Earth End – New Beginning

    Maleekie Ambularie: Eh, ‘Houston we have a problem!’  While we tell everyone to get immunization and booster shots to prevent Whooping Cough, politicians have so cut health funding, there is no money to pay for these shots.

Dr. Ad Versery: Oh, come on!  Surely you jest.  This is not the Dark Ages when plagues came through and killed millions of people. Surely, the richest country in the world can provide money to prevent epidemics from communicable diseases such as whooping cough, measles, mumps, flu, and the like.  Ha! Amburlarie, you just tell the funniest jokes.

Maleekie Ambularie:  No, no doc.  Really, I’m not joking.  Read Kirk Johnson’s article––”Cutbacks Hurt a State’s Response to Whooping Cough”––in the Money and Policy Section of the New York Times.  He reports:

“The response to the [whooping cough] epidemic has been hampered by the recession, which has left state and local health departments on the front lines of defense weakened by years of sustained budget cuts.”

And in “Whooping Cough Epidemic in WA Related to Budget Cuts,” alternet.org stresses, “Expect to see ever increasing outbreaks of infectious diseases in the years to come that we once believed had been virtually eradicated.”

Moreover, Joan McCarter of dailykos.com points out that bills are moving through Congress “to repeal money in the Affordable Care Act that has maintained Medicaid and CHIP funding, and a new program that has rewards states for connecting eligible children to coverage. . . . it zeroes out the Prevention and Public Health fund in the health care law.” 

Dr. Ad Versery:  Hmm.  Maybe you are right Maleekie.  Wasn’t there a post in worldscollide-Christianity-culture-endoftime.com, about medical workers horrified because poor funding has destroyed Greece’s health system.

Oh my,  are you possibly saying that the same thing could happen in our own country, the great U.S.?  We can’t let that happen, Maleekie.  People must write their politicians immediately.  Some of those Congressmen and Senators are doctors themselves.  Of course, they know that public health funding is vital.  For our nation to continue to be strong, it must be healthy as well!

How can we let children die from preventable diseases like Whooping Cough, when we send men to the moon, and constantly enter massive wars in faraway countries?  Remember, used Christian Bibles warn: “But if any provide not for his own, . . . he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (1 Timothy 5: 8).”

What is going on in the European Union (EU) is mindful of the ending of that nursery rhyme, “All the Kings Horses and All the Kings Men Couldn’t Put Humpty Dumpty Together Again!” Or to put it another way, German Chancellor Angela Merkel may be offering ‘too little, too late!’

    But in this case, if ‘the king’ falls, the crash will send a fearful jolt, not only throughout Europe, but in the rest of the world, including the United States.  But voters in Greece have made it clear that they can no longer suffer austerity.

In their article for The New York Times, “Softening, Merkel Says She Is Open to Stimulus for Greece,” Nicholas Mulish and Melissa Eddy write that Merkel is “ready to discuss stimulus programs to get the Greek economy growing again.”  And also that she is “committed to keeping Greece in the euro zone.”

Of course, they also point out that this new approach is quite different from the hard line that the Chancellor took both before and after the Greek people rejected their nation’s major parties that had agreed with austerity.  Merkel had insisted that Greece either makes the next loan payment due or leave the EU.

Obviously, the Chancellor now sees the political ramifications of what Greece’s exit will mean to the dozens of other nations in the EU, that are likewise struggling through austerity.  Now she knows other countries are also near the edge.

Now Greeks hurriedly run to ATM machines to get their savings in euros out of banks before their funds are devalued in any new Greek economic system.  Bloomberg estimates that as of today “Anxious Greeks have withdrawn as much as 700 million euros ($893 million) since the inconclusive May 6 election.”

To many commentators, the run on the banks signals Greece unraveling. But to the American economist Paul Krugman, Greece’s collapse will soon be followed by complete disintegration of the euro [i.e. and of the European Union?]:

“1. Greek euro exit . . . 2. Huge withdrawals from Spanish and Italian banks, as depositors try to move their money to Germany. 3a. . . . with banks forbidden to transfer deposits out of country and limits on cash withdrawals. 3b. Alternatively, . . . huge draws on ECB credit to keep the banks from collapsing.

“4a.  Germany has a choice. Accept huge indirect public claims on Italy and Spain, plus a drastic revision. . .— basically, to give Spain in particular any hope . . both guarantees on its debt to hold borrowing costs down and a higher eurozone inflation target to make relative price adjustment possible; or: 4b. End of the euro.”

Our blogs stress that these events will result in economic tsunami, not just for Europe, but for the United States . . . and they will ultimately lead to World War III.  These events signal it is time to open Christian prayer books and pray!  As Apostle Paul instructs:  “I exhort . . . that, . . . prayers . . . be made . . . for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life . . .(1 Timothy 2:1-2).”

