maneghost.com

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

A car accident involving the car occupants and a dentist’s office happened on Sunday night in Santa Ana, California. A white Nissan sedan which was apparently driving too fast hit the raised concrete median on the road, after which it was launched into the air, slamming straight into the wall of the second floor of a two-story dental practice building, where the car got wedged.

According to the police, the car approached from a side street. The room of the dental office penetrated by the sedan was used as a storage space. A fire department crane was used to extract the vehicle from the building, which took several hours.

There were two people in the sedan. One of them managed to escape from the hanging vehicle on his own, while the other one remained trapped inside it for over an hour. They were both hospitalized with minor injuries, according to the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA). According to the police, the driver of the car admitted narcotics use, and after toxicology tests the case is to be submitted to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

The moment of the accident was captured by surveillance video from a bus which the car narrowly missed when becoming airborne.

According to OCFA spokesperson Captain Stephen Horner, there was a small fire after the crash, which was extinguished quickly.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

200,000 litres of oil leaked into waters off the coast of Brisbane from the Pacific Adventurer when their fuel tanks were damaged in rough seas on Wednesday. The figure is about ten times higher than the original estimate of twenty thousand litres of oil. The devastating diesel oil spill has spread along 60 kilometres (37 miles) of the Queensland coast. In addition, 31 containers with 620 tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser flew overboard during the violent storm.

Questions are being asked why the Hong Kong cargo ship was out in seas with nine meter waves caused by Cyclone Hamish, a Category 5 tropical cyclone, as well as why the fertiliser containers were not properly secured. One of the overboard containers ruptured the hull of the Pacific Adventurer, causing between 30 to 100 tonnes of oil to spew from the severely damaged ship.

If the ammonium nitrate mixes with the heavy oil, an explosion could occur. None of the containers have been recovered. Some of these may float, but it is believed that they may have sunk which then may cause algal blooms.

Disaster zones have been declared at Bribie and Moreton Islands, and along the Sunshine coast.

The vessel’s owner, Swire Shipping, reported that a second leak began on Friday, when the ship began listing after docking at Hamilton for repairs. “As full soundings of the vessel’s tanks were being taken at the port to determine how much oil had leaked from the vessel, a small quantity of fuel oil escaped from the Pacific Adventurer,” it stated. The ship was brought upright, and a recovery vessel was used to suck up the oil from the water. The leak produced a 500m-long oil slick down the Brisbane River. Booms were placed around this oil spill so that a skimmer could clean up the second spill.

Swire Shipping could face clean up costs of AU$100,000 a day as well as fines up to AU$1.5million (US$977,000; £703,000) if found guilty of environmental breaches or negligence.

Sunshine Coast beaches are slowly starting to be reopened. The beach of Mooloolaba was still closed following reports of burning sensations from swimmers. 12 beaches remain closed; however, 13 have been reopened.

Over 300 state government and council workers are using buckets, rakes and spades in the clean up effort. Sunshine Coast Mayor Bob Abbott says the majority will be gone by Sunday afternoon. The full environmental impact on wildlife is not yet known. One turtle and seven pelicans have been found covered in oil.

There are concerns that the drinking water of Moreton Island is at risk, as the island uses water from the underground water table near the oil spill site.

“Every bucketload of contaminated sand has to be removed from the island by barge, and each bucketload from a front-end loader weighs about one tonne. It’s just an impossible task,” said Mr Trevor Hassard of the Tangalooma Dolphin Education Centre.

The commercial fishing industry has suffered from the incident. Trawlers won’t resume operations until Sunday evening, and any catches will be tested for human consumption.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

In the United States of America and other parts of the word, as Christmas and the holidays draw near, shippers have released information on shipping deadlines. Remember to always clearly label and address your holiday packages.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to prison on Wednesday for 40 to 175 years in Ingham County, Michigan, United States. Nassar pleaded guilty in November to seven charges of sexual assault in Ingham County, however, he is alleged to have victimized over a hundred girls over several years. Nassar is currently serving a 60-year sentence for federal child pornography charges.

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, presiding over the Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing, Michigan, handed down the sentence, stating: “I’ve just signed your death warrant.”

Rachael Denhollander first accused Nassar, filing a criminal complaint in 2016. Nassar was charged in Ingham County with seven counts of sexual abuse and pleaded guilty in November of 2017. The true number of victims is alleged to exceed one hundred. During the sentencing hearings in court over 150 women testified Nassar abused them. Alleged victims include famous Olympic gymnasts, such as Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas, although Nassar was not specifically charged with abusing them.

Judge Aquilina read out parts of a statement Nassar submitted to the court. In the statement, Nassar wrote, “I was a good doctor, because my treatments worked and those patients that are now speaking out are the same ones that kept coming back over and over”. He also criticized an earlier judge for going “ballistic”. Aquilina declined to read the entirety, citing concern for the victims; “I don’t want them re-victimized by the words in the letter”, she said.

