Shri Mataji: It means the Last Judgment has begun with full force.

[Guest guest]

shriadishakti , jagbir singh

<adishakti_org> wrote:

>

> Earthquakes, as predicted in the hadiths, are among the most

> important signs of the Last Day.

>

> The hadiths of the Prophet (saas) mention that most of the

> earthquakes will increase in the End Times. The frequent

> occurrence of earthquakes over the last few years is among the

> foremost concerns of people throughout the world. ...

>

> All such cases bring to mind what the Prophet (saas) said 1400

> years ago:

>

> The Hour (Last Day) will not be established until ... earthquakes

> will be very frequent.

>

> (Bukhari)

>

> There are two great hadiths before the day of Judgment ... and

> then years of earthquakes.

>

> (Narrated by Umm Salama (r.a.)

>

> Earthquakes, as predicted in the hadiths, are among the most

> important signs of the Last Day.

>

>

 

shriadishakti/message/3050

shriadishakti/message/3042

 

 

According to the Catholic Encyclopadia " Few truths are more often or

more clearly proclaimed in Scripture than that of the general

judgment. To it the prophets of the Old Testament refer when they

speak of the " Day of the Lord " (Joel 2:31; Ezekiel 13:5; Isaiah

2:12), in which the nations will be summoned to judgment. In the New

Testament the second Parusia, or coming of Christ as Judge of the

world, is an oft-repeated doctrine. The Saviour Himself not only

foretells the event but graphically portrays its circumstances

(Matthew 24:27 sqq.; 25:31 sqq.). The Apostles give a most prominent

place to this doctrine in their preaching (Acts 10:42; 17:31) and

writings (Romans 2:5-16; 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians

5:10; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:5; James 5:7). Besides the

name Parusia (parousia), or Advent (1 Corinthians 15:23; 2

Thessalonians 2:19), the Second Coming is also called Epiphany,

epiphaneia, or Appearance (2 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2

Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13), and Apocalypse (apokalypsis), or

Revelation (2 Thessalonians 2:7; 1 Peter 4:13). The time of the

Second Coming is spoken of as " that Day " (2 Timothy 4:8), " the day

of the Lord " (1 Thessalonians 5:2), " the day of Christ " (Philemon

1:6), " the day of the Son of Man " (Luke 17:30), " the last day " (John

6:39-40).

 

The belief in the general judgment has prevailed at all times and in

all places within the Church. It is contained as an article of faith

in all the ancient creeds....

 

The Scriptures clearly indicate that the judgment will be preceded

by unwonted and terrifying disturbances of the physical universe

(Matthew 24:29; Luke 21:25-26). The wars, pestilences, famines, and

earthquakes foretold in Matthew 24:6 sq., are also understood by

some writers as among the calamities of the last times. "

 

Shri Mataji has warned the world that the natural disasters are the

sure signs that the Bible and Quran predicted will intensify during

the Last Judgment:

 

" Now is the time of their salvation. It should be adopted now. I

notice with surprise that how the millennium is affecting! Many of

our foreign Sahaja Yogis came to India. They went to Orissa, gave

realisation to many people and started nine Sahaja Yoga centres

there. Cyclone was the result of the sins, which were being

committed there. None of the Sahaja Yogis was harmed in the cyclone

nor were their houses damaged. Absolutely no harm was done to them.

The people in Turkey are Muslims but after Sahaja Yoga they have

become real Muslims. There more than two thousand people who are

doing Sahaja Yoga. There also terrible earthquake came twice but

none of the Sahaja Yogis was harmed. Even their relatives were

saved. Such calamities were there in Italy also. But I have seen

that all the Sahaja Yogis are fully protected and you are growing in

this protection. It means the Last Judgment has begun with full

force. " (05-12-1999 - Delhi, India)

 

In various places throughout the Bible we are told that these

" last days " will not be good times for mankind. The world

will be " talking " peace, but instead there will be more and

more wars and conflicts [i Thess. 5:1-3]. This will not only be

between nations, but between different people groups within nations.

Even families will have greater conflict and break apart as people

become more self-centered and rebellious. People will love

themselves more, love money more, and love pleasure more. Famines

and floods will increase in many areas. Diseases and epidemics will

become worse. Earthquakes will strike more strongly and more

frequently in many places [Luke 21:10-11]. Wickedness will increase.

Witchcraft and strange beliefs in the spirit world will grow

rapidly. False prophets and false Christs will deceive many people.

Many churchgoers will be deceived, their love for God will grow

cold, and their tolerance and acceptance of sin will increase, even

though they think they are doing well spiritually [Rev. 3:14-20].

Many will also question and make fun of the second coming of Jesus

[2 Pet. 3:3-5]. All of these conditions begin gradually but will

intensify as the time of Jesus' coming draws nearer [Matt.

24:1-13, 2 Pet. 2:1-2, 2 Tim. 3:1-5].

 

Now, during the Blossom Time of the Last Judgment and Resurrection

(Al-Qiyamah), is the time of their salvation.

 

 

jagbir

[Guest guest]

shriadishakti , " jagbir singh "

<adishakti_org> wrote:

>

> In various places throughout the Bible we are told that these

> " last days " will not be good times for mankind. The world

> will be " talking " peace, but instead there will be more and

> more wars and conflicts [i Thess. 5:1-3].

