Archeologists Find Oldest Wine-Making Facility in Southern Armenia, 6,000 Years Ago Produced Dry Red Vintage

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This undated handout photo provided by National Geographic shows a wine press, behind which an archaeological identification kit is placed, In Armenia.
The vat, right of the press, apparently used for accumulating grape juice and the consequent wine fermentation, emerges clearly here as a result of the excavation. The earliest known wine-making equipment has been uncovered by in a cave in the mountains of Armenia. A vat to press the grapes, fermentation jars and even a cup and drinking bowl dating to about 6,000 years ago were discovered in the Areni-1 cave complex by an international team of researchers.
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A range of 6,100-year-old desiccated grape stems and dried pressed grapes that were found on and around the wine press in the Armenian cave at the excavations of the Areni-1 cave complex in Armenia, are seen in this undated photograph released to Reuters on January 10, 2011. Archeologists have unearthed the oldest wine-making facility ever found, using biochemical techniques to identify a dry red vintage made about 6,000 years ago in what is now southern Armenia. The excavation paints a picture of a complex society where mourners tasted a special vintage made at a caveside cemetery, the researchers reported on Tuesday in the Journal of Archaeological Science. The chemical studies were led by UCLA scientists and supported by the National Geographic Society, which also funded the archaeological work.
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At 6,000 years old, wine press is oldest yet found

(Reuters) – Archeologists have unearthed the oldest wine-making facility ever found, using biochemical techniques to identify a dry red vintage made about 6,000 years ago in what is now southern Armenia.
The excavation paints a picture of a complex society where mourners tasted a special vintage made at a caveside cemetery, the researchers reported on Tuesday in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Carbon dating showed a desiccated grape vine found near a wine press was grown around 4000 BC.
This makes it 1,000 years older than any other wine-making facility discovered.. Click Here for more info.

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Stunning Toowoomba Queensland Australia Flood VIDEO Rising Water Footage

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Dozens missing from flooding in Australian valley

Associated Press Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Military helicopters searched Tuesday for scores of people missing after a tsunami-like wall of water ripped through an Australian valley, tossing cars like toys in the deadliest episode of a weekslong flood crisis.
At least 10 people were killed and 78 still unaccounted for almost 24 hours after the flash flood hurled untold millions of gallons of water down Queensland state's Lockyer Valley on Monday, state Premier Anna Bligh said. Authorities had grave fears for at least 18 of the missing, she said.
The valley funneled rain from a freak storm _ forecasters estimated up to 6 inches (150 millimeters) fell in half an hour near Toowoomba city _ into a stream that formed a path of destruction, lifting houses from foundations.
The torrent slowed and spread out as it moved downstream toward the state capital of Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city with some 2 million people.
The Brisbane River overflowed its banks Tuesday and officials warned that thousands of houses in dozens of low-lying neighborhoods and parts of downtown could be inundated by Thursday. Residents queued for up to four hours outside emergency services depots on Tuesday to get sandbags to try to protect their homes, and shoppers stocked up on bottled water, milk and fuel. Residents in at least three suburbs were asked to prepare their homes, then go and stay with friends or family on higher ground.

The violent surge near Toowoomba on Monday escalated Australia's flood crisis in Queensland state and brought the overall death toll to 20. Until then, the flooding had unfolded slowly as swollen rivers burst their banks and inundated towns while moving downstream toward the ocean.
Emergency services officers plucked more than 40 people from houses isolated overnight by the torrent that hit the Lockyer Valley, and thousands moved out of were being evacuated. In one small community, Forest Hill, the entire population of about 300 was airlifted to safety in military helicopters, Bligh said.
In Ipswich, a town of 15,000 people between Toowoomba and Brisbane, hundreds of residents moved in with friends and family or into an evacuation center on high ground as officials warned the swollen Bremer River would flood dozens of homes overnight Tuesday, Mayor Paul Pisasale said.
As Tuesday progressed, the death toll rose from eight to ten. At an evening afternoon news conference, Bligh said officials held grave fears for 18 of the 78 people missing. She did not elaborate.
The search and rescue effort was being hampered by thunderstorms and more driving rain, though the bad weather eased during the day and Bligh said the search would get easier on Wednesday.

