Monday, May 25, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/female-homeless-veterans-blue-butterfly-village-san-pedro-los-angeles/

Giving new hope to female homeless vets
CBS NEWS
May 25, 2015

After four years in the Army serving in Germany and Iraq, Danielle Chavez thought she had her life figured out.

"I thought it was gonna be a lot easier. Definitely, definitely a lot easier," Chavez said.

But when she left the military in 2011, her marriage ended, she struggled to pay for school and ended up living in her car. She had to send her two young girls to live with a relative.

"Every day I missed them. Every day. I felt like they were growing up without me," she said.

Asked whether being homeless was tougher on her physically or on her pride, Chavez said it was "definitely" tougher on her pride, because she didn't want people to know she was homeless.

"You don't want to admit that this is something that could happen when you're a veteran," Chavez said.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are more than 4,456 homeless female veterans in the U.S., many of whom have children. They account for 8 percent of the nation's 58,000 homeless vets.

But a housing development that just opened in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles is providing hope in the form of a key. It's called Blue Butterfly Village -- built specifically for homeless female veterans with children. The former Navy housing was rotting away but has been given new life in order to give vets like Chavez a new life, as well.

"Oh my God, look -- that's where you can eat breakfast!" Chavez exclaimed, seeing the house for the first time.

Three weeks ago, she and her daughters moved into to the fully furnished home. The community playground is right outside their back door.

"We don't have to leave. I don't have to go anywhere. I don't have to move my car. I don't have to fold my blankets on somebody's couch. And people can come visit us here instead of us sleeping somewhere else," Chavez said.

There are 73 subsidized town homes in the complex. It cost $15 million to refurbish, paid for by the Volunteers of America. The veterans pay rent based on a sliding scale, but living there also comes with mental health counseling, job training, money management programs and childcare services. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald said the goal is to get these vets back on their feet, but they can stay here for the rest of their lives.

"We have lots of these that the Department of Defense is decommissioning. And we in the VA want to pick them up right away, we want to make them sites where we can best care for veterans," McDonald said. "This is the future."

Many of these veterans, including Mariatheresa Alcazar, suffer from PTSD. She was one of the first women to serve on an aircraft carrier and was stationed on the USS Carl Vinson during 9/11.

"It is a tough memory," Alcazar said, crying. "The military is a tough memory."

That's because she is also one the many women raped while serving their country.

A study by the Veteran's Health Administration found nearly 40 percent of female homeless veterans were sexually assaulted while in the military.

"I got assaulted by police officers in our military. And I thought I was so strong. ... I thought I could fight men off, even. And it's -- I can't. And that's just the truth about it," Alcazar said.

Alcazar's PTSD made it hard to keep a job. She wound up homeless with two young sons. But now, they've got a home at Blue Butterfly Village. Her boys have a place to play, and she has something she never thought she'd live without -- a bed.

Volunteers of America hopes to eventually take over 70 more vacant units owned by a nearby school. That would double the population at the village. Seventy more women like Alcazar would now have a home.

"It's freedom," Alcazar said. "I'm happy, and these are tears not of sadness but I'm happy ... because you don't have to worry about where you lay your head. You have an address."

And a foundation to build a better life with their families.



Volunteers of America
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Volunteers of America is a faith-based nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing and other assistance services primarily to low-income people throughout the United States. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, the organization includes 36 affiliates providing services in approximately 400 communities in 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

In 2010, the organization served more than 2 million people each year.[1] Services help people in need of affordable housing, veterans, low-income seniors, children and families, the homeless, those with intellectual disabilities, those recovering from addiction and the incarcerated.

History[edit]
Volunteers of America was founded on March 8, 1896 by social reformers Ballington Booth and his wife and Maud Booth in Cooper Union's Great Hall.[2] Ballington Booth was the son of General William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, and the couple served as officers with the Army in Great Britain.

The Booths first moved to New York in the 1890s to assume command of The Salvation Army forces in the United States. The couple was successful in bolstering the image of The Salvation Army in America and in growing the movement’s social work mission. After disagreements with other Salvation Army leaders, including Ballington Booth’s brother Bramwell Booth, the Booths left the organization and established God’s American Volunteers, which soon was changed to Volunteers of America.

In the early 1900s, the Volunteers began an expansive philanthropic program that included employment bureaus, co-operative stores, medical dispensaries, distribution of clothes, women's sewing classes, Thanksgiving meals, reading rooms, fresh air camps and other establishments.[3] During the advent of the Great Depression in the 1930s, Volunteers of America mobilized to assist the millions of people who were unemployed, hungry and homeless. Relief efforts included employment bureaus, wood yards, soup kitchens and “Penny Pantries” where every food item cost one cent.[4]

By the 1960s, Volunteers of America was well known for its thrift stores and annual fundraising efforts like the Sidewalk Santa campaign in New York City. In an effort to modernize its programs, the organization began to focus its work in the area of housing for the poor following the establishment of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In the 1970s, the organization emerged as a major provider of professional long-term nursing care. Volunteers of America not only offers home health care and related services, but owns and operates several nursing facilities, and assisted and independent living residences.

