Mountain Tsunami

Due to bad weather the mountain collapsed in Maierato of 2300 inhabitants (in Vibo Valentia) (Italy) just behind the power line towers and threatening the village below. Two hundred people were evacuated. Occurred in Italy earlier this year on Monday15th Feb 2010. In spite of this video which have the audio in Italian, the images show a dramatic example of an unstable soil, with liquefaction phenomenon! The comments are in Italian expressions of astonishment and evacuation instructions, without any technical comment. This video is very expressive and didactic to show this kind of phenomenon.

Maierato is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Vibo Valentia in the Italian region Calabria, located about 40 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 11 km northeast of Vibo Valentia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,305 and an area of 39.9 km².

World Richest Government

We know the world's richest man is Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico, followed by Bill
Gates and Warren Buffet of USA. How about governments ???
Which countries’ government is the richest (having most money that is, in US$)
If you are expecting North American and European nations, you might be disappointed.
While the countries look rich, wealthy European nations can't withstand a prolonged major financial crisis, just like Greece. The USA might have the biggest economy, but the American government is not at all rich; in fact, it can't even take out $150bn if asked to now without resorting to borrowing.
To date the US government has borrowed $14 trillion !!!
The UK, likewise, while the country/people are rich, the government isn't.
The UK government’s debt stands at $9 trillion now.

World’s Richest Government
Richest governments after 2008-2009 financial crisis:

1. China National reserves: $2,454,300,000,000
2. Japan National reserves: $1,019,000,000,000


3. Russia National reserves: $458,020,000,000







4. Saudi Arabia
National reserves: $395,467,000,000

5. Taiwan National reserves: $362,380,000,0

6. India National reserves: $279,422,000,000
POSCO, the worlds 3rd largest steelmaker, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Pohang City and North Kyongsang Province to build a 100 megawatt (MW) per year fuel cell power plant by 2010 in Pohang. (World's Largest Fuel Cell Power Plant to be Built in S Korea)

7. South Korea National reserves: $274,220,000,000


8. Switzerland National reserves: $262,000,000,000

9. Hong Kong, China National reserves: $256,000,000,000

10. Brazil National reserves: $255,000,000,000

Here are the rest, in million US$: 011 Singapore / 203,436 012 Germany / 189,100 013 Thailand / 150,000 014 Algeria / 149,000 015 France / 140,848 016 Italy / 133,104 017 United States / 124,176 018 Mexico / 100,096 019 Iran / 96,560 020 Malaysia / 96,100 021 Poland / 85,232 022 Libya / 79,000 023 Denmark / 76,315 024 Turkey / 71,859 025 Indonesia / 69,730 026 United Kingdom / 69,091 027 Israel / 62,490 028 Canada / 57,392 029 Norway / 49,223 030 Iraq / 48,779 031 Argentina / 48,778 032 Philippines / 47,650 033 Sweden / 46,631 034 United Arab Emirates / 45,000 035 Hungary / 44,591 036 Romania / 44,056 037 Nigeria / 40,480 038 Czech Republic / 40,151 039 Australia / 39,454 040 Lebanon / 38,600 041 Netherlands / 38,372 042 South Africa / 38,283 043 Peru / 37,108 044 Egypt / 35,223 045 Venezuela / 31,925 046 Ukraine / 28,837 047 Spain / 28,195 048 Colombia / 25,141 049 Chile / 24,921 050 Belgium / 24,130 051 Brunei / 22,000 052 Morocco / 21,873 053 Vietnam / 17,500 054 Macau / 18,730 055 Kazakhstan / 27,549 056 Kuwait / 19,420 057 Angola / 19,400 058 Austria / 18,079 059 Serbia / 17,357 060 Pakistan / 16,770 061 New Zealand / 16,570 062 Bulgaria / 16,497 063 Ireland / 16,229 063 Portugal / 16,254 064 Croatia / 13,720 065 Jordan / 12,180 066 Finland / 11,085 067 Bangladesh / 10,550 068 Botswana / 10,000 069 Tunisia / 9,709 070 Azerbaijan / 9,316 071 Bolivia / 8,585 072 Trinidad and Tobago / 8,100 073 Yemen / 7,400 074 Uruguay / 8,104 075 Oman / 7,004 076 Latvia / 6,820 077 Lithuania / 6,438 078 Qatar / 6,368 079 Cyprus / 6,176 080 Belarus / 6,074 081 Syria / 6,039 082 Uzbekistan / 5,600 083 Luxembourg / 5,337 084 Guatemala / 5,496 085 Greece / 5,207 086 Bosnia and Herzegovina / 5,151 087 Cuba / 4,247 088 Costa Rica / 4,113 089 Equatorial Guinea / 3,928 090 Ecuador / 3,913 091 Iceland / 3,823 092 Paraguay / 3,731 093 Turkmenistan / 3,644 094 Estonia / 3,583

