CasaSugar

Chile troops, police attack post-quake looting

stephley — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:38:11 -0800

CONCEPCION, Chile – Rescuers found signs of life in the wreckage of a 15-story building Monday as the world offered aid to victims of an earthquake that killed more than 700 people. Troops and police arrested dozens of people for violating a curfew designed to prevent looting.

The toll of dead rose to 723, with 19 others missing, the National Emergency Office announced, in a magnitude-8.8 quake that President Michelle Bachelet called "an emergency without parallel in Chile's history."

Some coastal towns were almost obliterated - first shaken by the quake, then slammed by a tsunami that carried whole houses inland and crushed others into piles of sticks. Shocked survivors were left without power, water or food.

In Concepcion, the biggest city near the epicenter, rescuers heard the knock of trapped victims inside a toppled 70-unit apartment building and began to drill through thick walls to reach them, said fire department Commander Juan Carlos Subercaseux.

Only the chop of military helicopters flying overhead broke the silence demanded by rescuers straining to hear signs of life inside the building.

Firefighters had already pulled 25 survivors and eight bodies from the structure.

Mayor Jacqueline van Rysselberghe told Radio Cooperativa that some food aid was arriving in the city of 200,000 Monday for distribution to the hungry. Electricity was still out, however, and water was scarce.

Concepcion police chief Eliecer Soler said officers arrested 55 people for violating a curfew imposed after looters sacked nearly every market in town. Troops ordered into the city by Bachelet patrolled to enforce security. A few looters re-emerged to rob a market on Monday.

Spanish professor Eduardo Aundez watched with disgust as a soldier patiently waited for looters to rummage through a downtown store, then lobbed two tear gas canisters into the rubble to get them out.

"I feel abandoned" by authorities, he said. "We believe the government didn't take the necessary measures in time, and now supplies of food and water are going to be much more complicated."

The U.N. said Monday that it would rush aid deliveries to Chile after Bachelet appealed for international aid. U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said Chile was seeking temporary bridges, field hospitals, satellite phones, electric generators, damage assessment teams, water purification systems, field kitchens and dialysis centers.

"We are prepared to provide assistance," Byrs told The Associated Press in Geneva. "It could be quite fast, given that our experts are on standby and were alerted in the region."

The World Health Organization said it expected the death toll to rise in the coming days as communications improve. For survivors, it said access to health services will be a major challenge and noted that indigenous people living in adobe homes were most at risk from heavily damaged infrastructure.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also offered to provide disaster aid. Traveling in Uruguay, Clinton said she would bring some communications equipment when she visits Chile on Tuesday.

Argentina said it was sending six aircraft loaded with a field hospital, 55 doctors and water treatment plants.

Bachelet ordered troops to help deliver food, water and blankets and clear rubble from roads, and she urged power companies to restore service first to hospitals, health clinics and shelters. Field hospitals were planned for hard-hit Concepcion, Talca and Curico.

Bachelet also ordered authorities to quickly identify the dead and return them to their families to ensure "the dignified burials that they deserve."

Defense Minister Francisco Vidal acknowledged the navy made a mistake by not immediately activating a tsunami warning after the quake hit before dawn Saturday. Port captains in several coastal towns did, saving what Vidal called hundreds of lives.

Thirty minutes passed between the quake and a wave that inundated coastal towns, leaving behind sticks, scraps of metal and masonry houses ripped in two. A beachside carnival in the village of Lloca was swamped in the tsunami. A carousel was twisted on its side and a Ferris wheel rose above the muddy wreckage.

Officials said at least eight people died and eight were missing on Robinson Crusoe Island, where it the tsunami drove the sea almost 2 miles (3 kilometers) into the town of San Juan Bautista.

Efforts to determine the full scope of destruction were undermined by an endless string of terrifying aftershocks that turned more buildings into rubble - and forced thousands to set up tents in parks and grassy highway medians.

"If you're inside your house, the furniture moves," said Monica Aviles, pulling a shawl around her shoulders to ward off the cold as she sat next to a fire across the street from her apartment building.

As if to punctuate her fear, an aftershock set off shuddering and groaning sounds for blocks around.

"That's why we're here," she said.

Ancient Indian language dies out

MartiniLush — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:23:17 -0800

The last speaker of an ancient language in India's Andaman Islands has died at the age of about 85, a leading linguist has told the BBC.

Professor Anvita Abbi said that the death of Boa Sr was highly significant because one of the world's oldest languages - Bo - had come to an end. She said that India had lost an irreplaceable part of its heritage.

Languages in the Andamans are thought to originate from Africa. Some may be 70,000 years old. The islands are often called an "anthropologist's dream" and are one of the most linguistically diverse areas of the world.

Professor Abbi - who runs the Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese (Voga) website - explained: "After the death of her parents, Boa was the last Bo speaker for 30 to 40 years.

"She was often very lonely and had to learn an Adamanese version of Hindi in order to communicate with people. "But throughout her life she had a very good sense of humour and her smile and full-throated laughter were infectious."

She said that Boa Sr's death was a loss for intellectuals wanting to study more about the origins of ancient languages, because they had lost "a vital piece of the jigsaw".

"It is generally believed that all Andamanese languages might be the last representatives of those languages which go back to pre-Neolithic times," Professor Abbi said. "The Andamanese are believed to be among our earliest ancestors."

Boa Sr's case has also been highlighted by the Survival International (SI) campaign group.