Queensland has been in the grip of its worst flooding for more than two weeks, after tropical downpours across a vast area of the state covered an area the size of France and Germany combined. Entire towns have been swamped, more than 200,000 people affected, and coal and farming industries virtually shut down.

Monday's flash flooding struck without warning in Toowoomba, a city of some 90,000 people nestled in mountains 2,300 feet (700 meters) above sea level. Bligh said an intense deluge fell over a concentrated area, sending a 26-foot (eight-meter), fast-moving torrent crashing through Toowoomba and smaller towns further down the valley.
Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson described the events Monday as "an inland instant tsunami."
As the water was pushed its way downstream, officials closed roads and highways and told residents in low-lying area of Brisbane to sandbag their homes and then move to higher ground.
 . Click Here for more info.




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Amish Horse and Buggy Snow Skiing WEB VIDEO

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Who says the Amish don't know how to have fun?
Actual footage of Amish man skiing behind a buggy. Oh what fun to ski behind a one horse open buggy!!
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MIssouri Tigers Finishes 18th in Both College Football Polls

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Nov. 27, 2010 -- Missouri Tigers running back Kendial Lawrence (4) runs for a touchdown in the second quarter against the Kansas Jayhawks at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Missouri won, 35-7. (Shane Keyser/Kansas City Star/MCT)
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The Tigers wound up at No. 18 in both of the final college football polls after a 10-3 season that at one point reached the top 10 but ended with a loss to Iowa in the Insight Bowl.
Both the Associated Press poll (voted on by writers and broadcasters) and in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll, the Tigers were 18th.
That put Mizzou at the third-best team among Big 12 schools.
The Big 12 schools in the rankings: OU (6th in both), Oklahoma State (10 by coaches, 13 by AP), Nebraska (19 in coaches, 20 in AP) and Texas A&M (21 coaches, 19 by AP).
Of course, Nebrasaka leaves the Big 12 next year for the Big Ten.
. Click Here for more info.
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How Congress Helped Create the Very Mental Illness that Resulted in Giffords Shooting VIDEO

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Tuesday, January 11, 2011
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

How Congress helped created the very mental illness that resulted in Giffords Shooting

(NaturalNews) Giffords was assaulted while doing what more representatives in Washington should be doing: Talking with their constituents at home in a public place, right out in the open. In an age where many members of Congress hide behind closed doors and spend more time meeting with corporate lobbyists than talking with their constituents, Giffords regularly took time to talk to the people she sought to represent in Washington.

The sad fallout from this shooting in Tucson is that more members of Congress are now going to hide behind closed doors and refuse to interact with the public. There are psychos out there, after all.

But where did all the psychos come from?

Why Congress bears some responsibility for America's epidemic of mental illness

Congress bears a tremendous responsibility for creating those psychos in the first place, and that's where this story takes a turn for the ugly. How could such a claim be true? Read on...

It is Congress that has allowed the FDA to continue censoring the science behind nutritional supplements while pushing psychiatric drugs on children, for example. Did you know that vitamin D deficiency promotes schizophrenia? (http://www.naturalnews.com/003069.html)

Did you know that most of the school shootings in the United States involve young males with a history of psychiatric drug use? (http://www.naturalnews.com/025826_A...)

Did you know that SSRI drugs (antidepressants) often promote violent thoughts, especially in young males? (http://www.naturalnews.com/020787.html)

I have very high confidence that a blood test of Loughner would reveal striking nutritional deficiencies combined with blood sugar imbalances. His photo reveals pale white skin, for example -- a common indicator of chronic vitamin D deficiency.

Did you know that the vast majority of violent criminals currently serving time in U.S. prisons suffer from blood sugar imbalances caused by a lifetime of junk food consumption? (Sodas, processed sugar, etc.)

These are all issues on which Congress could have made a positive impact over the last several decades but refused to because corporate interests were at stake. The junk food, pharmaceutical and sick-care industries all have powerful lobbyists influencing the votes of members of Congress, and very few members of Congress have ever taken any real action to reduce the exposure of American children and teens to dangerous foods, additives, medications and chemicals that actually promote mental illness.

