Haiti rescue effort abandoned
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Haiti rescue effort abandoned

Saturday, January 23, 2010

The United Nations has announced that the government of Haiti has put an end to its efforts to find and rescue buried survivors of the earthquake that hit the region eleven days ago. The announcement comes just a day after two people were found alive.

According to Elizabeth Byrs, the UN spokeswoman, 132 people have been rescued since the earthquake hit. The death toll, as of Friday, is estimated to be 110,000. It is thought that the chances of survival are so slim that it is not worth the resources required for a successful rescue operation. Byrs called the decision to end the rescue effort “heartbreaking”, but added that it had been advised by experts.

Only yesterday, an 84-year-old woman was found—severely injured and dehydrated—in the rubble of her home, and Emmannuel Buso, aged 21, was rescued by an Israeli search team. He said that he was coming out of the shower when the earthquake hit, and survived ten days by drinking his own urine. There is currently no information on whether the Israeli team will also stop their rescue efforts.

Shortly after the announcement, a French rescue team reported that it was trying to save a man who is trapped under the ruins of a hotel and supermarket. They cannot yet see the man, who said that he saw the team’s light, and that as many as five other people are trapped with him. The rescue team said that it could take two hours to rescue the man.

It is hoped that removing focus from the rescue operation will allow more money and effort to be diverted to the logistically difficult relief effort, which has already seen planes arriving at the now operational Port-au-Prince airport at a rate of 150 per day and a United States Navy hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, moored outside the partly-operational seaport.

This is the most complex operation WFP has ever launched

At least 130,000 people have been relocated out of Port-au-Prince, say the UN, whose World Food Program has provided approximately 2 million meals to starving people and calls the current operation “the most complex operation WFP has ever launched”.

The magnitude 7 earthquake is estimated to have made 1.5 million people homeless, and some estimations of the death toll rise as high as 200,000. More than 75,000 bodies have been recovered and buried in mass graves, while more remain in the streets waiting to be collected.

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US Supreme Court rules Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional
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US Supreme Court rules Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional

Thursday, June 27, 2013

In a ruling released yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5–4 that portions of Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) are unconstitutional and married same-sex partners should not be prevented from receiving federal benefits including tax and social security benefits, and recognition for the purpose of immigration.

In the majority decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: “The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the state, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity.” Kennedy said DOMA “writes inequality into the entire United States Code”.

The case was brought by 84-year-old Edith Windsor, who was married to Thea Speyer. The State of New York recognised their marriage, but following Speyer’s death, Windsor had to pay more than US$300,000 in inheritance tax.

In addition to a decision on the Defense of Marriage Act, the Supreme Court also ruled on a case brought by supporters of Proposition 8 in California, a ballot measure which made same-sex marriage illegal in 2008. The resulting same-sex marriage ban was challenged in the court and a lower court held that the measure was incompatible with the US Constitution. The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by supporters of Proposition 8, arguing they do not have standing to defend in court a law the State of California is unwilling to defend. Therefore the lower court decision holds. California Governor Jerry Brown said: “I have directed the California Department of Public Health to advise the state’s counties they must begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in California as soon as the Ninth Circuit confirms the stay is lifted”.

President Barack Obama welcomed the decisions: “When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free.” Obama instructed Eric Holder, the US attorney general, to ensure the ruling is implemented in federal law.

Anthony Romero from the American Civil Liberties Union said the fight for same-sex marriage rights would now return to the states. Chad Griffin from the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT rights organization, pledged: “Within five years, we will bring marriage equality to all 50 states.”

A number of opponents of same-sex marriage have voiced their opinions on the Supreme Court decision. Michele Bachmann, a Republican congresswoman from Minnesota, stated: “Marriage was created by the hand of God. No man, not even a Supreme Court, can undo what a holy God has instituted. For thousands of years of recorded human history, no society has defended the legal standard of marriage as anything other than between man and woman. Only since 2000 have we seen a redefinition of this foundational unit of society in various nations.”

Bachmann went on: “Today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to join the trend, despite the clear will of the people’s representatives through DOMA. What the court has done will undermine the best interest of children and the best interests of the United States.”

Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp said the “courts have allowed the desires of adults to trump the needs of our children”.

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Precise Sunroom Furniture Ideas For Sunroom Style At Your House

Submitted by: Ogijg Keith

If you are thinking about making a sunroom of your home, you almost certainly use a great perspective of just what you’d like. You might have had lunch time at a friend s home lately and marveled at the magnificence of to be able to sit down within the glass surrounded room, enjoying the scene of the outside, view the appeal of sunroom furniture even while remaining in the coziness of the environment controlled in the house. But you may well not yet have any understanding of precisely what sunroom structure costs. The fact is that it depends. If you select a light weight aluminum sunroom conversion of an recent patio or deck, you re likely to pay off even less than an all-glass wood-framed area which is made from the foundation. Moreover, certainly hooking up the area to the house’s recent HVAC system will definitely cost even more than establishing it while using the goal of heating or cooling it with other means. Nevertheless, there are a variety of points that could influence the sunroom value, and understanding them in advance will aid you to have the right choice for you as well as all your family members.

