Author: Ron Chambers

Water leaks after new earthquake damage at Fukushima nuclear plant

Strange Sounds – February 20, 2021

Cooling water levels have fallen in two reactors at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant since a powerful M7.1 earthquake hit the area last weekend, indicating possible additional damage.

New damage could further complicate the plant’s already difficult decommissioning process, which is expected to take decades.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Keisuke Matsuo said the drop in water levels in the Unit 1 and 3 reactors indicates that the existing damage to their primary containment chambers was worsened by Saturday’s magnitude 7.3 quake, allowing more water to leak.

The cooling water level fell as much as 70 centimeters (27 inches) in the primary containment chamber of the Unit 1 reactor and about 30 centimeters (11 inches) in Unit 3. TEPCO wasn’t able to determine any decline in Unit 2 because indicators have been taken out to prepare for the removal of melted debris.

Since the 2011 disaster, cooling water has been escaping constantly from the damaged primary containment vessels into the basements of the reactor buildings. To make up for the loss, additional cooling water has been pumped into the reactors to cool the melted fuel remaining inside them. The recent decline in the water levels indicates that more water than before is leaking out, TEPCO said.

I think this is a no-end disaster! More here.

https://strangesounds.org

South China Sea: US crosses paths with bolstered Beijing forces as fears of war surge

Dylan Donnelly – February 11, 2021

US NAVAL forces have had an increasing number of encounters with Beijing’s military in the South China Sea as tensions reach an unprecedented level.

Rear Admiral James Kirk, commander of the USS Nimitz which carried out an exercise in the region on Tuesday with USS Theodore Roosevelt, said: “We’ve seen an expansion of their military capability.” He spoke during a video call to reporters alongside Rear Admiral Doug Verissimo, commander of Theodore Roosevelt, according to the Financial Times.

Rear Admiral Kirk said: “We’ve seen an expansion of their military capability; a larger number of aircraft, larger number of ships being utilized on a daily basis. So the capacity has clearly increased.

“I wouldn’t infer what their intent is … [but] the number of forces we see in all domains has increased significantly.”

Chinese and the US sent military planes into the southwestern corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification a fortnight ago, after Chinese jets carried out “simulated missile attacks” on the US aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Eleven Chinese military fighter jets, including H-6 bombers, flew to the area as the ship passed through.

Pilot cockpit conversations intercepted by Taiwan and US intelligence confirmed that the fighter pilots were taking part in a simulated missile strike against the US warships, sources said.

The US military accused China of destabilizing and aggressive behavior in relation to the incident, but insisted that none of their personnel were in danger.

https://www.express.co.uk

BITCOINSKI Russia could become first country to make entire currency DIGITAL as cryptocurrency booms

– February 18, 2021

Discussions are underway about the launch of the digital ruble with local banks and the country’s financial watchdog has reportedly said it would present a more detailed concept by summer.

The head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, said the regulator had received detailed feedback from the banking community about the prospect in a report back in October.

According to an RT report, most lenders expressed their support over a two-level model of the digital ruble.

The model would allow banks to open wallets for their clients on the central bank’s platform and conduct operations with the currency.

Nabiullina said: “We will develop a more detailed concept and start discussing it with the public, market participants, and banks at the beginning of summer.”

The next step would involve launching and testing a special platform.

The adoption of the new form of currency would also require amending legislation.

Russia’s central bank revealed its plan to assess the possibility of creating a digital form of the country’s national currency in its report published in October last year.

The digital ruble would exist along with cash and non-cash rubles, and would allow private and corporate users to freely transfer digital rubles to their electronic wallets.

The revelations come amid a boom in the price of the cryptocurrency bitcoin, which surged to record highs last week.

https://www.the-sun.com

The Temporary Collapse Of Texas Is Foreshadowing The Total Collapse Of The United States

– February 18, 2021

We are getting a very short preview of what will eventually happen to the United States as a whole.  America’s infrastructure is aging and crumbling.  Our power grids were never intended to support so many people, our water systems are a complete joke, and it has become utterly apparent that we would be completely lost if a major long-term national emergency ever struck.  Texas has immense wealth and vast energy resources, but now it is being called a “failed state”.  If it can’t even handle a few days of cold weather, what is the rest of America going to look like when things really start to get chaotic in this country?