Brain-damaging chemicals remain legal in America

When it comes to brain-damaging chemicals, Congress has also stood by and done virtually nothing to protect the American people from fluoride, brain-damaging adjuvants in vaccines, mercury dental fillings, dangerous chemicals in personal care products and mind-damaging chemicals in home construction materials (wanna live in a FEMA trailer, anyone?)

While decrying the terrible health crisis facing America today -- which includes mental health -- Congress has stood by and done absolutely nothing to actually improve the fundamental health of the American people. No, the Obama health care reforms don't count, because all they do is grant a monopoly over sick-care to the conventional medical industry while completely ignoring disease prevention, nutrition and other natural therapies that can often reverse chronic disease. If anything, Obama's health care reforms would make mental illness worse because, by forcing Americans to purchase conventional health insurance, they deny Americans the discretionary income they might normally spend on nutritional supplements, organic foods or other natural therapies that can help prevent mental illness.

Instead of actually improving the health of the American people, Congress has jumped in bed with the pharmaceutical industry and handed Big Pharma a monopoly over sick-care, written into law with Obama's health care reform (and also backed by the Bush administration before that).

Notably, this decision was aggressively promoted by the Democrats and even Gabrielle Giffords herself, who voted for Obamacare. (Do not twist this into an interpretation that I blame Giffords for Loughner's actions. She deserves no such blame. Congress as a whole, however, has played an important role in allowing mental illness to fester in America while suppressing nutritional therapies and cures that could help end that particular epidemic.)

The illusion of mental health "treatment" in America

Only a very small number of congressional members have ever done anything to support nutritional therapies or health freedoms that would genuinely improve the physical and mental health of the American people. Rep. Ron Paul, notably, has offered a Health Freedom Protection Act for several years now, but that bill never has enough support by other members of Congress to even make it to the floor for a debate. Rep Dennis Kucinich, on the Democratic side, is a supporter of natural health, and he deserves credit for trying to carry such concepts into his actions there, too.

Aside from a few exceptions, Congress has, by and large, has done nothing to support any improvement in the mental health of the American people. And funding more conventional "mental health screening" doesn't count because, as intelligent observers well know, mental health "screening" is merely a profit-driven patient recruiting scheme used by pharmaceutical companies to put more people on psychiatric drugs, many of which actually promote violent thoughts as a common side effect. (http://www.naturalnews.com/027425_d...)

So now we have members of Congress essentially being violently assaulted by the very people they have historically abandoned with their Big Pharma favoritism and refusal to embrace health freedom in America. It remains illegal in America, for example, for an Omega-3 supplement manufacturer to tell the truth that omega-3 supplements work as well or better than antidepressants at reducing the symptoms of depression. (http://www.naturalnews.com/016353.html)

The FDA considers such a claim, even if backed by links to scientific studies, to be a criminal act. And the Congress has never bothered to exercise oversight with the FDA to prevent such outlandish oppression of scientific speech about nutrition that could really work to reduce mental illness in America.

Why nutrition affects mental health: Brain function 101

The brain, after all, is a physical organ fed by the blood supply. And the blood is comprised of the food you eat, the beverages you drink, and the medications you take. Everything you swallow affects your brain in one way or another.

This simple truth is still not widely recognized in conventional medicine, nor is it common knowledge among the American people, most of which continue to feed their children processed, nutritionally depleted junk foods. And then they wonder why little Jonny is angry all the time. So they put him on ADHD drugs, SSRI drugs and other psychiatric chemicals. Before long, little Jonny is emptying a 30-round magazine into his classmates at school. And the parents, teachers, Sheriffs and members of Congress stand around scratching their heads, wondering to themselves, "Why does this happen?" So they blame Rush Limbaugh.

Gee. Is the root cause of this really so complex to figure it out?

See, a Glock pistol does not fire unless a finger pulls the trigger. That finger is attached to a system of muscles and neurons that are connected to the human brain. That human brain, which makes the decision to pull the trigger, is fed by the human blood supply. That human blood supply is literally manufactured from whatever that person eats: School lunches, Diet Coke with aspartame, Twinkies, GMO corn, High Fructose Corn Syrup, MSG in canned soups, artificial food coloring chemicals, and so on.

