Earth's north magnetic pole is drifting away from North America and toward Siberia at such a clip that Alaska might lose its spectacular Northern Lights in the next 50 years, scientists said Thursday. Despite accelerated movement over the past century, the possibility that Earth's modestly fading magnetic field will collapse is remote. But the shift could mean Alaska may no longer see the sky lights known as auroras, which might then be more visible in more southerly areas of Siberia and Europe.
The magnetic poles are part of the magnetic field generated by liquid iron in Earth's core and are different from the geographic poles, the surface points marking the axis of the planet's rotation. Scientists have long known that magnetic poles migrate and in rare cases, swap places. Exactly why this happens is a mystery.
"This may be part of a normal oscillation and it will eventually migrate back toward Canada," Joseph Stoner, a paleomagnetist at Oregon State University, said Thursday at an American Geophysical Union meeting. Al Gore told me it was due to global warming from too much greenhouse gas and George Bush's flat out failure to sign the Kyoto Treaty
Previous studies have shown that the strength of the Earth's magnetic shield has decreased 10 percent over the past 150 years. During the same period, the north magnetic pole wandered about 685 miles out into the Arctic, according to a new analysis by Stoner. The rate of the magnetic pole's movement has increased in the last century compared to fairly steady movement in the previous four centuries, the Oregon researchers said.
At the present rate, the north magnetic pole could swing out of northern Canada into Siberia. If that happens, Canada could sue Russia in the ICC Alaska could lose its Northern Lights, which occur when charged particles streaming away from the sun interact with different gases in Earth's atmosphere.
The north magnetic pole was first discovered in 1831 and when it was revisited in 1904, explorers found that the pole had moved 31 miles. For centuries, navigators using compasses had to learn to deal with the difference between magnetic and geographic north. A compass needle points to the north magnetic pole, not the geographic North Pole. For example, a compass reading of north in Oregon is about 17 degrees east of geographic north.
In the study, Stoner examined the sediment record from several Arctic lakes. Since the sediments record the Earth's magnetic field at the time, scientists used carbon dating to track changes in the magnetic field. They found that the north magnetic field shifted significantly in the last thousand years. It generally migrated between northern Canada and Siberia, but it sometimes moved in other directions, too.
#2
LOL 3dc...here come the megahertz run for lives
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/10/2005 1:35 Comments ||
Top||
#3
It's all because Bush refused to sign Kyoto.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/10/2005 10:07 Comments ||
Top||
#4
In 1990, I flew up to Resolute in my plane. When you get to about 800 miles or so from the North magnetic pole, the magnetic compass is useless, as the horizontal component of the magnetic field is weak. Most of the lines of magnetic field are plunging into the earth. The plane's compass just wanders around aimlessly.
As a consequence, navigation becomes more of a problem. I used a sun compass, and some other tricks when I navigated. Now, with GPS, a lot of this is moot, until the GPS unit winks out, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/10/2005 12:29 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Appearently the poles also reverse over geological time. No record on how quick it happens or whether or not there is an period of time during the switch when the mag field is down. Now that could be interesting to the local environment when there is no protection from some solar radiation.
DUBAI â Bigamy plays a major role in the break-up of national families in the country, a study published by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs magazine has revealed. Of all the divorces that take place in the national community, 31.9 per cent is on account of men's bigamy, says a study published by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs magazine.
"I'm leaving you, Blanche! You, too, Harriet!"
Of all the marriages registered in the UAE by nationals, 28 per cent happen between UAE national men and stupid foreign women, and most of these are second marriages, provoking the first wife to seek divorce, the study reveals.
"Bring that blonde tramp into my house, will you?! I'm outta here!"
About 23.7 per cent of the divorces result from financial problems, where as childlessness accounts for 23.4 per cent. Parental interference seals the conjugal fate of several men and women, constituting about 21.4 per cent of divorces.
"Mother, I'm sure my wives and I can work this out."
"Wife number three is just not good enough for my son, and never will be!"
Sixteen per cent of divorces spring from arbitrary spousal behaviour on the part of the men and 13.8 per cent due to drug addiction and resultant problems. About nine per cent of all divorces result from spousal infidelity and less than one per cent on account of the wife's illness. Interestingly, three per cent of divorces occurs because of husband's stinginess.
Only three percent? There's a surprise.
The study notes that most of these divorces could have been avoided had proper education been given to the couples on the art of leading a married life with multiple wives. As for the national men's preference for foreign women, the study attributes it to the financial boom. Some men have enough means to set up a second family abroad.
