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Attacks in Syria and Yemen are Turning Disease Into a Weapon of War

Sat, 2017-07-08 10:55 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

A cholera-infected man receives treatment at a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, in May.  HANI MOHAMMED/AP

statnews.com - by Homer Venters - July 7, 2017

 . . . Today we are seeing another cruel method of warfare emerge on the battlefield: the weaponization of disease, particularly in Syria and Yemen.

Targeting health care facilities during conflict has occurred before. But unlike the attacks on hospital ships during World War I, or even sporadic attacks in more recent conflicts, the pace of attacks on health facilities, workers, and resources in Syria and Yemen is massive and unrelenting . . . 

 . . . We must not make the mistake of thinking of these deaths and illnesses as collateral damage of war. They are not accidental, and the destruction of medical and sanitation infrastructure is part of a cruel, illegal, and intentional strategy . .

 . . . there must be independent investigations of violations of international law when it comes to targeting health and humanitarian resources . . .

 . . . Hundreds of thousands have already died in Syria and Yemen. And without accountability and clear condemnation from the international community, millions more lives are at stake.

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Here’s the public evidence that supports the idea that Russia interfered in the 2016 election

Thu, 2017-07-06 18:12 — Kathy Gilbeaux

washingtonpost.com - by Philip Bump - July 6, 2017

. . . “I think it was Russia,” Trump said, “but I think it was probably other people and/or countries, and I see nothing wrong with that statement. Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure.”

There’s a lot packed into that statement: a cursory acceptance of the consensus view that Russia was involved, a shadow of doubt overlaid with the idea that Russia didn’t act alone, and a blanket shrug at the idea that the truth was really knowable . . .

. . . we’ve cobbled together the publicly available information to demonstrate why a layperson might have reasonable confidence that Russia was behind the election hacks — even if Trump, with access to a fuller set of information, does not concur.

CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE

(LINKS TO SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION FOR THIS ARTICLE WILL BE PROVIDED WITHIN A COMMENT BELOW THIS POST)

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Rising Seas to Force Billions from Home

Sat, 2017-07-01 18:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

weather.com - by Pam Wright - June 28, 2017

CLICK HERE - VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Impediments to inland resettlement under conditions of accelerated sea level rise

An estimated 2 billion people will be displaced from their homes by 2100 due to climate-driven rising seas, a new study says.

Roughly one-fifth of the world's population may become climate change refugees, according to Cornell University. The majority of those will be people who live on coastlines around the world, including about 2 million in Florida alone.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Cornell University - Rising seas could result in 2 billion refugees by 2100

 

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U.S. Warns Businesses of Hacking Campaign Against Nuclear, Energy Firms

Sat, 2017-07-01 10:17 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Department of Homeland Security emblem is pictured at the National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) located just outside Washington in Arlington, Virginia September 24, 2010. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang/File Photo

reuters.com - by Jim Finkle - June 30, 2017

The U.S government warned industrial firms this week about a hacking campaign targeting the nuclear and energy sectors, the latest event to highlight the power industry's vulnerability to cyber attacks.

Since at least May, hackers used tainted "phishing" emails to "harvest credentials" so they could gain access to networks of their targets, according to a joint report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The report provided to the industrial firms was reviewed by Reuters on Friday. While disclosing attacks, and warning that in some cases hackers succeeded in compromising the networks of their targets, it did not identify any specific victims.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

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Watch Scientist Explain How Climate Change Might Damage U.S. Economy

Thu, 2017-06-29 18:43 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Estimating economic damage from climate change in the United States

nola.com - by Mark Schleifstein - June 29, 2017

New research concludes that the poorest one third of U.S. counties -- including many Louisiana parishes -- could sustain economic damages representing as much as 20 percent of their annual income by the end of this century if nothing is done to minimize climate change. The findings are explained by the lead author of the study in a video released with its publication Thursday (June 29) in Science magazine.

"Unmitigated climate change will be very expensive for huge regions of the United States," said Solomon Hsiang, an associate professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Study: Climate change damages US economy, increases inequality

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A Visual Guide to the Plague Killing Louisiana's Roseau Cane

Thu, 2017-06-29 00:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

Photo from Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

nola.com - by Tristan Baurick - June 28, 2017

A fast-moving plague of foreign insects is decimating marshlands that bind the fragile lower Mississippi River Delta. Identified only two months ago, the Asian bug is wiping out vast stands of roseau cane, Louisiana's most erosion- and storm-resistant wetland plant. As marsh rapidly turns to open water, the state has come up with no money or viable solutions to combat loss.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE AND VIEW IMAGES)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

CLICK HERE - Louisiana’s coast was already sickly. Now it’s being hit by a plague.

CLICK HERE - State Issues Warning on Transporting Roseau Cane

 

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United States - Russia - Cyber Weapons

Mon, 2017-06-26 17:51 — Kathy Gilbeaux

In January 1982, President Ronald Reagan approved a CIA plan to sabotage the economy of the Soviet Union through covert transfers of technology that contained hidden malfunctions, including software that later triggered a huge explosion in a Siberian natural gas pipeline.

This week it is being reported that former President Barack Obama authorized the planting of cyber weapons in Russian infrastructure in the final weeks of his presidency in response to Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. The project, not completed before the end of Obama’s term, reportedly left the weapons in President Trump’s control after he took office.

In 1982 the Soviets were at least a decade behind the West in computers and microelectronics. Since then, the Russians are thought to have caught up with western technology, and might now have the same capabilities as the United States.

If a cyber war of this nature were to break out in the future . . . who would be on the front lines?

Documentation for these occurrences will be posted within the links below, including a summary on the 1982 incident from the C.I.A. . . .

CLICK HERE - Reagan Approved Plan to Sabotage Soviets

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Wildfires Blazing Under Extreme Heat Out West

Mon, 2017-06-26 10:18 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

cnn.com - by Nicole Chavez and Eric Levenson - June 25, 2017

A series of wildfires is blazing across the Southwest as the chance of rain remains low amid a deadly heatwave.

Eighteen large fires are burning in the region, including six in Arizona, three in Utah, three in California, three in New Mexico, two in Nevada and a large one in Oregon. The two biggest wildfires are in southern Arizona and Utah.

Wildfires already have caused far more destruction than usual in the first half of 2017, meteorologist Haley Brink of the CNN Weather Center said.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

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Free Resources for Disaster Resilience

Sun, 2017-06-25 08:52 — Kathy Gilbeaux
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Community
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Solutions
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No person or place is immune from disasters or disaster-related losses, and recent events have proven that even prepared communities can be overwhelmed in a state of emergency. Our reports provide guidelines and targeted resources for all stakeholders in a disaster response, including state and local governments, emergency medical services and health care centers. Read these online for free.
CLICK HERE - Related Books

When Rising Seas Transform Risk Into Certainty

Sun, 2017-06-18 07:15 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

Flooding in North Miami, Florida. A 2013 World Bank study found that Miami is one of the 10 cities most at risk of damage from sea-level rise. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Amplification of flood frequencies with local sea level rise and emerging flood regimes

thebulletin.org - by Dan Drollette Jr. - June 9, 2017

According to a new study published on Wednesday by researchers from Princeton and Rutgers universities, rare floods will soon become the norm for cities like New York, San Francisco, San Diego, and Seattle, as well as entire states such as Florida and Hawaii. On average, this means a 40-fold increase in the occurence of flood, unless humanity soon cuts back on the amount of carbon we pump into the atmosphere.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Rare US floods to become the norm if emissions aren't cut, study warns

 

 

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