So you have a chain of causality here: The food affects the blood, which affects the brain, which affects the "mental health" which affects the finger which pulls the trigger to cause senseless violence.

Of course, there are other factors, too: Social factors, family, violent video games (perhaps), exposure to heavy metals such as mercury (from dental fillings, seafood, etc.), influences from peers, and so on. I'm not claiming that food alone is responsible for this shooting, but I am asserting, with confidence, that what Loughner consumed in terms of food, beverages and medicine absolutely DID have an impact on his mental health. That fact is undeniable.

What is also undeniable is that the U.S. Congress has done virtually nothing to improve the fundamental health of the American people. Not that it's their responsibility in the first place, but at the very least they should get out of the way and allow nutritional supplement companies to make scientifically-substantiated claims about the health benefits of their products. Banning junk food in schools (for real, not the fake ban like Clinton did) would also be a good start. (http://www.naturalnews.com/030811_t...)

Dismantling the entire U.S. Food and Drug Administration would be a far more effective action. It would unleash a golden age of health freedom in America and cause rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and mental illness to plummet over the next decade. (Yes, the FDA causes tremendous harm to the health of the American people.) (http://www.naturalnews.com/001894.html)

America's epidemic of mental illness

This is largely why we have an epidemic of mental illness in America today. And that epidemic of mental illness, like all epidemics, has a cause.

But what are the real factors that cause such widespread mental illness in America?

In answering this question, you're forced to consider things that poison the brain, which is after all a physical organ that relies on healthy biochemistry to operate correctly. So the right question here is, "What kinds of things in society today harm brain function?

That answer reveals a very long list:

Chemical substances:
• Psychiatric drugs
• Prescription medications
• Over-the-counter drugs
• Many street drugs
• Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides in the food
• Chemical food additives
• Off-gassing of toxic chemicals from furniture
• Toxic lawn care chemicals
• Fluoride in the water
• Chemicals and preservatives in vaccines
• GMO foods
• Mercury in fish and seafood (makes you crazy)
• Chemicals in personal care products and cosmetics

Brain programming:
• Violent video games
• Violent television programming
• Military indoctrination programs that desensitize people to violence
• Violent imagery on mainstream news programs
• Violent imagery in Hollywood movies
• "Militainment" - the transformation of war into killing entertainment through the mass media

If you combine all these factors with widespread nutritional deficiencies, you will inevitably create mental patients out of people who would have otherwise been harmless. From there, it's not difficult for a mentally deranged person bent on violence to locate a weapon of some sort -- a machete, sword, firearm, knife or even a Buick -- and then use it to commit violence against other human beings.

I believe that any honest discussion about Loughner and mental health in America must embrace these critical factors. If we are to prevent future violence from happening again, we must reduce the number of people in America who suffer from mental illness. And I assure you that can only be accomplished through a revolution in food and nutrition.

We are what we eat

We are what we eat. Loughner was insane. It is no coincidence that our factory farming meat operations in America are similarly insane.

It is no coincidence that mainstream laundry detergent products contain cancer-causing fragrance chemicals.

It is no coincidence that our food supply is largely made of heavily processed, refined ingredients that have been nutritionally depleted.

Loughner is the "refined white sugar" poster boy. He's the Wonder Boy of Wonder Bread (refined white flour).

He represents the ultimate extreme of what happens when you raise a kid on processed foods and angry meat products produced through the committing of violence to cows, pigs and chickens. Yes, it does matter. When you produce your food through violence, you tend to get violent behavior in those who consume it.

But it's so much easier to ignore the real causes, isn't it?

Of course, this article is fifty years ahead of mainstream thinking in America. Instead of considering these simple and obvious truths (well, they're obvious to NaturalNews readers, anyway), Congress will instead seek to ban guns, or ban free speech, or somehow attempt to invoke some moronic reactionary law that will completely ignore the root causes of mental illness in America. Because that's what Congress does best.

And that brings me to the final conclusion here: Einstein once said the definition of insanity (mental illness) is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Yet isn't that exactly what the U.S. Congress is doing?