A girl in every port, only they're not sailors...
The national men who practise polygamy are mostly aged over 60, whereas their second spouses are in their 20s. This has been seen as one reason for the government to include foreign widows of national husbands in the social security scheme. Delay in marriage age is another factor highlighted in the study, attributing it to the social development of the country. When women seek higher education, they spend about 16 years in their studies, bringing the age of marriage up to 22.
Initially I did the math a certain way and came up with age 6 for an uneducated wife. I don't think that's what they meant, but you never know.
The fact that marriage has become an expensive business also accounts for the delay. The survey showed that of all the unmarried women in Sharjah, 64.8 per cent are aged between 23 and 49 years. Likewise, 54.6 per cent of all the spinsters in the country are working women. The study recommended a nation-wide campaign to create awareness about the issues highlighted in the study.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/10/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
Over 12% of Egyptian marriages are polygamous. At Independence, India was forced to maintain shariah provisions in its constitution. At last count 3% of Muslim marriages were polygamous. The Saud figure is estimated to be as high as 20%; 100% among the House of Saud. It is normal for wealthy Saudis to marry ugly women for cooking and homemaking, and pretty ones to quench their lusts. Does anyone need to know that Koranimal women only get one marital partner?
Experts have said the country needed to take more initiatives to support the disaster prone people in increasing their awareness and capacity to cope with natural calamity more effectively and sustainability, reports BSS.
According to official sources, not even one percent of the total aid was spent for capacity building in the last two decades. They said most of the aid received after disasters was spent on relief and rehabilitation, structural reconstruction projects and for covering the costs of highly paid international and national consultants.
The international banking community thanks you. Did you get the Christmas card from the Caymans?
The sources said US 500 million dollar was committed by donor governments at the Special General Assembly of the United Nations convened to discuss the floods of Bangladesh in 1988. Bangladesh received a staggering figure of over one billion US dollar during one decade after the cyclone of 1991.
Over US dollar 150 million dollar was spent for research, studies and piloting of some of the components of the flood action Plan (FAP), designed mainly by expatriates, after the floods of 1988. The structural measures for capacity build up requires billions of dollars of investment in the form of infra-structural development like construction of embankments, dykes, raising of roads, construction of shelters and private houses. Bangladesh has invested quite a substantial amount of money in these constructions which is still too little compared to the huge need.
And even if you did spend the money properly, your entire country is a flood plain for the Indian Ocean.
Non structural reforms involves massive Public Awareness Programme (PAP) leading to the enhancement of the capacity of the vulnerable people to cope with disasters.
The experts said to integrate awareness building initiatives into structural measures to ensure active participation of people with the infrastructures maintenance and use of cyclone shelter and embankments. They said the term Disaster Management covers both pre- disaster preparedness and post-disaster response and reconstruction activities.
The experts said it is a complete misconception that the victims of disasters in the Third World countries, mostly from lowest economic and social strata of the society, are incapable of helping and supporting themselves.
So long as they pay all the proper fees so that their betters can tell them what to do, of course.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/10/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
150 million dollar was spent for research, studies and piloting of some of the components of the flood action Plan (FAP), designed mainly by expatriates,
Coming soon to an esturary near you.
Posted by: Fly Ash Liberation Army of Gawd ||
12/10/2005 8:19 Comments ||
Top||
#2
So .... all of the relief omney was spent for relief? This guy's complaining 'cuz more of the relief money wasn't spent on disaster prevention?
"Sorry you and you family gotta starve, but we gots to build this new levee!"
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/10/2005 8:20 Comments ||
Top||
In perhaps the quirkiest, most colorful of the many presidential campaigns gathering momentum in Latin America, Evo Morales, the Aymara Indian leader turned congressman, strode into this mountain hamlet on a recent day like a conquering hero.
The town's fathers honored him Bolivian-style, placing a heavy wreath of potatoes, roses and green beans around his neck. Crowds of peasants amassed behind him, while a ceremonial escort of indigenous leaders led him across cobblestone streets to a field filled with thousands.
There, Morales gave the kind of leftist speech that increasingly strikes a chord with Latin America's disenchanted voters, railing against privatization, liberalized trade and other economic prescriptions backed by the United States.
"If we win, not just Evo will be president, but the Quechua and Aymara will also be in the presidency," Morales said, referring to Bolivia's two largest Indian communities. "We are a danger for the rich people who sack our resources."