See also List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita

List of heads of state and government by net worth

Pythons Hunters

Python sebae is a non-venomous python species found in subsaharan Africa. This is one of the world's largest species of snakes. The snakes are armed with razor-sharp teeth and muscular coils that can squeeze the breath out of a full-grown antelope. The primary reason for the restrictions on its exportation around the world is because their skin is used in the leather industry, frequently being made into shoes, belts, and purses. With adults reaching lengths of over 6 m (20 ft), this is one of the world's largest species of snakes. The typical adult length is 4.8 m (16 ft) and rumors of specimens over 6 m (20 ft) are generally considered reliable, but larger specimens have never been confirmed. The color pattern is typically brown, with olive and tan irregular blotching, fading to white on the underside.

The hunter ties a piece of hide onto his forearm. Armed only with a small torch to light up the dark he dives headfirst into the python lair. He encounters a large snake guarding a clutch of eggs. He waves his shielded forearm about to distract the snake from biting his face. The python lunges, grabs his hand and begins to swallow. With his free hand, the hunter then chokes the snake. His partner pulls him back out of the hole. Dinner time for all at home!! Taste like chicken and has to be medium done and do not overcook. Snake Recipes Snake eating is especially popular in Shanghai and Guangdong Province. According to one survey over 6,000 specialized restaurants in Shanghai serve snake dishes made with pit vipers, cobras, freshwater snakes and sea snakes. These restaurants serve up to 4,000 tons of snake a year. One Shanghai supplier, who provides two tons of snakes daily to restaurants, sells cobras for $14 a kilogram and pit vipers for $42 a kilogram. Snake meat is often referred to as dragon meat on the menu. Many of the snakes served at Chinese restaurants come from the Snake Repository in Wuzhou, Guangxi Province, where more than one million snakes are raised each year. The repository is favorite tourist attraction for Chinese tour groups from Taiwan and Hong Kong who sometimes have special snake versus cat fights staged for them. Snake eating is nothing new. Describing the practice in Canton in the 1320s, the Friar Oderic wrote: "There be monstrous great serpents likewise which are taken by the inhabitants and eaten. A solemn feast among them with serpents is thought nothing of." Snake Meat Shreds Soup Chinese Soup!

9 seater MPV Chinese version

I thought I should share this which I received in my email recently.


You might have heard and seen examples of excessive and ostentatious consumption in China .


Now, they have developed a 9 seater MPV to cater to those who are determined to show off.


You won't believe your eyes

What happen to the Altantuya, murdered mongolian girl case?(Extended)

Three urns in which Altantuya bones sit
Recap:
Who was Altantuya Shaariibuu?
The DAP chairman said the Mongolian Foreign Affairs office contacted him that they will finance Dr Shaariibuu’s suit. The opposition leader promised “the case will go on at any cost.”
Murder of Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa -wikipedia

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OK, RPK Switch Sides But Why Are Everyone Surprise?
 The pro-government TV3 station aired an exclusive interview with blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin April 13, 2011, where he claimed that he was merely writing accusations made by others against Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife over the Altantuya murder case. VIA

RPK: I don’t believe PM’s wife was at Altantuya's murder scene VIA
How Raja Petra lost the plot and became irrelevant VIA

On  April 15, 2011 The Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM)  president Haris Ibrahim said the timing and "spin-doctoring" by the mainstream media clearly showed that the BN was using any means it could to stop Pakatan Rakyat's advance in the Sarawak polls. He also lambasted Najib for claiming that the Altantuya murder case is closed following Raja Petra’s alleged “confession”, saying that there are too many questions left unanswered for it to be done and over with.