They keep favoring the pharmaceutical industry, the junk food industry and the toxic chemical companies while ignoring the real health needs of the American people. And yet they somehow expect the outcome to be different. By Einstein's definition, the U.S. Congress also suffers from a kind of mental illness.

They act out of an "insanity of the status quo." And make no mistake, this insanity will continue for as long as our nation continues to raise our children on junk foods, factory-farmed meat products and psychiatric medications.

Mental health can be cured in America. But not by national leaders who are themselves expressing their own pattern of mental illness through their legislative priorities.

To cure mental illness in America, we need to first address the mental health of those who make our laws. If we do not, I sadly predict such random acts of violence will continue to be undertaken by the very same young men who have been abandoned, poisoned and exploited by the food, drug and chemical industries that now dominate America's legislative landscape.

You can't stop bullets with laws. But you can legalize health freedom in America so that the mental health of the population is improved to the point where far fewer people feel the insane urge to resort to the use of bullets in the first place.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030976_mental_illness_Jared_Loughner.html#ixzz1AkKbrYYs

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Tornado victims from Sunset Hills get Socked with Double Whammy VIDEO $910 Towing Bill

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$900 dollar tow bills enrage Sunset Hills tornado victims

by Chris Nagus

KMOV.com

(KMOV) -- Tornado victims from Sunset Hills feel like they're getting socked with a double whammy. After dealing with damage to his vehicle, a Mazda owner called News 4 to say D & L Towing charged him $910 to transport his car from Sunset Hills to Valley Park. The drive from Sunset Hills to the tow lot is roughly 10 miles.
News 4 obtained a copy of the bill, and discovered the car owner was charged $400 for wait time and cleanup.
According to Joe Lopicollo, general manager at D & L, these were not typical bills. Lopicollo says his crews were working in hazardous conditions, and they were forced to wait several hours to tow the vehicles after they were called by police. The wait time and cleanup fees were divided between the nine vehicles towed by D & L.
The customer who called News 4 said he expects the company to make a profit, but thought the $910 bill was outrageous considering the circumstances.
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Ticking Time Bombs ? MRI explosions possible, but not probable

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(KMOV)-- The MRI scare in Sunset Hills led News 4 to ask some important questions about MRI machines all over the area, the big one being: are they just ticking time bombs we need to worry about the next time a storm causes a power outage?

Hospitals have backup generators to keep MRI machines working properly. The last thing they want is a large buildup of power because of the possibly devastating results.

 

A YouTube video from 2006 shows an MRI in Atlanta that exploded and blew a ten foot hole in the wall.

 

While hospitals have generators, most imaging centers do not.

 

News 4's Russell Kinsaul was told, though, that when the power is off, an MRI vents slowly and alarms go off to notify staff to take special precautions.

 

The problem in Sunset Hills became so serious because the SSM imaging center on South Lindbergh was no longer seeing patients, so no one may have noticed the alarm for several days.

 

That damaged vent was a fluke deal because of the storm on New Year’s Eve.

. Click Here for more info.

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Missouri Grandmother Ripped Off by Magazine Sales Company VIDEO

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St. Charles grandmother scammed by magazine sales company  

A St. Charles grandmother was ripped off by a magazine sales company and asked News 4 for help.

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Alderman is under fire for an e-mail allegedly sent from his computer VIDEO

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Deer appear in a field along Serendipity Lane at dusk early evening in Town and Country. Laurie Skrivan  post-dispatch.com 
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E-mail fires up Town and Country alderman

Metro St. Louis Suburban Journals
Monday, January 10, 2011

A Town and Country alderman is under fire for an e-mail allegedly sent from his computer.
The e-mail from Alderman David Karney's computer suggests fellow Alderman Fred Meyland-Smith should be shot for his stand on controlling the city's deer population.
"It's aldermen like you who should be shot," the e-mail stated.
Meyland-Smith is asking the board to censure Karney for the Oct. 8 e-mail, which was sent by a "Jeff Storehouse."
. Click Here for more info.

