Monday, January 31, 2011

Wireless RFID Chip Devices Used In China For Banking




China is using implantable chips in wrist watches, MP3 Players like Ipods and other devises to create a cashless society.

Philippines: Church Spreads Gospel after Pastor's Martyrdom

January 27, 2011



*** Warning: This story contains some graphic images and is not suitable for children.***

FL Judge Rules Against the Healthcare Bill with 26 States Agreeing It's Unconstitutional

(Reuters) - A federal judge in Florida struck down President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare overhaul as unconstitutional on Monday in the biggest legal challenge yet to federal authority to enact the law.

U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson ruled that the reform law's so-called individual mandate went too far in requiring that Americans start buying health insurance in 2014 or pay a penalty.

"Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire act must be declared void," he wrote, "This has been a difficult decision to reach and I am aware that it will have indeterminable implications."

Referring to a key provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Vinson sided with governors and attorneys general from 26 U.S. states, almost all of whom are Republicans, in declaring the Obama healthcare reform unconstitutional.

"Regardless of how laudable its attempts may have been to accomplish these goals in passing the act, Congress must operate within the bounds established by the Constitution," Vinson, who was appointed to the bench by Republican President Ronald Reagan, ruled.


TO READ MORE Reuters

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tens of Thousands in Demonstration in Galae Square, Cairo

Tens of Thousands in Demonstration in Galae Square, Cairo from Ramy Raoof on Vimeo.

30 Days into 2011 with Worldwide Protests

This video shows 24 different countries that began 2011 with protests. The video shows the country location and news about the protest/riot. 2011 protests are increasing in quantity and support. Countries shown are Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Honduras, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America, Venezuela and Yemen.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

GRAPHIC Video of 19yr GIRL STONED to Death by Afghan Taliban for running away from arranged marriage

RAW & UNCENSORED Video Of Egyptian Protests - Egyptians DEMAND Freedom

Meet Pappy

Dayton, OH man living in a hut in the woods

VIDEO from 30 Days of Homeless











Ohio Pastor Living In Van for 30 DAYS to help homeless

NBC DAYTON, Ohio --

When it comes to the important issues of the day, it's usually easier to relate to one person's dramatic story than to overwhelming statistics.

That was the case recently with golden-voiced Ted Williams, the Columbus man who was living on the streets until a newspaper reporter helped turn him into an overnight sensation.

It's also the idea behind Dayton-area pastor Ryan Riddell's January journey.

The clergyman is hoping to bring awareness to the issue of homelessness this month by sleeping and living in his van on the streets of Dayton instead of in his comfortable Miamisburg home. He seeks shelter from bitter January days at the downtown library or bus hub.

According to Joyce Probst MacAlpine, Montgomery County's manager of housing and homeless solutions, there are about 4,000 homeless in the Dayton area and there was an 11 percent increase in people at local shelters in 2010.

It's the medium that makes Riddell's experiences unique; he's using social media to bring home his message in creative new ways. He's constantly updating his website, tweeting and posting on Facebook to let followers know when someone he's encountered on the streets needs a pair of long johns, overnight housing or a pair of shoes.

Riddell, bundled up and unshaven, shares his daily reflections through both video and written blogs, appearing on television and radio to tell his story and to grow his audience. He's been featured in media outlets ranging from the Huffington Post to ABC.com and was one of Friday's Intriguing People on CNN's "This Just In."

He's racked up 1,000 friends on Facebook and has had 30,000 hits on his web page.

A minister at Shelter Community Church of the Nazarene in Belmont as well as a realtor for Keller Williams, Riddell, 45, also owns a roofing business in Miamisburg.

"I have four reasons for doing this," he explains. "The first is for my own spiritual renewal. I'm trying to take 30 days to step back from the things I do in the business world and the church."

A second reason, he says, is that "Jesus became like us in order to reach us." Riddell says the more he gets into the world of the homeless, the more receptive people have been, allowing him to be of help.

That help may range from passing out drinks and snacks to locating overnight shelter for someone who has been sleeping in a tent and on the street for months. A growing number of followers, including area church members, are helping him by filling needs as they arise.

For example, earlier this week, Riddell was attending a service and meal at Target: Dayton Ministries when an 18-year-old girl named Samantha asked if he could get her a Bible. Within 45 seconds after he'd posted the request on Facebook, someone had offered to drop off the book at St. Vincent's that night. The same thing happened when Riddell requested a pair of new shoes for a young person who had been wearing the same pair for the past three years.

Riddell says he also hopes to create an awareness of what's happening downtown, just minutes from where many members of his congregation reside.

"We all hang out at the Oregon District, we socialize, eat, find entertainment, but on the other side of the trestle there's a semi-tractor trailer and people are sleeping under that on skids with cardboard for insulation," he says. "I typically drive through there with my windows up and have no awareness of the stuff going on there. I'm trying to live and walk these streets to create an awareness."

Riddell says we all expect our community organizations to "take care of these things."

"I believe that biblically we have a responsibility to cry out and help these people," he says, adding that many people are quick to insist that the homeless get a job and help themselves.

"These folks are so beaten down and so consumed with basic needs such as food and shelter, it's hard to get out of that hole," he explains.

He is particularly concerned about the kids who "age out" of the foster care system and end up living on the streets. He's working with Salem Church of God in Englewood to help create a new nonprofit organization, New Family Tree, that will provide transitional housing for young people who may have no place to go after age 18.

Riddell insists he isn't "pretending" to be homeless. He set up rules for himself from the get-go: He's sleeping in a van rather than taking up a bed at a shelter, eating alongside the homeless at local food missions by invitation. He's seeing his wife and children and showering twice a week; he carries and uses a credit card when he feels it can help someone.

At first, Riddell says, he was intimidated when hanging out at places like the downtown bus hub. One day, a lady to whom he'd recently sold a house didn't recognize him.

"I had no idea how engaged I would become," he says. "It's gripping me more than I had expected. These weeks on the street have helped me better understand those who are homeless."

"These people have a story," he says. "They have a name and a soul. They want their story told, they want to be heard. They appreciate my being their voice."


http://30dayshomeless.wordpress.com

Remembering Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster 25 Years Later



Boy Scout Troop Makes History

Friday, January 21, 2011

ANALYSIS of Teens & Young Adults Leaving the Church

ANALYSIS | For the last decade, churches in America have felt the pinch of young people exiting faster than you can say "Welcome to Sunday Morning Service." Why do our young people want out?

