More good advice in the case of a power outage–carry cash

Some more good advice in the case of a power outage, especially if you’re without power for a number of days, as we were due to the recent mid-Atlantic storm that resulted in 1.5 million homes without power.

How did I get on this power-outage, blackout kick? I guess that working on the End of the World 2012 Movie, and going without power in 100 F heat for three days, has got me looking at end of the world as we know it scenarios.

Here’s more good suggestions for when the world stops as a result of not having electricity:

* According to FEMA’s ready.gov website, preparing for a blackout requires preparing an emergency kit and a plan for family communication and how family members should meet up if they are separated. When planning for a power outage, be sure to include extra flashlights and batteries in your emergency kit as well as a battery-operated or hand crank radio to listen for instructions. One important tip for planning ahead for a power outage is to always have cash on hand and a half tank of gas in your car. Gas pumps and ATMs require electricity. Most store cash registers are electricity- and computer-driven so the need for cash is especially necessary to procure goods during a blackout.

 

Is there a country in which you’re more likely to have HIV/AIDS than in the U.S.?

Yesterday, I looked at a comparison between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, and Germany on this delightful website: If It Were My Home. I discovered that if you lived in all of the above countries, you would be much less likely to have HIV/AIDS than if you lived in the U.S.

Therefore, I asked myself: Is there any country where you’d be MORE likely to have HIV/AIDS than the U.S.? Sudan, which is the country just south of Egypt, came to mind. I’ve read (is it an urban legend?) that so many people in the Sudanese army are sick with HIV, that they often can hardly march. Maybe that’s an exaggeration. However, AIDS did start in Africa.

Here are the results of a comparison between the U.S. and Sudan:

• Die 25.72 years sooner
• Have 2 times more chance of being unemployed
• Have 12.7 times higher chance of dying in infancy
• Spend 98.93% less on health care
• Be 2.3 times more likely to have HIV/AIDS

So, there you have it, a country in which you would be more likely to have HIV/AIDS than if you lived in the U.S. Do I feel comforted? Not really.

In which country would you live the longest: the U.S., Canada, Mexico, or Germany?

If you lived in Canada instead of the U.S., you would:

• Live 3.05 years longer
• Spend 45.33% less on health care
• Have 18.73% less chance of dying in infancy
• Have 8.6% chance more of being unemployed
• Be 33.33% less like to have HIV/AIDS

What about a comparison with the United States’ southern neighbor, Mexico? You would:

• Die 1.98 years sooner
• Spend 88.42% less on health care
• Have 2.9 times greater chance of dying in infancy
• Have 39.8% more chance of being unemployed
• Be 50% less likely to have HIV/AIDS

What about Germany?

• Live 1.17 years longer
• Spend 48.43% less money on health care
• Have 35.67% less chance of dying in infancy
• Have 11.83% more chance of being unemployed
• Be 83.33% less likely to have HIV/AIDS

Interested in a comparison with France? Luxembourg? Australia? Check out this nifty website: If It Were My Home. You can also compare countries other than the U.S. with other countries on the website.

2012: Is a shift in the magnetic poles imminent?

Some scientists believe a magnetic pole shift may be imminent–give or take 1000 to 10,000 years. In their opinion, that’s how long it takes for the magnetic poles to shift.

The last time the poles shifted, it was 780,000 years ago. Normally, they shift every 300,000 to 400,000 years. We are well-overdue.

In preparing the End of the World 2012 Movie, I am researching magnetic pole shift. Since, here in the mid-Atlantic, we’re well into hurricane season and we just experienced the worst storm other than hurricanes a few weeks ago, I appreciate the following suggestions for being prepared for a disaster from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA):

 * Emergency preparation and disaster planning should be a regular part of daily life. Whether the magnetic poles reverse or not, there will continue to be earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters. Being prepared with a plan, emergency supplies and the knowledge of how to handle whatever comes is the best practice. Check out fema.gov for tips on disaster planning. Even though FEMA doesn’t offer specific tips for pole shift preparation, emergency preparedness can be adapted for any disaster.

Magnetic Pole Reversal and Disaster Planning

2012: Preparing for a Blackout in the case of a natural disaster–unprepared for the power outage a few weeks ago

With the End of the World 2012 Mayan prophecy on my mind, I must admit that, although we have a make-shift emergency kit, as suggested in the following list posted by www.ready.gov/blackout, we haven’t yet made a family communication plan, which includes deciding on a meet up place if and when the electricity is out and you can’t recharge your cell phone.