>

 

Significant Ongoing Armed Conflicts, 2004

 

Middle East

U.S. and UK vs. Iraq 2003

Israel vs. Palestinian Authority/Hamas/Hezbollah/Palestinian

separatists 1948

 

Asia

Afghanistan: U.S., UK, Coalition Forces vs. al-Qaeda, Taliban 2001

India vs. Kashmiri separatist groups/Pakistan 1948

India vs. Assam insurgents (various) 1979

Indonesia vs. Aceh separatists2 1976

Indonesia vs. Christians and Muslims in Molucca Islands 1977

Indonesia vs. Irian Jaya separatists 1969

Nepal vs. Maoist rebels 1995

Philippines vs. Mindanaoan separatists (MILF/ASG) 1971

 

Africa

Algeria vs. Armed Islamic Group (GIA) 1991

Burundi: Tutsi vs. Hutu 1988

Côte d'Ivoire vs. rebels 2002–

Democratic Republic of Congo and allies vs. Rwanda, Uganda, and

indigenous rebels3 1997

Somalia vs. rival clans 1991

Sudan vs. Darfur rebel groups 2003

Uganda vs. Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) 1986

 

Europe

Russia vs. Chechen separatists 1994

 

Latin America

Colombia vs. National Liberation Army (ELN) 1978

Colombia vs. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) 1978

Colombia vs. Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) 1990

 

 

Significant Ongoing Armed Conflicts, 2004

www.infoplease.com

 

NOTE: As of Aug. 2004.

1. Where multiple parties and long-standing but sporadic conflict

are concerned, date of first combat deaths is given.

2. 2002 ceasefire abandoned; fighting resumed in May 2003.

3. Ceasefire agreements signed in 2002, but violence continues.

[Guest guest]

shriadishakti , " jagbir singh "

<adishakti_org> wrote:

>

> In various places throughout the Bible we are told that these

> " last days " will not be good times for mankind.... Even families

> will have greater conflict and break apart as people become more

> self-centered and rebellious.

>

 

 

Percentage of Divorces in Selected Countries (Europe/N. America)

Country / Divorces (as % of marriages) 1996

 

Belarus 68%

Russian Federation 65%

Sweden 64%

Latvia 63%

Ukraine 63%

Czech Republic 61%

Belgium 56%

Finland 56%

Lithuania 55%

United Kingdom 53%

Moldova 52%

United States 49%

Hungary 46%

Canada 45%

Norway 43%

France 43%

Germany 41%

Netherlands 41%

Switzerland 40%

Iceland 39%

Kazakhstan 39%

Luxembourg 39%

Austria 38%

Denmark 35%

Slovakia 34%

Bulgaria 28%

Israel 26%

Slovenia 26%

Kyrgyzstan 25%

Romania 24%

Portugal 21%

Poland 19%

Armenia 18%

Greece 18%

Turkmenistan 18%

Spain 17%

Azerbaijan 15%

Croatia 15%

Cyprus 13%

Tajikistan 13%

Georgia 12%

Italy 12%

Uzbekistan 12%

Albania 7%

Turkey 6%

Macedonia 5%

 

Source: Human Development Report, 1999, United Nations.

 

 

 

GETTING OUT

TIMEasia magazine

Posted Monday, March 29, 2004; 21:00 HKT

 

Divorce was once all but unthinkable in Asia, but now it's become

almost standard. And these days it's women who are doing most of the

dumping

 

Whatever else I thought I would become, I never imagined I would be

twice divorced before the age of 40. As a 16-year-old, through

shoplifted volumes of Shelley and Keats, I surpassed the peer-group

average comfortably when it came to interest in gushing romance.

Four years later, I eloped with my then girlfriend and we were

married in a registry office above a music store. My abiding

memories are of the registrar's ankle boots of bright orange suede,

the unspeakable luxury of spending $10 on a taxi home, and of the

feeling, as we pronounced our vows, that the marriage was utterly,

inviolably, forever. I thought the same of my second marriage,

too—moreover, I thought it with the added conviction of maturity

(I was 30) and experience (with the first marriage written off as

youthful impulse). But here I am: a two-time visitor to the family

court. The kind of person that, if I ever make it into the tabloid

press, might be snickeringly described as a " twice-divorced father

of one. " I don't sound good on paper.

 

But in reviewing my marital history—as one does on a former

anniversary, or when chancing on an inscription in the flyleaf of a

yellowing book—I have taken some comfort from the fact that, all

around me, fellow Asians are divorcing in record numbers. You might

think that Asia—with its weighty traditional values, male

chauvinism and hang-ups about face—would be less susceptible to

the epidemic of divorce that has swept the West these past 40 years

or so. If there were one place where two people would be prepared to

endure weary decades of unfulfillment for the sake of the children

or religion or appearances, you might guess that it would be here.

But you would be wrong. While it's difficult to generalize across

the region, stigmas once attached to divorce are clearly losing

their force across Asia. Says Professor Stella Quah, a sociologist

at the National University of Singapore: " There are fewer social

pressures to stay married. You feel a bit freer to do your own

thing. "

 

In Singapore, the number of divorces is up a third since 1990, while

it has nearly doubled in Thailand. In Japan, a couple gets married

every 42 seconds, but another couple will divorce before 2 minutes

are up. In the past 20 years, the divorce rate has doubled in

mainland China and tripled in Taiwan. And the divorce rate in South

Korea now exceeds that of many European countries, including the

U.K., Denmark and Hungary. Even in India—where a wife was once

considered so immutably tied to her husband that she was thrown on

his funeral pyre if he died before she did—sociologists estimate

that the divorce rate is 11 per 1,000, up from 7.41 per 1,000 in

1991.

