We will have a mirror site at http://nunezreport.wordpress.com in case we are censored, Please save the link

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Science Space Storm Could Black Out US East Coast for Two Years




WASHINGTON, June 4 (by Karin Zeitvogel for RIA Novosti) – Severe space “weather” can knock out satellite communications and GPS systems, expose space tourists and astronauts to dangerous levels of radiation, and even cause massive blackouts on Earth that could last up to two years, scientists and NASA officials warned at a conference here on Tuesday.

A sun storm on the scale of one that happened in 1859, which was recorded by British brewer and amateur astronomer Richard Carrington, would potentially have sweeping consequences on huge population clusters in the United States, experts at the Space Weather Enterprise Forum said.

“The United States population that is at risk of an extended power outage from a Carrington-level storm is between 20-40 million, with an outage duration of possibly 16 days to one to two years,” said Kathryn Sullivan, the first woman to walk in space and now the acting administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which hosted Tuesday’s conference.

“The highest risk of storm-induced outages of these magnitudes in the United States is between Washington DC and New York City,” she said, citing a report released last month by global insurance giant Lloyd’s of London, which urged businesses to “think about their exposure to space weather.”

“Space weather is not science fiction, it is an established fact,” the Lloyds report said.

Space storms do have their hidden plusses: the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, are a by-product of a storm in space. The super-storm of 1859 caused skies as far south as the Hawaiian Islands and Panama to erupt in red, green and purple auroras “so brilliant that newspapers could be read as easily as in daylight,” NASA says on its website.

But the Carrington super-storm also sent a mammoth cloud of charged particles and detached magnetic loops — a “coronal mass ejection” — crashing into Earth’s magnetic field, where it caused a geomagnetic storm that severely disrupted the telegraph system, which in the late 1800s was communications’ equivalent of the Internet today.

“Spark discharges shocked telegraph operators and set the telegraph paper on fire. Even when telegraphers disconnected the batteries powering the lines, aurora-induced electric currents in the wires still allowed messages to be transmitted,” NASA says.

An event on a similar scale today could cripple communications, said Sullivan.

“Our dependence on sophisticated electronics technology for almost everything we do today has introduced a new vulnerability into our societies,” she said.

“We can’t prevent space weather from happening but we can become more resilient to it,” including by improving our capacity to accurately predict space weather events, taking steps to lessen the blow from space storms, and recovering better and faster when a space storm does hit.

Space weather is “one of six potential emergency scenarios in the upcoming shortlist of White House National Exercise Programs for 2013-14,” Sullivan said, referring to training exercises that test the readiness of the United States to face various crisis scenarios.

The United States is also working with international partners to improve global readiness for the next big space storm, said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who next week will take part in the 56th session on the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, due to be held in Vienna, Austria.

The UN committee this year, for the first time, recognized space weather caused by solar activity as “a concern on par with close, approaching asteroids,” Bolden said.

NASA is also collaborating with the European Space Agency on its Solar Orbiter mission, which aims to “brave the fierce heat” and study the sun from “closer than ever before,” Bolden said, stressing that space weather, like terrestrial weather, “is a problem that crosses all borders.”

RIA Novosti

France confirms sarin use by Syria regime

I guess he was there......



There is no doubt Syria's government has used sarin during the country's crisis, says France's foreign minister.

Laurent Fabius said lab tests in Paris confirmed numerous uses of the nerve agent, adding that those who resort to chemical weapons must be punished.

But he did not specify where or when the agent had been deployed; the White House has said more proof was needed.

Earlier, the UN said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe chemical weapons had been used.

In a new report, the UN commission of inquiry on Syria also urged foreign powers not to increase the availability of arms in Syria.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon described the atrocities listed in the report - which details evidence of fresh suspected massacres, sieges and violations of children's rights - as "sickening and staggering", said his spokesman.

Children have been taken hostage, forced to watch torture and even participate in beheadings, says the report.

