WASHINGTON (LA Times) — "President Bush issued a formal national security directive Wednesday ordering agencies to prepare contingency plans for a surprise, "decapitating" attack on the federal government, and assigned responsibility for coordinating such plans to the White House.

      The prospect of a nuclear bomb being detonated in Washington without warning, whether smuggled in by terrorists or a foreign government, has been cited by many security analysts as a rising concern since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

      The order makes explicit that the focus of federal worst-case planning involves a covert nuclear attack against the capital, in contrast with Cold War beliefs that a long-range strike would be preceded by a notice of minutes or hours as missiles were fueled and launched.

      "As a result of the asymmetric threat environment, adequate warning of potential emergencies that could pose a significant risk to the homeland might not be available, and therefore all continuity planning shall be based on the assumption that no such warning will be received," states the 72-paragraph order.

       The statement added, "Emphasis will be placed upon geographic dispersion of leadership, staff, and infrastructure in order to increase survivability and maintain uninterrupted Government Functions."

      After the 2001 attacks, Bush assigned about 100 senior civilian managers to secretly rotate to locations outside of Washington for weeks or months at a time to ensure the nation's survival, a shadow government that evolved based on long-standing "continuity of operations plans."

      Since then, other agencies including the Pentagon, the office of the Director of National Intelligence and CIA have taken steps to relocate facilities or key functions outside of Washington, citing factors such as economics or the importance of avoiding Beltway "group-think.".."

     Check your kits; check 'em twice.  And then check them again.  Buy what you need to buy; fill in what gaps of your response plans.  This whole thing has meaning.  If it's wrong, well as they say, "It is better to be safe than sorry." 

     Here, it is better to be ready, than to be unprepared.  Thanks Rzero for finding this...

     NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Global financial markets awash in liquidity, due partly to a weak dollar, have spawned a flurry of mergers and acquisitions this year, and as long as the greenback remains soft the boom has further to run.

      The weak dollar, which has been pressured by gloomy U.S. growth expectations and diminishing yield advantage over other major currencies, has triggered huge increases in foreign exchange reserves for countries such as China and Japan that don't want a soft dollar because it erodes their export competitiveness.

      BIG LAKE, Mo. (Fox) —  "Inmates joined the National Guard in sandbagging efforts as floodwater crept toward homes and businesses across northwest and central Missouri.

      Big Lake and some other small communities were already submerged. At Craig, inmates and National Guard members helped move sandbags to protect the water treatment plant, schools and an ethanol plant from the rising floodwater.

      The water got within "a hillbilly's whisker from going over in several places," Holt County Sheriff Kirby Felumb said Thursday.

     Big Lake, Missouri is now "Bigger Lake".  I'm not trying to be funny.  I just find the irony to be overwhelming.

      AVALON, Calif. (Fox) —  "A wind-driven wildfire scorched more than 500 acres on the getaway spot of Santa Catalina Island on Thursday, forcing evacuations just as firefighters were mopping up a blaze at another Southern California playground, Los Angeles' sprawling Griffith Park.

      Officials evacuated residents from hilltop homes on the island's city of Avalon toward the beach, said Los Angeles County fire Capt. Ron Haralson.

      Smoke darkened the sky over Avalon's quaint crescent harbor, the landmark 1929 Catalina Casino and homes, restaurants and tiny hotels that cling to slopes rising sharply above the waterfront. The smoke could be seen from the mainland..."

     WASHINGTON (Fox)  -  "Military and civilian health facilities will be overwhelmed if a nationwide flu pandemic hits the United States, and the National Guard may have to be called out to provide medical help and even enforce a quarantine, the Defense Department warned in a report released Wednesday.

      As the Pentagon fights criticism from congressional Democrats that the war in Iraq is depleting the National Guard's ability to help out in domestic crises, the 86-page report says a possible pandemic could require National Guard assistance in supplying medical aid or isolating groups of people to minimize further spread of the disease.

      About 3 million people could die as a result of a possible pandemic, with up to 35 percent of the population falling ill, reads the report dated August 2006 and titled "The Department of Defense Implementation Plan for Pandemic Influenza."