At a glance, it's no puzzlement to the man on the street. As discussed in my recent article, "New Organization, Book Explores Reversing the Church's Bad Reputation," numerous controversial issues have been handled ungracefully while trying to tell the rest of the world about Jesus and His love.

But for Christians who wish to return America to a more Bible-friendly atmosphere, there are even deeper conflicts and symptoms to be recognized.

Starting from kids on up, a great variety of reasons for the exodus exists. The following are gathered and generalized from well-informed sources: "Generation Ex-Christian: Why Young Adults Are Leaving the Faith ...and How to Bring Them Back," (Drew Dyck, Moody Publishing, Oct 2010), "Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it" (Ken Ham & Britt Beemer, Todd Hillard, New Leaf, Aug 2009); "The Last Christian Generation" (McDowell, Green Key, 2006); and Lifeway Christian Resource Surveys from 2007 and 2010.

* Churched kids and teens spend six of seven days each week hearing other people say how judgmental Christianity is, and that the Bible should be taboo.

* Churches use outdated methods of Sunday School, rotating the same Bible stories year-in and year-out without relating the morals to daily living. When kids want to know why someone like Gabrielle Giffords was shot, they don't need another lesson on Noah's Ark.

* Teens can only eat so much pizza at church social events before they see through this thinly veiled attempt at keeping them occupied and out of trouble.

* Those surveyed say there aren't enough good reasons given for holding Bible beliefs other than "the preacher says so..." or "your parents say so."

* Sometimes kids are routinely kept out of "grown-up church." From infancy to four years old, they're in nursery. Then they get "children's church" with a short Bible lesson, crafts and refreshments. For teens, a separate youth service geared to "their" music. By eighteen, they've never been expected to sit through a whole Sunday service. It's culture shock.

* Young people can see that the Church in general hasn't yet been able to conquer racial reconciliation, domestic abuse and the rampant church divorce rate...sometimes in their own families.

* Older generations won't blend a moderate amount of contemporary music with traditional hymns, to show young people that newer ideas are respected.

* Or, the Church feels pressured to impress their younger members with new technological avenues. So they discard all the old hymns that were written out of peoples' struggles with life, pride and suffering. Thus, the newer generations don't hear about how God can help them through hard times.

* Parents are expecting the church to teach what may fall within their own responsibility.

* But then, young parents raised in the last twenty years have themselves grown up under the new pop psychology of never receiving or deserving any discipline or criticism. They've seen church become irrelevant. Now, as parents, they're hesitant to make (or even ask) their kids to go to church or develop a backbone in faith.

* Lastly, everyone's too busy for church. There are too many other attractions in life.

Many church leaders may pick up these books and surveys only to find the suggested answers to the problems are things their church already tried. Others may not have the means or congregational support to implement changes.

And still more will find it such a daunting task that they just throw up their hands. Maybe it's time to do just that -- throw hands up and pray, rather than create more programs -- and leave the rest up to God.

Sheryl Young has been freelance writing for newspapers, magazines, organizations and websites since 1997. Her specialty is American politics, education and society as they intersect with religion. Credits include Community Columnist for the Tampa Tribune Newspaper, Interview Columnist with Light & Life Magazine, and a National First Place "Roaring Lambs" Writing Award from the Amy Foundation.


Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor.

MTV's Skins May be Breaking Child Porn Laws

MTV executives have a new hit drama on their hands, featuring the sexual and drug-fueled exploits of misfit teenagers. They also have something else — a fear that coming episodes of the show may break the law.

In recent days, executives at the cable channel became concerned that some scenes from the provocative new show “Skins” may violate federal child pornography statutes.

The executives ordered the producers to make changes to tone down some of the most explicit content.

They are particularly concerned about the third episode of the series, which is to be broadcast Jan. 31. In an early version, a naked 17-year-old actor is shown from behind as he runs down a street. The actor, Jesse Carere, plays Chris, a high school student whose erection — assisted by erectile dysfunction pills — is a punch line throughout the episode.

Child pornography is defined by the United States as any visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In some cases, “a picture of a naked child may constitute illegal child pornography if it is sufficiently sexually suggestive,” according to the Justice Department’s legal guidance. Anyone younger than 18 is considered to be a minor.


READ MORE at NYTimes

'Most Dangerous Show for Teens' MTV's SKINS

NEW YORK - With MTV’s Skins set to debut on Monday, the Parents Television Council on Thursday called it "the most dangerous show for teens."

The organization criticized Viacom's MTV for deliberately marketing the show, based on a U.K. series, to a teen audience, including via "an extended trailer with high school characters engaging in drug use and casual sex, as well as an interactive map on the show’s web site asking real people to 'post the truth about the biggest parties, heartbreak, friends, sex, and every kind of trouble'."

"Despite the MA-rating for Skins, MTV appears to be deliberately targeting teens with its marketing campaign," said PTC president Tim Winter. "Skins may well be the most dangerous show for children that we have ever seen."

Added Winter: "The marketing campaign itself makes light of lying to parents and participating in all manner of harmful, irresponsible, illegal and adult-themed behavior. The trailers we have seen thus far make sexual objects of almost every single one of its characters and asks not only for viewers to approve, but to actively participate by posting their own secret stories."

Read more & watch the trailer

Thursday, January 20, 2011

U.S. Supreme Court Decision Allows Judges to VOID the Constiution!

ATLANTA, Jan. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision that serves to allow judges to void the Constitution in their courtrooms. The decision was issued on January 18, 2011, and the Court did not even explain the decision (Docket No. 10-632, 10-633, and 10-690). One word decisions: DENIED.

Presented with this information and massive proof that was not contested in any manner by the accused judges, at least six of the justices voted to deny the petitions:

"There is no legal or factual basis whatsoever for the decisions of the lower courts in this matter. These rulings were issued for corrupt reasons. Many of the judges in the Northern District of Georgia and the Eleventh Circuit are corrupt and violate laws and rules, as they have done in this case. The Supreme Court must recognize this Petition as one of the most serious matters ever presented to this Court."

The key questions answered negatively by the U.S. Supreme Court was:

"Whether federal courts must be stopped from operating corruptly and ignoring all laws, rules, and facts."