Since 1902 VOA held a Sidewalk Santa parade up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan as part of their fundraising efforts supporting its Hope & Hearth food voucher program. It was recently announced that VOA will discontinue the Sidewark Santa parade.[5]

Today, Volunteers of America is ranked among the largest charities in the United States by The NonProfit Times,[6] The Chronicle of Philanthropy[7] and Forbes among other publications, with annual revenue of approximately $900 million in 2008. The organization is one of the largest nonprofit providers of affordable housing for the elderly, low-income families and people with intellectual or physical disabilities in the United States.





"I thought it was gonna be a lot easier. Definitely, definitely a lot easier," Chavez said. But when she left the military in 2011, her marriage ended, she struggled to pay for school and ended up living in her car. She had to send her two young girls to live with a relative. …. "You don't want to admit that this is something that could happen when you're a veteran," Chavez said.” …. But a housing development that just opened in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles is providing hope in the form of a key. It's called Blue Butterfly Village -- built specifically for homeless female veterans with children. The former Navy housing was rotting away but has been given new life in order to give vets like Chavez a new life, as well. …. There are 73 subsidized town homes in the complex. It cost $15 million to refurbish, paid for by the Volunteers of America. The veterans pay rent based on a sliding scale, but living there also comes with mental health counseling, job training, money management programs and childcare services. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald said the goal is to get these vets back on their feet, but they can stay here for the rest of their lives. "We have lots of these that the Department of Defense is decommissioning. And we in the VA want to pick them up right away, we want to make them sites where we can best care for veterans," McDonald said. "This is the future." …. That's because she is also one the many women raped while serving their country. A study by the Veter-an's Health Administration found nearly 40 percent of female homeless veterans were sexually assaulted while in the military. "I got assaulted by police officers in our military. And I thought I was so strong. ... I thought I could fight men off, even. And it's -- I can't. And that's just the truth about it," Alcazar said. …. Volunteers of America hopes to eventually take over 70 more vacant units owned by a nearby school. That would double the population at the village. Seventy more women like Alcazar would now have a home.”

In Jacksonville here there are numerous homeless people, mostly men, but some women. Those I have seen mainly seem dazed. I’m sure there must be families on the street but I’ve never seen any children. I am less concerned for the fact that they are veterans than for the seriousness of their plight.

We do have a number of charity based shelters and some fifteen HUD housing build-ings around the city. The thing that strikes me most in this article is the need for any-one who doesn’t have a better place to sleep than under a bridge or in their car to go immediately to a police station, a fire department or a hospital to ask for help. Wait-ing, just because it is too painful to think about one’s situation as it actually is, will end in the disaster of a hopeless life and mental degradation. I had heard of Volun-teers For America, but I didn’t know how much good they are doing or the nature of their mission. I will try to include them in my few gifts to charity from now on, and I hope others of you who read this will do so, too.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/earthquake-reality-check-san-andreas-movie/

Earthquake reality check: Facts behind "San Andreas"
AP May 25, 2015

Photograph -- A shot from the movie "San Andreas." WARNER BROS. PICTURES

LOS ANGELES -- The San Andreas Fault awakens, unleashing back-to-back jolts that leave a trail of misery from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Skyscrapers crumble. Fires erupt. The letters of the Hollywood sign topple. Tsunami waves swamp the Golden Gate Bridge.

Hollywood's favorite geologic bad guy is back in "San Andreas" -- a fantastical look at one of the world's real seismic threats.

The San Andreas has long been considered one of the most dangerous earthquake faults because of its length. At nearly 800 miles long, it cuts through California like a scar and is responsible for some of the largest shakers in state history.

In the film, opening this Friday, a previously unknown fault near the Hoover Dam in Nevada ruptures and jiggles the San Andreas. Southern California is rocked by a powerful magnitude-9.1 quake followed by an even stronger magnitude-9.6 in Northern California.

U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough accompanied The Associated Press to an advance screening of the film. Despite the implausible plot, she said the San Andreas will indeed break again, and without warning.

"We are at some point going to face a big earthquake," she said.

JUST HOW BIG?

The San Andreas is notorious for producing big ones, but a magnitude-9 or larger is virtually impossible because the fault is not long or deep enough, Hough noted.

The most powerful temblors in recorded history have struck along offshore subduction zones where one massive tectonic plate dives beneath another. The 1960 magnitude-9.5 quake off Chile is the current world record holder.

The San Andreas has revealed its awesome power before. In 1906, a magnitude-7.8 reduced parts of San Francisco to fiery rubble. Nearly five decades earlier, a similar-sized quake rattled the southern end of the fault.

In 2008, the USGS led a team of 300 experts that wrote a script detailing what would happen if a magnitude-7.8 hit the southern San Andreas. They wanted to create a science-based crisis scenario that can be used for preparedness drills.

