? July 25, 2010
July 27, 2010 ?
July 26
Sunday, December 11, 2005
A series of large explosions have occurred close to Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire, UK. The source of the explosions has been confirmed as the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal (HOSL), Hemel Hempstead, known locally as the Buncefield complex. Up to 150 fire fighters are reported to be at the scene with 10 fire appliances and 1 specialist foamer.
The first ‘blast’ was heard near Hemel Hempstead on Sunday 11 Dec at 6 am. Further smaller explosions followed at 6:24am , 6:26am, 6:30am. BBC News 24 reported an additional, fourth large explosion. Hertfordshire Police Constabulary are currently treating the explosion as an accident.
Reports say the explosion, which registered 2.4 on the Richter scale, was heard as far away as Oxford, and Whitehall, Central London which is 60km (38 miles) away. Eyewitness statements report that the explosion was heard from at least 160km (100 miles) away and as far away as France and The Netherlands. Pilots reported noticing the blast from the North Sea and the West Country area of the UK. The M1 motorway which runs close by has been closed in both directions near the blast which is causing travel chaos as other roads become congested.
Malcom Stewart, a BBC News24 eyewitness who is a tanker driver for the site has reported that the site supplies several oil companies and is a joint operation between Total UK and Texaco, it is also used by BP, Shell and the British Pipeline association. The complex is not a refinery but a storage facility for refined petroleum awaiting distribution to airports and filling stations. The eyewitness reports that the depot has approximately 20 tanks which can hold about 3 million gallons (11 million litres or 70,000 barrels) each. Another News24 eyewitness has just reported that he has seen at least 5 of these tanks on fire.
The depot operates on a 24 hour basis and is split into 2 parts – aviation fuel and domestic fuel. A number of eyewitnesses have reported on UK news that the aviation fuel side appears to be the part of the site that has been affected.
Local authorities were not immediately available for comment but there have been reports of casualties.
Some reports on live television state that, “Several other neighbours said they did see a plane go into the depot.” BBC News 24 were also discussing the idea a possible plane crash as the cause of the explosions. Hertfordshire police have now gone on the record to say that there is no plane involved (BBC News24).
The police have issued a contact number 0800 096 0095 and asked that people do not call the emergency services in Hertfordshire directly unless it is an emergency.
In addition to being an oil storage depot, it is a major hub on the UK oil pipeline network with pipelines to Killingholme Lindsey Oil Refinery (LOR), Humberside (10 inch), Merseyside (10 and 12 inch), Coryton on the Thames Estuary (14 inch) and Heathrow (6 and 8 inch) and Gatwick airports radiating from it.
The disaster is believed to be the worst explosion at a petrochemical plant in the UK since the Flixborough disaster of 1974.Hertfordshire’s Chief Fire Officer Roy Wilsher said: “This is possibly the largest incident of its kind in peacetime Europe.”
A firefighting press officer said that they are stock piling foam from neighboring regions for a prolonged attach which they hope will stop the spread of the fire, however, the inferno itself will have to burn out which could take between 24 hours and a few days.
Despite the authorities saying that there is no need to panic buy petrol, filling stations have had above average queues since this morning and some small garages have ran out.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has visited the scene.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
In a New York press conference at 16:15 UTC, June 1st, Fritz Henderson, the Chief Executive Officer of General Motors, which filed for bankruptcy and Chapter 11 protection from its creditors earlier today, outlined a plan for what he called a “New GM”.
Speaking to the press under safe harbor provisions of U.S. law, Henderson described the events of today as a “defining moment” in the history of General Motors. Speaking to the public he said that “The GM that let you down is history,” and described a “New GM” that he expected to result from the bankruptcy process.
Henderson stated that he envisioned the bankruptcy process would take between 60 and 90 days. He stressed several times his view that the process would be one that is executed quickly, saying that not just a sense of urgency but “pure unadulterated speed” was his expectation of the process. He emphasized that “GM remains open for business” during the bankruptcy period, continuing to sell and to support its products, and that day one motions had been filed in the bankruptcy court in order to allow this.
Regarding the bankruptcy process he said, “We will do it right. And we will do it once.”