It is now beyond doubt:  The highly contagious disease, Whooping Cough, medically known as Pertussis, has made a strong comeback in the United States, and in other parts of the world.

      Media still has not given the Whooping Cough epidemic in the U.S. more than passing attention, and the disease continues to spread.  This is particularly true in areas where, for ethical or religious reasons, large groups of people refuse the vaccinations that can prevent this fast-spreading communicable disease.

CBS News did air the story of Heidi Bruch of Seattle to show why adults should get booster shots:  “Heidi Bruch of Seattle did everything she was told during her pregnancy. Unfortunately, that didn’t include getting a booster shot against whooping cough. She caught the disease and passed it to her two-week-old daughter, Caroline.”  After a month in the hospital, the child recovered.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) insists that adults over the age of 18 need at least one booster shot.  The CDC now recommends that pregnant women like Heidi be vaccinated against whooping cough in order to:  1) Protect the mother; and 2)  Pass antibodies along to a child in the womb to help newborns there too young to be vaccinated.  CDC also asks that preteens and teens, in addition to adults, also get booster shots.

Carol Everhart Roper, science writer for the Philadelphia Examiner,  tells the story of her son, who has asthma, and is allergies.  The boy, who was in the sixth grade at the time, had to go through two medical tests before Pertussis was diagnosed.  The disease and diagnoses were complicated by the asthma.

“It was a full ten months before he was better. That is longer than average, but know that this disease isn’t something that will pass in a week or two.  I lost my job because I stayed home to care for him,” she writes.

According to tvnz.co.nz, New Zealand is struggling with a Whooping Cough epidemic as well.  And officials there are also telling adults to booster shots.  Dr. Nikki Turner from the Immunization Advisory Center of New Zealand explains:  “A lot of people do not realize that they can catch whooping cough more than once, which can be passed on to young children.”

She told TVNZ that families should employ the “cocoon strategy,” with both adults and children getting the shots.   “The problem is that children who are younger than five, six months, are still at risk of whooping cough until they’ve got protection on board from their vaccinations,” she says.

In addition to getting shots and boosters, we ask our readers to pray for life and healing in The Name of, and through the Blood of, Jesus.  Remember what church banners promise:  “Faith can move mountains (1 Corinthians 13: 2).”

Politicians and economists around the world are keeping a wary eye on Greece.   They know that a misstep in Greece could topple the already fragile European economy, plunging the continent into a deep recession, and threatening financial stability in every country, including the United States.

While European leaders outside of Greece may disregard the possibilities of Greece jumping out of the euro financial system, leaders within the country fear rioting and chaos on the streets, in addition to collapse in their financial markets.

Theodoros Pangalos, leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement and Vice President of Greece, told England’s Sunday Telegraph that he is “very much afraid of what is going to happen” in view of last week’s elections when voters rejected Germany’s austerity plan.

Pangalos is particularly concerned about the fascists tendencies of police officers who may soon have to confront violent rioters in the streets:  “In the places where the police voted, the fascists got 25 per cent.  They are a serious threat. They have used violence already – you don’t know where it will stop.”

Then the Greek leader gets even more ominous:  “You know how it happened in Germany––it started with the Jews, then the Communists, then everybody––it could happen here.

“This is the country, after the Soviet Union and Germany itself, with the biggest percentage of Second World War casualties in its population. We will be in wild bankruptcy, out-of-control bankruptcy. The state will not be able to pay salaries and pensions. This is not recognized by the citizens. We have got until June before we run out of money.”

The Market Oracle adds that the entire eurozone system could disintegrate:  “Greece exiting the Euro-zone would crash the banking system as banks across the euro-zone start to fail domino style as a consequence of their direct exposure to . . . Greek debt . . . which will put immediate pressure on all of the other weak Euro-zone members, with Spain and Portugal the next targets for exit . . .”

But, he adds, if Greece were not in the eurozone, it could devalue its currency, stop importing services from Germany that it cannot afford, and resume its tourism export market.  In the end, he says, Greece would be much better off.

What seemed to be a good idea––open trade, free borders and nation equal to nation in respect and collaboration––is nearing collapse because of Germany’s dominance.  History is repeating itself.  Thus, Bible prophecies tell us to prepare for World War III and the last Hitler, or the coming anti-Christ:  “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antiChrist shall come . . . (1 John 2: 18).

       Children and adults in most parts of the U.S. are being exposed to the highly contagious disease known as whooping cough.  This week, the disease killed a 9-week old baby girl from Idaho.  And earlier, a child in New Mexico also died from the disease.  But so far, federal officials have not declared a national emergency.