The lesson: It doesn't take a magnitude-9 or greater to wreak havoc. Researchers calculated a magnitude-7.8 would cause 1,800 deaths and 50,000 injuries. Hundreds of old brick buildings and concrete structures and a few high-rise steel buildings would collapse.

Computer models show the San Andreas is capable of producing a magnitude-8.3 quake, but anything larger is dubious.



WILL THERE BE A WARNING?

In the film, Lawrence Hayes, a fictional seismologist at Caltech (a real university), notices spikes in "magnetic pulses" that light up California like a Christmas tree, heralding a monster quake.

Despite a century of research, earthquake prediction remains elusive. Scientists can't predict when a jolt is coming and are generally pessimistic about ever having that ability.

Every warning sign scrutinized -- animal behavior, weather patterns, electromagnetic signals, atmospheric observations, levels of radon gas in soil or groundwater -- has failed.

"We wish it were as simple as the movie portrays. It isn't. Researchers have scoured every imaginable signal trying to find reliable precursors, but nothing has panned out," Hough said.

The latest focus has been on creating early warning systems that give residents and businesses a few seconds heads up after a quake hits, but before strong shaking is felt.

Japan has the most advanced seismic alert system in the world while the U.S. is currently testing a prototype.

A TSUNAMI IN SAN FRANCISCO?

Unlike the film, the San Andreas can't spawn tsunamis.

Most tsunamis are triggered by underwater quakes, but they can also be caused by landslides, volcanoes and even meteor impacts.

Giant tsunami waves are formed when the Earth's crust violently shifts, displacing huge amounts of seawater. The larger the magnitude, the more these waves can race across the ocean without losing energy.

The San Andreas is strike-slip fault, in which opposing blocks of rocks slide past each other horizontally. A big San Andreas quake can spark fires and other mayhem, but it can't displace water and flood San Francisco.

Hough said the movie got one aspect right: The tide suddenly ebbing out signals a tsunami is coming.

More than 80 -- mostly small -- tsunamis have been observed along California's coast in the past, triggered mainly by faraway quakes.

COULD THE EAST COAST FEEL IT?

In the movie, the scientist warned that shaking would be felt on the East Coast.

Even the largest possible San Andreas quake won't rattle the East Coast. (Sorry, New York).

While seismic waves from great quakes can make the Earth reverberate like a bell, the ringing can only be detected by sensitive instruments because it's so low.

Historical accounts show shaking from the 1906 San Andreas quake was barely felt in western Nevada and southern Oregon, Hough said.

DROP, COVER AND HOLD ON!

When the ground starts to shake, the seismologist played by Paul Giamatti makes the ideal public service announcement: "Drop, cover and hold on."

Since 2008, millions of people in California and elsewhere have participated in yearly disaster drills in which they practice diving under a table and learn other preparedness tips.

If you're outdoors when the ground moves, experts recommend bracing against a wall, similar to what search-and-rescue helicopter pilot Ray Gaines, played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, told scared survivors in the movie.

"Having Paul Giamatti shouting, "Drop, cover and hold on!" and The Rock telling people to crouch against a wall if they can is one heck of a PSA," Hough said.



Electromagnetic pulse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Note: the news article above about the upcoming scifi film San Andreas uses the term, “magnetic pulse,” while the term EMP or electromagnetic pulse is the only one I found on the Net. The following describes that phenomenon. It is accompanied by a Science Magazine article on the phenomenon.

An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also sometimes called a transient electromagnetic disturbance, is a short burst of electromagnetic energy. Such a pulse may occur in the form of a radiated, electric or magnetic field or conducted electrical current depending on the source, and may be natural or man-made. The term "electromagnetic pulse" is commonly abbreviated to the initialism EMP (which is pronounced by saying the letters separately, "E-M-P").

EMP interference is generally disruptive or damaging to electronic equipment, and at higher energy levels a powerful EMP event such as a lightning strike can damage physical objects such as buildings and aircraft structures. The management of EMP effects is an important branch of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) engineering.

The damaging effects of high-energy EMP have been used to create EMP weapons. These are typically divided into nuclear and non-nuclear devices. Such weapons, both real and fictional, are becoming known to the public by means of popular culture.

Frequency ranges[edit]

An EMP typically contains energy at many frequencies from DC (zero Hz) to some upper limit depending on the source. The whole range of concern is sometimes referred to as "DC to daylight", with optical (infrared, visible, ultraviolet) and ionizing (X and gamma rays) ranges usually being excluded. The highest frequencies are present in Nuclear EMP (NEMP) bursts. These continue up into the optical and ionizing ranges.

Some types of EMP event can leave a visible trail, such as lightning and sparks, but these are side effects of the current flow through the air and are not part of the EMP itself.

Effects[edit]
Minor EMP events, and especially pulse trains, cause low levels of electrical noise or interference which can affect the operation of susceptible devices. For example, a common problem in the mid-twentieth century was interference emitted by the ignition systems of gasoline engines, which caused radio sets to crackle and TV sets to show stripes on the screen. Laws had to be introduced to make vehicle manufacturers fit interference suppressors.