BBC

U.S. publishes details of missile base Israel wanted kept secret




TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s military fumed Monday over the discovery that the U.S. government had revealed details of a top-secret Israeli military installation in published bid requests.

The Obama administration had promised to build Israel a state-of-the-art facility to house a new ballistic-missile defense system, the Arrow 3. As with all Defense Department projects, detailed specifications were made public so that contractors could bid on the $25 million project. The specifications included more than 1,000 pages of details on the facility, ranging from the heating and cooling systems to the thickness of the walls.

"If an enemy of Israel wanted to launch an attack against a facility, this would give him an easy how-to guide. This type of information is closely guarded and its release can jeopardize the entire facility," said an Israeli military official who commented on the publication of the proposal but declined to be named because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the facility. He declined to say whether plans for the facility have been altered as a result of the disclosure.

"This is more than worrying, it is shocking," he said.

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Wesley Miller said he couldn’t comment on the specifics of the Arrow 3 base, but he said the United States routinely published the details of its construction plans on a federal business opportunities website so that contractors could estimate the costs of jobs. He said such postings often might be revised after contracts were approved.

Israeli officials appear to have been well aware of the danger of outsourcing building projects to the United States. In an interview with the Reuters news agency in March, Lt. Col. Peleg Zeevi, the head of the bidding process at Israel’s Defense Ministry, justified Israel’s long history of relying on the United States to help build military installations by saying that Israel needed "a player that has the knowledge, ability and experience."

"We are aware of the security issues that arise in deals with foreign firms, but because we want real competition and expertise, we will create conditions that will allow and encourage their participation," Zeevi said.

It appears, however, that Israeli officials were caught by surprise that details of the facility at Tel Shahar, classified so top secret that Israel’s military won’t officially confirm its location between Jerusalem and Ashdod, would be made so public.

Jane’s Defence Weekly first wrote about the bidding documents, citing them in a story in which it recounted details of the Arrow 3, a defense system designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside the Earth’s atmosphere that’s expected to become operational in 2015.

According to the bid requests, the Arrow 3 system will include six interceptors in vertical launch positions to be placed in the facility, and a gantry crane would need to be erected for further missiles. The structures encasing the interceptor system are to be constructed from high-grade concrete reinforced with steel mesh grids. They’ll have steel blast doors and a system to protect electrical wiring from the pressure created by a launch.

Israeli officials had announced that they were fast-tracking the Arrow 3 system because of their fear that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon.

“We want to reach a situation in which Israel has a ready defense for any threat, present or future,” said Col. Aviram Hasson, the head of the Defense Ministry department that’s charged with developing the system.

The Arrow 3 is capable of intercepting missiles at a range of up to 1,500 miles and can maneuver in midair to chase them. Last February, Israel conducted the first test of the Arrow 3 in space. That test was overseen by the United States.

The new facility won’t be the first military installation the U.S. government has built in Israel. Since 1998, when Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed the Wye River memorandum, the U.S. has constructed about $500 million in military facilities for the Israeli army. In addition to bases in southern Israel, including the Nevatim air base, the U.S. has built command centers, intelligence offices and underground hangars to protect Israel’s jet aircraft.

Last year, U.S. defense contractors began constructing an air force base just outside Tel Aviv – known as the "site 911" – that will cost up to $100 million. Israel’s military hasn’t revealed the purpose of the site, but it’s widely thought that Israel is trying to move some of its military headquarters from high-value real estate in Tel Aviv to the outskirts of the bustling city.
McClatchy



Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/06/03/192895/us-publishes-details-of-missile.html#.Ua3Lk8Vn0hx#storylink=cpy

Gerald Celente on the Alex Jones Show

Desolate Towers

Joseph Herrin



Song of Solomon 8:10
I am a wall, and my breasts like towers...

