and Power head David Nahai's departure coincided with a loss of confidence in his ability to head the utility from all over City Hall.But what may have cinched his end, was when the water mains started bursting last month. They haven't stopped yet (one broke in Harbor Gateway this weekend). Even Angelenos unfamiliar with his name started having bad thoughts about the person who clearly wasn't managing the utility well enough to keep the streets from flooding during a water shortage. Nahai may as well have been standing atop the firetruck that got sucked into one of the sinkholes created by the breaks. Just days before his resignation to join Bill Clinton's Climate Initiative, Nahai sat in the hot seat before the Los Angeles City Council. Council members wanted to know why pipes are popping all over town; Nahai didn't have an answer.
(NOTE: Globalists don't hire based on brains - this guy is NOW going to work for globalist Bill Clinton's Climate Initiative)
The William J. Clinton Foundation launched the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) to create and advance solutions to the core issues driving climate change. We take a holistic approach, addressing the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions and the people, policies, and practices that impact them. Working with governments and businesses around the world, CCI focuses on three strategic program areas: increasing energy efficiency in cities, catalyzing the large-scale supply of clean energy, and working to stop deforestation.
Preparedness Tip: Quakes are hitting in unusual places - make sure you also have some water in case there are water pipe problems in your neighborhood.The investigation into what could be causing a sharp rise in “major blowouts” of Los Angeles water mains has expanded to examine whether tectonic activity might be playing a role.
The L.A. Department of Water and Power have asked scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for help. As it happened, JPL officials were already evaluating ground movement in the Los Angeles Basin because of a several recent minor earthquakes.
Examining the timing and location of the breaks, JPL scientists notice “some deviation from the normal range” of ground movement in L.A. in the last 100 days, said Andrea Donnellan, a geophysicist at JPL. FULL STORY
PICTURES
Hot air balloons filled the sky during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M., Thursday. (Susan Montoya Bryan/Associated Press)
A couple of micro pigs stand next to a cat. The pigs which grow to just 14" tall are the latest 'must have' pet and one can be yours for £700 Picture: GEOFF ROBINSON
Fishermen near Ketchikan, Alaska, watch a group of up to six humpback whales gorged on herring Picture: AP
NEWS ABOUT ANOTHER BANK IN LINCOLN
Lincoln Federal hit with regulatory order
Another local bank has been hit with an extraordinary regulatory order, the fifth institution so far this year.
The Office of Thrift Supervision issued a cease-and-desist order to Lincoln Federal Savings Bank, alleging unsound banking practices, including operating with inadequate capital, having too many bad loans and not having adequate internal oversight.
Like many of the other local banks that have come under heightened regulatory scrutiny since the first of the year, Lincoln Federal has run into trouble due to defaults on both residential and commercial mortgages.
The order lays out several corrective actions the bank needs to take, including:
- Maintaining capital ratios higher than what is normally required;
- Hiring an outside consultant to evaluate the bank's management;
- Not paying dividends, bonuses or severance payments without approval from the OTS, and;
- Not expanding its base of assets, typically loans, beyond interest earned on deposits, without permission.
Bill Ruberry, a spokesman for the OTS, said the agency does not comment on enforcement actions.
"The order will have to speak for itself," he said.
Leo Schumacher, president of Lincoln Federal and a member of its board of directors, said the bank has already taken action to allay some of the OTS's concerns.
He said the bank has hired four additional loan officers and has boosted its internal controls, though he declined to offer specifics.
Schumacher said the bank also has maintained capital levels that exceed the higher levels mandated by the OTS.
He said the problems have been predominantly with residential mortgages, and they have started showing up in the past year.
"We've seen some tough economic times, and some of our borrowers have struggled to make payments," Schumacher said.
Lincoln Federal's second-quarter financial reports filed with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation show the trend.
The bank's delinquent loans (those 30 to 90 days past due), jumped to nearly $7.5 million as of June 30, compared with just over $5.4 million at the same time last year.
Its noncurrent loans, or those more than 90 days past due, skyrocketed from $399,000 on June 30, 2008, to $5.9 million on June 30, 2009. That sent the bank's percentage of noncurrent loans as a percentage of total loans soaring to more than 2 percent, up from just 0.13 percent a year ago.
Property repossessed by the bank more than doubled from June 30, 2008 to June 30 2009 -- from just over $5.7 million to nearly $12.7 million.
Despite the deteriorating financial condition of its mortgage portfolio, Bauer Financial, a private company that rates the health of thousands of U.S. banks, gives Lincoln Federal three stars on a five-star scale, which equates to an average rating.
Lincoln Federal joins four other banks with local ties that have come under regulatory orders from their oversight agencies this year.
TierOne Bank signed a supervisory agreement with the OTS in January, a less-severe regulatory action than a cease-and-desist order.
In March, the FDIC issued a cease-and-desist order against Farmers Bank, a small Lincoln bank. Another small Lincoln bank, City Bank & Trust, received a cease-and-desist order from the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance in August.
In September, Nebraska Bankers' Bank, a Lincoln-based affiliate of Jefferson City Mo.-based Midwest Independent Bancshares Inc., received a cease-and-desist order from the Federal Reserve.
One Nebraska bank, Sherman County Bank, has failed this year. It was closed in February, with its deposits taken over by Heritage Bank of Wood River and its loans taken over by the FDIC.
CALIFORNIA DROUGHT UPDATE
Schwarzenegger Holds State Hostage
FIGHTING FIRE NEWSEast Bay Express - 2 hours agoAmong the issues being discussed is whether to build more dams and a peripheral canal that would steer freshwater around the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The governor also wants to take more fresh water from the delta and send it to farmers in the southern Central Valley who are suffering from the drought. But environmentalists say such a move would destroy the delta's already collapsing salmon and smelt populations and make the estuary less hospitable to a host of other species.