One of the best variants in sunroom pricing will come from the company or person that you choose to opt for to build your own sunroom. Looking for the most suitable sunroom licensed contractor will not be an issue that ought to be taken too softly, due to the fact you’re depending on this person or maybe company to perform the kind of top quality project which will secure the investment in your house. You must not only be sure that you re getting a protected construction installation completed, but in the long run the construction can be cost-efficient in relation to energy savings for heating and cooling it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9MVBFq5fgE[/youtube]

The initial place get started on when searching for a sunroom specialist will be throughout the recent community of friends and family, and also others who live nearby. Seek out referrals from people you recognize who’ve previously been throughout the process. They’re able to let you know who to stay away from as well as probably informing you who to use. An effective rule of thumb while having any sort of major work finished within your house is to find at least three quotes for the task. If someone isn’t willing to offer the quote at absolutely no cost, that is a clue at that time that you want to move on to others. Bear in mind that you are not necessarily in search of just the most inexpensive sunroom construction value – you are seeking the highest quality for the expense. This means excellence of the person or company that will be doing the job and also the excellent quality of the resources that will be used.

A number of sunroom themes are there, determined by why it’s being built. The most appropriate sunroom furniture needs to be purchased. With going online, you will discover numerous sunroom furniture ideas to go for.

About the Author: Our knowledge is in producing the information on home design. Please look at our own guide

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Bangladesh security tightened following Pilkhana massacre and Bashundhara City fire
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Bangladesh security tightened following Pilkhana massacre and Bashundhara City fire

Friday, March 20, 2009

Following the Pilkhana massacre which occurred February 25 and 26 leaving 74 dead and the inferno at the Bashundhara City shopping mall complex March 13 leaving seven dead, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said security measures are being tightened countrywide across Bangladesh.

Fire drills will be enacted at all key-point installations (KPI). Fire fighting systems will be examined by the fire brigade and the public works department (PWD) to ensure functionality. Security measures will be enhanced supplementing areas under private security such as at the Bashundhara City Complex.

The Fire Service and Civil Defence Department requires modernization and needs new equipment to fight fires past the sixth floor of buildings. The Fire Brigade says it needs turntable ladders, snorkels, foam-tenders, lighting units, emergency tenders, fireproof uniforms, and rescue ropes for fire fighting and rescue operations. Transportation to fires is also an issue due to narrow roads, low electrical wires and congestion.

The Bangladesh National Building Code requires fire fighting equipment installed in buildings over seven floors. This code is to be monitored by authorities to ensure compliance with the new guidelines and to make sure buildings are being maintained.

The Bashundhara City Complex opened Monday for shoppers two days after Friday’s blaze. A probe is underway to determine the cause of the fire and to assess structural damage.

Loss of life was minimized as the blaze broke out on a Friday, the beginning of the weekend in Bangladesh, so offices in the upper floors were empty. The lower eight floors are used for shopping and the upper floors are all Bashundhara Group offices.

The mall is valued at Tk 7.0 billion (US$100 million). It is not known if the complex is covered by fire insurance.

It is estimated that it will take over two years to rebuild the area damaged by flames which were burned down to a skeleton. Bashundhara City’s technical advisor, Latifur Rahman, estimated damages at Tk 2.0 billion (US$29m).

Only one television cameraman has been allowed in to film the burnt area. None of the 2,500 shops, cinemas or cafes were burnt by the inferno. The seventh and eighth floors still experience smoke damage, and there was water damage to merchandise.

A three member committee is currently investigating the cause of the fire which will consist of Iqbal Khan Chowdhury, joint secretary of the ministry, representatives of the police, IGP Noor Muhammad, and fire brigade, Director General Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah. The committee is required to report within the week with their findings. The forensics department is also sifting through the burnt remains.

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries has also formed a committee which has begun interviewing witnesses and recording their testimony alongside the government committee.

It has been discovered that 150 closed circuit cameras were not being used when the fire started. Another mystery is why the mall fire fighting system has been found unused.

Why the fire burnt so fiercely is a matter to think….These matters seem to be mysterious

“In the shopping mall there is an ultra-technology elevator which runs even without electricity but we have found that locked,” Iqbal Khan Chowdhury, joint secretary (Police) of the home ministry, said. “Why the fire burnt so fiercely is a matter to think. We have to see if there was any incendiary substance there. These matters seem to be mysterious.”