He stated that the plan for General Motors had the support of the United Auto Workers union, the Canadian Auto Workers union, the GM VEBA, and a majority of the unsecured bondholders of GM. He also mentioned that GM had already received €1.5 million in bridge financing from the German government.
In response to questions about the possibility of the United States federal government, a majority shareholder in the restructured company, dictating future product development and strategy, such as the sale of more fuel-efficient and green vehicles; he first observed that the federal government had already stated to him that it had “no real interest in running our business” and that he expected that still to be his job. Of the specific hypothetical scenario where the management of GM wants to make one type of car, because it thinks that it is the right thing for the business, and the U.S. government wants to make another type of car, he stated that “I don’t think it’s going to happen.” Expanding on that point he stated that he expected the “New GM” to focus upon “highly fuel-efficient and green technology”, and that operating both in accordance with U.S. environmental laws and in response to customer demand would naturally result in the New GM producing the types of vehicles that the U.S. government would encourage.
The “New GM” he also expected to focus on “four core brands”, and will size its dealership to match that. He stated that GM would offer a “deferred termination” package to dealers, to allow them to cease dealing in GM vehicles in a managed and gradual way.
He stated that the bankruptcy filings did not cover General Motors’ businesses in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, and Asia and the Pacific. Of GM’s profitable ventures in China, specifically, he stated that they were “a critical part of the New GM”. In response to questions of whether the New GM would import cars from China to the U.S., he stated the formative company’s core principle that “We build where we sell” applied in both directions, with GM building in China to sell in China and building in the U.S. to sell in the U.S., stating that this shortened supply chains.
He declined to predict when the New GM would return to profitability, stating that the goal was rather to lower the break-even EBIT point for the company. He also declined to speculate upon when the U.S. government would sell its stake in the company, saying that that was a question “better addressed to the U.S. Treasury”, and merely saying that he expected it to be “years, not months” when the U.S. Treasury felt it would give “the right return for taxpayers.”
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What Is Renewable Energy?
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byAlma Abell
The words sound simple and self explanatory but the reality is somewhat different. We believe that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. However, it can be changed which, by implication, means it could be renewed.
Energy Use in Our Homes
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZfs2keZnw4[/youtube]
Electricity is energy and, in the UK, it is mainly produced at large power stations where water is heated in boilers to produce steam which passes through turbines which drive generators to produce the electricity. The energy locked in the fuel is transferred first into heat, then into steam, then into rotary motion and finally into electricity. Reversing the process so as to put the energy back into the fuel is somewhat complex and impractical. In other words, electricity that we buy from the Electric Company is hardly renewable.
For winter heating purposes, we usually find the cost of using electricity to be prohibitive so we turn to other forms of energy. This usually means that we purchase and burn fuel. Wood, coal, oil and gas are our commonly used fuels. Like electricity, these fuels are not providing us with renewable energy.
Can We Improve Our Energy Efficiency?
A fully renewable energy source may be a theoretical dream but we can certainly take steps to improve on how we use energy. Through windmills and solar panels we can do much to reduce the amount of Power Station electricity used in our homes. Using the energy from the wind or that from the sun is not exactly renewing it but, at least, we are not depleting the planet’s resources and we are not polluting its atmosphere.
Additionally, we can investigate the manner in which we use energy in our homes. Do we have the most efficient equipment installed; are we wasting energy unnecessarily, etc? Unless we have the aptitude and time to be seriously inventive, we would be best advised to contact experts like Renewable Energy In Bolton for help in answering such questions.
Such specialist companies can advise on the latest energy efficient equipment and recommend solutions that will better use the energy we are paying for and, over time, will save us money above the initial outlay amount. Installation contractors like Renewable Energy Bolton are well versed in the latest technologies such as heat pumps which extract heat from the outside air and from the ground to make that heat available to your central heating water boiler. This is but one example of Renewable Energy Bolton providing alternative energy sources even if not strictly renewable.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
American film director John Hughes, noted for such movies as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club, died Thursday due to a heart attack.
A statement, released by his representative, said that he experienced the heart attack while on a morning stroll in Manhattan, New York. Hughes was born on February 18, 1950 in Michigan. He started his career as an advertising copywriter in Chicago. By the end of the 1970s he was a frequent contributor to the National Lampoon magazine.
