4777-ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? | View Thread

MBR — This aerial photo shows damage on Vine Road, south of Wasilla, Alaska, after earthquakes Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP) Marc Lester

On Friday, November 30, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Anchorage, Alaska. The initial jarring was destructive - and now, more than a month later, daily jolts continue to leave residents shaken.

Since the main shaking, about 350 aftershocks of magnitude 3 or greater have been registered on seismometers. Some - including the five 5.0 or worse quakes - have been large enough to cause additional damage. Though the aftershocks have slowly been winding down, the magnitude 5.0 tremor on Jan. 1 and magnitude 4.2 on Wednesday show that Alaskans are far from out of the woods yet.

That begs the question - how long will the earthquakes continue? We can turn to a little bit of seismology for the answer.

After a quake, swarms of aftershocks persist for weeks or even months. The bigger the main earthquake, the stronger and more frequent the aftershocks. The occurrence of aftershocks drops off exponentially as time progresses per a relationship known as Omori's Law . By fitting an equation to the number of observed aftershocks, we can extrapolate trends into the future.

Likewise, it's possible to forecast the intensity of said aftershocks. That comes through the Gutenberg-Richter equation . It breaks down the percentage of aftershocks that reach different levels of strength. It's like a pyramid - as you climb in magnitude, each tier gets more narrow. It's a logarithmic relationship.

Looking ahead, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates anywhere between 22 and 120 additional magnitude 3 or higher quakes may be felt in the next year.

Barbara Romanowicz is the former director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory and a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. She expects Anchorage's rumbling won't go away anytime soon. "Lots of small non-damaging earthquakes - magnitude 3.0 or greater - are very likely to continue" she said via email.

Most will be in the nearer term. In the next week, earthquake models suggest about one magnitude 3 or greater earthquake should occur every couple days. An average of one should reach magnitude 4 status every ten days.

Numbers should fall back a bit by the end of January, but even then there’s no real end in sight.

There's an outside chance of more dangerous magnitude 5 quake transpiring within the month. The chances of this taking place are no more than 30 percent. Those odds climb ever so slightly to 41 percent during all of 2019 per USGS's numbers.

Five earthquakes topping magnitude 5.0 did already ensue, all within the first 24 hours following the "big quake" (in addition to the magnitude 5.0 aftershock on Jan. 1) The strongest - a 5.7 - jounced Anchorage six minutes after the main shock, startling residents just exiting their places of safe refuge. There shouldn't be any aftershocks stronger than this. Bath's Law states that the difference in magnitude of the biggest aftershock and the main quake in any earthquake should be about 1.1 or 1.2.

Quakes should start to wind down to more nuisance rumbles by the start of spring. While models struggle in this time range and relationships don't always hold true, it's a safe bet that only a few sporadic shakes will persist past then. May should feature merely a third the number of aftershocks as January.

The USGS also released a statement on the cause of the earthquake. "It occurred in the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone on a fault within the subducting Pacific slab," it wrote. It did not stem from movement along the nearby interface of the Pacific and North American plates.