"The extinction of the Bo language means that a unique part of human society is now just a memory," SI Director Stephen Corry said.

She said that two languages in the Andamans had now died out over the last three months and that this was a major cause for concern.

Academics have divided Andamanese tribes into four major groups, the Great Andamanese, the Jarawa, the Onge and the Sentinelese.

Professor Abbi says that all apart from the Sentinelese have come into contact with "mainlanders" from India and have suffered from "imported illnesses".

She says that the Great Andamanese are about 50 in number - mostly children - and live in Strait Island, near the capital Port Blair.

Boa Sr was part of this community, which is made up of 10 "sub-tribes" speaking at least four different languages.

The Jarawa have about 250 members and live in the thick forests of the Middle Andaman. The Onge community is also believed to number only a few hundred.

"No human contact has been established with the Sentinelese and so far they resist all outside intervention," Professor Abbi said.

It is the fate of the Great Andamanese which most worries academics, because they depend largely on the Indian government for food and shelter - and abuse of alcohol is rife.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/8498534.stm

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie Call for Haitian Earthquake Aid

kty — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:16:10 -0800

By Daniel S. Levy
In response to the massive earthquake that stuck Haiti on Tuesday, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie has called upon the international community to give immediate assistance to the island nation. The couple issued a statement to JustJared.com Wednesday. "We are devastated by the news from Haiti. We will work closely with our good friend Wyclef Jean to support the humanitarian efforts on the island and help those who have been injured and left without homes and shelter" The 7.0 magnitude quake, along with severe aftershocks, centered 10 miles from Port-au-Prince and destroyed much of the capital, leveling thousands of structures including hospitals, homes, offices buildings and shanties. Countless people are trapped in the rubble.

Ketsana leaves more than 300 dead across SE Asia

starangel82 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:37:09 -0700

MANILA, Philippines – One of the most destructive storms in years extended its deadly path across Southeast Asia, blowing down wooden villages in Cambodia and crushing Vietnamese houses under mudslides after submerging much of the Philippine capital.

The death toll Wednesday climbed to 331 and was still rising.

"We're used to storms that sweep away one or two houses. But I've never seen a storm this strong," said Nam Tum, governor of Cambodia's Kampong Thom province.

The immediate threat eased as Typhoon Ketsana was downgraded to a tropical depression as it crossed Wednesday into a fourth nation, Laos. But its powerful winds and pummeling rain left a snaking trail of destruction.

Landslides triggered by the storm slammed into houses in central Vietnam on Tuesday, burying people including five members of the same family, the government said. The country's toll rose to 74 as officials recovered more bodies from the muck and swollen rivers, with 179 injured and a dozen missing, the government said late Wednesday.

It said the storm destroyed or damaged nearly 180,000 homes, inundated 150,000 more, and flattened crops across central Vietnam. More than 350,000 people were evacuated from the typhoon's path, posing a logistical headache to shelter and feed them.

"The scale of the devastation is stretching all of us," said Minnie Portales, a World Vision aid agency official in the Philippines. The agency said it was scrambling to assess the needs of victims in four countries, including the possibility that Laos would have damage.

Parts of two Vietnamese provinces remained cut off by floodwaters and downed trees and power lines on roads, officials said.

In neighboring Cambodia, at least 11 people were killed and 29 injured Tuesday as the storm toppled dozens of rickety houses and swept away residents in the two provinces north of the capital that were hit. About 100 houses were destroyed and 400 others damaged, said Ly Thuch of the country's disaster management committee.

Five members of the same family died when their house collapsed as they ate dinner, said Neth Sophana of the Red Cross.

Authorities were searching for more victims and rushing food, medical supplies and plastic sheeting for temporary tents to storm-hit areas.

Light rain fell over some parts of the disaster zone Wednesday, but most rivers had peaked and were starting to slowly recede, Vietnam's National Weather Forecast Center said.

The cleanup task was enormous.

In the Philippines, Ketsana on Saturday triggered the worst flooding in 40 years across a swath of the island nation's north and submerged riverside districts of the sprawling capital of 12 million people.

Officials said 2.3 million people had their homes swamped, and 400,000 were seeking help in relief centers hastily set up in schools and other public buildings - even the presidential palace. The Philippines death toll stood at 246, with 42 people missing.

Frustration boiled over at some sites.

Flood victims rushed at an army helicopter delivering boxes of clothes to a relief center in Rodriguez town in hard-hit Rizal province just east of the capital, an Associated Press photographer at the scene said. No one was apparently injured.

Elsewhere in Rizal, a mob hurled rocks and tried unsuccessfully to block a relief convoy as it passed by.

"Apparently victims who were hoping to receive the relief goods blocked the convoy," police official Leopoldo Bataoil told The AP.

Philippines National Disaster Coordinating Council chief Gilbert Teodoro said the culprits more likely wanted the relief goods to sell, and warned authorities would crack down on looters or other troublemakers.

"We appeal to our countrymen not to use this occasion to do something bad," he told reporters.

The international relief effort picked up pace, with condolence messages coming from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, the EU, Japan, Germany and other nations. Many added pledges of aid to help the recovery.

Three helicopters and 30 rubber boats were being sent by the United Nations and would arrive with 72 hours, Teodoro said late Wednesday.

Philippine military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said at least 30 U.S. Marines and Air Force personnel who were to attend two annual war exercises in the country would join the relief work, bringing trucks bulldozers and forklifts.

