Albertans claim to have seen ‘great glow’ in the sky

Some early risers in Alberta have called CBC News, claiming they saw a spectacular flash in the sky that could have been a meteor.

Roger Kunkel was driving from Raymond to Lethbridge just after 6:30 a.m. Tuesday when he saw a “great glow” in the sky coming from the southeast and heading north.

“Sort of a blue and then breaking up into pieces. It was like you could almost go out into the field and find it, it was so close. It was a beautiful sight.”

Callers leaving messages on CBC Calgary’s traffic line seemed to have differing opinions on which direction the fireball was heading.

“It kind of disintegrated. It was travelling north to south. Very bright. I actually thought it was a plane taking off from the airport and then bits started falling off. Really quite an amazing sight,” said one man.

Another said he saw a “flurry of meteorites flying around,” travelling in a southeasterly direction.

“Pretty wonderful way to start a Tuesday morning,” he said.

People were also calling CBC Edmonton to say they saw a fireball in the sky.

On Nov. 20, thousands of people on the Prairies spotted a fireball that lit up the skies across Alberta and Saskatchewan. Fragments of the huge meteorite were found near the border city of Lloydminster.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/03/31/cgy-meteor-fireball-calgary-alberta.html

A Message From the Hopi Elders

*I get a lot of emails from people that are worried or confused about current events. While I do feel the same fears as you do, I want you to know there is no end. Prepare yourself, primarily in a mental and emotional way. Knowing is half the battle!*

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.

Here are the things that must be considered:

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know our garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel like they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off toward the middle of the river,
Keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

See who is there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all Ourselves!
For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lonely wolf is over.
Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

The Elders,
Oraibi, Arizona
Hopi Nation

http://architectsofanewdawn.ning.com/forum/topics/a-message-from-the-hopi-elders

USAF: ‘Bright light’ not man-made object

*Of course not. How many times have we seen this in the past few months???*

WASHINGTON – The flashing lights and booming sounds that were attributed to a piece of orbiting space junk were not the result of a man-made object, according to the United States Air Force.

In an e-mail sent to WTOP, Stefan Bocchino of the USAF Joint Space Operations Center says the “bright light” seen over parts of the East Coast Sunday night was not a result of a man-made space object.

The Joint Space Operations Center tracks more than 19,000 man-made objects in space, but no natural phenomena.

It was first believed that the lights and sounds were caused by space junk related to the Russian rocket Soyuz docking with the International Space Stations Saturday.

Geoff Chester, spokesman for the U.S. Naval Observatory, was nearly sure the object was the rocket’s booster tanks for numbers of reasons. Whatever flashed through the sky followed the exact path the space junk was traveling over the eastern seaboard.

Witnesses describe the flashes in the sky as being colored with yellows and oranges. While fireballs usually throw sparks that appear green followed by trains of blue and red. The loud explosion accompanying the balls of fire in the sky also could be explained if the object was a rocket tank with residual amounts of booster fuel.

The flashes and booms that people heard prompted calls to 911 and the National Weather Service late Sunday night.

According to WVEC.com, the calls were numerous enough for the National Weather Service to release this statement late Sunday night:

“Numerous reports have been called in to this office and into local law enforcement concerning what appeared to be flashes of light in the sky over the Suffolk/Virginia Beach area. We are confident in saying that this was not lightning…and have been in contact with military and other government agencies to determine the cause. So far…we have not seen or heard of any damage from this and will continue to inquire as to the cause.”

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1636442

Tent City Residents Required to Wear Wristbands

Dozens of Ontario police and code enforcement officers descended upon the homeless encampment known as Tent City early Monday, separating those who could stay from those to be evicted.

Large, often confused, crowds formed ragged lines behind police barricades where officers handed out color-coded wristbands. Blue meant they were from Ontario and could remain. Orange indicated they had to provide more proof to avoid ejection, and white meant they had a week to leave.

Many who had taken shelter at the camp — which had grown from 20 to more than 400 residents in nine months — lacked paperwork, bills or birth certificates proving they were once Ontario residents.

“When my husband gets out of jail he can bring my marriage certificate; will that count?” asked one tearful woman.

Another resident, clearly confused, seemed relieved to get a white band — not understanding it meant she had to leave.