The news and entertainment media have been providing major coverage of Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a double mastectomy as a preventive measure against the breast cancer that claimed her mother’s life at the age of 56. Angelina Jolie, is 37 years old and has not been diagnosed with breast cancer. Nevertheless, due to fear that she could develop cancer she opted to have her breasts surgically removed and cosmetically reconstructed.

The news regarding Ms. Jolie’s decision was made public in an Op-Ed piece published in the New York Times on May 14th.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opinion/my-medical-choice.html

It has been followed up by cover articles in popular magazines such as Time andPeople.




It is typical of the Luciferian controlled media to call that which is good evil, and that which is evil good. The media has been characterizing Ms. Jolie’s actions as “brave” and “heroic.” One image uses the word “fearless” to describe her recent actions.




Far from being fearless, it was fear that motivated Angelina Jolie to have her breasts surgically removed. Rather than being “fearless,” or “brave,” Ms. Jolie was driven by fear of an early death, and anxiety over developing cancer in her body. The words “frightened” and “fearful” are much more accurate descriptors of her actions. The media rulers are masters of shaping opinion and forming associations in the minds of the populace. By careful selection of words, the media is able to convince the masses that women who are driven by fear to have their breasts removed, are actually“brave,” “fearless,” and “heroic.” The truth is just the opposite.

Mike Adams at the Natural News website has written an expose on the timing of the public media attention given to Ms. Jolie’s decision. The press coverage is far less innocent than the media masters would lead people to believe.

Natural News Article
http://www.naturalnews.com/040365_Angelina_Jolie_gene_patents_Supreme_Court_decision.html

However, I wish to pursue a different facet of this story. I want to focus on the spiritual and moral aspects of this story in the news. Those who are regular readers of this blog will remember that I posted a writing on a related story back in January. The article focused on Allyn Rose, a beauty pageant contestant representing Washington, D.C., in the Miss America Pageant. This woman who is significantly younger than Angelina Jolie (24 years old) announced her determination to have both of her breasts surgically removed due to breast cancer being common in her family. Following is a quote from that post:

To understand what is spiritually symbolized by the removal of the breasts we must look to the Scriptures.

Isaiah 66:10-13
Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her, that you may nurse and be satisfied withher comforting breasts, that you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom." For thus says Yahweh, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall be nursed, you shall be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. As one whom his mothercomforts, so I will comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."

In this passage from Isaiah we see that the breasts are a fountain of life and are symbolic of bounty, peace, and comfort. In contrast, the removal of the breasts is emblematic of poverty, unrest, and discomfort. When a female representative of Washington, D.C. declares to the world that she is going to have her breasts removed, a spiritual message is being pronounced. Washington will no longer be a source of life, nor a comfort to her people. Death will flow from the halls of power. Comfort and peace will be “cut off” from the people.
[Source: http://parablesblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/america-without-breasts.html]

Breasts are associated with nurturing and feminine qualities. It was noted that Allyn Rose’s first name is masculine. She also stated in an interview that she often comes across as “cold,” and some see her as an “ice queen.” These details give testimony of an absence of those feminine qualities that find favor with Yahweh. The cutting off of the breasts serve as an outward parable of an inner spiritual condition. A woman who has abandoned the feminine qualities praised by Yahweh was forsaking the part of her body most associated with nurturing, comfort, motherly affection, and femininity.

I have noted before that “holly wood” is used by witches to craft their magic wands. Harry Potter’s wand was made of wood from the holly tree. Hollywood has cast a spell upon the world. Satan has no greater tool than television and the movies. By cunning employment of media Satan is able to deceive, corrupt, and destroy mankind. A chief aim of Satan is to overturn Yahweh’s order of government by bringing confusion to the genders. He seeks to emancipate women from the home, enticing them to covet the role and life of man. In this we see a repetition of his own error. Lucifer sought to arise above the role Yahweh appointed to him, and to make himself equal to God.

Isaiah 14:13-14
You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

Satan has been very successful in fostering this same spirit of pride and usurpation among women. Rather than being content to fulfill the role of help-mate to the man, the woman has desired to be equal to man. She has sought to ascend. In doing so, women have abandoned the vital roles Yahweh appointed to them as wives and stay-at-home mothers.

