currently 11:11pm Friday 5th September, 2008 (NYC, New York)
|
March 2005 archives
The following are all the entries published for the month of March 2005. another big earthquake rocks indonesia
Monday 28 March, 2005 at 11:41PM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (0) Another big quake just hit Indonesia close to the area hit by a massive 9.0 quake about 3 months ago which generated a tsunami that killed over 200,000 souls. The latest quake measured 8.7 on the Richter scale on the preliminary report, hitting at 4:09pm UTC on 28th March (that's 11.09pm in New York, about half an hour ago). The epicenter of this quake was Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, which is right by the world renown surf break Nias. You can see from the graphic just how close it was to the December 2004 quake.
Emerging reports state at least 290 people killed, 100 injured and 300 houses destroyed on Nias. There is also extensive damage on Simeulue, the quake being felt in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and as far north as Bangkok, Thailand. At this stage there does not appear to be a huge tsunami generated as there was in the Dec 2004 quake. This region has been hit by earthquakes and aftershocks in the 5 or 6+ range pretty much on a daily basis since the big December '04 quake (check this entry for a some of the aftershocks I noted down). I was beginning to think it had started to quiet down recently, but alas no. I will update this entry as time permits. astronomical charges by halliburton
Friday 18 March, 2005 at 10:58PM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (2) Halliburton subsidiary KBR was given the contract to ship LPG (liquid petroleum gas - basically cooking and heating fuel) from Kuwait to violence-ridden Iraq. There has been speculation in the past about how some of the contractors related to Iraq were chosen, but in this case it seems Halliburton certainly are on the winning end of the deal. According to the Houston Chronicle, Pentagon auditors combing through the company's books allegedly discovered a charge of $27,514,833 to deliver $82,100 worth of LPG fuel. No, that's not a typo; that's a charge of $27.5 million to ship $0.08 million worth of gas - an astounding 335 times the value of the product being shipped. Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said the figures were taken out of context. "The implication is definitely misleading," Hall said. "Transporting fuel into Iraq was a mission fraught with danger, which increased the prices that firms were willing to offer for transportation." Ok I can understand a higher rate than would be expected considering it's a war zone of course, but a markup of 33,500% on the full value of the item being shipped? Hell no. I thought the whole point was to contract these services out so the bidders would compete for the contracts using their own existing capital and thus keep the price down for the government, ultimately saving the taxpayers a bit of money. Hell, for that price, the US government could have purchased trucks and had soldiers drive them for a fraction of the cost and then still had the trucks as working capital in future. I'm sure there are plenty of other contractors who would've done that job for a hell of a lot less, so what's the friggin story here? I would not be surprised if this little 'deal' gets swept under the carpet, depending which people have their fingers stuck into this particular pie.. considering Vice-President Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton, I'd imagine it goes about as high as it can, much like the UN oil-for-food scam. Damn, is there ANYONE in a position of power that is not corrupt these days? It makes me sick. People are being killed while others use it as a way to further their own greedy desires. They should be charged for manslaughter, if not shot for treason. six months smoke-free
Tuesday 15 March, 2005 at 10:42PM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (2)
We went to Riverdance at the Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan last Friday night with Ice's parents! Wow the place is impressive, regardless of the fact that we were there to see Riverdance as well. Riverdance actually debuted there, and this current series of shows are to mark the 10th anniversary of Riverdance. Not that I've ever been into tapdancing, but hell, the tapdancing in this was farking amazing, and I loved the celtic music that is part of the show as well. What else can I say? Pretty damn awesome. the last soldier to surrender
Thursday 10 March, 2005 at 11:33PM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (1)
Onoda believed World War II was still underway despite various attempts over the years to convince him otherwise, his final capitulation coming only when his senior officer, Major Taniguchi, ordered his surrender. Upon return to the Japanese homeland, Onoda was treated as a hero. Now that's some serious dedication. Respect. |
  current weblog entries weblog archives syndication (atom/rss) weather forecasts related utilities online games psychic mind reader the bad day cure internet security webmaster resources password generator gisborne surf, nz goat island bay session las vegas 2005 bbc world headlines cnn world headlines michelle malkin usgs earthquakes daily rotten news national geographic time world headlines time photoessays urban scrawl site info urban scrawl site map contact the author linkage list  random quote: When I die, I want to go peacefully, in my sleep, like Grandpa Fred. Not screaming, like the passengers in his car.     |
|
| |
It's been six months today since I last had a smoke. Who woulda thunk? I still feel like one every now and then, particularly when I've been doing some heavy study for a few hours and feel like a quick five minute break. I always assumed I'd have to give up gradually using patches and all that sorta crap, although the few days I spent in hospital with west nile virus probably helped me get through those first few tough days. Strangely enough, dwelling on it is making me want one, so I'll change the subject.
Second Lieutenant