I guess, it’s a good idea to have a car charger for your cell phone, that is, assuming there will still be gas available.

Apart from any 2012 end of the world Maya prophecy, the thought of a major blackout is pretty darn scary.

In our mid-Atlantic blackout a few weeks ago, a number of gas stations did have power. However, I was disappointed when I drove past the long lines at the gas stations with power to my favorite one–the one whose computer is familiar with my credit card–because it was without electricity. There were hand-printed signs stuck on the gas tanks with tape saying, “No Power.”

I wish I had filled the gas tank the day before, but the storm and subsequent power outage was a big surprise. The weather prediction had only been for 10 m.p.h. winds but we received gusts up to 80 m.p.h. It was the largest storm, other than a hurricane, in our area.

I ended up driving to another town where I knew the whole city had power. I knew because a family member lives there and I had contacted them by cell phone.

What if the whole area had been without power? Fortunately, I had a place to go to where there was air conditioning. Many people I knew, however, had to suffer through the 100+ F temperatures.

BEFORE A BLACKOUT

To prepare for a blackout you should do the following:

• To begin preparing, you should build an emergency kit and make a family communications plan.
• Follow energy conservation measures to keep the use of electricity as low as possible, which can help power companies avoid imposing rolling blackouts.
• Fill plastic containers with water and place them in the refrigerator and freezer if there’s room. Leave about an inch of space inside each one, because water expands as it freezes. This chilled or frozen water will help keep food cold during a temporary power outage, by displacing air that can warm up quickly with water or ice that keeps cold for several hours without additional refrigeration.
• Be aware that most medication that requires refrigeration can be kept in a closed refrigerator for several hours without a problem. If unsure, check with your physician or pharmacist.
• Keep your car tank at least half full because gas stations rely on electricity to power their pumps.
• Know where the manual release lever of your electric garage door opener is located and how to operate it. Garage doors can be heavy, so know that you may need help to lift it.
• Keep a key to your house with you if you regularly use the garage as the primary means of entering your home, in case the garage door will not open. 

BEFORE A BLACKOUT

Could Antarctica have been ice-free when the earth was much warmer 8000 years ago?

Holocene Temperature Variations from 12,000 years ago to the present (2004). This image is an original work created for Global Warming Art and is in the public domain. It was retrieved from Wikipedia Commons.

On the right, you’ll see a graph showing the temperature of the earth over the last 12,000 years. “BP” means “Before Present.” 

I went looking for this information as part of my research for the End of the World 2012 Movie, because I wanted to see if there was a time when the earth was much warmer than it is now.And it was–8,000 years ago. 

Could the earth been warm enough at that time to melt the miles-thick ice cap on Antarctica?

If so, could ancient sailors have mapped Antarctica at that time and could that map have been incorporated into the Piri Reis map? 

In the End of the World 2012 Movie, I am showing how there have been previous “end of the world” scenarios, or anyway, end of the world as we presently know it. Logically, the earth could go through another “end of the world” scenario if it has done so before.

Australian archeologist believes the Piri Reis map shows Antarctica ice-free

The author of the Ancient Destructions blog site, Peter “Mungo” Jupp, believes  the Piri Reis map shows Antarctica ice-free. There is some controversy. Others believe the part of the map that could be Antarctica is actually the southeastern coast of South America.

Interestingly, the Ancient Destructions blog site includes a copy of a letter from Harold Z. Ohlmeyer Lt. Colonel, USAF Commander, who is writing to author Charles Hapgood saying that Colonel Ohlmeyer agrees that the Piri Reis map shows part of the coast of Antarctica before it was covered with ice.

That’s great–that a USAF Lt. Colonel would validate the Antarctica details of the Piri Reis map. Here’s an excerpt from the letter:

The geographical detail shown in the lower part of the map agrees very remarkably with the results of the seismic profile made across the top of the ice-cap by the Swedish-British Antarctic Expedition of 1949.This indicates the coastline had been mapped before it was covered by the ice-cap. This part of Antarctica ice free. The ice-cap in this region is now about a mile thick. We have no idea how the data on this map can be reconciled with the supposed state of geographical knowledge in 1513.

Harold Z. Ohlmeyer Lt. Colonel, USAF Commander

The Ancient Destructions blog site also has a video on it that you might enjoy. I like that Peter “Mungo” Jupp is an Australian archaeologist and therefore he’s close to Antarctica.