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Frozen South, South hit by a wintry blast, Could be days before thaw comes

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AP – A driver slowly takes his car through a snowy streeet in Matthews, N.C., Monday, Jan. 10, 2011.

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Frozen South: Could be days before thaw comes
By PAGE IVEY, Associated Press Jan. 11, 2011
COLUMBIA, S.C. – It could be days before icy, treacherous conditions improve for areas of the South hit by a wintry blast that sent cars sliding off the road, emptied grocery shelves and had officials nervously watching ice-laden powerlines and tree limbs.
Meanwhile, New York City was about to confront its third snowstorm in less than three weeks, a day after Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration admitted a series of mistakes in its handling of a Christmas weekend blizzard and promised immediate changes. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch from Tuesday evening through Wednesday afternoon, with the heaviest snowfall expected overnight.
In the South, snow ranging from several inches to more than a foot Sunday and Monday blanketed states from Louisiana to the Carolinas — a region where many cities have only a handful of snow plows, if any. And more misery was on the way: The snow began turning to freezing rain in numerous areas, and low temperatures threatened to turn roads that may have thawed icy overnight.

Freezing rain followed the snow in many spots, turning major highways into ice rinks and coating pine trees and power lines.
The storm shut down most cities and towns, closed many businesses, and canceled most flights at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world's busiest. At least nine people were killed in weather-related traffic accidents.
In South Carolina, the winter storm moved out of the area early Tuesday but left thousands without power.
Most of North Carolina remained under a winter storm warning. Kym Littlejohn was heeding the governor's call for people to stay home.
Conditions were unlikely to improve anytime soon. Temperatures should stay below freezing for days, and more snow is predicted. That means treacherous travel conditions could persist until Wednesday or beyond.
Atlanta, which got 4 to 7 inches, has just eight snow plows. The city hired a fleet of 11 privately run trucks to help spread salt and gravel.

The storm system was expected to spread north to Ohio and could hit the snow-weary Northeast later in the week. A Christmas blizzard dumped more than 2 feet of snow on New York City and other parts of the region, crippling holiday travel and nearly shutting down major cities.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for the Big Apple from Tuesday evening through Wednesday afternoon, calling for the city and its suburbs to get between 6 and 12 inches of snow.
The heaviest snow fell in parts of Tennessee that received as much as 13 inches.
The weather began rolling across the South on Sunday, coating bridges and roads with snow, sleet and freezing rain. The governors of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee declared emergencies. Schools and colleges called off classes for a second day Tuesday.
South Carolina troopers worked nearly 2,000 wrecks Monday, state Highway Patrol Sgt. Kelley Hughes said. More were expected overnight as the slush on major highways was freezing again. Like many southern states, South Carolina has limited equipment to fight frozen roads.
In all, it has about 800 pieces, and that's even using graders to smooth asphalt to push away slush along with snow plows and salt spreaders.
 . Click Here for more info.

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Queensland state, Australia, Flood: Tsunami-Like Wall of Water Ripped Through Australian valley 10 People Killed 78 Missing VIDEO

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People cling to railings and metal fences on a flooded street in Toowoomba, Australia, during a flash flood Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Flash floods swept through the northeastern Australian community killing one woman, trapping others in cars and leaving some clinging to trees as relentless rains brought more misery to a region battling its worst flooding in decades. (AP Photo/ABC) AUSTRALIA OUT 
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Dozens missing from flooding in Australian valley

Associated Press Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Military helicopters searched Tuesday for scores of people missing after a tsunami-like wall of water ripped through an Australian valley, tossing cars like toys in the deadliest episode of a weekslong flood crisis.
At least 10 people were killed and 78 still unaccounted for almost 24 hours after the flash flood hurled untold millions of gallons of water down Queensland state's Lockyer Valley on Monday, state Premier Anna Bligh said. Authorities had grave fears for at least 18 of the missing, she said.
The valley funneled rain from a freak storm _ forecasters estimated up to 6 inches (150 millimeters) fell in half an hour near Toowoomba city _ into a stream that formed a path of destruction, lifting houses from foundations.
The torrent slowed and spread out as it moved downstream toward the state capital of Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city with some 2 million people.
The Brisbane River overflowed its banks Tuesday and officials warned that thousands of houses in dozens of low-lying neighborhoods and parts of downtown could be inundated by Thursday. Residents queued for up to four hours outside emergency services depots on Tuesday to get sandbags to try to protect their homes, and shoppers stocked up on bottled water, milk and fuel. Residents in at least three suburbs were asked to prepare their homes, then go and stay with friends or family on higher ground.