At relief centers, women and children clutching bags of belongings lined up for bottled water, boiled eggs and packets of instant noodles for a fourth day. Men waded through thick, gooey sludge back to their homes to clean up the mess with shovels and brooms.

Manila's main downtown business and tourist district was largely unscathed.

Another tropical storm edged toward the southern Philippines on Wednesday packing potentially destructive winds and rain, government forecasters said. It was 560 miles (900 kilometers) off the coast late Wednesday and may hit at the weekend if it says on its present course.

The government estimated the damage cost at more than $100 million.

Source: Yahoo! News

Dolly lashes Texas coast as Category 2 hurricane

justingirl1989 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:24:18 -0700

MIAMI - Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami say Hurricane Dolly has strengthened to a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds near 100 mph.

The storm center is about 30 miles east-northeast of Brownsville, Texas.

The eye will cross the coast near the Texas/Mexico border in a few hours. People should stay inside during the relative calm of the eye because winds will soon increase quite rapidly.

Dolly strengthened as its leading edge lashed the Gulf Coast near the Texas-Mexico border with heavy rain and powerful winds.

The center of the Category 1 hurricane was expected to make landfall later Wednesday and dump up to 15 inches of rain, threatening flooding that could breach levees in the heavily populated Rio Grande valley.

At 9 a.m. EDT Wednesday, the storm's center was about 40 miles east of Brownsville, moving northwest at about 8 mph.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the coast of Texas from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and in Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward.

Utility company AEP Texas reported power outages to more than 9,200 customers in Cameron County.

The causeway linking South Padre Island to the mainland remained closed early Wednesday.

Dan Quandt, a spokesman for the town's emergency operations, said winds were picking up to around 50 mph and were expected to increase later Wednesday morning. He said there was a steady rain falling, but no reports of flooding. A sign on a hotel blew off, but no one was injured and it did not pose a hazard, he said.

National Weather Service radar indicated a tornado 18 miles northeast of the Harlingen Valley Airport on Wednesday morning. A tornado watch was in effect for several counties in the area until 10 a.m. CDT Wednesday.

Cities and counties in the Rio Grande valley were preparing Tuesday night as officials feared heavy rains could cause massive flooding and levee breaks.

Texas officials urged residents to move away from the Rio Grande levees because if Dolly continues to follow the same path as 1967's Hurricane Beulah, "the levees are not going to hold that much water," said Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Johnny Cavazos.

There was intermittent light rain late Tuesday in Brownsville, and Cavazos said he expected outer bands to move over the area overnight. Charles Hoskins, deputy emergency management officer for Cameron County, said there were nearly 2,000 people in six shelters in the county.

In Hidalgo County, a little bit farther inland, six shelters holding about 900 people were open, said Cari Lambrecht, a county spokeswoman. She said people living in low-lying areas were encouraged to come to shelters.

"It's so much easier for them to go now instead of us having to pull them out later," she said.

Late Tuesday, the causeway linking the mainland to South Padre Island was closed as winds ramped up, Quandt said. He said no one would be allowed onto or off of the island, with the causeway not likely to open again until Wednesday evening at the earliest. He said winds were not predicted to reach speeds requiring evacuation.

In Mexico, Tamaulipas Gov. Eugenio Hernandez said officials planned to evacuate 23,000 people to government shelters in Matamoros, Soto La Marina and San Fernando.

People began trickling in Tuesday night to five shelters set up throughout the border city of Matamoros. City officials said three other shelters were ready in case they were needed.

Forecasters predicted Dolly would dump up to 15 inches of rain and bring coastal storm surge flooding of 4 to 6 feet above normal high tide levels. Forecasters said Dolly's eye should hit the coast around midday Wednesday.

The U.S. Census Bureau said that based on Dolly's projected path, about 1.5 million Texans could feel the storm's effects.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for areas adjacent to the hurricane zone, and Gov. Rick Perry declared 14 south Texas counties disaster areas, allowing state resources to be used to send equipment and emergency workers to areas in the storm's path.

Mike Castillo, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Brownsville, said conditions were favorable for tornadoes Wednesday morning, especially in deep south Texas and the adjacent coastal waters.

The storm, combined with levees that have deteriorated in the 41 years since Beulah swept up the Rio Grande, pose a major flooding threat to low-lying counties along the border. Beulah spawned more than 100 tornadoes across Texas and dumped 36 inches of rain in some parts of south Texas, killing 58 people and causing more than $1 billion damage.

"We could have a triple-decker problem here," Cavazos told a meeting of more than 100 county and local officials Tuesday. "We believe that those (levees) will be breached if it continues on the same track. So please stay away from those levees."

Around Brownsville, levees protect the historic downtown as well as preserved buildings that were formerly part of Fort Brown on the University of Texas at Brownsville campus. Outside the city, agricultural land dominates the banks of the Rio Grande, but thousands of people live in low-lying colonias, often poor subdivisions built without water and sewer utilities.

The International Boundary and Water Commission, which operates a series of levees, dams and floodways in the lower Rio Grande Valley, put its personnel on standby alert. If needed, the IBWC will begin patrolling the levees around the clock looking for seepage and erosion, said spokeswoman Sally Spener.

The IBWC made significant improvements to the levee system after Beulah and its studies showed that a 100-year flood in Cameron County would not top the levees, Spener said. Levees upstream in Hidalgo County are in the midst of improvements, but the river could spill over sections in a 100-year flood, a flood so big that it has only a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year.