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 1/5/2019 5:27:41 PM
	US CBNNEWS.COM New School Program in Australia Teaches Children to Question Gender, Dress Up in Islamic Clothing 01-03-2019 Emily Jones Groups Of Students AS Students in Perth, Australia, are being introduced to a controversial new curriculum that encourages children to "explore" gender roles and dress up in religious clothing. The curriculum is called the "Respect Relationships Program" and up to 10 schools will adopt it beginning in February. The syllabus, which has been endorsed by the McGowen Government in Western Australia, teaches third grade students to break traditional gender norms through toys and games. According to The Daily Mail, all students, boys and girls, will be taught to play dress up and interact with toys that are not traditionally meant for their gender. The curriculum also teaches multiculturalism by having the students dress up in Burkas, a traditional Islamic garment that covers the entire body except for the eyes. Ninth grade students are taught about a variety of sexual relationships, including "hooking up," "one-night stands," and "friends with benefits." Peter Abetz, from the Australian Christian Lobby, told 9News Perth the program is indoctrination. "It will indoctrinate children with the idea that they can choose to be a boy or a girl," he explained. "Why do boys need to get dressed up in girls' clothing? Let's get real about education." Simone McGurk, the minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence, praised the program for what he believes is its potential to curb violence between men and women. "By introducing respectful relationships in schools, we can continue to implement cultural changes in attitudes towards family and domestic violence," she said. "Early interventions can be critical." But even Prime Minister Scott Morrison isn't so sure of the program's benefits. Morrison said during a recent radio show that he "didn't 'want the values of others being imposed on my children." The program was introduced in 2018 to more than a dozen Victorian schools. (cbnnews/us)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 1/6/2019 9:53:48 AM
	Health and Science Gene-edited farm animals are coming. Will we eat them? Cutting-edge lab techniques could improve animal breeding, but society may not be ready Veterinarians at the University of California at Davis evaluate cows in November to see whether they are ready for genetically edited embryos to be implanted. By Carolyn Y. Johnson Photos by Christie Hemm Klok DECEMBER 17, 2018 DAVIS, Calif Three cows clomped, single-file, through a chute to line up for sonograms — ultrasound “preg checks” — to reveal if they were expecting calves next summer. “Right now. This is exciting, right this minute,” animal geneticist Alison Van Eenennaam said as she waited for a tiny blob of a fetus to materialize on a laptop screen on a recent afternoon at the Beef Barn, part of the University of California at Davis’s sprawling agricultural facilities for teaching and research. The cows had been implanted a month and a half earlier with embryos genetically edited to grow and look like males, regardless of their biological gender. The research project pits one of the hottest fields in biotechnology against the messy politics of gene modification. As scientists in labs across the world create virus-resistant pigs, heat-tolerant cattle and fatter, more muscular lambs, a big question looms: Will regulation, safety concerns and public skepticism prevent these advances from becoming anything more than fascinating laboratory experiments, or will the animals transform agriculture and the food supply? So far, gene-editing tools have jump-started research worldwide, creating more than 300 pigs, cattle, sheep and goats. Now, proponents of the field say the United States is at a make-or-break moment, when government action over the next year could determine whether any gene-edited food animals make it to market. The announcement last month that a Chinese researcher had created genetically edited human babies sparked an international furor and a moral debate. But while such research is effectively outlawed in the United States and was swiftly condemned by a group of leading researchers, Van Eenennaam and her colleagues are pushing similar techniques into the barnyard. There, such applications are far less hypothetical. But the societal consensus about how or whether they should be used – and how to prove the technology is safe for animals and people who eat them — is even less clear. Just down the road from the Beef Barn are five bulls and a heifer, the second generation of cattle that have been gene-edited to lack horns, avoiding a grisly procedure in the dairy industry called “disbudding,” when calves’ horns are burned or cut off. The new gene-editing attempt is even more audacious. For farmers seeking to maximize beef production, all-male cattle could be a win: Males gain weight more efficiently than females. For scientists, successful births would add to a menagerie of gene-edited animals that demonstrate the power of the technology beyond the lab, where their use is mostly routine and uncontroversial. Scientists at the university are working with the company, Recombinetics, to develop cattle that will be born without horns. “The technology challenges of producing genetically engineered animals are gone,” said Charles Long, a biologist at Texas A&M University who says he works in pretty much any livestock animal except chickens. “What we have to do is really start producing the animals that have these traits.” Gene-edited plants will soon be in the grocery store, but similar tinkering with the DNA of animals faces a far more uncertain future. The regulatory process for getting animals approved is more complex and treats the edited DNA as a veterinary drug — a difference that animal scientists argue will effectively kill their field by preventing innovations that could make raising livestock more sustainable, more efficient or more humane. Many advocates and ethicists agree that the current oversight system is a poor fit but think that scientists and industry underestimate potential safety concerns. “I don’t want speed limits, either, but they have a role,” said Jaydee