 

Across the region, a battery of counselors, lawyers, publishers and

relationship pundits has emerged in response to the lucrative demand

for divorce. Pick up the lifestyle magazine of the swanky Lane

Crawford department store in Hong Kong and you will be cheerfully

informed that " three is the new two " —a reference to the idea that

where once two marriages were considered acceptable, it's now O.K.

to be married three times. On a quiet back street in Tokyo's

sprawling suburbs, you can attend a divorce school to learn the 50

ways to leave your lover. And in Taiwan, you can read marriage

counselor Rachel Wang's tell-all chronicle of the breakup of her own

marriage. Wang, who had previously penned popular books on the

perfect relationship, says her relationship faltered when she

learned that her husband was having an affair. " I felt like God had

played a joke on me—a marriage counselor who couldn't keep her

marriage intact. " Now she wishes she had shed her qualms about

divorce sooner: " I could have been happier if I had divorced 10

years earlier. " ...

 

Indeed, the willingness of many Asian women to view their own needs

as secondary to those of their husbands is decreasing. " Divorces are

on the increase because the younger generation has been brought up

differently, " says Uthaiwan Jamsutee, a public prosecutor in

Thailand. " They are more individualistic. When they get married, if

there is a problem, they tend to think more of their own interests

instead of family harmony. "

 

But the divorce boom is not merely a reflection of generational

shifts. After all, in many parts of Asia it isn't just sobbing

twentysomethings but much older couples who are breaking up. The

children have grown up, the husband has retired or retrenched, and

the wife weighs up her options—which are increasingly likely to

include claiming half of her husband's retirement package to start a

new, single life. There may be no overt conflict between the

spouses, but that isn't the issue—fulfillment and the search for

meaning are. Senior divorce has taken root with especial tenacity in

Japan, where, like China, 70% of all divorces are initiated by

women, and where a large senior population has plenty of leisure

time and the wherewithal to ponder how they will spend their

remaining years. In 1975, 6,810 Japanese couples divorced after 20

years or more of marriage. In 2002, the total was 45,536. " I think

that one has to be happy in one's life, " says Atsuko Okano, a Tokyo-

based marriage consultant and author of A Perfect Divorce

Manual. " If it takes a divorce to attain it, then I'm all for it. "

 

 

GETTING OUT (TIMEasia)

magazinehttp://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/501040405/story.html

[Guest guest]

shriadishakti , "jagbir singh" <adishakti_org> wrote:> > In various places throughout the Bible we are told that these> "last days" will not be good times for mankind. ... People will > love themselves more, love money more, and love pleasure more. > Seven Deadly Sins

Question: "What are the seven deadly sins?"Answer: Proverbs 6:16-19 declares: “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” However, Proverbs 6:16-19 is not what most people understand as the “Seven Deadly Sins”. Most understand the “Seven Deadly Sins” to be: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth. Although each of these are sins, they are never given the description of "the seven

deadly sins." They can function as a good way to categorize the many different sins that exist. Nearly every kind of sin could be placed under one of the seven categories.

The Seven Deadly Sins are transgressions which are fatal for spiritual progress.Avarice/Greed (1) Generosity This is about more than money. Generosity means letting others get the credit or praise. It is giving without having expectations of the other person. Greed wants to get its "fair share" or a bit more. Gluttony (2) Faith and Temperance Temperance accepts the natural limits of pleasures and preserves this natural balance. This does not pertain only to food, but to entertainment and other legitimate goods, and even the company of others. Envy (3) Love "Love is patient, love is kind…" Love actively seeks the good of others for their sake. Envy resents the good others receive or even might receive. Envy is almost indistinguishable from pride at times.

Sloth (4) Zeal Zeal is the energetic response of the heart to God's commands. The other sins work together to deaden the spiritual senses so we first become slow to respond to God and then drift completely into the sleep of complacency. Pride (5) Humility Seeing ourselves as we are and not comparing ourselves to others is humility. Pride and vanity are competitive. If someone else's pride really bothers you, you have a lot of pride. Lust (6) Self control Self control and self mastery prevent pleasure from killing the soul by suffocation. Legitimate pleasures are controlled in the same way an athlete's muscles are: for maximum efficiency without damage. Lust is the self-destructive drive for pleasure out of proportion to its worth. Sex, power, or image can be used well, but they tend to go out of control. Wrath/Anger (7) Kindness Kindness means taking the tender approach, with patience and compassion. Anger is often our first reaction to the problems of others. Impatience with the faults of others is related to this.

Question: “What is the unpardonable sin / unforgivable sin?"

Answer: The case of the "unpardonable sin / unforgivable sin" or "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit" in the New Testament is mentioned in Mark 3:22-30 and in Matthew 12:22-32. The term blasphemy may be generally defined as "defiant reverence." We would apply the term to such sins as cursing God or willfully degrading things relating to God. It is also attributing some evil to God, or denying Him some good that we should attribute to Him. This case of blasphemy however is a specific one, called "the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit" in Matthew 12:31.

 

And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, It shall be forgiven him:But unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven.

Luke 12:10

Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men,And blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.