Much of the damage to New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina was from levee breaks instead of wind.

Lines grew Tuesday at centers giving out sandbags in the Rio Grande Valley.

The Navy began flying 104 of its aircraft out of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi to bases inland. Other aircraft will be sheltered on base in hangars and no evacuation was planned.

Maj. Jose Rivera of the Texas Army National Guard said troops were preparing at armories in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, after Gov. Perry called up 1,200 Guard members to help.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement was evacuating its Port Isabel Detention Center, said spokeswoman Nina Pruneda. Fewer than 1,000 people were being sent to other detention centers in Texas.

In the Gulf of Mexico, Shell Oil evacuated workers from oil rigs, but said it didn't expect production to be affected. It also secured wells and shut down production in the Rio Grande Valley, where it primarily deals in natural gas.

Mexico's state-run oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, said it had evacuated 66 workers from an oil platform off the coast of the port city of Tampico. Pemex said in a statement that it had readied a team and the resources needed in case of damage to oil installations in the region.

Residents of northern Mexico were taking the impending storm in stride.

Blas Garica, a 62-year-old builder in Reynosa, was taping up his windows and putting sandbags in front of his porch to prepare.

"I'm not afraid because we flood frequently around here," he said. "If my house floods, we'll just run to the roof."

scary
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080723/ap_on_re_us/tropical_weather

Best Romantic Vacations

justingirl1989 — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 12:47:17 -0800

Best Romantic Vacations
Rekindle a long-standing romance, or kick a new one up a notch, in one of these romantic destinations
While we tend to think most of romance around Valentine's Day, our favorite romantic vacations are guaranteed to rekindle a long-standing romance, or kick a new one up a notch, all year long.

Whether you choose to cuddle up on a gondola ride in Venice, snuggle under a blanket on a caleche ride in Quebec City, dance cheek-to-cheek in Buenos Aires, spend long days canoodling on spectacular islands like Bora Bora, Santorini, and Nevis, cruise magical Halong Bay, or discover breathtaking Dubrovnik together, you're bound to feel a renewed (or new) sense of intimacy with your partner.

Of course, no list of this sort would be complete without a nod to Paris, the epitome of romantic cities (and site of countless marriage proposals), but dear Santa Barbara, closer to home, is just as ripe for a tryst, with countless spas and vineyards in the vicinty sure to help you and yours relax – and lose your inhibitions.

1. Buenos Aires
As the old saying goes, it takes two to tango – and there’s no better place to practice your moves with your partner than Buenos Aires, the birthplace of this incredibly sexy dance. Watching expert tango dancers spin around the dance floor at one of the local venues here is already hot stuff – women dress the part in fishnet stockings, heels, and high-slit dresses, while men doff tailored suits and cravats – but taking to the floor with your honey can make the temperature go higher still.

Play the voyeur at neighborhood spots like Bar Sur , or, put on your dancing shoes and trot your stuff at Centro Cultural Torquato Tasso, which also offers lessons for first-timers. When you need to rest your feet, this Paris of South America has a lot more to tempt visiting lovebirds, from elegant turn-of-the-century mansions and tree-lined boulevards reminiscent of European cities like Paris, Rome, and Barcelona, to cozy bistros in trendy neighborhoods where diners linger over long meals.

Plus, with the peso so low nowadays, this city that used to rival Manhattan in terms of price has actually become extremely affordable.

2. Bora Bora
If there’s one destination to blow your savings on in the name of love, this tiny, pricey South Pacific island is it. Novelist James A. Michener described Bora Bora as, “the most beautiful island in the world” and visitors to its far-flung shores rarely disagree.

So small that the island road is a mere 19 miles long, this Polynesian idyll sits 143 miles northwest of Tahiti and boasts the best that nature can offer: a high- mountain center cloaked in jungle, a superb cobalt lagoon, a splendid coral reef, and pristine stretches of bone-white sand dotted with fallen coconut husks.

When you’re not discovering the many bounties of this island paradise, hang out at the local watering hole, Bloody Mary's, where Pierce Brosnan has been known to woo his leading lady, or send off the sun with a sunset catamaran cruise. Come nightfall, few can resist bedding down at a lavishly appointed over-the-water bungalow.

3. Dubrovnik
Couples in search of romance are flocking to this wondrous city on the southernmost stretch of Croatia’s coast, as enchanted by its beauty today as the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, who once proclaimed, "If you want to see heaven on earth, come to Dubrovnik."

The city has been magnificently restored to its former glory to emerge as one of the most fashionable vacation spots in all of Europe. Dubrovnik's resurgent popularity should come as no surprise, however – this “jewel of the Adriatic,” as the coastal resort town is often referred to in tourist brochures, is breathtakingly beautiful and a magnet for dreamy-eyed lovers in search of romantic inspiration.

The city's fortified old town overlooks the dazzling Adriatic from a shelter of limestone cliffs and its marble-paved streets are lined with marvelously preserved churches, stately palaces, squares, and terracotta-roofed townhouses. Meanwhile, down below, along the seaside coast, fine beaches beckon – as do a slew of offshore islands – making Dubrovnik uniquely appealing to just about any taste.

4. Halong Bay, Vietnam
Now that you’ve found your knight in shining armor, put his dragon-slaying skills to the test in this ancient dragon’s lair near the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Indeed, “Ha Long” means "where the dragon descends into the sea" and, once you're sailing the enchanting emerald-green waters here, you'll easily understand why the bay is believed to have been formed by the thrashing of a dragon's tail.