     According to the report, in the event of a pandemic or a bioterror attack, the Defense Department may be called by the president to assist civilian authorities in minimizing the spread of disease by placing restrictions on interstate transportation. Jurisdictions, the report adds, would be overwhelmed and unable to provide essential commodities and services. In addition, the nation will not be able to rely on airlines..."

     Translation: Don't get infected.

      Florida (CNN) -- "Winds from the first named storm of the year fanned wildfires in Georgia and northern Florida on Wednesday, more than three weeks ahead of the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season.

      Subtropical Storm Andrea, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (72 kph) and higher gusts, was centered about 135 miles southeast of Savannah, Georgia, and about 115 miles northeast of Daytona Beach, Florida, as of 11 p.m. ET on Wednesday, forecasters said.

    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Firefighters evacuated residents of an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood and prepared to defend the upscale homes as a wildfire in the city's largest park flared late on Tuesday night.

     The blaze in Griffith Park, which authorities say may have been started by arson, began in the early afternoon and was fanned by unseasonably high temperatures and hot Santa Ana winds through the brittle, rain-thirsty brush.

     Firefighters evacuated people from the hilly park just east of the landmark Hollywood sign, from a museum and from the city's zoo. Between 200 and 250 acres had burned by 10 p.m., fire officials said.

     The orange flames above the Los Feliz neighborhood, just miles from Hollywood, were visible across much of the sprawling city. The flames resurged after nightfall, when 25 percent of the fire was reported to be contained.

     "It is my understanding that we haven't lost any homes, but there has been damage to at least one structure," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told reporters from the perimeter of the park..."

    
     A lot of fires this year so far.

     TOKYO (Reuters) - "The dollar drifted sideways against major currencies on Wednesday as market players looked to see whether the Federal Reserve would signal concern about weaker U.S. growth that could be a precursor to an interest rate cut.

     The Fed is widely expected to keep rates on hold at 5.25 percent, and many analysts believe the central bank will emphasise in its post-meeting statement that worries about inflation pressures outweigh the economy's housing-led slowdown.

     Weaker growth in the United States has stirred expectations that the Fed's next move will be to cut rates even as robust conditions elsewhere in the world have kept other major central banks on track to raise rates, luring funds to those currencies..."

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Fox) —  "Further evacuations were ordered Monday in windy, parched Florida as a wildfire crept within a quarter-mile of several homes, one of numerous blazes that occupied crews around the country.

      A fast-growing fire forced evacuations in northeastern Minnesota, and the area damaged by Georgia's largest-ever wildfire surpassed 100,000 acres — about 156 square miles — as that blaze continued to spread.

      Residents in at least three areas of Florida were ordered to leave, and hundreds more were on standby. About 20 homes in Walton County in the Panhandle were evacuated as a 300-acre fire threatened the neighborhood, said Jim Harrell, a spokesman for the state Division of Forestry..."

     Many say this is a "season" for wildfires.  I have my doubts.

     The Australian dollar was the biggest gainer as strong consumer spending data boosted growth across the economy and kept upward pressure on inflation and interest rates.

     While the Federal Reserve is seen holding benchmark short-term rates at 5.25 percent after its meeting on Wednesday, analysts say officials may mention signs of slower U.S. growth after recent data revealed anaemic job growth in April, which would weigh on the dollar..."

    JERUSALEM (Fox) —  "An Israeli archaeologist has found the tomb of King Herod, the legendary builder of ancient Jerusalem and the Holy Land, Hebrew University said late Monday.

      The tomb is at a site called Herodium, a flattened hilltop in the Judean Desert, clearly visible from southern Jerusalem.  Herod built a palace on the hill, and researchers discovered his burial site there, the university said.

      The university had hoped to keep the find a secret until Tuesday, when it planned a news conference to disclose the find in detail, but the Haaretz newspaper found out about the discovery and published an article on its Web site.

• 4 soldiers, reserve police officer suspected of looting cigarettes, alcohol
• The 5 had come on their own and were not part of any official detachment
• Uniforms allowed suspects to come, go freely despite town curfew
• Also, 2 people in Red Cross jackets arrested, suspected of looting

     GREENSBURG, Kansas (AP) -- "Four soldiers and a reserve police officer were arrested Sunday on suspicion of looting cigarettes and alcohol from a store in this tornado-ravaged town, state officials said.

