Our Planet's Resources will be gone in 44 Years

Humans are stripping nature at an unprecedented rate and will need two planets' worth of natural resources every year by 2050 on current trends, the WWF conservation group said on Tuesday.

Populations of many species, from fish to mammals, had fallen by about a third from 1970 to 2003 largely because of human threats such as pollution, clearing of forests and overfishing, the group also said in a two-yearly report.

"For more than 20 years we have exceeded the earth's ability to support a consumptive lifestyle that is unsustainable and we cannot afford to continue down this path," WWF Director-General James Leape said, launching the WWF's 2006 Living Planet Report.

"If everyone around the world lived as those in America, we would need five planets to support us," Leape, an American, said in Beijing.

N Korea may conduct 4 more tests; US elections possible trigger date

North Korea was expected to conduct three to four more nuclear weapons tests, a South Korean politician said today amid hints from Pyongyang that it could be preparing for a second test.

"Checking reports by intelligence agencies of concerned countries, it is certain that North Korea will perform three to four additional nuclear tests from now on,'' said Chung Hyung-Keun, quoted by Yonhap news agency.

Mr Chung, a member of the South Korean parliament's intelligence committee, was deputy head of the Agency for National Security Planning, the forerunner of the National Intelligence Service, in the mid-1990s.

He was speaking on a local radio program.

Earlier this week, US media reports and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said the North appeared to be preparing for a second test following its first on October 9, which sparked United Nations condemnation and punitive sanctions.

The deputy head of North Korea's foreign ministry Li Gun, speaking to ABC News in Pyongyang, declined to directly confirm or deny the reports, but hinted that a test could be in the works.

"Even if there is a ... nuclear test, that is natural, so we don't have to care much about this issue. I think the test itself will be natural,'' he said.

Mr Chung noted suspicious activities in Kilju county in North Hamkyong province near the northeast coast of North Korea. The communist state conducted its first test in that area.

"The North initially dug two horizontal underground tunnels in Kilju, North Hamkyong Province - one on the east side and the other on the west side,'' Mr Chung said, adding that the first test was conducted on the east side.

"Now, the North is opening up the clogged tunnel on the west side as 30-40 workers have been showing up there every day and have built an interim building. They are preparing for a second nuclear test,'' he said.

Mr Chung said the second test would be conducted before the United States holds mid-term Congressional elections on November 7.

Seoul analysts also see the US elections as a possible trigger date.

Rice promises to defend Japan from North Korea

Condoleezza Rice warned North Korea today that America would use the “full range” of its military powers if Pyongyang launched a nuclear strike on Japan.

As she arrived in Tokyo on the first leg of a mission to galvanise opposition to Kim Jong-il’s regime, Ms Rice made clear that America would protect its key regional ally against any threat following North Korea’s atomic test.

“I want to make sure that everybody understands that the US will fully act on our defence obligations under the mutual defence treaty,” said Ms Rice. “The United States has the will and the capability to meet the full range, and I underscore the full range, of its deterrence and security commitment to Japan.”

Ms Rice met the new Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe ahead of visits to South Korea, China and Russia. Her tour is intended to ensure co-ordinated action in the region over United Nations sanctions against North Korea.

Senior Japanese officials, including the foreign minister Taro Aso, had earlier suggested that Tokyo should consider a major policy reverse by acquiring its own nuclear weapons. Japan has long held an abhorrence of nuclear weapons, dating back to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Second World War.

Nations Discuss Second Nuke Test Reports

South Korea and Japan warily monitored unconfirmed reports Tuesday of possible preparations by North Korea for a second nuclear test.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said his government has "information" concerning media reports that North Korea could be laying the groundwork for another blast.

"We have information but I cannot speak about its contents," Aso told reporters, without elaborating.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Tokyo was working with other unidentified governments on trying to figure out what the North Koreans were up to.

"We are aware that there are various reports. We are closely exchanging information on a constant basis," Shiozaki said. "We should not disclose the content of such exchanges."