It’s a sight that confirms Vietnam’s status as one of the most romantic countries in Asia; undoubtedly the country’s most mesmerizing natural setting, this UNESCO-protected area is dotted with grottoes, some 3,000 limestone islets (only one of which is inhabited), and often shrouded in mist, which only adds to its mystique. While day trips are available, we strongly recommend booking an overnight cruise to experience the bay's phenomenal sunset and sunrise, as well as more of its splendid landscapes.

Our favorite agencies for two- day cruises are Emeraude Cruises and Buffalo Tours.

5. Nevis
If you’re craving a Caribbean getaway that’s just as high on romance as it is on R & R, look no further than darling Nevis (pronounced NEE-vis), the sister island of St. Kitts. A quiet, old Caribbean charm reigns on this 36-square-mile patch of land that famously produced Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States.

Nowadays, cocooning lovers can hole up in converted plantation houses – rather than sterile high-rise beach resorts – where atmospheric verandahs, louvered windows, and four-poster beds guarantee your hours, if not days, will be spent canoodling. Should you deign to leave your room, the island’s scenery is equally entrancing: disused stone sugar mills are now overgrown with vines, lush island paths invite hiking and horseback riding, and sugarcane fields lead to remarkable restaurants serving fine Creole fare.

Add in the fact that Nevis is still relatively difficult to get to (you have to change planes in Antigua, St. Maarten, or Puerto Rico), and you’ll be looking at spending serious quality time with your sweetie – without having to share him or her with other vacationing sun worshipers.

Read the full article at ShermansTravel.com.

nice.

source: yahoo.com

How to fight off Pirates

samantha999 — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:22:55 -0700

Aussies under fire in cruise ship attack

it by machinegun fire as heavily-armed pirates tried to hijack their luxury liner.

Six pirates armed with high-powered AK-47s sped towards the cruise ship Melody, as it sailed from the Seychelles Islands to the Italian city of Genoa Sunday.

The ship's Israeli-hired security guards exchanged gunfire with the pirates as crew ordered passengers to clear the decks and shelter in their cabins.

Among the 1000 passengers and 500 crew were scores of Aussies, who told of narrowly escaping death as gunshots shattered windows as they sought refuge wherever they could.

Among them was Sydney newspaper journalist David Cavenagh, who said passengers initially thought the gunshots were firecrackers.

It wasn't until the ship's public address announced they were under direct attack that passengers realised heavily-armed pirates were in a speedboat heading towards them.

As the ship radioed for help, its captain "initiated avoidance procedures" and steered the large liner away from the attackers.

Before sailing, the passengers were told the ship would sail a modified course. The captain had hoped that by taking the liner further away from the Somali coast, it would reduce the risk of an attack.

Captain Pinto Cera said the pirates attempted to hijack the ship about 180 nautical miles north of the Seychelles.

"We have pirates attack," he said last night.

"The boat with one leader . . . and try to come on board. My security shot in the air 2, 3, maybe 5, 6 shots."

By sailing in a zig-zag fashion and with the aid of on-board security, the pirates were repelled.

Despite damage to the cruise ship, no one was seriously injured, he said.

The ship was last night continuing its voyage with a Spanish navy escort.

"We closing all lights, we putting all passengers in the cabin with the door closed," Capt Cera said.

The ship is due to arrive in Genoa on May 8.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said consular officials at the Australian embassy in Rome are on standby to assist the Australians.

The attempted hijack is the latest in a series of piracy incidents in the region, off Africa's east coast.

Pirates have flourished off Somalia because no effective government has been in place in the war-ravaged nation since 1991.

Somali pirates attacked more than 130 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden last year, an increase of more than 200 per cent on 2007, despite a heavy international naval presence, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy.

-- with AAP
http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,25391161-5014090,00.html?ref...

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

Lorelei LeFae — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:59:41 -0800

Well... I am glad I hadn't gotten attached to Jerry. Poor guy - he seemed like a really nice person and I can see why some of you picked him as a favorite. But, perhaps this wasn't his time to play the game of Survivor.

I really wanted to like Coach from the beginning, but I just can't warm up to him. After the reward challenge...

"The defeated Timbira Tribe returns to camp humiliated and angry at their performance in the challenge. Coach tries to live up to his nickname by giving his team a pep talk. He points out where things could’ve been better and begs everyone to not go off and bad-mouth each other because that would be, “one of the worst things we can do.” Contradictory to his own advice, Coach meets Tyson by the water alone and bashes Sierra for panicking during the challenge. “Who’s worse? Is it Erinn or Sierra? Obviously I want to get Erinn out immediately,” Coach confides. “One word to describe Coach…I guess that’s it, Coach,” Tyson chuckles. “He’s not always the best at what he’s coaching, but he thinks he knows the most.” Coach then bestows the title of “Assistant Coach” to Tyson, who wisely accepts the nickname. “If I just keep plugging away, I’ll eventually make coach. He may promote me. I don’t know if I will have my own team or will be co-coach,” Tyson sarcastically remarks."

I am thrilled about the new Exile alliance. This is brilliant gameplay!