In the 1990s, he made the Home Alone series, which became a box office sensation and turned Macaulay Culkin into a star.
In recent years, Hughes stepped back from the movie industry to spend more time with his family. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Nancy, two sons and four grandchildren.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
A 182-page report issued September 1 by the United States National Research Council warns that the amount of debris in space is reaching “a tipping point”, and could cause damage to satellites or spacecraft. The report calls for regulations to reduce the amount of debris, and suggests that scientists increase research into methods to remove some of the debris from orbit, though it makes no recommendations about how to do so.
NASA sponsored the study.
A statement released along with the report warns that, according to some computer models, the debris “has reached a tipping point, with enough currently in orbit to continually collide and create even more debris, raising the risk of spacecraft failures”. According to the Satellite Industry Association, there are now about 1,000 working satellites in Earth orbit, and industry revenues last year were US$168 billion (£104.33 billion,€119.01 billion).
The debris consists of various objects, such as decommissioned satellites and exhausted boosters, but the vast majority of the particles are less than one centimetre across. 16,094 pieces of debris were being tracked as of July, although estimates put the current number at over 22,000. The total number of fragments is thought to be as high as tens of millions. While most of the debris is very small, some of it is travelling at speeds as high as 17,500 mi h-1 (28,164 km h-1; 7,823.3 m s-1).
The International Space Station sometimes has to dodge larger fragments, and in June its crew was forced to prepare to evacuate due to a close encounter with debris.
The UK Space Agency told Wikinews that space flight “is likely to be made more difficult” by the debris. However, communications will “[n]ot directly” be affected, “but if the GEO ring became unusable, there is no other altitude at which objects appear [‘]geo-stationary[‘] and so all antennas on the ground would then have to move in order to track the motion of the satellites”.
Donald J. Kessler, the lead researcher and former head of NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office, said that “[t]he current space environment is growing increasingly hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts,” and suggested that “NASA needs to determine the best path forward for tackling the multifaceted problems caused by meteoroids and orbital debris that put human and robotic space operations at risk.”
| The current space environment is growing increasingly hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts | ||
Two events are thought to be the largest individual sources of space debris. Kessler said that “[t]hose two single events doubled the amount of fragments in Earth orbit and completely wiped out what we had done in the last 25 years”.
The first of these was a controversial 2007 Chinese anti-satellite weapon test, which smashed the decommissioned weather satellite Fengyun-1C into approximately 150,000 fragments over a centimetre in size—making up roughly twenty percent of all tracked objects—537 miles above the Earth’s surface.
The Chinese government has so far failed to respond to Wikinews’s queries regarding the incident.
The other is a 2009 collision between twelve-year-old active satellite Iridium 33 and the defunct Russian Strela-2M satellite Kosmos-2251—both weighing in excess of 1,000 lbs (454 kg)—that occurred 490 miles over Siberia, the first such collision. The Iridium satellite was replaced within 22 days, according to Iridium Communications, who operated it.
| We believe this is a substantial first step in better information sharing between the government and industry and support even more robust interaction which can provide better and more efficient constellation operation. | ||
In a statement released to Wikinews, Iridium Communications said that they “received no warning of the impending collision. Although commercial projections of close encounters (commonly called conjunctions) were available, the accuracy of those projections was not sufficient to allow collision avoidance action to be taken.” They also made the assurance that the Air Force Space Command and United States Strategic Command now provide them with information through the Joint Space Operations Center, and that “when necessary, [they] maneuver [their] satellites based on this information to avoid potential collisions. [They] believe this is a substantial first step in better information sharing between the government and industry and support even more robust interaction which can provide better and more efficient constellation operation.”
Iridium expressed their support for “[l]ong-term investment to improve Space Situational Awareness” and “[i]mproved information sharing between industry and the U.S. government”, as well as more “[g]overnment support for policy and processes which would permit sharing of high-accuracy data as required to allow reliable assessment and warning” and “[i]ncreased cooperation between the government and U.S. and foreign commercial operators.”
They maintained that “the Iridium constellation is uniquely designed to withstand such an event. Because of the resilient and distributed nature of the Iridium constellation, the effects of the loss of a single satellite were relatively minor”, and that “any other system, commercial or military, which experienced the loss of a satellite, would have suffered significant operational degradation for a period of months if not years.” Nonetheless, the company is “concerned over the increasing level of risk to operations resulting from the debris in space.”
