#fire tornado hurricane nuclear

[prep4tomoro]

Realistic Reasons to Have an Emergency Plan:

"There is no such thing as luck, merely opportunity meeting preparedness." ― George S. Patton Jr. Preparing for an Emergency, long before one is actually realized, is not only a good idea, it's the responsible and mature thing to do for oneself, family, friends and community. A common misunderstanding to preparing is for some end of the world situation or Hollywood doomsday scenario. Truth is, it's not about preparing for some statistical anomaly, but for the real life challenges that we are all going to face at some point in our lives; the kind of situations that feel like the end of your world if you're not prepared. The platitude "Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance" will manifest itself, in a good or bad way, depending on how well you have planned and read the signs (cascade of events) of a coming crisis. By the time a potential disaster event is announced, panic has already set in to the general public. Pre-planning (not just gathering stuff) is the key to preparation. It will keep a cool head when others have lost theirs. Information, below and throughout this web site, will help to make a plan and prepare for nearly any emergency situation. In modern day we have prepared for everything from earthquakes and floods, to super volcanoes and nuclear weapons. The host of problems that people prepare for could be anything from a simple loss of income, to the end of the world. For several years, Hawaii was warning their population of the threat of North Korea, yet, when a False Alarm Sounded In Hawaii in January 2018, "Primal fear" set in. Why? They were not prepared emotionally and with the necessary supplies. Don't be "that guy". Plan ahead and keep your composure. 1 - Everyday Emergencies are More Common Than Disasters 2 - Preparedness is About Practicality, not Paranoia 3 - Basic Preparedness is Easy and Affordable 4 - Knowledge is the Power to Respond to Different Situations 5 - Preparedness is About Peace of Mind Consider these reasons to prepare and have a real, documented plan:

Long-term Power Outages / Grid-Down Event

Loss of Income

Natural Disasters (Hurricane, Earthquake, Tornado, Flood, Severe Storm, Wildfire, Drought, Landslide, Volcano, Heat or Cold Wave)

Fire, Explosion, Hazardous Materials

Crime, Assaults, Home Invasions, Shootings

Pandemics and Health Emergencies

Space Weather (solar flares, EMPS)

Social Unrest, Civil War

Terrorist, Cyber or Nuclear Attacks, Bombings, Chemical Attacks, Radiation Dispersal & Emitting Devices

National Economic Disasters

The Aftermath: Post-Disaster Threats

In the end, what is the "goal" of being prepared; what's the purpose for all this stuff? Isn't the government going to be there for me and take care of this? I believe that those who ask these questions have never gone through a crisis and those who are able to answer the questions have lived through a crisis and learned from it. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of an adult to take care of their family, community and themselves to reduce the impact of an emergency event. Being prepared reduces fear, anxiety, and losses that accompany disasters. Yes, there may be public resources available if an emergency occurs but those resources will need to be shared (rationed - possibly thin) between everyone who is impacted by that same emergency. There is no guarantee you will be able to get exactly what you need to deal with the emergency. Don't take that risk. To what end do we survive? Survive to the end. Then start preparing for the next emergency with the knowledge gained from the last emergency. It's said that if you can survive the first 72 hours of a crisis situation, it's highly likely you'll survive the entire crisis. [Reference Link] Related Resources: Why You Don't Have to be a "Doomsday Prepper" to be Prepared Reality Prepping 10 SHTF Scenarios to Prepare for

[11-Cs Basic Emergency Kit] [14-Point Emergency Preps Checklist] [Immediate Steps to Take When Disaster Strikes] [Learn to be More Self-Sufficient] [The Ultimate Preparation] [P4T Main Menu]

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[mudaship39]

WMD or Superweapons:

Mobius:  An electromagnetic mass accelerator positron cannon superweapon on Titan. 

Concluding Argument:  A massive vortex torpedo device. It pulls everything within a certain distance into the warp. It is normally just a ship-torpedo type weapon for capital ships but this was super-sized it to a planetary or star system level weapon.

Hand of God: A gigantic automated warship programmed to fly around and destroy any life-bearing world it comes across.

Death Cloud: Turn an inhabited planet into an inhospitable wasteland. 

Cowards Way Out: Vitrified a planet's surface essentially turning it to glass. 

Mortality Engine: A gene plague. It targets a specific species. Begins a contagion that spreads and results in populations dying off in an act of intergalactic genocide without edicts to contain it. It was a major war crime.

Vortex of Obliteration: A weapon capable of raising tornados, sandstorms, dust bowls, water spouts, whirlpools, typhoons, & hurricanes out of thin air.

Higher Power Protocol: A device that fires a beam erasing all written knowledge in an area. Books, stone tablets, scrolls, or holo devices it doesn't matter. If it's not stored in the brain or its equivalent it is lost. Doesn't sound like much, but imagine how much chaos it could do if you fire it at hubs of knowledge. 

Obsidian Sky:  This weapon kills a star. It doesn’t make it explode right away. It just accelerates the fusion decay from billions of years to a few weeks as it slowly dies. With supergiants hardening to iron and smaller suns hardening to iron and vaporizing to helium.

The Annihilation Sky: it turns the atmosphere into a highly reactive substance that degrades over changes in states of matter.

Vacuum Cataclysm: An offensive shield generator. It encases a planet preventing any light from entering or heat from ever leaving. The generator engulfs a world in darkness as it's inhabitants cook over the course of a week. Depending on the amount of heat trapped within. This weapon would potentially be liable to burn away the oxygen in the planet's atmosphere on some worlds. It could even burn enemies that somehow avoided frying by escaping deep underground. Even if they somehow survived they would then have to contend with a limited breathable air supply. However, heating a world to an unsurvivable degree and then letting it cool would be a viable way to conduct the more common and lasting sort of exterminatus on some worlds. It might potentially allow for the group that deployed it to retake the targeted world later if the atmosphere doesn't get burned away, of course. Making such a device that is exceedingly valuable to most any faction. Especially if it's more reusable than other exterminatus weapons.

The Fracture: High yield thermonuclear device. If detonated it can ignite the atmosphere thus destroying the surface of a planet. 

Dead Claw: If the leader of this unknown faction the Terran Hegemony (remnants of the Terran Dominion scattered to the stars after they were defeated in the Space Civil War) in space ever died. It would launch all nuclear weapons the faction had on hand. 

Azeroth Principle: Forcibly sterilized inhabitants of a planet 

Physics Breaker: A small bomb that destroys concepts and physics in the universe.

Gravity Empowerment Gun: Can make gravity the strongest force in a giant area

Galaxy Buster: It disrupts gravity on a solar system to even galaxy wide level. Causing planets, moons, planetoids, & even asteroids to slip out of orbits and go spinning out into space.

Space Rot: A swarm of intelligent self replicating nanobots that can strip everything off a terraformed and colonized planet, moon, asteroid, & planetoid in a couple of hours. They devour all biomass of the target. 

Falling Sky: Using a magnetic cannon it can drop asteroids, comets, and space stations from orbit.

Moon Killer: Mobile fortress built out of a hollowed out moon. 

Star Crusher. A superweapon in the Polaris System. A weapon capable of killing a star by stopping all fusion reactions in the sun causing it to go supernova. When it was fired at a star it caused it to go supernova and destroy an entire solar system before it was deactivated. In an instant the entire Regulus Star System was gone. It caused the Polaris System and Vega System to surrender unconditionally to Earth colonialism and imperialism. An entire star system was damned to die to show the power of Earth. It was a show of force and nuclear deterrence for it showed how powerful Earth was to its enemies.

Ouroboros: A mobile superweapon in space in the Milky Way Galaxy located on a world ship powered by element zero, chronotron, kryptonite, dark metal, inertron, & element x that fires colossal nth metal, adamantium, timonium, & vibranium rounds. 