Morales, 46, a former llama herder and coca farmer leader who has a slight lead in the polls for Bolivia's election on Dec. 18, offers what may be the most radical vision in Latin America, much to the dismay of the Bush administration. But the sentiment extends beyond Bolivia. Starting on Dec. 11 in Chile, voters in 11 countries will participate in a series of presidential elections over the next year that could take Latin America further to the left than it already is.
Traditional, market-friendly politicians can still win in all of these countries. But at the moment, polls show a general leftward drift that could result in policies sharply deviating from longstanding American economic remedies like unfettered trade and privatization, better known as the Washington Consensus.
"The left is contesting in a very practical way for political power," said Jim Shultz, executive director of Democracy Center, a policy analysis group in Bolivia. "There's a common thread that runs through Lula and Kirchner and Chávez and Evo and the left in Chile to a certain degree and that thread is a popular challenge to the market fundamentalism of the Washington Consensus."
Still, the prospects for a further turn to the left could signal a broad, popular distancing from the Bush administration, whose focus on fighting drugs and advocating regional free trade has failed to generate much backing.
While the Bush administration may be pleased that its most trusted and important ally, President Alváro Uribe in Colombia, will probably win re-election in May, Washington's most fervent adversary, Chávez, is also expected to cruise to victory late next year.
And the left may mount a strong challenge in countries like market-friendly Peru. There, a nationalistic cashiered army officer, Ollanta Humala, who compares himself to Chávez, has gained ground and is now second in the polls to a conservative congresswoman.
No one, though, quite offers the up-by-the-bootstraps story that Morales does. He grew up poor in the frigid highlands. Four of his six siblings died young, he said. When the mining industry went bust, the family moved to Bolivia's coca-growing heartland, where Morales made his mark as a leader of the coca farmers, who cultivate a shiny green leaf that is the main component used to make cocaine.
That made him a pariah to the United States, which has bankrolled the army's effort to eradicate the crop. But under Morales's leadership, the cocaleros have fought back in recent years, paralyzing the country with road blockades and playing a role in uprisings that toppled two presidents in 20 months.
Now, Morales travels Bolivia's pockmarked mountain roads in a relentless campaign, blasting Andean music that heralds him ("We feel it, we feel it, Evo presidente," goes a standard line).
Morales delights in it all - the ceremonial greetings at isolated, windswept towns, the potluck lunches of potatoes and beef stew that he gobbles down.
It may seem improvised, but those who know Morales said his is a calculated campaign that draws its strength from the support he has built across Bolivia through his political party, the Movement Toward Socialism.
Using a political opportunity that would have been unthinkable for an indigenous leader a generation ago, Morales vows to sharply veer Bolivia away from the liberalized trade and privatizations that have marked the country's economy for a generation. His own proposals lack specifics, but they tap into the latent discontent of voters upset that market reforms did little to improve their lives.
Michael Shifter, who is closely tracking Latin American campaigns for the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue, said, "Evo is the expression of that frustration, that resentment and the search for answers."
In two days of interviews on the campaign trail, Morales complained that open borders had brought in cheap potatoes from Argentina. He offers a range of solutions, like loans to microbusinesses and the creation of more cooperatives. He says his government will demand a bigger take from the foreign corporations that are developing Bolivia's large natural gas reserves.
"We will have an economy based on solidarity and reciprocity," Morales said. "We do not dismiss the presence of foreign investment, but we want it be real fresh investment to industrialize our hydrocarbons, all under state control."
He seems to relish talking about the United States, noting that criticisms from American officials have boosted his popularity in an increasingly nationalistic country.
His talk resonates with people like Herminio López, a leader in the hamlet of Piusilla. "We are sure he will not defraud or fool us, like all the others," he said. "Eighty-percent of us are poor and for us to have someone like him makes us proud."
Morales knows well what appeals to his supporters.
Aside from an economic transformation, he offers such symbolic proposals as changing the Bolivian flag. Instead of just three bars, the flag of his government would also feature the rainbow squares of the wipala, the indigenous flag of the Andes.
"We are very close, my friends," Morales told the crowd here in Morochata. "This moment is not just for Evo Morales. It is for all of us."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/10/2005 01:30 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#6
What strikes me is having been stationed in South Korea which was pretty much leveled in the 50-53 war, you end up with stats like this compared the a major latin nation:
Using my 2003 Almanac-
South Korea
Population: 48M
Area: 37K sq miles
GDP (2000 est): $764B (13th)
Mexico
Population: 103M
Area: 742K sq miles
GDP (2000 est.): $915B (11th)
There is something fundamentally wrong there when countries which have not been devastated by war are bearly ahead given the vast natural resources, agricultural tracts and population they have. Then again Japan (3rd), Germany (5th) and South Korea all have something in common. American armed forces/soldiers who weren't withdrawn. Pride has its price appearently. You da man Evo.