Mark 3:28-29

Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy, shall be forgiven unto men:But the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man,It shall be forgiven him:But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come (future i.e., present age).

Matthew 12:31-32

 

"The gravest of all sins is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. One may speak even against Jesus Christ in ignorance and, upon repentance, be forgiven, but knowingly to sin against the Holy Ghost by denying its influence after having received it is unpardonable (Matt. 12:31-32; Jacob 7:19; Alma 39:6), and the consequences are inescapable. Such denial dooms the perpetrator to the hell of the second spiritual death (TPJS, p. 361). This extreme judgment comes because the person sins knowingly against the light, thereby severing himself from the redeeming grace of Christ."

www.mormons.org/

"The sin or blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is mentioned in Matthew 12:22-32; Mark 3:22-30; Luke 12:10 (cf. 11:14-23); and Christ everywhere declares that it shall not be pardoned. In what does it consist? If we examine all the passages alluded to, there can be little doubt as to the reply. . . .

He shows them that it is by "the Spirit of God" that He casts out devils, and then He concludes: "therefore I say to you: Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not he forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come."

So, to sin against the Holy Ghost is to confound Him with the spirit of evil, it is to deny, from pure malice, the Divine character of works manifestly Divine. . . .

But the Fathers of the Church, commenting on the Gospel texts we are treating of, did not confine themselves to the meaning given above. Whether it be that they wished to group together all objectively analogous cases, or whether they hesitated and wavered when confronted with this point of doctrine, which St. Augustine declares (Serm. ii de verbis Domini, c. v) one of the most difficult in Scripture."www.advent.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi:

 

“Christ who is the embodiment of forgiveness — forgiveness of Christ is nothing but is the Power of sustenance within Him — if He explodes the whole forgiveness can come on Earth as a big disaster if we are not able to understand the value of His forgiveness. He has said very clearly that anything against me will be tolerated but a word against Holy Ghost won’t be tolerated. He has clearly said it and now you have to understand that the Holy Ghost is the Adi Shakti.”

Shri Mahakali Devi Kundalini And Kalki Shakti, Bombay, India — Sep. 28, 1979

(Mahakali (751st): The Destroyer of Death.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

 

“Declare to all the nations now that I am the Holy Ghost and I have come for this Special Time, that is, the Resurrection Time."

Shri Mataji Nirmala DeviAssume Yourself, Sydney, Australia — March 21, 1983

 

 

 

“I am the Adi Shakti. I am the One who has come on this Earth for the first time in this form to do this tremendous task . The more you understand this the better it would be. You will change tremendously.I knew I’ll have to say that openly one day and we have said it. But now it is you people who have to prove it that I am that!”

Shri Adi-Shakti DeviSydney, Aust. — March 21, 1983(Adi-Shakti [615th]: Primal Power; being the First Cause.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

shriadishakti , "jagbir singh" <adishakti_org> wrote:> > Famines and floods will increase in many areas. Diseases and > epidemics will become worse. >

Part I: The Century's Worst Weather

Posted on Fri, 08 Oct 2004 19:29:35 GMT

Written by Cynthia Long, Staff Writer, DisasterRelief.org

After studying weather records back to 1900, the United States government's leading scientists and climatologists compiled a list of the world's top weather, water and climate events of the 20th century. Dozens of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) experts contributed to a U.S. and a global list of wild weather incidents that were noted for their atmospheric marvel or impact on human life. From floods, typhoons, hurricanes and droughts to heat waves, tornadoes, winter storms and blizzards, the weird weather was measured by the event's magnitude, meteorological uniqueness, economic impact and death toll.

"The lists demonstrate the wide range of weather calamities that impact much of the world's public, and supports the notion that our never-ending search to completely understand these powerful climate and weather events will remain somewhat elusive," said D. James Baker, NOAA Administrator. "The listing commemorates the century's weather for its intensity, scope and impact, but it is by no means an exhaustive list."

 

 

 

 

From cyclones to tornadoes, NOAA scientists list some of the century's wildest weather.

 

As the lists indicate, the world has been dealt a host of wild weather cards over the past 100 years, but has witnessed in recent time some of the century's most ferocious and destructive events. The climate is changing, the experts said, and pollutants in the upper atmosphere are playing a role in that change.

Part II of The Century's Worst Weather will explore how human activity and the effects of global warming are impacting worldwide weather, and what we can expect from those changes in the future.

The lists of events also form a historical road map of progress in weather, water and climate forecasting, according to John J. Kelley, Jr., Director of NOAA's National Weather Service. "They are both a reminder of our vulnerability to the atmosphere and a testatment to the [forecasting] advances we have made," he said. "These events are the big ones that have helped shaped America's relationship with the atmosphere, and have helped further our understanding of Mother Nature." Part III of the Century's Worst Weather will examine some of the advancements in forecasting that weather experts have made over the past 100 years.

Following is NOAA's rundown of the century's worst weather:

International Worst Weather Events of the 20th Century

Drought and famine in China in 1907, toll estimated at 24 million. Millions dead in other drought-related famines in 1928-30, 1936 and 1941-42.

Drought in the Ukraine and Volga region of the Soviet Union in 1921-22, deaths estimated at 250,000 to 5 million.

Indian drought of 1965-67, estimates of dead at 1.5 million. In 1900, drought in India blamed for 250,000 to 3 million deaths.

 

 

 

 

Yangtze River flood, China, 1931, 3.7 million killed due to flooding and subsequent disease and starvation.