Titus 2:4-5
Admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

I Timothy 5:14-15
Therefore, I want younger women to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach; for some have already turned aside to follow Satan.

Angelina Jolie, as one of the premiere leading actresses in Hollywood, has long been a Luciferian poster child modeling anti-feminine qualities to the women of the world. She has been cast repeatedly in roles that glamorize women who manifest masculine traits, and who behave as men. Angelina Jolie has often portrayed women who are violent, and who are the equal to any man in the employment of brute force, in hand to hand fighting, and in cunning.




Tomb Raider




Wanted




Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
(Note the masculine character name - Franky)




Mr. & Mrs. Smith



Salt

Repeatedly, Angelina Jolie has been cast in roles that depict her acting in ways commonly associated with men. She battles men as an equal, usually with physical violence. Far from being a keeper at home, a mother who nurtures her children and honors and submits to her husband, she is shown as a woman of the world, charting her own course, submitting to no one. Rather than manifesting a “gentle and quiet spirit” that are “precious in the sight of God,” she is outspoken, boisterous, and frequently violent.

I Peter 3:1-5
You wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. And let not your adornment be merely external - braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

Outside of her Hollywood career, Ms. Jolie has a similar, if somewhat less violent, persona. She travels the world as a representative of the United Nations. She visited forty countries as a Goodwill Ambassador, and in 2012 was appointed as a Special Envoy for Refugee Issues. Rather than exhibiting the behavior of a devoted wife and mother that Yahweh praises, Ms. Jolie has been married and divorced twice, and is currently in a relationship with Brad Pitt, a man whom she is not married to, but with whom she has had three children. Yahweh describes such a woman as an adulteress.

Romans 7:2-3
For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress...

Satan is very effective at convincing men and women that what Yahweh calls evil is actually good, and that which Yahweh calls good is evil. Angelina Jolie has been lifted up as a Goodwill Ambassador. She is promoted as a woman whose life is to be envied and emulated. Yet her life stands in stark contradiction to everything that Yahweh declares to be holy and good.

It is symbolically fitting for such a woman to have her breasts removed. Ms. Jolie long ago turned away from everything that Yahweh finds praiseworthy among women. She has chosen the role of a man in the world. I am reminded of Paul’s instructions for women in the church who reject the headship of man to have their hair cut off.

I Corinthians 11:6
For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head.

Is it not equally a sign for a woman who has rejected the nurturing, gentle, and quiet role of wife and mother to cut off her breasts? A woman who has forsaken Yahweh’s role for her life is spiritually barren and desolate. In the Song of Solomon, the Shunammite woman and bride of King Solomon, describes her breasts as towers. We live in an hour when the towers have fallen. For those who can accept it, what is occurring in the nations is being replicated in the bodies of women in this dark day. Even as the twin trade towers were cast down to the ground on 9-11, so too are women cutting off the breasts. The towers have fallen.

Zephaniah 3:6
I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate (barren, devoid of life)...

Angelina Jolie is no worse than millions of other women who have forsaken the role of help-mate to man and the stay-at-home mother who cares for her. She is merely a visible symbol of that which is occurring en masse in the world. She has been enticed by Satan to reject her divinely appointed role as a help-mate to man, in order to ascend and place her throne alongside that of man. Angelina Jolie is a media icon to millions of women who are usurpers, grasping after the role of men, seeking equality. Is it surprising that in seeking to live as men that women are losing those attributes that have identified them as women?

People of God, I am going to share something here that will likely offend some, but it needs declaring nonetheless. It is my hope that it might spare some sister in Christ from suffering things that are completely avoidable.