Nassar served as the team physician for USA Gymnastics for years, spanning four Olympic Games. Simultaneously, he served with Michigan State University. He abused his victims under pretense of treating them as a doctor.

Nassar’s case has led to allegations of lack of oversight by Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics, and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). At USA Gymnastics, prior to the sentencing three board members resigned over the case on Monday, as well as its president last year. Corporate sponsors of the organization also pulled out.

The current president of USA Gymnastics, Kerry Perry, who was appointed in December, released a statement after the sentencing: “During the last seven days, more than 150 courageous women have shared their deeply personal experiences and how Larry Nassar’s despicable crimes impacted their lives. […] USA Gymnastics applauds Judge Rosemarie Aquilina for handing Nassar the maximum sentence of up to 175 years[…] As stated on my first day on Dec. 1, 2017, I will not waver on my commitment to focus each and every day on our organization’s highest priority — the safety, health and well-being of our athletes.”

USOC head Scott Blackmun also released a statement in which he apologized: “The purpose of this message is to tell all of Nassar’s victims and survivors, directly, how incredibly sorry we are. We have said it in other contexts, but we have not been direct enough with you. We are sorry for the pain caused by this terrible man, and sorry that you weren’t afforded a safe opportunity to pursue your sports dreams. The Olympic family is among those that have failed you.”

Both Reuters and the Los Angeles Times noted applause in the courtroom when Nassar was escorted out. Judge Aquilina said, “There has to be a massive investigation as to why there was inaction, why there was silence.”

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Group of 20 (G20) of the world’s leading developed and developing countries’ finance ministers agreed on Saturday to pursue a plan that would avoid dangerous currency devaluations and would also would attempt to reduce trade imbalances. The plan was introduced by the United States, and the G20 meeting was held in South Korea.

The plan was announced amid rising worries of a “currency war” that would lead to devalued currencies in order to get an export advantage and would damage the global economy. “Our cooperation is essential. We are all committed to play our part in achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth in a collaborative and coordinated way,” a statement released by the G20 said.

On the topic of trade imbalances, the G-20 stated that “excessive imbalances” would be “assessed against indicative guidelines to be agreed.” This statement was weaker than a commitment proposed by United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, which would keep trade imbalances “below a specified share” of GDP for the next few years. This proposal was met with strong opposition from export-based economies such as Japan, whose Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda argued that specific targets were “unrealistic”, but approved of unspecific “guidelines”. He added: “There are many perspectives on the current account issue. Every country has a different situation when it comes to surpluses and deficits. So we need to study this carefully.”

The United States said that they will continue to push for numerical targets and specific time frames at next month’s South Korean summit, where the heads of state of the G20 will convene. “If the world is going to be able to grow at a strong, sustainable pace in the future . . . then we need to work to achieve more balance in the pattern of global growth as we recover from the crisis,” US Treasury Secretary Geithner declared. The finance ministers also set China on the track to floating its currency more, and overhauling the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to give more representation to developing powers such as China and India.

The G20 was created in 1999, includes both developed and developing countries, and represents 85% of the world’s economy. The G20’s heads of state will meet in Seoul, South Korea, next month.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Construction workers in Seattle, Washington located in the United States are nearing completion of a new light-rail trolley, but it is not the trolleys that are making the residents of the city laugh, it is the abbreviation that city officials designated for the new transit system.

The new transit system, South Lake Union Streetcar (SLUS) has had an unofficial change in its abbreviation to “S.L.U.T.” by local residents. Some have even designed and sold more than 100 t-shirts saying “Ride the S.L.U.T.”.

City officials admit that they were aware of the notion before they named the system, but did not care enough to rename it and didn’t give the acronym ‘streetcar’ to avoid the outcome. Officials say that streetcar sounded more modern than trolley.

The project, built by Vulcan Development, is costing US$50.5 million to build.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Utah Senator Chris Buttars has decided not to introduce a bill requiring the teaching of “divine design” in Utah schools, at least for this year. Buttars withdrew after State Board of Education director Patti Harrington assured him that Utah public school curriculum does not teach that man descended from apes.

Buttars had hoped his divine design proposal would escape the controversy of creationism or intelligent design. “The only people who will be upset about this are atheists,” he stated on June 6 when he announced his intention to run the bill.

Utah is home to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints also known as the Mormon Church. On the surface it would seem Utah would be a likely scene of intense religious pressure in public schools over the teaching of evolution. But unlike states with a strong Christian conservative presence, Utah’s LDS leaders have avoided some of the more contentious separation state and church battles.

On the topic of divine design, official LDS church spokesmen have been largely silent at least in public. But with more than 90% of the legislature made up of members of the LDS faith, few in Utah would deny the influence of the church on public policy.

Groups on both sides of the issue are gearing up for what many consider an inevitable fight. The ACLU of Utah has posted a paper on divine design on its web site (http://www.acluutah.org). The Eagle Forum which wields significant policital power in Utah has expressed its support for Buttars proposed legislation.