Pattie Barnes, 47, who had her motor home towed away last week, shook with anger.

“They are tagging us because we are homeless,” she said, staring at her orange wristband. “It feels like a concentration camp.”

Ontario officials, citing health and safety issues, say it is necessary to thin out Tent City. The move to dramatically reduce the population curtails an experiment begun last year to provide a city-approved camp where homeless people would not be harassed.

Land that includes tents, toilets and water had been set aside near Ontario International Airport for the homeless. Officials intended to limit the camp and its amenities to local homeless people, but did little to enforce that as the site rapidly expanded, attracting people from as far away as Florida.

“We have to be sensitive, and we will give people time to locate documents,” said Brent Schultz, the city’s housing and neighborhood revitalization director. “But we have always said this was for Ontario’s homeless and not the region’s homeless. We can’t take care of the whole area.”

Officials believe the local homeless number about 140, less than half of those currently in residence. Schultz wants to reduce Tent City to 170 people in a regulated, fenced-off area rather than the sprawling open-air campsite it has become.

No other city has offered to take in any of the homeless who Ontario officials say must leave.

“So far I have heard nothing,” Schultz said.

Even before the large-scale action Monday, police last week moved out parolees and towed about 20 dilapidated motor homes. A list of safety rules, including one banning pets, has been posted. The city says there is a threat of dog bites and possible disease from the animals.

The no-pet order caused widespread anger and tears Monday as some homeless people said they could not imagine life without their dogs. Many have three or four and vowed to leave Tent City before giving the dogs up.

“I will go to jail before they take my dog,” said an emotional Diane Ritchey, 47. “That’s a part of me as much as anything. The dogs are as homeless as we are.”

Cindy Duke, 40, hugged Ritchey, who was sobbing.

“I had to give up my 6-year-old son because I was homeless and I’ll be damned if I give up my dog too,” Duke said.

Celeste Trettin, 53, rolled up in a wheelchair. She and her husband have an Ontario address but have lived for years in a truck, parking wherever they found a safe place. Trettin, who got an orange wristband, said she believed she would be able to find the paperwork to prove she was from Ontario.

“We thought if we came here we could save some money, but now they have pulled the rug out from under us,” said Trettin, who has fibromyalgia, a painful disorder.

Marty Tovar took it all in stride. The 53-year old Mentone man had fresh bumps and cuts on his face after being on the receiving end of a recent assault. He didn’t seem to care if he had to leave.

“It doesn’t anger me; it angers a lot of other people here but not me,” he said, wearing no shirt under his blue overalls. “If I got to go I’ll just catch the next bus to the next town. Every town has a park.”

Still, by noon only one man had taken up an offer of free taxi rides back to their home cities, returning the 50 miles to Victorville, said Det. Jeff Higbee, spokesman for the Ontario police.

“By next Monday we should have everyone who is supposed to be gone out of here,” Higbee said. “The wristbands are only temporary so we can identify everyone.”

As the local homeless people were separated from the others, city workers were busy setting up fencing for the new encampment. Those who are approved will get 90-day renewable permits to stay.

Peter Bibring, staff attorney with the America Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, toured Tent City and spoke with local officials.

“We are concerned that however they go about trying to reduce this population they don’t depend on arrests or property seizures for people who have no other place to go and are just looking for a place to sleep,” he said. “We will continue to monitor the situation.”

Although no one at the camp seemed happy about efforts to shrink Tent City, some tried to see Ontario’s point of view.

Tina Gove, 39, was evicted from her Pomona home and has been at the encampment for three months. Like many others in Tent City, her life has been marked by drug problems and mental illness.

Her four children, she said, were taken from her because of a past methamphetamine addiction.

“If they throw me out I’ll be back on the street, and I don’t want to be back on the street because it’s scary,” she said. “But I think we should all be grateful because if Ontario hadn’t opened this place for us, where would we be today?”

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-tents18mar18,0,1589130.story

North Korea Has Two Nuclear Warheads for Missile, Kyodo Reports

*Here we go.*

North Korea has two nuclear warheads it can load on its mid-range Rodong missile, Japan’s Kyodo News reported, citing an analyst at the International Crisis Group, a non-government organization.

The warheads were built using plutonium extracted from North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear plant, Kyodo reported, citing Daniel Pinkston, who said he got the information from a government official without divulging which country.

