Sign of the times - Zecharia 14.15 being fulfilled

[waltky]

And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels...

Mystery ailment kills hundreds of Saudi camels
August 18, 2007 -- Hundreds of camels have died in Saudi Arabia this week from a mystery ailment.

The Agriculture Ministry has said 232 camels died in the space of four days in the Dawasir Valley, 250 miles south of Riyadh. King Abdullah has promised compensation for owners, who say the real number of deaths is far higher.

Agriculture ministry officials have denied an infectious disease caused the deaths and blamed them on animal feed supplied by food storage authorities. "The disease has to be limited to one place to prevent it spreading and then they have to find a serum," said camel breeder Hamad al-Harthy, who talked of hundreds of deaths.

"They need to bring in help from abroad to find a solution," said trader Turki Abdelaziz. Camels are big business in the desert kingdom and are traded by Bedouin tribes for thousands of dollars each. The animals are used for racing and their meat is also prized.

Authorities have been on the lookout for signs of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu over the last year. The virus was found in birds in two instances, in March and last year. Saudi Arabia's Agriculture Ministry has lifted bans on poultry imports.

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[waltky]

Granny says, "Go to church, ya'll live longer...

Attend Religious Services, Live Longer
Nov. 29, 2008 - Study Shows Regular Attendance at Religious Services Cuts Risk of Death

Going to church -- or any kind of religious service -- may prolong your life. A new study shows that older women who regularly attend religious services reduce their risk of death by 20%. The study was published in Psychology and Health.

Researchers from Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine
grouped all religions together, looking only at whether the women attended
services regularly and whether those services brought them comfort. Organized religion creates a social network with regular routines, which is
known to enhance well-being. However, even when researchers adjusted for that factor, the women going to services were still less likely to die.

"Interestingly, the protection against mortality provided by religion cannot be entirely explained by expected factors that include enhanced social support of friends or family, lifestyle choices, and reduced smoking and alcohol consumption," lead author and clinical assistant professor of psychology Eliezer Schnall says in a news release. "There is something here that we don't quite understand. It is always possible that some unknown or unmeasured factors confounded these results."

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