Here’s a breakdown of the impact (so far) by the numbers:

15 - At least 15 deaths have been reported so far as a result of Maria. That number is expected to grow as recovery efforts proceed.

3.4 million - That’s both the population of Puerto Rico and the number of people currently without power. Maria devastated Puerto Rico’s already fragile electrical grid, cutting off power to 100 percent of the island.

6 - It could take up to six months for Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the island’s sole energy service provider, to restore power. (Complicating matters, the power authority is around $9 billion in debt.)

80-90 Percent - Carlos Mercader, a spokesman for Puerto Rico’s governor, told PBS that in the hardest hit communities on the island, almost all of the houses have been destroyed. “80 or 90 percent of the homes are a complete disaster,” he said. “They are totally lost.”

12,500 - Some 12,500 people fled their homes to ride out the storm in one of Puerto Rico’s 500 shelters. Given the extent of the damage to homes, Mercader said he expects many people will be forced to live out of the shelters for weeks to come.

155 mph - That was Maria’s sustained windspeed when it made landfall as a Category 4 storm Wednesday morning, just shy of being considered a Category 5 storm, the strongest on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.

1928 - Hurricane Maria was the first Category 4 storm to hit the island since 1932, and the strongest since a Category 5 storm hit Puerto Rico in 1928.

$74 billion - The amount of debt the economically troubled US territory had before the storm, not including an additional $50 billion in pension liabilities.

$1 billion - The amount of damage already inflicted on Puerto Rico by Hurricane Irma, which skirted the island just two weeks ago. 

$15 million - The woefully small size of Puerto Rico’s emergency fund.

Our anthem is sung and our flag is proudly displayed prior to major sporting events for a reason.  The truth is that our national anthem and our national flag are both symbols that directly represent our nation.  In other words, when you show disrespect to the anthem or to the flag you are literally showing disrespect to the United States of America.  So what these players did on Sunday was essentially to spit in the face of every single American citizen.

This is not just an American thing.  All over the world it is well understood that respect for the national flag and other national symbols is not optional.  What transpired at NFL games on Sunday will be broadcast all over the planet, and the rest of the world will be laughing at our national disgrace.

The North American section of the Ring of Fire has been relatively quiet for an extended period of time, but now all of the shaking down in Mexico is causing a tremendous amount of concern. In fact, some now fear that all of the shaking down there may be a harbinger of things to come for California.

Within the last 30 days, there have been three major earthquakes in Mexico. This latest one was a magnitude 6.2 earthquake, and it was accompanied by an eruption of Mount Popocatepetl… As seismic activity rattles Mexico, many living on the California coast are beginning to take notice.

In fact, it is being reported that there was a run on emergency supplies after a magnitude 3.3 earthquake struck near San Jose… And just last Friday, it was reported that a magnitude 5.7 earthquake “struck off the northern coast of California”…

Mount Rainier is known as “the most dangerous mountain in America” for a reason. Someday Mount Rainier will erupt again, and you don’t want to be around when that happens. As recent weeks have clearly demonstrated, our planet is becoming increasingly unstable.

The nationalist AfD is on track to become the third party, with 13.5%. The performance, better than forecast in opinion polls, means the right-wing, anti-Islam party will have seats in the Bundestag for the first time. Addressing supporters, Mrs Merkel, who has been in the job for 12 years, said she had hoped for a "better result".

She added that she would listen to the "concerns, worries and anxieties" of voters of the anti-immigration, anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD) in order to win them back. The result is disastrous for Mrs Merkel, BBC Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill says. The chancellor is being punished, our correspondent adds, for opening Germany's door to almost 900,000 undocumented refugees and migrants.

The most likely scenario is of a "Jamaica" coalition, so-called because of the colours of Jamaica's flag. It includes the black CDU/CSU, the yellow, business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) - who are returning to parliament after a four-year hiatus - and the Greens.

Prominent AfD figure Frauke Petry said on Twitter (in German) that Germany had experienced an incomparable "political earthquake". Meanwhile, Beatrix van Storch, one of the party's leaders, told the BBC that the result would change the political system in Germany, giving "a voice" to the people she said were not represented in the last parliament. "We'll start debates on migration, we'll start debates on Islam, we'll start debates on ever closer union." All parties have rejected working with the AfD.

Angela Merkel's election result four years ago was, to be sure, extraordinary. It was clear from the surveys that her conservatives wouldn't be able to repeat it. But a fall like this? Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) saw their joint result fall by more than eight percentage points - their worst showing since 1949. During her first appearance after the election at her party's headquarters, the chancellor said she had, in fact, hoped for a somewhat better result. Those gathered at the headquarters dutifully chanted, "Angie, Angie."

Then things grew quiet again. Nobody waved the German flag. It was a far cry from 2013, when CDU politicians broke out into a spontaneous karaoke session after the results were announced. This time, the prominent members of Merkel's party who had gathered behind her on the stage seemed sobered by the tepid showing.

Merkel can keep her job as chancellor, the "strategic goal" has been achieved, as Merkel refers to it. But it comes at a high price. Voters have severely punished the parties of the current governing coalition, with Merkel's conservatives losing dozens of seats in parliament. The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) will now enter parliament with a strong, double-digit result. And it will be extremely difficult for Merkel to build a government coalition that will be stable for the next four years.

Since 2002, when the Homeland Security Act was passed, numerous colleges and universities have been feeding from the DHS money trough. Each year they line up like good little bundists, promoting DHS's vision of terror. Think about that, everything you've been told about terrorism and extremism is coming from colleges! A HomelandSecurityEdu map shows that nearly every school in America, offers some type of Homeland Security degree or career.

Have you ever wondered why schools require student protesters to get a permit and stay in illegal free speech zones? 

Have you ever wondered why schools suspend students for committing microagressions? 

Have you ever wondered why schools are creating a generation of 'snowflakes'?

Look no further than DHS, whose vision of a police state is becoming a reality.

But they are different, aren't they? You don't need to be a professor of obstetrics to know that a bunion is different to a foetus. The question of whether the foetus has rights and, if so, what those rights are and at what point they come into effect is incredibly complex and emotive.

It is something philosophers, ethicists, doctors, lawyers, theologians and many of the general public have grappled with for years. There is no simple answer, and it is beholden on someone of Professor Regan's great office to at least acknowledge this fact, regardless of her personal opinion.

Let's be clear here, her announcement is not to do with medicine. It's a political statement — an alignment with a particular liberal ideology that states that abortion should be available on demand, no questions asked.

This demand was backed last year by the Royal College of Midwives' chief executive Cathy Warwick. But it has profound implications. It means that the UK would join a tiny handful of countries — such as China and Vietnam — where abortion is legal on demand up until birth. When it comes to human rights, I'm never one to feel comfortable following China's lead.

One in three women in the UK will undergo a termination before the age of 45, so this issue resonates with many people on a profound level. For feminists to politicise abortion in this way, and to insist that everything a woman wants she should get, regardless of the ethical issues, is nothing short of outrageous.

Their president, Professor Lesley Regan, believes terminations should be treated the same as any other medical procedure. But although the RCOG represents 6,000 senior doctors in England specialising in childbirth and women's health, only 33 members of the body's council will take part in the behind-closed-doors ballot.

A group of 650 doctors have now signed a letter to Professor Regan objecting to her 'extreme' views. The practitioners – including those who do not belong to the RCOG – say it is 'completely unacceptable' that the majority of members are being denied the chance to vote.

They also warn that the college risks 'severely damaging its reputation' by adopting such a radical stance. If the council members vote in favour, the RCOG will formally back decriminalising abortions and lobby the Government for a change in the law.