Reuters News Agency reports that in the state of Washington alone, more than 1, 280 cases have already been diagnosed this year, which is double the number usually seen in the so-called ‘peak’ years when the disease is rampant.
Mary Selecky, Health Secretary for that state, says, “When we’ve looked historically, we’ve seen nothing like this.”

Charles Simmins of Yahoo News says:  “The number of reported cases of whooping cough is now 6,450, 30 percent higher than for the same time last year.  The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for the week ending April 21 shows that 48 states and the District of Columbia have reported cases of pertussis [whooping cough].”

Moreover, in her Associated Press article, Donna Gordon Blankinship details that “Washington state’s worst outbreak of whooping cough in decades has prompted health officials to declare an epidemic, seek help from federal experts and urge residents to get vaccinated amid worry that cases of the highly contagious disease could spike much higher.”

Blankinship adds:  “Until routine child vaccination became widespread in the 1940s, pertussis caused thousands of fatalities each year in the United States. While deaths are uncommon today, they still occur.”

At first the news media gave the impression that high rates of the disease were only in Idaho, Washington and Montana, but cases are being reported across the country.  Those three states are among the 20 states in the U.S. that grant parents exemptions to vaccination requirements for medical or religious grounds.

Also known as pertussis, whooping cough infects between 30 to 50 million people a year around the world and for some 300,000 it is fatal.  Victims have severe coughing attacks, as the disease moves through the lungs and body.

Two years ago, whooping cough hit in the Midwest and Pacific regions of the country, and also in Texas and California.  According to northshorejournal.org, even then all known cases were not reported to the Centers for Disease Control.

As the world’s most developed nation, the United States should be able to quickly contain and treat such epidemics, giving media loud public calls for vaccinations and booster shots.  This blog repeatedly points to Bible prophecies that decry:  “But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them . . . his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand (Ezekiel 33: 6).”

      Decades ago, founders of the European Union (EU) believed they were building an economic powerhouse that would eventually overcome the United States in wealth.  But some economists said that the EU would never work.
Those thoughtful naysayers said the EU needed more than common currency to succeed, that ‘Union’ also means one unifying language.  And, they said, the group had to forge enough unity to become one nation, that a jangled group of disjointed nations with different priorities, cultures and values would not work.

Those naysayers were dismissed.  But the inference in their answer is ‘the great experiment,’ the United States of America.  What EU founders did not accept is that the ideal of one nation is for every individual (i.e. voter) to have value.

Such value of the life of every citizen is why Greeks voted so strongly this weekend against the EU’s ‘heartless’ austerity plan.  Europe’s Central Bank (ECB) cared less that a Greek professional set himself on fire because EU’s austerity plan had shriveled his retirement to below poverty level, or that a fired janitoress Greek mother put her children in an orphanage, because they were evicted with no food.

The EU, and especially Germany, believes such tragedies are Greece’s problem, and that, while each nation must solve its own internal dilemmas, it still must repay its debts to the ECB.  Or, to borrow a line from French history, staunch EU advocates say “let them eat cake.”  In fact, they insist, Greece must pay its interest-laden debts, and stick to the austerity plan, or else leave their elitist Union!

Just yesterday in their New York Times article, “German Patience With Greece on the Euro Wears Thin,” Nicholas Kulish and Liz Alderman quote economist Carsten Hefeker:  “Germans are now predominantly of the opinion that they would be better off if Greece left the euro zone.

“If the country really is continuing on the path they are taking now, it would be hard to justify keeping them in. How do you deal with a country that says we don’t want to keep any of the commitments we have made?”

The word ‘commitments’ sounds like a marriage.  But isn’t a true marriage held together through ‘for better or worse.’  Is Germany saying keep these financial commitments even in the face of suicides and family break-ups caused by imposed poverty, because the power of money is more important than human life or family?

EU members had best dust off their used Christian Bibles and turn to Isaiah 10: 1- 4:  “Woe unto them . . . that write grievousness . . . ; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!  And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?”  Any nation, even ‘the great experiment,’ that turns so heartless awaits God’s horrific judgment!

   As the last nuclear reactor is switched off, as hundreds march through the streets demanding that their nation completely dismantle all nuclear power, and as scientists report on the health risks of even low-level radiation––Japan was hit with a natural disaster seldom seen there––a killer tornado!

Euronews reports that yesterday, a tornado ripped through the Ibaraki and Tochigi regions, just north of Tokyo.  It killed 14-year-old boy, seriously injured scores of others, destroyed some 500 buildings, and left areas without electricity.