The United Nations acknowledged Thursday its troops likely opened fire on a car full of Haitian police officers this week, wounding two.
A preliminary investigation found five uniformed officers were driving toward a UN checkpoint Monday when the troops opened fire, said UN spokesman Damian Onses-Cardona. He showed photographs of the blue car, which had official licence plates but no other markings. Troops may have confused the police with armed gang members whom they are fighting to gain control of the seaside slum Cite Soleil, Onses-Cardona said.
Easy mistake to make.
Cite Soleil, where gunbattles between UN troops and gangs take place almost daily, remains the most insecure place in Haiti ahead of national elections scheduled Jan. 8. Haitian police do not enter the slum, which a battalion of 1,500 Jordanian troops in armoured vehicles has pledged to reclaim from the gangs.
One of the two wounded Haitian police officers remained in hospital in stable condition Thursday.
"Even though this incident is appalling, the tight collaboration between UN peacekeepers and Haitian police will continue," Onses-Cardona said. The two forces currently are studying a joint plan to combat kidnappings, which have surged in areas near Cite Soleil, he said.
LAHORE: The British High Commission in Islamabad has set up a âdiplomatic snatch squadâ to rescue British women of dual nationality being forced to marry Pakistani men by their families, reported the UK newspaper The Guardian.
Talking to the newspaper, Helen Feather, head of the consular section and leader of the special team, said, âThis is a human rights abuse and these are British nationals in distress.â She said the teamâs mission was to pluck the reluctant brides from the clutches of their cousins and put them on a plane back to Britain. The team saved 105 young people last year, she added.
Helen has a set of brass ones. Good job!
According to The Guardian, diplomatic jeeps on average leave the compound for villages in Punjab and Kashmir twice a week. The pioneering programme is sensitive and secretive, plunging British officials into a world of clashing cultures and family traumas.
Consular official Jon Turner described to the newspaper how the rescues typically worked. A worried relative or boyfriend in the UK usually makes the initial contact with the Foreign Office. Sometimes the victim herself sends an SOS. Through hushed late-night conversations and secretive text messages, Turner and his team establish contact. After days or weeks of careful preparation, a time and date are agreed.
The element of surprise is crucial, Turner tells The Guardian. Local police are informed hours beforehand, and asked to provide backup. Some officers are sympathetic - others need persuading. Finally, Turner knocks on the front door. What follows, he admits, is a wrenching experience for everyone. Flustered relatives plead with the girl to stay, often resorting to emotional blackmail. âThe family can be very tough and vitriolic,â says Turner. âThey say, âYour father will have a heart attack,â âYour mother will commit suicide,â âYou will bring dishonour to our family.ââ The team can do little other than to remind relatives that any trouble could reflect poorly in future visa applications. The victim, says Turner, almost always feels guilty. âThatâs why we try to make it quick.â
The Guardian reports, the young woman is rushed to Islamabad and lodged in a refuge run by Struggle for Change (Sach), a Pakistani organisation that supports victims of forced marriage and domestic violence. The high commission will issue an emergency passport and, if necessary, loan her the price of her plane fare home. The address of the refuge is kept secret in case furious relatives try to snatch the woman back. Within a few days she travels to the airport; in high-risk cases she may be hidden under a shawl, flown out from a regional airport or escorted on to the plane.
Most rescues are resolved peacefully, the newspaper quoted Turner as saying. But in a country where so-called âhonour killingsâ - in which reluctant young women, are murdered rather than bring dishonour on the family - are frequent, the dangers are real. An armed bodyguard comes on every rescue. During one encounter, police cocked their weapons and formed a circle around the woman as they left the house. âIt turned out her uncle was a well known kidnapper, extortionist and murderer,â says Turner.
I'm even more impressed. The Pak police sound like they're stepping up and the Brits are protecting their citizens.