"On Exile Island, Taj and Brendan find another clue to the hidden immunity idol, which further clarifies that the idol is back at camp in a place “surrounded by wood.” “When I get back to camp I’m going to look for the idol immediately, and the first place I am going to look is something that is surrounded by wood,” says Brendan. “When I hear surrounded by wood I think of my shelter, I think of the treemail area. So that’s probably where I’ll take a peek.”

That night, as the rumble of thunder grows nearer, Brendan and Taj devise a plan to bring Stephen and Sierra into their secret alliance so that they can send them to Exile Island next. “Going into the merge, we could have a four-way alliance that nobody knows about,” says Taj."

And finally a recap of Tribal Council:

"At Tribal Council, Erinn announces her frustration when her tribe members ignored her leadership during the immunity challenge, which caused them to lose. Jerry agrees that his tribe needs a leader in order to progress, and chooses Brendan. Coach immediately steps up and suggests that he would love to be the leader of the tribe because that is what he does for a living. Erinn cringes at Coach’s arrogant remarks, saying that she feels that although Coach is used to being a leader, Brendan fills that role better. Coach snaps at Erinn’s remark, citing that their personalities clash. “It sounds like what you’re struggling with a little bit is ego,” Jeff Probst replies. “It’s not about ego because I would rather tow the line and be a good assistant coach than be a head coach and stroke my ego,” Coach smugly responds. With this, the tribe members cast their votes. Ultimately, Erinn escaped the vote, and Jerry was voted out with six out of the seven votes cast against him. Jerry Sims, the 49 year-old U.S. Army Sergeant from Rock Hill, South Carolina, becomes the third person voted out of SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS: THE BRAZILIAN HIGHLANDS."

To read the CBS recap in full or watch the full eppy online, click here: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/recaps/1803/recaps.php?season=

LOST Recap Episode 4.3 "The Economist"

Whiplash — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:28:48 -0800

Flash-forward

Sayid, looking very groomed and conservative, is playing golf alone on a beautiful course in the Seychelles. A European man on a golf cart drives up and starts offering Sayid tips on which iron to use, which turns into a friendly bet on who can drive the ball closest to the flag with their iron.

While they play, the man asks Sayid what he does for a living, and Sayid says he does nothing because he received a large settlement. He tells the man he was one of the Oceanic Six. The gentleman starts to look uncomfortable. The man wins the bet but tells Sayid he doesn't have to pay. Sayid says, "I insist, Mr. Avellino," and shoots him in the chest.

Some time later, Sayid is in a crowded cafe in Berlin, Germany. He finds an empty seat at a table where a woman is sitting. They introduce themselves; her name is Elsa. They talk about their work; Sayid says he is a corporate headhunter, and Elsa says she is a personal shopper for an economist, who is coming to Berlin only for a few days. She shows him her ancient pager and says she's at the economist's beck and call if and when the pager goes off. She looks at Sayid and says he looks familiar - does she know him? Sayid says he'll answer that if he can take her out to dinner. She agrees and tells him which restaurant and when.

After Sayid leaves the bar, he calls someone on a cell phone. He tells them he "made contact," then hangs up the phone and throws it away.

Later, Sayid and Elsa are in a hotel room, getting ready to go to the opera. He is wearing a tux and she an evening gown, and it is their fifth date. Elsa wants to leave her boss' pager at home since it is so bulky, but Sayid insists on carrying it for her. He remarks how old-fashioned the pager is and Elsa says that her boss is old fashioned. She asks Sayid about his boss but he is evasive, and she remarks how she barely knows him. She asks why he's still in Berlin when he was supposed to only be in town for one week. He tells her that the job he's working on is turning out harder to accomplish than he thought. Elsa coyly says that she was hoping that he was staying because of her.

Later still, Sayid and Elsa are in post-coital bliss in the bed. She tells him that she knows nothing about him but she's falling in love with him, and he softens and kisses her tenderly. He concedes and asks Elsa what she wants to know. Suddenly, her pager finally beeps, and she jumps out of bed to get ready to see her boss. His message says he's at the Hotel Adler.

Sayid suddenly insists that Elsa leave Berlin. He says that people are going to start asking questions about her employer and it's best if she's gone. She catches on and asks Sayid who he is, if he met her at the cafe on purpose, and if he's planning on killing her boss. Sayid says that her boss' name is on a list that he was provided by his employer, and that he is NOT an economist.

Suddenly, Elsa grabs a gun and shoots Sayid in the shoulder! While he writhes in pain on the floor, she makes a call and speaks in German. She says that the page was supposed to come at 10:30, and tells the person on the floor that she shot Sayid but didn't kill him, but there's no use keeping him alive if he's not going to provide a name. She says she'll bring Sayid to the "safe house" and then hangs up.

But Sayid grabs a gun and shoots her in the chest. As she collapses and dies, Sayid cries and then touches a silver bracelet she's wearing.

Later still, Sayid is walking through what looks like a darkened animal testing lab, or a veterinary office. At any rate, there are dogs in cages. He walks into an exam room and speaks to someone that we can only hear but not see (note: did anyone NOT recognize the voice as soon as he spoke? Easy peasy). The mystery person, who we find out is Sayid's mysterious employer, starts treating Sayid's wound and asks what Elsa's objective was. Sayid tells him that Elsa wanted to find out who he, his employer, was. The camera cuts to... BEN!! Dun dun dun! Ben says he's got another name for Sayid's list. Sayid is reluctant and Ben asks him if he remembers what happened the last time he followed his heart. Then he reminds Sayid that what he's doing is "protecting [his] friends."