A South Korean government official in Seoul said his government also was aware of signs related to possible preparations for an additional North Korea nuclear test. The official said various intelligence reports were coming in about preparations for a possible test, but that it was unclear how reliable they were.

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Seoul already has taken measures to be more vigilant for a possible second nuclear test by North Korea, and was bolstering exchanges of intelligence with the United States, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

U.S. government officials have said that they would not be surprised if North Korea were to attempt a second nuclear test sometime soon, following the first one on Oct. 9.

UN Imposes Sanctions Against North Korea

The U.N. Security Council on Saturday voted unanimously to impose sanctions against North Korea in response to the country's claimed nuclear test.

The 15-0 vote for Resolution 1718 sent a "clear and strong message" to North Korea, said U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton.

"We are pleased that the Security Council is united in condemning the actions by the regime and Pyongyang and taking clear, firm and punitive action in passing this resolution," he said.

The passage of the resolution proves to "North Korea and others that the Security Council is prepared to meet threats to international security with swift resolve," Bolton added.

Invited to join the council with his South Korean counterpart, North Korea's ambassador to the U.N. said his country "totally rejects the unjustifiable resolution."

North Korea Threatens War Against U.S.

North Korea stoked regional tensions Wednesday, threatening more nuclear tests and saying additional sanctions imposed on it would be considered an act of war, as nervous neighbors raced to bolster defenses and punish Pyongyang.

South Korea said it was making sure its troops were prepared for atomic warfare, and Japan imposed new economic sanctions to hit the economic lifeline of the communist nation's 1 million-member military, the world's fifth-largest.

North Korea, in its first formal statement since Monday's claimed atomic bomb test, hailed the blast as a success and said attempts by the outside world to penalize North Korea with sanctions would be considered an act of war.

Further pressure will be countered with physical retaliation, the North's Foreign Ministry warned in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

"If the U.S. keeps pestering us and increases pressure, we will regard it as a declaration of war and will take a series of physical corresponding measures," the statement, said without specifying what those measures could be.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States would not attack North Korea, rejecting a suggestion that Pyongyang may feel it needs nuclear weapons to stave off an Iraq-style U.S. invasion.

Aircraft Slams into New York City Building

UPDATE 1: The plane was being flown by New York Yankee's pitcher Cory Lidle, he was the sole person aboard the aircraft and is confirmed dead.

A small airplane crashed into a 50-story residential building on Manhattan's East Side on Wednesday, killing at least two people, the New York City Fire Department said.

Flames were shooting out from several windows midway up the luxury highrise in a residential neighborhood.

The Federal Aviation Administration described the plane as a "general aviation" fixed-wing aircraft flying under visual flight rules, meaning a pilot was flying by visual landmarks.

The plane hit the Belaire Condominiums, built in 1989 at 524 E. 72nd Street near the East River. More than 150 firefighters are on scene of a four-alarm fire in the building.

There was no word on casualties. NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) said it had put fighter aircraft into the air over numerous U.S. cities, though they said they had no reason to believe the event in New York was anything more than an accident, sources told CNN's Barbara Starr. It did the same thing after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"I have no idea where this thing (the plane) came from," said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs New York area airports.

"We haven't heard from any of our facilities that anything's missing." New York City government source told CNN there are "no indications of terrorism."

The FAA placed a one-mile flight restriction around the site of the crash, but New York area airports were not affected.

It's unclear if the crash was a result of terrorism. A senior U.S. official in Washington said the administration was waiting for more information.

"The fire was raging out of two windows," witness Sarah Steiner told CNN. "It looks like the plane just flew into someone's living room."

Steiner said fires were burning on the ground. "It looks like the plane just flew into someone's living room there."

Second N.Korean Test Feared as U.N. Weighs Sanctions

Capitals from Asia to America were making frantic checks on Wednesday after Japanese broadcaster NHK said North Korea may have conducted another nuclear test, but there was no immediate confirmation that it had.