The violent surge near Toowoomba on Monday escalated Australia's flood crisis in Queensland state and brought the overall death toll to 20. Until then, the flooding had unfolded slowly as swollen rivers burst their banks and inundated towns while moving downstream toward the ocean.
Emergency services officers plucked more than 40 people from houses isolated overnight by the torrent that hit the Lockyer Valley, and thousands moved out of were being evacuated. In one small community, Forest Hill, the entire population of about 300 was airlifted to safety in military helicopters, Bligh said.
In Ipswich, a town of 15,000 people between Toowoomba and Brisbane, hundreds of residents moved in with friends and family or into an evacuation center on high ground as officials warned the swollen Bremer River would flood dozens of homes overnight Tuesday, Mayor Paul Pisasale said.
As Tuesday progressed, the death toll rose from eight to ten. At an evening afternoon news conference, Bligh said officials held grave fears for 18 of the 78 people missing. She did not elaborate.
The search and rescue effort was being hampered by thunderstorms and more driving rain, though the bad weather eased during the day and Bligh said the search would get easier on Wednesday.

Queensland has been in the grip of its worst flooding for more than two weeks, after tropical downpours across a vast area of the state covered an area the size of France and Germany combined. Entire towns have been swamped, more than 200,000 people affected, and coal and farming industries virtually shut down.

Monday's flash flooding struck without warning in Toowoomba, a city of some 90,000 people nestled in mountains 2,300 feet (700 meters) above sea level. Bligh said an intense deluge fell over a concentrated area, sending a 26-foot (eight-meter), fast-moving torrent crashing through Toowoomba and smaller towns further down the valley.
Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson described the events Monday as "an inland instant tsunami."
As the water was pushed its way downstream, officials closed roads and highways and told residents in low-lying area of Brisbane to sandbag their homes and then move to higher ground.
 . Click Here for more info.

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Aussies affected by flooding are promised financial aid as more rain falls in Queensland.

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'Let Voters Decide' Seeks 2012 Ballot Measure, Swap Missouri Income Tax For Sales Tax

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http://www.letvotersdecide.com/

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Group seeks to swap Missouri income tax for sales tax

By The Associated Press, News Tribune

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Supporters of replacing Missouri’s income tax with an expanded sales tax took their first step Friday toward getting the idea to voters by filing proposals with the secretary of state’s office.
Backers submitted nine versions of a proposed constitutional amendment that could appear before voters in the November 2012 election. They generally would phase out income taxes while levying a state sales tax on more purchases. The sales tax would be capped at 7 percent and would cover goods and many services.
Missouri currently has a 4.225 percent state sales tax. Of that, 3 percent is for general state revenue and 1.225 percent is for dedicated purposes such as conservation, education and state parks.
Local governments also can levy sales taxes, including taxes earmarked for transportation and capital improvements.
For example, Cole County’s current total tax rate, including the state’s taxes, is 5.725 percent, according to the state Revenue Department.
Jefferson City’s current local sales tax is 7.725 percent, while Holts Summit charges an 8.725 percent total, and Columbia has a 7.350 percent total rate.
Where a transportation development district exists — such as the Kohl’s and east-side Walmart projects — the sales tax can be as much as 1 percent higher.
To get a constitutional amendment on the ballot, supporters must collect signatures from two-thirds of the state’s congressional districts equaling 8 percent of the votes cast in the 2008 gubernatorial election. That amounts to between about 146,000 and 160,000 signatures depending upon which congressional districts are targeted. Before signatures are gathered, state officials must develop a ballot summary and cost estimate.
The income tax constitutional amendment is supported by the same group behind a measure approved by voters last year to ban new cities from enacting an earnings tax and to require St. Louis and Kansas City to hold regular votes on their existing earnings tax. That group received more than $11.2 million in financial support from retired businessman Rex Sinquefield.