According to AFP News Service, the boy was among 15 people rescue workers rushed to hospitals immediately after the twister hit.  City officials say that an additional 21 people sought other medical care.  A spokesman at the disaster headquarters of Tsukuba, a city in the Ibaraki prefecture says:  “The figure is only a temporary tally. We believe the number (for injuries) could rise.”

AFP adds:  “Moka city in neighboring Tochigi prefecture reported one injury and damage to 132 buildings after it was hit by a separate apparent tornado. A number of minor injuries were also reported in Tochigi, while a swathe of eastern Japan was battered by strong winds, hail, lightning and heavy rain.”

At the end of last week Japan’s last working nuclear reactor was turned off, nearly a year after the Fukushima fiasco.  Now, anti-nuclear political forces, are pleased that the country’s 50 nuclear reactors are offline.  The Associated Press (AP) reports that hundreds marched with banners blaring “No nukes.”  AP says the marchers represent strong opposition from Japanese citizens against nuclear power.

But power companies, which have suffered millions in loses since the meltdown, insist that there will be vast power outages this summer if nuclear plants do not operate.  On the contrary, Greenpeace Japan Climate and Energy Campaigner, Hisayo Takada says:

“Despite the closure of all reactors, security of electricity supply is not threatened in Japan.  The 2012 summer peak in electricity demand can be managed with energy efficiency, proper load balancing, and energy conservation.”  He says if another earthquake strikes, operating nuclear power could completely ruin Japan.

Although the government very much wants to restart the plants, it cannot do so without the approval of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and such approval is not forthcoming.  And Japan’s government claims that new plants cannot be started unless local residents approve.  And that’s not likely to happen.

I will blog soon on risks of low levels of radiation in Japan, and in the U. S.  Both nations need strong Christian prayer upholding them.  As plaques in Christian home decor declare: “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God (Psalm 62: 11).”  It’s time we honor His power to protect us!

 Last time we checked, the incredibly giant sink hole in Sweden is still expanding.  The hole threatens houses and farms nearby, and the expanding rumbling pit brings tremors, making awesomely loud noise each time it expands.

Like some pits in other parts of the world, this one seems to be caused by deep mining operations.  LKAB Mining Company runs the mine at Malmberget, in the northern region of Sweden, that caused this sink hole that its neighbors call it the ‘Fabiangropen’ or Fabian Pit.

Because of rich orebodies in the area, LKAB often digs down to even 1,000 meters, or some 3,500 feet.  Now the pit is some 300 feet square wide, as well as deep.  And residents nearby complain that sometimes shaking tremors and the screechingly loud noises can last as long as 45 unnerving minutes.

Berit Hannu, a homeowner living near what is now called ‘the pit to hell’ cries:  “I’m scared, I do not want to be alone in the house when it happens. It is so loud and it only gets louder and louder. It is like having an airplane flying low above the house. It is just like the beginning of a volcano eruption.”  Thorvald Burman who took these pics for mine owners says that the problem is not over and the future for that plot of ground remains uncertain.

The messagetoeagle.com site adds:  “It has to be added that there are many similar huge sinkholes across the world. ‘ Many of them have suddenly just appeared to the astonishment of the locals. This is a worldwide problem.”

In Erzincan, Turkey, an unexplainable 90 foot deep sinkhole sprang up this week on a farm field.  Haydar Kaya, the land owner, contacted the local university and the governor’s office.  Officials soon barbed wired the chasm for safety.

Moreover, endtimesrevelations.wordpress.com explains that sinkholes are mysteriously cropping up around the  world.  They see it as a warning of end times. The site recently reported phenomenon of newly opened sink holes in the United States in:  Winlock, Washington; Charlotte, North Carolina; Fruitport Township, Michigan; Belleville, New Jersey; Price George’s County, Maryland; San Antonio, Ladysmith and in Brazos County and Houston, Texas; San Clemente and in Tulare, California; Columbia, South Carolina; Gainsville, Florida, Portland, Oregon, etc.

They also list the same anomalies in Calgary, Saskatoon, Ontario and British Columbia, Canada; Bangkok, Thailand; Mabrigida, Dominican Republic; Sydney, Ipswich and Queensland, Australia; Tacloban City, Philippines;Azerbaijan; etc.

The impressive list of their sink hole research should indeed be a warning––both of end time death and of judgment.  Used Christian Bibles tells believers: “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek The LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged (Isaiah 11: 8).  None wish to be swallowed in the hole of earth which is Hell!

   Observers express horror at Spain’s economic decline and what it will mean for the European Union (EU).  Economists have been warning about this for years, but apparently governments didn’t listen.  Now a major economy, Spain, is quickly unraveling, and this bodes ill for all of Europe and for the world economy.