Death Omen: A world ship that massacred millions, billions, & trillions of lives. It slaughtered the enemies of the humans and aliens of Earth and the humans and aliens of the Terran Confederation.

The Malevolence: With the help of millions of psionics and telepaths it induces crippling psychic pain universe wide.

Hydra: A superweapon located on a battle cruiser. It was a giant particle beam that can slice right through a battleship, battlecruiser, or destroyer . It destroyed the space ships (such as cutters, corvettes, destroyers, frigates, cruisers) and capital ships (such as dreadnoughts, battleships, ship of the lines, & battle cruisers) of the Space Rebel Army that defied the Terran Confederation. They were the iron fist of the Terran Confederation. 

Sovereign: A mobile direct energy weapon on a mobile giant planet that is powerful enough to cut a planet open. 

Lucifer’s whisper: Capable of activating all volcanoes on a planet and turning into a hellish landscape.

Terra Slayer: Antimatter bomb capable of destroying a planet. It burrows deep into a planet’s core and detonates. Breaking the planet into chunks and fragments. 

Horizon Breaker: Orbital bombardment of nuclear warheads that can atomize continents and vaporize oceans 

Final Quiet: A plasma weapon capable of superheating a planet. This vitrifies it rendering it uninhabitable and lifeless via planetary bombardment with heavy plasma and hard light weaponry

Shiva: Weapon capable of drilling to a core of even a giant planet. It then detonates, destabilizing the planet. It destroys the planet into chunks and fragments.

Void: An alien experimental machine. Thought to be sealed away, that rips a hole between dimensions, realities, portals, & timelines allowing space deities to appear through the void and the breach for a few minutes. 

Last Light: A weapon capable of creating a black hole. Also creates miniature unstable black holes.

The Anti-God: [Redacted due to its power]

Quantum Annihilator: [Redacted due to its power]

Final Contingency: Final contingency to be used if Earth and the Terran Dominion ever lost the war. Capable of destroying a planet, several star systems, several galaxies 

The End: capable of obliterating a universe or a multiverse.

End of Existence: Kills everything

Life Cessation: Kills all life instantly.

[kamreadsandrecs]

You think you will know the end when it arrives. How could you miss an epic plague, a meteorite plunging into the sea, a zombie invasion? How could you miss a tidal wave or a government coup, nuclear annihilation or environmental collapse? We reassured ourselves by imagining ever more fantastic catastrophes while the real disasters unfolded. We saw the bees disappearing, and the seas warming, and the anonymous oligarchs funding political campaigns. Sometimes, it seemed it was all we talked about, but our complaints were mundane. The weather, for instance: no snow on Christmas. Flood insurance premiums increased, but only on the coast, and don’t they have enough money there? Those people with their beach houses? I can’t afford a beach house; I can’t afford any house; I can’t afford my education, but no one told me that until after I graduated. I’m just glad there’s a basement, muddy though it is. My phone trills tornado alarms in the middle of the night. More and more tornadoes, spinning off from more and more hurricanes. It’s just the weather. Hasn’t the weather always been bad? Haven’t we always had Lyme disease? Haven’t we always longed for spring to come early? Can’t I just focus on those little gifts, those simple pleasures, a flower blooming in December? Can’t I have anything to sweeten the mounting grit of daily life, here, in the end of days? Because now, as we all know, it’s too late. A tipping point. The floodwaters and mosquitos and tornadoes are killing us here in Pennsylvania, but we’re lucky—lucky we’re not in another region of this fraying country, running from fires, rationing water, or sinking into the rising tide. Or in another part of the world, which has tipped, which spills nations across borders, which puts people in a jar and shakes them until they fight like scorpions.

Saturnalia, by Stephanie Feldman

[armourrinsurance]

Standard Fire & Special Perils Policy: A Complete Protection Against Unexpected Risks.

Being your own boss is almost everyone’s dream in India. Congratulations if you can complete that dream. But have you ever thought about how you will protect the dream? There is always a chance that your precious possessions are at risk of damage by unfortunate events like natural calamities, fire, explosions, Etc. What is the best way to protect it? Well, the answer is Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy.

Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy

Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy is an insurance policy that helps to protect against unforeseen events that can cause damage to assets. The policy covers not only fire but various other hazards. Read further to know more about it.

What are the benefits of the Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy?

Protection Against Massive Damage

Fire, earthquake or any mishap to the business can cause massive damage. The Insurance provides coverage against unseen unfortunate events, which helps to reduce mental tension and financial loss. 

Coverage is not limited to fire losses.

Another benefit of this policy is that it is not limited to fire peril, as it covers other perils, including pipe bursts, impact damage, aircraft damage, riot, Etc. We suggest this policy for all businesses, especially small businesses. 

Protection Against Financial Losses

Mishappenings hinder the growth path of the business. Financial loss sometimes wrecks the business. But thanks to the standard fire and special perils policy as it covers, you can save your business from financial losses.

What does it cover? 

The standard covers the following hazards:

Aircraft Damage

Bursting and/or overflowing of Water Tanks, Apparatus and Pipes

Explosion / Implosion

Fire

Impact damage by any rail/ road/ vehicle/ animal (other than own)

Leakage from Automatic Sprinkler Installations

Lightning

Missile Testing operations

Riot, Strike, Malicious Damages (RSMD)

Rock slide, Subsidence, Landslide and

Storm, Flood, Cyclone, Typhoon, Hurricane, Tornado, inundation (STFI)

What is excluded from the policy?

There are certain exceptions under the policy; the following are some:

War

Any loss, damage or destruction caused by the war, invasion, act of foreign enemy hostilities or any war-like operations, civil unrest, military uprising, Etc., will not be covered under the policy.

Loss due to volatile markets

The nature of the market is very volatile. The policy does not include any type of financial loss that occurred due to the volatile nature of the market.

Loss due to nuclear 

Any losses of property or damage caused due to contamination by radioactivity or ionization radiation from the combustion of nuclear fuel are not covered under the policy.

Intentional damage 

 Any loss incurred to intention or malpractice is not covered under the policy.

Why choose us?

It is challenging to prevent mishappening; policy coverage helps to reduce the financial and mental stress caused due to mishappening. Time to protect your business with Standard Fire and Special Peril Insurance Policy. Contact Armourr Insurance to buy Standard Fire & Special Perils Policy. We are a reliable name in the insurance industry. Our expert team will help you to clear all your doubts and confusion about the policy. Your business shield is just a call away. 

read more...

[bright-eyes-strawberry-lies]

The Weather In PJO (brought to you by gods and demigods)

*alternating colors for ease of reading

**page numbers look weird because they're copied/pasted from ebooks

“Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I’d ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We’d had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.” - TLT pg 33

“One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.” - TLT pg 65

“Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery. [...] Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten.” - TLT pg 156

“There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.” - TLT pg 176

“I was still in bed in cabin three. My body told me it was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. I hadn’t dreamed that.” - TLT pg 491

“It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky.

I had brought this storm to Half-Blood Hill. Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of me.” - TLT pg 520

“BOOOOOM!

The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wail from inside told me Mrs. Dodds was not yet dead.” - TLT pg 629

“The weather had completely changed. It was stormy, with heat lightning flashing out in the desert.” - TLT pg 988

“In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighborhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake, all right, and it was Hades’s fault.” - TLT pg 1191

“I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned.” - SOM pg 10

“After a few more minutes, the dark splotches ahead of us came into focus. To the north, a huge mass of rock rose out of the sea-an island with cliffs at least a hundred feet tall. About half a mile south of that, the other patch of darkness was a storm brewing. The sky and sea boiled together in a roaring mass.” - SOM pg 598

“A storm raged that night, but it parted around Camp Half-Blood as storms usually did. Lightning flashed against the horizon, waves pounded the shore, but not a drop fell in our valley. We were protected again, thanks to the Fleece, sealed inside our magical borders.” - SOM pg 1045

“Sleet and snow pounded the highway. Annabeth, Thalia, and I hadn’t seen each other in months, but between the blizzard and the thought of what we were about to do, we were too nervous to talk much.” - TTC pg 11

“Old spirits are protecting the bad boat.”