There is a reason that breast cancer is so prevalent in modern society. There has been a 660% rise in non-invasive breast cancer since 1973. What was once rare is now quite common. Why has there been such a rise in the incidence of breast cancer? There are undoubtedly many factors involved. There have been more than 50 million babies aborted in American in the past 40 years. Having an abortion increases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.

http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/The_Link.htm

How many of the millions of women who have aborted their babies have unwittingly consigned themselves to develop breast cancer? Another known link to increased risk of breast cancer is the use of birth control pills, and injectable birth control.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/oral-contraceptives
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/surgeon-birth-control-pill-a-molotov-cocktail-for-breast-cancer/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/05/depo-provera-cancer_n_1405597.html

Is it merely coincidental that as the use of birth control and abortion has skyrocketed, that the incidence of breast cancer has risen apace? Are these things not a judgment from God and a parable?

A woman takes birth control that she might be sexually active without getting pregnant. A woman who deliberately induces her body to become barren (sterile, unfit for life to form), has no need of breasts to nurse the children she is rejecting. The same is true of the woman who aborts her baby.

Many women who have contracted breast cancer did so because they took birth control pills, or chose to abort their babies. Is it not a judgment of God that a woman who would be sexually active, either inside of marriage or outside, while rejecting the life that would form within her, would lose her breasts, and possibly her own life? By the judgment we judge others, we will be judged. By deeming the child she might conceive, or has conceived, to be unworthy of life, the woman is inviting God to judge her according to the same standard.

Matthew 7:2
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

The woman who uses pharmaceuticals (the word pharmakeia in Greek is translated as “sorcery”) to prevent pregnancy is taking unto herself the role of God. The Scriptures declare that it is Yahweh’s role to open and shut the womb (Genesis 30:2, 22, etc.). The apostle Paul stated that due to sin among the church of Corinth many were sick, and some had died. Day after day, untold numbers of people suffer judgment due to sin and fail to recognize the hand of Yahweh. Being spiritually blind and deaf to the truth they fail to discern cause and effect.

I Corinthians 11:30-31
For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.

If you are a Christian and are using birth control, you have cause to fear Yahweh. Do you consider it a casual thing to render your body infertile? Would you usurp the role of Yahweh, choosing death where He chooses life? If you choose death, you may reap more than you had imagined. By making your body inhospitable to the formation of new life you may well be making a choice that results in the loss of your breasts, or even your life.

Similarly, the woman who rejects man as her head, seeking to usurp the role of man, has reason to fear. I have often observed that people suffer things physically that mirror the spiritual state of their lives. If you are rejecting the role of wife and mother, seeking to act as a man in the world, you should fear that the fruit of this inner condition will manifest in your body.

Satan is not going to tell men and women that there is a cost to sin. He would glamorize a promiscuous lifestyle. He is NOT going to tell you that using the medical profession’s sorcery in a pill may cost you your breasts, or even your life. The public school system employees are not going to tell you this either, nor will the government, or the media. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

What you are going to hear from this fallen world system is that a self-centered, indulgent, pleasure-seeking lifestyle is the right of every man and woman. The name “Angelina” comes from the word “angel” that means “messenger.” Angelina Jolie is a messenger of Satan. Note the tattoo on her left shoulder. It should leave no doubt who she serves.





Dragon Tattoo

Throughout her career, Ms. Jolie has been promoting an unrighteous image for women to emulate. Satan has paid her well. She has received immediate gratification, while forfeiting an eternal inheritance in Christ. Many who are first now will be last, and the last shall be first.

Ms. Jolie has desired sexual freedom, while enjoying equality with men in all areas of life. As she has forsaken the woman’s role to attain equality with man, she has voluntarily given up those feminine attributes that Yahweh praises. Now she has voluntarily gone under the surgeon’s knife and had her breasts removed. Let those with eyes to see perceive the parable in this event. There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is death.

