Strong Earthquakes Hit San Francisco And Mount St. Helens And Experts Warn They May Be Foreshocks For ‘Something Larger’ - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

Strong Earthquakes Hit San Francisco And Mount St. Helens And Experts Warn They May Be Foreshocks For ‘Something Larger’ Posted: 04 Jan 2018  Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG Just when it seemed like things may be settling down, two very unusual earthquakes have hit the west coast within the past couple of days.  A 4.4 magnitude quake struck Berkeley, California just prior to 3 AM on Thursday morning, and a 3.9 magnitude earthquake hit Mount St. Helens in Washington state on Wednesday.  Overall, there have been 68 earthquakes in the vicinity of Mount St. Helens since New Year’s Day, and there have been a total of 629 earthquakes in the state of California within the last 30 days.   Could it be possible that all of this activity is leading up to a historic seismic disaster on the west coast? The 4.4 magnitude earthquake along the Hayward fault very early on Thursday jolted people out of bed all over the San Francisco area… A strong 4.4 magnitude earthquake has rattled the Bay Area shortly before 3 a.m. USGS is reporting the quake was centered in Berkeley. On KRON4’s real time earthquake map it shows the epicenter. The quake struck at 2:39 a.m. and was centered near the Claremont hotel. The earthquake had a preliminary depth of 8 miles, according to USGS. This wasn’t a soft and gentle earthquake that everyone kind of laughs about after it is over. Rather, this was the kind of extremely intense earthquake that puts the fear of God into people.  In fact, one Bay area resident said that it “felt like a truck hit my house”… “I was actually awake putting my shoes on for work. It felt like a truck hit my house from the back which pushed my against the staircase railing, the walls were cracking and threw my cell phone and keys down the stairs. Pretty scary” If this was the worst quake in this particular swarm, it won’t ultimately be that big of a deal. However, USGS Geologist David Schwartz is warning that this 4.4 magnitude earthquake could potentially be “a foreshock of something larger”… “It is centered on about a five-mile-long section of the Hayward Fault that in the past 10 years has produced 30 earthquakes of magnitude between 3-4,” he told KPIX 5. “So it is a hot spot along the fault and this morning’s earthquake was the largest of that group.” Schwartz said the real question in the hours after the quake was “is this a foreshock of something larger? That’s the concern.” I have been writing about the shaking that has been happening on the west coast quite a bit lately, but I don’t think that people understand the seriousness of what we are facing. Scientists assure us that the “Big One” is coming, and when it does arrive the devastation will be absolutely off the charts.  Just consider the words of seismologist Peggy Hellweg… Speaking to Daily Star Online, seismologist Peggy Hellweg, from the University of California, said the region is not prepared to deal with the fallout from such an earthquake. She said that a magnitude 7 or greater earthquake could kill “tens of thousands of people”. In financial terms, such a quake would likely cause “tens to hundreds of billions of dollars in damage”, she said. And remember, she is talking about a magnitude 7 earthquake in her scenario. A magnitude 9 earthquake would be many, many times more powerful, and it would easily be the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of the United States. Meanwhile, Mount St. Helens was hit with a very unusual 3.9 magnitude earthquake on Thursday, and some believe that this could be a sign that the volcano is “recharging”… A series of 68 tremors, peaking with a magnitude 3.9 quake, have been detected in Washington state by scientists since New Years day. The 3.9 quake is the second largest since 1981, the year after the natural disaster which killed 57 people and came minutes after a magnitude-5.1 earthquake. Last month, seismologists at the University of Washington logged more than 80 quakes, four times as many as the average. Earthquake swarms at Mount St. Helens are not unusual, but what we have seen over the first four days of 2018 has definitely gotten the attention of seismologists. They are hoping that things will calm down at the volcano, but one seismologist did warn that “a larger quake could follow within 48 hours”. We haven’t had a major volcanic eruption in the United States in a very long time, and so there is a lot of complacency out there right now. But we should remember that the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 was “the deadliest and most economically damaging volcanic event in the history of the United States.”  The following comes from Forbes… Mount St. Helens is most commonly known for its major eruption in 1980, the deadliest and most economically damaging volcanic event in the history of the United States. The stratovolcano is situated just 96 miles from Seattle and 50 miles from Portland, making an eruption especially dangerous. And Mount St. Helens is certainly not the only threat.  Personally, I am so concerned about a potential eruption of Mount Rainier that I even included one in my novel. With each passing year it appears that our planet is becoming increasingly unstable.  Many believe that we have entered a time when seismic activity will be much higher than it has been previously, and that is going to have dramatic implications for our society. Our tech industry is very heavily concentrated along the west coast.  When the “Big One” does finally strike, it could literally crash our economy overnight. What the day arrives, are you ready for what will happen next? Michael Snyder is a pro-Trump candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