“The Princess Andromeda?” I said. “Luke’s boat?”

“Yes. They make it hard to find. Protect it from Daddy’s storms. Otherwise he would smash it.” - TTC pg 210

“Clouds seemed to be swirling around its peak, as though the mountain was drawing them in, spinning them like a top. “What’s going on up there? A storm?”

Zoë didn’t answer. I got the feeling she knew exactly what the clouds meant, and she didn’t like it.” - TTC pg 751

“I will do my best to destroy his boat with storms, but he is making alliances with my enemies, the older spirits of the ocean. They will fight to protect him.” - TTC pg 886

“We were standing at the dining pavilion, just where we’d last spoken before I went on the quest. The wind was bitter cold, even with the camp’s magical weather protection. Snow fell lightly against the marble steps. I figured outside the camp borders, there must be a blizzard happening.”- TTC pg 915

“The wind whipped cold off the bay. In the south, San Francisco gleamed all white and beautiful, but in the north, over Mount Tamalpais, huge storm clouds swirled. The whole sky seemed like a black top spinning from the mountain where Atlas was imprisoned, and where the Titan palace of Mount Othrys was rising anew. It was hard to believe the tourists couldn’t see the supernatural storm brewing, but they didn’t give any hint that anything was wrong.

“It’s even worse,” Annabeth said, gazing to the north. “The storms have been bad all year, but that—” - BOTL pg 359

“I had no choice. I called to the sea. I reached inside myself and remembered the waves and the currents, the endless power of the ocean. And I let it loose in one horrible scream.

Afterward, I could never describe what happened. An explosion, a tidal wave, a whirlwind of power simultaneously catching me up and blasting me downward into the lava. Fire and water collided, superheated steam, and I shot upward from the heart of the volcano in a huge explosion, just one piece of flotsam thrown free by a million pounds of pressure. The last thing I remember before losing consciousness was flying, flying so high Zeus would never have forgiven me, and then beginning to fall, smoke and fire and water streaming from me. I was a comet hurtling toward the earth.” - BOTL pg 618/619

“Mrs. O’Leary howled. I patted her head, trying to comfort her as best I could. The earth rumbled—an earthquake that could probably be felt in every major city across the country—as the ancient Labyrinth collapsed. Somewhere, I hoped, the remains of the Titan’s strike force had been buried.” - BOTL pg 1005

“I remembered what Tyson had told me at the beginning of the summer. “The old sea gods?”

“Indeed. The battle came first to me, Percy. In fact, I cannot stay long. Even now the ocean is at war with itself. It is all I can do to keep hurricanes and typhoons from destroying your surface world, the fighting is so intense.” - BOTL pg 1066

“Then the entire sea grew dark in front of us, like an inky storm was rolling in. Thunder crackled, which should've been impossible underwater. A huge icy presence was approaching. I sensed a wave of fear roll through the armies below us.” - TLO pg 153

“I saw a bank of storm clouds rolling across the Midwest plains. Lightning flickered. Lines of tornadoes destroyed everything in their path— ripping up houses and trailers, tossing cars around like Matchbox toys. “Monumental floods," an announcer was saying. "Five states declared disaster areas as the freak storm system sweeps east, continuing its path of destruction." The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down on some Midwest city. I couldn't tell which one. Inside the storm I could see the giant—just small glimpses of his true form: a smoky arm, a dark clawed hand the size of a city block. His angry roar rolled across the plains like a nuclear blast.” - TLO pg 216-218

“Over the city, a thunderstorm boiled—a wall of absolute black with lightning streaking across the sky. A few blocks away, swarms of emergency vehicles gathered with their lights flashing. A column of dust rose from a mound of rubble, which I realized was a collapsed skyscraper. [...] Wind whipped her hair. The temperature was dropping rapidly, like ten degrees just since I'd been standing there.” - TLO pg 468-470

“She faltered as a mighty groan cut through the sky. A blast of lightning hit the center of the darkness. The entire city shook. The air glowed, and every hair on my body stood up. The blast was so powerful I knew it could only be one thing: Zeus's master bolt. It should have vaporized its target, but the dark cloud only staggered backward. A smoky fist appeared out of the clouds. It smashed another tower, and the whole thing collapsed like children's blocks.

The reporter screamed. People ran through the streets. Emergency lights flashed.” - TLO pg 470-471

“Listen to me!" I said. "Kronos's army is invading Manhattan.'"

"Don't you think we know that?" East asked. "I can feel his boats right now. They're almost across."

"Yep," Hudson agreed. "I got some filthy monsters crossing my waters too."

"So stop them," I said. "Drown them. Sink their boats."

"Why should we?" Hudson grumbled. "So they invade Olympus. What do we care?"

"Because I can pay you.” - TLO pg 654

“Water sprayed his face, stinging his eyes. The wind picked up, and Hyperion staggered backward.

"Percy!" Grover called in amazement. "How are you doing that?"

Doing what? I thought.

Then I looked down, and I realized I was standing in the middle of my own personal hurricane. Clouds of water vapor swirled around me, winds so powerful they buffeted Hyperion and flattened the grass in a twenty-yard radius. Enemy warriors threw javelins at me, but the storm knocked them aside.

"Sweet," I muttered. "But a little more!"

Lightning flickered around me. The clouds darkened and the rain swirled faster. I closed in on Hyperion and blew him off his feet.” - TLO pg 903-904

[prepperjournal]