“The public have lost faith in our judiciary. Razak Baginda was acquitted, and the public believe that the two convicted are just scapegoats.

“Nobody understands why these two lowly police officers, of their own volition, blew this woman to smithereens?

“It (the case) may be closed in the PM’s mind, (but) it is not closed in the court of public opinion. That is what counts,” Haris said.  VIA

Raja Petra Kamarudin has defended his interview aired with TV3, saying that it will renew focus on allegations surrounding the Altantuya Shariibuu murder. VIA

In an e-mail interview with Malaysia Insider on April 15, Raja Petra insisted that he is not a turncoat. He said that he will continue to support the opposition – the Pakatan Rakyat.

Immediately following the TV3 interview of Raja Petra, the Prime Minister Najib Razak claimed that he is thankful that the truth has finally emerged and he considered the matter closed.

These questions below  have been there right since the start of the case and they will continue to be there for posterity until the truth of the grisly murder finally emerges.

What were the motives of the two police officers convicted of killing Altantuya as they appear to have no earlier connection or previous knowledge of her?

How did they obtain the C4 explosives and who approved the release of this strictly restricted materiel to them?

The third accused Abdul Razak Baginda – who was acquitted of the charge against him – is a political analyst with known ties to Najib. A transcript had surfaced of alleged text messages between them. What did the sms exchanges imply?

Why was DSP Musa Safri never investigated when he gave orders to his officer Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri to help Razak Baginda? Azilah had testified in court that Musa told him Razak had a problem because someone threatened him and he [Azilah] was to lend assistance to Razak.

Why was Altantuya’s record of entry missing from the immigration records? Have the immigration officers responsible provided a credible explanation as to how Altantuya’s entry details seemingly disappeared?

Why has the immigration department not carried out an internal inquiry, and the other higher authorities carried out an independent inquiry, into this serious breach or if they did, the report not made public?

Why were the three affidavits and video interview of P. Balasubramaniam, who was engaged by Abdul Razak Baginda as private investigator and who has since vanished, not investigated? VIA

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Part 5: 'I was told Rosmah was happy with my retraction'
Part 4: PI Bala - From Bangkok to Kathmandu to Delhi
Part 3: Cops grill PI Bala in Bangkok, praise his courage
Part 2: PI Bala reveals his final hours in M'sia
Part 1: Bala was in town, now on Youtube
Press conference at the Holiday Villa London on Wednesday, 07 July 2010
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers who were supposed to record former private investigator P. Balasubramaniam statement in London has cancelled their trip. Balasubramaniam had flown to London from India after MACC officers contacted his lawyers to express their intention to interview him in connection with his retraction of statutory declaration and events surrounding the death of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibu. Balasubramaniam's counsel, Manjeet Singh Dhillon intended to highlight a whole series of events surrounding this Altantunya matter if MACC had come to London to interview Bala. According to Dhillon MACC had recorded no less than five statements from Balasubramaniam.

Five statements from Balasubramaniam previously made to MACC 1)Balasubramaniam was hired as a private investigator by Abdul Razak Baginda after it was alleged that Altantunya was harrassing him for non-payment of commission after the purchase of submarines. 2)Abdul Razak Baginda, a former political analyst, who was charged with abetting in Altantuya's murder, was acquitted by the Shah Alam High Court on Oct 31, 2008 after the judge found no prima facie case against him. 3)After the death of Altantunya, Balasubramaniam had made a statutory declaration relating to the murder but withdrew it the day after through a second sworn declaration. 4)"The way Bala was treated after the first SD on 3rd July 2008; he was immediately apprehended, bribed, cajoled, threatened and removed from the jurisdiction of Malaysia," Dhillon asserted. 5)Balasubramaniam admitted that he was apprehensive about returning to Malaysia and alleged that he could be thrown into detention.