By denying the petitions, SCOTUS has chosen to sanction corruption by federal judges and to allow federal judges to void sections of the Constitutional at will.

William M. Windsor has been involved in legal action in the federal courts in Atlanta since 2006. Windsor was named a defendant in a civil lawsuit (1:06-CV-0714-ODE) in which Christopher Glynn of Maid of the Mist in Niagara Falls, swore under oath that Windsor did a variety of things including the crimes of theft and bribery. Windsor stated under oath that Christopher Glynn made it up and lied about absolutely everything that he swore. Windsor then obtained deposition testimony from Glynn and the other managers of the Maid of the Mist boat ride, and they admitted, under oath, that charges against Windsor were not true.

Despite this undeniable proof, 32-year federal Judge Orinda D. Evans declared that the grandfather of three should not have fought the lawsuit, and she forced him to pay a fortune in legal fees of Maid of the Mist. Windsor appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, but federal judges Dubina, Hull, and Fay rubber-stamped Judge Evans' ruling. Windsor then took his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court where the justices said the appeal was not worthy of their consideration (cert denied).

After attempting to get the case reopened with new evidence that proved fraud upon the courts and obstruction of justice, Judge Evans and Judge William S. Duffey committed a variety of crimes and violations of Constitutional rights, as did judges with the Eleventh Circuit. All of this was detailed for the Supreme Court.

Windsor says: "I have discovered that the federal judges in Atlanta, Georgia, Washington, DC, and the justices of the United States Supreme Court function like common criminals intentionally making bogus rulings against honest people while covering up the crimes of their fellow judges. I have been contacted by people from all over the country and around the world with their stories of judicial corruption with judges all over the U.S.

"My charges have been totally ignored by the United States Attorney's Office, the FBI, and Congress. I do not believe there is a shred of decency, honesty, or Constitutional rights in our federal courts. In my opinion, we now live in a police state. Judges are free to do absolutely anything they want. Our laws are meaningless. Your life savings can be stolen by a federal judge, and they have no risk in violating every law in the books.

"In my opinion, this is the most serious issue that our country has ever faced. Our rights have been stolen. And the mainstream media refuses to cover this story because they are afraid of the judges. Heaven help us.

"I believe our only hope in America is if the masses become aware of what is taking place. I am writing an expose, and my book will be available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, and on amazon.com soon. The publisher will decide if the title is Lawless America or Screwed, Glued, and Tattooed."

For more information, see www.LawlessAmerica.com.

Contact: William Windsor, +1-770-578-1094, bill@lawlessamerica.com

SOURCE William M. Windsor

Monday, January 17, 2011

Singer George Beverly Shea at 102yrs old Still has Work to do for God!

MONTREAT — They call George Beverly Shea “America's beloved gospel singer,” but that's almost an understatement, given how much he has accomplished in 101 years of life.

He's performed on almost every corner of the planet and holds the Guinness Book of World Records mark for singing in front of the most people ever, a combined audience of 220 million, much of it with his old friend the Rev. Billy Graham.

He's met almost every president of the past 60 years. He's recorded more than 500 vocal solos, more than 70 albums and performed on radio, TV and in film. He's earned 10 Grammy nominations and won the award in 1965.

Next month, just after his 102nd birthday, he's headed to Los Angeles to collect a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy, the group that presents the Grammys. The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented Feb. 12, a day before the full Grammy ceremony.

“We believe that Mr. Shea will be the oldest living recipient” of the Lifetime Achievement Award, said Grammy spokeswoman Stephanie Schell. This year, other recipients are singer-actress Julie Andrews, bandleader Roy Haynes, the Juilliard String Quartet, the Kingston Trio folk group, country superstar Dolly Parton and punk rockers The Ramones.

Shea brushes aside notion of stardom.

“I don't see much spotlight,” he said. “I never did anything on my own. Well, I was 26 years on RCA (records), and that was nice. The man who signed up Elvis signed me up. I think Elvis sold a few more records than I did.”

He continues to perform concerts, most recently around Christmas. “I feel very much alive,” he said.

More than a grand voice, Shea is known as a loyal friend and family man and a crucial member of the Graham ministry — and as an inspiration to generations of Christian musicians.

“He laid the foundation in the middle and later part of the 20th century for what we know as popular Christian music,” said Jim Kirkland, director of radio for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which includes Black Mountain radio station WMIT-FM/106.9 The Light.

READ More at Citizens-Times

EU School Removes Christian Holidays BUT Keeps Muslim Ones

Catholic News Agency (CNA) reports the European Commission printed three million school diaries, which include the calendars, that it hands out free of charge to students who request them. But missing from all the copies were any references to sacred Christian holidays.

CNA quoted former French politician and government minister Christine Boutin, who said that while Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter are missing from the diary’s pages, days commemorating “Sikh Baisakhi-Day, the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday, the Muslim holiday Aid-el-Kebir,” remain.

The omissions have drawn the ire of the Christian Democratic Party in France. The group is circulating an online petition to have the Christian holidays reinstated.

The petition asks, “Why is this omission unacceptable?” and then outlines three reasons:

- The role of Christianity in the European contruction is an undeniable and historical fact. How can this diary pretend to inform teenagers about the EU, removing all references to christianism, negating a religion that contributed so much to its construction and unity ?

- Christianity is the first religion in Europe. This oversight offends many people. The denial of something so important for them, the oversight of the values and beliefs they share, is intolerable.

- Christianity is not only a religious factor, but also a cultural and founder factor of the history and identity of many European Nation’s. Christian holidays, in particular Christmas and Easter, absent in this diary, are celebrated through all Europe by many persons, even non Christians.


Read CNA’s original report as well as the petition.

An Estimated $34 Billion Will be Spent in Financial Fraud in 2011 by Christian Leaders

The January 2011 issue of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research reported that Christian religious leaders will commit an estimated $34 billion in financial fraud in 2011 while $31 billion will be spent on global missions. Researchers from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity estimate that Christian religious leaders will commit $90 million in financial crimes daily and the fraud is growing at a rate of 5.97% each year. If the researchers are correct, religious financial fraud among Christians will almost double in 14 years to $60 billion annually by 2025. 1

Endnotes

1 Todd M. Johnson, David B. Barrett, and Peter F. Crossing, “Status of Global Mission, 2010, in Context of 20th and 21st Centuries”, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 35, No.1, page 29, January 2011

Read More Here

Sunday, January 16, 2011

U.S. Elected Govt. Officials Fail Constitution Quiz

For five years now, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute has been conducting a national survey to gauge the quality of civic education in the country. We've surveyed more than 30,000 Americans, most of them college students, but also a random sample of adults from all educational and demographic backgrounds.