Building Your Survival Food Pantry

When I was a child, we had a bomb shelter. My parents didn’t build it – it was there when they bought the house. But they did stock it with what they believed to be the most important survival items, should we ever get “hit.” I remember several battery-operated items – radio, flashlights, and such – and of course, clothing and bedding in a trunk. But then there were the food and drink items - our survival food pantry. There were all sorts of canned goods, of course, and large bottles of water (only glass in those days). Foods that normally came in boxes (e.g., cereal and powdered milk) were put into glass jars. Times have changed. Now that we have plastic and bagged items with long shelf lives, bomb shelter food would look very different today (except for the powdered milk, I suppose, which I always hated). And there are plenty of ways to keep food items water-proof. A nuclear event is not the only disaster for which we need to be prepared these days. Earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes are all on the rise, as well as real threats from people both within and outside our country. Then there are blizzards, pandemics, and long-term power outages as we recently saw in Texas. And the Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared” should still guide our preparedness. So, let’s take a look at what a survival food pantry should look like today. Whether we face a short-term or long-term disaster, it is best to plan for a long-term food and water shortage at the onset. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J31WXxAEwY Survival Food Pantry Basics – The List - Water: It’s the “rules of threes” here. You can survive three minutes without oxygen, 3 days without water, and three months without food. If you are breathing, then water is the next priority. If you are planning a pantry for “bug-in” survival, you will want between ½ - 1 gallon of water per day, per person. This also presupposes that, if you have a means of cooking, you may use some water. And there is personal hygiene to think of too. In short, water must be your top priority. If the public water supply is disrupted, then any tap water will have to be purified once that supply is restored. A few drops of household bleach per gallon will do the trick and save you from the necessity of boiling if your power is out. If you are thinking in terms of a “bug-out” survival, water will be too heavy to carry. What you want instead is a water collection device and filters. And, if you have access to wood and bring matches, boiling water is always an option here. FIFO Can Tracker | Stores 54 cans | Rotates First in First Out | Canned Goods Organizer for Cupboard, Pantry and Cabinet | Food Storage | Organize Your Kitchen | Made in USA - Organize Your Food Pantry - Our patent designed FIFO Can Tracker keeps your kitchen organized by storing and rotating your canned goods on a First In First Out model saving you from expired food cost and waste! Designed to store cans from 4 to 15 ounces. Perfect for diced chili cans, soup cans or standard vegetable cans. Holds up to 54 cans. Perfect to organize your food storage. - Sturdy Design - Made in the USA, this product is built to last and will be a permanent solution to your kitchen organization problem. Easily connect multiple units together to expand your storage. - Easy Installation - Put together in just minutes following a simple 4 step process. - Fits on Existing Shelves - Product dimensions are 12" H x 16" W x 16" D allowing you to organize your pantry, cabinet and cupboard. - 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee - If you are not satisfied with your purchase and feel this product has not solved your pantry organization problem simply return for a full refund. $38.99 Buy on Amazon - Canned Goods: These are absolute staples if you are sheltered in place in your home. And they will provide a variety of foods so that you don’t face “food boredom.” Think in terms of canned meats, beans (a great source of protein), fish, fruits, and veggies. Variety is the key here so that you and your family members have choices. And these can be eaten without cooking. After all, your instant pot may not be an option right now. Canned soups are a great option if you buy those that are not concentrated. They can be eaten right out of the can without the need for water or cooking. Ensure you have a good rotation plan also. - Food in Jars: Here’s where the advent of plastic comes in. There’s a huge list of food and drink that now comes in plastic jars that prevent breakage and are less in weight. Think peanut butter and jelly; think bottled juices; think fruits. They, too, have long shelf lives and can provide a good variety. - Snacks: Snacks can provide a bit of a respite from the boredom that comes from lack of electricity and Wi-Fi. Crackers and chips come boxed and bagged. If humidity is an issue, then it can be stored in plastic bags. They have a long shelf-life and will not have to be “changed out” too often.  Dips are obviously out to “dress up” these items, but there are freeze-dried meats that will do, as well as peanut butter. If you can’t cook popcorn is out, but nuts are not. Stock up on a good variety. - Dried Foods: These were not around when I was a kid, but just go through any grocery store and look at all the possibilities. There are dried fruits and meats galore – everything from jerkies to fruit leather, to banana chips. Stock up on plenty of these – lightweight and nutritious. - Granola Bars: I put these in a separate category because they are a source of almost every nutrient we need – protein, carbs, a bit of fat, and even that need for something sweet. If you should have to “bug out,” they are lightweight, have a long shelf life, and can provide the energy you will need. Look for those that are high in protein – this provides long-term energy, while carbs and sugars are only for the short-term. - About that Powdered Milk: Fortunately, powdered milk now comes in cans, as opposed to those traditional boxes. You do not have to take measures to protect it from water damage. When reconstituted with water, it can be used on cereal and for cooking (e.g., mashed potatoes) if you have an alternative cooking method during power outages. If you have children who cannot tolerate the taste, then have a supply of canned chocolate or strawberry syrup to “sweeten the deal.” - Pasta, Rice, Noodles: These can be temporarily filling because of their carb content. But here’s the thing: they must be cooked, and that will require using your supply of water. If you are sheltered in place with your public water supply still available, then all is good. You can cook these up as much as you wish. But if your water supply is cut off, or you have to use alternative methods for cooking, these are probably not good options. Still, put them in your pantry on the chance that they can be prepared. - The Debate About Couscous: Yes, this is a type of pasta, made from small grains of a specific type of wheat flour. The beauty of it is that it is steamed rather than boiled and takes far less water to cook. Unlike traditional pasta, couscous cooks in about two minutes. On the other hand, it is extremely high in gluten. So, if you have family members with gluten sensitivity, it is not an option. Planning for Long-Term Survival in Place As mentioned above, your food pantry should be planned for long-term survival, even if an immediate event is only short-term. Our goal for long-term survival in place is to have those food items that: - Provide solid nutrition - Can be prepared using as little fuel and water as possible - Will be “damage-proof” - Are as compact as possible - Have a variety of flavors and consistencies, so that “food boredom” doesn’t set in Here are some things to think about as you stock that survival food pantry: - Avoid dried beans. While they are a great source of protein, they take lots of water and fuel to cook. Items like navy beans and great northern beans now come in cans. Opt for that alternative. - Water is still the highest priority. Have ½ - 1 gallon per person per day for about a month. Beyond that, you will need a water-collection device/process and water filters to purify that water. - Rely on canned goods as much as possible, but remember they have lots of sodium and sugar, so are not as healthy as other options. - Freeze-dried fruits and veggies are a must. They don’t take up much space, and they are sources of essential nutrients and antioxidants. They are also important to keep your intestinal functions operating properly. You will get the right amounts of vitamins and minerals through these freeze-dried items. - Honey has no shelf-life. It can last forever. Have lots of it to use as a sweetener, and it does come in plastic containers. - Instant oatmeal packets. Place these in plastic bags to preen water damage. They are reconstituted with a small amount of water and heat. Use honey for sweeteners. While sugar lasts forever too, it does not have the health benefits of honey and is susceptible to humidity. - A variety of oils can add “spice” and flavor to foods. And most come in plastic containers now. If you can cook, use them liberally. They are caloric heavy and can provide energy as well as better taste. - Ramen: This is a common survival food for college students on tight budgets, but there are survival benefits too. They are good sources of carbs and take only a small amount of water to cook. - Freeze-dried and dried meats: these can last over a year. - Canned tuna in oil: perfect source of protein and Omega-3. - Granola and protein bars: Perfect for snacks and well-rounded nutrition. One Keynote here: make certain that all foods that are packaged in boxes or paper-type containers are stored in water-proof packaging, such as mylar bags that are vacuum-sealed. If You have to bug out When you have to evacuate, you face unique challenges. Of course, you cannot drag jugs of water and canned goods in backpacks. A wheeled cart is certainly a short-term solution, but it will not house everything you may need for a long-term bug-out situation. Your options are limited, so focus on these items: - A water collection device and filters - Survival Matches - Flashlights with new batteries or headlamps - Fully lightweight nutrition bars and other freeze-dried items You Can do This... Planning ahead is the best scenario for survival. Water and food are key factors in that planning. Make a list of items for both short and long-term survival, get to your grocery store and other retailers with the right supplies and equipment. You can be prepared for any disaster, and that brings a lot of peace of mind. Author’s bio. Jessica Fender is a professional writer and educational blogger. Jessica enjoys sharing her ideas to make writing and learning fun. You can check her last review here. Read the full article

[newstfionline]

Friday, September 3, 2021

US faith groups unite to help Afghanistan refugees after war (AP) America’s major religions and denominations, often divided on other big issues, have united behind the effort to help receive an influx of refugees from Afghanistan following the end of the United States’ longest war and one of the largest airlifts in history. Among those gearing up to help are Jewish refugee resettlement agencies and Islamic groups; conservative and liberal Protestant churches; and prominent Catholic relief organizations, providing everything from food and clothes to legal assistance and housing. “It’s incredible. It’s an interfaith effort that involved Catholic, Lutheran, Muslim, Jews, Episcopalians ... Hindus ... as well as nonfaith communities who just believe that maybe it’s not a matter of faith, but it’s just a matter of who we are as a nation,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. The U.S. and its coalition partners have evacuated more than 100,000 people from Afghanistan since the airlift began Aug. 14, including more than 5,400 American citizens and many Afghans who helped the U.S. during the 20-year war.

