Emergency Management prepares for eclipse; Oklahoma will have National Guard to help with surge of tourists

Total-Solar-Eclipse

Important Takeaways:

  • Emergency Management shares info, recommendations ahead of eclipse
  • As we get closer to the upcoming solar eclipse, the state government is reminding people to prepare for the event.
  • In a planning notice on the state government’s website, the state said the eclipse will visit Oklahoma on April 8, 2024 at 1:44 p.m., with the final exit of the Moon’s shadow from the state at 1:51 p.m.
  • Due to being in the path of totality, state agencies are expecting a surge of tourists. The Department of Emergency Management says anywhere from 17,000 to 66,000 visitors are expected.
  • The path of totality will stretch across southeastern Oklahoma. The path will completely cover McCurtain County, where the Oklahoma National Guard announced they will assist.
  • To prepare for the eclipse, the state laid out some tips to plan ahead.
  • Oklahomans should schedule errands and appointments a few days in advance before the eclipse as well as stock up on gas and groceries. The state also recommends having multiple forms of communication besides cellular, being careful on the road and staying updated on weather conditions.

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Warnings to prepare for an eclipse that will only last a few minutes; Is there another reason for all the frenzy?

States-Map-FOOD-Eclipse-2024

Important Takeaways:

  • Map Shows Warnings for People to Stock Up on Food Ahead of Solar Eclipse
  • Texas officials have issued a slew of warnings, including that people living within the path of totality should stock up on groceries and gas and run any errands—such as filling prescriptions—in the days before the eclipse. One official also urged pet owners to stock up on supplies for their animals.
  • A webpage dedicated to solar eclipse preparation for southeastern Oklahoma said that several state agencies are preparing for the eclipse.
  • Officials in Ohio have said that traffic delays are inevitable, according to News 5 Cleveland. The Ohio Department of Transportation is urging Ohio residents to fill their cars with gas and keep snacks and water handy in case of long delays
  • Up to 1 million people are expected to travel to Indiana to view the eclipse, according to Indianapolis news station WTHR, and state police are urging residents to prepare for overwhelming traffic. State officials suggest keeping cell phones charged, stocking up on essentials and filling cars with gas ahead of the eclipse.
  • The State of New York is urging residents and visitors to “plan to stay in one place for the day,” as traffic was expected to be overwhelming.
  • The last total solar eclipse in the U.S. was on August 21, 2017. The next one will not occur in North America until 2044.

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Machete-wielding militias battle gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Armored-police-vehicle-Haiti

Important Takeaways:

  • Since the start of the month, criminal groups have been attacking with unprecedented coordination the last remnants of the Haitian state – the airport, police stations, government buildings, the National Penitentiary.
  • Leaving the city isn’t an option this time; the airport, under siege by gangs, has been forced to close
  • Port-au-Prince’s gangs are still choking off the supply of food, fuel and water across the city
  • Fear, mistrust, and anger reign. Death is on everyone’s mind.
  • The indelible mark of extrajudicial executions – a stretch of black soot thick and irregular across the pavement – is all that remains of hundreds of suspected criminals killed by residents, their bodies disposed of by flame according to a local security source.
  • Today, talk of a political solution sounds more than ever like wishful thinking as long as gunshots ring out in the evenings, puncturing the city’s hush.
  • Increasingly, the only thing that everyone shares is trauma.

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‘Forever Chemicals’ found in 99 percent of foods sold at the grocery store, even foods labeled organic

BPA-Products

Important Takeaways:

  • Startling new report finds hormone-warping chemicals in 99 PERCENT of food sold in American stores – which may raise risk of cancer, autism and infertility
  • ‘Forever chemicals’ linked to cancer are found in virtually every food product sold in American stores, a shocking report suggests.
  • The watchdog Consumer Reports tested 85 everyday items for the presence of phthalates and bisphenols, two types of PFAS chemicals used to make plastics.
  • The researchers tried to make their sample size as broad as possible – testing water, soda, cereal, bread, meat, fish, condiments, desserts and even baby food.
  • All but one product tested positive for the substances, which have been dubbed ‘forever chemicals’ because they are virtually impossible to break down in the body where they cause untold health problems.
  • It comes amid growing fears about the massive amounts of chemicals being ingested by Americans every year. A study earlier this week found water bottled contain a quarter of a million pieces of microscopic plastics.
  • The product with the highest amount of phthalates per serving in nanograms was Annie’s canned organic cheesy ravioli, which contained 53,580 nanograms of phthalates per serving.
  • Exposure to phthalates has been linked to asthma, ADHD, breast cancer, obesity and type II diabetes.

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Wondering where your money went? Inflation has Americans paying extra $709 per month on regular household items

Important Takeaways:

  • Inflation forcing Americans to spend $709 more per month than 2 years ago: Economist
  • Scorching-hot inflation has created severe financial pressures for most U.S. households, which are forced to pay more for everyday necessities like food and rent.
  • Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi made the statement Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter, as part of his analysis of July’s consumer price index report. Despite the jarring increase in cost, Zandi say inflation is moderating, with just a 0.2% increase from June to July.
  • “To be sure, the high inflation of the past 2+ years has done lots of economic damage. Due to the high inflation, the typical household spent $202 more in a July than they did a year ago to buy the same goods and services. And they spent $709 more than they did 2 years ago,” Zandi wrote.
  • The fed could resort to further interest rate hikes later this year, but Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has not made any announcements.