Ballot measure supporters said they have not yet decided which of the nine versions of the proposed constitutional amendment to pursue.
Some versions repeal the individual income tax, while others would also eliminate corporate taxes. The versions have different phase-in periods for eliminating the income tax. For example, one would repeal the income tax in 2014, and others would phase it out over several years.
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SCHOOL CLOSINGS UPDATED EVERY 2 MINS. CLICK ON LINK DIRECTLY ABOVE NEWS STORIES: 365...24 Hours 7 Days a Week Weather Coverage In the Box Above Our News Stories (Enter Zip Code For Your Area)

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Winter Weather Advisory:

A Winter Weather Advisory for snow remains in effect thru noon CST Tuesday. Accumulating snow thru Tuesday Morning (3-6 inches possible) for Gasconade, Montgomery Counties.
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5-Day Forecast for ZIP Code 65041

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
29° F | 22° F	27° F | 4° F	14° F | 2° F	22° F | 13° F	31° F | 23° F
Snow 90% chance of precipitation	Snow 60% chance of precipitation	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Mostly Cloudy
Hourly	Hourly	Hourly	Hourly	Hourly

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Gasconade County R1 Closed       Montgomery County R-2

Closed

Hermann Public-St. George Catholic

Closed

School

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Updated today at  5:16 AM , Jan. 10, 2011.
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NWS Hourly Forecast for Tuesday Forecast data from the National Digital Forecast Database

Hermann, Missouri (65041)

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

12 AM	3 AM	6 AM	9 AM	12 PM	3 PM	6 PM	9 PM
Temperature / Dew Point (°F):
25 / 22	25 / 22	25 / 22	23 / 20	25 / 20	25 / 16	20 / 13	14 / 11
Humidity (%):
92%	91%	88%	88%	81%	70%	77%	84%
Wind (mph):
4 mph East (100°)	2 mph ENE (70°)	6 mph WNW (290°)	9 mph WNW (300°)	13 mph WNW (290°)	14 mph WNW (290°)	13 mph WNW (290°)	13 mph WNW (290°)
Conditions:
Snow	Snow	Snow	Snow	Chance of Snow	Chance of Snow	Chance of Snow	Chance of Snow
Probability of Precipitation (%):
100%	100%	100%	60%	60%	60%	60%	10%
Cloud Cover (%):
100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	95%	89%	84%

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	Winter Weather Advisory
Statement as of 4:53 AM CST on January 11, 2011 ... Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect until noon CST today... A Winter Weather Advisory for snow remains in effect until noon CST today. * Timing... snow will gradually end this morning as a winter weather system moves through the area. * Accumulations... total snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches is expected with locally higher amounts possible across northeast Missouri. * Impacts... snow covered roads will lead to hazardous driving conditions. Precautionary/preparedness actions... Motorists should plan for a slower than normal trip due to snow covered roads. Be especially alert when approaching bridges... overpasses... and curves.

	Record Report
Statement as of 2:37 am CST on January 11, 2011 ... Record daily maximum snowfall set at Columbia MO... a record snowfall of 3.8 inch(es) was set at Columbia MO yesterday. This breaks the old record of 3.2 set in 1905.

	Local Storm Report
01/11/2011 0400 am 5 miles S of Morrison, Gasconade County. Snow m3.0 inch, reported by trained spotter.             Light snow still falling 01/11/2011 0259 am Rosebud, Gasconade County. Snow m3.0 inch, reported by co-op observer.             Still snowing 01/11/2011 0124 am Drake, Gasconade County. Snow m2.5 inch, reported by trained spotter.             Still snowing 01/10/2011 0945 PM 5 miles SSE of Bland, Gasconade County. Snow m1.3 inch, reported by trained spotter.             Light snow still falling. 01/10/2011 0713 PM Rosebud, Gasconade County. Snow m1.4 inch, reported by co-op observer.             Total thus far 01/10/2011 0452 PM Rosebud, Gasconade County. Snow m1.0 inch, reported by co-op observer.             Started accumulating at 230 PM

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