The Raw Story

Tuesday, 13 January 2015

Jackals attack 5 people in India

The increasing number of jackals in Kulangam and a few adjoining villages in frontier Kupwara district has created fear among the residents.

Five persons, including three women, have been injured in attacks by jackals in the past three days. The injured have been identified as Hajra Begum, Abdul Hamid, Fahmeeda, Razia Akther and Bashir Ahmad. They are undergoing treatment at District Hospital, Handwara.

"I had come out of my house to attend the nature's call when a jackal attacked me. Thankfully, I received injuries in my legs and not on any vital organ," said Abdul Hamid, a resident of Kulangam.

Locals said after the sunset, jackals enter residential areas and pose a threat to humans and livestock.

Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.

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A wild jackal attached eight people mostly children in the city of Bajestan, Khorasan Razavi, on Sunday.

The hungry jackal attack eight people in the city most of them children and injured them, the police said.

They received outpatient medical treatment, but, five of them stayed at the hospital.

Commander of Police in Bajestan Colonel Mohammad Ali Sadeqian said police arrived at the scene immediately and took the injured people to nearby hospital.

Every year, in the winter season wild animals come to residential areas in foray into food.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai underwater volcano, located about 65 km (40 miles) north of the capital Nukualofa, was sending volcanic ash up to 4,500 metres (14,765 feet) into the air.

An underwater volcano off Tonga was spewing ash high into the air on Tuesday, causing several carriers to suspend air travel to the South Pacific island nation and turning the surrounding ocean blood red, residents and officials said.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai underwater volcano, located about 65 km (40 miles) north of the capital Nuku‛alofa, was sending volcanic ash up to 4,500 meters (14,765 feet) into the air, the Wellington Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) said.

The volcano, which first erupted in 2009, had been rumbling in recent weeks before exploding violently in the past few days, The New Zealand Herald newspaper reported.

An Air New Zealand flight between Auckland and Nuku‛alofa on Monday was diverted to Samoa and later returned to New Zealand because of the volcano, the airline said in a statement.

A return service had been scheduled to fly on Tuesday, the airline said, but had been canceled because of volcanic activity. The volcano was not disrupting flights to other regions, it said.

Regional carrier Fiji Airlines also turned around a flight to Tonga on Monday, citing safety concerns, and domestic flights were grounded in Tonga.

Residents in Tonga described a spectacular sight, with the enormous plume from the volcano shooting high into the sky and a muddy discharge underwater turning areas of the sea off the island blood red.

"I feel it is healthily letting off steam but it is growing ... the base has doubled in size since December 24 when we first saw it again. And it's getting higher," resident Chris Egan told the Stuff.nz website.

"This one will not give up."

There was no damage reported and New Zealand's VAAC said the ash cloud was expected to dissipate by the end of Tuesday.

Five small earthquakes rattled New England on Monday.

It was the third day in less than a week that rumbles shook the Plainfield region.

Plainfield police said they received dozens of calls about homes shaking in the Plainfield, Killingly, Brooklyn and Sterling areas. They received even more around the noon hour.

"They just started pouring in regarding a loud explosion," said Capt. Mario Arriaga, with the Plainfield Police Department. "However, this time, people were reporting earthquakes since last time we had one on the 12th."

Authorities released a few of the 911 calls they received. Police said they received well over 100 calls.

"We just had a massive earthquake again," one caller reported.

"It sounded like a bomb and everything was shaking," another caller said.

Residents in those towns also called the Eyewitness Newsroom with similar reports. They said they heard a loud explosion followed by shaking.

"The whole house started shaking, the walls like all the pictures would shake and stuff like that, it's crazy," said Elizabeth Kempesta.

Plainfield police said it happened around 6:30 a.m. Scientists from the observatory registered the largest of the four at a 3.1 magnitude. Though the U.S. Geological Survey told Eyewitness News it was 3.3.

It was felt in Rhode Island and as far away as New Bedford, MA, and Framingham, MA.

The observatory said the smaller ones were recorded at 1.1, 0.9 and 2.0. A quake around noon time registered at 1.3.

