lwsimmons.org

Friday, May 7, 2010

Latest figures from the US government say that the country’s economy gained 290,000 jobs in April, the largest single-month gain since March 2006.

According to the Labor Department, excluding temporary workers for this year’s census, the number of non-farm jobs increased by a seasonally adjusted 224,000.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, increased from 9.7% to 9.9%; the apparent contradiction is because 195,000 people who previously gave up searching for jobs started looking for work again, entering the labor force and augmenting the jobless rate.

The increases were larger than expected by economic analysts; according to a survey done by MarketWatch, economists believed the country would have added 185,000 jobs for last month.

President Obama commented on the numbers earlier today at the White House, saying: “This is the largest monthly increase in four years […] we’ve now seen job growth for four months in a row. These numbers are particularly heartening when you consider where we were a year ago, with an economy in freefall.”

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Six people are confirmed dead after Tuesday’s heavy rains in Slovenia. Up to 300 mm of rain fell in just a few hours across the country, with swollen rivers, torrential streams and landslides sweeping away cars, houses, bridges, and whole sections of roads. In some areas, public services have not yet been restored, and healthcare and drinking water are being provided by mobile units. Some major roads are still closed. The damage includes the destruction of the resistance Hospital Franja, a museum site from the Second World war.

Worst hit was the valley town of Železniki, where three people died, 350 houses were flooded and over a hundred cars were swept away by the swollen river Sora. The dead included a woman who was swept away by the river in her car. The local health facilities and the elementary school are closed. Road communication to several surrounding villages was cut off by landslides. The flood also badly damaged local industry. The lower-lying town of Škofja Loka was also badly hit by the flood. A 31-year-old volunteer fire fighter was killed during the rescue effort in Cerklje.

Other badly affected areas include those along the rivers Sava, Savinja and Dravinja. All three rivers and many of their tributaries overflowed and flooded fields and towns. The low-lying parts of Celje, Laško and Nazarje were flooded by up to 2 meters of water. A 34-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were killed in Podgorje near Braslov?e when their house was buried in a landslide. Two older people managed to leave the house unharmed.

Damage was widespread across the country and many roads were blocked by landslides. Velenje was cut off from the world for more than a day. The main road connecting the mountainous Bohinj valley to the central part of the country was closed, leaving only the mountain road to Tolmin.

Near the town of Cerkno, which was itself flooded, the museum site of Hospital Franja was nearly completely destroyed. The partisan resistance hospital from the Second World War, situated in a narrow mountain canyon above the town and named after the young doctor who worked at the site, treated hundreds of wounded resistance fighters and remained undiscovered by the Wehrmacht throughout the war. The hospital consisted of 12 wooden cabins and a miniature hydroelectric power plant. The power plant and all but one of the wooden cabins and were swept away by the swollen stream. Hundreds of exhibits, including medicine containers, locally produced medical equipment and an x-ray machine were lost or badly damaged.

The government of Slovenia directed €500,000 from the emergency fund to immediate rescue and repair operations, and has promised to help the affected municipalities and population with funds from the budget. The government has also pledged to rebuild the Hospital Franja museum site.

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Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Mumbai, India’s largest city and financial capital, received a record-high rainfall on Tuesday, July 26. The rain left many parts of the city flooded. Landslides and other related effects of the rain claimed more than 100 lives in Mumbai and the surrounding areas.

Transportation was seriously affected, as the two main highways, railway lines, and the runways at Mumbai International airport remain submerged. Trains and city buses were shut down for 24 hours, and have not yet resumed full service. Domestic and international flights have been diverted out of Mumbai. Residents of buildings in low-lying areas are being rescued with boats and navy helicopters. Large numbers of Mumbai residents did not make it home from work, or spent the night in cars that were stranded on the road. The All India Radio reported that 150,000 people were stranded across different railway stations of the Mumbai Suburban Railway, which is considered the life line of Mumbai. Mumbai Suburban Railway partially commenced operating after thirty-six hours, from late evening on July 27.

The rainfall received in Mumbai’s suburbs on Tuesday totaled 37.1 inches, which exceeds the world’s record for highest rainfall in a single day (33.0 inches at Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India).

The heavy rainfall has taken its toll on historic buildings as well. A building on Marine drive has been drowned up to the first floor. Mackichan Knight from IIMC mourns this irreparable damage.

As per Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, the rainfall cost the state $110m in damages.

Correction: This does not exceed the world’s record for highest rainfall in a single day, but it does exceed India’s previous record. (33.0 inches at Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India).

The world record for rainfall in a 24-hour period was 75.98in which fell during a hurricane on Reunion Island near Madagascar.