Sayid explains that "they" know he's coming now, and Ben replies, "Good."

On the Island

Sayid is examining Naomi's dead body, and sees that she's wearing a silver bracelet. Engraved on it are the words, "N, I'll always be with you - RG." He asks Miles why they came and they say they were paid a lot of money to get Ben. Frank says that they burned a lot of fuel and he can only take three people up in the copter. Sayid makes a deal - he says that if he can bring Charlotte back from Locke's group, he will get a spot on the copter and get taken to the ship. Frank says it's a deal.

Jack finds the photo of Desmond and Penny in Naomi's bag but Frank, Miles, and Daniel don't know anything about it. He asks Juliet to go to the beach and bring Desmond back and she says she'll be back in a few hours. Sayid tells Jack that he'll make Locke release Charlotte without any bloodshed, and that Jack can't come because he doesn't trust him to not hurt Locke. Miles says he's coming along with Sayid and Sayid agrees, but won't give Miles a gun.

Meanwhile, Sawyer asks Ben the name of his plant on the boat and Locke says that Ben won't tell because his secret is the only thing keeping him alive. Sawyer suggests torturing Ben, starting with his feet and Locke says no, then they'd have to carry him. Suddenly, Locke comes across the ring of gunpowder that he'd last seen surrounding Jacob's cabin - but the cabin is gone. Hurley suggests that maybe the cabin is somewhere else. Ben taunts Locke and says that he's only there to find out what to do next. Locke says never mind, they'll just head to the barracks.

Hurley suggests that they let Charlotte go, to make a compromise to Team Jack. Locke says no, she is valuable as a hostage.

Back at the copter, Kate teases Jack about how it sucks being told not to come along. Jack jokes that he'll just do what Kate does - wait 20 minutes and then go along anyway. He suggests that Kate go along with Sayid and Miles, because he doesn't trust Locke. Kate asks why she should have faith that Locke won't do something to her, and Jack says it's because Sawyer won't let him. Kate, Sayid, and Miles head off. Frank asks Jack where Sayid is from, and Jack says Iraq. Frank asks if he was a diplomat and Jack tells Frank Sayid was a torturer.

Meanwhile, Sayid asks Miles if he even cares about Naomi or Charlotte and it's obvious that he doesn't - he cares about Ben. Miles asks why the group split up and Sayid says it's because some of them think they're going to be rescued and the others think they're going to be killed. Miles asks Sayid which side he's on, but Sayid hasn't decided yet.

Back at the copter, Daniel sets up some scientific equipment. Jack asks Frank Daniel's story and Frank doesn't know. He says, "Half of what he says goes over my head and the other half goes way, way over." Daniel tells Frank he wants to call Regina to do an experiment and Frank says it's okay, but to hang up if Minkowski comes on. Daniel calls Regina who says she's locked into his signal and fires something. She counts down to when it should arrive at Daniel but when she gets to zero, Daniel, looking at the sky, says he "doesn't have it." And he says it's weird.

Sayid, Kate, and Miles arrive at the barracks. They go into a house and hear muffled shouting and banging. They find Hurley bound and gagged in a closet. He says that they left him there and went on. He says he didn't know where they were going but they said they were going to stop at Ben's house first. Miles calles Hurley "Tubby" and Hurley says, "Great, another Sawyer."

Back at the copter, Jack asks Frank if the Red Sox really won, and Frank says they did. They hear a beep and suddenly, Daniel's rocket lands at their feet. Daniel checks his watch against the watch on the rocket and they are off by 31 minutes. He says this is "not good." Juliet returns with Desmond, and Desmond is super-excited to see the chopper.

The gang arrives at Ben's house and Kate searches the bedroom while Sayid searches the living room. Sayid finds a secret passageway and goes inside to find a room full of clothes, foreign money, and fake passports with Ben's photo. Kate turns in the bedroom and sees Sawyer. He shushes her but she yells "Sayid!" Sayid comes out of the secret room to see Locke holding a gun on him, while Rousseau has Miles at gunpoint. Hurley appears and apologizes for lying to Sayid. Oh, Hurley.

Rousseau apologizes and they put Sayid in the game room, where Kate had been imprisoned before and where Ben is now. Ben tells Sayid he lost a dollar on a bet with Locke, because he didn't think Sayid would fall for Hurley as bait.

Meanwhile, Kate asks Sawyer why he went with Locke instead of Jack, and Sawyer says he doesn't want to leave the island, because there's nothing for him at home. But he'd be happy to stay on the island where there is everything - food, electricity, shelter, etc. He asks Kate why she wants to leave when all she'll be facing is a jail sentence. She asks him how long he wants to play house and he suggests that she stay with him and find out.

In the game room, Locke brings some iced tea to Sayid, figuring he might be thirsty. Ben says he's thirsty but Locke ignores him. Ha! Sayid asks where Kate and Miles are. Kate is with Sawyer and Miles is "somewhere else." Sayid tells Locke that if he brings Charlotte back, he can get access to the freighter and figure out their motives. Locke doesn't want to give her up so Sayid suggests a trade.

Back at the copter, Des asks Frank about the photo of him and Penny. Frank says that he doesn't know anything - Naomi was "senior management" and didn't tell the rest of them anything. Des doesn't believe him and demands to be taken to the ship. Frank agrees.