At a high voltage level an EMP can induce a spark, for example from an electrostatic discharge (ESD) when fuelling a gasoline-engined vehicle. Such sparks have been known to cause fuel-air explosions and precautions must be taken to prevent them.[citation needed]

A large and energetic EMP can induce high currents and voltages in the victim, damaging electrical equipment or disrupting its function.

A very large EMP event such as a lightning strike is also capable of damaging objects such as trees, buildings and aircraft directly, either through heating effects or the disruptive effects of the very large magnetic field generated by the current. An indirect effect can be electrical fires caused by heating. These damaging effects have led to the introduction of EMP weapons. Most engineered structures and systems require some form of protection against lightning to be designed in.
Types of natural EMP event include:

Lightning electromagnetic pulse (LEMP). The discharge is typically an initial huge current flow, at least mega-amps, followed by a train of pulses of decreasing energy.
Electrostatic discharge (ESD), as a result of two charged objects coming into close proximity or even contact.
Meteoric EMP. The discharge of electromagnetic energy resulting from either the impact of a meteoroid with a spacecraft or the explosive breakup of a meteoroid passing through the Earth's atmosphere.[1][2]

Types of (civil) man-made EMP event include:

Switching action of electrical circuitry, whether isolated or repetitive (as a pulse train).
Electric motors can create a train of pulses as the internal electrical contacts rotate.
Gasoline engine ignition systems can create a train of pulses as the spark plugs are energized.
Continual switching actions of digital electronic circuitry.
Power line surges. These can be up to several kilovolts, enough to damage electronic equipment that is insufficiently protected.

Types of military EMP include:

Nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NEMP), as a result of a nuclear explosion. A variant of this is the high altitude nuclear EMP (HEMP), which produces a pulse of a much larger amplitude and different characteristics due to interactions with the Earth's magnetic field.
Non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NNEMP) weapons.




“Hollywood's favorite geologic bad guy is back in "San Andreas" -- a fantastical look at one of the world's real seismic threats. The San Andreas has long been considered one of the most dangerous earthquake faults because of its length. At nearly 800 miles long, it cuts through California like a scar and is responsible for some of the largest shakers in state history. …. U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough accompanied The Associated Press to an advance screening of the film. Despite the implausible plot, she said the San Andreas will indeed break again, and without warning. …. The San Andreas is notorious for producing big ones, but a magnitude-9 or larger is virtually impossible because the fault is not long or deep enough, Hough noted. The most powerful temblors in recorded history have struck along offshore subduction zones where one massive tectonic plate dives beneath another. The 1960 magnitude-9.5 quake off Chile is the current world record holder. …. In 2008, the USGS led a team of 300 experts that wrote a script detailing what would happen if a magnitude-7.8 hit the southern San Andreas. They wanted to create a science-based crisis scenario that can be used for preparedness drills. The lesson: It doesn't take a magnitude-9 or greater to wreak havoc. Researchers calculated a magnitude-7.8 would cause 1,800 deaths and 50,000 injuries. Hundreds of old brick buildings and concrete structures and a few high-rise steel buildings would collapse. Computer models show the San Andreas is capable of producing a magnitude-8.3 quake, but anything larger is dubious. …. Every warning sign scrutinized -- animal behavior, weather patterns, electromagnetic signals, atmospheric observations, levels of radon gas in soil or groundwater -- has failed. "We wish it were as simple as the movie portrays. It isn't. Researchers have scoured every imaginable signal trying to find reliable precursors, but nothing has panned out," Hough said. The latest focus has been on creating early warning systems that give residents and businesses a few seconds heads up after a quake hits, but before strong shaking is felt. Japan has the most advanced seismic alert system in the world while the U.S. is currently testing a prototype. …. Unlike the film, the San Andreas can't spawn tsunamis. Most tsunamis are triggered by underwater quakes, but they can also be caused by landslides, volcanoes and even meteor impacts. Giant tsunami waves are formed when the Earth's crust violently shifts, displacing huge amounts of seawater. The larger the magnitude, the more these waves can race across the ocean without losing energy. The San Andreas is strike-slip fault, in which opposing blocks of rocks slide past each other horizontally. A big San Andreas quake can spark fires and other mayhem, but it can't displace water and flood San Francisco. …. Even the largest possible San Andreas quake won't rattle the East Coast. (Sorry, New York). While seismic waves from great quakes can make the Earth reverberate like a bell, the ringing can only be detected by sensitive instruments because it's so low. Historical accounts show shaking from the 1906 San Andreas quake was barely felt in western Nevada and southern Oregon, Hough said. …. Since 2008, millions of people in California and elsewhere have participated in yearly disaster drills in which they practice diving under a table and learn other preparedness tips. If you're outdoors when the ground moves, experts recommend bracing against a wall, similar to what search-and-rescue helicopter pilot Ray Gaines, played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, told scared survivors in the movie.”