After Germany, France and Italy, Spain is the fourth largest economy in the EU, and its unemployment rate of 24.4%, is the highest in Europe.  Chris Isidore writes for CNNMoney.com, “Spain has fallen into its second recession since 2009 as its economy shrank for the second consecutive quarter, according to a government report Monday.”  And S&P downgraded Spain’s credit.

Now Spain joins Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Cyprus and Solvenia as officially in recession.  Further, Isidore says:  “There are worries that a European recession could drag down economic growth in the United States as well as in emerging markets that export to Europe, causing a so-called hard landing in countries such as China.”

Because Spain is in such bad shape, many of its unemployed citizens are trekking to countries like Norway to look for  work.  But instead of finding work, they face language barriers, poverty, hunger, freezing weather they are not use to, and an unwelcoming nation.  So they flood charity houses for shelter and food.

Not a member of the European Union, and favored with a very good economy, Norway’s government depends on charitable organizations for indigents.  presseurop.eu quotes Norway journalist, Astrid Dalehaug Norheim “I have never seen such a distressing situation in Norway.  Many of the euro refugees live in poverty in Bergen [Spain].”

Writing for Time Magazine, Michael Schuman warns:  “How bad will the pain in Spain get? Concerns are escalating that Spain will ultimately need a bailout like Greece, Ireland and Portugal.  With emerging markets slowing down, Europe in the toilet, the U.S. recovery uncertain and energy prices high, a Spanish meltdown is exactly what the global economy doesn’t need right now.”

He also quotes Megan Greene from Roubini Global Economics:  “The fact that we’re even talking about a bailout for Spain shows how badly the economy has been mismanaged by the euro zone.”

Our sister blog, worldscollide-culture-Christianity-endoftime.com, writes about the awful conditions in Greece, and the similarities between the harsh economic times in Europe and that of Hitler’s time.  Everyone on our teams see these times as indicators of the soon to come World War III, and that it is also time for people to get closer to God.  As Bible prophecies promise:  “. . . there shall be signs . . upon the earth in the distress of nations, with perplexity . .  (Luke 21: 25).”

 HURRY!  HURRY! HURRY!  Get the latest news from us, the Newspaper Boys and Girls Association, Intl (NBGI).  While Doc Ad Versery consults with the Organic Consumers Association’s Dr. Michael Greger, who has been arguing for years that U.S. Food Laws are too lax, us kids will report on more animal news.

 Chucky:  OK Andy, you were reporting on a bunch of stories last time.

 Andy:  Well, let’s see.  That so much with a bunch of new stuff too.  They’ve found Africanized bees in lots of states: Texas, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida. Everyone thought they wouldn’t go too far north ‘cause of colder weather, but yikes, they made it up to East Tennessee, where they nearly killed a beekeeper.

 It’s got agriculture officials stumped cause those bees were only 17 percent Africanized, which means they weren’t suppose to be so aggressive, but they were.  The only thing that saved the keeper is he jumped in his car and drove so fast that the killer bees couldn’t keep up.  Then they had to kill the whole hive of ‘em.

 Beckie:  Ugh, that’s a horrible thought Andy, him driving away from bees.  Did you tell Ally I. Feermeno ‘bout China killing porpoises?

      Andy:  Yeah.  She’s working on that.  I told her that dozens of these freshwater animals––called river pigs in China––have been found dead in rivers so polluted with trash, junk and toxic waste from factories and farms.

 Shanghai’s AFP’s desk says:  “Wang Kexiong, a researcher at China’s Institute of Hydrobiology, said water pollution, shipping, sand dredging and illegal fishing were all possible contributing factors to the recent deaths.”

 Officials say also that heat from Climate Change makes water levels so low, porpoises can’t find food.  So they just starve to death.  Six years ago China’s freshwater dolphins went extinct, now they expect porpoises to do the same!

 Chucky:  They must do something to help those animals..  Remember those stories we did about stray cats killing thousands birds in this country?  Well it turns out people are killing them too––with communication tower cables of all things.
 
 SPX News claims that cables in those towers kill 6 million birds a year, as the animals “migrate from the United States and Canada to Central and South America.”  The journal PLoS ONE counts 84,000 of 2,000 feet high towers in North America.  Less than 2 percent are 1.9 feet high enough to kill 71% of birds.

 Beckie:  I tell you guys these adults are crazy.  Why didn’t they think of the birds when they were building the towers.  Our Bible verse cards tell us to cherish birds:  “If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee . . . whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young (Deuteronomy 22: 6).”  God holds us responsible for nature!