South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials have obtained evidence of the warheads, Pinkston told Kyodo.

North Korea said earlier this month it plans to fire a rocket carrying a satellite into orbit between April 4 and 8. South Korea and the U.S. suspect the launch is a cover for a test of a long-range ballistic missile, which would be a breach of a United Nations resolution.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aMDehZBzI84I&refer=japan

Eastern Congo volcanoes show eruption warning signs

KINSHASA, March 30 (Reuters) – Two volcanoes may erupt in heavily populated eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where years of fighting have already forced 1 million people from their homes, scientists and aid agencies said.

Scientists in Goma, capital of the border province of North Kivu, have in recent weeks registered high levels of seismic activity, considered an early warning sign of an impending eruption, around the Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira volcanoes.

“There is heavy activity around Nyiragongo, but it’s more centred on Nyamulagira, around 13 km (8 miles) away,” Dieudonne Wafula, lead scientist at the Volcanological Observatory of Goma, told Reuters on Monday.

Nyiragongo, which lies just outside Goma, erupted in 2002, sending a river of lava through the city, destroying thousands of homes and killing dozens of people.

“Red Cross volunteers are on alert to help the population, which still has memories of the (2002) eruption … which displaced around 400,000 people,” Zebe Kitabingo, head of the local chapter of the Congolese Red Cross, said in a statement.

Eastern Congo is still struggling to end more than a decade of lingering fighting between government soldiers, local Mai Mai militias, and rebels that has rumbled on despite the official end of a 1998-2003 war.

The conflict and the humanitarian catastrophe it sparked have killed about 5.4 million people over the past decade.

The fighting has displaced around 1 million people in North Kivu since late 2006, and tens of thousands of internal refugees have flocked to the relative security of camps on the outskirts of Goma, a city home to more than 600,000 people.

Despite the city’s close proximity to the two volcanoes, Wafula said Goma itself did not appear to be at risk, as the level of lava in the Nyiragongo crater is relatively low.

“It’s less worrying. The higher the lava level, the higher the probability of a serious eruption. The risk is greater for the villages west of the Nyamulagira volcano,” he said.

Aside from the immediate threat of lava flows, Wafula warned against the dangers of airborne ash, which can contaminate drinking water, poison livestock, and disrupt air traffic.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUKLU424228._CH_.2420

Streaking lights, explosions reported all along coast

*Interesting 24 hours…*

If the fireball and explosion witnessed by residents along the mid-Atlantic coast Sunday night was a meteor, it’s likely that fragments survived and hit the ocean, an astronomy expert says.

The explosions occurred one to two minutes after the fireball disappeared, which means that a meteor penetrated deep into the atmosphere, said Alan MacRobert, senior editor of Sky and Telescope magazine. That makes it more likely that meteorites survived to hit the ground, although it is not certain.

MacRobert encouraged eyewitnesses to report what they saw at www.amsmeteors.org/fireball/report.html, or at www.spaceweather.com. Scientists can predict where to look for meteorites on the ground “if enough people can accurately reconstruct the flight path that they saw in the sky, or if they can simply say ‘It went behind that tree,’ ” he said.

S. Kent Blackwell, an amateur astronomer, was sky-watching in Pungo when the explosion occurred around 10 p.m. Sunday.

“This brilliant green meteor was probably two or three times brighter than the full moon,” Blackwell said. “Then it turned orange with a white core and disappeared.”

One to two minutes later, a loud low-frequency noise shook houses in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

“It was a very ominous, low-frequency rumble,” said Robert Hitt, director of the Chesapeake planetarium, who lives in the Acredale section of Virginia Beach. “The sound was quite different from what you hear from thunder.”

Sound is quite rare with fireballs, according to a fact sheet from the American Meteor Society, but there can be two kinds. One is a sonic boom one to two minutes after the visible light, created by fireballs usually brighter than magnitude -8. In comparison, the meteor society says the North Star is magnitude 2.1 and a bright Venus is -4.4. The full moon is -12.6 and the sun is -26.7.

The other kind of sound that can accompany fireballs is called electrophonic. It occurs at the same time as the flash is seen and may sound like a hiss, a sizzle or popping noise.