This article discussing the factuality of the new film San Andreas confirms my suspicion when I saw the trailer on TV. There are a number of ways in which the disaster is exaggerated, or simply doesn’t apply to the San Andreas fault. For one thing, tsunamis hitting the CA coast usually are related to distant quakes from an undersea location. A tsunami requires a large amount of vertically aligned water to be displaced and roll up on the land as a column of water, which is why they can be so frightfully large. The tsunami that was shown in the movie Deep Impact about a meteoroid striking in the ocean was plausible, however. The bad news in the article was that the disastrous 1906 earthquake was only a 7.8, so it won’t require the unlikely 9.0 like the one that hit Anchorage AK some 40 years ago to bring down buildings and split the ground. Should anyone actually be in one of these large quakes the recommended action is to “duck and cover” if indoors, or brace up against a wall if outdoors.

“In the film, Lawrence Hayes, a fictional seismologist at Caltech (a real university), notices spikes in "magnetic pulses" that light up California like a Christmas tree, heralding a monster quake.”

See the following article from Science Magazine on that -- http://news.sciencemag.org/earth/2014/06/could-pulses-earths-magnetic-field-forecast-earthquakes, “Could Pulses in Earth's Magnetic Field Forecast Earthquakes?” By Sid Perkins 6 June 2014. Photograph -- Seismic magnetism? The brief magnetic pulses observed prior to some moderate-sized earthquakes might be triggered by chemical bonds breaking in rocks under stress (such as those deep beneath the San Andreas fault, shown). As for their “lighting up CA like a Christmas tree,” an article I saw on earthquake prediction did mention lights being seen close to the earth. That article was not in a journal, but in a newspaper article and I have no idea now what the original reference was. I read it because it was interesting, but I don’t take it to be fact. So far scientists can’t agree on any reliable earthquake prediction method. The one that has always struck me as being the most likely is often reported fearful behavior of animals in the area before the quake was felt by humans. It does seem possible to me that four footed animals might feel the light precursor shocks and run away in response to them.

From Sid Perkins’ Science Magazine article on “magnetic pulses” comes the following:

“In the days leading up to some recent moderate-sized earthquakes, instruments nearby have picked up brief low-frequency pulses in Earth’s magnetic field. A few scientists have proposed that such pulses, which seemed to become stronger and more frequent just before the earthquakes occurred, could serve as an early warning sign for impending seismic activity. Now, a team has come up with a model for how these magnetic pulses might be generated, though some critics say they may have a humanmade origin.

Brief fluctuations in Earth’s magnetic field have been detected before many earthquakes in the past 50 years, says Friedemann Freund, a crystallographer at San Jose State University in California. For example, in the weeks before a magnitude-5.4 quake struck about 15 kilometers northeast of San Jose in October 2007, an instrument near the epicenter sensed a number of unusual magnetic pulses, presumably emanating from deep in the Earth. (The largest of them measured 30 nanoteslas, which is about 1/100,000th the typical strength of the planet’s magnetic field measured at Earth’s surface.) Those blips became more frequent as the day of the earthquake approached, Freund says. More recently, prior to several medium- to moderate-sized quakes in Peru, two sensitive magnetometers recorded the same sort of pulses.
One big puzzle, Freund notes, has been how such pulses could be generated. Now, he and his colleagues suggest that these blips stem from microscopic changes in crystals in rocks under seismic stress deep within Earth. In many types of rocks, particularly volcanic rocks that have substantial amounts of water locked inside them, crystals are chock-full of oxygen-oxygen bonds called peroxy bonds. (These bonds formed long ago, after chemical changes split some of the water molecules, freeing the hydrogen atoms to bond together and then diffuse out of the rocks as gas.) When those rocks are squeezed, say, by the sides of a fault zone scraping past one another, some of the peroxy bonds break. Those broken bonds release negatively charged electrons, which remain trapped in place, and create positively charged “holes” in the crystal, Freund explains. In lab experiments, the electrical disturbances associated with those holes diffuse through the surrounding rocks at speeds of about 100 meters per second.

Freund and his team propose that the same process might be happening within Earth’s crust. As stress on large volumes of rock builds in advance of an impending quake, many, many of these electrical holes are created inside them. It’s the mass migration of such holes that creates the large electrical currents responsible for generating the low-frequency magnetic pulses that make their way to detectors on Earth’s surface, they say.
“This paper only makes sense if the observations [of magnetic pulses] are good,” says John Ebel, a seismologist at Boston College, who wasn’t involved in the research. He points out that two instruments aren’t sufficient to pinpoint the location of an event; to truly “triangulate” an event you need at least three sensors.

But another aspect of the team’s findings is even more worrying, he notes: “I’m concerned that the pulses are not originating deep within the Earth.” It’s possible, he continues, that the blips may have some inexplicable humanmade origin. Decades ago, Ebel notes, his Boston-based magnetometers started picking up a series of odd pulses every morning. Eventually, he and his colleagues identified the sources of those gremlins: It was the engineers cranking up Boston’s trolley cars at a rail yard a few kilometers away from the instruments.