Mall management has been asked to submit substances and items which would have been in the upper floors when the fire started. The fire erupted on the 17th floor and spread quickly to the two floors above and engulfed the three floors below. The aerial ladders belonging to the Fire Service and Civil Defence reached as high as the 13th floor of the 21-storey building.

Videos have been sent to the United States (US) for examination to assist in determining the cause of the fire and to help in the damage assessment. Experts from the US are expected to arrive soon.

Firefighters were brought to the rooftop of the 20-storey tower by helicopter. The only fatality in this operation was Baki Billa, a firefighter of Bashundhara City firefighting department, who fell when climbing down a rope from a helicopter to the roof of the building. Three other firefighters made the transition safely. At this same time, the chief security officer was safely rescued by the Bangladesh Air Force helicopter, a Bell 212. Six security officers of the complex also lost their lives.

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Study: Herd animals detect Earth’s magnetic field
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Study: Herd animals detect Earth’s magnetic field

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Large herd animals may have the ability to detect earth’s magnetic field, concluded scientists in Germany in a report published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences after performing studies of cattle and deer grazing and sleeping patterns. The animals tended to face north-south oriented toward the earth’s magnetic poles. Hynek Burda of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany led the team that announced the unconfirmed study. Burda and his team gathered cattle data via analysis of Google Earth images.

The team originally intended to test for possible human magnetic field detection by studying the orientation of sleeping bags in outdoor campers, but it proved difficult to obtain data because humans usually slept under tents. Cattle were easier to observe, and 8,510 head of cattle at 308 locations demonstrated a strong tendency to align body orientation in accordance with the earth’s magnetic field. Other possible factors such as wind or sunlight direction did not supply a better explanation for the behavior.

I think the really amazing thing is that hunters and herdsmen and farmers didn’t notice it.

To compare against a second large species, Burda and his team analyzed data on 2,974 deer studied through photography, direct observation, and snow imprints. The deer demonstrated a similar pattern. “I think the really amazing thing is that hunters and herdsmen and farmers didn’t notice it,” said Burda according to a National Public Radio report.

Other scientists found the results of the study intriguing. Peter August of the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, commented: “I was really amazed at the consistency with which they found north-facing cows and deer. It was really intriguing.” No independent study has yet confirmed the Duisburg-Essen team’s findings.

This is the first study that indicates magnetic field detection in large mammals. Burda’s previous research involves naked mole rats, a small blind mammal species whose behavior indicates an internal magnetic compass. According to a report by Jeremy Hsu at MSNBC, “Previous research has shown that animals such as birds, turtles and salmon migrate using a sense of magnetic direction, and small mammals such as rodents and one bat species also have a magnetic compass.”

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Edmund White on writing, incest, life and Larry Kramer
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Edmund White on writing, incest, life and Larry Kramer

Thursday, November 8, 2007

What you are about to read is an American life as lived by renowned author Edmund White. His life has been a crossroads, the fulcrum of high-brow Classicism and low-brow Brett Easton Ellisism. It is not for the faint. He has been the toast of the literary elite in New York, London and Paris, befriending artistic luminaries such as Salman Rushdie and Sir Ian McKellen while writing about a family where he was jealous his sister was having sex with his father as he fought off his mother’s amorous pursuit.

The fact is, Edmund White exists. His life exists. To the casual reader, they may find it disquieting that someone like his father existed in 1950’s America and that White’s work is the progeny of his intimate effort to understand his own experience.

Wikinews reporter David Shankbone understood that an interview with Edmund White, who is professor of creative writing at Princeton University, who wrote the seminal biography of Jean Genet, and who no longer can keep track of how many sex partners he has encountered, meant nothing would be off limits. Nothing was. Late in the interview they were joined by his partner Michael Caroll, who discussed White’s enduring feud with influential writer and activist Larry Kramer.

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Dental Imaging Equipment Global Market Trends, Size And Analysis 2016 2020

The report Global Dental Imaging Equipment Industry is an insightful reference for new entrants and established players in the Global Dental Imaging Equipment market. The data in the report presents a review of the most updated market trends. Furthermore, the report addresses the latest key industry events and their impact on the Global Dental Imaging Equipment market.Get full report with TOC @ The report is composed using inputs from an international team of leading experts to provide an update on the latest advances in the Global Dental Imaging Equipment market. The report also includes detailed instructions on strategies that will work in the developed market and the strategies that will work in the emerging market.A detailed geography-wise analysis of the Global Dental Imaging Equipment market gives readers a clear perspective of the most influential trends along with the regulatory scenario in the individual geographical sectors. In addition to this, the market size and shares of these regions along with forecast data included in the report are essential for companies to understand the investment viability in these regions.Inquiry for buying report @ Extensive data on the key players operating in the Global Dental Imaging Equipment market is covered in this report. This includes: Business overview, revenue share, product offering, service offering, latest events, and strategies of these players. In-depth evaluation of the key companies along with their strategic assets such as innovation, cost, and consumer satisfaction have been covered in the research report on the Global Dental Imaging Equipment market.The estimate of the Global Dental Imaging Equipment market share, whether based on revenue or size is a blend of fact and expert judgement that is supported by a sound research methodology. Readers are assured about the market estimates that are well supported.