      In a separate incident, two people wearing Red Cross jackets who were not members of the relief agency were arrested Sunday on suspicion of looting, said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the adjutant general's office. She did not have any additional details.

      The soldiers from Fort Riley Army base and the reserve police officer had come to assist on their own and were not part of any official detachment, said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the state's adjutant general.

      "These were people who weren't supposed to be there," Bunting said.

      Watson said the five were arrested at a Dillon's supermarket and were being held at the Pratt County Jail without bail. They have not yet been charged.

      Watson said the five were in uniform, so police allowed them to come and go freely despite a town curfew. She said the officer was from a central Kansas community, but she was not sure which town..."

     The people who are supposed to be the most honorable and most trustworthy are sometimes the ones stabbing you in the back.

     All the more reason to be capable of taking care of yourself.

     “The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.” - James Madison

      NEW YORK (Reuters) - "U.S. average retail gasoline prices rose to an all-time high over the past two weeks, due to a number of refinery outages, according to the latest nationwide Lundberg survey.

      The national average price for self-serve regular unleaded gas was $3.0684 a gallon on May 4, an increase of 19.47 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, according to the survey of about 7,000 gas stations.

      The prior all-time record was an average price of $3.0256 per gallon, that was reached on August 11, 2006.

    New Orleans (National Geographic) - "Almost a year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers declared that it had restored New Orleans' levees and floodwalls to pre-Hurricane Katrina strength.

      But the system is actually riddled with flaws, and a storm even weaker than Katrina could breach the levees if it hit this year, say leading experts who have investigated the system.

      The unwelcome news comes as residents gird for what is predicted to be a "very active" Atlantic hurricane season, and as residents are still slowly rebuilding their homes and lives after Katrina.

      During a recent inspection of the levee system with National Geographic magazine, engineering professor Bob Bea of the University of California, Berkeley, found multiple weak spots.

      The most serious flaws turned up in the rebuilt levees along the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet ship channel..."

• NEW: Weather service predicts more tornadoes on Plains
• President Bush declares major disaster in southwest Kansas
• More than 50 touchdowns reported Saturday
• Most of Greensburg, Kansas, heavily damaged or destroyed

     GREENSBURG, Kansas (CNN) -- "Rescue workers Sunday continued sifting through piles of rubble -- some towering as high as 30 feet -- looking for survivors from a wave of tornado-packing storms that killed nine people and essentially wiped Greensburg, Kansas, off the map.

      The National Weather Service, meanwhile, predicted the Central Plains may see more devastation as another spate of storms -- along with a "few strong tornadoes" -- was predicted to slam into the area Sunday afternoon and evening.

      "The areas most likely to experience this activity include central Kansas, western Oklahoma and the eastern Texas Panhandle," the weather service said.

     Wiped off the map; 9 dead.  This is no Plainsville, but still a nasty storm.  The right time of year with the right conditions.  Nothing new or freakish about this.  The Great Plains have always been known for such devestating storms.  The average frequency and intensity of these storms, to date, have remained unchanged.

     In any event, if you live in Tornado Alley, you should already be aware of what precautions to take; and take them.

     HANOI (Reuters) - "Bird flu has been found on a duck farm in central Vietnam, the first outbreak of the disease in more than a month, the government said on Sunday.

      Tests showed the H5N1 virus had killed 160 ducklings in the farm in Nghe An province on May 1, the Agriculture Ministry's Animal Health Department said in a report. It said the 40-day-old ducklings had not been vaccinated against bird flu.

      By Friday another 90 ducks died in the same farm, prompting health workers to slaughter the remaining 360 fowl, the report said.

     NEW YORK (Reuters) - "The dollar fell on Friday after a report showed U.S. payrolls in April grew at their slowest pace in more than two years, suggesting an economic slowdown has finally caught up with the labor market.

      The data cast a cloud over near-term U.S. growth and bolstered the case for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this year, pushing the euro to a session peak at $1.3610 (EUR=: Quote, Profile, Research, near a record high above $1.3680.

      Earlier this week, the dollar enjoyed its biggest rally in two months against the most liquid currencies as reports showing strength in the U.S. manufacturing and services sectors in April snapped a string of weak economic data..."