As before, I am interested in the Piri Reis map, because, if it shows Antaractica ice free, it means that someone somewhere in humanity’s past, had to have been there when Antarctica was ice-free. Could there have been a pole shift? Did the earth’s crust shift, move Antarctica from a location in a more temperatue area of the globe down to the pole? Was there an extreme climate change? Could this happen again?

2012 preview? Eyewitness accounts of the Tunguska comet/meteoroid impact in Siberia

The Southern swamp—the epicenter of the Tunguska explosion, in 2008. View from a helicopter. Photo by Vladimir Rubtsov, taken at June 30, 2008. Source: Rubtsov (2009), p. 2. This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons and is in the public domain.

I am impressed with the devastation that still exists at the epicenter of the Tunguska Event in Siberia. At the right, please find a photograph taken in 2008 from a helicopter showing how the impact area is still devoid of trees.

On the other hand, it is a swamp. Maybe that’s why there aren’t any trees. In any case, this helicopter photograph is a good example of the effect of the largest comet/meteoroid explosion in recorded history  100 years later.

I’m looking at previous end of the world scenarios for inclusion in my End of the World 2012 Movie. And, I’m also just interested in what eyewitnesses had to say about the event. For example, in a Wikipedia article called Tunguska Event, S. Semenov says that:

The split in the sky grew larger, and the entire northern side was covered with fire. At that moment I became so hot that I couldn’t bear it, as if my shirt was on fire; from the northern side, where the fire was, came strong heat. I wanted to tear off my shirt and throw it down, but then the sky shut closed, and a strong thump sounded, and I was thrown a few metres.

Also, Chuchan of Shanyagir tribe said that: 

We had a hut by the river with my brother Chekaren. We were sleeping. Suddenly we both woke up at the same time. Somebody shoved us. We heard whistling and felt strong wind. Chekaren said, ‘Can you hear all those birds flying overhead?’ We were both in the hut, couldn’t see what was going on outside. Suddenly, I got shoved again, this time so hard I fell into the fire. I got scared. Chekaren got scared too. We started crying out for father, mother, brother, but no one answered.

Piri Reis Map could point to an ice-free Antarctica in antiquity

Map of the world by Ottoman admiral Piri Reis, drawn in 1513.Only half of the original map survives and is held at the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul.The map synthesizes information from twenty maps, including one drawn by Christopher Columbus of the New World. This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. It is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

The oldest known map of the world was compiled by Ottoman-Turkish admiral and cartographer Piri Reis. He used 10 Arabian sources, 4 maps of India from the Portuguese, and a map of the New World made by Christopher Columbus to compile his map. The map is drawn on gazelle skin.

Only the Western third of the map has survived. It lay undisturbed in the Topkapi Sarayi Library until German theologian Gustav Adolf Deissman discovered it in 1929. According to an online Wikipedia article, Piri Reis Map: 

Amateur historian Gavin Menzies claims in his book 1421: The Year China Discovered America that the southern landmass is indeed the Antarctic coastline and was based on earlier Chinese maps. According to Menzies, Admiral Hong Bao charted the coast over 70 years before Columbus as part of a larger expedition under the famous Chinese explorer and admiral Zheng He to bring the world under China’s tribute system.

I became interested in the Piri Reis map while researching background information for my End of the World 2012 Movie. I thought that if the Piri Reis map showed the Antarctica coastline, it meant that one of the sources used in compiling the map had to have been made during the time Antarctica was free of the mile thickness of ice covering it now. If so, it would show evidence of the world undergoing previous cataclysmic events. Perhaps, a pole shift?

Tunguska comet impact in Siberia created a mini end of the world event

Fallen trees at Tunguska, 1927. This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain in Russia.

 On June 30, 1908, a 330-foot comet or meteoroid exploded over the Tunguska River in Siberia, Russia. The 10 to 15 megatons of TNT explosion felled an estimated 80 million trees.

I’ve been researching historical “end of the world” scenarios for my End of the World 2012 Movie. The Tunguska event is the largest comet impact in recorded human history. The shock wave of the blast would likely have registered 5 on the Richter Scale.

If this explosion had occurred over a large metropolitan area, the city would have been destroyed.

Nonetheless, native tribespeople the Evensk, and Russian settlers, who lived in the area, reported seeing a column of light, almost as bright as the sun, moving across the sky accompanied by a sound similar to artillery fire. Eyewitnesses said that:

The sounds were accompanied by a shock wave that knocked people off their feet and broke windows hundreds of kilometres away. 

Tunguska Event