Sahel drought in Africa in 1972-75, with estimates of dead at 600,000.

 

 

Yearly monsoons swell China's Yangtzee River, causing severe flooding that destroys homes and lives.

Bangladesh cyclone in 1970, with 300,000 to 500,000 dead in wind and storm surge.

Bangladesh cyclone in 1991, with 138,000 killed.

Flooding in Vietnam in 1971, with 100,000 killed.

 

 

 

 

The floods of Hurricane Mitch swamped four countries in Central America, killing about 11,000 people.

 

Hurricane Mitch in Central America in 1998, with an estimated 11,000 dead, the region's greatest hurricane loss since 1780.

Great Iran flood in 1954, with more than 10,000 dead.

Typhoon Thelma in 1991 in the Philippines, with 6,000 fatalities.

Typhoon Vera in Japan in 1958, with 5,000 dead.

Great Smog of London in 1952, 4,000 deaths linked to the smog, that many others to related causes.

Iran blizzard of 1972, with about 4,000 people dead.

Violent winter storms along the coasts of northern Europe, including the Netherlands and United Kingdom, in 1965, with 2,000 lives lost.

United States Worst Weather of the Century

 

 

 

 

Galveston Hurricane, 1900, a 20-foot storm surge swept over Galveston Island and killed an estimated 8,000 people, the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

 

Powerful winds and storm surge from the Galveston Hurricane flattened buildings across the Texas island.

Dust Bowl of the 1930s, when drought swept the Great Plains and plunged thousands into poverty as farmers abandoned their land to seek better lives elsewhere.

Tornado outbreak in 1974, when 148 tornadoes swept through the country from the Great Lakes to Alabama and Mississippi and killed 315 people.

Hurricane Camille in 1969 claimed 256 lives.

Great Midwest Flood of 1993, the costliest flood in U.S. history, claimed 48 lives and caused $18 billion in damage.

El Nino episodes of 1982-83 and 1997-98 caused storms that battered the West Coast and set rainfall records in the Southeast.

Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which caused 23 deaths and $25 billion in damage in Florida and Louisiana.

 

 

 

 

A New England husband and wife look out over their leveled home and community after the 1938 hurricane.

 

 

New England hurricane in 1938, with 600 fatalities and millions in damage from New York to Boston.

Winter superstorm of 1993, which battered the eastern seaboard and claimed 79 lives.

Tristate tornado of 1925, which killed 695 in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.

Oklahoma-Kansas tornado outbreak in 1999, with more than 44 dead.

Great Okeechobee flood and hurricane in 1928, which killed 1,836.

Storm of the Century, 1950, brought snow and hurricane-force winds to 22 states and claimed 383 lives.

Florida Keys Hurricane, also known as the Labor Day Hurricane, killed more than 400 in 1935.

New England blizzard of 1978 paralyzed New England for a week.

Part II: The Century's Worst Weather

Posted on Fri, 08 Oct 2004 19:29:37 GMT

Written by Stephanie Kriner, Staff Writer, DisasterRelief.org

When the floods approach, like clockwork Vietnamese families string their most valuable possessions by ropes and stow stacks of rice seed — intended for the winter crop plantings — in the rafters. Then they brace for the worst. During good years, the waters reach to just past their ankles. In bad years, their flimsy bamboo homes are washed away and their rice paddy fields are destroyed. Whatever the damage, the Vietnamese have learned to wring themselves out and start over, year after year.

But following some of the worst flooding to hit the country in the 20th Century last November and December, Vietnam's top leaders are determined to find new ways to deal with the floods. "We need to find ways to coexist in harmony with floods and minimize the impacts of natural disasters," Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam said as he pleaded with international donors for long-term disaster assistance during an annual meeting last December.

Indeed, in Vietnam and around the world, governments and relief organizations are searching for ways to "coexist in harmnony" with nature. But with each staggering death toll after increasingly catastrophic disasters, evidence mounts that the intensity and frequency of natural disasters will increase in the 21st Century. "There are more people at risk than ever before," said Tom Ross, a meteorologist with the National Climate Data Center. Weather and relief experts blame the unsettling trend on population growth and global climate change. As more and more people crowd into cities or along coasts, the potential for massive death tolls will increase. Further, some experts predict that drastic shifts in the climate could lead to more droughts, floods and hurricanes than ever before.

 

 

 

 

The 1995 earthquake that struck Kobe, Japan, revealed the country's strong vulnerability to its seismic land.

 

Before Vietnam's latest round of flooding, which killed more than 700 people and set back development of Central Vietnam by a decade, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) had already begun a program to better prepare the Vietnamese for the yearly deluge. The international relief movement provided some 2,450 families with house-strengthening kits. All but one withstood the subsequent flooding.

Around the globe, disaster-prone nations have made similar realizations to Vietnam's. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez has ordered the demolition of homes in areas devastated by recent mudslides that left as many as 50,000 people dead. To avert another disaster, Chavez will move thousands to the country's sparsely populated interior. In Turkey, where an Aug. 17, 1999, earthquake killed about 17,000 people, contractors have come under intense criticism for building unstable structures in the country's quake-prone industrialized region. More stringent building codes will be used during reconstruction.