The report came a day after the reclusive communist state's closest ally, China, joined other powers at the United Nations calling for a tough response to its announcement of a first underground detonation.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso told a parliamentary panel that Japan had unconfirmed information that Pyongyang might conduct a second test on Wednesday, and NHK said Japanese government sources were checking reports of a tremor in North Korea.

North Korea May be Preparing a Second Nuke Test

South Korean authorities suspect that the communist state might be preparing a second nuclear test after unusual activities were detected in a rugged area in North Korea today, a news report said.

Kim Seung-Gyu, head of South Korea's spy agency, told parliament that activity involving vehicles and as many as 40 people was under way at Punggyeri in the north-eastern county of Kilju, Yonhap news agency reported.

“From 4pm (AEST) today, there have been some unusual movements under way at Punggyeri where we had thought the first nuclear test would be carried out,” Mr Kim was quoted as saying.

“We have been closely following developments there to find out whether North Korea is moving to conduct a series of tests as India and Pakistan did,” he said.

US Wants Sea Blockade on North Korea

The United States circulated a draft resolution Monday to U.N. Security Council nations calling for stiff weapons sanctions and other restrictions on North Korea following its claim to have conducted a nuclear test.

The United States is suggesting international inspections of any cargo going into or out of the reclusive, communist country.

Washington also is proposing a U.N. embargo on any goods or materials that could be used in Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs.

Security Council members will resume closed-door discussions of the proposals Tuesday.

The council voted unanimously Monday for a statement opposing North Korea's reported test, but it is unclear whether the council will favor economic sanctions.

John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said he was "strongly encouraged by the mood of the council."

"No one even came close to defending it," Bolton said.

Japan also added its own proposals to deny North Korean ships and planes permission to enter other territories, to ban the import of any North Korean products and to ban travel by high-level North Korean officials.

The U.S. draft calls for an overall arms embargo, prohibitions on any financial transactions that might support missile activities, a freeze on any assets related to North Korea's weapons programs, measures to prevent counterfeiting by North Korea and a ban on luxury goods.

The draft also calls for North Korea to cease any missile and nuclear-related activity and return to the six party talks.

The proposal would review North Korea's reaction 30 days from adoption of the U.N. resolution.

Bush is pissed at North Korea

President Bush on Monday said North Korea's claim that it has tested a nuclear weapon is a threat to international peace and said the world "will respond."

"The transfer of nuclear weapons to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States," Bush said. "And we would hold North Korea fully accountable to the consequences of such action."

Bush said the U.S. was still trying to verify North Korea's claims that it had tested a nuclear weapon on Monday.

He said he'd spoken with the leaders of South Korea, Russia, China and Japan.

"All of us agreed that the proclaimed actions taken by North Korea are unacceptable and deserve an immediate response by the United Nations Security Council," Bush said.

At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday, the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the European Union quickly condemned North Korea's claim.

Senior U.S. officials said the United States will push for a Security Council resolution under Chapter 7 of the organization's charter which deals with "threats to the peace" and "acts of aggression."

Official Statement from North Korea Confirming Nuke Test

"The field of scientific research in the DPRK successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions on October 9, 2006, at a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great, prosperous, powerful socialist nation.

"It has been confirmed that there was no such danger as radioactive emission in the course of the nuclear test as it was carried out under scientific consideration and careful calculation.

"The nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology 100 percent. It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the KPA and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability.

"It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it."

***North Korea Tests Nuclear Bomb***

North Korea said Monday it has performed its first-ever nuclear weapons test and the blast had been successfully set off underground with no radioactive leakage from the site.

An official at South Korea's seismic monitoring center confirmed a magnitude-3.6 tremor felt at the time North Korea said it conducted the test was not a natural occurrence. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition his name not be used, because he was not authorized to talk about the sensitive information to the media.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that information still needs to collected and analyzed to determine whether North Korea truly conducted its first nuclear test.


U.S. and South Korean officials could not immediately confirm the report.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said the alert level of the military had been raised in response to the claimed nuclear test.