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HAVE YOUR SAY
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Do you think the debris should be cleared? If so, how, and who should bear the responsibility?
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The report makes more than thirty findings, and more than twenty recommendations to NASA. None of the recommendations regard how to clean up the debris. However, it does cite a report by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which suggested various possible techniques for catching and removing space debris, such as magnetic nets.
| The Cold War is over, but the acute sensitivity regarding satellite technology remains | ||
However, international law does not allow one country to collect another’s debris. George J. Gleghorn, vice chair of the committee, observed that “[t]he Cold War is over, but the acute sensitivity regarding satellite technology remains”.
The debris will, in time, be pulled into the earth’s atmosphere—where it will burn up—by gravity, but more debris is being created faster than this can happen.
| The problem of space debris is similar to a host of other environmental problems and public concerns | ||
The report recommends collaborating with the United States Department of State on “economic, technological, political, and legal considerations.” As already mentioned, international law does not allow one country to collect another’s debris.
| It is best to treat the root cause, the presence of debris in orbit, and remove the large objects before they can break up into many thousands of uncontrolled fragments capable of destroying a satellite on impact. | ||
According to the report, “[t]he problem of space debris is similar to a host of other environmental problems and public concerns characterized by possibly significant differences between the short- and long-run damage accruing to society … Each has small short-run effects but, if left unaddressed, will have much larger impacts on society in the future.”
A spokesperson for the UK Space Agency told Wikinews that the organisation “does not have any plans to get directly involved with [the clean-up] initiative but through its involvement with NASA in the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee, it is conducting studies to identify which objects present the biggest hazard and how many objects may need to be removed and from where.” It says that the viability of such an operation is “a question of treating the symptom or the cause of the problem. Building more physical protection is costly and if the environment deteriorates too far, becomes unviable. It is best to treat the root cause, the presence of debris in orbit, and remove the large objects before they can break up into many thousands of uncontrolled fragments capable of destroying a satellite on impact.”
The spokesperson also pointed out that “[u]nder current licensing regimes (such as in the UK), countries are now obliging operators to remove satellites from crowded regions of space at the end of operational life”.
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Submitted by: Dirkqe Swanson
Placing key Search engine optimization strategies into practice might just seem very difficult to start with given everything that may be discussing keyword optimization and other elements, but what many individuals don’t understand is the fact that the most powerful SEO strategies possible can be one of the easiest to be aware of and implement-it simply involves choosing some quality internet directories and entering the lowdown.
Web directory listings are one of the simplest and least time-consuming elements of SEO (which represents search engine marketing) for websites of the size or type. It may sound too good really was because it is such an effortless process, but nothing can beat quality backlinks from a reputable web directory submission site with regards to gaining much-desired traffic.
Exactly why are Web Directory Listings So Powerful?
Although search engines often require a variety of factors under consideration when determining where a page or website ranks, the most important methods to achieve high search engine rankings would be to have as numerous high-quality sites linking back to yours as you can. That’s where the potency of an excellent web directory shines through-and matches your needs.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8CJPgD4t6Q[/youtube]
The worth of web links conducive visitors returning to your site can’t be underestimated, which is why web directory submissions are one of the simplest ways to draw new visitors and make your reputation with search engines like Google.
When Google or other search engines see that there a lot of quality links that could indicatee your internet site, it signifies that there’s credibility behind your blog, this means the search algorithm will rank your blog above others that are without a lot of links.
The idea of “backlinks” means there are numerous quality resources that offer one of the links aimed at your website, meaning when search engines like yahoo crawl that web directory where your link is, they’re led right to your place on the web. If there are lots of links that could indicatee your site, this procedure with the search engine crawlers signifies that they will keep locating a made use of for your site, which in turn means that you may be seen as an more authoritative site-and eventually the crawlers is more often looking for updated content. Since engines like google love new content and reputable backlinks with a site, it’s actually a guaranteed recipe to acquire search engines like google to note you.
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When you submit one of the links to some Web Directory, viewers the couple of minutes you have to spend will probably be well worth it because your SEO strategy can unfold, giving you more traffic and better rankings with major engines like google.