Tuesday, May 3, 2005

Most heroin sold in Europe comes from Afghanistan’s poppies. This past week, the 2005 opium harvest was in full view and going full speed in Afghanistan. The cultivators gathering resin from the crop are operating even near the main road through Kandahar and the farmers are out gathering resin from opium poppies in full view.

Last year 80% of the world’s opium came from Afghanistan and production is up over 239% since 2003, according to U.S. government estimates. Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of illegal drugs.

In 2002 Super Bowl ads, the White House sent out the message that “drugs fund terrorists”. Doug Wankel, a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official, says the opium industry is “financing terrorism. It’s financing subversive activities. It’s financing warlordism… And if it’s a threat to the government of Afghanistan, it’s a direct threat to the national security interests of the United States.”

“The Bush administration has decided not to destroy the opium crop in Afghanistan,” stated a U.S. intelligence official returning from Afghanistan in relation to the 60% smaller 2002 crop. The source, who requested that he not be identified, noted “U.S. forces could destroy the crops using aerial spraying techniques, but no such actions are planned.”

U.S. plans to spray the crops were canceled at the request of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has called for jihad or “holy war”, but is concerned that aerial spraying could be harmful to the health of Afghan villagers. The U.S. claims that the spraying would be safe, but is granting Karzai’s request.

Karzai has indicated that he may change his mind if other U.S. strategies fail to halt the opium. Congress budgeted $774 million for anti-drug operations in Afghanistan just this year.

The CIA reports in From Flowers to Heroin that it takes 10 kg of opium to make 1 kg of 90% pure heroin. The CIA states that impurities are introduced into the processed heroin before it hits the street, making the purity of the end consumer product about 40%. That implies that 10 kg of opium makes about 2.25 kg of 40% pure heroin.

The Guardian reports that the 2002 opium harvest was 3400 metric tons. Using the conversion supplied by the CIA, 2002’s 3400 opium harvest could be converted into 765 metric tons of heroin. According to the International Narcotics Control Board, the 2003 opium harvest was 3600 metric tons. Using the estimated 239% increase of the present harvast over 2003, it means that the 2005 harvest is about 8600 metric tons.

The 2002 street price of heroin in the UK was about 60 £ per GRAM, or (assuming the present 1.89 USD to 1 £ exchange) 113.40 USD per GRAM. As the supply goes up the price will come down some, so for this calculation only the 2002 figures will be used. If all the opium harvest is converted into heroin and all of it is sold at the UK street price, the total street value of the harvest is 86.7 billion USD. (765 metric tons x 1000 kg/metric ton x 1000 grams/kg x 113.4 USD/gram = about 86.7 billion USD.) To the extent the 2002 numbers are valid today, the street value of the 2005 harvest should be roughly twice the street value of the 2002 harvest, about 173 billion USD.

To put these numbers in perspective, the total market capitalization of Ford, General Motors and Daimler Chrysler combined is about 76 billion USD. The total market capitalization of Toyota and Honda combined is about 167 billion USD.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was formed to promote harmonization of international antimoney laundering (AML) laws. Despite the fact that tens of billions of USDs are generated from the Afgan opium harvest alone, the FATF has not added Afghanistan to its blacklist of uncooperative nations. One has to wonder, therefore, what the poppy farmers are doing with their share of the money that escapes the notice of the banking system and the FATF.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Jim Reeves is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the York-Simcoe riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Friday, December 1, 2006

The U.S. government warned private financial services that al Qaeda is planning a cyber attack on the U.S. stock and bank accounts, officials said on Thursday.

Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke says: “There is no information to corroborate this aspirational threat. As a routine matter and out of an abundance of caution, US-CERT issued the situational awareness report to industry stakeholders.”

The officials said that the attacks are aimed at destroying the databases of U.S. banking and stock market web sites. The Homeland Security group claims that the threat was for all of December.

A U.S. official said that the threat was posted on an website and called for the attack to avenge the imprisonment of Muslims in the Guantanamo detention camp.

Tuesday, February 8, 2005 Microsoft has announced that it plans to purchase antivirus firm Sybari Software in order to expand its market within the computer security market. The takeover comes after Microsoft purchased Romanian security firm GeCad in 2003 and two months after an announcement that it is to acquire anti-spyware vendor Giant-Company Software.

Sybari is a private company based in East Newport, New York that develops antivirus software which can be used with Microsoft’s Exchange software, as well as with the Lotus Notes system.

This takeover is seen by analysts to be hostile move on Microsoft’s part, as it places the software giant in direct competition with market leaders Symantec and McAfee. Sterling Auty, an analyst with JP Morgan, told Reuters that he estimated that Microsoft could be competing for up to five percent of Symantec’s business and up to eight percent of McAfee’s revenue.

Microsoft’s shares rose $0.10 at midday to $26.26, while both McAfee and Symantec shares fell.