Believers Apocalypse waiting for the end, skeptics carry

GARANCE Burke associated press OAKLAND, California on May 21, 2011 (AP)

They spent months of warning the world of the apocalypse, some giving land property or draining their savings accounts. And so they waited with vigilance, Saturday for the time being appointed to arrive.

When 6 p.m. came and went through the United States and the various places of the globe, and no extraordinary cataclysm occurred, some believers expressed confusion, while others feel reassured each of their faith. Yet, some other takes on the heels.

"I had some skepticism but I was trying to push away skepticism because I believe in God," said Keith Bauer - who jumped into his van in Maryland and led his family 3,000 miles in California for the Rapture.

He began his day in the Sun clear morning before Oakland family gated Radio International Headquarters, including the founder, Harold Camping, disseminates the apocalyptic prediction for years.

"I was hoping for it because I think that sky would be much better than this land," said Bauer, a truck driver who starts the journey West last week, thinking that if he "" worked last week, I would have paid all fa?onSi obtained step the Rapture happened. ""

May 21 doomsday message has been sent away through sites Web and emissions by Camping, an 89-year-old retired civil engineer who built a multi million Christian empire of media which publishes his apocalyptic prediction. According to Camping, destruction was likely began his walk around the world as it was 6 hours in different time zones, although some believers, said Saturday that the exact timing was never written in stone.

In the New York Times Square, Robert Fitzpatrick, Staten Island, said that he was surprised when the six hours time simply came and went. He spent his own money to place advertising on the end of the world.

"I cannot tell you what I feel right now," he said, surrounded by tourists. "Obviously, I have not understood it properly because we are still here.".

Many disciples, said that the delay was an additional criterion of God to persevere in their faith.

"It is always on May 21 and God of the pass to make it, said Coordinator of special projects of Radio of the family Michael Garcia, who spent Saturday morning, praying and drinking two last cups of coffee with his wife at home in Alameda.." When say you something and it doesn't happen, your pride is what is wrong. But who has need of pride? God says he resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. ?

The Internet was living with discussion, humorous or not, towards the end of the world and its apparent failure to occur on cue. Many tweets said prediction of Camping a dud or shared, deadpan, their relief at not having to do chores for weekend or take a shower.

Key trends on Twitter at noon included, no. 1, "endofworldconfessions", followed by "myraptureplaylist".

6 P.m. approaching in California, some 100 people gathered outside the headquarters of the family of international radio stations in Oakland, although it seems none of the believers in prophecy among them. Camping radio stations, television channels, emissions by satellite and Web site are controlled by a modest building tight between automobile and business of the drive shop a palm.

Two months after the earthquake of the Japan land, poor victims still waiting for assistance

TOKYO - the most needy victims of the earthquake and devastating tsunami in the Japan have yet to receive a large part of the record of $ 2.2 billion aid two months later, mainly because the authorities have not yet identifiedthe country's Red Cross, said Wednesday.

March 11 earthquake and the tsunami and the nuclear crisis that followed at the plant in Fukushima Daiichi 25,000 dead or missing, left sent more than 117,000 people leave their homes and destroyed infrastructure in the North of the Japan.

The Japanese Red Cross Society collected so far 174 billion yen ($2.2 billion) in aid money, most, he has never given any relief campaign.

Charity distributed about 65 billion yen in April, the regional Governments in disaster-hit but says that this Fund has not yet reached the poor.

"The biggest problem is that those who should receive the money cannot be identified, as more than 10 000 people are still missing, resident records have disappeared, and administrative functions at the periphery don't work," says Tadateru KonoePresident of the Japanese Red Cross.

"Money has reached the prefectural level, but I recently saw a report that a large part of the actual distribution (to the victims of the earthquake) has not yet take place," he told a press conference.

All money relief organization is supposed to be given to the victims, in cash, and the Group has been criticized for the delay in the distribution. In 1995, when a huge earthquake hit Kobe in the Western Japan, the first series of cash took about two weeks of the disaster.

A panel of experts and officials decided the month last on the parameters of the round of initial distribution of aid, as to give 350,000 yen to families who have lost a member and the same amount to families whose homes have been destroyed.

The Japanese Red Cross was still more than 100 billion yen cash relief, and Konoe, also President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, said there is no clear plan on how to distribute it. He said that the money could also be given to businesses and individuals.

Japan began to clean and rebuild the region damaged, but work is difficult and the area is still a ruin.

An area of renaming is still in place 20 km (12 miles) around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, while residents of a town were allowed to return Tuesday for two hours for the first time since the disaster.

In a survey by Yomiuri newspaper interviewed mayors and officials of 41 cities in areas affected by the disaster, said they felt they did there was no clear vision to rebuild their lives.

Seventeen mayors said they do not have an idea of when claire the clearing of rubble would have finished in their fields, whereas nine said they did not know when electricity and water systems would function properly once more.

Konoe, stated that many medical services in the areas affected by the disaster remained closed and that the stress-related diseases are among the greatest risks to health for internally displaced persons.

The total cost of the damage was estimated at $ 300 billion, which makes higher global disaster. (Yen Japanese $1 = 80.835)