Web Directory Links as well as your SEO Strategy
While ensuring you follow other guidelines on SEO strategy, including making certain you might be alert to keywords about the content of the site, is vital, web directory submission ought to be one of the primary steps you adopt to obtain search engines to identify your valuable content-and bring visitors in depending on your high placement inside the first several search result listings.
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Tuesday, September 23, 2008
On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. New Democratic Party candidate Hana Razga is standing for election in the riding of Edmonton—Leduc. Born in London, England to Czechoslovakian parents, she immigrated to Canada in 1968, having a long career in human resources with the federal government. She is a volunteer for organizations including the Alberta Women’s Shelter, Big Sisters and Match International. She has previously run in campaigns three times provincially for the NDP, and once federally.
Wikinews contacted Hana Razga, to talk about the issues facing Canadians, and what they and their party would do to address them. Wikinews is in the process of contacting every candidate, in every riding across the country, no matter their political stripe. All interviews are conducted over e-mail, and interviews are published unedited, allowing candidates to impart their full message to our readers, uninterrupted.
Created in 2004, the riding consists of southwest Edmonton, the City of Leduc, the Town of Devon, and the surrounding area. Contesting Conservative incumbent James Rajotte are Razga, Valerie Kennedy (Green), and Donna Lynn Smith (Liberal).
For more information, visit the campaign’s official website, listed below.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
The Congress of Mexico has passed a bill that will decriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use. The passage of the bill has drawn criticism from Washington, D.C.
Under the law possession of up to five grams of marijuana, half a gram of cocaine (or about 4 lines) or 25 milligrams of heroin would no longer be a crime in Mexico. In addition, possession of small amounts of LSD, MDA, ecstasy, and methamphetamine would also be legalized, officials said.
Current Mexican drug possession law allows charges to be dropped against defendants if they can prove that they are addicts and if the amount is the quantity necessary for personal use. The new law reportedly removes the “addict” requirement and sets specific legal quantities
President Vicente Fox is expected to sign the bill. According to President Fox’s spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, “This law gives police and prosecutors better legal tools to combat drug crimes that do so much damage to our youth and children.”
San Diego Mayor and former police chief Jerry Sanders seems to disagree, calling the legislation “appallingly stupid, reckless and incredibly dangerous.”
“If enacted, even the most reasonable person will have room to question Mexico’s commitment to the war on drugs,” he said. “I think many, including myself, will view this as a hostile action by a longtime ally to the United States.”
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Two weeks ago, FanFiction.Net purged the site of much of the adult content, surprising many fan fiction readers and writers; leaving several archives on the Internet unprepared for a deluge of new users, problems continuing to this day. FanFiction.Net removed around 62,000 stories after a change allowing writers under the age of eighteen to register.
FanFiction.Net spelled out the reasons for their purge on the front page of the site:
| “ | Please note we would like to clarify the content policy we have in place since 2002. FanFiction.Net follows the Fiction Rating system ranging from Fiction K to Fiction M. Although Fiction Ratings goes up to Fiction MA, FanFiction.Net since 2002 has not allowed Fiction MA rated content which can contain adult/explicit content on the site. FanFiction.Net only accepts content in the Fiction K through Fiction M range. Fiction M can contain adult language, themes and suggestions. Detailed descriptions of physical interaction of sexual or violent nature is considered Fiction MA and has not been allowed on the site since 2002. | ” |
According to alixe75 on LiveJournal’s ffdotnetrants, FanFiction.Net deleted 2,002 Naruto stories, 1,497 Twilight stories, 1,256 Harry Potter stories, 670 Glee stories, 364 Inuyasha stories, 364 Hetalia – Axis Powers stories, 282 Kingdom Hearts, 213 Pokemon stories, 143 Yu-Gi-Oh stories, 127 Dragon Ball Z stories and 47 Doctor Who stories amongst others. rahirah on Dreamwidth provided another statistic, “Approximately 11% of all BtVS [Buffy the Vampire Slayer] stories were zapped. That may not sound like much, but FFnet is big – that comes to thousands of stories.” feckless-muse on Dreamwidth reported the purge included banning users. Despite the purge, Alexa reports no drop in traffic to FanFiction.Net.