At this point, it has become clear that the power grid in Texas is in far worse shape than anyone ever imagined.  When extremely cold weather hit the state, demand for energy surged dramatically.  At the same time, about half of the wind turbines that Texas relies upon froze, and the rest of the system simply could not handle the massive increase in demand.

Millions of Texans were without power for days, and hundreds of thousands are still without power as I write this article.

And now we are learning that Texas was literally just moments away from “a catastrophic failure” that could have resulted in blackouts “for months”…

Texas’ power grid was “seconds and minutes” away from a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months, officials with the entity that operates the grid said Thursday.

As millions of customers throughout the state begin to have power restored after days of massive blackouts, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which operates the power grid that covers most of the state, said Texas was dangerously close to a worst-case scenario: uncontrolled blackouts across the state.

I can’t even imagine how nightmarish things would have eventually gotten in Texas if there had actually been blackouts for months.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com

Ebola outbreak: WHO puts six countries on urgent alert as deaths spread

Simon Osborne – February 16, 2021

HEALTH chiefs have warned of a looming Ebola crisis after fresh outbreaks were reported in Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has put six neighbouring African countries on alert after a resurgence of the deadly virus. WHO’s Margaret Harris said: “We have already alerted the six countries around, including of course Sierra Leone and Liberia, and they are moving very fast to prepare and be ready and to look for any potential infection.”

Guinea has recorded up to 10 suspected cases of Ebola and five people have died since the start of a new outbreak of the deadly virus in the southeast of the West African nation.

Guinea’s ministry of health said it had identified 115 contacts of the known cases in the city of Nzerekore in the country’s south east and 10 in the capital Conakry since the outbreak was confirmed on Sunday.

Unlike the deadliest known outbreak, which tore through West Africa between 2013 and 2016, Guinean authorities have said they are better prepared to stop the spread of the virus.

https://www.express.co.uk

Australian Christians In Shock: Ten Year Jail Sentence For Preaching Repentance

Evangelical Focus – February 08, 2021

The parliament of Victoria (Australia) is about to conclude the process of the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill.

The law has been approved by both the Lower House and the Legislative Council of the Victorian parliament and could be soon ready to be implemented.

Any practice that aims to “change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity” will now be illegal.

According to Australian evangelical magazine Eternity News, this ban includes “prayer conversations suggesting change, and counselling when targeted at an individual”.

Melbourne, the State’s capital, is known for being Australia’s region with a strongest support for LGBT movements – as seen in the Pride Marches and other demonstrations in the last years.

The law becomes a real challenge to churches that hold to a traditional and biblical view of sexuality. Jail sentences up to ten years and large fines can be imposed by courts if there is a perception that a ‘conversion’ practice has caused injuries to a LGBT person.

According to the analysis of Eternity News, the law distinguishes between general teaching and personal counselling. “Sermons and general discussion of same-sex and gender issues which might take a conservative line” would not be prosecuted but “activities which are directed at an individual, on the basis of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, and have the aim to change or suppress that person’s identity” would.

The law will not come into effect right away, but there will be one-year period in which the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission will lead consultations to clarify the details of how the law would be applied in different scenarios.

Several church denominations in Victoria have expressed their concern about the law.

https://www.prophecynewswatch.com

South Carolina Abortion Law Suspended a Day After Passage

Newsmax – February 19, 2021

South Carolina’s new law banning most abortions was suspended by a federal judge Friday on its second day in effect.

Judge Mary Geiger Lewis put a 14-day temporary restraining order on the law and will renew it until she can hold a more substantial hearing on March 9 on Planned Parenthood’s request that it not be enforced until the group’s lawsuit against South Carolina is resolved.