Police in Plainfield said they deployed a number of officers throughout the town to ensure the safety of residents. The town's building inspector was heading out to take a look at the foundation of at least one home. Homeowners told police that they believe there may be some damage.

"I heard the big loud bang and it woke me up in a dead sleep with the parakeets flying around the cage," said Phil Breault of Moosup.

Officers said they were working with the Plainfield Fire Marshal's Office to keep the public updated.

If anyone experienced structural damage, they are asked to contact their local building inspector.

The building inspector did go out to one Plainfield home after the homeowner thought the foundation shifted, but that wasn't the case.

Last Thursday, a 2.0-2.2-magnitude earthquake struck Plainfield, according to the National Weather Service. Homeowners reported that it was strong enough to shake picture frames off of their walls.

Others reported that it caused cracks in their walls.

On Friday, residents reported another loud boom in the form of a tremor that registered at .4.

"I was sleeping on the couch and heard a loud bang and then the house rumbled a bit," said Steven Weker, of Moosup.

When an earthquake happens, police said to not have a bed near any chimneys.

"Secure all your cabinets with child safety locks and just having a plan with your family," Arriaga said.

Police also said it is important to know how to shut off gas, electric and water supplies. Also, it is important to not panic.

While being in a vehicle during an earthquake, police said to pull over to the side of the road, but make sure to be away from any buildings.

Experts speak out about CT earthquakes

Many people in the eastern part of the state are asking why there have been so many earthquakes in such a short period of time.

"Seemed like 2, 3, 4 seconds, it could have been half a second, but it was scary," said Dean Milligan, who called the quakes quick and impactful.

John Ebel, senior research scientist at the Weston Observatory, has been tracking the recent cluster of Connecticut quakes.

"Sometimes when earthquakes happen in our part of the world - in fact, this is true in California too - we don't get just one earthquake, we get a series of small earthquakes," Ebel said. "We sometimes call these earthquakes swarms, especially if we get a lot of them."

They don't happen at the same rate as California's earthquakes, but Connecticut is no stranger to them.

"The Moodus Connecticut earthquakes take place in swarms like this. In 1983, we had a swarm of several hundred earthquakes at this level or smaller that repeated in 83 and then again in 86 and 87," Ebel said.

For those who may be concerned about the quakes getting worse, Ebel said folks should research what to do if a strong earthquake occurs, even though there is not a high probability of that happening.

"But sometimes when we have small earthquakes they are followed by larger earthquakes although most of the time that doesn't happen," Ebel said.

Bread and circuses

Bread and circuses. Back in the Roman Empire, those were the keys to diverting the public’s attention from political greed and corruption — and, particularly, from the massive gap between the rich and the poor.

Julius Caesar: “Give them bread and circuses.”

Rome won so many wars that it was overrun with captured slaves, and they performed the physical labor. Idle, unemployed Romans were restive. Julius Caesar perfected the ideal appeasement: give them wheat to eat and violent entertainment to savor — or, bread and circuses (panem et circenses).

It worked. Generally, the plebeians neither starved nor rioted. Salivating, they would watch gladiators slaughter animals and each other. Those gladiators were mainly slaves, but as they won laurels, they could win their freedom and rake in donations from the crowd.

In short, violence in the sporting world could be their ticket to riches. Or mutilation. It was a gamble.

Can you see any parallels with our society? (Julius Caesar had never heard of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.)

Dean Spanos: “Give them mediocre football…give me a stadium.”

You have to wonder if the same political strategy — bread and circuses — is at work in the United States to keep the people from reacting to ugly truths, such as 95 percent of the economic gains in this recovery have gone to the richest 1 percent, and the majority of National Football League owners are billionaires but get taxpayers to plunk down 70 to 80 percent of the cost of new stadiums.

The professional sports leagues are joined at the hip with federal, state, and local governments. Do you suppose today’s bread and circuses constitute a covert politician/pro-league plan to pacify the proletariat?

Is the United States as bloodthirsty as ancient Rome? The Minnesota Orchestra, one of the nation’s best, was silenced for 15 months in a lockout, and its internationally celebrated music director resigned, although there is hope he will return. In negotiating a settlement, the players took an average annual salary cut from $135,000 to $118,000.