 

 

 

 

Population Growth Puts More People at Risk

Between 1990 and 1995, the cities of the developing world grew by 263 million people — the equivalent of another Los Angeles or Shanghai forming every three months, according to a Worldwatch Institutes report. "Population increases in developing-country cities will continue to be the distinguishing demographic trend of the next century," the report stated.

 

Following an Aug. 17 earthquake, thousands of Turkey's homeless still live outdoors.

As a result, natural disasters also will continue to put more and more people at risk. Throughout the 20th Century, and indeed over the past few years, the world saw the devastating effects that natural disasters have on heavily populated areas. From Hurricane Mitch, which, in October of 1998, killed 10,000 people in Central America's poorest slums to the Indian cyclone that hit the coastal state of Orissa last fall, killing some 10,000 people and destroying 1 million homes.

"One of the troubling factors is that more and more people are living in less and less space … Towns and big cities no longer have the space to expand and people are putting their homes in precarious places," said Martin Perret, who has worked for the Red Cross for nearly 25 years.

But despite the examples that these disaster-ravaged cities provide, the world's most populated urban centers continue to grow. Tokyo's population skyrocketed from 1.5 million people in 1900 to 28 million people today. The sprawling city sits on a fault line that seismologists warn could rupture at any time.

But most of the world's biggest cities are in countries far poorer than Japan, places where people already are living in wretched conditions. "At least 220 million people in cities of the developing world lack clean drinking water, and 420 million do not have access to the simplest latrines," according to Worldwatch. The poor generally live in unstable homes and are forced to crowd into hazardous areas. When a natural or man-made disaster hits, the death toll can be astronomical. Thousands lose their homes and meager belongings, and the poor descend deeper into poverty.

 

 

 

 

Overpopulated cities are becoming bigger targets for natural disasters.

 

Could Climate Change Trigger Even More Disasters?By the third decade of the 21st Century global climate change will become increasingly obvious and ominous. In China, people will begin to notice that the winters have grown warmer. Increased rainfall will deliver even more flooding in coastal provinces and inland droughts will lead to more famines, according to the Global Scenario Group, an international consortium addressing long-range environmental and development possibilities.

It's a grim outlook for the country that lost more lives to natural disasters than any other nation during the 20th Century. In the 1900s, China, the most populated country in the world, also had the most deadly disasters — a drought-related famine took the lives of more than 30 million people and a Yangtze River flood resulted in 3.7 million deaths from disease, starvation and drowning in the summer of 1931.

In China and around the globe, the next 1,000 years may only get worse, according to some meteorologists. Without action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the climate of the coming millenium will get warmer, and average global temperatures may rise 10 degrees Fahrenheit by 2200. However, immediate action to halt global warming could result in an increase of no more than 3 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

 

 

 

 

Experts have warned that climate change could result in massive droughts, famines and floods throughout the world. But without a clear vision of what the human race will do to stop global warming, meteorologists and environmentalists say that the future looks questionable. "Humanity is creating a new climate for the new millennium. Once this climate change occurs, there's no going back," said Dr. Michael Oppenheimer, EDF chief scientist. "Actions taken now to cut greenhouse-gas pollution will determine if adjustment to future climate will be manageable or impossible."

 

The Red Cross helps disaster-prone regions throughout the world prepare for natural disasters.

The world has limited time to act, experts say. Climate now is changing faster than ever, said D. James Baker, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Global temperatures for 1999 were expected to finish the year as the second warmest year on record since 1900, NOAA said. "The new data, the modeling results, and what we know about how the system works is even stronger in pointing toward the fact that we are seeing global warming and it is part of the overall climate change" Baker said.

Related Stories

 

30 Years Later, Camille's Legend Remains Firmly Etched in Gulf Coast Memory -- August 16, 1999

 

International Red Cross Predicts More Global 'Super Disasters' -- June 24, 1999

 

The Storm That Changed America: The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 -- August 13, 1998

 

Death Toll From China Floods Tops 2,000 -- 240 Million Affected -- August 6, 1998

 

 

 

Global warming 'has helped spread disease' Daily Telegraph, 19 February 2000Global warming has increased disease across the planet, the association was told yesterday.Prof David Pimentel said that global warming would create a favourable climate for disease-causing organisms and food-plant pests and "a much more challenging planet for humans struggling to survive".Prof Pimentel, an ecologist at Cornell University said: "Right now the evidence of significant global climate change is minimal, but there are already noticeable increases in human diseases worldwide. We're seeing the first signs that global climate change can influence the incidences of human disease. This change, combined with population growth and environmental degradation, will probably intensify world malnutrition and increases in other diseases as well." He pointed to various ominous trends: Today, infectious disease causes

about 37 per cent of all deaths worldwide, but the estimated number of deaths due to a variety of environmental factors is higher and still growing. Environmental diseases were attributed especially to organic and chemical pollutants, including smoke from various sources such tobacco and wood fuels. Prof Pimentel said more than three billion people are malnourished, the most ever, and that number increases every year. Malnutrition increases susceptibility to infectious and environmental diseases, such as diarrhoea and pollution-related illnesses. The projected increase in population in the next 50 years will exacerbate the spread of disease globally. Densely crowded urban environments, especially those without adequate sanitation and nutrition, should cause great concern because they are sources of disease epidemics, including dengue fever, spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Global warming would encourage this mosquito and others to spread north from the tropics,