Hurricane Ida’s aftermath, recovery uneven across Louisiana (AP) In New Orleans, an ongoing power outage after Hurricane Ida is making the sweltering summer unbearable. But in some areas outside the city, that misery is compounded by a lack of water, flooded neighborhoods and severely damaged homes. Four days after Hurricane Ida struck, the storm’s aftermath—and progress in recovering from it—are being felt unevenly across affected communities in Louisiana. In New Orleans, power was restored Wednesday to a small number of homes and businesses, city crews had some streets almost completely cleared of fallen trees and debris and a few corner stores reopened. Outside New Orleans, neighborhoods remained flooded and residents were still reeling from damage to their homes and property. More than 1,200 people were walking through some of Ida’s hardest-hit communities to look for those needing help, according to the Louisiana Fire Marshal’s office.

More than 45 dead after Ida’s remnants blindside Northeast (AP) A stunned U.S. East Coast faced a rising death toll, surging rivers and tornado damage Thursday after the remnants of Hurricane Ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain, drowning more than 40 people in their homes and cars. In a region that had been warned about potentially deadly flash flooding but hadn’t braced for such a blow from the no-longer-hurricane, the storm killed at least 46 people from Maryland to Connecticut on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. In New York, nearly 500 vehicles were abandoned on flooded highways, garbage bobbed in streaming streets and water cascaded into the city’s subway tunnels, trapping at least 17 trains and disrupting service all day. Videos online showed riders standing on seats in swamped cars. All were safely evacuated, with police aiding 835 riders and scores of people elsewhere. The National Weather Service said the ferocious storm also spawned at least 10 tornadoes from Maryland to Massachusetts, including a 150-mph (241 kph) twister that splintered homes and toppled silos in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, south of Philadelphia.

President’s murder inquiry slow amid Haiti’s multiple crises (AP) In the nearly two months since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated, Haiti has suffered a devastating earthquake and a drenching tropical storm, the twin natural disasters deflecting attention from the man-made one that preceded them. Add the constant worry over deteriorating security at the hands of gangs that by some estimates control territory that’s home to about a fifth of Haiti’s 11 million citizens, and the investigation into Moïse’s killing is fast fading from the public consciousness. Even those still paying attention, demanding accountability and pressuring for a thorough investigation give no chance to the crime’s masterminds being brought to justice in a country where impunity reigns. It doesn’t help that Moïse was despised by a large portion of the population. “The hope for finding justice for Jovenel is zero,” said Pierre Esperance, executive director of the National Human Rights Defense Network.

Fancy a beer in Britain? In some pubs, supplies are running low. (Washington Post) Fears are brewing among pint-loving Brits amid reports of a national beer shortage. Some pubs say they are running low on pints of Carling and Coors—the latest victims of the United Kingdom’s supply chain crisis, sparked by Brexit and exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, that has led to headline-grabbing scarcities of items including McDonald’s milkshakes, beloved Nando’s chicken and the polarizing breakfast spread Marmite. “We are experiencing some supply problems,” a spokesman for pub chain Wetherspoons said Tuesday, apologizing for any inconvenience caused to customers. The lack of beer has been attributed to the ongoing shortage of truck drivers to transport goods, a problem sparked by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union following a 2016 referendum that divided the country. The driver shortage has not been helped by the country’s “pingdemic,” in which tens of thousands of workers were forced to self-isolate after being contacted by the National Health Service app for coming into contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus.

Merkel steps down with legacy dominated by tackling crises (AP) Angela Merkel will leave office as one of modern Germany’s longest-serving leaders and a global diplomatic heavyweight, with a legacy defined by her management of a succession of crises that shook a fragile Europe rather than any grand visions for her own country. In 16 years at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy, Merkel did end military conscription, set Germany on course for a future without nuclear and fossil-fueled power, and introduce a national minimum wage and benefits encouraging fathers to look after young children, among other things. But a senior ally recently summed up what many view as her main service: as an anchor of stability in stormy times. He told Merkel: “You protected our country well.”

India locks down Kashmir after top separatist leader’s death (AP) Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout Thursday in disputed Kashmir after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region’s defiance against New Delhi. Geelani, who died late Wednesday at age 92, was buried in a quiet funeral at a local graveyard organized by authorities under harsh restrictions, his son Naseem Geelani told The Associated Press. “They snatched his body and forcibly buried him. Nobody from the family was present for his burial. We tried to resist but they overpowered us and even scuffled with women,” said Naseem Geelani. As most Kashmiris remained locked inside their homes, armed police and soldiers patrolled the tense region. Government forces placed steel barricades and razor wire across many roads, bridges and intersections and set up additional checkpoints across towns and villages in the Kashmir Valley. Authorities cut most of cellphone networks and mobile internet service in a common tactic employed by India in anticipation of mass protests.

Women and technology in Japan (NYT) Japan is facing a severe shortage of workers in technology and engineering. And in university programs that produce workers in these fields, Japan has some of the lowest percentages of women in the developed world. Up to age 15, Japanese girls and boys perform equally well in math and science on international standardized tests. But at this critical juncture, when students must choose between the science and humanities tracks in high school, girls appear to lose confidence and interest in math and science. In these fields, the higher the educational level, the fewer the women, a phenomenon many blame on cultural expectations. “The sex-based division of labor is deeply rooted,” one young woman said. To help change the trend, two women with science backgrounds co-founded a nonprofit called Waffle, which runs one-day tech camps for middle and high school girls. Asumi Saito and Sayaka Tanaka offer career lectures and hands-on experiences that emphasize problem solving, community, and entrepreneurship to counter the stereotypically geeky image of technology. “Our vision is to close the gender gap by empowering and educating women in technology,” Saito said.

Taiwan Warns China Can ‘Paralyze’ Island’s Defenses in Conflict (Bloomberg) Taiwan warned that China could “paralyze” its defenses in a conflict, a stark new assessment expected to fuel calls in Washington for more support for the democratically ruled island. China is able to neutralize Taiwan’s air-and-sea defenses and counter-attack systems with “soft and hard electronic attacks,” Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said in an annual report to lawmakers seen by Bloomberg News. The document offered a more alarming assessment than last year’s report, which had said China still lacked the capability to launch an assault. While Beijing isn’t believed to possess the transport and logistical capacity necessary for an invasion of Taiwan’s large and mountainous main island, the ministry recommended monitoring Chinese efforts to expand training and preparations for complex landing operations. China already has the ability to seize Taiwan’s surrounding islands, it said.

Those left in Afghanistan complain of broken US promises (AP) Even in the final days of Washington’s chaotic airlift in Afghanistan, Javed Habibi was getting phone calls from the U.S. government promising that the green card holder from Richmond, Virginia, his wife and their four daughters would not be left behind. He was told to stay home and not worry, that they would be evacuated. Late Monday, however, his heart sank as he heard that the final U.S. flights had left Kabul’s airport, followed by the blistering staccato sound of Taliban gunfire, celebrating what they saw as their victory over America. “They lied to us,” Habibi said of the U.S. government. He is among hundreds of American citizens and green card holders stranded in the Afghan capital. Victoria Nuland, undersecretary of state for political affairs, would not address individual cases but said all U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who could not get evacuation flights or were otherwise stranded had been contacted individually in the past 24 hours and told to expect further information about routes out once those have been arranged.

[totallyunprepar]

The Relevance of Emergency Situation Readiness

Emergency situation preparedness Emergency readiness is the administration and administration of your sources as well as duties for managing all natural and/or human-made disasters. The objective is to reduce the devastating effects of catastrophes, that includes calamities triggered by tornados, quakes, storms, floods, and also fires. This consists of knowledge on exactly how to make it through in emergency situation situations by giving you with info as well as the means to promptly obtain the assistance required. Emergency situation readiness is considered a global health and wellness worry since it can provide a sense of protection from injury, however more notably, it gives a "life-and-death" scenario for those that might not have the ability to interact and act on their own.