Shots Fired Along Korean Border as Tensions Mount Over Nuke Tests

Tensions mounted over North Korea's threat to test its first atomic bomb, with shots ringing out Saturday along the border with South Korea and Japan warning of harsh sanctions if Pyongyang goes nuclear.

With a possible test expected as early as Sunday, the U.N. Security Council issued a stern statement Friday urging the country to abandon its nuclear ambitions and warning of unspecified consequences if the isolated, communist regime doesn't comply.

Jittery nations have warned a test would unravel regional security and possibly trigger an arms race.

CountryWatch: North Korea

A midday incursion Saturday by North Korean troops into the southern side of the no-man's-land separating North and South Korea only stoked the unease.

South Korean soldiers rattled off 40 warning shots at the five communist troops who crossed the center line of the Demilitarized Zone, the inter-Korean buffer.

It was unclear whether the North Korean advance was intended as a provocation, or was an attempt to go fishing at a nearby stream, an official at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on condition of anonymity, citing official policy. No one was hurt, and the North Koreans retreated.

North Korea’s Nuclear Test: The Conequences

Primarily, a North Korean nuclear test would re-start an arms race in Asia if not world-wide. Japan and South Korea would both have to start thinking seriously about developing their own deterrents to the threat from the Little North Korean menace, Kim Jong Il. Since North Korea’s capabilities for delivering a nuclear weapon are, by best estimates, very short range (and since they are very aware of Kim Jong Il’s unstable nature) they know that they are primary targets. And, of course, once the nuclear ‘cat’ is ‘out of the bag’ many other countries will start looking at their own nuclear deterrent capabilities.

The Catch 22

What Korea wants is the attention and submission of the United States. The United States has used very effective financial sanctions against North Korea and the North Korean economy is hurting very badly . . . and therein is the Catch 22. The United States has unwittingly given North Korea a very large incentive to develop their nuclear capabilities — not to use as weapons (at least not until they develop a better delivery system) but to sell to the highest bidder; and you can be sure that the highest bidder will be a bitter enemy of the United States.

The bottom line is, unless North Korea can be talked back to the negotiating table very soon, the world will very soon be a far more unstable place.

The good news is that China has now given North Korea a very stern warning and China is North Korea’s best life line in their current economic crisis. Stay tuned to this situation to see if Kim Jong Il is so far removed from reality that he will ignore China’s warning.

North Korea May Test Nuke This Weekend

Japan's top government spokesman says Tokyo is stepping up monitoring of North Korea amid speculation that the communist nation could carry out a nuclear test as early as this weekend.

"In consideration of various possibilities, we are preparing for whatever may happen," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Friday, according to The Associated Press.

The speculation comes amid reports the United Nations Security Council members have reached a tentative agreement on a Japanese-drafted statement that warns North Korea of unspecified consequences if it conducts a nuclear test.

The text, obtained by the Reuters news service, is similar to the original, and was negotiated by junior diplomats of the 15 council members. It is being sent to governments for possible changes before further discussions on Friday.

The statement urges Pyongyang to cancel its planned nuclear test and return immediately to six-party talks aimed at persuading the reclusive Communist nation to abandon its nuclear arms program, according to Reuters.

Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi, currently in Washington, said Japan and the United States shared concerns that the North was not bluffing about a nuclear test, and should be prepared for a possible test this weekend, a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.

Chief U.S. Envoy: 'We Are Not Going to Live With a Nuclear North Korea'

The United States passed a warning to North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test, the chief U.S. envoy to stalled disarmament talks with the communist country said Wednesday. "We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea," he said.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters that the U.S. has sent Pyongyang a message of "deep concern" through diplomatic channels at the United Nations in New York. He said North Korea has yet to respond.

The U.S. message to the communist regime came as it sought to marshal a unified diplomatic front against North Korea's possible nuclear test. American intelligence officials also scrutinized sites that could be used for the test.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other U.S. diplomats reached out to their counterparts in Asia and Europe, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. The effort was intended to send "a strong and unified signal ... that these kinds of threats are certainly not acceptable," he said.