Joseph Herrin

Biggest Gold Mine In The World Shutdown









In an earlier article we laid out the case for the importance of annual gold mining production and how it heavily influences the supply picture of physical gold. Gold mining companies have been having a tough time controlling gold costs, and the true all-in costs of an average ounce of gold is now being produced at close the $1300 per ounce. Even with the price of gold averaging more than $1600 per ounce in 2012, total gold production was down for the miners we researched, which encompassed more than 25% of total annual gold production.

Higher premiums are still present from Dubai to Shanghai, U.S. Mint sales have been breaking records, and other mints and refiners are producing gold coins and bars round the clock to meet demand for physical metal. Counterintuitively, the market price of gold has been dropping even as we see the highest amount of physical demand in years.

Gold seems to have formed a bottom, and with such a large short position, we believe gold is just waiting for a catalyst to propel it higher and force a number of shorts to cover in the face of strong physical demand and a tight supply picture. These catalysts are tough to predict, but with such an overwhelmingly negative outlook by hedge funds and paper gold investors (hence the large short positions), news that may normally have little effect on the market may end up being the spark that sets the short-covering blaze. We may see it in the form of the shutdown of the largest gold mine in the world for an extended period.

Seeking Alpha

Bank of America predicts a bloodbath for US bonds




A salutary warning from the Bank of America in its latest market outlook. US bonds lost 1.8 per cent in May, their worst performance in three years. Is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world about to tank? The Bank of America predicts a ‘bloodbath’ in US bonds. Have we all heard so many warnings over the past few years that we miss the big one?

Bloomberg’s Manus Cranny reports on the outlook for US treasuries and quotes opinion from Bank of America…

Arabian Money

Flooding worst in 500 years in parts of Europe








PRAGUE, Czech Republic, June 3 (UPI) -- Deadly flooding in some parts of central Europe Monday reached levels unseen for 500 years, officials said. The death toll was at least nine.

In the Czech Republic, where the deaths of at least seven people were attributed to floodwaters and 3,000 people were forced from their homes, dams were opened to relieve the pressure, pushing the River Vltava higher. The river, which flows through Prague, the capital, was expected to crest Tuesday morning, the BBC reported.

Two more people were killed in Austria, the British network said.

In Germany, soldiers were deployed to beef up flood barriers. The people of Passau -- known as the "City of Three Rivers" because the Danube, Inn and Ilz converge there -- witnessed floodwaters not seen since the 16th century, the BBC said. Much of the city of 50,000 was inaccessible and a state of emergency was declared.

The BBC said the body of a man swept away while clearing a landslide was found near Salzburg, Austria, where more than 300 people fled their homes because of flooding, and another man was found dead in the state of Vorarlberg, the BBC said.

Main roads throughout central Europe were closed and rail service was cut. Electricity in some areas was turned off as a precaution.

At least eight people were reported missing, including three in Austria, officials said.

In Germany, more than 7,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Eilenburg. The city of Rosenheim also was under a state of emergency.

In Saxony, water levels on the River Mulde were said to be particularly high.

Bavaria's flood-alert service said the forecast called for heavy rain that could worsen the flooding along the Danube and the Inn rivers, and other rivers in the area.

Prague was on high alert amid fears floodwaters could envelope its historic center, including the 14th century Charles Bridge and other buildings near the riverbank.

More than 2,500 people were forced to flee in the capital and its surrounding area, Radio Prague reported.

Underground train stations and schools were closed while officials waited to see if the Vltava River would overflow its banks.

"We will do everything to protect people's lives and health," Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said. "Tonight and tomorrow will be critical."

Necas called a special Cabinet session Sunday to coordinate an emergency response and mobilized 1,000 troops to help erect metal barriers and fill sandbags.

Acting Prague Mayor Tomas Hudecek told CTK vehicular and public transit would be restricted indefinitely and called on people not to go to Prague unless it was necessary.

In Austria, the meteorological service said two months of rain fell in just two days, the BBC said.

More than 300 people were evacuated in Salzburg and Tyrol, and the Austrian army worked with civil authorities to clear landslides and roads.