Emergency situation readiness have to consist of 2 elements: disaster threat evaluation and also emergency situation preparation. Disaster danger assessment deals with the assessment of dangers to your house as well as household that may be caused by the emergency situation. These consist of all-natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, as well as floods; manufactured disasters like radiation and nuclear events; and social or behavior catastrophes caused by your own behavior or absence of communication. All these are categorized as threats to your family's protection as well as welfare.

Emergency preparedness also includes emergency situation planning. Emergency preparedness preparation identifies just how you will respond to all kinds of catastrophes, both natural and manufactured, and also which kind of catastrophes you are prone to. For instance, if there is a drought in your area or you are anticipating rainfall, you require to be prepared to deal with both situations. This is where emergency situation preparedness methods can enter play. There are various strategies utilized to manage various kinds of disasters. A basic technique is to recognize what is especially needed by the household as well as have it prepared for emergency situations.

In emergency situation readiness, you should likewise think about emergency situation disaster healing after you have actually taken care of the emergency. This is for your advantage as well. After the emergency situation has actually ended, you might still require to momentarily remain in the residence to retrieve some products and even to run some tasks. It is during this time that emergency readiness methods enter into play. You ought to have at the very least one item at your disposal that could assist you make it through such as a hand saw to cut through concrete or wood, a hammer to crack open steel doors, and a heating unit to maintain you cozy throughout the night.

Another method to do emergency situation readiness is via having emergency situation kits. These are basically the products that your household may need in order to live for 3 days without power or water, while an extreme all-natural disaster occurs. You can purchase ready made sets that contain fundamental survival devices however you can likewise put together basic items from products located around your home. These emergency preparedness packages can consist of items such as substitute food, water, utensils, and coverings, first aid packages, and extra.

Emergency preparedness is not just necessary during catastrophes however additionally for normal occasions. The components can be extremely unrelenting and also you want to be prepared in case of a family trip or various other get together. A great deal of people do not consider emergency situation readiness when they plan getaways or make get together, but you must never ever assume that you will certainly never ever need calamity sets. You never ever know when the ice will certainly thaw, the floodings will certainly happen, or the wind will certainly blow stronger than normal as well as blow your outdoor tents away.

There are a great deal of benefits to emergency preparedness besides just having the capability to make it through in the event of a disaster. Most individuals that have emergency situation materials with them have actually had the ability to get to safety and security before the issue became worse. Numerous lives might have been saved if emergency situation preparedness had actually been practiced previously on. Many people also pick to neglect natural calamities because they believe that the damages would certainly be very little and that it would certainly not impact their homes. Nevertheless, because of a natural disaster, the majority of these individuals's assumptions were wrong and countless bucks well worth of home was lost, residences messed up, and also individuals wounded.

The very best means to get ready for emergency situations is to have a well-stocked disaster set that consists of every little thing from flashlights and also candle lights to coverings, wet fits and medical supplies. It is likewise a good idea to have a location in your home designated as a catastrophe recovery space. This location ought to consist of all of your emergency equipment and materials in case you must range from a source of emergency situation. If you plan for catastrophes correctly, you can prevent being caught off-guard and living in a state of shock, which is not just bothersome however can likewise threaten. It is better to be risk-free than sorry and also emergency preparedness is a certain way to do just that.

And for more information please visit TotallyUnprepared.com

[cosmic-crow444]

The perfect astrological storm

Your Sun + Moon Elements = What storm you are

Earth + Fire = Volcano

Water + Air = Hurricane

Air + Air = Tornado

Fire + Fire = Wildfire

Water + Water = Flood

Earth + Earth = Earthquake

Earth + Water =Tsunami

Air + Earth = Meteorite Shower

Water + Fire = Nuclear Explosion

Fire + Air = Drought

[thecorteztwins]

(Just a basic superhero vs supervillain brawl here between Force of Nature and the ladies of the Winter Guard, with a little twist at the end! No deep character stuff, but tagging @sammysdewysensitiveeyes because Pyro and Avalanche are in it!) Russia had the largest amount of forests of any country on Earth, even more so than the famous Amazon rainforest, boasting 55% of the world's conifers and 11% of the Earth’s biomass. And yet, the logging industry, especially the illegal side, was so rampant and unrestrained that deforestation was threatening even this arboreal giant. It was for this reason that Force of Nature was sent to attack the headquarters of one the largest logging companies in the nation, and one with the most illegal activity under its belt. It was the first mission for their new recruits---two mutants, Pyro and Avalanche of the Brotherhood, representing the elements of fire and earth. Though their origins were in the very political Brotherhood, they had the right mercenary attitude for the squad. They also got on well with the two pre-existing members. Well, no, they got on well with Aqueduct, not so much Aireo. But Aqueduct assured them that no one really got on with Aireo, and that he was just glad to have a couple of “normal guys” like himself on the team at last. “It’s not that I didn’t LIKE Theary and Terraformer,” he hd said, “But you couldn’t really have a beer with ‘em attitude-wise, you know? And I literally CAN’T with Aireo, poor guy’d die of alchohol poisoning after one glass. He’s got a real weak system, Inhuman, y’know.” They knew. It was getting him to SHUT UP about it that was the issue, Pyro had found. The skinny beanpole---for once Pyro got to call someone else that!---really got under both their skins, his and Dom’s, with his superior species bullshit. Though St. John kinda had to admit there was an irony to it, given how he’d and Dom had used to run in the Brotherhood, which preached the same thing, just with regards to a different species. And it was kind of novel how Aireo looked down on them for BEING human, rather than NOT being human like most people. Pyro would give the wind-master one thing, he didn’t discriminate against mutants, just ALL humans in general. There was a fairness in it he could respect---if it wasn’t so damn IRRITATING! That aside though, it turned out they worked well together in the field---Skybreak stayed aloft where he could be hit accidentally by Avalanche’s seismic waves, and his winds helped fan Pyro’s flames from above. Speaking of Pyro’s flames, Aqueduct could put them out if they got out of hand---a much quicker way to do it than relying on Pyro to calm them, something he always had trouble with---and he could also make mud for Dom to send his shockwaves through, which made for some interesting effects you couldn’t get with just dirt and stone. It was really just plain FUN, in Pyro’s opinion, to watch some fucker DROWN in it. Right now though, a few logging employees were drowning in the wood chips that had been knocked over by Avalanche’s avalanches...the ones that Pyro wasn’t lighting up, anyway. “Talk about burning through your profits eh?” St. John yelled to his team over the din as workers and officials scattered. One brave soul tried to spray a fire extinguisher at him, Dom’s shockwave knocked him off his feet while a breeze from Skybreaker sent foam back in the poor sod’s face, just before a wave from Aqueduct washed him away clear to other side of the room. “Come on mate, your life’s not worth whatever crap they’re paying you”, Pyro called over to the guy, though he knew the Russians likely didn’t understand him. “Yeah, nobody try to be a hero here”, added Aqueduct.