Gov. Henry McMaster signed the bill into law Thursday less than an hour after it was sent to him, but the national reproductive health services organization sued even before the governor put ink to paper.

The temporary restraining order was needed in part because more than 75 women are scheduled to have abortions in the state over the next three days, and most of them would be banned under the new law, Planned Parenthood and The Center for Reproductive Rights said in court papers.

The “ South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act ” is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. All were stopped from taking effect and currently are tied up in court. Federal law, which takes precedence over state law, currently allows abortion.

Planned Parenthood’s lawyers said South Carolina is “openly flouting this law.”

The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office said in court papers filed Friday morning that Planned Parenthood can’t be sure the law will be rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. With three justices appointed by Republican former President Donald Trump, they said, the court could overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision supporting abortion rights.

https://www.newsmax.com

Apophis asteroid will be visible from Earth this weekend

–

ST. LOUIS – An asteroid the size of three football fields will pass by a star and be visible from Earth on Sunday, February 21. But have no fear, there is no danger of it hitting our planet.

“The more that we can understand the orbits of asteroids like Apophis the better we can prepare,” said Will Snyder, Manager at the St. Louis Science Center McDonnell Planetarium.

According to experts, the 1,000-foot wide asteroid will sweep across the United States around 11:50 p.m. But in order to see this rare event, you have to be located exactly along its path. You can find that path here.

“At home scientists and citizen astronomers will have the opportunity to observe this near-Earth asteroid from their telescope,” said Snyder.

Apophis was first discovered in 2004 and scientists say it’s expected to pass earth and visible to the naked eye with upcoming flybys in 2029, 2036, and 2068.

For more information or a fascinating look at asteroids catch the IMAX® original film Asteroid Hunters at the St. Louis Center showing this month.

https://fox2now.com

U.S. headed for war with China, warns top Beijing academic

Bob Unruh – February 7, 2021

A prominent Beijing scholar on international relations is warning that without a “new stability” in China’s relationship with the United States, “there will be war.”

“It cannot be taken for granted and fantasized that conflict will never erupt between the two,” said Shi Yinhong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at Renmin University.

A transcript of his speech at the National Institute of Development and Strategy of Renmin University was posted Monday on Guancha, a news site affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.

He said the stability that the U.S. and China have had in the past is gone.

“So there must be new strategic stability which will be achieved by being practical, sufficiently focused, and through specific and important proposals, dialogues or negotiations,” he insisted.

“I think the trend of China-U.S. relations after the U.S. election can be influenced or shaped by China to a large extent,” he said. “Therefore, China’s strategies and policies, as well as appropriate adjustments to these strategic policies, are very important. The current situation of China and the U.S. determines that it is impossible for the two sides to significantly back down from their confrontation or rivalry.”

https://www.wnd.com

Amazon’s design for new corporate headquarters resembles Biblical Tower of Babel

WND – February 11, 2021

(ISRAEL365 NEWS) – Amazon has just unveiled the plans for its new corporate headquarters that will stand in Arlington, Virginia, directly across the Potomac River from Washington DC. The announcement inaccurately describes the design as a “double helix” but scholars of ancient history and the Bible will readily recognize the ancient model for the design: the Tower of Babel.

Construction on their second corporate headquarters is expected to begin next year and when completed in 2025 at a cost of $2.5 billion. It will include 2.8 million square feet of new office space distributed across three 22-story buildings. The location is less than four miles from the Capitol Building. John Schoettler, head of Amazon’s global corporate real estate portfolio, announced the second half of the project designed by architecture firm NBBJ.

“The natural beauty of a double helix can be seen throughout our world, from the geometry of our own DNA to the elemental form of galaxies, weather patterns, pinecones, and seashells,” the company said. “The Helix at our Arlington headquarters will offer a variety of alternative work environments for Amazon employees amidst lush gardens and flourishing trees native to the region.”

https://www.wnd.com