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Category:June 21, 2009
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Category:June 21, 2009

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New book links Bonds, Giambi and Sheffield to BALCO
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New book links Bonds, Giambi and Sheffield to BALCO

Thursday, March 23, 2006

The new book Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams of The San Francisco Chronicle, is being released today. The authors not only implicate professional baseball celebrity Barry Bonds in the use of performance-enhancing drugs, but also say Gary Sheffield received human growth hormone and testosterone from Greg Anderson, Bonds’s personal trainer.

The book goes on to claim that Jason Giambi also took performance-enhancing drugs from Anderson. Bonds continues to insist that he did not realize his trainer was giving him steriods. He claimed in his grand jury testimony that he thought he was receiving flaxseed oil and an arthritis salve. Sheffield’s response to the claims was quite simple: when asked if the allegations made against him were true, his response was “Nope.”

Despite the book’s accusations of Sheffield and Giambi, it centers around Bonds and the founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative or BALCO, Victor Conte Jr. Conte is currently serving four months in prison for distribution of steriods and money laundering. It appears that the steroid controversy concerning Bonds will only intensify as he continues to march on towards the career home runs record, one of baseball’s most sacred records.

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Choosing The Right Frame}

Choosing the Right Frame

by

Manu Geol

Paintings are more than mere decorative items, we have paintings in our homes because they allow us to express ourselves and represent who we are. Like music paintings create atmosphere and add colour to our daily lives.

The frame is an integral part of the painting, used to enhance its beauty. A frame must carefully chosen because it can affect the overall appearance in a dramatic way.

Generally, frame colours are classified into two groups, contrasted and blended. Contrasted frames are used to achieve a dynamic colour combination between the painting and the frame. Here, the frame is playing a significant role in the overall outcome of painting. Blended style frames use colours similar to the more prominent colours of the painting, so that the observer focuses on the painting more than the frame.

In recent years, Gallery wrap frames have become quite popular, and are often chosen over classic style. Gallery wrapping is when the canvas is stretched and wrapped around a simple wooden frame, covering the entire frame creating a 3D appearance. The thickness of the wood changes the ‘feeling’ of the painting thus, choosing a thick or thin frame makes a difference. Although it may sound strange, research has shown that a thicker wooden frame makes the painting look more expensive.

A classical frame is actually two separate frames. An inner frame, which the canvas will be stretched on and an outer frame for decoration. The two frames are connected by screws or pins that together form a strong structure for the painting. The stretching of a canvas is very important because if it isn’t done properly ,the canvas will be loose and the painting will lose some of its effect.

A gallery wrap is usually chosen by young people and it is often used for modern and post-modern paintings rather than classic style painting. There are two major benefits for using a gallery wrap, weight and cost. A Gallery wrap is cheaper than a classical frame because it uses less materials, and is the lightest of all frame styles. Since gallery wrapped paintings require canvas, it can only be used only for oil and acrylic paintings. Watercolour paintings, charcoal, pencil and pastel drawings are usually done on different kinds of papers.

Watercolour paintings, Charcoal, pencil and pastel drawings have to be framed with a protecting glass because these four mediums are more sensitive to sunlight, oxygen and human touch. Even though the painting is coated with a layer sealant for protection, they must be covered with glass and cared for more delicately than other mediums.Thanks to technology, we are now able to frame the paintings with imitation glass. The benefits of using such material are lower prices and also avoiding the danger of glass breaking and damaging the painting. Another benefit is that imitation glass weighs less than actual glass and it has almost no reflection.

However, there are two drawbacks to using imitation glass. First, it is easily scratched, and second, on large paintings (over 24”x36”) it causes the surface to appear wavy because it is not as flat as glass. There are few companies in the market who offer custom made paintings. This unique service enables us to create our own original masterpieces by painting whatever subjects our clients would like us to paint. The process is very simple, you only need to send us a digital photo to our website. We then, send it to an artist who will paint it according to your requirements. Once the painting is done you will get it by post (with or without a frame). This service is called “painting from photo”. Our service enables our clients to paint their lifestyles in any way that they choose.

Paintings bring colour and joy into our lives. Sometimes we choose a portrait of our family, sometimes of our pets, sometimes of a beautiful landscape and sometimes an abstract. However, the frame must be chosen carefully. We need to consider the overall outcome of the combination of the frame and the painting. A well framed painting allows us to enjoy it for years to come. Remember, real art is not only for rich people, It belongs to each and every one of us!

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