Forced marriage is the ugly flipside of arranged marriage, a widespread and highly valued tradition in south Asia. Parents play a central role in such unions, carefully vetting their childrenâs partners. The criteria often depend on class: the rich look for a western education and a decent income; poorer classes worry about caste and creed. Only the most liberal Pakistani families indulge in what are disparagingly referred to as âlove marriagesâ. Still, young people can usually refuse to go ahead if they donât like their prospective partner. But in a forced marriage there is no consent, just the brutally imposed wishes of the family. âThis is a patriarchal society where women and children are considered as the possessions of males. They have no options, no say, no choices,â says Khalida Salimi of Sach.
British citizens also become trapped in forced marriages in other countries. Diplomats have carried out rescues in India and Bangladesh, as well as Africa and the Middle East. But no other country comes close in scale to Pakistan, which has an estimated 80,000 dual nationals and accounts for 60 percent of cases handled by the Foreign Officeâs Forced Marriage Unit. One-fifth of cases involve men but none has yet been rescued, the unit instead helping with travel papers and money.
Sach has tried to spark a debate on forced marriage through the media and visits by Muslim scholars to debunk myths about womenâs role in Islam. âForced marriage is part of our customs and traditions. It has nothing to do with the law and religion. In fact, it is the very opposite,â says Dr Noreen Khalid, who counsels the runaway brides. Sachâs efforts have met with stiff, occasionally violent resistance. A Sach driver who was helping a couple to elope was kidnapped and badly beaten for several hours in Rawalpindi.
Repercussions against the women themselves are far worse. One forced marriage victim had her nose, tongue and hair chopped off, says Salimi. Another was killed. âI remember the girl well; she stayed with us in 2000 before going to Britain,â says Salimi. âThe next year she returned to reconcile with the family, then she was found dead. They say she slipped, fell into a canal and drowned. We think it was murder.â
I think you're right.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/10/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Different culture you see, hard for us to understand don't 'ya know. None of our business. It's not a black or white thingy. It's no worse than imposing McDonalds on hungry Chile chillrun.
Posted by: Fly Ash Liberation Army of Gawd ||
12/10/2005 8:25 Comments ||
Top||
#2
This shit will continue until one thing happens. Women who are forced into marriages, at the first convenience, stick something sharp into their new "husband", just as a matter of routine.
If just one woman artist did a music video, or even a song, with a catchy and repetitive theme. One that could be remembered, a tune that could be hummed, that women could sing softly to each other. Something like:
"I will not be raped - stab the man.
I will not be murdered - stab the man.
I will not be sold - stab the man.
I will not be beaten - stab the man.
Stab the man and keep your honor.
Stab the man and keep your life.
Stab the man and keep your freedom.
Stab the man and live in peace."
#3
Rescuing them is great but they have no support system. They need an abuse underground to help them resettle elsewhere and spare them the honor killings. They just may stab the man if they had some where to escape to! The perfect "inside job" on these wacky Paks.
Chinese authorities have confirmed several protesters were shot dead in a confrontation with police at a village in the south earlier this week.
Six people died as result of the shooting in Guangdong province on Tuesday, the Xinhua news agency says.
Officials accused armed "instigators" of using anger about a local power station to incite the crowd.
Protests against corruption, pollution and land seizures have become increasingly common in rural China.
Officials quoted by Xinhua said more than 170 people took part in Tuesday's protest in the village of Dongzhou.
At the urging of a few "instigators", the demonstrators reportedly attacked the police with petrol bombs, knives and dynamite.
"It became dark when the chaotic mob began to throw explosives at the police," the report said. "Police were forced to open fire in alarm."
Three people died instantly in the police firing and three others were fatally wounded, according to Xinhua.
But local residents quoted in Hong Kong newspapers have alleged that up to twenty people were killed.
Witnesses at the time told US broadcaster Radio Free Asia the incident happened after hundreds of police tried to disperse up to 1,000 demonstrators near Shanwei.
Protesters were apparently angry because they had not been compensated for land taken by the government to build a power plant.
One of the most prominent rural demonstrations, earlier this year, took place in the village of Taishi, also in Guangdong province. Villagers accused Taishi's chief of embezzling public funds in a deal involving the sale of a large tract of village land.
The stand-off between locals and security forces lasted several weeks.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
DUBAI â Bigamy plays a major role in the break-up of national families in the country, a study published by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs magazine has revealed. Of all the divorces that take place in the national community, 31.9 per cent is on account of men's bigamy, says a study published by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs magazine.
Experts have said the country needed to take more initiatives to support the disaster prone people in increasing their awareness and capacity to cope with natural calamity more effectively and sustainability, reports BSS.
The United Nations acknowledged Thursday its troops likely opened fire on a car full of Haitian police officers this week, wounding two.