“Oh, but I think I will,” said a woman’s voice from behind him the water-wielder. It came from within the swirling black portal that had opened at his back, and poor Aqueduct turned his head just in time to get the side of his face punched by a white-gloved fist emerging from the portal, followed by a black-haired woman attached to it, wearing a red costume with a white-pointed white star emblazoned on the chest. Another black-haired woman stepped out with her, this one in a barely-there purple getup with thigh-high boots, and a younger blonde between them in a black costume with a yellow diamond star and a bejeweled headband. Pyro didn’t recognize them but he knew what they were-- “Supes!” Dom yelled. “Correct,” said the blonde in Russian-accented English, “We are the Winter Guard, defenders of Mother Russia and all her people---and we give you ONE chance to stand down and surrender!” “One chance is all I need to boil up some Russian hotpot!” Pyro proclaimed, turning his flames their way...only to have them harmlessly swallowed up by the Darkforce portal that Darkstar, the blonde, summoned to intercept them. “Wha---that’s cheating!” St. John exclaimed. “Then let’s even the score, Johnny,” growled Dom, sending a quake out from his hands towards the women...only for it to turn out THAT--- “They all can fly?!” he exclaimed. That REALLY was not fair! “They may ride the air,” scoffed Skybreaker from above, “But---can they command it?!” With that, the Inhuman hurled contained hurricanes intended to grab the women, knock them around, even break their bones inside it---or worse, hopefully. Darkstar teleported away, but the others, Starlight and Fantasma, were caught by the tornadoes. Skybreaker started to laugh, but his triumph was short-lived---a Darkforce portal appeared behind him, and he was pulled in by Darkstar, then spat out into the tornado himself, right next to Fantasma. The sorceress seized the opportunity, and seized Skybreaker himself, grabbing him and manipulating his bio-field to render him unconscious. Thus, the tornado stopped, and he dropped to the ground before Starlight or Darkstar could grab him, which Fantasma did not even try. blonde, Darkstar, ported away “Aireo!” Aqueduct yelled, “Hey, he’s got delicate bones!” “Your concern for your comrade is admirable,” Starlight commended “But you should worry about yourself,” added Fantasma “Get the ‘porter,” Pyro commanded to Aqueduct and Avalanche, having learned from what he just saw, “She’s the real threat, herd her to me and I’ll toast her!” “You like playing with fire, hmm?” Starlight had overheard, “How about nuclear fire?” And with that, Pyro found himself surrounded by flames that emanated from her body. Normally that was something he would have no fear of, quite the reverse, but this fire felt...wrong. He shrank from it reflexively, as he would something alien and dangerous. “My radiation is not something I wish to inflict on anyone---especially not one with infractions so minor as yours---but threaten the life of my teammate, and you can consider your own to be forfeit!” “Ulp,” Pyro replied, “Got it.” With Skybreaker down and Pyro caged, that left Aqueduct and Avalanche, and Pyro didn’t have much hope for them. Great guys, but not great thinkers, those two. He didn’t expect this fight to last much longer, and he was right. The last thing he remembered was one of Darkstar’s portals surrounding him, and then everything was black and cold... ...and woke up into just more darkness and coldness. “John? John!” Dom was leaning over him, his square face contorted in concern. “Ahhh...” Pyro sat up, rubbing the back of his head, “Feels like I got the world’s worst hangover...” “We all did,” said Aqueduct, “Everybody except Aireo.” “I was passed out already before that witch passed us through our portal,” Aireo said venomously. Pyro didn’t need to ask where they were. He could tell already. A prison cell. A bad one too. No beds or benches attached to the walls, no toilet, no bars, just three walls and a solid steel door. It was very, very cramped in here too, with minimal light coming only from the tiny window in the door. And he didn’t like the crusty brown rim around the drain in the center of the floor. Pyro also knew that power-dampeners must be installed, or these three would have already busted loose with him in tow.  This...did not look good. Pyro had HEARD what the Russians did to mutants, even the ones who WEREN’T foreigner criminals... “Johnny, get down!” Dom yelled, and pulled Pyro away from something. Pyro turned and saw that behind him, one of the Darkforce portals was forming. “What do you want?!” he demanded of Darkstar and Starlight, who were visible within it, though not emerging due to the cell being so small. “For you to come with us,” said Starlight. “We love our country, make no mistake,” explained Darkstar, “But the present government’s treatment of the super-powered who do not serve it is inhumane.” “Even for villains,” Starlight added. “Where’s Stripperella?” Pyro asked, noting that what had been a trio was now a duo. “Fantasma...has a harder time understanding the nuances of these things,” Starlight said, “She follows the law, and believes it is good. And it is. And you broke it. You should be punished, as the law demands. But not like THIS.” “What’s...this?” Aqueduct asked. He was apparently not as well-read as Pyro about how Russia did things. “You do not know what is in store for you?” “Er...no?” Dom said. He was also not exactly on the up and up in this department. The women exchanged looks. “Better that way,” said Starlight, “Come on---enough talk.” “We’ve just shut down the power nullifiers,” said Darkstar, “Quickly, make a mess so it looks like you escaped on your own---we’ll help make sure you get through the facility, you just leave a ‘trail’ as you go.” They did exactly that, their elemental powers wreaking havoc through the facility, while Darkstar’s portals enabled them to evade being seen or caught. The portals were bad enough though; Pyro realized now why he’d felt so terrible after going through one, why he’d passed out. It was staggering to go through them, even for a second, and all four of Force of Nature quickly protested their use, preferring to take their chances being seen. “It is the Darkforce,” Darkstar explained apologetically, “To me, it is friendly, harmless---but when others travel through it, the effects are...unpleasant. It is helpful for quickly subduing foes, as I did you before, but it makes it less than ideal for transporting friends, especially those unused to it.” “Even I’m still getting used to it,” admitted the sturdy-looking Starlight, who appeared to Pyro no worse for the wear despite the multiple small trips....while he felt like he was going to drop again, and the others looked about the same. Finally, they reached the end, a wall that Starlight instructed them to burst through, which Avalanche did with ease. They walked for awhile, Pyro burning a path through the snow---the ladies had considerately brought him a lighter---til they had left enough of a trail, then Darkstar took them all for one last ‘port, in the opposite direction, to the outskirts of Moscow, where they could find a way to contact their employers and get a flight scheduled. “From here, you must make your own way home,” said Starlight. “And never return, “Darkstar warned, “Or else you may not find us so merciful next time!” Actually they would be---but they didn’t want to risk these dumb-asses knowing that and coming back.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#1yrago The Fifth Risk: Michael Lewis explains how the "deep state" is just nerds versus grifters

Michael Lewis is a national treasure, whose gift for explaining how finance grifters think and operate has spawned a whole genre, which he dominates with books like Liar's Poker (an insider view of the S&L crisis); The Big Short (a character-driven, crystal-clear explainer on the financial engineering that led to the 2008 crisis), and Flash Boys (the shitty math and bafflegab behind high-speed trading); and now, The Fifth Risk: an astounding and terrifying book about the experts who fill the ranks in the US government and the Trump-administration grifters who are destroying the work they do to keep us from dying of tornadoes, nuclear accident, food poisoning and a million other dangers, large and small.

The Fifth Risk is a very short book, consisting mostly of interviews with current (and usually anonymous) US government officials, as well as former high-ranking officials who left when the Trump administration took over. These are largely extremely technical people, manifestly and palpably motivated by a sense of duty and a commitment to excellence, who have been charged with an insanely hard job: figuring out how to contain all the complex risks of 21st century technical society, including things like a 100-year, 100-billion-dollar nuclear cleanup that involves mitigating vast, badly secured underground stores of waste from the WWII nuclear bomb production effort, which is slowly seeping towards the Columbia River.

Each profile takes on a similar form: the expert's journey to government service is explained (for example, how a deep-sea scientist became one of the first US woman astronauts and then helmed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; then, the incredibly technical, incredibly high stakes that person lives with (dealing with all the nation's weather data and figuring out how we can not all die from fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc), and then, the kicker: how Trump's shitty administration of grifters and right-wing thinktankies showed up underprepared, disinterested, and actively hostile to the person and the work they did (in this case, how the guy who runs Accuweather and has been lobbying for years to force the government to stop letting us get weather predictions for free ended up in charge of US governmental weather strategy).

