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!