A rare and complex ice halo appeared in the sky above New Mexico on Friday, as a record breaking arctic blast continued to make its way across the country.

The optical phenomenon was photographed above the town of Red River, which has experienced sub-zero temperatures in recent days, according to the . Ice crystals suspended in the air interact with sunlight, creating a dazzling display of rings and arcs. The halos can be created either by sunlight or moonlight, and often occur within 24 hours before precipitation is expected.

Joshua Thomas, a photographer from Texas, captured the image of the New Mexico ice halo, according to UPI. The U.S. National Weather Service of La Crosse, Wisconsin, then utilized Thomas' photo to create an informational diagram that points out each of the components of the ice halo.

Appearance: It is an extremely rare optical phenomenon produced by light interacting with ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere, resulting in a wide variety of colored or white rings, arcs and spots in the sky

The multiple arcs that comprise the halo can be easily identified in the image, as well as the Sun pillar and a parhelion, commonly referred to as a "sun dog" or "mock sun." Appearing when light shines through a thin cloud of hexagonal ice crystals falling with their principal axes vertical, parhelia present as luminous spots in the sky, 22 degrees to either side of the sun.

Many of the details that are apparent in Thomas' photograph are exceedingly rare, including the helic, infralateral, and supralateral arcs. More commonly, ice halos form a simple ring around the Sun or Moon, becoming much rarer as they increase in complexity. Some arcs are infrequently observed in ice halos due to the quality of the crystals involved, which can impair the displays if they are imperfectly formed. For example, the rays which create 46 degree halos are often blocked by column crystal end faces, which are usually poorly formed, making the 22 degree halo far more common than its counterpart.

© Narelle Wrigh

The white-rumped sandpiper has been spotted at Lake Wollumboola, which is a rarity as the bird’s usual migration pattern takes it to the shores of South America.

A rare sighting has twitchers flocking from around Australia to Lake Wollumboola.

The last time a white-rumped sandpiper (calidris fuscicollis) was spotted in NSW was in November 1977 near Pitt Town.

Ornithologist Joy Pegler said the bird has been caught up in the wrong migratory fly way ending up on the Australian coastline from Alaska.

"All the twitchers are rushing to see it," she said.

"It's only a little thing and it has flown such a long way. It's really very amazing.

"The bird is very rarely seen in Australia at all, so this has a lot of enthusiasts very excited."

The bird has one of the longest migration routes of any American bird, breeding in arctic Canada and wintering in southern South America.

Southbound migrants fly over the Atlantic Ocean from north-eastern North America to South America then gradually move south-east along the coast before turning inland to go across the Amazon Basin. This takes about one month.

Ms Pegler said the bird had most likely been caught up with the large groups of birds migrating through the east Asian/Australasian migration route.

"This time of the year we see a lot of shorebirds migrate to Lake Wollumboola to take advantage of its unique characteristics," she said.

"It has a great supply of vegetation which supports food supply and roosting areas.

"This little bird though won't settle to breed here and probably won't stick around for much longer."

Narelle Wright from Culburra Beach, a volunteer with National Parks and Wildlife, said the bird was first spotted in Shoalhaven Heads about five days ago.

"These little birds have been clocked flying at 80km/h," she said.

"This bird appears to be on its own and has been sticking to itself.

"It's still eating and seems happy so it should be off soon to South America."

Ms Wright said bird watchers have been arriving at from Melbourne, the Gold Coast, Central Coast and as far afield as Perth to catch a glimpse of the bird before it leaves Australia's shores.

The Raw Story

Focused on providing independent journalism.

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Tuesday, 13 January 2015

Jackals attack 5 people in India

8 people attacked by jackal in Iran

Underwater volcano off Tonga erupts causing ocean to turn blood red

Loud explosion precedes series of earthquakes in New England

Bread and circuses

Rare 'ice halo' appears in the sky over Red River, New Mexico

White-rumped sandpiper from Arctic North America ends up in Australia

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