“Often, the witness of such sounds is located near some metal object when the fireball occurs,” according to the meteor society fact sheet. “Additionally, those with a large amount of hair seem to have a better chance of hearing these sounds.”

These sounds may be radio waves, but they have not been scientifically identified, it says.

Many Hampton Roads residents heard a boom, even though they were inside and did not see the flash. One viewer, in an online comment to the newspaper, reported thinking a tree had hit the house. Another said window blinds rattled with the boom.

Most reports place the fireball and noise at around 9:50 p.m., but one local viewer reported seeing a brilliant flash of light at 2:30 a.m. while traveling between Elizabeth City and Virginia Beach.

No meteor showers are taking place at the moment. The next one is predicted for April 21-22.

The Virginia Beach 911 center had numerous calls waiting just before 10 p.m., a supervisor said.

The National Weather Service said reports were made from Dorchester County, Md., to the Virginia/North Carolina border.

Chris Wamsley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Wakefield office, said a team is looking into what happened.

Lindsey Hosek of the Great Neck area of Virginia Beach was jogging along the water with her dog when the sky lit up, she said.

“The bright light at first terrified me because I thought somebody was shining a light on me, and then I saw it, and I was in complete awe because it was so beautiful,” she said.

Then she saw something that looked like a comet moving low toward the ground; it was blue in front followed by orange and appeared to be the shape and size of a refrigerator.

“It was just so low. It was like where a bird should be,” she said. “It was definitely heading downward.”

In an e-mail to The Pilot, a reader reported seeing something similar at 2:30 a.m. “The sky turned brilliant blue,” wrote Bobby Smith. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Here’s the catch: I saw it at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Sunday morning on Route 17 coming to Virginia Beach from Elizabeth City.”

The American Meteor Society seeks as much information as possible about brightness, length across the sky, color, how long it lasted, direction of travel and position in the sky as compared to constellations or even trees and buildings. Although the sight was unusual, the American Meteor Society reports that thousands of fireballs occur in Earth’s atmosphere each day, many during daylight when they cannot be easily seen, others in remote locations.

Blackwell said the meteor was moving north-northeast between the constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. “I’ve been observing more than 40 years but have never seen a meteor this bright,” he said. “It was absolutely spectacular!”

Mark Ost of Pungo, who was observing with Blackwell, posted this report on spaceweather.com:

“The fireball was approximately 36 to 40 degrees above the horizon … Assuming the speed of sound at 600 mph, I calculated the distance to be 20 to 30 miles away.”

Blackwell suspects that meteorites, if there were any, fell into the ocean, which would be disappointing.

“Heck, I wish it had landed in my driveway!” he said.

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/03/loud-explosions-lights-sky-reported-maryland-nc

Jeff Rense files criminal charges against Alex Jones

*Hmmm….infighting, again.*

Jeff Rense has filed a formal police report charging Alex Jones of Infowars.com with interstate terrorism and threats. According to Mr. Rense: “This is all about Jones…who called me at home last Tuesday afternoon just past 1pm and threatened to “destroy” me (and my family).

Rense says he will be moving his radio show to two new networks as a result of his spat with Jones.

Alex Jones was allegedly enraged by Rense’s posting of a link to this article．

That quotes from Alex Jones’s website’s comments pages to question whether or not Jones is in fact a Zionist agent. Rense also provided the following link to an audio clip where Jones is again threatening somebody．

My take on this is that while Alex Jones avoids the subject of Zionism and has a huge ego, he clearly attacks key institutions like the Bilderbergers and has played a great role in awakening many people to the dangers of the New World Order. It is a classic illuminati trick to infiltrate opposition groups and then get them to start fighting each other. Alex Jones should not have to censor information that his wife and kids are Jewish. Instead of threatening Mr. Rense personally, he should have attacked the content of the article about him. He should also, as I do, wear his Jewish connection like a badge of honour and fight against the Zionist gangsters on behalf of righteous Jews and all humans everywhere. Remember the essence of Judaism is the Golden Rule and it applies to all peoples and not just Jews. Mr. Jones should apologize to Mr. Rense. A request for a comment from Mr. Jones has not been answered at the time of writing this. Finally, I would like to remind him of an Asian saying: “the powerful eagle hides his claws.” The enemy is too powerful for truth seekers to waste energy fighting each other.

http://benjaminfulford.typepad.com/benjaminfulford/

Noisy stuff for Monday

These guys are pretty cool…

Obama denies bailout funds for automakers

The White House says neither GM nor Chrysler submitted acceptable plans to receive more bailout money, setting the stage for a crisis in Detroit and putting in motion what could be the final two months of two American auto giants.