transporting dengue and other diseases. Waterborne diseases, which already account for nine out of 10 deaths from infectious disease in developing countries, will become more prevalent in a warmer, more polluted and crowded planet. For example, only eight of India's 3,120 towns and cities have full waste water treatment facilities. Air pollutants adversely affect the health of more than four billion people worldwide, and air quality in many places is getting worse. The number of cars worldwide is growing about at a rate three times faster than the world population. Meanwhile, an expanding world population is burning more fossil fuels for both domestic and industrial purposes. About four billion people in developing countries who cook with wood and coal over open fires suffer continuous exposure to smoke. Wood smoke is estimated to cause the death of four million children a year. Malnourished people are increasingly susceptible to infectious and environmental

diseases. Increasing global climate change will result in a net loss of food. Prof Pimentel said: "Although there may be some benefits in crop production from warmer climates, these beneficial effects will be more than offset by the projected decline in rainfall in critical crop-growing regions like the American corn belt." Crop losses from pest insects, plant diseases and weeds will increase in a warmer climate, Prof Pimentel suggested. Insect pests, plant pathogens and weeds already cause the loss of more than 40 per cent of the world's food, despite the application of £5 billion of pesticides each year. Global warming 'has helped spread disease' Daily Telegraph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone.

[Guest guest]

This has been very unpleasant to read but I feel the following sentence (quoted from the piece) sums things up very well:

 

Finally, some sex tourists are fuelled by racism andview the welfare of children of third world countries as unimportant.

 

And, I might say many others although not "sex tourists" are also "fuelled by racism" a kind of endemic racism inherent in white people, whether they recognise it or not, which I think must be one of the main reasons why we can just see images of starving Black and Asian babies and children on our tv screens/in our newspapers, etc and do nothing - not be at all "moved" to compassion - maybe sometimes a little bit, we give a few pounds to charity. And of course there are some amazing exceptions like Bob Geldoff and also those who, being moved, just get up and go to do what they can. They are not "famous" nor would they want to be.

 

I thought this on September 11th 2001 when we got a phone call from someone's husband in our office telling us "the news" and all pandemonium gradually began to break out - we should have been getting a phone call like this every day "Terrible news - thousands/millions of people killed of starvation in Africa/India." Then we could have all said "Oh my God, Oh my God! How terrible we must do something about this, we can't just carry on with our mundane lives as if nothing had happened!"

 

If people could be moved in this way there would be no "sex tourist" hell. Even though I also have strong suspicions, Jagbir, that this world is indeed "Hell" where we are now - I still think that people in general can be and are, tremendously "manipulated" and that instead of being "manipulated" to be greedy, selfish, mindless and indeed racist, they were manipulated to be moved, kind, loving and totally indifferent to all "racist/asylum seeker" propaganda rubbish, that there is enough goodness and love buried there buried behind those cold eyes (and hearts) which when ignited, could quite simply turn the world around!

 

 

-

jagbir singh

shriadishakti

Tuesday, January 04, 2005 11:11 AM

[shriadishakti] Re: Shri Mataji: "It means the Last Judgment has begun with full force."