Even if the magnetic pulses originate within Earth along seismic zones under stress, Freund says, the blips don’t always foretell a quake. It’s more likely to be the pattern of pulses—and, in particular, changes in their size and frequency—that Freund and his colleagues say might offer scientists a crystal ball for impending temblors.

Posted in Earth, Physics





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/high-altitude-risk-of-sids-infant-deaths/

Where you live may affect risk of infant deaths from SIDS
By AMY NORTON HEALTHDAY
May 25, 2015

15 Photographs -- Sudden infant death: 14 ways parents raise the risk
Play VIDEO -- Top risks for SIDS differ by age, study finds

Babies who live at very high elevations may have an increased risk of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, a new study suggests.

The findings are based on nearly 400,000 Colorado infants born between 2007 and 2012. Babies of families living at an elevation of 8,000 feet or higher had a SIDS risk that was more than doubled compared to babies from families living below 6,000 feet.

Although the odds were doubled, SIDS was still rare, even at higher altitudes. There were about 0.8 SIDS deaths for every 1,000 infants who lived at the highest elevations.

Researchers said the findings don't prove that high altitudes actually contribute to infants' deaths. But they also said it's plausible that the thinner air at those elevations plays a role.


"This is a call for further research," said lead researcher Dr. David Katz, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado, in Aurora.

"We wouldn't advocate that people abandon higher elevations based on this study," he added.

What's more, he said, even though infants living high in the mountains faced a relatively greater SIDS risk, it was still quite low.

Findings from the study were published online May 25 in the journal Pediatrics.

Each year in the United States, about 3,500 infants die suddenly, from no obvious cause, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of those deaths are labeled as SIDS -- a phenomenon that researchers don't completely understand.

However, experts do know that an infant's sleeping environment is key, Katz said.

In the 1990s, experts launched public campaigns to encourage parents to put their infants on their backs to sleep, take soft bedding out of the crib, and take other "safe sleeping" steps. Since then, U.S. SIDS deaths have fallen by more than 50 percent, according to background information in the study.

Some other risk factors -- like smoking during pregnancy -- have also been linked to SIDS, but researchers suspect there are additional contributors. And the new findings suggest high altitude could be one, Katz noted.

But, he stressed, this is the first large study to suggest as much.


It's important for parents to keep in mind that the odds of SIDS are still low, according to Dr. Marcel Deray, a pediatric neurologist at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami.

"The absolute risk is very small," said Deray, who was not involved in the study. "There is no reason for panic."

Plus, at least in the United States, few people live at elevations of 8,000 feet or higher, Katz pointed out. Even in mountainous Colorado, only 2 percent of families in this study lived at such heights.

Worldwide, however, about 63 million people dwell at those elevations, the researchers noted.

Deray added that the findings were "interesting," and that the connection makes sense biologically.

Normally, if you aren't getting enough oxygen, the brain will rouse you from sleep. It's thought that infants who die from SIDS have an abnormality in that system, Deray explained.

"At high elevations," he said, "there is already hypoxia [reduced oxygen supply]." And that could boost SIDS risk in certain infants who are already vulnerable, Deray said.

But that just underscores the importance of safe sleeping practices for all infants, according to Deray. In this study, Katz's team also found that Colorado's overall rate of SIDS fell from almost 2 per 1,000 infants before the "Back to Sleep" campaign, to 0.57 per 1,000 in the years following.

Similar reductions were seen at all elevations, the study said.

Katz said the best thing parents can do is to learn about the major, modifiable risk factors for SIDS.

Deray agreed. "Do the things that we know reduce SIDS risk," he said. "Put the baby to bed on the back, in a crib with a firm mattress, with no soft bedding, or toys, or blankets."





“The findings are based on nearly 400,000 Colorado infants born between 2007 and 2012. Babies of families living at an elevation of 8,000 feet or higher had a SIDS risk that was more than doubled compared to babies from families living below 6,000 feet. Although the odds were doubled, SIDS was still rare, even at higher altitudes. There were about 0.8 SIDS deaths for every 1,000 infants who lived at the highest elevations. Researchers said the findings don't prove that high altitudes actually contribute to infants' deaths. But they also said it's plausible that the thinner air at those elevations plays a role. …. In the 1990s, experts launched public campaigns to encourage parents to put their infants on their backs to sleep, take soft bedding out of the crib, and take other "safe sleeping" steps. Since then, U.S. SIDS deaths have fallen by more than 50 percent, according to background information in the study. Some other risk factors -- like smoking during pregnancy -- have also been linked to SIDS, but researchers suspect there are additional contributors. And the new findings suggest high altitude could be one, Katz noted. …. Deray added that the findings were "interesting," and that the connection makes sense biologically. Normally, if you aren't getting enough oxygen, the brain will rouse you from sleep. It's thought that infants who die from SIDS have an abnormality in that system, Deray explained. "At high elevations," he said, "there is already hypoxia [reduced oxygen supply]." And that could boost SIDS risk in certain infants who are already vulnerable, Deray said.”