Included in the adult sample was a small subset of Americans (165 in all) who, when asked, identified themselves as having been "successfully elected to government office at least once in their life" -- which can include federal, state or local offices.

The survey asks 33 basic civics questions, many taken from other nationally recognized instruments like the U.S. Citizenship Exam. It also asks 10 questions related to the U.S. Constitution.

So what did we find? Well, to put it simply, the results are not pretty.

Elected officials at many levels of government, not just the federal government, swear an oath to "uphold and protect" the U.S. Constitution.

But those elected officials who took the test scored an average 5 percentage points lower than the national average (49 percent vs. 54 percent), with ordinary citizens outscoring these elected officials on each constitutional question. Examples:
  • Only 49 percent of elected officials could name all three branches of government, compared with 50 percent of the general public.
  • Only 46 percent knew that Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war -- 54 percent of the general public knows that.
  • Just 15 percent answered correctly that the phrase "wall of separation" appears in Thomas Jefferson's letters -- not in the U.S. Constitution -- compared with 19 percent of the general public.
  • And only 57 percent of those who've held elective office know what the Electoral College does, while 66 percent of the public got that answer right. (Of elected officials, 20 percent thought the Electoral College was a school for "training those aspiring for higher political office.")
You can take the quiz yourself -- click here.

Overall, our sample of elected officials averaged a failing 44 percent on the entire 33-question test, 5 percentage points lower than the national average of 49 percent.

When elected officials take an oath "to protect and defend the Constitution," shouldn't they know what they are swearing to?

Richard Brake is co-chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's National Civic Literacy Board. For more details regarding the ISI's past and current civic literacy studies and to take the test online, go to www.americancivicliteracy.org.


* * *

Are you smarter than an elected official?
If you can correctly answer five or more of these basic Constitution-related questions, congratulations! You're smarter than the average elected official! (Answers are below -- but no peeking!)

1) What are the three branches of government?
A. executive, legislative, judicial
B. executive, legislative, military
C. bureaucratic, military, industry
D. federal, state, local

2) What part of the government has the power to declare war?
A. Congress
B. the president
C. the Supreme Court
D. the Joint Chiefs of Staff

3) In the area of United States foreign policy, Congress shares power with the:
A. president
B. Supreme Court
C. state governments
D. United Nations

4) The United States Electoral College:
A. trains those aspiring for higher political office
B. was established to supervise the first televised presidential debates
C. is otherwise known as the U.S. Congress
D. is a constitutionally mandated assembly that elects the president
E. was ruled undemocratic by the Supreme Court

5) What impact did the Anti-Federalists have on the United States Constitution?
A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the Bill of Rights
B. their arguments helped lead to the abolition of the slave trade
C. their influence ensured that the federal government would maintain a standing army
D. their influence ensured that the federal government would have the power to tax

6) The phrase that in America there should be a "wall of separation" between church and state appears in:
A. George Washington's Farewell Address
B. the Mayflower Compact
C. the Constitution
D. the Declaration of Independence
E. Thomas Jefferson's letters

7) The Bill of Rights explicitly prohibits:
A. prayer in public school
B. discrimination based on race, sex, or religion
C. the ownership of guns by private individuals
D. establishing an official religion for the United States
E. the president from vetoing a line item in a spending bill

8) Identify one right or freedom below guaranteed by the first amendment.
A. Right to bear arms
B. Due process
C. Religion
D. Right to counsel

9) Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government listed below?
A. Make treaties
B. Make zoning laws
C. Maintain prisons
D. Establish standards for doctors and lawyers

10) Who is the commander in chief of the U.S. military?
A. Secretary of the army
B. Secretary of state
C. President
D. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

Answer key:
1) A; 2) A; 3) A; 4) D; 5) A; 6) E; 7) D; 8) C; 9) A; 10) C

Saturday, January 15, 2011

HOUSTON Food Permit Stops Homeless Org Outreach In It's Tracks

Bobby Herring has a heart for Houston’s (TX) homeless population. He and his wife, Amanda, have provided meals to the city’s downtown downtrodden almost every night for the last year. On any given night, they can see 60-120 people in need of a meal. But two weeks ago, that ended. Not for lack of funds, lack of food, or lack of dedication, but because the government says they don’t have the proper permit.

“We don’t really know what they want, we just think that they don’t want us down there feeding people,” Bobby told the Houston Chronicle.

Kathy Barton, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department, told the Chronicle exactly what “they” are looking for: food that’s prepared in a “certified” kitchen under the watch of a “certified” food manager. Those are the requirements for the Herring’s charity, “Feed a Friend,” to get the proper permit. But the Herrings are skeptical they will ever receive it because they don’t have the means to meet the stipulations.

The controversy started when Houston police asked them to move from their initial location downtown to a different location. Because the new location is technically on park land, the couple was shut down for not having the permits from the city health and parks departments.

The regulations and permit are essential when it comes to the homeless, Barton told the Chronicle, because “poor people are the most vulnerable to foodborne illness and also are the least likely to have access to health care.”

But the Herrings said this is something they‘ve been doing for a year and it’s never been a problem before.

“I’m just really sad,” Amanda said to the Chronicle. “I can’t believe for a year we were right out in the open and never had anybody tell us to leave, to stop, to tell us it was wrong. I’m blindsided with it.”

The homeless outreach isn’t the only ministry the Herrings are involved in. They also run an organization called Eyes on Me that reaches out to the city’s youth. Bobby, who also goes by his Christian rap name Tre9, tries to reach out through hip hop. A video on YouTube reportedly shows Tre9 hosting an outing called “Hip Hop Hope Tuesdays”:



Read the entire Houston Chronicle article.

90 Girls Pregnant at Memphis Middle/High School

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Earth's magnetic pole shift-Could it be why the Birds are Dying?

