La Earthquake,California Earthquake
March 16, 2010
La Earthquake,California Earthquake:A 4.4 magnitude earthquake shook the greater Los Angeles area early morning today. According to the data provided by the USGS, the epicenter of the quake has been detected to be some one mile east-northeast of Pico Rivera and 11 miles east-southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
The earthquake took place at 4:04 PT and no significant damages or injuries have been reported so far. Many people are recording their experience of the quake at facebook and the twitters. From their accounts, it seems it was more like a Jolt that the California city woke to a somewhat unusual morning.
People were momentarily Apprehensive of a big quake in the lines of Haiti and Chile, but the threat, for the time being, passed off with a scare.
“It felt like something heavy dropped, twice, like back-to-back. Not like an earthquake. Like something heavy hit the ground, “KPSP Local 2 quotes a watch deputies at the Pico Rivera Sheriff’s Station as saying.
The website reports that a weakened part of the Santa Ana Freeway in Downey, which was currently under repair, has received some damage and this traffic has caused some confusion on that part of the city.
Taliban :Kandahar Blasts A Warning To Western Troops
March 15, 2010
Taliban :Kandahar Blasts A Warning To Western Troops :KANDAHAR: Thirty-five people were killed in an assault on Kandahar described by the Taliban as a pre-emptive response to Western plans to eradicate them from the strategic city, officials said Sunday.
A series of massive explosions rocked the southern city late Saturday in what appeared one of the biggest coordinated assaults by the militants since their insurgency began more than eight years ago.
The governor of Kandahar province said he had requested more troops to help secure the city from further attacks by the Taliban, who regard it as their spiritual centre.
Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashery said the attackers aimed to blow open Kandahar’s prison and free its inmates, including militants.
He said the dead comprised 13 police officers and 22 civilians, and that another 57 people were injured.
The attack came as tens of thousands of extra troops are arriving in Afghanistan as part of a new counter-insurgency strategy aimed at concluding the US-led war on the Taliban.
Among the injured were 40 civilians including six women and three children — and 17 police officers. Forty-two houses close to the city’s prison and its police headquarters were destroyed or badly damaged.
“Initial information shows that after the prison attack the enemy attacked locations and routes that end up at or are en route to the prison in an effort to prevent police from going and securing the prison,” Bashery said.
President Hamid Karzai branded the perpetrators “enemies of Islam and Afghanistan“.
“Those who do not respect Islamic values and act against them no doubt will be cursed by God and will go to hell,” he said in a statement.
The city was hit by five blasts at 8:00 pm (1530 GMT) on Saturday. The first, caused by a huge suicide car bomb, occurred outside the prison and was followed by a similar blast outside provincial police headquarters.
Three other explosions were probably also suicide attacks, Bashery said.
“Most of the police casualties were outside the police headquarters where officers had stopped and surrounded the vehicle laden with explosives as it detonated,” he said.
Early Sunday police seized eight explosive-packed suicide vests and three rockets from a house near the prison. The Taliban plan appeared to be to first break into the prison, then use suicide vests and rockets to burst open cells and free prisoners, Bashery said.
A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, told AFP the attack was a response to comments by the commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan that Kandahar would be targeted in military efforts to eradicate the Taliban.
Kandahar was the Taliban’s base during their rule of the country, which ended with the US-led invasion in 2001.
“This was an answer to General (Stanley) McChrystal, who announced Operation Omaid in Kandahar,” Ahmadi said, using the name of the battle plan.
“This was to sabotage the operation and to show we can strike anywhere, any time we want.”
Kandahar governor Turyalai Wisa said at least 10 people attending a wedding party were among the dead. Rescue workers were still searching the rubble.
He told reporters he had asked the Kabul government to send more forces to improve security.
“We have asked the central government to send us more security forces, especially intelligence workers, and they have accepted our request in principle,” he said.
Up to 1,000 Taliban inmates escaped from Kandahar’s Sarpoza prison in June 2008 after a suicide attack blew open the gates and destroyed the walls.