It's a powerful format, by turns inspiring, infuriating and terrifying. It's also a powerful repudiation of "public choice theory," a favorite economic theory among the right, whose simplest formulation holds that everyone is looking out for themselves, and that "duty" and other high-minded ideals are at best self-deception from would-be civil-service empire-builders who are just looking to expand their influence at taxpayer's expense. Public choice advocates will tell you that no one really thinks of themselves as a villain, and that your "bad guy" thinks they're doing the right thing just as much as you do.

Which is true, as far as it goes, but woefully incomplete. The crooks whom Trump brought in to run these incredibly technical, high-stakes, multi-billion dollar agencies don't think of themselves as villains. They genuinely, legitimately believe that (for example) climate change isn't real, or that poor people will find work faster if you cut off their kids' food-stamps.

But there's a difference between the heroes of Lewis's book and the villains: the heroes did their homework. They know what the fuck they're talking about. When they say that you need to spend $X billion to keep the tailings from Little Boy's plutonium payload from seeping into the water supply for much of Washington State and Oregon, they're basing that statement on expert study and research. When a Trumpian asshole sweeps in and declares that any program that costs $100 billion is an example of government waste and can easily be downsized without hurting anyone, they are talking out of their asses.

It's the difference between doing your homework and Dunning-Kruger. What's more, the grifter villains of Lewis's book are willfully ignorant: like Exxon, which discovered and then forgot that climate change was real and driven by burning their oil, these blow-dried gators and henhouse-foxes know, in their deepest hearts, that actually doing their homework would make it impossible to do their jobs with a straight face, so they maintain and cherish their ignorance. This skill is an iron-clad requirement in the Trump administration.

Lewis has these fuckers' numbers. This book is a hymn to the "deep state," which is revealed as nothing more than people who know what they're talking about.

The Fifth Risk [Michael Lewis/WW Norton]

https://boingboing.net/2018/11/27/homework-vs-public-choice.html

[hannahhostofheaven]

Natural Disaster starter

Tornado: 🌪

 Hurricane: 🌀

Earthquake: 🏢

Drought: ☀

Flood: 🌦

Fire: 🔥

Blizzard: ❄

Volcano: 🗻

Supervolcano: 🌋

Asteroid: ☄

Bombing 💣

Nuclear bomb: ☢

Disease epidemic: ☣

[horrificmemes]

Send me "Disaster” + one of the symbols below for our muses to meet before, during, or after a disastrous event.

OR feel free to discuss one that isn’t on the list or make up your own scenarios.

🌪 - Tornado 🍃- Intense wind storm ⚡- Lightning storm ❄ - Blizzard 🌊- Tsunami/Hurricane 💧 - Flood 🔥- Fire 🌋- Volcanic eruption/ash storm 💥- Man-made explosion ☢ - Nuclear fallout 💀 - Zombie outbreak 🌎- Earthquake 💊- Plague 👽 - Alien invasion 🤖 - Robot uprising 😈 - Biblical world’s end 💫 - Meteor strike 🌞 - Famine

[teefa85]

And here, again under a cut, is the final list of elemental spells.  Sadly, it’s one of those games where Fire/Ice/Lightning have 4 spells and Water/Earth/Wind have 2 spells...so there are not enough animations to go around.  Will probably be making my own anyway, so it hopefully won’t matter.  Unless I get annoyed and quit on that!

Att1...Sky Edge(Wind)...SINGLE...Teefa Att?...Crushing Gale(Wind)...MULTI...Teefa Att?...Sky Blade(Wind)...SINGLE...Teefa/Darwin Att?...Hurricane Force(Wind)...MULTI...Teefa

Att?...Crashing Wave(Water)...SINGLE...Salah Att2...Hailstorm(Water)...MULTI...Teefa/Darwin Att?...Ferocious Sea(Water)...SINGLE...Salah Att7...Devastating Hail(Water)...MULTI...Salah/Darwin

Att4...Blazing Windmill(Fire)...SINGLE...Salah Att3...Hailfire(Fire)...MULTI...Salah Att8...Lava Rain(Fire)...SINGLE...Salah Att9...Hailfire Tornado(Fire)...MULTI...Teefa

Att?...Rockslide(Earth)...SINGLE...Teefa Att?...Magnitude 8(Earth)...MULTI...Teefa Att5...Helllish Magma(Earth)...SINGLE...Teefa/Darwin Att6...Earth Dragon(Earth)...MULTI...Salah

Att10...Nuclear Explosion(Non)...SINGLE...Teefa Att11...Big Bang(Non)...MULTI...Teefa

Salah also knows Holy Light and Divine Light, fitting of a Cleric, as there are specs for Light and Dark (which I will make enemy exclusive).

With those additional two Light spells, Teefa has 11 Attack Spells, Salah has 9, and Darwin was bumped up from 3 to 4.  Hey!  He’s a Magic Knight so he shouldn’t have a lot!  Plus, he’s got 3/4 of the main elements (only missing Fire since he knew none of the things that became Fire besides the one that I could BS into Earth).  And he’ll have Fire in more capacity in physical (I’ve got an idea for the TP System in this game).

Also, if you think it’s odd that 5 and 6 are both considered High Powered spells, order is a bit crazy in Arcana.  Salah learns 6 before 4, and 8 before 7 in-game (she learns 7 so late that none of the guides say she knows it).  Since with names like this, it’s more like 1-6 and 7-10 are the same power but with different Elemental combinations involved!

[aprilrph]

requested by anon,  beneath the cut is a variety of different events to try and include in your rp.  i tried to include a broad expanse for different types of rps.  they are intended for in-universe events,  not au.  if you have any suggestions or additions,  my inbox is open.  feel free to like or reblog if you find it helpful or useful!!  i tried to keep the list very general but if you need help with specific locations or examples,  then feel free to send me a message for that as well.

CELEBRATORY.

award ceremony

baby shower

barbeque

battle of the bands

beauty contest

birthday party

block party

bonfire

cabaret show

casino night

charity auction / event / dance

city anniversary

color run

comedy show

concert

convention

debutante dance

disco

elections

escape rooms

fashion week

festivals

autumn

beer

carnivals

comedy

cultural (individual or multicultural)

food

grapefest (wine festival)

harvest

movie

music

spring

summer

winter

film screening

filming in town 

documentary

movie

television

food eating contest

hackathon

historical reenactment

holidays

beltane

bon festival

burns night

children’s day

chinese new year

christmas

diwali

dragon boat festival

easter

eid al-adha

eid al-fitr

father’s day

friendsgiving

fourth of july

hanukkah

halloween

hindu new year

holi

imbolc

lantern festival

lughnasadh

madbon

mardi gras

mawlid al-nabi

may day

mid-autumn festival

midsummer

mother’s day

new year’s

nowruz

ode'min giizis

oktoberfest

ostara

passover

rosh hashanah

samhain

songkran

st. patrick’s day

thai pongal

thaipusam

thanksgiving

valentine’s day

vesak day

yom kippur

yule

improv show

job fair

karaoke night

marathon

masquerade dance

meteor show

networking show

open mic

opening of mall/plaza/store/etc.

parade

party

pride parade

political rally

pub run

race

rave

ribbon cutting

silent auction

speed dating

symposium

talent show

trade show

treasure hunt

trivia night

wedding

DISASTERS / NEGATIVE.

disease outbreak

funeral (precession optional)

killer on the loose

lockdown

natural disasters

avalanche

blizzard

chemical spill

earthquake

famine

fire

flooding

hurricane

landslide

nuclear / radiation leak

sinkhole

tornado

tsunami

protest

power outage

SCHOOL RELATED.

camping trip

decades dances

fall break

field trip

greek house party

homecoming

carnival

dance

prom

sadie hawkins dance

science fair

senior prank

sport’s game / competition 

sport’s rallies

spring break

spring fling

variety show