Sayid returns with Charlotte. He says that Kate decided to stay and that he traded Miles for Charlotte. Frank is annoyed that Sayid tricked him but says that Miles was a pain in his ass, so it's okay. Charlotte and Daniel decide to stay on the island for now to investigate, so Frank, Desmond, and Sayid get ready to get into the helicopter to fly off. There is room for one more but Jack will stay for now.

Daniel pulls Frank aside and tells him, no matter what, to follow the bearing they came in on. No matter what. Frank agrees. Before they leave, Sayid says he'd like to bring Naomi's body back to the ship, and they load her up.

Frank, Des, and Sayid get into the copter, Frank starts her up, and they take off, flying over the amazing scenery of the island.

Camille Paglia wrote in the current issue of Slate.

Grandpa — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:12:18 -0800

Sarah Palin's rehabilitation has been well launched. Step by step over the past five weeks since the election, headlines about Palin in the mainstream media and some Web news sites have become more neutral and even laudatory, signifying that a shift toward reality is already at hand. My confidence about Palin's political future continues, as does my disgust at the provincial snobbery and amoral trashing of her reputation by the media and liberal elite, along with some conservative insiders.
Once the Republican ticket was defeated, the time had passed for ad feminam attacks on Palin. Hence my surprise and dismay at Dick Cavett's Nov. 14 blog in the New York Times, "The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla," which made a big splash and topped the paper's most-read list for nearly a week. I have enormous respect for Cavett: His TV interviews with major celebrities, which are now available on DVD, set a high-water mark for sheer intelligence in that medium that will surely never be surpassed.
However, Cavett's piece on Sarah Palin was insufferably supercilious. With dripping disdain, he sniffed at her "frayed syntax, bungled grammar and run-on sentences." He called her "the serial syntax-killer from Wasilla High," "one who seems to have no first language." I will pass over Cavett's sniggering dismissal of "soccer moms" as lightweights who should stay far, far away from government.
I was so outraged when I read Cavett's column that I felt like taking to the air like a Valkyrie and dropping on him at his ocean retreat in Montauk in the chichi Hamptons. How can it be that so many highly educated Americans have so little historical and cultural consciousness that they identify their own native patois as an eternal mark of intelligence, talent and political aptitude?
In sonorous real life, Cavett's slow, measured, self-interrupting and clause-ridden syntax is 50 years out of date. Guess what: There has been a revolution in English -- registered in the 1950s in the street slang, colloquial locutions and assertive rhythms of both Beat poetry and rock 'n' roll and now spread far and wide on the Web in the standard jazziness of blogspeak. Does Cavett really mean to offer himself as a linguistic gatekeeper for political achievers in this country?
My conclusion was that Cavett the Nebraska native had gotten far too processed by his undergraduate experiences at Yale, at a time when Yale was stuffily insular and a bastion of WASP pretension. An incident from 40 years ago flashed into my mind: During my first semester as a graduate student at Yale in 1968 (10 years after Cavett had graduated from Yale College), I was taking Anglo-Saxon from a dashing young professor with one of those classic WASP dynastic names -- like "The Philadelphia Story's" C.K. Dexter Haven. He was an affable fellow, a medievalist who went on to become a popular master of one of the undergraduate residential colleges.
But the cultural blinders in the Ivy League world through which this professor so serenely sailed were quite obvious in an incident that no one in the class, including me, responded to with the protest that it deserved. We were too paralyzed by our novice status and by Yale's genteel code of etiquette. One day, completely out of the blue, the professor produced a clipping from the New York Times, which he laughingly read and then tossed down on the seminar table for us to pass along and share.
The article, a wedding announcement with photo, was burned in my memory, but I never looked for it again until now. The date was Dec. 8, 1968. The headline: "Daphne C. Murray Wed in Westbury; '67 Bennett Alumna Bride of George Napolitano, Jr." The picture showed a handsome young Italian in a stylish black Nehru jacket leading his radiant bride down the aisle after the ceremony. She came from a family of high social standing: She was a descendant of the founder of the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.; she was the grand-niece of a noted polo player and the granddaughter of a U.S. senator. He, on the other hand, worked in his father's automobile body shop in Mineola, Long Island.
The professor, pointing out the bride's billowingly full white gown, declared, "Of course he knocked her up!" Ha, ha! We students were clearly expected to share his mirth, which we politely did. But what did any of that have to do with Anglo-Saxon? And why was a graduate seminar being used as a forum for coarse frat house humor? My blood still boils at that episode. I'm not sure what was worse -- the smug sexism, class prejudice or ethnic calumny.
Yes, that is the lordly Yale that formed Dick Cavett's linguistic and cultural assumptions and that has alarmingly resurfaced in the contempt that he showed for the self-made Sarah Palin in "The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla." I am very sorry that he, and so many other members of the educational elite, cannot take pleasure as I do in the quick, sometimes jagged, but always exuberant way that Palin speaks -- which is closer to street rapping than to the smug bourgeois cadences of the affluent professional class.
English has evolved, and the world has moved on. There is no necessary connection between bourgeois syntax and practical achievement. I have never had the slightest problem with understanding Sarah Palin's meaning at any time. Since when do free Americans subscribe to a stuffy British code of veddy, veddy proper English? We don't live in a stultified class system. In the U.K., in fact, many literary leftists make a big, obnoxious point about retaining their working-class accents. Too many American liberals claim to be defenders of the working class and then run like squealing mice from working-class manners and mores (including moose hunting and wolf control). What smirky, sheltered hypocrites. Get the broom!