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Showing posts from September 7, 2008

How Safe Are Pedestrian Traffic Lights

With the arrival of spring comes the myriad of walkers and runners out to shed those winter pounds and atrophied muscles. As part of that group, I ventured out for a walk this weekend. Once again I was struck with one of my pet peeves, the pedestrian traffic light. Why do these walk lights cause me so much grief? Reasonably the crossing of a thoroughfare should not be conjuring up that much dread, or so one would think. There are pedestrian traffic lights after all and in theory one only has to push the button and the walk light will stop the traffic and allow one to cross the street safely. At least that is the way it is supposed to work. Unreasonably Short Time For Pedestrian Traffic Lights Walkers are you with me ? This is what happens in my neck of the woods. I come to a large intersection and push the button for the pedestrian traffic light. The walking figure on the pedestrian light turns bright white and I proceed to cross the four lane street. But wait, I barely get across the

The Lady With The Club

remember being 5 years old, when I first saw her. I was terrified, when I looked up and saw this huge woman holding a large club in her right hand. Clinging to my mother's skirt, my sister joined us on the upper deck and asked, "Are we here mamma?" Once off the boat, a little old lady came up to my mother and cried, "America!" "We are finally in America now," as she kissed the ground. Mother packed one wooden brown trunk. She sat us down on this trunk, at the immigration processing station on Ellis Island, and dared us not to move an inch. Finally, boarding a train, we arrived at our destination, surrounded by welcoming relatives. I later learned that the Statue of Liberty's torch lit the way to freedom for all those who sought refuge, freedom and opportunity. It was not a club that threatened anyone, but was a welcome to a new land. Mother worked in a sweat shop for 37 years. She sewed men's suits and topcoats thus earning a decent living. We

How to Plan an Adventure Bachelor Party

Good stag parties are those which stand higher in the memories of everyone even of the groom than his wedding day. Exact quantity of adventure, fun and competition make excellent stag parties or weekends, a new trend in bachelor parties. When planning a bachelor party the interests of the groom should always be kept in mind. No matter what you choose, the important thing is to have fun. A few days or weeks before the wedding, a bachelor night or weekend is a great way to release all of the stress of the wedding and to have a night of freedom without the fiancé. Traditionally bachelor party is something involving activities beyond usual like drinking, gambling, hiring strippers or going to strip club, etc. Now a days these parties are becoming more adventurous and much an extended affair. With the rise in the budget airlines, people have started flying to other destinations to organize stag parties or weekends away from home. The stag weekends are becoming mini-holidays with group takin

Paralympics: China dazzles the world with opening ceremony

Sunday, September 07, 2008 BEIJING: China once again dazzled the world with a glittering ceremony as the Paralympics opened Saturday in the iconic "Bird's Nest" National Stadium with the message that all life has value and dignity. Just weeks after billions around the globe enjoyed the breathtaking opening to the Olympics, Beijing showed once again it had raised the bar for such events. In a nation in which the handicapped have long suffered discrimination, the themes of the performance were "One World, One Dream" and "Transcendence, Integration, Equality." The ceremony started at 8:00pm (1200 GMT) after a dramatic countdown. Fireworks rocked the stadium and lit up the night sky as the flag-waving crowd screamed and shouted in anticipation. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, among the dignitaries after holding talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao, looked on as the athletes entered the futuristic stadium to roars of approval. The 91,000-capacity

31 Killed, 23 injured in Egypt Landslide

Sunday, September 07, 2008 CAIRO: Thirty-one people were killed and 23 injured when a massive rockslide hit a crowded Cairo shanty town on Saturday, sending rocks and boulders crashing down on dozens of houses, security and medical sources said. Tumbling rocks destroyed many buildings in the Manshiyet Nasser shanty town in eastern Cairo near the Moqattam plateau, its close-packed houses and narrow alleys huddled at the foot of cliffs beside a highway. State news agency said parts of the area were being evacuated because new cracks had been seen in the cliff face. Dozens of police and rescue workers were sent to the scene, backed up by fire engines, ambulances and sniffer dogs, but locals were enraged at what they saw as an inadequate government response to the disaster. Hundreds of weeping, yelling residents gathered round the cordoned-off site, cursing local authorities and saying they had relatives and friends trapped beneath the rubble.