(NaturalNews) Following the unexplained deaths of several thousand birds over the last two weeks, events are now emerging that may offer a physics-based explanation for the mysterious deaths. It all begins on a runway in Tampa, where airport officials recently closed that runway in order to change the numeric designators painted there. Why are those numeric designators being changed? Because the Earth's magnetic poles are shifting and the numbers previously painted on the runway no longer match up with the magnetic measurements of sensitive airplane instruments (http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01...).

As Physorg.com explains:

The primary runway at the airport is designated 18R/36L, which means the runway is aligned along 180 degrees from north (that is, due south) when approached from the north and 360 degrees from north when approached from the south. Now the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has requested the designation be changed to 19R/1L to account for the movement of the magnetic north pole.

This brings us to our first physics fact of this article:

Physics Fact #1: The Earth's magnetic poles are shifting. (And not just a little bit, but enough to affect airport runways on the scale of human observation.)

The role of Earth's magnetic field

The Earth's magnetic field is extremely important for protecting the planet from so-called "solar wind" and other electromagnetic influences from space. The magnetosphere, which is driven by the Earth's magnetic field, serves as a kind of electromagnetic barrier to prevent dangerous rays from reaching the surface of the planet.

You can see a picture of that here: http://www.theozonehole.com/magneti...

Physics Fact #2: The Earth's magnetic field has flipped hundreds of times in the past.

The Earth's magnetic field "flips" (or reverses polarity) every few thousand years. This is called a geomagnetic reversal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomag...). In between these flips, the magnetic field can become quite weak and chaotic, causing "turbulence" in the field, which can effectively cause weaker gaps in the magnetosphere.

These magnetic gaps or weaknesses can allow outside influences that normally would not penetrate the magnetosphere to reach deep into that magnetosphere, theoretically all the way down to where birds fly at very low altitude.

Last week, a report from the Russia's Ministry for Extraordinary Situations (MCHS) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minist...) warned that the weakening Earth magnetosphere was allowing "poisonous space clouds" to enter deep into Earth's atmosphere where it is coming into contact with birds.

These "space clouds" are called Noctilucent clouds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctil...), which exist at very high altitudes (roughly 50 miles) and accumulate space dust from micrometeors and other sources.

What's really interesting here is that these noctilucent clouds exhibit very high radar reflectivity (http://media.caltech.edu/press_rele...). This means these clouds create a very large radar signature on weather tracking systems.

Physics fact #3: Noctilucent clouds have very high radar reflectivity.

Weather radar tracks phenomenon during bird kill

Now here's where this story gets really interesting: On New Year's Even when birds began falling out of the sky in Arkansas, the National Weather Service in North Little Rock documented an unusual phenomenon on their radar monitors.

"There are some indications that we're picking up a non-precipitation target," said Science and Operations Officer Chris Buonanno at the NWS (http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local...). He went on to explain that the radar signature definitely was not indicative of a cloud or rainstorm. It was something altogether different.

At or around the same time this radar image appeared, birds began falling out of the sky.

Over the last several weeks, hundreds of thousands of birds and fish have been found dead across the globe. Here's a compilation of the deaths so far: http://www.naturalnews.com/030985_m...

Retrospect on Obama's Speech









Question: In the spirit of unity and thriving, will all the prog cities and counties that declared economic war on Arizona over SB1070 repeal their boycotts now?

Reminder of the local governments that declared boycotts against Arizona:

• Amherst (Mass.)

• Austin City Council • Berkeley, Calif. • Bloomington, Ind.

• Boston. • Burlington, Vt.

• Columbus, Ohio.

• Cook County, Ill.

• El Paso (city and county).

• Gallup, N.M.

• Hartford, Conn.

• Los Angeles (city and county).

• Oakland.

• Richmond, Calif.

• Sacramento

• San Pablo, Calif.

• St. Paul, Minn.

• Santa Monica, Calif.

• San Francisco (non-binding resolution).

• Seattle.

• West Hollywood, Calif. • The Oxnard City (Calif.) City Council on July 20 decided not to take a stand against Arizona’s new immigration law, despite pleas from dozens of residents urging council members to at least condemn the law. The mayor and two council members said they will instead consider a symbolic resolution.



*************************************************************************************

Jeremy Caverley's Personal Response:


Today we live in a world that is full of opinions and hate. A world that is compelled to let it's voice be heard. Those who are for us and those against us.


It is these that war with factions taking sides seem to just continue their own personal assault on American values. What has happened in Arizona and across the world in the form of an extreme left-wing "COMMUNIST" friendly man known to us as Jared Loghner, who liked to read as found on his YouTube page, " The Communist Manifesto, Mein Kampf, and who knows what else.

Clearly this isn't about Republicans nor Democrats because this man was with an intent to kill and even had a letter in his safe explaining his plans. People like this are in need of rehabilitation from whatever harm has been done to them to think America would stand for such activities.


This is a land of law, that is written down from the Constitution to the local law enforcement in each and every town across this great country. Yes, we the American people can rise above this event and even link arms with those we don't agree with on political issues.

But enough is enough! It is time to let our voices be heard. That communism and violence is not welcome here in America to get your point across. You see terrorists and communists love to take advantage of such events to make there way known.

That focal point will not stand in America. Neither here or in the future this great Republic will be always known as the United States of America.


Now now a turn to those who lost their lives in Arizona. Not only a moment of silence, but a debt of gratitude for who they are and how they will be remembered. Such a time is this we can look back and see those who lost their lives for our freedom.

I would dare say these Americans never knew what was coming either. But in a glance you can tell from the countless messages sent and blogs and journalists that have written stories about the Judge or child and the others involved. America is waking up.

It is time to say a prayer for those families who are affected. May God bless them in their time of grief and know they will never be forgotten. Vengeance is mine says the Lord. And those if there are more than one will pay the cost for taking another one's life.

I believe people think that America isn't awake yet and they we would just stand by and allow this to just pass by. I say it will not and when justice is served the families can have a little peace of mind.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

University Is Forcing Nursing Students to Participate in Abortions

Christian legal group filed a civil rights complaint Tuesday against a Tennessee, alleging that the school’s nursing program violates federal law by requiring applicants to participate in abortion procedures.

Vanderbilt University has denied the claim, but the Alliance Defense Fund claims that the school’s nursing-residency application materials violate national laws that prohibit schools receiving federal funds from requiring someone to perform or assist in abortions.