"Do the things that we know reduce SIDS risk," he said. "Put the baby to bed on the back, in a crib with a firm mattress, with no soft bedding, or toys, or blankets." This makes lots of sense, and it has reduced the incidence of SIDS by 50%, but it is not intuitive. I would tend to think that a baby should be warm, so a blanket would be good, but no. That’s dangerous. Putting the baby in layered clothing with foot cover-ings and a little warm knit hat on its head would probably keep it warm enough, and would avoid the danger of SIDS. It is shocking, however, the number of ways that a child’s health and welfare can be endangered without the awareness on the part of parents about the matter. I think a how-to manual and a hospital-sponsored class for new parents would be a good thing. Besides it would give them a network of other new parents who encourage and communicate with each other, like the self-help programs of AA, NA, and Neurotics Anonymous. I think all new parents must feel at least somewhat nervous about the responsibility of rearing a child. We don’t have the multiple generation families like we did in the 1920’s or so. Not only are grandpar-ents too often shoved into a home for the elderly which makes them lonely, their ad-vice and childcare help would be so useful for the younger people.





http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/05/25/409472246/police-malaysia-uncovers-139-mass-graves-believed-to-hold-migrants

Police: Malaysia Uncovers 139 Mass Graves Believed To Hold Migrants
MARTHA ANN OVERLAND
MAY 25, 2015

Photograph -- A Malaysian forensic team personnel handles bags of human remains found at abandoned camps used by human traffickers on the Malaysia-Thailand border in Wang Kelian on Monday.
Joshua Paul/AP

Police in Malaysia say they have uncovered more evidence of human smuggling, with the discovery of at least 139 graves along the country's border with Thailand.

The bodies were found in 28 abandoned forest camps that authorities believe smugglers built to hide migrants who are from Myanmar and Bangladesh. Refugees are sometimes held by smugglers until their relatives come up with more money.

Malaysia's national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said investigators searching the dense jungle found crudely erected barbed-wire pens and wooden cages. They also found a teddy bear and small-sized sandals, a sign that children were held in the camps.

"It is a very sad scene," Khalid told reporters at a police outpost in the town of Wang Kelian several miles from the camps, one of which appeared large enough to hold about 300 people. "I am shocked. We never expected this kind of cruelty."

The first mass graves of migrants were discovered earlier this month in southern Thailand. Rohingya migrants Burma typically travel by boat to Thailand, hoping to make their way to Malaysia, which is more tolerant of the Muslim refugees.

Autopsies conducted on those remains indicate the victims had starved to death or had died of disease. Investigators say the graves likely contain the remains of Burmese fleeing harsh conditions in Myanmar.

Rohingyas are considered one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Though they have lived in Myanmar for generations, they are denied citizenship and are segregated from the rest of the population in Rakhine state. Many are prevented from holding jobs, traveling or even marrying.

The United Nations estimates that more than 100,000 Rohingya have fled since clashes in 2012 between Myanmar's Buddhist community and the Rohingya minority. They usually leave in overcrowded boats and, amid a region-wide crackdown on human traffickers, are increasingly abandoned on the high seas. As no country in the region wants them, they are prevented from landing. The Thai Army has been known to tow refugee boats out to sea and set them adrift.

After images of starving migrants adrift in the seas off Southeast Asia emerged this month, several countries loosened their stands on helping survivors. Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to temporarily take in migrants at sea. Thailand refuses to allow migrant boats to land, but will now allow its navy to assist with medical needs.

Though many refugees have been rescued since the change in policy, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 3,500 migrants are still at sea in perilous conditions.




“The bodies were found in 28 abandoned forest camps that authorities believe smugglers built to hide migrants who are from Myanmar and Bangladesh. Refugees are sometimes held by smugglers until their relatives come up with more money. Malaysia's national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said investigators searching the dense jungle found crudely erected barbed-wire pens and wooden cages. They also found a teddy bear and small-sized sandals, a sign that children were held in the camps. "It is a very sad scene," Khalid told reporters at a police outpost in the town of Wang Kelian several miles from the camps, one of which appeared large enough to hold about 300 people. "I am shocked. We never expected this kind of cruelty." …. Autopsies conducted on those remains indicate the victims had starved to death or had died of disease. Investigators say the graves likely contain the remains of Burmese fleeing harsh conditions in Myanmar. Rohingyas are considered one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Though they have lived in Myanmar for generations, they are denied citizenship and are segregated from the rest of the population in Rakhine state. Many are prevented from holding jobs, traveling or even marrying. …. They usually leave in overcrowded boats and, amid a region-wide crackdown on human traffickers, are increasingly abandoned on the high seas. As no country in the region wants them, they are prevented from landing. The Thai Army has been known to tow refugee boats out to sea and set them adrift. …. … several countries loosened their stands on helping survivors. Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to temporarily take in migrants at sea. Thailand refuses to allow migrant boats to land, but will now allow its navy to assist with medical needs. Though many refugees have been rescued since the change in policy, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 3,500 migrants are still at sea in perilous conditions.”