Hanson, senior policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety. The Trump administration has signaled its interest in modernizing regulations to foster innovation. The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees animal gene editing, announced in late October that it will issue new guidance next year to calibrate the regulation to the risk posed by the product. Sonny Perdue, the secretary of agriculture, met with food biotechnology leaders in November. Researchers, after years of fighting public skepticism on genetically modified foods, are hopeful but not optimistic. Advocates are lining up on both sides of the issue. “We’re at this inflection point in society, where gene editing is really taking off, and now is the time we could have a more sustained public conversation about how we want it used in our world and how we don’t want it to be used,” said Jennifer Kuzma, co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University. “All the polls indicate that people are less comfortable with animal biotechnology than plant biotechnology. . . . A regulatory system cannot be based 100 percent on science or scientific risk, and values come into play when setting the standards.” More here
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 1/6/2019 11:00:43 AM
	Earthquake WARNING: Seismic unrest forecasted FOR WEEKS EARTHQUAKES could continuously rock the planet in the coming week as one tremor predictor believes that we are in for a prolonged period of seismic unrest. By SEAN MARTIN PUBLISHED: 14:46, Fri, Jan 4, 2019 \| UPDATED: 14:54, Fri, Jan 4, 2019 The position of the moon, Earth, Venus, Mercury and the sun in the coming weeks is set to pull on the planet and cause earthquake activity across Earth, he says. This will last for several weeks and could result in “larger” tremors thanks to “critical geometry”. This is according to new age earthquake forecaster website Ditrianum, run by researcher Frank Hoogerbeets, who made the bold prediction. Mr Hoogerbeets believes the gravitational pull of the celestial bodies either side of our planet could pull on Earth’s tectonic plates, which will increase tension and ultimately the likeliness of a major tremor. However, he gives no indication as to when or where the earthquakes may strike. Writing on the website, the Dutch researcher said: “Due to specific positions of outer planets, we have critical lunar geometry every three-four days which on average may result in more larger seismic activity. “This situation will continue for several weeks.” Mr Hoogerbeets reached his conclusion using his Solar System Geometry Index (SSGI) which “is the computation of a dataset for a specific time-frame of values given to specific geometric positions of the planets, the Moon and the Sun”. Earthquake WARNING: Seismic unrest forecasted FOR WEEKS (Image: GETTY) He said: “After three years of observations, it became clear that some planetary geometry in the Solar System clearly tends to cause a seismic increase, while other geometry does not.” But experts have previously dismissed Mr Hoogerbeets’ claims, saying that there is no way earthquakes can be predicted. John Bellini, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey (USGS) has said: “We can't predict or forecast earthquakes. "Sometimes before a large earthquake you'll have a foreshock or two, but we don't know they're foreshocks until the big one happens.” (express.co.uk)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 1/7/2019 10:29:05 AM
	World War 3: China’s army told to urgently prepare for war in warning to US and Taiwan President Xi Jinping has told officials China must strengthen its armed forces (Image: GETTY) CHINA must strengthen its armed forces and prepare for battle amid ongoing tensions with the US and Taiwan, China’s President has said. By EMILY FERGUSON PUBLISHED: 00:07, Sun, Jan 6, 2019UPDATED: 00:10, Sun, Jan 6, 2019 President Xi Jinping told a meeting of top brass China’s armed forces must strengthen their sense of urgency and do everything they can to prepare for battle. The news comes amidst escalating tensions between China and the US as well as American-backed Taiwan, with disputes between the two superpowers ranging from trade to the status of the island. Mr Jinping told a meeting of the top military authority that China faced increasing risks and challenges, and the armed forces must work to secure its security and development needs, reports the official Xinhua news agency. Mr Jinping, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, said the armed forces must devise strategies for the new era and take on responsibilities for preparing and waging war. He is quoted as saying: ”The world is facing a period of major changes never seen in a century, and China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development.” He said the armed forces needed to be able to respond quickly to emergencies, to upgrade their joint operations capabilities and nurture new types of combat forces. Mr Jinping’s comments followed his remarks on Wednesday that China still reserved the right to use force to achieve "reunification" with Taiwan and prevent the island's independence. Taiwan’s President, Tsai Ing-wen, has called for international support to defend the self-ruled island’s democracy and way of life in the face of renewed threats from China. Mr Ing-wen told reporters in Taipei on Friday: “We hope that the international community takes it seriously and can voice support and help us.” On Wednesday he said the island would not accept a “one country, two systems” political arrangement with China, while stressing all cross-strait negotiations needed to be on a government-to-government basis. China sees the island of Taiwan as a breakaway province that will be reunited with the mainland, but many in Taiwan are pushing to remain independent. Taiwan unveiled a supersonic cruise missile on Friday, as the Taiwanese navy posted the video to its Facebook account. The anti-ship missile, Hsuing Feng-3, has a range of anywhere from 18 miles (30 kilometres) to 248miles (400km), Asia Times notes. Dr Graham Ong-Webb from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies told Euronews that armed conflict between China and Taiwan is looking increasingly unlikely - and that US-backed Taiwan is militarily outmatched by its rival. He said: “The context in which this is occurring has changed. Taiwan’s President, Tsai Ing-wen, has called for international support to defend democracy (Image: Getty) “China is economically more powerful than before - the military balance between China and Taiwan has tilted in China’s favour. “Right now, Taiwan is coming to terms with a deteriorating military. “With the help of American finance and equipment I think the Taiwanese should be able to beef up some defences. “We’ve ended up in a situation today where taiwan is militarily weaker, one would argue, but at the same time we have a social demographic in Taiwan which has changed considerably. “The Taiwanese youth of today feel quite strongly about self identity and independence.” (express.co.uk)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 1/7/2019 11:10:40 AM