According to ADF, the school requires applicants to sign an acknowledgment, stating: “I am aware that I may be providing nursing care for women who are having” procedures, including terminations of pregnancy.

“It is important that you are aware of this aspect of care and give careful consideration to your ability to provide compassionate care to women in these situations,” the documents state. “If you feel you cannot provide care to women during this type of event, we encourage you to apply to a different track of the Nurse Residency Program to explore opportunities that may best fit your skills and career goals.”

The ADF complaint, filed on behalf of an unnamed Mississippi woman, was submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. According to HHS, Vanderbilt received $313.6 million in federal funding during fiscal year 2008.

“Christians and other pro-life members of the medical community shouldn’t be forced to participate in abortions to pursue their profession,” Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said in a news release.

Read more at the Alliance Defense Fund

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Today is national Human Trafficking Awareness Day, the annual calendar date meant to bring attention to the fact that human trafficking remains a serious problem both in the United States and abroad.

According to Change.org, "Slavery is more affordable, more widespread and more entrenched in 2011 than it was in ancient Rome or the antebellum South of America. Modern-day slaves, also called human trafficking victims, can be male or female, from any country or representing any ethnicity."

In the United States, human trafficking victims are forced to work in the sex trade, as domestic servants, on farms and in factories.

It's difficult to say how many people are victims of human trafficking, and estimates vary widely. What's known for sure is that human trafficking is a multibillion-dollar industry worldwide.

The U.N. Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking puts the number of victims at a shocking 2.5 million. According to U.N. GIFT, human trafficking affects "every continent and every type of economy."

The U.S. State Department estimates an even higher number -- about 12.3 million adults and children "in forced labor, bonded labor and forced prostitution around the world."

The worst rates of the problem are in Asia, where the U.N. Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking estimates that more than 50 percent of slavery victims are found. The State Department says that in Asia, there are three human trafficking victims for every 1,000 people -- three times the rates elsewhere.

A petition, organized by a coalition of anti-human-trafficking organizations, has called on President Barack Obama and Congress to make fighting modern-day slavery a priority. And here's a video from Not for Sale describing the horrifying statistics of modern-day slavery.

Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is 'holding her own'


Tucson, Arizona (CNN) -- U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords remained in critical condition Tuesday after she was shot in the head on Saturday at the rampage at her meet-and-greet event, but she is breathing on her own and doctors have backed off on some sedation.

"I'm happy to say she's holding her own," said Dr. Michael Lemole Jr., chief of neurosurgery at University Medical Center. "Her status is the same as it was yesterday. She's still following simple commands."

Lemole said she's generating her own breaths.

"The only reason we keep that breathing tube in is to protect her airway so that she doesn't have complications like pneumonia," he told reporters.


Lemole said he's encouraged by the fact that she's "done so well" with an injury where survival and recovery are "abysmal."

"This is where we constantly say it's week to week, month to month. I know everyone wants new results every day but as long as we don't backslide and as long as she holds her own, that's good. That keeps us hopeful."

"We have to play this according to her timeline, not ours," he said.

Lemole said "she has no right to look this good and she does."

"We're hopeful, but I do want to underscore the seriousness of this injury and the fact that we all have to be extremely patient."

Six of the victims in the Saturday shooting remain at University Medical Center, Chief of Emergency Medicine Peter Rhee said. Along with Giffords, three people are in serious condition and two are in fair condition.

Jared Lee Loughner, 22, who authorities say shot up a gathering held by Giffords outside a supermarket, has been anecdotally regarded as very troubled and perhaps mentally unbalanced because of his ramblings spotted on the internet and the way he has been described by acquaintances.

The shooting has sparked horror across the United States and generated much partisan talk about vitriolic political discourse in American life and what Loughner's motivations are.

U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins has ruled that all magistrate and district judges in the District of Arizona's Tucson Division must recuse themselves.

The ruling, dated Monday, cited the need to "avoid the appearance of impropriety, and because a judge has a duty to disqualify him or herself if his or her impartiality could be reasonably questioned, whethLoughner parener or not such impartiality exists."

WATCH-Australian Flood Video

'Instant Tsunami' Batters Aussie Town

10 Dead, 78 Missing in Australian Flash Floods


BRISBANE, Australia -- Greg Kowald was driving through the center of Toowoomba when a terrifying, tsunami-like wall of water roared through the streets of the northeast Australian city.

Office windows exploded, cars careened into trees and bobbed in the churning brown water like corks. The deluge washed away bridges and sidewalks; people desperately clung to power poles to survive. Before it was over, the flash flood left at least 10 dead and 78 missing.

"The water was literally leaping, six or 10 feet into the air, through creeks and over bridges and into parks," Kowald, a 53-year-old musician, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "There was nowhere to escape, even if there had been warnings. There was just a sea of water about a kilometer (half a mile) wide."

The violent surge in Toowoomba brought the overall death toll from weeks of flooding in Queensland state to 20, a sudden acceleration in a crisis that had been unfolding gradually with swollen rivers overflowing their banks and inundating towns while moving toward the ocean. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said there were "grave fears" for at least 18 of those missing.

The high waters headed next to Australia's third-largest city, Brisbane, where up to 9,000 homes were expected to be swamped. The Brisbane River overflowed its banks Tuesday and officials warned that dozens of low-lying neighborhoods and parts of downtown could be inundated in coming days.

But nothing downstream was expected to be as fierce as the flash flood that struck Toowoomba on Monday. It was sparked by a freak storm -- up to 6 inches fell in half an hour.

"There was water coming down everywhere in biblical proportions," Toowoomba council member Joe Ramia told the AP.

Ramia, 63, was driving downtown when the flash flood struck. He parked his car and dashed on foot for higher ground, keeping an eye on the carnage unfolding below: Cars transformed into scrap metal as they were flung into an elevated railway line, giant metal industrial bins tossed about as if made of paper, a man clinging desperately to a power pole as the relentless tide surged around him.

Ramia watched as a rescue official pushed through the churning water and yanked the man to safety. Others, including five children, were not as lucky, and were swept to their deaths.

"You were powerless to do a thing," said Ramia, a lifelong resident of Toowoomba. "While we can rebuild, you can't replace people. ... I've never seen anything like this."

The raging water was strong enough to rip houses off their foundations. Leroy Shephard, who lives in the town of Grantham, east of Toowoomba, was inside his home when the flood struck.