MY IDEA: USE GOATS SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO RAKE LEAVES IN AUTUMN!Earth Talk
Issue date: 10/8/09 - "Goats help prevent forest fires by eating the dry stuff before the fire season strikes," says Lani Malmberg, owner of Colorado-based Ewe4ic (pronounced "u-for-ik") Ecological Services, which uses goats to gradually and naturally remove weeds and return lands to a healthier more natural state.
Goats have been called in for fire mitigation purposes across parts of California, Arizona and other drought-prone parts of the western U.S. In the Oakland and Berkeley hills regions of California's Bay Area, where the combined effects of drought and a bark beetle infestation have killed thousands of acres of trees, public agencies and residents have enlisted the help of goat herds to suppress weeds and keep down the fire risk in the process for what remains of the area's forest cover.
"The goat clearance scheme is one of the key reasons the Bay Area hasn't had a recurrence of a catastrophic fire in decades," says Tom Klatt, former manager of the Office of Emergency Preparedness at UC Berkeley and the author of UC Berkeley's 2007 Fire Mitigation Program Annual Report.
Bet you didn't know goats climbed trees ... they're clever creatures!FEDERALIZATION OF AMERICA'S POLICE
White House strips immigration policing powers from Arizona sheriff
--Sheriff Joe Arpaio has previously been attacked by critics for racial profiling among illegal immigrants 09 Oct 2009 A controversial Arizona sheriff known for taking a hard line against illegal immigrants has been stripped of some of his powers in what he described as a political move by the Obama administration. Joe Arpaio, a gruff lawman who styles himself as America's toughest sheriff, has won acclaim from US anti-immigrant forces for his relentless pursuit of mostly Hispanic illegal immigrants in Maricopa county, Arizona, a fast-growing county of 4 million people that is home to Phoenix, the nation's fifth largest city.
TENT CITY NEWS
TimesOnline.co.uk | Al-Qaeda finds a foothold amid Yemen’s poverty, fighting and corruption
Al-Qaeda militants are establishing a safe haven in Yemen, exploiting the poverty, fighting and corruption that is causing chaos in much of the country. “The threat level from al-Qaeda is now critical,” one diplomat said. Analysts believe that al-Qaeda is recruiting disaffected Yemeni youths and bringing foreign militants to the country to attend its training camps....
FULL STORY
BAIL OUT OF FHA (FEDERAL HOUSE ADMINISTRATION) IS LOOMING
U.S. Mortgage Backer May Need Bailout, Experts SayWHERE WERE THE BANKS ON FDIC's BANK FAILURE FRIDAY?09 Oct 2009 A year after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac teetered, industry executives and Washington policy makers are worrying that another government mortgage giant could be the next housing domino. Problems at the Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees mortgages with low down payments, are becoming so acute that some experts warn the agency might 'need' a federal bailout.
VACCINES ONLY BENEFIT BIG PHARMA'S BANK ACCOUNTS
Doctors express concern that FluMist vaccine may actually spread the swine flu. Why? Because it contains live swine-flu viruses.
Hospitals in Colorado and elsewhere are shunning the FluMist H1N1 vaccine, a nasal spray that contains live swine flu virus, because of fears it could infect people with weakened immune systems and underlying health conditions.
Hepatitis-B vaccine triples the risk of autism in infant boys. Mercola 2009 Oct 8
THERE ARE GOOD COPS OUT THERE
From a public forum I visit
I was really tired and it was late 10:30 p.m. and I had just finished working my usual 11 hour day. I was behind another car and just kind of in auto-pilot. Usually, I try to be a little more aware of my surroundings, not this time. Well, I got lit up by a cop. Pulled over. This guy is hands down the nicest cop I've ever had the pleasure to interact with. He told me there were a couple of issues. He clocked me going 50 in a 30 in town. Clocked me going 50 in a 40 out of town. I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. My tags were dead. And my taillight was out! Oh! and I didn't have my registration with me. I was like... yeah, just lock me up. I could use the rest at this point! He says welp, I'm going to have to do something or I'll get in trouble. So, if you don't mind a little wait, I'll have to write up a couple of warnings. I was stunned into just nodding my head. It took about five minutes or so... he comes back with the pad for me to sign. I sign and hand it back. He says, oh, there's another one, hope you don't mind. I sign it. As he's ripping my copies out of the pad, he says, these are for you. You can take them home and use them as firestarters! I could have kissed him! There is hope for us yet.
NEBRASKA'S RELIGION NEWS
Huskers need to build on comeback win
FOXSports.comAt 6-4 and 300 pounds, he does things defensive tackles shouldn't be doing, like dropping back into coverage and making tide-turning picks. ...
THE PONZI SCHEME OF DERIVATIVES - ALSO IN GOLD
THE DYNAMICS OF THE GOLD & SILVER MARKETS?….EXPLOSIVE!
This basic scam is at the center of modern gold market manipulation. Paper substitutes for gold are sold instead of real gold through derivatives, futures, pooled accounts, ETF’s, gold certificates etc. I estimate that each actual physical ounce of gold has been effectively sold 20 times over or more. To be able to maintain this Ponzi scheme some real gold is required because some investors or jewelers demand real gold. For the scam to be sustained there must always be plentiful physical gold for those who want it. This physical supply has been met from mine supply and central bank leasing and selling. The market is in effect a giant inverted pyramid with a huge paper gold market being supported above a small amount of physical gold at the tip of the inverted pyramid. The scam can continue until there are indications of a shortage of physical gold. If the twenty or so claimants of each oz of real gold demand their gold then there is the potential for a squeeze like has never been seen before in history..........
My news blog: The Cave