Another explosion took place early Sunday close to the Kandahar office of a Japanese construction company, injuring five employees — four of them Pakistanis and one an Afghan.
The first major offensive of the current war strategy is taking place in Helmand province, neighbouring Kandahar province.
Visiting Afghanistan last week, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told troops to brace for a tough fight as generals lay their plans to battle the Taliban in Kandahar.
The US and NATO are deploying an extra 30,000 troops over coming months, bringing to 150,000 the total number of foreign troops in Afghanistan, concentrated on the southern Taliban strongholds.
Further west in Farah province, where Taliban activity has escalated in the past year, police chief Mohammad Faqir Askar said nine Taliban including three Arabs were killed Saturday by Afghan and coalition forces in Gulistan district.
Roadside Bombblast 6 People Killed In Kabul
March 13, 2010
Roadside Bombblast 6 People Killed In Kabul:KABUL (AP) — A remote-controlled bomb killed six Afghan civilians Saturday as they traveled in a central province, an official said.
Insurgents detonated the explosives planted in a road as the civilians’ vehicle passed by in Tirin Kot, capital of central Uruzgan province, according to Zemarai Bashary, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.
One other civilian was wounded in the early morning blast, he said.
Roadside bombs are a favorite weapon of insurgents fighting the U.S.-backed government elected after the 2001 invasion that drove the hard-line Taliban from power.
While a leading killer of international troops in Afghanistan, the homemade explosives planted by insurgents often kill civilians.
Nearly 70% of civilian deaths last year were caused by insurgents. At least 2,412 civilians were killed in 2009 — a 14% increase from 2008 — according to the United Nations.
What Is Pulmonary Congestion In Medical
March 12, 2010
What Is Pulmonary Congestion In Medical :Pulomonary congestion as per the medical dictionary is the accumulation of water in the lungs which often causes respiratory failure. Water is accumulated in the lungs either due to failure of the heart or because of a direct injury to the lungs. In both the cases, intervascular fluid escapes into teh parencyma and the alveoli.
Accumulation of water in the lungs lead to the loss of air space and hence failure of the lungs. The fluid suffocates the patient and consequently leads to an heart attack.
The person suffering from pulmonary congestion has difficulty in breathing. Persistant cough is one of the first symptoms. At a later stage blood comes out with cough. Excessive sweating, pale skin and anxiety are other symptoms of the disease. Due to the retention of fluid, gradually the hand and legs swell up.
Pulmonary Congestion cab be easily detected by just an X-Ray which clearly shows fluid build up in the lungs.
Treating pulmonary congestion is not easy. The focus of the treatment should be on adequate oxygenation. The patient should be given high flow of oxygena and measures to aid the cardiac function is an absolute neccesity.
In case of persistant cough or any one of the above symptoms, the patient should immediately consult a doctor. Timely treatment can save life.
United States:Human Rights Battle Increasingly Fought On Internet
March 12, 2010
United States:Human Rights Battle Increasingly Fought On Internet:WASHINGTON: The United States said Thursday that the battle for human rights is increasingly being fought on the Internet as China, Iran and other states try to block access by political activists and others.
In its 2009 report on human rights abuses worldwide, the State Department highlighted how the Internet has become a battleground for supporters and opponents of fundamental rights like freedom of expression and assembly.
It was “a year in which more people gained greater access than ever before to more information about human rights through the Internet, cell phones, and other forms of connective technologies,” it said.
“Yet at the same time it was a year in which governments spent more time, money, and attention finding regulatory and technical means to curtail freedom of expression on the Internet and the flow of critical information,” it added.
Such governments also sought “to infringe on the personal privacy rights of those who used these rapidly evolving technologies,” it added.
In Iran, after the contested presidential elections, authorities cracked down on new media such as Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.
“After the June election, there was a major drop in bandwidth, which experts posited the government caused to prevent activists involved in the protests from accessing the Internet and uploading large video files,” it said.
In China, the government “increased its efforts to monitor Internet use, control content, restrict information, block access to foreign and domestic Web sites, encourage self-censorship, and punish those who violated regulations.