"You could feel the whole house just pop up off its stumps, turn around, and go -- for a 100 meters (330 feet) or something down my backyard," Shephard told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

He and his family spent five hours on the house's roof waiting for the waters to drop.

"It's not a good feeling having the floorboards under your feet just ripple, the whole house just ripple and crack, and watching rooms just disappear," he said.

Emergency services officers plucked more than 40 people from houses isolated overnight by the torrent that hit the Lockyer Valley, and thousands were being evacuated. In one small community in the path of the floodwaters, Forest Hill, the entire population of about 300 was being airlifted to safety in military helicopters, Bligh said.

Search and rescue efforts were hampered by more driving rain, though the bad weather was easing and Bligh said the search would get easier Wednesday.

Brisbane Mayor Campbell Newman said authorities were preparing for flooding affecting about 15,000 people in 80 suburbs.

The city is protected by a large dam built upstream after floods devastated downtown in 1974. But the reservoir was full, and officials had no choice but to release water that would cause low-level flooding in the city, Newman said. The alternative was a much worse torrent.

Steph Stewardson, a Brisbane graphic designer, said there was an exodus in a downtown area around lunchtime Tuesday when the river that goes through the city broke its banks. Stewardson, 40, hopped in her car and crossed the swollen river to collect her dog Boo from daycare while waters started covering the boardwalk stretching along its banks.

Stewardson took shelter in her house, and plans to stay there -- for now.

"I'm about 800 meters (half a mile) from the river on a hill, so I think it's going to be OK," she told the AP.

Queensland has been in the grip of its worst flooding for more than two weeks, after tropical downpours covered an area the size of France and Germany combined. Entire towns have been swamped, more than 200,000 people affected, and the coal industry and farming have virtually shut down.

"The power of nature can still be a truly frightening power and we've seen that on display in this country," Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.

Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson described the events Monday as "an inland instant tsunami."

Forecasters said more flash floods could occur through the week.

Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said rescue efforts were concentrated on towns between Toowoomba and Brisbane, including hardest-hit Murphy's Creek and Grantham, where about 30 people sought shelter in a school isolated by the floodwaters.

The floods reached a second state Tuesday, with about 4,500 people stranded by high waters in bordering New South Wales, officials said, though the situation was not yet as dire as in Queensland.

Bligh said last week the cost of the floods could be as high as $5 billion, the latest figure available.

NEWS ALERT: Sudan Christians Ask For Prayers As Independence Vote Nears



KHARTOUM/JUBA (Worthy News)-- Sudanese Christians have requested continued prayer amid an ongoing referendum on southern independence and reports that nearly two dozen people died in ethnic clashes near Sudan's north-south border.

The call for prayer, seen by Worthy News and its news partner BosNewsLife Monday, January 10, came as officials announced that at least 23 people died in clashes with Arab nomads in the contested Abyei region. The violence overshadowed the second day of a week-long referendum on southern independence.

Missionaries and analysts cite Abyei as the most likely place for north-south tensions to erupt into violence during and after the vote, the climax of a troubled peace deal that ended decades of civil war in which some two million people died.

"A referendum to determine whether the province should retain its semi-autonomous status within the north or become part of the south has been postponed," explained Christian mission group Middle East Concern (MEC), which closely monitors the area. "Sudanese Christians are concerned that instability in Abyei has the potential to provoke [new]North-South violence."

MORE PRESSURE EXPECTED

The south, mainly black and Christian or animist, is set to split apart from the north, which is predominantly Arab and Muslim. With a vote for southern independence virtually certain, there is also concern that the remaining minority Christians in the north face more pressure, MEC told Worthy News.

Churches in northern Sudan are reportedly concerned about further restrictions on their freedom of worship. MEC cited reported plans by Sudan's federal government to more strictly implement Islamic law, or Shari'a, should the south secede "potentially reducing the limited freedoms Christians, and other non-Muslims, enjoy" in northern Sudan.

Additionally, Sudanese Christians in the north "may lose some of their current residency rights," MEC said, citing local Christians.

Despite the difficulties and heat, voters in Southern Sudan's capital of Juba, many of them Christians, could be seen waiting for hours to cast ballots Monday, January 10. Voting began Sunday with jubilant celebrations in the regional capital Juba, where residents expressed hope that independence will lead to more peace and prosperity.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Republicans Submit Bill to Eliminate Presidential 'czars'

A group of House Republicans introduced a bill on Wednesday to rein in the various "czars" in the Obama administration.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and 28 other House Republicans introduced legislation to do away with the informal, paid advisers President Obama has employed over the past two years.

The legislation, which was introduced in the last Congress but was not allowed to advance under Democratic control, would do away with the 39 czars Obama has employed during his administration.

The bill defines a czar as "a head of any task force, council, policy office within the Executive Office of the President, or similar office established by or at the direction of the President" who is appointed to a position that would otherwise require Senate confirmation.

Read More at the Hill

The Rule for the Health Care Repeal Passed

The rule for the health care repeal passed.

Yeas: 236
Nays: 181
Present: 2

8,000 Turtle Doves Fall Dead In Italy With Strange Blue Stain on their Beaks

  • Blue stain believed to be sign of poisoning or hypoxia - lack of oxygen that is precursor to altitude sickness

  • Cold weather and overbreeding blamed for deaths of two 2million fish in Chesapeake Bay

  • Disease behind deaths of 100,000 fish in Arkansas River
  • At least nine incidents of mass animal deaths across the globe
  • Hundreds of confused birds plummeted to their deaths in multiple locations in the U.S.
  • Rapid movement of Magnetic North Pole towards Russia may have caused bird deaths

Thousands of dead turtle doves rained down on roofs and cars in an Italian town in the latest in a growing spate of mass animal deaths across the globe.

Residents in Faenza described the birds falling to the ground like 'little Christmas balls' with strange blue stains on their beaks.

Initial tests on up to 8,000 of the doves indicated that the blue stain could have been caused by poisoning or hypoxia.

Mystery: 8,000 turtle doves fell to the ground dead in Faenza, Italy, and were found to have a blue stain around their beaks

Mystery: 8,000 turtle doves fell to the ground dead in Faenza, Italy, and were found to have a blue stain around their beaks

Shock: Residents described seeing individual doves fall from the sky, before groups of 10 or 20 began hitting roofs and cars

Shock: Residents described seeing individual doves fall from the sky, before groups of 10 or 20 began hitting roofs and cars

A witness told www.examiner.com: 'We have no idea why this happened all of a sudden.