Outbreak of Killer Disease in Panama

There's been an outbreak of a strange disease in Panama. People are dying, and no one knows what's causing it. The CDC is sending experts there to try to figure out exactly what it is that's killing people.

The latest update says that a total of 22 people have been infected and 15 of them have died. (IOW, so far 68% of the people who've contracted this mystery disease have not survived it.)

They think it might be caused by contaminated food, but they really don't know because they've never seen anything like this before. The infection develops quickly. The disease starts out mimicking the common flu then rapidly progresses to kidney failure, paralysis, and death. People are getting very sick, very fast, and they are either dying or ending up on dialysis.

Here are some links to articles (written in English) which explain what is going on:

Regional Doctors Coordinating Efforts to Identify Mystery Killer Illness

[link to www.panama-guide.com]

Alert - Fatal Illness Outbreak in Panama City

[link to www.panama-guide.com]

Update - Fatal Illness Outbreak in Panama City

[link to www.panama-guide.com]

Cormac McCarthy's New Apoacalypse Novel

Click the novel and it will take you to the Amazon.com page.

Nuclear holocaust has reduced the world to ash and rubble. A man and his son, "each the other's world entire," trek without purpose down a road to nowhere in death-defying starvation. Along the way, they pass renegades barbecuing their infants. There is no plot to Cormac McCarthy's harrowing, brilliant new novel, a worthy successor to his masterpiece, Blood Meridian, because human history has drawn to a close.

The Road at times resembles Robinson Crusoe. The man reveals a profusion of ingenuity, siphoning drops of gasoline, digging deep into the burrows of an abandoned survival shelter for precious stores of food, even suturing his own deep, bloody wound inflicted by a sniper.

The Road is no less a heart-wrenching paean to fatherhood. The man nurtures the boy, teaches him and protects him, and sacrifices his own longing for death so that his son might survive. The world is "barren, silent, godless," and "largely populated by men who would eat your children in front of your eyes." The man instructs his son that "good guys" yet remain, and the novel's ending brings that truth home.

A quick word about Sorcha Fall

As much as I respect her ability to take many news stories and make it seem as if they are all co-related to each other, I must say that because of the fact that she adds her own comments and states them as fact, that she should not be taken seriously. This isn't a strike at Sorcha, just a public service announcment.

Although her weekly reports lead to many links and sources that we in the states cannot sometimes gain access to, her reports add up to only one thing: Sci-Fi.

New Activity at North Korean Nuke Test Site

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has renewed activity at suspected nuclear test sites, including the movement of people, vehicles and material, U.S. intelligence sources said.

Officials said the activity, which has been observed by intelligence agencies for several weeks, does not indicate that a test is imminent, but does increase the likelihood of a nuclear test.

"At some point, you would think they would test it if they truly think they have the capability," one official said.

A test could be carried out without much forewarning, another official warned, adding that a decision to conduct a test by the closed society would only be done with political ramifications in mind.

The new intelligence comes as Asian nations scrambled to forge a common front against Pyongyang's threatened nuclear test, with South Korea warning of a regional atomic arms race that could upend the balance of power in Northeast Asia.

Diplomatic maneuvering kicked into high gear, as Japan, China and South Korea announced a series of summit meetings over the next week to repair damaged ties and coordinate a strategy on North Korea despite no signs of an imminent test.

Fedorovsky`s Comet [UPDATE 1]

The man responsible for the comet discovery I posted about last week has updated his site, saying that he has completed his research about the comets trajectory. It seems he has a dire tone on his latest post and we might get some bad news here soon folks.

Here is the English translation for his post today:

"The situation comes nearer to the sanction. Hours fly by as minute, almost all results are ready. It is possible to consider researches completed. The spirit grasps! In the near future I shall publish results and even video on a site. Believe, it becomes a shock for all..."

If he can post enough proof later regarding it's latest coordinates and a double check of the trajectory and size, then we might have an interesting month.

Hold on to your seats people, it's just starting.