“The government employed thousands of persons at the national, provincial, and local levels to monitor electronic communications,” the report said.
“The government at times blocked access to selected sites operated by major foreign news outlets, health organizations, foreign governments, educational institutions, and social networking sites,” it said.
“The government also automatically censored e-mail and Web chats based on an ever-changing list of sensitive key words,” the State Department added.
In Stalinist North Korea, “the government sought to control virtually all information,” it added.
“There were no independent media, Internet access was limited to high-ranking officials and other elites, and academic freedom was repressed,” it said.
“The government prohibited all but the political elite from listening to foreign media broadcasts, and violators were subject to severe punishment,” the report said.
In Cuba, “the government controlled nearly all Internet access,” it said.
The authorities “reviewed and censored e-mail” as well as used Internet search filters and blocked access to Web sites they opposed.
“Citizens could access the Internet only through government-approved institutions, except at Internet facilities provided by a few diplomatic missions,” it added.
In Egypt, a US ally, the government has promoted use of the Internet but monitored it closely. “During the year, police harassed, detained, and allegedly abused certain bloggers and Internet activists,” it added.
Report:South Sudan Humanitarian Problems Worsening
March 11, 2010
Report:South Sudan Humanitarian Problems Worsening:JUBA: Semi autonomous south Sudan, wracked by inter-tribal fighting and hunger, will face a worsening humanitarian situation this year, a Norwegian aid agency report said on Thursday.
After many delays, Sudan will hold its first multi-party elections in 24 years in April, a key element of a 2005 peace deal that ended more than 20 years of conflict between north and south.
But on Jan. 9, 2011, only months after the polls, the south is due to hold a referendum on independence which most analysts believe will create a new African state.
The Norwegian Refugee Council said the international community must ensure the north-south peace deal is successfully implemented, but must also help strengthen the struggling south Sudan government to avoid more bloodshed if the south becomes independent.
“Displacement and humanitarian needs will continue to increase dramatically in 2010 due to intra-southern conflicts,” the report said.
“Emergency response capacities must be immediately boosted both where intra-southern conflicts are combined with deteriorating food security as well as in areas historically most vulnerable to renewed north-south fighting,” it said.
Progress in implementing the 2005 accord has been slow; the north has been accused of lacking political will to implement its provisions, while the south lacks the capacity to do so.
The lack of agreement on key issues including the long-delayed demarcation of the north-south border and how oil revenues will be shared after the referendum could lead to a renewal of armed conflict, the report said.
The Refugee Council said that as well as trying to help north and south Sudan overcome obstacles to the peace deal, the international community should tackle separate south-south tribal conflict.
“Failing to address intra-south causes of conflict would render a successful CPA (peace deal) process largely meaningless with regard to the current humanitarian situation in the south,” the report said.
Analysts say that as many as 2,500 people died last year in fighting in the south between pastoralists of different ethnic groups, whose historical rivalry has been exacerbated by the war that led many of the south’s communities to take up arms.
While some 187,000 people were displaced in 2008, more than 390,000 people fled their homes last year, mostly because of the inter-tribal fighting heightened by food shortages and the political neglect of minority ethnic groups, the report said.
It urged donors to help strengthen the semi-autonomous government of south Sudan, whose inability to resolve conflicts between ethnic groups played a significant role in last year’s fighting.
The NRC said 80 percent of the south’s health and education services were provided by international aid agencies, which was unsustainable. The government’s weakness could increase tensions in the unstable region, it added.
“There are concerns that the lack of a common enemy among southern groups could further destabilise south Sudan in a post -referendum/independence future,” it said.
Some 2 million people died and 4 million were displaced by the north-south war, one of Africa’s worst. Peace between the north and south is seen as crucial to peace and economic development in east Africa.
TV:Head Of Egypt’s Al-Azhar Dies In Saudi Arabia
March 10, 2010
TV:Head Of Egypt’s Al-Azhar Dies In Saudi Arabia:DUBAI: Egyptian religious leader Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, the head of al Azhar, has died on a visit to Saudi Arabia, Al Jazeera television reported on Wednesday, quoting its correspondent.