shriadishakti , "jagbir singh" <adishakti_org> wrote:> > In various places throughout the Bible we are told that these> "last days" will not be good times for mankind. ... People will > love themselves more, love money more, and love pleasure more. ... > Wickedness will increase. > Child Sex Tourism"On this trip, I've had sex with a 14 year-old girl in Mexico and a15 year-old in Colombia. I'm helping them financially. If they don'thave sex with me, they may not have enough food. If someone has aproblem with me doing this, let UNICEF feed them."-Retired U.S. Schoolteacher"Maria is . . . prostituted by her aunt. Maria is obliged to sellher body exclusively to foreign tourists in Costa Rica, she onlyworks mornings as she has to attend school in the afternoon. Mariais in fifth grade."The international tourism industry is booming. Since the 1960's,international travel has increased seven-fold. As tourists eagerlytravel to distant lands to enjoy new landscapes and cultures,economically developing countries have welcomed the expansion of theinternational tourism industry as a much-needed source of incomewithin their own nations. With the exponential rise in thisindustry, however, comes the growth of a darker, more clandestinephenomenon: child sex tourism.BackgroundSex tourism is a very lucrative industry that spans the globe. In1998, the International Labour Organization reported itscalculations that 2-14% of the gross domestic product of Indonesia,Malaysia, the Phillipines, and Thailand derives from sex tourism. Inaddition, while Asian countries, including Thailand, India, and thePhillipines, have long been prime destinations for child-sextourists, in recent years, tourists have increasingly traveled toMexico and Central America for their sexual exploits as well.Child sex tourists are individuals that travel to foreign countriesto engage in sexual activity with children. The non-profitorganization End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and theTrafficking of Children (ECPAT) estimates that more than one millionchildren worldwide are drawn into the sex trade each year.Factors Supporting the Child Sex TradeThe most significant societal factor that pushes children intoprostitution is poverty. Many nations with thriving sex tourismindustries are nations that suffer from widespread poverty resultingfrom turbulent politics and unstable economies. Poverty oftencorrelates with illiteracy, limited employment opportunities, andbleak financial circumstances for families. Children in thesefamilies become easy targets for procurement agents in search ofyoung children. They are lured away from broken homesby "recruiters" who promise them jobs in a city and then force thechildren into prostitution. Some poor families themselves prostitutetheir children or sell their children into the sex trade to obtaindesperately needed money. Gender discrimination also works in tandemwith poverty; in many countries, female children have fewereducational opportunities or prospects for substantial employment.Consequently, they must find other means of earning a living.The Internet has also facilitated the recent rise in child sextourism by providing a convenient marketing channel. Websitesprovide potential child sex tourists with pornographic accountswritten by other child sex tourists. These websites detail sexualexploits with children and supply information on sex establishmentsand prices in various destinations, including information on how tospecifically procure child prostitutes. Additionally, sex tourtravel agents may publish brochures and guides on the Internet thatcater to child sex tourists. In 1995, there were over twenty-fivebusinesses in the United States that offered and arranged sex tours.One particular website promised nights of sex "with two young Thaigirls for the price of a tank of gas." The easy availability of thisinformation on the Internet generates interest in child sex tourismand facilitates child sex abusers in making their travel plans.Finally, actions by foreign governments may directly or indirectlyencourage child sex tourism. National governments in countries whichare struggling economically have become increasingly tourist-oriented in their search for profitable sources of income. Thesegovernments sometimes turn a blind eye to the sex tourism industry,thus allowing the industry to perpetuate sexual exploitation uponchildren in order to encourage tourism in their country in general.Victims of Child Sex TourismChild sex tourism makes its profits from the exploitation of childprostitutes in developing countries. Many children are traffickedinto the sex trade. In Thailand, for example, Burmese girls as youngas thirteen are illegally trafficked across the border by recruitersand sold to brothel owners.The lives of child prostitutes are almost too appalling to confront.Studies indicate that child prostitutes serve between two and thirtyclients per week, leading to a shocking estimated base of anywherebetween 100 to 1500 clients per year, per child. Younger children,many below the age of 10, have been increasingly drawn into servingtourists.Child prostitutes live in constant fear; they live in fear ofsadistic acts by clients, fear of being beaten by pimps who controlthe sex trade, and fear of being apprehended by the police. It comesas no surprise that victims often suffer from depression, low self-esteem, and feelings of hopelessness.Many victims of child sexual exploitation also suffer from physicalailments, including tuberculosis, exhaustion, infections, andphysical injuries resulting from violence inflicted upon them.Venereal diseases run rampant among these children and they rarelyreceive medical treatment until they are seriously or terminallyill. Living conditions are poor and meals are inadequate andirregular. Many children that fail to earn enough money are punishedseverely, often through beatings and starvation. Sadly, drug use andsuicide are all too common for victims of child sexual exploitation.Child Sex TouristsChild sex tourists are typically males and come from all incomebrackets. Perpetrators usually hail from nations in Western Europeannations and North America.While some tourists are pedophiles that preferentially seek outchildren for sexual relationships, many child sex touristsare "situational abusers." These are individuals who do notconsistently seek out children as sexual partners, but who dooccasionally engage in sexual acts with children when theopportunity presents itself.The distorted and disheartening rationales for child sex tourism arenumerous.Some perpetrators rationalize their sexual encounters with childrenwith the idea that they are helping the children financially betterthemselves and their families. Paying a child for his or herservices allows a tourist to avoid guilt by convincing himself he ishelping the child and the child's family to escape economichardship. Others try to justify their behavior by believing thatchildren in foreign countries are less "sexually inhibited" and bybelieving their destination country does not have the same socialtaboos against having sex with children. Still other perpetratorsare drawn towards child sex while abroad because they enjoy theanonymity that comes with being in a foreign land. This anonymityprovides the child sex tourist with freedom from the moralrestraints that govern behavior in his home country. Consequently,some tourists feel that they can discard their moral values whentraveling and avoid accountability for their behavior and itsconsequences. Finally, some sex tourists are fueled by racism andview the welfare of children of third world countries as unimportant.International Response to Child Sex TourismThe response of destination countries to the epidemic of child sextourism has been ineffective. Although many of these countries havepassed legislation that criminalizes sexual exploitation ofchildren, these laws often remain unenforced against tourists.Efforts to combat child sexual exploitation often run into conflictwith foreign governments' efforts to promote the internationaltourism industry. Police corruption is common. In Thailand and thePhilippines, police have been known to guard brothels and evenprocure children for prostitution. Some police in destinationcountries directly exploit children themselves. Thus far, theinternational community has not been able to rely on destinationcountries to adequately protect the rights and well-being of childvictims.The United States has risen to take legislative action against thegrowing evils of child sex tourism. In 1994, Congress established 18U.S.C. § 2423(b), which is aimed towards prosecution of child sextourists. Section 2423(b) criminalizes traveling abroad for thepurpose of engaging in illegal sexual activity with a minor.Currently, successful prosecution under § 2423(b) requires thegovernment to prove that an alleged child sex tourist from theUnited States formed the intent to engage in sexual activity with achild prior to meeting the child and initiating sexual contact. Inother words, a defendant is only punishable under § 2423(b) if hehas the intent, while traveling, to engage in sexual activity withminors. The federal government has successfully utilized § 2423(b)to target several child sex tourists. Current proposals to eliminatethe intent requirement may broaden the government's prosecutorialpower by allowing the government to prosecute United States citizenswho engage in sexual acts with children while abroad, regardless ofwhen they formed the intent to do so.Child sex tourism grows at an alarming rate and inflicts devastatingconsequences on millions of children around the globe. As a globalleader, the United States is committed to using its power to reformand eradicate child sex tourism industry.Chils Sex TourismSowmia Nair