On Saturday the 23rd I published part of an article on the Rohingyas. I had never heard that name before, so the subject is very interesting to me. I looked for something about the DNA background of the group because the photograph of them had a certain “different” look to the facial features, as I have seen in some other groups such as the Australian Aborigines who have black skin like an African, but they don’t resemble any modernday Africans that I recognize. They also look more like some other isolated groups such as the Ainu, the Sami, some Alaskan people, and a very dark skinned group that live in India. Not surprisingly they are among the so-called “untouchables,” a caste system which has now been made illegal in India, thank goodness. The face is broad, a little flat, with widely spaced eyes and a broad nose like Africans. The Ainu are white skinned and light haired, but otherwise have the same facial look. The Sami have an Asian look to the eyes and a more narrow head and white or light skin, and of course maintain an undoubtedly ancient cultural practice of herding reindeer.

I found no study dating the Rohyngyas by DNA, so I can't prove how long they have been a unique ethnic identity. I did look up DNA information on the Australians – whose racial group is called “Austronesian” -- and one article dated their genetic changes back to a period fairly close to the very beginning of the influx of Homo Sapiens out of Africa over 100,000 years ago. They were clever, as they managed to get across ocean waters to Polynesia and Indonesia, so they obviously had dugout canoes or something like that and navigated, probably, by the sun, tides and stars. That was during an ice age, so the ocean may have been less voluminous, allowing them to walk in some places (like across Beringea from Siberia to Alaska, and from Australia to Indonesia) on dry land. However, the simple measure of tying two dugout canoes together with a raft-like sitting surface on top, is used in some places even today for crossing the ocean. I saw that being done in an anthropological video on either PBS or Discovery and taped it for my future viewing. Ever since Thor Heyerdahl in 1947 scientists have been studying the matter.

From the fascinating stone monuments found across the world to the creation of agriculture, some modern people tend to think that “cavemen” couldn’t have been intelligent enough to figure those things out. Some ridiculous articles have been written on how the aliens from distant planets must have built Stonehenge. To me those who think that way are the ones who don’t show much intelligence. I personally never tire of reading about how early man mastered his world, traded objects from thousands of miles away and transmitted folk tales from one culture to another. String games are an example of this. See the Wikipedia article below. My father taught us kids how to do Jacob’s Ladder and Cat’s Cradle. These games are found today in cultural nooks around the whole world. I think when an ancient tribal group came upon another in their travels, they first decided whether or not to fight, then discussed their ancestral names and exchanged such cultural treasures as the Cat’s Cradle. They also traded items, of course. A tartan plaid – best known among the Celts of Western Europe and the UK – has also been found in a part of China among their Taklamakan Desert burials. (See the Tarim Mummies in Wikipedia at website “en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarim_mummies.”) Either tartan cloth was a very popular item among prehistoric people, or some branch of Indo-European speakers who may well be related by blood ties to the Celts of Iron Age Europe migrated all the way over to China. Those Chinese mummies, by the way, were not a mongoloid race, but Caucasians. The good thing about being buried in a desert so dry that the bodies dry out and the fabrics they made and wore are still to this day preserved intact, is that those mummies hold some keys to cultural mysteries that have simply not survived the climate in Europe. Cold and wet weather doesn’t preserve fabric and skin. Fascinatingly, a tall conical hat with a wide rim that looks just like what we call a “witch’s hat” was found in one of those burials of a woman in the Taklamakan Desert. I love folk tales and other information of that kind because it is clear to me that elements of those tales go back to a very primitive time. Humans live and then die, but we are all linked genetically and, yes, culturally. That’s why I love archaeology and anthropology.



String figure
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A string figure is a design formed by manipulating string on, around, and using one's fingers or sometimes between the fingers of multiple people. String figures may also involve the use of the mouth, wrist, and feet. They may consist of singular images or be created and altered as a game, known as a string game, or as part of a story involving various figures made in sequence (string story). String figures have also been used for divination, such as to predict the sex of an unborn child.[1]

The most popular and well-known string game appears to be cat's cradle.[citation needed] According to Jayne, a trick known as "The Mouse" is, "probably the most widely distributed of all the string figures," known to Murray Island, Germany, Inuit, N. & S. America, Japan, Philippines, Australia, Batwa, Negrito, Linao Moros, Chippewa, Osage, Navajo, Apache, Omaha, Japanese, Torres Straits, Irish, Wajiji, and Alaskan Inuit people.[2] String figures, which are well distributed throughout the world,[3] include "Jacob's Ladder" ("Osage Diamonds", "Fishnet"), "Cup and Saucer" ("Sake Glass", "Coffee Cup"), and "Tree Hole"[4] ("The Moon Gone Dark", "Sun",[4] "Moon"[4]).