Al-Azhar, one of the most prominent seats of Sunni Islamic learning in the Muslim world, has schools, universities and other educational institutions across Egypt.
Turkish Quake Death Toll Rises To 41
March 8, 2010
Turkish Quake Death Toll Rises To 41:KOVANCILAR: A strong earthquake killed 41 villagers in eastern Turkey early on Monday, local officials said, as rescuers worked to free survivors trapped under the rubble.
The quake woke residents from their sleep when it struck at 4:32 am local time (0232 GMT), centred on the sparsely populated area of Basyurt in Elazig province. The quake had a magnitude of 6.0 and was followed by 30 minor aftershocks. -
“There was a lot of fear and panic among the people. It lasted about a minute. We felt it very strongly and everyone tried to get out onto the street,” Nursel Sengezer, a Dogan News Agency correspondent in Elazig.
Hospital workers and relatives ferried casualties from cars and ambulances into the state hospital in the nearby town of Kovancilar as concerned locals looked on.
In nearby villages, people lit fires overnight to keep warm after rushing out of their houses in panic before dawn.
The Elazig Crisis Centre said 41 people were killed and 50 injured, 10 of them seriously, NTV said.
The quake toppled the minarets of three mosques in villages in the area, said Elazig Governor Muammer Erol.
“The number of people injured is not clear. Ambulances keep on going back and forth. Rescue work is continuing. Our gendarmerie and civil defence teams are at work,” Erol said.
Gendarmerie officers and police directed operations on the outskirts of affected villages, where crowds had gathered.
A Red Crescent team has reached the area and set up a crisis centre, while rescuers worked to search for survivors still trapped under rubble.
Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek and three other ministers were travelling to the quake zone, state-run Anatolian news agency reported.
Turkey is criss-crossed with faultlines and frequently suffers earthquakes. A large earthquake measuring 7.4 killed some 18,000 people in August 1999.
Wisconsin Unemployment,wisconsin Unemployment Claim
March 7, 2010
Wisconsin Unemployment,wisconsin Unemployment Claim:Most bankruptcy lawyers keep tissues in their conference rooms. Many clients cry when they talk about filing their bankruptcy case. Sensitive attorneys are ready for this – we have tissues ready.
People who are thinking of filing bankruptcy cases tell me that they are ashamed.
We can understand why our clients feel many emotions. For example, people who file bankruptcy cases might reasonably feel:
- sorrow
- embarrassment
- regret
- anger
- disappointment
- upset
- remorse
But remember Tom Hanks – playing the role of the baseball manager in “A League of their Own. I do. In that movie, the women playing baseball in a professional baseball league during World War II are crying. And Tom Hanks says – I’ll never forget it – “There’s no crying in baseball.”
I say – “There’s no shame in bankruptcy.” Bankruptcy is part of our social contract. It is the ultimate safety net. It is a part of our civilization that an honest debtor should get a fresh start. Nobody should be so poor that they become permanently enslaved to their creditors.
Houston Dome Project
March 6, 2010
Houston Dome Project:The fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city in Texas, Houston is vulnerable to killer hurricanes, extreme heat and other natural disasters. And the problem is only getting worse as the city is forced to spend a fortune in a losing battle against nature. Hence why a team of engineers decided that the most viable solution for the moment is to “move the city indoors”.
The Houston Dome is supposed to protect the city from category-5 hurricanes
The Houston Dome surface area will stretch over 21 million sq ft, which will make it the biggest structure with the largest roof in the world. The dome’s panels will be 15 ft across, with over 147,000 to cover the city of Houston. The only problem would be that using glass or plexiglass would make the whole structure extremely heavy.
What if people in Houston want to actually feel the rain or the sun – you know, the way it feels naturally. What about feeling the warm Houston breeze on my face or picking flowers in a field (or the backyard)? Would the kids and I still be able to do that under a giant geodesic dome? True, there would be entrances and exits, but I wonder how many people would really travel to the other side of town every single day just to get that taste of “outside” air.