	Alaska still shaking with aftershocks from 7.0 earthquake Updated Jan 4Posted Jan 6, 9:07 AM An employee walks past a damaged aisle at Anchorage True Value hardware store after an earthquake, Friday morning, Nov. 30, 2018, in Anchorage, Alaska. Tim Craig, owner of the south Anchorage store, said no one was injured but hundreds of items hit the floor and two shelves collapsed in a stock room. (AP Photo/Dan Joling) By The Washington Post This aerial photo shows damage on Vine Road, south of Wasilla, Alaska, after earthquakes Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP) Marc Lester On Friday, November 30, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Anchorage, Alaska. The initial jarring was destructive - and now, more than a month later, daily jolts continue to leave residents shaken. Since the main shaking, about 350 aftershocks of magnitude 3 or greater have been registered on seismometers. Some - including the five 5.0 or worse quakes - have been large enough to cause additional damage. Though the aftershocks have slowly been winding down, the magnitude 5.0 tremor on Jan. 1 and magnitude 4.2 on Wednesday show that Alaskans are far from out of the woods yet. That begs the question - how long will the earthquakes continue? We can turn to a little bit of seismology for the answer. After a quake, swarms of aftershocks persist for weeks or even months. The bigger the main earthquake, the stronger and more frequent the aftershocks. The occurrence of aftershocks drops off exponentially as time progresses per a relationship known as Omori's Law . By fitting an equation to the number of observed aftershocks, we can extrapolate trends into the future. Likewise, it's possible to forecast the intensity of said aftershocks. That comes through the Gutenberg-Richter equation . It breaks down the percentage of aftershocks that reach different levels of strength. It's like a pyramid - as you climb in magnitude, each tier gets more narrow. It's a logarithmic relationship. Looking ahead, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates anywhere between 22 and 120 additional magnitude 3 or higher quakes may be felt in the next year. Barbara Romanowicz is the former director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory and a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. She expects Anchorage's rumbling won't go away anytime soon. "Lots of small non-damaging earthquakes - magnitude 3.0 or greater - are very likely to continue" she said via email. Most will be in the nearer term. In the next week, earthquake models suggest about one magnitude 3 or greater earthquake should occur every couple days. An average of one should reach magnitude 4 status every ten days. Numbers should fall back a bit by the end of January, but even then there’s no real end in sight. There's an outside chance of more dangerous magnitude 5 quake transpiring within the month. The chances of this taking place are no more than 30 percent. Those odds climb ever so slightly to 41 percent during all of 2019 per USGS's numbers. Five earthquakes topping magnitude 5.0 did already ensue, all within the first 24 hours following the "big quake" (in addition to the magnitude 5.0 aftershock on Jan. 1) The strongest - a 5.7 - jounced Anchorage six minutes after the main shock, startling residents just exiting their places of safe refuge. There shouldn't be any aftershocks stronger than this. Bath's Law states that the difference in magnitude of the biggest aftershock and the main quake in any earthquake should be about 1.1 or 1.2. Quakes should start to wind down to more nuisance rumbles by the start of spring. While models struggle in this time range and relationships don't always hold true, it's a safe bet that only a few sporadic shakes will persist past then. May should feature merely a third the number of aftershocks as January. The USGS also released a statement on the cause of the earthquake. "It occurred in the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone on a fault within the subducting Pacific slab," it wrote. It did not stem from movement along the nearby interface of the Pacific and North American plates. However, there is one fly in the ointment: the 7.0 may not be the main shock, but rather a foreshock - akin to an “appetizer” preceding a larger earthquake, but the odds are low. Romanowicz warns that “while another large earthquake is improbable in the near future, it could still happen.” It’s impossible to know for sure that the 7.0 was the main shock, and not a precursor to a larger slip along the fault. (The Washington Post)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

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New School Program in Australia Teaches Children to Question Gender, Dress Up in Islamic Clothing

Gene-edited farm animals are coming. Will we eat them?

Earthquake WARNING: Seismic unrest forecasted FOR WEEKS

EARTHQUAKES could continuously rock the planet in the coming week as one tremor predictor believes that we are in for a prolonged period of seismic unrest.

World War 3: China’s army told to urgently prepare for war in warning to US and Taiwan

CHINA must strengthen its armed forces and prepare for battle amid ongoing tensions with the US and Taiwan, China’s President has said.

Alaska still shaking with aftershocks from 7.0 earthquake

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