The press conference was also attended by Federal Territory Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chief Zaid Ibrahim, fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and members of the alternative media, Bernama reports. Also according to the report of a online news portal, Balasubramaniam said Razak is a scapegoat. He has nothing to do with the murder. VIA

Monday May 24, 2010:Fugitive blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin has turned up in London and threw a challenge to the Malaysian Government to bring him to trial in the United Kingdom. Link

Pakatan Rakyat is taking its fight overseas with the launch of Friends for Pakatan Rakyat (FoPR) club in London. VIA

The Launch of Friends of Pakatan Rakyat on Sunday 4th of July

Americk Sidhu,counsel for P. Balasubramaniam has made a press atatement that The money P. Balasubramaniam is using to pay for his trip to London and his hotel accommodation there is derived from the funds he has received from Deepak Jaikishan at the behest of Rosmah Mansor. VIA

Below is the statement released by Balasubramaniam on what he told the French prosecutor M Ryckewaert at the Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciare DNIF, Nanterre,in Paris on Monday,July 12, 2010.

Areas covered in the interview. 1) My background [including date and place of birth] and my occupation from the time I was with the Malaysian police to the time when I became a private investigator in 1998. 2) The validity of my PI (private investigator) licence. 3) The whole story as to how I was recruited to do a job for Razak Baginda and my interview before the job done by Dhirren Norendra, a lawyer practising in Kuala Lumpur. I was questioned about the scope of my assignment, the target and objectives of my assignment. 4) The background to the Altantuya murder. I briefed them on the events leading up to and after the murder and also told them to read my first SD (statutory declaration) and the Singapore interview. Also the identity of the two police officers convicted of the murder, who they worked for as well as the identity of the various other people identified as being about when Altantunya disappeared and their link to Razak Baginda and/or the PM (prime minister). 5) Razak Baginda's relationship with our present PM, the information and events narrated to me by Razak Baginda including the SMS sent by the PM to Razak Baginda at the point of his arrest for the murder of Altantuya. 6) The Malaysian company, Perimekar, its ownership, and link to Razak Baginda and his wife. Also nature of business undertaken by Perimekar. I told them of the presence of army equipment in Razak Baginda's office. Information concerning Razak Baginda and his present whereabouts. 7) Financial payments by Razak Baginda to Altantuya, including the three US$5,000 payments by Baginda to Altantuya, which included a penalty of US$1,000 because of late banking in. Also the purchase by Razak Baginda of an apartment in Mongolia for Altantuya. Also the background to the US$500,000 payment demanded by Altantuya, how it arose, its link to the Scorpene submarine deal, Altanunya's involvement in the negotiations, and admission and confirmation by Razak Baginda that he should have paid Altantuya the money. 8) How Rosmah Mansor teamed up with Deepak to exile me from Malaysia, the threats to my family after I signed the first SD as well as the involvement of the PM's brother in the events that led to the second SD and my being smuggled out of Malaysia and asked to stay away till Najib Razak became PM. 9) I was asked to retrace the events in Rawang coffee house where Deepak, Dinesh and ASP Suresh were present. 10) The length and time I have been in exile. 11) Details concerning Altantuya's cousin, Ammy, who had knowledge of the Paris dinner where the PM and Razak Baginda were present with Altantuya. 12) The identity of the French individuals involved in the Scorpene deal. 13) My knowledge of any payments by the French to Perimekar and information given to me by Altantuya that her US$500,000 was because of the successful deal concerning the Scorpene submarine transaction. 14) The identity, background and involvement of two Malaysians identified as Major Rahim and Abdul Rahim Saad. 15) Altantuya's family background. 16) My links with Suaram, if any. 17) The need for justice to be served for the Altantuya murder and the truth to be told concerning the Scorpene deal. VIA

Related Post:
What happen to the Altantuya, murdered mongolian girl case?
Read More (External Link) We know Baginda is ‘innocent’. « *SUSAN LOONE's Blog*
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