Asif Ali Zardari elected new President of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party Co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari was elected as the next President of Pakistan after securing majority of votes in the presidential elections held here on Saturday. Asif Ali Zardari is Pakistan's 11th President since 1956, when the country became a republic, excluding acting Presidents. According to the official results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari secured 481 votes, Pakistan Muslim League-N candidate Justice (Retd.) Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui secured 153 votes while Mushahid Hussain Sayed fielded by PML-Q bagged 44 votes. According to unofficial result, Asif Ali Zardari received 281 votes from Parliament, 22 from Punjab, 6 from Sindh, 59 from Balochistan and 56 from NWFP. In the Parliament Zardari secured 281 votes, 111 by Justice (Retd.) Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui and 34 by Mushahid Hussain Sayed, out of 436 total votes, of which ten were declared invalid. Asif Ali Zardari secured 123 in Punjab Assembly, 162 in Sindh

Famous Personalities – What Makes Them Stand Apar

Whether its Princess Diana or Mahatma Gandhi or Helen Keller, they are all famous personalities of the world and people from all over the world look up to these personalities with great esteem and respect. However, it is not easy to be labeled or known as a famous personality. Famous personalities are not people who were born great or who achieved greatness just because of their intellect. If we take the term famous personalities literally, it would comprise of a personality that has individual attributes, behaviors as well as considerable prominence. However, it is important that all these attributes are earned by the person himself or herself by efforts and hard work. Famous personalities earn this stature and esteem in the eyes of other people and become famous due to the services or the deeds they do or did for their countrymen or people of the world. Let’s take Princess Diana as an example of famous personality. Even though she became famous when she married Prince Charles, heir t

Demand for Aluminium by 2020

By the year 2020, the Aluminium demand is projected to get increased to 70 million tonnes, with over 30 million tonnes obtained from recycled scrap. Recycling Aluminium that is currently in use as cars, commercial vehicles, ships, airplanes etc would equal up to 18 years of primary Aluminium output. The amount of Aluminium produced from old scrap has been growing from 1.4 million tonnes in 1980 to a whooping 6.8 million tonnes in 2004. The transport sector has been the most important resource of recycled Aluminium. Today recycled Aluminium is produced from 44% transport, 28% packaging, 10% engineering and cables and only a mere 7% from building applications due to its long use phase. Shown in the fig is a graphical representation of Aluminium scrap sources . However, Aluminium recycling will undergo major changes through the next decade. Buildings that contributes only 7% of aluminium scrap now; will represent up to 33%, recycled aluminium from transport will fall down to 32%. The sche

Wonders Of The World: Achievement Of Man’s And Nature’s Effort

The compilation of the wonders of the world began way back in the 5th century BC, wherein scholars such as Herodotus traveled form one end to the other in an effort document these marvels. Due to the inaccessibility to the convenient mode of transportation, these authors may have had a tough time locating and travelling to distant places. Thankfully due to the development in technology, you could now travel through air planes, cars and even buses to places of interest. However, the laborious work of these archaic authors was damaged due to the fire in Alexander’s library. Unfortunately, all the rich information collated by the authors that we could have banked upon is now inaccessible. Nevertheless, the commendable efforts of the modern world has made list of winders of the world known to the common mankind. In fact, individuals all across the world are familiar with the wonders of the mankind. These wonders are not only the manmade edifices but are inclusive of some of the natural mar

U.S. nuclear submarine in Japan's nuclear leakage multiple

People's Network in Tokyo on August 7, according to Kyodo news agency said Japanese Foreign Ministry said on the 7th, from the U.S. Embassy in Japan note that the U.S. nuclear submarine "Houston" since January 07 to March 08 period , In calling at the U.S. Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture and Okinawa Prefecture in Ma-yu-white beach at the base also trace a leak of radioactive material. The nuclear submarine Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture U.S. military bases have leaked radioactive material. The U.S. Embassy said the leakage of radioactive material is extremely trace, not on human and environmental impacts. ?? The U.S. side said, "Houston" on January 07 calling at the end of the Yokosuka base in the five days. To speculate the total leakage of radioactive material in 3500 following Baker. The nuclear-powered submarines in the March 07 to March 08 during the five berth white beaches base, accumulated parking nine days, the total leakage of radioactive material

Luxuriant Stag weekends in London

For organizing a stag party successfully, you should carefully choose your venue. The people whom you are going to invite should be polite and should not be a trouble-maker. The entire event may get sour and fail if you invite bungling people. Invite only gentlemen friends who can behave and fully cooperate with you if you wish to make the stag weekend a roaring success. There are best locations in London to organize luxuriant stag nights and stag party weekends that you and your friends would remember forever, for the right reasons. If you are sick of organizing stag parties in your locality, you can explore new locations for fun-filled stag nights, which will become an adventurous entertainment if you add spice in the program with stag night games. The destination chosen by you for the stag night out should fulfill your needs and also should suit your budget. You can try innovative ideas to make your stag weekend an overwhelming event. If your destination is at a distant place, you c