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Large percentage of Americans are living under financial strain

Important Takeaways:

  • 61% of Americans say they are living paycheck to paycheck even as inflation cools
  • Lower-income workers have been the hardest hit by price spikes, particularly for food and other staples, since those expenses account for a bigger share of the budget, studies show. Roughly three-quarters of consumers earning less than $50,000 annually and 65% of those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 were living paycheck to paycheck in June, based on LendingClub’s numbers.
  • Fewer top earners have been struggling to make ends meet. Of those earning $100,000 or more, only 45% reported living paycheck to paycheck, the report found.
  • A majority, or 52%, of adults, including high earners, said they have felt more financially stressed since before the Covid pandemic began in 2020, according to a separate CNBC Your Money Financial Confidence Survey conducted in March — largely due to inflation, rising interest rates and a lack of savings.

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Cost of putting food on the table continues to rise according to the latest report

Revelations 13:16-18 “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”

Important Takeaways:

  • As food prices rise in June, analysts warn of a ‘tipping point’ for Americans
  • Grocery prices were 5.7% higher in June compared to a year ago, and dining out was 7.7% more expensive
  • “Overall, there continues to be a similar narrative of extended upward pressure on food prices as we try to discern whether this stress has led to a tipping point where consumers are struggling to buy the foods that they want,” said Jayson Lusk, the head and distinguished professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University.
  • Reported food insecurity across households of different income levels reached 17% in June, the highest level since March 2022, according to the monthly Consumer Food Insights Report from Purdue University. Although it didn’t deviate too much from the normal range — food insecurity hovered at 14% two months ago — Lusk said the increase is concerning given the amount of pressure on more financially vulnerable consumers.
  • Around 47% of low-income households — those earning less than $50,000 a year — said they relied on SNAP benefits in May, up from roughly 40% in February, according to a recent Morning Consult report

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Drug and Food shortages already happening

Luke 21:11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

Important Takeaways:

  • Drug And Food Shortages Are Here, And They Will Get A Lot Worse…
  • A lot of the experts didn’t think that this would happen. Once the pandemic subsided, global supply chains were supposed to return to normal.  But now “hundreds of drugs” are in short supply in the United States, and even CNN is admitting that we are in the midst of “the worst food crisis in modern history”
  • Orange County Register reports: Pfizer will run out of several doses of penicillin, which treat syphilis, strep throat, and other infections, later this year as shortages ripple across the US supply chain.
    • The company anticipates running out of the children’s dose of the syphilis drug Bicillin L-A by the end of June, according to a letter Pfizer posted Tuesday on the Food and Drug Administration’s website
  • The Hill Reports: A recent survey found that a majority of cancer centers are reporting shortages of commonly used chemotherapy drugs used to treat a wide variety of cancers.
    • Much of the current shortage stems from the temporary closure of a drug manufacturing facility in India that happened after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found issues in the plant’s quality control.
  • The New York Times Reports: Hundreds of drugs are on the list of medications in short supply in the United States, as officials grapple with an opaque and sometimes interrupted supply chain, quality and financial issues that are leading to manufacturing shutdowns.
    • The shortages are so acute that they are commanding the attention of the White House and Congress, which are examining the underlying causes of the faltering generic drug market, which accounts for about 90 percent of domestic prescriptions.

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Many in California running out of food, water as Governor Newsom declares State of Emergency

Luke 21:25 ““And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves

Important Takeaways:

  • ‘There are roofs collapsing everywhere’: Thousands of Californians are running low on food and water as California Governor Newsom declares state of emergency in 13 counties after historic winter storms dump seven feet of snow
  • Newsom deployed the national guard on Wednesday to assist residents, especially in San Bernardino County, where some have been trapped in their homes for days
  • Wind, freeze and winter storm warnings were issued by The National Weather Service throughout the sunny state effective until Thursday as temperatures hit sub-freezing lows down to 26 degrees Fahrenheit in certain areas.
  • Southern California mountain ranges have been hit by several feet of snow and residents are begging the governor for help to clear the roads as food and water supplies run low.
  • The counties named in the emergency declaration include Amador, Kern, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sierra, Sonoma and Tulare.
  • The storm left about 100,000 homes and businesses in the state without power as of Wednesday.

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In South America Peru’s Food and Fuel shortages exacerbated by anti-government Protests

Revelations 18:23:’For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’

Important Takeaways:

  • Peru faces shortage of food and fuel as anti-government protests continue
  • As the anti-government protests in Peru show no sign of ending, the country is currently facing a shortage of basic products including food items and fuel. A report by the news agency AFP on Wednesday (January 25) said that dozens of roadblocks, where demonstrations have been the most intense, are hindering freight deliveries to Peru’s south.
  • In Puno city, the prices of basic food items including tomatoes and potatoes have tripled
  • Meanwhile, the Madre de Dios region, which is on Peru’s border with Brazil and Bolivia, has reported shortages in fuel and food after protesters blocked the major Interoceanica Sur highway.
  • Anti-government protests: 46 killed in clashes, President calls for national truce

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