Experts Warn: UN Blacklist of Israeli Companies Will Spur Antisemitism - Sean Savage/JNS.org ISRAEL TODAY

Experts Warn: UN Blacklist of Israeli Companies Will Spur Antisemitism

Wednesday, August 30, 2017 |  Sean Savage/JNS.org  ISRAEL TODAY

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Topics:

Settlements

An upcoming “blacklist” of major international companies with business ties to Israeli communities in Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem represents yet another attempt by anti-Israel actors in the United Nations to single out and demonize the world’s only Jewish state, experts say. 

The U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) had voted to approve the database of businesses last year, defying objections from the U.S. and Israel. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein submitted a draft of the blacklist to the countries where the businesses are based. He is expected to receive a response from those nations by Sept. 1, and the UNHRC will publish the database by the end of this year. 

American firms on the list include Caterpillar, TripAdvisor, Priceline and Airbnb, The Washington Post reported.

“The blacklist is the latest incarnation of the decades-long Arab boycott and yet another singling out of Israel by the U.N. Because Israel, the Jewish state, alone is singled out, the intent and impact is anti-Semitic,” Anne Herzberg, a U.N. expert and the legal advisor for the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor watchdog group, told JNS.org.

 Similarly, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon described the list as “an expression of modern anti-Semitism reminiscent of dark periods in history.”

While the list will have no legal consequences for Israel or the companies involved, its opponents say it could put pressure on the U.N. Security Council to take action.

Supporters of the list draw inspiration from efforts to target international businesses that were involved in apartheid-era South Africa as well as Arab-led boycotts of Israel as a means to pressure the Jewish state to change its policies regarding the Palestinians and the disputed territories.

But Michal Hatuel-Radoshitzky, a research fellow for Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said the list will likely do the opposite and undermine any chances for a two-state solution.

“First and foremost, this is because such a ‘blacklist’ serves to strengthen the common Israeli perception of a hostile international community which is united against the Jewish state,” Hatuel-Radoshitzky told JNS.org. 

She said, “This paradigm strengthens the hardliners and works against the moderate camp that perceives the two-state solution—which ultimately necessitates compromises from Israel—as the desired alternative.”

UN’s credibility

The blacklist also “serves to undermine the credibility of the UNHRC in specific and to further taint the U.N. in general,” Hatuel-Radoshitzky said.

 Since taking over as U.N. secretary-general in January, Portugal’s António Guterres has attempted to take a more evenhanded approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after years of disproportionate criticism of Israel by the world body.

“As secretary-general of the United Nations, I consider that the state of Israel needs to be treated as any other state,” Guterres said in an address to the World Jewish Congress in April. 

“I have already had the opportunity to show that I’m ready to abide by that principle even when that forces me to take some decisions that create some uncomfortable situations,” he added, referencing a move he made to squash a report by former U.N. official Rima Khalaf that called Israel an “apartheid state.”

Herzberg said that while it does not appear Guterres is in favor of the of the blacklist, it might be impossible for him to stop its release.

“Due to the U.N. bureaucracy and the dominance of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, it would be difficult if not impossible for the secretary-general to halt the process,” she said.

According to Herzberg, such reports are often compiled by a “narrow sector” of political activists and NGOs, many who are linked to terror groups and the BDS movement.

“Many U.N. officials were formerly employed by these partisan organizations and harbor extreme anti-Israel views,” she said. 

US response

The Trump administration recently urged the human rights commissioner, Hussein, not to publish the blacklist. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley called the list “shameful” and “counterproductive” to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

“It is an attempt to provide an international stamp of approval to the anti-Semitic BDS movement. It must be rejected,” Haley said.

In June, the U.S. indicated that it may replace its membership in the UNHRC with “other means” for addressing human rights issues, unless the U.N. body significantly reforms its conduct and anti-Israel bias.

At the same time, more than 20 U.S. states have passed legislation in recent years opposing the BDS movement, by requiring state institutions to cease any business with companies that boycott the Jewish state.

Both federal and state measures against BDS “will be effective in blunting the impact of the blacklist,” Herzberg said, adding she believes U.S. leadership will be essential in curbing the effectiveness of the U.N. blacklist.

“Countries and companies will have to decide—do they want to do business in the U.S. or side with the bigots of the U.N., the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,” she said.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org

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