Parts of the Pinzgau region were declared a disaster zone.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/06/03/Flooding-worst-in-500-years-in-parts-of-Europe/UPI-68581370264416/#ixzz2VFoJ1axG



New technology to transfer DNA into cells




Atkins, of Maryland Heights, Mo., and Patel, of Normandy, Mo., are research associates at the university, both pursuing doctoral degrees in biology and working in the laboratory of George Gokel, director of the Center for Nanoscience at UMSL.

Much of Atkins and Patel's research centers on ion channels – proteins that act as pores within cell membranes and enable electrical currents to pass in and out of cells. They recently developed new technology to transfer DNA into cells. The development is an inexpensive and non-toxic method to help DNA cross the cell membrane so that cells can be modified.

In honor of their work, Atkins and Patel were inducted as honorary members of the UMSL chapter of the National Academy of Inventors, and they were presented the UMSL Student Inventor of the Year Award, which brought a $500 prize.

Atkins and Patel will also share a $50,000 grant with Gokel for the trio's project "Novel, non-toxic and highly efficient chemical transformation and transfection reagents." The four-campus University of Missouri System awarded the grant through its FastTrack Funding program.

The three honors were bestowed upon Atkins and Patel on April 26 at a reception that capped UMSL's annual Research and Innovation Week.

And earlier this month, the pair picked up a fourth award, taking home a $50,000 Arch Grants to help fund their biotechnology startup company Genetix Fusion. The duo was among 20 companies chosen out of an initial field of more than 700 applicants, according to an article published May 14 in the St. Louis Business Journal.

"Standing among the winners not only validates our technology and the team, but also provides us the opportunity to network with entrepreneurs and scientific and business leaders," Patel said. "The grant will help us establish our operations here in St. Louis and initiate sales and marketing for our first product."

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-06-biochemists-technology-dna-cells.html#jCp

World stocks slide on economy and debt fears




LONDON — Stocks fell on Monday and the euro hit a three-week low versus the dollar as worries about Greek and Italian fiscal deficits and a regional election rout for Germany’s ruling party cast more doubt on the euro zone’s ability to solve its debt crisis.

Data on Friday showing U.S. employment growth halted in August fueled concerns that the world’s biggest economy is slipping back into a recession, sending Wall Street sharply lower on Friday before a long weekend.

The euro zone faces a week packed with political and legal risks, beginning with the German Federal Constitutional court ruling on Wednesday on claims that Berlin is breaking German law and European treaties by contributing to bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

The yield premiums investors demand to hold Italian and Spanish 10-year government bonds rather than benchmark German Bunds hit their highest in a month.

“Not a great start to the week. There is a lot going on for banks, especially in the light of a low-growth environment and the backdrop in the euro zone not improving,” said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin.

European stocks fell 2 percent while emerging stocks lost 2.2 percent.

U.S. crude oil fell 1.6 percent to US$85.07 a barrel.

The dollar rose 0.4 percent to set a one-month high against a basket of major currencies.

The euro had fallen to a three-week low of US$1.4111 before trimming losses.

As many European financial institutions are saddled with losses on bond holdings, traders are also worried that their funding could face more strains, putting pressure on the euro.

Bund futures rose 100 ticks to a record high. Italian 10-year yields rose to their highest since August 9 at 5.467 percent, dragged away from the 5 percent level to which European Central Bank buying had eased them.

Besides the German court ruling, a meeting of finance ministers of Germany, the Netherlands and Finland will also be closely eyed as they discuss the nagging issue of collateral for loans to Greece.

Debate over the effectiveness of ECB bond-buying is likely intensify at the bank’s monthly policy meeting on Thursday.

“We will probably get the … assertion that ‘all euro zone countries must stick to their fiscal plans as agreed with the euro zone authorities’,” Richard McGuire, rate strategist at Rabobank, said.

“Singling out Italy — there is a risk that that would be counterproductive because it would put Italian yields under significant pressure and therefore undo much of the work that the ECB has done.”

Finantial Post