President Barack Obama and his top advisers have determined that neither company is viable and that taxpayers will not spend untold billions more to keep the pair of automakers open forever. In a last-ditch effort, the administration gave each company a brief deadline to try one last time to convince Washington it is worth saving, said senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to more bluntly discuss the decision.

Obama was set to make the announcement at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) Monday in the White House’s foyer.

In an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” broadcast Sunday, Obama said the companies must do more to receive additional financial aid from the government.

“We think we can have a successful U.S. auto industry. But it’s got to be one that’s realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge — at the other end — much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is,” Obama said.

Frustrated administration officials said Chrysler cannot function as an independent company under its current plan. They have given Chrysler a 30-day window to complete a proposed partnership with Italian automaker Fiat SpA, and will offer up to $6 billion to the companies if they can negotiate a deal before time runs out.

If a Chrysler-Fiat union cannot be completed, Washington plans to walk away, leave Chrysler destined for a complete sell-off. No other money is available.

For GM, the administration offered 60 days of operating money to restructure. A frantic top-to-bottom effort began Sunday after CEO Rick Wagoner resigned under pressure from the White House.

Fritz Henderson, GM’s president and chief operating officer, became the new CEO, a Treasury Department source said. Board member Kent Kresa, the former chairman and CEO of defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., will be interim chairman of the GM board.

One official said a majority of the GM board was expected to step down.

Obama advisers saw public outrage come to an ugly head in recent weeks, as populist anger escalated over bonuses paid to American International Group executives. They realized Americans are frustrated with the economy and its business leaders; they also said they would not invest one dollar more than was necessary to keep the companies alive and would walk away if it looked impossible.

Officials said GM had not made good on promises made in exchange for $13.4 billion in government loans, although there are no plans to call in those loans.

Administration officials still believe GM’s chances are good, given its global brand and its research potential. Officials say they are confident GM can put together a plan that will keep production lines moving in the coming years. They planned to send a team to Detroit to help with that restructuring.

Chrysler, meanwhile, has survived on $4 billion in federal aid during this economic downturn and the worst decline in auto sales in 27 years.

In progress reports filed with the government in February, GM asked for $16.6 billion more and Chrysler wanted $5 billion more. The White House balked and instead started a countdown clock.

Administration officials acknowledged the short turnaround time was harsh; one described it as a nanosecond in a business cycle.

Two people familiar with the plan said officials will demand further sacrifices from the automakers and bankruptcy would still be possible if the automakers failed to restructure. Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make details public.

Administration officials said they hoped large-scale bankruptcy could be avoided, especially if it might be stretched over many years. Any efforts to use the bankruptcy courts would have to be targeted and aggressive and must not prolong a restructuring process, they said.

GM and Chrysler, which employ about 140,000 workers in the U.S., face a Tuesday deadline to submit completed restructuring plans, but neither company is expected to finish its work.

GM owes roughly $28 billion to bondholders. Chrysler owes about $7 billion in first- and second-term debt, mainly to banks. GM owes about $20 billion to its retiree health care trust, while Chrysler owes $10.6 billion.

An exasperated administration official noted that the companies had not done enough to reduce debt; in some cases, it actually increased during this restructuring and review process.

In February, GM said it intended to cut 47,000 jobs around the globe, or almost 20 percent of its work force, close hundreds of dealerships and focus on four core brands — Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick.

In an effort to bolster consumer confidence, Obama planned to announce government backing of warranties for GM and Chrysler vehicles. An administration official said there is no price tag yet associated with that promise.

Aides note that Obama inherited the auto mess from his predecessor, President George W. Bush.

Under the terms of a loan agreement reached during the last administration, GM and Chrysler are pushing the United Auto Workers to accept shares of stock in exchange for half of the payments into a union-run trust fund for retiree health care. They also want labor costs from the union to be competitive with Japanese automakers with U.S. operations.

Little progress has been made between the companies and the union.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Obama-denies-bailout-funds-apf-14777848.html