'The doves just started falling one-by-one then in groups of 10s and 20s.'

Hypoxia, a lack of oxygen, is known to cause confusion and illness in animals. It is also a common precursor to altitude sickness.

Experts said results from tests on the doves will not be available for at least a week.

They said that cold weather could have caused the birds' deaths as the flock was swept into a high-altitude wind storm before falling to the earth.

It comes after two million dead fish were found to have washed up on shores in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.

The alarming find is being blamed by authorities in Maryland on the stress caused by unusually cold water and overbreeding among spot fish.

Mystery: Experts said they believed the blue colouration around the doves' beaks may indicate poisoning or lack of oxygen

Mystery: Experts said they believed the blue colouration around the doves' beaks may indicate poisoning or lack of oxygen

Littering the beach: The bodies of two million spot fish have washed up on the shores of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, after unusually cold weather

Littering the beach: The bodies of two million spot fish have washed up on the shores of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, after unusually cold weather

Carnage: Thousands of dead fish have washed up on the shores of Spruce Creek, Florida

Carnage: Thousands of dead fish have washed up on the shores of Spruce Creek, Florida

That investigation comes just days after the deaths of an estimated 100,000 fish in northwest Arkansas, which is being blamed on disease.

A statement by the Maryland Department of the Environment said: 'Natural causes appear to be the reason.

'Cold water stress exacerbated by a large population of the affected species (juvenile spot fish) appears to be the cause of the kill.'

Preliminary tests of the water in Chesapeake Bay have showed the quality was acceptable, officials said.

The statement added: 'The affected fish are almost exclusively juvenile spot fish, three to six inches in length.

'A recent survey showed a very strong population of spot in the bay this year. An increased juvenile population and limited deep water habitat would likely compound the effects of cold water stress.'

Gruesome: New Year revellers watched in horror as the birds rained down on houses and cars in Beebe

Gruesome: New Year revellers watched in horror as the birds rained down on houses and cars in Beebe

Mystery: Officials initially blamed high-altitude hail or lightning hitting the birds. Then preliminary lab tests concluded they had died from ¿multiple blunt force trauma¿

Mystery: Officials initially blamed high-altitude hail or lightning hitting the birds. Then preliminary lab tests concluded they had died from multiple blunt force trauma

Mystery: A starling lies along the Morganza Highway in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. Experts said hundreds of birds may have died after hitting power lines

Mystery: A starling lies along the Morganza Highway in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. Experts said hundreds of birds may have died after hitting power lines

Mass winter deaths among spot fish have occurred twice before in the Maryland area - in 1976 and 1980.

The incident is the latest mass animal death to hit the headlines in the last two weeks.

These include:

  • 450 red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, grackles and starlings found littering a highway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  • 3,000 blackbirds on roofs and roads in the small town of Beebe, Arkansas
  • Thousands of 'devil crabs' washed up along the Kent coast near Thanet
  • Thousands of drum fish washed along a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River
  • Two million small fish in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
  • Thousands of dead fish found floating in warm Florida creek
  • Hundreds of snapper fish found dead in New Zealand
  • Scores of American Coots found dead on Texas highway bridge

Experts have speculated that New Year fireworks, thunderstorms, cold weather, parasites and even poisoning may be behind the deaths.

But conspiracy theorists have also speculated on the internet that secret government experiments could be behind them, with some even claiming it was a sign of a looming Armageddon at the end of the Mayan calendar next year.

Another theory is that the rapid movement of the Magnetic North Pole towards Russia may have affected the birds' innate navigation systems.

The plot thickens: Rescue chief Christer Olofsson holds a dead bird in Falkoping, Sweden. Dozens of jackdaws were found dead on the street

The plot thickens: Rescue chief Christer Olofsson holds a dead bird in Falkoping, Sweden. Dozens of jackdaws were found dead on the street

Creepy: Thousands of dead drum fish were also discovered just miles away lining the shores of the Arkansas River

Creepy: Thousands of dead drum fish were also discovered just miles away lining the shores of the Arkansas River

Inbuilt navigation systems in birds and fish is believed to be affected by magnetism.

Scientists have said the Magnetic North Pole is shifting at an average of around 25 miles a year.

With birds and fish relying on it to travel to breeding grounds and warmed climes, there are fears that the shifting pole could be confusing the animals which means they do not migrate in time to avoid cold weather.

Tests are being carried out on the dead birds and fish, but results are not expected for several weeks.

Scientists have been baffled by the sudden deaths of hundreds of birds which have plummeted to the ground seemingly simultaneously in several locations.

Two hundred American Coots were found dead on a highway bridge crossing Lake O' the Pines in Big Cypress Creek, Texas.

They are believed to have been hit by passing vehicles while walking or apparently trying to roost on the bridge.

Swedish experts blamed the shock of New Year fireworks for the unexplained deaths of 50 jackdaws found on a street in Falkoping, Sweden.

Many of the birds are believed to have died from stress or as a result of being run over while disoriented.

The largest incident took place in Beebe, Arkansas, were horrified revellers witnessed around 3,000 blackbirds crashing to their deaths into homes, cars and each other as they celebrated New Year.

Another 450 birds were found strewn along a highway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after apparently hitting overhead power lines.

In both cases, the birds are believed to have become confused and were flying at a lower height than usual.

The deaths of tons of fish across the globe is being attributed to unusually cold water.

Thousands of Brazilian fishermen have been left struggling to make ends meet after the sale of seafood was temporarily suspended when masses of fish were discovered in Paranaguá, Antonina and Guaraqueçaba Pontal do Paraná.

Fish were also discovered rotting and floating in Spruce Creek, Florida, after another period of cold weather.

100,000 drum fish were found strewn along the shore of the Arkansas River.

And the cold snap has been blamed for the deaths of 40,000 Velvet swimming crabs - known as 'devil crabs - found littering beaches in Thanet, Kent.

Thousands of them: Crabs washed up at Palm Bay, Margate, are thought to have died of hypothermia

Thousands of them: Crabs washed up at Palm Bay, Margate, are thought to have died of hypothermia